The hotel was amazing. Sophie had stayed in a number of places in Paris before and this hotel was in her top five now. There was so much space in the bedroom and even though she was sharing sitting room with Parker their rooms were so far apart she hadn't heard a sound since they arrived. They'd all arranged to meet downstairs for dinner, but this first afternoon was a chance for them all to relax. She'd considered booking a spa treatment or going for a swim in the hotel's giant swimming pool, and went to suggest it to Parker.
Sophie knocked on the thief's door and waited for a reply. When there wasn't one, she assumed Parker had already left and returned to her room to make the arrangements for a massage. Unfortunately there weren't any appointments available on such short notice, so she headed down to the pool after leaving a note for Parker.
She didn't intend to go swimming, sitting by the pool was usually a good opportunity to listen to other peoples conversations, so she wore her black-and-white swimsuit with a thin red kaftan over the top. Sophie pulled her sunglasses over her eyes as she stepped outside, looking around for anyone she might know. The area was quiet, only two people in the pool and a young couple at the far end enjoying drinks together. A little disappointed, Sophie found a seat and flicked through the pages of a magazine she'd picked up at the airport. She was just admiring a pair of boots in one of the adverts when a shadow fell across the page and she looked up.
"Hi Parker."
"What are you doing out here? I thought you wanted to go shopping?"
"It was a long flight, I thought I'd leave that for tomorrow and just relax for a bit. Where did you go? I came to ask if you wanted to join me."
"I had to stretch my legs after the flight."
"Please tell me you weren't in the vents of the hotel?" Sophie lowered her voice, even though there was no-one close enough to hear them.
Parker shook her head, "no, I just went to check out the roof. With the right equipment I could get across to the building next door and there's a little art gallery beyond that with really poor security. Not enough of a challenge to be interesting, but getting there would be fun."
"Parker, we are not doing THAT while we're here. This is supposed to be a vacation. Please don't do anything to get into trouble, I'd hate to tell the others we have to leave early to avoid getting arrested."
"I already promised Eliot that we'd only be going home with things we've paid for. I just like to practice sometimes, you know how it is."
"Actually I haven't grifted for a few years. Nate and I just stopped after a while, I didn't even realise until... I guess until his funeral when everyone showed up. Sterling made some comment and Maggie told him off but I couldn't even tell you what the last time was."
Parker looked at Sophie in surprise. She couldn't imagine not doing what she loved. Becoming other people was just something Sophie did, she could change herself and manipulate others into doing what she wanted them to, it was like her superpower.
Picking up on her uncertainty, Sophie smiled at Parker, "I'm still me."
"But if you don't... anymore. How do you know?"
Sophie didn't really have an answer.
Parker held out her hand, "lets go back to our rooms and have some fun before we have to meet up with the guys."
"Okay," Sophie agreed, there hadn't really been enough people around to make the pool interesting.
Parker gave her a strange look when she stood up, one Sophie couldn't quite decipher. She decided to ignore it and chose a subject Parker would be comfortable talking about instead.
"Why don't you tell me what you've been up to for the last year. Just how much trouble have the three of you been causing?"
Parker smiled and leaned in to whisper as they walked back through the hotel.
When Eliot knocked on their door a couple of hours later, Sophie and Parker were sitting on the sofa laughing at Parker's tales and enjoying some popcorn the thief had snuck into her suitcase. Parker had gotten up to answer the door and he looked a little annoyed that they weren't ready to go down for dinner - Sophie was still in her poolside clothes.
"Come on guys, we agreed to have dinner at this time," he reminded them.
Sophie smiled, Eliot was always grouchy when he was hungry, "sorry we lost track of time. Give me five minutes to get ready."
He grumbled but let her go. When she came back out of her room a little over five minutes later he was whispering with Parker and still looking upset.
"Okay we can go," she said, surprising him with her quick change.
He stepped away from Parker, trying to smile, "you look lovely."
"Still the charming one of the group," she smiled back at him, deciding to ask him what was wrong later on.
Parker stepped between them as they left the suite and slipped her arm through Sophie's. Sophie wondered whether Hardison knew what was going on and hoped it wasn't affecting their ability to work as a team. Perhaps they needed this break just as much as she did.
During the meal, which had seen Eliot and Parker behaving normally towards each other, they discussed their plans for the next couple of days. Hardison suggested they all go their separate ways for the first day, mostly hoping that Sophie would get all the shopping out of the way, then spend the rest of the time together. He'd created a list of things he thought they'd all enjoy and they went through them all.
