I don't own Leverage or any of the characters within, except for those of my own creation. I write for fun and not for profit. I don't write slash.

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Chapter 7

Eliot caught up with Hardison in the hallway, and steered the young man into the room he used as both library and office, closing and locking the door behind them. Guiding the younger man to a chair, he didn't miss the way Hardison grasped the arms of said chair when he sat, as though they were a lifeline. Moving over behind his desk, Eliot reached into one of the cabinets behind him and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of something. He opened the bottle and poured two fingers of an amber liquid into each glass, and then slid one across the desk to Hardison.

Hardison tossed the drink back, ignoring the fire in his throat, and set the glass on the table harder than he meant to do so. Still watching him, Eliot reached out and refilled the glass. He tossed it back once more, and Eliot refilled it again. This time, Eliot only refilled the glass halfway. While he could sympathize with the younger man not wanting to be entirely sober when he did this, he also knew that being drunk during something like this often caused more problems than it solved.

He needn't have worried. Hardison didn't even touch the third glass. There was a moment's silence, then they spoke at the same time.

"Why did you call Nate?" Hardison asked, at the same time Eliot said, "Talk to me, Hardison." They fell silent at the same time, and then Eliot tried again.

"Talk to me, Hardison. What's going on?"

"Why does it have to be Nate?" Eliot heard the embarrassment in the other man's voice, and the insecurity. He gazed appraisingly at Hardison for a moment, and then spoke softly, asking, "Who would you rather it be? Doc? Someone you don't know?"

He shook his head. "No. I'd rather not have to do it at all."

"I know, but I can tell you from experience that you don't want to live with the nightmares either."'

"No, but Nate? Man, he hypnotized me without even telling me."

"And if he had never told you afterwards, what would you be thinking right now?"

"I don't know. I guess I would think it was just me—that I remembered how to play. I'd like to think that I would know something was off with that—I mean, how many people remember how to play the violin ten years later, without a day of practice in the interim? But, with no reason to think otherwise..."

"And if Nate had told you before the concert, how do you think it would've affected your performance?"

Hardison didn't answer, and Eliot knew he was thinking about the question. As much as he didn't want to, Hardison had to admit that knowing he had been hypnotized, he would probably have become over confident about his performance. He wouldn't have been nervous at all, and some amount of nervousness was necessary to ensure a good performance. Hell, he probably wouldn't even have halfway tried to play, knowing it was a sure thing. Then another thought occurred to him. Was it his fault that Nate had chosen to hypnotize him? As the mastermind, it was Nate's job to know his team, including their flaws. Eliot kept telling him that he went too big when he tried to grift. Nate had told him once, not in so many words, that the bravado he projected during jobs for the team, the same thing that led to the overconfidence that made him oversell his grifter bits, was a character flaw that might one day result in the death of his team, or at least put them all in danger, as it had done on at least one occasion so far. That bravado was an attempt on his part to cover a deeply seated insecurity—a feeling of inadequacy that had plagued him since the team was formed—that he would never be good enough to belong to this team. Now, for the first time, it occurred to him that Nate might have known that, and seen the need to ensure the success of the job, by making sure his hacker could do what was asked of him, without embarrassing himself or the team or blowing their covers. When he thought about it that way, he could understand why the mastermind did what he did, and he couldn't really bring himself to be angry with him or hurt. Hardison hadn't understood until now what Nate had meant when he had said it was his job, as the mastermind, to push whatever buttons he needed to push to get his team to do what needed to be done. Maybe he had been a bit off base when he told Nate that hypnosis was what one did to a mark, not to a member of their own team. This would require further thought, and maybe even an apology. He wasn't inclined to say any of that to Eliot, though he knew it was probably written all over his face, so he simply said, "Oh."

"Come on, man. Nate uses things and people as he has to, to get the job done. You know that. He's a lot like Vance in that respect. That doesn't mean he can't be trusted, to a degree, at least. He knows you're hurting and he wants to help, and unless you want Doc to do it, I don't know anybody else to ask. Besides, there's something else different about this time as opposed to last time."

