So, I fixed a small timeline mistake in chapter one, nothing big, but it just changed a date because I realized it didn't fit. That's all! Please review! Feeds my muse! Also, I'm not sure how it happened that the first half of this chapter turned into what it did. But I was playing with Parker's voice and it happened. Next chapter has more plot than this one, but this one has some important stuff in it.
Though Parker knew they needed to wait until morning to leave, she was still climbing up the walls with the energy that comes from a new case. Part of it was physical, there was always an adrenaline rush that hit her before the case even started, perhaps in anticipation of what was going to happen, but the other part, was mental. The challenge of a fresh case, unbroken, and unknown that she could turn over in her mind, playing out scenarios that were wildly fantastic yet somehow still plausible.
Parker hadn't always done that. Well, she had, but she hadn't realized she was doing it until Nate showed her. It was how her mind worked, playing out what seemed to be every possible situation that could happen based on the given variables. That (and her level of skill) was the reason she was such a goof thief, Nate had explained, she could see all the options, all the variables, and account for it. Sure there were things she could never account for (see trained attack geese. She hadn't seen that one coming) but she still had more options in her head than most people could come up with in a life time, as Nate had put it once.
So, really, being a mastermind was nothing new to Parker. That wasn't where the problem laid. The problem was that now she had to factor her team into the equation. It wasn't that she couldn't, it was just that, she didn't like doing it. She didn't like having Eliot bash heads together, she didn't like making Hardison grift and hack. Parker knew they were capable. She knew they could do their job and do them well. It was just… she wanted them safe. And sometimes, in those plans, in those scenarios she saw, they weren't.
They were hurt and in some occasionally bad cases, like this one, it was worse. That fear had been burned into her mind since the job where they faked their deaths. It had only then occurred to her that they were not invincible. Sure they had been knocked down before, but from things you can get up from. You don't get up after death.
Before, when Nate was around, Parker hadn't worried as much. At first it was because she didn't really care about the others. She got to jump off buildings and crawl through vents. Good day. And generally she could go with Nate's plan but have her own as a fall back. But then she grew attached, she learned to trust Nate and his plans, so there was not real need to play the scenarios (and even when she did, she trusted that Nate would avoid the bad ones). But now that weight was on her shoulder, and sometimes it scared her, which she hated. Because what if next time, the unknown variable wasn't attack geese? What if it was a bomb? Or a knife to Hardison's throat, or a few too many men for Eliot to handle?
Parker hated being scared. It made her feel gross on the inside and it made her question things. Things she shouldn't question. Trust your gut, Archie had told her and Nate had echoed. But how could she trust it when it was knotted so tight that it felt like someone had used it for a ribbon?
All these thoughts, the mix of dread and excitement, was keeping Parker awake. So after a long phone call with Nate and Sophie who were to meet them in New York, she sent Eliot and Alec to bed, promising she would join them soon. She doubted she would join them period. Instead, Parker went up to the roof, where she promptly perched herself on the ledge.
The brewpub wasn't a particularly tall building, but it was tall enough, and there was a strong wind that helped too. Heights made Parker feel better. Feel in control. It helped relax the fear in her stomach, even if it was just a little.
Parker had no idea how long she had been perched on the ledge, considering everything, when a gentle hand was laid on her shoulder. She didn't startle; Parker had heard him coming. "Parker, babe." It was Alec, like she thought "You need to get some sleep. It's nearly two in the morning, and our flight leaves at seven."
Parker frowned. She hadn't realized it was that late. Or was it early? Either way, she hadn't realized just how long she'd been perched there. "I'm fine Alec." She said, shaking her head. "Ga back to be before Eliot misses you."
She hadn't even taken her eyes off the city as she spoke. Whatever fear had been relieved was now back full force. She was so busy trying to breathe that she didn't notice Hardison ease down onto the ledge beside her, until he took her hand in his.
Parker felt her eyes widen, almost comically, because Hardison was scared – no terrified – of heights. Yet there he was sitting beside her on the ledge. She could see his faced had paled some, but still he was looking at her with concern (and she was pretty sure the concern wasn't about the height).
"Parker, what's wrong?" he asked gently "You've been doing this too much, disappearing before a case, not sleeping either. What is it babe?" Alec's voice was so gentle, so loving that she almost told him. But she didn't. Parker hated being scared and hated talking about it even more. That was one emotion she couldn't handle, not from herself anyways.
"Please just go back to be." Was her only response. "I'm fine. And Eliot-"
"I've already missed you." Okay, so she hadn't heard Eliot come on the roof. Damn that's what fear and emotions did sometimes, and she didn't like it. "I was trying to sleep, but I woke up after someone got out of bed." He cast Hardison a look that was supposed to be withering, but really was more teasing and loving than anything.
Parker sighed. She wasn't getting out of this easily, not with both of them tag teaming her. So she turned and slid off the ledge and onto the roof. Hardison was right behind her and Parker smiled ever so slightly as his obvious sigh of relief and being back on the roof. "Okay. You guys won. I'll go back to bed." She said, trying to walk past Eliot, towards the door. However, Eliot grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks.
"Parker." He said softly, yet firmly, "We ain't going back to bed until you tell us what's wrong." Eliot released his grip on her hand, and Parker turned around, her shoulder slumped.
"fine." She said, crossing her arms. "I'm worried about the case. I don't want to-to screw it up." Parker was surprised when her voice wavered on the last word. She never cried. Ever. That was a feeling worse than fear. So Parker blinked hard, forcing the lump in her throat to vanish.
