Chapter Twenty-Nine

It had taken a great deal but he had managed completely on his own that morning, including shaving without a single nick.
As much as he appreciated Nate he wanted normalcy, well at least what their normal had been, and he'd be damned if he didn't get a semblance of that back.

They were outback on the patio, Eliot with his leg propped up icing his foot, talking security.

They had made many an enemy between 'em and those weren't even counting the ones the team had as a whole, not to mention the nearly forgotten or the others who had a tendency to just appear.

Right now they were out in the open, an easy target for anyone that wanted their chance at an injured Eliot, but that was also the brilliance of it.

A classic "Eliot Spencer" move would be going under ground. Staying in a secluded safe house until he had recovered.
No one would suspect the house between Grandma and Grandpa and the newlyweds, not when they had rocks to overturn.

"You're not eating."

It had nothing to do with their current conversation and it threw Eliot off. He didn't see where it fit but that was probably Nate's intention. "There's no food." He'd play it dumb for now.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." He had noticed it a few days ago and watching Eliot pick at his plate that morning only confirmed it. He had expected the change in muscle mass knowing how true the if you don't use it you lose it rule was but the weight loss was another thing. It wasn't anything too drastic but it was definitely noticeable.

Eliot just shrugged.
He knew what Nate was talking about but he didn't see why, it really wasn't a big deal.

"You can't just not eat." He had a feeling that was supposed to be the end of things but he wouldn't be dismissed so easily. "It's not healthy and..."

"NATE! You're not a therapist!
Just because I didn't eat Hardison's powdered eggs does not mean you can start preachin' to me like a teenage girl with an eatin' disorder!
A few missed meals does not mean I'm not eatin'."

"You would tell me though right?" He knows Nate's guilt trippin' and it ain't gonna work. "You wouldn't keep it from me if you weren't feeling well would ya?"

"I'm not gonna start complainin' over every little ache just because." Nate was looking as expectant as a doctor who had just caught you in a lie and it had him wanting to leave.

"So you aren't doing well?" It wasn't a question though because they both knew the answer.

"Why do you ask when you know I wont answer?" Nate just kept a calm confidence as he switched the now melting ice pack from Eliot's foot to his knee.
"What do you want to hear?
Damn Nate, I've got headaches; sometimes they make me nauseous.
You happy now?
It ain't that big of a deal."

"It isn't that small of a deal either and it sure isn't complaining Eliot, I'm going to make an appointment for you."

"I hit my head, they ain't migraines and I ain't gonna be bitchin' to some doctor Nate. We're going over there Friday and that's good enough, I didn't ask for a day nurse and I don't need you trying to play one." It angered him to no end the shift in equality their relationship had taken and he wanted it fixed.

"Too bad.
I've got nothing else to do, ...you're it." Nate shrugged off Eliot's annoyance. He knew that he wouldn't get to have an experience like this again, not with Eliot as open as lately and he was going to take advantage.

"You're an ass." There was no arguing against it, Nate had declared him the newest challenge and the man wouldn't stop until the puzzle was solved.

"So you've said." He had heard it so many times it had become a form of endearment, well at least that's how he chose to interpret it.

"You think that we'll make it back to Boston by the end of next week?" He had been coming and going as he wished for nearly twenty years, only a handful of times had he been stuck somewhere and he hadn't liked it then and he certainly didn't now.

"Maybe," It wasn't what Eliot wanted to hear but it was the most he was willing to offer right now. "we'll see how things go and find out when Sophie's coming back but it shouldn't be long.

"And when we get back?" Eliot scooted his legs over on the pull-out for Nate, who had just moved from his own chair, to sit.

"We'll figure it from there," Nate put an arm over Eliot's legs to balance his weight on the chair as he leaned forward some. "in another few weeks you should be up an-"

"I wasn't talking about work." Though he understood why Nate assumed so. They were men that essentially lived to work, they thrived from the challenge, loved the hunt.

"Oh?" There were only two situations he could think of that would need attention once they got back and since Eliot just said work wasn't it, ...well he was wary.

"What are we doing?"

"Care to elaborate?" It'd been asked as easily as what you'd want for dinner and he was having a hard time reading if that ease was practiced or sincere.

"We've been living together for nearly a month now and..."

"...and you're used to living on your own." Nate picked up as he caught glimpse of the path where things were headed. "Eliot I know you'll go back to your apartment once we get to Boston. This was special circumstances and I wasn't expecting anything to come from it, you need your space and it's understandable."

