Leverage - Blog Posts

Written in the Stones (Leverage Crossover)

Prompt: Jacob thinks that his twin brother, Eliot, is dead but Ezekiel knows the truth. And, the truth may ruin their relationship... forever.

Jacob was feeling down. He always felt down this time of year. It was around the time where he and his dad got the message that Eliot had died while in service.

Ezekiel curled up to his cowboy, head on his chest as he stared up at Jacob. He watched as Jacob stared blankly at the ceiling. He frowned a bit, his stomach twisting.

He knew the truth about Eliot. He’d run into the long-haired male while trying to steal the same thing. He remembered those misty, blue eyes as he faded into unconsciousness after being stabbed.

“Are you okay?” Ezekiel asked Jacob.

“Yeah. I’m fine, darlin’,” Jacob told him softly, wrapping an arms around Ezekiel’s smaller frame.

Ezekiel moved closer to him, nuzzling his shoulder a bit. “What are you thinking about?”

Jacob was quiet for a moment. Did he want to tell Ezekiel about having a dead twin brother? A little bit.

“I’m just... thinking about home,” Jacob finally announced softly.

“You hate home, love.”

“I’m thinking about my past. Not specifically my dad.”

Ezekiel sat up, hugging himself for a moment. He jumped when Jacob wrapped his arms around him.

“Your brother is alive,” Ezekiel blurted, covering his mouth and hugging himself again when Jacob recoiled from Ezekiel as if he’d been burnt.

“You’re lying.”

“I don’t lie, Jacob. I would never lie about this.”

“You’re lying. I was told he was dead by the US army,” Jacob said, standing and towering over Ezekiel, threateningly. ”He’s dead.”

“They never found a body,” Ezekiel said. “Right? Usually they’ll find a body, but they didn’t, did they? Explain that, Jacob.”

Jacob sputtered for a moment. “I think you should go.”

Ezekiel looked up at him with large, hurt eyes. All he saw was cold, unforgiving ones. He left as requested. He gave Jacob one last glance before exiting the room.

“Idiot,” Ezekiel cursed to himself. “I’m such a bloody idiot.”

He was packing a bag. He was going off to find Eliot. He wanted to give his... ex boyfriend closure.

He shouldered the backpack and took a deep breath. He walked into the annex and looked up at Jenkins for a moment before looking down. “You and Mr. Stone have a bit of a falling out?”

“Kind of,” Ezekiel said before explaining the entire ordeal to the caretaker.

“I see... You are going off to find Mr. Stone’s long lost brother.”

“I’m telling the truth, Jenkins. I am. I don’t lie. I may be a thief, but I don’t lie,” Ezekiel said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I have to do this or... Or Jacob will never be able to trust me ever again.”

“Where do you need to go, Mr. Jones?” Jenkins said, moving towards the globe. “I will cover for you.”

“Boston. I need to go to Boston,” Ezekiel said,

He’d been up the entire night running searching for Eliot and he’d found him in Boston, but that was all he’d gotten.

“I need a more specific location, Mr. Jones,” Jenkins drawled.

“McRory’s bar,” Ezekiel decided. It was one of his favorite bars.

“Very well.”

Ezekiel stepped into the bar, stumbling slightly and looked around. He took a seat in the corner and out of the way. He set up his laptop and plugged it into the outlet.

“Can I get you a drink?” A ginger girl asked.

“Just a beer is fine,” Ezekiel said, looking up at her with a slight smile.

She walked away and he didn’t look up when someone else walked over.

“I’ve already gotten my ord-” He was cut off by a hand wrapping around his throat.

His eyes widened as he looked up into the familiar eyes of Eliot Spencer. He let out a croak, trying to say something, but his throat was being crushed and he couldn’t breathe. He was starting to panic.

“Eliot, let the kind man go,” a voice said, comingup besides the long haired man.

Suddenly, Ezekiel could breathe again. He took gasping breaths of air, pressing himself against the wall of the booth, keeping distance between him and Eliot.

“What are you doing here?” Eliot growled, hands on the table. “I told you to never come after me.”

“I know.” Ezekiel’s voice was small. “It’s about Jacob.”

Eliot’s eyes widened. He sat down across from Ezekiel, waving off the people who’d gathered around them. They dispersed after a hesitant moment.

“What about him?” Eliot asked, eyes narrowing again.

“He... I told him you were alive and now he wont talk to me and it hurts. He always listens to reason but now he’s not and he hates me. He won’t even talk to me. I... I really messed up, but he was so sad. I just wanted to make him feel better.”

Eliot growled. “You told him I was alive?”

“He mopes around for days on end around the anniversary of finding out you “died”,” Ezekiel said, putting finger quotes around died. “I couldn’t keep it from him any longer. He deserves to know you’re alive.”

“Where is he?”

“I’d have to bring him to you.”

“Why can’t you bring me to him?” Eliot narrowed his eyes.

“We’re not allowed to let outsiders into our line of work. I learned that the hard way. I can’t bring another person. Last time they stole something important and almost ruined Christmas.”

Eliot leaned in. Ezekiel could smell the apple shampoo and the familiar cologne from the other.

