Just some drabbles. Enjoy!
--
Say- John Mayer
Hardison fiddled with his keyboard, making it look like he was actually doing something. His eyes kept darting over to Parker.
"I know you're not doing anything." She didn't even look up from the lock she was picking. She liked to time herself, see how many she could do in a minute.
"I'm doing something! It's just very technical that a lot of people don't understand. Very complicated."
"You're playing Minesweeper." She stopped her clock and looked up. "You hate Minesweeper."
"Maybe I changed my mind." She just looked at him, not saying anything. Her hands fidgeted with one of the locks.
"I'm just bored. We should do something."
"Like what?"
"Like a movie. Let's go to a movie," he suggested.
"We have movies here."
"But they we wouldn't be going out."
"You want to go out?" She looked a little confused.
"Yeah."
"Well, why didn't you say so?"
Happy- Sister Hazel
Parker closed her eyes, feeling the instruments in her hands. She fiddled a little, feeling the first click of the lock. The corner of her mouth twisted up. She moved her tools slightly, feeling another satisfying click. It seemed to take hours, but really it ended up being mere seconds.
The safe clanked open, exposing an empty safe. So it wasn't that one. She moved on to the fifth safe, this time spinning a dial. Seconds later another satisfying click and another empty safe. Parker looked to her left. Five down.
Eight more to go. Her mouth raised into a smile before moving onto the next safe in excitement.
Maggie in the Meantime- Virginia Coalition
Sophie walked into the ice cream store. Their target was sitting down at a table with his daughter. Sophie walked up to them and held out her hand.
"Maggie Allen," she said. "Au Pair."
"Chris Pole. This is my daughter, Sophie. Soph, for short."
Sophie smiled at the irony. "Hello," she said to the girl, holding out her hand again. The little girl shook it. "I think that we're going to get along well, Soph."
"She's a little shy," Chris answered. "Maggie, you said?" Sophie nodded as he continued. "Soph and I have to get going but we hope to see you tomorrow for a full interview. Just come to my office."
"Looking forward to it," Sophie answered. "Bye, Soph."
Karma Slave- Splashdown
"Down!" Eliot yelled. Parker dropped as Eliot's fist came flying over her head and into the guy's face. The punch was hard but only caused the big man to stagger. Parker jumped to her feet and ran, leaving Eliot to deal with the punk.
Eliot dodged the man's jab, crouching low and hitting him in the stomach and then bringing his knee to hit the guy's face as he fell forward. The guy was stronger than he looked and punched Eliot, catching him in the nose. Eliot's eyes watered but he managed to avoid the second blow. Grabbing the guy's hair, Eliot shoved his face into the wall. Over and over he did it until, finally, the guy slumped to the ground, face bloodied. Eliot pulled back his hair before following Parker.
Picture- Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow
"Sophie," he said. She just shook her head.
"Don't, Nate."
"Do you really think this is the thing to do?"
She knew it was but that didn't make it easier. Nate had been so much to her for so long: friend, confidant, lover and family. He was the only one who seemed to see past all her acting, all her lies and saw her for, well, the person she had always been. But it was time to move on.
"I can't stay here any more. It had a purpose. We had a purpose. Now..." She couldn't finish the sentence. Now it had all become too risky. "It's time to go before we can't handle it anymore."
"We've managed so far," Nate told her.
"Barely. I almost lost you." She couldn't stay around long enough to watch it happen. If she didn't leave now, she knew that the next time would be the last. She leaned over, kissing him softly.
"Goodbye, Nate."
He stood, watching her walk away. When she finally disappeared from sight, he said, "Please, stay."
Gravity- Sara Bareilles
Parker had watched it happen and hadn't been able to stop it. These people were her friends, her family. She knew that. She knew that they were the only people who would be there for her.
Now one member of her family was gone. And it had been her fault. Sophie had died because of Parker. This time the casket, the mourners, they were all real. And so was the pain that Parker was feeling.
They all stood, watching as Sophie was lowered into the ground. Parker didn't cry, didn't speak, didn't even acknowledge that anything was happening. She had the instinct to run, to escape. Seconds later, a hand slipped into her own, giving it a squeeze. She looked up at Hardison.
"It wasn't your fault. She knows it." Parker just nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder.
She's So High Above Me- Everclear
"How do you do it?" Sophie asked. "How do you manage to cause so much pain?"
"It's all in the wrist," Eliot explained. He stood behind Sophie, taking her wrist in his hand. "You have to keep your wrists straight and throw your weight behind it." He slowly guided her arm, feeling her whole body move against his as he guided it.
"Like this?" she asked, making the movement again. Eliot just nodded. She turned to look at him, his face inches from hers. Her smile was soft and Eliot could smell her shampoo. "Could you teach me to flip a guy?"
"I think you're a little petite for that."
"Are you saying I'm skinny?" she teased. Eliot's hand was still warm around her wrist even though it was down at her side.
"And pretty."
One Sweet Day- Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
Sophie ran her fingers over the headstone. Three years, down to the minute. Three years and she still hadn't forgiven herself for leaving, for not being there when it happened. Three years and she still came to visit him frequently.
She had just wanted space to figure things out. She had to figure out who she was. She wasn't Sophie anymore and, to be honest, she couldn't remember who she was. She had been every character but she had forgotten how to be her.
At least, that's what she thought. Now she realized that it was him that had finally brought out the true her. He had understood her in a way that no one else had been able to. She was more lost than she had ever been.
The team had split up not long after he died but she knew they still came to see him. Sometimes she even ran into them. It was always awkward. She wondered if they knew how often she actually came. Came because she was afraid that it was the only place she seemed to be able to remember herself and how she was around him.
She placed the flowers by the grave, fingering the letters. "Goodbye, Eliot. I love you."
Slide- Dido
Hardison hung up the phone with a curse. There wasn't a trace of her. He supposed, being a thief, disappearing was in her repertoire but still. Finding people was his and he didn't even have the slightest notion as to where she was.
She didn't show up on cameras, didn't show up anywhere. He picked up the phone again, only to get a voicemail. He still remembered the day they all left, the day they decided it was better to go their separate ways.
He wished that he had gone her way. Now she was eluding him. He fiddled with the government's files again. He'd find her. If it was the last thing he did, he'd find her. Thief or not, he couldn't let her slip so easily through his fingers.
Save Tonight- Eagle Eye Cherry
Nate looked at the group before him. Parker was teaching Hardison how to pick a lock, though with little success. Hardison couldn't seem to figure out how she got all the mechanisms to click.
Eliot sat at the bar, chatting up some woman next to him. She seemed to be responding favorably but Nate wasn't surprised. It usually happened that way. Sophie came and sat down next to him, smile on her face.
"You seem pleased," she commented.
"I usually am when things go right." He sipped at his soda, his body still wishing for a drink. He pushed aside the impulse. It wasn't the night for that.
"We did well, didn't we?" she asked, chuckling slightly, her eyes falling on their team.
"Yeah, we did."
