Disclaimer: I don't own Leverage. Dean Devlin does. So don't sue.

CHAPTER FOUR

Part One: Secret Garden – Bruce Springsteen

Part Two: Closer – Joshua Radin

Part Three: Walking After You – Foo Fighters

Part One: Secret Garden

The outdoor venue stretched for miles along the Charles River. Aimee truly had picked the perfect place for her wedding. Of course, it was overshadowed by all the over-the-top decorations.

The garden was covered in relentless pastels. White orchids bloomed as far as the eye could see. Ribbons flowed in every direction. Not to mention, the hundreds of chairs bunched together in a semi-circle facing the trellis where the bride and groom would stand.

Parker took it all in with a heavy heart. She had never felt more alone in her life. Maybe it was the fact that she was the only one not invited into the wedding party. Or maybe it was because the ushers seated her towards the back of the crowd, behind Eliot's friends and family. However, Parker was pretty sure that it was mostly due to the fact that she was about to lose Eliot to Aimee forever.

Sensing the need for a distraction, she decided to get up from her seat and walk around. It was still early, and she could barely see from her vantage point. Vaguely, she wondered if anyone would notice her climbing one of the nearby trees. She was seriously considering it when it dawned on her that she was wearing a very tight and very expensive dress. A dress Sophie would kill over if it got ripped.

Glumly, Parker continued to wander aimlessly away from the crowded garden. The further she walked away from the gathering crowd, the clearer her head became. She was beginning to feel more at peace with herself until she heard what sounded like a snuffle. Deciding to investigate, she followed the noise to the area between the bride's tent and groom's tent, looking for what sounded a lot like a little boy crying. Sure enough, there was Bentley, not three feet in front of her, wailing his little heart out.

"Bentley?" She asked, kneeling down beside him. How the other adults had missed him, she had no idea. Apparently, they were too busy getting ready for the wedding to notice.

"Do you remember me? My name's Parker. I'm Uncle Eliot's and Aunt Sophie's friend."

At first Bentley looked up at her like he was afraid. But she soon got him to open up by promising more gum. Deftly, she slid it in between his fingers, watching as he stuck it in his mouth happily. He sat there chewing until his sobs turned back to sniffles.

"There. That's better." Parker coaxed, smiling at him.

Bentley managed a watery smile back.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened?"

Bentley nodded.

"I was trying ta find Unca Eliot. So I went in there." He said, pointing to the bride's tent. "I couldn't find him. So I asked Aunt Aimee." He looked on the verge of tears again. "It was a accident."

"What was an accident?"

I pulled on Aunt Aimee's dress. She got mad and spanked me and told me I was bad." Fat tears rolled down his plump cheeks. "I didn't mean ta be bad. I just wan' my unca." He sniffed.

Parker took her hand and wiped his tears away. "That wasn't your fault Bentley. Aunt Aimee is just being a Bridezilla."

"What's a Brazilla?" He snuffled curiously.

Parker chuckled. "All brides turn into Bridezillas on their wedding day. They want everything to be perfect and they're under so much stress that they don't realize it turns them into a monster."

"Aunt Aimee's a monster?" Bentley asked, his eyes wide.

"She can't help it. And it's only for one day. But that's why she was being so mean. It's a secret though. So you can't tell anybody. You just have to stay out of her way until after she's gotten married. Then tomorrow she'll be back to normal."

"Is Unca Eliot a monster too?"

"No. It only happens to girls."

"Are you sure it's just for today? Aunt Aimee's mean. What if she's a monster every day?"

Parker didn't know what to say. With many a protest in heart, she decided to defend Aimee. "I'm sure Aunt Aimee loves you very much. She's only so squirrely today because she wants her wedding to be perfect."

"I don't like her." He mumbled. "She yells at me. And she never lets me see Unca Eliot."

"Don't you worry. You're gonna get to see plenty of your Uncle Eliot."

"But I live in Ke-tuc-ee." He said tripping over his state's name. "I never get to see him." Bentley looked on the verge of tears again.

"I don't care if you live in Kentucky or not. I'm not gonna let that happen. I'm your Uncle Eliot's friend too, and I'll kick his butt if he doesn't skype you at least once a week."

"What's sky?"

"Skype." Parker corrected. "It's like talking to a video camera. Only you can see the person you're talking to and they can see you. I'll get Uncle Hardison to show you all about it."

"Promise?"

"Sure do. Now let's go see if we can find your Uncle Eliot."

The young thief nearly jumped out of her skin as Eliot materialized in front of them.

"No need to buddy! I'm right here." Eliot said, surprising them both. To this day, he was the only one besides Archie who had ever been able to catch her off guard.

Eliot hadn't necessarily been eavesdropping, but he heard enough to know that Parker would have made a great mom. Even with the bridezilla jokes….which after what he had been through for this wedding…weren't entirely inappropriate.

