So I was kinda thinking that I might leave you hanging a little today, cause I've been helping all the lovely gals over at the CK Vote and Promote and doing some hardcore voting, but I figured that I couldn't be cruel - I'd left you hanging wondering if they live, if they die, whether or not Parker might stab Eliot in the eye (okay, maybe not that but it rhymed, whaddya know, I'm a poet lol.). And also, my plot hamsters of doom have had me working on something new, which I'm not sure I'm ever going to post as it's fluff with chocolate. Oh and Eliot (in his undies) getting a sugar high with Parker. On that note...

Anyhoo I'm not gonna leave you hanging, before I shut up rambling I just wanted to say a massive thanks to all the reviewers who are not members on here and comment as guests. I've had lovely reviews from Kay, Carol, Kim and youdude, your comments meant a lot to me. So without further ado (cause my Chilli's burning as I type and the hubster won't shift his bum) I give you... an update.

Laura

Chapter 5

It was dark behind his eyes and even though he knew that he had to open them, Eliot Spencer could have quite easily have slipped back into the warm fuggy sleep he'd just awoken from. His body ached and his head throbbed with a pain that he was sure was going to split his head into two, he felt like he'd been hit by a car, and he would have irony as his rental truck had lost control and smashed into a tree.

Slowly, and against his better judgement, Eliot opened one blue eye followed by the other only to be met by the brilliant glare of daylight that filtered through the trees. He winced as his eyes adjusted and then proceeded to mentally assess his injuries. He could feel his legs and that was a good thing in his opinion, he thought he had bruised his ribs and aside from the trickle of blood that had started to dry on the side of his face from a bump somewhere on his head, he was pretty sure that death would not take him this day.

Eliot shifted in his seat and regretted it instantly as a wave of pain travelled through his core, there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to hurt like hell tomorrow and it would be a couple of days before he started to feel human again. His hand went to unbuckle his seat belt, but found that it already undone and realised that Parker was sat watching him. The hitter had seen her hit the passenger side window with some force and was surprised, yet glad that that she'd already come to, her injured head resting in her hand as she watched him.

'Parker,' Eliot's voice was gruff, his throat dry, 'Are you okay?'

He quickly gave her a once over with his eyes. She was curled up her seat and he was glad to see that nothing was broken and her limbs were working normally. In fact, the only thing that seemed to be wrong with the lithe blonde thief was a tiny cut just above her right eye; the spatter of blood on the window only went to prove that she was a good bleeder.

Parker nodded her blue-green eyes wide with shock. Eliot knew that she was fighting back tears, hell he was too and it wouldn't do either of them any good to sit much longer in a vehicle that almost took their lives.

'Eliot,' she asked in small voice, 'Are you okay? You sounded all funny, like you couldn't catch your breath, so I unbuckled your belt.'

It took a beat or two for him to realise what the thief meant, carefully Eliot moved his hand across his chest, to the suspected bruised ribs and on further inspection discovered that the tightening of the seatbelt across his chest when the car had impacted had saved him from hitting the windshield, but had done the damage to his chest. He'd cracked a couple of them and suspected that he might have punctured a lung, which was why he'd sounded funny to Parker.

'I'll be okay,' he replied giving Parker the best smile he could muster, 'How 'bout you? Are you okay darlin'?'

Parker nodded, 'My head hurts. A lot. But other than that I'm just a bit shaken. What happened?'

'I… erm, I'm not really too sure,' the hitter admitted, ducking his head. 'I thought I… I erm, I thought I saw… you'll think I'm crazy, but I thought I saw you in the… y'know, never mind.'

The young woman never pushed the subject anymore, much to Eliot's relief. He was the one that was meant to be level headed and logical, not seeing or believing in imaginary things and he knew that he couldn't have seen a girl ahead of them, especially not Parker, because she hadn't left the truck. No, he must have hit his head before he lost control of the vehicle and well, he didn't believe in ghosts or astral projection.

'I think we should get out of here,' Eliot told his friend, 'Angel Creek's just across the meadow, once we get to the saloon we can get that cut on your head fixed up. Do you think you can walk?'

'Yeah, your side's totalled, so you'll have to slide over and get out of this side.' Parker smiled at him, before opening the door and letting a blast of damp warm air inside the truck.

The rain had eased some underneath the canopy, but the sounds of the heavy downpour continued all around them and it was clear that they were going to get soaked through. Parker's feet squelched loudly in the muddy mess on the woodland floor as she jumped down from the truck's cab and waited for Eliot to pull himself across and out. Although he seemed to only have minor injuries, he eased his way over and she held out her hand to help him out. He accepted gratefully and after deciding that they would come back for the luggage later they headed out through the trees and into the meadow. The long wet meadow grass made the walk more of a chore than it should have been and the rain seemed to target them from all directions which meant by the time they reached the otherwise of the pasture, both of their tempers were frayed.

