A/N: I'm so glad the Parker-Hardison talk went over well, and more so that you all enjoyed the E/P spooning and such! Here comes the next chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

The sun was high in the sky when Parker let herself wake again. She wasn't usually much for sleeping in, but somehow no bed had ever been as comfortable as this one. Of course the little thief realised it was not the actual bed that made the difference, but the company. She had spent the night wrapped in the safety of Eliot's arms and it had proven to be the most peaceful place in the world for Parker. Now she was awake and alone, Parker realised with a frown, at least until she sat up.

"Eliot?" she called across to the window where he stood now, pushing her messy hair off her face.

"Right here," the hitter assured her. "You okay?" he asked, turning to glance at her, revealing the tea cup in his hand.

"Uh-huh," Parker nodded overly much, rubbing her eyes and stretching out her toned body.

Eliot turned away so as not to stare, but it wasn't easily done. She had a hell of a figure and last night it had been all pressed up against him. Still, nothing had happened, nothing ever could, not with the two of them. Eliot made himself think about anything else, but that lasted all of three seconds. Parker was beside him then, peering down at the street below and then shifting her gaze into his cup. Her nose wrinkled up at the green tea, just the same as always with anything remotely healthy.

"I'm sorry about last night," he told her, just wanting to get it over with, feeling that in fact he had screwed up by mentioning it at all when Parker frowned hard at him.

"Sorry for what?" she asked as if he just said the dumbest thing ever.

A second later, Parker turned on a dime just like always, saying she was going to get dressed so they could go eat, because she was starved. She was listing possible foods, from the breakfast type to just about everything else as she skipped off through the adjoining bathroom. Eliot watched her go with a hint of a smile on his lips and a definite shake of his head.

"There's something wrong with you," he said fondly, even though she was already gone.

Of course what followed, albeit only inside his head was 'but I couldn't change you for the world'. It was true enough. In the beginning when they first formed the team in L.A., Eliot hadn't known how to take Parker. He respected her thief skills but was driven to distraction by just about everything else she said and did. Getting to know her, the way her mind worked, the past she had suffered through, he understood her better. He got to a point where he genuinely cared about her, where he learnt to love her, truth be known. She couldn't have an idea what she meant to him, and Eliot hadn't a clue how to tell her. Safer he thought to never do so, just keep on watching her back, teaching her all he could, and ensure she got through each day without getting herself killed.

Draining his cup, Eliot looked back to the window. It was a bright sunny day outside, and the city looked just this side of busy. He spotted a few stores where they could pick up some food for the next leg of their journey, some extra clothes for Parker who must be almost out, that kind of thing. Plus getting out in the world, just taking a walk around, Eliot felt like it might do both of them some good after being hauled up in both the truck and rented rooms together. Yeah, they needed a little distance and a little exercise, it could only be a good thing. Besides, by the time they ate and packed up their stuff to leave, it would hardly be worth setting off again.

Walking through to the bathroom, he tapped on the door that led to Parker's room. When she called 'come in', Eliot did so, and immediately realised he shouldn't have. The woman honestly had no sense of propriety and though he knew he ought to look away, Eliot couldn't help but let his eyes trail down her bare back before she got her top pulled over her head and down.

"You're not ready," she noted as she turned to face him, and Eliot had to blink twice before he even remembered why he walked in.

"It'll take two seconds, Parker," he grumbled, as if he were annoyed. "I, er... You wanna stay in town again tonight?" he asked her. "I figured we'll get a break from driving, pick up some supplies, take a walk around the city?"

"Sure," she agreed easily with a shrug and a nod of her head. "So long as I get to eat in the next five minutes, I'm good," she told him, shoving her hair up in a high ponytail.

Seemed that was all decided then.

It was a strange kind of a day. Eliot and Parker really hadn't ever spent so much alone time together until this road trip happened, and they certainly never went shopping as a pair, not for anything that wasn't heist related anyway. Parker had been dragged along with Sophie and only half-minded since she got to pocket some really nice jewels at those department stores, and try on silly clothes she would never wear without anyone minding. Similarly, Eliot had been taken to the mall with Sophie a couple of times to carry bags, and his upside to the tragedy was the young female shop assistants that quite liked fawning all over him. Never could Eliot or Parker remember being out like this together, but it was actually fun when they both relaxed into it.

