Ch. 11

The routine they had developed had changed drastically. Mornings were the same, but once breakfast was cleared and the daily trip to the roof, Parker and Savannah would run off like best friends at a sleepover for an hour or so. They would reappear and Nate and Parker would show up and take Parker off somewhere to have some sort of father-daughter sort of thing. Savannah would let Sophie in her room and...who knows what would Sophie was doing. Eliot hoped it was productive. Meanwhile, Hardison would be gaming until Parker got back then they would disappear shortly before Nate and Sophie would, presumably to go be couples.

At this point, Eliot would always want to check in with Savannah, but her never knew how to do it. Sophie's words haunted him. Maybe there was a connection between him and Savannah that no one else had but could the same be for Nate and Sophie's relationship, Parker and Hardison's thing, and even the connection between Nate and Parker. Even Savannah said he was obsessed, but that was said out of anger, wasn't it?

The nights got worse. He would hear Savannah wake up a few times, but she didn't come out like she used to. He could hear frustrated groans, but he didn't dare poke in. After a night or two, he gave in and decided to just use their trips to the roof to check in on her. It didn't appear that her feelings toward him had changed; the connection remained, whatever it was. She had gotten more comfortable, for sure, but she hadn't gotten safe enough to stop her routines.

When they were back in the hub of things, she turned to him and asked "What day is it?"

It took him a minute to process the question that came out of the blue. "Wednesday."

"I have to run an errand." She shifted her weight on her feet.

"Okay, I'll come with you." He turned to head out with her, but she pulled him back.

"No. I'll handle this by myself."

"No, no, no. It's-"

"Eliot, I handled myself for years before you came along. You don't need to escort me everywhere."

"How do we know you're coming back?"

"What? You know I could leave any time I wanted, right?"

"You really-"

"Eliot!" Hardison intervenes. "That's enough. Let her go."

"Where does she need to head off where one of can't go with her?"

"Eliot!" This time it was Sophie. "She's not a child."

"And she's not a prisoner," Nate added.

"Here, take this in case of emergency." Hardison handed Savannah an ear bud., and she disappeared.

Eliot ran his fingers through his hair as his temper flared.

Nate handed him a beer. "Go cool off."

"Nate!" Eliot protested.

"Just go for a walk or work out or something," Parker suggested. It was hard to be mad at her. They weren't bad suggestions for what he's usually do when he was frustrated and couldn't get his way...which was happening way more often lately. "Go," Parker pushed. So he did.

He flew to the Hub when he heard Savannah's voice. When he got downstairs, he saw Savannah handing Parker a pair of gloves like the ones she wore; black fabric with latex pads for grip. Parker was jumping up and down with glee.

"Those are pretty cool," Hardison said. "Where do you get them?"

"Where you get anything worthwhile: underground market."

"You mean the Black Market?" Parker asked.

"It's a little different. Black Market is pretty much just illegal stuff. Underground markets are for people off the grid. It's all done in person at secret locations. The sales are unrecorded and therefore untraceable, protecting both buyers and sellers."

"Hinky. But kind of cool," Hardison shrugged.

"I got everyone a pair. As a small thank you. You never know when you need grip something without leaving DNA...you know, without having to carry around those latex doctor gloves all the time."

"That's very sweet of you, Savannah," Sophie said,accepting her pair.

Savannah gave Eliot his last. He wondered if anyone noticed her fingers linger. He decided to ask as politely as possible, hoping no one would ripped his head off. "Why'd you have to go alone?"

He heard Sophie scoff, but Savannah answered it seemed, with no qualm. "You never walk in to an Underground Market in groups or pairs. It draws attention."

Everyone nodded. The ruling was sound.