Disclaimer: I own Nothing.

Sorry haven't updated quicker-r/l and lappy issues. ;)

Sucky week, but it's Saturday. :)

Read, review, rant, whatever...tis entirely up to you. But you make me smile by clicking review, and sharing your thoughts, so, it would be nice if you did.:D

xxx

Parker watched Eliot as he cooked in Nate's kitchen, cloth thrown over his shoulder, hands busy. The con was done. They had pinky swore that they would wait to tell the team, and he had kept his word. His eyes found hers constantly amid the usual chaos of Nate's after a successful job, and his presence eased the bubble of panic that had been lodged in her chest since they got back to Nate's. The scent of tomato and basil and garlic filled the apartment and fresh warm bread. Her stomach refused to take the fragrant bait.

Sophie was arguing with Hardison about an on the spot grift he had to pull to get them out of a jam and Parker concentrated on breathing. Funny thing breathing. You had to remember to do it for it to work.

Needing a distraction, the thief watched Nate. He was rarely not in control. Always had multiple back up plans, always had an angle. Always had poise. She totally wanted that right now. She watched him closely as he sat at the table and studied paperwork, even as he listened to every word being said in the Big versus Flash argument raging between Sophie and the hacker. He observed a lot, their Mastermind. She did too. Thieves by nature were watchers. It occurred to her as she studied Nate however, that he observed everything. She struggled with that. She heard words and missed expressions, or saw a gesture and streamlined it, wanting to know now, understand now. Nate let things unfold, and pieced his knowledge together over time, accumulating the information and filtering it only when situations forced his hand. He didn't meddle, she realised, he managed. A skill she would love to possess, if only to get through this, the treasure chest problem. Managing other people's emotions and issues was a step to managing your own right?

Dinner was served, and she helped Eliot divvy up plates, grateful that he made no issue other than a gentle growl when she grabbed cereal for herself. He seemed to get it though. Cereal was automatic comfort food and she needed it right now. No one else seemed to notice, or at least think it strange.

The meal passed in companionable banter, with Hardison getting flack due to his flamboyant characters he reached for whenever in a bind. The Ice Man was mentioned, repeatedly, with Eliot doing a piss poor impression of Hardison's London geezer. Parker supplied the one line she could do from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, with Sophie once again despairing that Americans had cloth ears where the British accent was concerned. Nate smiled and teased, but mostly watched.

Parker zoned in on him, conscious of Eliot's subtle glances her way. Nerves frayed, she munched through the box of cereal and avoided his concern. It made her feel raw. And she needed to be steely. She waited for them to finish eating, willing them to chew faster, though Eliot's food wasn't really to be gobbled down. It was savour food. And they savoured. Slowly. Her jaw ached from her own constant crunchfest.

"I believe Parker has something she'd like to say." Nate's words halted the group leaving the table as cutlery clattered and wine was polished off, before Parker could make her own announcement. Right. She looked at the Mastermind with cool eyes. She wasn't a package for him to "Run." Eliot nudged her elbow gently, not to rush her, but to reassure her as subtly as he knew how. He was shredding his beer bottles label, and memories warmed her, before she placed the cereal box on the table and coughed. The team all looked, apart from Eliot, who was staring at the bottle in his hands.

She read the curiosity from Sophie and Hardison, and felt infuriated by the patience from Nate.

Then she got it.

She moved from Eliot's side, at which point he did look at her, puzzled, and she sat at the table head opposite Nate.

She steepled her fingers and leant back in her seat, letting her stare encompass the entire table.

Sophie went to speak but Parker held up her hand. Sophie closed her mouth and looked at Nate, who simply tipped his head and waited, a small smile on his face.

"I found something. Something we need your help with." Eliot nodded at her, taking a swig of his beer and Hardison looked baffled as hell.

"Found what? You know about this? What in the-" He pointed at Eliot who glared at him from across the table, before slamming his beer down.

