A/N – OK, so I didn't intend to continue this story, honestly. But it just sort of happened. So I bring you this, and there will probably be another chapter up tomorrow. Just to recap: this goes AU after the 1st season finale. Hope you like. This is a dialogue heavy chapter, and some of it is sad, but its setting up the happy to come, so have no fear. I haven't lost my love of happy endings.

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"It's not what I expected."

Parker looked up from her perch on the chair of her sofa, casting Eliot a quizzical glance, "What isn't? The house?"

Eliot nodded, his hair just long enough to still get in his eyes, "That, and everything else." He paused to survey the room from his seat in the recliner, "It's so… homey."

Parker shrugged, "It's home, it should be homey." She wrinkled her nose at the saccharine words, but smiled anyway.

Eliot was stopped from replying by the entrance of a familiar and yet altogether different man.

"Hey, El. How you been, man?" Hardison grinned in that easy way of his and the tension was gone. Eliot stood to meet the man in the middle of the living room, unsure of how to greet him. Deciding a handshake was the best route, he reached out his arm, only to be tugged into a tight but brief hug by the taller man. He fought the smile that threatened to appear. Eliot was a citizen now, honest, but he did have his pride. Instead he took a step back to look at Hardison. He seemed impossibly taller, but he was still Hardison. Maybe his face had rounded out a little bit and the wire rimmed glasses were new, but the hacker was still the boy Eliot remembered. A man now, Eliot reminded himself, was always a man, even then, he just hadn't noticed, realized it, until they were gone and Eliot was alone, again.

"I've been alright, man," Eliot responded to the beaming Hardison, "I still can't believe you and Parker…"

"Right?!" Hardison interrupted, joy evident in his expression, "I still don't believe it sometimes. I thought I'd never see any of you again. And now, five years later…" he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.

"Five years later," Eliot agreed, nodding, "You're a real goddamn family. Baby and everything."

"You're not supposed to cuss here!" Parker chided from the couch where she was reading to Lainey.

Eliot snorted, "That doesn't count, does it?" Hardison just rolled his eyes and ignored the banter.

"It's fine," Hardison dismissed the argument with a wave of his hand, "So why are you in Cali, man? Never took you for a beach bum."

Eliot paused, trying to figure out how to explain his decision. Problem was, he didn't fully understand it himself.

"I, I got tired," he finally settled on, sighing and sinking back into the recliner. Hardison sat himself on the other side of the couch, tickling Lainey's feet absently as Parker continued to read, the sound a pleasant white noise. He looked at Eliot as if to say "please, do go on," so Eliot did.

"I don't know. I'm nearly 40 years old, and I just couldn't do it anymore. I got beaten down too many times." Hardison interrupted with an quiet admission, "I always thought you were Superman, or at least Batman, cause he's just a guy, you know? No superpowers, just strength and smarts and guts.." he trailed off, embarrassed.

Eliot smirked but decided not to tease the man and instead continued his story, "It got harder and harder to heal, to stay sharp. I would've gotten myself killed if I kept it up like I had been. After a while, it wasn't even fun anymore. Not that getting kicked at was ever fun, but the rush wasn't worth it anymore. But I kept going. And then after Nate," Eliot hated the way his throat caught, still, but paused for only a second, "After Nate died, I just gave up trying."

His words were cut off by Parker announcing she and Lainey were going to the park. She scooped up the girl and bent to kiss Hardison softly before heading to the door, brushing Eliot's hair lightly as she passed by. He smiled despite himself.

The door clicked shut, shaking the men back into their conversation. "She doesn't like talking about Nate," Hardison explained, in a voice that made it clear he had learned from experience.

Eliot nodded, deep in thought, before speaking again, "How did Sophie know about Nate?"

Hardison smiled ruefully, "She found him, in bed, the morning he died. They lived together. Imagine that? Took them over ten years to get together, and all they got was a few months together. I never saw Sophie so broken. She loved him so damn much."

"And he loved her," Eliot's comment came out more question than he cared to admit, but Hardison always had been a good listener.

"As much as he could. More than anything else, anyway. He quit drinking, you know?" Hardison replied.

Eliot shook his head, "I didn't know. Always thought it'd be the drinking that killed him, not some fucking heart attack. It ain't right," his voice rose with anger as he thought about it.

Hardison just nodded, the same thoughts had gone through his head a million times before, "He deserved better."

"Where's Sophie these days?" Eliot asked abruptly, trying to soften the somber mood of the conversation.

Hardison broke into a real grin at the question, "She's in L.A. She's a real actress. Well, a soap opera actress, but still, she doesn't suck. At least, no worse than the other actors on the show. She plays a forty-something former beauty queen/ dance instructor. It's pretty great."

Eliot snorted, "You watch the show?"

"Of course I watch the show. Me and Parker have seen every episode since Sophie joined. Well, since Anna Belle joined."

"Anna Belle? Seriously?" Eliot couldn't help but laugh, "She calls herself Anna Belle now?"

Hardison nodded, "We still call her Sophie. She comes by sometimes. Lainey loves her, thinks she's a princess."

Eliot laughed at the image, though he supposed Sophie would look like a princess to a young girl. There always was something about her.

He looked up suddenly and Hardison saw something in Eliot's expression he couldn't remember ever seeing, uncertainty.

"Think she'd wanna see me?" Eliot murmured, mostly to himself.

Hardison just laughed, "Of course she wants to see you, dumbass. She still thinks you hate her, she'd love to know you don't."

"I don't," Eliot confirmed, "I never hated her. I was just so… angry. Angrier than called for probably, but I was. I waited, you know, for a while, for you guys. I always hoped I'd get that call from Nate, and we'd be back to bringing down the assholes of the world. But, you know the rest."

"Call never came," Hardison nodded, "I waited too, for a while. But then Parker found me. After a while, we stopped waiting and moved on."

"And now it's too late," Eliot sighed, "But it's alright. Things aren't too bad, considering. Nobody shoots at me anymore at least." He gave Hardison a crooked grin.

"It's never too late," Hardison argued, eyes lighting up with an idea.

"But…Nate," Eliot began, but got cut off again by Hardison.

"Nate would love this idea," Hardison was practically jumping in his seat at the idea.

Eliot just stared, suddenly remembering what a scary idea it could be to let Hardison think. And with years of Parker's influence, it could only have gotten even scarier.

"We're going to L.A.!" Hardison declared; face resolving in an expression that held no room for argument. "Parker won't mind staying home with Lainey for a few days. You and me, man, road trip."

Eliot groaned and dropped his head into his hands. He should've known.

Hardison just laughed, "Sophie, here we come!"

TBC