Title: The Unexplainable Progression of Things
Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or its characters and I make no profit from this. It's just for fun.
Spoilers: None unless you have absolutely no idea who the characters are or what they do (every job I mention here is fictional).
Pairing: Nate/Parker, possible allusions to Eliot/Sophie (you decide).
Summary: Parker comes to a realization about her feelings and must make a decision on what to do about them. Along the way, she has fun toying with Hardison. Allusions to possible Eliot/Sophie.
Author's note: After my last story I was thrilled to learn there were a few other Nate/Parker fans in the world. I have hesitated on posting any more stories, but I finally decided to do so again, because I know what it's like to love a pairing that no one else does (I mean why else would I be writing this?). It's not the most popular pairing (okay not popular at all) but I really don't see why. I love these two so much – so to the several other Nate/Parker fans out there (I know a handful exist) – this one is dedicated to you!
XXXXX
There are some things she knows how to do.
Like, with the proper amount of research and training, how to get into virtually any building in the world, undetected. Those you couldn't break into, you could usually walk into during operating hours and proceed from there.
And how to act crazy. She knows that no matter if you're truly crazy or completely sane, so long as everyone thinks you're crazy, you can get away with a hell of a lot. No one expects too much, and when you fail, they blame your craziness. It's a foolproof system.
She also knows things she should never do.
Never bet Eliot you can beat him in a fight because he always wins, even if you drug him (and what the hell was up with that?).
Never tell Sophie you think you'd be better acting on a job instead of her, because she will let you do so only to watch you fail spectacularly (Parker still remembers the miserable con they pulled where she played a psychiatrist and nearly drove their mark to suicide). She would never let the random desire for a change of pace allow her to usurp Sophie's role again.
Never bring Hardison along on a covert theft (honestly, last time he'd almost gotten them caught and only her quick thinking of shoving, and subsequently locking, him into a closet had saved them). He still complained that leaving him there for two hours was unnecessary, but hey, he asked for it.
And absolutely never joke that you're going to double cross your team and take the $2 million payout you all just scored and flee to South America, because when it comes to those sorts of things, they tend to have no sense of humor (she thinks Hardison still has her picture attached to every no-fly list in the world, just to be safe).
Perhaps above all, never fall in love with a co-worker.
No, make that never fall in love with your boss.
Better still – never fall in love.
She's had a variety of relationships in her life, only a few memorable, and of those, none worth remembering. Long ago she decided that she and love did not mix well.
So she stopped expecting it, and searching for it, and she certainly stopped wishing for it.
And she would have stopped it, this time, if she'd known it was happening. If she hadn't woken up one day and realized that sometime in the past year she had, unknown to her conscious mind, gone and fallen completely in love.
It was the most miserable thing to happen to her in exactly 17 years.
To be fair, it wouldn't have been so bad if she could just avoid him. Except she saw him all the time. So, yeah, it was bad.
Like right now, at a briefing about the incriminating past Hardison had discovered on one of the key players in their latest con. She was barely listening to him – she may as well have stayed home.
And the reason why she wasn't listening to Hardison prattle on about Jonathan Hunter's shady past of God knows what (she wasn't listening, remember?) interspersed with, she was sure (from past experience) Hardison's numerous compliments to himself and his own ability?
It was because Nate sat next to her, not extraordinarily close – hell, Sophie and Eliot were practically touching, and she didn't think they were sleeping together (though the thought gave her pause) – but it was too close for comfort thanks to her recent preoccupation.
In fact, he had this annoying(ly endearing – ah, how she hated herself!) habit of swiveling his chair restlessly when he was trying to keep himself from getting up and pacing. Every time he swiveled away from her, his arm brushed hers. And it was making her want to scream.
He was doing it on purpose. No, he wasn't, she was just paranoid, and she'd made a concerted effort to give up on excessive paranoia after Hardison had gotten injured in a slight mishap. (He said she broke his arm, but it was only a minor fracture and he really was a baby about things like that). Even Sophie had told him to man up, right before he passed out.
When that incident had happened, they were in a 5-star hotel and casino working a job which involved Nate and Sophie playing a high roller couple, Hardison as the sometimes-concierge, Eliot as a blackjack dealer, and herself as well, herself, breaking into a few rooms along the way.
