a/n Tag to The Gold Job.
…
Consequences of an Empty Vault
Hardison: That vault is almost always empty.
Eliot: So you knew it was empty? Hardison, I'm gonna tell you something and I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay? You ever pull this again, I'm gonna personally make sure you're off this team 'cause I'm going to break every bone in your body.
…
It was after the meeting and everyone else had left that Eliot approached the hacker, who was still high on the fact that Nate was letting him run the con.
He grabbed the back of Hardison's neck and yanked him around to face the hitter.
"I'm serious, Hardison. You ever send any of the team into somewhere that you know is a dead end for a job again, I will start with your fingers and work up, until you don't have a single unbroken bone. You got that?"
The taller man tried to pull back, staring in alarm at Eliot, whose expression was disarmingly calm. There were levels of Angry Eliot. Hardison and Parker had once made a chart and named them all. There was Basic Grumpy, Slightly Pissed, Punch in the Face, Snarling Violence, Slamming Folks into Tables and Walls (They had both figured that one was a little long, but it fit.), DOA, etc.
At the farthest end of the list was Apocalyptic, the look he was wearing right now. That was the level where anyone he came across knew that he didn't actually need to touch or hit, he could convey the fear of a guarantee that if they crossed him they would be in more pain then they'd felt in their whole life.
"So help me, you put any one of them needlessly into danger like that again, you will regret it for the rest of your goddamn life. Y'hear me?"
Hardison was well aware that if Nate or any of the others in the team had done something similar - sending a crew mate uselessly into somewhere that they could get caught - Eliot would be threatening them instead. But right now, the younger man was the one who had dropped Parker into the proverbial line of fire for no other reason than to prove how smart the hacker was. And their team's self-appointed protector would not let that slide.
Hardison nodded. "Okay, man. I promise. I didn't- Shit, man, I didn't think about it like that."
The grip Eliot had on the back of Hardison's neck grew momentarily tighter and was combined with a quick shake, before he released him. "Well next time, use that brain of yours and do think about it."
Then the hitter headed away leaving Hardison standing silently, shoulders slumped, head down, as he swore to himself he wouldn't make that mistake again.