Parker woke before Sophie. She lay as still as possible, watching the older woman sleeping, wondering what she dreamed about. After a while her body itched to get moving and she slipped quietly from the bed and headed out of the room. She found Tara sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine.
"Good night?" Tara asked with a smile.
"You were there," Parker looked at her, puzzled by the question.
Tara laughed softly, and waved towards Parker's bedroom, "no, I meant after that."
Parker frowned, "oh, Sophie needed somewhere else to sleep."
"Seriously?"
"Of course."
"Geez Parker, that was your chance to make your move."
"What?"
Tara reached up for Parker's hands and pulled her onto the sofa so she could continue their conversation in a whisper, "you like her, right? Like, really like her."
"Who told you?"
Tara rolled her eyes, "you're too obvious. Why do you think I made things so uncomfortable for her last night?"
"You wanted her to leave her bed?"
"And to go to yours. I figured you'd have a plan in place to show her how you feel."
Parker frowned, "Elliot said Sophie's not ready."
"I think I know more about these things than Elliot, especially when it comes to Sophie."
"So you think I should tell her?"
"Or you could show her. Make her realise her feelings for you, so that she..."
"I don't like playing mind games, and I wouldn't, not over something this important. Sophie's too smart anyway, she'd figure it out."
"She didn't say anything about our dancing last night."
"You danced with all of us."
"But not quite the same way," Tara moved closer to Parker, "she couldn't keep her eyes off of us."
"So you did that on purpose?"
Tara smiled, "perhaps."
Parker turned her head, to look back at her bedroom, "I'm going to tell her when she wakes up."
"What are you going to say?"
"That I've loved her for years and I want to make her happy."
Tara's face contorted as she tried to think of the right words to say, "I think that might be a little too... much."
Parker sighed in frustration, "what do you think I should say?"
"Maybe start small, take her downstairs for breakfast just the two of you, tell her that you really like her and that you want to take her out on a date."
"What if she says no? Sophie knows how to talk people out of what they want to do and make them feel happy when she does that, to stop them from trying again."
"She won't do that to you Parker, she cares about you. She'll probably ask if you're sure, then agree to humour you, but if you're patient and show her that you're feelings are real she might open herself up to the possibility that the two of you could have something together."
"I've been patient for years."
"Then a little while longer shouldn't be too hard. It's hard for grifters to learn who we can trust, we're so aware of how easy it is to deceive and be deceived. Sophie knows you and she likes you, if you're serious about this you won't give up."
"I won't."
"Good," Tara grinned and reached out to pat the top of Parker's head, "because you're still very adorable and you should use that to your advantage when you talk to her. Use a little of those grifting skills we've taught you and everything will work out."
Parker shook her head, hating being called adorable and determined not to trick Sophie into this.
They were sitting in the dining area of the hotel, just the two of them. Parker had a bowl of cereal in front of her while Sophie was breaking apart a croissant using a fork.
"You really should eat something," Parker told her. "Breakfast is very important."
Sophie managed a smile and pushed the plate away, "don't tell Elliot, he already worries too much."
"I worry too. If there's something you'd rather eat we can go elsewhere."
"No, I'm just not hungry."
"You're sad because Nate's gone, but you're not alone Sophie, you'll always have us."
"Thanks Parker."
"You can talk to me, you know. It might make you feel better."
Sophie folded up her napkin and put it beside her plate, "I'll go and see if the guys are up yet. They might have ordered room service if they're hungover."
That had been Tara's excuse for staying behind, though she'd encouraged them to head down for breakfast. Sophie didn't remember her drinking a lot, but she hadn't been paying much attention.
"I'll come with you," Parker told her.
They rode the elevator in silence. No-one answered when they knocked on Eliot and Hardison's door so they went back to their room. Tara had disappeared as well.
"Maybe she took them for breakfast somewhere else," Parker suggested.
"Perhaps," Sophie sat down on the sofa, picking up one of the magazines they'd purchased the day before so that she'd have something to do while they waited.
Parker sat down next to her, "we're still your team, you can trust us. If you need to..."
"It's too hard to talk about him," Sophie cut her off, eyes glued to the glossy pages in front of her.
Parker managed a few more moments in silence before speaking again. At first Sophie was trying not to listen, knowing that Parker was trying to get her to open up. Then something in her tone caught Sophie's attention.
