Until the End

Summary: During the Maltese Falcon Job, Eliot takes the bullets meant for Nate. How does this affect the end of the mission? Nate x Eliot FRIENDSHIP

Rating: T

Author: Memories of Nobody

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage, sadly.

Spoilers: The Season Finale of Season 2

"Eliot!"

It was so simple. All they had to do was trap Kadjic in the control room. Hardison slammed the door shut, and Nate was working on the other one. Kadjick growled, pulled out his gun, and fired three shots off. Before Nate could fully shut the metal door, Eliot pushed him aside and closed it for him. The older man heard the familiar click and Kadjick's angry screams.

Nate sighed, well that could have went better.

In accordance to Sophie's plan, the team was exiting the ship and on their way to the escape helicopter, when Nate noticed there was only four running. He quickly looked around.

Eliot.

He was lying about fifty feet back on the cold, hard, concrete ground. Unmoving. Nate spun around, doing a complete 180 degree turn. The brunette grifer took in her friend's distress and followed suit.

"Oh my God, Eliot!" she gasped, clearly alarmed.

At that, Hardison and Parker's paces slowed as they turned to see their fallen comrade, their faces fell. The hacker slowly walked toward the small group, feeling sick to his stomach. The thief on the other hand, ran full speed towards Eliot, fear fueling her muscles.

"This isn't happening." Hardison kept repeating, over and over again. "This is so not happening."

Nate dropped to the ground and carefully turned the retrieval specialist over unto his back. Some of Eliot's long hair stuck in the drying blood on this forehead, his eyes unfocused. "Hey, Eliot. Come on!" Nate whispered frantically. They only had ten minutes until Sterling would be showing up. They had to get Eliot on that helicopter right now!

Parker's widened.

Nate looked at the other man's shirt, and his blood ran cold.

Blood. So much blood.

The blond thief gingerly unbuttoned the plaid flannel shirt, Eliot hissed when she pulled the fabric away from the wound. When the shirt lay open, she could see that there were not one, but two bullet wounds decorating the hitter's abdomen. One was towards the side on the left and the other was located on the right at the bottom of the ribcage. Kadjick had managed to do what so few had accomplish, shoot Eliot Spencer.

Nathan Ford's mind was racing.

"If you want to walk away, walk away." Nathan snapped at the man standing to his right.

Eliot narrowed his eyes. "I'm not walking away, that's not my job. My job is to get your back, and Nate, I'm going to do it. All the way down."

Nate stared at the retrieval specialist, who in turn returned the favor with the same intensity and stubbornness. The team mastermind closed his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. There was a gentle breeze that managed to toss Eliot's long brown hair, giving him an even more determined look. There was absolutely no chance of arguing with this man. Looking into Eliot's clear azure eyes, Nate knew he had lost.

"Eliot, I need you to keep your eyes open." Sophie said in a stern voice, trying to mask her fear. "Can you do that?"

The hitter did not say anything. Normally he was used to the constant beatings and injuries. But no one had managed to shoot him twice. Once, but never twice. He slowing nodded instead.

Sophie smiled a bit. "Ok, we need to get to the chopper."

Hardison, by this time, gathered his composure and was ready to help. The sight of his best friend lying motionless on the ground had unnerved him. He was used to Eliot always getting back up to protect them from the next bad guy. This time Eliot didn't.

Parker walked next to the three men incase Eliot slipped. She wasn't one to normally make physical contact with people, but she gently squeezed the specialist's hand. Hardison looked at her funny.

"I saw it on TV." She stated. "I thought it would help."

Hardison nodded. Parker was just trying to help, in the only way she knew how.

It felt like a lifetime, but they finally made it to the helicopter. Eliot gave a slight groan as he was loaded onto the aircraft. Parker jumped in first to help ease him in. Then she gave Sophie, Nate and Hardison a hand. Nate grabbed the controls with Hardison on co-pilot. The chopper had just taken off as Sterling came running into view.

They were far out of his reach.

"Just a few minutes Eliot." Hardison announced. "Hang in there man."

Nate looked back for a second. "How's he doing Sophie?"

Eliot lay with his head propped up in Sophie's lap. Beads of sweat lined his brow and his breathing was slow. His once clear blue eyes were cloudy. Meanwhile Parker was trying to staunch the bleeding as best as she could, it wouldn't matter if they didn't get Eliot to a hospital soon.

"Told you, Nate." The hitter rasped, the words coming out in painful gasps. "I would get your back. All the way." he finished and passed out, finally succumbing to the pull of unconsciousness.

Nate only pushed the helicopter to fly faster.

Fin

Just something I thought of while watching the finale on Wednesday. What Eliot said to Nate in the beginning made me think that Eliot would do absolutely anything to protect Nate in the end.

So I typed this up instead of studying for math.

--MoN