"She ain't finished Hardison, settle down." Sophie made a face at Eliot who flared his nostrils in response and all eyes turned back to Parker, who used the interruption to fetch the chest from it's stashed place behind the sofa. Now she placed it on the table and stood behind it, hands hovering above the lid. She hated it. It had already tainted her. But she straightened her spine, and stared at them, one by one, waiting for their full focus again. Eliot nodded, trade-mark frown in place and she continued.

"This is serious guys. I need you to shut up and listen." Phew. She breathed through her mouth, then channelled her energy into her explanation. "The last job, well I found treasure after all. X marks the spot. Except, it's ahh problematic. Eliot called it a trophy chest."

She lifted the lid and using the tongs Eliot had left inside, extracted items as efficiently as she could under the bemused gazes of all but Eliot, who knew exactly what she was displaying. Having laid out several pieces of the jewellery, the group leaned in to get a closer look. She let the contents sink in a moment, before sitting back down and moving the chest to the floor. Hands folded in her lap,elbows on the arm rests, she settled back in her seat and crossed her legs.

"I assume you are all familiar with the concept of trophies in this context?" She raised an eyebrow, and Sophie made a squeak.

"Is she doing-" She bent to Nate who frowned, a worried look on his face, cutting Sophie's whisper off with a firm nod. Sophie hmmm'd and took a sip of wine.

"I'm not." Hardison raised his hand, his big eyes casting about as he tried to work it out."I got no clue what y'all are talking about." Eliot glanced at her before answering the confused hacker.

"The stuff in the chest isn't all from one person. Different dedications on each piece." The hacker tried to process that and Parker waited. It wasn't the kind of thing you said-as Eliot had done with her, it was an understanding you had to reach, because of its very nature. Eyes widening, Hardison shook his head, revulsion writ large on his features.

"Ah hell no. No way man. No freakin' way." He shook, as if to dislodge whatever images the revelation had implanted." N'uh uh, we ain't no Criminal Minds y'all, we're Robin Hood for the i-generation. You wrong."

"It is what it is man." Eliot sounded as prosaic as ever, but Parker watched as he shrugged a little, and saw it, the flash of helpless despair in his eyes as he raised his bottle and drank deep. Wow, she totally would have missed that as Parker. The sight stung, and she realised with a shock that she had witnessed that stark emotion before. On Nate's face. Late at night when he was drinking, and staring into a past full of maybes and what ifs. Huh. Nate had been broken by one almighty personal tragedy, that snapped him open and left him angry at the world and it's maker. Eliot, she thought, heart painfully tight, had been broken piece by piece, witnessing the tragedies of strangers all over the world, leaving him angry at the world at its inhabitants. The monsters in plain sight. It hurt to think that so she used the reflective pause to speak again.

"We believe that the fire at my place was set by the owner of this chest. Happened days after I found it, so it's unlikely that-"

"Now hol' up a minute, that's no freakin' reason to go all Nancy Drew and suspect serial killers and shit. Man Eliot has a Revenge Inc after his ass, that fire could have-" Eliot interrupted the hacker's tirade furiously.

"Whatchu sayin'? That I put Parker in danger? That I don't fuckin' know how many people want me dead? You think I'm not vigilant about that shit Hardison? That what you sayin?" His icy rage was palpable, and Parker wanted to touch him, to soothe him. He was more aware than anyone how dangerous being with him was she thought sadly, pissed off at Hardison for inferring the fire was his fault somehow.

"Not that vigilant else y'all wouldn't have made the news as two unknown individuals escaping a freakin' inferno." Hardison wasn't backing down and Eliot went to rise, apoplectic now.

"It wasn't Revenge Inc." Parker informed them both, but Eliot didn't move, eye-balling Hardison from where he now stood across the table. The hacker stared back and didn't turn when he spoke.

"You don't know that Parker."

"Yeah I do." She raised her eyebrows and forced herself to be calm. No point hiding it now it was relevant she figured. "Scarlet gave up the account numbers and all she had on Eliot's ahh, buyers, she made a deal to turn states evidence about the other work she did for them once they were identified."

