Deerington Application

[likeknives]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Eliot Spencer
Canon: Leverage
Canon Point: Post Season 5

In-Game Tattoo Placement: Collarbone
Current Health/Status: Healthy
Age: 40
Species: Human

Content Warnings: Violence, murder, self-harm and suicidal ideation, gaslighting, manipulation, drowning, and implied killing a family or families, including child death.

History: History here


Personality:

People tend to underestimate Eliot Spencer, the hitter (or the muscle) of the Leverage crew. He’s good at blending in, often with a sweet, friendly demeanor and country charm. However, he uses this to his advantage because he’s most definitely not someone to be underestimated.

Eliot’s a reformed assassin, there was one point in his life where he couldn’t feel any more—he was part of the US military black ops, most likely Delta Force, and once he got out of the military he simply continued doing similar work with contract jobs. He’d become such an effective killer, so good at setting aside his emotions and morals to do the job he nearly got permanently stuck that way. Even though he’d started out with a desire to protect his country, protect other people, that initial wish was completely corrupted as he fell further and further from his morals. He eventually became Damien Moreau’s best assassin. Eliot was equally as cold as any of the worst assassins Moreau had, doing unspeakable things. Eliot learned how to feel again by learning how to cook to express himself, and slowly but surely realized the error of his ways. He then refused to use guns and kill again, if he can help it.

Damien Moreau was a very special person to Eliot, and it's implied that he may have manipulated him into doing the things he did. Eliot is a caring person, and would do anything for the people he cares about, whether that's his entire country, or individuals. If Moreau became one of those people that Eliot cared about, he could easily make him do anything he wanted him to do. Eliot was already in a very gray moral area after leaving the military because of the kind of missions he was on, and had no problem killing. It wouldn't have taken much to make him fall into contract killing especially if he was already having difficulties feeling emotions at this point. It's unclear if he became a hitman or mercenary before or after Moreau, but it's shown that he was at his worst with Moreau. Eliot is also an incredibly loyal person and Moreau could use this to his advantage. Strangely enough, Eliot was able to leave Moreau's employ freely and it's never stated how he got away with this other than Moreau thought he'd come back to him one day, or Eliot somehow managed to leave on good terms. It's not stated when Eliot actually left but it's possible he left after he did the worst thing he ever did in his entire life. That moment broke him, was probably when he stopped using guns and stopped killing, and was likely what set him back on the path towards good.

One of Eliot's most striking lines in the entire series is, "We're out of our league, Nate. Every one of Moreau's men has innocent blood on their hands. Every one of 'em. Every one of 'em... are worse than me. You think you know what I've done? The worst thing I ever did in my entire life I did for Damien Moreau. And I... I'll never be clean of that."

Moreau was able to make Eliot do something that was extremely against his morals, possibly because Eliot would do anything for those he cared about. If Eliot was already having difficulty feeling emotions, and Moreau could have gaslighted and manipulated him into doing this. It's implied he may have killed an entire family, due to an exchange he had with another one of Moreau's men.

When Eliot met Moreau again years later, he was so terrified that he brought Hardison with him, possibly to keep him grounded so he wouldn't be manipulated into doing something for Moreau. But it happened anyway, and resulted in Hardison almost drowning. Eliot refused to apologize for putting Hardison in harm's way--not because he didn't think he had to, but because he knew there was no point. He's not sorry for it because it was necessary, and he didn't think he deserved Hardison's forgiveness. Moreau represents all of Eliot's bad choices and bloody past, and once they were able to put Moreau away in San Lorenzo forever, he was able to let this part of his past go, and became a little more cheerful and loosened up after this. Though despite Moreau's horrendous and horrific crimes, he received no due justice even after begging to be put on trial. Eliot had no qualms about subverting the justice system even though he himself is responsible for horrendous crimes himself. He's still not a good guy and he doesn't consider himself a good guy, he knows it's hypocritical but he believes as long as he's doing good things and helping people that it's better for himself to be free. He does feel that he can’t ever atone for what he’s done, and that nothing he’ll ever do in the future will ever square it even with his good deeds.

