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Alec Hardison was a Geek, capital G-e-e-k, and with that status came a love of comic books, video games, manga. And he had a particular fondness for D&D which he showed with pride, through his collection of replica weaponry and comical t-shirts.
But above anything - even his mint-condition action figures and novelty-themed cooking utensils - the man was completely obsessed with his sci-fi shows.
For most evenings, as long as there wasn't a job that required his hacking skills, you could find Hardison sitting in the HQ's large living area. His eyes glued to the multiple displays of screens as yet another marathon of geekdom played out. Often a large anchovy pizza sat next to him, or maybe some nachos or a bowl of popcorn. And that was fine, let the man do what he wants. It wasn't as if he was hurting anyone.
...Right?
The thing is, as time went on, the team got to know each other better and their subtle mannerisms, and so Hardison had started to notice something odd about the hitter of their group.
Yeah, the man grumbled a lot, and had a strange aversion to anything technological or even slightly futuristic. But most of that could be chalked up to his time in the military and an upbringing that valued hard physical labour over everything else. So yeah, it made sense that Eliot wasn't too fond of shows like Star Trek and Battle Star Galactica, he probably didn't understand what was going on through most of the episodes.
But his reaction to this one particular show was... peculiar to say the least.
...
"Hey Hardison, can you help me with..."
'Call me the Doctor.'
Suddenly, as if stepping on a landmine, the hitter froze mid-sentence, his fingers gripping deathly tight onto the device in his palm. His face then grew red all the way to the tips of his ears, as he quickly spun around, heading back in the other direction.
"Eliot?" Hardison called out, just before his friend could exit the room, only to receive a growled "never mind" in response.
...
Strangely, it wasn't the first time something like that had happened. In fact, it was a pretty recurrent scenario that the hacker had played around with on a few occasions, when he was feeling restless or in need of a laugh.
But more recently, Alec had started to really wonder about Eliot. And after seeing that same terrified yet subdued expression outside a hotel pool, the hacker was starting to reconsider the games he'd been playing.
...
Following the path the hitter had taken down the corridor to his own private space, Hardison sought out his friend to finally get some answers.
"El, man. You OK in there?" The hacker carefully knocked on the closed door, before twisting its handle to see if it was locked. It wasn't. "Look I'm coming in so don't punch me or anything."
The apartment was dark as he crept through the doorway, the only light coming from a streetlamp across the road. However, it was enough to see the solid shape sitting stiffly on the sofa in the middle of the room.
"Eliot...? Hey El, you awake their buddy?"
With the sudden noise sounding behind him, the hitter's head snapped up, showing a pair of startlingly blue eyes as he stared at Alec, almost unseeingly for a moment before shaking himself out of the confusion.
"Damnit Hardison. What're you doing in here?"
"Came to check on you."
"Why?"
"Don't know. Just thought you looked a bit off earlier... Kinda spooked. And the way you ran out of the room like that, I wondered if maybe you wanted to talk about something."
"It was nothing," the hitter scoffed, shifting in his seat so he was slightly turned away.
"You sure?" Hardison questioned, taking a couple of steps to the side so he could reacquaint himself with his friend's eyeline. "It's just, I've kind of noticed something strange going on with you recently. And no matter how hard I try to understand, nothing seems to make sense."
"Hardison, what are you babblin' on about now."
"I guess... what I'm trying to ask is."
Hardison paused for a second, with a shrug of his shoulders as he considered how to phrase his next sentence. He decided it was probably best to just come straight out with it and damn the consequences.
"Do you have some problem with Dr Who?"
"Doctor what now?" The hitter looked genuinely confused at the question, squinting his eyes under a furrowed brow. "Seriously man, I don't have a clue what you are talkin' about."
"It's one of the tv shows I watch, the one with the time travelin' police box and aliens. And anyways, I thought you might have a problem with it because sometimes when you walk in and I'm watching it, you get this look on your face, like you're seeing something that's not really there. And then run out as fast as you can.
And I've thought about it for some time, and I noticed that it's only when 'The Doctor' is on screen."
And just like that the same look crossed the hitter's face, along with a deep shudder and soft gulp. It was almost like the hacker had stumbled onto some kind of code phrase, one that forced his friend into a shutdown.
"El...?"
Clicking his fingers in front of his friend's face, Hardison snapped him out of shock.
"I- I... I'm sorry." Eliot shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the images that had ambushed him.
"No, it's ok. I was just worried about you. Can you talk to me about it?"
"It's not... Huh... It's not something I find easy to talk about."
"That's alright. We have time. Just tell me when you're ready."
...
...
...
"It was back when I was still working for the military, during one of my black ops' missions. I was working with a team sent overseas to retrieve some freedom fighters who had gotten themselves kidnapped in an attempt to bargain a trade with the US government. Obviously, the people in power didn't like what was on offer, so that's where people like me came into the picture... Not long after we arrived on the outskirts of the abandoned city, I was ordered to go in first to try and get some layout of the enemy base, marking out possible exit routes... It should have been easy, in and out without being noticed, but it seems the intel we were given was a trap, and about twenty men were waiting for me... I fought as hard as I could, almost made it out of there, but there was a sniper posted in a nearby building..." Shaking his head once again, Eliot then tugged on his hair tie before running his fingers through the loose tangles until his locks fell back into their usual soft waves. "I was kept in that hell hole for almost three days after that, no food and very little water. Three days of waiting in silence, pondering my fate, before he showed up."
...
Alec wanted to ask who 'he' was, to get all the answers to his questions so he could begin to help his friend. But he also knew in moments like these that a little patience went a long way, and sometimes a person just needed a minute to gather their thoughts.
...
"He called himself..." The hitter gulped trying to force down the hard limp of saliva that felt trapped in his throat. "He called himself 'The Doctor'... And he was... pretty good at what he did. Knew all the best places to make someone hurt without risking death or infection. "
...
"I guess that show you like to watch just triggers some memories."
"I understand." The hacker nodded, not long before a soft sigh escaped his lips. "But I wished you'd told me sooner, so I would know to stop watching the stupid show."
"You don't have to do that, Hardison. You love that crap."
"Not as much as I love you, brother. I couldn't bare the thought of hurting you over something so insignificant as a tv series. Besides..." Alec stood, moving around so he could sit next to the hitter on his worn but soft sofa. Plumping up the cushions until he could fall back into their comfort. "There is plenty out there for me to watch. In fact, I haven't binged any next gen in a while. Fancy a watch."
Taking a moment to gaze at the younger man, it occurred to Eliot just how much the hacker would do in order to make him feel safe and comfortable. Something that deserved the same in return.
"Sure. But your gonna have to explain all that science crap to me."