For the sake of not drawing attention, he drew a line at her lifting anything too big or pricey. Still she was just too fast with the little things for even him to notice. Eliot didn't grumble too much, he got a doughnut and a candy bar out of her screwing around, and it wasn't as if anybody noticed. This was Parker, after all, nobody was ever going to notice, she was just too good.

They picked her up some extra clothes from a pretty basic store. She didn't want or need anything fancy, just sweats, T-shirts, that kind of thing. Eliot figured she was just being practical and bit his tongue when he spotted some dress he knew Parker would look so hot wearing. He had to stop thinking about her that way and he knew it. It had happened before, of course it had, because hell, he wasn't blind. Still, it was this trip, the genuine closeness between them, both figuratively and last night literally, that was making his brain overload with the images and feelings he needed to suppress for both their sakes.

When the shopping was done, they just kept on walking. The town had enough going on to keep their interest. They played Parker's 'how would you break in?' game with some of the larger buildings, and Eliot marvelled at how easily she figured out the security of the big stores, the local museum, and the head office of some fortune 500 company. Parker was, without question, the greatest thief in the world, and one of the most incredible women Eliot had ever met.

"What?" she asked, looking sideways at him as he stared some and smiled.

"Nothin'," he shrugged, folding his arms defensively over his chest as they walked back to the hotel, the sun already on its way down, and the lights of the city coming on. "I was just... nothin'," he repeated, shaking his head, apparently back to the Mr Grumpy Pants Parker knew and loved.

That word even passing through her head made her stop and stare herself. Love was a word Parker rarely if ever used, even inside her own head. She cared about Eliot, she really did. She wouldn't be here if she didn't, after all. He had to care about her too because he always looked out for her, kept her safe and everything. Shaking her head firmly she let it go her attention quite taken by the lights across the street from the hotel. Eliot reached for the door, holding it open and expecting her to pass though. When he turned around, Parker was dodging across the street, staring up at the lights over the entrance to a bar as if she were a kid and it was Santa's Grotto.

"Parker," he growled some as he gave chase. "C'mon, what're you doin'?"

"Are you tired yet?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes, though Eliot barely noticed.

He had looked past her head now, to the sign in the window of the bar named 'Frank's Place'. Apparently, it was open mic night and the grin on Parker's face when he actually looked at her proved she really wanted to go. He hadn't a clue why, maybe because she just never did it before, maybe for some other faraway crazy reason that only a person like Parker would ever have. For Eliot, spending a night with her in a bar didn't feel like the worst idea in the world, though in all honesty it didn't thrill him either.

"Let's go back to the hotel," he told her, as her face dropped into a sad pout. "Get something to eat, get changed... then come back," he added, glad to see the grin return to his companion's face.

Parker was as excited as a kid at Christmas when she hugged him for all of a second then, before darting back across the street to the hotel. Eliot hurried to catch up to her, mindful of the traffic as he went. He had to wonder sometimes which one of them was the crazy one. If it were him, Eliot had to admit that he didn't mind too much. It was worth it to see that smile on her face sometimes.

Parker wasn't sure what she expected an open mic night to be like exactly. She never went to a bar that had one before, which was her first reason for being here. She assumed she would hear lots of people who liked to sing and she would appreciate at least some of the performances. As it was, too many of these people were drunk and/or sucked at singing.

"Why is she doing that?" she asked Eliot in a too loud voice.

"She's singing for her boyfriend, because I'm guessing she wants him to know how she feels," he said with a tone that proved it ought to be self-explanatory, given that the young woman on stage was warbling a love song directly to a guy at a table right at the edge of the stage.

"But she's awful," Parker said, too loudly once again, to the point where others turned to glare - Eliot shoved his hand over Parker's mouth on instinct.

"Keep your voice down," he grumbled before removing said hand and letting her speak again.

"Well, she is," the blonde complained, wincing as the singer went for a high note and nearly took out all ear-drums in a five mile radius.

"That ain't the point, Parker," Elliot reminded her. "It doesn't matter how good she is, she means what she's saying, and her guy knows it," he smiled just a little as he looked from the terrible singer to her boyfriend and back.

That was love, pure and simple, right there. It wasn't a guarantee that everything would work out, that one of them wouldn't cheat or get themselves into some kind of trouble the other couldn't handle. All love had its limits, Eliot was sure of that, even the deepest kind he had ever known. Everybody had a limit and he was just the kind of guy that pushed people too them, whether he meant to or not.

"What would you sing?" asked Parker then, snatching his attention back fast enough to give the hitter whiplash.

"What'd you say?" he checked, as his thief friend rolled her eyes.