After leaving Moreau, Eliot began to do various criminal jobs as a hitter and retrieval specialist (AKA punchy thief). It was how Eliot ended up getting recruited to what would become the Leverage crew. After joining Nate’s crew Eliot dedicated his life to protecting them, being the team’s hitter. There’s a part of him that takes the pain because he thinks he deserves it, and if the team required his life he’d give it gladly. He’d been looking for something for a long time—something to believe in again, which is something that he’d lost when he first started taking lives. He found a family in his team, people worth protecting, people that he loves, and he’d do anything to protect them. That does include killing—as much as he doesn’t kill anymore, as much as he doesn’t like using guns, he’ll still do it if it’s necessary to save the lives of his crew.

Eliot is ruthless, he makes difficult decisions and likes to shield his team from the fallout of such. When he killed a bunch of Moreau’s men to save Nate, he asked Nate not to tell the crew, not only because he knows they’d likely look at him differently for it, but to save them from any residual blame they might put on themselves because of the results. He knows full well what the act of killing does to the person doing it, and tells Nate that if he wants to kill a man, when he pulls the trigger he’s actually killing two—not only the person getting physically killed, but the person that you used to be. Eliot will gladly take on the role of protector in the moral sense as well, if there’s something dirty that needs to be done, he’ll do it to save the souls of his team. He can make a cold, hard decision, he can take the burden on his conscience and make a difficult call.

Eliot can also be incredibly gentle and kind, despite his gruff outward demeanor he truly cares about helping people and especially helping his friends, and can be very passionate about the things he likes, like cooking. He loves cooking because it’s his art, a way to ‘let other people in his head and feel what he’s feeling.’ He's kind to Parker and Hardison (when they’re not bickering), giving them good advice from his experiences and helping them to be confident in themselves when they're hit with self-doubt. He's also very protective of children and anyone who’s not able to protect themselves, like homeless veterans or the elderly. He cares about justice, not the law, and will break every rule and law there is to make sure that justice is served. His protectiveness may stem from his upbringing and his initial desire to join the army to serve his country, but also because of the things he’s done for Moreau, which may have included killing children. Whether that was by accident or on purpose (and it’s highly implied it was on purpose), Eliot’s now fiercely protective of any child that might be in danger as a way of atoning for his past.

He can sometimes act coldly without meaning to, for example, calling a dead person they were looking for ‘a body’ rather than by name. Other people sometimes see him as scary, as he’ll casually insert the best ways of hiding a body alongside a road in a light conversation, or because he’s memorized copious amounts of military and combat information and can recognize a Navy Seal by their ‘distinctive watch’ or a Russian special forces by their ‘distinctive footprint’ in the snow.

Eliot gets irritated and annoyed easily, especially if the others in his crew are being playful during inappropriate moments in a job or are purposefully teasing him. Of course, this only goads his friends into teasing or pranking him even more, which only riles him up into levels of sheer indignation hitherto unseen by mankind. He can be playful too, but on his own terms, and is often playful during fights where he’s got the clear upper hand because of his skills (which is most of the time). He truly and genuinely enjoys difficult fights.

Eliot is also paranoid, and for good reason. He doesn't want to become famous in any way, there was one point where he ended up getting a fan site because of his country music persona for a con, and he tells Hardison to get rid of it because he can't have his face out there like that. He says that when you've done the things he's done, there's no such thing as being paranoid.

Eliot is a hard worker and tends to downplay his talents not involved with actual fighting or cooking. He's a fairly decent singer and is a little nervous and shy about it. He's also good at sports if he really puts his mind to it, and can get caught up and obsessed with playing the game if he's not careful.

He's also a fairly good grifter and isn't bad at conning people. He gets some pointers from Sophie but he's got a charm to him that allows him to slip into various roles easily. People do tend to underestimate him. His black ops skills might be the reason for this here, or he's just always been good at slipping into the background or being unassuming. Another reason for this is because he's quite perceptive of other people's emotions. This may have been a skill he's honed previously in his former life or he's naturally good at it, but not only is he good at picking up on it but he actively tries to help others with emotional needs or problems as well. He was insightful enough to get Parker and Sophie flowers they both loved and pretended they came from Hardison and Nate. When Hardison was terrified Eliot knew how to settle him down and get him back on track with the mission, when Parker was upset he knew just what to say to help her relate to him and get back on track with the mission as well. Eliot has a certain kind of wisdom when it comes to a lot of things. He might pretend he has no time and he's all tough and gruff but if someone needs help he'll do everything he can to help them. He will be honest to those dear to him, even if it means telling them something painful. He almost desperately begs Parker not to ask him about his past because he will tell her about it (and the worst thing he's ever done.) He knows what that will do to their relationship and their opinion of him.

