The team decided to cancel the San Diego job. Parker came first, and she'd been through trauma that she would have to deal with for a very long time. The kid had tried to argue, but there was no way she'd be able to participate. Not only that, but the security guards had come in shortly after the doctors had checked up on Parker one last time (they had reconnected her to a heart monitor because her heart had a slight arrhythmia due to the injuries):
"Charlie Wright escaped the hospital. We have a warrant out for his arrest but it's suspected he's either fleeing the country or he's being protected by someone high up," The security guard said bluntly adding on, "We're setting two officers outside the hospital room as guards, and a social worker will be here tomorrow to discuss Parker's next foster home."
Parker, who had finally been beginning to relax while being held by Eliot, nearly ripped out her stitches moving so fast. She was humiliated already, they had put her in a diaper like a stupid baby after the surgery claiming that she might not have bladder control anymore. She was seriously considering jumping off that damn roof if it was true, she may be tiny enough to be held in someone's lap but she wasn't a baby. "No, no no no no," she kept muttering under her breath. It was so hard to talk, and move, and breathe, and suddenly her vision was greying and her heart monitor was starting to race. The entire team stood up and tried to calm the kid, Eliot sliding off the bed to give her and the doctors space to work.
Suddenly the frantic beeping stopped, replaced by a flatline sound. Parker was gone. Her heart had been too stressed with the surgery, weakening. Nate and Eliot both yelled for the doctors (Eliot bellowed PARKER!), but Eliot didn't just stand by, he started chest compressions. "Dammit, Parker!" He said, not able to hide the waver in his voice. The man had just sung to the kid through an awake surgery, he wasn't going to just let her fade. The whole room heard a rib splinter, but Eliot ignored it. That happened sometimes during this. He knew that. The doctors were pulling him away suddenly, and shocking her heart. "Normal sinus rhythm," the doctor said. Nate walked out of the room and Sophie followed, both not able to hide the tears in their eyes. Hardison looked haunted, following them a second later, and Eliot had barely managed to keep from breaking the wall of emotions. The doctors checked the machines once more before back walking out.
Eliot refused to leave. Parker had called him for a reason. She knew he would die to protect his team. Damn thief had managed to not only sneak past his defenses he'd been building for a decade, but nestled herself somewhere near his heart as well. He had actually bellowed when the monitor had flatlined. His control had slipped in front of the team. He couldn't let that happen again. Above all, he wasn't letting anything like this abuse happen to Parker ever again. "Till my dyin' day," he had told her. He intended to keep that oath. He picked her up again and sat back in the bed.
Parker had heard both Nate and Eliot yell, loudly. She thought you weren't supposed to hear things when you died, but apparently she was wrong. Parker had also felt Eliot break a rib, but she didn't blame him. She didn't wanna wake up, but it was so cold. Suddenly she felt herself being picked up and she wanted to panic, but the smell and the way he tilted her head back onto his chest told her it was Eliot, so she didn't panic at all. But Parker did manage to open her eyes. She shivered, but he was already starting to warm her up with body heat and grabbed a blanket, throwing it over them both and wrapping her up in it a bit. He grabbed her chin, trying to be gentle but firm, and made her look into his eyes.
"Don't do that again, Parker, dammit," Eliot growled, "We ain't gonna let you go back to a damn foster home. Hell, I'm pretty sure the others are prepared to kidnap you too, and I'll sign the adoption papers myself if I have no other choice than to do so." Eliot only regretted saying this last bit for a second, because the next second Parker was squealing and wrapping her arms around her neck. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her after the shock wore off a bit, patting her on the back. Parker eventually let go, practically collapsing against him, trembling. She was so tired she could barely hold her eyes open, but she was still too scared to sleep. "Parker, go to sleep." Eliot growled, tilting her head down onto his chest and making himself more comfortable as well. When he realized she was still stiff as hell, he glanced at the door, making sure his earbud was still out and the rest of the team was still out of the room. "Parker I ain't goin' anywhere, I made a promise to ya, that I'd protect you till my dyin' day, and I always keep my promises," He said softly, nearly managing to erase most of the growl from his voice. Eliot sighed when she only relaxed minutely, and started singing her a lullaby his momma used to sing to him as a kid softly, almost whispering. Slowly, Parker relaxed, the steady beat of his heart and the rumbling in his chest as he sang lulling her to sleep finally. A ghost of a smile played on his lips, the kid was almost cute while asleep, if he managed to forget the fact that she was 20 pounds of crazy in a five pound bag.
