A/N- I own none of them and this is just something that came to me randomly. Couldnt' get it out of my head so it got written down and then I figured I'd post it cause there's never enough Sophie/Parker fic. Please read and review :)
Parker drove like a madwoman through town, somehow missing all the red lights and arriving back at Nate's apartment in record time. Sophie appreciated the ride, but was still so pumped up on adrenaline from her close call that she said nothing, getting out and heading upstairs as soon as the blonde thief had parked the car. She paid no attention to what Parker was doing, her mind set on getting up to the relative safety of Nate's apartment. Parker watched the other woman all but run to the elevator and shook her head slightly. Being made had seriously freaked the grifter out, and, if Parker was willing to admit it, it had freaked her out a little too.
She'd been on the com and heard them say Sophie's name, not her cover's name. Though the grifter had played it off, asking who this Sophie person was, Parker had known it wasn't a good thing. As soon as she'd seen them grab Sophie's arm roughly and shove her into a chair Parker knew she had to do something. Eliot was coming, as was Nate but they were a couple minutes away and when the bigger guard drew a gun Parker knew she had to act.
She came out of the air vent with a yell, knocking the guard back with a well placed kick and she heard fighting from behind her. She grabbed the gun and used the weight of it to knock the guard out before dropping the clip from the weapon and clearing the round from the chamber. She turned to see Sophie land a punch on the other guard's jaw that dropped him. "Come on." Parker said, hurrying into the hallway to check for danger before leading Sophie into the hallway, always running a little way ahead to make sure there weren't any large goons waiting. They'd made it out to the car just as Nate and Eliot had run into trouble and Nate had yelled for Parker to get Sophie out of there, which Parker had been planning on doing anyway.
Parker ran up the stairs, needing to check on Sophie with an urgency that scared her a little. She knew this feeling, had shoved it down so deep that she thought it wouldn't be back and yet every time Sophie got into even a little bit of trouble it came back, always fiercer than before. She passed Sophie in the living room and headed straight for the kitchen, not really looking at the grifter. She grabbed a bag of peas out of the freezer, got a washcloth wet with warm water and grabbed a dishtowel then went back into the living room. She found Sophie sitting on the couch staring at the blank monitors and trembling slightly. Parker knelt in front of the woman, taking her hand gently and washing the blood off her knuckles, wincing as Sophie gasped in pain at her motions. "I'm sorry." Parker murmured, feeling awful that she was causing the other woman more discomfort. Once Sophie's knuckles were blood free Parker looked at them critically before brushing the gentlest of kisses over them, eyes widening as she realized what she'd done.
Sophie watched curiously as Parker ever so gently cleaned the blood off her rapidly swelling knuckles. She'd never have guessed that the thief could be so gentle, and was even more surprised when Parker brushed a ghost of a kiss over the bruises before a look of panic etched into her features as she realized what she'd done. Sophie smiled slightly as green eyes met brown and reached up with her good hand to brush Parker's cheek, frowning slightly as the thief flinched away. Parker thrust a bag of peas and a tea towel at Sophie before disappearing into the kitchen again, leaving Sophie somewhat bewildered.
Parker leaned against the sink, head bowed as she took deep calming breaths. She knew that this was the one spot she could melt down without Sophie seeing her from the couch and she fully planned to take advantage of it. She knew everyone thought she had no idea what other people were thinking, knew that they all thought she was the most socially inept person they'd ever met but the truth was, most of the time Parker simply didn't care. She didn't pay attention to conversations that bored her, she didn't take the time to learn someone's likes and dislikes because quite frankly everyone she'd taken the time to learn about had disappeared from her life shortly thereafter. The team however was different. She knew that Eliot liked microbrews rather than the more popular brands of beer. She knew Hardison only liked Haribo gummy frogs, not any other brand. She knew that Nate always groused about them taking over his apartment, but that he was secretly happy to not have to spend the evening in a silent and lonely home with nothing but painful memories for company. And above all else she knew Sophie was in love with Nate, would do anything for their mastermind. Sophie was in love with Nate, not with Parker. And Parker had gone and screwed everything up.
She didn't understand why she couldn't leave well enough alone. It was enough that Sophie was her friend, that she would occasionally let Parker go shopping with her or see a movie with her. It should have been enough, but after seeing the terrified look on Sophie's face today, all Parker wanted to do was make it better. These feelings confused her, which was part of why she'd tried to avoid them all those other times. Hell, Parker didn't even know where the compulsion to kiss Sophie's injury better had come from, certainly not from her nightmarish childhood. With a deep breath she began pulling ingredients from the cupboards, preparing to make something for the grifter who still sat silently on the couch.
Sophie sat silently on the couch, letting the cold of the frozen peas reduce the swelling in her hand as she contemplated what to do about Parker. She had been surprised by the kiss, but most surprising was her reaction to it. Nate would have left her to lick her wounds on her own, concerned about her certainly, but more concerned about the team, especially with a wound as minor as some skinned knuckles. She knew he cared about her, knew it without a doubt, but she was certainly getting tired of waiting for him to pluck up the courage to do something about it. She'd seen Parker looking at her before, little glimpses that made the grifter wonder if maybe the thief had feelings for her but they were always gone so quickly that she thought she had imagined them. Now however, there could be no pretending that she hadn't seen it this time, she couldn't pretend that she didn't wonder what it would be like to kiss the younger blonde, to run her fingers though her silky blonde hair as she nibbled at her graceful neck. Sophie shook her head, she definitely couldn't pretend that she didn't have any feelings for the blonde anymore; it wouldn't be fair to either of them.
