31A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first time writing for Leverage, and I don't know why! I love the show and have watched it through at least three times. I was looking through Pinterest and found some one-word/one-phrase prompt lists, and the first word immediately caught my eye. This is a short one-shot based off the prompt word "binary". I want to work through the whole list eventually, so either I'll publish the stories individually as I write them or turn this story into a collection. I hope you enjoy this, and please review!
~Binary~
111000010100010111101000000001… It went on. And on. And on. Rows upon rows, scrolling endlessly on the screen.
Eliot had entered Leverage HQ to find it empty. He checked the clock and, seeing that he was early for the team's scheduled meeting, sat down to watch some football. He reached for the remote that lay on the table and pressed the power button that, to his annoyance, did nothing. He slid the back cover of the remote off and checked the batteries, then put the cover back on and tried again. Still nothing. With a sigh of frustration he got up and circled around the table to get to the grid of monitors that decorated the opposite wall. He glanced behind the screen closest to him, trying to find a power button, but he didn't see anything. He searched all the exposed edges of the display, but turned up empty. With increasing irritation, he went back to his place at the table and pressed the button on the remote more aggressively. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't any response. Then it dawned on him: batteries, that's what he needed.
He went into the adjoining kitchen and rummaged around in some drawers until he found the pack of batteries. He carried it back to the table and slid the cover off of the remote only to find that the batteries he had were the wrong size. This was getting ridiculous. In a last effort to bring the television to life, Eliot grabbed Hardison's keyboard from the center of the table and glanced at it briefly before simply hitting the "enter" key.
He was rewarded by a bright flash as the monitors turned on, but the glad remark died on his lips as lines of binary code began making their way across the screen. At first it was slow, but soon it sped up, until it covered the entire display in an endless stream of numbers: 00101110111110001011101… and so on. For some reason it gave Eliot the distinct impression of something bleeding out. He stood there staring at the screen with panic rising in his chest and wondered what on earth he'd done to Hardison's computer system. His heart jumped when he heard a key scraping in the outside lock, and with professional ease he ducked into the nearest office, pressing himself to the wall just inside. He heard the familiar sound of Parker and Hardison's banter, which stopped abruptly; presumably because they had entered the main room and Hardison was seeing his computer's life blood spill across the screen. Eliot had expected a loud curse, or a frustrated groan at least, but all he heard was a laconic "Hm." and then:
"Hi Eliot!" Parker's voice sounded right by his ear and Eliot struck by instinct. Parker easily side-stepped the attack and his fist made contact with the door frame. There was the sharp crack of splintering wood, and Eliot swore loudly as he cradled his bruised hand, glaring at Parker.
"What'd you do that for?" he asked indignantly.
Parker gave the puzzled reply: "Do what?"
The pain in Eliot's hand had subsided to a dull, if irritating, throb, but his face was still contorted in an angry scowl. "You snuck up on me, that's what!" he spat irritably. Parker raised an eyebrow skeptically and then peered into the room he'd been in.
"Were you hiding in there?" she asked incredulously. Hardison turned his head to see Eliot's response. Eliot's mind whirled as he considered fabrications. "No! I was– there's a light out in there and– the radiator was making a weird noise…" he was met with blank stares. "Well it's your own fault for making the tech too complicated!" he finally burst out angrily, turning abruptly on Hardison and jabbing a finger in his direction. The hacker looked taken aback, then confused.
"What?"
"Your computer thing! All I did was press a button and now it's…" Eliot gestured to the screen, "bleeding out or something!"
It took Hardison half a second to absorb what Eliot meant, but then he burst out laughing. Eliot cursed. Hardison finally stopped long enough to say: "You were worried because you thought you'd done something to my tech?" he put a hand to his heart in feigned emotion, "Really, I'm touched." He cracked a smile again and went on.
"Naw man, I left this running when we left the office, you just woke up the monitor." Eliot glowered at him and turned on his heel, storming into the room behind him and slamming the door with such force that it closed despite the splintered frame. Hardison called after him.
"I think it's really nice you care about my baby!"
Eliot growled angrily as he sat down in his office. He could hear the hacker and thief laughing on the other side of the door, but tried to tune it out as best he could. They were never going to let him live this down. He really wished they wouldn't tell Nate and Sophie, but his hopes weren't too high. He let out another frustrated sigh and turned on the radio.
A/N: I hope you liked it. Please review :)