#eliot freaking spencer

[archivewriter1ont]

OKAY......

WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THESE???????

Thriftbooks had them all for under $15 so of course I got all three.

And ELIOT....

[soupforsoup]

One thing about Eliot is he's gonna go so in on a grift. A wedding caterer? Get the fuck outta his way he's got two hundred guests to cook for and these canapes aren't gonna plate themselves. A baseball player? Fuck the con he gets a damn sandwich named after him. A supermarket worker? He's doing his full day of work AND THEN starting a union uprising first chance he gets. Sophie is "the grifter" but Eliot is the one who can match and beat her freak for commiting to a character so hard it becomes your new personality for the next week

[queenthyatira]

Love Eliot and Parker’s relationship 😅

Credit: Mine

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Sword fights are cool! Every show should have one.

The Librarians/The Outpost/Leverage Redemption/The Ark

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

The thing about Leverage is- its intoxicating. There is no other word to describe it. It's intoxicating. I'm only on season 2- but my goodness the show is magical. The dynamic is so genuine, honest, and pure. And it's so ironic- because their criminals. Their thieves and liars... but their so, so, good.

Like they make the family dynamic so believable.

Watching Nate be the drunk dad, not being abusive, and watching his children grow while still being them. To watching Sophie figure out exactly how she fits in- because it's a retelling of Robin Hood and she's suppose to be Maid Marion. And she's an actress, it's how she connects with people. To Eliot whose the big brother who teases and is sarcastic. But if you so much as touches one of his siblings- so help you- the world will be on fire. He's a wolf- and he'll tear you to pieces for attacking his pack. To Hardison whose kinda dorky, nerdy, and awkward but is so smart and resourceful in his own right. Who has the teams back. To Parker whose basically a mouse and can get away with anything with her family. They love her and they will do anything to keep her safe.

If I had a choice of found family- I'd want to join them.

[therealladylucifer]

you guys dont understand like sure eliot is my baby girl my comfort character. but parker? shes more than that. i would die for her. i love her so much. shes does anything and im like “thats my girl” she could kill me and i would let her.

[lemissingmask]

[ID: Sketch of Hardison and Eliot standing beside the spy truck from The Rundown Job, Hardison looking despairingly at the sky with a tablet in one hand and glasses on, and Eliot shoving a badge in the face of an FBI guy and wearing a beanie hat. The truck is vaguely drawn in the background. End ID] -

Did a Rundown Job rewatch. The expert disguises Hardison and Eliot come up with get me every time 👏👏👏 Good job, boys.

[running-in-the-dark]

I just watched episode 4 of Leverage: Redemption and maybe it's just because I've had a few days to calm down, but, I like it a lot more now!

I like Harry, he's interesting and has a lot of potential (and he's not Nate). I really like Breanna. she's so cute! her interactions with Eliot are my favourite. when she saw him fighting someone for the first time 😍 so adorable. love her. also very relatable reaction.

Eliot is so so soft now. I love him.

[archivewriter1ont]

Eliot being the one person none of the other team members have to watch beat the crap out of a bad guy to know that bad guy is getting the crap beat out of them.

In all of these gifts, the rest of the team are just like "Eliot's got it" and go on about their own part of the con. Forget that the bad guy just nearly shanked Nate -- Nate knows Eliot is there, so he doesn't even think about it anymore.

Leverage (2008) // eliot fighting for his life in the background

[dont-read-this-im-dead]

You know what I love about The Order 23 Job?

It's not the absolutely INSANE way Nate catches the bad guy, no. Though, being able to give a guy a nosebleed with the power of your mind is pretty hot.

No, what I LOVE about this episode is that Eliot is surrounded by cute nurses and he doesn't care. He doesn't care about the con. He doesn't care about the job. He sees a little boy with a broken arm, showing signs of abuse, and he gets tunnel vision.

I love it when Eliot threatens the boys father, takes his actual freaking driver's license! I love when Eliot tries to empower the boy to speak up for himself, AND, when he learns that the boy can't trust ANY of the cops in town, Eliot takes the matter to the US Marshals.

He literally tells a freaking marshal that a little boy is in trouble and living with his abuser, and that his abuser is on friendly terms with the cops in town, and will he please help him out?

I love that the marshal takes the matter seriously. Instead of being like, "well, that's not my jurisdiction," he takes care of it. He personally goes to the boy's house and tells him, "let's talk. You'll be okay." He personally removes the boy from the presence of his abuser WHILE the abuser is watching!