The whole thing had nothing to do with their con, as it happened
Hardison shouldn't have snuck up on her, so the whole thing was his fault, really. His version of events was a bit different, but of course he would paint himself as the victim. ("It was broad daylight, Parker, and I was talking to you as I walked up to you and I don't see how tapping you on the shoulder counts as an ambush." To which she could only say, "Survival instincts don't take into account the position of the sun, Hardison.") Eliot had even agreed with her on that one, though she suspected more because he wanted to make fun of Hardison for getting beaten by a girl.
She had felt bad about it, despite what they thought. She even went to Hardison later to apologize, after Sophie patched him up, though he was unnaturally tense the whole time, as if he thought she was going to lunge at him.
She tried to explain, but he didn't want to hear it. She left the room with a feeling of dejection and stopped in the hallway, leaning against the wall. Nate was there, probably on his way to remind Hardison they still had a job to do and no amount of sulking was going to get it done.
"He doesn't get it," she told Nate. "People like him, they'll never get it." What she meant, of course, was that innate desire to survive, and the knowledge, which stemmed from a miserable childhood, that of everyone in the world, it was you alone who had any investment in keeping yourself alive.
So Hardison couldn't really understand why she was the way she was, or how hard it was to turn off those types of instincts. He merely told her she was crazy and to keep her distance from him for awhile, and that was the end of it, in his mind.
To her surprise, Nate hadn't merely nodded in acknowledgment and continued into Hardison's room. Instead, he stopped and leaned against the wall next to her. "I get it." He said, which caused her to look at him, really look at him, and wonder why exactly he got something that took some extremely hard experiences to learn.
She knew she wasn't the only one with issues. All of them had issues – they wouldn't be doing what they did if that weren't the case – but it was rare for any of them to openly talk about it. Especially Nate. She certainly knew less about him than any of the others, and that wasn't an accident on his part.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him what he meant, until she thought of how she'd feel on the receiving end of that question. So she didn't ask, she only smiled, and if it was weak at least it was grateful.
Then her entire world spun on its axis as he actually reached out, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. She would term it a hug except she wasn't facing him, and it was so bizarre she sort of froze so she certainly wasn't hugging him back. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You know how Hardison is; dramatic doesn't begin to describe it. He'll be over this by tomorrow."
She relaxed at his words, a consequence of which was that she ended up leaning against him, which he apparently took as a positive sign and brought his other arm around her, too, and if it wasn't a hug before, it definitely was then.
Before she could process too much, one of the hotel concierges had approached them in the hall, clearing his throat. "Your wife is looking for you, Mr. Norwell." Parker suspected the man was uncomfortable but he hid it well. God knows what he had seen in his job.
"Of course," Nate nodded, meeting the man's stare and (Parker guessed) pointedly not releasing her until the man had quickly strode away. "Trust Sophie to send a messenger when I've been gone all of ten minutes. Go find Eliot, would you? Tell him I need him to meet me in my room."
He'd gone into Hardison's room as if nothing strange had happened, and well, maybe it hadn't. But either way, she stood there staring at Hardison's closed door for at least five minutes.
Later she thinks, maybe, that's the moment she started falling in love with him. Ever since, she'd been hyper aware of every interaction they had, every casual touch, every conversation, especially when it seemed he was opening up to her more than he did anyone else.
It couldn't only be her imagination that they were closer than before. He definitely didn't love her romantically (she wouldn't allow herself to entertain that thought – such ludicrous hope would only destroy her), but he must at least consider her a good friend.
That job had gone perfectly, in any event, and nothing else major had occurred as a result of their time at the Grand Belleview Resort and Casino.
Aside from her falling in love, that is.
Oh, and Hardison never sneaking up on her again.
Which brought her back to their briefing where Hardison…Was. Still. Talking.
Too bad she tuned back in at the right – or wrong – moment. "Parker?" Hardison was clearly expecting an answer.
Her eyes snapped up to find everyone looking at her expectantly. "Uh…yes?"
Hardison's eyes widened. "You're not serious. I knew you'd want to attempt it, Parker, but guys, tell her this is too dangerous."
Great, she'd just agreed to do something that she would probably regret. Well, anything to take her mind off its current track. She cautiously glanced at Nate, only to quickly avert her gaze when he looked over at her.
"If she wants to try, let her try." Nate shrugged. "Death is a risk with every job anyways, right?"
Her eyes widened as Nate patted her on the shoulder and stood up. Parker almost panicked until she noticed Sophie rolling her eyes, which reassured her that Nate had only been kidding. She hoped.