The rest of the team returned about half an hour after Parker fell asleep, Eliot was watching sports on low volume on the tv since there wasn't much he could do with a kid curled up sleeping on his chest. Parker was small (bordering on tiny) for her age but was still a bit awkward to hold. When Sophie walked in first, she stopped dead in her tracks at the doorway, making Nate run into her and peek over her shoulder. Sophie said a quiet "Aww" while Nate and Hardison just stared at the sight of their hitter casually holding a sleeping child like it was glanced over at them with a glare. "Are you going to come in or are you just gonna stare all night?" he grumbled quietly. They hurried to go sit on the couch and chair in the room. Parker stirred a bit when Eliot slowly got up and put her on the bed, but once she realized it was just Eliot she appeared to fall back asleep. The team quietly discussed what they were going to do about the social worker coming tomorrow.
Nate had the smell of whiskey on his breath when he spoke: "I think one of us should apply to be her foster parent, or even apply for adoption if it's possible. I could do it, I had Sam-"
"Nate, I really don't think you should be considering adopting a kid who has the social issues Parker will have after this with you drinking all the time. It's irresponsible and unfair for Parker to have to worry about you," Sophie cut in immediately.
Eliot had something to say to Nate as well. "Nate, you weren't there when her foster father had the smell of whiskey on his breath and just the smell of that threw her into a panic," He said after Sophie had finished.
"I think Eliot should adopt her," Hardison remarked, adding quickly when the team turned to stare at him, "Parker seems to trust you. She called you. Not Nate, not Sophie, not me. She called you, Eliot, because she knew you were the best at handling these situations. Hell, she fell asleep on you, bruh. Parker trusts you and right now, you're probably the only person she's going to talk to about what exactly happened in those foster homes she was in. She's awkward, she's antisocial, she don't go to school, and we're going to have to find a way to home school her. You have to be the one to take her in Eliot," He finished.
Eliot got up and started pacing, irritated. He didn't particularly like kids. Not to mention, this was PARKER. Parker is insane. She's the youngest famous thief in a century. What if she got on his nerves and he snapped? It would throw her into a complete panic, and he had no idea how to help a kid as badly damaged as her. "No, I can't adopt a kid, dammit Hardison! What do you think is gonna happen if she throws a tantrum or sneaks up on me and I hurt her? I'm a hitter for god's sake it's programmed into me to attack! Maybe you should adopt her, Hardison," He snarled loudly, and, remembering that Parker was supposed to be sleeping, quickly turned around to the bed. She still appeared to be sleeping.
Parker was, however, listening intently to the conversation. Years of abusive foster homes had made her proficient in the skills of feigning sleep and keeping a neutral face. She wanted to get up and run away when Eliot said no, it hurt her that he'd say no when earlier he'd even offered. Maybe he was lying; it wouldn't surprise her. Parker thought she shouldn't trust adults, but somehow she had started to trust the team. She forced herself to keep quiet. Maybe the others would say something. Parker was right, they did.
"No, Eliot, Hardison is right. You're the person who Parker trusts the most right now, and you seemed really good with her during the surgery and all. She can take turns staying with all of us, you'll just be the signature on the official adoption papers. We're all a team. I have kid experience. Hardison is great with Parker too, and we all know that Sophie loves Parker like her little sister. Eliot, do this for Parker. Please," Nate ranted for a while.