“I’m going to tell you this once, and only once,” Eliot said, eyes narrowing. “You’re going to bring me to my brother and I wont kick your ass.”

“Fine, but the others are going to be really mad at me if you steal anything,” Ezekiel said.

Ezekiel pulled Eliot into the annex through the backdoor. He laughed slightly when he watched him stumble.

Eliot growled at him and Ezekiel shut up immediately.

“Where are we?” Eliot asked, looking around. His eyebrows scrunched together.

“Welcome to the Library, mate,” Ezekiel said.

“My brother works in a library?” Eliot said, sounding disbelieving.

“Not /a/ library,” Ezekiel said, shaking his head. “/The/ Library.”

“I don’t get it. My brother could barely read a book for school,” Eliot said. “Why would he be a librarian.”

“Don’t be ignorant. You’re brother is the smartest man I know,” Ezekiel said. “He must’ve been hiding his intelligence from you.”

Eliot frowned.

“Jones, who are you-” Ezekiel whipped around to see Eve standing in the doorway to the Annex.

“Uh, colonel, meet Eliot Spencer. Retrieval specialist and twin brother of Jacob,” Ezekiel said, motioning to Eliot. “Eliot, meet Colonel Eve Baird.”

Eliot puffed his chest out, eyes narrowing. “NATO-terrorist team?”

“How’d you know?” Eve asked, sizing up Eliot.

“You have a very distinctive stance,” Eliot said, shrugging.

“Keep an eye on him for me, Baird. I have to get Jacob.” Ezekiel ran from the room

Jacob was sitting in his room. He was trying to focus on the book he was reading, but it wasn’t working.

“Come in,” he called, hearing someone knock at the door.

Ezekiel pushed it open. “Jacob?”

“Go away, Jones,” Jacob snarled.

“No,” Ezekiel said, finally standing up for himself. “No. You need to get your head out of your arse.”

Jacob looked up, startled when Ezekiel stood up for himself.

“I’m sick and tired of you not listening to me,” Ezekiel continued. “I don’t lie. I may be a thief, but I /don’t/ lie. I would never lie to you about something like that. You were so sad and I couldn’t stand seeing you sad like that.”

Ezekiel stared at his feet. “Now- Now I want you to come with me. I have to show you something.”

Jacob rose to his feet. “Okay.”

Ezekiel reach out a shaking hand. Jacob didn’t take it. Ezekiel understood why. They were still on pause.

Ezekiel lead him into the Annex to where Eve and Eliot were laughing. Jacob’s mouth fell open and tears started to stream down his cheeks.

Eliot smiled brightly seeing his brother. He opened his arms for a hug and received one.

It was silent for a moment before Jacob pulled away from his brother and punched him square in the face.

“What the hell, Eliot! Why did you pretend to be dead? Where have you been this entire time? How come Ezekiel know you were alive but I didn’t?” Jacob asked, sky blue eyes ablaze with fury.

“Because we ran into each other a time or two. The second time I stabbed him because he got to what I was going after first,” Eliot said, shrugging.

“Yeah, your brother and i have a past. He doesn’t like me much,” Ezekiel said, shrugging.

“Jones, I’m so sorry,” Jacob apologized, pulling the Australian close and brushing his lips against Ezekiel’s. “I’m so stupid to not believe you. I know you don’t lie, and yet, I was in so much denial I thought you were lying.”

Ezekiel pressed his lips against Jacob’s. “Next time, you won’t get off so easy.”

Jacob tilted his head to the side for a moment. “Uh... What?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Ezekiel turned to Eliot. “Time to get back to your team, Eliot. Just go right on through that door and you will be right back in Boston.”

Eliot nodded and moved towards the door and paused, turning back to Eve, Jacob and Ezekiel. “Don’t be a stranger, Jake. You can even bring Ezekiel along with you if you ever want to come hang out in Boston for a bit.”

Jacob smiled a bit, arm still around Ezekiel. “I’ll make sure you send you a call if I ever want to meet up. Maybe start a bar brawl somewhere for old time’s sake?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Family was reunited and trust was mended. It was a good day for Ezekiel Jones and Jacob Stone.

Leverage 1x8 - "The Bank Shot Job"

Leverage 3x16 - "The San Lorenzo Job"

Leverage: Redemption 1x2 - "The Panamanian Monkeys Job"

Leverage: Redemption 3x7 - "The Shakedown in Clone-Town Job"

thinking about this

Woman: Who are you? Eliot: Well, ma'am, we'd be the cavalry.

Leverage 1x8 - The Bank Shot Job

Flores: Who are you? Parker: I’m supposed to tell you, "We'd be the cavalry."

Leverage 3x16 - The San Lorenzo Job

Ethel: We need real help. Where's the cavalry? Sophie: At the right moment, they'll be here. Probably. Possibly. I trust.

