Parker crept along an empty hallway. The few flickering lightbulbs in the corridor created a dismal, creepy atmosphere as the girl tiptoed past door after door- and yet, she wasn't afraid at all. In fact, she was harboring a small grin. Parker was in her element: being sneaky.
As she neared the final door at the end of the passage, she could hear her friends as they bantered and laughed like usual. Reaching out to open the door with one hand, she adjusted the package in the other. She had been given one job, and it was to deliver the cake. She had decided to make it a surprise, so that they wouldn't know when it would arrive. Everybody loved a little anticipation.
"...when has she ever done anything right?"
Parker froze as she heard Sophie's faint scoff through the other side of the door. Pushing her blonde hair aside, she pressed her ear against the cold metal and frowned in concentration.
Eliot laughed. "Remember that one time where she stabbed our guy in the chest with a fork and flung herself out of the window?"
Her stomach dropped.
They were talking about her.
Her heart began to pound as she heard them chuckle.
"Yeah, well, we've already determined she's not exactly the brightest," Nate stated in an amused tone.
"Damn right," a low, sassy voice quipped. "That girl couldn't even remember the birthday cake, and we reminded her about forty times."
Hardison. That last voice was Hardison's.
Parker sunk to the floor as she tried to understand. They were making fun of her, she decided. All of them. Even her Hardison.
Tears pricked her eyes and escaped down her cheeks, though she tried her hardest to blink them away. She knew she could be annoying at times, but she thought they had liked her. Especially Hardison… she had been sure that he liked her a little bit more than everybody else.
The cake was cold in her right hand, and she realized that it had morphed to a gun. They were the only family I'd ever had, she thought numbly. She clicked the safety off and raised it to her temple.
Parker bolted upright in bed with a start, her skin slick with sweat. Glancing around the dark room, she ran the heels of her hand over her eyes once, twice, three times, trying to rub the tears away. Parker rarely ever cried. Ever since she was young, she had gathered that keeping her emotions on the inside was better. That way, nobody could see that they bothered her.
It was in the dead of night, however, and nobody was around. Burying her face in her pillow, she began to shake as she sobbed quietly. It was just a dream, Parker, she tried to tell herself. Just a dream… that keeps on happening.
Parker had never been religious, but she wondered if the universe was trying to tell her something. Your team doesn't love you, it seemed to crow. You're simply a burden. They all just pretend to like you.
ZZZZZZZ
Parker started, rolling over and opening her teary eyes to see her phone screen lighting up on the nightstand beside her.
ZZZZZZZ
Peering at the light, she tried to make out the blurry words. She scrubbed her eyes ferociously, sick of crying.
ZZZZZZZ
It was Hardison, she realized. "Hello," she said to the empty room, trying to see if her voice sounded too shaky. "Ostrich. Singapore."
ZZZZZZZ
Sniffing, she reached over and grabbed her phone as she sat up. "Hello," she mumbled.
"Ok so I have an idea, and I'm not sure if Nate would go completely batshit or maybe just partially batshit," Hardison's deep voice started animatedly. "So tell me what you think about it."
"Go for it," Parker croaked. She inhaled sharply. That had definitely sounded like she had been crying.
"You doing okay, Parker?" Hardison questioned concernedly, his voice considerably softer than it had been before.
She gave a violent cough, trying to conceal her slip-up. "Yes, sorry," she wheezed pathetically. "I just... there was a tickle in my throat... I..." She panicked. Parker had never been good at lying. "I... KSHHHHHH...you must be going through a tunnel...we're breaking up... KSHHHHH... seeyoutomorrowbye." She hung up and flung her phone across the room like it was a poisonous snake.
She sat insensitively in the dark once again, trying to grasp what was happening. She had never been much of an analyst- she prefered things in black and white. Right now, things were a confusing jumble of colors and shapes, and try as she might, Parker couldn't make sense of anything. What had just happened? Why did Hardison call her? How had he known that she was awake? What would he think of her now, after she so obviously hung up on him? Oh, God. He would probably hate her.
For the second time that night, Parker felt her eyes tingle and begin to water. "No, no, no!" Grabbing her discarded pillow, she smashed her face into it over and over again. She wasn't sure what it would accomplish, but she knew it felt better than doing nothing. Smush. Smush. Smush. Every time she felt the tears coming, she would hit herself with renewed vigor, until she was startled by a knock on her apartment door.
"Parker, can I come in?"
It was Hardison.
Parker hated confrontation, so she desperately scrambled to her window with only one thought on her mind- escape. She'd already examined every inch of this face of the building more than once, and had determined that tiptoeing along the stone ledge below her window would take her to a fire escape on the corner of the wall; from there she could shimmy down into the small wooded park below.