"Like I was saying," He'd ignore what Nate said, it had been completely off. "we've been living together for nearly a month now and I figured after that splitting ta two different houses would be a step backward."

"What are you saying?" What Eliot thought of that question was more than obvious but he answered anyway.

"That maybe I like having your ugly mug be the first thing I see every mornin'." That was probably the closest he'd get to telling Nate that he wanted more than to spend the night a few times a week.

"You want to move in with me?" It was a pleasant surprise seeing as he thought Eliot had wanted to distance himself.

"NO," With the way the crew treated Nate's place you'd find more privacy in Grand Central Station and that was not something he wanted part of. "but I was thinking of getting a new place and just maybe, if you wanted... it could be ours."

"I don't know Eliot." He waited until he caught the slightest bit of self doubt. "I might miss Parkers random visits." Eliot didn't look amused though so he scrapped the thought and moved on. "So you're serious about us getting a place of our own? About living with me everyday without break or reprieve?"

"Well when you put it like that," Eliot rolled his eyes as he smacked Nate's arm the slightest. "I wouldn't have asked if I hadn't already thought it through... and the change wont be that much. Before all of this we were already spending nearly twenty hours a day together. Instead of playin' house lets just do it."

"Playing house?" In no way would he have expected Eliot to describe their actions as such.
Eliot did tend to cook and clean when he'd come over though, not that he'd be stupid enough to say that aloud.

"Well?" The only thing he'd change about Nate would be this.
He was a forward man, simple questions, simple answers.
Nate? The man questioned the questions.

"Lets do it." It was a commitment that he would willingly make after all the doubt he had in himself and their relationship over the past few weeks.

"Lets do it." He nodded his head as Nate kissed him lightly.
It was something he wanted as much as he needed to do.
Too many things were coming up and he needed to connect himself to Nate as much as possible before he was pushed too far.
He knew from experience that even now if given the chance he'd go, he'd leave if things became too much, it was what he had always done.

"Are you alright?" Eliot had gone distant on him, his expression alone said he wasn't exactly in the here and now.

"I don't want to go this time." He was fighting himself not to, had been for months now.

Another question that he should probably ask, another that he knew he wouldn't. "I wont let you." Instead he laid out next to Eliot, Eliot moving over to make room.

"You better not." He wanted to believe it but couldn't, he was and would always be his own worst enemy.

"You're my challenge remember?" He moved his hand to Eliot's hair but stopped the subconscious action remembering how Eliot felt about it.

"Forever together." Eliot near whispered as he gazed into eyes that looked in the least excited.

"That's the plan." He ignored the voice telling him to make a backup plan and the even louder one telling him that all backup plans needed backup plans.
Eliot was a fighter and he was made to strategize, between them and the determination they got once they put their minds to something they'd surely manage.

"There ain't a plan M is there?" Serious could just as well be his middle name but when it came to his personal life he could only do small doses before he needed to stop. It was either stop or he'd start withdrawing.

"You that fond of Hardison?" He questioned jokingly as he stared at the pool that was now reflecting sunlight.

Eliot just laughed and Nate eventually found himself tracing over the bright pink scars on his wrist. "Hitters aren't supposed to have identifying marks, not the ones that want to stay in the business." He had chased quite a few and a decent scar was considered as bad as a tattoo, it branded you and made you that much easier to find.

"It'll fade," He cared more about the cramps he got in that hand than any superficial mark. Years of abusing his joints and it was an obvious that arthritis would be in his future he just hoped that this accident didn't make it immediate. "besides who says I want to stay in the business?"

"Are you trying to say I need to start looking for a new hitter?"

"I'm not a hitter anymore." Nate's look was quizzical as he continued a mix of taps and twirls with his fingers across his forearm.
Nate wasn't a touchy person but Eliot had noticed since his last return that whenever they had a minute to themselves Nate's fingers would find some bare skin to dance across. "I've got a crew now and I've got no interest in goin' solo again. We're a team."

"I..." it wasn't so much the words as the way they were said. Eliot claimed to be straight forward and he usually was but when it came to his emotions you had to learn to read between the lines.

"Me too." He got what Nate was trying to say but when it came to those words and all joking and jabbing was put to the side they struggled. He'd use actions instead because it was his way of saying what he couldn't express but it let Nate know that he was doing his best.

