"Alright, Eliot, stay on plan. We're not done yet."

Eliot ignored Nate's voice in his ear as he let the anger simmer in his chest. Then he abruptly turned on his heel and stalked off in the direction of the breakroom.

"Eliot?"

As he aproached the break room, Eliot thought about Martin. If he had been allowed to take his break and eat something, he and Eliot would still be stocking shelves right now, but instead that puny, smug supervisor had exploited a kind, hard-working, honest man, like his dad. Sometimes, he wished he had stayed at the hardware store, ended up more like his old man, never seen and done the things he had. But then he'd shake it off and remind himself that you couldn't change the past, only the future. It was one of the reasons he worked with Nate and the crew, to help good, salt-of-the earth people like his dad. But he'd be damned if he was gonna just sit back and let some corporate asshole push those people around. Not on his watch.

He entered the break room silently and saw Brian leaning into the refrigerator. By the time he looked up, Eliot was right beside him, waiting, in his most intimidating pose: firm stance, arms crossed to subtly expose their girth. He knew just how to deal with this.

The kid looked him up and down and scoffed.

"Seriously? You're not gonna tuck in your shirt?"

Oh how he wanted to punch this kid in the mouth. But he knew that wouldn't accomplish anything except allowing him to vent his own annoyance.

"You made him work through his break again, didn't you?"

The kid frowned a little then.

"What, the old-timer? He'll be fine."

Eliot started to circle around, to pin the boy between himself and the vending machine, but also to open up his eyeline to the door. Always vigilant.

"We got a problem here, buddy?"

"Brian, you're a bully. You know how much I'd love to tear your arm off and feed it to you right now?"

At that, Brian started to get scared, wondering if this guy was insane enough to do what he was threatening.

"But you see, that would make me a bully too. You see my dilemma?"

Brian reached out an arm to fend Eliot off, perhaps foolishly thinking for a moment that he could take Eliot. That was all the hitter needed to spring into action. He grabbed Brian's arm, pulled it out behind him, twisted, and pushed the boy's face into the vending machine, all in no more than two seconds.

"Brian, I want you to listen to me and I want you to try to understand."

"I can't feel my arm."

"I know. The only reason I'm not throwin you into this soda machine is because Martin wouldn't want me to do it. You see, Martin is a good neighbor. You? You're not."

Eliot released Brian's head and then threw down his arm and backed up just a bit, freeing Brian. Giving him a chance.

"You crazy bastard. You're fired."

Eliot said nothing, only took a couple steps towards Brian, backing him against the vending machine, never breaking eye contact. Then, with just the hint of a smirk, he turned and walked away without looking back. Never look back.

After exiting the break room, he spied Parker at the end of the aisle across from him, her blonde hair glowing dimly under the flourescent lights. They looked directly at each other as he continued to walk straight toward her, never hesitating. As he got close, he started to say something, to explain why he'd just ignored Nate and gone off like that, but he should've known better. He never had to explain anything to Parker. One look into his eyes and she knew everything she needed to, so she simply opened her arms to him.

"Come 'ere, baby."

And he enveloped her petite frame in his strong arms as she clung to him and for a moment, they were safe. It wasn't much, but it was a comfort she could easily give him, so she did, whenever she knew he was struggling with something. The fact that being in his arms was her favorite place to be had nothing to do with it, or so she kept telling herself. She tried not to think about it much. No matter what her feelings were for him, she knew how he felt about romantic entanglements, so she kept her feelings to herself. She figured he probably knew though. They rarely needed words to communicate. Just one of the things she loved about him.

The gruff hitter didn't like to admit it to himself, but sometimes it was impossible to ignore, like now, as he held her tight to his chest. The lithe little thief had stolen his heart. She made him smile, his twenty pounds of crazy in five pound bag. Not his, he reminded himself. His best friend's. Hardison's. He could never forget that, no matter how much he might want to stay like this with her forever. All he could ever have were these brief encounters, these blips in time, where no one else existed but the two of them. They could never last.