Attack

Prompt: Leverage, Eliot/Team, Asthma attack. Alec is always using asthma as a reason to get out of jobs, what happens when its Eliot that has the attack during a job.

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Parker was worried, Eliot didn't sound right, didn't sound like Eliot at all. Everything just kept going wrong and Eliot had been trying to fix it, she knew that, he'd been trying to fix it but now he didn't sound right and they were shut up in there and she didn't know what to do and she wasn't sure that she could keep it together, not for both of them.

Things had gone wrong hours earlier. She and Eliot getting cut off from their escape route had been where it all first started going wrong, but from there things just got worse and worse. They'd found a way to escape the pursuing guards and Eliot had seemed to know where they were heading but they hadn't expected the comms to stop working cutting them off from the others, unable to let them know of the need for a change in their plans.

They'd just persisted with the need to keep moving, keep out of sight, and try to get out of the building. Then they'd rounded a corner, Eliot keeping her shielded from sight and without warning one foot had slid out from under her. Eliot had seen her start to fall and had managed to grab hold and stop her falling completely, but she'd twisted her ankle in the process and movement afterwards was more awkward. Moving fast at first had been a real problem, it was only down to Eliot that she'd been on her feet at all.

On and on they'd gone, eluding one pursuer only to run into another; the net closing in tighter and tighter until finally they'd been caught. Even now, she didn't know why they were still alive or why they were locked up down here in this . . . dungeon. There was a way out, but only for her. There was no way she could get Eliot out that way, he wouldn't fit through the vent in question. Too many muscles!

She moved across to Eliot's side, palm out to rest on his forehead again, instantly aware of the clammy sweat there. It didn't make sense. Eliot was fit and healthy, ate all that good food with lots of vegetables and fruit and all home made, not like Hardison who lived on take out pizza and orange soda. Eliot worked out, looked after himself and over the last few hours he'd started to cough and steadily gone downhill from there.

It was a funny cough too, not a proper one, just this sort of persistent tickle that seemed to get more and more drawn out with a wheeze. He'd started out grumpy and slapping at her hand every time she tried to feel his head, but now his eyes just seemed to follow her wearily and he sat still, leaning back against the wall listlessly.

"Eliot . . . Eliot!" She said his name louder the second time, before he blinked in recognition and forced a grunt out to indicate he was listening. She leant in close, sure his breath was shorter than before. The worry was that whatever was wrong with Eliot was going to keep on getting worse until Eliot couldn't help her get out at all. She wasn't really left with a choice. They need out of here and they need it fast for Eliot's sake, but there was no way to get him out so the only choice was to get out herself and go and fetch the others to get Eliot out. "Eliot, we're stuck in here and . . ."

His hand caught hers and he pulled her closer. "Parker," his voice was frighteningly breathy wheeze. "I can boost you up, you can go through the vents." She could hear the effort it was taking for him to force the words out. The thought of leaving him here alone was terrifying. "'s our only chance," he gasped, "I'm not going an-" He shook his head slightly, unable to finish speaking for the lack of air and started coughing again.

Parker watched as he tried to drag a breath in, tried to get enough air. The effort it was taking was horrible to watch. "Eliot," she said quietly, trying to get closer to him as if she could somehow give him more strength to keep going. "What's wrong? What's happening to you?"

"As- asthma," he wheezed softly. "'s okay, you're gonna bring an inhaler back with you," he smiled tiredly. The grumpiness had gone, Eliot seemed to have given up fighting to maintain his gruff image, all his energy was going on dragging what oxygen he could into his needy lungs. "You need to go now," he urged, eyes heavy as he fought to keep them open.

"W – where . . ." there was more than one question she wanted to ask but he clearly didn't have the energy for much by way of reply, so she kept it to the most important, "Where do I get your inhaler?"

With the words intermittent between wheezed gasps for air, Eliot managed to convey to her the location of an inhaler hidden in the van with Hardison and Nate. "Gotta get going now, Parker," he finished and began to struggle to his feet.