Leverage: Redemption 3x7 - The Shakedown in Clone-Town Job

eliot’s dad is a football coach in a tiny town that was nearly destroyed by corporate greed and the first thing eliot is seen doing as mayor of the town they’re trying to save is playing football with a bunch of kids and encouraging them. screams

did no one else think Mr. Romance Novel Heartthrob was a little too perfect? he’s a vet and a fire captain and runs the bnb and is the only good one on the town council and is hot and kind and- like no one’s actually LIKE that in real life. this is the kind of character eliot would play in a con. I get that this is sophie’s little hallmark fantasy but I did spend the entire episode waiting for the other shoe to drop with this guy.

Leverage: Redemption 3x7- "The Shakedown in Clone-Town Job"

god. it’s eliot fucking spencer.

because it always has been eliot spencer.

eliot, who let himself be tortured, who resisted torture, in a situation he could get himself out of in five minutes, because they were torturing homeless veterans.

eliot, who only counts himself as saving someone’s life two and a half times because that half time he was the one sent to kill him.

eliot, who was willing to take down a billion dollar corporation, who begged nate to do everything he could, because of one guy with a hardware store and one near-closing grocery store.

eliot, who offered to kill a man for parker in less than a breath because she asked, who broke his rule on killing because nate could take down his biggest demon, who ran toward a bullet because he knew parker could take care of a city-killing virus.

eliot spencer, who started this season stabbed and bleeding, who was told someone didn’t want him to keep taking hits meant for him.

eliot, who was tired and just wanted his own bed.

he wakes up every day and acknowledges that he still has work to do.

and he never, ever, needed convincing to take down a corrupt mayor who was running drugs in his town. he knew that it needed to be fixed, what needed to be done to save the town, that this is the worst of it. he wanted more time. to do it right. so the surprises wouldn’t happen.

and if you’re looking at it, really looking, i think, parker doesn’t try to convince him to stay.

she knows he’s in.

because it’s who he’s always been.

listen I do understand that by and large Leverage is a very lighthearted show and also that they are limited in the havoc they can wreak on the lives of clear real-world analogues without being accused of endorsing violence or something. so i'm not saying that this is necessarily a good move from a showrunner's perspective but I DO think that i would rescind every criticism i've ever had of leverage's political outlook if they have an episode in L:R where they introduce an antagonist like 'this is mr. Ethan Tusk whose wealth came from exploitative gem mines and now he makes exploding cars and sets nazi frat boys loose on the federal government for bragging rights of how cozy he is with the dictator in charge' and then the resolution is 'parker pushes him off a building.' or i'm not picky on the specifics they can even have it be a more ambiguous thing where she plants a bug in his car so they can spy on him but then two days later the autopilot drives him off a cliff and nobody's ever really sure whether parker sabotaged it somehow or it was just his own shitty tech. i just think that if you're going to keep teasing the idea that parker is Unpredictable and Violent and needs to be kept under close watch she should get to kill at least ONE evil-guy stand in at some point. she's earned it. free her.

does anyone else ship harry wilson x roger the accountant?? please tell me i'm not delusional here

we gotta talk about eliot looking back at his early relationships in the car with parker. the intimacy and detail there between both stories, putting them on the same level as if we should recognize them. there's mention of a rescue mission, without pronouns, and we know of at least one guy who saved eliot after he was shot in the army. what im saying is aimee is obviously story one, and paul orozco is story two. there was a way eliot stumbled over himself, like this is the first time he's saying out loud that paul counts, even if it was purely emotional. and then bi panic. im all for bi the whole time eliot, obviously, but this is my acceptance of him finally opening up.

The Swipe Right Job (S03E06) LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION (2021—)

"Neal plays the tycoon to lure in his victims, and then cons them out of thousands of dollars."

Leverage Redemption S03E06 The Swipe Right Job.

"I am convinced. We have to save normal dating from these apps."

Leverage Redemption S03E06 The Swipe Right Job.

Had no idea how badly we all needed "The Girls Night Out Job Pt. 2" in 2025

Leverage Redemption S03E05 The Grand Complication Job.

Leverage: Redemption 3x5- "The Grand Complication Job"

well that just took my #1 spot as favourite redemption ep.

Looks like Nana's going to have to make room for another member of the family next Christmas

THAT IS A HANUKKIAH IN THE BACK OF THE LEVERAGE SET

is someone Jewish

please let this fuel the Jewish!Hardison fans

so, there's this leverage fic, what we owe each other by @trivalentlinks. (it's one of my favorites. eliot/quinn with a solid dash of moreau. highly recommend. but i digress.) and in this fic, there's a running thing about these tunnels under paris. quinn introduces eliot to them and makes him promise not to use them for crime, and then moreau happens, and, well, it's a whole thing.

and then in the first episode of redemption s3, what do we get? the paris catacombs. and I know that the catacombs are not quite the same as the tunnels from the fic, but I still can't help but wonder what it would be like for that eliot to end up in the tunnels again in the context of l:r 20+ years later. there's just. so much potential there. these ponderings are built firmly on the foundations of a 60k au fic and as such will not go anywhere but i'm just hoping someone else may have read this fic too and understand where my mind went.

how did we go from "we agreed we all change. for better or worse, we change together" to "everybody changed. i thought we were done changing."

Leverage: Redemption 3x1- "The Weekend in Paris Job"