#leverage Harrison

[shy-glow-worm]

Doodles from school

[the-gayest-wug]

leverage always makes me feel justified in my rage with the world but it also gives me a little bit of faith that there are people out there who want to do the right thing and will do the right thing

[weirdfishy]

CRYING thinking of you in the studio job hits sooo hard

[ziorite]

oh my god season four of leverage is fucking DIABOLICAL. how the fuck are you gonna open with the long way down job, and then hit with the van gogh job carnival job AND the grave danger job in just the first half ??? i swear to god i was shaking out of my skin all through the second half of the grave danger job. and where is aldis hodge’s oscar ??? the shaky voice the constant tears the frantic ripping at the inside of the coffin ?? i was literally holding my phone at arm’s length trying not to cry for him i swear.

i have to appreciate the directors here because i think they did a fantastic job focusing on harrison’s situation and really emphasizing the peril and dread the whole team was working through. the fevered search of the city, the awful moment when parker and sophie have to abandon their shovels and duck for cover, and harrison is left panicked and alone— that shit HURT y’all. it HURT. (i will say that the way the coffin was apparently uncovered off screen was a bit off— they only got a few shovels in before the guy started shooting, i thought, but oh well)

and obviously the hugging at the end. fuck kissing on screen hugging is where it’s at. eliot literally diving over gravestones to get to the coffin and pull hardison out and then clutching him like he’s trying to absorb the poor guy into his bloodstream ??? i will simply never be the same. and the perfect touch of beth riesgraf looking absolutely fucking devastated before turning away because she’s so so so wrecked about this but she’s not ready for that hug…. leverage writers need to square up because that was one fucked up episode and it also delivered on every characterization front ever. leverage is the gift that fucking giving y’all

[chimaerakitten]

that “Christian Kane for Quincy Morris” post wormed its way into my head months ago, but somewhere along the way it mutated into “Leverage episode but the mark is Count Dracula”

Investigative Journalist Mina Harker is the client

Dracula threatened her real estate lawyer husband and probably had her best friend and photographer Lucy killed to keep her quiet

beyond just that, there’s a combination of suspected but unprovable kidnapping, (That Jonathan may have witnessed) and a shady for-profit blood donation company

which was trying to acquire real estate near a mental hospital for definitely exploitative and shady purposes

Dracula’s castle: great heist location. Early in the getting-the-con-started phase of the episode Parker steals at least one 15th century painting and a lot of ancient gold coins

Whether Leverage mark!Dracula is actually a vampire is never 100% proven but it’s definitely implied

regardless he’s definitely metaphorically a vampire

and Parker 100% believes he is one, even making a comment on how this isn’t the first time she’s robbed a vampire

Flashback to her cracking a safe in what the props make clear is Wesley Snipes’s house

The Leverage crew pose as a medical/biological goods shipping company (Demeter Transportation) in order to con Dracula and get both his money and evidence of all the shady stuff and crimes

their fake identities for the con are Lucy’s polycule

Eliot’s Quincy, Hardison is Seward, Parker is Holmwood

Nate was supposed to be Van Helsing, but there was a hot potato job-like kerfuffle and Sophie ends up playing that role instead

which makes Nate Renfield

Classic leverage action

the big wrinkle happens when they finally get their 50 boxes full of evidence delivered and discover that Dracula isn’t just smuggling blood, he’s smuggling black market organs

they manage to recover as they always do

(probably because of Harrison coming through with hacking, as a nod to the novel’s tech themes)

Spectacular success and Interpol seizes everything

when we see Mina again post-gloat she’s on her way to wherever Interpol is holding Dracula. She’s wearing a crucifix necklace and she conspicuously tucks a wooden stake into her bag alongside the check for the liquidated value of those gold coins.

after she leaves Parker drops out of the ceiling wearing those cheap plastic vampire fangs

[aberrations-reality]

Just imagine a few years after the end of Leverage, with Parker leading her crew, and building other crews around the world. Nate and Sophie haven’t heard from them in weeks, the three active team members busy with job after job.

Imagine Nate and Sophie come home one day, and there are twelve bottles of orange soda in Nate’s wine fridge, cereal spilled on the counter, and a pot of stew simmering on the stove.

Sophie pretends to be exasperated that her home is now a mess, even though it’s a nice break from Nate’s obsessive tidiness.

Nate is genuinely annoyed, if only because there are ‘muddy footprints on the walls, Parker!’

