Okay, I haven't seen Leverage: Redemption. I know, I know, it's absolutely top of the queue if I ever watch a TV series again. But that means all I really know about it is that Nate is dead because his actor turned out to be even more of an asshole than he was, and that the new characters are cool, so this recs set isn't going to address Redemption.

This recs set is a bit tough anyway because Leverage is about Eliot, Parker, and Hardison. And not only are they absolute OT3, but also I don't want anything bad to happen to any of them, ever, and also everybody they ever meet should like them, so that is not really, like, conducive to seeking out enemy ships for them.

The enemyship in Leverage is canon; it's Nate/Sophie. They did the Batman-and-Catwoman flirt/fight cops and robbers thing across Europe for years pre-canon, and canon is the story of them actually managing to consummate all that tension, because by the end of canon Nate has finally crossed the line of maybe almost being good enough for Sophie, a little. It was all very good for me.

There isn't a whole lot of Nate/Sophie fic? (And afaik nobody has ever written the epic backstory of them as flirty opponents and rivals that I have wanted for ten years) but what there is plays with some enemyship tropes real good.

Also indelibly part of the Nate/Sophie enemyship backstory are Sterling and Maggie. Sterling is Nate's partner/rival from before he switched sides to Sophie's, and possibly the only bigger asshole than Nate in existence. Now that Nate's gone black-hat, Sterling is trying very hard to set himself up as the new Nate to Nate's Sophie, flirting and all.

Meanwhile, Maggie is Nate's ex-wife. Maggie is great? Maggie is the best person on the show. I ship her with everybody. But especially Sophie. And Sterling. Because honestly Nate deserves to have to watch her with Sophie. Or Sterling. And stew in it. But also because she is great.

• title: Reciprocity by scarletts_awry
  with: Sophie/Nate
  rated: Adult
  
  The Badger Game is my favorite classic con. (Also Nate and Sophie's.)



• Catch You Catch Me (2785 words) by Mizzy
  Fandom: Leverage
  Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
  Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
  Relationships: Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford
  Additional Tags: Romance, Flirting, Heist, Snark, Sexual Tension, Pining
  
  Sophie's attempt to steal a painting is foiled! Dreadfully!! By the dashing IYS Agent Nate Ford! That is definitely what's going on here, no cons involved.



• Tomorrow Finds Its Way (1617 words) by ALC_Punk
  Fandom: Leverage
  Rating: Mature
  Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
  Relationships: Maggie Collins/Sophie Devereaux
  
  Maggie wasn't married to Nate all those years without picking up a few things. Skills. People.

In the department of "stories I am not writing right now, no really, but I wish someone would":

Major Klaus von dem Eberbach of NATO and his pet art thief/consultant/not-actually-my-boyfriend Eroica are set on a case that involves. Hmmm. I think some modern artist from [pick a country] is discovered to have been encoding highly dangerous security secrets in the brushstrokes of his paintings in order to get them out of the country. The paintings are in several high-profile museums and collections, and Klaus and Eroica have to get the paintings out of public view without alerting anyone (including the owners) to the fact that NATO is involved, in case somebody else twigs the secret.

Eroica points out that to do the job right, they need to replace the paintings with forgeries (that don't include the encoded information.) Klaus says "can't you do it?" and Eroica replies, "You flatter me, darling, but I'm out of practice. And I was never quite that good. Or that fast."

"If you can't--"

"Patience, my darling. I know several people who could do the job. As for people who could do the job and would be willing to do it for NATO, and NATO would be willing to hire--" He looks up at Klaus through his eyelashes. "We're going to have to go to New York."

( Read more... )

....and then they done crime, the end.