The Morning After Job

After Nate and Sophie's retirement, Eliot, Parker, and Hardison face an uncertain future running Leverage International alone. As tensions run high and the team struggles to find their new balance, Eliot finds himself mediating between Parker's unspoken anxieties and Hardison's overcompensation through technology. The morning brings nineteen unread messages, a house full of quirky robots, and the weight of determining what comes next for the team that's become family.

The Morning After Job

After Nate and Sophie's retirement, Eliot, Parker, and Hardison face an uncertain future running Leverage International alone. As tensions run high and the team struggles to find their new balance, Eliot finds himself mediating between Parker's unspoken anxieties and Hardison's overcompensation through technology. The morning brings nineteen unread messages, a house full of quirky robots, and the weight of determining what comes next for the team that's become family.

The rain patters against my window as I wake slowly, disoriented for a moment before remembering: Nate and Sophie are gone. The team is ours now. My knee aches slightly - a souvenir from old injuries - but feels better than it has in weeks. I check the clock: 0540. Too early to start the day properly, too late to fall back asleep.

My phone buzzes against the carpet, shattering the morning quiet. Then buzzes again. And again. Nineteen messages, goddamn. Back in the day, that would mean trouble. Now it probably means Hardison's been up all night or Parker's made some midnight discovery.

"Eliot can I come and visit," reads Parker's first message. Followed by: "Or can you come back.""Are you asleep.""Hardison said something rude about you come and yell at him."

Then Hardison: "It's lies, man. Nothing but respect."

I sigh and swing my legs over the edge of the bed. The quiet morning I'd envisioned - stretching, maybe some meditation before the chaos begins - is already slipping away. But as I stand and prepare to face whatever crisis or nonsense Parker and Hardison have cooked up this time, there's something reassuring about it too. This is our new normal now. Just the three of us, figuring it out together.