Tag to The Boost Job.

… …

The Car's the Thing

Before the job with Penzer and Josie, Eliot, Parker and Hardison had never realized they had a common interest in cars.

The thief was still mildly sorry she had put the team in danger. Add to that how it was her fault Eliot had been hit by a car and ended up in the river, and she was trying to figure out how to apologize.

Hardison suggested they take one of Eliot's cars and fine tune it, make sure it was running the best it could, in as close to perfect condition as possible.

Of course, the blonde wasn't good about letting people know when she had "borrowed" something, and the 2012 Ford Mustang GT was no exception.

When he went to grab it two days later to pick up some groceries, Eliot was furious about the apparent theft. He used the lojack he'd installed in all his cars to find it. And he remained seriously pissed until he showed up at the garage they'd also "borrowed" and found them diligently working, Hardison inside fiddling with something on the dash, chatting about the specs of the system, while Parker was under the hood, responding with a few nods, along with the occasional "mm-hmm" and "yeah" that meant she was almost, sort of listening.

The hitter took in the picture his friends made and was still fairly angry. But he had spent enough time with them to get why they were doing this.

So he shucked off his jacket and button up, and joined Parker.

"Whatchya workin' on?"

Startled, the thief jumped and spun, eyes wide. There was a momentary pause wherein she was clearly searching his face for signs that he was still holding a grudge about the whole messed-up-the-con-and-got-Eliot-totally-run-over- and-almost-drowned thing. But there was nothing except the same vaguely annoyed quirk of the eyebrows and downturned mouth that meant you've-done-something-stupid-and-I-ain't-happy- about-it-but-it's-not-a-huge-deal. That pretty much went hand-in-hand with his there's-something-wrong-with-you look, and she was used to that.

So she scooted over to let him study her work.

He chuckled. "Not bad. I'm thinkin' about putting in cold air intakes. You know anything about that?"

Parker's response was an infectiously childlike grin, and he couldn't help returning it with a grudging smile of his own.

Which was when Hardison popped out of the car and flinched back. "Uh, hey man. Yeah, we were gonna tell you about, you know, pimpin' out your ride here, but we kinda got started and we just didn't-"

Stopping the geek before he got lost in his normal, pointless babble, Eliot raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, just don't do it again. Or I'll break that new computer of yours that you keep cooin' at like it's some kinda baby."

This time, it was a full on cringe, and Hardison shook his head in disbelief. "Come on, man, that's just cruel. That thing has a dual processor that runs at-"

"Hardison." He cut him short. "I don't care. And do me a favor, don't ever say anything about 'pimping out' a Mustang again. Got it?"

"Sure, whatever, dude."

Eliot and Parker exchanged a glance, the classic why-do-we-put-up-with-him-again? one, then Eliot sighed. "Hardison, get up here so you can learn a little more about an actual engine. Seriously, it's not all about calculations and nitrous, man."

It took Nate a week to track them down when he found a new client, and by then they had started rebuilding a 1969 Charger.

…

a/n If anyone's wondering why there are so many descriptions-using-slashes, it's because I picture Parker thinking in similar terms.

So, I'm rewatching all the tv shows I own, and just got back around to Leverage. No promises how soon I'll have another chapter, but this fic will probably never end. *wink* Love you all!