He Made Good On His Promise
He let it go. Just once. Sometimes they learn not to do it again. Sometimes they learn to control themselves. But he always made good on his promise when they didn't.
Eliot had heard Hardison yelling at Parker from the stairwell. He wasn't quite sure what the argument was about but by the tone in Parker's voice, he knew she was scared. He took the stair twos at a time and got to Hardison's apartment but the door was locked. It was right at the apex of the shouting when he heard the distinctive *smack* of a hand hitting a cheek and then what sounded like a body hitting the floor. Eliot kicked the door open its weakest point only to see a sobbing Parker lying on her side on the hardwood floor of the living room and Hardison standing over her, still shouting.
Eliot dropped the grocery bags on the floor and made it over to Hardison and knocked him off his balance and away from a cowering Parker. Eliot was trying to steady himself before he killed his friend.
"What the FUCK are you doing?" Eliot bellowed at Hardison.
"None of your GODDAMN business!" Hardison shouted back at the enraged hitter.
"Like HELL it none of my business. You just hit Parker. YOU NEVER HIT WOMEN!" Eliot took a step toward Hardison.
"This is between me and my woman." Hardison made a move towards Parker but Eliot stood in the way.
"She is NOT property and YOU WILL NEVER LAY ANOTHER HAND ON HER OR SO HELP ME I WILL BREAK ALL OF YOUR FINGERS AND BOTH OF YOUR HANDS!" Eliot shouted as Nate and Sophie entered the apartment.
"He WHAT?!" Nate shouted as Sophie moved over to Parker. Eliot stood protectively in front of her, not letting anyone near her.
"Eliot, move!" Sophie tried to push past him but when he turned around; the terrified blond thief was already gone.
"Damnit HARDISON!" Eliot shouted as he stalked out the door. He didn't look back to know that Sophie and Nate were backing him into a corner. It didn't matter. Parker only matter.
After scouring all of Parker's favorite haunts or where she might retreat too, Eliot headed home. He had hoped she would find her way there. Because if she didn't he would turn over the entire city, country, hell the world to find her to make sure she was ok. He hated himself for not seeing it sooner. Parker had been distant lately and he thought that maybe she was just going through some stuff. But where Parker wouldn't even poke Eliot's injuries a few days ago, he knew something was seriously wrong. He never thought in a million years Hardison would be capable of doing what he just did, but then again, some of the signs were there. Eliot shook those thoughts out of his head as he opened the door to his apartment. He instantly knew he wasn't alone and by the smell of vanilla and coconut, Parker was here.
He finally found her cowering in the corner of his study, behind his big leather reading chair. She was tucked in the smallest ball possible, quietly sobbing. Eliot knew better than to push her or even try to touch her so he simply sat down in the other reading chair and said, "You are safe here."
About an hour later, when the sobbing finally stopped, she said, "I know." Another hour after that, she stood up and walked out of the study and into the bathroom where she locked herself for another half hour. Eliot patiently waited. He had done this too many times with his sister and her first husband. Waiting and just being a protective presence was hopefully going to pull her out of this in one piece. Or as much of a piece that is left. He heard the shower run so she was at least alive in there. Eliot walked into the spare room and put Parker's spare clothes out on the bed as well as borrowed sweats and a hoodie with one of her hair ties. He had a feeling she wouldn't want to put her hair up but if she did, at least she could.
He moved to the kitchen to get some of his aggression out on some vegetables. After another hour had past and it was well into the evening, Parker finally made an appearance. She was dressed in the hoodie and sweats. That wasn't a good sign but at least she was mobile. Her hip must have been sore by the way she was favoring it and she was trying to hide behind all of her hair. Eliot slid a bowl of her favorite cereal across the island with a spoon and sat down to eat his bowl of soup. She looked at the bowl and shook her head. He slid his bowl of soup towards her and she looked up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and it damn near broke his heart. She slid onto the barstool and slowly ate the soup.
Eliot dumped her cereal into the sink and got himself another bowl of soup and returned to the island. He moved as slow as possible, trying not to scare Parker away. She quietly finished her meal and promptly walked down the hall and into Eliot's bedroom. He gave her a minute and then followed her into his room, making as much noise as possible, so she'd know he was coming towards her.
She had curled up on his bed, fast asleep. She must be in shut down mode, he thought, but the nightmares are going to be bad. Ellie's nightmares were awful the first few nights, the first time it happened. They were so bad, she was afraid to fall asleep. Parker frowned in her sleep, stirring slightly as he tucked her in. Eliot didn't want to leave her alone, but also wanted to give her some space. He finally decided that it would be better to be here as soon as the nightmares started, rather than wait until she is already screaming.
He lay on top of the blankets, reading a Western when she began to stir from the nightmare. He put the book down and waited to see if it would stop but it didn't. Parker shouted in her sleep and jumped off the bed, waking herself up. She was in flight mode, ready to run but Eliot's voice brought her back. She looked at him with the saddest expression he'd ever seen and she started crying again. He opened his arms to her and she practically launched herself at him. He sat there rocking her as she cried and eventually went back to sleep.
The next morning, after Nate and Sophie called repeatedly, checking on Parker, they made their way back to the offices. When Eliot and Parker arrived, Hardison was sitting on the couch with Nate standing in front of the monitors and Sophie observing from the other side of the room. Hardison pleaded for forgiveness and made promises that he'd never do it again. After much shouting and tears and threats about dropping him off in Iceland, they tried to move forward from what happened. Nate gave them all a month off to let everyone try to settle down and focus on getting back to work and fixing the fractured team.
Over the next several weeks back, Eliot always put himself between Hardison and Parker. They were NEVER in a room alone without some sort of supervision. Nate was even placing himself between Hardison and Sophie.
Finally, nearly six months later, things had gone back to semi-normal. Eliot still didn't trust Hardison and most likely probably never would again but he and Parker were trying to make things work. Hardison had been going to anger management and therapy. Things seemed to being going as well as to be expected. Parker and Hardison had started joking around again. They were getting along but any chances of them being actually together were completely gone and Eliot thanked whatever God would listen for that. He had been teaching Parker more ways to defend herself, rather than simple grappling he'd been teaching her since the Tap-Out Job. She was a willing student and she learned quickly. Even gave Eliot a black eye, completely accidentally of course.
And then it happened. Eliot was inside the CEO's office when he heard the sound of some sort of heavy plastic hit the ground, through his ear bud. Hardison started shouting about his thing-a-ma-jig breaking. Eliot growled over his ear bud while Sophie and Nate were trying to talk him down from the rage he was hurling at Parker. She was apologizing but he was getting more and more furious. Eliot running down the stairs and shouting at Hardison to knock it off but by the time he reached Lucille, he had done it again. He slapped Parker across the face. Instead of cowering, Parker tackled him and started punching him furiously in the face. Eliot dragged Parker off Hardison so she wouldn't hurt herself or have the blood of what she wanted to do on her hands. Eliot handed a flailing Parker over to Nate and Sophie's waiting arms and then shut the back door to Lucille, trapping Hardison in with him. Hardison was already bleeding from his nose and one of his eyes was beginning to swell shut.
He stared at the cowering hacker and, as always, he made good on his promise.