AN: Hi!... Am posting after a gap of some three weeks... forgive me for pulling the disappearing act, i understand that some of you were worried abt me... sorry for making you worry. I am back now and will be posting in fairly regular intervals... maybe not everyday like before but definitely two to three times a week. Looking fwd to getting your feedback.:)

This fic is dedicated to Hips, who sent in this awesome prompt. Hips, sorry for the delay, but here is one part of your request. The other one is still in the works and will be up soon.

Prompt by Hips

An upside down kiss in the rain like in Spiderman

Hope all of you like this one... reviews and feedback are extremely welcome... i live to hear from you :)

Okay... This wasn't going to plan. The team had taken the job of cleaning up the coffers of a corrupt loan shark and returning the money to the rightful owners. Only, they hadn't planned on having to raid his penthouse apartment... an apartment that was on the fortieth floor of the most luxurious and secure residential buildings in the city.

There was gonna be absolutely no way in via the front or any of the service doors... Believe me, they'd already tried. The team of ex-marines (Eliot's observation... they had very distinctive stances supposedly) that were responsible for security apparently took their job very seriously and the Leverage Associates team hadn't been able to find even a single loophole in the building's security plans yet.

Beginning of the week, the team had started with Plan A, with Plans B and C as backup... By now, they were hovering at somewhere about Plan K... and she knew that even that had very little chances of working. Parker had been a thief, grifter and even part hacker, part mastermind on this con and nothing had worked so far. Just the fact that Nate, their Obsessive Compulsive but completely fearless leader, was considering someone else's ideas for getting through this con should tell one how much this particular job had gotten to the team.

Parker was frankly getting bored of this job and she was going to do something that was a little... okay maybe a lot crazy very soon. Whether or not they finished the job, Parker just wanted to leave and get back home. Just the thought of going back to Eliot and her toasty warm house and relaxing for the rest of the weekend... maybe taking a small trip to the MoMA... there was the Egyptian history exhibit going on there, was so tempting that without even noticing, Parker wrapped her hand around the hitter's arm and was pulling him towards her.

The team had taken to planning their ineffectual cons from the new and dramatically improved Lucille 4.5. Four previous Lucille's had died (exploded, flattened in a dump, involved in a crash and exploded again) and the point five was for one more that had only had its electronics fried... it hadn't been completely totaled like the other ones so according to Hardison, it didn't deserve a whole number. Also, even after the whole team had threatened him about it, the hacker wouldn't call the van anything but Lucille. Anyways, the whole team was crammed inside the back of the van and her hitter was sitting right next to her, his hard, muscled body a calming as well as energizing presence beside her.

Eliot and Parker had started dating as part of an epic game of truth or dare that had taken place between the three younger members of the team one drunken night. Hardison had unfortunately taken a video of the hitter accepting a dare to go on a date with Parker and they had had to oblige... though thoroughly unwillingly. To their surprise, the date had gone... quite well, actually much more than quite well... Not that they had expected the two of them to click in that way.

What had started as the result of an impulsive dare had then grown to a series of dates, a couple of sleepovers, a lot of training sessions, some cooking lessons, a few climbing lessons and a whole lot more. They themselves hadn't realized how quickly and how well they'd adapted to this relationship that had blossomed between them. It had been a slightly awkward decision in which they'd decided that they would officially be a couple but telling the team had gone way easier than they'd expected.

The only reaction they'd received from Nate and Sophie was to say 'It's about time!' and Hardison had been insufferably smug about him being te reason for the two of them getting together. That aside, almost nothing changed when it came to work and the office. Eliot was still the same gruff, laconic hitter and Parker was still the slightly... okay a lot crazy and keyed up thief. They were only different when they were around each other and even that, wasn't by a great margin.

The two of them had always enjoyed having lengthy and involved arguments about anything and everything under the sun... it was almost like some sort of flirting for them. (Hardison called it 'flirt-fighting'... he'd even attempted to patent the term) They still argued volubly, only their way of making up was different. Before, Eliot would cook something that was Parker's favorite as a way of apologizing and Parker usually ended up giving him something precious that she'd stolen specifically for him. Now, they still did the cooking and stealing bits, only with a lot more 'non-verbal communication'... kisses, lotsa kisses.

