How had he been talked into this?

Oh yeah. Ever since Sophie had come back, Nate had been jumping through hoops to cater to her every whim, even as they scrambled to prepare for a client meeting. The moment Sophie mentioned cafe con leche from the corner store down the street, it was clear where this was heading.

Eliot and Hardison looked at each other. Hardison shut down his laptop, grabbed his wireless mouse, and screwed the top back on his orange soda. Smirking at Eliot, he slipped out the door and into the bathroom to hide.

'Dammit!' he thought, as Nate looked around the room in confusion.

"Hardison…oh where'd he go? Huh, uh Eliot, why don't you walk Parker to the store, and grab Sophie a Café con Leche while you're at it? I'd do it, but I'm working up a new client, and apparently, Hardison is the invisible man."

Nate smiled at Eliot, who only rolled his eyes. 'Pussy.'

Parker piped up as Nate's eyes slid towards her. "You want me to go where?" Eliot figured that, since the store was on ground level and Parker spent most of her time climbing walls and going through high-rise windows, she probably had no clue what a 'corner store' was.

'Dammit,' Eliot thought again. 'There's no way I'm going to a store with Parker! It's worse than going to a toy store with a five year old!'

Eliot knew when to choose his battles, though.

"Come on Parker. Lets grab a coffee and some snacks." If he was going, Eliot decided he could probably find a couple of things he needed to restock Nate's kitchen.

"Grab a couple of orange sodas too!" Hardison yelled from his "office".

"No!" Eliot yelled back. "You want orange sodas you go to the store!" He knew he'd bring back the sodas, but he if he had to suffer, so did Hardison.

"Never mind, man," Hardison said. Apparently he wasn't that thirsty.

Parker was oblivious to the fuss, and waited by the door for Eliot to join her. "Come on Eliot, I'm hungry too!"

"Oh god, she's already whining like a kid' he thought. 'Let's hurry and get this over with. Maybe it won't be that bad. It's really too small a store for her to cause too much damage, right?'

Eliot should have known better. Parker wanted to touch EVERYTHING. She ooohhd and aaaahhd over almost every single thing in the store. It was even worse when they went to the back for Sophie's coffee.

He could not believe that he was in a grocery store with Parker.

Eliot didn't watch cartoons anymore, but the first thing he could think of when he got that tingly feeling was 'spider-sense'. Technically he guessed it could be called 'Parker-sense' if you really thought about it. Whatever it was, something bad was about to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Wow, how'd you get that scar across your face?" Parker was asking the woman across the counter.

Now Eliot Spencer had been through much in his life. That was his cross to bear. He been beaten, stabbed, kicked, punched and left for dead by the best, and he'd returned the favor. He'd been locked in small rooms and tortured over any and everything, but this, this was the first time in his entire life he thought he would die from embarrassment, actually wishing the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

He'd been grabbing some orange juice out of the freezer and froze at hearing Parker's question.

Eliot hung his head. This was about to get horrible.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" The woman sounded truly stunned... and possibly amused? 'Oh please God let her have a sense of humor,' he begged.

"I asked about the scar on your face. What happened?"

"Parker!" he couldn't help but yell. This was too much even for her. She had to know it was out of line to ask something so personal.

Eliot finally looked at the woman on the other side of the counter. His first thought was to ask Parker if she was blind. He didn't see a scar.

He did see a pair of beautiful brown eyes and coffee colored skin. She was gorgeous. 'What the hell is Parker talking about?,' he thought.

Then he saw it. Running almost the full length of the right side of her face was a scar. It was definitely an old knife wound, probably ten years or more.

"Is it that bad still? After all of this time, I would have thought it wouldn't be so pronounced." She smirked at Eliot, her voice conspiratorial. "She's a little…off isn't she?"

'Thank you God,' he thought, smiling apologetically as he glanced over to see Parker wandering towards the aisles. "She's not good with people she knows, and worse in public, but she's harmless."

"She reminds me of my three year old niece. Just say what comes to you and the heck with the rest." She smiled at Eliot as she wiped her hands on her apron.

'Damn that's a beautiful smile,' Eliot thought, as Parker reappeared from around the corner, a six pack of orange soda and a bag of pretzels in her hands.

"So," the woman behind the counter asked the both of them, "Did you need anything besides the café? A midnight maybe?"

