A/N: So, originally I was going to have Parker run to Sophie and Eliot talk with Nate, but its fun to change things up, ain't it? ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 21

Nate wasn't so sure that bringing Parker through to sit at the bar was his best idea ever. Still, as bad ideas went, it was ranking second after offering to talk to her at all on this particular subject. She was upset and she needed help, that's what he was here for in the role of her father figure or mentor type person. He was more than willing to be there for her when she had a crisis about her baby, her past, a job, anything he knew something about and was comfortable discussing. This was different, this was about relationships, specifically the relationship between Parker and Eliot, and the word 'sex' had already been mentioned more times than Nate was comfortable with, namely once!

Sitting in the back room to talk would have been fine except Nate was sure Sophie would emerge any moment and come down here. Passing over parenting duty to her was usually preferable, but right now they weren't exactly in the best place themselves to be helping Parker properly between them. It was down to Nate alone to do this and steeling himself against embarrassment and reminders of his real stint in fatherhood, he had led Parker through to the bar, got her a napkin to wipe her tears away, and ordered her a sweet tea to calm her nerves. She seemed better already, except she wanted to talk about sex apparently.

"I don't understand" she shook her head sadly, "I mean, guys like sex, right? They want it, like, all the time, and when you're in love with a person that's supposed to make it better, that's what Sophie said"

She looked to Nate for an answer then and he stumbled over trying to give one, not least because he was mindful of the few other patrons in McRorys overhearing their topic of conversation!

"Um, well... yeah, that's usually how it works" he muttered, "but Parker, can we just go back" he said, feeling as flustered as he looked, despite two double scotches already, the early hour be damned, "Did you just tell me that you and Eliot are in love?" he checked, finding the concept a little strange, primarilly because the most emotionally stunted member of his team had just blurted it out as if it were nothing at all.

"Well, I am" she confirmed, "Apparently. I think" she frowned, "I thought maybe we both were, and I was going to ask but I just, I'm not good with the words for that, because I never did it before, so I just thought if we had sex and it felt different, the good kind of different" she clarified fast, "that I'd know and then maybe I could find the words. Does that make sense?" she asked Nate in earnest.

"I... I guess so, yeah" he confirmed, only glad he had kept up with the words that had come flying out of her at a mile a minute.

It was clear this situation had her all in a spin, and that couldn't be good, not for her or the baby. From what she had said, it seemed she'd tried for physical intimacy with Eliot and got rebuffed, which made some sense in a way.

"Y'know, maybe Eliot is just worried about hurting you or the baby" he said, never actually looking at her because that would be mortifying, "in your condition" he added for clarification, but Parker didn't seem convinced.

"I told him it was fine, if we did it like they said in the book" she sighed.

"Well, yeah, okay, but think about this" said Nate, thinking fast, "Eliot's job on the team is hurting people, and his life has been... well, mostly in pursuit of his own happiness and all. Maybe he's worried about losing control and causing harm unintentionally?" he tried.

Honestly, he hadn't got another answer for what was happening here and there was no way for Nate to be any more knowledgeable on the subject. Sure, he had brains enough for cons and all, but knowing what was going on inside the heads of two of his team-mates during such a confusing time in their lives and relationship, it was impossible.

"Hmm, maybe" Parker considered, "but he got so mad at me. I hate that" she sighed heavily as she sipped at her tea and then made a face, "Ugh! That's nasty" she declared, pushing it away.

"Most things that are good for us are" Nate smiled, unable to help it, "Do you know the only way you're going to know what's going on inside Eliot's head, Parker?" he asked her then, watching her as she thoughtfully considered her answer to that.

"Oooh, cut his head open?" she asked with a little more excitement than the mastermind was truly comfortable with.