The only problem that the rest of the team actually had with Eliot and Parker's relationship was the fact that the two of them had no sense of time or place when it came to expressing their feelings to each other. The thief and hitter had no qualms with public displays of affection and regularly treated the rest of them to such lengthy displays that either invoked catcalls or yells of irritation.

Nate chose to ignore most of their displays and wouldn't comment on them unless such an event happened to occur when he was demanding their attention. Sophie on the other hand was openly happy for them and 'awww'ed almost everytime she saw them hug or kiss.

But Hardison... the hacker had been the most fun to irritate with their constant PDA's. He had liked it in the beginning, catcalling at them for the first week or so. Then, it had started growing irritating for the young man as whenever he turned to talk to either of them, they were either not in the room or involved in a kissing contest right next to him. Hardison's shouts of frustration only elicited smirks from the thief and the hitter as they loved to tease their younger team mate.

Pulling the hitter closer to her, Parker leaned her head against his shoulder as Nate explained their new plan... Plan L or maybe N... She'd zoned out for a minute there so she wasn't sure... Plan M was always skipped in their briefings cuz Hardison went all weird if anybody so much as mentioned the letter M. Eliot absently took her hand clutching at his arm and brought it down to link his fingers with hers... his thumb stroking the skin on the back of her palm. The small gesture calmed the jumpy thief and she sat still once more, able to pay attention to what the mastermind was saying.

That little conference inside the van, led to where they were right now. Parker was on the roof of the building, having used an undercover identity they'd established earlier for her. It didn't give her access to anything more than the front door and the elevators of the building. Anything else required higher levels of clearance than hers and this was all Hardison could manage to spoof in time for their first plans.

Eliot, after a long time, was totally pissed. He was so angry that anything he said at that point of time sounded like the growling of a really angry bear. He understood that Nate was the brains of their operation... he was the man with the plan. But this plan was scaring the hell out of him and his fear for Parker's safety came out in the form of pointless anger and frustration. He'd almost punched Nate in the face for even suggesting such a plan in the first place but had been stopped cold by his girlfriend jumping up and agreeing to it.

Parker... the craziest woman and the most beautiful person he'd ever known... The minute he'd laid eyes on her before their first job as a team, he'd known. He'd known that she would be the death of him... the only thing he didn't know then was how much he'd enjoy the journey till then. Life with Parker was... different, crazy and amazing in a hundred ways. Now that he knew what it was to be with her, Eliot couldn't even think of not having her in his life anymore.

Despite how different they were as people, the two of them had just clicked. Maybe it was because underneath all the craziness on her part and the controlled violence in his, they were pretty much the same. Both had had very bad childhoods, both of them appreciated the effort each required to trust the other as they did, and so made sure they did absolutely nothing to betray the modicum of trust given to them.

And so it was... Eliot was on perimeter and protection detail while Parker took her gear to the roof and took a dive from there to the floor where the mark's home office would be. If all went to plan, they should be able to get the incriminating blue prints and get out within half an hour. So of course, something had to go wrong... Eliot was on full alert for exactly that.

He'd been working with this team of people for too long to underestimate their propensity for chaos. The team seemed to be prime examples for Murphy's laws... all the time. If there was any single facet of their plan that could go wrong, it did. Hence, it was no big surprise when the security system which Hardison had hacked into, reset itself and the exit that they'd readied for Parker was of no use anymore.

His little thief could've made a clean get away had she been by herself... but as it was, she was weighed down by her gear as well as several canisters of the rolled up blueprints. So on her own, she decided to cross over to the next roof and rappel down from there to the ground on the other side.

"Guys... There's a slight change to the plan"

Her pronouncement was greeted with an ominous silence that made Parker huff in frustration.

"Hello...anybody listening?"

"Y-Yes Parker... we heard. I am not quite sure about the change of plans now..."

"I promise you Nate... This one's positively fool proof... Eliot?"

"Come on guys... We gotta roll with the punches. It's not like she's suggesting stabbing another guy with a fork or something right?"

"Eliot!"

"Sorry darlin'... just jokin'... anyways, I think we should let her try this out her way Nate"

At the mastermind's resigned agreement to her plan, Eliot vaulted out of the van and in seconds, was in position. From where he was, Eliot could clearly see his crazy girlfriend scale the gap between the roofs as if it was nothing more than a jump of a foot or two. Even though he knew that she was as good as it got and probably the best in her job in the world, it didn't stop the hitter from tensing every time she attempted something like this... something where there were too many variables and so many things could go wrong.

