A/N: I am so, so sorry this took so long. I won't bore you with excuses, I've just been busy lately. On the upside, the next chapter is already written, I just have to type it up, AND this chapter is quite a bit longer than my usual. Some stuff is about to go down, so I hope you like it! Also, please let me know if you all would prefer to see more Eliot/Parker. I'm having trouble finding the right balance between shippy goodness and an actual plot, so feedback would be lovely. Hope you all like it
He wasn't concerned, Nate told himself as he boarded the plane. He'd- they'd stolen a country, a government before. But Moreau? He was a bad guy, with huge scams going, deep and dirty. But he couldn't hold a candle to Rawling, not really.
The man wasn't untouchable because he was being harbored in a tiny country with no extradition treaty. Rawling was untouchable because it was impossible to link anything back to him. He was protected by a dozen men set up to take the fall before he'd go down.
Rawling was out of their league, so much so that Nate was almost afraid to send Abby to the Maldives. But he'd hurt one of their own. Rawling had hurt Parker, Jacobs more directly, but Rawling had been behind it. Parker was the closest thing Nate had to child, after Sam had died. And just like Blackpool, Rawling would go down. Somehow they'd make it happen.
"Hi, Sophie," Parker smiled, turning her head to the door. The combination of hot water and Eliot's hands on her scalp had her in a better mood then she'd been in for days. Not even a hint of a blush on her face, she waved at the grifter and Abby.
Eliot though, understood social convention a little better, and Sophie was pleasantly surprised at how red his face was. "If I'm living with her, she's not going to smell," Eliot replied gruffly, unwilling to meet Sophie's eye. Parker just smiled and nodded in agreement. All of Sophie's coaching still hadn't made Parker able to recognize when she probably should have been embarrassed about something, but Eliot also couldn't help but note just how refreshing her honesty was. You really couldn't play games with Parker unless you straight up told her the rules. It was somewhat in conflict with the way she treated people, almost like they were toys or playthings, specifically put there for her own amusement.
"Uh hu," Sophie and Abby's mirrored expressions were clear, disbelief, though Eliot was sure Parker didn't notice.
"You here for a reason? Cause we're kinda in the middle..."of something, was the implied end of the sentence, but Eliot refused to give Sophie more ammunition, and he held up his soapy hands for clarification.
"Yeah, it's about the plan for Rawling. We've got everything going, and wanted to fill you in before we leave," Abby explained, finally inserting herself into the conversation.
"Rawling?" Parker's eyes widened and Eliot couldn't see her face but he could practically feel her tense from a few inches away, and he cursed inwardly, wondering how he could have managed to forget that Parker had never been filled in. So consumed by his own guilt he hadn't had time to give much thought to the man who was directly responsible. Sure Eliot would wring the man's neck, given the opportunity, but he hadn't gotten to the planning phase of his revenge yet.
"Didn't Eliot?" Sophie glanced from Parker to the hitter and back, confusion obvious on her face as she gestured arbitrarily.
"Eliot?" Parker turned to the hitter, and he could hear something in her voice that he hadn't heard from her before.
"I-I, it slipped my mind, to be honest," he grimaced even as he spoke, knowing that it certainly wasn't the best thing to say, even if it was the god honest truth. Rawling wasn't the kind of person you could just shove to the back of your mind, and this situation, it wasn't something you forgot.
"What though?" She faced him, and Eliot was acutely aware of how much pain the position would cause, stretching bruised skin, shifting her broken collar bone, tugging at stitches, more guilt. "What about Rawling? What didn't you tell me?"
"Jacobs, he wasn't the mastermind, he was working for Rawling." Eliot didn't even give it a moment to sink in. "Nate's got a plan though, or something," he didn't like the look on her face.
"Eliot, can we?" Sophie nodded to the door, and he knew just what she meant. He looked back at Parker, and with a frown at her stony glare, he stood up, wiping soapy hands on his pants and walked out. All three girls jumped as the door slammed shut with more force than he had actually intended.
"Parker," Sophie's voice was gentle, hesitant, Eliot may not have recognized the tone in her voice, but Sophie knew it all too well, had been on the receiving end before, betrayal. "It's been a rough and hectic couple of days," she reminded the thief, "We've all been really worried about you, especially Eliot. He's barely left your side. Rawling was the last thing on his mind, I'm sure he's been replaying the image of you falling over the side of the building a million times, because he thinks it's his fault."
"It's not his fault though," Parker frowned, "he was on the opposite side of the roof."
Sophie nodded, "He couldn't do anything to stop it, and he feels like that's his fault. But the rest of us are dealing with Rawling. Abby's headed off to the Maldives, posing as a princess, Hardison and I are leaving for Montenegro and Nate's already on a plane going abroad. I'd try to explain the plan to you, but you know Nate, I don't even understand it all." Sophie comforted, sitting on the edge of the tub.
"I'm sure Eliot didn't want to worry you with Rawling," Abby added, "He wouldn't want anything to impede your recovery, Hun," Sophie nodded in agreement.
