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Entry tags:
I'll Find a Way Part Two, Leverage, PG-13
Fandom: Leverage
Title: I'll Find a Way (Part One)
Characters/Pairings: vamp!Nate/Eliot, Parker, Hardison, Sophie, OFC
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2433
Summary: Takes place following Close the Door, Pull the Shades. Nate tries to help Eliot adjust to the new role of father while outside forces are working to find Ryna and uncover the secrets of her past.
A/Ns & Warnings: Kid!Fic. Second chapter in a several chapter arc. Will include blood play at some point, because, hello, vampire. Also includes violence.
Eliot wasn't really surprised to find Nate at his door when he came out of the bedroom. He had a couple of shopping bags in his hands when Eliot stepped aside to let him in. "She sleeping?" Nate asked as he moved to the kitchen table to set the bags down.
"She's in bed." Eliot countered, rubbing over his face.
"Parker said she'd bring some more stuff tomorrow, but this should hold you over." Nate started dumping the bags onto the table, jeans and shirts and a pair of shoes.
Eliot shook his head and sat down. "I don't even know what to do."
Nate chuckled a little and stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "You're doing fine."
Eliot leaned back into the strong tower of Nate's body behind him. "How can I take care of a little girl? With the life I lead?"
"We'll manage." Nate said, his hand soothing down Eliot's arm.
Eliot snorted and tipped his head back to look up at him. "We? What are we, some old married couple now? Settling down to raise up a family?"
Nate kissed him and moved away. "Married, no. Couple, yes. Family, apparently."
"You know, I used to know what was going on in my life." Eliot stood and started sorting through the piles of clothes.
"And then you met me." Nate pulled two beers out of the fridge and popped the tops before handing one across to Eliot.
"So…you're suggesting what? We move in together or something? You, me and Ryna?" Eliot shook his head. "A vampire, a thief and an 8 year old. It sounds like a bad sitcom."
"No, if it were a bad sitcom there'd be a werewolf or a witch or something too." Nate led the way into the living room, sitting on the couch as he sipped his beer. "It isn't a bad idea. I mean we're together more than we're apart as it is."
"I thought we agreed to keep our own spaces." In fact, Eliot had insisted on it. He had felt a little trapped at the time, and things had smoothed out since then, but still…he liked his freedom, his privacy.
"So we get a three bedroom." Nate said softly. "We each have our own space."
"There's still the small problem of vampire and little girl." Eliot said.
Nate frowned at him. "What…you don't think I would…"
Eliot shook his head. "No, not…not like that. I mean, I saw you, when you got your first whiff of her, Nate. You looked like you do when I've been away, when you need me."
"I can control myself, Eliot." Nate said, an angry edge to his voice. Eliot reached for him, pushing him back down onto the couch when he would have gotten up.
Eliot moved until he was straddling Nate's lap, kissing his pouting lips. "I know you can."
Nate's hands came to rest on his hips as Eliot sank down onto him. Eliot's kiss was soft, taking away the sting of any doubt his words might have created. "We're still working this thing out between us. I don't know all the rules."
Nate's tongue slipped between his lips, his eyes closing. "I would never hurt her."
"I know." He could feel Nate under him, his cock hardening. "I need some time, need to figure out how to get this right." He rubbed their still-clothed cocks together, earning a moan.
"Don't start something you can't finish." Nate said, licking at Eliot's lips. "Maybe I should go." His eyes don't open though and he didn't try to move.
"Don't want you to." Eliot responded after a long minute.
Nate's eyes opened then, his smile wicked. "See, if we lived together, I wouldn't have to."
Eliot groaned in response.
Nate looked up when Hardison knocked on his office door. "Where are we?"
"We? What we? I been here all night. Alone."
"And we appreciate it." Nate responded, folding his hands and looking up patiently.
"You better. The things I do for you." Hardison shook his head and sat down, setting his laptop on Nate's desk. "I flooded the system with sightings of our new client, Dallas, Houston, Tulsa, Las Vegas. They have to investigate all of them, so that should buy us a little time."
"Good."
"Not a lot of time. They will come for her."
"I know. One thing at a time."
"Nate?" He looked up at Sophie. "There's a little girl with Eliot."