"... and I knew you wouldn't look at me while Nate was around, so I've been waiting to tell you the truth. I hated keeping it a secret."
"What secret?" Sophie finally turned her head to look at Parker.
The thief leaned forward and kissed her. She felt pressure from Sophie's lips as she kissed her back. Then Sophie pulled away.
"What are you doing?"
"I told you, I love you."
"What?" Sophie scrambled to her feet, backing away from the sofa. "Parker... I..."
Parker sighed, realising Elliot might have been right, "Sophie..."
Sophie whispered an apology before heading to the door as she practically ran from the room. Parker let her go. She picked up one of the cushions from the sofa and held it to her, wishing she had her Bunny instead.
Hardison found her like that nearly half an hour later. He managed to persuade her to go to his room so she could talk to Elliot. She carried the cushion across the hallway with her, then curled up on their sofa. Tara, who had been with them, offered to go and look for Sophie once she heard what had happened.
"She didn't even take her purse," Parker whispered, "what if she needs her ID, or some money?"
"Honey, she's Sophie Devereaux, she'll know what to do," Tara gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before giving Elliot a look and heading out.
Eliot slipped out into the corridor after Tara, "what do you think?"
"I'll check the museums, art galleries, that sort of thing. You look after Parker, I'll find Sophie."
"Two of us could cover more ground."
"No, let me talk to her. Parker needs you."
"Okay. Call if you find her?"
Tara didn't answer, she wasn't sure Sophie would want that. Elliot watched her leave then went back inside.
Hardison was sitting next to Parker, "it'll be okay."
"I didn't mean to make her leave."
"I'm sure she's just taking some time to think about what you said."
"The last time she ran away we didn't see her for ages. She only came back to save Nate."
"She came back for all of us," Hardison reminded her. "Tara will find her, you'll see."
Tara found Sophie sitting in front of a large painting, her body completely still.
"I don't think that will fit in your pocket and you forgot your handbag," Tara teased, sitting down next to her.
The corner of Sophie's mouth twitched up in a half-smile, "then it's a good thing it's a fake."
Tara glanced back at the painting, "you...?"
"No, not this one, but the replacement is quite good."
"I didn't think you liked looking at fakes."
"I don't, usually, but it seemed to fit my mood."
"Oh?"
Sophie tore her gaze away from the painting to look at Tara, "I'm a fake, too."
"Well I'm sure there are better alternatives for our line of work."
"It's not just that," Sophie took a deep breath, "I'm scared."
"Of what? Parker?"
Sophie closed her eyes for a brief moment, enough for Tara to see some genuine emotion on her face. Tara quickly turned to the painting, trying to give Sophie space to compose herself.
"She told you then?"
Tara couldn't help but smile, "I knew how she felt."
"Why didn't you warn me? Or better yet, why didn't you head her off and get her to change her mind?"
"Is that really what you would have wanted? Putting aside the fact that you'd kill me for messing with the heads of your team for something like that, Parker has been building up the courage to tell you for a long time. Are you so sure finding out is a bad thing?"
"Of course! What do you think is going to happen now? I'll have to find a way to let her down without hurting her feelings, or changing the dynamic of our friendship. If we were ever going to work together again it would make things so awkward."
"Or..."
"What?"
"You could just admit how you really feel and give it a chance."
"Are you crazy?" Sophie stood up, struggling to keep her voice to an acceptable level for their location.
"I've seen how you are around her." Tara shrugged, "would it really be such a bad idea?"
Sophie opened her mouth to reply, but paused when she saw the serious look on her friend's face. She folded her arms and sat back down.
Tara moved along the bench to sit closer to her, "how long have you known?"
"Known what?"
"That you might like her?"
Sophie rolled her eyes, "it's not that simple."
"That long, huh?"
"You think I haven't considered telling her? That I haven't gone over every possible scenario in my head, weighing the pros and cons..."
"That's not how this works."
"For you maybe."
Tara studied the painting for a moment, but it wasn't one that appealed to her - fake or not, "so what are you going to do?"
Sophie sighed.
"Hide out here a little longer, I guess. See if I can't figure out the right answers."
Tara slipped her arm through Sophie's and pulled her to her feet, "wrong answer. As your friend I refuse to let you mess this up."
"What are you doing?" Sophie looked around, a little worried that they might be making a scene.
"Come with me and see."
