Requested by @meganhammie1
Word count: 1743
(h/c): hair color
Parker and Hardison run for their lives, literally, as nearly two dozen henchmen chase them though the halls of a building that's the Leverage team's target. Just as the duo round the corner, the henchmen decide to open fire on them, letting out an spray of bullets from their assault rifles. The dangerous projectiles whizz by the hacker and thief's bodies.
"Run! They're right behind us!" Parker screams over the loud bangs of the firearms being shot from behind them.
"I am, woman! What do you think I'm doing!?" Hardison yells back in a panic to get out of the building alive, his voice a noticeably higher pitch due to his fear of dying on the job and not from natural causes.
Rounding around another corner, Parker grabs Hardison's jacket sleeve and drags him into a small closet before the hired men see them. They hold in their breaths as the heavy sounds of boots hit the tiled flooring on the other side of the door. From the small opening under the door, Hardison can see a single pair of boots that had stopped right in front of the closet door. He nervously bites his lip and backs up as far back into the small storage space as he possible can until he hits the wall.
"We're gonna die, Parker! We are all gonna die in a closet and I blame Nate for it all!!" Hardison whispers in a panicked tone. "Why did we have to agree in doing this anyway? I'm pretty sure we already have enough money to buy three houses! We don't need any more money!"
"Because," Parker whispers harshly," (Y/n) needs the money to pay her bills!"
"Her BILLS?!" Hardison's whisper nearly turns into a scream before he remembers the situation he and his teammate are in. "We are about to die in a small, confined space just so that our friend can pay her utility bills?! Why couldn't we just lend her the money and not do this?!"
"Hey! She's our friend! Friends help each other," the thief chides with a frown," Besides, we don't have enough money to let her borrow." The casualness in Parker's voice as she said the last sentence baffles her partner.
"What do you mean we don't have enough?! How much does the invoice say she has to pay?!"
"Shhhh!" Parker slaps a hand harshly over Hardison's mouth and shuffles backwards beside him. More henchmen have gathered in front of the closet. They seem to be talking about two intruders, meaning Parker and Hardison, but their voices are muffled. Parker steps up to the door and gently presses her ear to the door in an attempt to eavesdrop on the conversation outside.
"Our orders are shoot to kill. The boss doesn't care if they're alive, as long as we bring proof of death," one man says. His voice is deep and gravely, making some of his words slur together due to the door muffling most outside noises.
"Great," a different voice cheers. This man has a higher voice that reminds Parker of an adolescent. "I've been coming down with a case of itchy trigger finger."
Huddled in his little corner, Hardison grimaces at the man's words. An itchy trigger finger never results in anything positive for the person who's being hunted down by the man with the said itchy trigger finger. Before another word is said, fast clicks with yells, grunts, and loud thuds following replace the silence prior to the sounds. Grunts with a more feminine sound can be heard every once in a while.
Suddenly, there is complete silence. Not a single sound is uttered. The clicking that was heard a few minutes ago resumes, getting louder as their creator approaches the closet. In a flash the door is thrown open. Bright lights pour into the small space and blind the two hiders.
"Aahhhh! Don't kill me, please! I'll give you anything!" Hardison lets out a high-pitched yelp while covering his face with his palms out in a sign of defeat.
"Hey! What about me! I'm here too, ya' know," Parker grumbles before looking up when hearing a giggle. "Oh, hey (Y/n)!" The blonde waves at her friend and steps out of the closet with a smile. "You killed all of them in in under five minutes? Nice!" Parker exclaims with raised eyebrows while gesturing to all the unconscious henchmen scattered around on the floor.
"Yeah," (Y/n) confirms," I learned from the best."
"(Y/n)! Why can't we just leave now," Hardison whines, finally leaving his hiding spot. "We'll just convince Nate to lend you money to pay your bills!"
"Hehe... About that, Hardison... ," the (h/c) haired hitter says nervously while looking away from her friend," I've been REALLY behind on paying my utility bills... And when I mean REALLY behind, I mean that I'm so behind that all the money we've gotten in our team account isn't enough to pay them off..."
"YOU WHAT?!" The hacker's scream echoes off the walls of the empty hallway and mostly likely have alerted nearby henchmen of their location.
"SHHHH!!!" Both women press a finger to their lips and hiss at the male.
