#eliot spencer x damien moreau

[mementomarygold]

uhhh so we're in agreement that Damien Moreau and Eliot definitely fucked. Like nasty fucked. Just a lot.

[faorism]

Oh man I would so so love to see Moreau/Elliot.....

colors were described as illicit meeting at dusk by my friend cecil and that about covers it. muzzle kink based vaguely on my of hearth series. [suggestive, img desc in alt text]

[spn-fic-prompts]

Prompt #12

SPN x Leverage/Leverage: Redemption Crossover - Dean Winchester met and became friends with Eliot Spencer, the summer before the show started and he went to get Sam. Dean is 25, and Eliot is 28. (Whether they are besties or dated is up to the writer.) Dean has started to be allowed to hunt on his own. Eliot has been working "freelance" away from Damien Moreau for about a year at that point. They meet when Eliot is on a job and crosses paths with Dean who is on a hunt. Dean saves Eliot from the monster. Before they part ways, Dean actually tells Eliot about the supernatural and some ways to defend himself. He also made sure Eliot had Dean's number and also Bobby's.

[party-gilmore]

(Tagging @darkfinch because replying to you is literally what gave me this thought)

We talk about the pejorative moniker of Eliot being called Moreau's Dog (realistically, probably even a harsher version fitting with the canine them, by the particularly jealous, Moreau's Bitch) and to that effect I 100% believe that Moreau was in possession of Eliot's old military dogtags.

That Eliot, the closet cheesy old-fashioned sap that he his, gave them over to Moreau in what he hoped was a casual, offhand, "...seeing as I'm Yours now, anyway" back when things were Good, when he felt okay about handing Moreau the reigns and saying "I trust you to use me better than my country did."

Then when Moreau let him leave he left, Moreau absolutely one hundred percent kept them so that

1) whenever Eliot thinks about or misses them, gets sentimental/guilty over being the only one out of his military buddies (if/when he tries to go to then to reconnect) he always remembers who he gave himself to instead

2) keeps them in a cute little display case on his desk for any face to face meetings so that Important Enough clients can see and know that Eliot is still Moreau's Dog, even if he's run away for a bit

3) when Eliot finally returns to him (because of COURSE he will) Moreau will have then as tangible proof that Eliot was never free, that Moreau always held the leash, and THIS time they will be displayed even more prominently so he never gets these kind of fool ideas in his head again.

...

And now I'm thinking about The Team finding out post!San Lorenzo (maybe while celebrating Eliot actually let himself cut loose a little bit because BY G-D he's EARNED this celebration, he's FREE! ((and do not get me fucking STARTED on that last scene where he's waking Nate up all early and crowing 'you're a free man, now!' like... like!!!)) so he gets a little uncharacteristically tipsy on fruity cocktails and let's slip that one of his bigger regrets was having to leave them with Moreau).

And Eliot's all growly later like "it is what it is, just leave it alone" and Nate's all like "yeah of course it's just a necklace we can't risk alerting any of his contacts and resources that are still out there about who we are until the heat dies down over just a necklace anyway let's all split up seperately and lie low until season four for six months"

Then Hardison immediately made a group chat without Eliot and like

H: okay but we're definitely gonna go steal those back for him right?

N: Oh yeah. Always were. (👍3)

Then in TLWDJ we get the flashback scenes of "What have yall been up to over the break" and Eliot's is he's actually been chillin' and laying low and cooking a lot, meanwhile The Team has a series of mid-heist flash cuts a la the Sapphire Monkey job in TBWJ as they infiltrate the still VERY heavily secured fancy mansion in [Redacted Jungle Location].

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

I have my own small pile of headcanons but I kinda wanna hear your past!Eliot/Moreau meta if you have any :D Like, I wanna just bundle Eliot up away from the angst but at the same time, how the show approaches NOT TALKING about that part of his life always made me more curious. :D

Okay you literally caught me at the BEST/WORST moment for this because I was JUST screaming about a new Eliot and Parker headcanon to a friend so OH BOY OH BOY AM I IN THE MOOD TO TALK ABOUT HEADCANONS.

I JUST FINISHED REWATCHING THE ENTIRE SERIES BY THE WAY SO IMAGINE ME HOPPED UP ON SUGAR THAT’S WHAT’S GOING ON HERE

*ahem*

Because you’re absolutely right–to know Eliot, you have to look at what he’s not saying. Nate is known for keeping secrets re: his plans and holding stuff back with that, but his actual backstory and personality are an open book. Multiple people read him like an illustrated children’s novel. Hardison’s backstory is remarkable in its simplicity and lack of trauma compared to the others, which is refreshing in a person of color. Not that Hardison hasn’t struggled or doesn’t have issues, as we all do, but as the backstories of the group unfold it becomes clear that Hardison’s backstory is one of triumph in spite of odds.

Sophie’s backstory, on the other hand, is about what she lies about, not about what she doesn’t say. Sophie’s backstory is like Hardison’s only more amusing, because Sophie’s backstory is her stories on the cons she’s run. And Parker, well, Parker’s backstory is about what she doesn’t want to tell you that you end up finding out anyway. Her brother, her father, her Christmases, her foster home experience, her apprenticeship to Archie. Parker’s backstory unfolds just as her development unfolds and it’s all dragged out into the light.

Eliot’s backstory is never dragged out into the light. You have to look at the dark patches to understand. Because what Eliot doesn’t say, that’s what speaks, that’s what’s important.

For example, we don’t learn about Eliot’s falling out with his father until season five. But throughout all five seasons we see him unusually protective of children, especially when it comes to their relationships with their fathers. And he never mentions his mother. All that he doesn’t say about his parents speaks volumes and tells us, long before we learn about the falling out in The Low Low Price Job, that Eliot had a hard childhood, probably without a mother, and that his relationship with his father could be frustrating and strained.

We see this in The French Connection job as well. We don’t know until season five why Eliot is so into cooking and so intense about it: it literally gave him back himself. Eliot tells Parker, “Y'know, I didn’t feel anything for a long time. And Toby taught me to cook, and after he did, I started to feel stuff again.”

But even before we hear this, we already know it, because we see Eliot taking care of Hardison and Parker through food. He loves cooking so much that Hardison buys Eliot a brewpub as a sign of romantic affection. Eliot never says how he learned to cook or why or when, but we the audience are supposed to read into the fact that he never talks about it because for something so important to him, it’s pretty damn significant that he never talks about how he came to learn how to cook. Ergo, learning how to cook was a pretty damn important and emotional thing for him.

