"Hold a knife like this, cuts through an onion. Hold a knife like this, cuts through like eight yakuza in four seconds. Screams, carnage… People are like knives, everything's in context." What is the story behind that statement from Eliot?
Warnings: there's some stuff that might upset people in here, mentions of child murder. Please, if you don't like it, don't read it. This isn't very cheery. Don't like, don't read.
This has been proof read, if anyone spots any mistakes, please let me know!
Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or any recognizable characters.
"Speaking in Japanese"
Chapter 1
Eliot was stuck in Japan. Which was just typical seeing as he'd just pissed of the yakuza. Fortunately, while he got his tickets sorted out, he'd got a job in a restaurant. Of course, there were some good things that had come out of his stay. He got out of his car.
"Mori," he called to the slender waitress who was busy locking up the front of her small house – surprisingly not in a high-rise building, but an actual house.
Morioko Sato turned and smiled at him. "You're late," she admonished him, putting a hand on his cheek and leaning up to kiss him.
"Sorry love, I ran into a little trouble. Ready to go?"
"Absolutely. It's absolute shit working on your birthday."
"Hey! So long as I get to see you and the kids. Where's Hitomi and Takashi anyway?"
"With my mother. We can pick them up later. Come on, let's go."
Morioko settled into the car beside Eliot, her bag at her feet. Eliot had met Morioko when he'd first come to Japan three months previously. The waitress had been working in a yakuza bar and he'd been there on business. He'd got talking with her and found out that the yakuza practically owned her life. They'd killed her husband two years previously, leaving her alone to raise her two children Hitomi and Takashi. They'd then called in a loan her husband had had with them and had Morioko working it off. Eliot had felt for the pretty young woman. So, a month ago, he'd got Morioko out, brought her to Tokyo and got her a job in a restaurant, taking a job there himself to keep an eye on her while he got tickets out of Japan. He'd found himself slowly falling for the sweet young woman and her adorable children. Hitomi had immediately attached herself to his leg when he'd met her and Takashi had followed his older sister pretty quickly. He had offered to take her and her kids back to the USA, keep them safe. She'd accepted, and was currently trying to earn a bit of money so she wouldn't be completely financially-dependant on him. After the mess with the yakuza, he could understand her wish, and respected it.
They pulled up at the restaurant and Eliot parked up as Morioko ran in. The small restaurant did a thriving trade and it was brilliant for the two of them. Eliot went in and hung his jacket up, stuffing the hat into a pocket, and pulling on his 'work' jacket, and a hat to keep his hair out of his face and the food. Morioko was out front, carefully setting tables. Eliot smiled at her when she came into the kitchen. They were quickly getting ready to open, staff appearing, chefs cooking and waiting staff talking about how they were going to split the restaurant up for serving.
Then opening time was there and they were swept under with an influx of people. Everything went into overdrive and Eliot grinned. He was an adrenaline junkie, he could admit it, and though he normally got his thrills in warzones and combat situations, a restaurant would do. He did have to work harder to control his instincts as people came up behind him or startled him, but the adrenaline was still there.
It was two hours later when Eliot took a break and found Morioko leant against the back wall where they all went to relax and take a break.
Eliot wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How're you doing Mori?"
"I'm fine," she told him firmly. "You?"
"Boiled. Absolutely boiled."
"That's what you get for working in a kitchen doofus."
Morioko pressed a kiss to his lips and he deepened it. His arm slid around her waist and pulled her closer. Her arms wound around his neck, holding his head gently. They broke apart for air and Eliot stared into Morioko's deep brown eyes.
"I love you," he murmured hesitantly.
They'd never spoken about love, Morioko had been hesitant about getting into a relationship, no matter how much her children had adored Eliot. For a moment she just stared at him, lips parted slightly, then she put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him back down to press a kiss to his lips, then wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his cheek.
"I love you too," she whispered into his ear. "And that terrifies me."
Eliot's arms tightened around her waist. "It scares me as well. But we can be scared together."
"I like that idea a lot…"
"I hate to break up these heart-warming confessions," one of the other chefs noted from where he was leant against the doorframe into the restaurant. "But Mori, your tables are needing you, and Eliot, we need you to cook."
"Alright," Eliot nodded, pressing another kiss to Morioko's forehead. "We'll talk more later huh?"
"Alright," Morioko agreed, already heading into the restaurant, Eliot hot on her heels.
It was hours later when the restaurant was shutting up. Morioko was clearing tables with the rest of the waiting staff while the chefs cleared up the kitchen. Eliot watched as Morioko deposited the last of the dishes in the pile for the busboys and leant against the bench, yawning and stretching out her neck.
"What a night," she smiled fondly at Eliot. "Ready to go?"
"Absolutely," Eliot agreed, pulling off his jacket and grinning as Morioko playfully snatched his hat. He grabbed it back off her and folded the stuff into his bag. "Night guys."
A chorus of goodnights followed them as they left, heading for Morioko's mother's flat in downtown Tokyo. Eliot looked over at Morioko as he drove. She was staring out of the window as they went, head back on the head rest behind her, an enigmatic smile on her face.
"Whatcha thinking babe?" Eliot asked her, reaching out and taking her hand. She squeezed his hand, and lifted it to press a kiss to the back of it.
"How lucky I am," Morioko replied gently. "To have such a wonderful man looking after me and my kids."
"I'm not that wonderful Mori."
"You are to me."
