Sorry again for the late update. I always hate it when authors take forever to update but I guess I know know why lol. Well, enjoy.
It's at times like this that getting only 90 minutes of sleep a day actually made his life easier. Although he resented being assigned as Parker's "babysitter", he knew it was necessary to watch over the team's wildcard. There was no knowing what she would do in her grief, and as much of a pain as it was, he knew he would never forgive himself if something happened to her on his watch.
It was late after Nate and Sophie left, so Elliot and Parker decided to spend the night at Nate's place. Parker took a shower while Elliot got busy cooking something simple. Elliot was used to Parker's taciturn personality, but in addition to the events earlier, with no one else around, the silence around the dinner table drew longer and longer. Elliot studied Parker the entire time. There was something about the look in her eyes, that reminded him of himself, 15 years ago. Halfway through the meal, Parker quickly got up and left, leaving a bewildered Elliot at the table. Worried about what she was about to do, he followed her out the door down to the bar, catching her just as she was about to leave the door.
"Where are you going Parker? I thought we agreed to stay at Nate's."
"I'm getting my gear so that I can find and end Chaos myself. Don't take me for an idiot Elliot. I know Nate and Sophie will try to stop me, but I never expected you to too. I thought we were the ones who did what they can't. What they won't do."
"What you're talking about is murder, Parker! No amount of justification will change that fact. Look, I've been down the road you're heading towards before. Let me tell you, I almost lost everything important to me."
"I don't care! Hardison's dead, and there's nothing left for me to lose. I never cared about anything before I met Hardison. I only cared about money. Not even wealth, just money. Just so that I could keep on living for something, for some feeble purpose in my life. Nothing else matters anymore Elliot!"
Elliot walked over to the bar and poured himself a beer and sat down. "Let me tell you what happened to me okay, Parker? If you still want your revenge, I'll even help you."
Parker hesitated for a moment before sitting down. Elliot sighed with relief. He was hoping not to have to use the sedative he had in his pocket, but he couldn't let Parker become a killer like him. "Fifteen years ago, I was working for the NSA in gathering intel on the Taliban. This was about five years before 9/11 so they weren't "the bad guys" yet. It was basically a throw away assignment. We didn't expect any credible intel to come and so they posted rookies like me on it. One day, an Afghani man tried to warn me of an attack on a village 60 miles south of Kabul. He said the Pakistani secret service had been smuggling weapons through the village and that the Taliban wanted to take these weapons themselves. It was then that I drew the short straw and had to go out to the village to assess the situation.
After three days, I saw that the Taliban had indeed been scouting the village and that they were heavily armed. I immediately reported to my superiors who told me that they knew about the Taliban and assured me that the situation was completely under control. About a week later, I was sent to Gardēz and I decided to stop by the village. When I got there I found out it had been completely wiped out. I can't even describe what it was like to walk through the village and to even recognize where I had stayed when I was there. When I confronted my superiors, they told me that the region was too politically unstable to intervene. That was their excuse for letting an entire village of innocent civilians to die. When I kept harassing them about it, they finally decided to dishonorably discharge me. While I was at my hearing, I was approached by Damien Moreau. He promised me that if I worked for him, I would get my revenge against the Taliban that had destroyed the village. In the end, I worked for him for 10 years. In that time, I got my revenge against the Taliban and then some. I did things for that man that I have regretted ever since. Don't do what I did Parker. Stay with us and let us help you."
Parker was silent for a minute as she thought about what Elliot had just said.
"It's just that he said he didn't want to be alone anymore, and then we all left him in the van and..." Elliot cut her off as she started to ramble. "It's okay," Elliot said giving her a hug. "He had you and that's all that matters." Parker didn't say anything but didn't pull away either. "Look why don't we finish up our drinks, go upstairs and sleep okay? Take this one day at a time." Elliot finished his beer and walked up to the apartment with Parker in tow. After Parker went into Nate's room, Elliot knew something was wrong. He barely made it to the couch before staggering onto it from the sudden dizziness that had swept over him. He collapsed on the couch reaching into his pocket for the syringe he knew wouldn't be there.
I think next chapter's gonna be from Parker's perspective. After reading my stories a couple times (for continuity reasons) I realized I've been in Elliot's head a lot. I think there's a reason for this. I'm a guy so I'm not quite sure how Sophie or Parker would think like. Nate's also too smart for his own good, so I'm usually stuck with Elliot. I think I'm gonna try to change that from now on, even it out a bit.