With Eliot, read the silence.

And with Moreau? Eliot is silent. He never mentions Moreau, not all season, although if you watch the season again after you watch the finale, you start to see pretty obvious emotional signs that Eliot knows Moreau, which, kudos to the crew and Christian Kane on that (this is a great example of why you tell your actors plot twists instead of springing it on them at the last minute). Every time Moreau is mentioned, Eliot warns the team, or specifically Nate, against him. He cautions Nate. And he gets very stiff and angry. Watching season three knowing what’s coming, it’s clear that Eliot spends the whole Moreau chase on tenterhooks.

By the time we hear Eliot say, “I did things for Moreau,” the audience should already know that whoever this guy is, he’s a big deal to Eliot, and specifically to Eliot emotionally.

Then let’s look at the timeline. When Moreau meets Eliot again in the pool he mentions what fun they had in Belgrade.

…which is the same city where Eliot met Toby Heath, the chef who turned him onto cooking and gave Eliot back his sense of self. This is also incidentally the same location as the flashback in the pilot that shows Eliot’s skill set–which takes place in a restaurant/café.

The implication, therefore, is that Moreau was the reason Eliot so lost his sense of self and why Eliot was in such a bad place. Which then brings me to what Eliot says when he confesses he knows Moreau:

“You think you know what I’ve done? The worst thing I ever did in my entire life, I did for Damien Moreau. And I… I’ll never be clean of that.”

Eliot has only twice demonstrated his ability/willingness to kill in the series–with Parker and with Hardison. When the fake psychic exposes Parker’s brother’s death, Parker says she wants him dead, and Eliot straight-up offers to kill him. This is after Eliot tells Hardison early on in the series not to ask him to kill, because if he asks, Eliot will do it. Eliot’s relationship with Parker and Hardison is coded by the writers as romantic and sexual. So if Eliot is willing to break his moral code for them, two people with whom he has a romantic relationship, the implication is that the one other person for whom he broke his moral code (Moreau)… he also was in a romantic relationship with.

This is further implied in the Parker/Eliot interaction that accompanies this. Parker asks him, “What did you do?” and Eliot, tears in his eyes, begs her not to ask him, “because if you ask me, I’m gonna tell you.” Eliot cannot deny the people that he loves, and that’s part of what makes him so wonderful but it’s also part of why he is such a danger to himself because he will give until it hurts and then keep giving past that point, to the point where he can be exploited by those he trusts.

…y’know what I was going to talk about this later but since I mentioned that let’s just dive into it here real quick.

Another thing to keep in mind about Eliot that the audience should have figured out by the end of season three is that Eliot has very submissive behavior. Despite his repeated refrains of, “Dammit, Hardison!” he actually prefers to follow orders instead of give them. I joke about him being a bratty sub with my friends but in all seriousness, it becomes clear pretty quickly that Eliot’s love language is acts of service.

This is a wonderful thing, but it also opens Eliot up to being abused and manipulated, because all the person he loves has to do is hint that they would really really love it if, say, they could have that one delicious risotto for dinner… or if y’know that pesky rival arms dealer would just… vanish… and bam. Eliot takes care of it.

Eliot might not be big on the whole “saying I love you” thing, but he will cook dinner, he will go after the bad guys, literally anything Parker or Hardison say they want, Eliot finds a way to do it for them. A good comparison to this is Hardison, whose love language is gift giving.

(Note: This is all the love language they give, not necessarily the one they receive. Hardison likes to receive words of affirmation i.e. “Good job, Hardison,” which is why he butts heads with Nate because Nate SUCKS at words of affirmation. But Hardison gives in presents.)

Hardison gifts Parker the little Parker II robot. He buys a building in Portland with high ceilings and brick walls and all the structural stuff Parker likes but with a brew pub for Eliot. He gives high-tech earbuds. He gifts Parker the parachute to go with her weighted boots so she can sail to safety. He gifts everyone with state-of-the-art tech to keep them safe.

Parker, on the other hand, gives in physical touch. She scoots right up next to Eliot on the couch and pokes Eliot constantly. She climbs all over Hardison like a jungle gym. She snuggles them.

Eliot doesn’t go out of his way to touch anyone, and he doesn’t buy anyone anything, but he finds ways to serve them. Which is why, when Eliot says “the worst thing I ever did in my life” was for Moreau, that should be pinging alarm bells to any alert viewer. It should tell you two facts. One, I served this man, and he took advantage of it, and two, I served him the way I serve Parker and Hardison now, and that means we had the same relationship.

And this is all ignoring actual Eliot-Moreau interactions!

So even if we IGNORE all of the interactions Eliot has with Moreau, we’re building a pretty damning case here. Eliot’s telling silence, the timeline, and the fact that he admits Moreau had a hold on him, an ability to break Eliot’s self-imposed code, which does not happen easily and is intrinsically tied to Eliot’s love for someone… all of this screams that Moreau was not just a boss but someone personal, and important, to Eliot.

Then Moreau actually saunters into the picture (a moment of silence so we may all drool) and it all dials up to eleven.

Let’s start with the sex angle. Or, rather, the lack of a sex angle.

See, we find Moreau in the middle of a “party” in a hotel pool. There’s plenty of scantily clad women around. But Moreau never once looks at them or touches them. They might as well not even be there. Every other mark who is placed in a similar situation is shown interacting with the women or at least looking at them appreciatively. Moreau straight up ignores them. They might as well not be there. They’re window dressing.

Interesting, non?

This gets even more interesting when you line Moreau up along with all the other marks the team has gone after and realize that Moreau is one of the few marks, possibly the only male mark, that the team doesn’t try any kind of romantic/sexual grift on.

Often when there’s a woman involved you’ll see Eliot slide in and briefly grift her, the biggest example being The Stork Job where Eliot ends up grifting almost the entire episode, aided by Sophie. When it’s a man, though, when have we not seen Sophie charm him? Moreau stands out because he and Sophie don’t even meet until the team gets to San Lorenzo. He’s not grifted… except by Eliot, who lies to him about who Hardison is.

Then consider Moreau’s wedding ring. Now, yes, I know, the costume department was probably just like “yeah okay keep your wedding ring on who cares,” but the writing team is usually good about having the Leverage team bring up any family connections. Especially when the team gets to San Lorenzo, Moreau’s home turf. Moreau has an expensive villa and a wedding ring and, what, the team just conveniently decided not to go after his spouse? When a spouse is probably the easiest way to get to someone?

