Her Protector Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage nor any recognisable characters in this story.
"Easy Parker" Nathan Ford, Mastermind advised as he watched the blond-haired girl rappel down the side of a forty-story high office building.
"Got it" Parker, Thief replied. Looking for access, she thought back to Hardison's briefing.
"Now usually all the office building windows stay closed, security measures and all that. But, the big boss decided that rule doesn't apply to him. Caught him on CCTV across the street smoking by his open window at least once a day. Course, nowadays no-one is allowed to smoke in public, enclosed areas - so what he does is, he goes out for about an hour, hour and a half for lunch and leaves the window open, so the air can circulate, and by the time he's back the smell, the smoke - everything is gone. That is our window people, quite literally"
This worked nicely for Parker. While the master-thief was always prepared with tools and contingencies ready to implement, she preferred to get in and out without anyone ever knowing she was there.
As she descended she saw all the office-types with their heads at their desks and backs to the window. What was the point in having an office with a view if you didn't get to enjoy it? Parker never understood it.
Finally she found the window she needed and peered through to ensure it was empty. She made no sound as she crawled through and, as soon as her feet were on the ground, she took off once again, never still for too long.
"Status Parker" Nate urged.
"I'm in. I've got Hardison's USB stripping the computer files and I'm looking for any hard copies of our clients documents which prove the company sold them a cat instead of a pig"
"No no, Parker. The scam this guy is doing is called "Pig in a poke" but they're not selling pigs"
"Right, they're selling cats"
"No, they're not selling cats either. They're selling property. They're showing nice, fancy properties but when it comes to actually handing over the deeds they get something a lot crappier than what they saw or paid for… understand?"
Parker shut the filing cabinet drawer "Not really"
Nate sighed "Just look for anything with our client's name on it"
"Duh"
"Alright; Eliot, Sophie, how're things going with you?"
Sophie Devereux, Grifter, made a show of apologies and promising to be right back to the other businessmen they were dealing with. Walking away with her hand to her ear she replied, reverting to her British accent "They're biting. Turns out the big boss doesn't treat his employees very well. They're just looking for an excuse to overthrow him"
"Well they're in on it too so we're not letting them walk. Hardison, how are the camera feeds?"
"Oh we are totally in control, baby" Alec Hardison, Hacker, replied.
"Right, uhhh Parker, you found anything?"
"You ask a lot of questions when you're only allowed to watch" she observed, regarding the injury sustained to his left arm from the last con they pulled.
Nate stopped pacing abruptly and looked mildly put out "Uhh, we can talk about that later, right now we need to focus"
Parker rifled through another filing cabinet and stopped, pulled out some documents and grinned "Target acquired" she said, closing the drawer and walked over to the computer to see if it was done yet.
"What?" Nate questioned.
"It means she's got the goods" Eliot Spencer, Hitter, replied agitated.
"Ok Parker, get out of there, Sophie, Eliot make sure they're hooked and wrap it up"
"Rodger" Parker responded.
Parker re-attached her rig and was close to the exit, through the same window, when a voice stopped her.
"Well, well, well.. Who do we have here?"
Parker froze, and they all sensed it. Parker did not freeze, she ran like a bat out of hell or fought her way free, but she never froze. Parker turned slowly. That voice, she hadn't heard that voice in over twenty years. She'd hoped she'd never hear that voice again.
"Parker is it the boss? Did he come back early?" Nate questioned
"I got my eyes on him, Nate. Whoever is in the office is not the boss" Hardison said looking at the CCTV of the marks favourite lunch place.
The man in the office looked stunned for a moment before smiling, just a bit too gleefully for someone who just caught a thief. "I believe I know you"
"No, you don't. I just work here"
"You don't work here. I'd have remembered seeing you, Izzy" Parkers breathing caught in her throat. It was him.
The rest of the team paused. Hardison watched the real footage in the office as he let the spoofed footage play on the other screen. Nate listened for clues, his mind calculating all the possibilities as to who was in the room. Eliot and Sophie stood helplessly as they tried to maintain their cover. Eliot couldn't help but look upwards, tense and also assessing the situation, but he didn't care who the man was, he only cared about Parker.
"Izzy, what are you doing here?"
"I..."
