AN: I am SOOOO very sorry this took so long. Nov/Dec are VERY hectic months for me. Three birthdays, my anniversary, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas(Shopping/decorating/planning/cooking), you get it...or at least I hope you do. =) And there might have been a minor car accident a couple of weeks ago.. (No one was hurt). Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy it & I hope you & yours had an awesome holiday season!
~Jen~
Chapter 6
(End of March)
Eliot let himself in to the apartment at her shout out to do so, and made his way to the kitchen. The sound of Flight of the Bumblebee coming from the back hall told him that she was in good spirits today. He had learned very quickly that the music she played often reflected her mood. "Help yourself to something to drink!" she called out. "Your beer is in the fridge!"
Surprised to find his favorite brand, he grabbed one and opened it, then leaned back against the counter and took a drink, enjoying the quiet moment.
Since their late night shopping trip six weeks ago, his and Alley's friendship had progressed rather quickly, and he found himself making a habit out of coming over late at night to talk and hang out a few times a week; when not on a job of course. On two occasions, he had even stayed in the guest room. There was a time where he might have thought that very strange, considering the fact that she was an attractive woman. But with Alley, it never seemed to be. She didn't make it feel weird, so it wasn't.
Besides, it wasn't like Hardison and Parker hadn't stayed over.
"Ye really don't need to take me out to dinner!"
"We missed your birthday. Sophie assured us we do," he replied in amusement as the music was turned off.
"Okay, but dinner isn't for another few hours. I don't understand why you're picking me up so early," she said, coming around the corner into the kitchen.
"I…we…Parker, Hardison and I wanna take you somewhere." Taking down Rockwell had taken longer than any of them had expected. The man had no morals. So it wasn't until the job was over that they had found out about her missed birthday on the eighth, and that was only because Nate had mentioned taking her out to dinner. "Did you do anything special ?"
She smiled. "Daddy and Kieran went in together and treated me to a spa day, and Josh took me to New York for the day. He surprised me with tickets to Wicked," she answered with fond expression. That surprised him. Josh never came across to him as the thoughtful type. "Where are Parker and Alec?"
"They're gonna meet us there. Parker was…excited."
"Okay, now I'm even more curious. Possibly a little concerned," Ally chuckled.
The royal blue, cashmere sweater she was wearing brought out a darker quality to her ocean hued irises, while making her skin appear that much fairer. Paired with black slacks and mid heeled black boots, she look casual and sophisticated all at once. This was her idea of comfortable clothing. The only time he'd seen her in less dressy attire was the occasional set of pajamas when he came over at night.
"You look nice," he said, as he held out his coat for her, nudging her shoulder to let her know.
"Thank you," she said with a faint blush. It never failed…every time he witnessed someone pay her a compliment, she did that, which to him was surprising. "Oh, I forgot my cell phone, I'll be right back," she told him, making her way quickly back down the hallway to her room.
At the sound of the front door opening, Eliot immediately went into alert mode.
"Ally! Are you home?" Kieran called out. At the sound of her brother's voice, Eliot relaxed and picked up his beer to finish it. When he came into the kitchen, the hitter watched his expression morph from happy to guarded in seconds. "Eliot," he greeted politely.
"Kieran," he returned.
While Patrick had gotten used to Eliot coming around so much, it had slowly become apparent that Kieran was not so keen on the idea. He remained friendly around him, but it always seemed as if the younger man was forcing it.
"Ok Eliot, I'm finally ready to go."
Kieran's eyes brightened once more. "There she is," he greeted warmly.
A smile lit her face. "Kieran!" She walked toward him as he reached out to gently grasp her arm. "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting to see you until Wednesday."
"I thought I'd surprise you and take you to lunch, but it seems you have plans already," he said, throwing a glance in Eliot's direction.
"Eliot's taking me somewhere before Uncle Nate and the others treat me to a belated birthday dinner. But apparently it's a surprise, so he refuses to tell me where," she quipped, sticking her tongue out in Eliot's direction. The hitter smirked, while Kieran looked at him with a troubled expression.
"May I speak to you in private for a moment Ally?"
"Of course," she replied, brows furrowed in worry.
He led her over to the living room, and even though he wasn't trying, Eliot was able to overhear enough of the conversation to know what was being said.
"I wanted to talk to you about next Monday."
She sighed. "I've already told Daddy…"
"I know what you told him. But Ally, he doesn't ask for your help often. He tries to respect your decision to work at the school instead of at the company."
"I understand that, but…"
"And you know I would, but I have clients that day."
"I really don't like going alone Kieran, you know that. Josh will be out of town and Olive has a big job that day."
"I told you I could find someone from work to go with you."
"I really don't feel comfortable with people I don't know."
"Ally, this contract is really important to Dad."