If the team doesn’t go after Moreau’s spouse, then that means that he’s not close enough to his spouse for there to be any leverage there (ba dum tish). That plus ignoring the women–again the only mark to do so–and the only male mark Sophie doesn’t in some way try to grift…

…I’m just saying.

There’s also the fact that Moreau comments on Eliot’s haircut (“I like the new haircut”), the “delicious five course meal” look he gives Eliot the entire time they’re at the pool together, and the fact that he actually seems pleased to see Eliot, and furthermore, relaxed around him. And we can’t put that relaxation off to just thinking he has the upper hand. Moreau thinks he has the upper hand with Nate in San Lorenzo, but he never relaxes around him the way he does around Eliot.

Speaking of which, rather interesting that Eliot tries to avoid being alone with Moreau in San Lorenzo… but we’ll get to that later.

So. Moreau and Eliot meet in person. And hoo boy is that a doozy.

Immediately Eliot is completely different from how we usually see him. He tucks his shoulders in. He makes himself small. He postures to the new head of security but with Moreau, Eliot’s careful. Measuring his words. Darting his eyes down.

Moreau, on the other hand, is amused and almost delighted. He looks like he’s been waiting cheerfully for this day to arrive, the day Eliot walks back in through the door. We’ve never seen Eliot so out of his element, and Moreau has all the cards. This is the moment where the audience realizes just how dangerous Moreau is, because we see Eliot’s reactions to him. Eliot is walking the razor’s edge.

This is all just in reading body language. This doesn’t include the actual dialogue. The dialogue… well. See for yourself.

“He prefers beer.” (Note that Moreau doesn’t give the girl a once over, he looks her in the eyes dismissively, every single other male mark would give the girl a once over.) Moreau knows Eliot’s personal tastes.

“Whose Snoopy lunchbox did I take?” This isn’t a random object. Snoopy lunch box? That’s pretty specific. “Whose school lunch did I take” or “whose lunch box did I take” would get the same condescending joke across, but Snoopy lunch box. Moreau’s referencing a specific event between himself and Eliot, reminding Eliot of their past.

“I don’t know you [Hardison] but I do know you [Eliot]. We could talk.” This is accompanied by a smile. Moreau then immediately removes Hardison from the equation by kicking him into the pool so that he is, essentially, talking to Eliot in private.

“Let’s keep it short.” “I already have international buyers so it’s not an issue.” Moreau is toying with Eliot and Eliot is letting him. Eliot is speaking quietly. Barely moving. Shut down, almost, like he’s scared of showing Moreau too much.

The casual behavior that Moreau is showing throughout suggests that even if he knows Eliot’s trying to double cross him, he doesn’t care. The words he’s saying remind Eliot of their past. Both of these indicate that they have, or once had, a deep trust between one another.

“What else you got?” After Eliot has given Moreau his information, Moreau waits a full thirty seconds (thirty seconds he knows the drowning man in the pool can’t afford), even though Moreau has clearly already made up his mind. Again, toying with Eliot. Here we’re seeing Moreau’s ability to manipulate people, and especially his ability to manipulate Eliot.

This entire scene, it’s like he’s pushing Eliot towards a particular something, trying to get Eliot to give him something specific that Moreau wants, and already knows that he wants. This scene right here shows us Moreau and Eliot’s entire relationship and it’s a bone-chilling one of manipulation, coercion, and power plays where Eliot is submissive and scared, poker faced, holding his cards close for fear they’ll be ripped from him.

Now, no relationship starts out this blatantly abusive. Moreau’s behavior shows that he’s clearly fond of Eliot, especially compared to the rest of this episode and the next (The Big Bang Job and The San Lorenzo Job) where we see how Moreau manipulates and treats people of whom he isn’t fond. 

“I like this one. Just like old times. Reminds me of Belgrade.” All said while Moreau is laughing, speaking in a low, amused, intimate voice, staring Eliot right in the eyes as Eliot struggles not to flinch away. Making his like of Hardison more disturbing and threatening than his dislike would be, implying that Moreau liking Hardison is bad news for Hardison, activating Eliot’s protective instincts.

Also please tell me I’m not the only one who heard “we have a deal” and was like that sounds like he wants Eliot to do sex stuff.

If Eliot was a woman, or if Moreau was a woman, I don’t think anyone viewing would be in any doubt that there was a sexual undercurrent to this entire exchange, especially in those last few sentences. And Eliot just stares back, not defiant the way he usually does, but like he’s silently begging for this whole thing to be over.

In fact, the only time Eliot starts to become himself again is when Hardison says he sucked the air out of the chair and complains about Eliot not diving into the pool after him. Now, Hardison couldn’t hear what was being exchanged up there, but Hardison is the most emotionally aware of the OT3, and arguably the most emotionally aware of the entire group (it’s a toss-up between him and Sophie). Hardison, even before he was kicked into the pool, knows something is horribly wrong here not just with the situation but with Eliot. Which leads me to believe that Hardison is berating Eliot for not going in after him not because Hardison genuinely cares (by season three he trusts Eliot in these matters) but because it gives Eliot something to snap him out of it.

And Eliot does snap out of it. He banters back at Hardison, comes back to himself and becomes the Eliot we know and love, which highlights his previous behavior with Moreau even more sharply. Eliot always snarks back. Always. And yet not once did he do that with Moreau. They’ve gone up against guys were were just as “bad” as Moreau is, so why is Eliot scared of this one, why is Eliot not snarking back, why does Moreau hold all the cards, relaxed in a bathrobe, while Eliot stands with his arms folded like a shield?

Because there is something personal, and painful, at play here for Eliot.

Which leads us all to my final belief, which is that Eliot fled Moreau and never actually properly ‘quit’. That is, he gave his resignation over a phone call or letter, and never actually did it face to face.

Why?

Because Eliot’s behavior all suggests a huge lack of closure.

Eliot avoids Moreau at all costs, especially in San Lorenzo, Moreau’s home turf. He never confronts Moreau alone. Never speaks to him alone. In fact he seems loathe to speak to or about Moreau at all. Eliot casually mentions a lot of the other shit he’s done, but he never mentions Moreau or the shit he did with Moreau, which suggests that he can’t talk about it–because he hasn’t faced it and therefore can’t accept it.

Given how Moreau handles his business associates (“you’re either an asset or a liability”), I think we can assume that anyone who wanted to a) quit his employ or b) break up with him had to do it by running for their lives and leaving a Dear John letter. And if we think back to the timeline, Eliot learning how to cook, then we can assume he was hiding out with this chef instead of doing actual work.