I love that Eliot is outside the house watching them, instead of just passing the message along and letting the marshal take care of it. He goes to the house and watches, makes sure--until the very last second--that that little boy is safe. He makes sure that that little boy will never have to be afraid of his father again.

And if this episode isn't enough to get you to fall in love with Eliot Spencer, then you're a monster.

[plussizefantasia]

CozyTober 2024

Here's the lineup for this year's spooky, comfy, cozy writing challenge. I got this list from @bigtreefest and really like the ideas that I got from it. If any of these catch your eye let me know and I'll add you to the taglist, other than that just enjoy the next month's worth of blurbs and one-shots full of all the fantastic fall vibes!

p.s. the divider featured on all my cozytober fics is from @strangergraphics

Day 1: Borrowing a Sweatshirt or Coat: Logan Howlett x F! reader

Day 2: Wrapped in a Soft Fuzzy Blanket: Fili x Hobbit!reader

Day 3: Chilly Fall Day: Eddie Munson x gf!Reader

Day 4: The slight smell of smoke in the air: Eliot Spencer x Reader

Day 5: Hot Chocolate or Tea: Jim Hopper x wife!reader

Day 6: Cuddles after a bad day: Jake Jensen x gf!Reader

Day 7: The Smell of Fresh Baked Goods: Bucky Barnes x wife!Reader

Day 8: Apple Cider Donuts: Dad!Steve Rogers x mom!reader

Day 9: Fall Road Trip: Logan Howlett x Reader

Day 10: Unsanctioned Halloween Party: Tony Stark x wife!reader, Platonic Peter Parker x reader

Day 11: Last Minute Family Gathering: Steve Harrington x gf!reader

Day 12: Cozy Coffee Shop: Eliot Spencer x reader

Day 13: Game Night : Eddie Munson x gf!reader

Day 14: Playing in the leaves: Benedict Bridgerton x wife!reader

Day 15: Visits from the dead: Matt Murdock x ghost!reader

Day 16: Facing your fears: Curtis Everett x reader

Day 17: Spooky Stories: Sam Uley x imprint!reader

Day 18: Trick or Treating: dad!Bucky x mom!reader

Day 19: Abandoned Train Station: Logan Howlett x reader

Day 20: Rotting Things: Thorin x reader

Day 21: Haunted Hotel: Eliot Spencer x reader

Day 22: Too freaked out to sleep alone: Steve Harrington x reader

Day 23: Halloween Pranks: Jake Jensen x reader

Day 24: Carving Pumpkins: Anthony Bridgerton x reader

Day 25: Ghosts of your past: Lucifer Magne x reader

Day 26: Comfort during sickness: Jim Hopper

Day 27: "Selfcare is important": Aaron Hotchner x reader

Day 28: Reconnecting: Ransom Drysdale x reader

Day 29: "Thanks for Putting up with me": Paul Lahote x reader

Day 30: Comfort Food: Eliot Spencer x reader

Day 31: Reader's Choice: Congrats! if you read this far you get a chance to decide what the big finish of this year's challenge will be! All throughout October if you send me an ask with a fall prompt and a character pairing your idea will be considered for the finale!! Submissions will be accepted until October 28th.

[tired-fandom-ndn]

Eliot Spencer is so funny because he 100% thinks he's the most normal person in the entire crew and the only one who could live a totally normal life with a picket fence and 2.5 kids and maybe a horse and he is completely wrong about that. He's just as much of a freak and weirdo as the rest of them and it has very little to do with his PTSD or his experience as a mercenary, it's just how he's built. He'd try out a normal life and last a week before he goes feral and loses his mind like an animal gnawing its foot off to escape a bear trap.

