A/N: Okay, this totally wasn't planned, but once again the plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone (even though it's not even a very good plot bunny *glances around nervously*) so I wrote it down. And it's not a real story, it's going to be a two-shot or a three-shot, depends on how exactly I write the second chapter *smiles*

As I said, it's not the best story I've ever written, but maybe you will like it at least a little *smiles sheepishly*

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Comments would be most appreciated *puppy dog eyes*

And please keep in mind that English isn't my native language...

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A/N II: (important... well at least for me..) I mentioned in my other story "In the Darkness" that I'd like to get an account on archiveofourown so that I can post the more explicit stuff over there without violating the terms here on this side *smiles* And so I was wondering if one of you has an account there and would be willing to invite me so that I can get an account and could maybe explain to me how exactly that works *hopeful smile* If you are willing to help me, I'd be delighted if you'd contact me per PM. *smiles* So yeah, I'd really appreciate your help, but now enough of my ramblings and have fun reading the first part *smiles*

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Disclaimer: None of the Leverage characters belong to me and I just borrowed them for this little story... this story doesn't mean to offend anybody… this is just for fun… and not for money either...

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Warnings: Slash, mentioned dub-con and non-con (but really just mentioned, nothing that is even remotely explicit)

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Summary: A mark manages to catch Sophie and Parker and he makes the team a choice how to get them back. Is the team willing to pay that price? Especially since the price involves a big sacrifice, even for a hitter of Eliot's caliber... SLASH, WARNINGS inside (Part I of two or maybe three parts)

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The One Night Only Job

Part I

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"It's just one night, Mr. Ford. No more, no less in exchange for your grifter and your thief. Seems fair, don't you think?"

Nate Ford stared at the screen, his brain trying to make sense of what their newest mark had just told him. But he wasn't sure if he'd be able to make sense of it all in the next hours, no, days...

"It's not my decision to make, Mr. Miller, and besides, it'd be better not to underestimate me and my team. Other men have made that mistake and most of them are in jail now," he stated, trying to sound confident, more confident than he actually felt, especially since the beginning of this video call, which had started with a picture of Sophie and Parker, both tied tightly to chairs, guarded by armed men.

Samuel Miller, their mark, rich millionaire in his early sixties, dark hair slowly turning to gray and a man who had probably committed more crimes than Parker, Sophie and Hardison together, only snorted.

"Don't try anything funny, Ford, or your friends will pay the price. And besides, I still think it's a pretty generous offer on my part. You tried to ruin my business after all," he spat and the camera turned to Sophie and Parker again, who both had obviously listened to the conversation, judging by the blank look on Parker's and the horrified expression on Sophie's face. One of the man guarding the two raised his gun and pointed it straight at Sophie's head.

Nate tried not to show his panic at that move and straightened his shoulders.

"Again, Mr. Miller, it's not my decision to make," he said, his hands clenched into fists at his side.

Miller just chuckled.

"I still trust you to make the right decision, Mr. Ford. I expect your answer in an hour," the man said, his eyes looking past Nate and focusing on something, no someone, behind him and before Nate could say one more word, the screen faded to black and absolute silence filled the office.

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Nate's hands clenched even tighter and he slowly turned away from the screen. His eyes went to Hardison first. The young hacker stared at his keyboard while typing furiously to track down Miller and find out how he had been able to see through Sophie's and Parker's cover and how he had managed to hack them. Nathan knew he would have been able to type without having to look, but Hardison did watch what his fingers were doing, just so that he had a reason not to look at the third man in the room. The one who was now the sole object of Nate's attention.

Nate eyed Eliot carefully, wondering how to best go about this situation. He had never had been in one similar to this so for once he really was at a loss what to actually do. Nate's eyes widened a little when he saw how calm, almost disinterested the hitter looked.

"Eliot," Nate started, but stopped when Eliot held his hand up.

"It's not a big deal, Nate. As Miller said, it's just one night in exchange for Sophie's and Parker's life, so I'm game," Eliot said, casually leaning against the wall and only the other man's tense shoulders told Nate that this might be a bigger deal than Eliot let on. But then again, it could also be, because he wanted to rip Miller apart for hurting Sophie and Parker. The hitter was protective of them all and hated it when he wasn't able to do his job to protect them.

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Nate sighed and rubbed his temple for a second while searching for the words to say next.

