A/N - WELCOME!

This chapter almost didn't happen... But I got it pulled together and I am ready to make your weekend bright!

I hope you have fun reading this as much as I did writing it.

A/N - I put this as rated M, because if Eliot or Parker doesn't control their mouths... Who knows where we'll end up?

ENJOY and PLEASE REVIEW! The muses are hungry again... And with the addition of the Burn Notice muses, I have more mouths to feed.

LOL!

After Parker finished with Sophie, she dialed another number and had the delivery of Eliot's Christmas present moved up earlier than she first ordered it to be delivered. When she had first ordered the ten horses, she had no idea when Eliot was going to wake up and get out of the hospital. Now that he was about to start physical therapy, it was time… Why ten? She thought of five per side of the barn, and if Nate, Sophie, and Hardison wanted to ride they could. The five other horses could be for Beretta and Colt to ride, and so on and so forth. The little ones might like to pet them anyway until they could ride. So in the meantime, she got them a couple of Shetland ponies to ride; to get them used to riding. They were small enough and the children were just the right size in her mind. She didn't understand that a one and a half month old and a ten and a half month old weren't big enough to ride anything but in a bouncy leisure center. The man at the ranch told her to expect delivery on the fifth of the ten horses and two Shetlands. Parker seemed pleased with herself. Lunch was already looming… She went into the kitchen and began to prep the beef she needed to make her version of tacos. The thief didn't like to use onion in her meat but she loved the flavor so she used a little onion and garlic powders, ground cumin, and a little salt and pepper. When the meat was done, she turned off the stove, and headed up to her bedroom to change into her outfit…

She striped down and dressed herself in this bikini that had a bra that looked like it was made out of the flag of Mexico, the two strings tied up behind her head at the base of her neck, and it actually had cups instead of tiny patches of fabric. The bottom half looked like boy cut underwear but it also had the same colors as above. She left her hair down and dug around in her closet for the sombrero. She grabbed the blanket and some duct tape… With everything in place, she went down into the living room. Parker put some Mariachi music on the stereo, turned up the temperature on the thermostat to something cozy and comfortable, and went back to making lunch. Eliot's room and busted in again after she stopped in the living room to put some Mariachi music on the stereo… She prepped a head of lettuce, washed it, and cut it in half. She put the other half into a Ziploc bag with a damp paper towel to keep it from turning brown. Then she retrieved the vegetable oil for frying the flour tortillas and after putting that on the counter she went back to the refrigerator for a couple large tomatoes. Parker was at the sink washing them when she got a shock at the voice behind her. She jumped slightly but she still kind of expected Eliot anyway…

"Dammit Parker, what the hell are you wearin'," she heard him ask behind her.

Eliot had decided to take a nap after breakfast and had slept pretty well, all up until the point that he suddenly heard horns, people singing, and guitars blaring in the living room. He got himself out of bed, into his wheels with a lot of grunting and adrenaline pumping into his system, and rolled himself to the kitchen with a little work. He noticed a serape folded over a chair… He sat there a minute and watched Parker dancing around the kitchen in almost nothing but a bikini, a straw-woven sombrero, and an apron on her front side. She was getting the vegetable oil out of a cabinet, barefoot, up on her tip-toes, and then the tortillas from the fridge. She went back for some tomatoes. The way she moved in the kitchen with ease while holding his favorite knives… He was trying not to let it turn him on… But it was damn hot to watch…

"It's Mexican for lunch today… Tacos are on the menu, should be ready in a few minutes," she spoke like nothing was wrong with what she wore as part of the meal's theme…

She came up to him in the chair with an apron that said, 'Kiss the Cook,' on it and she took control of the chair. She wheeled him up to the dining room table and parked him there before put the sombrero on her head on his. Then she disappeared back into the kitchen. A few moments later she came out with a cutting board and a colander. She set both on the table and he noticed that she had a knife inside the colander with the half a head of lettuce and the two tomatoes.

"Wanna help?"

Parker had no idea how very much he wanted to help… He'd missed his knives and the actions of food preparation. He'd been thinking of how he could sneak back into the kitchen to cook something for himself without the thief watching over his shoulder… He'd also missed his cooking… Not that what Parker made for him was bad for him, but he was already looking forward to sweating off all the calories he'd consumed since he'd left the hospital… And then he remembered that tomorrow he was going to get the reprieve from the prison of the casts on his legs tomorrow already. Soon, physical therapy would be taking his worries away because he would be getting his strength back and that meant he could get back to his life sooner. Eliot nodded in the affirmative, took the knife from the colander, and firmly gripped it in his hand.

"You know what to do with that and this stuff here. Cut it however you like. Be right back," Parker voiced before she went back to the kitchen.

The hitter noticed that it was nicely warm in the room while she was gone. She must have turned up the heat. A few moments later she returned with a couple bowls for the tomatoes and the lettuce. Then she mercifully left him alone…

The blond thief went about frying the soft taco size flour tortillas, which didn't take her long; they dried in an upside down V position to keep them from closing or she would have ended with tostadas instead. She hadn't planned on that because then she'd need refried beans… She'd stolen looks at him as he started cutting away at the food; he looked happy and relaxed. It seemed to her that it had been a good idea to include him in helping to make lunch. Then Parker pulled out the bag of already graded cheese from the fridge and served up some in a bowl. It was a blend of some Mexican style cheese. She took that to the table along with a medium flavored chunky salsa and sour cream. After collecting the stuff she left with Eliot, she brought out he dried shells. Then she nuked some of the meat in the microwave just to heat it up a little because it would take too long to heat it up in the pan that it was cooked in. Parker brought the meat out along with plates and silverware.