[mx-perfectly-fine]

i am literally SO obsessed with these thank you so much!!! they’re so good

Gift for @mx-perfectly-fine

@leveragegiftexchange

Series of arts showing Eliot dealing with the consequences of a rough job (with specific 'job cameos' of the carnival and rundown jobs. Accompanying ficlets for each sketch are here

I hope you like! <3

-

Patching himself up on his own on the side of a road

[ID: Sketch of Eliot Spencer wearing a beanie hat and a sleeveless top and overalls, the top half of which are tied around his waist. He is leaning against the back of a pickup truck and sewing up a wound in his right arm. End ID]

Dealing with injuries alone, in Leverage HQ

[ID: Sketch of Parker, Hardison and Eliot from season 1 of Leverage, in the main conference room of their offices. Hardison and Parker are sitting at the table, looking at Eliot, who is walking in and bandaging his right hand. End ID]

Injuries get poked by Parker

[ID: Sketch of Parker, Hardison and Eliot from season 2 of Leverage. Hardison is walking in the background towards the lounge area of Nate’s apartment. Eliot is sitting on the couch and Parker is sitting behind it, leaning over to poke Eliot on his cheek, on the side of his face that is bruised right along it. Eliot is wincing and leaning away. End ID]

Parker forcible 'offers' an ice pack to help

[ID: Sketch of Parker, Hardison and Eliot from season 3 of Leverage. Hardison is in the foreground, leaning on the counter, and smiling as he looks over his shoulder at Parker and Eliot. Parker is shoving an ice pack against Eliot’s shoulder, forcing him back slightly. End ID]

Hardison confronts Eliot for not letting them help him

[ID: Sketch of Hardison and Eliot from season 4 of Leverage, as they are at the end of the carnival job, but Hardison has a coat and scarf on. He is standing behind Eliot, looking serious and frowning. Eliot is turned half away from him, his expression slightly sad and his face deeply shadowed by his hood. End ID]

Thinking back on the events in DC, Parker realises Eliot sought their help, and texts Sophie a photo of the boys in the hotel room after, with appropriate annotations

[ID: Three sketches of Parker, Hardison and Eliot from around the time of the rundown job. Top is the scene at the end where the three are walking away, Eliot with an arm around Hardison’s shoulders and Hardison with an arm around his waist to support him, while Parker is on Eliot’s other side, smiling at them. A bandage is wrapped around Eliot’s chest, over the bullet wound in his right shoulder and the colours are muted. The second one down is Parker in close up profile on her phone, smiling to herself as she uses it. Bottom one is white-framed image of Hardison and Eliot. Hardison is smiling and looking at Eliot, who is smiling and looking at a laptop in front of him. Over the image there are green annotations saying ‘hole through shoulder’ with arrows to the front and back of Eliot’s right shoulder, and arrows to both boys with a smiley face and the word ‘happy’ under them. End ID]

Best way to make Eliot take bed rest: lay on top of him

[ID: Sketch of Hardison, Parker, Harry and Eliot from Leverage Redemption. Harry is in the foreground, smiling and looking at the other three who are on/around a couch. Eliot is lying on the couch with a cushion under his head and a blanket over him, with a nasal cannula linked to a small oxygen tank and one arm draped on Hardison’s shoulder, the wrist of that arm in a plaster cast. Hardison is sitting on the floor in front of the couch, leaning his head on Eliot’s arm and smiling with one eye half open, looking at Harry. Parker is lying with her head on a cushion that is on Eliot, and her legs up on the back of the couch. She is partially turning towards Harry and smiling, and Eliot’s other hand is in her hair. End ID]

-

[fablesrose]

Ch 16 - The Future Job

Series Rewrite Masterlist 

Pairing: Eliot Spencer x Ford!Reader

Description: The team takes down a psychic after the team predicts their own future.

Words: 4301

A/n: Can I just say, Eliot looked so good this episode, I couldn't exactly find a place in the chapter to gush about it, but yeah, look up screencaps. I had so much fun writing this one, enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn’t know what I believed when it came to the afterlife. I did know that I thought most, if not all psychics were con artists. And this guy, our current mark, was definitely one of those con artists. Disgustingly exploiting the grief of those who have lost loved ones, leeching all of their money away, making them lose everything along with their deceased family members. 

We were doing recon on his live show. It was at a local studio and cable network, surrounded by warehouses and storage lockers. Nate chose to bring Parker along with him to watch the show. Hardison was in the van with Tara doing the technical recon, and Eliot and I were doing physical background recon. 

“Looks like there’s going to be a network scout from WMN in the audience today, sounds like he’s trying to go prime time,” Hardison told us after looking at Dalton Rand’s schedule.

“TV show means a control room” I commented, looking at Eliot. 

“Let's go see what we can find,” he responded. 

I heard Parker comment that psychics freak her out as Eliot and I wandered the halls of the studio. Rand started the show with a ‘reading’ when we found what looked to be the control room. We glanced at each other. 