It hadn't helped that when they'd reached an old oak tree in the middle of the pasture Parker had made Eliot rest for a few minutes despite his objections, nor had it helped when they'd encountered a Diamond-Back Rattlesnake, and Parker, rather than listening to Eliot's instructions to slowly avoid it so it didn't strike, as quick as a flash had vanished and appeared behind it, grabbed it's tail spun it wildly and released it with such vigour that he'd been surprised it hadn't left the Earth's atmosphere and boldly gone where no snake had ever gone before.

'Damn it Parker, what the hell?' Eliot growled, his ears hearing a very distinctive thud which told him that the snake had landed, though probably not anywhere soft and probably not alive.

'I saw that in a movie once,' Parker grinned back at him, rubbing her hands together. 'I've always wanted to do it cause it looked cool, but it felt kinda… bleurgh.'

'That's cause it's frickin' cruel,' the hitter sighed, wondering if she'd do anything else that he deemed crazy and unethical, 'It's a living being not a two dollar prop.'

'No… not that! That felt awesome, y'know whizzing it around in the air like you're pitching a ball, but I thought it would have been slimy, I like slimy things, but it was scaly and felt like the skin on an old person.' Parker shuddered; stalking pasted the chestnut-haired man, leaving him dumbfounded.

'There's somethin' wrong with you!'

Despite it all, they eventually made it to the old ramshackle school house that looked like it was just about still holding together. Parker's eyes were wide, and grew even wider as they walked along the main street of Angel Creek. Eliot hadn't been lying when he'd said it had more authenticity. Everywhere around them Eliot noticed that something caught her eyes – old carts, wanted posters, old rocking chairs outside on the veranda of the barber shop, her fidgeting only telling him one thing – that she couldn't wait for the rain to stop and get to the exploring.

'Eliot,' the blonde thief sighed, 'this is like… wow, all this it's frickin' awesome.'

'Yeah it's pretty cool,' Eliot replied, wincing as he grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her towards the board walk on the street front, 'I'm glad you like it. There'll be plenty of time to look around later, but we need to get out of this rain and take a look at that cut on your head. The Saloon's just up here.'

Parker nodded and followed Eliot's lead, her eyes darting from side of the street to the other, a strange feeling settling over her as she progressed further along the street. She couldn't explain it, but she had a feeling that she'd been here before, but that was impossible. The blonde woman stopped abruptly, pulling Eliot back in her direction with some force.

'Damn it Parker, what the hell?' he growled, 'My friggin' ribs are killin' here.'

'Don't you feel that?' she whispered, her blue eyes searching their immediate surrounds before settling on Eliot's wet and weathered face.

'Feel what, the hypothermia settin' in? Sure I do, now come on.' Eliot gave Parker a stern wide eyed look and the thief noted silently that it was the one that Tara had called scary.

'No,' the girl protested, It's like this place has been waiting for something, for me.'

Eliot shook his head, 'There's somethin' wrong with you.'

'So you keep telling me,' Parker sighed, wishing that Eliot would stop saying that to her.

'Look,' Eliot ran a hand over his wet locks, 'if you feel anythin' it's because there's static in the air, there's more of this storm to come and if we don't get inside soon, we stand a good chance of gettin' sick, so come on and we'll talk 'bout this later,' he paused, looking slightly agitated that his words weren't registering. 'Okay.'

'Okay,' Parker agreed and stalked past the hitter, her heart heavy and her mind racing.

Minutes later, the duo pushed through the old weathered oak swing doors and the single window-paned door that had sealed the inside of the Saloon away from the elements. It was dark inside, with minimal daylight from only a select few uncovered windows illuminating the shadows. Eliot led Parker towards the bar and then disappeared into a room at the back leaving her to her own devices. Awestruck, she stared out into the dimly-lit bar room taking in her new surroundings. Dust motes floated on the beam of light that shone down onto an old Player Piano which had been hidden away underneath a staircase, next to the stage that sat underneath the balcony and walkway above. That itself didn't particularly look ornate in the darkness but she should tell that the balusters had been carved into a twisted design and she decided that she would take a closer look when the light was better.

Parker noted that there was only a very slight trace of the damp musty smell she would have associated with a building that had been left for over a hundred years to the mercy of the elements, it wasn't completely masked by the smells of new wood and varnish, and it seemed as though the renovations that Eliot had spoken off had been only weeks or months old. The blonde woman was deciding whether to call out to Eliot, partly to see where he had vanished too and also to ask about the renovation work, when the room was suddenly bathed in warm light from a beautiful crystal chandelier in the centre of the ceiling, it chased away the shadows and allowed the blonde woman to see more of the Saloon's hidden treasures.