‘They needed decoration!’ Parker yells back from where’s she’s snooping in Nate’s office, accompanied by the clack of Harrison typing on the keyboard.

‘Yes the do!’ Sophie says. ‘You had better put my Monet back where it belongs!’

Eliot comes into the kitchen, looking exasperated but happy, his cooking bandana tied around his head. ‘Dinner at five thirty,’ Eliot says in greeting.

Nate and Sophie share a look.

The family is home.

[holly-mckenzie]

LEVERAGE S4.E7 “The Grave Danger Job” (2011) dir. by John Harrison ALEX RIDER S3.E7 “The Shot” (2024) dir. by Brian O'Malley

[weprovidehyperfixation]

Sometimes I forget how long ago season one of leverage was made, but then I remember that scene from “The Juror Six Job” where Harrison is having to convince the defendant that he’s a court appointed attorney and he asks her “do you trust your government?”. And she’s like “yes, of course!”.

Ask something like that now?

Gonna get a resounding “NO” from most people.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

Queer Books November 2023

🌈 Good afternoon, my bookish bats! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

❤️ The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl by Emily Riesbeck 🧡 Heading North by Holly M. Wendt 💛 The Wisdom of Bug by Alyson Root 💚 Trick Shot by Kayla Grosse 💙 A Holly Jolly Christmas by Emily Wright 💜 Outdrawn by Deanna Grey ❤️ Yours Celestially by Al Hess 🧡 The Christmas Memory by Barbara Winkes 💛 Violet Moon by Mel E. Lemon 💙 The Santa Pageant by Lillian Barry 💜 Only for the Holidays by Shannon O’Connor 🌈 Homestead for the Holidays by Wren Taylor

❤️ You Can Count on Me by Fae Quin 🧡 No One Left But You by Tash McAdam 💛 The Worst Thing of All is the Light by José Luis Serrano, Lawrence Schimel 💚 Today Tonight Forever by Madeline Kay Sneed 💙 Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt 💜 Emmett by L. C. Rosen ❤️ Finding My Elf by David Valdes 🧡 Tonight, I Burn by Katharine J. Adams 💛 Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng 💙 Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree 💜 A Power Unbound by Freya Marske 🌈 We Are the Crisis by Cadwell Turnbull

❤️ The Manor House Governess by C.A. Castle 🧡 You Owe Me One, Universe by Chad Lucas 💛 Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James 💚 Skip!: A Graphic Novel by Rebecca Burgess 💙 Something About Her by Clementine Taylor 💜 Touching the Art by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore ❤️ A Nearby Country Called Love by Salar Abdoh 🧡 Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us by Karen Tongson 💛 Sir Callie and the Dragon’s Roost by Esme Symes-Smith 💙 The Order of the Banshee by Robyn Singer 💜 Once Upon My Dads’ Divorce by Seamus Kirst, Noémie Gionet Landry 🌈 Forsooth by Jimmy Matejek-Morris

❤️ A Common Bond by T.M. Kuta 🧡 Risk the Fall by Riley Hart 💛 Just a Little Snack by Yah-Yah Scholfield 💚 Home for the Holidays by Erin Zak 💙 NeurodiVeRse by MJ James 💜 Dark Heir (Dark Rise #2) by C.S. Pacat ❤️ sub/Dom by Rab Green 🧡 Bitten by the Bond by Elaine White 💛 Heir to Frost and Storm by Ben Alderson 💙 The Sea of Stars by Gwenhyver 💜 Bad Beat by L.M. Bennett 🌈 Idol Moves by K.T. Salvo

❤️ Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa 🧡 In the Pines by Mariah Stillbrook 💛 The Crimson Fortress (The Ivory Key #2) by Akshaya Raman 💚 Only She Came Back by Margot Harrison 💙 Megumi & Tsugumi, Vol. 4 by Mitsuru Si 💜 Pritty by Keith F. Miller Jr. ❤️ Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid 🧡 An Atlas to Forever by Krystina Rivers 💛 Come Find Me in the Midnight Sun by Bailey Bridgewater 💙 Bait and Witch by Clifford Mae Henderson 💜 Shadow Baron by Davinia Evans 🌈 Day by Michael Cunningham