And remember–Moreau is happy to see Eliot. He’s amused and cheerful. He establishes his authority by kicking Hardison into the pool but he’s not angry. If Eliot and Moreau had a big falling-out fight, I doubt he would’ve been so jovial.

Which means that instead of confronting Moreau and saying “hey you’re an asshole and I’m leaving you,” Eliot fled. Which means that Moreau thinks he still has some kind of hold over Eliot because he knows Eliot operated out of fear and didn’t have the guts to confront him, and which also means that Eliot never got to face down the man of whom he was so scared. Which means a lack of closure.

Which Eliot finally, finally gets by locking Moreau up. He literally gets to put his asshole ex in jail himself, how many people get to do that? 

MY CONCLUSION:

Eliot and Moreau started out as hitman and boss, respectively, but developed a romantic and probably also sexual relationship. It was emotionally manipulative at best and outright emotionally abusive at worst. Eliot’s love language, as we discussed, is acts of service and so out of that close emotional bond he ‘served’ and did things that he wouldn’t otherwise have done, things that haunted him and fucked him up emotionally. But you can’t always see the forest for the trees when you’re in an abusive relationship, and when you love someone it’s hard to let them go and walk away, and so it wasn’t until Eliot met Toby that he was able to start to rediscover himself and his independence.

Eliot left Moreau, probably by just leaving a note or voicemail, since if they’d fought, I a) doubt Moreau would’ve been so indulgent at the pool and b) doubt Eliot would’ve made it out alive. If Eliot just straight up says “we’re done, bye,” and flees, this also explains Moreau’s amused and commanding presence at the pool–he’s assuming that somewhere, deep down, Eliot left without a proper goodbye because he would’ve stayed if he tried that, would’ve fallen for Moreau’s manipulation again, and Moreau believes he can therefore still manipulate Eliot.

And he’s partially right. Moreau reads Eliot like a book and it’s thanks to the smarts of the rest of the team that they manage to force Moreau to flee to San Lorenzo. Eliot himself is, well, compromised.

Eliot is now in a much better and healthier place, with himself and with the people around him, but yes, Moreau is the asshole ex-boyfriend who rears his ugly head, and in putting him in prison, Eliot is also able to lay his past bad relationship to rest and get closure.

And that is my Eliot/Moreau meta, someone please wrap this poor sweet boy up in blankets, please and thank.

[inklingdancer]

Damien Moreau.

A name feared by most of the underworld, and hated by all law enforcement personnel. A name that had been reduced to a whimper after the team took him down. They knew his name, but he didn't know theirs, and for once, the power did not lie in his hands. They took down his empire and shook him to the core. His world has fallen down around his ears and yet...

And yet Eliot worries that they did not do enough, that somehow Damien'll escape to wreak destruction and terror on the world again, and the first to die will be the team. That he'll give Eliot a choice: either Eliot kills them himself, as painlessly as he wants to, or Damien will kill them in front of him, prolonging their suffering until they are begging Eliot to kill them.

Eliot couldn't live with that.

Fortunately, he probably wouldn't have to. Damien would watch Eliot's world burn, just as they burned his. And after Damien destroyed everything in Eliot's life that he cares about, he'd come for Eliot.

Then - and only then - would Damien kill him. (Probably pretty quickly, too.)

As much as Damien may want to torture Eliot (a desire Eliot isn't even sure exists; Eliot was, after all, one of the only people Damien ever - well, not loved, but cared about), he knows that the longer Eliot's alive (and the more Damien destroys those Eliot loves), the larger the chance is that Eliot can get away and kill him. Damien knows exactly the kind of damage Eliot could do if he ever got the chance to get revenge. Even with two broken arms and two broken legs, the threat Eliot would pose is too great for him to take that chance.

Eliot wonders idly what method Damien would choose to end his life with. Break his neck? Cut his throat? Put a bullet in his head? It doesn't matter, really, which quick-but-effective method Damien might choose; after all, Eliot has used all of them, on Damien's command.

[leverage-ot3]

it must have taken everything in eliot’s power not to jump in after hardison when moreau kicked his chair into the pool

he was calm and collected on the outside for the sake of the con but there is no doubt in my mind that he was, even having faith in hardison’s abilities to stay alive, worried about him downing

[darkfinch]

Had a thought about qwat au. Does Moreau ever show up in the hitter romance novellas? Either as the ultimate big bad who keeps not getting killed (he shows Eliot the fan mail like. "Look. They want Elias and Finn to kill Darren. The fans want it to happen. This one lady thinks they should do it together,,, it'd be romantic she said, I think she's onto something-"). Or maybe just in every book there is someone who in some Very Distinctive small way seems similar to Moreau, and always always without fail dies horribly.

OR is there never any hint of a Moreau figure at all because these books are a happy escape (/works of complete fiction with no resemblances to anyone living or dead, no that draft never accidentally said 'Eliot and Quinn stop talking nonsense).

I kind of like Moreau being in the books just so that, when the team comes after him and he's doing his research on all of them, we would get a short scene of him in the President's office finishing reading Quinn's latest novel and kinda scoff-laughing at the obvious allusion to himself. Kinda parallel to his amused/bemused moments with Eliot and the puppies but more in a "that guy I met twice really went off the rails" kinda way.

THRILLED AND DELIGHTED to confirm that damien moreau AKA domino moron AKA "adrien rousseau" CAN in fact be found in the hitter romance novellas [x]!! "Finn Smith" gets to kill him and a great time is had by all,

moreau is SIGNIFICANTLY nerfed in the novellas, because making him an ultimate big bad/focal point/constant recurring Issue is like. bad for eliot's mental health (he's always there?? no. Quinn is always there, moreau does not have that privilege—), but there are occasional digs about how adrien rousseau, a man written to be Extremely Recognizable As A Certain Criminal Financier down to the island villa, is like. boring and kind of dumb and Would be murdered if only he were important enough for anyone to put in that kind of effort :3

he's written in purely to be casually dragged occasionally by both main characters and then killed in a single sentence. like in a story about Not Eliot Spencer finding love and peace and Healing As A Dude, moreau does not get to take up nearly as much space as he himself would probably like, and that is extremely deliberate. its like. "oh yeah, rousseau, that dumb asshole u worked for once. wild. glad you've moved on to bigger and better things <3. anyway,"

[pebblesrus]

so we had hell au 1.0, where eliot never left moreau

then we have hell au 1.5, where eliot leaves moreau pre s1, goes back to moreau between s1 and s2, and is undercover worst au eliot for s2 and s3

WELCOME TO hell au 2.0.......where nate figures out eliot is working for moreau mid s3. [thank u @alliamisperformance 4 this particular circle of hell]

This could exist in hell au 1.0 or 1.5 or a slightly different iteration entirely. I’m kind of leaning towards it happening in 1.5 because I think Nate would notice the jarring difference between s1 Eliot and s2 Eliot and he would Think about it. No one tells Nate about Eliot working for Moreau, he just figures it out by doing mental 4d chess. (The rest of the team would notice too, but, as @darkfinch has said, they would know something was off but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.) 

