A/N: Hello? Does anyone around here still care about reading this series? I wouldn't be at all surprised if everyone has forgotten about it, since I kinda dropped the ball for a while. Oops? If you are still interested, please review and let me know :)

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to John Rogers & Chris Downey and other folks that aren't me... but you knew that, right?

Casino Royale

Eliot wasn't big on the whole Vegas thing. It was all too busy, too noisy. A great place to pull a con, maybe, if you liked the whole Ocean's 11 deal, but not so good for relaxing.

He dropped into town to see an old friend, though perhaps 'friend' was the wrong word. Either way, the visit was done and the debt paid, so now Eliot had time to kill until he could get a flight out. Not that he knew where the next flight would end up taking him, he hardly ever did these days.

Two months since he left LA and his team behind. It was still weird to think he ever had a team to call his own, and yet they had stuck together long enough to be even more than work buddies - they were family. He had Momma, Daddy, and brother in those people, so he let himself think, but never spoke a word about it to them or anyone. Then there was Parker.

Maybe it wasn't his brightest move, sleeping with her the night before their final job, but Eliot was also highly aware of the 'now or never' vibe hanging on everything around the time of that last heist. Parker knew the score too, there were no allusions there. They went in with their eyes wide open, but it made it all the harder to walk away the next day when the job was done and Ian Blackpoole had been brought down for good.

Eliot tried not to think too much about Parker, and yet she seemed to be everywhere he went. Not really her, just girls with the same hair or a similar laugh. None of them could be her, because she was so unique, so singularly beautiful inside and out. He missed her, Eliot knew he did, more than he missed the others, more than he missed anybody. It made him crazy, he knew that too, and even thinking so made him smile because crazy was how he often referred to Parker.

No doubt she was out there somewhere, robbing some guy blind of all his diamonds, taking every last cent out of a bank that'd never see her coming. Eliot was thinking about this as he wandered through the casino, way past midnight, not knowing where else to go or what else to do. He couldn't sleep, not in a city with this much buzz, not when he didn't know who was to be trusted and who might stab him in the back, literally or otherwise.

Sitting down at the nearest card table with his pile of chips, Eliot was mostly watching the crowd moving behind his stool, the idiots who honestly thought that just this time the house wouldn't win. The croupiers switched before he turned back again, and then suddenly he was staring wide-eyed when he realised whose voice he just heard.

Parker glanced around the table, and a panicked look appeared on her face just for a second when her eyes met Eliot's own. He wasn't supposed to be here, he read that much in her expression before she looked away fast and concentrated on what she was supposed to be doing. There was no way she was working in a casino for the money or even just for kicks. She had a play here, she was working an angle, Eliot was certain, but in front of a table full of people was not a good time to ask!

The game started. Eliot knew Blackjack was three parts luck, but he had time to kill and money to burn, so he just played. There were four of them at the table, a couple to his left that were a little sloppy with their betting and a lot drunk, and to his right, a much older woman that looked like she should be at home knitting rather than frittering her pension money away. The couple ran out of chips before long and drifted away, but the little old lady was doing pretty good and really enjoying herself apparently. It made Eliot smile to watch her have such a good time, so he stuck around to make up the numbers in some small way.

Another win had the woman grinning all over her face as she dragged more chips towards her pile.

"You might just be my lucky charm, young man," she told Eliot then. "Until you sat down here I wasn't doing so well".

"Well, I don't think I can take all the credit, ma'am," he replied with a polite smile, eyes flitting to Parker as she shuffled the deck with expert hands. "Maybe it's the new dealer here," he gestured towards the blonde.

Parker looked up then with a smirk she couldn't help. He'd caught her out. If anyone was going to, it was always going to be Eliot. He knew she was cheating, though the old lady, the other people that had been here, probably anyone who was watching wouldn't have a clue. She was as fast as she was sneaky, as brilliant as she was beautiful, that was for sure. She was helping the woman sat beside Eliot to win each and every hand, until she almost had more chips than she could carry.

"I think I should quit while I'm ahead," said the kindly looking woman before long.

Eliot reached to help her when she nearly dropped her purse, and the two of them shifted the great pile of chips into the bag without losing a single one. Both Eliot and Parker watched her walk away and then were forced to face each other at last.

"This is what you're doin' here?" he asked her with a look she couldn't quite read. "Helping old ladies win at Blackjack?" he checked, rolling a chip along his knuckles and back without even thinking about it.

"What else is there to do?" she shrugged, shuffling the cards again and replacing them in their spot. "It's not the same on my own anymore, not since we've been the good guys," she sighed.

"Tell me about it," Eliot muttered, feeling equally as lost as she was.

It was painful to see her so sad. His own melancholy was easily ignored, probably deserved, and Eliot paid no mind to it. Seeing Parker upset was a whole different story. It had always and would always break his heart. This was why he was all kinds of proud of himself when he flipped a matchstick across the table towards her, and watched a grin appear on her face the moment it hit the green baise in her line of sight.

