The initial meeting with their appointment in McCrory's that morning had brought them in front of a deeply troubled man whose sister's story had touched each of their hearts. Naturally, being conned was bad enough, but preying upon a grieving widow who was seven months pregnant was just too evil for words. Mind numbingly they discovered the con had gone to the extent that this lady was selling her home, desperate for contact with her recently departed husband. There were tales of other people who had eventually been forced into selling their homes on the belief they were 'talking' with their departed relatives or lovers; this left them all with a sour taste in their mouths and after a short war council, where planning and preparation had taken place, the team set about their individual tasks.
The first day was reconnaissance, this found Hardison in the van with Tara, slurping his soda and typing casually on his laptop. He didn't have much to do right now besides monitor the comms. It was Nate and Parker's turn to pose as audience members whilst Eliot was front of house watching the people as they came into the studio. It was more often than not that Eliot would infiltrate the building away from the others, giving him an alternative angle in order to keep an eye on the team thus enabling him easily to watch their backs from any physical threats. They all knew that paranoia was not uncommon from the majority of their marks, people who routinely broke the law or hurt the innocent always watched out for possible infiltration, albeit normally from the real law.
Having spotted Parker and Nate in their seats, Eliot set off in search of the control room trying to find whom ever was operating all those extra cameras and the microphones they had spotted as they made their way inside. He had already set the camera inside the room, reported to the team that Hardison had eyes. Eliot held back the urge to go back into the office and pummel the man inside just for shoving him backwards. He grinned as he heard Tara commenting on the strange scent in the van when Nate interrupted with his comment about his gecko. The studio should now be streaming live inside the van and whilst he'd usually be grateful for the silence instead of Hardison bugging them all when they couldn't retaliate; it was unusually silent whereas normally this early on during a con, the team would be passing information to and fro. Then he started hearing these quiet sobs, it sounded remarkably like they came from Parker. He paused to listen, feeling like an intruder in a very private moment, it would seem that Rand had chosen Parker from the whole audience, from all the people in the audience to pass his 'message from the spirits', he had chosen her.
Dalton Rand just signed his own death warrant.
Arriving back to the van in time to watch Parker storm out of the studio, Eliot went to find her when Hardison reminded him that he could track Parker. Although he found this creepy, he decided it was actually going to be very useful today. They continued to watch the studio feed as Nate left abruptly behind Parker. He came back to the van to see how much information they had managed to gather on their target. Unable to see Parker, he decided to give her some time and ensure the day had not been a total bust. Hardison was never more grateful for that chip he'd placed in her shoes after her disappearance in Serbia, and even more grateful that she was actually wearing the right pair! Despite her radio silence, they managed to confirm the thief had made it back to the headquarters, he would talk to her once they got back. Finished with the afternoons work the group solemnly made their way back to the office. Equally unsure of what they might say to their wounded friend, they found her slumped on the floor between the two sofas, she looked like a frightened kitten when the team slowly gathered around her trying desperately not to further scare the already shaken girl.
Eliot saw the hurt evident in her piercing blue eyes, knowing that they were the true windows to a person's soul and often the best way he found to read the subjects on his former jobs. Never had he thought he would be able to see into Parker's eyes so clearly, she had always been so guarded and secretive. Whereas today she looked fragile, terribly young and almost broken, he clenched his fists and immediately wished he could scoop her up and protect her from all the hurt she must have endured in her short life. Snapping himself out of that thought he found himself wondering why his first thought hadn't been violence against Rand instead of this new protective side he was feeling. He walked to her side slowly and sat next to her on the sofa. Although he could probably fathom some of Parker's history, it was not the same as having one of her deepest dark secrets brandished aloud for all to hear.
"How did he know all those things, you said he was a fraud Nate, how could he know" cried Parker. Almost searching the group for any signs of hatred for what they had heard.
It took a short while and a great deal of patience for them all to reassure Parker that she had been conned by the despicable fraudster, just like his other clients had been. He was a master of deception and now his worst mistake had been to upset Parker. Eventually, the team were rewarded with assurance of Parker's renewed strength when they saw her mischievous smile and the trademark glint in her eyes. He had messed with the wrong people this time and Rand was finished.
Eliot, sat silently in his thoughts, he was the Hitter and therefore natural protector of the team, recently he'd found himself more and more becoming their friend. The loner started to care for his team-mates in a new way, he could often be found hanging out with Hardison while watching the sport channels and had even tried a game of World of Warcraft; though found it was nothing like the real thing and couldn't really understand why people with blue plastic foreheads appealed in any genre. He constantly worried about Nate and his drinking, even more now that Sophie had announced her pending departure in need of "some space"; undoubtedly spurred on by Nate's drinking, guilt and seemed indifference to her feelings. God he really missed her, especially at this moment, she somehow grounded the team and provided the maternal aspect that had been clearly missing in Parker's life. At any other time he would have laughed at himself for this latest revelation, however Parker needed someone to soften what the team now had to tell her and once again he was reminded of Sophie's absence when Tara spoke.
"I'll hook him if you think you can pull off the information side of things Hardison?" asked Tara.
"Parker", Nate began "do you feel up to taking part, or would you prefer to sit this one out?"
"I'll do it, he's had too long playing his games" she smirked "what's the next part of the plan?"
Deciding they needed to add to the plan, Eliot moved through to the kitchen deciding he needed to chop something up in order to vent some of the anger he felt over today's events. He always found food prep to be almost therapeutic and it brought about a rare calmness of mind whilst in the kitchen. It was his favourite room in the new building he called home. Settling for one of his favoured stir-fries, he recalled Parker's initial hesitance at eating something with so many vegetables in it. It was disconcerting the amount of seemingly innocent events he was recalling about Parker of late. He hadn't had that stirring in his stomach for quite some time. He found it more disconcerting that this wasn't really all that disconcerting!! Was he beginning to see his team-mate in a new light? Interrupted from his thoughts, gratefully, by Nate, who had seemingly been trying to attract his attention for some time.
"Are you alright Eliot?" queried the mastermind "you seem miles away".
"Fine, just worried 'bout Parker, ain't nobodies business knowin' her past" he growled. Nate knew that they all had them. They all had a reason why life had led them down their particular paths.
"I know, all the more reason to nail this son of a bitch" agreed Nate.
"He's goin' to wish he ain't been born when I've finished with him" warned Eliot.
"Now Eliot, we need him in one piece to get the client's money back, then if there's anything left once Parker's had her turn, he'll be all yours" said Nate, with a menace that belied how angry he was to have seen Parker so hurt. It seems Eliot wasn't the only one to have started feeling differently about their odd little gang.
That night, Eliot returned to his loft and after years as a specialist he performed his usual checks on the personal security methods he employed throughout the sparsely furnished pad. Tonight however, his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't shake the feeling of melancholy over the days events. He was worried about Parker, it brought forward in his mind hurt from his own past, not for reasons of self pity but from a renewed understanding as to why the thief acted the way she did. Surely there had been good points in her life, he hoped. In a vein attempt to distract himself from the thoughts that cluttered his mind, he prepared some knives to clean. Perhaps it was time for him to move on, this was another one of his personal reasons for always working alone, no distractions, no ties and certainly no sleepless nights over other team members. Sleep did not come easy for him that night and he found himself seeking solace on the roof of his loft staring at the stars. Finally beginning to understand why Parker spent so much time on the roof of buildings. There was a certain serenity to looking at a clear sky littered with glittering stars. It made him smile and he suddenly wondered when it was that the little thief had begun to steal his heart.