My Name Is No One

Disclaimer: I own no part of Leverage or its characters and I made no money from it.

Eliot's thoughts on his past jobs and why he preferred to work alone.

I'm the shadow that lurks in every corner, watching and waiting. Patient and silent until the time is right to strike my enemy. No one knows me by name, only by my reputation.

You see, I'm a world class mercenary. I carefully nurtured my reputation through years of back breaking grunt work, taking assignments that no one else wanted. I've worked in conditions that would make an ordinary person question his sanity.

In higher circles I'm known as "the silent enforcer." Lethal and deadly, I'm a force that even Mother Nature would give pause to. I give no quarter to my adversaries and no one my back because to do so would be committing suicide.

At first glance I may seem like I'm nothing but a big blowhard, trying to toot my own horn. Let me reassure you, that's not who I am. In my line of work an attitude like that will get you cut down in a heartbeat. It takes a clear head and a steady hand if you want to make it out alive.

Being able to predict your mark's next move by following their body language has proven useful a time or two. I see it in their eyes a scant second before they go for their weapon of choice; usually a gun. How predictable. Disarming them isn't usually a problem if you remain in control of the situation. Never let your guard down for even an instant and never, ever let them see you sweat.

I always work alone. A lot of the jobs I take on are more suited to the lifestyle of a lone wolf. It's simpler that way. I can stay focused on my objective without worrying if my partner will get us caught.

There's also the possibility that your partner in crime will stab you in the back. That happened to me once in China. My partner and I were sent in to retrieve an object that had been stolen from a private collection. Our client, a man of considerable wealth, wanted it back and was willing to pay any price.

I'm not a greedy bastard; I just wanted enough to cover expenses and a little down time in sunny Mexico. But Jer, my so called back stabbing, former ex- partner wanted it all. It seems he had some very large gambling debts and the people holding the markers were starting to get a little nervous. So he decided to sacrifice our lucrative business venture to bail his ass out. He made the switch and stole away like a thief in the night, while I was busy fighting off some unwanted advances. I wonder what went through his mind when he discovered he'd been had. Should have never crossed me, that one. I may look dumb, but I know a double cross when I see it.

I deal mostly in artifacts, collectables that can be easily smuggled through customs without raising any red flags. Small and portable works for me. It cuts down on the risk factor if I'm detained by some zealous inspector looking for a promotion. My paperwork is always in order, as is my cover. I just hand them my fake credentials and they wave me off with a smile pasted on their face and I'm good to go.

There have been many times when I thought about retiring and going legit, but when I tried to picture myself in that line of work, I just shake my head and laugh. No nine to five for me, working in some high-rise and busting my chops for scraps. That just isn't my style.

But still, I feel like lately there's something missing in my life. The jobs have become predictable and boring. Let's face it, there's only so many collectable baseball cards you can retrieve, so many monkey's you can hijack. My life has become increasingly stagnant and I'm seriously thinking about throwing in the towel.

I want to go out on a high note, let everyone know I was the best damn retrieval expert there ever was. I'm thinking about signing on for a job in Chi-town. It sounds simple enough. Slip in, retrieve some stolen airplane designs, and make a cool three hundred grand in the process. I'll be working with a whiz team on this own. Naturally I'm a little leery, but a lot of it sounds pretty high tech. And since I barely know enough to log in and check my emails, it would make sense to bring in an expert.

The guy doing all the computer wizardry is supposed to be a genius and the mastermind is someone I've run across a time or two in my career. But it's the other one that has me scratching my head. Parker's her name and she's crazier than a loon. I've never actually met her, but other people I've talked to haven't been so lucky. They say she has no fear whatsoever when it comes to what she does. Straight out, balls to the wall lunacy and a flagrant disregard for her safety. I just hope she doesn't screw this job up for the rest of us. I've got some big plans for my share of the take. And I won't take kindly to having it go up in a ball of flames.

To tell the truth, I'm actually looking forward to this job in Chicago. What could possibly go wrong anyway?