Eliot was livid. They were trying to talk him into this while giving him barely any room to argue his point. "I'll think about it. I'm going to go home and sleep, I'll be back in the morning. Don't leave her alone in this room for even five minutes," He managed to barely keep from yelling as he stalked out of the room angrily. Parker had flipped in her sleep so her back was turned to the rest of the team. Eliot glanced back at the bed one last time before he walked out and was startled when he saw doleful brown eyes staring straight at him. He turned back around quickly and stalked out without another word.
Parker glared at his back. If none of the team would foster her, she was going back into foster care. Parker immediately started plotting to get away from the hospital. She was tiny, the size of a child half her age, which in her case didn't help at all because going out alone would make people question her, like they had when she ran away from charlie. Parker didn't have makeup to hide behind this time. She heard the others moving around in the room and talking quietly behind her, but tried to ignore them. Then she realized that any removal of the heart monitor would make it flatline, and she'd be discovered. Parker was trapped here. With that uncomfortable thought, she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
When Parker woke up next, she was alone. It was barely light out, so it must still be early. The pain from her injuries had woken her up, and she shifted uncomfortably. Something wasn't right, and when she glanced around, she saw her earbud on the desk. Parker carefully got up to grab it and stuck it in her ear, switching it on just as the door opened.
"Hello, Parker, I'm the social worker who'll be taking over your case," Charlie smirked at her. Parker shrieked and dodged his hands.
"Y'know for a master hacker that man Hardison isn't very bright, he fell for the whole replacement social worker thing. He must not have slept all night. I told him he could come back in about 30 minutes, and by then you'll be long gone with me. Those guards went to get coffee and the ex is distracting them," Charlie said with a sneer.
Parker ripped off the heart monitor and IV, which had been giving her morphine. She felt a bit strange but knew she had to fight it. Parker tried to bolt, but she was grabbed by Charlie, who kicked her hard in the ribs. She couldn't do anything except scream and hope someone had their comm in.
"Parker?! Wha's goin' on?" A startled and tired sounding Eliot asked.
"Freak. You never should have called your friends, you'll never have to see them again," Charlie said, continuing to kick Parker. Parker decided to stall to keep him at the hospital, and Charlie started attacking her more.
Eliot was already on his way to the hospital, cursing Hardison, Nate, and Sophie the entire way. He was driving way over the speed limit in his truck, taking the back roads, it still took him a little over five minutes to get there. The entire way he could hear blows and abusive words raining down on Parker, and her whimpers of pain only made him drive faster. Guilt was eating him alive. He had promised, and he had failed.
Parker had done all the stalling she could possibly do and it still wasn't enough, Charlie had finally picked her up and started to leave the hospital; Parker was curled tightly into a ball. Apart from the kick to the chest, he had kicked the stitches on her head open and given her another concussion. The rest was a dislocated hip, elbow, and shoulder. Curling into the ball had protected most of her internal organs. Mentally Parker had regressed a bit, and was trembling, hiding her face in her knees while Charlie was leaving with her. They didn't make it to the exit, because Charlie dropped her and bolted the second he saw Eliot walking in.
Eliot froze when the man just dropped Parker like she was nothing, and debated whether he should go after the man or go to Parker's side, but the decision was already made for him when Parker didn't move from the curled up ball.
Parker was shivering hard. Charlie had ripped her gown off, and now she was both cold and scared. She flinched heavily when arms gently picked her up, and, ignoring the pain it caused, curled up even tighter. Parker was hurting bad. The arms holding her walked into a room and sat down, but Parker still didn't budge.
"Parker, darlin' I shouldn't have left last night, I'm sorry. I was tired and annoyed with the team, I shoulda known better than to trust 'em not to leave ya. I'm here now sweetheart I ain't goin anywhere, I promise," He said softly, shaking his head slightly when the rest of the team appeared in the doorway. He glared daggers at Hardison. Eliot looked at Sophie and mouthed clothes, waving his arm slightly at Parker. Sophie nodded once and walked away.
