Author's Note:

Thanks for the reviews! From now on, almost every chapter will have some good backstory so you can slowly start to put the pieces together!

hoellenwauwau: Yeah, I think I made Nate's condition sound more serious than it really was, but you are right, probably a little out of character for Sophie to leave him. You will have to wait and see about the Parker cheating thing.

Swamp Fairy: Thanks! You are awesome!

Sphinxius: Thanks! Yes, I was so excited to write that chapter - Hardison and bugs just seem like natural enemies...and alligators. :)

Ghee Buttersnaps15: We will have to see about the alligators. I don't know many people that can outswim an alligator, but hopefully Hardison is one of those people.

Nemo: Thanks! Yep, Parker cheating... Read this chapter and things will get even more interesting.

Please R&R!


Chapter 9:

"Front Gate clear." Eliot confirmed through his earpiece.

"Roof clear." Parker spoke next, pressing her finger to her ear.

"Downstairs clear." Nate spoke.

"Great." Hardison returned from his hacker van. "No disturbances detected on the lawn."

Sophie sat next to Hardison watching camera feeds, trying to detect any movement.

It was now the fourth night and they had all been on minimal sleep. Sophie could tell by their sharp responses and irritated huffs over the com that no one was in a good mood.

"I still don't understand why we can't just move the paintings off site temporarily." Parker complained as she sat down against one of the roof walls.

Normally, Parker would have a field day with this mansion. There were crevices, slanted roofing, different levels and different heights. She spent the first night making herself familiar with the rooftop, though she didn't suspect that Amy's brother, Connor, would have the necessary skills to infiltrate the home through the roof.

"It's what Amy requested." Hardison chided. Parker clenched her jaw at the remark.

"Well sometimes, people say they want one thing, but actually want another." Parker retorted.

"And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Hardison snapped.

Parker didn't respond, but everyone knew that Parker was sending death glares toward the van. The other three teammates remained awkwardly silent.

"Besides," Parker continued on, ignoring his remark, "the room isn't even secure. It's like she wants him to break in or something."

"Parker, I know it's a bit unorthodox," Nate inserted, before Hardison had another chance, "but we said we would help. It's simple, all we have to do is catch him in the act, and temporarily apprehend him until Amy has a chance to talk with her brother face to face."

"Right." Parker mumbled, still thinking everything was a bit too unconventional.

Another hour or so went by. Eliot was sitting on a chair by the front gate, flipping through text messages on his phone, Nate was dozing off on the living room couch, Parker was curled up in a hidden spot on the roof, and the other two were playing a card game in the van.

No one noticed the panther in the dark, evaluate his surroundings and clandestinely make his way up and along the rooftop.

Parker was just about to doze off herself when a small click-clack noise caught her attention. With a soundless movement, she shimmied herself up along one of the sides of the roof to see a fit man dressed in all black quickly pace himself along another ridge of the roof toward the skylight entrance to the paintings.

"He's here." Parker whispered over the com. "On the roof."

Everyone jumped to attention.

"Perfect." Nate said. "Now just like we practiced. Parker, stay a safe distance behind and don't lose sight of him. I will cut him off in the room with the paintings."

Parker was already in motion scaling the walls and keeping a safe distance, a lioness stalking her prey.

Parker had followed the intruder all the way to the skylight, and just as she had predicted, he used a thick rope and shimmied himself down into the room. They all knew that the hardest part would be for Connor to escape with all eight paintings.

"Change of plans." Parker whispered as she stared down into the room.

"No Parker." Nate said. "Stick to the plan."

"Nate, something is off. He's just staring at them. He's staring at the paintings, not stealing them."

"Parker, listen to me, this is no time for changes. Stick to the plan."

"Parker, stop." Sophie ordered, clutching the bridge of her nose in irritation, as she watched Parker shimmy down the rope that Connor had just used to enter the room from the skylight.

It was no use, Parker was not listening. The room was dark and the only light that shone through was from the moonlight through the large paned windows that surrounded the room.

Parker could hear the others scrambling to rehash a new plan, but she had a good feeling about this. To know what he was actually doing here. Something suspicious was going on, and since she was the only one that could see it, she would just have to take lead this time around.

She landed lightly on the ground, right behind Connor as he stood quietly staring at the paintings, looking from one to another, and then to another. It was like he was in a museum, rather than breaking into the house he murdered his grandfather in.

"Looking for something?" Parker asked.

The man in black whirled around, body prepared to sprint in one direction or another. Parker just stood innocently, holding the taser at the ready behind her back.

"And you are?" His voice was smooth and had a light, crisp resonance. Nothing like what she would expect from a murderer. Though, after the last few weeks, she wasn't sure who she could trust anymore.

"Parker, and I need you to step away from the paintings and talk to your sister."

Hardison and Sophie watched Parker and Connor through the video feed in the van, both jaws dropped.

Eliot was too far away to help, and Nate didn't want to put Parker in danger by bursting in. Everyone was on edge. Parker was in a room alone with a murderer.

Parker watched him. It was hard to see his features, but her keen eye for detail picked up a concealed anger, one that was almost unnoticeable.

"Are you going to make me?" Connor said flirtatiously, moving closer to Parker.

"If I have to." She responded, no emotion in her voice.

He moved another step forward, and that was all Parker needed. She whipped the taser out from behind her back, flipped the switch so the electric buzzing of the shockwave was ready.

Parker didn't know how, but somehow Connor managed to anticipate her move, grabbing her by the wrist, protecting himself from the taser and flinging her around. Within moments he had pulled the taser from her hand and touched it to her neck.

Parker had done this particular move to many others, but she never expected it to turn to her. Her eyes immediately rolled back into her head and she crumpled to the floor.

