Title: Alone
Word Count: 419
Rating: PG for a few cuss words and a little angst.
Fandom/Pairing: Leverage slash starring Eliot/Hardison, Nate, Sophie, and Parker.
Disclaimers/Warnings: Slight spoilers for "The San Lorenzo Job".
Author's Notes: Told from Eliot's POV.
Summary: Eliot contemplates how his life turned out the way it did. He doesn't get far by most people's standards but it's far enough for him.
I can't tell you when it started. I can't really even tell you why. One minute I was alone in the world and I liked it that way. Then they came into my life. Nate, Sophie, Parker. Hardison. They became family in the truest, weirdest, sense of the word. Especially Hardison. It's like I woke up one morning to the Earth no longer turning on its axis. When it kicked into gear again everything was different. Suddenly I was breaking all my own rules, rules that had kept me alive for years. I was part of a team. I was part of...whatever...me and Hardison are. I still don't know how it all happened but it works.
What I can tell you about, though, is when I first realized I trusted them. Him.
After we took Moreau down they all stuck close to me, as if they knew what it had taken to go back to my old ways. Sophie fixed me too many cups of tea. Parker kept bringing me stolen jewelry. Nate gave me free booze and stayed up with me when sleeping was out of the question. And Hardison? That guy actually crawled into bed with me when I did finally succumb. It's crazy how, when the nightmares did slip through, I'd wake up to him calling my name, telling me I was safe, that he'd protect me, and I'd automatically calm down. I didn't really believe he could protect me or anything. It was that I knew I wasn't alone anymore. It helped. And after a while, if I didn't push him away when he snuggled up against me, I'd be covered in long, lean heat, and I'd be comfortable. I know. The shit doesn't make any sense to me either but I got so used to feeling him next to me that I wanted him close all the time. In bed. Out. Then it got to the point where I wanted him, period.
Thing is, no one batted an eye the first time he kissed me in front of them. Nate coughed once awkwardly before congratulating us, Sophie turned her head respectfully even as she smiled, and Parker? That loon clapped liked it was Christmas. Hardison interrupted the kissing to laugh into my mouth, making me growl deep in my throat until he got back to it.
It became normal, you know? Me and Hardison, and Nate and Sophie and Parker. Our own version of normal. Dysfunctional as hell, but like I said, it works...
The End