"We should go to Disneyland," Parker suggested, a little disappointed that it hadn't already been on his list.
"It won't be as good as DisneyWorld," Eliot told her. "The rides probably much smaller and slower."
"Then you should be able to handle them," Hardison teased him.
"It's the crowds I hate, all those people pushing into each other and getting stuck in queues waiting to go on the rides for five seconds. I bet the food's all burgers and hot dogs too."
"We'll see if we can get those special passes that let you skip the queues or books times for the tickets," Hardison suggested. "What do you think, Sophie?"
"If you all want to go that's fine with me, just don't expect me to go on anything that flips you upside-down."
The conversation went back and forth, Hardison admitting that he'd been banned from Disneyworld for a couple of years after sending free tickets to some group homes he used to live in and giving them vouchers for free meals during their visit. Apparently the parks had kept a hard-copy photo of him at the gates and he'd had to wait until he'd grown up enough to be let back in under an alias.
After dinner Eliot wanted to go for a walk but the others were tired so he went out alone. Sophie and Parker said goodnight to Hardison and went into their rooms. Once again Sophie found herself sleeping alone in a strange bed. She took a deep breath, determined not to cry, and as she slipped between the covers there was a knock at her door.
"Only me," Parker whispered as she opened it.
"What's wrong?"
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine."
"Would you like me to sleep here tonight?"
"No, that's okay Parker."
"I thought you might be cold or something," Parker lingered in the doorway.
"Parker..."
"It's okay if you don't want to be alone Sophie. We're all here for you."
"It's very sweet of you to offer, but..."
"It's no trouble, really. I get lonely too sometimes. I left Bunny at home to guard my stuff and..."
Sophie sighed, and pulled back the covers on the bed realising that Parker intended to come up with whatever excuse would mean she could stay. Perhaps it was for the best, letting Parker share the bed might let her fall asleep more easily.
"This is like a sleepover," Parker told her. "We could stay up late..."
"I'm actually a little tired. Must be jet lag," Sophie quickly interrupted her, really wanting to go to sleep.
"Oh, okay. Goodnight Sophie."
"Goodnight Parker."
Parker kissed her forehead, just as she had done that morning, then lay down facing the grifter. Sophie closed her eyes and managed to fall asleep.
This was the fourth clothes store of the day. Eliot and Hardison were resting in a café opposite while Parker and Sophie shopped. The store wasn't very busy, they were the only customers browsing and Parker had picked up so many items that Sophie was beginning to wonder how someone could change so much.
"Do you want to try some of these on?" Sophie asked her, as Parker laid a red belt over the top of the others items she was carrying over her arm.
"These aren't for me," Parker told her. "You need some new clothes. I've been chosing outfits for our teams for years and now I'm helping you."
Parker had noticed that all of the clothes Sophie had packed were in dark colours. She knew Sophie thought she had to wear them, to show how much she missed Nate, but she wanted to help bring back the old Sophie and so she had spent the day trying to steer her towards clothes and accessories with at least a little bit of colour. In her opinion, the dark clothes were only meant for funerals or to blend in when trying to steal something. After joining the team she'd learnt to wear other colours when not stealing, even gotten used to choosing them for herself when Sophie and Nate left. Now she could see that Sophie needed her help.
"I think I'm old enough to shop for myself."
"You're hiding."
"What?"
"You're using these blacks and dark greys to hide, so no-one will notice you and force you to fake being cheerful."
"Maybe I just like them. Do you know how much this dress costs?" Sophie indicated her current outfit.
"I don't care. You'd look much better in one of these," Parker deftly grabbed the items Sophie was holding, placing them in the nearest available space, and put the ones she had chosen into the grifters hand.
Sophie looked at her in surprise, "but..."
Parker placed her hands on Sophie's shoulders, spun her around and walked her over to the dressing room, "let's not keep the others waiting longer than we have to. I want to see what cakes they have in the pastry shop after this."
Sophie didn't argue. She was a little amazed at how Parker was taking charge, she'd never really seen her in action as the new Mastermind for the team. So she ended up trying on the items Parker had chosen, seven outfits in all.
Sophie brought two blouses and a dress, telling herself that it was to make Parker happy. She didn't have to wear them, they could just go in the closet when she got home and she could keep them as a reminder of this trip. As she finished paying, Parker came over and paid for the red belt, telling her it would go with the dress she had purchased earlier.