XXXXX
It was later, on the rooftop of the building she was preparing to break into, that she decided she couldn't live this way any longer. She had to do something. The thought scared her a thousand times more than the jump she was going to be making in 5.6 minutes.
Her mind was supposed to be on the job, but instead her thoughts were a few hundred yards away, where Nate was in a van with Hardison, waiting to give her the signal. She couldn't go on like this. (And what was wrong with Hardison that he thought she couldn't pull off breaking into a minimum-security building, by the way? Sometimes he acted like she was a random bystander they'd pulled off the street and asked to join their team).
Several minutes passed with interminable slowness. She always found waiting to be the hardest part.
"Parker, are you okay?" Nate said suddenly through her com, and because he caught her off guard, she unthinkingly replied:
"No."
Which was followed by five seconds of silence where Nate apparently had to process an answer he'd never gotten from her before. "No?"
"I mean yes. I mean, I'm ready."
Another short pause, wherein she thought he might say something else. Instead, all she heard was "Ten seconds."
As she silently counted down in her head she made a decision. And when she jumped she knew what she was going to do.
Because there was no possible way he would ever love her. And there was no way she could continue on as she had been for months. It left only one option.
She had to leave.
XXXXX
It took her a few weeks to arrange things, and another to build up her courage. Usually she had no problem facing things head on. She knew the way things were, and the way they had to be – she never had trouble with that before, so why did she now?
Originally she was going to simply vanish, until she decided that was wrong. Not only would it worry everyone, but it would plague her with guilt for quite some time. Apparently spending time working with others had caused her to develop a conscience, which was disconcerting, because she'd never had to deal with something so restricting before.
Which was why on a Wednesday, at 1:45 pm, her life changed.
"I have one thing to add," she said, after Nate had finished telling them about how he'd heard from one of their past clients who wanted to thank them again for what they'd done. She would miss that – the gratitude that came from what they did, the ways they helped people. She knew she could do some things on her own, but it would never be the same as working with Sophie and Hardison and Eliot.
And Nate.
Everyone focused on her, expectantly. It was disconcerting. Best get right to the point. "I'm going to be leaving. It's been great working with all of you, but I've decided it's time to move on. So…bye." She abruptly stood, studiously avoiding all their faces. She didn't want to see surprise or sadness or any emotion in anyone's eyes that would make her reconsider. Make her stay. It had been hard enough.
"What? You're what? You're not serious, this is a joke, right?" Hardison sounded like he was nearing hysteria. Nate was right, he was dramatic. Even so, she allowed herself to fall back into her seat, knew she wouldn't be able to simply stroll out like she'd originally hoped.
"Parker, what are you talking about?" The man she couldn't get away from, not even in her own head, (and the reason she was leaving) asked her, so serious that she had to swallow, remind herself to breathe. This was the right thing; it was.
And God, if she knew telling them would be so hard, she would have simply disappeared. Without a trace.
"I've decided I need to go back to being on my own. Really, I've had fun here, but…I need to leave."
"What's happened?" Sophie leaned forward, worried, maybe scared. "Did someone threaten you or –"
"No! No, nothing like that." Parker watched as she tapped her fingers on the table, merely to give herself an excuse as to why she wouldn't lift her eyes to face anyone. "Just…don't look for me. Let me go."
"You're serious," Eliot sounded calm, though to be fair he never sounded much different than usual.
"Yes, I am serious."
"Parker! Really, Parker, let's all take a minute and talk about this." Hardison again, becoming more agitated. He seemed not to realize that talking about it was exactly what they were doing.
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, allowing herself to finally look up and the first person she saw was Nate (they could be alone or in a crowd - he's always the first person she sees). And once she looked at him she couldn't look away. He watched her with a closeness that terrified her and it was like he stole something from her. That's the way it always was. The reason she had to leave, because if she stayed, she could no longer be held accountable for her actions. She would give in one day and tell him everything – everything – and he would smile sadly and shake his head and it would be over before it even began. And the small hope that had been sustaining her for seven months would shatter and she would have to leave anyway.
That's why it was best to leave now.
"Is this some sort of mid-life crisis?" Hardison was still talking and that got her attention.
"I'm thirty-two," she told him with exasperation, and he had the gall to nod, as if she just confirmed his guess.
