Title: Karma and Crows

Author: Lady Starhawk

Rating: PG

Pairing: None

Fandom: Leverage/ The Crow crossover

Summary: The team finds out about Eliot's secret.

"ELIOT!" Hardison screamed as he saw the hitter stager from a bullet. "Nate, Eliot's been hit."

"Eliot?" Nate whispered into his hand, trying to not set off the mark.

"I'm fine," the gruff voice answered, "stick to the plan." A few more gunshots were heard over the comm along with a grunt from Eliot.

Hardison followed the hitter closely in the cameras. There were 7 guards at one end of the hall, and Eliot was on the other. Parker was behind one of the doors in the middle breaking into their baddie of the week's safe. "Parker, don't leave that room until I give you the word."

"Okey Dokey." She sounded almost chipper, which confused Hardison, since he just said over the comms that Eliot had been shot. "Hardison, is there a big black bird around somewhere?"

"Excuse me, a what?" He didn't think that Parker was insane. Not like most people on the planet, but that was even off the wall for her.

"A big black bird. A Crow to be exact."

Hardison shook his head and ignored her comment. He went back to watching Eliot. The hitter had managed to split the group in two, and one group was following him, the other was watching the hallway. Hardison followed the hitter as best as he could with the cameras, and watched Eliot take down his pursuers one by one. Hardison swore he saw the hitter get shot a few more times, but he couldn't be sure since he didn't even seem to slow down more than a wince.

"Hardison?" Sophie's voice could be heard softly, gathering the hackers attention back to the job.

"He's fine, whatcha need?" Hardison focused back on his web crawlers trying to get Nate and Sophie the information the needed to work their mark.

The rest of the mission went off without a hitch. Hardison picked up Nate and Sophie and they drove to the hotel to rendezvous with Parker and Eliot. They entered the suite and it was empty. Parker and Eliot weren't there.

"Parker, Eliot, what's your status?" Nate said as he loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.

"Almost there boss." Eliot said sounding no worse for wear.

"Are we going to need a hospital?" Sophie asked kicking off her high heels.

"No."

"Parker, is Eliot going to need to go to a hospital?" Nate asked, knowing that the hitter had been shot, but would downplay the injuries.

"Nope, he's fine."

"I saw you get shot man, there's no way you're fine." Hardison said opening up his laptop and starting to look for the nearest level 1 trauma center.

At that moment the door opened and Parker and Eliot stepped through. Eliot wasn't wearing a shirt, but he looked uninjured. "As you can see, Hardison, I am just fine."

"How is that possible?" Sophie asked; taking a good look to make sure the hitter wasn't lying.

"Because he's Batman." Parker smiled and held out a folder to Nate, "Got what we needed. Now, what's for dinner?"

Hardison shook his head and decided he was just seeing things in the slightly grainy footage. There was no way that Eliot had actually taken a gunshot to the chest. It must have been a trick of the light or something. He grabbed the jumpdrive on top of the stack of items from the safe and started to do the cleanup from the job.

They had been in the city for a week after the job. Their client was grateful for what they had done, and the executive was in so much legal and financial trouble he would be lucky to ever get out from under the mess. They had just gotten back to Boston and were heading into McRory's to celebrate a job well done.

The team had their suitcases in hand and were just entering the empty bar; when a shot rang out. Sophie screamed as Eliot fell to the ground, blood flying back from a shotgun wound to his chest. Before Hardison even had a chance to move Parker had her taser out and the man was writhing on the ground.

Sophie had taken off her jacket and was trying to stop the bleeding. The hole in his chest was huge, there was no way he was still alive after a shot like that. Tears were streaming down her face.

Nate went over to the man Parker had hit with the taser and kicked him in the head, knocking him out. Hardison shook off his shock and pulled out his phone to call 911. His hands shook and he was having trouble getting the touchscreen to recognize his fingers.

Nate walked over to him and pulled the phone from his hands, "It's too late Alec. He's gone."

Hardison sat down where he was standing and just stared at Eliot's lifeless body. Sophie was now rocking him and sobbing. Nate slipped behind the bar and grabbed a bottle from the top shelf. It was a night for the good stuff.

Nate watched Parker tie up the gunman and pocket her taser. She had a confused look on her face. Nate knew her past, and that she wasn't a stranger to death and violence around her, but her actions were confusing him greatly.

Parker shook her head and moved to the door. Nate decided to speak up, "Parker, leave it closed."

