A/N: Hi there!... So, after a long, long time, I am back to finish this story I started. Sorry for not updating sooner but I had too many other things going on and many other fics that were taking my focus away from this one. But today, this fic gets that elusive 'complete' status update. Thank you to all the readers, all my reviewers and the whole amazing E/P fanfic community. You've kept me writing... and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Chapter 10
The two of them might've just stayed there in the gym for a lot longer had the others not gotten back just that moment. The calm and satisfied atmosphere that seemed to surround Eliot and Parker was impinged on uncomfortably by the slightly sombre mood that the others seemed to be in.
Their next client, a woman named Carol Scott, wanted their help in finding her husband... more accurately, her husband's body, which was still somewhere on Mount Kibari in Alaska. He'd died there at the end of the last climbing season and bad weather had closed down the mountain for the rest of the year and now, the next year's climbing season was about to begin and Carol Scott wanted the help of Leverage Associates to find her husband's body and help her find the people who wrongfully murdered him up on the mountain and get justice done, finally.
From the look on Nate's face, Eliot knew that he'd already accepted the case and sighed at the prospect of climbing a mountain before the all clear signal was given by the mountain patrol... because knowing Nate like he did, the hitter was sure that the mastermind already had at least four plans in place for achieving what they needed to do and all of them involved him climbing the mountain in full gale force winds. And knowing the way their plans usually shaped up, it would also be pretty safe to assume that the plan that did eventually succeed would be one they would have to come up with on the fly, as things happened and somehow, cobble together a package as neat as one people might've spent ages preparing for.
That was just how things seemed to work out when the team was involved. It had happened almost every time before... be it in New York, Boston, Kentucky, Equador, Argentina... everywhere the team had taken jobs, this was the formula that seemed to work for them. And this time, Alaska would serve as the setting and after a very long time, Eliot would get an opportunity to use his snow gear. As exciting as that sounded, the hitter was a little worried about the rest of the team.
Though Nate had already accepted the case, as he should have, Eliot was a little worried about the ability of the rest of his team to cope with the conditions. Sophie would definitely show up in nothing less than the most expensive and stylish mink and fur coats... but would they be enough to protect her from the biting cold and windy conditions that he was sure they would face? And Hardison... this was the guy who couldn't even take the cold winters of Boston... how would he be faring in blizzard conditions?... And of course, the main cause for worry was Nate. The man had chosen the absolute worst conditions for him to be in... altitude sickness most often had symptoms duplicating withdrawal symptoms in alcohol and drug addicts. In other words, Nate would be most susceptible to physical harm by being present on the mountain in such bad weather conditions.
Eliot was not too worried about himself and Parker. They were people who trained specifically because they had to face adverse conditions on the job... Parker trained specifically so that she might be able to overcome any obstacles and make a quick getaway and Eliot nowadays focused on not letting any obstacles get in Parker's way in or out, while also protecting the others on the team. And after all, they would most probably be sent up the mountain together... the team retrieval experts would get laden with the job of bringing back the body as well as the evidence of wrongdoing, while Sophie and Nate did what they did best, grifting and making sure that their mark didn't get wise to their plan or succeed in making a run for it. Hardison would be fulfilling his ever present role of co ordinator as well as tech expert, putting his computer wizardry to use to help catch some of the slickest criminals in the world while not playing online RPGs with other techno geeks from around the world... or more recently, spending an inordinate amount of time in techie foreplay with his equally geeky but gorgeous girlfriend Rebecca.
But whatever Eliot felt about the job remained unaired, mainly because Nate had mentioned that they were running on a tight schedule. The moment Nate and Sophie had finished the pre job briefing about their clients, the team had been despatched to get ready to move out to Alaska.
Two hours later found all of them packed, decked up in cold weather gear and at the airport, where a private plane was waiting to take them to wherever they wanted to go... Parker whispered to Eliot that Nate had pulled in a favor from somebody who owed him and that was how they would be flying in a private jet... she seemed almost disgustingly awake and excited, considering it was almost two in the morning.
