A/N - Parker gets some advice from Sophie...

Quinn was busy...

Tara gets a surprise...

And Hardison checks in with his boss for the job...

I hope you all have a GREAT weekend and I will see you next FABULOUS FAN FICTION FRIDAY!

PS. I can't wait to read your REVIEWS on Monday!

"That's okay. Go ahead and unload. I'll check them off if you want."

"Thanks ma'am. I'll get my men right on it."

So Parker watched as they unloaded the horse hauler. Because there were three men working, it didn't take long to get the horses off the trailer and into the barn. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Sophie was up and clearly wasn't happy with the noise, but smiled at Parker anyway.

"What's all this?"

"I don't know exactly. I thought it was supposed to be Eliot's Christmas present… But that was back when he was in the hospital. And now, I'm not so sure he deserves them now after last night, but I heard horses were good for therapy. Dean, inside the barn says there's an early snow storm coming so he had to deliver them early."

"We'll have to watch Eliot… He's going to want to ride without his braces to prove he's still got it."

"Got what?"

"The ability to ride."

"Oh…"

"He's lost a lot these last few months and I don't know what it would do to him if he thought he lost the ability to ride, Parker. He needs to prove to himself he still can," the grifter worried.

The thief hugged Sophie, "I know; that's why I kind of had to accept delivery. Maybe he could brush them down or feed them to start."

"Start small and build Parker… Good idea, darling."

"Come on; let's go see my horses…" Parker cheerfully pulled Sophie into the barn. "That sounds so much like an oxymoron."

"By the way, Parker, what was that smell from the kitchen I caught on my way out?"

Once the hitter had dressed and gotten himself into his wheelchair, he changed his mind about going outside… He decided to sneak into the kitchen and cook the two women breakfast; all by himself. No more talk of it being his buddy's food masked as Parker's cooking… Eliot rolled into the kitchen and headed for the fridge. It took a little work to get the heavy door open considering he couldn't stand. He got a whiff of onion soup… He could smell vegetables and some kind of meat. Then he spotted the red light on the Crock*Pot on the counter… There went Parker, up to one more thing… He didn't dare look at what she was cooking, just to let her surprise him but he knew it had to be some kind of pot roast with vegetables. He took out some eggs and found the flour… A few more fixings and he had the makings to make Parker's favorite… His pancakes that she liked so much. Along with that he found some sausage links so he decided to add scrambled eggs and sausage into the menu. He owed her his pancakes after all he did to ruin her dinner last night.

Sophie walked in through the front door and Parker caught a whiff of something familiar wafting past her nose. It was coming from the kitchen… She couldn't see Eliot because he was shorter than the height of the front counter. She noticed his bedroom door was open… Then she turned and he was in the corner and trying to get the coffee machine loaded.

"Aha! Caught ya," she suddenly jumped into the kitchen.

Suddenly Eliot spilled a double-papered coffee filter full of grounds on the counter…

"Dammit Parker! Look what you made me do," he yelled at her.

"Yup, he's still Oscar this morning…" Parker mused.

"I'll make the coffee," Sophie smiled as she came in behind Parker.

"That's not the point. I'm doing breakfast…"

"Is that so? Is there a crack in that Grouchy exterior I see," Sophie teased as she grabbed the container of ground coffee from the hitter.

That earned her a smirk and Parker watched as Sophie laughed. Her teammates seemed to be happy again. And that was good in her book… Four more days until she was leaving…

Suddenly, she felt a vibration in the front pocket of her jeans and remembered that was where her cell phone was. Abruptly, she turned and went into the living room to check out what was going on until she saw that it was Hardison calling. Then Parker went out to the porch for some privacy…

"Morning."

"Hey mama, just a quick update; Tara's mission in red heels worked. And we're moving forward with the plans. Not sure what's going on with Quinn though. He seemed off when I last spoke to him."

"Okay, now I need exact coordinates of the location of the ship. And let Tara keep up on working under Enrique's skin. Have him take her shopping; have her make him want to buy her something pretty or, sparkly. He might even want to get his sisters in law, mother, and sisters to go shopping with her. Have them make sure they know she's not a gold-digger. Keep selling the character…"

"You got it, anything else?"