"Hardison, no," Sophie sent her an apologetic look and then threw her pen at Hardison for good measure, apparently in female solidarity. Eliot smirked when it bounced off Hardison's forehead (how did he not get out of the way? Slowest reflexes ever – that was how he went and got his arm fractured) and then gave Sophie a high-five. For a moment, Parker was distracted by the look they shared with each other. Was there a hidden level of intimacy there? Or was she simply (oh God) seeing love everywhere now? She blamed it on her hyperactive imagination.
Nate gestured for the others to leave the room, asking for a few minutes to talk to her alone. They quietly agreed (except for Hardison, who was threatening Sophie with deportation in retaliation for the pen incident, and who Eliot had to almost drag out). It was quite amazing sometimes that she always got the reputation of being the crazy one – had they looked at themselves, ever?
She thought they were probably glad they didn't have to deal with her. Let Nate do it – didn't he always get stuck with handling the worst parts of the things they did?
She wished he could see her reasons. She tried to tell him with her eyes but he either couldn't see it, or didn't care, because there was one factor she did not take into account.
Which is what to do if he refused to let go of her.
"All I ask for is the reason why you want to leave." He leaned back in his chair, assessing her as if they weren't talking about the rest of her life.
She smiled, and if it was bitter, well, she decided it was alright this time. Hadn't she earned it? "I want to. That's my reason."
Only he never could simply let things go. He had to push and push and it felt like he was suffocating her even though throughout the course of her explanations (such as they were) to everyone, she'd moved her chair away from him. They were a good four feet apart. And she still couldn't breathe.
"I don't believe you."
Of course he wouldn't believe her. The one time she needed him to, for her sanity, and he had to call her on the lies.
"I don't know what to tell you, then, Nate. Because that's the truth. I simply need some space. Some freedom. Air." The last part was the truest of all because she had to press her hands over her eyes to block him out and take a deep breath.
"Did you forget that I know when you're lying?" He sounded closer and when she moved her hands, opened her eyes again, he was – he'd moved his chair to directly in front of her. She could lean over and touch him.
But she wouldn't, because she was sure he wouldn't want her to.
"I'm not lying," she lied, because maybe if she repeated it over and over again he'd wear down and just believe her.
Luck was not on her side today, though.
"Something's been going on for weeks," he said, shifting topics so that he caught her offguard, and she leaned back in her own chair, if only to increase their distance. She hoped it would make things easier.
But because it only reminded her that if she had her way, tomorrow they would be thousands of miles apart, it didn't.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she tried to laugh. Failed. She heaved a sigh, may as well give in because they both knew he was going to keep pressing. "Fine, there have been a few things that have caused my sudden desire to split, I'll admit it. But how did you know?" She was genuinely curious. She thought she'd been acting the same as ever, even put extra effort into being herself, being Parker, the careless thief they all loved to think was crazy, 24/7.
He stared intently at her again, in the way that made her think, uneasily, that he could see right through her and out the other side.
What was her mistake? What alerted him to the fact that for three weeks now she'd only been playing at being herself?
"You stopped looking at me," he told her.
She knew as soon as he said it that he was one hundred percent right. How had she not realized that before? Ever since she decided she couldn't stay, she'd avoided him. She'd tried not to meet his eyes, as much as possible, because of her fear that he would pick up on her desire to leave. Or worse, her reasons for doing so.
"You're right," she whispered. "I'm sorry. You deserved more than this, but that doesn't change that I'm leaving."
"Maybe not," he said easily, "but I think you still owe me the reason why."
"I can't tell you why," she said, before she could stop herself, then clenched her fists so tightly she was surprised her nails didn't draw blood. Because she just essentially admitted there was a reason which he wouldn't like.
He leaned forward, taking both her hands, rubbing them until she relaxed and the blood flow returned and she wanted to scream that this, this is why I can't tell you because if I do everything changes and then I have to listen to you tell me that you're flattered, but you're in love with Sophie, or you could never feel that way about me, or whatever other excuse you come up with, and you're sure my feelings will pass, and we can both just forget I ever said anything.
Instead she said, "It's not you, Nate. It's me."
The corner of his eyes crinkled because he smiled at that, and said, "Are we breaking up, Parker?"
Which jolted her a bit and her eyes flew up to meet his like she'd been caught – though she hadn't been, not until she reacted that way and the smile vanished from his face as if it never was. And now, she realized, is when she had to face what she's been trying to avoid all along. Because there's no point in denying it now, not when he's just seen the truth written all over her face.
