Author's note:

Surprise! A fourth chapter! I didn't know this story had one, but Jinxcat21 wrote "I just wish you had added another little bit for the end, either from Nate watching Eliot at the end of the knife fight or Toby after Eliot sees him off later" and that made me wish that I had added another little bit...and then there was a rainy Monday night that was just perfect for story writing...and then a fourth chapter happened.

Kind of.

It doesn't really fit with the first three in the sense that this one is written from Nate's point of view rather than Toby's. I had pretty much plumbed the depths of what I wanted to do with Toby's introspection already, but Nate is always thinking ... and I liked the knife fight suggestion. It's fairly short, but I hope it satisfies any lingering feelings that the story wasn't quite finished.

Nate has walked into a lot of Eliot's kitchens over the years. Technically, most of them had belonged to other people – Nate included – but it didn't seem to take Eliot more than the preparation of one meal to make the space his own. Nate's not surprised, therefore, to find the restaurant kitchen feels familiar when the conversation he is listening to over the comms leads him there, away from Sophie's chef-hugging acting students, in search of Eliot. And it's not just because of the neatly trussed row of thugs laid out head-to-tail in one corner – although that is a sight he's seen in kitchens Eliot has commandeered for various cons before. Nate steps round the outermost thug's feet, more concerned by the scene in front of him, where Eliot has Rampone backed up against a wall, knife at his neck and not held entirely steady.

"Not only did you and Lampard ruin my friend Toby's life, but you ruined the lives of the kids he was trying to help," Eliot is saying as Nate enters.

It's an expansion on Eliot's earlier statement – "You hurt my friend, Rampone" – that had drawn Nate towards the kitchen. Nate knows from Sophie what happened just a few months previously when Eliot had Victor Dubenich at the other end of a gun barrel ... and what probably would have happened had Sophie not been with him.

"I'm thinking about saving my friend some trouble."

On the long list of things for which Nate is grateful to Sophie Devereaux, the way she pulled Eliot back that day ranks high. She had not only forced Eliot to consider the full burden of consequences he would carry if he pulled that trigger, but had given Nate the opportunity to confront his own choice when he had both Latimer and Dubenich at his mercy at the dam.

Nate can see the parallels in Eliot's mind between that situation and this – between Nate and Toby, and between Dubenich and Rampone ... and maybe Nate and Eliot, and Jimmy Ford and Toby. Nate hopes that his presence can remind Eliot of the choices they each made before, and of why he needs to make the right choice again here.

"I gave him a rope," Nate's conversation with Toby echoes through his mind, "but he can't climb all the way out. And ropes fray."

Nate can feel the sharp teeth of Eliot's anger sawing at that rope while he is still several steps away.

"Eliot - Not worth it," Nate reminds him as he approaches. "Give him to the cops."

Eliot doesn't respond, not even a flicker of expression across his face to suggest he heard.

"Call off your dog," Rampone demands of Nate, his tough-guy image forever ruined by the tremor in his voice. "He's crazy."

Nate smirks a little, wondering why people assume he is able to control Eliot. Even the team seems to labour under this misapprehension at times and it never ceases to amaze Nate. He is very aware – and is sure Eliot is, too – that there is very little he could actually do to stop Eliot in most situations. Whatever control he has is limited to what Eliot cedes to him voluntarily. Still, it is a misperception that has served them both well at times, and neither Nate not Eliot is in a hurry to disabuse anyone of the notion.

"Crazy?" he hears Eliot say now. "I'm gonna cut your freaking head off and serve it on a platter."

It says a lot about Nate's life and work that these words immediately calm his worries. Eliot Spencer making dramatic threats is just that: dramatic, and maybe adding a little spit and polish to his reputation. Eliot Spencer in killing mode is ruthlessly efficient, not wasting words on someone who won't be left to tell the story. Nate is careful, however, to keep any sign of his inner relaxation off his face – he has his own part to play in this drama, and he knows far better than to ruin the artistry of the scene.

"That's enough, Eliot," he says, giving Eliot the excuse he needs to step away.

There is one last flurry of activity as Rampone launches a fist at Eliot. Eliot traps the fist, and Nate takes great pleasure in sending one of his own flying into Rampone's face. Rampone drops, unconscious, and Eliot watches, impassive. Nate looks at the younger man, dishevelled from the fight and bleeding from a cut on his arm, but with the clear conscience of another battle won against the violence within him. He feels the urge to say to Eliot, as he once had to a six-year-old Sam avoiding a playground fight, You made good choices today; I'm proud of you. But they are thieves and conmen, and everything is done with misdirection and in code.

"Serve his - his head on a platter, huh?" Nate says instead. (You made good choices.)

"Was it too much?" Eliot asks, an actor looking for pointers to improve his next performance. (Strayed kind of close to the edge on this one.)

"No, actually, I liked it," Nate says, as they head out to join the rest of the team. (I'm proud of you.)

THE END (again...probably...unless someone else has another brilliant suggestion).

Dialogue from The French Connection Job and from The Last Dam Job was once again made possible by the work WhenDarknessFalls has done in Leverage Seriously! - a collection of Leverage Transcripts derived from the closed captions available online and formatted into transcript form, then validated against the aired episode (available at leverage. whendarknessfalls. net ).