Hi guys, this is my first Leverage fanfic. I am a firm follower of the show and did my best to keep the characters as close to their real selves as possible. Also, a little heads up, I am a Nate/Sophie fan, so there may be some bias ;) Hope you all enjoy! There are plenty more chapters to come so leave your comments and let me know what you think! ENJOY :D
(I don't own the characters...)
The Double Cross Job
He leaned against the cold brick wall, thankful for his black overcoat. The weather had turned unpredictably cold as of late and he had only grabbed the coat as an afterthought. Looking across the street, he watched as their mark stumbled out of the black iron gates. Nate could not help but allow himself a small smile at the man's condition. He knew all too well what kind of state the man was in, and it was perfect for what the Leverage team had planned.
The mark was Henry O' Deal. He was a big time owner of a national corporation and was known for his ruthlessness in international trade and his eye for beautiful women. Not only was the man embezzling fraud investments, but he was tied to, but never convicted of several sexual harassment charges. The blonde woman who had come to them earlier that day, Karen, was one of his victims.
His scam was a clever one. People would invest their money in his corporation thinking their funds were being used to support a giant Healthcare Network. Little did they know that their money was actually being used for his own benefit to funnel into an underground weapons trade as well as being bet on the stock market. All of the cases that had been brought up against him had all mysteriously gone off record or the clients had abruptly stopped pressing charges. Whatever was going on, O' Deal was at the bottom of it all, and he was making millions of dollars off of innocent people's unsuspecting donations.
Watching the man turn up an expensive looking whisky, Nate could tell he was way past his limit as he clumsily patted his tuxedo looking for his cell phone. Reaching into his pocket, O' Deal managed to pull out his phone and was undoubtedly getting ready to call for his surprisingly late driver.
"Sophie, you're up." Nate instructed over the com system.
Shifting his eyes to the left, Nate was gratified by seeing the grifter come rushing out from behind the drunken man as she frantically spoke into her cell phone. She played her role flawlessly with a sleek black dress that left little up to the imagination and strappy black heels. Somehow, she managed to make the completely out of season outfit look warm with a simple black shawl pulled over her shoulders. Nate wasn't fooled, he was sure she was freezing no matter how well she pulled the dress off.
As the man turned in a drunken stupor, Sophie timed her normal yet seductive walk perfectly to 'accidently' collide with the man. The contents of Sophie's purse as well as the man's beverage were sent flying into a jumbled mess on the cobble stone street. Sophie reached out and grabbed onto the man managing to look like a woman in distress while simultaneously helping the man regain his balance.
"Oh! I am terribly sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." She apologized, using her heavily layered British accent.
"Then again…" She smiled coyly as she took the time to look up at him and bat her eyes, "… maybe I'm not sorry seeing as how it was you that I ran into."
"No…be ass'rd I'm alright… it seems the pleasures s'all mine." He slurred taking the time to eye the woman in front of him.
As she quickly stooped to begin picking up her things, he made an even more obvious display of taking in her figure before it dawned on him to help her collect her things.
Nate could not help but feel a wave of distaste flow through him at the man's close scrutiny. He knew it was Sophie's job. As a grifter it was up to her to make men fall in love with her as easily as she left them standing. That didn't mean that Nate did not feel a twinge of envy every time she doted all of her affection on another mark. Of course, it did help to know that she was just conning them; he was quite aware when Sophie was feigning adoration and when her smoldering gazes meant something else all together.
"Did I hire you?" O'Deal inquired, "….because I think I would've remembered if I had."
"I'm Amy." Sophie smiled. "I was only hired a few weeks ago as a secretary by one of your financial managers."
"Really? I didn't know they were looking for new assistants… Which one?"
"Alright, he's testing you Soph. Tell him Tom Baker." Nate interjected.
"Tom Baker did of course, if you ask me, he probably didn't want me to meet you for fear of you whisking me away as your own secretary." Sophie taunted.
Giving her a mischievous grin, he asked,
"And what makes you think I would want you as m' secretary?"
Sophie gathered the rest of her things into her purse as they stood together and made a point of leaning in to whisper in his ear,
"Your eyes."
Still keeping a trained eye on Sophie's progression, Nate quickly checked in with the rest of the team.
"Where are you guys?"
"Oh, this driver isn't going anywhere…ha ha…this stretch is toast. Un huh, I bet you guys didn't know how much this EMP gun was going to come in handy did ya?" Hardison's voice rang in.
"Yea, well, while you're over there playing with your little nerd toys from a safe distance, the security guards have just been taken out, and I was able to secure Parker an entrance to the building…" Elliot's rough voice barked through the com system.
"Nerd toys bra'? Is that what you call the decoding device that just broke through one of the toughest security systems to get your butt within a range even close enough to hit things?" Hardison retorted.
"I swear when I get back I'll show you how close I have to be to hit something…" Elliot began before being cut off by Nate.