"A what? It's only 9:45 in the morning, and we better hurry with Sophie's coffee. I've got all the snacks I need and...hey you still didn't tell me about the scar."

Eliot growled, but the woman just laughed.

"No its ok. She's cute" she looked at Parker, still clearly amused. "Well, my name is Dianna, and I got this scar from an ex-boyfriend. He wanted things I wasn't ready for so we had an argument and I broke up with him. The next day he was waiting for me after school. He took a box cutter and slid it down the side of my face."

Eliot froze, torn between anger and mortification, but Parker redeemed herself by asking the questions he was thinking.

"What was his name? Where'd you live?"

"Darren Michaels, and this was when I lived in Minneapolis. I graduated from high school there. Are you from Minneapolis?"

"Nope, I've never been there, but I bet it's a nice place to visit." Parker looked Eliot directly in the eye.

"I'm sure it is. We'll talk to Nate about a side trip there, ok?" He turned his attention back to Dianna, trying to look casual. "Is there anything you recommend doing while visiting?" Eliot was practically vibrating with fury, but he couldn't let Dianna know it.

"Yea, the Mall of America is great. I'm sure she," pointing to Parker, "would love Camp Snoopy and all the rides. Then there's the sculpture garden which I just love and the Walker art museum. The nightlife is decent too." Dianna glanced towards a customer who was staring at the menu, apparently having a hard time making his selection. "Are you two ok?"

"Yes" was Parkers bright reply. "Thanks for the coffee and…I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to ask about your scar. Sophie tells me to ask questions if I want to know something, but," she looked at Eliot, "I think I wasn't supposed to ask you that."

"Parker," Eliot started, but Dianna interrupted him.

"Well, yea, you should ask questions because if you don't, you'll never learn. It's just the way you ask the question and who you ask. Other people have asked me about this scar and I've knocked them on their ass. You seem harmless enough.".

Eliot nearly choked. Parker, harmless? Ha!

"I just, I mean you are really pretty, but the scar..."

"Parker," Eliot's warning tone had no effect.

"It just makes you so gorgeous. I mean, I can't take my eyes off your face. Your skin is soft, and you wear make-up but you really don't need it. You're stunning." Parker sighed wistfully. "I wish I had a scar"

Dianna threw her head back and laughed. "Now that is a first! For that, you get the cafe and the midnight on me."

"No, I can't let you…" Eliot reached for his wallet.

"Ah, but this is my choice" she yelled to the front "Angie! These two are on me, ok?"

"Sure Di!"

"See? Done deal. Now, you'd better hustle with this coffee before your friend gets upset."

Eliot smiled. Most people didn't know how to take Parker, but she didn't seem to faze Dianna. It was nice, a little unusual, but nice.

Parker was headed to the front to pay for the other items they'd picked up, but Eliot hesitated before following.

Dianna was different. Most women he met either needed saving or were trying to kill him. She was…normal and he found that interesting. The scar didn't bother him but his desire to run his tongue along it and her lips caught him off guard. (How's this?)

"Uhm, listen…" he couldn't believe he was tongue tied, that Eliot Spencer was having a hard time talking to a woman, and dammit he was blushing!!

Dianna gave him this look, like she was reading his mind. "Give me your phone."

He laughed and handed it to her.

Dianna pressed a few buttons, and a moment later, handed it back.

"You now have my cell and my home number. If I don't hear from you in three days, I won't expect to hear from you at all."

"Oh, you'll hear from me," he promised, thinking regretfully of the upcoming job, "but we might be out of town for a bit."

"You travel for work?"

"Yea, quite a bit. Is that a problem?"

"No."

"I'll call you, then. I promise."

He walked to the front of the store to collect Parker, who had gotten distracted in the candy aisle, and went to pay for the rest of their items.

"You two the reason my friend was laughing in the back?"

"Oh yea, that was my fault." Parker looked like a kid who knew she was in trouble.

"No charge. I haven't heard a good laugh from her like that in while. Thank you." Angie smiled and bagged up their groceries.

Parker and Eliot walked across the street, lost in their own private thoughts.

"So you think Hardison can find him?" Parker asked. "We don't know what year she went to high school. I would have asked, but I think that would have been a bit much, even for me."

"Hardison can find him. It's starting to get a little chilly in Minneapolis though, this time of year. You don't have to go. I can handle it myself."