"Her name is Ryna." Nate replied, standing. "She's our client."
"She's a runaway." Hardison corrected, grabbing his laptop.
"Who is in trouble." Nate countered.
"What kind of trouble? Who is she?" Sophie asked, following Nate down the hall toward Eliot's office.
Ryna narrowed her eyes at them as they came in, half hiding behind Eliot. "The kind of trouble that gets messy." Eliot said. There was a hardness on his face. "We need to talk."
Nate's eyes skipped to Ryna and back again. "Problem?"
"Only if you think two big guys with big guns watching the front door of this place is a problem." Eliot responded.
"Wait, what?" Hardison shook his head. "Not possible." He fiddled with his computer to bring up the security feed. Eliot leaned around the screen to point out the two men. They were just barely in frame of the camera. "Who are they?"
"Last I knew Social Services didn't come armed." Nate observed. "How'd you get in?"
"Fire escape."
Sophie peeked through the blinds frowning. "Who is she running from?"
"I came to be with Eliot." Ryna said, standing where she could see Sophie but Eliot was still between them.
Sophie's frown grew. "You know her?" She turned to Nate, clearly miffed. "Didn't we agree no more personal cases?"
"This is different." Nate said softly.
"No. It looks pretty damn personal to me."
"It is personal." Eliot interjected, his hand on Ryna's shoulder. "I don't need the team on this. Just a little room to take care of it." He looked up at Nate. "And someone to watch her while I do."
"You're not going down there." Nate shook his head. "They look like they're just watching the building. We should figure out exactly who they are and what they want. That's what we do."
"Um, guys?" Hardison's fingers were flying over the keyboard. "We know who they are. New York mob. The guy on the left is Tank Terrelli. Other one is Ralph Recci. Both hitters for Petrelli and Vinnie Capinci." Hardison turned the computer to show them mug shots.
"How did they find her?" Eliot asked, moving to the window to look down at them.
"Can we take a second?" Sophie asked, crossing her arms. "Can we back up and start from the beginning?"
"There is no beginning." Eliot snapped. "It's nothing. I'll handle it." He turned to Ryna. "Honey, I need you to stay here with Nate for a little while, okay?"
She frowned at him. "I don't want to."
"You think they tracked the money?" Nate asked.
"Money?" Sophie was clearly getting agitated. "What money?"
"Wouldn't they have found it before now if they could?" Eliot asked, tugging Ryna closer.
"Maybe it wasn't just the money." Hardison offered. "I found out who her mother was easy enough. If I did, maybe they did too."
Nate watched Eliot think through the pieces of information. "Or maybe they'd already figured out who Ryna was. Hardison, can you get some more information on Nana Miller?"
"Like what?"
"I want to know how she died. She hadn't been sick. She would have told me. She knew I would look out for Ryna if something happened to her."
"You thinking the mob got to her?" Nate asked.
Eliot nodded. "Maybe. If they figured out who Katie was? Maybe they went looking for her."
"And found Nana Miller instead." Hardison stood and grabbed his laptop. "No one messes with a Nana. I'm on it."
"We should probably get you and Ryna out of here." Nate said. "Take her to my place."
Eliot shook his head. "They're probably figuring out who we all are right now. None of our places are going to be safe."
"What about the money?" Ryna asked, tugging on Eliot's leg.
"I put it the safe last night." Nate said.
"What money?" Sophie asked again.
"I'll explain it all to you once we get out of here." Nate promised. "Call Parker, tell her to get scarce. Then you, do the same. Meet up at the safe house tomorrow."
Eliot lifted Ryna and headed for the door. "I've got her, you get the money."
Eliot and Sophie both scattered, and Nate headed to the safe. They could probably negotiate, give the money back. It wasn't as though they really needed it and once they did, Ryna would be safe. Of course to do that, they'd have to get past the minor muscle and actually talk to Vinnie Capinci. Without getting any of them killed.
Eliot got as far as the lobby and stopped, blinking at the line of badges in the hands of three men in suits and a woman in low heels and looking suspiciously like a social worker.
"Can I help you?" Eliot asked, glancing over his shoulder. Ryna kept her face buried in his neck.
