The lights were all off and the curtains blocked out most of the light that would have filtered in from the outside. Not that it was a particularly bright day, what with the snow falling from the big grey storm clouds, but it was 1:30 in the afternoon and thus not dark. But what did make it past the drapes was enough for Parker to see fairly well.

Eliot hadn't stirred when she slipped into his office to avoid Hardison after she had nailed the hacker with a snowball. Her entrance had not been completely silent, as she had heard the soft sound of the tumblers in the handle moving as she turned the knob to enter the room. Normally, the specialist would have noted the sound of an intruder and identified them as friend or foe before they were even in the room.

But today he remained motionless, napping on his (and her) preferred recliner. Because of his injuries, his breathing was a bit hitched and maybe not as deep as it normally would have been, but it was steady and peppered with little snuffling snores. The terrible bruise surrounding his right eye and extending down the cheek still looked like someone had taken a meat tenderizer to his face, but the swelling around his split lip was looking a little better.

Silently, Parker approached him, then climbed onto the side table, crossing her legs and simply regarding Eliot as he slept. She didn't like the fact that he had been hurt on the last job. Not that he hadn't been hurt before, but this was the worst shape she'd personally seen him in.

The Job had been in Miami, where a particularly nasty group of Chilean mob-types were running extortion scams, drugs and eliminating anyone who got in their way. Their clients were a small group of families who had all lost relatives when they refused to continue paying the mobsters for their protection. The deaths had been particularly unpleasant.

After the bombs and craziness involved in the job where Nate and Parker had gone undercover in a rehab, a job where even the Korean and Mexican baddies were aware of the general unpleasant insanity of the Chileans, they really should have been expecting the worst. The plan had been fairly simple. Get in, gather enough information reclaim the money the Chileans had taken from their clients and deliver the appropriate incriminating info to the FBI and DEA, get out.

They had gone in on the night of a party, as parties always provided good cover. Parker was to be the one to actually gather the information, while Sophie had gone into the party to meet the head of the syndicate and chat him up. The idea was that if she was talking to the big boss man, she'd know if he got wind of anything out of the ordinary going down. If anything did happen, then Eliot was in range to provide physical assistance.

Parker had returned from breaking into the offices successfully and was in the process of making her way out of the party when all hell broke loose. Cranky looking hired muscle had flooded the area and the group of higher ups Sophie had been with promptly freaked out. It turned out that someone had gotten a glimpse of a door shutting in a supposedly cleared area and when the presence of an authorized thug could not be confirmed, it was decided that there was a security breach.

As the Chileans scattered among the crowd, shouting orders, the muscle began grabbing party goers and roughly searching them. Knowing Parker was in possession of at least one zip disc full of incriminating information, Eliot had decided to draw attention to himself by jumping the nearest enforcer. Pissed off Chileans and security descended on him, while Parker and Sophie slipped out in the fleeing crowds.

Nate and Hardison had been monitoring the situation in a mobile van down the block. The female members of the team had tumbled into the van, both of them asking if Eliot had made it out, as he wasn't answering over the comm. The last they had heard from the specialist was a low order for them to get out, then the muffled sounds of a fight…then nothing.

Ten minutes later, there was still no sign of Eliot and Nate's mind was rolling through possible extraction plans while Hardison franticly tried to tap into any Electronic chatter that might give them some insight. Sophie and Parker sat together in the back of the van, Sophie holding tight to Parker's hands, assuring her Eliot would be fine. Everyone jumped when Nate's phone rang, hope and fear vying for dominance when Nate noted that it was a call from Eliot's phone. Either the specialist had gotten someplace where he felt safe enough to make a phone call or someone had take the phone from him. The latter possibility was not pleasant.

They had all been relieved when it turned out that Eliot had gotten out of the building himself and was several blocks away, having ducked into an alley beside a fire station to call them. Less than five minutes later, he had practically fallen into the van, face swelling and spitting blood. It was a horrible image that burned itself into Parker's mind.