"Eliot, you don't have to do this. We can figure out something else," he started, but he was once again stopped with a casual shrug of one shoulder.

"Not in an hour and not a thief and a grifter short, Nate," Eliot explained and even though Nate hated to admit it, Eliot was probably right. All the plans that had been running through his head after Miller had contacted them and told them that he had caught Sophie and Parker and had made his offer, had needed a grifter of Sophie's or a thief of Parker's caliber, or even both and of course a lot of time to prep it.

When he didn't reply to Eliot's words, the hitter gave a slight, humorless chuckle and pushed himself off the wall.

"Thought so," he murmured, before again a grin grazed his lips, and again it wasn't a happy one, no, it was one Nate had never seen before on the younger man and then Eliot continued: "And besides this is what I do, I take one for the team. So I can do this to get Sophie and Parker out of this bastard's hands."

His words were meant to ease the lines of worry on Nate's face, but they did quite the opposite, because Eliot was way too relaxed about it and that really made Nate wonder how much exactly Eliot did "take for the team" without them knowing it.

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"Except that it's not the usual "take one for the team"," Hardison piped up, breaking the silence but not the growing tension in the room. It was the first time the hacker had spoken since Miller had made his proposition. Well, it was more blackmail than an actual proposition, but still...

Nate actually still wondered how on Earth they had ended up in this position anyway. He wondered how Miller had managed to catch Sophie and Parker. The two weren't easily caught, but then again, he could wonder about that later when they had solved this whole mess.

Now other things were more important... much more important.

Nate focused on Eliot again. The hitter was now looking at Hardison, who returned the look with a concerned one, probably freaked out about what Eliot was willing to do.

"Relax, Hardison. I've been through much worse than what this is going to be. At least he did give me a choice," Eliot stated dryly and the last part of his words made Nate tense and his hands that had just relaxed a little, clenched into fists again and he was about to say something, when Eliot continued.

"Besides, I'm actually more concerned if Miller will keep his word and uphold his side of the deal," he explained, running a hand through his hair. Nate and Hardison just stared at Eliot. They hadn't even thought so far, because they were still too shocked about Miller's "offer". And that once again showed them why they were so much better together than they were apart.

Both Nate and Hardison had been too emotional to think so far ahead, no matter if it normally was Nate's specialty to think further ahead than their opponents. But he had to worry about too many things at once right now to think straight, especially this weird feeling that wasn't all fear and worry when he thought about what Eliot was about to do and which had settled in his stomach and Nate was afraid to analyze it further right now, because then he would be useless to them and he couldn't have that.

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Once again it was Hardison who helped Nate to focus on it.

"Great, another problem to solve, as if we don't have enough already," he murmured, once again typing away on his keyboard just to have something to focus on. Then he looked at Nate.

"And how do we make sure that Miller keeps his end of the deal?" he asked, hoping that Nathan had a solution, because Hardison seriously was at a loss what to do now and he was worried sick about Parker. Of course he was worried about Sophie too, but just a little more about Parker, not that he'd ever say that out loud. And he was also really worried about Eliot. The hitter had shown almost no emotion ever since Miller had contacted them and that couldn't be good, not with a man like Eliot...

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The hitter scratched the back of his head.

"We tell Miller that we agree to his terms, but I want to see Sophie and Parker released first," he explained, again showing no emotion and that was slowly really getting creepy.

Nate tilted his head to the side, still uneasy how readily Eliot had accepted what he had to do to get Sophie and Parker to safety. When this whole mess was over, Nate needed to have a serious conversation with Eliot about what risk he could take and what risk he couldn't take. And Nate also knew he needed to talk about this weird feeling that grew stronger with every passing second and maybe Eliot could help him sort it out.

He looked at the hitter again and said grimly: "And if he'll let you go after one night."

Eliot rolled his eyes.

"I'll take precautions, Nate," he explained a little exasperated. He was Eliot "fucking" Spencer after all and he had fought a lot more dangerous opponents than Samuel Miller.

Then he grinned a little, once again with that dangerous glint in his eyes.

"And if that fails, then I'll count on you to get me out," Eliot told them, showing that he had finally really accepted that they were a team... a family...

"I still don't think you should do this, Eliot," Nate tried again.

"It's not really a tough choice to make here, Nate. Parker and Sophie need us and if this is what gets them out unharmed and without any casualties then I'm game," he said and the tone of his voice told Nate and Hardison that the hitter had already made up his mind and when Eliot made up his mind then there was nothing they could do about it. The only thing they could do, was to have his back and to make sure that Miller paid once they were all back together.