Eliot smiled at her, wondering how on earth he'd managed to catch this beautiful young woman who had this strange belief that he was her saviour. He knew he should tell her what he really did for a living, he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. They got to the apartment building and Eliot sprang out to open the passenger door. Morioko laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek.
"Come on," Eliot took her hand and led her into the apartment building. A door opened and one of the neighbours came out.
"Ah…Morioko," he sounded a little tense. "There was a disturbance up at your mother's apartment…"
Morioko didn't even wait till he was finished, she took off at a run, taking the stairs two at a time. Eliot ran after her, worried. He could take whoever was in that apartment, Morioko had no combat training. He caught up with her just before the apartment and pulled her back, noting that the door was slightly open.
"We don't know who's in there," he told her.
"My mother and my children," Morioko responded, tears streaming down her face. "Eliot…"
"Just let me go first…please?"
Morioko nodded and Eliot carefully slipped into the apartment, gesturing for Morioko to keep to the wall and stay quiet. They reached the living room and Morioko's control snapped at the sight of a small body curled up on the floor covered in blood.
"Hitomi!" she cried, lunging forward and cradling the body of her daughter tightly to her body, rocking back and forwards. "My beautiful little girl!"
Eliot saw the gun as it was pointed at Morioko and swore as it went off before he could get to Morioko or the gunner. He sprang at the body of his lover, cradling her into his arms as she gasped in pain.
"You're going to be fine," he told her, hating how his voice shook. "Everything's going to be OK, just take deep breaths, focus on me."
"I can't," Morioko croaked, pain evident in her eyes and voice. Eliot shifted her jacket to see that the bullet had pierced her chest just under her heart. "Hurtss…I…I wanted to come. I really did. I do love you. I do. I…I just…I don't think I can anymore."
"It's going to be fine Mori, everything's going to be fine."
"Look after Taka."
"You'll be able to do it yourself, I promise you."
"You can't."
Eliot could tell she was dying. She wasn't going to make it. He cradled her closer, rocking her and the blood-stained and definitely dead body of her daughter – his surrogate daughter.
"I love you so much Mori, I should've told you sooner. I'm sorry."
Morioko reached up and rested a hand on Eliot's cheek. He could feel blood on it, and didn't know whether it was hers or Hitomi's. Quite frankly he didn't care, either way was equally sickening to him, and he'd been in many more horrific situations.
"I…"
Whatever she'd been going to say remained a secret as a shudder wracked her lean frame and her eyes seemed to glaze over. Eliot snarled quietly, turning to face the eight men gathered in the other end of the lounge.
"I think we've broken him," the one holding the gun laughed.
"Don't be so sure," Eliot growled, rising to his feet. "You made a mistake coming after these guys. They're innocents."
"So? She shouldn't have defied us."
"Four seconds."
"For what?"
Eliot had confused him. Good. A feral smile stretched over the hitter's face.
"This," he stated, moving. The knife he'd tucked into the back of his jeans was whipped out, and spun to lie along his wrist. He kicked the first guy's feet out from underneath him, knife slicing through another guy's throats.
Four seconds later, the eight men were lying in a pool of blood and Eliot was shifting Morioko and Hitomi off the floor and onto the sofa so that they wouldn't be sullied by these men's blood. Next he moved over to the door into what was Takashi's room when he stayed here and knocked.
"Go away!" came the voice of Morioko's mother Katsumi Sato. (Morioko had returned to her maiden name after Eliot had helped her disappear).
"It's me!" Eliot called back. "Are you two alright?"
"We're fine. You and Morioko?"
"Um…just…just, give me a minute. Are my clothes still in…?"
"The drawer in Morioko's room yes."
"Thanks."
Eliot quickly changed out of his bloodstained clothes, and removed the blood from his skin. Then he went back and slipped into Takashi's room. The toddler lunged at him and buried his head into his stomach.
"Hey kidda…" Eliot murmured, stroking his head.
"Morioko?" Katsumi asked.
"I'm sorry…I couldn't do anything…she's…she's dead."
Takashi looked up at Eliot, eyes confused. "What mean?"
Eliot knelt down so that he was eye to eye with the young boy. "I'm so sorry. Your mom…she's…she's…"
He didn't get any further because he burst into tears at that point. Katsumi moved forward and swept both boys into her arms.
"What do we need to do?" she asked quietly. "We have to get justice."
Eliot managed to gain some semblance of control. "There is justice. I…I just sort of…"
Katsumi looked at him confused and then went to look out the door. Eliot stopped her.
"It's a bloodbath out there, not much of it's theirs. Most of it's the guys who came here…"
Katsumi looked upset. "What do we do?"
Eliot frowned quietly, realizing that despite being upset, Takashi had fallen asleep in his arms. "Here's what we do. You're going to call the police, tell the truth. Except I need you to say that I'm just a friend of Morioko's, here to make sure she got here safely. You can't say who I am. I need you to not drop me in it. Please Katsumi, I loved Mori, I couldn't let them escape justice, or kill you guys. After this whole mess blows over, we're going to…we're all going to America. I can look after you two better there. Please?"
Katsumi nodded. "Are you leaving?"
"Yes. I have some stuff to take care of alright? I'll call you OK?"
"Look after yourself Eliot."
"I'm not going far, I'll be back, I promise."
There is more, slightly less depressing stuff if you want it. I might post it, I dunno. Give me a shout with what you think…