"What's that?"

"Parker and I. We'll be right there. I've already spoken to Nate, and unless I'm very much mistaken, Parker is speaking to him right now, making our expectations of his behavior clear to him."

"Really?"

"Really. Now come on, let's get this over with, huh?" At Hardison's nod, Eliot rose and moved back around his desk, holding out a hand to Hardison and pulling him to his feet. The hand Eliot used to help Hardison stand then snaked up around the younger man's neck, and Eliot guided him back down the hall toward the living room. When they reached the door, Hardison stopped before going in, and looked at Eliot desperately.

"What is it, Hardison?"

"Does everyone have to be there while this is going on?" he asked, in a small voice. "The whole team?"

"No. All anyone wants is to support you, but if you don't want us there, all you need to do is say so."

"You've been through this before. I'd like you there. But not Parker or Sophie. I don't want them to hear this. Wi-will y-you tell them?"

Eliot put a hand on Hardison's shoulder. "I'll take care of it." With that, Eliot pushed the door to the living room open, and escorted Hardison inside. He led him over to the sofa and sat him down next to Parker, seating himself on the man's other side. Looking around the room, he said, "Parker, Sophie, may I see you in the hallway?" The two women rose and accompanied him out there, waiting expectantly for him to begin. He took a deep breath. "I don't think Hardison will want an audience while this is going on. He's asked me to sit in because this whole thing has him pretty rattled, and he knows I've been through it before." Eliot paused, looking to see how they would react to the news. They seemed okay. "He'll need your help for the next part of this."

"Where do you want us to wait?" Parker asked with a sigh.

"Actually, I was sort of thinking you might rather get away for awhile. I know you've been cooped up here longer than you usually allow yourself to stay in one place. Maybe you and Sophie could go shopping for a while, or go to a movie—just get away for a bit—and since no one's probably gonna wanna cook when this is over, you might bring dinner back for the rest of us."

"All right. We'll see you in…," Sophie paused and looked at her watch, then interrupted herself to ask another question, "Do you think two hours is long enough?"

"You should probably make it three."

"All right. We'll see you in three hours then." Sophie steered Parker out the door, not giving the young blonde much of a chance to protest, thoughts of shopping on her mind.

Eliot saw the girls safely out of his home and down the road until they disappeared out of sight, then he turned and made his way back into his living room, where he took a seat in the chair next to Nate's, across from Hardison, who sat on the sofa. He walked in soundlessly, unsure of where they'd be in the process, and was mildly surprised to find they hadn't started yet. Instead, they seemed to be having a staring contest.

"Are we ready to begin?" Eliot asked quietly, and at the sound of his voice, they each seemed to come back to themselves. Nate nodded once, in answer to Eliot's question, while Hardison swallowed hard and remained silent, still staring at Nate. Nate cleared his throat.

"Before we get started, Hardison, I want to let you know that I would probably feel a little strange about this, too, if I was in your position. Maybe I made a mistake when I hypnotized you for a job, without telling you, but you are family, and I want to do what I can to help you now." He broke off as he saw Hardison hold up a hand in a clear gesture that he wanted to say something.

"Forget it, Nate. I've recently started to rethink what you did and why, and I don't think you had a choice. I trust you. It's okay. Let's just get this done."

"All right. Close your eyes." Nate's voice was soft and soothing, almost playful. "I'm going to count down from ten to one, and when I reach one, you'll be totally relaxed. Ten...relax. Nine..,you're relaxing a bit more. Eight...a bit more. Seven. Six...more. Five...more. Four. Three. When I reach one, you'll be so relaxed your body will go limp. Two." He watched the younger man visibly relax as he spoke. "One...totally and completely relaxed." The hacker's body went limp, and Eliot thought for a moment that he was going to fall out of his chair, but he didn't.

"Now, I want you to remember back to the day you were placed in the coffin by Javier. You will view it as you would a film, seeing every item in detail. You will be able to zoom in on any part of the scene you wish to examine more closely, but none of it can hurt you. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now I want you to describe the scene to me. Start with the time before, when you are in Darlene's office."