"No. I like her. She was nice to me and she doesn't even know me. Most people look at me weird, or like they smell something, but she didn't do that. Eliot," she touched his arm, "I really didn't mean to be rude. I meant what I said. I think the scar…it just makes her more beautiful. Maybe it's a 'beauty scar,' like that model with the mole on her mouth."

He smiled. "I think you're right Parker."

He could not believe that he and Parker had managed to find something to agree on, in a grocery store of all places.

Eliot, the guy who'd come in with his strange friend, called Dianna later that same night. They made arrangements to get together for dinner after he got back from his business trip.

Two days later, he kept his word, and cooked dinner for Dianna at his place. The meal was sumptuous and Eliot, she was discovering, was an excellent host.

As she was eating the most decadent piece of cheesecake she'd ever had, she asked about his business trip.

"Ahh," Eliot shrugged, swallowing before he continued. "It went ok. It didn't take as long as we thought it would. Did you have fun while I was gone?"

"No," Dianna laughed, because her hand still burned from where she'd burned herself on the milk steamer, "but I got the coolest call from my cousin. You remember the guy I told you about, the one who gave me the scar?"

A dark look passed across Eliot's face. "Yea, I remember."

"Well, it seems he ran into a bit of trouble. Looks like he'd been skimming money from his clients' accounts, and he finally got caught. The cops say he's been doing it for years. He's been living high on the hog off of other people's money, but someone caught him out, and his house of cards collapsed. On top of that, he's in the hospital. In traction. Cops said he told them he was mugged. I don't know how he's alive, he was beat so bad."

There was a glint in his eye as Eliot tilted his head. "Really? Wow. Well I hope those people…"

He wasn't fooling anybody. "What did you do?"

"Huh?"

"Look, you did something. I saw your face when I told you what happened. You and Parker. You looked like my cousin did. You wanted something to hurt and you wanted it to hurt badly. So what did you do?"

"Dianna…look…Eliot was clearly trying to come up with an answer, his eyes darting nervously around the room before landing on her, seeing her expression. "Wait…you aren't pissed?"

"Hell no!! I just hope somebody taped it!!! I want blow by blow action! I need details!! I bet Parker taped it. She seems the type." Dianna trailed off, a thoughtful grin on her face.

Eliot had to laugh.

"No that's not her thing. There may be video, but I have to check. There might not be, but just maybe." Eliot snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "It really doesn't bother you that I did this?" In case there was blow back he didn't want Parker's name anywhere near it.

"No. Look. What happened to me, nothing's going to change that, and no amount of surgery is going to fix it. I…people used to tell me all the time I was beautiful. Then this happened," she ran a finger along her scar, "I became the girl that used to be pretty." She sighed heavily.

"Parker was sweet. Kinda like a kid who doesn't know any better. She was harmless. You can't imagine some of the things I've heard, things that have been said to me. My cousin wanted to beat Darren to death, but he was the football team's QB so he was protected. It was my fault, people told me. Girls I'd been friends with for years said I was a fool not to sleep with him. So he cost me my friends, my looks, and almost my life." She sadly looked at Eliot. "You know I almost killed myself over this. I was sixteen and stupid and thankfully that handful of pills didn't work. My dad found me."

Eliot looked like he was about to actually lose his mind, and Dianna could hear the grinding of teeth. He was clenching his jaw so hard his teeth were going to crack. His dentist was gonna be pissed.

"Calm your soul. I'm fine now. It took a while, but I firmly believed that he would get his one day." Dianna laughed, and reached out for the wine, but Eliot got there first, refilling both their glasses. "I just didn't think I'd get so much absolute joy out of knowing the people who did it. So. Details, and I mean now!"

She looked so happy, asking to hear about it all, how could he deny her?

They spent the rest of the evening sitting on his couch, Eliot giving Dianna every sordid, vile detail of what happened to Darren Michaels. About how he was finally found out, thanks to Hardison, and how Eliot took his time pulverizing the man. All because a young girl, years ago, had told him no.

It was the first time he'd ever told anyone what he'd done. The realization that he could trust her with this set him spinning even more than she herself did.

Dianna fell asleep with the biggest grin on her face. There was no way Eliot could know this was best night sleep she'd had in years. But, drifting off beside her, he knew he was going to sleep easy.