Title: Fairytales
Author: Sapphire Smoke
Rating: PG
Length: 2,513 words
Pairing: Parker/Sophie
Setting: Sometime between "The Juror #6 Job" & "The First David Job"
Summary: Sophie helps Parker take better care of her plant.
Notes: Thanks to truemythLJ for the plot bunny!

Parker's delicate hands were wrapped around a potted plant, clutching it to her chest like she was afraid that even the slightest move would make her lose her grip on it. She walked into her office and placed it carefully on the window sill, putting her hands up automatically as a guard just in case it fell. When she was sure that the plant was secure she relaxed her hands and a small smile crept onto her face.

"Sunlight," she whispered to herself and nodded her head a little to acknowledge her own directions. She reached for the curtains that covered the window and pulled them back slowly, hooking them back on to the sides of the window. Light flooded into the room almost instantly, and she shielded her eyes for a moment out of instinct from the temporary blindness.

When she had recovered a smile was back on her face and she said, "Check." Turning to her right, she found the glass of water she was previously using to drink out of. Picking it up, she said, "Water."

Getting down at eye level with the plant, with precise accuracy she started to pour the water into the soil, making sure not to pour too fast and to get it evenly spread. "Not too much, and not too little," she mumbled to herself. When she finally had satisfied herself that she had done it correctly, she stood back up and put the glass back onto the table she had found it on. She stood back a couple paces and leaned against her desk, admiring her work.

She took there for a minute, maybe two, before tilting her head and then asking, "Why aren't you growing?"

"It takes time for it to grow, Parker."

Parker whipped around as I startled her, but relaxed when she saw it was me. I was leaning against the threshold of her office door, a smile on my face. I couldn't help but watch her with her plant; she seemed almost over protective of the thing as she carried it into the office.

"Sophie, you scared me."

"Sorry," I replied as I walked over to her. "I didn't mean to."

Parker turned from me back to the plant and said, "The man I took it to so he could explain to me what was wrong with it, he didn't mention how long it would take to grow. I was hoping it would…" she trailed off and shrugged.

"Sprout up, like Jack and the Beanstalk?" I asked, amused as I stood next to her to look at the plant with her.

"Maybe. Stupid, I know."

I shook my head, "Not stupid. We all sometimes wish fairytales would come true." I paused for a second, trying to understand what Parker had said previously, "Did you really take your plant to someone to… diagnose it?"

"Yes, it was dying. I didn't want it to die. I needed to fix it."

Parker reached out her hand cautiously before touching one of the leaves on her plant. The way she did it was almost as if she was afraid she's break it. Finally she asked me curiously, "What fairytale do you wish would come true, Sophie?" she asked me before withdrawing her hand from the plant and looking up at me.

I took a minute before I answered. Finally I looked at her and said. "I don't know, maybe Cinderella."

"You want for your Prince to come rescue you?" she asked me, and narrowed her eyes at me questionably.

"Doesn't every girl?"

Parker shook her head, "Not me. I want to be the one doing the rescuing."

I laughed softly and looked out the window. The skyline of Los Angeles was amazing, and I could see a jet in the distance, passing through the clouds. Part of me wished I was on that jet, not caring where it was going to, but just to be going somewhere new, exotic, fun, and carefree. Just to get away from reality for only a moment. "I don't think there's a fairytale like that."

Parker smiled and looked out the window with me, "Then I'll make my own fairytale."

I couldn't help but smile. Parker's innocence could sometimes be quite endearing. We were both silent for a moment, just looking at the world outside of the window. I nodded my head at her plant and said after awhile, "You know, if you talk to it, it might help it grow."

Parker turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow. "That's ridiculous."

"As ridiculous as hoping that it will shoot up into the sky and you could climb it like Jack?" I countered.

"More so," she replied. "Besides, I'd be up there and back down there before Jack could even think of climbing it."

I laughed, Parker was always very adamant about her skills of infiltration. "Why don't you just try it and find out?"

Parker looked from me and back to her plant and asked, "What would I even say to it?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, tell it a story."

"Tell a plant a story," she said it like I was being absurd.

"Plants are like pets, Parker. The more love and nurture you give it, the more they grow."

Parker was silent for a minute before saying, "I still think it sounds ridiculous."

"Why don't you just try it and find out?" I asked.

Parker's eyes shifted to look at me for a minute, narrowing. She took a deep breath and said, "Fine, I'll try."

I went to walk away to let her have her moment with her plant, but Parker put her hand on my arm to stop me. "Wait, don't you want to hear my story too?"

I shrugged and smiled, "I guess I could stay for a story."

Parker grinned then hopped up back onto her desk, patting the seat next to her, motioning me to sit down. I took the seat next to her and she turned to her plant, ready to start her story.

"Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived a little girl," Parker started. I couldn't help but smile at Parker's fairytale beginning, and tilted my head to watch her, and not the plant.

"The little girl loved bunnies. So much in fact, that she dreamed to one day own a little bunny farm, so she could tend to them and take care of them every day of her life. But all the girl had was a stuffed animal bunny, because her parents wouldn't let her have a real bunny of her own."

Parker started to play with her hands a little as she spoke, and it looked as if she almost wanted to be holding something. "Her parents didn't give her that stuffed bunny, though. Her parents never gave her much of anything at all, really. So one day she saw the stuffed bunny in the window of a store downtown, and she knew she needed to have it. So the little girl went into the store, put the bunny underneath her jacket, and walked out of the store with it."