"Shut up, Hardison! Do you want to die?!" (Y/n) glares at the hacker with a murderous look.
"No," the said hacker mumbles. "I just can't believe that you h-"
"(Y/N), GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"
"Hehe... Oops..."
An incredibly angry Eliot storms over to his three teammates and yanks (Y/n) up by the collar of her shirt. His face is red from running for a a long period of time and huge puffs of air leave his lips, blowing onto the second hitter's much cooler skin and making her shiver slightly.
"What were you thinking?! Running off like that can get you killed!" The brown haired male scolds his girlfriend like a mother would to her misbehaving child.
"I'm sorry! I promise I won't do it again," (Y/n) assures, pecking her boyfriend's cheek as insurance against his anger.
Luckily for her, the male hitter's anger dies down. He releases his grip on his girlfriend's shirt and lowers her down. Unbeknownst to the four, two henchmen had made their way up to the floor they're on and are hiding behind a corner. The barrels of their rifles poke out and rest on the side of the wall. Eliot, who notices the two barrels, casually puts an arm around (Y/n)'s waist. As soon as he sees the men's fingers moving towards the triggers, Eliot yanks (Y/n) against his chest and dives into the closet.
"Get down!"
Bullets fly as the two men shot at point blank towards their enemy. Parker and Hardison dropped to the floor upon hearing their friend's warning, but are now trapped on the floor and out in the hall like sitting ducks. (Y/n) allows her emotions to cloud her judgment and runs out to help the two. She throws a pocket knife in the henchmen's direction before pulling up Parker and shoving her into the closet space.
Eliot tackles (Y/n) to the ground right as a thug fires his weapon, consequently landing on a still-lying-flat-on-the-ground Hardison. A pained wheeze is heard from below the two hitters upon contact with the hacker they've fallen on.
"M-My s-spine!! Y-You guys have n-no respect for us g-geeks," the poor male sputters out with difficulty.
"I'm sorry!! I don't think Eliot is a least bit sorry, but I'm so sorry," (Y/n) apologizes while watching Eliot get up from the hacker's back.
"C'mere, you! You don't shoot at my girl and get away with it," Eliot growls.
The loud stomps of his boots, along with the scariness of the glare on his face, frightens the thug. He backs away as Eliot continues to move in. Eventually, Eliot has the man backed up into a corner with nowhere to escape.
---
Eliot walks over to his teammates with bloodstained knuckles and a victorious grin. The grin disappears when his eyes find a wound on his girlfriend's arm. He gently grabs the limb and rips open the sleep to examine the injury.
"Hey," (Y/n) pouts," I like this shirt!"
"I'll buy you another shirt, just stop moving. You're hurt," he replies without looking away from (Y/n)'s arm.
"It's only a graze, Eliot. I'll live."
"Ok, (Y/n). I just wanted to make sure you're ok."
"Make sure she's ok?! What about us?! What about me?! Does nobody care about me?!" Hardison complains, peeling himself off of the floor.
"We all care about you, Hardison," Nate says, his voice crackling on the comms. "But... Our priority will be our two hitters, seeing as we need them to be alive and kicking if we ourselves want to be in that same condition."
"W-What.... Fine then... I see how it is," the hacker dramatically throws his arms up while yelling. "Y'all don't care about poor, little ol' me!"
"I care about you," Parker chimes in.
"But you always say that," Hardison insists," I find it ridiculous that everybody else doesn't care about me!"
"We do care, Hardison," Sophie says, finally joining in on the conversation. "We just care a little bit more about the team members who are actually putting their lives on the line during every job."
"Well then... I feel so special." The hacker places a hand over his heart and feigns his hurt. In reality, he is only a little hurt about the team's concerns. For someone to put someone else's well-being before their own is something in unfathomable to the man. From a personal perspective, Hardison knows that he'd run away and hide if he were to be expected to have such a job. Staying behind a computer screen and working from his seat is a whole lot easier and comfortable. But if needed, he'd willingly risk his life to protect his teammates. His family.
Extended Ending:
"I told you to be careful, (Y/n)!"
"I was careful! I'm alive, am I not!?"
"That's not the point!"
"So you'd rather me be careful, but dead?!"
"No, I did not say that!"
"Then what are you saying, Eliot!?"
'Yup,' Hardison thinks to himself as he and the team walk back to Lucille,' I'd definitely protect this family.'