Hardison knocked again. "Girl, you and I both know that I can pick this lock in about ten seconds. Granted," he trailed off, "it's nowhere near your record, but I can still do it."
Parker flung the window open, ignoring the cold on her unprotected legs and arms. A large T shirt wasn't an optimal choice for scaling buildings, but she'd done worse. Ten seconds. She'd have to hurry.
"Now I know you aren't asleep, P," the hacker said exasperatedly. "You wanna open this door, or do I have to do it myself?"
The lock clicked and the door swung open, a triumphant Hardison standing in the doorway. "Damn!" He laughed, staring at the lock pick in his hand as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Okay I'm not gonna lie, that '10 seconds' was bullshit. That's the second time I've ever picked a lock. Ever." He looked up, and his grin faded as he took in the scene before him: a bewildered looking Parker with puffy, tear-stained eyes in a giant T shirt, one leg out the window. He frowned. "Aw, hell naw."
With four strides, the tall man had reached Parker was still standing frozen. Reaching under her armpits, he hoisted her up and away from the window, setting her down on the floor behind him. He then closed the window, turned, and squinted at her.
"Now why the hell would you tell me you were fine if you weren't? I know I'm a little weird sometimes, but girl, I figured at this point, you know, you'd tell me if something was up!" He folded his arms and looked at her expectantly, the faint moonlight shining on his dark skin. He was obviously waiting for an answer.
Parker blinked. "I-"
"And another thing!" Hardison interrupted suddenly. "Were you seriously trying to fling yourself out of the window? You'd rather go all Spidergirl then talk to me?! You don't even have shoes on! Or pants!"
Flushing, Parker tugged the hem of her shirt down before speaking. "I thought you'd be mad at me for hanging up," she murmured sheepishly. Squaring her jaw, she looked him in the eye. "Although really, I should be mad at you. You just... you..." she gestured wildly at the door. "You picked my lock! That's breaking and entering! That's illegal!"
Hardison looked at Parker incredulously. "Are you kidding me? We're thieves. We break the law at least twice before eight in the morning."
Huffing, Parker abruptly turned and stormed into the bathroom, snatching a pair of sweats off of a chair as she passed. She wordlessly closed the door, glaring at Hardison before doing so. In moments, she had returned, her bare legs now covered. She crossed her arms and stared at her friend, determined to convince him that everything was normal.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or are we just gonna sit here staring at eachother?" The hacker mimicked Parker, crossing his arms stubbornly. "'Cause I'm cool and all with staring, but not when it's three in the morning and I can barely see anything because I'm so goddamn tired."
"If you're so tired, why did you call me? Shouldn't you have been sleeping?" Parker snapped.
Hardison's angry expression softened. "You've had bags under your eyes all week, P, and you've been acting even weirder than usual. You haven't been sleeping." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before continuing. "So I guess I just thought I'd see if you wanted to talk." His eyes narrowed. "But then you tried to pull whatever 'breaking up' shit that was, and I knew something was wrong. So for the love of God, Park, just tell me what's wrong."
Parker looked away. "It's stupid."
"Hey." Hardison nudged her with his elbow. "Nothing you have to say is stupid." He walked over to the bed, dropping down on it tiredly, laying spread eagle as he stared at the ceiling. Parker tentatively followed, sitting at the edge of the bed, careful not to touch any of her friend's sprawling limbs. She took a deep breath. "I keep having this dream."
Hardison winced sympathetically. "Yikes. Dreams can be crazy as hell, you know? Like I remember this one time, there were little m&m's just like, falling out of my nose." He flailed his arms for emphasis. "That was trippy. Sorry," he said as he realized that he had just cut Parker off. "Continue."
Parker sighed. "I'm walking down this hallway, and I have a birthday cake. I don't know who it's for, but it's my job to bring it. I get to this door and you all are behind it, and I'm about to go in and I can... I can hear all of you, talking about me. Saying that I can't remember things. Saying I don't do anything right... and..." she trailed off, unwilling to finish. She didn't want him to know that it had been his betrayal that had made her pull the trigger. It had been the one that hurt the most.
Her friend sat up, obviously upset. "P," he asked quietly, "did I say something too?"
Parker mutely nodded, and felt an arm reach around her and pull her into a sideways hug. "Well, no wonder you didn't want to talk to me." Hardison let a puff of air out of his nose. "I'd be mad at me too."
With that, he lay back down, tugging Parker with him. Normally she would abhor any sort of physical contact, but this was different. Parker was astounded that simply lying recumbent in her friend's arms was enough to make her feel drowsy and content. She wiggled herself around so that she was facing him. "Thank you," she whispered.
Hardison, already halfway asleep, simply mumbled incoherently.
