Five Times Parker Didn't Get To Be the Fiddle (And One Time She Did)
Eliot
Nate said they were running the Fiddle Game, but Parker was confused: there wasn't a fiddle anywhere that she could see. After Nate and Sophie patiently explained the situation, she came to understand that there wasn't really a fiddle; that Eliot was a stand-in for the fiddle, or something like that. But then, about two seconds after Eliot started singing, Parker was confused again.
The most important part of the idea, if Nate and Sophie were correct, was to pass of something as being valuable than it was. As far as she could tell, Eliot's voice was worth any amount that someone was willing to pay for it. Clearly, there was more to this "game" than she realized and maybe the only way to truly understand was to convince Nate somehow to let her be the "fiddle" next time.
Nate
When Nate got to be the "fiddle" it was because of his astonishing resemblance to actor and Oscar winner Tim Sutton. A particular charitable organization, with a history of utilizing celebrity talent, had systematically been shutting down many of the local charities in Portland, with the help of lawyers and injunctions. Of course, this first charity wasn't exactly legitimate and all the money that was supposed to be going to puppies and orphaned children was actually lining the pockets of their CEO.
Getting Tim Sutton to appear at one of their benefits would be a major coups, and they used the actor's talent to get the charity to enter into an arrangement with Tim/Nate's agent, Jenny/Sophie. Of course, when the real Tim Sutton showed up at the benefit, the credibility of the charity was called into question and the subsequent investigations ruined them.
Parker understood why she didn't get to be the fiddle this time and Nate being decidedly uncomfortable in his role went a long way to easing her disappointment. Still it would have been nice to have the starring role this time.
Hardison
How the crew managed to convince anyone that Hardison was a soon-to-be famous comic book artist, Parker would never know. She was the one with the drawing skills, wasn't she? Sure, Hardison had an understanding of comics that she would never have, but there really wasn't an artistic bone in his body, outside the realm of computer-generated forgeries anyway.
The client was a real comic book artist, responsible for the creation of the latest, greatest graphic novel series. However, he'd been cheated out of millions with a biased contract from the company that produced his work. So, Hardison posed as the next up-and-comer, Nate posed as a rival executive, and before you could say "stuffed bunny" they had millions of dollars with which to compensate the client.
It was the third time the team had run the famous con and still Parker wasn't the "fiddle".
Sophie
Sophie was pretending to be world's greatest investment advisor. According to the profile that Hardison put together, Sophie had an unprecedented 86% success rate at picking stocks. It was enough to convince an investment company, T.F.I.C, to get into a bidding war with Nate's fake investment firm for her services. In the end they managed to secure millions, hacking into the accounts used to transfer a bribe to Nate;s fake company, in exchange for Sophie. The money they obtained was sent to customers of T.F.I.C. who had lost nearly everything because of a serious of bad trades and a subsequent cover-up on the part of the investment company.
This time Parker was glad she wasn't the "fiddle." Investing was too much like gambling and why anyone would want to gamble with something as precious as money, she would never understand.
Fiddle
When Nate decided to run the "Fiddle Game" utilizing an actual violin, all Parker could think was how ridiculous the situation had gotten. It was the fifth time they were using this particular con and still Parker wasn't the "fiddle." Even more ridiculous was thinking that someone would fall for one of the oldest cons in the book. Of course, the group soon realized that the "mark" was too stupid to be the actual bad guy when he fell for the scheme in record-breaking time.
Which meant they had to resort to Plan B, or Q, or whatever in order to help their client. When the job was done, Parker issued an ultimatum: next time she got to be the "fiddle" or she wasn't going to play the game anymore.
Parker
No one was really surprised that Parker turned out to be a great dancer. The dexterity and athleticism she utilized in her role as the resident thief, combined with years worth of dance training condensed into a few short months, translated into the kind of effortless grace seen in the best dancers.
Their client was a former prima donna for a famous company, who sacked her after she suffered a career-ending injury during one of her performances. The former dancer hadn't been surprised by the firing; it was expected when one could never dance professionally again. What she had been surprised by was the lack of retirement package that she had been promised when she'd signed on as the head dancer of the company.
When Nate said they were going to run the "Fiddle Game" again, Parker gave him a challenging look. When he told her that this time she would indeed get to be the "fiddle," Parker jumped up and down and squealed until Eliot yelled at her to shut up.
The months of arduous training aside, when she finally got to perform, Parker thought she'd never had so much fun in her life. Being the "fiddle" was everything she though it would be and more. She still didn't understand the scenario one hundred percent, but Parker was glad she finally got to have a starring role in it.