"I'm sorry," she shook her head in dismay, at what she didn't know. Him, herself, her inappropriate feelings and the way everything had become completely screwed up.
He didn't say anything and she had to keep talking, she had to fix it. "I would take it all back if I could. I would take away everything I feel for you. I would never have –" She couldn't finish the thought. What was she supposed to say? That she never would have loved him? Sure she could think it, abstractly, but to really face it, she didn't see how it was remotely possible, never mind something she would actually wish for. Probably because she was in love with him. Which was everything coming full circle, now wasn't it? I can't imagine wishing I never loved you, because I love you. It didn't even make sense.
While she was running through the thoughts over and over in her head, Nate was thinking and then he murmured, "You love me."
Her non-answer was answer enough.
"That's why you're leaving," he continued. "Because you love me? You're leaving because you love me?" Apparently he thought if he kept repeating it in various ways it would make sense.
"I'm sorry," she said again helplessly. And she was, for all of it, except the loving him part which somehow her mind wouldn't let go of, even in hypothetical situations.
"It's not even a reason!" He yelled at her, letting go of her hands which she'd barely realized he was still holding and jumping up from his seat. He was obviously angry, and confused.
And she realized a second later, with no small amount of awe, he was terrified.
Of all the ways she ever imagined herself scaring Nate to death, this had to be last on any imaginary list she'd ever devised.
She stood and he abruptly stopped, turning to face her head on. From his stance she knew whatever he was about to say he would mean with every fiber of his being and God help her if she argued.
She prepared herself to argue.
"You're not going anywhere."
"You can't keep me here, Nate," she rolled her eyes. "And why would you want to, after the uncomfortable admission I just gave you? I half thought you might be calling me a cab about now."
"You're not going anywhere," he repeated, more slowly, and quieter, like maybe she didn't hear him the first time because he said it too fast, or too loud.
"Why not?" She challenged, and a minuscule part of her hoped at that challenge. She would never admit it, but she thinks maybe, just maybe, he'll give her a reason that makes her want to stay.
His eyes widened and he held up his hands as if in surrender and why was he acting like he couldn't believe what she just said?
"Because I love you."
Oh, that was why. Wait, what?
She was fairly certain she must have said the last two words out loud, only she couldn't be sure because the next thing that happened was Nate kissed her, and so later, when she remembered it, everything became slightly fuzzy and she couldn't place exactly what dialogue happened when or where.
She was stunned, and it was brief, and chaste, because she only let it go on for a few seconds before quickly pulling back and feeling the need to inform him, "Nate, you just kissed me."
"Reallllly?" He drew out the word as if he'd been given some sort of monumental revelation, and maybe, she thought, he had been.
She didn't want to cry because it wasn't something she allowed of herself, which made it necessary for her to keep talking. "What are you doing?"
"I thought it was obvious – God, you scared me, you scared all of us! Did you see how worried Sophie was? And Hardison, he's probably having an apoplectic fit in the next room as we speak."
"You're talking like I'm not going anywhere," she said carefully, realizing she was still holding onto his arms and there were maybe inches between them, and it was a far cry from the thousands of miles she was dreading only ten minutes ago.
He must have decided that a hug would do better in this situation than a kiss, because the few inches of space disappear when he pulls her to him, tightly, and her mind touches briefly upon their first hug, in a hotel hallway, seven months and a million feelings ago. "That's because you're not."
"You can't tell me what to do," she said, still fighting because, she realized with a start, she can. She feels safe arguing with him, touching him, merely being in his presence. It's something she's never really felt before and it simultaneously terrifies and thrills her.
"How about this," he said, slightly muffled, because he was sort of talking into her hair, "there's nowhere you can go that I'm not going to follow you. I'll force Hardison to track you if I have to."
She pressed in closer to him and tried not to feel like she was going to wake up at any moment because even in her craziest dreams, she never imagined she could get something like this. A happy ending to her story. "I love you so much," she told him, unable to keep the words from spilling out any longer. She felt like she was in the final scene of some romantic drama she would usually watch only to make fun of, except since she was living it she suddenly understood how wonderful those scenes could really be.
"I love you," he told her again, and she knew she would never tire of hearing it. "You have to promise me something right now. No matter how overwhelmed or tired or scared you may be, whatever problems come up from now on, never try to solve them by running away from me."