In all versions of this au, my idea for how the team gets involved in the “take down Damien Moreau” path is still the Italian.* She approaches Nate while knowing Eliot is still actively working for Moreau. She doesn’t tell Nate the Eliot of it all and she doesn’t talk to Eliot, she just hopes that Eliot is in deep enough with the team to take their side over Moreau’s when it all goes down. 

okay, onto more actual fic-y parts of this post and less background that wouldn’t be required if i didn’t have impulse control issues and just sat down to write a real fic instead of this mess.

[nate confronting eliot & eliot telling the team.]

—

*I have a personal headcanon that The Italian knows Eliot used to work for Moreau and that she doesn’t approach Nate for Nate, she approaches him because she knows there’s no taking down Damien Moreau without Eliot. Moreau is tricky but doable. Eliot on the other hand—you can take down entire governments easier than you can take down Eliot Spencer. And if there’s even the slightest chance Eliot will defend Moreau, well, that’s why you don’t take down Damien Moreau without Eliot Spencer’s permission. [x]

—

[Moving the end scene of The Scheherazade Job from the bar to Nate’s apartment. They eat dinner and then Nate drops the bomb about having hypnotized Hardison. “Nate, hypnosis is somethin’ you do you a mark, not your own crew.” “No, no, it’s exactly what you do to your own crew. No, you push whatever button you need to get them to do what needs to be done.”

Eliot is having a Normal time. Hardison just broke his heart with a violin, what of it.] 

Hardison storms out, Parker and Sophie follow. 

Eliot is left standing there, not sure if he’s supposed to follow, so he begins clearing the table and gathering dirty dishes in the sink. 

"Eliot stop—”

“Dishes ain’t gonna clean themselves.” Eliot mumbles before Nate can get any more opposing words out. 

They play this game, Nate tells him it’s time to get out of my damn apartment, he objects because, well, the dishes ain’t gonna clean themselves, but also because, 

He’s buying time before he has to return to Damien. 

Eliot’s gotten to the sink and he can feel Nate hovering. 

Nate takes a breath to speak again and Eliot’s expecting another request to leave it but instead when Nate speaks it’s with the tone he uses talking to a mark.

“You still work for Damien Moreau.” 

Eliot’s stomach drops out from under him. 

He feels his breath hitch but keeps washing the knife in his hand trying to ground himself. The sponge slips off the blade and the soapy metal flicks at his fingers, not enough to draw blood but enough to pull him back into the moment. He looks down at his knuckles turning white from the grip,

muscle memory kicking in, telling him he could have the blade embedded in Nate’s heart before the man had a chance to blink.

“I learned a lot more than hypnosis in prison.” 

Eliot’s puts the knife down but doesn’t turn around. “What happens now.” It’s not a question, not really. It’s an admission of guilt—or, 

it’s a plea to lock him behind bars somewhere so dark he’ll never have to see the heartbreak on Parker and Hardison and Sophie’s faces, somewhere Damien will never find him and ask him, So, Eliot, what did you do wrong this time? or,

it’s a plea to let him go quietly, let him go back to Damien, let him go back to somewhere he belongs, let him return home.

“Well, I’m going to take down Damien Moreau, and you’re going to help me.”

—

[Post pool scene. Eliot still takes Hardison with him but it’s because Nate makes him. Because Nate knows if Eliot goes alone it’s over. He knows that within Eliot there are still loyalties to Moreau, that there are parts of Eliot that still belong to him. But Nate also knows if Eliot has to protect someone in that room—not just someone, but Alec Hardision, the smartest and kindest man the either of them know—he’s going to come back. 

(for a break from the angst, here’s some posts about how alec hardison is a legend, a hero, an all around gift to the world (and the team) 1, 2, 3.)

pool scene goes pretty much the same as how i wrote it before. partly bc i cannot write another pool scene i have at least 4 iterations of it and if i write another i might die inside.

So, skip to when Eliot and Hardison are walking back to the group except Hardison is ten times angrier and twelve times more heartbroken and Eliot is almost literally vibrating out of his own body.]

“Eliot works for Moreau.”

Nate looks Eliot dead in the eyes, then, with the confidence of a man who has just taken his opponents queen, nods and states simply, “I know.”

“You knew about this—” Sophie’s voice wobbles, with anger or fear or heartbreak, Eliot can’t quite tell.

Hardison doesn’t move, the anger is gone, replaced with a cold silence Eliot had no idea the other man was even capable of. 

“Stop—” Nate’s voice cuts through the silence. “I told him not to tell you.”

“‘was protecting you.” Eliot forces the words out and they feel more like a  betrayal than an explanation. 

No one speaks so Eliot continues, “I— I can’t explain— I can’t explain it now. I’ll tell you anything you wa— everything you need to know when this is done but for now all you need to know is Dam—Moreau is out of your league and I am going to help you take him down.”

In that moment, staring at the only good thing he’s ever had, knowing it will be gone by tomorrow, it almost feels like the truth.

The silence is deafening and his heart is beating in his ears—he just needs to get them through the auction, he just needs to let them win, he just needs to—

“This—lyin’ to you—is— I— the worst thing I ever did in my life I did for Damien Moreau. And that’s what— that’s how I got here. And I— I’ll never be clean.”

“What did you do?” Parker looks up at him for the first time and when he meets her eyes his heart actually stops for a beat. 

“Don’t ask me that, Parker.” 

Parker’s stare doesn’t falter. 

“Because if you ask me, I’m gonna tell you. So please... don’t ask me.”

He would have told her everything—he would have told her about every life he’s taken, every lie he’s ever told her—he would have laid down his whole life right then and there for even a semblance of—not even forgiveness, understanding, maybe. 

To Eliot’s surprise, Parker nods. 

Nate turns to Eliot. “So, Eliot, tell me Moreau gave you the details.”