❤️ Livingston Girls by Briana Morgan 🧡 Delay of the Game by Ari Baran 💛 The Nanny with the Nice List by K. Sterling 💚 A Talent Ignited by Suzanne Lenoir 💙 A Kiss of the Siren’s Song by E.A.M. Trofimenkoff 💜 Rivals for Love by Ali Vali ❤️ Whiskey & Wine by Kelly Fireside, Tana Fireside 🧡 Buried Secrets by Sheri Lewis Wohl 💛 Ride with Me by Jenna Jarvis 💙 Living for You by Jenny Frame 💜 Death on the Water by CJ Birch 🌈 Merciless Waters by Rae Knowles

❤️ Vicarious by Chloe Spencer 🧡 Sapling’s Depths by Spencer Rose 💛 That French Summer by Sienna Waters 💚 System Overload by Saxon James 💙 King of Death by Lily Mayne 💜 Warts and All by Ashley Bennett ❤️ Principle Decisions by Thea Belmont 🧡 The Best Mistake by Emily O’Beirne 💛 Sugar and Ice by Eule Grey 💙 Until The Blood Runs Dry by MC Johnson 💜 Splinter : A Diverse Sleepy Hollow Retelling by Jasper Hyde 🌈 The Mischievous Letters of the Marquise de Q by Felicia Davin

❤️ The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay by Dale Walls 🧡 Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black 💛 Leverage by E.J. Noyes 💚 Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright 💙 Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon 💜 Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher ❤️ To Kill a Shadow by Katherine Quinn 🧡 Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa 💛 For Never & Always by Helena Greer 💙 A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sally Hawley 💜 Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu Vol. 8 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù 🌈 A Carol for Karol by Ann Roberts

[leaflettucesstuff]

The vault scene at the beginning of season 5 episode ten of leverage was the best thing to happen to the Harrison/Parker/Eliot shippers

[lafemmemacabre]

Me as pseudo-community manager replying to the dumbest, most alt-right pilled comment left on my company's post on Harrison Butker's speech: Women are free to be housewives and mothers if they so wish, but it's unfair to make blanket statements that that's all we universally do or should aspire to, and also feminism doesn't have an issue with women who choose to be SAHMs, feminism is concerned with the chances of financial abuse being leveraged and how that often stops women from leaving abusive situations. We're all free individuals. ✌️

Me to my also marxist lesbo-feminist wife on WhatsApp: LOOK AT WHAT THIS DUMB BITCH JUST SAID ON OUR COMMENTS I WAS SO CLOSE TO JUST TELLING HER DUMB, DUMB ASS TO JUST FINISH SWALLOWING UP HER MAN'S WHOLE SHOE COLLECTION SINCE SHE LIKES THE TASTE OF BOOT SO MUCH.

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Can't stop thinking about a Leverage International team whose members look like bootleg versions of the original crew and they're called Harrison, Elliott, and Parka

[theanticool]

Seeing as the PFL/Bellator rumors are being openly talked about by fighters involved with both promotions, guess it’s time to wildly speculate.

I’ve seen some positive sentiment around PFL’s rumored buying of Bellator MMA. A lot of it stemming from how Bellator has been run since the Viacom/Coker takeover. That’s 100% fair. Bellator went from a place that developed its own talent, to a side show, to a place talent the UFC didn’t want anymore went, and is only now enjoying an influx of homegrown talent (at a reduced rate tbh). The hiring of Big John on commentary is baffling, as he’s terrible at it. Viewership fell off the map as they moved off Spike/Paramount TV. Cards are full of slow grind fest or mismatches. So I get the idea of Bellator going away being a potential positive.

What I don’t get is the enthusiasm around PFL being the ones to buy them out. PFL has many of the same problems. Cards laden with mismatches because of their odd seasonal format necessitates highly paid talent advance out the first round. A bizarre desire to be a PPV company without any fighters who appeal to a casual audience. No promotional ability. Like, they can’t sell out the goddamn Hulu theater! I was in the Hulu Theater for Serrano-Cruz and Glory and both times they were packed. That’s how little name recognition PFL has, despite years on ESPN. That’s the other thing, their deal with ESPN is up soon. It wasn’t much but that was a significant amount of the actual revenue PFL generated. Outside of VC and Saudi money, PFL has been a fire pit for cash. They’re trying to expand to all these places: Europe, Africa, South America, the Middle East, etc. They’re paying $10 million+ for a Francis Ngannou fight in 2024. Where is all that money coming from? They don’t have a TV deal. They don’t sell PPVs. They barely move tickets. I doubt they’ve sold 100 PFL t-shirts.