Sophie smiled to herself at the banging that was going on in the kitchen, knowing that Parker was probably making a huge mess that Eliot would yell at her for later. Come to think of it, Sophie paused, cocking her head to the side, did Parker even know how to cook? Sophie waited a few more minutes with her eyes closed as she tried to regain her bearings and figure out what she was going to do about all of this. Her eyes flew open a short while later when delicious aromas began to waft from the kitchen and Sophie stood and walked into the kitchen, stopping dead in her tracks, surprised at what she found. The kitchen was not, in fact, a huge mess. There was a plate with blueberry pancakes sitting on the counter with a small slice of watermelon as garnish, with a small cup of clear syrup sitting next to the plate. Parker had her back to the grifter, working over something on the stove which Sophie assumed was the rest of the pancakes and as soon as Parker turned around she knew she was right. Sophie chuckled as Parker yelped, clearly surprised to see the grifter behind her.
"You made pancakes." Sophie said, sitting on one of the barstools and looking at the plate longingly.
"Blueberry pancakes." Parker corrected, setting the plate with the extras on the counter and picking up a bowel of watermelon cubes and sitting beside Sophie, pushing the plate gently over to in front of the grifter. "They're your favorite right?" Parker asked quietly.
Sophie looked at the blonde searchingly, she'd never said that blueberry pancakes were her favorite, but they absolutely were. She finally noticed that the syrup was clear instead of maple another preference of Sophie's that she hadn't ever shared with the group. "How did you know?" Sophie asked, picking up her fork but keeping her eyes glued to the blonde.
"Every time we go out to breakfast you get blueberry pancakes, usually without syrup but you used to ask for clear syrup but they never had it." Parker said, popping a cube of watermelon into her mouth and munching happily on the fruit. The way she said it, it was like knowing Sophie's favorite breakfast and exactly how she liked it was the most natural thing in the world.
"I didn't know you cooked." Sophie said, bringing a bite of pancake to her mouth slightly tentatively, smiling in appreciation as the delightful flavors hit her tongue. "These are amazing." Sophie said with something like awe in her voice. They were, by far the best pancakes she'd had in a long time, perhaps even ever.
"Eliot taught me how to make them from scratch." Parker ducked her head to hide a blush behind her golden hair, obviously embarrassed by the praise the other woman was giving her.
"Why aren't you eating any?" Sophie asked between bites, finding it odd that the thief wasn't eating the food she'd taken time to prepare.
"I don't like pancakes." Parker made a scrunchy face that Sophie found absolutely endearing.
"So why did you make them?" Sophie asked looking slightly confused though she had a suspicion that she already knew the answer.
"Because they're your favorite." Parker said it as though it were the most normal thing in the world, and Sophie supposed to her, it was.
"Thank you very much, they're fantastic." Sophie quickly ate the rest of the food on her plate, sighing contently when she was finished, not missing the happy smile that lit up Parker's face for a moment.
"You're welcome. Do you feel better?" Parker asked, cocking her head to the side to look at the grifter, concern clouding the green eyes.
"Very much." Sophie smiled at the blonde and decided then and there to do something about what she was feeling. "You kissed my hand earlier, why?" Sophie asked, needing to confirm what she thought she knew before going any further.
"It was hurt, it seemed like the right thing to do, but I know it wasn't. I'm sorry." Sophie's heart broke at the pain she heard in the other woman's voice and knew suddenly, without a doubt that she loved the thief.
"Don't be sorry." Sophie said, leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on the thief's mouth to silence any further apologies. She hummed softly as Parker intuitively deepened the kiss and moaned outright when their tongues touched for the first time. She felt Parker's hands come up to tangle in her hair and then suddenly the soft touches were gone as Parker pulled back, a look of fear on her features. "What's wrong?" Sophie asked, confused. Was it possible that she had misread Parker's intentions? Sophie began to blush then smiled slightly as she heard Parker's voice.
"Nate is going to kill me!" Parker's eyes were wide, and a look of horror flitted across her face.
"No, he most certainly will not." Sophie promised, placing a quick kiss on Parker's lips.
"But you're his." Parker insisted and it was Sophie's turn to frown.
"He doesn't own me." Sophie said with annoyance in her tone.
"No, but that's just how it works. Eliot likes beer, Hardison likes gummy frogs, you like shoes and Nate likes you." Sophie smiled at the innocent look on Parker's face and kissed her again, her good hand coming up to rest on Parker's cheek.
"I like shoes, and I like you." Sophie reassured her, and smiled again when Parker suddenly threw herself into Sophie's arms, snuggling into the embrace as Sophie held her. Parker smiled as she felt Sophie press a kiss to the crown of her head and smiled even wider when she heard Sophie whisper into her hair. "And we'll deal with Nate together."