Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse, Leverage or anything else you may recognize
So, this story is a series now. And it has going to have some fun stuff on it. Thank you to Marcus S. Lazarus for the series title.
For Angel, this is between 3x11 and 3x12, and for Leverage, its between 5x10 and 5x11.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the idea and his help with it.
Enjoy.
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel
"Good to see you all again, guys", Angel greeted the Leverage crew happily while Cordelia, Wesley, Lorne, Fred and Gunn stood near him.
"You too", Nate nodded back at him, before noticing Lorne, Fred and Gunn. "I believe we haven't met."
"I'm Fred", Fred gave a wave.
"Charles Gunn", Gunn introduced himself.
"Name's Lorne, but you can call me the Host", Lorne said with raised hands and a little smile.
"Heard he runs a nightclub for both humans and Demons", Eliot told Nate, Sophie and Hardison. "And it's a hit."
"Impressive", Sophie nodded at him.
"It was a hit", Lorne said sadly. "Then it got blown up. And the favor I use to run the temporary one is running out."
"We're sorry to hear that", Nate said in sympathy.
"Anyways, how have you guys been?" Angel asked out of curiosity.
"Nothing much, just stopped a biological terrorist attack a while ago", Eliot shrugged, gesturing to himself, Parker and Hardison. "The three of us that is."
"And I'm hoping never to get into something like that again", Hardison commented, making Parker elbow him naughtily.
"We had an incident with a painting", Nate said, Sophie sighing. "And Sterling."
"That former colleague of Nate you all hate?" Cordelia asked, getting nods in response. "Yikes!"
"I hope it's a while before we see him again", Sophie hoped, before turning to Angel. "So, why did you call us all?"
"Its for a favor, hope none of you mind", Angel said, leading all of them up the stairs.
"You are our friends, we don't mind", Hardison assured Angel.
"That is good to hear", Wesley noted, as Angel opened a door to a room above, revealing a crib inside, a baby on it.
"Awww, he's so cute!" Parker ran to the baby, lifting him and cooing over him, while he opened his eyes to look up at her. "Hey baby! I'm Parker, I'm a thief, and when you start walking on two legs, you can be too-"
"I think that's enough", Angel gently took the baby from Parker, rocking him, while he looked at her. "Still appreciated though."
Cordelia made a coughing noise, knowing Angel was saying that just to keep Parker happy.
"So, whose baby is that?" Eliot inquired.
Angel looked at all of them.
"Mine."
All of them had looks of shock.
"Yours?" Sophie looked at Angel. "But, aren't you a-"
"…..Yeah", Angel confirmed.
"So how did that happen?" Hardison wonder.
"It was due to a prophecy and the Powers That Be from what we gather", Wesley explained to the group. "Two Vampires had a child, and this is the child."
"Who's the mom?" Parker asked randomly, causing Angel to look down sadly.
Cordelia wasn't Darla's biggest fan after Darla had attempted to kill her, but she knew what she was to Angel, and to prevent his pain at her loss from rising to the surface, she gave a simple answer. "Not in the picture anymore."
"What's his name?" Hardison asked with a smile.
"Connor", Angel told his baby's name. "His name is Connor."
Nate looked at how Angel was rocking Connor, reminded of when he used to do this to his own son when he was a baby, and looked away, wiping at his eyes.
"We called you because there are many parties who want Connor, both human and Demon", Wesley now explained. "Due to what he is, too many have an interest in him, and not of the good kind."
"Poor kid. Can't even talk or walk and already got enemies", Eliot growled, sad for Connor that he'd been born into such a world, and already people wanted him dead or probably cut open.
"So, you want us to make a security system to protect the kid, right?" Nate asked the team while recovering himself.
"That'd be it, yes", Lorne told them. "You can put cameras too if you want, even if last time someone put cameras here didn't go well."
"Because those were our enemies, you are our friends", Fred started rambling. "And while there'd be magic involved, technology would still be a good protector, because it will help us know anything first-"
"And then it'd be easy to do something about it", Hardison picked up. "All it takes is-"
"-a press of a button", both Fred and Hardison said together, then realized what had happened, while everyone else was giving them strange looks, causing them to stop.
Nate broke the awkward silence. "It won't be an issue, we can do it."
"Thank you guys", Angel said gratefully, putting baby Connor back into his crib.
"Now", Eliot gestured to the door. "Out, all of you."
"Wait, what?" Gunn asked.
"You heard him", Parker folded her arms.
"Why is that?" Angel asked, confused.
"Because we got this", Hardison assured him.
"This is our thing", Sophie added, gesturing to the door again. "Now, now, go on."
"Not a fan of that but whatever", Cordelia shrugged.