"I always knew you'd turn into a common criminal, seemed to be in your nature growing up" he said, every member of the team listening man took steps towards Parker, forcing her to step back, cornering herself into a wall. She looked longingly at the window but her legs felt like led. She shook her head, trying to shake herself out of this feeling. She promised she would never feel this way again "Never feel again" she chanted without thinking. A mantra she had long forgotten but kept with her for years.
She launched for the window but the man grabbed her line and pulled her backwards. The team heard a crack in their ears as Parker's head bounced off the marks desk.
"Come on Parker, fight" Eliot breathed, being sure not to gain the attention of the still present businessmen.
"No, no, no little girl. Where do you think you're going" Parkers breathing grew harsh, panicking she used her arms and legs to crawl backwards across the office floor but he kept moving forward. "I just can't believe you're here. My bitch wife sent you away when you started acting out. How about we make up for lost time, eh?"
Parkers eyes widened in fear and did the only thing she could think of that would help her "Eliot" she breathed.
Eliot's eyes widened. Consciously or unconsciously, she called for him. Either way, it didn't matter.
"Eliot don't break-"
"Oh my, where's he's gone?" Sophie spoke, staying in character and checked her watch "Ah yes, he's late with a phone call to our boss, he likes to be kept updated on the progress"
Eliot didn't care if they bought it. As far as he was concerned the con was over. He had one objective - Parker. Eliot made his way towards the stairs, shedding his jacket and glasses "I'm on my way Parker"
"Hardison, we still good on the cameras" Nate asked.
"They're not seeing a thing" Hardison spoke seriously, focusing all his attention to Eliot.
Finally Eliot made it to the 40th floor. He never once stopped talking to her, even for a second.
Eliot ran full force towards to door.
"Izzy" the man spoke, patronisingly. Crouching, speaking low into her ear. "There's no one here to save you. It's just you and me. So, tell me, who is this Eliot?"
At that exact moment, the hitter made his presence known, crashing through the glass door "I believe the lady's askin' for me"
The man tried his best to look untroubled by the sudden intrusion however, couldn't quite mask his surprise "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Eliot. Eliot Spencer"
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"
"It will in about 10 minutes"
The man looked down at the girl he knew as Izzy then back to Eliot and made to bolt for the door. Eliot stopped him short with an uppercut, grabbed him and slammed him, face first into the ground. Eliot circled him crouched down by the side of his head, making sure to face Parker, who looked lost.
Eliot grabbed him by the hair and crouched low so he was directly in the mans face "You're going to regret the day you ever harmed this girl"
"I didn't do anything, we were just talking"
"Just talkin' huh? Well, today maybe.. but I'm guessing you had other plans, had I not crashed them" he paused, taking a short breath fuelled with rage "I'm also guessing that there was a time where no-one was around to crash your plans. Tell me, am I gettin' warm?"
The man struggled against the hitter, trying to look for a way out.
"You think you can escape from me, hmm? Well good luck with that. Fact is I'm not lettin' you go. Ever. You'll pray for death by the time I'm done with you. Even when you think I'm done, I ain't. Don't matter what happens here today, because I got your face" Eliot said, grabbing his wallet from his pocket "I got your name and your address, and I can do a lot with that. You want to make up lost time, you make it with me. I can assure you, I'll enjoy it a lot more than you will. You're nothing but a coward, you went after children because they couldn't hurt you back"
Eliot made sure to look at Parker "Izzy is a grown woman now, she can take you. She's stronger than you and better than you, in every way" he said, and looked back down at the man "But like I said, you're dealing with me" Eliot stood and allowed him to stand as well "So take your best shot"
The man, angered by Eliot's words, lunged at him. Eliot grabbed him mid-flight and shoved him down to the desk below, he didn't even flinch when his head cracked against the wood.
"If you'd like, we can let Lizzie decide what kind of punishment you deserve" Eliot spoke directly into his ear.
Parker moved hesitantly towards the two men. The two very different men. The beast from her past who haunted her nightmares. And her protector in the present, who always made the bad dreams disappear.
She crouched down to his eye level and saw fear, the same fear she felt all those years ago when she was powerless to do anything. Eliot was right, he's a coward. He preyed on the weak.
Parker looked up at Eliot and smiled. She wasn't weak anymore.
So, this is my first Leverage FanFiction. I know this was very fast and not very detailed etc. Just an idea which popped in my head.