“Do you have the bug? Do you wanna do a solo breach? Pull the bathroom card,” I asked him.

He only took a second to think about it, “Yeah I got it, but let's do the pair stumble in.”

I looked at him skeptically, “Really?”

He nodded, “Yeah.” He then put a hand at the small of my back leading me towards the door.

I leaned against it a touch when he flipped the handle just enough for the door to open behind me. When I was supposed to pretend to stumble in, I actually tripped over my own feet causing me to fall. Luckily Eliot caught me, just like he was supposed to, though the grip he had told me he knew exactly what happened. I tried to settle my rapidly beating heart from the drop and let out what I hoped sounded like a flirty and surprised giggle. Eliot helped stand me up again, putting us further in the room in the process. The person who was watching the monitors became upset and told us to get out.

There was a camera just inside the door where the bug should be able to access everything if we could get it placed there. Eliot seemed to read my mind since as I turned to face the other man, he slipped the bug into my hand. I placed my right hand on the man’s shoulder and reached around with my left to place the bug. I profusely apologized to him as Eliot pulled me back out of the room by my waist.

Once the door was closed, his hands stayed there a few moments longer than necessary before they dropped off. I let out a shuttered breath though I couldn’t decide if it was from the release of adrenaline from my almost-fall or because of his touch. 

“Nice catch,” I said once I turned to face him. 

He nodded, “Of course. Nice job getting that bug in there,” he replied.

I raised my hand for a high five which he completed when we heard Nate bring Rand’s attention to himself in the studio. We made our way back over there when Rand did a reading on Parker, seeming to identify that her brother died in an accident and that Parker blamed herself for it. 

Parker dashed off the stage, brushing past us when she bolted out the door. 

We only caught up with her when we got back to Nate’s apartment. She was sitting on the floor of the living room, her back against the couch. It was clear she had been crying. 

“Parker?” Nate asked when he approached her. 

We all sat down in the living room around her, waiting for her to say something. 

“There’s no way he could have known that stuff,” she said quietly. “I’ve never told anyone, no one, ever.”

“Parker, he didn’t know anything,” Nate said. 

“No Nate,” she said clearer, “you said we’d find a trick up his sleeve. You said we’d find a trick. Well, we didn’t find a trick, did we? He knew things. He’s really psychic.”

“He’s not a psychic, Parker,” I said, my hand tentatively on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. 

“He’s just a con man,” Eliot added. 

“He just did a cold read on you, that’s all,” Nate said. 

“He just asked questions and used your answers to guide him,” Tara explained. 

“But I didn’t say anything,” Parker replied, her voice cracking. 

“You didn’t have to,” Nate said. “Can I show you something?” He nodded at Hardison. 

Hardison pulled up the video from the studio that he was able to get by using the bug Eliot and I placed to hack into all of their video feeds and cameras. The screen showed Parker when Rand began his reading.

“Right there,” Nate pointed when her face twitched on the screen. “Do you remember when he asked you, ‘this energy that I’m getting, does it have anything to do with you father?’ Remember? Well you furrowed your eyebrow, you might as well have told him, no.”

“And when he keyed in on your brother,” Tara took over, “your eyes widened, just slightly. He knew he was on the right track.”

“He just guessed Parker,” Hardison said gently, “he got a hit when he said that you were both very young and he just went with the odds. An accident of some kind.”

“But he knew about the bicycle,” Parker pointed out tearfully. 

“Not at first,” I said, remembering the exchange. 

“What happened was,” Nate elaborated, “he said wheels, and then he moved on and said skateboard, you told him about the bicycle.”

“No, I didn't say anything,” she insisted. 

“You had a certain tell, Parker,” Nate continued. “Your mouth opened, just a little bit. Just enough to register your surprise. Then, he just guessed.”

The screen was showing everything that Nate was pointing out on the video. 

“He used all of these things during the reading,” Tara said, “How your breathing changed, if your shoulders were raised or slouched, how you were holding your hands, if your lips were pursed.”

“What about other people in the audience? He knew names and relationships,” Parker asked more calmly as if she was starting to get it. 

“Yeah, the hot read,” Nate called it. “What he does is he researches before the show, gets himself armed with as much information as possible to help him with the readings. It’s really not that much different than what we do.”

“But he doesn’t know who’s going to be in the audience ahead of time.”

