Eliot wilted into his mattress, enjoying the plush feel on his back after what had been a challenging week. The jobs Nate had chosen for them had been tough mentally and physically, and he was grateful to finally have a tiny sliver of time just for himself. He stretched out and put his hands behind his head, closing his eyes as the peace and quiet of his cabin enveloped him. Mere minutes later he started to drift off.
Buzz, buzz...
The unobtrusive vibrations woke the hitter instantly even with the ringer off. Sighing angrily, he sat up and brushed the hair out of his face. Ninety freaking minutes a day was all that he asked, and most days it seemed like even that was asking too much.
Buzz, buzz…
He fished the device out of his pocket and checked the caller ID.
It was Nate. Calling him on his day off. Of course.
Buzz, buzz...
His gut instinct was to ignore the call, but against his better judgment he flipped it open anyway. He didn't even bother attempting a pleasant voice when he answered. "Yeah?"
"Hey, is everything alright?"
Eliot paused, his brows furrowing. "Yeah, why the hell wouldn't it be?"
"You don't usually call on your day off," Nate replied.
"What are you talking about? I didn't call." The hitter's instincts started to scream at him. Something wasn't right.
The mastermind sounded confused. "Wait, what?"
Before Eliot could answer the rapping of automatic gunfire filled the speaker, echoed in the background by the sound of shattering of glass. He yelled over the noise. "Nate!"
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the gunfire continued. Eliot's training kicked in and he focused on the sound, quickly identifying the weapon as the same type that Moreau's sniper had used when he was trying to take out Vector. A list of possible assailants started to form in his mind.
Suddenly the phone went quiet. Eliot paused for a few moments before speaking cautiously. "Are you there?"
Silence.
He pulled the phone away just long enough to check if the call was still connected. Seeing that it was, he put the device back to his ear.
Fear crept up on him as he tried again. "Talk to me, Nate..."
A different male voice came over the speaker. "Hello, Spencer."
Eliot froze in an instant, his hands starting to tremble as he recognized who exactly was on the other end of the line. The caller took the hitter's silence as a cue to continue.
"Nate is, shall we say, unavailable at the moment," he said. "Shall I take a message?"
It took all of Eliot's willpower to keep his voice from shaking. "Moreau...what the hell have you done?!"
Laughter filled the speaker before his former boss answered. "Come on Spencer, you know how the game is played. You took something from me, now I took something from you. And at fourteen to one, in all honesty you're still ahead. So far."
Eliot was paralyzed as he realized that his worst nightmare just became a sick reality, and he hadn't even seen it coming. He couldn't bring himself to speak.
"So, tell me..." Moreau lowered his voice to a whisper, venom dripping from each word that came next. "How does it feel?"
Click.
Notes: I wrote this a few years ago and shelved it when life got busy, but after reading a few other great fics I decided to dust it off and polish it. Many thanks to schrijverr for taking the time to beta it and providing all kinds of great suggestions, you really added a lot to the story. I hope you guys enjoy it :)