Nate never treated him with the kind of father-knows-best attitude that he did for Hardison and Parker. And it's a good thing, too, since outside of the bedroom Eliot definitely didn't like to be told what to do.
But sometimes Nate would say something that made Eliot look at him a little different. Like when a con kept reminding Eliot of the last time he was held prisoner in a torture-happy country, not because there was actual danger, just because Eliot's fucked up mind couldn't stop looking at the kind of rope that was used or the type of car battery... Nate would put Sophie in, change things up, endanger the job for no reason. And Eliot would yell at him, but Nate would just give a stern look and say, "This is not up for debate, Eliot. Stay away from the mark."
And that would be that.
The same way when there was debate over whether Eliot needed a doctor. Nate would decide. Eliot would object. But ultimately he would do what Nate told him.
Before the team split up, when they were all pretending that they wouldn't ever get together again, Nate had slipped Eliot a note. "Be good," was all it said.
Eliot was sure now that Nate had known they would be a team again. And that Nate was instructing him to fight the good fight, stay on the noble side of things. And to not get so deep in the hitter headspace, so elbows-deep in single-minded violence, that he wouldn't be able to come back to them.
The second part of Nate's bossiest statements were always left unsaid. If it were honest, it would be: "Stay away from the mark ... so I don't have to see you hurting. Stay away from the mark for me." "See the doctor ... for me." "Be good. For me."
It's no wonder Eliot couldn't go against what Nate told him to do. It was always for a reason Eliot couldn't refuse.
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AN: Originally written for comment_fic, a multi-fandom prompt community on lj (livejournal)
Prompt was N/E, ---