"I believe that little girl is our reason for being here." The tall man on the end spoke first. "I'm Tom Brettle, FBI."
"FBI?" Eliot shook his head. "What does the FBI want with my daughter?"
"Your daughter?" the woman asked, clearly disbelieving.
Eliot nodded. "Yes, my daughter. What's this about?"
"I have a court order to take Kathryn Campell into custody." The woman held up a piece of paper with the Georgia seal at the top.
"Child Protective Services?" Eliot's heart was hammering and Ryna whimpered against his neck. "Why?"
"For starters, she's a runaway."
"Megan, relax." Agent Brettle said. "Kathryn could be a material witness in a case the FBI has been investigating a long time. I've been looking for her for almost 7 years."
"Long time to be looking for a kid." He looked over his shoulder again. What the hell was keeping Nate?
"We were actually looking for her mother, however it seems she's gone. We caught a break about a month ago when someone contacted our office and told us about the kid."
"I don't know what to tell you. This is my daughter, and we're late--" He started to push through them but Agent Brettle stopped him. Eliot cussed under his breath. He leaned in. "If you don't let us go right now there's going to be trouble."
"Are you threatening me? I promise you Son, that won't get you anywhere."
"No, look, I don't know—"
Parker burst into the room from the hallway, whatever she was about to say dying on her lips. The woman grabbed at Ryna, and Eliot reacted instinctively, pulling away. Ryna screamed and suddenly there were guns drawn and he could hear Nate's voice.
"Everyone should just calm down."
"Who are you?" Brettle asked.
"Nathan Ford, I own this business. This man works for me. I don't know what the problem is, but I assure you we don't want any trouble."
"There is only going to be trouble if your man here does not surrender the child."
"I don't want to go. Please Eliot don't let them take me!" Ryna clung to his neck.
"It isn't up to him, Ms. Campbell."
Eliot felt Nate's hand on his shoulder. "Eliot."
"I know." Eliot took a deep breath. "Ryna, honey. It'll only be for a little while. Until we can straighten this out, okay?"
He tried to put her down, but her arms just closed tighter on his neck. "Honey, please."
"No Eliot. I want to stay with you!"
He got her on her feet and pried her hands loose. "I'm going to come for you as soon as I can, okay?"
The woman tried to take Ryna's hand, but she yanked away from her. "I can walk by myself."
"I think you'd better come with us." Agent Brettle said to Eliot. "I'm sure we're going to have a few questions for you."
He knew this couldn't go anywhere good. They'd run his prints and it would be over. "Nate."
"I know." Eliot was being herded toward the door behind the social worker and Ryna. At least they weren't arresting him. Yet. He had to stay calm. He managed until they reached the lobby and the gunfire started.
He threw himself forward at the social worker, knocking her to the ground and scrambling over her to grab Ryna who was screaming. About the time he got his hands on her, the FBI guy was shoving them into a corner behind a statue. "Just hold on Ryna." Eliot said, in what he hoped was a soothing voice. Her little body was trembling in his arms, her hands covering her ears. One of the FBI guys was down and Brettle looked like he'd taken a shot to the arm.
The social worker wasn't moving. The front doors of the building lay in shards across the marble floor. The gunfire was coming closer. Their cover wasn't going to protect them for long. "Ryna, I need you to be a very big girl and stay here."
"Don't leave me."
Eliot disentangled himself from her and held her in the corner. "Not going to, I just need to even up the odds a little. You stay right here. Don't move."
He knew they were fucked six ways from Sunday as soon as he broke cover. They were outnumbered and the mob guys moving in wouldn't hesitate to kill. He took out the first one he reached, throwing his body into the next, but he could tell it wouldn't be enough. He disarmed a third before the butt of a gun met his jaw and sent him sprawling.
He got back to his feet, only to find himself face to face with a big guy with meaty hands that came swinging at him. He ducked one punch and just missed a second, then a big hand was closing on his neck and lifting him off his feet.
"Eliot!" He heard her screaming, kicked and flailed at the man who held him, but his vision was growing dark. "No! No! Eliot!"
"Ryna…" He got one good kick in the man's balls and fell to the floor amidst broken glass and shattered pieces of wood, coughing and trying to get to his feet. Something heavy hit the back of his head, and everything went dark.