A vast mirror took up most of the back bar wall behind the counter, where she noticed there was at least a hundred old bottles, all different shapes and sizes, some filled with different coloured liquids. Parker noted that there were bottles of Jack, Wild Turkey and Jim Beam and other more modern liquors in the mix too. There were several brass beer taps attached to the bar and these had been polished to a high standard, just as the bar top had been shined up too.

With her wet flip flops discarded, Parker weaved in and out of the round tables admiring the chairs, her hand gently skimming the backrests which had been re-upholstered in a deep burgundy colour and complimented the drapes that hung at either side of the stage. It was clear that whoever had renovated the building had done so with love and an attention to detail that was like no other.

'Eliot,' she called out over her shoulder. 'Eliot!' she tried again, this time calling out above her. Her request was met with silence, and she couldn't help but wonder where the man had gone.

Parker wandered over to the swing doors and stared out into the street. Although it was still only early in the afternoon, the sky was almost as black as night. Eliot had been right about a storm coming, but she was still unable to shake the strange feelings she had about Angel Creek. Maybe she had been stupid to mention it to her friend earlier and thinking back it did sound ridiculous to think that the ghost town had been waiting for her. But Parker knew deep down that the dreams and this permanently stuck in a time-warp town were connected somehow, she just didn't know how. It was these thoughts that carried her back to her last dream and how much the man named Caleb Black looked like Eliot. A version of the hitter that was just as sexy as sin as he was and more dangerous, if that was at all possible.

'Did I really just think that Eliot was as sexy as sin?' Parker thought to herself; shocked that that she had ended up on that train of thought, a train that was rapidly starting go on a high speed trip through Crazy Town and to a destination where she had never thought she would ever end up.

It wasn't as if Parker didn't know that Eliot Spencer wasn't an attractive member of the opposite sex, hell she did have eyes and when they had first being brought together by Nathan Ford going on three years ago she couldn't help but look twice at him, his hair had been shorter then but his body was still as honed as it was today, if not less. Time had passed since then and she hadn't even considered Eliot like that until, well until now.

Now, she remembered how his bare chest had looked when he'd fought that Tank guy when they were in Nebraska and how every now and again when he stretched his shirt would sometimes inch up his taut stomach showing just a dusting of hair that seemingly ran up to his navel and lower to, well to there. Parker gulped hard as she pictured Eliot's wet cotton shirt from just a few hours earlier, all transparent from the rain and moulded to his body, how his wet jeans plastered to his well toned legs and buttocks. The tiny theif gulped even harder when she remembered him pushing his wet hair back and imagined him in the shower, soapy and slippery, bubbles running down his skin towards, lower, lower…

Parker's eyes widened and she blushed involuntarily letting out a slow squeak under her breath. Lusting after her team mate like this was not something she wanted to be doing, particularly when they were going to be in such close proximity to each other for the next seven days. Nope, that would be wrong, so very, very wrong; especially when Hardison was waiting for her back home with his heart on his sleeve and the hopes for something more than what she knew she could give him anytime soon.

It was true that she knew that he had been jonesing for her for some months and she also knew that she had sometimes played on it to get things that she wanted. Sophie had told her a number of times to not lead him on, but she couldn't help it. She loved Alec, but she didn't know if that love was the kind romantic love that Sophie had for Nate or if it was more of the kind of love that she'd felt for her brother Nick. One thing was for sure she had never imagined Alec Hardison the way that she was imagining Eliot right now.

'Stupid damn dream,' she muttered quietly, 'stupid damn Caleb Black person, making me think of Eliot that way.'

Parker would have given anything right then and there for a little face to face pep talk from Sophie or even her friend Peggy but instead she decided that a phone call would have to suffice and she retrieved her cell phone from one of her many hiding places and tried to dial Peggy, as she figured that she'd be the most impartial, having never met Eliot. The phone beeped rudely at her to tell her that there was no service and she spun the small smart phone in her hand. She would have to wait until the storm had passed and try making the call later, when she hoped service had improved.

The storm was over the town now, the rain pelting hard against the weathered wooden buildings outside causing the cool air and her already damp clothes to chill her skin even more. Parker shivered and wrapped her arms around herself tightly, hoping that whatever Eliot was doing involved finding something to ensure that they'd be warm and dry until they could return to the wrecked truck for their bags and to inspect the damage.

