So I've been on a bit of a Leverage bender recently and I watched the Potato Job where Sophie punches Hardison, and Eliot tells them he's been teaching her a few things. I got this in my head and just could not get it out. No beta - written, edited, and posted within about 90 minutes, so forgive my mistakes and enjoy :) One-shot only. Light spoilers for Tap-Out Job, Grave Digger Job, Big Bang Job, Long Way Down Job & Potato Job.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Leverage, or it wouldn't have ended.

Queen - the Grifter

He teaches Sophie how to punch. Really punch. As a master grifter - and an attractive woman to boot - she already knew how to slap. He's smiling a bit when Hardison confirms that Sophie did, in fact, put her hips into the punch. Maybe a little because Hardison took a punch from the only person on the team with less upper body strength than the hacker, but mostly because it was confirmation that Sophie had remembered what he'd taught her.

Sophie sometimes liked to say she was simply an actress who hadn't found her true part yet, and until she had, it was important she learn as many things as possible to help her be believable in whatever role that may be. Apparently, that meant she was willing to take punching lessons from Eliot. Whatever her excuse was, Eliot was just glad she let him teach her something more than how to stun a man into silence with an open palm. Now, she could silence one with a closed fist…long enough for Eliot to get to her.

King - Mastermind

He didn't have to teach Nate very much. Nate's been doing this for a long time, too, after all. The man can throw a punch - hell, Eliot's taken one or two of those punches before. They weren't enough to put Eliot's lights out, but Eliot had always liked Nate. Even when they were on different sides of the chessboard - black knight versus white - Nate always had the decency to not use a gun so Eliot had the decency to take it easy on him.

Plus, the alcohol makes it difficult. Sure, Nate's a functioning alcoholic and his reaction time is great when it comes to the Con, but his reaction time is nowhere near what it would need to be to respond to a fist fight. But then again, he really doesn't need to worry about being in a fist fight. Because Eliot's always managed to make it (mostly) in time.

But once every two or three weeks, when it seems like Nate hasn't drank quite as much, Eliot asks the other man to spar with him. And Nate humors him. Because even if he wasn't the mastermind, anyone with two brain cells to rub together who had seen Eliot and Nate fight would know Eliot could be incapacitated with flu and one arm and still take Nate down in a spar. But Eliot takes it easy on Nate - just enough to make sure the man can hold his own…until Eliot has time to make it to him.

Rook - Thief

The thing about Parker is that sometimes he can't necessarily get to where she is - at least, not as quickly as he can usually get to the others. That's the problem with her superpower - it's like she can walk through walls. And that's a problem, because it means he has to teach her more than the others. So he teaches her some mixed martial arts because he wants her to be prepared. Her flexibility and lightness of foot means she can get out of a situation fairly quickly, which he's told her multiple times should always be her first move. Yes, she's got deceptively great upper body strength from scaling buildings and suspending herself sans harness above yards of open air, but she's also light and small. Best case scenario is one good hit from a skilled hitter lays her out cold; worst case is it disorients her enough for them to get in a few more hits.

So he teaches her enough to get her opponent on the ground and then reminds her over and over to be the first one to strike - after he's reminded her to get out if she can. And even though she's Parker and it's hard to get her to take a lot of things seriously, she gets that look in her eyes like she did when they were in that deep, dark hole on that god-forsaken mountain thinking there was a chance (small, but there) they might not make it out of that hole. And he breathes a little easier knowing that she can escape and fight her way out…until Eliot breaks down whatever wall, door, or safe vault separating her from him.

Bishop - Hacker

He's the worst. Because the man can coordinate ten different systems, some of which are on federally protected servers, while drinking his disgusting orange soda, but it's impossible to hold his attention longer than five minutes on something that's not on a screen. He hates guns, but dammit, Hardison he almost wants to teach the man to use one properly if only it means a little bit of extra protection. Because the man is cocky and sure of himself until he's not. The few times he's permitted himself a real show of relief by hugging Alec have been times he's been legitimately afraid for his safety. Facing down Moreau while his friend was seconds from drowning had torn at every frayed nerve in his system.

Not that knowing how to punch would have helped him with that particular situation. Or the one where he was buried alive. Both times, it was the lead-in to the situation that screwed them - not Hardison's reaction to the situation. And that's the rub, really; anything Eliot teaches Hardison won't be much help because Hardison is always at his best when he's safely tucked away inside Lucille. Eliot just has to keep an extra few yards closer to Hardison than anyone else on the team on the few occasions they let him out of the van.

Knight - Hitter

They all have a role to play in their messed up little family, although his is confusing at times. Sophie and Nate are Mom and Dad; even before the sleeping together and dating thing happened. Hardison's the cock-sure younger-brother-slash-youngest-son: big mouth but brilliant and always in need of a little bit of protection. He wants to call Parker the sister-slash-daughter, but sometimes that twists his head a bit when he considers her relationship with Hardison; for the sake of examining the family dynamic of the team, he doesn't worry about the implications. But when he considers that Parker is like his younger sister sometimes, he has to laugh. After all, how often is the daughter underestimated because she's a girl, only to have it discovered she could probably beat up half the boys on the playground given half a chance?

And then there's him. To Parker and Hardison, he feels like the older brother, charged with protecting them from as much of the world as he can. To Nate, he almost feels like a younger brother or (despite Nate's words back at that first job) his best friend, which is strange - he can't be certain he's ever had one of those, and it seems just as important as family.

But his role in the family has never been complicated or confusing. It's his job to protect them. He's a hitter - the black Knight - protecting the other pieces on the board. Protecting the family.

A/N: I absolutely adore Eliot (and Christian Kane, but for different reasons). Despite his gruff 'you all annoy me' attitude, he's always there to take a hit for the team and I love how you can almost tell in the series when it changes from being about it being the job versus he would literally die for them because they're family. I feel like it kind of starts to show when you realize the team knows more about fighting because of Eliot. So I had to get this out :)