Hardison walked into the small kitchen, stretching as he went. He had been staring at the computer for hours, trying to find out where Robertson might be laying low. Rubbing his eyes, he grabbed a drink from the fridge and walked around the office. He saw Nate's office door open and he walked toward it. He glanced inside to see Nate with his feet on the coffee table, his head thrown back on the leather couch. Hardison smiled at seeing Sophie curled up under a blanket, her head on a pillow resting on Nate's lap. Hardison tiptoed away from the door, hoping not to wake them. He saw that Eliot's door was still closed. Frowning, he chose to leave him be. He knew how Eliot could get when he was mad.
Hell, Iwanna kill the fucker, he swore as he thought of Robertson.
Shaking his head, he walked back into the briefing room where the feedback from the cameras in Parker's house was playing. He had been watching her house for days now, pretty sure he could maneuver around it with his eyes closed.
Parker? Where was she? Hardison wondered.
He ventured down the hall and saw the bathroom door still shut. He walked over to it, deciding on whether to knock or leave her alone.
She's been in there for what…..three hours. He looked at his watch.
His decision made, he knocked softly.
"Parker?" He called.
No answer had his heart starting to beat a little faster.
There weren't any windows in there so he knew she had to still be in there. He tried the knob, finding it unlocked. He opened it a little, calling out to the thief again.
"Parker?"
The first thing he saw were her black Converse clad feet. He swung the door open a little further and found her laying on the floor, her legs pulled up against her chest.
"Girl, what a place to fall asleep." He mumbled. He stepped into the bathroom and bent down and scooped her up.
He turned and carried her into the small lobby area. Laying her on the couch, he knelt down in front of her. Watching her, he rested his back against the small coffee table. He wanted to touch her, to hold her and tell her that it would be okay but he didn't know how that would be received. Instead he settled on sitting there, pulling his long legs up and resting his arms on his knees.
Hearing footsteps coming toward them, Hardison looked up to see a mussed Eliot. Hardison held up a finger to his lips, pointing to Parker and Eliot nodded.
"How long?" Eliot whispered.
Hardison shrugged. "I found her asleep on the bathroom floor."
Eliot shook his head and sat down on the chair.
"You feel better?" Hardison asked, taking in Eliot's appearance.
"I'm gonna need some new office supplies." Eliot whispered back, not taking his eyes off of sleeping Parker.
Hardison grinned at the man and rubbed his face with his hand.
Eliot leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.
Both men continued to watch Parker, each in their own thoughts.
Hardison yawned.
"Why don't you go try to get some sleep?" Eliot whispered.
Hardison shook his head. "Nah. I'm alright."
They sat in silence.
The office was silent. Eliot opened his eyes, seeing Hardison resting his head in his arms. He looked over at Parker who hadn't moved. He closed his eyes again, continuing to listen to their breaths.
Someone screaming caused Eliot's eyes to fly open. He jumped to his feet, ready for some unseen attack and saw Parker thrashing on the couch, Hardison sprawled on the floor, rubbing his jaw. Eliot bent over, grabbing Parker's flailing fists in his hand.
"Parker. Parker! Wake up." Hardison said, getting to his knees.
Parker's eyes opened and instantly cleared.
"You okay, darlin?" Eliot asked, letting her wrists go.
"You had a bad dream." Hardison explained.
They exchanged a look as they noticed her shaking. Hardison slowly got to his feet and sat down next to her. He pulled the blanket around her shoulders and glanced at Eliot as she flinched.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Hardison asked.
Parker shook her head, wrapping the blanket around her tighter. She noticed her hands were shaking and she pulled them inside the blanket.
Hardison leaned back into the couch and looked at Eliot, who mirrored his concern.
"Stop." Parker said, softly.
"What?"
"Stop looking at each other like you're expecting me to break." She looked at them each.
"We're…."Parker shook her head and leaned back, her head resting on Hardison's arm.
An alarm went off somewhere close. Hardison went running to the conference room.
"What is that?" Eliot said, following him.
A cell phone started to ring on the table.
Parker saw it was hers and she reached to pick it up.
"Hello." She answered and listened.
Eliot looked between his two team members, not knowing what was going on.
"What's going on in here?" Nate asked, coming into the room.
Hardison's fingers were flying over the keyboard and suddenly Parker's living room popped into view on the big screen in front of them all. A man stood in the middle of the room on the phone.
"Is that…" Sophie started, appearing in the doorway.
"He's in her house." Eliot growled.
"When?" Parker asked the caller, turning her back to them.
She snapped the phone shut and slowly turned around.
"Was that him?" Nate asked angrily.
Parker nodded.
Sophie rushed to her side. "What did he say?"
"He wants to meet. In an hour.""No way!" Eliot said, anger making him tense up.
"Hell no." Hardison said.
"Where?" Nate asked, avoiding the men now glaring at him.
"You can't be…"
"The park….across from the police station."
"He knows he's gonna get his ass kicked." Hardison said darkly.
Nate looked at the clock over the door.
"That's right in the middle of the shift change. Lots of people around."
Parker nodded.
"Alright. Let's go." He said, glancing over at the others.
Parker stood where she was.
"Parker? Are you sure about this?" Sophie said softly.
Parker nodded hesitatively.
Nate grabbed the bag containing the diamonds and money and walked back to his office. Eliot and Hardison followed.
"Yes?" Nate said, not turning around to see who was standing there.
"You can't be serious." Hardison objected.
"Oh…I'm serious alright." Nate said, turning around.
"But what about the cops." Eliot questioned.
"Plan H." Nate said, walking past them.
Eliot and Hardison exchanged looks and shrugged.
"Let's go."
The team left the office.
