CHAPTER 5
Thanksgiving
Nate and Sophie had stayed at the pub while the rest went to meet Julio and Chrissa at the soup kitchen.
Julio held the door open while the pack filed past with boxes of pumpkin pie. "Nate and Sophie couldn't make it?"
Eliot snorted.
"Pretty sure he's still drunk. It'll be a little while before he dries out enough to be hung over and it ought to be a doozie." Quinn shook his head as he went past.
"Well, we're glad the rest of you could make it." Chrissa took a stack of pie boxes from Parker and set them on a counter.
Eliot noticed Gemma looking around the place with a frown. He moved behind her and wrapped her in his arms. "You casing the place?"
She heard his teasing tone and leaned into him with a smile. "Oh yes, definitely. I can tell that this place would be worth targeting in my next heist."
"We're planning a heist?!" Parker bounced over to them.
"Yep." Gemma smiled.
Eliot rolled his eyes.
"The great pie caper." Gemma winked at Parker.
Parker looked as though she were giving it serious thought. "But what are the odds that pie would be replaced with chocolate cake?"
Eliot chuckled. "Is that what it's going to take to get this show on the road?" He stood away from Gemma but kept an arm around her shoulders as he started to move to the wall where the aprons were at. "How about I make chocolate cake for dessert tomorrow."
"I win." Parker crowed.
Eliot looked over to see Quinn handing Hardison a five-dollar bill.
Gemma laughed at the look on Eliot's face.
"Did you know about that?" He put on a fake mad face.
"I knew about the bet, but I promise, I wasn't trying to help either way."
Eliot laughed.
~~o0o~~
Chrissa looked Quinn up and down.
Quinn arched an eyebrow at the petite woman. "Somethin' wrong?"
"You are always such a snappy dresser, but I think you might be a little upscale for what we're doing today?"
"What's with everyone dissing my suit?" Quinn faked exasperation. He felt a thump against his back and turned to see Charlie walking past.
"Because the rest of us live in the real world." Charlie teased.
"I've done…" Quinn was cut off as several people nearby quoted him at the same time.
"Some of my best work in my suit." Everyone laughed and Quinn rolled his eyes.
"Here." Chrissa held out an apron to Quinn. "Let me hang up the jacket."
Quinn shucked off the jacket and handed it to Chrissa before tying on the apron.
~~o0o~~
Hardison was leaning against the counter near the sink and watching the organized chaos of everyone getting ready for the doors to open. Eliot came over to wash his hands and turned to see what had caught Hardison's attention.
"I'm glad we been doin' this every year." Hardison smiled. "Sometimes with the jobs, it feels like we gotta put in all this work to make even a little difference, but this… This is simple and I think it makes just as much of a difference."
Eliot smiled. "Yah. I think this place has made a big difference." Eliot thought back over the years they'd been in Portland, and he felt like this place, though subtle, had made a big difference for him. He'd been able to help other veterans, and that helped him find a way to work through some of the things he felt about his time in the service. And it was at the soup kitchen that he'd reconnected with Julio and that led him to reexplore the faith he'd had as a kid. Those things had colored his view of the world and he hoped that they'd made him a better person.
~~o0o~~
It didn't take long for the whole place to become a cheerful mad-house as people streamed in and food was served. Eliot looked down the line and was a little concerned when he didn't see Gemma serving potatoes next to Julio. He heard her laugh and looked out to see her talking with a man in a wheelchair at one of the tables.
In a moment she slipped behind the counter and started to fill a plate with such efficiency that it was clear, she'd worked in a well-run restaurant for a while. She took the plate to the man she'd been talking to and after she got him set up, she started bussing the other tables.
Eliot smiled and continued to dish out slices of turkey.
~~o0o~~
Charlie watched the way Quinn haphazardly set slices of pie onto plates. "Haven't you ever served pie before?"
"Do I look like a waiter?" Quinn growled as he nudged a slice of pie with his knuckle trying to get the piece of pie situated more squarely on the small plate.
Charlie laughed. "You can't do that!" She set that slice of pie to the side. "You can't touch stuff with your bare fingers and serve it to someone."
Quinn rolled his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be doing something?"
"Yep." She smiled and used the can of whip topping she was holding to add a puff of whipped cream to each slice with a hiss of expanding foam.
She could tell that the can was nearly empty so she squirted a little into her mouth.
"So I can't touch the pie but you can put that in your mouth?" Quinn arched an eyebrow.
She reached forward and put a small puff of cream on the end of Quinn's nose.
He closed his eyes for a moment trying to decide how to respond. All sorts of thoughts about whipped cream and the way she'd held the bottle popped to mind but then he reminded himself that he shouldn't encourage her. Finally, he opened one eye and smiled at her. "That's it you're fired."
