Here's the new chapter. Please read and review. I don't write slash.

I don't own Leverage or any of the characters. I write for fun and make no profit.

Chapter 2

The hurt in his voice made Parker want to cry, but she was determined not to give him the satisfaction. She was also determined not to sit in the front seat, so she limped around to the back, stretching her leg out in front of her, and feeling worse the longer they were in the car. She knew she would have to talk to Eliot later on, she knew she didn't want to go to the hospital, and she also knew that as far as Eliot was concerned, she could either go to the hospital or allow him to treat her—neither being an option that appealed to her.

They had been on the road for about an hour and a half when a wave of nausea washed over her that was worse than the last ones had been. She didn't want to say anything to Eliot, especially considering the way he had taken what she said before, but she thought she knew how he would react if she threw up in the car. "E-Eliot," she said, voice slightly panicked. "Pull over."

He glanced in the rearview mirror at the young blonde in the seat behind him, took in her color and the panic in her voice, and eased the SUV over onto the shoulder of the road. Then, as she opened the door, he was there, helping her get out of the car, and holding her hair while she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the grass. When she was finished, her breathing was labored, and she was close to hyperventilating from the pain she was in.

He scooped her up, ignoring her attempts to get down, and set her down in the back of the SUV. Once again, he climbed in behind her and closed the hatch. When she glanced up, he was staring at her, and there was something in his gaze that held hers, so she couldn't look away.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right."

"Except for the vomiting and the fact that you can barely breathe, you mean?"

She flashed him a brief grin. "There is that."

"We already know you have a concussion, and the vomiting proves it. The labored breathing may be an indicator of broken ribs that have punctured a lung. Both of those are life threatening conditions, and we have at least another six to eight hours of driving ahead of us. So now, I am no longer giving you a choice. You are going to sit here and allow me to treat your injuries. You can be angry at me for that if you wish, but that won't change anything. If you try to fight me on this, I'll knock your ass out."

She gave a single nod, and then folded back in on herself. His hands were gentle as he gently manipulated her knee, grimacing inwardly at the red, angry look to it, and the swelling. She was going to find it difficult to walk for the next few days. He wrapped it with an ace bandage, as that was all he had, and then he fished around for an ice-pack. The ice pack that came in the first aid kit from the airport store was woefully inadequate, as it was too small to cover any but the very top of her knee.

"As soon as we find somewhere to do it, I'll stop and get you some more ice for your knee," he said quietly.

Parker nodded. She felt compelled to say something. "Thank you," she said.

He knew she likely wouldn't like this next part, but there was nothing to be done about it. He had to do it.

"Parker, I have to cut your dress off. We've got to look at your ribs."

"We don't have any luggage. If you cut it off, I won't have anything to wear."

"We'll figure something out." Gently he took the scissors and cut her dress down the middle, and then helped her sit up and began to gently probe her ribs. When she shrank away from him, he wasn't sure whether she was in pain, or afraid of him.

"That hurt?"

She nodded, and he was surprised to see how small she looked. He continued probing, knowing he had to make sure that there weren't any internal injuries, and also that she didn't have a punctured lung. When he was as sure as he could be with the equipment he had, he took the other elastic bandage from the first aid kit and began to gently wrap her ribs. When that was done, she crawled quickly past Eliot to the edge of the SUV and hit the latch. The door flew up and she retched in the parking lot.

Realizing at the last moment what she was doing, he swept her hair back and held it off of her face. With the other hand, he supported her back, tracing small patterns between her shoulder blades as he did so. To Parker, it was odd, but somehow…comforting. He let go as soon as she was done, and helped her scoot back, so she wouldn't injure her knee any more than she already had. She hissed with pain as she slid back, against the front seat, drawing the dress, which now looked a bit like a robe, around her.

She yawned and leaned her head back, eyes slipping closed. "No, Parker," he ordered. "No sleeping." He gently slapped her cheek.

She opened her eyes. "So sleepy."

"That would be the concussion, darlin'. Need you to stay with me, yeah?"

"I'll try."

"I'm gonna put you in the front seat, so I can keep an eye on you. We'll get you some pain meds as soon as we can." With that, he gently picked her up and carried her around to the side, where he deposited her gently into the front passenger seat, buckling her in before climbing into the driver's seat.

Glancing over at the lithe blonde, who was once again on the verge of falling asleep, he said, "Parker, talk to me about your newest rig."

"What do you want to know?" she asked, trying and not succeeding to stifle a yawn.

"I want to know all about it. What kind of rope is it?"

"Carbon Fiber with a steel cable core."

"Walk me through choosing a rigging and jumping off a building," he requested, casting around for something that would keep her talking, and therefore alert for a period of time. She warbled on about it for about fifteen minutes, then she suddenly stopped, and Eliot thought she had fallen asleep. He glanced over at her to see if he needed to pull over and wake her up. She was staring straight ahead with a stricken expression on her face. He couldn't tell if she was having trouble breathing or had something she wanted to say, or if it was something else all together.