She felt awful expecting him to do this, but without his help they were both stuck. Leaning one hand against the wall to steady himself he staggered round the room until he could reached the vent. He leant back against the wall, and offered his hands out to her. Reluctantly she put her foot on his palm and felt as he boosted her up so she could reach the vent and begin to work its cover off. It was a matter of moments before she had it free and with a quick goodbye, she pulled herself up and into the cramped space beyond and began to make her way through the airducts to the outside world.

She moved quickly, the urgency of the situation seared into her mind, every sliding movement she made reminding her of the wheeze of Eliot's breathing. It was probably her fastest escape ever and she was relieved when as she neared the end of her journey, she heard her earpiece crackle back into life. "Nate!" she said, her voice quiet but urgent. "Nate! There's been trouble."

The irritated response, "We gathered when you didn't turn up on time. Where the hell are you? And why the radio silence?"

She gave a quick indication of her expected exit from the building to give them time to get there to meet her, before going onto explain that the earpieces had 'just stopped working' the deeper into the building they'd travelled. She could hear Hardison grumbling about changing frequencies and boosting signals and the like.

"Nate? Eliot's in trouble," she said quietly.

"What? He's not with you?" Nathan's voice was irritated. "What kind of trouble is he in?"

"He was too big to fit through the vent and he – he can't breathe anyway so he couldn't have moved through here."

"What do you mean he can't breathe? He get in a fight and break a rib or something?" Hardison asked.

"Asthma!"

The word was enough to have Hardison and Sophie gasping in shock. "Fuck! Has he used his inhaler?" Nathan asked abruptly.

Parker figured she hadn't really got time to be surprised that Nathan knew about the asthma, it was Nate after all and he was like a god with what he knew – omnipresent and omniscient and all that kind of stuff, so instead she just said, "No. It's bad though and he said he'd left an inhaler in the van." She yelped as there was a squawk in her ear followed by a quick apology and explanation from Hardison about frequencies and boosters and wishing Eliot was in range so he could make the same changes to his earbud.

"Okay, how bad was his breathing?" Nathan asked, listening carefully to everything Parker said as she finally reached the end of the air duct and prepared to make the final transfer to her exit from the building. "Parker . . . I'm going to ask you to do something you're maybe not going to be so keen to do in a minute . . . for Eliot."

"What is it?" she asked, breathing deeply of the fresh outside air and glancing round trying to work out which way to head.

She was grateful for Nathan's directions to where they've concealed the van and as she clambered in the back, Nathan started immediately running down what they needed to do. Hardison handed her an extra earbud saying it was tuned to the new frequency ready for Eliot. Nathan was holding out what she could only assume was Eliot's inhaler. "You've got to get this to Eliot as quickly as you can. We'll be coming in to get you both out, but he needs this quicker than we're going to be able to get there." She snatched it from his grip and turned back to the door. "Quickly as you can manage it Parker, but be careful." His concern for her safety was as clear as the anxiety about Eliot.

She was familiar enough with the route and the dangerous spots to actually be able to make it back to Eliot even quicker than she'd made it out. She dropped almost silently back into the room and turned to look at Eliot as soon as she'd got her balance. He didn't react to her arrival at all, his breathing was shallow and rapid and there was a distinct blue tinge to his lips. "Nate! He's worse now," she pleaded through the comms, watching as his eyes slowly opened and began to follow her movements. "Eliot! Eliot, I've got your inhaler. What do we do?"

Nathan's voice came through her ear, "Parker, shake the inhaler up quickly, remove the cap and then put it in his mouth. Try and time it so just before he starts to breathe you press the trigger, so he inhales as much of it as possible. Tell me what he looks like, what he's doing."

"He's breathing, it's too fast though and . . . like he isn't getting enough air. His skin is – is clammy, his lips are . . ." she struggled to finish, "His lips are – are blue."

"We're on our way, Parker. Just keep him holding on for us, we'll be with you soon."

