A/N - Hi! Short chapter week this week.

I am posting early as I will be at Disneyland because it is my BIRTHDAY and the 5 year anniversary of my dad's passing.

I will be working on some writing in the evenings so the computer is coming along.

A/N - WARNING ADULT THEMES!

And WTF means What The F*ck and TMI is Too Much Information... And thus ends the instructional portion of today...

A/N - For those of you following WHATEVER IT TAKES... I should have the second chapter posted on Monday.

Keywords Should have... That is unless my grandmother drives me insane!

So, please enjoy this while I am gone... And look out for more chapters! I might post more this weekend if there's wi-fi at the hotel.

Don't forget to review!


"He disappeared not long after until he was needed for the next job."

"I'm glad he came back. He seems to like y'all or I don't think he'd stay. I know he wouldn't admit it out loud."

Sophie looked at her watch. She was beyond late for her flight but she'd get Hardison to fix it.

"Do you have somewhere to be now?"

"I can take a few more minutes," she lied. "How are you all holding up here?"

"It's hard becoming reclusive but we have to if it saves our lives."

"I don't think it will be much longer before we can get everyone home where they belong."

"From your mouth to God's ears. Listen, I'm keeping you too long and it's getting time to feed my baby girl."

"By all means. I must go anyway; Nate is supposed to pick me up. I must text him of my late arrival."

"Have a safe trip," Beretta said with a quick half hug and opened the door for the grifter.

"Thank you, I think I will," Sophie spoke as Beretta closed the front door behind her.


Parker decided that she was going stir crazy just waiting around for Michael Westen to pick her up. Her mind drifted off to how Eliot was doing with his physical therapy. She missed dressing up to help Eliot feel better and not to think about how much his injuries were slowing him down. She missed having her body pressed up against his, whether they shared his bed like they had in Oklahoma or that last slow dance she had before she had to leave for Los Angeles. She sighed as she packed the last of her gear back into her vehicle. Then she drove to the Grand Central Train Station Terminal… Within a half an hour, Parker had a seat on the bus to Bakersfield. It would be faster to arrive by train and then have Quinn pick her up. She sent a text to Fi about what she had planned to do so that Michael Westen could just sail straight up the coast to into San Francisco Bay. The train dropped her off in Bakersfield where she caught the San Joaquin train that would take her to Oakland, not too far from San Francisco Bay. The train ride rocked her to sleep and she dreamt of when she was much younger…

She heard music playing in the solarium and she just couldn't sit still and concentrate… Parker was supposed to be practicing opening up a collection of locks Archie brought her. So she snuck out of her room and went to the giant tree just twenty feet from the glass enclosed porch. It didn't take her long to climb it and soon she was looking in through the glass that was cleaned once a week by some service. Inside were Archie and his wife. She saw the emotions between them as they slow danced to one song, 'Welcome To My World.' Then she put on another, 'Crazy,' and slow danced again. The young thief wanted to feel like that… So she associated those two songs to what she thought love was; to be held tight by the one you love and losing yourself in the moment… She always wished for that kind of love, someday. But instead of looking for making that wish come true, she locked it away, deep in her heart. Archie told her time and time again not to waste time on useless emotions that would make her weak. From time to time, she snuck through the duct work on the house and watched the solarium to catch any glimpse of the couple slow dancing to the songs when she should have been working on the thief training homework Archie gave her. There were only so many paintings she could study before her eyes started to cross.

Later on, Parker learned the names of the two songs and they were by Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline. She had snuck in to the den and checked out the couple's vinyl record collection and surmised they were fans. She didn't dare steal the records or she would face Archie's anger and she didn't want to do anything to make him angry. Of course, as soon as he left the room she would mad dash back to her secret hiding spot he made her stay in while she was in the house. She startled awake after that and thought it was strange to suddenly remember that memory in her dream. She wondered if something was going on with Archie or his wife. It was strange to her how she cared for a family she could never be a part of… She was a friend to his children once she was in her early teenage years. When she hit her early twenties, Archie unleashed her on the world and had her do a few jobs here and there to help Parker keep putting those skills he taught her to good use. Because if a thief couldn't steal, what good were they? Parker heard her stomach growl and she'd run out of things to snack on the bus as it took her to Bakersfield. She had heard there was a place to get food on the train and decided to investigate…


She stole a couple wallets from people on the way down to the café car and claimed apologies that the train was rocking too much; which really wasn't that far off since it was terribly windy out. She only took about two hundred dollars in cash, no credit cards. Then she handed one wallet to a conductor in another car two cars away from the café car. The other wallet was given to a conductor in the reserved seating at the head of the train. She came back and found her seat rather quickly. She didn't want to leave her bags in the bin above her head alone for too long. After her meal of snack food, the train finally arrived in Oakland at 5:30 in the early evening. It had been an hour and 15 minutes late because of the many stops they had to take to let off passengers and to take on new ones. Bags firmly in hand and on her back, she headed for the station where she took a seat and got on her burner phone to Quinn…

[SpiderMonkey: I'm in Oakland, come get me. P.]