"But Scarlet didn't know who they were?" Sophie was baffled by that, and Parker grimaced as Eliot turned shark eyes on her. He was waiting. She swallowed and spread her hands wide affecting a smirk.

"She did once I told her."

"You saw Scarlet?" Eliot's voice was do deep it had an Australian twang and she hid the wince his sharp gaze inspired. She made a maybe face. Then nodded.

"I told her I would visit. And I did. She used what I gave her to cut a deal and those responsible for taking you from me are currently doing time in various prisons all over the world. I'll be visiting them too."

"No. You. Won't." Deadly. So deadly that warning. But she didn't care and ignored the team as she stared at Eliot, a ferocious wave of protectiveness sweeping her.

"Try and stop me." He stared at her, and she stared back, chin raised. His expression was closed, but his eyes swirled with emotion. Then he sighed.

"You an' me are having a talk later. A long, long talk, you hear me?" She nodded, panic over, but knew that talk would not be fun. Then she thought about the chest.

"So, we have a chest full of sentimental jewellery items, buried approximately 5 foot deep at the demolition site, over in Grange County, and we need a plan of action."

"How do we know it's not just stolen items?No gruesomeness at all." Sophie sounded hopeful as she threaded her own locket through her fingers.

"We don't know for sure. But every single item has an inscription. Klepto's steal pretty, not particular. This is all sentimental, can't be fenced and I have never come across any thief willing to bury the stuff they stole like this-it's not hiding it for financial gain because its unsellable. Add to that the fire and..." Parker shrugged. "It fits. But we could check the missing persons database for unique personal items."

Hardison was still pissed, but nodded, features stern.

"I can do that."

"And then what?" Sophie's voice had switched up a couple of octaves as she stared at the team. "Say it's true and it's a bloody trinket box of horrors. We aren't the police. I honestly don't know how to explain this to you lot more explicitly-The only corpse I can cope with is my own. All right? This is not what we do. Nate?"

Parker had another epiphany. Sophie was terrified of death and controlled it the only way she knew how. By faking it. Glamorously and often. Huh.

"What would Parker like us to do?" Nate bounced the question right back from Sophie who did not look impressed, but Parker offered the mastermind an appraising glance. He narrowed his eyes.

"Find the victims and give them justice." She saw Eliot pause and close his eyes. Her hitter knew what that meant.

"Now hol' up-"

"Wait a bloody minute-"

"What do you call justice Parker?" Nate's voice cut through Sophie and Hardison's protests.

"An eye for an eye." That came out quicker than she planned.

"And the world goes blind?" Nate retorted, though his tone was...sad. Not horrified.

"The world is already blind. What we do proves that every day." Parker felt anger scorch up inside her suddenly. She couldn't understand the reticence of her team. "So just to be clear, the only victims you want to help are those who can walk into the bar? Sarah-" she pushed the charm bracelet forward,-"Sarah doesn't get help because she's not here to ask for it? How fucked is that?"

"Easy darlin'," Eliot smiled a pinched smile, "we can take this thing one step at a time right? Establish these are definite trophies. Everything else is speculation till we do that."

Parker nodded jerkily, feeling her anger bubble below the surface. She felt her hands tremble and exerted all her will to stop them. Eliot winked at her, and she breathed. He was on her side, she knew that. Hadn't expected the team not to understand though and it freaked her out. Being Nate seemed to channel his occasional frustration too.

"Bonnano would be ideal in this surely?" Nate made a good point, but her and Eliot had already discussed the flaws in just dropping it off at the cops door.

"Yeah. But I moved the chest. I moved it. So if I just hand it over, any evidence they could yield from it's location can't be proven. It's not like I can be a witness is it?"

"I see. Yeah, that creates problems."

Parker blanched. Eliot got up from the table and walked to her, dropping a kiss on her head before going to grab a second beer. His own aggression was simmering and she knew he and Hardison were not cool. That couldn't be her problem though. She had enough right now.