Nate was running down the hall, just one more corner to turn. His heart pounded, fear gripping his insides. Why didn't Parker just listen to him?

Before he had the chance to turn the corner, he slammed into a black figure with a taser. Both recoiled, hitting opposite walls, unbeknownst to Connor, accidentally causing him to scroll the taser voltage to a much higher level. Their eyes both met in wide surprise, ready to go after one another, when Connor shoved the taser into Nate's neck. The voltage was so high that Nate hit the floor like a brick, twitching uncontrollably.

Eliot was furious. He had suggested he be the one close to the paintings, but Nate assured him that he needed to be ready for the escape. With eight paintings, Connor would need a car, or something mobile to help carry them out. Eliot would be there to stop him. He raced in, no Connor in sight.

Sophie and Hardison had since dislodged from the van and raced toward the house. Both worried for their teammates and loved ones.

Parker groaned as she pulled herself up into a groggy sitting position.

"-What?" Parker mumbled to herself, trying to figure out what had just transpired.

Her vision slowly leveled, and she was able to see clearly again.

She looked over to the paintings. She rubbed her eyes unable to believe what she saw. Instead of eight missing paintings, there was only one that was sliced out of its picture frame, one over from the last painting on the right.

"Why would he only take one?" She said to herself.

She groped around for her earbud and stuck it back in her ear. That's when she heard the loud commotion and quickly got up, rushing out of the high ceiling room into the hallway.

She sprinted down the hall running into a worried Hardison.

"Parker." Hardison said relieved, grabbing her shoulder.

"I'm okay." Parker said.

Hardison's face quickly morphed from fear, to an immense relief, and then to anger.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He growled.

Parker looked over his shoulder, and they both made their way to Sophie and Eliot, who were now crouching over an unconscious Nate.

"What happened?" Parker breathed, worry dripping from every word.

"You didn't follow the plan!" Sophie shrieked, as she continued her attempt at waking Nate.

"He's not-?" Parker couldn't finish the sentence. His pale, lifeless form caused her to go silent.

"He's breathing." Eliot answered for her. "He's just not waking up."

Parker's body was frozen. This was not supposed to happen this way. She inwardly chided herself for being so reckless.

They tried to wake him for another few minutes with no success. Sophie was in shock and Eliot was trying to keep the team from panicking.

"We need to get him to a hospital." Eliot ordered.


"We've been doing this for hours." Eliot complained.

"It's just not right yet." Parker said squinting at the picture on her phone. She was so proud of herself last night for figuring it out, that Connor was the forgery artist, and if they could retrace where he frequented his time, they could figure out where he and the painting were.

They were on their third forged painting, a picture of the market. The market that he had painted looked as though it was in the fifties, but if they were able to modernize the clothing and other features of the market, they could make out the exact location where he painted this particular piece of art.

Parker continued to walk down the busy market street, passing stands with fruit of all types, some that Parker didn't normally see. Eliot was constantly bombarded by different merchants trying to give him a deal on this, or trade with him on that. Though he was very good at killing someone with his bare hands, he had trouble saying no to salespeople, especially when they decided to send their six year old son up to try and sell an item. He was hopeless when it came to cute children.

They walked on a ways further, Parker starting to see some similarities between the picture of the art and some of the merchant tables.

Eliot walked beside her, debating whether to bring up the topic that had been on his mind for quite some time. He knew that she would never talk to Sophie about what happened with Hardison, especially after the recent incident, and really, right now, he was the only one keeping her from becoming a complete recluse and abandoning the team. She needed someone to talk to. And he knew he was the only one that could get her to open up.

"Parker?" Eliot questioned, cautiously.

"Yeah?" Parker responded, continuing to squint between the market and the picture on her phone.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Shoot." Parker said, still not paying the least bit of attention to him.

Eliot paused. He knew this wasn't the best place for it, but he couldn't wait any longer. He had given her three weeks to open up on her own, with no avail, so now it was time for him to convince her.

"What happened between you and Hardison?"

Parker stopped short, her eyes still focused on the phone, but no longer paying attention to it.

"Parker." Eliot said sympathetically, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You can tell me."

Parker quickly turned to look up at him with a fake smile. "I know." He didn't like the way the smile was contorted. It was like it was painful for her to show her teeth.

"He cheated on me." She said simply and kept moving forward.

Eliot couldn't believe it. He refused to believe it. A range of emotions coursed through him.

"That can't be right, he loves you."

Parker whipped around and gave him a stare that stopped him dead in his tracks. Her eyes were smoldering and her look could kill.

"I followed him and caught him." She said. "So never-ever say that "L" word again." Parker hissed.

Eliot remained silent.

"This is it!" Parker cheered, changing the subject. Eliot was caught off guard; she reverted from terrifying Parker to happy-chipper Parker within seconds. It was almost like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde phenomenon.

Eliot looked at his surroundings and groaned. Now time to start asking questions, he muttered to himself.

Parker was already starting her interrogation with a homely man at a trinket stand about fifteen feet away.

Eliot was about to make his way to a stand with another cute child at the helm, but was interrupted by a few gruff voices yelling and causing a ruckus down towards the end of the market.

It didn't take but a second for Eliot and the man with the broken nose from the previous night to lock eyes.

"That's him!" The man screeched as he clutched his nose.

Suddenly Eliot saw fifteen thugs turn their heads toward him and start sprinting down the market path, shoving people out of the way.

"Parker, run!" Eliot called. He spotted her quick nod, and she was gone, like a cat, twisting and turning herself away from the onslaught of thugs.

His goal was to stay violence free on this trip, but if last night were any indication, it looked like that wouldn't be the case.

Within seconds, the thugs were on him, surrounding him in the middle of the market square.

"Here we go again." Eliot grumbled as he lifted his fists for a fight against fifteen.