Author's Note: I do not own Leverage or any of its characters. Please Enjoy!
*~*~*~*
"Eliot!" Hardison yelled, looking around the apartment as he carried two big foam swords. At least, that's what it looked like to Parker as she didn't move from her position sitting on top of the couch. Nate looked as well, raising an eyebrow as he looked to Parker. She shook her head no as Hardison dropped them and went through the door to the other apartment.
Parker jumped down and picked one up. "It's foam," she said to Nate. She tried to feel a bit deeper and raised an eyebrow. "And a pipe type thing."
"It's one way to get out frustration," Nate said as he looked to the door. "Parker," he said.
"Yep," Parker replied as she got back into her position on the couch. She looked oddly at both of the guys that walked back in. Probably because Eliot's hair was tied back instead of just hanging down like it normally did. "Can I watch?" She asked.
"Yes," Hardison and Eliot said, nearly at the same time. Hardison took one of the swords as Eliot took the other.
"I'm coming too," Nate said as he refilled his coffee cup and followed the trio out. He followed as they went down the hallway and to the empty parking lot in the back of the bar. He smiled as he saw Hardison put on a football helmet though as he moved to sit down next to Parker. "You want Hardison or Eliot?"
"You have to ask?" Parker said with a grin.
"How much?" Nate asked.
Parker thought about that as she watched the two men stretch. She grinned and looked to Nate. "500 thousand."
"Done," Nate said with a grin. He settled in with his coffee, about to take a sip when Parker took the cup from him. She poured it into the grass and then handed it back to him. "…that was just coffee."
"Oops," Parker said innocently as she gave him back his coffee cup.
Nate just sighed as he turned his attention back to the main reason they were in the parking lot. He saw Hardison raise his sword like thing first before he brought it down towards Eliot. Of course, Eliot blocked it easily before trying a different attack on Hardison. "That's different," he said as he saw Hardison block an attack before trying again.
"Think Eliot is going easy on him?" Parker asked.
"No," Nate replied as he watched the two men fight. "Why did you think that I had booze in the cup?"
"Because, since we did the bar with the funeral thing job, you did drink," Parker pointed out with a sigh. "I don't like it Nate."
"Well, I stopped," Nate said quietly.
"Maggie?" Parker asked as she turned to look at him.
"Yeah," Nate said quietly as he blinked, seeing that Eliot was down on his knees. "Maybe he is taking it easy on Hardison."
"Maybe," Parker said. "You should apologize to Sophie and get her to come back."
"I thought you were starting to like Tara," Nate said.
"I do but – I want my mother figure back," Parker said quietly as she curled up on herself. "The psychic – he made me think about what I have now. I don't really have any other family. I have you guys and that's it. So I like Tara, but I like her as a sister. You're the dad – we need our mom back. So, could you go and make up with her and get her? Please?"
Nate blinked and looked at Parker, trying to think of what he could say to her. He knew that she felt that way from time to time, but he wasn't sure how to explain that he couldn't do what she asked. It was at that moment that Eliot claimed his attention by swearing. "I think Hardison just won."
"You owe me money then," Parker said with a grin as she got up and went over to Hardison.
"Right," Nate said quietly as he sat there with his empty coffee cup. He realized that what Parker was asking for wasn't hard. Plus, it would make the blame go off of him if he did apologize and try for her sake. He pulled out his cell phone and called the bank, transferring the money to Parker before he got up and joined the trio.