(no subject)

[theroadhouse]

Title: Welcome to the Family
Characters: Leverage Team, Faith Lehane, OMC
Pairings: Canon Relationships plus Faith/Eliot
Rating: G
Word Count: 2050
Summary: Parker and Hardison have unexpectedly become parents, and the prospect is freaking Hardison out.
Author's Notes: There is a bit of a history here. Tanghali and I were paired up during a Leverageland challenge and tasked with creating a "Leverage v2.0" (aka Leverage, the Next Generation). I really enjoyed the world we created, and always intended to come back there.

So my dear friend - here is the tale of how Nate and Sophie met one Bryce Parker-Hardison, and how Bryce charmed a mastermind into accepting him as a member of the family. Thank you for playing with us!

“How could they be so stupid?” Even as the question slipped out, Nate couldn’t help but be impressed at his restraint. His brain literally hadn’t shut up about Hardison’s news since he and Sophie had boarded the plane in Athens seventeen hours earlier, and this was only the fourth time he’d said anything out loud.

One time too many, if Sophie’s reaction to his outburst was to be believed. The dark haired beauty didn’t even flinch this time, merely swiped to the next page in her e-book with what he felt was an unnecessarily dramatic gesture under the circumstances. “A child, Sophie – they’ve adopted a child! Parker and Hardison!”

That got him a reaction. Slapping her Kindle against her thigh as she rolled her eyes, Sophie nevertheless shifted in her seat until they could see each other clearly. “I would like to remind you, my dear husband, that we do not know with any certainty what Parker and Hardison have done. You have one phone call, and a request from Hardison to help them get whatever this is sorted out. If there is a child, we don’t know how old it is, what it’s circumstances are, or even what its gender is, thanks to you doing that sputtering rage thing where it looks like you’re about to have a stroke!”

We don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl? That brought him up short. “I’m sure he told me the gender,” he said, thinking back over his conversation with the hacker.

“You really are unbelievable sometimes,” Sophie sighed, picking up her Kindle and going back to her book.

Rather than trying to continue the conversation, Nate mentally combed back over his phone call with Hardison – the idea that an “adoption”, whatever they meant by it, had set him off so completely that he’d missed even registering the child’s gender was at the same time fascinating and deeply disturbing.

”I’m not even sure how we got here, Nate. Hardison had sounded genuinely freaked when he called – not the usual sugar or adrenaline fueled rambling they were treated to when life got too intense for him. ”He tripped over us in the middle of a job. Some decent skills…not where I was at that age, but not bad. Then next thing we know, the kid’s on our doorstep and Parker is moving him in!”

“It’s a boy,” Nate said. “Hardison definitely used masculine pronouns twice during the phone call.” It was a tiny victory, but proving that he hadn’t been so out of it that he’d missed an important detail like this put him back on something resembling solid mental ground.

Sophie didn’t even bother to look at him this time – merely swiped to the next page of her book.

**************************

“Will you calm down?” Eliot hissed, his temper clearly starting to fray. “How many times do we have to tell you that you did the right thing?”

Faith was at the railing, watching Parker and Bryce three stories below as they worked on her version of a beginner’s practice dummy. ”Any child of mine is going to at least understand the basics of safecracking,” Parker had declared at dinner two nights earlier. Bryce had agreed immediately, with that wide-eyed intensity he brought to nearly every conversation with his new parents. Hardison was beginning to believe that they could tell Bryce to do literally anything and the kid would obey without question.

It was knowledge that frankly terrified him, and sharing his fears with Parker had so far led nowhere.

“You know he’s changed his documents already?” Hardison asked. “Birth certificate, Social Security, school papers – even dummied himself up a set of adoption papers. Kid didn’t miss a trick.” He paused, once again not sure how he felt about the situation. “Named himself Bryce Hardison-Parker.”

Faith turned at that. “Saved you the hassle of doing it, didn’t he?”

Hardison didn’t even try protesting that he wouldn’t have taken that route – Eliot and Faith had already told him point blank that they didn’t believe the situation was nearly as dire as he was making it out to be. The suggestion to call Nate had been Eliot’s, since the mastermind did have experience with unexpected grown children, but as the child in question Faith had backed the hitter a hundred percent.

“This isn’t the kind of life you bring a kid into!” Hardison sighed. “You know how Parker feels about the system though – she won’t hear about sending him back, and Bryce…”

“He’s not exactly a kid, Hardison,” Faith pointed out, turning her attention back to the lesson. “Fifteen’s getting ready to age out. It’s also the point where the social worker types stop caring where you are and what you’re doing.”

The sound of a door opening below them overrode whatever argument Hardison might have been able to marshal against that. “We’re home!” Nate called – and a moment later he and Sophie came into view.

Hardison would have suspected a hint of Slayer powers at work for the speed in which Faith shouldered past him and headed down the stairs. Eliot paused long enough to grip Hardison’s shoulder reassuringly. “Faith isn’t wrong, man. This isn’t like Parker bringing home a baby – if you think you guys can do right by this kid it might not be a bad idea to try.”

Parker was already introducing Bryce by the time they reached the office level. Hardison had cautioned the teen about how important it was that he make a good impression on Nate; as he watched him extend his hand for the mastermind to shake, Hardison felt a surge of pride. It’s not like he’s a bad kid or anything, he thought, joining in the chorus of “welcome homes”. The whole thing was just…unexpected.