"Thing is", Nate explained. "Your enemies, like Wolfram and Hart, they would know how you all think. We are an outside source, even Wolfram and Hart have encountered us only once, not on a weekly basis like they do with all of you. Our different way of thinking and expertise will catch all of your enemies off-guard."
Team Angel shared a look, before Angel looked back at Team Leverage. "Makes sense. I trust all of you."
With that, Team Angel walked out, and now it was time for the Leverage crew to do their thing.
Eliot was pacing around, while Hardison sat, working on his laptop, with Sophie sitting next to him, Parker playing peek-a-boo with baby Connor, as Nate stood at the center of the room.
"So, this place does not have much security, Angel and his team won't be here all the time, people can sneak inside easily. That's the normal stuff. Now, for supernatural-"
"Teleportation", Eliot spoke up. "That's the number one move."
"Correct", Nate nodded. "As well as trying to get the baby out via magical means without ever stepping in, and I know other things that can be done."
"Any normal stuff I've got handled", Hardison raised a hand. "But the magic stuff? That's just crazy y'all! Not my thing."
"We know Hardison", Eliot said, causing Hardison to chuckle.
"Here's the plan", Nate finally started talking of the plan. "Hardison, do your thing, no holds barred. While Demons with magic would go after him, they did say a gangster wanted him too, so your security is needed at its best."
"Consider it done", Hardison started working on his laptop already.
"Eliot, you said this Axtius guy's magician friend had trapped Angel between runes, right?" Nate asked, just to be sure.
"Yeah, that's what I heard", Eliot nodded.
"You know any runes?" Nate inquired.
"Not as good as that one, but I know some stuff, can do the work", Eliot confirmed.
"Brilliant", Nate turned to Sophie. "Sophie, get involved with the local warlock scene. I'm sure one of them would know something about a protection spell or item."
"This is going to be a new kind of grift", Sophie said, walking past Nate and out of the room to start preparing herself.
"And whatever Sophie gets, we'll have to take it, no matter who has it", Nate turned to Parker, who turned from baby Connor to him. "That's where you come in."
"Can't wait", Parker said excitedly.
Later, temporary Caritas
Sophie had makeup on her face, with colored eye-lenses, resembling a female Oden-Tal Demon that had escaped the Dimension and settled on Earth.
It hadn't been hard for her to blend in, just different, as these were Demons.
"And then, I chased him down and broke his legs!" One Demon in a hoodie boasted to the rest, causing them all to laugh.
"Very impressive", Sophie commented, causing him and the rest to turn to her. "You took initiative, and showed him."
"Yeah, you get it!" The Demon cheered happily.
"Anyways, are there any warlocks here?" Sophie looked around, the Demons now conversing with her, meaning they would answer her more easily. "I am looking for one, for a little favor."
"No warlocks here", another Demon told her. "Some of them are having a party and meetup of their own."
"Is it?" Sophie turned to that Demon. "And where would that be?"
Hyperion Hotel, same time
Hardison finished installing another camera, turning to see Cordelia looking at him. "One of the many, as well as motion sensors, and lasers. All connected to Angel's phone."
"Umm, bad idea", Cordelia told him.
"What, the cameras, sensors and lasers?" Hardison asked, looking offended.
"Oh no, not that, connecting it to only Angel's phone", Cordelia explained. "Boy is slow on the technology uptake."
"Hey!" Angel's voice came.
"Its true!" Cordelia called back to him, before telling Hardison. "Just connect it to all of our phones, and then it'd be perfect."
"Sure thing", Hardison assured her, walking back up.
"Much appreciated", Cordelia called out to him, Hardison giving a thumbs-up as he went back to Connor's room, the lasers deactivated for now, as they had to be activated only when Connor was alone in there.
He noticed Eliot painting an anti-magic rune on the wall, which would go invisible when it was done, as Hardison said. "Ya know, that looks like a-"
"No, it looks like a mountain!" Eliot protested.
"Umm, no it does not", Hardison shook his head. "It really does-"
"It does not!"
"You know, it actually does", Parker said with a wince. "Finish it before the baby sees."
"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot snapped, making Parker and Hardison both chuckle, while he finished the rune, which went invisible immediately.
"What does it do anyway?" Parker inquired, while Eliot started painting a security circle around the sleeping Connor's crib.
"Prevents any outside teleportation, and if a magician does manage to get in, they won't be able to do their mojo in here", Eliot finished making the circle. "And this will shield him while freezing any would-be snatcher, corporeal or incorporeal."
Sophie was at the warlock party, chatting up one who was slightly drunk. "What do you want it for again?"
"Very important merchandise", Sophie whispered to him. "And if I get it, the giver shall be rewarded handsomely."