She remembered.

"You wanna get outta here?" he asked when she met his eyes with that beautiful smile fixed on her lips now.

"Sure," she shrugged easily, stepping out from behind the table. "It's not like I actually work here".

Eliot ought to have been surprised by that, but somehow he brushed it off as normal. Crazy was normal for Parker, and the longer he knew her the more he adjusted to it. He really hoped she never changed too much, and almost told her as much, but thought better of it as they walked through the casino together.

Parker didn't mind the silence, the quiet was her friend. Eliot was here and she was happy to see him, a warm feeling filling up her insides just because he was next to her. It was strange because she never got that with anybody else, not ever, only with Eliot since they had gotten closer in L.A. She always hoped to see him again though she hadn't really pinned too much hope on the fact she would. Repeatedly, Parker reminded herself she could survive well enough alone, just like before, and yet she no longer wanted to. She wanted this man at her side, and it was weird to her, but good at the same time.

Walking through the crowds, Eliot was mindful of losing Parker amongst the people, some of which looked much less than trustworthy. He slid his hand around hers without even thinking about it, and got a surprise when she didn't immediately pull away. This was Parker after all, she had a tendency to stab first, ask questions later when touched. That never did seem to be true when it came to Eliot and he smiled as he realised it was still true.

"So, you wanna get dinner or...?"

He got no further with his question as Parker suddenly pulled on the hand held with her own, and all but threw him against the back of a slot machine, kissing him like it was going out of style.

She hadn't meant to do it, she really hadn't. It was just seeing Eliot again, having him be so sweet to her. When his hand slid around hers, it reminded her of how close they'd gotten before, how good he could make her feel. When he kissed her, when they slept together that one time, it was the only thing that made the warm feeling inside her grow stronger until she was sure she was going to explode. In retrospect, she realised, that description was a little gross, but she knew what she meant, she felt it too, in this moment.

All these feelings she barely understood came rushing to the surface and the urge to just get close overtook her. Eliot didn't seem to mind anyway, not if the way he held her close and kissed her back was anything to go by, igniting flames she never wanted to put out. It was madness, she was all aware of that, but everyone said she was crazy anyway, even Eliot himself. May as well prove it.

"Man, I really missed you," he admitted breathlessly, when they parted all of an inch, barely even aware he'd said it until it was out there.

"Me too," she answered honestly, her forehead leaning against his own as they tried to get their bearings after such an intense moment.

Her eyes flitted to the stairs nearby, and there was no doubting what she had in mind. Eliot couldn't exactly say he hadn't thought about it himself, but one of them had to maintain some hold on the practicalities of their situation. Them even seeing each other right now was dangerous at best, and could be catastrophic at worst, but he did want her. He meant what he said about missing her and knew he would feel the wrench again when they walked away a second time.

"You know after tonight, I'm leaving again," he told her honestly, pushing loose hair back off her face as he gazed at her.

"I guessed," she nodded. "I wasn't planning on hanging around either, it's just that I..." the words that came next died on her lips and yet he almost thought he saw them written in her eyes.

Parker wasn't serious most of the time, only about the stuff that really mattered. Eliot hadn't really considered he was one of the things to make her get so solemn; it was both thrilling and scary to realise it now.

"You, what?" he prompted, but she only shook her head.

"Nothing," she told him, moving in for another kiss that left them both breathless all over again.

This was dumb, she knew it was. Parker knew that in life you couldn't trust people, and yet she put so much trust in Eliot. She couldn't help believing him when he said he'd be there for her, when he said he'd exact revenge on anyone she wanted him to. She knew that night they had sex and then walked away the next day that somehow they would see each other again, and that she wouldn't be thrown over like all of Eliot's other one night stands had been before. Of all the things she learnt as part of Team Leverage, she knew that when you finally got something good you had to make the most of it, because it might be gone before too long.

"Are you going somewhere dangerous?" she asked him, all of a sudden out of his arms, surprising Eliot more than the kiss ever had, even more than her missing him and being willing to admit it.

"Could be," he nodded once, getting his breath back pretty fast considering.

Parker nodded along, looking sideways out into the hall again and then back to him.

"Promise me one thing?" she asked him, continuing without waiting for a reply. "Try not to die?"

"I promise to try not to," he swore, both of them knowing it was the best he could do.

Wherever he ended up, whoever he fought, there were no guarantees to him coming out alive. He lived with the prospect of death every day, and though he had a survival instinct, he never had anyone much to care if he came home sometime or not. That was changing right now, and faster than he ever thought possible.

There was a moments unease and silent stillness that suited neither of them, and then Parker took a hold of Eliot's hand and practically ran for the staircase that led up to the hotel rooms above.

Not that he wanted to argue with her on this, but Eliot learnt a long time ago there was no use in it anyway. Much like the proverbial house, Parker would always win with him.

The End