As they all filed into the tiny plane, that could seat at most six people, but do it in opulent and luxurious comfort, Nate and Sophie automatically took up the first couple of seats, Hardison took the left window seat in the last of the three rows of seats, leaving only the two seat choices in the middle row for Eliot and Parker. Eliot pushed his everpresent carry on under a seat and had scarcely dropped down into the cushy leather when he felt a slight, leather clad body jump into his lap.
Though they'd never gotten around to discussing it, Eliot knew that while Parker wasn't comfortable keeping a secret from her team, she hadn't also been ready to tell the others about her and Eliot... so he was quite surprised by her actions and a little irritated at not having known what she was planning. Plus, they were just leaving to go on a job that might very well be quite hard on all of them, both physically and emotionally... and he didn't want to have to deal with all the questions and comments now.
Barely stifling the slight curse that was about to escape, the hitter opened his eyes, ready to glare the little thief back into her seat when he spied the happy smile beaming across her face and her eyes dancing with good humor, and whatever he'd meant to say died on his lips and his glare eased into something a little less lethal... not that the blonde squirming in his lap seemed to care.
Before he could even start saying anything, Parker had settled comfortably in his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs neatly to one side, her head snuggled into the crook of his neck and shoulder and she let a quiet little sigh of contentment. Without even realizing that it was happening, Eliot could feel his body relax into hers, his muscles unclenching, now that she was comfortable in her position and not about to move from it. Sighing in defeat, the hitter's hands moved to put the seatbelt on both of them, when he felt familiar little, but incredibly nimble hands block his progress.
"Parker... you gotta let me put the seatbelt on... we're gonna be takin' off soon darlin'"
The smirk he got in return had him a little confused before he heard her nails tapping on something metallic and looked down to see that his seatbelt was already securely strapped and buckled around the two of them
"Already done Sparky... It's the first rule of base jumping... safety first"
The slightly superior smirk on her face was turning the hitter on like anything and he didn't stop himself from wiping it off her angelic features by capturing her grinning lips with his own and kissing her soundly. Lately, ever since he'd accepted that he more than liked Parker, the hitter had eased up on some of his rules... most of them including him, the woman in question and spontaneous displays of affection. So, the kissing... or the makeout session that followed didn't bother the hitter or the thief too much... but it did make a major mark on the rest of the team.
Hardison, who'd been sitting behind them had gotten up because he couldn't see Parker in the seat diagonally across from him and found the hitter and the blonde in the middle of a passionate kiss, with Parker happily nestled into the hitter's lap. The older couple in front might've been happily unaware of what was going on behind them had it not been for the involuntary squeak that left the hacker's mouth in reaction to what he was seeing. The ever curious Sophie was to witness the kiss next... her reaction prompting the mastermind to lazily turn in his seat, take one look at the liplock still proceeding and turn back while shaking his head and reaching for the small bottle of vodka that he knew was in the tiny refrigerator on his side.
By the time their makeout session drew to a close and Eliot Spencer opened his eyes a few minutes later, he was faced with a fascinated Hardison sitting where Parker had been before and a blushing but still smirking Sophie standing in the aisle next to him. The tiny plane had already taken off and they'd completely missed it... but it didn't seem to bother either the hitter or the thief too much. Still looking into Parker's grey eyes that were now almost completely dilated, Eliot spoke to the rest of them... though it sounded more like a low growl
"No questions from you guys okay?... Especially you Sophie. You son't say anything and we don't tell you anything now. We can talk about this later..."
Sophie managed to squeeze in a question before Parker and Eliot went back into their little world
"When later?"
"Much... later"
That was all she got, before she sat down, huffing in disappointment, knowing that she wouldn't be getting anything from the hitter regarding the tantalizing new developments. Hardison seemed to have no qualms sitting there staring at the new couple... a glare from Eliot found him shrugging and waving his hand at them to continue, but a raised eyebrow from Parker sent the tall hacker scurrying back to his seat.
Minutes later, their kisses growing softer and smaller, Eliot leaned back into his seat, moulding his little thief's body to his, and let out a little sigh before turning to her
"What brought that on?... I thought you wanted to... tell the team a bit later..."