"UNCA ELIOT!" Bentley cried, diving headfirst into his favorite relative's waiting arms.

"Good." Parker said. "You guys are together. I'm just gonna get back to my seat…"

"Wait Parker."

"Yeah? What is it?" Her words were impatient, but her tone was soft.

The only thing Eliot wanted to do was apologize, but the words stuck and died in his throat. So he went for the easy way out. "Thanks for taking care of Bentley here. His momma was startin' ta get worried."

"Yeah. No problem." Parker muttered, lost in thoughts of their own little boy whom they would never get to know.

"Unca Eliot, can Aunt Parker come with us?"

"Not this time little man. Besides, you've got a big job to get ready for. You don't think just anybody can be my ring bearer."

"REALLY?" Bentley's eyes lit right up.

"Yeah buddy. You're gonna do it just like we practiced."

"COOL!"

"Now give Aunt Parker here a big hug. You'll see her later."

Parker bent down once again to his level as Bentley surprised her with a kiss on the cheek.

"Boy's got the Spencer charm." Eliot winked.

Parker felt a tear roll down her cheek and went to wipe it away immediately as Eliot tried hard not to notice. If he so much as acknowledged Parker's feelings, he knew his resolve would crumble into a million pieces.

"Thanks again Parker." Eliot repeated, looking her straight in the eye and instantly regretting it. He was on the verge of tears himself. "Come on Bentley. Let's go find your momma."

Part Two: Closer (All You Have To Do Is Cry)

The wedding ceremony was well under way by the time Parker got back to her seat. Luckily, she made it back before the bride came charging down the aisle.

Still, she wished she had missed the torture she was currently being subjected to. Some lady was chortling away at Ave Maria and it was all that the thief could do to keep from sticking her fingers in her ears. Regardless, she kept a forced smile on her face, just like Sophie had taught her to do whenever she felt like stabbing someone.

None too soon, the wedding march sounded, and a relieved Parker stood on cue. She watched as Tara and Hardison walked arm in arm to the canopied overhang, followed by Sophie and Nate. Next came Eliot, hanging on his mother's arm. Judging from how handsome he looked, no one would guess he beat people up for a living. She had to try hard not to stare as he strolled past. It suddenly occurred to her that she was going to have to work that much harder to keep her feelings in check.

Somehow the universe sensed this, and decided she needed all the practice she could get. As the bride came billowing out, Parker was forced to keep her hands fisted in her dress. Like that would do anything to stop her from wringing the woman's throat after the way she'd treated Bentley…

As the bride and groom settled at the altar, Parker took her seat again. She was caught somewhere between being glued to her chair and bouncing right off of it. The more the minister talked, the more ill at ease she became. She wasn't sure she could go through with her promise to stay and not say anything - especially when the minister got to the "speak now or forever hold your peace" part.

She literally had to clamp her teeth on her tongue as she squirmed in her seat. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, a huge wail resounded from the crowd, causing everyone to crane their necks at the disturbance.

Once again, there was Bentley, hugging his momma for dear life and bawling even worse than before. Despite his mother's best efforts, there was just no way of calming the boy down.

Eliot was the first to notice that something was wrong as unshed tears burned behind his temporarily closed eyelids. As it turned out, Bentley was doing the one thing Eliot couldn't bring himself to do. After his argument with Parker, he'd been so upset he couldn't think straight. But once he'd had a chance to calm down, he realized what an idiot he'd been – blaming her for everything and taking none of it for himself. Never mind that Aimee wasn't helping matters. All she could do was gush about how expensive the wedding was going to be, and how she couldn't wait to show him off to their family and friends.

In one split second, Eliot found himself on the verge of a life altering decision. Instead of blaming the little boy or trying to shut him up so the ceremony could continue, Eliot took the bull by the horns, and left his bride standing at the altar. Ignoring Aimee's urgent hisses and ruffled feathers, he did his best to console his favorite nephew at the expense of everyone and everything else.

It was only when Eliot kneeled down, level with Bentley's face that the boy finally began to quiet down.

"Hey buddy…" He murmured.

Bentley's eyes went wide.

"What's the matter?"

Bentley looked up, trying to decide whether to lie or not. He didn't want to get in trouble again.

Eliot knew that look only too well. One glance at the little boy had him spilling his guts.

"Momma said you were leaving."

"Leaving? Where?"

"On a hon-ee-moon. She said you might not ever come back."

"Is that so?" Eliot asked, throwing a glare at his sister.

"He asked when he would get to see you again." She replied, embarassed. "I was only making a joke sweetheart." She said, trying to explain to her five year old that he wasn't permanently losing his uncle over an island in the sun and some beach-blonde bimbo.

"Bentley," Eliot coaxed, "I want you to tell me the truth, okay? And no matter what you say you won't get in trouble. Can you do that?