"So what do we do about it?" She directed the demand at the table, and finally, the team's faces cleared, and they began to hash out what they should do. Together.

/

It was late, and Parker felt mentally drained as they entered Eliot's place. The team had agreed to help investigate the items in the chest to conform they were in fact the personal belongings of victims of violence. She couldn't think the m word. It creeped along her veins and clawed at memories she buried like her own chest and for good reason. She was jangling inside and Eliot's apartment seemed to crush her as she fought to breathe. Stupid really. She was safe with Eliot whatever Hardison's thoughtless words had implied. But she needed fresh air and space and yet it terrified her suddenly, a suffocating fear that stole her courage. Someone has watched her. Someone had stalked her to her place and waited and watched and it made her skin crawl.

It also made her doubt her own radar, that had not detected any danger at all. The radar that had seen her survive this long had failed and it was as if her lines had been cut mid-way through a jump.

The drop this time wasn't thrilling. It was paralysing.

"So I had an idea." Eliot looped his arms about her waist, and she settled back, knowing immediately that the chest wouldn't be spoken of tonight. Eliot was smarter than people gave him credit for she thought proudly. Her hitter. "We've been cooped up in here and you weren't outside during the con and so, I thought we could sit outside tonight. See the stars."

"In Boston? There's like a dozen stars. I count them. All the time."

"Hey twelve stars is better than none you ingrate." He mock sulked and she kissed him,and his mouth opened, and they kissed slow and hard and a buzz licked her skin dissipating the jagged anger that was feeling too familiar the last few days. "Oh you want to see the stars now do you?"

"Yeah." Parker looked at him, his grey blue eyes, and felt a sense of peace. He would still want that long talk, she knew that, but he wasn't going to ball her out tonight. He was looking after her, and despite wanting to be bullet proof, Parker ached inside as she admitted in her secret heart, that she really wanted to be looked after. Damn.

"C'mon then, we'll take a drink up, it's cold out there." Eliot the caretaker. Suddenly Parker wanted to be that and slipped from his grip and reached the kettle before him.

"I'll make chocolate." She told him airily, though she couldn't quite recall if he heated milk or water, or where the mix was.

"You will?" He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her, since apart from omelettes, she did nothing in his kitchen. Well, banana sandwiches on Sundays on occasion. She bristled.

"Hey, I can look after you. I'm capable." Parker pouted at him, then winced at her words. Oops. His brow furrowed, and he coughed.

"I think you proved that pretty emphatically Parker with your one man band act with Scarlet. I don't need you to be what you aren't darlin'. You hunt down people in prison, you don't make dinner."

"You mad?" She was pretty sure making dinner would be a preferable trait for most men.

"Disturbingly aroused tell the truth honey, but it ain't happenin' again. We do shit together. You told me remember?"

They pinky swore in silence and she sighed, abandoning the chocolate making as Eliot shouldered her aside affectionately and did it right. She itched and hovered and bounced as she tried to work off the growing claustrophobia and he hustled her to the roof with a teasing snap of his teeth.

On the roof, she saw what he had done. A hammock had been erected, and a wind breaker surrounded it on three sides, the makeshift area set up in the lee of the roof entrance. A duvet cover and pillows on the hammock made her clap as excitement replaced worry and anxiety. He sat the mugs beside the wind breaker and flipped on a small radio he had up here then shoved his hands in his back pockets. Eliot being...what? Bashful?

"We can sleep up here?"

"Yeah. I figured you might need a bit of space after-" Parker flung her arms about his neck and kissed him with all the gratitude she felt at the gesture. He got her. He stumbled back but then kissed her back, his hands soon escaping his pockets and finding her ass, moaning a little as they parted. He grinned at her, and the stars, sparse as they were shone a little brighter above. "Note to self, replace bed with hammock."

"Idiot." She swatted his arm and he bent to kiss her neck, and she sighed,gazing up at the endless black, the moon a hazy pearl glowing in the dark, seeming so close she could reach out and touch it.

