Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or the Librarians.

He should have known better.

They were finishing up a job and they needed him and he wasn't there. It was his worst nightmare come to life. He got there seconds too late and managed to get them out of there, but he was still too late. He heard Hardison yelling in his ear piece, hurry up, man, Parker, is this rig tested?

The girl had started testing rigs on jobs more often, after Eliot caught her when one failed. Perhaps they shouldn't have let, but who could say no to her? Her confidence in him meant so much to him, but this time, the rig snapped and he wasn't there! Hardison managed to get them far enough, but the sight of Hardison's arms and chest covered in blood while carrying a small form with blonde hair had the car screeching to a stop.

Staring dimly at his hands, he could Hardison inside, choked up over Parker's bedside. Nate and Sophie were on their way, but he couldn't stay. Standing up, he checked inside when he heard silence. Hardison was asleep in a chair, while Parker was asleep. Scrawling a short message of a napkin from the cafeteria, he left it on the nightstand next to Parker's bed.

Standing for a moment, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Giving a look to Hardison, he turned and walked out the doors. Leaving only a note, Eliot Spencer left the few people he would give his life to protect and forced himself not to look back.

He had learned some things with the team, like how to create a new identity. With that knowledge, Eliot Spencer ceased to exist. And Jacob Stone was created.

Always a southern boy, he went to Texas. Working on an oil rig was easy, simple. He lived the civilian life, always keeping an ear to the ground, should his team run into trouble. Going to the bar became a nightly occurrence, to keep the nightmares and pain from making a comeback.

So, when a gorgeous woman sat down, he flirted a little. Of course, then the woman attacked him with a sword. Confused, he didn't fight like a Hitter, but as if it was a drunken brawl. Eve Baird saved his life and he landed in the Library.

It wasn't until Cassandra confronted him that he realized. He had a new family. Eliot, no, Jacob, spent hours trying to deny it. They weren't Nate and Sophie or Parker and Hardison. They would never replace them. Nor did he want them to.

To his amusement, he was once again 'the oldest son'. However, this time, it wasn't Parker and Hardison, no, Cassandra and Ezekiel to fall in love with each other. No, it was he and Cassandra. It was quite a strange thing for him. He'd been in love before, twice to be exact. Both times, he had to leave.

This time, he didn't. However, Cassandra, she was the one who would need to leave. It hurt him, deep inside. He pulled away from her, until a job, no, a mission nearly killed her. He ran up to her and kissed her, finally, deep and passionate. When he resurfaced for air, behind her shoulder, he could see four people.

Behind him, Flynn, Eve, Ezekiel, and even Jenkins stood. In his arms was the woman he loved. Behind her was Nate, Sophie, Hardison, and Parker. Cassandra saw him staring and turned. Stepping to stand beside him, Cassandra ended up just a step behind him.

Both of his families stared at him, trying to understand. Eliot, Jacob, he didn't know what to say. How to say it. How to explain what he had done. Why he had ran. Nothing would be good enough. Never enough. They were too good, too pure for him. They always would be.