The boy nodded his head emphatically, proud that he could be of help.

"Do you really want to see me to marry Aunt Aimee?" Eliot asked point blank.

Reluctantly, the little boy shook his head.

"Why not?" Eliot pressed.

It was at that moment that Bentley decided to give his favorite uncle a hug - just so he could whisper in his ear. "I don't think she likes me." He whispered. "She's always yelling."

"Yelling?" Eliot asked. "About what?"

"Oh I got you bro!" Hardison murmured to himself as the stage speakers blared to life. He'd been listening the whole time, waiting for the perfect moment to broadcast Aimee's harsh words to Parker over the sound system. Naturally, the wedding came to a halt as the private conversation was made public:

"You don't like me do you?" Aimee's voice rang out.

"I never said that." Parker replied, defending herself.

"You didn't have to."

"I don't know you well enough to like you. Or not like you. You're just Eliot's…." She started to say ex before catching herself.

Amy turned around and fixed her with a fake smile. "Yes. I am Eliot's fiancée. Not you. Got it? Look, I don't care if you guys work together or whatever it is you do, just so long as you remember that."

"So what you're saying is you're cool with us working together so long as I don't get in your way."

"You know Parker, I don't think you understand my position here. You weren't the one who had to listen to him talk about you for hours on end. Or watch him spend days on the phone trying to track you down. Or help him scour every newspaper in the tri-state area looking for some kind of obituary."

"I get it. I messed up."

"You did more than mess up. You messed him up. You wanna know what I think Parker? I think if you really cared about him, you'd stay the hell away from him altogether."

Aimee, continued, letting out a little laugh. "Can't say I'm sorry it happened. Guess it served him right after he walked out on me all those years ago. But I've forgiven him just like he's forgiven you. So that means I get to put up with you. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Or that I've forgiven you. I'm only doing what Eliot doesn't have the heart to. If it were up to me, though, you'd be the first one out the door."

Eliot's eyes grew darker than a storm cloud as he realized exactly how much he'd been lied to by his current fiancée. Even though Aimee initially stood up for him, it wasn't what he had asked for. Or deserved. Knowing that his fiancée was so jealous that she would sabotage his relationship with Parker all but killed him. He had hoped the two would get along, but he saw now that was impossible. Thus, it was up to him to make things right.

Instead of moving back to rejoin his fiancée, he turned again to Bentley.

"I have one more question for you Bentley."

The boy looked spellbound, paying close attention.

"Is there someone here who you do like? Someone you think I'd be happy with?"

Carefully, Bentley nodded.

"Do you think you could show her to me?"

Quick as a flash, Bentley's face lit up and he was out of his seat and running to the back of the garden."

The stunned crowd watched as he flung himself right at Parker, nearly knocking her backwards out of her seat.

I like this one!" Bentley announced for the whole world to hear.

Part 3: Walking After You

Sophie watched in silent delight as Eliot slowly made his way over to Parker, leaving Aimee to stand at the altar with her mouth hanging wide open. The bride in question turned a bright red, trying to form words, that made her hiss and spit like an overflowing teapot.

Personally, Sophie thought it was a big improvement over her normal demeanor. She'd had quite enough of being bossed around by the snooty Southerner. Though since it had all been for a good cause and everything was going according to plan, it was well worth it. Frankly, it was all the Brit could do to keep from cheering.

Adjusting her ear bud, she shot a wink to Hardison, who killed the sound system; leaving dead silence in his wake. Hardison may have provided the sight and sound for each of these untimely events, but he couldn't take all the credit.

Tara had been instrumental in helping such events to progress. It was she who had initiated the conversation between Parker and Aimee by pretending to drag Sophie away in the dress shop. It was she who had made sure to direct Bentley to Aimee in the bridal tent. And it was she who sat next to Eliot's sister, striking up a conversation about the honeymoon for Bentley to overhear.

It was pure luck that the hacker had been in Eliot's ear the whole time via earbud. Thus, he was able to overhear Bentley's whispered confession, giving him the perfect opportunity to act.

Originally, he had told the hitter the earbuds were just an added precaution, but they both knew the truth. If anything went wrong, it would be their necks on the line. More over, Eliot needed someone in his ear that he could trust – because, if he were being truly honest with himself, he'd been having major doubts about this wedding ever since Parker had reemerged.

Hardison had to admit he was still curious as to why Parker had left, but only Eliot knew the answer to that one. And he wasn't talking. Then again, perhaps there were some good things that came out of the thief's absence. If things had been different, Hardison may never have found a friend in Tara. Well maybe more than a friend… The jury was still out on that one.

As soon as he killed the sound system, Hardison felt the woman in question sidling up beside him. Putting a hand over his, she leaned in and confidently smiled at him. Without words, she let him know that her part in the con was complete, and that the rest of it was up to Nate.