“Moreau ordered me to take out Atherton.”

And it might be the last thing I ever do for him. 

“You’re not going to do that.”

Wait—Damien said—

“Nate, just let me, it’s the once chance we—”

“Eliot, Who do you work for, Damien or me?”

—

[At the hanger, Moreau shoots Eliot, not The Italian (but not fatally, or even anywhere that makes Eliot blink twice). 

And Eliot hopes for a second Damien will just shoot him again and it will all be over, he won’t see the team or Damien ever again and for a second he forgets which is worse. 

Moreau obviously knows who Nate is, but he’s pissed. He’s pissed because he knew Eliot had been wavering, but he—he failed to see how far Eliot had fallen.]

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Don’t be silly, Moreau, I’m Nathan Ford, I’m a thief, and I stole Eliot Spencer.”

—

i am affectionally calling this one nate’s white rabbit au [see tags for explanation if u get this far and are interested]

[ktsometimeswrites]

Memories (Eliot Spencer x Reader)

Pairing: Eliot Spencer x Reader

Warnings: Broken glass but that’s it!!

Word Count: 986

A/N: This was a request from @fictionalhoomanofnowhere​, sorry it took so long! I hope you enjoy it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eliot grumbles as he tightens the bandana on his head.

“Who orders a damn burnt steak, you are ruining a perfectly good piece of meat” He grumbles to himself.

As he throws the meat on to cook, he hears his name being called from the bar. 

“Hey Dan! Come do this, you can’t mess it up, just send it to hell and back” Eliot says, talking to one of the newer chefs.

He quickly goes and washes his hands, drying them on the towel slung over his shoulder as he hears Hardison calling his name again.

“Alright Alright, I’m coming” He says, swiping a glass of water from one of the kitchen counters.

He walks into the bar, it being relatively empty for the time of day, before he goes to wear he is needed he lets his eyes sweep over the restaurant, getting a feel for the patrons and whether or not they are enjoying their food. Once he is satisfied with what he sees and doesn’t sense or spot any danger in the building, he turns to Hardison, seeing the back of Nate and Parker on the other side of the bar, clearly talking to someone out of Eliot’s view. 

Hardison looks up and motions for him to come over, Eliot heads over towards them, intrigued but also being cautious.

“Hey man, come meet our new client” Hardison says

“Well technically they’re actually a new member of the team” Nate says, taking a step back so he can face Eliot, allowing him to get a look at the new person in question.

Eliot doesn’t even register the glass slipping from his fingers, it falling and smashing at his feet, the contents of it splashing at his feet. 

“Hey Eliot” The new person says

“Y/N, what are you doing here?” Eliot asks, frozen on the spot

“I literally just said they’re our new hire, does no one listen to me?” Nate says, bringing his hands up, exasperated. 

Eliot completely ignores him, still staring in shock and awe.

“How do you two know each other?” Parker asks

Y/N looks almost nervously at Eliot

“It’s okay, they know about him” Eliot says before glancing at the three stood around them “

“We worked together a lot with Moreau” Eliot explains, causing three heads to shoot towards Y/N

“I was the distraction on some of the more public jobs” Y/N explains, wringing their hands

“A very good distraction” Eliot says with a fond smile, causing Y/N to giggle

“You only say that because it meant that you got your job done” They say

“When I wasn’t also distracted by you too, yes” He says, small smirk on his face

Y/N picks up a napkin from the bar, balling it up and throwing it at Eliot, causing the man to laugh, a sound that the rest of the team aren’t used to hearing.

“Okay, if y’all are done flirting, we have a new client and a job to do” Hardison says, walking towards the backroom, Nate following behind.

Parker lingers for a second, looking between Eliot and Y/N before finally nodding and skipping after Hardison.

“What was that about?” Y/N asks

“Who knows with Parker, but, you’re here, I can’t believe that you’re here” Eliot says

“Yeah, after you left, Damien tried to make me one of his arm candy pieces, clearly I wasn’t having any of that and after some planning and calling in some favours, I managed to get out” They explain.

Eliot steps over so they’re opposite each other over the bar.

“I never got to say that I’m so incredibly sorry for leaving you behind, it happened all so quickly but I shouldn’t have done it” Eliot says, lowering his voice and softening his tone as well as ducking his head slightly.

Y/N reaches over the bar and lays their hand over his.

“You don’t have to apologise to me, you needed to get out, that job and that…..man, were killing you. I’m proud of you for getting out” They say softly.

“I’m just sorry I didn’t take you with me or come back for you” Eliot says, putting his free hand over theirs, sandwiching it between his.

“It’s okay, look, we made it back to each other didn’t we?” Y/N says

“And I’m not letting you go this time” Eliot says with a soft smile

“Good, cause you would have a hard time getting rid of me this time” They say with a grin “Wouldn’t have it any other way. I missed you” Eliot says

“Wow, this team of yours has made you soft….but, I missed you too”

“I was always soft for you darlin’” 

Before Y/N can respond, the door to the back room opens and Hardison’s voice rings out.

“Are you two coming?” He says, smirking at them from the doorway

“Dammit Hardison” Eliot growls, Y/N pulling their hand away to grab their bag.

“Let’s get to work, Mr Spencer” They say before walking towards the door. 

Eliot watches after them before turning to the waitress cleaning up the glass and water.

“Thanks Claire, sorry about that, you can go on your lunch break when you’re done if you want” 

“It’s okay Mr Spencer, I know what it’s like to see someone for the first time after a long time” Claire says, smiling at him.

Eliot smiles back, nodding at her before following into the back room.

He see’s Hardison has already pulled up the files on their new target and is starting to talk. He sidles up to Y/N, bumping their shoulders together, the both of them shooting smiles at each other.

Eliot revels in the feeling of familiarity, his old best friend stood at his side, standing amongst his family. He welcomes the feeling of comfort around him for the first time in a long time.

[moonlight-breeze-44]

Information Post!

Hi, all! I realised that I haven’t done an official information thing on Tumblr, so this is that <3 

First of all, thank you for being here! I appreciate everyone who stops by this blog, even if it’s just for a quick look. In the wise words of Dean Winchester, you’re awesome. 

~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~

A little information about this blog: 

- Multifandom blog. Fandoms include: Shadowhunters, Supernatural, Criminal Minds, Leverage, Detroit: Become Human, NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Dan and Phil, Supergirl, Rizzoli and Isles, Blue Bloods, The X-Files, Hawaii Five-0, Nancy Drew, The Untamed, the Borderlands video game franchise, Scorpion, Devil in Ohio, Hamilton, Rent, and more micro-obsessions pending!