"No Nate." She opened the door and looked up towards the sky, "I think this is bad enough Bird needs to be close." She leaned out the door and spoke, "Um, Eliot's bird? I think he needs you right now."

A few seconds later a huge crow swooped into the room. It landed on the floor next to where Sophie was sitting with Eliot's body. Sophie startled and moved to shoo it away but Parker was faster, "NO!" Sophie froze, "Don't hurt the bird. If the bird dies, so does Eliot."

Nate had no idea what was going on with the little thief. He knew that Parker and Eliot shared a special bond, but could his death have caused a psychotic break? Lord knew she was close enough to crazy that it wasn't out of the question.

Nate has no idea what actually happened next. One second Eliot was laying there, still and dead, and the next he was groaning and trying to get out of Sophie's hold.

The bird cawed, and flew up to a perch in the rafters to watch the drama unfold.

Parker clapped her hands, "Thanks Bird." The bird cawed in response.

Eliot groaned and sat up. "God Dammitt that hurt!" He swore as he moved to get up.

Parker took his hand and helped him stand. "I think the bird's out of the bag."

Eliot shook his head and pulled out a chair to sit down, "That's CAT Parker, the CAT's out of the bag."

She looked at him and shook her head, "No, I had it right the first time." She pointed up to the bird on his perch.

The bird cawed and landed on the table next to Eliot. Eliot petted the crow's head, "Thank you my friend."

It was at that moment that the rest of the team snapped out of it.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah." Hardison said as he got up and stepped back, "You were dead."

"Yup." Eliot nodded.

"You were dead."

"Yup."

"You were dead."

"Yes, Hardison, I was dead. Now, I am not. Can we move on please?" Eliot looked down at the huge hole in his shirt, and the blood all over. "Damn, that was my favorite shirt."

"Eliot?" Sophie whispered. She was still sitting on the ground looking shell-shocked. Her dress was covered in blood; she had it on her face, and her hands. There were tear tracks down her face.

Eliot's face softened as it caught up to him what had just happened. "I promise I will explain everything. But we have to clean this up first." Eliot stood and faced Nate, who had yet to move, "Nate, take them upstairs, start some coffee, and get Sophie to clean up. Parker and I will take care of things down here."

Nate nodded and put the cap back on the bottle. He tucked it into his bag and moved back around the bar. He helped Sophie up and touched Hardison's arm as they passed, "Come on Hardison."

Hardison nodded and followed giving Eliot a confused shake of his head as he passed by.

Once they were gone Parker went to the door and held it open. "Going out Bird?" The crow swooped down and out the door in a smooth silent motion.

Parker turned back to the room to see Eliot bringing cleaning supplies from the back room. "What are you going to tell them?" She asked unrolling a bag to put the bloody clothing from the ground. She emptied the things from Sophie's pockets and threw out the jacket.

"The truth."

Parker nodded, "They may not believe you."

Eliot chuckled a bit at that, "If the hole in my shirt is anything to go by, I think they might have to believe it."

They finished cleaning up the blood on the floor in silence. Eliot sent Parker upstairs while he dealt with the guy that had, so recently, killed him.

Eliot left the man tied up with the empty shotgun out of reach with a note on his chest that read "TO: Detective Benano. FROM: Your secret admirer."

He headed back to Nate's apartment. He if anybody asked, he totally was NOT delaying the inevitable. Procrastination wasn't a word in Eliot Spencer's vocabulary. Just before he entered the building he looked around, "You wanna come with me for this?"

There was no sign of the bird. Eliot scoffed, "Coward."

He paused in front of Nate's door and took a deep breath. He was hoping to get out of this without revealing how he originally died. Even though the responsible parties are all gone, it still shames him to think that he took part in something so evil, even if he had a change of heart and fought back eventually.

He turned the knob and stepped through the door. Sophie was almost curled up on one of the chairs in the dining room, feet on the seat and a mug in her hand. She was wearing one of Nate's shirts, and probably his sweatpants as well.

Parker had her box of locks out on the table and was picking them one by one. It was what she did when she was fidgety, but needed to stay for a meeting.

Hardison was between the girls, typing away on his computer. "Probably looking up the Crow lore." Eliot thought as he removed his jacket and entered the apartment fully.

Nate was leaning against the counter in the kitchen, tumbler of amber liquid in his hand. "Go get changed Eliot, then we need to talk."

