Eliot hadn't really thought about it. Despite the time he'd spent around horses, he'd just always assumed most girls went through a horse-crazy phase. It was just one of those things. Eliot liked the beasts well enough, but he'd never had that special bond that some women seemed to have.
He'd chalked it up to "Things That Aren't Fair In The World: #5,478" and gone on with his life. Become a retrieval specialist, mercenary, killer-for-hire, and finally a Robin Hood do-gooder with a group of other ex-bad guys.
Right up until the Equestrian Job. Trained show horses were expensive, and managing to smuggle them was worth a hell of a lot of cash. And when Alice, their trainer, and begged Leverage, Inc. to save her horses from their greedy owner exploiting them, they'd gone at it like any other job.
Until Eliot, masquerading as a stablehand, had watched the "horses" drink their drugged water without being affected, and had nearly trampled an oily hired gun that had tried to force himself on Alice before Eliot could even move. Until Eliot had watched Alice crying into the horses' shoulders, and them crowding around her. Until Eliot had gone to put a hand on Alice's shoulder to ask if she was all right, and saw, finally saw the star markings on the horses' foreheads were really only the tip of the iceberg.
Well, make that the base of the horn.
And if Nate later thought he was crazy for including the horses themselves in their own rescue plan, that was fine. Because he and Alice knew otherwise. That “special bond” he’d envied had every right to belong to women like Alice, virtuous, innocent, pure, and good. And Eliot would fight as fiercely as the unicorns to protect it.
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timeasmymeasure
The Equestian Job - Leverage, Eliot, PG
Date: 2011-05-12 02:25 pm (UTC)He'd chalked it up to "Things That Aren't Fair In The World: #5,478" and gone on with his life. Become a retrieval specialist, mercenary, killer-for-hire, and finally a Robin Hood do-gooder with a group of other ex-bad guys.
Right up until the Equestrian Job. Trained show horses were expensive, and managing to smuggle them was worth a hell of a lot of cash. And when Alice, their trainer, and begged Leverage, Inc. to save her horses from their greedy owner exploiting them, they'd gone at it like any other job.
Until Eliot, masquerading as a stablehand, had watched the "horses" drink their drugged water without being affected, and had nearly trampled an oily hired gun that had tried to force himself on Alice before Eliot could even move. Until Eliot had watched Alice crying into the horses' shoulders, and them crowding around her. Until Eliot had gone to put a hand on Alice's shoulder to ask if she was all right, and saw, finally saw the star markings on the horses' foreheads were really only the tip of the iceberg.
Well, make that the base of the horn.
And if Nate later thought he was crazy for including the horses themselves in their own rescue plan, that was fine. Because he and Alice knew otherwise. That “special bond” he’d envied had every right to belong to women like Alice, virtuous, innocent, pure, and good. And Eliot would fight as fiercely as the unicorns to protect it.