I love Eliot and Parker.
"Parker shut up! You are driving me crazy." Eliot was near his breaking point with her.
Nate had been sending them out on surveillance detail lately, something that Eliot was not too happy about. He preferred to work alone, he could accomplish so much more if she were not hanging around buzzing in his ear.
"So why do they call it football? I mean they don't use their feet to throw the ball. Eliot, Eliot…?"
"Parker stop talking. They're leaving, come on."
"Who?"
"The people we are supposed to watch." He got out of the car as their lastest mark left his driveway. They were able to break in without difficulty and plant the bugs for Hardison.
"Ok, Parker, it's done. See you tomorrow." He dropped her off at her car and sped off as fast as he could. He made a mental note to tell Nate to let him go alone the next time.
Three days later they were back out on another job. This time it was a two hour drive in pouring rain to the mark's remote mountain lodge posing as potential clients and guests at one of the lavish parties Mr. and Mrs. Emerson were known for hosting. Again Eliot was not pleased.
"Why aren't you and Sophie going?" He asked Nate. "This is your expertise."
"Because this job calls for a thief and a retrieval specialist, Sophie is sick, the Emerson's have already seen me, and Hardison is monitoring the computer." Nate calmly explained.
"Fine, but you know I can do this by myself."
"Yes, but the con works better if it a couple." Nate insisted, Eliot stormed off to find Parker.
On the way, she was her usual talkative self, asking one silly question after another.
"Parker, for the last time, I don't know why it called the milky way, I like my hair long ok, dogs are better than cats, and I don't have a favorite cookie. Can you shut up now please?" Eliot pleaded.
She turned her face toward the window and they drove in silence for the rest of the trip.
The mission was a success, they found the ledger the client described, Parker copied it to her flashdrive and sent it to Hardison who quickly started working on deciphering the numbers to prove that the Emersons were inflating their profits. They tried to exit without being noticed, but were caught by one of the Emerson's security men tasked to keep all potential clients in the meeting room for the three hour sales pitch.
Parker feigned an upset stomach even going as far as making herself throw up. Eliot, who was about to choke out the man, quickly apologized for his girlfriend's mess, scooped her up and the two were on their way out their cover story still intact. "Nice thinking," he said quite impressed as the two sped away.
On the way back, Parker was no longer asking questions but now humming while eating some of the pastries she snuck into her bag from the party prompting Eliot to give her a very annoyed look. "What?" I'm hungry, I had to puke my guts up back there." As long as it kept her quiet he decided not to say anything more and her quick thinking did save them from blowing their covers so he didn't complain.
"Lookout!" she screamed.
He swerved to avoid a large bump in the road only to steer into a large pothole. The car began making a horrible clunking noise. He turned over to the side of the road and stopped. "Great!" he exclaimed slamming the door as he got out to inspect the damage and let out a long string of choice words.
Parker rolled down the window. Eliot gave her the bad news. "We're stuck Parker." "What's wrong?" she asked.
"What's wrong? The front axle is cracked and we can't move until help arrives that's what." He tried calling Nate, Sophie and Hardison, no signal. He put in his earbud and tried again but no one answered.
"Well maybe we can walk down." She suggested.
"You want to walk almost 75 miles down this mountain in the pouring rain and cold? That little dress and those heels you are wearing ain't gonna cut it sweetheart." He kicked the front tire and walked off. "Dammit! I told Nate to let me go alone. I could have made it, but now I got to worry about you!"
"Hey genius, in case you don't know it I am not Sophie, I have been in worse situations than this and have made it out ok, I'm not some amateur!" Parker shot back angrily.
Eliot gave her a long look, then nodded in understanding. "Your're right Parker. Sorry. What do you suggest?"
"We have a GPS signal in the car, when we don't show up in the morning, Hardison will use it to track us and send help."
Eliot didn't like the thought of staying still, he briefly thought about leaving her to get help, but it did make sense to wait, it was dark and rainy and the road was treacherous even in the day time. Like it or not, they were stuck.
He got back in the car, stripped off his rain soaked suit jacket and shirt down to his tee shirt, slicked back his wet hair, threw the seat back and raised his arm to cover his eyes.
"Eliot are you cold? I could give you my shawl to put over you." Parker offered.
"I'm fine." Let's just try to get some sleep.
Parker closed her eyes but was too wound up to sleep. She looked over at Eliot. His chest and arms were well toned but she noticed several scars, especially a particularly large one on the inside of his upper right arm. She reached over to touch it. Instinctively his hand grabbed hers.