"No" he told her quickly and firmly, "I meant you should talk to him. No physical stuff, just ask him out-right, and if he gets defensive then, well, as hard as it is, sometimes you have to be the one to make the first move... in talking" he clarified, "If you tell him how you're feeling, maybe that'll help him open up too"

Parker thought on that a while. She had to be the brave one out of her and Eliot. Well, that was a new concept. Not that she wasn't usually tough enough, but he was the hitter, the protector, the all-around tough guy. When it came to emotions and feelings though, they were both pretty beaten and scarred on the inside. Maybe Nate was right and she was going to have to brave the words of love first if she wanted to hear them back from Eliot. Hopping down off her stool, she found a smile that she happily shone in Nate's direction.

"Thank you" she said sincerely enough.

"I didn't really do anything" he shrugged even as he smiled back her, only glad to see the happy expression on her face at last.

"There's a reason you run this team, Nate" she told him then, as she pulled her jacket on, "In a crisis, we trust you to figure everything out and make it okay again, and that's what you always do"

She left on that note, without a word of goodbye. Nate watched her go and then looked back to his now empty glass. He momentarily considered ordering another but ultimately changed his mind. He really ought to take his own advice that he gave so freely to others.

All the anger had gone out of Eliot after walking around Boston for the better part of an hour. In the absence of anything to hit, he usually went running or walking to burn off the excess energy and frustration. It seemed to have worked for the most part this morning, but it wasn't going to solve the problem he was facing. With that he knew he needed help, no matter how much he wished he didn't, and so he headed for the only logical place to seek out a man who might have a little insight into long-term relationships, pregnant women, and screwing up with both!

Coming through the back door and crossing through the room behind the bar, Eliot's focus was on where he was going and nowhere else. This was how he completely missed Nate and Parker sat at the bar talking and headed on up the stairs to the apartment. He got a surprise when he found the door had been left ajar. Instinct told him to be wary as he pushed said door fully open, ready for whatever came flying at him, but relieved when nothing did.

"Sophie?" he frowned when he saw her alone in the kitchen, wearing one of Nate's shirts over her dress from the night before.

"Bloody hell!" she cursed as his sudden appearance made her jump and drop a cup onto the floor - its smashed rather spectacularly near her bare feet.

Eliot hurried over and moved her away from the mess, cleaning it up himself as he apologised for scaring her. She didn't look good, a cursory glance told him she didn't feel it either. If he had to guess, he'd say hangover and a fight with Nate, since tear-tracks were evident on her cheeks and the man himself didn't seem to be anywhere around.

"This day just couldn't get worse" the grifter complained as she sat herself down on a stool and put her face in her hands.

"Preachin' to the choir, sweetheart" Eliot told her easily as he dumped broken crockery into the trash and washed his hands, "Let me guess, you and Nate got drunk, up close and personal, and then somebody had regrets?" he checked as he set about making the tea Sophie had clearly been trying to get when he walked in and spooked her.

"Not exactly" she sighed, forcing a smile when she realised what he was doing, "but you didn't come here to talk to a silly drunk woman about her love life" she said as she pushed her hair off her face, "Were you looking for Nate for something?" she asked, preferring to talk about any problem he was having rather than her own.

Eliot didn't answer for a moment, just finished making two cups of tea, and then took a seat across the counter from his friend. Sure, he had come here for advice from Nate but there was a chance that Sophie might be even better qualified. She was female after all, and as bad as it might sound to anyone who didn't know better, a little more normal than Parker. She had to see where he was coming from when he explained himself, even if the woman he loved more didn't seem to.

"So, me and Parker had a fight" he told her straight out, "And no matter how many times I try to figure out how to put it right, I'm comin' up empty" he sighed, staring into his tea cup as if he hoped maybe the answers to his questions would be in there somewhere.

"There's a lot of that around" Sophie sighed heavily, before putting the pin back in her own self-pity and going on, "What did you fight about?" she asked, sipping her tea.