Not to mention, PFL is the same organization who’s former matchmaker had to be quit because he was the ACTING MANAGER for many of the fighters on roster. Lord knows how much influence Ali Abdelaziz still has in the office.

I understand that Bellator and PFL needed to make changes. They could not both keep limping along pretending they were viable alternatives to the UFC. But all of a sudden, we’re going from three “big” North American promotions to two. That means fighters are going to lose their jobs. That means you have less options on what to watch. That means fighters’ (little) leverage at the bargaining table is being cut. It means that one of the biggest media companies in the world decided a secondary MMA promotion to the UFC was not a viable investment in a landscape where sports are the things drawing eyeballs to the TV.

Like I always say, I’m hoping for the best. But buying Bellator does not address the #1 issue facing any of these promoters - you have to draw people to the product. No one but us and a handful of other sickos watched Bellator religiously. They won’t care that PFL has Johnny Eblen on roster now. You have to build stars. Maybe instead of spending 8-9 figures to buy a company with like no name value, you buy Kayla Harrison or OAM a publicist?

[annerbhp]

Leverage anon, an no worries I was definitely talking about the Leverage you’re talking about. :) and Harrison/Nate&Parker are my favs too!! They work so well together. (But if I have to pick one its Parker) do you have any Parker-centric fanfics you could recommend?

Oh, good! Well, fic recs....I would have to dig way back. I wonder how many of these fics still even exist somewhere. But here's a list I compiled way back when!

Gen Sync by alicamel  (Leverage, Parker) - sadly gone :(

The Green Light Job by halcyon_shift Eliot's going behind bars, Parker wants snacks, Hardison isn't helping, Sophie smells fear and Nate just wants a drink... Longish fic that feels like you are watching an ep. Fantastic points of view from all the characters, quirky, sarcastic fun, and our team at their absolute best: driving each other completely insane and loving every second of it. Lives on ffnet: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4902124/1/The-Green-Light-Job

We're All Mad Here by entangled_now. (Gen) Short and sweet and totally awesome. (And why am I so hopelessly inlove with Eliot's view of everyone? I just am.)

Falling by ijemanja (Parker, Sophie, gen) Ep-tag for The Second David Job.

How to Win Friends by scarletts_awry (Leverage, Hardison, Nate, Team) I love, love, love the Hardison voice in this fic. Everyone is at their absolute best.

An Unreliable Narrator by halcyon_shift (Gen, Nate) He doesn't think he's better than them... Great Nate POV of the team and his own motivations. Lives on on A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321678

'Wargames' Didn't Play Out Like This by aurora_novarum (Gen, Hardison) Hardison gets an unexpected close encounter with Area 52. Just so much fun. Tag to "The Three Days of the Hunter Job"

Honest When It Counts and it's sequel Conversations in a Holding Cell by lears_daughter . These are little Leverage/Lie To Me crossovers that are made of win. Gen. Lives on on A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/191746

Parker/Hardison Freefall by wishfulaces (Leverage, Hardison/Parker) They got each other’s backs. Oh, man. Wonderful, wonderful Hardison voice and awesome Parker and even a Nate cameo for fun. Love this fic. It really gets Hardison/Parker without losing sight of who they are or succumbing to shmoopiness.

The Underwire Job by brown_betty and emeraldwoman  (Hardison/Parker) Parker decides she wants to have sex with Hardison, so what does she do? Enlists the incredibly reluctant Eliot as her expert. Together they turn it into a job that is absolutely hilarious. Parker is pitch perfect and the Eliot POV is just out of this world wonderful. Hilarious and stupendous all around.

Sometimes by circadienne (Hardison/Parker) Parker dates sometimes. Short, sweet, and the last line just nails it. Great Parker voice.

The Birthday Party Job by asimaiyat (Hardison, tiny smidge Hardison/Parker) Hardison bringing the scattered team back together for a very important event.

Delicate Dancing by weesta_fic (Leverage, Eliot, Sophie, Hardison/Parker) Short little look into the dynamics of all these characters. Sophie observing Eliot with Hardison and Parker. Very fun.

Sacred Union by impertinence  (Leverage, Parker/Hardison, Team) Parker and Hardison pretend to be married for a con. Oh, yes. The cliche of all cliches. But damn is the Parker voice in this just amazing, and the build up of Hardison and Parker, and the team's interference/encouragement/snark are just so well done. I love this fic. It lives on Ao3!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107310

Understanding and Feeling by emily64cooper  (Leverage, Hardison/Parker) Parker doesn't understand what he's doing or why he's doing it, but she knows him well enough to understand that this is something he feels he has to do, so she makes no move to stop him. Wonderful post-'The Hot Potato Job' ficlet with all the confusion and hesitance and affection that we love about these two.