"Nothing!" The warlock ranted angrily. "I have nothing! I should have everything!"
"That's too bad", Sophie turned to walk away, towards a different warlock.
"But I know a lot!"
Sophie stopped, turning back to him. "Like what?"
"There is something that you could use. Its from the Legerdomain itself!" The warlock revealed, Sophie's eyes widening, as Eliot and Parker had told her about it when talking about the battle against the Coalition.
"What would that be?" Sophie asked.
"A stone totem", he revealed. "It turns into a sentry dog against an intruder. Strong, tough, loyal and repairs itself if destroyed."
"That sounds very workable", Sophie smiled at the warlock, walking closer to him. "Where can I find it?"
"A human has it!" He ranted. "Measly humans! Why does a human have the good things? Especially one who hoards and collects and doesn't give?"
"Which measly human would that be?"
"Derek! In that shop! Tricks and Illusions! Can never get through that place!" The warlock told her everything.
Well, now Sophie knew what they had to get, and also where to get it.
"Thank you for your help, it is much appreciated", Sophie turned and walked out, waiting until she was out of eyesight to take out her phone, dialling Nate, who picked up. "Nate, I believe I've found what we're looking for."
And then she began explaining it to him.
Hyperion Hotel
Nate listened to everything, before looking at Eliot, Parker and Hardison.
"Let's go steal a rock."
"Just what I was waiting for", Parker said excitedly.
Later
Eliot, Parker and Sophie stopped in a car outside 'Tricks and Illusions', Eliot finishing up a magical tattoo on Parker's arm that would make her incognito to surveillance, though she was groaning. "This tattoo makes it too easy and takes the fun away!"
"It doesn't last too long", Eliot told her. "So save the whining, you'll be back to your catchable self in half an hour."
"Pfft! Me, catchable." Parker scoffed at the impossible notion.
The shop was closed right now, and getting out, Parker got to the side, a bag on her back, as she leapt onto a pole, grabbing onto it while climbing up swiftly with her skills, then flipping and landing on the top of the shop.
Taking out some kind of glue, Parker put it on a part of the roof, then backed off, before pressing a button, the part of the roof now melting away, leaving a gap in its place. Parker happily tied the wire, and leapt down, stopping at the right height from the ground, before she straightened herself and freed herself from the wire, leaving it hanging, before looking around at the shop.
No alarm had been raised.
Parker saw some things on racks, and some within cases. "No, too easy for anyone. It can't be here."
She walked around the shop, finding more items on racks or in cases, as well as books at the desk of Derek, but none of them could be it.
That moment, she noticed something. A bookcase. And it did not seem to be full, so Parker found it strange Derek kept any books at his desk when he could just put them all in the shelf.
Approaching the bookcase, Parker said. "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door." She pushed her hands towards the bookcase, and they went "through" the illusion. Next moment, she was in another room.
"Yay!" Parker knew this place had to be it, as she started looking around again. "What did it look like again, Sophie?"
She found what looked like a mirror but didn't reflect anything, and a sword in a case, and many more things.
"It's a rock, and it has purple markings on it. They glow."
Parker was looking here and there, and as Sophie finished the description, she found exactly that. "There it is." It was a stone idol, just a little bigger than a marble.
Lifting it off the shelf, Parker examined it, only to hear something behind her. Turning, she saw two Vampires, both wearing collars and growling at her, while the bookcase illusion she had walked through turned into fire.
"Uh-oh!"
"What's the matter, Parker?" Eliot asked from the car.
"Vampires, and the bookcase illusion I walked through turned into fire."
"So much for doing this quietly", Eliot got out of the van, charging through the glass door at the front, shattering it.
"Seems like discretion is out of the window now", Sophie muttered.
Eliot was inside the shop, and looking around, saw a Wizard's cloak hanging on the rack, which he took, using it to cover himself.
With that, Eliot charged through, the Wizard's cloak protecting him from the fire, as he tackled both of the Vampires, sending them down.
Getting up, he took the cloak off. "Parker!" He tossed it to her, and she grabbed it, using it to cover herself.
"Go!"
She nodded, running past the two Vamps that were trying to get up, through the fire, out of the room, the cloak protecting her.
The Vamps got up, growling at Eliot.
One Vamp tried to strike but Eliot blocked and decked its abdomen, sending it back, then blocked the other one's blow and in a spin motion, punched it away.
The previous one tried to kick but Eliot blocked again, then ducked to avoid the other one's kick, and as they tried to strike, he blocked both of their blows before flipping them to the ground at the same time.
A third Vamp suddenly appeared, throwing Eliot into some of the magical artefacts. All three then approached him, when Eliot got up, looking up at the display above him.