- Multishipper. While I have favourites for each fandom, I am nothing if not a multishipper, and I write fic for ships that I don't personally ship all the time. If you have a ship that I don't mention here, chances are that I'll probably write for it anyway. Nevertheless, here's a list of my main ships for my main fandoms:

For Shadowhunters -

Malec

Jalec

Jimon

Malace

Lysabelle

Claia

Claiabelle

Maiabelle

For Supernatural -

Destiel

Sabriel

Saileen

Dodio

Sam/Ruby

Dean/Bela

For Criminal Minds -

Jemily

Morcia

Hotchniss

Morreid

Hotch/Rossi

For Leverage -

The Leverage OT3

Damien Moreau/Eliot Spencer

Sophie/Nate

For Detroit: Become Human -

Reed900

Jericho polycule

For Harry Potter -

Wolfstar

Drarry

Dramione

Hermione/Luna

Hermione/Ginny

Hermione/Luna/Ginny

Blaise/Theo

For NCIS -

Tiva

Ellick

Slibbs

For NCIS: New Orleans -

PerSalle

Khourgorio

For Supergirl -

Sanvers

Karamel

Dansen

Supercorp

Director Danvers

Supercat

For Hawaii Five-0 -

McDanno

For The Untamed -

Wangxian

And alternatively, here's a (much smaller) list of ships that are squicky for me or I won't write:

Tibbs (Tony/Gibbs)

Harmione

Clizzy

Nate/Eliot

Pride/LaSalle

Alec Lightwood with any woman

Tammy Gregorio with any man

- Dead Dove: Do Not Eat rules. On this blog, I believe in 'ship and let ship' and the age-old fandom testament of 'Dead Dove Do Not Eat', as well as kink tomato. I write dark ships. I write ships that I don't personally like, or sometimes, even endorse. I write RPF. I have written beloved characters as abusers, and I have written "controversial" ships. I will not apologise for any of these things. I believe that everyone has a right to read, write, and create whatever they want as long as proper tags & warnings are utilized. I don't believe in policing anyone's creative expression, nor purity culture in general. Respect is key, and at the end of the day, we're all just friends on the Internet writing shit for one another. You don't know someone else's story, and it isn't on you to judge. On this blog, if you don't like something, you're expected to skip it and move on. Curate your own fandom experience.

- Detailed tagging system. I tag each post I reblog with its respective fandom and character, and I use other identifying tags like 'animals' and 'positivity' for posts that aren't fandom-related.

- Queued up at all times. My Shadowhunters queue will be tagged with ‘fatty queuena’ and my non-Shadowhunters queue will be tagged with ‘curly q’. 

- My tag rants and tag headcanons will be tagged with ‘em rambles too much’. 

- As of 7/2/22 I am no longer accepting prompts. I'm very sorry, and I hope to open my inbox to fandom prompts again soon.

- My work for past prompt challenges (such as Whumptober) can be found under the ‘my masterlists’ tag. 

- This is a kind, welcoming place. If you don’t have anything nice to say here, please don’t say anything at all. Fandom drama is unavoidable at times, but this blog is meant to be a safe space. Please keep that in mind.

- Don't be afraid to reach out to me to share thoughts, ask for something, or let me know of anything (like a trigger or some context) that I'm missing!

- My opinions are my opinions and it’s okay to disagree, but I won’t tolerate hate. Respect me and I’ll respect you. 

- I tend to get a bit obsessive, so you might see multiple posts about the same thing one after the other at times.

I think that’s it :)

~ ~ ~

My social media + contact info:

Email: emersonrose.438@gmail.com

Archive of Our Own: MoonlightBreeze

Twitter: brokencomfort

Discord: moonlightbreeze4318

Spotify: Em (I make character + fandom playlists sometimes)

I don’t have very much social media, so that’s it ^ 

~ ~ ~

My Schedule:

- My queue is scheduled to drop one post per day.

- I liveblog Nancy Drew on Twitter sometimes! Check my Twitter on airing days to see if I'm up for a liveblog.

- I do my best to participate in Whumptober every year! You can subscribe to my AO3 to track my progress in October :)

- I participate in lots of Secret Santas every year; please feel free to track my progress online or ask me how it's going!

- I am much more active on weekends when I don’t have work!

This will be updated as needed! :)

~ ~ ~

About Me:

- Em 

- She/her

- Disaster, but the fun kind

- Neurodivergent, mental health advocate, LGBTQ+

- I angst the fuck out of every character I write

- On that note, I curse a lot, especially in my tags

- My favourite colour is blue 

- I write in British English, even though I’m not British

- Generally don’t know what the fuck I’m doing

- Hobbies include reading, writing, binge watching TV shows, playing video games (badly), driving around for no particular reason, listening to music, and baking

I think that’s it for now. Thank you to everyone who’s read this far! <3

~ ~ ~

If you still have questions or you’d like to get to know the person behind the keyboard a little more, don’t be afraid to drop an ask or send me a message! I’ll respond as soon as I can. 

With that, I hope that you all have a wonderful day/night! Thank you for stopping by my blog. I’m so glad you’re here. <3

~ Em

[faorism]

whenever u put the “of hearth & home” tag on moreau related things it makes me scream internally bc if makes me think abt the concept of eliot going home to moreau

[moreau's mindfuckery and highly suggestive]

Homecomings mean something to a southern boy like Eliot. Big bashes and tailgating and reunions and all the girlies looking so good (and the boys who can't score one of them just desperate enough to try something a little more familiar in the shadows of empty science labs). Barbeques rolling meat for so long he'll wake up days after the big game eyes tearing up from spice caught in his lashes.

He doesn't remember the chorus line as he falls into it with the crew or, with them, when he falls into something like a family.

Then it ain't like anything at all. It just is. Family. Home. Because it feels like coming home, every time Hardison texted Eliot a stupid fucking 🦇 emoji. Eliot would text back I'll shove that bat signal where the sun don't shine the next time you do that kiddie nerd shit and Hardison will respond u promise?? or u keep saying that and yet! and Eliot would ignore him and show up early to the run through to make sure Parker didn't take his spot and she wouldn't but she would always find a way to sit too close, and Sophie would find something to tease someone about, and Nate would have his schemes, and then they would start the whole process again the next time.