A slight hurt look from Parker had him hurrying to correct her misunderstanding
"Not that I have a problem with this... in fact I like this better... now I don't have to hide anything around these guys... as much as I would like the privacy, it doesn't feel right keeping anything from them does it?"
Parker nodded her agreement, her wispy bangs soft and ticklish against his face
"But seriously... what brought this on darlin'?"
He felt the thief sit up in his lap and opened his eyes, focusing on her face that had a serious expression on it
"Hey... is everything alright?"
"It's ok Eliot... just that..."
"Parker darlin'... you can tell me anything... you know that right?"
"Yes I do... It's just that... this is a mountain Eliot. And both you and I know just how dangerous this could get in a minute. I guess the fact that something could easily happen to either of us is kinda making me feel a little..."
"But you know that this is my job Parker... our jobs are like that. This sort of risk exists in every job we do honey..."
"Yes I know that... I know that as a hitter you run the risk of so many things happening to you on every job and I don't have a problem with that... Just as I know you dont have a problem with my being a thief... But this... Eliot... This is a mountain... not a bunch of guys holding guns or throwing bombs. It's a force of nature Eliot and if there's one thing I've learned in all my years of training, it's that you don't go up against nature."
"I know babe... I know. But I also know that we will figure a way out of this... we have to. If not for our sake then for Carol Scott's sake. I know exactly what we might be goin' up against here... we're gonna have to be extremely careful... I trust you Parker... I have complete faith in you and your abilities... Do you trust me?"
"With my life Eliot... every day. But I don't wanna..."
"What is it darlin'?"
"I just found you now Eliot... I don't wanna lose you so soon... What if something happensup on the mountain?... What if something like what happened to Alan Scott happens to you?"
"Shhh... honey... Shhh... It's okay... nothing is goin' to happen to either of us. I am there to take care of you and you're there to take care of me. We'll get through this together. You know that don't you?"
She looked absolutely adorable with her tear filled eyes and her nose red from trying not to cry. Eliot knew that saying anything to that effect would only get his butt kicked but at that moment, a butt kicking from his thief was a lot better than having her cry
"You know you look absolutely adorable don't you?... Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer..." he sang softly in her ear
That brought a small smile on her face and earned him a good wallop on his arm, but at least she was smiling again.
"Look Parker... I promise you. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you are safe. That the team is safe and I will try my best to come back to you in one piece. Is that okay?"
She looked a bit worried again, but nodded and pressed a soft kiss on his lips before leaning back and studying his face as if she was memorizing it. As grey eyes stared into blue ones
"Eliot..."
"Hmmm?"
"I don't know if I should say this now... or if I should ever say it... or if it is even the right thing to say... I.."
"Just... just say whatever it is Parker..."
"I... I love you"
The amount of tension that had seeped onto his countenance after hearing Parker dither over telling him something, disappeared like it had never been there and in its place, a smile like the dawning of a new day spread across the hitter's features. The sheer joy and love radiating from his features was answer enough to her declaration and it brought tears to her eyes that such simple, small words could give someone so much happiness... She had never understood why saying things was so important in a relationship... but she understood the next moment when he replied to her declaration with his own
"Love you too my little thief..."
There was a warm shaft of light running through her whole being, as if she'd been in the darkness till now and just moved into the sunlight, and Parker couldn't stop the mile wide grin that drifted onto her face if she'd been paid a crateful of money for it.
Right then she knew... everything was going to be just fine. Even if things didn't go as planned on Mount Kibari, she and Eliot would be with each other... and she knew that together, they could face anything that was thrown their way. Life was going to be much better and thge dawn of the bright new Sun proved it right outside their airplane window, painting the rapidly lightening sky in hues of pale pink, rose and lavender... the perfect setting for the perfect beginning.
A/N: So... There it is. The last part of 'Those Pesky things called Emotions'... with this, the story is officially complete.
Any and all feedback is hugely appreciated... please review your thoughts and ideas...
Lotsa luv and cookies
Macybear