AN: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR "THE FUTURE JOB" IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT DON'T READ!
Disclaimer: Don't own, wish I did, Eliot is yummy and Parker is GREAT!
Summary: So these are points of view from each member of the team when they get back to the flat and find Parker sitting on the floor. I hope you enjoy!
Eliot
Eliot didn't understand Parker. She was insane. Half of what she said didn't make sense unless it pertained to a job or math. He noticed she was quick to add up any numbers that came her way, whether it be how fast to rob a bank, the timing between traffic lights, or just testing herself to see how fast she could pick a lock.
Parker wanted Dalton Rand dead. Now that was something he could understand. He could have made it happen. Nate, their fearless, though mostly drunken leader as of late, didn't give him the go ahead though. Still, he wanted to make it happen for Parker.
When they all walked in the flat and saw Parker scrunched up on the floor, leaning against the couch, it broke their hearts, though they wouldn't say it. Her head dipped back, tears running down her cheeks. It pooled at the dip in her neck and mixed with sweat from her having run all the way back to the flat. That wasn't their Parker. That wasn't their thief.
Eliot knew that Parker was the most fragile of them all. It didn't take a psychic to see that. Something, someone had broken her a long time ago, and she put the pieces back the best way she knew how. They didn't all fit together quite right again. In short…there was something wrong with her.\
In the end it all worked out. Parker was…well Parker. It worked for her and it worked for the team. Parker sometimes saw openings or ways of doing things that no one else would. She was who she was and though sometimes it frustrated the hell out of Eliot
Now though, watching her huddled on the floor, in so much pain. It was unnerving to all of them. Parker didn't show emotion, but here she was crying. That bastard had brought up her little brother, a piece of Parker's past no one knew existed, out in the open. On TV no less. Granted it wasn't national, but it was enough. Enough to make Eliot want to beat the last breath out of Dalton Rand.
In Eliot's eyes he protected the team. He didn't let anyone hurt them. He was strong enough, tough enough to make sure they stayed safe. Eliot wasn't supposed to let Parker get hurt.
Except he had.
They all had.
It wasn't anyone's fault. No one expected Dalton Rand to be as good as he was, but he had hurt Parker. He had hurt one of their own, and that was something worth killing for. At least in Eliot's eyes.
Tara
Tara wasn't the most compassionate of people. She thought Dalton Rand had been great at what he did. He was a conman conning people. With the right training he'd probably make an excellent grifter, which is why Tara didn't understand why Hardison had said the man should be shot.
They all did it. Granted it was usually for the good of their client, but once upon a time none of them had been good. Well except for Nate. He'd always been on the right side of the law. Though now he wasn't.
It was odd actually. While technically they were helping people and making barely, if any profit, in a court of law they would all go to jail for what they had done. So while the bad guys had technically turned good, the good guy had turned bad.
Honestly, she couldn't understand why Sophie put up with it.
They all seemed overly concerned about Parker after Rand did a cold reading on her. Another thing Tara couldn't understand. The woman was a thief. Strong, smart, able to defend herself, though she wasn't quite all there in the head.
Tara had seen Parker's eyes watering up, she had seen the thief run off stage, but she couldn't help but smile at Rand's performance.
That was until they walked into the flat. Parker looked…wrong. She was crying. It had taken Tara a long time just to get a spark of an emotion from Parker, and here the thief was…eyes read, nose puffy, holding herself like she had nothing in the world to keep her stable.
That's when Tara realized that Rand had shaken Parker. She had never told anyone about her brother, and it was undoubtedly heartbreaking. Parker had been keeping that pent up inside since she was just a child, and Tara could only think that attributed to the woman's broken psyche.
Looking around the flat, she saw the look on the rest of the team's faces. They cared about Parker, and none of them liked the way Rand had treated her. Parker wanted him dead, Eliot was more than happy to oblige, and Tara, well, after seeing Parker this way, and seeing the love everyone had for her, really wanted to agree with him.
Hardison
Hardison wanted to shoot him. Parker was special. Not a lot of people realized that, but she was. Parker had survived the crap of a childhood she had been forced to live through. Maybe she wasn't normal, but he liked it that way.
Only once before, had Hardison ever seen Parker close to crying, and that was because of the kids. Now though she was crying because of that son of a bitch Dalton Rand. If Hardison had a gun, and knew how to use it properly, and knew he wouldn't get caught, and had the guts to pull the trigger, he'd kill Rand himself.
Of course considering the fact that none of that was possible, they'd have to go along with Nate's plan. Hardison was relieved to see a small smile break on Parker's face. That glint in her eye showed through again and he felt a smirk tugging at the corner of his own lip.
Hardison and Parker got along well because they both had similar child hoods. Well sort of. While Hardison had been an orphan like Parker, and while being bounced around from foster home to foster home wasn't fun, most of the people were semi decent.
Parker, while having many foster parents herself, didn't have any decent ones. He'd gone back, looked through her files. They were easy enough to hack. Hardison would never tell Parker because, well she'd probably kill him. Not in a nice way either. She went to great lengths to keep her past a secret and Rand had blown a big part of that up.
When Rand had been talking, the knot in Hardison's gut had been growing heavier. When he saw the look on Parker's face it made him sick. That wasn't how the team should have found out. It wasn't how anyone should have found out. Parker may never have wanted anyone to know. If that was the case, then it was her choice and choice wasn't something she had much of growing up.
Hardison stuck to his original thought. Dalton Rand should be shot!
Nate
Nate rolled his eyes at first, thinking the scam artist was completely wrong about Parker. Then, he saw the tears in her eyes. He saw the reaction, however minute to Dalton's words. He should have said something, he should have cracked a joke, told Rand to go to hell, but he didn't for two reason's.
One, they were on a job and he thought Parker could handle it. Two, he was curious.
Parker was having a reaction to something that wasn't complete insanity or anger. Her breath quickened, shoulders hunched. It wasn't a substantial difference that someone on the sidewalk would have noticed. At least not at first, but then it got worse.
Her face practically fell, telling Rand everything he need to know, but it wasn't Parker's fault. No one had gauged how good Rand would be. No one thought he would be able to read anyone, let alone Parker that well.
Rand, however disturbingly, had and Parker believed him to be psychic, even if only briefly. Nate realized that a part of Parker wanted him to be.
"But I didn't say anything!"
Parker kept repeating that statement. She didn't want to believe she was that easy to read. The truth, Nate knew, is that Parker was that easy to see through if you took the time to look. Rand had taken the time.
Nate never called her out on it. He'd seen the looks she gave, the way Parker tensed whenever a man touched her. Their thief had many tells if you were looking. Nate was always looking.
It just wasn't his place to say anything. Not to Parker, not to any of his team. They all had their problems, their secrets, their skeletons in the closet that they didn't want to talk about. This was a major one for Parker and Nate, at first, wanted Dalton Rand dead just as much as anyone else.
What the rest of the team didn't realize was that death was too good for the fake psychic, scam artist, money stealing, bastard. Then he wouldn't suffer. This time, it wasn't just about the client. This time it was about one of his own, and for that, he would most certainly make Dalton Rand pay and not just with money.
~Fin~
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