You, Me & The Weather by piecesofalice  (Leverage, Hardison/Parker) "Stop saying "How lost am I?" -Hawksley Workman, 'No Stillness & No Rain' Short and sweet. Parker and Hardison stuck in the rain hiding from bad guys, with bonus Hardison flashbacks. Really nice.

Hope that helps! And for dead links, I supposed we can try to find them somewhere else. Or simply mourn the passing of great fics into the great beyond. :(

[badolmen]

The first 15-20 minutes of the Leverage series finale was insane. So many callbacks and parallels to the pilot throughout the episode but especially in this first rendition of the break-in. And then everything goes to hell. You know they’re fine you know they live because there’s more than half the episode left and a whole other series with the golden trio alive and well.

But for a few seconds there you’re watching a timeline where they don’t make it out. Where Harrison and Eliot stop breathing while Parker is helpless but to watch. Where she bleeds out quietly watching their corpses. Where they die for nothing but they die together.

And then everything’s fine and part of the plan but jfc y’all I was not prepared to start the finale off like that.

[whumpacabra]

32. Walk

Anxiety, flinching, panic attack, anticipated violence, implied past captivity, implied past abuse, law enforcement mention, accusations of crimes [larceny], referenced stitches, minor self deprecation

AU Masterpost / Previous / Next

The Wolf’s steps faltered as he followed Dan out of the diner. His skin crawled at the idea of leaving Harrison behind, but he knew in his gut that it was just the paranoid, terror-blinded part of his brain.

(It had to be, right?)

But the real reason he stopped after a few paces was to look at the snow falling from the gray sky. It crunched under his borrowed boots as he turned, the clouds so perfectly smooth. He involuntarily flinched as Dan’s footsteps return, shaking snow from his thick black hair with a sheepish grin on his lips.

(It almost didn’t feel like a mask. He might have actually been smiling.)

“Haven’t seen snow in a while.” The Wolf started walking again, eyes glued to the gathering slush on the ground.

“You and me both.” Dan huffed, winded by the Wolf’s pace. He slowed and shortened his steps, the way he had for Harrison in the bunker. There wasn’t anything to run from now, no immediate threat on their heels. “Been a cold spring. Too cold and dry - this melt’ll be good for the pastures.”

The Wolf hummed in agreement, hands deep in his wool coat’s pockets. The borrowed clothes from Dan were appreciated, mostly on account of not smelling like blood and sweat and cigarette smoke. Harrison had needed to borrow from Thomas - not that those clothes fit his emaciated frame much better.

“Tommy’s a good kid. He didn’t mean anything by it.” The Wolf glanced over at Dan, blinking away a snowflake caught on his eyelashes. “Been taking care of his sister this last year after their parents passed. He’s, ah, a bit of an idealist, you know?”

The Wolf nodded absentmindedly, glancing at the shop windows they passed on this quaint main street. A cobbler and tailor on one side. A baker and general store on the other. A hairdresser, a post office. So painfully alien and yet so painfully normal.

“Boy was meant to get a law degree out East. Half the reason Cliff hired him was to give the kid a leg up. He was taking their deaths pretty hard.”

“And his sister?” The Wolf felt a chip of curiosity between his teeth, mingled with the sour knowledge that he wasn’t tasked with interrogation. Not here, not anymore, and yet it still drove his question. The more he knew about his allies the better, right?

(It wasn’t selfish, it wasn’t a desperation for leverage to use against them, was it?)

“Toughing it out. She was at the Trautmire’s learning how to take apart a gear assembly when the house went.”

“Fire?”

“Gas explosion. We think anyway - we’re not exactly the FBI out here and there wasn’t much left.” Dan turned toward a gravel road offshoot at the end of the main street, the winding path leading toward the smell of motor oil. “Cliff tried to get the State Troopers to come down but…guess little old Cedar Hills ain’t that interesting.”

A stout, stocky woman who hardly came to the height of the Wolf’s chest was working on a vehicle in the garage. Despite her stature, she appraised him with harsh, untrusting eyes.

“This one of your strays, Dan?”

“Word gettin’ round that fast?”

