The No Stabbing Wednesday conversation really jumped out at me and I really wanted to know what other traditions the team had.
Here is my story for "The 15 Minutes Job".
Enjoy!
I don't own Leverage.
"I think I'm getting better at this," she whispered.
"I'm cloning Rockwell's cell right now," Hardison said distractedly. Then replying to Parker, "Good work girl."
"I didn't even stab him!" she said excitedly.
"Yeah, you, we, you," Hardison stammered, trying to find an acceptable response to her accomplishment. "We are so proud of you."
"Um, no stabbing Wednesdays, new tradition."
Parker had many traditions. And now she only had one day left to fill.
Monday was Sophie's day. Parker spent her time with Sophie learning to be "normal". Usually lessons like this would be a pain, but Parker loved watching the results when she was out and about during the week and people didn't look at her strangely. They typically practiced simple things, like making eye contact but not staring at other people and flirting without being too obvious. Parker made sure to pay special attention to that part. It was a skill she needed periodically throughout their cons, but she also paid attention for other reasons…
Sophie always praised her for everything she got right. Parker had never received much approval when she was little, so this relationship she was building with Sophie was incredibly beneficial for her confidence. She hadn't ever really cared what others thought, but it was nice to know she was doing something right.
Tuesday was Nate's day. Parker spent the entire week designing and drawing out a hypothetical building and coming up with an entire situation that he had to solve. For instance, this week Nate had to figure out how to take down a man who was forcing families out of their homes so he could build malls in their places. The best way to stop him was to plant some incriminating documents, which they didn't have yet, and then call the police. It was a relatively easy con, but Parker set some restrictions to make it harder for him.
"You have one hour to figure this out," she told him. "But Hardison slept in, so you can't use him for the first part and Eliot was injured in a goat attack, so you can't use him at all." With that, she skipped off to stall for an hour. When she came back, Nate had devised a way to not only take him down, but had also found a way to relocate the families that had had their homes destroyed by past malls. "You win," Parker conceded.
Nate won most weeks, but every now and then she would succeed in defeating him. One of her favorite parts was the fact that he never drank during her games. He was usually too focused on finding the answer to notice that she had taken his drink away from him when she left.
Thursday was Eliot's day. Thursday was the day when Parker learned to defend herself. Eliot had decided long ago that the thief needed to know at least a few basic moves in case she ever got in a bind. Well, that's how it had started out, just the two of them practicing a few times a week. Then as the jobs picked up and they got busier, the sessions dropped to only once a week. Each week, Parker had amazed Eliot with her determination to learn new moves and techniques.
Now, they spent their time sparring. Parker had learned enough to hold her own against Eliot. They both knew that Eliot could take her out in a few moves, but by his avoiding using the more complex moves, they had matches that could last several minutes. After each one, he would critique her on some of her moves and she would work throughout the rest of the week to refine them.
Oh, she knew he still worried about her, but they both knew that she could hold her own against most enemies until he got there.
Friday was Hardison's day. Fortune Cookie Fridays was what he called it. Hardison would bring several fortune cookies and they would eat them and just talk. The topics changed each week. Sometimes he would show her funny videos on Youtube, other times he would casually mention that there was a new museum opening up. Often Parker took advantage of their time to try to convince him to come building diving with her. He would always refuse, but Parker could tell that she was beginning to persuade him. Even if just a little.
Fortune Cookie Friday was the best way the two had found to connect. They couldn't be more different from each other. One of them loved jumping off buildings while the other would much rather be on the computer safe and sound. Their conversations skipped from past cons to how great jumping off the Empire State Building would be to the latest computer. Sometimes they would even talk about pretzels.
Saturday was Parker's day. Her personal day. She usually spent it either working on her gear or throwing herself off buildings. Without the jobs, there was no stress or pressure when she jumped. It was the simple freedom of the wind flowing over her body as she fell towards the earth. Then she slowed as the ropes tightened and regained their tension. One of her favorite parts, besides the initial jump, was the swinging when she reached her destination. When she jumped on her own, sometimes she would spend several minutes just swinging back and forth from window to window, just for the fun of it. Well, that and the funny looks she got from people who remained in the building even after nightfall.
As much as she loves her team, she needs her time alone to collect her thoughts about what happened during that week. She would usually tuck the experiences and the emotions of the week away until she got around to figuring out what exactly had happened and how she felt about them.
After her time to herself, Parker was ready for another week.
Well, there it was! That's my story for 15 Minutes Job. Please review!
Also, I'm going to be super busy next week, so I won't be able to write until late next week. Hope this little oneshot will tide you over until then!