Parker heard Eliot softly talking to her, but she was disoriented and dizzy from the concussion Charlie had just given her. Suddenly she bolted up and scrambled away from Eliot, throwing up over the side of the bed. Parker flinched when Eliot got closer, but he only pulled her hair away from her face so it didn't get dirty. She saw the doctor approaching from the door, and shrank away from him. Eliot had to catch her before she fell off the bed. "Stop fighting, Parker," he growled, when she started thrashing to get out of his arms. She stopped struggling almost immediately, something that caught Eliot completely off guard. He set her down gently and backed away from the bed a bit to stare at her. Her eyes were unfocused and distant; filled with a terror and dread he'd only seen the previous night. The doctor started examining her and she backed all the way against the back of the bed. He reattached her heart monitor. "The stitches in her head have come undone, but so far the clot is still holding. We'll get that taken care of soon, in the meantime, don't let her fall asleep. She has another concussion. Police are searching the area but it looks as if he had a getaway car. Lucky you got here in time to scare him away or she could be halfway across the state by now," the doctor advised. "We have an orthopedist scheduled to come in at 8am, it appears as though she has several dislocated joints," he finished with a pointed look at Eliot, "Make sure her heart rate doesn't go up too high, and don't leave her alone in this room." The doctor left.
Parker watched Eliot cautiously as he sat down in the chair next to the bed. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, really, but her head felt fuzzy and she didn't want to trust anyone ever again. Sophie knocked on the open door, and Parker looked between both of the people in the room frantically as if expecting them to strike when her back turned. Sophie walked in quickly, setting a bag down onto the bed.
"I bought underclothes and pullups both just in case you did have an accident. We aren't judging you if you did, Parker. What happened wasn't your fault. I also got you these cozy looking footed pajamas. C'mon, you'll love them. Eliot and I will go wait outside, okay?" Eliot started to protest, but Sophie dragged him to the door, though not before he said "I'm staying three inches away from the entrance of this door, Parker. Say anything and I'll be in here within two seconds."
Parker waited until the door was closed, and then quickly dug in the bag for the underclothes. She peeled her 'diaper' off and to her horror realized she had had an accident, so she reluctantly put one of the pull-ups on. She threw the soiled pull-up into the trash by the bed. It was a testament to how small she was that they fit the ten year old perfectly. Whimpering a bit when she jostled her hip too much, Parker pulled out the pajamas next. She wrinkled her nose a bit at the light blue hearts on the dark green pajamas, but didn't complain. Green was, after all, her favorite color, and she didn't often get new clothes. She zipped up the pajamas and curled into a ball, ignoring the pain and waiting for the others to come back in.
"Coming back in now, Parker," Eliot murmured under his breath when Hardison and Nate arrived. It had been plenty of time for her to change. He didn't even look at Hardison, he might've hit the guy. Nate, Hardison, and Sophie walked in first, and Eliot followed quietly. Parker was curled up in a tight ball, shaking slightly. She watched them walk in like a hawk, eyes suspiciously moist but she had wiped the tears away quickly as they walked in. Eliot noticed but didn't say anything. He moved to sit back in the chair, turning it slightly so he was half facing the rest of the team and half facing Parker's bed. The team quietly plotted their next few potential. One was a place called Genegrow industries, it had killed a young girl and seemed like a good place to start. They were going to wait until Parker was ready for the job, however.
Parker watched them talk in despair, knowing full well that she wouldn't be participating in any more jobs. They were going to send her back to the foster homes, and she would never forgive them for it. She was running away, she just had to find the right time to leave.
Parker whimpered quietly while the orthopedist relocated her joints, and Eliot grabbed her hand without thinking, Sophie stroked her hair, and Nate grabbed her other hand. Hardison stood back, still feeling like this was his fault. The orthopedist wrapped her left arm to her side so that she couldn't move it, and told her to be very careful with her leg and to not try to walk. Eliot let go of her hand quickly after the relocation was done, scowling at Sophie and Nate's knowing looks. He was about to make a scathing reply when a woman with a briefcase walked into the room.