They sat side by side on the edge of one of his planters and held the mugs between their palms, juts like Sophie did, and she leant her head on his shoulder. No bad thoughts could hurt her here. No memories could invade this safe haven. Not with his solid strength under her head and his scent

tickling her senses. His breathing was deep and rhythmic and her heart was beating in time with the pulse that fluttered through his skin at his throat to her ears. She craved silence sometimes. Yeah she was loud and goofy and talked crazy, but she was thief. Silence was her biggest asset.

An easy beat flowed from the radio and once they had finished drinking, Eliot swung her to her feet and rocked with her. She liked dancing with Eliot. He was a warm cuddle wrapped around her body as the cool air kissed her face, and she was safe and free all at once. Exactly what she needed. The next song pierced the night with a haunting male voice, and she tucked her head to Eliot's shoulder as the words stung her heart and soothed it too.

I have seen peace. I have seen pain,
Resting on the shoulders of your name.
Do you see the truth through all their lies?
Do you see the world through troubled eyes?
And if you want to talk about it any more,
Lie here on the floor and cry on my shoulder,
I'm a friend.

Eliot held her tighter, and she wondered if he was as aware of the words as she was. If he would think her foolish, as tears stung her eyes.

I have seen birth. I have seen death.
Lived to see a lover's final breath.
Do you see my guilt? Should I feel a fright?
Is the fire of hesitation burning bright?
And if you want to talk about it once again,
On you I depend. I'll cry on your shoulder.
You're a friend.

Oh man, she was going to cry. She didn't want to. Didn't want tears to ruin this moment of communion, but he lifted her chin and kissed the corners of her eyes and she felt the tears stream quietly, as his lips caressed her forehead and her lashes and she shuddered in his arms. They rocked back and forth and he found her mouth, and kissed her so sweetly she could taste chocolate on his tongue and smell Eliot's clean fresh scent against the cool nip of the night air, and sadness welled within her. She wasn't sure who the tears were for. For Sarah? For the team and what she had asked of them? For Eliot, because he never quite seemed to escape the horror in the world, no matter how hard he tried? Or for herself, for reasons far beyond her grasp right now. There were so many emotions flooding her, she closed her eyes tight to push them away. Guilt, and anxiety and happiness that she was alive and with Eliot combined to heart cracking effect.

You and I have lived through many things.
I'll hold on to your heart.
I wouldn't cry for anything,
But don't go tearing your life apart.

She wished rage were all she could feel. But this team, this man, had opened her up to those things she had lost a long time ago. The softer side of feeling that somehow had the power to take your knees in a way the harder emotional responses never quite could. Fury made you diamond hard, compassion made you glass. She wasn't a shatter kind of girl normally. Though had been astounded at the depth of pain Eliot's vanishing act had caused. Did love weaken you then?

I have seen fear. I have seen faith.
Seen the look of anger on your face.
And if you want to talk about what will be,
Come and sit with me, and cry on my shoulder,
I'm a friend.
And if you want to talk about it any more,
Lie here on the floor and cry on my shoulder,
Once again.
Cry on my shoulder,
I'm a friend.

Eliot didn't say anything as she silently crashed, the tears leaking beyond her control. She was grateful. He led her to the hammock, and stripped to his boxers, as if it wasn't freezing, and watched as she followed suit, though he passed her a tee shirt that she slipped on over her bra and pants. Her skin broke out in goosebumps, as the cold air hit, and she bundled into the hammock and he climbed in beside her. They stared up at the sky, and the cold barely had a chance when faced with the immense heat rolling from Eliot's tough frame. The duvet became a snug cocoon, and the slight breeze across the roof on her face was so delicate and cool, she felt content,and it was a weightless feeling, not unlike free falling. The tears stopped and the crazy confusion in her head died away as she lay in the hammock, body to body with Eliot, and sleep claimed her peacefully as the hammock swayed, and Eliot's rough fingers stroked her shoulder gently.

It was a dreamless slumber. And a screamless one.

xx

Disclaimer: Lyrics are James Blunt: Cry. Not mine. All his.