Parker just scowled. "I still have soap in my hair," Non-confrontational as always when it came to important stuff. For someone who loved explosions, Parker tended to take an extremely indirect route whenever it came to people. Or she blew them up. (Once, that was once.) Abby chuckled softly and moved to finish what the hitter had started.
"It's only been a few days," Sophie reminded her, mildly surprised at the girl's extreme response, but then again, Parker hardly ever reacted in expected ways.
"How do you forget about someone like Rawling?" Parker bit back sharply. "He's dangerous, we struggled with Moreau, how could we possibly take down Rawling?" The hitch in her voice surprised Sophie and Abby more than anything, and Sophie had to wonder what time of exchange Parker had actually had with the man.
"Nate's working on it. We haven't failed yet, no need to worry this early in the game," Abby added, "Eliot hasn't been part of the con, we've been a little too busy to keep him informed."
"And he really has been worried about you, Parker, quite a lot. You should have heard how upset he was during your surgery." Parker couldn't hear the insinuation in Sophie's voice. She just huffed like a petulant child, and that was a response that the grifter had come to expect.
Eliot couldn't quite recall the sequence of events between slamming the bathroom door shut and where he had ended up, but somehow he'd decided to take Fitzgerald for a walk and had finally stopped in a small city park. He dropped onto a bench, and was only mildly surprised when Fitzy leaped up next to him, and proceeded to try and lick the hitter's face.
He'd been drowning in his internal monologue for a while, and he wasn't quite sure when it had turned into a straight up pity party, but whatever the case, his stomach churned with guilt. It was unreasonable to think that Parker had never encountered Rawling before, and nobody had any idea how personal the situation had been. For all that Eliot knew, Parker and Rawling could have been lovers, though the thought made his stomach churn uncomfortably. They'd each met or worked for the man at one point, he was involved in just about everything within the criminal world to some extent.
He should have told her. He knew that, of course. Parker had trusted him, had no reason to suspect that he was keeping something important from her. Eliot knew well that Parker's trust was just as, if not harder to earn than his own was. Fitzgerald brushed his slobbery tongue over Eliot's ear, earning a flinch from the hitter, and he laughed quietly, scratching the pup behind his ears. It was too late to fret about it at this point, he reasoned. The only thing he could do was return with his tail between his legs and hope that he's forgive him.
Eliot stood up, pushing Fitzgerald gently off the bench, and caught the nylon leash before the beastie could get too far away. He wasn't sure just how far he was from home- the apartment, he corrected. And he wasn't sure either how long Sophie and Abby had intended on staying. Even if Parker was angry with him, he didn't want her alone. Or actually, he amended, especially if Parker was angry, he didn't want her alone. Angry Parker was a destructive Parker. And yeah, she was mostly crippled in her movements, but he knew better than to underestimate her, and he picked up his pace a little, suddenly worried about the wellbeing of his guitar.
She was certainly a wild child, or rather, wild woman. He couldn't quite get a grasp of her in his head. He called her crazy, but he appreciated it, she wasn't predictable, he couldn't guess her next move, but that was a good thing, he decided. She was certainly one of a kind.
When Eliot got back to the apartment, not home he had to remind himself again, he found Parker clean and dry and clothed and tucked back into bed. And he was thankful, for the sake of his embarrassment, but he ignored the voice in the back of his mind, mocking him and how bodily he had reacted to the blond thief. Fitzgerald had slipped through the female blockade and into the bedroom, but Eliot wasn't so lucky, and he was corralled into the living room by Sophie and Co.
"You didn't even tell her why she was pitched off of a roof." Eliot recognized Sophie's tone, the same one she used when talking to Nate about alcohol. Not good for him at all.
"Honestly, it didn't cross my mind. 'Member? I'm the muscle," a combination of sarcasm and self-deprecation, and Sophie just rolled her eyes.
"We talked about this, didn't we? Stop with the pity party. We have to leave though; we've got flights to catch. Abby's still on track as the princess heading to the Maldives, and Hardison and I are going to Montenegro. Nate's got his part in Malta, he's at the airport now," Sophie explained, and Eliot nodded mutely.
"We wanted to fill you two in before we're out of the country. My alias can't communicate with you back here while I'm abroad." Abby added quickly.
"Go fix things," and there was Sophie's mothering tone, her favorite, it seemed, for talking to the hitter, hacker and thief.
"My flight doesn't leave until the morning," Abby informed him as the girls turned to go. "If you need anything before then, you have my number." She grinned and glanced down the hallway to Parker's room, and the open door.
"What? No I don't," he fished for his phone, usually buried in his pocket. Abby held it out to him, and the hitter snatched the electronic device back with an indignant look, but he ignored her loud laugh as the girls left the apartment.
With a deep sigh, Eliot collected himself and with something akin to fear, he entered the master bedroom. The scowl on her face was searing, despite the fluffy mongrel on her lap. And Eliot winced away from the look. "Hey, Darlin'," he greeted hesitantly. No reply. The scowl only deepened on her face. "I'm sorry," he didn't bother trying to explain, and Eliot Spencer certainly wasn't about to make excuses.