"We were standing in Darlene's office, and she showed us the money. I saw one of her sons, Emory, I think, getting the last of the money out of the fireplace, where they had hidden it, and then she placed it in a blue duffel bag and asked us for the names. We were in the process of exchanging names for money when Javier showed up. He told Darlene he didn't plan to pay for the names. When he pulled a gun, she and her sons ran away with the list. Javier asked us for another copy of the list, and said he would take some collateral to ensure we came back. I didn't know what he meant by collateral. Then, a phone rang. When I opened my eyes, it was to total darkness. I must've been asleep because it woke me up. I heard Javier's voice on the other end of the line, and I asked him where I was. He told me to see for myself. I used the phone's light to look around, and realized I was in a coffin. The walls started closing in around me, and it got really hot, and I couldn't breathe." Hardison's voice was starting to grow panicked. He sounded like he was going to hyperventilate.

"No. Noooooooo," he screamed. Hardison's face was red, and his breathing was shallow. It continued to grow more shallow. Eliot reached out and put two fingers on his wrist, counting out his pulse. It was racing. Eliot knew if this continued, the young man would start to hyperventilate. He debated calling it off then and there, and trying something else. If reliving the experience is THAT traumatic for the young man, maybe it isn't a good idea to force the issue. Suddenly, Hardison leaned forward and vomited all over the floor in front of his chair.

Eliot glanced at Nate, and Nate glanced back. They were making more progress than they had before, and neither man wanted to stop, but they wondered if the benefit of this was worth the cost of remembering for their friend.

"I don't want to DIE," Hardison screamed, staring at something neither of them could see, then he sank back in his chair and went limp. A moment later, he opened his eyes, and a look of confusion crossed his face.

"Nate? Eliot? Where are we?'

"We're in my living room, Hardison," Eliot said carefully, moving around to sit next to his friend, and placing a hand on his shoulder. "What do you remember?"

Hardison ducked his head in embarrassment and said, "I just had the worst dream. I was back in that coffin, still buried underground, and I was sure I was going to die." Hardison knew that Eliot wasn't an overly affectionate person, and he felt like a child for taking comfort in the hand the other man rested on his shoulder, but he couldn't help it.

Eliot and Nate exchanged glances, and Hardison said, "It wasn't a dream. I was being...hypnotized." He turned his head, looking anywhere but at the two men in the room with him. He wondered if he closed his eyes and thought about it hard enough, if he might be able to actually wish himself onto some tropical island somewhere, with a cold drink and a hot girl, preferably Parker, sitting next to him. Deciding to try it, he closed his eyes, and wished with all his might. A moment later, when he opened his eyes, he was unsurprised but slightly disappointed to find himself still in Eliot's living room.

Eliot and Nate were both watching him carefully. "We didn't finish. Can you tell me what happened after you found out you were in the coffin?"

Hardison shook his head. "You know the rest, anyway."

"I'd like to hear it from your perspective."

"I can't,'' he said emphatically, eyes still haunted.

"You can -" Nate started, but Eliot silenced him with a look.

"How are you feeling?" Eliot asked quietly.

"I don't know how to answer that."

"Whether you believe it or not, we are making progress, Hardison. We'll sort this out." He turned to Nate. "The girls should be back soon. It's almost dinnertime. There's plenty of room if you and Sophie would like to stay the night."

Nate thought for a moment, and then nodded. It was good to have everyone back together again, after a while apart. "Thank you, Eliot."

"Did you bring it?" Eliot asked, and Nate nodded again. Turning back to Hardison, Eliot said, "I asked Nate to bring the laptop you keep at headquarters. I want you to spend some time in meditation, and then you can use the laptop until supper time. You need a break."

Hardison nodded a silent thanks, and then said, "What's next, Eliot?"

"Let's just wait and see, okay?" Hardison nodded again, but he didn't look happy about not knowing. The truth was, Eliot hadn't decided what the next steps would be. With a few quick words of reassurance, Eliot sent his friend off to the training room to meditate and settled in to talk to Nate.