"What's your progress Parker?"
"Oh you know, just scaled the building, gained access through the elevator shaft into the air ducts and I'm looking at his computer right now….only problem is I need his security codes as well as a retinal scan to gain access. I'm sifting through his safe contents now…I think I found the cases we were looking for with a list of all his previous complaints. Wow Nate…there are a lot of people on this list." Parker chimed in.
"Sophie…we need a retinal scan." Nate reiterated as the grifter continued to work the mark.
Nate had already seen Sophie's hand quickly dart for O'Deal's cell phone when he had stooped to help her with her things. The security codes were sure to be on the phone which Sophie now had in her possession. All they needed now was a retinal scan.
Taking her makeup out and pulling out a mirror, Sophie began to apply blush to her face.
"Oh my, I had no idea how much of a mess I was! To tell you the truth, I probably should be going…" Sophie said making a point to let out an exasperated sigh.
Unexpectedly, O'Deal let out a cry of distress and began to frantically rub his eyes. Nate could not help but smile. He hadn't known how Sophie was going to get the scan, but now he saw her plan. Her extended sigh had happened to blow blush right into his eyes. Frantically, she pulled out her phone, pried open his left eye and blew into it.
"There there, hold still…I can help you with that." She prattled on while taking the opportunity to scan his eye with her touch-screen.
While she continued to help him sort through his blurry vision, she managed to send the scan to Hardison.
"Alright, got the scan. All I need are the codes now."
"Double cross Soph." Nate instructed.
Nate strolled forward and blended into the few people that were leaving from the exclusive party O'Deal had previously exited. Sophie's eyes flicked to his eyes for only a second as she saw him approaching from behind O'Deal. Still brushing his eye with the corner of her shawl, when Nate brushed past her she managed to slip him the cell phone without meeting his eyes again. Looking down at the phone while continuing to cross the street and circle back around to his previous stake out spot, Nate quickly scrolled through the information and sent the codes to Hardison.
"Codes sent." He announced.
"Ok. I'm in. Parker I need you to go to the computer and insert the drive I gave you." Hardison said.
"Aw…but I just found his secret little money stash." Parker complained as she undoubtedly began to count through a wad of bills.
"Parker, now!" Nate directed, beginning to feel antsy.
They had already put too much time into this con. The security was bound to notice something was amiss soon. After all, a man like O'Deal did not go missing for long periods of time without someone knowing about it. Also, he didn't like the way O'Deal was beginning to advance on Sophie now that his vision had apparently returned. The man was too drunk to realize it was her who temporarily blinded him in the first place.
"Fine fine. Drive inserted now. Ooooh, looky there, Mr. O'Deal's funds were just depleted!"
"Ha ha…yes they were….right into our bank accounts." Hardison laughed, enjoying his free range on corporate network systems.
"I still don't think virtual money is as fun as the real stuff…" Parker complained.
"Just plant the spike, grab the files, and get out of there." Nate instructed. "Elliot, do you still have an exit?"
"Are you kidding me? These guys aren't waking up any time soon. But if Parker doesn't hurry up, we're going to get caught."
"What are you talking about? I'm right here." The team heard Parker happily reply a few seconds later.
They heard Elliot say a few choice swear words when he realized Parker had managed to sneak up behind him with the files.
"Nate…we're out." Elliot growled after he had calmed down and got into the driver's seat of the get-away car.
"Alright, we're good. Wrap it up Sophie, we need to get going before they notice something's up."
A drop of Sophie's chin let Nate know she had heard him. Listening to her conversation, he waited for her to make her leave.
"Well, it really has been lovely, but I'm afraid I must go. Lots of work to do…"
"No no no." O'Deal grinned as he threw his arm and a good portion of his weight around her shoulders and breathed into her ear, "I've enjoyed this little conversation…I think we should continue it somewhere else. Maybe somewhere quieter where you can show me…. just how good you are at doing your job…"
Nate went rigid and waited for Sophie to maneuver her way out of the situation. She had dealt with and escaped from trickier marks than this.
All would have probably gone according to plan had not two things occurred.
Firstly, a black limo pulled out in front of Sophie and O'Deal momentarily blocking them from Nate's view. Secondly, O'Deal temporarily lost his balance in an attempt to woo Sophie forward toward the car causing his hand to slam into her ear as he caught onto her to keep himself from falling. This motion sent Sophie's ear bud flying right under the tire of the limo where it was successfully crushed.
Sensing the real danger of the situation, Nate quickly strode forward to aid Sophie when he caught her eye and stopped. Her facial expression was clear. She did not want him to come. She could handle herself. They both knew it would blow the con if she broke cover now. Standing helplessly, he watched as she smiled at O'Deal, her eyes flashing to him once more, before she entered the back seat of the car with the mark. As the door shut, Nate could not help but feel a deep sense of dread. This had not gone according to plan.