[TheHeatIsOn: Where? Q.

[SpiderMonkey: 245 Second Street. P.] She texted the address of the train station.

[TheHeatIsOn: What R U doing up here anyway? Q.]

[SpiderMonkey: I was bored. P.]

[TheHeatIsOn: Is Westen with U? Q.]

[SpiderMonkey: Nope. P.]

[TheHeatIsOn: Where the hell is he? Q.]

[SpiderMonkey: No idea. P.] She didn't really because the second team left without saying a word.

[TheHeatIsOn: So U got bored and thought U'd come bother me… Is that it? Q.]

[SpiderMonkey: Kinda. U gonna come get me or not? P.]

[TheHeatIsOn: Yeah, yeah… Hold your panties. I'll B there soon. Q.]

[SpiderMonkey: Why would I want 2 do that? I'm not wearing any… P.]

[TheHeatIsOn: WTF! TMI! How does Spencer put up with U? Q.]

[SpiderMonkey: I don't know; U'd have 2 ask him. P.]

[TheHeatIsOn: Nevermind. Q.]


Once Parker was in the rental car Quinn had, he took off for the main road. It was the only thing he wanted to focus on… Just getting the blond thief under his protection at the hotel where he was; less risk of her being seen by potential enemies. He already had a suite where she would have her own room. He was not going to explain to Tara and Eliot why he and Parker had to share a bed. No way!

"Have you eaten?" He asked after she'd been quiet for twenty minutes.

"A little, but that was a while ago. Are you gonna feed me?" She looked hopeful.

"Yeah, guess so. It's around dinner hour. Know where you want to go?"

"Don't ask me, I don't know the area that well. I've only been here a couple times working, never for fun."

"The extent of my knowledge of the city is as lacking as yours is. The only thing the hotel has is take-out menus."

"I'm bored with take-out," she spoke and he detected a note of sadness in her voice.

"Are you up for fast food?"

He hoped it would cheer her up a bit… He could see why Eliot told him during the job they had at the dam, that he didn't like to see the thief sad. If she was sad; then someone had hurt Parker and it was his job to keep her from anyone hurting her. He noted that just mentioning the fast food made her perk up and smile a little; it was a start.


What Parker didn't say, was that she was missing Eliot's cooking. If not the stuff he especially made for her at the Bridgeport, the fare he made for her at the farm house… And to make matters worse, she could hear his voice in her head from memory telling her that she had to eat more than just cereal and fortune cookies for a meal. She tried to block that voice from upsetting her more when Quinn mentioned fast food… Parker knew that she should have listened to that voice, but Eliot wasn't there to actually cook for her and the girl had to eat.

"There's a place across the street from the hotel, I think it was called King Burgers, or some nonsense like that."

"I could use a chocolate milkshake."

"Coming up, milady. Oh, and here; this was from Hardison and he wanted you to know that Uncle Manuel has taken over the shipment since Diego Rodriguez is dead," he voiced as he handed her original cell phone back to her.

"Noted," she uttered coldly as she put the phone in her pocket.


Nate waited at the terminal Sophie was supposed to be coming through when he got the text from the grifter that she was going to be late. So he hung out in costume at the airport… He didn't know if Enrique or his thugs were following him as well; it didn't hurt to have a little protection with the costume to keep the con going. Sophie caught the next flight out and he was there to meet that one. They couldn't do any couple like things because of the potential sets of eyes on them; and he was dressed as a priest… There were rules to follow. So instead to keep contact with her he guided her out to the vehicle by her elbow; light touches or nothing at all to suggest intimacy between the pair. He obviously couldn't take her in his arms and kiss her like he wanted to and she clearly wanted him to… Poor Nate had to settle for Sophie's wandering hand into his black slacks so anyone following them couldn't tell what was going on… 'Bout the only people that noticed were truckers and anyone up in vehicles higher that the car they were in. He focused on the road as best he could, without swerving across lanes. They didn't need a cop pulling them over… When Nate reciprocated the gift she gave him, she had to bite her hand to keep from screaming. Both somewhat satisfied, the mastermind got down to business…

"After the class on Friday, come to my office as if Tara called you in. Then you get to work that voodoo that you do so well and get Enrique and his family excited about the wedding. The family is the key, because he is so tied to them, he'll do just about anything to please them… And if you get to meet the grandfather, the head of the cartel, sell it… Getting him on board means that our mark will do anything to gain approval from the head of the family business."

"I've got it, Nate." Sophie rolled her eyes.

"Good, then I will have to contact Father Salvador and see if we can co-officiate… He can take the lead of the ceremony and I will finish it."