"We, er... Parker wanted to get close" he tried to explain, "Y'know... really close"

Sophie fought the fuzz of her hangover to make out what Eliot was trying to tell her with his vague comments and particularly pointed looks. What had her confused was that she was pretty sure Eliot should have no problems in the sex department, and obviously he and Parker had been there before or she wouldn't be carrying his child.

"And you don't want to have sex with Parker?" she guessed, "Because...?" she prompted when he didn't respond or even look at her.

"Dammnit, Sophie, it ain't as simple as that" he said angrily, though none of the rage was pointed at her, she was sure of it, "It's not like it'd be that simple if it was just me and her to think about" he shook his head.

"It was once" Sophie reminded him, "You two didn't seem to have any trouble 'getting close' then and her being pregnant shouldn't make a difference" she shrugged, "Eliot, pregnant women can have sex, Parker told me herself when she read it in her book..."

"I know that" he interrupted, his eyes closed and numbers almost visibly counting in his head as he attempted to not lose his temper with the one person who was trying to help right now, "It's not the physical thing, or part of it is, but I could probably handle that" he admitted, "I don't wanna hurt her in any other ways, Soph" he tried to explain and failed as badly now as he had with Parker herself.

Sophie wasn't getting it. She was sharper than most the vast majority of the time but the hangover wasn't helping, plus a head full of her own relationship problems. Eliot had to be clear and at least with Sophie he didn't have to worry quite so much about looking like a fool. She wouldn't judge, not now, and she wouldn't make fun of him later. His friendship with her was much less fragile than whatever the hell it was he and Parker had anyway.

"Eliot, any fool can see you love Parker" she told him, putting her hand over his on the counter top, "And whilst she's not exactly the easiest person to read, I'd lay good money she feels the same about you" she assured him, "Of course there are risks even then that things won't work out, believe me, I know, but you can't never take the risk"

Eliot opened his mouth to answer her but closed it again just as fast. He knew there were risks in all relationships, it was the main thing that was bothering him. If they got closer, him and Parker, it wasn't just their future happiness they were risking, it was their kid too. Of course, keeping Parker at arms length was hurting her and himself, Eliot realised it now more than ever. If they carried on this way they were going end up, well, for lack of a better example, like Nate and Sophie, and that was none too pretty. Skirting around each other, trying to be friends and falling miserably, having the occasional fumble and fling, regretting it in the morning. It was messy, too damn messy to have a child in the middle of.

"I just keep thinkin'..." he shook his head, "about me, the way I am sometimes, and about Aimee..."

"Eliot!" Sophie sighed in exasperation, "In case you hadn't noticed, Parker is not Aimee, or any other girlfriend you might've had in years gone by" she reminded him sternly, wishing she hadn't got so close to shouting when her head pounded from her own noise, "You're not even the same person you used to be"

"I could be" he chimed in, trying to turn away.

Immediately she shook her aching head, no matter how much it pained her, and pulled on his hand to keep his attention.

"You couldn't" she told him firmly, "Are you the same man that we met all those years ago when this team began?" she asked him, "The same man that left Aimee behind? The same man that did those despicable things for Damien Moreau?" she challenged when he looked ready to defy her.

Eliot knew she was right, just like she always had to be. There was more than one way in which Sophie tried to play mother to them all, and always having good advice and being right in it was one of those ways. He couldn't be the man he once was, not now. He could barely live with the things he'd done in his past, there was no way on Earth he could allow them to become his future to. For Parker's sake, for his child's sake, for his own sake, he was different. This relationship and family they were building could be different, but if he didn't give it a chance he was just going to ruin one more good thing in his life before it even really started.

"You're a hell of a woman, Sophie Deveraux" he told her then, leaning over the counter to plant a kiss on her cheek, "I see Nate on my way outta here, I'm gonna tell him"

"Do me a favour? Don't" she urged him, "For once he didn't screw up. I did"

Eliot didn't ask how or why, just nodded that he understood and left. He had some things to figure out with the woman in his life, and he didn't want to get in the way of this couple doing the same thing just as soon as possible.

To Be Continued...