Video games annoy him. It's a whole thing. It's not that he doesn't understand them, it's just not the same as actually going out there and doing stuff. Who ever thought a fishing video game would be any fun?

All in all, Eliot does have a very big heart that he keeps locked up, that only a few people have cracked open. People have used his heart and how much he cares against him in the past--Damien Moreau, the military--because he's a good and effective weapon. It took him a long time to learn how to feel things again, and lets himself feel the pain of his past because he knows he deserves it. He remembers all his victims in great detail, and doesn't allow himself to forget what he's done. He's well-aware he's a criminal and bad guy, but a criminal and bad guy that wants to do the right thing. And cook a little for the people he cares about after he beats some actual bad guys up.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:

Eliot is an ordinary human, however he does have several extremely powerful skills:

1) Fighting Ability: Eliot is a very effective fighter and martial artist, which include elements of Boxing, Muay Thai, Jujitsu, Krav Maga, Kickboxing, Eskrima, Panantuken, Kenpo Karate, and Aikido.

2) Gunman: Eliot is ridiculous at, and I mean, Matrix-level of ridiculous, gun-fighting and what looks like the Gun-Kata from Equillibrium. He hates using guns now, and will only use them if it's the last possible resort. However Eliot is willing to do what's necessary at all costs. Since he is super OP at this, I'd like to nerf his gun-fighting ability and aiming by having his hands shake badly when he tries to use any gun or gun-type weapon.

3) Deduction and strategic combat/military knowledge: Not really a power but I'm putting it here anyway because he's fairly OP at this too. He's an excellent strategist but people don't see it often because he's the punching guy.

Inventory:

1. Clothes: Jacket, hoodie, shirt, pants, undergarments, belt, shoes.
2. Glasses.
3. Wallet and car keys (to an orange Dodge Challenger).
4. Necklace.
5. Smartphone.
6. Bracelet.

Writing Samples:

1. TDM Threads

2. Some people would say there's no coming back from it.

What he did, the betrayal, keeping this huge secret from his team--no, not just his team. His family--all in the name of keeping them safe.

Safe from the one person that had leverage over him.

And Hardison--he knows, he knows he risked his life, put him in danger--he never should have done it, should have warned him first, but he was just so...

...so afraid.

Afraid of what Hardison would say, afraid of the exact reaction that he had--

--afraid that it would ruin something irrevocably between them.

He couldn't lose it, lose that, lose the family he finally found, lose the best friend he ever had--and yet the moment the name Damien Moreau came out of Nate's mouth he knew that there was a clock ticking down to the time that he'd lose it all.

Maybe it was inevitable. Maybe it was always something that had an expiration date, that had a timer, that he couldn't keep in the end.

Maybe he was just fooling himself that it was possible to hold on to any kind of goodness in his life after all the pain that he'd caused other people. Innocent people.

It's late and Eliot isn't looking forward to the inevitable talk once they got back to the apartment. He's silent the rest of the way back, after the plans to 'kill' Atherton were made. It would be an easy con, when it came down to it, and not too complicated, but the thought that he'd have to even pretend to kill again like he used to, that Damien was this close to getting it out of him once more, didn't settle with him at all.

...and then there's the matter of apologizing. Or not-apologizing.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Indy
Player Age: 34
Player Contact: Indymica

Other Characters In Game: Abby Lockhart
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Eliot Spencer: Indy
Permissions for Character: Permissions Here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Absolutely, yes! I love fourth-walling.
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: I enjoy existential horror and cosmic/Lovecraftian horror the most, as well as corruption, body horror, mental manipulation, and suspense.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: None
Additional Information: