A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! Or if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, Happy Thursday! Or if you live closer to the International Date Line, Happy Friday! Welcome to another fun Leverage story! Or at least that's what I've been told. I'll let yall decide if it's a fun story or not. But it's definitely a Leverage story! This story picks up just after the end of The Hot Potato Job.

Disclaimer: We got a new dog! She's a bloodhound mix named Ellie! Doesn't get much more southern than a bloodhound mix.

"You know, I'm really glad we picked that restaurant," said Sophie Devereaux as she and Nathan Ford sauntered through McRory's bar and up the stairs to the next floor.

"Me too. I've been meaning to try it since it opened last year, but there was never an opportunity before now." Nate's keys jangled as he withdrew them from his pants pocket.

"Too bad our job keeps us so busy. I think that was the best baked ziti I've ever had."

"Don't let Eliot hear you say that." The doorknob rattled as Nate tried to unlock the door to his apartment. His eyes flicked downward and exchanged a glance with the woman next to him when he realized it was already unlocked.

"Did Eliot and Parker forget to lock up when they left?" asked Sophie. "That's not like them. Especially not Eliot."

Worry covered both their faces, and Nate held up a hand, instructing Sophie to stay behind him. Cracking the door open, Nate peered inside, blue eyes searching for anything potentially harmful. All he saw was a leather jacket draped over the conference table next to a rumpled plaid tie and a woman's jacket that looked a little singed. On the floor behind the table lay a rumpled pink shirt, a pair of brown slacks, and a pair of boots that had landed in a haphazard heap in the kitchen. A longer examination of the apartment showed another pink shirt hanging lifelessly over the banister upstairs. There was no other sign that the younger members of their team were in the apartment.

"Aren't those the clothes Parker and Eliot were wearing earlier?" wondered Sophie, her eyes wide as she absorbed the sight before her.

"Parker?" called Nate.

"Eliot?" Sophie echoed.

A gasped, "Ahh!" met their ears, ringing from upstairs. Blue eyes met brown as Nate and Sophie processed what they'd heard.

"There's no way they..." Sophie shook her head as she trailed off. Nate didn't answer. He just bounded up the spiral staircase, Sophie hot on his heels.

They made it to the landing just in time to hear another gasp, followed by a sigh. "That's much better," Parker's voice spoke, muffled by the closed bedroom door. Nate's bedroom door, to be exact. "No, not right there."

"Yes, right there," Eliot's voice retorted.

"No, that spot's awkward and hard to get to."

"That's exactly why I need to get that spot, Parker," the hitter growled, though his voice didn't sound nearly as gruff as it usually did. In fact, he sounded almost... tender? "No, don't sit up. Lie back down. You asked me for this, so I'm gonna do it right. I'm not gonna have you come whinin' to me tomorrow about you hurtin' cause you wouldn't let me do my job properly."

Huff. "Fine." A body flopped on the mattress, then the bed frame creaked as another body sat down. "Ahhh. So much better."

"Aren't you glad I got that spot now?"

A content, "Mhm" answered Eliot's question.

That was too much for the grifter and mastermind. Nate tried opening the door, then rapped his knuckles on it when he found it locked. "Uh, Eliot, Parker? What's going on?"

"Hold on, Nate." This time, Eliot's growl sounded like its usual self. "Let me finish with Parker here and we'll be right down."

"Okay." Nate turned away and he and Sophie went back downstairs to wait for the errant pair to finish... whatever it was they were doing.

"Glad you locked the door," Parker said before they had moved too far away.

"I told you, I didn't want anyone interruptin' us."

Once they were back downstairs, Sophie went to the kitchen to make coffee while Nate contented himself with a drink. "Want one?" He raised the bottle of whiskey in offering.

"I think I'd rather be sober for this conversation," Sophie muttered as she searched for something else to occupy her thoughts.

"Yes, thank you, Eliot!" echoed through the apartment.

"On second thought..." Sophie rounded the counter to take the already prepared glass Nate had extended.

Ten minutes later, after Sophie and Nate had demolished half the bottle, the bedroom door creaked open and a pair of heavy boots clunked toward the stairs, followed by the swish of a robe. "That wasn't quite my best work, but I'm not a professional. Thankfully, it wasn't severe enough to need a professional."

"Don't worry about it, Sparky, you did fine. I've had much worse from a professional."

"That doesn't make me feel any better, Parker."

A wide-eyed Sophie and Nate let their eyes drift to the stairs to find Eliot, still in the stolen slacks from earlier but with just a white undershirt, and Parker, who only wore a silky, light blue robe.

"Did you really have to use my dressing gown?" Sophie couldn't stop herself from asking.

"It was better than Parker puttin' her clothes back on." Eliot entered the kitchen and filled a glass with water, which he handed to Parker along with a pill bottle he'd grabbed from the medicine cabinet.

"I don't do drugs," insisted Parker when she saw the pills.

"It's not drugs, Parker," Eliot rolled his eyes. "It's ibuprofen. It'll knock out the inflammation. I promise, it won't dull your senses any. Even I take ibuprofen on occasion."

With a glare leveled at the hitter, the thief reluctantly grabbed at the pill bottle, shaking out two into her palm, and popped the pills into her mouth.

"And make sure you drink that entire glass of water. I won't have you gettin' dehydrated." He ignored Parker mocking him in favor of pouring a cup of the coffee Sophie had made.

"Okay," Nate interjected, voice expressively toneless. It was a very distinctive tonelessness. "Now that Parker is hydrated and no longer inflamed-"

Sophie choked on her drink.

"Can you tell us what is going on here?"

"Don't tell them," Parker ordered.

"Parker, we hafta tell'em. This is something they need to know. You can't just bounce back right away from somethin' like this, so we can't be goin' off and startin' another job right away."

"Will one of you just tell us already?!" begged Sophie.

The younger pair exchanged a long glance, an entire conversation passing between them without a single word spoken. Eliot raised his eyebrows, and Parker deflated with a glare.

"Fine," she relented, "you tell them."

"So, what happened was..."

A/N: Sooooo? What do yall think really happened? Let me know what you think not only about what Eliot and Parker might have been doing in Nate's bed, but just about the chapter in general. Thanks, and have a blessed Thanksgiving!