Parker concentrated all her energy back on Eliot, trying again with the inhaler wishing it was having more effect. She could hear that some of his breaths were a little less shallow, but it doesn't seem to be enough. His eyes were staying open, his gaze fixed on her. She caught his hand as he lifted it wearily and tried to reach for her. "I'm here, Eliot, and Nate's on his way. He's gonna get us out of here." He nodded, just a slight movement of his head, then opened his mouth as if to speak, but she could tell it was taking too much out of him and shushed him gently.

She moved to sit beside him, slipping an arm around his shoulder and hoping that Nate hurried up because she didn't like this at all and she really didn't want to be stuck here with Eliot now.

It was a no holds barred entry to the building, quick, determined and pretty effective considering they were two people down, the two most able to enter and exit a building without difficulty. With Parker's directions, it didn't take long once they had made it into the building before they were able to overcome the obstacles and reach the holding cell in which Parker and Eliot were being held. The irony of the speed with which they reach the cell wasn't lost on any of them.

"Geez, what is that smell?" complained Hardison as they moved deeper into the building.

"Chemicals. God only knows what sort," Nathan answered as he rushed forward. "But at least we know what the trigger was for Eliot."

"Chemicals?" Hardison queried.

"Yeah. Eliot's asthma is under control. I've never known him have an actual attack like this, have you? I mean he occasionally gets a little over wheezy when he's got a cold, but even then he knows what he's doing. It's not a real threat."

"I didn't know he had asthma, so I certainly haven't seen him have an attack!"

They were through the door in minutes, the two of them rushing to Eliot and Parker, hauling Eliot up to his feet and turning for the door and hurriedly starting to drag-carry him back the way they'd come. Parker ran ahead, holding doors and checking the corridors were clear and they were soon back at the van. Sophie floored the accelerator as soon as they were inside and Hardison was pulling the doors closed.

She'd spent the time outside waiting planning a route to the nearest ER and she drove swiftly through the streets already confident she knew where she was heading.

They ended up keeping Eliot in the hospital overnight and even when it came time to leave Eliot still seemed tired and listless. Sophie and Nathan picked him up and drove him back to Nate's apartment where Parker and Hardison were waiting for them. The team had all decided that he wasn't going to be alone for a while, they were going to look out for him.

In the apartment and settled on the couch, Eliot was soon asleep again. After watching him for a while, Parker stood up and said, "I've got something for you all." Everyone's attention was pulled from Eliot and turned to her and she started handing out a small bag to each of them. "Now you've all got one . . . just in case it happens again."

Hardison pulled an inhaler out of his bag and looked at it with confusion, "Parker . . . you do know Eliot's the only one with asthma, right? We don't need these!"

"Yeah, we do . . . Eliot lost his when he saved me from falling. It fell out and he didn't have time to stop and pick it up. If I'd been carrying one as well maybe I wouldn't have lost mine and so he would have been able to take it and then maybe he wouldn't have needed to be in hospital."

"It's a good idea, Parker," Nathan agreed, "But are you sure this is the right kind of inhaler and where did you get them from?"

"I got ones that said the same as the one he had in the van and I got them from the pharmacy on West 42nd. The dates on them are good."

Nathan nodded, "In which case, thank you. I'll keep it with me. It might be better not to tell Eliot though . . . and just hope he never needs to find out." Parker watched as Sophie slipped hers into her handbag and with one last curious look at his, Hardison slipped it into his pocket.

When Eliot woke, there was not a sign of any inhalers but his own laid on the coffee table in front of him. Nathan was in the armchair nearby, Parker perched on the arm of the couch where he had been sleeping. He noticed now that he was actually laid properly on the couch and covered with a blanket, none of which he remembered from before he fell asleep. He couldn't see Sophie but there was the smell of something cooking and the sound of movement in the kitchen so he just assumed that accounted for her absence from his sightlines.

He started to move, ready to sit up and get on with his life. "Don't think about it!" Nathan growled. "Doctors told you to rest, so you can consider your ass glued to that couch until further notice."

Eliot wanted to object, but in truth, he didn't have the energy. He let himself flop back onto the couch and let his eyes drift shut again to the sound of his team around him.