A/N: Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is an update! LOL. But seriously, I am so sorry for the wait, between finishing up the school semester and the holidays, I have been really busy and had no time to myself, and now school is about to start AGAIN! The time is going by so fast; I hope I haven't lost anyone. Words cannot express how grateful I am for all of the positive feedbacks and the fans of this story. You guys really make this fun and exciting!
Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage
Lizzie took the news of Eliot being her 'daddy' better than her parents ever expected. She welcomed him with open arms and asked as many questions as any three year old would. Of course she wasn't old enough to understand what the real story was, and both were in agreement that they never wanted her to know what really happened; not that she would remember anyway. So they settled for the G-rated version; that he was on a big adventure and he was 'taking out' the monsters.
Lizzie sat and stared at Eliot for a second, before she smiled and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and squeezed as hard as she could, laying her head on his shoulder. As he and Parker made eye contact, he slowly reaches up and returns her hug.
Parker swallows the large lump in her throat and bites her bottom lip, in an attempt to stop the sudden rush of unidentified emotions that seem to have hit her all at once. Quickly regaining her composure, she nods at Eliot while giving him a small smile, and leaves the room to check on a certain hacker.
Hardison on the other hand, was non too happy. He didn't want to believe Sophie. When he heard the news of Lizzie's paternity, he felt his stomach drop. Finding out that Parker had a kid was one thing, but with Eliot? 'Damn he gets around!' The hacker thought to himself.
He sat in the main room furiously typing on his laptop, the rest of the world completely non-existent around him; when a hand touched his shoulder. He jumped just slightly and stopped when he came face to face with the blond thief. He had been so engrossed that he didn't hear her come in...well not like he ever hears her enter a room in the first place. He watched as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him.
"So...did you find anything?" She asked. He knew what she was doing, and he appreciated her for it, but it really didn't help.
"No...nothing yet." He answered as he continued to type. Parker bit her bottom lip, took a deep breath, and tried again.
"So...now you know why my baggage was so heavy." She said referring to their conversation on the roof, making him turn sharply toward her.
"This got to be some kind of joke...I mean seriously? Eliot? I know the guy is kind of a man whore; but how in the hell did he not recognize you? That just shows how much respect he has for women in general..."
"Hardison, please don't blame him. It's not his fault; this is all on me. I was the one who kept everything a secret not him." She pleaded. He was quiet for a moment and then he sighed.
"I know. It's easier to be mad at him...I could never make myself be mad at you." He said in a low tone and Parker felt bad. She never thought about how much of an impact this would have on the team especially Hardison.
"If I had come clean from the beginning, we wouldn't be in this deep." She replied and Hardison shook his head.
"You did what you thought you had to do, and ain't nobody blaming you for that."
"Hardison...are we going to be okay?" She asked and he sighed again. 'Ain't no use in holding grudges' he thought to himself. He took a deep breath before answering.
"...I guess it would have been easier to accept if Lizzie's dad was just some random guy and not Eliot." she nodded her head and he continued "I can't be angry for things that happened before we even met..."
"Hardison..." She tried to say something, but he just shook his head at her and gave her a small smile.
"We're fine. Honestly. Since our conversation on the roof, I kind of accepted our relationship as is...I meant what I said; 'no matter what." She smiled and nodded her head in understanding. She reached around and gave him a hug in which he returned. Once he pulled away, he grinned at her. "Besides, I could use an understudy."
'That can't be good.' she thought.
"I'm not sure I want to know what that means. But its nice to know that all of you want to take her under your wing...even Nate." Then, she made a face. "Although Sophie's a little too invested in Lizzie's wardrobe for my comfort; and I swear on my money, if she tries to dress her up as one of those creepy looking porcelain dolls..." He looked confused and she elaborated "You know with all those colors, the curly hair, the rosy cheeks and those dresses and stockings!" Hardison couldn't help but laugh her theatrics.
"Parker, she's a grifter; part of being a grifter is playing dress-up. But I am positive she wouldn't go that far." He reassured her while still laughing a little and she smiled.