She thought about it seriously for a minute, understood immediately what he was asking. To stay with him, forever. It came as a surprise to her when she realized she truly believed she could do that. "Okay," she said simply.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes for a few moments. She wondered if he was trying to determine if he could believe her. If so, he must have been satisfied, because he smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
Hardison, with the worst timing in the world, chose that moment to burst into the room. "I can't take it any – what's going on here?"
Nate didn't let go of her, but they both turned to look toward where Hardison stood in the doorway, both horrified and scandalized. He'd come to such an abrupt stop that Sophie and Eliot nearly crashed into him, and their three colleagues watched with alternating looks of surprise, confusion, and disbelief.
"Nothing's going on," Parker said calmly. "Except that Nate's convinced me to stick around awhile longer."
"What changed your mind?" Eliot asked, and the words almost seemed to stick in his throat, but he got them out through valiant effort.
Parker shrugged, "He gave me a reason to stay."
"Oh no, oh hell no," Hardison turned and stumbled out of the room, muttering about how he needed to go stare at the sun to cleanse his retinas, and other things equally ridiculous.
Parker's surprised when Sophie only smiles at them and backs out as well, grabbing Eliot's hand and pulling him after her when he seems stuck in the doorway and unable to move.
"They'll get over it," Nate reassured her and Parked nodded in agreement. "Let's go home."
She could do nothing but wholeheartedly agree with that idea and the wordless assumption that now, wherever home was, it was somewhere they were together. She knew they'd have a lot to discuss, and probably a lot of obstacles in their future, but she'd never felt so sure of the fact that no matter what, the two of them could figure it out.
"Hey Nate…" she began, as he was flipping off the lights throughout their office. She swore (when he accused her later) that it was only an accident that she happened to ask right when he took a sip of his water, "Do you think Eliot and Sophie are sleeping together?"
After he stopped coughing, he gave her a mock glare and replied, "To think Hardison said we would give him nightmares…" He stopped to think, then turned to her with an evil glint in his eye. "Make sure you bring that up to him tomorrow."
XXXXX
The next day she came across Hardison in the kitchen. She was going to take pity on him, really, but when he started backing away from her and mumbling about "sparing him" (which made her wonder what exactly he thought she was going to be telling him over their morning coffee – or ever really), all sympathy for him flew out the window.
"Say Hardison," she began as she poured some milk into her cup. "Did you know that Eliot and Sophie are sleeping together?"
That made him stop cold. "What? No, you're screwing with me. You think you can make my head explode after last night, and then telling me this today? I don't believe you."
She shrugged as if it was of no importance, and knew she had him completely hooked. "Nate bet me $300 I couldn't prove it – said if there was something going on, they were too good at hiding it for anyone to get proof – so of course I'm going to do it. Can't let him start telling me when something's impossible, can I?"
"Impossible, he said? Oh that does it, I am all over this Parker. If they are together I am going to get pictures and video – okay not video because Eliot would beat me to death – but irrefutable proof. You tell Nate that it's on." Hardison stalked out with a purpose and Parker smiled into her coffee.
"You're devious," Nate whispered in her ear. She hadn't heard him come in, though he'd obviously heard the whole conversation, and her smile got wide even though he couldn't see it.
"I am a criminal, you know," she reminded him as he made his own cup of coffee. "Besides, Hardison has it coming. For all his snide comments lately. You have to admit, it's fun to drive him crazy."
Nate shook his head. "Fine, have your fun, but don't come complaining to me when you find all your bank accounts wiped out or when you suddenly have a bench warrant out for your arrest."
She thinks about that for a little while after Nate leaves the room. She's fairly certain Hardison wouldn't go to such extreme measures…then again…she made a mental note to be nicer to him in the future. Eventually. Right now she was having too much fun.
In the end, it turned out that the chase she'd sent him on had two benefits. First, it made him (almost) forget about her and Nate. The comments like "I can't handle these bizarre alternate realities, alright? Do I look like Jerry O'Connell to you all?" (after she tells them all that she and Nate are going to move in together) and "I wish I were in Minority Report with Tom Cruise so I could buy myself some new eyes," (after he catches them kissing when he comes in early one morning) – virtually stop altogether.
She kind of misses them, actually; they were pretty funny.
Secondly, it was amusing as hell to watch Hardison try to be stealthy, and to witness the reactions from Eliot and Sophie as they wondered what the hell was going on.
