#obviously he underestimates how hard Eliot will fight to protect/get back to his family

[firebirdsdaughter]

You know…

… What I love about the David Jobs?? Well first off, even if it was planned and however close the fight turned out, I love Eliot immediately going into protective mode when he (presumably) clocks Quinn taking photos of Nate and Sophie. There’s no hesitation, he’s just immediately in enforcer mode; and then following that, the way he, as Quinn says, won’t go down. Aside from being a testament to Eliot’s endurance, I also like taking it as his determination and ferocity increasing bc he’s fighting to protect and to get back to his team. Eliot’s very perceptive, the instant Quinn started giving him a real fight, I’m sure he knew it was a set up—which, in consequence meant that the rest of his team was in danger and Quinn was there to keep him away from them and get him out of play. Eliot’s first actions after the fight are to get his earpiece to warn Nate and check in, and then he doesn’t stop to take care of himself before participating in the rescue plan, despite broken ribs and maybe a concussion—in that moment, he’s not just fighting to avoid capture, he’s fighting to get back to his family so he can protect them like he’s supposed to.

The David jobs are a lot about how the team realising they’ve settled into being a family and caring about each other and how they’ve become different than other teams. Eliot is much more of a tacit person, esp in regards to emotions and genuine caring, and he’s the team protector, and he takes that position seriously. While his laughter at Quinn’s question could absolutely be taken at him being amused at Quinn’s frustration (which I do think is part of it), I kinda love it as him realising the reason he won’t go down and laughing in both disbelief at where he’s found himself and Quinn’s inability to understand. Eliot spent years fighting for himself, just to survive, and he’s gone up against many a strong opponent—Quinn giving him a real challenge isn’t just to make it clear things are seriously going wrong, it’s also the Eliot way to showcase how much he’s come to actually care about the team that in order to get to them, he will refuse to go down until he comes out on top. Unlike Quinn, Eliot’s not fighting for money, he’s fighting for people he cares for and wants to protect, and Quinn is an obstacle keeping him away from doing that. Quinn is in the way when Eliot’s family needs him. So no way in hell is he going down.

Also, now going back over it again… The fact that this starts Eliot’s eternal hatred of Sterling… Eliot’s been beaten up before in the past, we know he’s been in some particularly hairy spots. It’s not hard to assume that his resulting loathing of Sterling stems not just from Quinn giving him a hard fight (esp since he’s on perfectly fine terms w/ Quinn himself later, which I love and is so them), but the fact that Sterling did this to his team on his watch, that Sterling was able to keep him busy long enough to grab and/or threaten people he was meant to be protecting, esp people he cares for. That’d cause a life long grudge.