About an hour later, Hardison announced that he may have found something that they can use against Vladimir. They all assembled in the main room with Hardison at the screens. Nate sat in the main chair whith Sophie seated on the armrest, Parker and Eliot sat on the couch; while Lizzie sat in his lap playing with his hands and fumbling with the bands on his wrist not at all interested the adults conversation, when Parker's phone went off. She opens the text and looks at them, before going to the door.
Eliot expression immediately changes from content to a deep scowl when their guest walks into the main room. Lizzie; jumping off of her father's lap and going to meet their guest didn't help his mood any.
"Hi Quinn!" The three year old said happily hugging one of his legs as he pats her on top of her head. Nate, Sophie and Hardison, sat in frozen silence, keeping their eyes on 'their hitter', wondering how this is going to play out. Mentally preparing themselves to interviene if necessary.
Quinn however, not noticing the teams inner struggle, responded to the child's greeting. "Hey there princess, nice to see you again." This only made Eliot's blood boil. He found his brow twitch when he heard Quinns pet name for his kid. As soon as he lets go, Sophie motions for Lizzie to come to her. When she does; she immediately picks the child up, and goes to stand back behind Nate. Meanwhile, Quinn makes his way over to Eliot and smugly pats him on the shoulder.
"So Spencer, I hear a congratulations is in order." He stated with a smirk. Eliot started to growl but stopped himself. He clenched his fists and through gritted teeth, told Quinn to meet him outside.
No sooner did the two hitters feet reach the pavement of the front yard, did Eliot round on Quinn and punched him square in the jaw. 'Damn that felt good' he thought to himself. He had been wanting to do that the minute he found out Quinn was involved.
Spitting out the blood and wiping his jaw Quinn says, "Spencer...because I'd rather not have that little girl see you beaten to a pulp, I'm going to let that slide...for now."
"Yea...you keep telling yourself that." Eliot growled.
"You should be grateful for everything I've done." Quinn stated while still nursing is jaw. Eliot just scoffs.
"Grateful my ass. I refuse to believe you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart so what's in it for you?" Eliot asked and Quinn shook his head.
"So suspicious. Big surprise there Spencer, you should really stop being so predictable and maybe you won't get your ass kicked as often." Quinn took a step towards his long-time rival. Eliot, not being one to back down, held his ground and stood firmly in place; mentally preparing himself for a fight.
"Last time I checked, you were the one whose ass got kicked; and left rendered unconscious." Eliot retaliated.
"I think that concussion I gave you last time screwed up your mind a little Spencer. What do you say I re-crack your ribs and refresh your memory?" The two were standing face to face just inches apart, one challenging the other; neither of the two backing down, when Parker ran outside and stepped in between two hitters.
"Eliot, Quinn stop it! We have bigger things to worry about; and don't either of you dare start anything while Lizzie is just inside." The two took a step back both keeping their eyes on the other.
"Your right doll face; I was just making that point." Quinn told her; his eyes never leaving Eliot's.
"Hardison is waiting for you to give him the information that you have." She said. The two hitters were still glaring at one another with the thief in between them. She called Quinn's name to get his attention again, and this time he responded.
"Fine..but I have other things that you need to hear." He said, and she nodded.
"Eliot and I will be there in a minute." She told him and he nodded to her before he walked away. Once Quinn was out of earshot she turned to Eliot question in her eyes.
"Seriously? What the hell was that?" She asked and he turned his icy glare toward her.
"Really? You want to go there? You had that bastard around my kid; and he knew before I did?" He growled and she understood.
"Okay, as I told you before, Quinn has helped me a lot these last few years; and he literally only saw Lizzie a handful of times. He figured out her paternity on his own. I didn't tell him anything." She explained.
"Yea right...her excitement and familiarity towards him say more than a handful of visits." He stated gruffly.
'This must be that jealousy thing Sophie told me about' she thought to herself. Once again, the timing was terrible, otherwise she would have been amused. "Eliot...she's three; I'm sure if Sterling showed up here with a basket full of chocolate chip cookies, he'd be her new best friend!" He made a face at that statement.