"You can't fire me! I volunteered for this job." She smiled back.
So quick that it was almost too fast to be human he grabbed the can of whipped topping from her hand. "I am absolutely firing you. You don't get to play with the whipped topping any more. You can't be trusted." He squirted the last of the whipped topping from the can into his mouth before he wiped the melting cream off of his nose and tossed the can in the trash.
Charlie laughed and moved around the table to stand next to him. She picked up the serving spatula and fork Quinn had been using and started placing slices of pie neatly on the plates.
~~o0o~~
There was a lull in the flood of people and Chrissa brought over a couple more pans of veggies so that she and Parker wouldn't run out when the next wave of people came. She noticed Parker's intense regard and leaned forward to see if she could spot what had grabbed Parker's attention.
Gemma was standing next to Eliot and she had leaned up to plant a kiss on his cheek. No one with eyes could miss the happy look on Eliot's face.
Chrissa looked at Parker but couldn't tell what she thought. "Looks like Eliot is happy."
Parker smiled and moved the tray of vegetables around a little. "Yah." She placed a hand on her chest. "He is happy."
"And you?" Chrissa asked. "Are you happy?"
Parker frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"It's been clear that you and Eliot have a very close, very unique, relationship." Chrissa smiled. "I just wondered how you're doing, having to share his attention with Gemma."
"Hardison says that it's like having a brother. I… Hardison and I are pretzels but Eliot didn't have anyone like that. We want him to be happy." Parker patted her chest again.
Chrissa had noticed most of the pack pat at one spot or another when talking about their connection to each other. She hadn't understood everything Parker had just told her, but she felt like she got the gist of it. "Julio has a brother and a sister. When he and I first started dating, his sister really didn't like me." She frowned at the memory. "Eventually we worked things out and now I look forward to her visits. But there for a little while I really didn't think we were going to be friends."
Parker frowned.
Chrissa was pretty certain that Parker hadn't understood why she'd told her the story. "I guess I'm saying that it's okay if you aren't happy about how things are right now."
"Quinn fit in. I'm sure Gemma will fit too."
"Maybe you'll get a sister out of it." Chrissa didn't have a sister of her own and she knew that building that relationship with another woman was sometimes hard.
Parker's face brightened. "I didn't think about it that way."
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
Lunch at the soup kitchen had finished at two o'clock but it had been after three by the time everything was cleaned up and everyone was ready to leave.
"You still comin' tomorrow?" Eliot asked Julio as they walked through the parking lot behind the soup kitchen.
"Yah, did plans change?" Julio spun his keys on his finger.
"No. We're still planning on it." Eliot had an arm draped over Gemma's shoulders. "You guys are welcome to come back with us now. Probably watch a little football and eat leftovers while I finish lunch prep for tomorrow."
"Sounds great." Chrissa slid under Julio's arm. "We'll see you there."
Julio chuckled and gave Eliot a nod as he and Chrissa turned off at their car.
~~o0o~~
To no one's surprise Nate was thoroughly hung over by the time they made it back to the loft. He flinched away from the noise and happy chatter that accompanied the rest of the pack.
"Nate, how are you feeling?" Eliot asked as he headed for the kitchen.
"I thought your magical wolf thing would let you know." Nate groaned.
Eliot laughed. "You don't need a werewolf bond to see you been hit by a truck." He pulled a jug of tomato juice out of the fridge. "I'll fix you something."
Before long all the avid football fans were gathered in the living room. Nate kept to an armchair by himself and wasn't as boisterous as usual, but it was clear he was trying to participate despite what had to be a killer headache. Eliot, Hardison, and Julio were on the couch and Quinn had taken the other armchair. Chrissa had wedged her way onto the couch next to Julio and was every bit as enthusiastic as the boys. Parker had perched herself on the back of the couch and would probably make her way to the vents later but for now cheered when Hardison cheered and poked at Eliot when she thought he didn't cheer loud enough.
Sophie had spotted Gemma's disinterest in the game and had waved her over to the kitchen table. She'd fixed them both a cup of tea and settled in at the table.
"So, Gemma dear, are you doing okay? I'd ask if you were enjoying your visit but, after yesterday's terrible news and then Eliot putting you to work this morning, that may be a moot point." She sipped at her cup.
Gemma smiled when she heard Eliot cheering over some play. "I'm actually really enjoying my visit."
"Knowing us, knowing the pack, means you have to keep a lot of secrets."
"Eliot told you that I lived with the vampires in Louisiana?" She waited for Sophie's nod. "I'm used to secrets."
Sophie nodded. "I suppose so. Keeping secrets can be hard and leaves you feeling isolated. It's one of the curses of being a grifter."
"I'm not a grifter but I see what you mean."
