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theron09Title: Knowledge
Fandom: Leverage
Characters/Pairings: OT3-ish (Parker, Hardison, Eliot)
Summary: Parker goes on a bit of a learning curve.
Spoilers: this is set after the series finale so there are spoilers for that.
A/N: written for the leverageland big bang entry
Word count: 1014
Point value: 10 points
Parker spends a lot of the first six months of running Leverage International comparing herself to Nate. When she makes decisions about how the system is going to work, she wonders whether it’s how Nate would have done it – on one memorable occasion, she gets as far as dialling his number before Eliot takes the phone out of her hand and reminds her there’s a reason Nate asked her to take over his position.
She can do it.
~~There’s a lot of work to do when it comes to setting it up; she spends weeks travelling around the word meeting up with various allies, people they’ve identified as potential colleagues. Back in the states, Hardison and Eliot are working together on going through their list of marks, trying to figure out what might be needed to ensure they get taken down, and Parker misses having them by her side. She tracks down Quinn, Tara and Craig (who are still travelling together, insisting it’s just for convenience), talks to some cons Sophie knows in London. Then, when she’s secured enough contacts, she returns home to her family, to where she knows she belongs now.
“You can’t watch this film, Eliot,” Hardison is saying when Parker walks silently into the room, “you haven’t read the books yet, and you can’t see the film without reading the books.”
“I can do what I like,” Eliot says, but turns off the screen anyway. “What do you want to do instead, then?”
“You know what I want to do. But you won’t do it, so there’s no point in me saying it again.”
Parker smiles – nothing’s changed, really. “You could try saying hi to me,” she says from the doorway, laughing as they both jump up and turn around. “Hi.”
“Hey, girl. You are a beautiful sight.” Hardison walks over to kiss her, and he’s grinning widely when he pulls back again. “We all set?”
“Almost everyone is in – that hacker you told me about can’t manage it because she’s busy with something else, but one out of all the people we wanted isn’t exactly bad.”
“It’s good,” Eliot says, “do you feel ready?”
“I do now I’m home,” Parker answers, and she does.
Later, after several phone calls of her own, Tara knows what to do. Parker leans against the kitchen counter, watching Eliot cook. “We’ve only just begun and something went wrong,” she says.
Eliot stops chopping vegetables for a moment to give her his full attention. “Things went wrong when we all started working together. Things went wrong long after we all started working together. It happens. What matters is that you make the right decisions in response to those things, and you did. The mark’s been tracked down, the cons been changed to take the new circumstances into account. You did good, Parker.”
“I couldn’t do it without you guys,” she says, and she thinks that’s the truth.
Their con works perfectly – every last detail falls into place – and Parker feels good. They walk away from the office building their mark works at and go home to eat a dinner than Eliot cooks. It’s the extraordinary accompanied by the mundane and it suits the new them perfectly.
“What are we doing tomorrow?” Hardison asks around a mouthful of homemade garlic bread.
“I told Sophie we’d be around for a video call,” Parker says, smiling at the thought of it. It’s been two months since they last saw Nate and Sophie the wedding, and even though they’ve talked on the phone, it’ll be nice to sort-of see their friends face-to-face again.
“Cool – if we’re hanging around here I can work on the new comms.”
“And I can try out some new dishes for the menu,” says Eliot, glancing towards the kitchen. “It needs a bit of switching around.”
“You two are adorable,” Parker says, and she means it.
“Even you can’t control the weather, Parker,” Hardison says as he enters the room and sees her frustration. “You’ll be able to get booked onto other flights.”
Eliot snorts from where he’s sitting on the cough. “I tried telling her that already.”
“I know I can get other planes,” she says, “but I don’t want to. I wanted to fly out today so I could catch the end of the latest job Quinn’s crew are pulling.”
Hardison nods. “They’ll tell you all about it, I’m sure.”
“Yes,” Eliot says, “just remember – they’re the ones who are meant to be nervous, okay?”
Parker looks at them both and can’t help but speak her mind. “I love you guys,” she says, and they know.
Fandom: Leverage
Characters/Pairings: OT3-ish (Parker, Hardison, Eliot)
Summary: Parker goes on a bit of a learning curve.
Spoilers: this is set after the series finale so there are spoilers for that.
