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He has been watching them for weeks now. How they grew closer, how something flourished between them, hidden from everyone. Everyone but him. Alec is his friend and Eliot would be damned if he'd let anything bad happen to his friend. Besides: It was his job to protect them, wasn't it?
“Nate? A word.” He walks in, closing the door behind him.
“Eliot. Now is not a good time. It will have to wait. We're on a schedule here.”
“Fine.” Eliot nods, leaving the room again, followed by Nate who starts them off on a briefing without further introduction. Maybe trying to talk to Nate while they were on a job wasn't the best idea. But he really didn't want to wait too long. For now, however, Eliot decided to keep quiet and just get on with the job. He will talk to Nate, though. And soon.
~*~
They're in the bar after they finished the job. It's not too crowded but there are enough people so not everyone's attention will linger on their table. Eliot walks up to where Nate sits and slides onto the seat across the table.
“I guess now is a better time. We need to talk.” He demands in a low voice.
Nate looks up from his glass and tries to focus on him, but fails miserably. Eliot tries to figure out how many glasses of Whiskey the other man had been drinking in the last hour. Too many, he realizes.
“Okay. Forget it. I'll find you, when you're sober.” Eliot is pissed off. He really needs to get a few things off his chest, but it looks like Nate tries to hide from him. Or maybe he is just imagining things. But they really need to talk.
~*~
The next time Eliot tries to talk to Nate he finds him upstairs in his apartment. Arm in Arm with Alec. So he quickly decides this really isn't the best time to talk to Nate, to tell him, what he needed to say. He mutters some kind of excuse and rushes downstairs again.
~*~
Two days later, when Eliot storms Nate's office to finally talk to him, Nate is on the phone and gestures to him, that it is important. When he comes back from his office a couple of minutes later, they're on the next job. So Eliot can't talk to him yet again. And slowly he get's angry with Nate.
~*~
For a month now, Eliot tried to talk to Nate, tried to catch him somehow. It never was a good time or Nate was busy or they weren't alone. Enough of that now. Eliot decides to finally get that talk over and done with, no matter what. So when Nate gets up and walks to the toilet, Eliot simply follows him. As good a place as any, he thinks, when he closes the door behind them.
“Eliot, what ...” He doesn't wait for Nate to finish his sentence. Instead he steps in closely, so Nate finds his back against the wall, pinned between cold stone wall and stone-cold determined Eliot.
“You and I need to talk” Eliot proclaims in a commanding voice.
“Okay. You have my attention.” Nate probably would like to back away a little, but there is nowhere to go.
“Hardison is my friend.” Eliot starts. “I've been watching you. You both. He is really into you. He adores you, dotes on you. Your word is his command. It's my job to keep him safe, to make sure nobody harms him. Not. Even. You.” Eliot's voice is harsh. He almost growls at Nate. "If you hurt him, Nate. If you break his heart, I will hurt you back and I will break more than a few bones in your body. I will crush you. Completely. So if this is just a game for you, you need to end it. Now. Do you understand?”
“It's not a game, Eliot. Alec is not just a toy for me. I ... Do have ... Feelings.”
“Not good enough.”
“Strong feelings. Really.”
Eliot nods slightly and backs off.
“I haven't done anything wrong.” Nate brushes off the slightly shocked and concerned look and pushes himself away from the wall. “This was unnecessary.”
“Just making a point, Nate. Just making a point. Now you be good to him. Treat the boy with the respect he deserves.”
With that Eliot has said everything he needed to say. He nods at Nate and leaves the bathroom. When he walks past Alec he smiles at the younger man, winks at him. He's got a good feeling about this. Now, that he made his point.