"Anyway, if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always call me." She sipped at her cup again. "And of course if you need any insight on Eliot I'd be glad to help."
Gemma sipped at her own tea and admired her daisies. She kept her voice low and watched to see if Eliot was listening. "I know that Eliot has dated other women before." She watched as he stood up with Julio to cheer on a play. "But I get the impression that he hasn't dated anyone recently."
Sophie nodded. "I think the last one was three or four years ago." She frowned. She could easily remember a time when Eliot had indulged in a hook up during or after every job. She wasn't sure exactly when that had changed but it seemed to be coming from a healthy place. "Anyway, and I have to tell you that I wasn't here for this one but… The last one was a werewolf and the relationship didn't last for very long."
"I would think that they would have had more in common." Gemma watched as Eliot leaned back in the couch stretching his arms out across the back.
"From what I understand she put on a very good front. Good enough that even Eliot didn't suspect that she was responsible for a whole string of child abductions and murders."
Gemma's eye went round as she focused on Sophie. "That's awful!"
"Yes, it was." Sophie sipped at her tea. She thought about the end of the story and debated what to tell Gemma. She didn't want to scare her.
"Eliot had to lead the hunt to kill her. To kill Perrine." Parker's voice behind Sophie made her flinch.
"Parker dear, remember what we talked about? You shouldn't sneak up on people outside of a job." Sophie huffed, annoyed that she'd been caught by surprise.
"Eliot killed the last woman he dated?" Gemma wasn't sure what to make of what she just heard.
"No. He let a different werewolf do it. Perrine had been eating children for a very long time and the other werewolf wanted revenge." Parker sat at the table.
"Over the last several years Eliot has become less casual with his personal relationships and I think that last one scared him. He's so used to being able to read people and tell when they are lying that I think it really shook him when he was fooled by Perrine." Sophie set her empty cup to the side.
Gemma continued to sip at her tea and think about what she'd just heard.
~~o0o~~
When it became clear how the game was going to work out Eliot got up and headed to the kitchen. He got leftovers warmed up and started prepping dishes for the next day.
He set the warmed food up on the counter but when he turned to fetch the plates from the cupboard, Gemma was already coming his way with a stack of plates in her hands.
"Thanks." He took the plates from her and set them up next to the food.
She handed him cutlery and he set them up on the stack of plates. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"Alright, food's hot. Eat it now or eat it cold." Eliot spoke loudly enough to get everyone's attention.
Everyone filled a plate and Hardison queued up another game on the big screen. As everyone settled in to eat and watch the next game Eliot started pulling ingredients out of the cupboards and the fridge.
Gemma set her empty plate in the sink and turned around to watch. "So what are you making now?"
"Chocolate cake." He gave her a half smile as he set an old-fashioned looking tin of cocoa on the counter. "Come'ere." He waived her over.
"You gonna teach me how to make a cake?" She pushed away from the counter and went to him.
"Mhmm." He pulled her around so that her back was against his chest in what was becoming a familiar routine. He pulled her hair back into a tail and tied it up with a hair tie he had on his wrist. He kissed her temple. "Okay, you want to start with….
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
By the time that Eliot was finished with the last of his meal prep everyone but Gemma had called it a night. He could hear her slow even breathing on the other side of the couch. He was sure she'd been asleep for the last hour, but he hadn't wanted to wake her, even to send her to bed.
He hadn't thought about Perrine in a long time. It was a bitter memory that he wasn't interested in reliving. He hadn't been hiding it from Gemma, but he hadn't thought about bringing it up either.
He could hear Quinn's steady foot falls as he came down the stairs. "She ask you about it yet?" He asked through a yawn that left the words distorted.
"What?" Eliot cocked his head as he watched Quinn open up the cupboard he kept the tea in.
"The woman you dated that was eating the kids?" Quinn pulled down his favorite mug and box of tea.
"You heard that too?" Eliot had thought that Quinn and the others had been too caught up in the game to hear Sophie and Gemma's conversation.
"We were all in the same room." Quinn snorted.
Eliot nodded as he set the last dish in the drainer and turned the stove on under the kettle.
"She didn't smell scared." Quinn settled on one of the stools on the other side of the island.
"She's tougher than people give her credit for." Eliot couldn't help the soft smile on his face.
"She seems so soft that it's easy to forget." Quinn mused.
"You and I walk into a fight knowing what can happen but it's worth it if it saves the others from gettin' hurt." Eliot glanced at Quinn and upstairs where the rest of the pack was sleeping. "But I think it might take more courage to be kind… soft, after what she's been through. It would be easier to tell the world to screw itself and shut everyone out rather than risk getting hurt again."
Quinn nodded and reached across the counter to move the kettle off of the heat before the whistle could wake Gemma.