It couldn't take too much to hurt a slip of a girl like Parker... just the thought of loosing the petite blonde thief now was like a stab to the heart for the hitter and it made him tense up even more.

"Uh oh..."

Barely restraining a frustrated growl from erupting into a full blown snarl, Eliot looked up to just about see the familiar blonde head peeking down from the roof

"What is it Parker?"

"It seems like we're gonna have some company soon... Half a dozen guys heading your way and about the same number heading to the van... I think there are also some guys behind me now. Not too close, but they'll get here soon"

"Make the jump... I'll take care of the rest of it. Hardison?..."

"On it... Will you guys be okay till we drive around and ditch our tails?"

"Fine Hardison... would you just leave before they get to ya?... I can't be in two places at once."

With a string of not so mumbled swear words, the hacker peeled out of the parking lot next to the apartment building and drove out into the city traffic, trying to lose the tails in black SUV's that were already gaining on the van.

As Parker set up her rig hurriedly, she could feel the dampness in the air and the slight chill... the whole sky was overcast but quiet... not a nice quiet, but the quiet of the calm before a storm. It was as if the whole sky was taking a deep breath before unleashing torrential downpours on the people of the city. It had been barely half a minute since her observation when she felt the first, fat raindrop on her nose. In mere seconds, raindrops as big as miniature jawbreakers were blanketing the rooftop and splattering all around the thief, who was also soaked to the bone.

Over the comms, Parker could hear the sounds of a fight going down on the pavement, forty-one floors below her. Parker was almost disappointed to not be able to watch her boyfriend fight. Watching Eliot fight bad guys was one of Parker's favorite pastimes. The way he moved, with so much innate grace and economy of movement, never taking it easy, never making even a single mistake, it was almost like one of those beautiful choreographed dances for her. Parker had often wondered if Eliot would let her watch him fight in slow motion... maybe now that they were dating, she could ask him to fight the next bad guys they encountered in slo-mo so that she could appreciate it all the more.

As the sounds of the scuffle continued over the comm links, Parker fixed the rigging safely on to a concrete beam on the rooftop and taking a running jump, threw herself off the building. The sensation of flying, of letting herself fall free, the freedom of movement and the complete faith in her own equipment always gave her the biggest adrenalin rush and this time too, was no different. This jump however felt slightly more thrilling with the rain spattering her and everything around.

'So this was what it felt like to be a raindrop...' went through her mind as she felt the central braking system kick in and her descent slow down. Opting to stop herself before she hit the ground, Parker halted her descent when she came within fifteen feet of the ground. Dangling upside down from her line, slightly braced against the smooth glass walls of the building she was rappelling against, Parker could clearly watch her boyfriend and protector make short work of the bunch of bad guys that he'd found.

Looking at the vision Eliot made, fighting in the rain, Parker decided that she would've to ask him if he could do his slo-mo thing in the rain the next time. The falling water droplets were giving the whole thing a completely different dimension and it was safe to say that Parker had never seen anything sexier than this.

Her hitter, dripping wet, all hard muscle, taking on a bunch of bad guys with the rain pouring down on them. Each movement of his sent a string of droplets flying... each slight shake of his head made his wet hair fly in different directions and the water cascading down his body made his baby blue linen work shirt almost see through, giving the slim blonde a hot flush inducing view of the hitter's hard muscled body.

Punching the last of them into oblivion, Eliot turned to find his crazy girl dangling upside down about fifteen feet in the air, watching him intently with that look on her face she got when she was hungry... for him... not his food. Shaking his head at how oddly perfect they seemed to be for each other, the hitter strolled up to the building, waiting for Parker to lower herself to the ground before he could grab her up in a soul-stealing kiss as punishment for taking such a huge risk in rappelling off a building when it was raining.

But as always, Parker trumped his efforts when she stopped her descent about five feet off the ground. Her face was just about the same level as his when she stopped and she pulled Eliot closer by putting her hands behind his head and just pushing him in her direction. Once close enough, Parker leaned down and sealed her mouth on his.

Eliot was completely unprepared for what was happening and it took him a moment to react, but once he'd reconciled himself to the experience of being kissed silly by his girlfriend while she hung upside down from a building, Eliot reacted with all the enthusiasm a man could show.

Always the protector, Eliot put his one hand on the back of her head and pulled Parker even closer while the other hand made sure that she didn't get water up her nose. Though the two of them were quite experienced when it came to matters concerning the physical aspects of relationships, they'd neither of them ever had an upside down kiss.