"I need two fake containers that we need to have in Los Angeles while the boat keeps up on its way north. I will have a team with me to sail the ship into the Port of San Francisco."

"'Kay. I'm on it."

"And keep Quinn out of sight for now. His job will be coming up soon… At least only a few days more. I'm leaving here on the morning of the seventh, so I need our jet to pick me up."

"I'll send it. Do you need me to come with it or do you want me to stay here?"

"No, stay there as my eyes and ears. I know my teams have gotten you bugs everywhere you need."

"They've been great; saved us a boat load of time…" Alec tried to joke.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'll need the weather report sent to my phone before I get to you down there."

"Right."

"I gotta go; Eliot's made pancakes."

"What? He cookin' again already? I thought he was supposed to be off those legs."

"He got his casts off yesterday, but he has to wear braces now for a little while. He's gonna start physical therapy soon."

"That's great. Tell him I said, 'Congrats, man.'"

"Sure. Bye."

Tara went to Enrique's hotel room later that night into the predawn hours. He wasn't able to convince her to have intercourse on his bed, but she compromised and agreed to suck his cock, but only if she allowed him to share a shower with her. She hated to, but she did it. Just for appearances she allowed him to get her off with his hand only and some kissing. The grifter didn't allow his mouth to go below her belly button and that was that. That place was reserved for Quinn… And only Quinn. God, she hadn't thought about him for the whole night… Now she remembered that her real lover was the only one she wanted eating her out; he was the best she'd ever had… Literally. She actually began to miss him as she laid there with the mark snoring away on his king size bed. Tara realized that Quinn was probably pretty upset she hadn't come home last night. She easily slipped out of bed and grabbed her clothing. Fortunately, the sedative she slipped him when the grifter made drinks for him when they got to his hotel room; had him pretty sleepy still. He didn't move a muscle to chase after her.

The blond hadn't had a word from Hardison yet, so she went ahead with another plan that she didn't know was already what she was supposed to do. She left Enrique a note on her pillow to call her when he woke up, that she was holding him to his promise to take her shopping, and get her something beautiful. Then the grifter quietly left his hotel at dawn. His men were sleeping in the hall. Just so she wouldn't wake them, she left her shoes off and made a b-line for the staircase access. Fortunately, they were all heavy sleepers. She took the stairs so that an elevator wouldn't ding when the doors opened. Then she took a cab back to her hotel…

Not too long after midnight, Quinn left the 24 hour jewelry store with a small black box about the size big enough for an engagement ring… He went back to the hotel to wait up for Tara… Well, after several hours of movies on the flat-screen television, he was sound asleep and no blond grifter… Then he heard the door open and he grabbed for his gun under the pillow on the bed. He hid behind the bedroom door until he saw the saw the red high heels step into the bedroom. Out of the blue he grabbed her from behind around the waist and held the barrel of the gun to her temple…

"Where have you been?" He gruffly asked her.

"Out. Night ran long. Why, jealous?" She spoke and then bumped her tight ass into the front of his boxers.

He could tell she was turned on by his aggressive behavior and not in the slightest scared at the gun at her temple. She then ground her butt into him again just for giggles. Then she broke free and turned around to face her lover standing there in his boxer shorts. She warmly kissed him good morning and then backed away. His body was definitely happy to see her, but she still smelled like that Brazilian freak.

"Did you…"

"No."

"How come you smell like him?"

"His cheap cologne doesn't wash off, sorry. Wanna come share a shower with me before I get a nap?"

"Don't lie to me… Did you… With him?"

"No baby, I didn't. I sucked him off long enough for the sedative I slipped him to work and then I tried a shower before I left. My hair's almost dry but I guess I didn't get all of his smell off me."

She didn't have to ask him again… He scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the bathroom for that shower. The beautiful diamond ring he bought for her stayed in the pocket of his jeans for the time being. He didn't want to get her distracted for the moment by proposing to her in the middle of a job. She couldn't lose focus and start day dreaming about wedding plans when she had a mark to seduce…