There was no battle in this kiss, no reason to try to fight or overpower.
No need to control or submit, they knew their spots, had accepted them and were clear in them.
This kiss was like that first declaration of love when they split back in November, bittersweet.
It soon trailed off into a multitude of slower lazier ones as Nate tried to travel toward his neck but Eliot wasn't having it as he pulled that mouth back to his.
Nate was looking for payback, had promised it and there was no way he would let himself be marked willingly.

"Ya'll NA-ST-Y!" Hardison quickly moved his hand to cover Parker's all too curious eyes. He had not been expecting this when they walked out the backdoor.

Eliot just ignored Hardison's dramatics and to Alec's surprise Nate flicked him off, gave him the bird and kept on like he wasn't even there.

"Seriously? YOU. ARE. IN. THE. YARD."

"GO AWAY" Nate stressed as he pulled away from Eliot. He thought giving Hardison the finger spoke loud and clear how he felt about his opinions and presence and the moment but he obviously hadn't received the message.

"I live here too," Hardison huffed as he sat on one of the patio chairs, Parker having lost interest had moved to dangle her feet in the pool. "and ya'll should have gotten a room."

"We had one!" Eliot waved his hand over what had just been a private area.

"This ain't no room." Any roommate knew that common rooms were off limits for personal use and that included the outdoors, it was like an honor code.

"It's my damn house!" Nate's "check" and Hardison's grumbling only added to the victory.

"You know what?" Hardison stood. "I ain't liking this." He motioned his finger between the two of them. "The whole tag teamin' thing and being all hostile, it don't work for ya.
It's all them built up emotions making you angry cause you don't know how to ex-"

"Go away" Eliot interrupted, no way was he giving Hardison the chance to play shrink.

"Anger will get you nowhere."

"I beg to differ." His gaze was hard and cold and thankfully sent Hardison to sit next to Parker.
He knew Hardison was good with their relationship, he only grumbled about it to get under his skin, the same way he did when he joked about his hair.

"Where were we?" Nate leaned back in but he just shook his head, he wasn't comfortable with the situation anymore.

"Eliot ignore them." He knew Eliot liked his privacy but times like this had him wondering if it wasn't something more.
Eliot had said he didn't give a shit what others thought but Nate suspected he was still worried about his image, not about being perceived as gay but about queuing others into a weakness.
In their world you kept what was dear to you quiet unless you wanted someone to use it against you.
But there was no danger here and he wouldn't be embarrassed for wanting to spend time with his boyfriend during what was supposed to be their vacation.

"Nate stop." Nate's hand had slipped under his shirt and he wasn't finding his current actions appropriate, not for being outside and not for the audience they could possibly have.

"Why?" He heard the words but Eliot wasn't physically pushing him away so he continued on. The tiny little section between the pulse point and the adamsapple was a hotspot for Eliot and Nate took full advantage of that knowledge.

"I don't know." He smirked as he felt the hum of those words against his lips. "Come 'ere" Nate was looking far too content with having gotten his way and he was going to do something about it, especially when he was being a tease on top of it.

They had just gotten back to where they had been.
He was near positive Eliot was darkening the bruise that had just started to lighten on his neck and his hands were treating Eliot's torso like his own personal playground.
He was just about to ask if Eliot would indeed like to get a room when Hardison opened his big good for nothin' mouth. "I don't know what ya'll are doing but I just thought I'd remind you of the little ol' lady that likes to stand on her porch. The same porch that overlooks YOUR yard, the same one she'll probably have a heart attack on!"

Eliot pulled away immediately and Nate groaned as he glared at the back of his Hackers head.
Eliot stood carefully, pushing away hands that were trying to help as he began the journey toward the house.

The man was nearly forty feet away, hadn't even been paying any attention in their direction and still he had easily become their kill joy.

He had been enjoying his day.
He'd come out here with Eliot early that morning to get rid of the video game noises that had been traveling down the vent.
Hadn't said a word to Parker's constant pounding of a tennis ball against the wall yet Hardison had the nerve to interrupt them not once but twice.

He stretched out on the pull-out as he glanced at the door.
He'd go check on Eliot in a minute but right now he was going to weigh his options and what the consequences would be if he decided to drown Hardison.

A/N: Now that was fun!
A raise of hands for who else wants to kill Hardison, LOL
We've got some fun stuff coming up in the next few chapters, including some more sexy times (uninterrupted sexy times may I add) but after that things will start getting steep. Thanks for reading!