Has anyone else noticed that Parker usually has advice for people the team saves. She had a "fugitive bag" for Maggie in the Zanzibar Marketplace Job and she could briefly be heard giving something to little Tanya in tonight's episode. I know this story is different from my other ones, but it was nearly finished before the episode ended, so...
I don't own Leverage.
Enjoy!
Tanya had been only thirteen when that man had taken her. She'd found out later that she had been taken as a hostage because someone wanted the heart her mother was transporting, but at the time it didn't matter why. It was the most terrifying half hour of her life. It wasn't like they'd hurt her or anything, she didn't even remember them threatening to.
For the next year, however, Tanya had been jumpy when anyone came up behind her. After awhile the panic faded, though, and she went back to normal. Well, mostly normal. She never walked alone at night; not that she did anyway, but she wouldn't go outside if the sun was even close to setting now. She still wasn't very good in big crowds, that was when they had taken her, but she was improving every week.
After several more years the entire ordeal faded into nothing more than a bad memory. But when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her aside into an alleyway in broad daylight all of the detailed memories came flooding back. She screamed in surprise and tried to pull away from the man as he tugged her deeper into the alley.
"Give me your purse!" he yelled at her. Getting a good look at her did nothing to calm her fears. He was over six feet tall and probably close to two hundred pounds. He had a basic thug-type build, meaning he was all muscle. He was also wearing all black and had a black hat.
"No!" Tanya yelled without thinking. Why did she say that? Did she want to die? He, too, seemed taken aback at her response. But only for a moment. He tightened his grip on her arm, painfully so, and grabbed at her purse hanging on her other shoulder.
"I said give me your purse!" he repeated angrily. Wasn't there anyone nearby to help her? She was nearly paralyzed as the five year old memories continued to flood back in great detail. The man first grabbing her out of the crowd. The way he held his hand over her mouth until she stopped screaming. Sitting beside him in that little diner. Fearing that worse was to come when he pulled her away from the seat and started heading for the exit. And finally getting saved by the funny blonde woman while her thug attacked the man. Then there was that funny conversation she'd had with the blonde woman afterwards.
"It'll work like a little Taser; carry it with you wherever you go." The woman pressed a small device into Tanya's hands.
Finally thinking clearly, Tanya dug her free hand into her purse and started fishing around for the only item that had been successfully transferred from purse to purse for five years. Just as the man was reaching across her for her purse, she pulled the mini Taser out. Tanya pressed it against his chest, which was directly in front of her, and turned it on.
"Ahhhhh!" he yelled as the electricity coursed through his body. She pressed it to his body until he let go of her arm and collapsed in a heap on the ground. She stared at him in shock as he twitched periodically, but mostly lay still. Looking both ways, Tanya found that there still wasn't anyone around. Wasn't that always the way. She stepped over his crumpled body into the light, her hand still clutching her mini Taser.
She wondered absently if her mom still had the blonde woman's phone number. Tanya wanted to let her know that she had saved her twice now.
Any thoughts? :)