Like one morning when Eliot walked in and announced, "The damnedest thing happened when I woke up today. I looked out my window and I swear to God I saw you outside," (this directed at Hardison along with a deadly glare). "I was only seeing things, right? Because if it was you lurking around outside my home I'd have to kill you. Of course." Hardison mumbled something about the surprising number of doppelgangers each person had before slinking out of the room and Parker tried to look unaffected when Eliot glanced at her. Nate rescued her by calling her name from the other room right before she could burst out laughing and inadvertently give herself away, and she'd never loved him more than in that moment.
Later that week, when Sophie turned a corner and actually ran into Hardison (and Nate says this is why he almost always has Hardison stick to the computer stuff), she yelled at him to stop following her. Plausible deniability was not Hardison's friend because he'd been doing that sort of thing for weeks now, ever since Parker's "casual comment one morning" and though Sophie and Eliot knew he was following them, they had no idea why.
To further bruise Hardison's pride, he'd gotten no evidence on them whatsoever. Even Parker began to wonder if some sort of romantic relationship between them was all in her head. But they were still unnaturally close sometimes, and so, she couldn't be sure.
"I give up," Hardison lamented, collapsing theatrically onto the sofa in front of them (Parker laughs silently at Nate's look of 'if this doesn't prove he's a drama queen, what does?'). "If they are together I can't find any proof and I'm getting perilously close to having more limbs broken" (pointed glare at Parker here). "Rather than risk Eliot's wrath or Sophie's ire, I think I'll lay low for awhile. They'll give themselves away eventually. I guess you win, Nate," he sulked. It'd been four weeks of hilarity, and Parker sighed to herself. She knew the entertainment had to end sometime.
It was a testament to how morose he was feeling that he didn't comment on, or even seem to notice, that she was sitting on the other couch with her feet in Nate's lap. Normally this would warrant a comment that would imply to anyone who overheard that she and Nate were about to have sex on said couch, for the way Hardison overreacted to everything. The silence from him, then, was both welcome and worrying.
"You know," Nate said, "Eliot and Sophie just left to go to the store. Together. Don't you think that's weird?"
Hardison perked up and glanced over at them. "You're right…why does buying milk require two people? I'm on it, Nate – prepare to lose your money!" He was out of the room in seconds and Parker shook her head. Hardison was crazy but she really did love him. She loved all of them.
But none like the man sitting on the couch with her, who, as she met his eyes, she suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of affection for. Strange how those feelings hit her more strongly when he did something kind of evil.
"We're too mean to him, isn't that what you said?" She whispered as she pulled her feet from his lap and sat up straighter.
"Hmm," he mused. "I know, he's going to have a breakdown if we don't let up on him. We'll make it up to him. Find him a nice girl. Maybe Sophie has a thing for him?"
Parker smirked and couldn't resist straddling him. "You know, after all this time I still can't figure out if Eliot and Sophie are together or not. It's starting to drive me crazy."
"We could always just ask them," Nate suggested. Always practical, that was her Nate.
"Too easy," she replied. "And a hell of a lot less fun than dispatching Hardison to 'find the truth'."
"Which reminds me, I told Eliot and Sophie about the whole thing, they're going to stage a kiss at the store. Hardison's going to lose his mind."
"You know the poor guy is going to quit on us?" Parker smiled into his shoulder.
"Nah, he loves us too much," Nate said as she closed her eyes and rested against him, both of them taking the time to revel in the rarity of being alone together in the middle of the day.
XXXXX
An hour and a half later, when Hardison reappears, wailing about how he's no longer the third wheel to her and Nate, but the fifth wheel to her and Nate, and Sophie and Eliot, she takes pity on him and tells him Eliot and Sophie staged the "declaration of love" he witnessed while they were grocery shopping.
Nate swears to her that since she revealed his plan, he'll get revenge on her later.
She smartly informs him she's looking forward to it.
Hardison leaves the room in search of aspirin and Eliot and Sophie simultaneously roll their eyes.
She still doesn't know if they're together or not, but from the way they leave within ten minutes of each other that night, she suspects.
It's a problem yet to solve, and when Nate absently takes her hand later, while trying to explain something, she has a sudden hope that Eliot and Sophie are together, because everyone should be as happy as she is, at that moment.
Then he kisses her, and it's not long before she stops thinking of them altogether.
***If you made it this far I hope you enjoyed the story! I appreciate reviews from anyone, Nate/Parker fan or not. They mean a lot to all writers, and especially to someone like me, who has not posted much.