“Well, no, he doesn’t. He doesn’t know until they’re there. He’s got cameras all over the place hoping to pick up something, hear something that’s going to help him in the readings.”

“He also has a plan, he has an assistant who stands in line and pretends to be part of the audience,” Tara added. 

“That person feeds him the information about the readings in his ear using earbuds just like we do,” Nate continued. 

Hardison pulled up some of the data he pulled from the studio on the screen, “He’s got dozens of hidden cameras and the bug that Eliot and Y/n planted in the control room, I’ve got audio feeds off of twenty hidden microphones taped to the chairs in the audience. I’ve got names, people they want to contact, dates.”

“And that, is what Rand has hidden up his sleeve,” Nate concluded. 

“So what do we do now?” Tara asked. 

“Cut off his arms,” Parker answered. “And his head. Yeah. I wanna kill him. Can we make that happen?”

There was a beat of silence before Eliot answered, “Yeah, I can…I mean, I could…”

“Or we can give him exactly what he wants,” Nate countered. “Make the world think he is the greatest psychic who ever lived, and then in front of the network and his audience, we destroy him.”

I glanced down at Parker to see she was smiling, pleased with the idea. 

“How do we do that?” Eliot asked. 

“We go and steal the future,” Nate answered cryptically. 

Tara posed as a hippie psychic woman who was helping people out of a coffee shop. And the kicker was, she didn’t charge anything, so when Rand heard that some of his clients canceled because of her, he came to check it out. 

“How may the spirits serve you today?” Tara asked when he approached the outdoor table where she sat. 

“Maybe they can explain why you keep poaching my clients,” he responded. 

“I must apologize Mr. Rand, it’s true I’ve had more visitors lately, but I had no idea it was at your expense. I’m Bethany, Bethany Noble.”

“The outfit is a little on the nose, but other than that, I find your shtick amusing.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Working out of a coffee shop? No neon lights, no taro cards or ouija boards. So what’s your story? You got me curious.”

“Two years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor,” Tara answered. “The doctors removed it, but ever since… I guess you could say I was twice blessed. With renewed life, and with this gift.”

“You’re serious.”

There was a pause before Tara said, “Feel the scar?”

“Alright then, tell me something only the spirits would know. Tell me about my father, how he died.”

Around the corner of the coffee shop, the rest of us were listening. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you girl,” Hardison replied as he frantically searched up how his father supposedly died. 

“Wait, we didn’t give her that scar did we?” Eliot asked. 

“No, we did not,” Nate answered. 

After a bit of searching, Tara answered Rand, “Well I could channel your father Mr. Rand, but that might be difficult seeing as he’s still alive. Indiana, isn’t it? Do you still have the prayer book he gave you?” There was a pause before she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Just felt something.”

“Nate had me rig the table with a mild electrical current,” Hardison smiled, showing us the remote. 

“You electrocuted him?” Eliot asked. 

“Yes I did, it helps sell the bit,” Nate replied. 

“I approve,” Parker said with a solemn nod of her head. 

“Thanks Parker.”

“No, her agreeing with you is not a good thing,” Eliot insisted. 

I had been biting my lip to keep myself from smiling, but at this the laughter bubbled out of me, “Well I think it’s hilarious. What does my agreement mean, Eliot?”

He looked at me for a moment before shaking his head. Nate then turned to the both of us with a quiet thanks and slight wink. 

Rand wasn’t convinced with Tara’s answer, still insisting that she tell him what the spirits say about him. 

“You want to know your future,” Tara deduced. After a moment of her collecting her thoughts, she started to ‘predict’ his future: “They’re calling you by a different name. Do you know the way Jose?”

“What?” Rand asked. 

“They say Jose doesn’t pay his tickets, and it’ll burn him. Don’t ask the officer for help, he has his own problems, but don’t worry, you’re the life of the party, so celebrate. And bring extra cash because you won’t have enough. A day late, a dollar short, and if you don’t look both ways, you’ll never live to see tomorrow.”

“Okay, I think I’ve heard enough.” Rand stopped the reading, “Lady, I love your act, I really do, and I wish you all the best with it. This is my turf, stay off it.” It sounded like he left the table and entered the coffee shop. 

I pushed myself off of the van where I was leaning, “Well, let’s get this party started.” I walked around the corner to the coffee shop and carefully replaced the paper cup that had Rand’s name on it with one that had Jose instead, fulfilling Tara’s prophecy that he would be called by a different name: Jose. 

