A/N – For this fic, Ive decided that the team never got back together after the first season finale. This takes place about five years later.
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Eliot stopped short in front of the playground he was walking by. He gripped the chain link fence and peered up to the top of the little yellow slide where she perched. He felt a little bit like a creep, staring at a little girl, but she looked so familiar that he couldn't help himself. Try as he might, he couldn't place the girl's face. Sighing, Eliot shook his head and decided to forget about the girl, but then she looked up, right at him, and his breath hitched. He may not know who the girl was, but he sure knew the smile on her face. He shook his head again, it wasn't possible. It had been five years since he'd seen any of them, what were the chances of just running into them in some random California suburb? Running his fingers quickly through his only mildly shaggy hair, he headed home.
Three days later, Eliot saw the girl again. This time, she was wobbling her way down the candy aisle at the grocery store, no parent in sight. Eliot froze, unsure of whether to approach the girl and help her find her parents, or to just leave her alone. She was no older than three, and shouldn't be left alone, but he knew that mothers hardly reacted kindly to some stranger scooping up their child, even if it was only to return them. As it turned out, he didn't need to make a decision after all. The little girl spotted him and gave him a flash of that all too familiar grin before running full speed toward him and attacking his legs in a fierce hug. Startled, Eliot dropped the bag of apples he'd been holding to ground, and watched with a sort of detached concern as the bag broke open and apples rolled down the aisle. Before he could even react to the clinging girl, a woman's voice broke through his haze and it did not sound happy. But it did sound familiar.
"Hey! What do you think you're do…. Oh." She stopped suddenly as she took in the sight of Eliot and the little girl wrapped around him.
"Parker," Eliot nodded in greeting, not sure how else to begin, "Is she yours?" he asked as he lifted the girl up easily in one arm. She just smiled toothily at him and mumbled something that sounded a lot like his name.
Parker nodded and smiled at the sight even as she reached out to take the girl back, and Eliot couldn't believe he hadn't put two and two together before. That smile, that little girl, there was no way she wasn't Parker's. He appraised Parker silently, noting the changes, and the unmistakable similarities. Her hair was shorter and somehow lighter than it had been before. He supposed California sun would do that to a person. She was older, but she hardly looked it, the only indication being the slight wrinkles beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. Eliot smiled when he noticed her eyes. They still had the mischievous glint he remembered so well, but he couldn't see a trace of the sadness that he remembered.
Parker appraised Eliot as well, even as she knew he was looking at her. She found herself surprised to think that he looked younger, somehow, than the last time she'd seen him. It had been five years, he should look older, but he didn't.
"Her name is Lainey," Parker offered, nudging the girl to wave at Eliot. Instead, she shook her head, bouncing her dark curls all around, before burying her face in Parker's neck. Parker just laughed.
"Now she's shy?" Eliot laughed, "Not two seconds ago she was clinging to my leg."
Parker shrugged, "She recognized you." Lainey yawned widely, slumping against Parker even more. Rolling her eyes fondly at the girl, Parker bent down and buckled the girl securely in the stroller she had placed beside her. Within moments, Lainey was fast asleep.
Eliot was still mulling over Parker's last statement, "How did she recognize me? I haven't seen any of you in five years. Sophie's sent a few postcards over the years, but I haven't heard from you at all, and then Nate.."
"Yeah," Parker interrupted a pained looked flashing across her face, "I didn't know until weeks later, when Sophie finally tracked us down. We were at Disney World, of all places. I can't believe it's already been a year."
Eliot nodded, "I was in Berlin. I tried to get back in time for the funeral, but I didn't make it. After everything that happened, I never thought it'd be a heart attack. He was too young. I got to the funeral an hour too late, and I just couldn't go in."
"It was rough. We went," Parker smiled grimly, "Sophie was there, she was a wreck. She spent most of the time clinging to Hardison, trying not to cry."
"Hardison?" Eliot looked up with interest, "You've kept in touch?"
Parker actually laughed out loud as the somber mood broke. She rolled her eyes as she gestured to the sleeping Lainey, "Well, yeah."
Eliot would never admit it, but his jaw actually dropped. "Hold on," he paused to process, "Lainey is you and Hardison's daughter? You and Hardison? Had a baby. Together. The two of you. Wow."
"We did," Parker smiled before lifting her hand to show Eliot the shiny ring on her finger.
"And you got married?!" Eliot couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. He never would have expected Parker getting married, even if she did finally admit to liking Hardison. But here they were, five years later, and Parker and Hardison were married, and they had a baby. Just when he thought the world couldn't surprise him anymore.
"What about you?" Parker interrupted, and he found himself smiling at the familiar rudeness, "What have you been doing all this time?"
Eliot shrugged, "A little bit of everything. But I'm legit now, on most days." He grinned at her, unable to hide the familiar rush that came with the thought of behaving badly.
"Us too," Parker agreed, "Most days." She gave him a devious grin of her own.
"You should come over soon," she continued, "Hardison will be so excited to see you! He's still a geek."
"Alright," Eliot agreed,"
Parker nodded before launching herself at Eliot, very much like Lainey had, and wrapping him in a tight hug. Startled but not unhappy, Eliot squeezed her back, surprised to see how happy he was at the familiar scent of Parker. And then she pulled away, still grinning, and moved to leave with the sleeping Lainey.
"We'll call you," she promised, and the smile turned into something resembling the smirk he remembered. And then she was gone.
"How will you.." Eliot began to the empty air before stopping himself. Hardison. That was all that needed to be said.
It wasn't until three aisles later that he realized his wallet was gone. "Damn it, Parker!" he growled, much to the amusement of the other patrons. But even as he cursed the thief, he couldn't help the swelling feeling in his chest that felt suspiciously like coming home.
