AN - Not mine, I own nothing, if I did Eliot would never be clothed.
Feedback is life, please leave me some. Thanks.
"Jack are you sure this is the guy you want?" Hammond queried.
"Totally," was Jack's confident reply.
"Why?" Daniel asked, "the guy is a thief for hire!"
"He's a retrieval specialist Daniel and he's the best in the business." Jack answered.
"That's just a fancy way of saying he steals stuff, he just gets paid by someone else to steal it," Daniel countered.
"No, he gets paid to steal stuff back, stuff that has already been stolen," Jack countered as he paced around the room, "he has also negotiated some of the smoothest hostage exchanges in the last ten years and I have never, not once, seen him lose a fight, he could even take on Teal'c," he finished, slapping the large Jaffa on the shoulder, who said nothing but raise an eyebrow at the comment.
"Seriously Jack," Hammond continued, "there has to be someone else?"
"Sir," O'Neill sat back down beside the general, "this can't be official, no-one here can start asking questions or looking into it, we aren't meant to know they have it, as it is, we can't figure out where it is, this is what he does and lately he has the best team I've ever seen, a grifter that could steal my wallet any day, a geek that could almost rival Carter, an actual thief who can break almost any security system in the world and a guy who pulls off some of the craziest plans I've ever seen, and that's coming from me, the guy that sanctioned blowing up a sun!"
"But they are civilians, they don't have clearance," Hammond said with a sigh, "they can't know what it is they are stealing."
"That's why we need this guy and this team, these cons they've pulled off over the last few years, no-one they've conned is aware they've been conned unless the team want them to know also, this guy is ex-military, I've worked with him, he won't ask questions and even if he did find out what was going on, he'd never say anything, he knows the meaning of classified, trust me."
"Are you really sure Jack?" Hammond asked one more time.
"I'm sure," Jack replied confidently.
"Fine," Hammond relented, "Reach out to this, Eliot Spencer, but do it quietly, if he turns us down I don't want him to have any idea what he's turning down or to go after it himself, unsanctioned and sell it to the highest bidder."
"Yes sir," O'Neill replied and quickly headed to his office, time to reach out to an old friend.
"Dammit Hardison," Eliot yelled, "why haven't I killed you yet?"
"Cause you know I'm right," the hacker replied.
"In your dreams man," Eliot growled, "in your dreams."
"She was so not going home with you," Hardison laughed, "I really don't know why you are getting so bent out of shape."
"Keep it up if you want a broken..." the hitter stopped mid sentence, his eyes fixed on the door to McRory's and the tall, dark haired man who'd just entered.
Hardison followed his gaze and looked between the men more than a little confused. The confusion rose as the stranger walked towards them and Eliot stood up, straight and tall, almost as if he were coming to attention.
"At ease Spencer," the stranger said as he reached the table.
"Sorry Sir," he replied with a smile, moving from the booth to shake the man's hand.
"Erm..." Hardison said from his seat, waiting for Eliot to introduce the only man Hardison had ever seen that made Eliot shut up in a hurry.
"Hardison this is.." Eliot began.
"Can I talk to you in private?" the stranger interrupted.
"Yes Sir," Eliot replied, leading him to the back office now used by the team.
"Colonel O'Neill, nice to see you."
"You too Eliot or is it Kenneth Krane these days?"
"You saw that then?"
"Yep," Jack replied with a smile, "saw a video as well, you're not as bad as I remember."
"Well, we'd had a lot of whiskey that night if I recall."
"Yeah," Jack laughed at the memory, oh so long ago.
"So, what can I do for you?"
"Straight to business as always."
"Well, I guess since you didn't want me to introduce you to anyone that you want my help with something and since you know about the singing thing I guess you've been keeping tabs on me and know what I've been up to, so what do you need?"
"I can't give you all the details and what I do tell you is totally classified."
"Yes Sir," Eliot replied, the words, the sign of respect for his elder slipped out unconsciously.
"A device has been stolen from a secure facility, I need to get it back ASAP, but no-one can know the US military is involved in this in any way shape or form."
"Yes sir,"
"It's been taken by the Russian military and is being held in a facility just north of Moscow. I need it back."
"You have the specs of the plant?"
"No, just the location, you'll need to scope it out. It's imperative that no-one knows its missing, so you need to get in and out quickly, not be seen and leave this replica behind," O'Neill continued as he produced the crystal Sam had concocted in her lab and handed it over along with the address of the plant.
"I'm guessing I can't know why a crystal is so important?"
"I knew there was a reason I picked you for this," O'Neill replied with a smile, "We can't give you any support," he continued, "you are totally on your own, getting there, getting in, getting out and getting home."
"No problem,"
"Call me," he produced a card with only a number printed on it, no name, no air force logo, just a number, "when you get back, I'll come pick it up."
"Yes Sir,"
"And Eliot," Jack added as he was turning to leave, "use your team if you need to, but my connection, what you are getting etc, you must keep that to yourself."
"Yes Sir,"
"If anyone is compromised, the Russian's can't know you were working for me."
"Understood."
"Thanks Eliot," Jack said with a sigh, "I'll wait for your call," he shook the hitter's hand and walked out of McRory's.
"What was all that about?" Hardison asked as Eliot returned to the booth.
"I have a job and I need a little prep help, u in?"
"Sure, who's the client?"
"Can't tell you?"
"What's the job?"
"Retrieval."
"Of what?"
"Can't tell you."
"What can you tell me?"
"Pack warmly." Eliot finished, heading upstairs to gather the rest of the team.
TBC