“I’ve got a humvee soaked in blood in my garage. You think Terry can keep his mouth shut on his rounds?” The woman huffed, wiping her hands off on a rag and tucking it in the top of her coveralls as she hopped down from where she had been elbow deep in a jeep. Tucking back her coppery curls under a headband, she extended a hand, still smudged with the black residue of old grease, to the Wolf.

“Alice.”

The Wolf froze before he could flinch away, hesitating as he felt his stomach drop to his feet. Frustration simmered in his blood - she was a civilian. Why was he scared of a simple handshake?

(He knew why, but that didn’t make the shame burn any less.)

“Wolf’s arm is fucked. Best he doesn’t pull any stitches.” Dan recovered for him smoothly, waving a hand dismissively that caused Alice to drop her own in response.

“Fair enough.” She nodded toward the humvee, starting towards it as she walked. “Forget something in the truck I assume?”

“Actually they’re looking to get out of town.”

Alice glanced from Dan to the Wolf.

“That so?”

“Yes. The sooner the better.”

“What’s the rush?”

“They’re just anxious to get home is all. The truck run?” Dan cut in, once again covering the flash of panic in the Wolf’s eyes when he was faced with such direct confrontation.

(Why did he ever think he could keep up this facade when he was this weak? How was he going to stop the project from hurting people when he was afraid of handshakes and hard eyes?)

“In theory, sure. Filled up the tank and everything.”

“In theory?”

“Forgot to give me the keys, Dan.” Alice laughed shaking her head. “You got ‘em Wolf?”

“No.” He didn’t like the way her face pinched in suspicion at his blunt answer. “Harrison got it started when I was…” He trailed off, glancing down at his arm.

“Why didn’t you bring the guy with the keys, Danny? Christ almighty are you sure you don’t need to go down to the VA for dementia testing?”

“There isn’t a key, Alice.” Dan grit out the words, tension gathering in his shoulders as he shifted and cross his arms. “Can you get it running without ‘em?” Confusion morphed to understanding, and then anger colored her face.

“You had me tow a stolen truck and keep it in my garage?” Alice was incredulous, a bubble of rage rising in her throat as she glared up at Dan. “Since when do you stoop to helping - of course you’d be the one taking in a couple of thieves you bleedin’ heart. Where’s Thomas? Is Cliff back yet or - “

“Alice, please.” Dan’s voice was soft, eyes desperate. The Wolf could barely see him through the tears gathering in his own eyes. Panic had his heart racing against his aching ribs.

“Don’t ‘Alice please’ me old man. You don’t know what else he’s done…”

Her angry snarls were drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in the Wolf’s ears. Dan didn’t know what else he had done. Would he find out? What would he do if he did?

(He knew what Smith would have done.)

What if she called in more police? (The phone lines were down - she couldn’t.) What if she refused to give them the truck back? (The Wolf was frightened by the knowledge that it would be easy compared to stealing it in the first place.) What if -

“Dammit, Wolf - hey, Wolf, son, you need to breathe.” The Wolf looked up, eyes wide as he saw hands coming toward him.

It was sheer instinct.

His legs buckled, knees hitting the concrete floor with a familiar crack. His left arm shielded his face as best it could, compensating for his injured right arm. He tried to make himself small, to protect his still tender torso from further abuse.

(A kick to his already aching ribs would surely make him scream.)

His ears were ringing, implants whining to hear who would come up behind him (he should have at least backed up to a wall first, idiot). But no footsteps came. He could hear the dull thrum of his heart as the panic subsided, arm slowly guided away from his face by gentle hands.

Dan’s hands. Dan was good. Dan was safe.

“You’re alright son, I wasn’t going to - you’re fine.”

The Wolf forced himself to swallow the coppery panic in his throat, thin, shallow breaths sucked between his teeth. He could feel heat creeping up his cheeks, frustration and embarrassment in equal measure as he wrenched away his hand to wipe away the unbidden tears.

“You back with us, son?”

He nodded, wincing as he stumbled back to his feet, stepping back to put distance between himself and them. He needed space - he needed his back against a solid wall - he needed to get out out out -

(Pull it together Wolf. You’re a professional.)

Something about that thought eased the weight in his chest, breaths coming easier and leaving smoother. He glanced up, both offended by and relieve to see pity in Alice’s eyes as she spoke.

“I’ll get it running. One way or another.”

AU Masterpost / Previous / Next

(An AU of my Freelancers series)

Taglist: @i-eat-worlds @whumpy-daydreams