Rating: Pg
Characters: Gen
Prompt/Prompter: Aftermath
Aftermath
Parker, it turns out, is actually the best at first aid. She didn't start out that way but somewhere along the line she picked up bits and pieces and finally got Eliot to teach her more. She can get over eager sometimes, and her habit of cooing to the wound she's stiching up is more than a little disconcerting, but she's learned to apply the precision she uses for lock picking and the care to avoid setting off alarms to treating wounds without adding to the pain.
Eliot still does first aid when he needs to. When Parker's the one whose hurt or there's more life threatening wounds involved. And he almost always insists on taking care of himself in private and emerging later dressed to hide the injuries even as he masks his own pain. No matter how battered he is, and he's always the worst off no matter how badly things go in any direction, Eliot still manages to drag himself up and around the kitchen enough to make them something to eat. The team's started to use his cooking to judge just how badly he actually is hurt.
The time they notice he's making cold cut sandwiches they force him to sit down and are dismayed, but not very surprised, when he almost passes out in the process of arguing with them.
After a job Hardison almost always has the most wrap up work to do and the longer the job the more work it meant for him after to make sure the loose ends were neatly tied up. But Hardison rarely slept while on a job so normally he'd tie off the few pressing things, sleep and relax for a day or more, and then go back to finish things off once he was no longer running purely on caffeine and adrenalin.
When a job went south though he didn't stop with the pressing details. After every narrow escape Hardison burned through all the details, not stopping until he was sure that the case was wrapped and they could all rest safe.
That was one of the few times when Nate was glad that Hardison had taken up working in his apartment. Eliot would be by regularly to make Hardison stop long enough to eat something. Sophie would come by with more soda or coffee, and Parker would provide distraction at random points to keep Hardison from completely burning out.
And when, inevitably Hardison fell asleep at his keyboard Nate would notice and carefully move the electronics away and nudge Hardison so he'd lie down on the couch. Nate would never mention it but when Hardison stopped muttering "night Nana" when Nate pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over the exhausted hacker and started muttering "Night Nate" he felt *something* he'd never thought he'd feel again after Sam died.
In the aftermath of a job gone badly Sophie tends to clash with herself. To an outsider it might seem like she was pulling away from the group, like the danger reminded her of why she always worked alone and now she's trying to protect herself. And maybe in a way she is. But the team understands she's still not sure how to deal with the fact she now has people to lose.
And she doesn't actually pull away, not really. She may not be seen around much and for a little while developes an almost Parker like ability to not be noticed but then she's giving Eliot a Tylenol and an ice pack when he was sure no one had noticed how much pain his most recent injuries had him in. Or there was a new bottle of Jone's Orange Soda by Hardison when a moment ago there'd been an empty one and Sophie was the only one who'd been in the kitchen recently.
And for a few days Nate never once had to make coffee and not because of a lack of consumption.
As a whole the team had a silent agreement to never mention it. They gave Sophie time to work through whatever went on in her head and enjoyed the gestures that they knew (even if she didn't) meant she'd always care.
For Nate the aftermath of a job gone south was the same as any other day.
Maybe he felt the need to drink a little stronger, and maybe it was a little harder to sleep.
But as always he'd track down Hardison (in Nate's apartment or in the hackers den he'd set up in the building) and check in for the night. He'd make sure the wrap up was coming along (or nudge the hacker toward getting a little sleep).
He'd call up Eliot to get the all clear after Eliot did his own nightly check on the team to make sure they were safe at home, and ask Eliot for a status report. It had taken months but Nate had finally gotten to the point where if Nate asked Eliot in private or over the phone Eliot would actually tell him how badly he was injured and if he could use a few days off to recuperate.
If Eliot said the lights at Sophie's had still been on during Eliot's check Nate would call her to check some meaningless detail and say without saying she could talk to him if she needed.
On his way upstairs Nate would unlock the window overlooking the back alley and then head off to bed. In the morning the window would be locked and Parker would be eating her fortune cookies at the kitchen table when he came down to breakfast.
The aftermath of a job gone south was just like any other day to Nate, but the day after, when the team regathered in his apartment to keep working through the aftermath or move onto the next job… that was the moment when he finally felt a little relief that they had gotten through this time too.
And for once he didn't feel like he needed a drink.