My eyes narrowed a little, but I let Parker continue. "The little girl loved this bunny. She loved it so so much. It was her favorite thing in the world; it was her best friend. When Mommy and Daddy would yell and break things at night, or when sometimes they would lie on the bathroom floor and not awaken for hours at a time, she would cuddle with her bunny and tell it all her secrets, all her dreams, all her hopes, all her fears."

Parker sighed a little and paused, trying to figure out which direction to go with her story. "Then one day bunny was gone, and the little girl cried, wondering why someone would take away her best friend in the world. She searched for him high and low, inside and out, until finally she found him in the shed outside. She grabbed him, but thought his tummy felt a little funny. So she looked him over until she found some brand new stitching on his side. The little girl pulled at it, wanting to know why bunny felt sick. When she opened him up, a big bag of white stuff fell out and onto the ground, breaking and spilling everywhere." Parker paused for a moment before saying, "Daddy put the little girl in the hospital for that mistake."

I didn't know why I did it, but I put my hand over Parker's and held it for a moment. I was starting to have the suspicion that her fairytale wasn't so much of a fairytale after all. Parker looked down at my hand on hers, and wrapped her fingers around my hand slowly, as if she was unsure whether or not she should even do it.

"The little girl went and lived with a new family once she was all better. But her new Daddy would take bunny so she would do what he told her to do. But the little girl didn't like the things he told her to do, so she just tried to steal bunny back from him. He caught her though. He yelled, a lot. New Mommy would cry a lot when he yelled too." Parker paused for a moment, looking away from the plant for a moment to stare back out the window before whispering softly. "The little girl got bunny back later that day. She never saw her new Mommy and Daddy again after the loud sound… the bright lights. All that heat."

"Parker…" I said, trying to stop her. I didn't think this was something she needed to be doing. But Parker thought differently.

"I'm not finished with my fairytale," she said quietly, and looked over at me, forcing a smile. I just looked at her for a minute, concern showing on my face, but nodded.

"But one day something horrible happened. The little girl was trying to get away from her newest Mommy and Daddy so badly that she didn't have time to run upstairs and get him. So she left him, alone in that house. Alone where people scream and cry, where hearts and bones get broken and people lie."

Parker's grip on my hand tightened a little bit, and I squeezed back in response. "So the little girl promised herself that one day she would go back for him. So she dedicated her life to thievery, to be the best that she could be so that one day she could go and rescue him."

Parker was silent for a little while after that. It seemed to be deafening, and weighing down on our shoulders. "Did the little girl ever get her bunny back?" I asked, my voice slightly cracking from tension.

Parker shook her head. "No, by the time she was good enough to go get it… those parents were dead, the house sold, and all the belongings in it gone."

"That doesn't seem like a very happy ending," I told her softly.

"The story's not over," she responded. She looked back at her plant and said. "So one day, when the little girl had all grown up, she bought herself this plant. For a long time she had never bought anything she would have to take care of, because she was scared she would fail it like she did with bunny. But now the girl had friends, they showed her how to take care of things, and helped her when she needed help. So finally the girl wasn't so scared anymore. Finally she would be the one to rescue a thing no one cared about and love it and nurture it and make sure it would grow to be beautiful and happy."

I smiled softly and wrapped an arm around Parker. I needed to hug the girl, I wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe partly to comfort her, though it seemed she was satisfied with the way things had turned out. Maybe it was because she was the first to admit out of all of that we all considered each other friends; even though most of us would rather die than speak it out loud. Or maybe it was just because the story finally showed how human Parker really was, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

Parker wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me back. When we broke, Parker looked up at me for a moment, before turning back to her plant. "It's still not growing, Sophie."

I laughed. I had to, because in just those few words she had managed to break the tension in the room. I knew what she was doing. Parker shared, but now she was done. Parker always got slightly awkward around human emotions, so she tried to just shy away from it. Probably the only reason she ever shared that much with me was because she finally decided to call me a friend. "You have to wait a little bit."

"How long?" she asked me, prodding at the plant a little with her finger, hoping it will grow before her eyes.

"A little while. Not too long, I promise," I answered.

Parker stroked the leaves for a minute. I just watched her, amazed by the amount of care she could have just for a plant. Then she looked up at me and said, "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked her.

Parker sat up straighter and looked me in the eyes, "For trying to teach me how to be normal. How to talk to people… for being my friend. I've never had one of those before."

"You are normal, Parker."

Parker laughed lightly and shook her head, "No, I'm not. But thank for you lying to me."

I didn't say anything for a minute, just looked at her. She was an adult in so many ways, but in so many others still only a child. I tucked a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear and said softly, "You're welcome."

Parker didn't say anything for a moment, but took my hand in hers that was coming down from fixing her hair. She looked at my hand for a minute before looking back up. She moved a little closer, but then backed away, unsure of herself for a minute. I narrowed my eyes a little, not sure what she was wanting to do. She moved in a little closer again and stopped, and nervous butterflies started to invade my stomach as I started to realize what she was trying to do.

Finally Parker's lips met mine. It was soft, chastise and innocent, and it was over just as quick as it had began. Parker looked down after she did it, back at her hand that was holding mine.

My own fingers curled around Parker's hand and Parker looked back up. "What was that for?" I asked in a whisper.

She smiled at me, and pursed her lips together for a minute before replying, "For making me feel."

THE END.