Meanwhile, Eliot was hooking up Rand’s car to the tow truck he got his hands on, pulling away once Rand came out of the shop. This fulfilled her saying that Jose doesn’t pay his tickets. Parker swiped his wallet so he wouldn’t have cash for his dinner later. Earlier, Hardison and I replaced a bunch of fortunes in fortune cookies to say ‘you’re the life of the party, so celebrate’ to fulfill that part. Hardison also hacked Rand’s scheduling records and discovered one of his new clients for that day would be a police officer. And finally, much to his delight, Nate nearly drove Rand over, making sure he looked both ways. 

The next day, Rand was waiting for Tara to return to the coffee shop and begged her to work for him. She gave him a decent fight, saying that she needed to share her gift and not con people, but he eventually persuaded her because of her supposed financial needs from the medical expenses and the promise that it would be temporary. 

So far, we had him on the hook. He wanted to do a trial run of Tara talking to him behind the scenes, telling him info from the control room. So, we went to work. Hardison was pulling information in time, Parker was stealing wallets (and returning them) to get names, and Eliot and I were on parking lot duty to see what we could find from their cars. We were running across the parking lot between readings with Hardison furiously clacking on his computer in our ears, trying to pull any and all information we could find. 

It seemed to pay off though. Rand was impressed with the results. He walked Tara out of the building towards her car, thinking out loud about the future of his show with her in it when a van pulled up quickly behind them. 

“Tara, you’ve got company,” Eliot warned, but it wasn’t enough when four guys hopped out, put a black hood over Rand’s head and started to pull him into the van. 

Tara started fighting them off, though it was clear they weren’t there for her. Eliot ran to help yelling at me to stay where I was while he fought the guys off. When he scared them off enough for him to check if Tara was okay, they drove away with Rand in the back. 

“Any theories?” Nate asked once we all got back. 

“Maybe someone didn’t like one of their ‘psychic readings,’” Eliot answered. 

“Maybe someone liked it too much,” Nate countered. 

“What do you mean?” Parker asked. 

“Rand told me it was the best show he ever did,” Tara said. 

“Now, everyone was there to talk to the dead except that woman at the end,” Nate began. “Why was she there?”

“Her husband,” Tara answered, “She thinks he’s cheating on her.”

“How did you know that?” Hardison asked. “All I said was she hired a private investigator.”

“A married woman in her forties? She’s not looking for the maltese falcon.”

“What do we know about this husband?” Nate steered us back. 

Hardison began with facial recognition scanning the guy she came with, “Nickolas Kusen. Age forty four, he did time in Riverview a few years back for armed robbery.”

“One of the thugs that tried to grab her had a prison tattoo,” Eliot commented. 

“So what, Kusen has a secret and he’s gonna kill Rand so he doesn’t reveal it?” Parker asked. “That’d be good.”

“No, if you wanna kill someone, you don’t go out and throw them in a van,” Eliot said. “You don’t get out of your seat.”

“Okay, Kusen needs Rand for his ‘psychic’ abilities. That’s why he’s being so secretive around his wife,” Nate said. 

“So let me get this straight, we did such a good job of convincing people Rand was a psychic that we got him kidnapped?” I concluded from what everyone was saying. I raised my hand, “uh, high fives I guess, good job guys.”

Eliot and Parker were the only ones to give me a high five. 

“Which means we have to find him, rescue him, and then, you know, take him down,” Nate continued. “Let’s go to work.”

Hardison got to work tracking the van and he was able to track the route they took. Tara and I were searching through Kusen’s financials to get any clue as to what was going on or what he wanted. 

“Give me some good news on the financials,” Nate said.

“They are all over the place,” Tara replied, lifting papers. “It’s hard to get a clear picture, must be a cash heavy operation. Probably import, export.”

Eliot and Parker then walked in from checking out some sites connected to Kusen and his business. 

“You know that body shop Kusen pays property taxes on?” Parker asked. 

“Let me guess, not a body shop?” I answered absentmindedly, looking over more paperwork and business addresses. 

“It’s a parking lot,” Eliot said. 

“Guys,” Hardison said, pulling our attention, “I managed to track them as far as Tremont before I lost them, but they’re definitely somewhere on the north end. If I were to guess, I’d say-”

“Somewhere in the north?” I interrupted, flipping through papers trying to find one that stood out to me. I finally pulled a single page, “I think I’ve got an address.”