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"Are you really sure?"

Nate just had to ask one more time, especially to show Eliot that they were as concerned about his well-being as they were about Parker's and Sophie's, because sometimes Eliot seemed to think that his needs weren't as important as the rest of the teams and that simply wasn't true.

Nate needed to make sure that Eliot knew he could back out of this if he really wanted. But of course Eliot didn't take the offer to back out. He just gave Nate a dark look and the mastermind ducked his head a little.

"As I said, I've survived much worse things than this is probably going to be," he explained and for a second there was a sad look in his eyes, which Nate would have almost missed, but then it was gone again.

"You two should now figure out how to best make sure that Sophie and Parker will be released and let me worry about my part of this plan," he explained and gave Nate another look that told him that he really needed to talk to the hitter about a few things.

The smile that made Eliot's lips twitch for a second was a little unexpected as was the almost humorous tone in his voice.

"And you better have a plan M in case plans A to L fail."

Nate and Hardison stared at Eliot and then Hardison let out a loud, annoyed breath.

"Hey, I die in plan M, so I'm against plan M," he piped up and Nate and Eliot couldn't help the slight chuckle escaping them, lessening the tension at least a little, what had probably been Eliot's plan all along.

"You of course mean a plan M without Hardison dying, right?" Nate asked, only teasing a little and Eliot gave a grin.

"Of course," he gave back dryly, before he continued: "And now get to planning. We'll see each other in an hour to tell Miller how this is going to work."

And before Hardison or Nate could say or do more, Eliot was out of the room, probably to take some precautions of his own and Nate wasn't sure if he really wanted to know what exactly those precautions were.

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Once they were sure Eliot was out of earshot – he had left his comm on the table – Hardison turned towards Nate, the tension that had been slightly eased returning full force.

"We're seriously letting him do that?" Hardison questioned, looking at him as if Nate could make things right.

But at first Nate didn't answer. He rubbed his face and all of sudden he looked tired and dropped down in the chair beside the one Hardison was sitting in. He looked at the younger man and sighed.

"As much as I hate to say it, but we don't have a choice here, Hardison."

"But..." Hardison started, but then he stopped and let Nate continue.

"All we can do is to make sure that Miller will let Sophie and Parker go or what Eliot has to do will have been in vain, and then we need to make sure that Eliot will be allowed to leave after he has fulfilled his part of the deal," he explained and he really didn't look happy about it.

"But Nate, what Miller wants to do... it's..." Hardison trailed off once again and wasn't even able to put into words what Miller had proposed to them earlier.

Nate just looked at him with sad eyes.

"I know, Hardison, I know," he murmured, letting his desperation show for a second by burying his head in his hands for a moment. Then he composed himself and looked up.

"And now let's make a plan M."

His words helped them to regain some normalcy and finally come up with a plan that they would just maybe be able to pull off without falling completely apart.

But still, Nate dreaded the moment when Eliot would have to willingly surrender to whatever Miller had in mind. The mastermind had resigned himself to just be there and help with a probable fallout...

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The hour deadline was over way too fast and they found themselves face to face with Miller again.

"So, what is your answer?" their mark questioned, still looking smug since he had the upper hand here. Nate took a deep breath and looked at Eliot, who stood beside him, tall and unmoving, already steeled for what was to come. But it was still hard for Nate to hear Eliot saying what he had to say.

"I accept your offer," the hitter said, his voice void of all emotion.

"Good, good," Miller said, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I expect you at my mansion in two hours. Wear the suit you wore when we first met, it brought out your eyes," Miller told Eliot and for the first time Nate saw an emotion from Eliot. The hitter clenched his fists, but he didn't say a word, only his eyes told that he was ready to snap Miller's neck and if it hadn't been for Sophie's and Parker's safety then he probably would have...

"We'll be there," Nate hissed and then he signaled Hardison to cut the line, then Hardison looked at Nate, who shrugged and both looked at Eliot, who, for the first time, didn't look at them and muttered: "It's only one night..."

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End of Part I

So, yeah, here it is, the first of two or three parts *smiles*. I hope you enjoyed reading it at least a little and reviews would be most appreciated *smiles sheepishly*

And if you haven't done so, please read the A/N II

Thanks for reading *smiles*