"For what?" Parker sniffed, and Eliot had to wonder about that special angry place, and how firmly she was stuck in it.
"For not telling you about Rawling," Eliot replied, resisting the urge to explain why he hadn't told her. She paused for a moment before her face softened and she nodded. He was confused, really confused. He'd expected an explosion, or ninja throwing stars or something equally unexpected from Parker, a bit of a conundrum, but that was what she was.
"Can I have ice cream?" she blinked up at him, and the hitter was beginning to worry that she'd found an actual weakness of his, because he couldn't seem to say no to her, to those wide innocent eyes.
"We've only got rocky road," Eliot warned her, wanting to make sure that she wouldn't be unsatisfied when he brought it in. She'd eaten all of the mint chip ice cream, her personal favorite, and now apparently was moving on to his favorite.
"That's fine," She nodded, pressing her face into Fitzgerald's fur.
It only took a few minutes before Eliot returned with two bowls of ice cream and settled into his side of the bed before handing one to her. She dug in heartily, and he had to wonder how she could stay so thin when her concept of food groups seemed to mirror Buddy the Elf's.
"Slow down, you're going to get a stomach ache," he chuckled, taking a spoonful of ice cream himself. She set her spoon down in the bowl and turned towards Eliot.
"Rawling isn't his real name you know." She stated it quietly. He did a bit of a double take, unsure of where the declaration had come from, and unsure of where it was going and he just raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. He had no idea how she knew that to begin with, and had no idea why she was telling him.
"I didn't know that," he answered through another mouthful of ice cream.
"It's not," she nodded. "It's Anthony Parker."
Eliot's eyes just widened.
Hardison was no grifter, and while he could hold his own on the cons, he was no master at reading people. Still he could tell as he and Sophie went through security, and waited for their flight to arrive, and boarded the plane that she wanted to say something to him.
"Okay woman, spit it out." Hardison requested after they had settled into their comfy first class seats.
Sophie looked over at him indignantly but caved in seconds with a small sigh. "You and Parker." She breathed out, like she was finally letting go.
Hardison raised an eyebrow at the woman, "Me and Parker…?"
Sophie sighed again, more dramatically this time. "We all know you've been nursing a crush on her for years." No beating around the bush. For a grifter she could be particularly blunt. The hacker could feel his cheeks burning, "It's been five years." She laid a comforting hand on his forearm. "I'm worried about you; you've practically put your own life on hold for her, passing up real opportunities."
"Well," Hardison felt the need to defend himself, not that he was naturally defensive person; "Parker's just not comfortable with relationships, I don't want to…" he trailed off as Sophie shook her head.
"Hardison, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but if she felt that way, if she really did like you as more than a friend, family even, you and I both know that something would have happened by now. Parker's not comfortable with relationships, but she's used to instant gratification. She sees what she wants, and she takes it. Parker doesn't wait five years for something," her voice was gentle, consoling. She really wasn't trying to hurt Hardison, but it was a wake-up call that he needed, and it would be better to try and plant the seed now. It would hurt Hardison more in the long run if he returned from Montenegro and found that Parker and Eliot had worked things out. Though maybe that bit was just wishful thinking on Sophie's part. But she could practically see the hacker withdrawing, and she fell silent, buckling her seatbelt as the plane began to taxi for take-off.
It was nearly dark when Abby stepped off the plane, she hadn't realized that Hardison had chartered a Gulf Stream for her to take to the island nation, but she and her friend Rick could certainly appreciate it. She walked down the steps in one of Sophie's skin tight dresses, uncomfortable Jimmy Choo's and a gorgeous ruby necklace that she had… acquired… a few years back. Rick followed closely on her heels, as intimidating as ever, but it was only a few steps until she was greeted by one of Rawling's men, and she had been ushered into a town car. She'd expected to be brought to a hotel, but the sprawling estate was much more promising, and the man of Rawling's, whose eyes trailed over her appreciatively, helped her settle into a spacious suite, wide open spaces and huge windows. If it wasn't such a serious situation, she'd have been thrilled at the luxurious accommodations.
Rick was in the significantly smaller room next door, but didn't seem to mind much at all, and they both were served a late dinner in the open sitting area in Abby's room. She wasn't terribly surprised that she wasn't collected to meet with Rawling until early the next morning, but she was miffed all the same.
His office was practically regal, perched on a leather chair behind a heavy ornate wooden desk, and the man himself was older than Abby had expected, somewhere in his fifties. She smiled brightly, charmingly as she stepped into his office in another expensive outfit.
"Princess," he nodded, standing to greet her with a hand outstretched, and yeah, Abby could get used to it.
"Mr. Rawling," her accent was thick, "I thank you for your hospitality." A princess was supposed to understand etiquette after all.
"Of course, Princess-"
"Emeliana," she interjected with a friendly smile, and he nodded with a smile of his own.
"Emeliana," he repeated, "I do believe we have some business to discuss."
"I think you're right," Abby grinned.