After some discussion and some more research surrounding the place I found, it was determined that it was a very likely option and worth checking out. Eliot accompanied Tara to the warehouse, staying just outside in case she needed help. The rest of us were in the van, monitoring the situation. 

Once Tara revealed herself both to Kusen and as a psychic, Kusen welcomed her and layed out what he needed from them. Ultimately, his partner from the bank robbery hid the money and died before revealing where it was. Kusen wanted Rand and Tara to show him where it was. 

“Well at least he’s not cheating on his wife,” Parker commented. 

Hardison pulled up some documents, “I found his ex partner, Cesar Broncato. His name was on the lease for the body shop Kusen supposedly owned.”

“Okay,” Nate said, “This guy wants a bag of money, let’s get him a bag of money. Everybody, listen up.”

He then explained the plan. Nate left to buy a storage unit. Hardison found Broncato’s car, or more accurately, one that could pass as it. Parker planted evidence in the car, a fake registration that we wrinkled up and sanded to look old and the storage locker key. Tara gently led Kusen along, to the car and then to the storage locker facility. 

From there, we needed more time to get the storage unit set up, so Tara stalled with a lost connection to the spirit realm and Nate posed as the facilities employee, taking some time to check the records to ‘find the right storage unit.’

Meanwhile, Parker, Hardison, Eliot, and I were moving boxes into the storage unit.

“We need more boxes,” Hardison said. 

I looked around the room with the walls covered and boxes stacked three or four high, “Really? This seems about right.”

“We need a lot of luck,” Parker countered. 

“Yeah, well I think we used all our luck on finding this place,” Eliot said. 

“Hold on,” Hardison said as he put duct tape on the back wall, “It ain’t luck, okay? Finding the perfect place to end a treasure hunt is a testament to my intellectual prowess.”

Eliot looked at him for a second before deliberately dropping a box on Hardison’s foot. 

“Ow!”

Parker and I huffed a laugh. 

“What?” Eliot asked, “It’s baby clothes.”

“It says books, man!” Hardison said. 

“Does it?”

We finished up the storage unit and locked it up behind us, hoping he wouldn’t notice the lack of dust. We gave Nate the all clear and he finally told Kusen which storage unit.

Kusen and his goons tore up some boxes, trying to find the money when he finally pointed his gun at Rand again, “What’s your crystal ball say now?”

“I don’t know,” Rand replied. 

“You better go into a trance or something, whatever it is you do, because I’m fresh out of patience!”

“I’m not psychic,” Rand blurted out. “I can’t. I can’t communicate with the dead. It’s all fake.”

“I think you’re holding out on me,” Kusen said. “I think you know where the money is, you just want it for yourself!”

“No! It’s not- listen to me, my studio is wired up with microphones and cameras and I make it look like I’m a psychic, but I’m not! You know, I cold read people! Yeah, I ask them questions, I look at their reactions, that’s all I do,” he became more frantic as he went on until he finally said, “It’s a scam! Okay? I’ve been running it for years!”

“Have to say guys,” Tara said as she closed the door, locking them in, “I totally saw this one coming.”

I laughed at her turn of phrase. Hardison blew a hole in the wall where he was putting the duct tape and made a makeshift door into Rand’s studio. Rand and Kusen walked through to find a whole audience watching footage of his confession on repeat, courtesy of the cameras and microphones we planted in the storage unit and linked with the studio broadcast systems. 

The audience was mortified, finding the microphones hiding under their seats. The cops came in and arrested the both of them, and we were there waiting outside to watch them be placed in the cop car. 

“He who sells miracles will have the devil knocking at his door,” Hardison said. 

“What is that, a Proverb?” Parker asked. 

“Fortune cookie,” Hardison corrected. 

“What?”

“We read a bunch of them when we replaced the fortunes with ‘you’re the life of the party, so celebrate,’” I explained. 

“They do make a cute pair, don’t they?” Tara said about the crooks. 

“Lets see,” Nate said, “We’ve got assault, kidnapping, and burglary for our friend Kusen, and garden variety fraud for our psychic friend Dalton Rand… Any way we can get them in the same prison?”

“That can be arranged,” Hardison confirmed. 

“Let’s go,” Eliot said, his head resting on his arm leaning out of the driver side window of the van.

