Leverage x Reader Stories

(7) Hardison x Thief!Reader ~ Loss for Words [Part 2]

The long overdue sequel and final part to "Loss for Words." My apologies for the huge delay, I found myself retyping and changing the plot multiple times. This ending could be better, but the ones before it were much worse... so I hope you all enjoy it! 
Word Count: 1862

"You do realize that there's such a thing called twins, right, dude?" Aiden struggles to contain his laughter, slapping a hand over his mouth while bending over as his body trembles from his bottled-up laughter. All Hardison can do is stand in shock, his jaw slack and mouth gaping like a fish.

"Wh-What..."

"Hardison? Hardison," Nate calls out to the hacker, his voice booming into Hardison's ear. "Hardison, are you okay? What's happening?"

Still staring blankly at the twins in front of him, Hardison blinks slowly, Nate's voice doing little to pull the hacker out of his trance.

Ever since the laptop had been stolen, the hacker blame himself for not trying hard enough to remember what the masked thief looked like. Now that the two suspects are right before him, he realizes that it would have been difficult for him even if he caught a glimpse. With their faces illuminated by the soft lights in the room, Hardison takes notice of the similarities the twins share, many of which would create problems if one was to identified from the other. Despite one being female and the other male, (Y/n) and Aiden have nearly identical faces and are quite similar in stature. With the poor lighting in his room, the brother could have been easily mistaken as his sister.

"Hardison," reiterates the frustrated mastermind.

"Huh- What? Yeah, I'm here, Nate."

"Like I have been asking for the past five minutes, what is happening? Do you have the laptop yet? Eliot hasn't been responding. We're all worried here. Parker is ready to jump in if you need assistance."

"Nah, man," Hardison says as he keeps his eyes glued on the pair of siblings. "I'll be out in a bit. Let me take care of things. I got this."

(Y/n) shares a look with her brother, who shrugs his shoulders with a frown. Regardless of Hardison's lack of knowledge when it comes to combat, Aiden keeps a strong grip on the bag slung around him, jostling the device periodically to ensure its presence in the designated pocket.

"Look, we don't know who you are, but my brother and I need this laptop for reasons your people won't understand. Just leave it with us and we'll let you walk away unscathed," (Y/n) bargains. "Deal or no deal?"

"No, no! You don't understand! People's lives are being ruined because of the information on that device! W-"

"We know all about it," the woman answers solemnly. She is ready to continue her response, feeling an unprecedented urge to trust the stranger who she burglarized not too long ago, when Aiden silences her with a quick glare and shove.

"What do you think you're doing," he chides with a sharp whisper. "We don't know these people."

The reality of the situation sinks in. Sure, the twins did their research on the people they were going to steal from, but the two have no knowledge about the group other than what the internet and simple observation skills can provide. No matter how convincing or true Hardison's words may be, (Y/n) has no way to verify them.

"Look, maybe there's a way we can work together on this," Hardison suggests tentatively. "I know the others with me probably won't agree so quickly on this, but this might be the only way for this laptop to be returned safely. Our window closes soon, and if that laptop doesn't find its way back to the CEO's office in 8 hours, there will be a much larger problem for us to deal with."