Flashback

Eliot lay on the floor of the van, obviously struggling to sit up while gripping his left shoulder and wincing. Blood ran freely from his lip and his right eye was already swollen partially shut and bruising spectacularly. Sophie tried to help him up, but withdrew her hands as the specialist let out a pained groan. Parker stood back, unsure what she could do to help that wouldn't hurt. Nate looked Eliot over and said, "Hardison, University of Miami Hospital. Now."

"I'mokay," Eliot slurred at the ex-insurance agent, but he seemed to be having trouble focusing and let his head drop back down to the floor, only to groan in pain as they drove over bumps in the road. That Parker thought she could help with and slid to the floor by Eliot and helped him rest his head in her lap. Once he was settled, she gently petted his hair.

Nate was already going through Eliot's bag, deciding which fake I.D. they'd use at the hospital. "You are not okay…anyone have an alias to go with O'Neill, Jackson or Mitchell?"

Sophie shook her head, but Parker looked up and pointed to her bag. "I have a Jackson," she said, returning to stroking Eliot's head. He seemed to be wavering in and out of awareness, only occasionally focusing his good eye on her.

Retrieving Parker's I.D. Nate said, "Okay, Daniel and Samantha Jackson. Vacationing couple here from Colorado. You got jumped while walking to dinner. Hardison will backdate the appropriate hotel and airline reservations. If anyone asks, the rest of us are just old friends."

The hospital staff had loaded Eliot onto a stretcher with little fuss, mostly due to the fact that he had passed out and they hustled him into the Emergency room. Parker, playing the part of the wife, even wearing one of the rings Sophie provided, went into the little curtained area with him. She clutched his right hand as the staff bustled around them, only stepping back when they had to cut off his shirt to check for injuries.

Parker shocked herself by crying out a little when they bared the specialists torso. She clapped her hands over her mouth as she looked over Eliot's normally smooth, tan skin, now molted livid blues, purples and reds. His left shoulder was swollen, there was a shallow wound on his left side and some of the multitude of bruised had clearly been made by boots.

She authorized a dizzying array of tests and scans and a few hours later a doctor told her the results as she once again sat at Eliot's side, his limp hand clasped between hers. Concussion…fractured zygomatic arch…Extremely serious bruising surrounding the right eye…facial contusions…dislocated left shoulder, reduced before arrival at the hospital…moderate to sever bruising over much of his torso…fortunately no internal bleeding evident on the x-rays or any other scan…when he woke up they could discuss pain management, but they couldn't give him anything until he regained consciousness.

When the doctor said they were going to move him to a room for a night of observation, Parker asked, "Can our friends come?"

The doctor nodded. "Only briefly," he told her gently."

"But I can stay?"

"Of course."

Parker had nodded and turned away from the doctor to push several strands of hair back from his face. There was blood clumping some of the brown strands, something she knew he hated. When the doctor left, she leaned over close to his ear and said, "You're going to be okay Eliot."

Then she sat back and resumed clasping his hand.

Eliot had woken up a few hours later and they released him about a day after that. Parker stayed with him the whole time. All the nurses though they were cute, if a bit strange. The latter mostly because one of the nurses had walked in as Parker was hanging half out the little window, making a comment about accessibility.

When the doctor had come before they let him go, he told Parker to look after Eliot…well, he told Samantha to look after Daniel, but as Eliot always told her, their aliases were still them.

So Parker had hung around his house a lot when they returned to Maine, and when he returned to the office, she took to wandering in and out of his office at random intervals. The others checked in often as well. Moments earlier, Sophie had stuck her head in and Parker had waved.

Resting her chin in her hand, she continued to watch Eliot sleep. She smiled softly as he wrinkled his nose and gave a little huff. She was very glad he was getting better. She even found that the responsibility of looking after another person wasn't so bad. Though Hardison and Nate told her she didn't have to be so literal about it. Frankly she thought they were just uncomfortable about the thought of being watched in sleep themselves and had shrugged off the comments.

Eliot didn't seem to mind waking up to find her perched somewhere nearby, be it in the office or in his home.

TBC

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