"Sing," she repeated. "What song would you wanna sing if you were gonna sing tonight?"

"I'm not singing, Parker, so get the idea out your head," he told her firmly, swigging on his beer.

She had been almost insufferable after that job for Kaye Lynn. Not that Eliot wasn't flattered to think Parker liked his singing so much she wanted to hear more, but after his experience with the country singer, he just couldn't do it. The whole thing reminded him of a world he left behind long ago, a path he was never free to walk now. Parker couldn't understand that, he knew she couldn't, which was why Eliot tried not to get mad at her. Still, she ought to have realised, now more than ever, why he had lost his grip on the dreams his younger self held. After all he had done for Moreau, and all that had come since, hell, there were even things before that he really wasn't proud of...

"But I brought this," she said, apparently in all innocence.

Eliot had got up to walk away to the bar when Parker spoke, his back facing her, and yet somehow he knew what 'this' was before he ever looked back. How in the hell she smuggled his guitar in here without him noticing Eliot would never know, and right now he was too mad to ask. How dare she? How could she? The questions were all there in his head and yet Parker somehow managed to look so innocent and sad in those expressive blue eyes when he looked her way, not a word made it past his lips for fully two minutes.

"Parker..." her name was a threat and a warning all rolled into one, as he reached out to grab the guitar from her by it's neck.

No sooner did his fingers make contact than a spotlight from the stage spun out into the crowd and lit Eliot up as if he were centre stage. Squinting some against the bright light, the hitter only wanted to run before this situation got any worse, but there was no way to do that now without looking like a fool. Somehow he seemed to have been picked out as the next performer, presumably because not too many people wanted to take a turn and he'd been spotted standing there, guitar in hand. It was a classic case of mistaken identity, or so he thought, but one glance towards Parker proved she had something more to do with this. There were no coincidences when this chick was around, no way.

"Come on up, man, show us what you got," the guy on stage who had been filling in between acts was now saying, gesturing with the hand not holding the mic for Eliot to do as he requested.

"Sing me a happy song," Parker grinned widely, but Eliot so wasn't in the mood for that.

A happy song? He wasn't sure he ever wrote one of those, especially not in any of his recent past. As if he were in the right state of mind for it even if he had. No, he didn't want to sing in front of these people, he could, but he didn't want to. Parker was in so much trouble when this was over. Still, he had little choice but to comply with the wishes of the crowd now who were all about the encouraging applause and a few wolf whistles from the ladies. Eliot strode up to the stage, glaring at Parker when he got there. She wanted a song, he'd give her a song, but she was going to wish she hadn't coerced him this way.

Parker was all pleased with herself as she got comfortable in her seat and faced the stage. She loved when Eliot sang and had been trying for months now to get him to perform for her again, ever since that job where they made him a temporary country music star. He always refused, citing various different reasons, or sometimes just flat out telling her to get lost or else. Tonight, he didn't have a choice, he was caught in her trap, and Parker was actually proud of herself for that. She changed her mind about being happy when Eliot started to strum a few chords and explain to the audience about the song he was going to sing.

"This is a song about a girl I used to know and, er... well, she lived in the apartment next to mine with her boyfriend," he explained. "He wasn't a good guy and one day, well, you'll see..."

With that he began playing the song proper and singing the words that Parker listened intently to. She had wanted a happy song, she specified as such when Eliot headed for the stage. What she was getting was very different. It seemed the girl that had lived next door to Eliot had been treated badly by her boyfriend. If she understood properly, and Parker couldn't think she was so dumb as to be mistaken, that girl got beaten on by her man. Eliot wasn't the kind of guy to stand by and let innocent people suffer, she knew that, and by the last verse and chorus she realised he hadn't this time either. This woman, this Mary who he used to know, he didn't just want to take her away from her bad situation, he wanted to knock the guy who hurt her into next Thursday. Given the Eliot that Parker knew, she believed he'd done it too, for the sake of saving another.

The song ended, and the crowd sat stunned for a moment, perhaps by the powerful lyric, maybe because the singer was so much better than they ever would have imagined. For Parker herself, she was just too stunned to hardly breathe, even as Eliot whispered a thank you to the audience and leapt down off the stage, striding purposefully towards her table.

"We're leavin'," he said as he grabbed up is jacket and kept on walking.

It was only when Parker scrambled to follow him that she realised the dampness on her cheeks and the sniffle in her nose. He had made her cry with just a song, and she couldn't understand it.

To Be Continued...