"What would you like to drink?"

"What have you got?"

"Everything…"

"I'll have a beer," the thief nodded and went off to the fridge.

She pulled out his beer and opened it for him. Then she took her medication so she could have cheese on her tacos. Then she came back out with his drink and water for her. The apron came off and she draped it on the table. Mindful of his opinion on how she dressed up in the bikinis, she put the serape over one shoulder and the other ends were duct taped all together from the inside So there, she was covered.

"No hats at the table," she teased as she took the sombrero from his head, put it on top of the apron, and then had a seat. "Dig in…"

Vance was at the airport in a private hangar with Diego when he got the call from Michael Westen about needing some strings pulled so that they could get on a flight to California. There was no way they would've been able to get on a commercial flight with all that firepower. And shortly thereafter with some pulled strings, they had a private jet to pick them up. During the flight, Westen filled him in on what Fiona told him about what Parker wanted her to do as her part of Operation Phantom Cobra and Vance told him that he could use them to help interrogate his informant… After hashing out a few more details, Michael stood and gathered up Diego before they exited the plane. The hired car waiting for him was there. No witnesses as Vance locked the man in the front of the vehicle while he went around to the other side. The driver that had delivered the black Suburban with the tinted windows had loaded the luggage into the back while Rodriguez and Vance were on the plane, so he never saw them. The pilots had instructions to leave the plane as well once they were in the hangar. Michael took Diego on a ride to his vacation home in Beverly Hills. Once there he put him under constant surveillance with his security team there. He had cameras everywhere. If the man tried to escape, they'd see it. You couldn't be Special Forces like he was and not be a little paranoid. And he had the best of the best for his security… They had been personally inspected by Eliot Spencer as a favor to Vance.

Michael went to his office and turned on his computer to integrate the information from Michael Westen that Parker had given to Fiona. The studied over it a while and then relaxed in his leather office chair with a fine Cuban cigar he'd gotten as a Christmas present from the burned CIA agent and news around the world on a wall of flat-screen televisions. He propped up his boots up on to his desk and listened in…

Eliot had a full stomach… It hurt because it felt like he was going to bust at the seams… Damn him all to hell… He still wasn't sure how he'd managed to get into a taco eating contest with Parker… And she won! God, she must have a hollow leg or something…

'Dammit,' he thought. 'Where did she put all that food?'

She'd won with an even ten! He only made it to eight. It was a given that they were so tasty, but there was something about them, he just couldn't put them down until he'd reached his limit at eight. The vine ripened tomatoes were just perfect when he had the second set of four tacos with them on top instead of the chunky salsa. It had been a good afternoon meal… Especially since he'd gotten to participate in the food preparation; the weight of the knives felt so good. He wondered if when he got out of the casts, she'd let him back into the kitchen; maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they got to cook together sometime…

After lunch, Parker cleared the table and put the empty dishes into the sink for rinsing later. She put the sour cream back in the fridge; there was no need with the salsa because they emptied it. There were no leftovers because the two of them killed it all… It had been so much fun challenging Eliot to a taco eating contest. She explained that they used to have them in the Juvenile Hall cooking classes. Her record was eighteen of the small corn tortilla ones and a dozen of the flour ones of the size she and Eliot had eaten. She dared him for a little fun because she knew it was in his nature not to back down from a competition. Parker helped the hitter into the living room to watch anything he wanted on the television. She had her cell with her as she sat down on the sofa across the room from Eliot. She began her text to Hardison for Tara… Now that the team was in California, it was time for the blond grifter to do her job.

[SpiderMonkey: Time 2 get Tara ready. P.]

[YouCan'tHackThis: Gotcha. Checkin' us in now. H.]

[SpiderMonkey: Tell her 2 go with Code Red as I explained it 2 U. P.]

[DevilInRedHeels: I'm here. H said U need me 4 a job? What do U need me 2 do? T.]

[YouCan'tHackThis: 4 now, U can stop makin' out in front of the black man who's missing his wife. H.]

[DevilInRedHeels: *Snicker* Sorry. So, red high heels it is. H. Just told me. T.]

[SpiderMonkey: Work 1st. Fun later. 2 save time, U R a lure 4 Enrique Villareagos. Seduce him. Get in 2 his inner circle. Be a distraction when I need U 2 B. Distract the wives if U have 2. Think Desperate Housewives… They like to spend their men's money and show off their riches. P.]

[YouCan'tHackThis: He's Don Juan and Tony Montana in 1. Watch your back. I will do what I can. H.]

[DevilInRedHeels: What's my in? T.]

[SpiderMonkey: He's a drug dealing masseuse among other services. Gets his clients hooked on drugs and other things. Take a few days 2 watch him if you need 2. I will be there on the 7th 2 get the ball rolling in another direction. Quinn can watch U 'til you're in. P.]

[YouCan'tHackThis: He's gotta stay out of sight though. H.]

[DevilInRedHeels: Got it. Let us know when U R in town. T.]

[SpiderMonkey: Yup. Later every 1. P.]

Code Red meant that Tara was going to have to pull out her red high heels and look better than a body had a right to, to catch Enrique's attention. Parker knew Tara would be good for that kind of job. She would have gotten Sophie to do it, but she needed the other grifter to look out for Eliot in her absence.