Okay guys, attempt number 2 at Leverage (which is so owned by TNT, because if I owned it, Eliot would have pounced on Parker-the-flight-attendant). I borrowed the Ducati Streetfighter (go check it out, it is soooo hot!) and it's stats from the Ducati website, so in short...I own nothing. Enjoy, and please review if you like! :P
With everyone settled in their chairs at Leverage HQ, Hardison began the briefing as usual. "Alright guys, this is the client…Wait. Hold Up. Where is Eliot? I spent so much damn time putting this presentation together and the dude doesn't even show up?! That's wrong, man." Parker, Sophie, and Nate all swiveled to face where Eliot usually resided (Nate a tad bit slower than the others, as he was still in the "Moving Bad" stage of his hangover), only to discover that Hardison was, in fact, correct: Eliot was nowhere in sight. Sophie frowned and turned to Nate with a question, but Parker beat her to it. "Wasn't he right behind us when we walked in the building?"
Forty-Five minutes later and everyone was on a very short fuse. They had searched everywhere, called his cell more than a hundred times, and searched using all the security cameras around that they could hack. Everyone had just about given up hope when Hardison's cry of "Yes!" had them all running to the parking garage. The man they had scoured the neighborhood for was standing there, staring at a motorcycle parked next to Nate's wicked electric ( and yet still mid-life crisis-ish) car. Simultaneous cries of "You ASS!", "Finally!", and "Are you drooling, man?" were all shouted at once, but Eliot only seemed to come back to reality when Parker whapped him over the head. Growling, he turned to face the crew, glaring at Parker for hitting him, angrier at himself than her - he had been so out of it he hadn't even sensed the blow coming. "WHAT?" The team, used to seeing that particular face right before Eliot kicked ass, wisely took a step back. Sophie, of course, was the first to ask just why he was staring at "a bloody bike", which was apparently the wrong choice of words.
"A bike, Sophie? Do you know even what that is? That is a Ducati-and not just any Ducati, that is a Streetfighter! It's not even supposed to be for sale yet!" Eliot's heated statements made the group take a second, albeit smaller step back, before Hardison made the worst mistake of his life: "Dude, it's just a motorcycle." Nate squinted at Eliot before grabbing Parker and Sophie and retreating- he had heard that growl before and now there was no helping Hardison out of this mess. Eliot stepped right up into Hardison's face, practically shaking with rage. "That is a 155 horsepower, L-Twin cylinder, 4 Valve per cylinder, Desmodromic, Testastretta Evoluzione liquid cooled engine with a Marelli electronic fuel injection. It's got 87.5 lbs of torque, a 58.1 inch wheelbase, and a dry multiplate clutch with hydraulic CONTROL!" The last of his diatribe came out as a bellow, and he took a few breaths before speaking again. "This is one of the best motorcycles ever made in the world, man. This is like… the Holy Grail. I would literally do anything to just ride that bike, even just once." Nate, sensing that the storm was over, wandered a bit closer with Sophie in tow while Parker simply walked right up to the two boys. "Anything?" Eliot turned to her with a huge smile. "Yes ma'am, anything. In the world." He had just turned back to make peace with Hardison when Parker nodded. "Alright. You've got yourself a deal, mister!"
Four heads turned to stare at Parker, who was tugging keys out of her jeans pocket. Eliot stared for a bit longer than the rest, and then he pounced. "You own that?" She merely nodded, grinning at his astonishment. "Why not? It's not out yet, so getting one was a bit like stealing it from all the customers, and in addition-"Eliot cut her off with a long, heated kiss. "You owning that bike has got to be the fucking hottest thing in the entire world." While the others could only stare, fixated by this bizarre scene, Parker smirked and leaned even closer to Eliot to whisper in his ear. "You think this is hot? Wait until after you've driven me home and I collect on that debt. That will be hot!"
When Parker and Eliot zipped out of the garage, Hardison was reduced to simple sentences. "Did that just-"Nate and Sophie finished for him with a "Yes". "Parker- bike- what?" Laughing, Nate and Sophie walked back towards the office, leaving a dumbfounded computer geek staring at the exit. "So, Nate, you know the two of them better than anyone- how long before we see them again?" Nate paused, letting Hardison jog into the elevator before pushing their floor. "Oh, I'd give it about a week. She's wanted to jump him ever since that job a couple years back, the one where they ran into each other, remember? Geez, it took her long enough!" The elevators closed, cutting off Nate's grin, Hardison's slow whistle, and Sophie's laughter.
xoxo
animechickie