A/N: written for the leverageland big bang entry
Word count: 1014
Point value: 10 points
Parker spends a lot of the first six months of running Leverage International comparing herself to Nate. When she makes decisions about how the system is going to work, she wonders whether it’s how Nate would have done it – on one memorable occasion, she gets as far as dialling his number before Eliot takes the phone out of her hand and reminds her there’s a reason Nate asked her to take over his position.
She can do it.
~~
“You can’t watch this film, Eliot,” Hardison is saying when Parker walks silently into the room, “you haven’t read the books yet, and you can’t see the film without reading the books.”
“I can do what I like,” Eliot says, but turns off the screen anyway. “What do you want to do instead, then?”
“You know what I want to do. But you won’t do it, so there’s no point in me saying it again.”
Parker smiles – nothing’s changed, really. “You could try saying hi to me,” she says from the doorway, laughing as they both jump up and turn around. “Hi.”
“Hey, girl. You are a beautiful sight.” Hardison walks over to kiss her, and he’s grinning widely when he pulls back again. “We all set?”
“Almost everyone is in – that hacker you told me about can’t manage it because she’s busy with something else, but one out of all the people we wanted isn’t exactly bad.”
“It’s good,” Eliot says, “do you feel ready?”
“I do now I’m home,” Parker answers, and she does.
~~
It’s only been a week since International was officially launched when Parker gets the call from Tara – her mark has gone missing mid-con, and that’s definitely not how that particular grift is supposed to go. There’s a moment where Parker has no idea what to do – she’s not a grifter, she’s not spent years chasing grifters down like Nate did. And then she remembers – she has the world’s best cons at her disposal: she doesn’t need to come up with the plan, she just needs to choose the people who can. Later, after several phone calls of her own, Tara knows what to do. Parker leans against the kitchen counter, watching Eliot cook. “We’ve only just begun and something went wrong,” she says.
Eliot stops chopping vegetables for a moment to give her his full attention. “Things went wrong when we all started working together. Things went wrong long after we all started working together. It happens. What matters is that you make the right decisions in response to those things, and you did. The mark’s been tracked down, the cons been changed to take the new circumstances into account. You did good, Parker.”
“I couldn’t do it without you guys,” she says, and she thinks that’s the truth.
~~
After a little while, when they’re sure everything else is running smoothly, they start to work on their own list. It’s almost like old times, except Parker misses Sophie and Nate being there. She can deal, though, because it’s not like they’re gone gone, and working with Hardison and Eliot is a good distraction. Their con works perfectly – every last detail falls into place – and Parker feels good. They walk away from the office building their mark works at and go home to eat a dinner than Eliot cooks. It’s the extraordinary accompanied by the mundane and it suits the new them perfectly.
“What are we doing tomorrow?” Hardison asks around a mouthful of homemade garlic bread.
“I told Sophie we’d be around for a video call,” Parker says, smiling at the thought of it. It’s been two months since they last saw Nate and Sophie the wedding, and even though they’ve talked on the phone, it’ll be nice to sort-of see their friends face-to-face again.
“Cool – if we’re hanging around here I can work on the new comms.”
“And I can try out some new dishes for the menu,” says Eliot, glancing towards the kitchen. “It needs a bit of switching around.”
“You two are adorable,” Parker says, and she means it.
~~
Parker’s pacing up and down the length of the room as the thunder rolls outside. All flights have been grounded, which means there’s no way she’s going to make it out to see Quinn tomorrow, and that’s going to mess up her whole checking-in schedule. It’s the first time she’s had a chance to go out and see all her teams in action, and it feels like a bad omen.“Even you can’t control the weather, Parker,” Hardison says as he enters the room and sees her frustration. “You’ll be able to get booked onto other flights.”
Eliot snorts from where he’s sitting on the cough. “I tried telling her that already.”
“I know I can get other planes,” she says, “but I don’t want to. I wanted to fly out today so I could catch the end of the latest job Quinn’s crew are pulling.”
Hardison nods. “They’ll tell you all about it, I’m sure.”
“Yes,” Eliot says, “just remember – they’re the ones who are meant to be nervous, okay?”
Parker looks at them both and can’t help but speak her mind. “I love you guys,” she says, and they know.