Their lips had always fit together like they'd been made to kiss each other, but tonight, the experience was on a whole another level. The cold from the unseasonal rain seeping into their bones was getting alleviated by the heat generated by their mouths on each other. The sheer excitement of the fall followed by the hot, open mouthed kisses that they were exchanging was making Parker feel light headed. Eliot on the other hand was feeling the after effects of the heavy make out session and felt the urgent need to find a cold shower, even standing there, drenched in the freezing rainfall.

Slowly, the length and depth of their kisses decreased, to be replaced by softer, sweeter kisses and Eliot gradually pulled his girlfriend down so that she was resting in his arms. Hurriedly shucking her rigging and unhooking herself from the lines, Parker turned to find herself caged between her hitter's arms as he advanced on her, his blue eyes sparking with passion, heat and the hunger of a predator that knew that it was getting it's prey tonight.

Pushing her against the wall, Eliot fitted his body against hers, protecting her from most of the rain and warming her up at the same time as he leaned in for another series of lengthy, heated open mouthed kisses. The adrenalin of the fight and his tension at her risky jump had fueled his reactions during the upside down kisses, but this time, the constant passion that simmered between them, that they carefully kept banked during jobs, was unleashed and let out fully in the open.

Five minutes into the full fledged make out session against the building, his excuse was that he was warming her up and she didn't even think that an excuse was needed to make out with her boyfriend once they'd finished the job, the two of them vaguely heard a chorus of voices shouting in their ears. Reluctantly disengaging from each other, with almost identical disgruntled expressions, the pair turned to trudge towards the grey van waiting for them at the end of the parking lot.

"Here Nate... the blueprints... all of them I could find in the safe and in the room..."

The mastermind accepted the canisters from the thief but refrained from commenting on their behavior, instead settling for a slightly amused, slightly exasperated glance in the hitter's direction as if he was the root of the whole problem, which grated on Eliot

"What?... the job was done... and, she was the one who kissed me first. What was I supposed to do?... Not kiss her back?"

"Hey!..."

"Alright kids... stop fighting in the van. Both of you're completely soaked and I want you to stop the arguments until we get to the lofts and into some dry clothes... okay?"

Both the hitter and the thief glared at the smugly smiling Sophie and settled for grumbled 'yes mom's in retaliation, having fun watching her go all melty at being called 'mom' by them.

The rest of the drive was spent with Eliot and Parker sitting as close as possible in the rear seats, partially to get warmed and partially because they just wanted to be wrapped around each other, Nate and Sophie making a valiant effort at ignoring them and Hardison having a hard time concentrating on his driving because he kept seeing the pair of them kissing in his rear view mirror.

"What do you think spidey... wanna make that upside down thing a regular part of all your jumps?"

Eliot teased his girlfriend later, when they'd both taken showers, sadly separately, changed into dry clothes and were in bed, almost ready to sleep... Nate had allowed them the concession of having the same bed in his guest room with the understanding that sleeping was all they would do while under his roof. Sometimes Nate and Sophie were more like dad and mom to their dysfunctional little family than even they realized.

"You bet... if that's what's waiting for me when I get back to the ground everytime, I think jumping just became my most favorite thing to do in the world... even better than stealing... or finding a crateful of money..."

The comparisons that she'd just drawn would never have been made in their earlier lives and that gave Eliot the impetus to bend down and press a soft kiss to her forehead, one more to the tip of her nose before pulling back

"Me too babe... me too."

"Love you Eliot..."

Parker murmured before she drifted off, tired from all the tension and adrenalin filled day they'd had. It was the first time Parker had said something like that... Eliot wasn't sure if she knew what she was saying or if she was just mumbling in her sleep, but that didn't do anything to diminish the happiness that was flowering inside his chest. Pulling her closer, he pressed another soft kiss on her lips before settling his arm around her waist and slipped off into slumber himself, his dreams filled with visions of himself, Parker and countless more upside down kisses

"Love you too my little thief... now and always..."

AN: So there it is... Hope you guys liked this one too...

Hips... hope this was kinda like what you were hopin for when you gave me the prompt... sorry for taking so long to post it. :(

Reviews and any other kind of feedback is enormously appreciated... so keep reading and reviewing guys.

Lotsa luv and fortune cookies

Macybear