"Parker? Hello, I'm Agatha Nightly, your new social worker. I'm here to show you the new foster family you'll be going to. They have two older kids of their own who are treated very well, I think you'll like this home. Assuming they like you, you'll be in a testing phase for the first month," the social worker said.
Parker was silent, but the heart monitor was starting to send small alarms. She simply looked away from the social worker, but the lady, Agatha, wasn't giving up that easily: "Parker, I know you've been in some bad homes in the past, but it is very rude to ignore someone who is talking to you," she said in a warning tone. "They're here right now, in fact. I'll send them in now. Please wait outside," she told the rest of the team.
Parker froze at those words. She didn't want to meet a new family. She wanted to go with Eliot. Speaking of Eliot… Parker glanced at him, not making eye contact. He hadn't moved a muscle from the chair beside the bed but now he stood next to the bed, like a bodyguard. Parker looked away, bitter. If he really cared he wouldn't send her away to live with another family that wanted her for money.
The door opened, and a stern looking woman and a very large man walked in. Parker's eyes narrowed, these people didn't look especially poor. The woman plastered a very fake looking smile on her face. "Hello, Parker. My name is Petunia and this is my husband, Vernon. DUDDERS, HARRY!" She yelled the last part, and Parker flinched hard. Two boys raced into the room, practically jumping onto the bed. Parker shrieked and bolted off the bed, away from both the new foster family and Eliot, ripping off her wires in the process. She ran out of the room ignoring the incredible pain radiating from her hip.
"Woah, Parker," Nate said when she ran straight at him. They had been standing down at the end of the hallway. Nate quickly and easily picked her up, shocked when he realized she was crying. The insane, funny, playful thief was crying. Parker wrapped her arms around Nate's neck and just sobbed into his shoulder. Parker was older than Sam had been, but she was so much smaller than he had been when he died. Nate wanted to murder the man known as Charlie. "Parker, what's wrong? Don't you want to meet your new foster family?" He asked, confused. Parker, however, only started sobbing harder. By this point, Eliot had already rejoined the team in the hallway. He stood silently, watching Nate deal with Parker, while also keeping an eye on their surroundings. He wasn't about to believe that Charlie Wright would give up on grabbing Parker again.
Parker hated crying. Her foster families had always hit her for crying, but right now she just couldn't stop. Nate smelled like whiskey, and she was hurting everywhere, which was only feuling her tears. She didn't want to lose the only real family she'd ever had. Parker had only known the team for a little over five months, but in that time they had been nicer to her than any of her other fosters combined. She knew she should never have gotten attached to them. They didn't want her. Nate asked her what was wrong, but then he talked about the new foster family. These words twisted in her mind to we never wanted you. She started crying harder, and it was getting painful to breathe. Parker was hyperventilating by the time Eliot got closer to the group, which she didn't notice.
Nate heard Parker start to hyperventilate and knew he was out of his element, so he closed the gap between him and Eliot and looked at him pleadingly. "I'm still a bit drunk," he mouthed silently. Growling under his breath, Eliot nodded curtly.
Parker stiffened when Nate handed her off to someone else, but was still hyperventilating. Eliot started walking away from the group with her in his arms, rubbing slow circles on her back. "Shh Parker it's okay darlin', stop breathing so fast you're gonna hurt your lungs again," he said softly when they were far enough away, knowing he had taken his and Parker's earbuds out. Parker started crying even harder, and Eliot was stumped. "Parker, just tell us what's wrong," he said a bit impatiently, sighing when she shook her head. Eliot turned around toward the team, who were still in the hallway. "Hardison, c'mere," he growled just loud enough for the hacker to hear. Hardison started walking toward them immediately, startled when Parker reached out for him to take her. "Parker, tell Hardison what's wrong. Hardison, give me your earbud. I'll be far enough away not to hear but close enough to guard the hallway," he growled, giving Hardison one last glare.