It was a long piece of crafted wood. A wand, a wooden wand.
He grabbed it and pointed at the middle Vamp, as a red light shone at the end, before a bolt shot out and hit it, turning the Vamp to dust. Eliot and the Vamps looked at it in shock, before he turned to the Vamp on his left, rushing him, and shot a blast of lighting that left nothing but ash.
The third one managed to grab Eliot and push him into the wall, trying to bite him if not for Eliot holding him back, but the wand was held against his chest. Eliot headbutted the Vamp and kicked it away, bringing up the wand to blast him, but the light fizzled out.
"Seriously?!"
The Vamp regained its bearings and charged again, but Eliot rushes forward himself, using the wand to stab the heart. With a groan, the Demon turned to dust at his feet. With the threat dealt with, Eliot examines the powerless object with a scrunched-up brow, before bringing it up to sniff it, and recoiling in disgust.
"Stored magic?" He scoffs and tossed it to the ground. "Cheapskate."
More growling was heard, as Eliot saw four more collared Vamps appear behind him, and two by the flaming door. Looking around him, Eliot saw a flask with a red liquid, so he grabbed it, and smashed it to the ground, making a large cloud of red smoke fill the room, the Vamps covering their eyes.
The two by the flaming door were then tackled through the fire, Eliot using their bodies to shield him from most the flames, and he rolled over them into the front while they flailed from the burning.
Eliot got up, trying to extinguish the flames, before he was hit with a fire extinguisher, courtesy of Parker. She kept blasting him before he was waving at her to stop, "I'm fine! It's out!"
Parker didn't stop, so Eliot reached out and grabbed the nozzle, a very ticked off face staring at her, but she smiled innocently.
"Saved your life."
Eliot grunted, the Vampires behind the flaming door still growling, so they ran back to the van, Parker having gotten her rope back.
"Get in!" Sophie said at the wheel, as the other two sat in, and off they went to the Hyperion.
Later, Hyperion Hotel
"And now all of these features would active based on where Connor is right now", Hardison told the whole Team Angel.
Meanwhile, Eliot put a little baby bracelet on Connor that he'd procured. It was made from a safe, baby-proof, chewable material that would protect against evil spirits and the like. Hardison had added his touches to it, the monitor now tracking the wearer and setting off other security features in the hotel depending upon the situation.
The stone totem was kept in a corner, ready to be the last line of defense if all else failed.
Leverage The Team Soundtrack plays
"So now, all of its done", Nate told Team Angel. "You have motion sensors, lasers, cameras, a baby bracelet, runes, and a guard dog. Your baby is the safest baby in the world."
"I can't thank you guys enough", Angel said gratefully, looking at each and every member of Team Leverage. "What you did for me and my son, its…"
"That's what friends are for", Eliot assured Angel, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"It goes both ways", Angel assured him back as well, the two sharing a smile.
"So our Connor is the safest baby ever, I can live with that, great job guys, the greatest", Cordelia gave a double thumbs-up to the Leverage crew herself.
"A job done perfectly is a job done perfectly", Lorne commented, looking at the sleeping baby, who suddenly woke up, making a fussing sound.
Before Angel could get to him, Sophie got Connor instead, managing to soothe him easily.
"You seem to be a natural at it", Fred noted.
"I've had plenty of practice looking after whining children," Sophie said as she looked at the "children" of the Leverage team.
Nate looked at Sophie rocking Connor, reminded of when Maggie used to rock their son. Sophie noted his expression and gave Connor to him, Nate looking at the baby with a smile as he rocked him, Sophie patting his back in comfort, which Nate appreciated.
When he was done, Nate put baby Connor back down.
Then Parker did her thing. "Can we take the baby for future jobs?"
An echoing "No!" sounded through the hotel from the voices of both teams. She still tries to make her case, "Please! A baby would be the ultimate distraction!"
"No!"
"Aw come on!"
At that moment, Hardison gave Eliot a smirk, to his confusion. "What?"
"Bet you and Mikel could make some cute babies."
"I am not having this conversation!" Eliot walked away.
But Hardison was right behind him. "Your eyes, her good looks, oh I could eat him up just thinking about it. I'd be Uncle Hardison-no wait, Uncle Hardy! No, Godfather Hardy! I could help him make his first computer, code his own virus, introduce him to the best versions of The Doctor, and you know I'll be teaching my boy how to hack the CIA."
"Dammit Hardison!"
"You better not be using that language in front of my godchild."
"And there they go again", Sophie commented, as laughter rang out through the entire hotel.
This was fun. Baby Connor is the safest baby in the world.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the idea and help again.
Hope all enjoyed and see you next time with some other update.