"Is that it?" Eliot probed quietly.
"I don't want to mess up and get you guys hurt!"
The worst burst from her lips before she could stop them, leaving Parker reeling. She hadn't meant to say it, but now it was too late to take it back. The silence following her declaration was deafening, so she kept talking "I have all this responsibility now, and I have to make sure the plan works, so you don't get hurt. I can't mess up!"
"You won't" Eliot said, before anyone else got the chance to speak. "You're good Parker, you know what you're doing."
"He's right." Alec agreed, stepping closer. "You are too good. Girl, you're way better than Nate was. He saw that, and we do too. I trust you. Eliot trusts you."
Eliot nodded "Besides, Parker, taking these jobs, is dangerous. Hardison and I know that. Hell, its my job to deal with that danger and nothin' is going to stop me from doing that. I'm good at it too. We take these risks knowingly. You think you have to worry about everything, but you don't. Hardison and I, we can handle it."
"But Nate-"
"You're better than Nate." Hardison repeated and when Parker gave him a skeptical look he just continued "Don't look at me like that, you are. Nate was good, but he didn't think about us sometimes. He forgot we were people not his pawns. You don't. That's what makes you better."
It was all she needed. Yes she was still worried and scared but something about the two men she loved, both standing on a roof with her, telling her they knew she could do it, that made everything seem better. Parker liked to think that she didn't care about what other people thought of her, and usually she didn't. But she was human still, more human now than she had been almost six years ago when she met the team. And she needed this sometimes, as much as she hated admitting it. She didn't know what to say, sometimes words still didn't work or her, but that was okay. She knew that when she hugged Eliot and pulled Hardison in too, that she had said enough.
By the time they were on their flight at seven am, Parker was bursting with energy despite only two hours of sleep, a feat which Hardison couldn't fully understand. After the drama on the roof top, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, so he settled on the couch with his laptop and got to work on their fake IDs and lives, using Parker's general descriptions of their characters. She dozed off at some point, leaning on his shoulder, and had stayed like that almost the entire time he worked.
Parker woke up around five, looking rather alert. He'd given her a quick kiss before she went to go pack. He wasn't sure what she was packing, but she came back with a bag full of something. Probably her climbing gear.
It was easy to get whatever they needed past airport security. Parker throws a fit and the other two slip everything else through, it was a practiced routine they did often, but it was sill amusing to watch Parker throw a fit about taking off her shoes or something equally as trivial, and the early hours only made the security agents that much less interested in dealing with a dramatic woman at gate three.
So really, the only obstacles between Portland and New York, was Parker and her seemingly endless energy. Eliot was in a decent mood, and Hardison himself was in a pretty normal pre-job mood, despite the fact that he was on an airplane instead of the solid ground. He was doing his best to distract himself from the fact he was flying, son he was on his laptop setting up the finishing touches on their IDs, thanks to the plane's Wi-Fi network (even if it was complete and utter crap compared to what he had set up at home, though it being so weak meant that it was easy to hack and secure for his own purposes). Parker had gotten up the go do something, likely terrorize a stewardess for pretzels or something.
"So," Eliot asked from the seat beside him "What are our new identities?" There were very few people on the plane, and almost none in the seats next to them, which Hardison had nothing to do with (he totally didn't hack the airline and show that all these seats had been bought).
"Well," Hardison said, turning his laptop so that the hitter could see it. "I'm Benjamin Oliver and Parker is my wife Eliza. Eliza is a dancer at the club and I'm just an accountant at a small online company. You are Adrian Jones, part time Exotica worker and transfer cop into the prescient. You work at Exotica at night a few days a week to pad your meager beat cop salary. You have an apartment in that name and Parker and I have one in our name. You moved in recently, and we moved from across town so Parker could be closer to her new job."
Eliot scowled a little "Oh, so you two get to shack up together, while I don't get either of you? Sounds fair." He muttered rolling his eyes.
"Hey." Hardison said, frowning at the accusation "You know I'd rather us all be together. Besides, our apartments are in the same building, we won't be far if you get lonely. And if Parker has to work, well, Benjamin Oliver works from home."
Eliot rolled his eyes, but Hardison could tell that he was hiding a smile, and mentally did a victory dance.
"So what are Sophie and Nate's parts?" Eliot asked, changing the subject.
"Sophie is playing a lawyer who had just forayed into the world of criminal cases, after a successful career in civil suits. Nate… not sure on Nate yet. Parker hasn't told me. But, they won't be getting to New York until sometime next week. They had something come up apparently. Parker said it was fine, so I'm not too worried." Hardison said with a shrug.
Eliot arched an eyebrow "Something came up?" he said incredulously. "What could come up in Texas? Unless..."
"A con?" Hardison suggested, and Eliot sighed,
"A con." He agreed. "I thought those two were supposed to be retired?" He grumbled.
"Yeah." Hardison said with a scoff "Those two could handle being retired about as long as you can stand to let us eat junk food." Sophie and Nate would only retire if they were bed ridden or dead (even then, he wouldn't put it past the pair to con their way into heaven).
"Hey, that crap is bad for you Hardison." Eliot said, part of a practiced argument that one would think they had often (They do) "It's not my fault you can't appreciate real food!"
Hardison shook his head. "Pizza is real food, man!"
"You're hopeless!"