"What's wrong, lil mama? You got the team all freaked out, we've never seen the great thief Parker cry like this, you gotta stop breathing like a freight train though or you gonna rip the stitches in your lungs, girl," Hardison spoke gently, as if he was talking to the fosters at his Nana's. It worked, because Parker slowed her breathing down a bit. "I can't go to another foster home," she gasped, her chest was screaming with pain now. "I'll run away. I won't stay. Nobody really wants me, I'm a freak. I'm a thief, all of the foster homes- know that it's in my file. They act nice- for the workers then they try to -beat the thief out, or... or… worse...," She said in between gasps for air, then, trailing off, she started sobbing harder as memories came unbidden to her mind. Hardison held her closer, looking destroyed. He approached the team just as the social worker was stalking toward them as well.
"Great going, Ms. Parker, you scared yet another family away. I've read your file, there's something wrong with you (Both Parker and Eliot visibly flinched at this, he'd said it to the kid so many times before and was only now realizing what it must have sounded like). It's going to be a few days before we can find another family, perhaps Charlie's ex wife-"
"That won't be necessary," Eliot interrupted the social worker with a murderous glare and a barely concealed snarl. "I'd like to take a look at the adoption forms." The social worker nodded nervously and motioned for him to follow her. The rest of the team moved back into the room, Hardison handing Parker over to Nate. The poor kid was still sobbing, but now looked confused as hell, too. Nate rubbed circles on her back as she curled up in her defensive position, though she did collapse against his chest a bit, so she wasn't too scared. She cried herself to sleep after around 10 minutes of Nate telling her a kids bedtime story that had been Sam's favorite. He carefully tucked her into the bed giving up on making her uncurl.
Eliot returned over an hour later. He stalked angrily into the room. Slamming the paper down in front of Nate, he snarled quietly, "You don't con your own team, man. You should have told me you set up for a family to come today, dammit, Nate! You're signing this paper too. In fact, all of you are, since I made you all godparents." He smirked at the expressions on their faces. Nate looked half like he was going to drink himself into a coma, half ecstatic. He was terrified at being a father again, but he had a feeling that Parker would never call any of the team mom or dad. He almost wished she would. The look on Eliot's face if she did would be priceless. Sophie looked mortified. She decided she'd act more like an older sister to Parker than a mother, she was a great actor but didn't know about acting as a mother. Hardison's reaction was the most unexpected. He was grinning like a lunatic. "I'm gonna be the coolest godfather EVER!" he said, laughing. "More like the nerdiest godfather ever," Eliot grumbled lowly. He picked up the papers and stared at the team pointedly. They got the hint and walked out of the room to give the two some space.
Eliot gently shook Parker's shoulder, and felt something constrict in his chest when the kid immediately scrambled away and covered her head. Still acting her age, then. Sometimes the team forgot that Parker wasn't even a preteen yet. She only acted as old as she did because it was what was expected of her, he thought bitterly. Parker stared at him with puffy eyes, already starting to sniffle again.
"Parker, remember the promise I made when you were in surgery and right after?" He asked. Parker nodded slowly, a few tears slipping past her eyes when she tried to glare at him accusingly. She stared when he suddenly looked nervous and handed her a paper and a pen. "If you sign this, I can keep that promise. I already signed it, and so did the others. You don't have to, we can always find another home-" He was cut off abruptly as Parker quickly signed it and launched herself at him, squealing and wrapping her arms around his neck. "-I'll take that as a yes, then," he finished wrapping his arms around her awkwardly. The team chose this moment to walk back in, and Eliot suddenly heard giggling. "...Parker? What's so funny?" he asked suspiciously.
"You just adopted twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag," Parker giggled almost maniacally.
Eliot Spencer's eyes widened almost comically, earning snickers from the rest of the team. "Dammit, all of you," he growled, but his heart wasn't in it, and he smirked with them.