Title: I'll Find a Way (Part One)
Characters/Pairings: vamp!Nate/Eliot, Parker, Hardison, Sophie, OFC
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2433
Summary: Takes place following Close the Door, Pull the Shades. Nate tries to help Eliot adjust to the new role of father while outside forces are working to find Ryna and uncover the secrets of her past.
A/Ns & Warnings: Kid!Fic. Second chapter in a several chapter arc. Will include blood play at some point, because, hello, vampire. Also includes violence.
Eliot wasn't really surprised to find Nate at his door when he came out of the bedroom. He had a couple of shopping bags in his hands when Eliot stepped aside to let him in. "She sleeping?" Nate asked as he moved to the kitchen table to set the bags down.
"She's in bed." Eliot countered, rubbing over his face.
"Parker said she'd bring some more stuff tomorrow, but this should hold you over." Nate started dumping the bags onto the table, jeans and shirts and a pair of shoes.
Eliot shook his head and sat down. "I don't even know what to do."
Nate chuckled a little and stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "You're doing fine."
Eliot leaned back into the strong tower of Nate's body behind him. "How can I take care of a little girl? With the life I lead?"
"We'll manage." Nate said, his hand soothing down Eliot's arm.
Eliot snorted and tipped his head back to look up at him. "We? What are we, some old married couple now? Settling down to raise up a family?"
Nate kissed him and moved away. "Married, no. Couple, yes. Family, apparently."
"You know, I used to know what was going on in my life." Eliot stood and started sorting through the piles of clothes.
"And then you met me." Nate pulled two beers out of the fridge and popped the tops before handing one across to Eliot.
"So…you're suggesting what? We move in together or something? You, me and Ryna?" Eliot shook his head. "A vampire, a thief and an 8 year old. It sounds like a bad sitcom."
"No, if it were a bad sitcom there'd be a werewolf or a witch or something too." Nate led the way into the living room, sitting on the couch as he sipped his beer. "It isn't a bad idea. I mean we're together more than we're apart as it is."
"I thought we agreed to keep our own spaces." In fact, Eliot had insisted on it. He had felt a little trapped at the time, and things had smoothed out since then, but still…he liked his freedom, his privacy.
"So we get a three bedroom." Nate said softly. "We each have our own space."
"There's still the small problem of vampire and little girl." Eliot said.
Nate frowned at him. "What…you don't think I would…"
Eliot shook his head. "No, not…not like that. I mean, I saw you, when you got your first whiff of her, Nate. You looked like you do when I've been away, when you need me."
"I can control myself, Eliot." Nate said, an angry edge to his voice. Eliot reached for him, pushing him back down onto the couch when he would have gotten up.
Eliot moved until he was straddling Nate's lap, kissing his pouting lips. "I know you can."
Nate's hands came to rest on his hips as Eliot sank down onto him. Eliot's kiss was soft, taking away the sting of any doubt his words might have created. "We're still working this thing out between us. I don't know all the rules."
Nate's tongue slipped between his lips, his eyes closing. "I would never hurt her."
"I know." He could feel Nate under him, his cock hardening. "I need some time, need to figure out how to get this right." He rubbed their still-clothed cocks together, earning a moan.
"Don't start something you can't finish." Nate said, licking at Eliot's lips. "Maybe I should go." His eyes don't open though and he didn't try to move.
"Don't want you to." Eliot responded after a long minute.
Nate's eyes opened then, his smile wicked. "See, if we lived together, I wouldn't have to."
Eliot groaned in response.
Nate looked up when Hardison knocked on his office door. "Where are we?"
"We? What we? I been here all night. Alone."
"And we appreciate it." Nate responded, folding his hands and looking up patiently.
"You better. The things I do for you." Hardison shook his head and sat down, setting his laptop on Nate's desk. "I flooded the system with sightings of our new client, Dallas, Houston, Tulsa, Las Vegas. They have to investigate all of them, so that should buy us a little time."
"Good."
"Not a lot of time. They will come for her."
"I know. One thing at a time."
"Nate?" He looked up at Sophie. "There's a little girl with Eliot."
"Her name is Ryna." Nate replied, standing. "She's our client."
