The Rewind Job, Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or any of the characters, regretfully.
Disclaimer #2: I cannot guarantee that the next chapters will come as quickly, but I wanted to get a little more of the story out there.
Recap:
What? You weren't satisfied when you nearly got me killed in Dublin?" The retrieval specialist grumbled, shifting his weight and giving the pipe an agitated wave. "Just stay away from me," he ordered as he braced his ribs with his right arm, then muttered, "I have to get out of here."
The light finally clicked on for Nathan Ford, his breath catching. The man standing before him was not the hitter he had been working with for the past three years, the man he'd been joking with just this morning. This was the Eliot Spencer he had known and chased years earlier, a very different and very dangerous Eliot Spencer.
Chapter 2
Eliot blinked rapidly trying to clear the blood from his eye. Nate Ford was crafty and in his current condition, the hitter knew he couldn't take any chances. In his current state, he doubted he could fight his way out of a wet paper bag, which wasn't a good feeling for a man with as many enemies as he had. His head was killing him, his vision was blurry, and he'd already vomited twice. These symptoms, along with the voices he'd been hearing in his head, were all sure signs of at least a moderate concussion or maybe a worse injury. He'd never heard voices with a concussion before. Even Ford's voice seemed to echo through his skull whenever the IYS agent spoke. Eliot needed to get out of here, so he could figure out what was going on. He had no idea what had happened to him, what job he had been working, or even what country he was currently in. He jumped, furiously swatting at his right ear with the heel of his right hand as a high pitched, accented, "Nate, what's going on? Did you find him?" assaulted him, causing the pounding in his head to spike. Nausea washed over him again, and he closed his eyes, swallowing convulsively.
"Sophi, not now," Nate whispered, his concern for his former adversary, now friend, increasing. He reached up, moving slowly when he saw Eliot's eyes snap back open to watch him, taking the coms out of his ear and holding it out to show the hitter. "Check your ear," he instructed, motioning toward Eliot.
Switching the pipe he still held into his left hand, Spencer reached up, frowning in confusion as he found the ear bud and removed it, then schooled his face into a mask of indifference as he studied the small device.
"Are you ok, Sparky?" Parker questioned, realizing something was not right with Eliot.
"No…," Eliot started, then hesitated. The blonde with Ford looked vaguely familiar, but Eliot's jumbled mind couldn't quite place her. "I'm confu…" the mask slipped a bit, before an angry scowl replaced it. "My head hurts," he growled irritably.
Nate wanted to roll his eyes as the stoic retrieval specialist refused to admit that he was confused, although he obviously was. He hoped he could get through to the hitter because he knew from past experience that he couldn't force Eliot to cooperate with him, even in his current state. He tried his best to reason with the injured man as a logical adversary, as Eliot didn't seem to recognize him as a trusted friend. "Look, Spencer, I know that things are a little out of sorts right now and you may not trust me…"
"Of course he trusts you, Nate," Parker interrupted, only to be silenced by Ford's stern look.
"But you need to listen to me," he began again. "The men who did this to you are still here and they'll be recovered soon enough. We need to get out of here." Nate held up his hands when Eliot started to protest. "You've said it before, I could never take you in, could never hold you against your will. That's still true. And, I don't want to take you in. I just want to get us all out of here. I know…I know you don't understand, but I need you to try and trust me. I can get you out of here and I don't see that you have any better options right now. You won't get very far on your own." Nate held his breath while waiting on the hitter's response.
Eliot contemplated for a few long seconds before fixing Nate with a glare. Despite his lack of trust in the agent, he knew his only other option was to try to get away on his own and lay low until he could recover. Disdain evident in his voice, he ground out, "If I go with you it's on my terms. You're not taking me in…and I'm free to go whenever I want. You double cross me, it'll be the last thing you every do."
"Fair enough," Nate replied with obvious relief. "You need some help?" He asked as the hitter stumbled forward a step. "Okay…okay…" he answered, backing away with his hands up as Eliot stiffened.