Eliot falls into that familiarity quick. Because with them he can taste again casserole with too much Miracle Whip and can hear brass and can piece together pass brownout levels of intoxication what it was like being cheered as homecoming king his senior year. It makes him nervous, sometimes. How good it feels to be with them. Sophie and Nate, Hardison and Parker.

A lot of times, he's nervous.

And he was right to be, 'cause then his family falls into the path of Damien Moreau's haunting. Because of course they fucking do. It must be him, huh? Just had to be him out of the dozens of other well-connected murdering megalomaniacs just like him? It just had to be him?

Eliot wishes he still believed in something other than the vision of the world Leverage promises because he wants a word with any god left who would listen to him. He'd ask that god about why they would do this to him; to them; to the people they've been helping. Eliot stops eating and stops sleeping again, and the shadows of Moreau darken his every early morning sunrise to early morning sunrise.

Time feels different with Moreau so close to and far from him again.

Seconds feel infinite with that man before Eliot and another man behind him and below the water's surface. There, making a promise to a memory dashed across a mirror of all his nightmares, Eliot realizes tense. A man he loved is before him.

And then there's conjugation: behind and below him is a man he is starting to love. Has loved. Will love. Can love. Loves.

(And then, distantly, its own echo: a reapplication: a thief with clever hands and a silly laugh he is starting to love. Has loved. Will love. Can love. Loves.)

Moreau steps forward and then closes the distance by raising his fist upwards, thumb reaching forward. A practiced move from a long ago fancy; Eliot can feel a flash sensation of that pad against his lips and then its slide against his tongue. He can feel Moreau's hold on him, the muzzle carved from his hand as he clutched Eliot so tight and secure. Spit pools in Eliot's mouth at the memory, and he won't flinch or swallow or react even as he holds in the ditch between teeth and gums a wetness that tells tale of how his mouth was once home for a very different kind of coming, from Moreau. Eliot holds his own mouth stuck and obedient against Moreau's advance, which earns him a laugh. Moreau rolls his wrist and a slight of hand later, a key dangles in front of Eliot's nose.

"Guess Pavlov might have exaggerated some, hm, honey?" Moreau tosses the key over Eliot's shoulder.

[part of a long of heart and home wip ive been sitting on for months now, rip]

[party-gilmore]

If I think for too long about how in TBBJ Moreau's choice of 'See? I Know you. Do not ever forget that I Know you' cutting remark was "He prefers beer" in front of Hardison, then one year* later (end of S3 -> break before S5) Hardison buys Eliot a brewpub, I lose my fucking mind.

[party-gilmore]

So @lets-go-steal-a-hitter got me thinking bout this damn song again and how its so fuckingngngg much a season 3 "Eliot coming back to face Moreau with hell (Nate) at his side" song like ffffuuuccckk

The whole thing is PERFECT but particularly like

"they all laughed as he turned around slow, they said you ain't welcome round here anymore, you just might as well go," i.e. how everyone else must have thought it so foolish, for Eliot to turn his back on This? I'll be honest I don't think it was an ENTIRELY clean break. I think he ghosted Moreau, but the writing had been on the wall for some time, and his eventual leaving was anticipated. That the other members of the team were just chomping at the bit, waiting for the moment the great Eliot Spencer overstepped, or showed his hand, and they could be loosed to tear him apart. They were eagerly awaiting his failure, steeped in jealousy and thirst for prestige. How, whatever it was that was the last straw, wore him out and made him realize he wouldn't, COULDNT let himself be welcome here if that's what they expected him to continue doing and be okay with it. How Moreau absolutely LET him leave, otherwise he wouldn't have made it out. "You might as well go," he said to himself, watching Eliot's tracker go dark, answering the call saying Spencer didn't check in after that last mission. "because you'll be back."

"I'll be back when you least expect it" and Moreau refusing to even entertain his compatriots concern over Eliot seeking revenge, to the thought of "hells coming with [him.]" It's Eliot. Moreau doesn't for one second think to be afraid, because of everything they'd built (or rather, that Moreau had intentionally forged) between them. It's less "when" he least expects it, but "how" he least expects it.

"They didn't know him by his face (having to introduce himself at the elevator) or by the gun around his waist (or rather LACK thereof - I wonder perhaps, before he stopped using them, did Eliot carry a signature piece? A custom weapon because he can't have his face recognized ofc but Moreau's want the people who pissed him off enough to send Eliot to KNOW who's killing them?) but he come back to burn that town to the ground"

Eliot calling himself "the righteous hand of g-d" but it's not him who's "righteous" no it could never be, it's the task of acting as "g-d's" (Nate's) hand metering out HIS "righteous" vengeance, saving the world, stopping the criminal empire. The grouping isn't [I am the righteous][hand of g-d], it's [I am the][righteous hand]. Meanwhile he himself rather is the "devil that you forgot," because outside of Nate and his team this is PERSONAL for him, this is clawing kicking screaming bloody in the trenches for no other reason than wanting to tear everything Moreau physically built down and emotionally built out of him, because this represents so much of what has been done to him and consuming every waking moment of his guilt, meanwhile for Moreau... he's an afterthought. Maybe not forgotten in terms of Eliot's existence, but forgotten in terms of like, uncaring. Casual flippancy, "forgiven and forgotten." Like a casual erasing of past sins, being willing to forget, because to Moreaus its just... not that big of a deal. So he looks past Eliot's bared teeth and forgets that his dog was always capable of so much more than just biting.

Anyways I already have a lot of feelings about this song in general but the fact that it's basically a The Big Bang Job Anthem doesn't fucking help

[faorism]

Title: and when my edges soften his body is my coffin [1/1] Relationships: moreau/eliot. Notes: E. 10.5k words. COMPLETE. one-shot written for @leverage-secret-santa-exchange for tenknifefoot. canon complacent dark!fic featuring consensual but not safe d/s, gunplay, blood, injury, bad etiquette, unreliable narrator (especially within issues of self-worth), unrequited love but requited obsession, and damien moreau's general mindfuckery. Series: standalone, but can be read within my of hearth and home canon adjacent verse.

Summary: Damien Moreau is a fucking terrible shot. After experiencing the extent of Moreau's aiming incompetence, Eliot takes it onto himself to instill in the man some proper gun sense.

→ read on ao3 here

[faorism]

depending on whether he is posed in his default triangle defensive stance and how much you want to trust ckane's official height, eliot spencer is anywhere between seven to eleven inches shorter than damien moreau and if that doesn't make you feral for messy employer/right hand man power imbalance action, i dont know what will