"She's a runaway." Hardison corrected, grabbing his laptop.
"Who is in trouble." Nate countered.
"What kind of trouble? Who is she?" Sophie asked, following Nate down the hall toward Eliot's office.
Ryna narrowed her eyes at them as they came in, half hiding behind Eliot. "The kind of trouble that gets messy." Eliot said. There was a hardness on his face. "We need to talk."
Nate's eyes skipped to Ryna and back again. "Problem?"
"Only if you think two big guys with big guns watching the front door of this place is a problem." Eliot responded.
"Wait, what?" Hardison shook his head. "Not possible." He fiddled with his computer to bring up the security feed. Eliot leaned around the screen to point out the two men. They were just barely in frame of the camera. "Who are they?"
"Last I knew Social Services didn't come armed." Nate observed. "How'd you get in?"
"Fire escape."
Sophie peeked through the blinds frowning. "Who is she running from?"
"I came to be with Eliot." Ryna said, standing where she could see Sophie but Eliot was still between them.
Sophie's frown grew. "You know her?" She turned to Nate, clearly miffed. "Didn't we agree no more personal cases?"
"This is different." Nate said softly.
"No. It looks pretty damn personal to me."
"It is personal." Eliot interjected, his hand on Ryna's shoulder. "I don't need the team on this. Just a little room to take care of it." He looked up at Nate. "And someone to watch her while I do."
"You're not going down there." Nate shook his head. "They look like they're just watching the building. We should figure out exactly who they are and what they want. That's what we do."
"Um, guys?" Hardison's fingers were flying over the keyboard. "We know who they are. New York mob. The guy on the left is Tank Terrelli. Other one is Ralph Recci. Both hitters for Petrelli and Vinnie Capinci." Hardison turned the computer to show them mug shots.
"How did they find her?" Eliot asked, moving to the window to look down at them.
"Can we take a second?" Sophie asked, crossing her arms. "Can we back up and start from the beginning?"
"There is no beginning." Eliot snapped. "It's nothing. I'll handle it." He turned to Ryna. "Honey, I need you to stay here with Nate for a little while, okay?"
She frowned at him. "I don't want to."
"You think they tracked the money?" Nate asked.
"Money?" Sophie was clearly getting agitated. "What money?"
"Wouldn't they have found it before now if they could?" Eliot asked, tugging Ryna closer.
"Maybe it wasn't just the money." Hardison offered. "I found out who her mother was easy enough. If I did, maybe they did too."
Nate watched Eliot think through the pieces of information. "Or maybe they'd already figured out who Ryna was. Hardison, can you get some more information on Nana Miller?"
"Like what?"
"I want to know how she died. She hadn't been sick. She would have told me. She knew I would look out for Ryna if something happened to her."
"You thinking the mob got to her?" Nate asked.
Eliot nodded. "Maybe. If they figured out who Katie was? Maybe they went looking for her."
"And found Nana Miller instead." Hardison stood and grabbed his laptop. "No one messes with a Nana. I'm on it."
"We should probably get you and Ryna out of here." Nate said. "Take her to my place."
Eliot shook his head. "They're probably figuring out who we all are right now. None of our places are going to be safe."
"What about the money?" Ryna asked, tugging on Eliot's leg.
"I put it the safe last night." Nate said.
"What money?" Sophie asked again.
"I'll explain it all to you once we get out of here." Nate promised. "Call Parker, tell her to get scarce. Then you, do the same. Meet up at the safe house tomorrow."
Eliot lifted Ryna and headed for the door. "I've got her, you get the money."
Eliot and Sophie both scattered, and Nate headed to the safe. They could probably negotiate, give the money back. It wasn't as though they really needed it and once they did, Ryna would be safe. Of course to do that, they'd have to get past the minor muscle and actually talk to Vinnie Capinci. Without getting any of them killed.
Eliot got as far as the lobby and stopped, blinking at the line of badges in the hands of three men in suits and a woman in low heels and looking suspiciously like a social worker.
"Can I help you?" Eliot asked, glancing over his shoulder. Ryna kept her face buried in his neck.
"I believe that little girl is our reason for being here." The tall man on the end spoke first. "I'm Tom Brettle, FBI."