A feather-light touch on her bare shouldered caused the young woman to turn on her heel, her eyes widened and she was sure that her jaw had fallen open as a million and one things flashed through her mind at breakneck speed, but mostly there was Eliot's voice in the back of her mind, telling her once again that there was something wrong with her and at this moment in time, she was absolutely, positively sure that he was right because there stood in front of her was Caleb Black. And there was no way that dreams could really come true, was there?

/

Eliot made his way down the restored wooden steps, his footfalls as ever near silent, he had learnt long ago that footsteps could bring unwanted attention to himself and add danger to a situation that didn't always warrant it and it was something that he practiced at all times. It was clear to him as he ascended the stairs that Parker wouldn't have heard him regardless of his well practiced technique as the blonde girl seemed to be lost in thought, staring absent-mindedly out into the storm-darkened street.

He'd left the thief alone in the bar room while he headed into the back room that had once been an office of some sort to switch the power on and find the first aid kit that was stashed in a small cupboard. Eliot, with his prize in hand had taken the back stairs and headed to the bathroom, where there was a stash of towels and a flow of warm water – a more recent addition to the old ghost town. After cleaning himself of blood and drying off, Eliot had strapped his ribs, deeming that the suspected puncture to his lung wasn't life threatening and would heal by itself and gone in search of some dry clothing for him and Parker, their bags having been left in the back of the truck in their hasty retreat after sideswiping the tree.

There was an ornately carved oak chest in one of the bedrooms, where he found a red corseted satin dress trimmed with black lace that he figured would fit the blonde thief. It reminded Eliot of something that a dancing girl would have worn back in the day, though it was in his opinion slightly classier as it wasn't short in the front like many of the ones that were depicted in the movies or in some of the tourist traps where girls dressed up for reconstructions. That had left just him, there were of course other dresses in the chest, but he didn't fancy the idea of wearing one. A further search for male clothes had led him to the master bedroom where he was rewarded for his effort by finding a pair of black plants and a black shirt, even finding a black Stetson hat and a black kerchief to complete the look. He'd promised Parker an authentic experience and what was more authentic than him dressing as gunslinger opposite her dancing girl. As his hair was still damp he'd left it loose, although it was going a tad frizzy as it dried, but he had a spare elastic band on his wrist for emergencies, and he figured that the hat, although not what he would normally wear to hide his hair faux pas would hide a multitude of sins.

With dress for Parker in hand, he returned to the bathroom and collected the first aid kit and a towel and stowed them inside a porcelain bowl before filling the matching jug with some fresh water to attend to Parker's wound and had eventually come full circle on to the balcony above the bar room. He'd stood for a few moments watching Parker as she zoned out into her own head space, wondering only briefly what she was thinking about. Eliot suspected that she was dwelling on what she'd said on the street front, about the town waiting for her to return either that or she was wondering about the treasure that the town supposedly held – he hoped for the latter but every fibre in his being told him that she wasn't.

With his un-deliberate silence Eliot reached the bar and placed his bounty down on polished wood, careful not to spill the water from the jug as he set that down, water marks where not something he wanted to deal with today, despite the journey and then the accident, there was still a matter of getting a fire started for later and then finding something to eat amongst the minimal food supplies that he knew were in the small kitchen out back. He set the dress that he'd found for Parker on the back of one of the chairs close to him and coughed loudly, trying to gain the woman's attention.

Parker was often skittish and had a tendency to stab first ask questions later, though Eliot knew that she had no knife or well a fork for that matter, it didn't mean that she didn't have something hidden away for those just in cast times – the lock picks that she took on every trip she took with the team were hopefully in her baggage in the back of the truck, but Eliot couldn't be sure and he didn't want to deal in hopefullies and what ifs with her head being any where else than in the present.

'Parker,' he called out softly, moving away from the counter and making his way towards his friend, 'Parker.' Eliot called out again, this time with a little more volume, but his voice fell on deaf ears and not even his cursing as he slammed foot into a table leg brought the girl out her daze. He was almost upon her now, almost within striking distance and he was preparing himself to counter a potential attack and restrain the thief.

Before Eliot could fully place his hand on the blonde woman's skin to tap Parker on the shoulder, she spun around as quick as a flash and looked at him positively agog, eyes as wide as saucers and her jaw slackening and forming a small 'o'. Her name was on the tip of his tongue once more but he couldn't find his voice quick enough before he noticed her eyes roll into the back of her head and her whole body slump backwards and downwards towards the wooden floor. Parker had passed out.

Eliot's reflexes had always been quick and if anything they were well on par with Parker's so it only took a matter of milliseconds to reach out and catch the young woman in his arms and gently pull her into a safe embrace. 'Damn it Parker.' Eliot muttered as he bent his own knees and lowered the two of them down towards the floor.