Eliot nodded and grabbed the bag Parker must have brought upstairs for him. He took a look at himself in the mirror and decided he really needed a shower. The blood wasn't going to just sponge off. He did it as quickly as he could, he could have lingered, but he didn't want be accused of being a coward.

He emerged a few minutes later like nothing had happened. He held the ruined shirt in his hands. No sense denying the truth, and this physical evidence would help.

When he came into the main room, everybody was in the same places they were when he had left. Eliot sat down at the end of the table and Nate set a mug of coffee in front of him and sat at the end of the table opposite.

Eliot sighed but kept quiet. Parker reached into a bag at her feet and pulled out a book. She flipped through it and smiled. "People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right." She passed the book to Eliot, who took it and skimmed the chapter.

"Parker, where did you find this?" Eliot smiled sadly at the thief.

"A museum. It's full of all kinds of things. Do you think they could all be real?" She had that happy, but slightly psychotic, look on her face when she said it.

"It's possible Parker, but let's not go out and look, ok?" She nodded and went back to her locks.

"I died while on a mission for Damien Moreau. Next thing I knew I was digging myself out of my grave, and I had a big black crow as a companion. Far as I can tell, as long as the bird lives, I can heal whatever happens to me."

"How much can you heal?" Nate asked downing the glass in his hand and pouring another.

"I haven't tested it so I don't know the extent. Not sure it's something I want to test, since I am kind of on borrowed time." Nate nodded.

"Do you have any other super powers?" Hardison asked, trying to find the legend online.

"When someone touches me they can, and often do, pass memories onto me. I can hold onto them and release them into someone should I wish. It's painful to both receive, and to send, but it can come in useful."

"You're a touch telepath?" Sophie said softly, starting to look a little less pale.

"Kind of, but it's not current thoughts, but emotions, memories, it's complicated." He ran a hand through his hair.

Nate nodded, "It's why you don't like to be touched."

Eliot nodded.

Hardison sat up straight and took in a quick breath. He turned to Parker, "You knew."

Parker nodded but stayed silent.

"So, what now?" Eliot asked softly. He felt exposed, like he had somehow betrayed a sacred trust by telling these people.

Nate shook his head, "I don't know."

Parker leapt up, the chair she had been sitting in falling to the floor, "What do you mean you don't know? Nothing's changed. Eliot's still Eliot. And now that you all know we can help keep Bird safe." Parker bit her lip, "

"What was the 'horrible sadness' that allowed you to come back?" Sophie asked softly as she watched the book that Nate was paging through.

Eliot closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I was doing a job for Moreau. Once we got into the job, I thought that we had been given bad intel and tried to scrub the mission. Turns out Damien knew exactly what was going on and made sure I was in the dark. By the time I knew what was going on things were already in motion that I couldn't stop. I turned against Moreau that day, and saved as many as I could, but I died because of it."

Nate opened his mouth but Eliot spoke before he had a chance to say anything, "No. I'm not going to tell you anything more. Everybody involved has now paid for their crimes, and that chapter of my life is now closed."

"Everybody except Moreau." Sophie said as she took the book from Nate. "Imprisonment isn't exactly paying for his crimes, is it?"

Eliot smirked and turned to Hardison, "Pull up the latest reports on Moreau, would ya?"

Hardison clicked way at his keyboard for a minute and then a newspaper story popped up on the main screens in the apartment/office.

"Looks like Damien Moreau has gone coo-coo for cocoa puffs." Hardison chuckled as the team read the report.

"10 days ago the President was called to the prison under the capital building. Damien Moreau was reported to be experiencing a psychotic break. Dr. Selena Rodriguez believes that the imprisonment along with the solitary existence has caused Mr. Moreau's conscience to catch up with him. He seems to be experiencing some of the crimes that he has been accused of first-hand. Some of them appear to be rather violent in nature. Mr. Moreau will continue to be kept as the sole patient in the basement capital building and undergo psychiatric treatment as he now seems to be a danger to himself."

"Eliot?" Sophie asked turning to the hitter with a confused look on her face.

"Looks like Damien's past finally caught up with him." Eliot shifted in his seat at the table, obviously uncomfortable.

Nate stood and move into the kitchen. He brought 5 shot glasses back to the table and filled them with the whiskey he grabbed from downstairs. They all grabbed a glass and raised them when Nate did, "To Karma."

"And Crows." Parker said as she downed her shot.

"And Crows." Nate said, he gestured towards Eliot and then downed his own shot.

The team all did a shot, and Eliot knew that not only was his secret safe, but he was still a part of the team.