"FBI?" Eliot shook his head. "What does the FBI want with my daughter?"
"Your daughter?" the woman asked, clearly disbelieving.
Eliot nodded. "Yes, my daughter. What's this about?"
"I have a court order to take Kathryn Campell into custody." The woman held up a piece of paper with the Georgia seal at the top.
"Child Protective Services?" Eliot's heart was hammering and Ryna whimpered against his neck. "Why?"
"For starters, she's a runaway."
"Megan, relax." Agent Brettle said. "Kathryn could be a material witness in a case the FBI has been investigating a long time. I've been looking for her for almost 7 years."
"Long time to be looking for a kid." He looked over his shoulder again. What the hell was keeping Nate?
"We were actually looking for her mother, however it seems she's gone. We caught a break about a month ago when someone contacted our office and told us about the kid."
"I don't know what to tell you. This is my daughter, and we're late--" He started to push through them but Agent Brettle stopped him. Eliot cussed under his breath. He leaned in. "If you don't let us go right now there's going to be trouble."
"Are you threatening me? I promise you Son, that won't get you anywhere."
"No, look, I don't know—"
Parker burst into the room from the hallway, whatever she was about to say dying on her lips. The woman grabbed at Ryna, and Eliot reacted instinctively, pulling away. Ryna screamed and suddenly there were guns drawn and he could hear Nate's voice.
"Everyone should just calm down."
"Who are you?" Brettle asked.
"Nathan Ford, I own this business. This man works for me. I don't know what the problem is, but I assure you we don't want any trouble."
"There is only going to be trouble if your man here does not surrender the child."
"I don't want to go. Please Eliot don't let them take me!" Ryna clung to his neck.
"It isn't up to him, Ms. Campbell."
Eliot felt Nate's hand on his shoulder. "Eliot."
"I know." Eliot took a deep breath. "Ryna, honey. It'll only be for a little while. Until we can straighten this out, okay?"
He tried to put her down, but her arms just closed tighter on his neck. "Honey, please."
"No Eliot. I want to stay with you!"
He got her on her feet and pried her hands loose. "I'm going to come for you as soon as I can, okay?"
The woman tried to take Ryna's hand, but she yanked away from her. "I can walk by myself."
"I think you'd better come with us." Agent Brettle said to Eliot. "I'm sure we're going to have a few questions for you."
He knew this couldn't go anywhere good. They'd run his prints and it would be over. "Nate."
"I know." Eliot was being herded toward the door behind the social worker and Ryna. At least they weren't arresting him. Yet. He had to stay calm. He managed until they reached the lobby and the gunfire started.
He threw himself forward at the social worker, knocking her to the ground and scrambling over her to grab Ryna who was screaming. About the time he got his hands on her, the FBI guy was shoving them into a corner behind a statue. "Just hold on Ryna." Eliot said, in what he hoped was a soothing voice. Her little body was trembling in his arms, her hands covering her ears. One of the FBI guys was down and Brettle looked like he'd taken a shot to the arm.
The social worker wasn't moving. The front doors of the building lay in shards across the marble floor. The gunfire was coming closer. Their cover wasn't going to protect them for long. "Ryna, I need you to be a very big girl and stay here."
"Don't leave me."
Eliot disentangled himself from her and held her in the corner. "Not going to, I just need to even up the odds a little. You stay right here. Don't move."
He knew they were fucked six ways from Sunday as soon as he broke cover. They were outnumbered and the mob guys moving in wouldn't hesitate to kill. He took out the first one he reached, throwing his body into the next, but he could tell it wouldn't be enough. He disarmed a third before the butt of a gun met his jaw and sent him sprawling.
He got back to his feet, only to find himself face to face with a big guy with meaty hands that came swinging at him. He ducked one punch and just missed a second, then a big hand was closing on his neck and lifting him off his feet.
"Eliot!" He heard her screaming, kicked and flailed at the man who held him, but his vision was growing dark. "No! No! Eliot!"
"Ryna…" He got one good kick in the man's balls and fell to the floor amidst broken glass and shattered pieces of wood, coughing and trying to get to his feet. Something heavy hit the back of his head, and everything went dark.