A/N: This will be a series of drabbles exploring Parker's past. I have eight chapters outlined so far, but who knows what season 4 may reveal? All mistakes are mine. I hope it's not too OOC. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.


1. The Wayward Child

Parker was a thief.

She doesn't really remember how it all began, but somewhere along those early years of constant movement and displacement, she began to steal. A means of survival of a desperate foster child.

At first, as with all things, something small and innocuous. Like candy, or a bar of chocolate. There was Sally's lunch box, always filled with delicious sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies and a loving note from the mother (which earned a resentful glance before being crumpled up and thrown away).

By the time the school administration realized they had a thief on their hands, Parker had moved on to a different home and school. And even in those few unlucky instances when she was caught, they would let her go with little punishment, upon finding out she belonged to the system and that her foster parents didn't give a damn what Parker did.

Parker hated the teachers, their eyes always full of pity, always telling her help was there if she needed it (it never was), but she soon learned to use them to her advantage.

Most of the time, however, no one suspected that this quiet, bright-eyed child with wild blond hair, would be the culprit of so many things gone missing.

She began to steal bigger, better things: toys, shoes, and whole backpacks belonging to her classmates. Show and Tell were her favorite days of the year, when children brought their most treasured belongings for Parker to cherry pick.

That was how she found Mr. Bunny.


Sophie cradled the empty glass cup in her hands, unaware that it had long since dried up.

"And then?" she asked.

Cuddled up on the opposite end of the couch from Sophie, Parker answered with a shrug. She rubbed Mr. Bunny affectionately, tracing lines in the fur, lost in reverie. Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and the warmth of the motel room they were holed up in for the duration of the blizzard.

Parker was oblivious to Sophie sharing looks with Nate and the boys who sat around a game of poker, as well as to Eliot replacing the empty bottle of wine with a new one.

Parker happily watched as her glass filled up again. Leaning back into the couch, she took a sip.

"And then... I blew up the house."