A/N: I'm currently writing another story (crossover between Leverage and White Collar), but I just had this idea in my head that I had to get out. This is just a short drabble about how Sophie thinks of each member of the team and how they've all adjusted to trusting each other. Reviews are greatly appreciated as well as thoughts/ideas/critiques- who knows? I may write more chapters from the others' points of view
Oh and I don't own Leverage or Sophie or anything like that. I hope you enjoy!
Sophie, like all the others at one point or another, had a family. Unlike all the others, she loved her family, but she got mixed up with the wrong crowd and decided to leave them behind because she knew they wouldn't accept her new career. She was never forced to steal- she chose her lifestyle. There was just something about how diamonds sparkled on a billionaire's yacht, how a stolen painting seemed all the more beautiful, and how stealing made her feel in control for a change.
She became the best grifter around and turned a lot of heads. She has read people extremely well since she was little and used it to her advantage. Nate, Hardison, Parker, and Eliot all knew exactly how valuable an asset she was. Little did the Leverage team know, she saw right through the barriers they've struggled to keep up for years…
Eliot
Eliot spent his life at a distance from others. The strange thing to Sophie was that he chose that kind of lifestyle. Aimee was his only exception and that didn't go so well, which put him back on his guard. He had a hard time trusting people, which Sophie could tell every time he said something like "this is why I work alone" or "you're the reason why I never had a team".
He grows his own food which proves he doesn't trust rich companies. He only sleeps 90 minutes a night which shows he doesn't think he is safe anywhere. Sophie has tried to use neurolinguistic programming to make him trust them all- and make her tea- but then realized that was defeating the purpose; she wanted him to know he could trust them, not be forced to.
Sophie has regretted every day the time they pulled the Second David Job. She knew he was beginning to trust everyone and she saw the hurt in his eyes the minute he realized the truth. His outburst of "you don't con your crew!" was when she finally understood that it wasn't only the others that needed adjusting to working together- she did just as much.
She sees Eliot as a very protective person- of himself and of the people he cares about. She thinks of him as a colleague, the big brother she never had, but mostly she thinks of him as the son she never had, the 'big brother' to Hardison and Parker.
Hardison
It doesn't even take mad grifting skills to come to the conclusion that Hardison spent most of his time alone. He makes constant TV references and his specialty takes a lot of free time to be as good as he is. Sophie and the others trust him completely with the briefings and to keep them all safe- whether they're dealing with a high-tech alarm system or giving them I.D.s and background stories.
It also doesn't take her skill set to realize that he's in love with Parker. Sophie smiles every time he's with her. Being in foster care can be a horrible experience and may be part of the reason why he works alone, but letting in his feelings for Parker proves that he is adjusting quite well to the team.
She definitely doesn't think of him like Eliot- in some ways a younger brother, geeky and hilariously childlike, but mostly another son. Her maternal side is definitely kicking in because of the way he, Eliot, and Parker act! Hardison is one of the youngest in the group and reminds them all every chance he gets. His eating and drinking habits are disgusting and he has a sarcastic attitude a good majority of the time they're on cons, but Sophie wouldn't have it any other way.
Parker
Everyone on the team knows she is a bit off, but Sophie sees more. From their first job together, Sophie has taken any chance she could get to observe her. Sophie knows that Parker grew up in foster care and had a horrible childhood. She knows that Parker was exposed to thieving from an extremely young age. She also knows that like Eliot, she keeps herself at a distance, but unlike Eliot it is because of her past.
Parker doesn't trust people; she doesn't know how to. Sophie isn't sure that Parker trusts them, either. She doesn't blame her though- it isn't Parker's fault that she grew up the way she did. She tries to teach her how to be normal and she knows that most of it goes over her head, but any time she says or does something relatively normal Sophie glows with pride.
Even though she doesn't realize that Hardison is in love with her or that she is in love with him, she will someday. Sophie can't believe how far she's come. Parker has had a hard time adjusting to getting close to people, but she has adjusted which is the most important.
Sophie now thinks of Parker as a colleague, a friend, a sister, but mostly a daughter. Like during the Juror #6 Job she taught- or tried to teach- Parker how to act normal. She pulled it off in her own Parker-ish way which was good enough for Sophie.
Nate
Where to begin? Nate is the man that has been in her life the longest. He has chased her, caught her, and lost her more times than she can count. She can't imagine a life without him. Thinking about him lead to thinking about herself and to leaving the team, which she still thinks was the biggest mistake of her life.
Nate is their leader. He always has an opinion, a con, an idea, a comment, a plan. He knows what to do and everyone trusts him completely- especially Sophie. She knows he never tries to intentionally hurt her and knows that he is trying to make up everything he has ever done to upset her. She- and everyone else- knows that she is in love with him. Paris was when it started and it has been growing a little every day. She knows he loves her too, but both are too stubborn to admit it.
She loves everything he does- the way he thinks over a con, the way he comforts the clients, the way he pretends to be angry at Eliot, Parker, and Hardison but really is amused and trying not to laugh. He loves all of them in a different way and wouldn't give them up for anything. They've become his family. Sophie knows that his father wasn't the 'World's Greatest Dad' like the coffee mug says, and he never talks about his mother, Sam, or Maggie but he is trusting her a lot more than usual. He tells her things that he wouldn't tell the others and she loves him for that as well.
The Team
She loves all of them. She loves the way they all laugh together, hang out together, and never get bored. It makes her days so much more interesting than when she worked alone and she knows they all feel the same way. Sophie has never worked with others before, but she is definitely starting to like it.