"That...is disturbing." He shuddered at the imagery.
"It is. But I am trying to make a point. Eliot I swear, the only guy that she came close to seeing as a 'father type'...was...Archie." Her mood went south at the mention of Archie. Turning her attention back to him, she asked. "Are you good?" He scoffed.
"I'm fine; your boyfriend on the other hand..."
"He is not my boyfriend!" She cut him off. Knowing she needed to clear this up, she explained further. "Eliot, nothing ever happened between me and Quinn, nothing. I can't believe you let him get to you." She crossed her arms.
"Who says he got to me?" He snapped.
"Oh...so your fist just accidently collided with his face and busted his lip?" she retaliated, before sighing. "Eliot, Quinn is an ass; you know it, I know it, and he knows it!" He was glaring back in the direction that Quinn went to. He wasn't entirely appeased and she knew it. She had to find a way to calm him down and distract him so that he would co-operate with Quinn when the time came. So she went for a different approach.
She gently grabbed his arm making him turn his attention to her. "Hardison and Quinn are going to be a while, and its almost time for Lizzie to be put down for a nap. I know she would really like it if you would fix her a snack and tell her a story? Plus, there is something I want to show you."
"You have been taking notes from Sophie haven't you?" He asked after a brief pause, and she noticed his glare wasn't as intense as before. Instead of giving him a verbal answer, she smiled and urged him to follow her.
It didn't take long for Lizzie to fall asleep, leaving her parents in a somewhat comfortable silence. Parker looked on as Eliot placed Lizzie under the covers and kissed her forehead. Parker stood up and walked over to one of her bags and took out what looked like a book the size of an encyclopedia. Eliot watched as she stared at the item for a moment before she made her way back over to him, and dropped it in his lap.
"What's this?" He asked glancing down at the book.
"Lizzie's photo album...Every thing is in order, from beginning until now." She answered. He opened the book and began to flip through the pages as she took a seat next to him. "You can keep this one by the way, I have another copy." She added.
"I see you took more sonogram pictures than usual." He stated, and she shrugged.
"You can never have too many; and I put them next to pictures of my belly so you can see the internal and external development. Basically you can watch me get rounder and fatter." He continues to look through the pictures until he came upon a page that had a DVD in it. She pulls out the DVD and inspects it before looking back at him. "This one...is my birthing video." She watched his face lose some of it's color; which was a rarity in itself.
"I was in labor for...almost 19 hours..." She shuddered a little, mentally remembering the pain. "Its...not too graphic though." She added after a moment.
"Do I want to know what that means?" He finally spoke. He wasn't sure if he would want to see that. He didn't have PTSD but knowing Parker, he was pretty sure he would have it after he watched it.
"I'll watch it with you if you want; I'll even hold your hand for support." She stated while patting his arm, and he let out a low sarcastic laugh.
"How do you know I will even watch it?" He asked and she gave him a knowing smile.
"You will; because your curious." She answered while putting the DVD back in it's place. "Any event you can think of is in here; the first time she rolled over, crawled, her first steps etc." She turned a few pages and he saw a one year old Lizzie covered in cake.
"What happened there?" He couldn't help but chuckle. She looked at the picture he was referring to and laughed herself.
"I left the room for...maybe 30 seconds. When I came back, she had climbed onto the table, sat right in the middle of the cake, and completely destroyed it." She smiled at the memory. "Archie was not happy."
"I'm sure he wasn't. She gets that climbing crap form you." He smirked.
"Well, she gets her destructiveness from you. I have no problem owning up to my part of her genetics." She said while crossing her arms.
"I am not destructive. Violent at times when it is absolutely necessary...but never destructive." He defended himself, and his smirk was now gone.
"Really?" She arched a brow. "Like that time you ripped off the head of one of my piñata's?"
"Like I said...when absolutely necessary. And, you bought enough of them." He stated smugly as if it justifies his actions and turned his attention back to the photos. She just rolled her eyes, laid her head on his shoulder smiling and mumbled 'whatever.'
A/N: I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Please review!