"What are you doing?" he snapped.
"Where did you get…" she stopped before she could finish the question not wanting to irritate him anymore than necessary.
"Eliot opened his eyes and after a pause he began. He ran his fingers over it remembering when he got that one. I got it in Iraq, my squad was under attack…it was a fragment from an IED."
"Wow it looks like it was pretty bad." She observed.
"Yeah if it weren't for my buddies, I'd be dead. This one kept me out of commission for a bit but I recovered." He didn't want to go into detail and she seemed satisfied with his answer. He lowered his arm and closed his eyes again.
"Eliot?"
"Yeah Parker." he growled softly in response.
"So your buddies, they are your friends?"
"Yes, they are some of my dearest ones." He replied. "Do you have a lot of friends?" she continued.
"Why do you have to ask so many questions?" His patience was beginning to wear thin again.
"Well, my third foster mom said I shouldn't ask questions because that is snooping, but my fifth foster mom said that asking questions was the only way to find out things and learn. Which is it?"
"Geez Parker how many foster homes have you been in?" now Eliot was asking a personal question, but Parker didn't seem to mind as she looked up with a puzzled look trying to remember.
"I don't know, 6, 7 maybe 8, I can't remember them all."
Eliot sat up and looked at her in disbelief. He could not figure her out. One minute she was a woman, beautiful, strong, and powerful. She was an expert cat burglar, having traveled all over the world to steal some of most precious objects which required a high level of intelligence to plan and execute. She obviously had some experience handling men from the way Hardison went on about that kiss they shared last year.
The next minute she could be so innocent almost child like and vulnerable, any one else would think she was the girl next door, a sweet girl any mom would be happy to have her son bring home not a hardened thief who could steal without remorse. He massaged his temples slowly. This was going to be a long night.
"Parker did you have any friends growing up?"
"Well there were some kids I hung around with. Mostly we stole, fought, and pushed each other off stuff to see how we landed..."
Something was definitely not right about this girl.
"Yeah…those kids you hung out with were not your friends."
She stared at him blankly. He tried to explain.
"Parker friends don't throw each off of 'stuff'. Friends help you, look out for you, help you to be a better person. Sometimes they fight but they don't try to hurt each other."
She looked perplexed. "You turned out to be a bad guy, how come your friends didn't help you?"
He looked down and sighed. "Sometimes, even friends can't help you from yourself." He said with regret. "I chose this path, and I have to find a way out of it. I'm hoping being part of this team will help."
"Does that mean we are friends?"
He looked at her and smiled. He knew who she was. She was just like him searching for a place to belong, for meaning to her life, for validation that she was normal. He felt a sense of sadness for the childhood she must have endured, but she was a survivor, she was strong and he had no doubt that she would be ok given time.
"Yeah Parker, we are friends. I still think there is something wrong with you," he joked, "but that's ok."
She leaned back in her seat, the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the car lulled her into a deep sleep. Her shawl had fallen off her shoulders Eliot took it and covered her, closed his eyes and slept.
The sky was brightening as the daylight approached. Parker woke up to find Eliot outside, leaning on the front driver's side of the car, watching the sunrise. She got out, noticed he was still in his tee shirt and wrapped her shawl around him to keep him warm. He wrapped his arms around her, she leaned her head on his shoulder, he drew her in closer, enjoying the warmth of her body. Together they watched as the cold dark blue sky gave way to beautiful shades of purple and orange, two broken souls on a path toward healing and redemption enjoying the quiet majesty of the moment.
If Hardison had not already claimed an interest in her, he would have been tempted to pursue her, but friends were also true and did not betray each other, besides he knew of the two of them, Hardison was the better choice, she needed someone with a lot more patience and finesse although he would never admit that, not in a million lifetimes.
The moment was broken when Eliot heard a familiar voice in his ear. "Parker, you were right, they will be here in ten minutes." He paused before getting in the car. "Hey, let's just keep this between us, ok?
She gave him a long look, "Sure tough guy, I get it. You have your image to keep up. It's ok if I still ask you questions right.?"
He let out a chuckle and agreed. "I want to make sure the rest of them, especially Hardison, are always a little scared of me and yeah, you can ask me anything, but just when it's me and you alright?" Parker nodded.
The next day Nate paired Eliot and Parker again, but thought better of it and just told Eliot to go, "Parker you can stay and help Hardison." She frowned, not wanting to miss the action. Eliot motioned for her to join him. "It's fine Nate I'm going to need her help for this one."
"Hang on let me just get my gear," she sprang up, smiling as she started for the door.
The end.