“How are you holding up?” Sophie asked him softly after they hugged. Hardison felt a surge of guilt when he saw the very real concern in her dark eyes. Guess I was pretty freaked when I called.

“I’m okay,” he said. “It really hasn’t been horrible – Bryce really is a good kid.”

“I’m sure he is,” Sophie said, smiling at him. “He’s just not what you expected for your kid, am I right?”

Hardison shrugged. “In a weird way, he kind of is. And I think that’s what’s got me so freaked.”

Sophie looked for a second as though she wanted to say something else, but he saw her eyes widen briefly, and a flash of concern cross her expression. Turning to see what had caught her attention, he saw Bryce following Nate out the back door.

“Don’t,” she said, grabbing his arm as he made to follow them. “He’s just trying to get an unbiased look at the boy.”

“You don’t understand, Soph,” he said, turning back to face her. “Bryce is a good kid, but he’s got…quirks. I don’t want Nate scaring him off.”

The dark-haired grifter smiled at him, and it took him a second to figure out why. “Spoken like a father,” she chided him gently.

**************************

“Is this where you make me an offer I can’t refuse?”

Startled, Nate turned back on his heel – bringing Bryce up short. “Sorry,” the teenager muttered, ducking his head. “I know you were in…in the mob.” His posture was submissive for another beat, then he straightened again. “I like mob movies. Except Godfather 3, but I don’t think I’m alone in that.”

“My father was in the mob,” Nate said matter-of-factly. “Not me.”

Understanding lit the boy’s earnest expression. “I knew that!” he said. “Faith…told me that. She’s your daughter, right? Like Parker and Hardison are my…”

Parker had always sworn his ability to understand and manipulate people was supernatural. Nate held no such delusions. What he did was no different than Sophie’s skill set in sizing up a mark – he just typically did it better and faster.

And what his instincts told him now was that the young man standing across from him knew exactly the kind of power and influence Nate wielded in this strange little family. No matter how much Hardison and Parker might want to give him a home and something with a passing resemblance to a family of his own, if Nate said ‘no’ Bryce would leave. It might not be right away, but it would happen and Bryce was trying to tell him in a very broken and stumbling way that he understood that.

“I don’t take up much space.”

“You’re fifteen years old, Bryce – you take up a significant amount of space. You can’t help it.” But in spite of his resolve, Nate was almost smiling as he said it. I wonder if you and Sam would have been friends? The thought was unexpected, and the mastermind dutifully pushed it aside. What-ifs weren’t the point right now. “The amount of space you take up isn’t what concerns me.”

Something moved behind the boy’s too-eager, too-earnest gaze then – hints of the thing that understood the world around him better than he would likely ever be able to express. “I don’t want to hurt them, Mr. Ford. I promise. I…I want them to love me.”

“They already do,” Nate said as gently as he could manage. He wasn’t surprised to see the first few tears already tracing damp lines down Bryce’s cheeks. “That’s why Hardison called me. He loves you enough to understand that he and Parker might not be the best parents for you.” More tears, but Bryce seemed to have decided that histrionics or begging for his place wasn’t the way to go.

Nate had to admit – at least to himself – that the boy’s read on the situation was fairly impressive for his age and obvious lack of proper social development. “I think, though, with a few rules in place, you might do very well with us. And I’m going to tell Hardison as much.”

A hundred and fifty pounds barreled into him a moment later, as Bryce enveloped him in one of the most enthusiastic hugs he’d gotten since the last time he and Parker had said good-bye to each other. “Thank you, Mr. Ford,” the boy managed, crying openly now against Nate’s shoulder. “You won’t be sorry.”

Nate managed to return the embrace long enough to take control of the hug and step back. “Don’t thank me yet,” he warned, catching Bryce’s eye. “Like I said – there will be rules, and I’ll be staying on for a bit to make sure you’re following them.” Glancing past Bryce’s shoulder, he saw Sophie step out of the shadows. “Why don’t you go tell everybody the news?”

Grin suddenly so wide it was almost manic, Bryce nodded. “I will. Thank you.” He turned, skidding sharply to a stop as he realized Sophie was almost on top of him. “Thank you,” he repeated, throwing his arms around her and hugging her too. Nate barely managed to conceal his grin at her startled expression; it actually took her a moment to recover her composure so that she could hug him back.

“Welcome to the family, Bryce,” she said graciously, patting his back.

When he pulled free from her embrace a moment later, Bryce was vibrating so hard Nate could swear he heard the kid humming. “I’m gonna go tell everybody. Thank you! You won’t be sorry!”

Sophie raised an eyebrow at Nate as soon as Bryce was safely out of earshot. “He really doesn’t get that we’re not the ones likely to be sorry, does he?”

Nate laughed. “No – he really doesn’t, may God have mercy on his soul.” He raised an arm towards her in invitation, and Sophie immediately moved in to curl up at his side. “First thing I have to get Parker and Hardison to understand is that he’s going back to school. A mind like that deserves the best education we can buy for him. After that there are going to have to be limits about what they teach him and what he’s allowed to do with that knowledge…”

He started to walk them back towards the brew-pub, but Sophie pulled him up short. “What makes you think he’s not in school?”

Nate stared at her for a second, then determining the question was a serious one, pressed a kiss to her dark hair. “You’re adorable.”