We pushed ourselves up from leaning against the van and made our way around to get in. 

Along the way I grabbed his arm teasingly, “Relax, we’ll get home in time for dinner.”

He grunted at me, “I just wanna get home.”

“I know.”

It wasn’t long before we could meet with the clients, see how they were doing. Originally, a man came in worried about his pregnant sister who had lost her husband. She was the one throwing everything she had into Rand’s lap to talk to her husband. This time, they were both at the table. 

“It’s okay, Jodie,” the brother consoled. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just so embarrassed,” she confessed. 

“Don’t be,” Nate reassured next to me, “Dalton Rand is a con artist. He took advantage of hundreds of people, maybe thousands.”

“Now he’s heading to jail,” Tara said, “he can’t do it to anyone else.”

“There was a part of me who knew it wasn’t real,” Jodie said. “But I didn’t care. I just missed Mike so much, I wanted to see him again so bad.”

“You will see him again,” Nate said. I couldn’t help but look at him, wondering what he meant. “Maybe it’ll be a look, or maybe it’ll be a gesture,” he looked towards Jodie’s pregnant belly, making his point, “maybe it’ll be the way he spreads peanut butter on a slice of bread. But when you see it, you’ll know, that’s Mike. Do you wanna know how I know?” Nate placed a hand on my knee, “I know because I see my brother and his wife in my niece so frequently, that sometimes I forget that they’re gone. And you know what? That’s a miracle no one could ever sell you.”

Jodie placed a hand on her stomach, on her baby and said, “Thank you Mr. Ford.”

At their touched expression, I placed my hand on Nate’s, lifting it up enough for me to hold and squeeze. He gave a squeeze back as the woman and her brother stood to leave the pub. 

“Now I see why you do it,” Tara whispered.

We watched as Parker stopped the brother right before he walked out the door and handed him an envelope with money in it equaling the amount Rand took from Jodie. He wrapped Parker into a tight hug. Parker had a very touched expression on her face, even if I could see that she wasn’t expecting the affectionate gesture.

I turned to Nate, “Do you really see mom and dad in me?”

“Almost everyday.”

“You don’t talk about them much.” It wasn’t an accusation, or even a suggestion, just an observation I had made. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to talk about them more. It wasn’t a taboo subject between us. I had asked him about them often when I was younger, and even if he didn’t answer right away, he did always answer eventually. I guess I hadn’t really thought about it lately. I missed them sometimes, but I had come to terms with the fact that Nate and I were family, and that was enough.

Nate squeezed my hand one last time as I was contemplating this before answering with a simple, “I know.”

A/n: Reblogs and comments are welcome and encouraged! Thank you for reading!

Tags: @instantdinosaurtidalwave @kniselle @technikerin23 @kiwikitty13 @plasticbottleholder

[lehdenlaulu]

Nice quick thinking, girl. You might want to try to look less shifty, though.

Yeah, that's... typical capitalist thinking.

...yeah, I knew that cleavage was there for a reason.

🤨

Double that, actually.

"Hardison!" "Mm-mm, I don't think that counts." 😂

Aaaand Eliot "Distinctive" Spencer makes a glorious comeback. Eliot "Chef" Spencer already made his return in the last episode.

What the hell is the dialogue in this episode?

Oh Parker. 😂

Eliot, just cuddle her and she'll stop poking you. Cat logic, man.

Well that would explain a lot. Maybe you need a nice cuddle nap.

Oh ew. I think I've met that guy. Or several of him.

Aw you two.

Oh Hardison. I think she got it by now. 🤭

I don't even know what they're trying to do right now but it's kind of cute.

Ah, Annoying Hat Man, we haven't seen him in a couple of episodes.

Also, did Christian mess up his face again?

Yeah, Eliot, like what you did was entirely normal.

Those three really love their elevators, huh?

Eliot, you're really kinda evil sometimes.

And then he just beams at Hardison so lovingly. 😂

"Oh, you'd be surprised at what I can do." 😏

So, you're setting Nate up with this girl to... teach him not to be a control freak? I guess there's logic in there... somewhere.

...Wait, is that a little braid there under his ear?

Nonsensical headcanon time: the trio watched Star Wars and decided Eliot needed a Padawan braid. *nods* (No, really, I can see Parker getting jittery and needing something to occupy her hands and Eliot and his glorious hair were conveniently there.)