the canon OT3 we’re not being coy like in the Rundown Job job
the one-off not quite canon within the story supernatural/fantasy elements job
the fake a cryptid (either bigfoot or el chupacabra) job
the circus job (I really want to see Parker the acrobat)
the explain how their clients even find them job. Like seriously do they advertise??? How does this work???
Hardison’s Nana comes to them because some fake debt-collection agency is hounding her for bills she already paid (or rather, that Hardison paid, via the Bank of Iceland). She is played by Nichelle Nichols. There is at least one Star Trek reference.
YES I need this like breathing. Nichelle Nichols is Nana now. Nobody can convince me otherwise.
And the circus job! No one can tell me that the entire crew wouldn’t get in on the circus job and be really into it.
Parker as an acrobat trying to get used to the idea that people are supposed to see her when she’s performing, and then getting into it and loving the applause when she does something extra fancy and death-defying with her ropes.
Eliot randomly is an expert at fire-juggling, because of course he is. He performs shirtless. The crowd goes wild. Never has there been so much thirst in a single room.
Sophie as the fortune teller. Sophie as the fortune teller who’s way too good at her job and has to tone it down a little bit because she’s freaking people out. She also does the knife-throwing act with Eliot, posing beautifully while he throws knives around her. She knows he’ll never miss.
Nate, of course, is the barker. “Step right up, step right up. See the beautiful, the death-defying…”
Meanwhile Hardison is behind the scenes bringing the technology into the 21st century. The light show to go along with the choreography has never been more beautiful, the sound system has never been so good, and the rigging has never been more safe. Also there are bugs everywhere so he can listen in and catch the bad guy, but that’s almost secondary.
In the end Eliot gets to fight the circus strong man, Sophi out-cons the bad guy, and the plan comes together like puzzle pieces falling into place right at the end so you can hardly believe it worked. Just like a good performance should.
They give the circus back to its tearfully grateful original owner and drive off into the sunset–ready to con another day.
I’ve made a whole bunch of Leverage OT3 fic rec posts, covering probably eighty different fics, but I decided to force myself to choose my top ten. These fics are not in order of preference, but rather the order in which I first encountered them.
The kinds of fics I like are ones with really sharp characterization, where you can hear the voices in your head, good banter between the OT3, and exploring each character’s issues without getting too angsty. I don’t like intense pining.
Please reblog with your own top ten Leverage OT3 fics if they’re different from mine!
This fic portrays a heart-meltingly sweet established relationship between Alec and Parker, then a story of how they invite Eliot into that relationship. It’s like they’ve built a home, and all they have to do is open the door.
“It’s all good,” Hardison promises, kissing her forehead and then the tip of her nose because he knows she calls it bunny kissing in her head. “We’ll make sure Eliot knows we still love him.”
The one where the OT3 go on a road trip and fall in love along the way. I love the road trip as a metaphor for Alec, Parker, and Eliot going on a voyage to discover one another.
Alec and Parker kept him in the middle, like they were afraid he was going to bolt, like it would be a bad thing if he left. They never stopped touching him, four hands on his body, lips, tongues, and he shut his eyes, and let them carry him, let them hold him aloft, floating on a buzz no whiskey could match. He let them fill him up until he couldn’t imagine what empty was.
I treasure this fic for its cleverly in-character banter, and for the way it shows Alec and Eliot dealing with a situation where they’ve distressed Parker and need to make it up to her.
Alec was kneeling outside his broom-closet, and speaking into the gap under the door. “Well, can I get you anything? A glass of water, maybe?”
“I’m fine!” Parker said back, muffled through the door, but loud and frustrated. “Go back to your orgasms!”
Settling into any new relationship for the long haul is hard, and even harder when there’s three people involved. This fic is about the ways Alec, Parker, and Eliot drive each other ‘round the bend – and how they learn to stay together anyway.
It was hard, living with people who were so touchy, Hardison told himself. He tried to ignore what he knew about the people he loved; that they survived by keeping the past in the past and the unspoken in the dark, and that Hardison wasn’t really capable of doing either of those things.
The story of how the OT3 get married. It’s such a homey, comfortable established relationship, showing just how the three have settled in as a unit.
They will say the things that need saying and slide the rings onto each others’ fingers. They will clean up before making their way home for what Parker will delightedly insist on calling “married people sex.”
This fic is a delightful romp of a crossover with the MCU, but I love it most for how it portrays Parker as mastermind and the OT3 falling into an easy rhythm of being a crack team of three and a stable relationship of three.
“It ain’t a rule, it’s a guideline,” Eliot insisted.
“We don’t mess with Stark,” Parker said, in the voice of one tolerating a loved one’s bizarre personality quirk.
“I don’t wanna get my ass blown off by a robot-suited aggressive billionaire who does not like hackers!” Hardison yelped.
This fic takes a kink, puppy play, and turns it into a profound metaphor about the nature of Eliot’s relationship to Alec and Parker. Or maybe it turns a profound metaphor into a kink. Either way, it’s both touching and sexy.
Parker makes a noise of agreement, and Eliot’s hand comes down to cover Alec’s where it’s pressed to his belly.
Testing a theory, Alec adds, “You’re our boy.”
Eliot’s hand clenches on his, only for a moment, but it’s enough for Alec to know.
“Yeah,” Eliot says. “I – yeah. That’s what I want.”
Think of this psychic AU as one where Eliot right after leaving Damien Moreau meets Alec and Parker at the end of season 3. Eliot is so broken, and Alec and Parker redeem him with the power of their love.
Parker kicked his ankle again, hard enough to make him notice her. “Hey,” she told him. “Dibs.”
Hardison stretched his long legs out under the table and tapped his foot to Eliot’s. “Dibs,” he said.
In this fic, Alec and Parker propose to Eliot before the Rundown Job and then go on a honeymoon in Las Vegas. It fits scarily well into canon for the Rundown Job to be the OT3 as newlyweds. Read this and accept your new headcanon.
Eliot tossed his hair back, looking back and forth between them. There it was again, that offer of everything he wanted and hadn’t thought he could have. The pictures were still on the projector, him with the two of them. “Yeah.” It was the only answer he was ever going to be able to give them. His voice came out rougher than he meant, and his eyes were not at all close to watering. Not even a little. “Of course I’ll marry you. Can I get a kiss first?”
Client: I don’t want his easily stolen physically tangible money Mr Ford, I want the nebulous and undefinable catharsis you can only get from a specific and tailor made karmic revenge that will destroy not only his business but his life, thats all.
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