A look of resignation crossed her face before she hid it. "Okay."
Kieran smiled. "That's taken care of," he replied, as if he'd known she'd say yes all along. "Are you and Josh doing okay?" he asked, changing the subject rather abruptly.
"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"
"I've noticed…well it seems that over the last few weeks, you've been spending quite a bit of time with Eliot."
"He's my friend Kieran. Why wouldn't I spend time with him? I thought you liked him?" Eliot could tell she was confused, but he knew exactly what her brother was getting at.
"I like him well enough, he seems to be a good guy. But friends…male friends…don't come over late at night to 'talk', or even worse, spend the night. And you've been acting…well…less like yourself lately. He's a single man Ally, and you're…an attractive woman. You don't want anyone to get the wrong idea," he tried to explain gently.
Realization finally dawned on her. "Seriously? First Josh and now you? Kieran, it's 2010, not 1925," she chuckled. "You have to trust my judgment."
"Of course I do firefly. It's just that I don't want anyone taking advantage of your kindness."
Firefly? Interesting choice for a nickname, Eliot thought.
She sighed. "There's nothing more than friendship and I've already assured Josh that he has no need to worry. I would never hurt him like that."
Eliot could see that Kieran knew he wasn't getting through to her, but the younger man finally relented. "Okay, okay. I know."
"Good," she smiled, bracing her hands on his arms to lean up and kiss him on the cheek. "How do you feel about coming over for dinner and a movie tomorrow night?"
She was good at circumventing a problem without confrontation, Eliot would give her that. It seemed though, that like her father, her boyfriend and her brother didn't think her capable enough to take care of herself.
"Will you make your whiskey tarts," he asked, an expression of childlike eagerness crossing his face.
"Maybe," she smirked.
Kieran pulled away with a chuckle and looked in Eliot's direction once again and nodded. The hitter returned the gesture, before the younger man made his way out of the apartment.
Shaking her head, Ally made her way to the bar to pick up her purse. "Now that I've had my daily dose of overprotectiveness, we can finally go," she laughed.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
He was quiet for the first few minutes of the drive before finally speaking. "I don't wanna cause problems with you and your brother."
"What?"
"I couldn't help but overhear your talk."
"Please don't worry about that. Kieran and I are fine. Just like my dad and Josh, he worries about me. Too much sometimes it seems," she added quietly.
"What did they talk you into?"
"My dad has a formal dinner planned for his Japanese investors. He thinks having me there to speak their language will impress them. He also likes to know what they're saying when not speaking English," she added with a tilt of her lips.
"Doesn't sound too bad."
"It's not really. I love being able to practice. I just don't like being in unfamiliar territory without someone I know. And Daddy will be in business mode trying to impress them."
"And the usual people you ask are all busy."
"Exactly. But Kieran is correct. Daddy doesn't ask me for help nearly as often as he could. I really shouldn't complain."
"You could just say no."
"Oh, I don't know. I don't want to seem difficult. And I did just agree."
"I doubt he's gonna lose a client cause he can't speak Japanese."
"You're right I suppose," she murmured, seeming a bit conflicted.
He only thought about it for a second. "I could go with you."
As his eyes were on the road, he missed the hopeful gaze she quickly directed at him. "No, you don't have to do that," she said, turning her gaze away.
"I know, but I'm offerin' anyway. You should agree. I don't voluntarily go to formal events often," he joked.
"I would love that then," she admitted with a relieved expression.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
About twenty minutes later, Eliot pulled into a parking lot and turned the car off.
"Now will you tell me where we are?"
"We're gonna cross two things off your list," he finally answered, though not to her total satisfaction.
A month ago, during a late night discussion over Mediterranean food and classical music, they had touched on the subject of things she had wished she had been able to do growing up, as well as might still do. Among the bigger things, such as visiting the great wall of China, dipping her toes in the water of a tropical island, and experiencing the sunrise at the Grand Canyon, were the smaller items, the ones easier to achieve, including what he had planned for her today.
"It's about time you got here!" Parker exclaimed, ripping the door open suddenly.
Ally chuckled as the thief grabbed her hand, and eagerly, but gently pulled her out of the car. The surrounding sounds and smells flooded her senses, and she smiled when she quickly identified where they were. "A fair?" she asked, turning towards Eliot as he walked up next to her.
"You wanted to ride a roller coaster and eat fair food didn't you?"
"They have a roller coaster here? I thought those were only at large amusement parks?"
"It's nothin' like you'd find at Disneyworld, but…"
"No! I'm sure it's fine," she quickly assured him with a smile.
"Okay, enough talk. I wanna go on the rides now!" Parker declared, excitedly pulling Ally in the direction of the ticket booth.
Ally released a childlike laugh, unconsciously reaching for Eliot's hand to pull him along, as Hardison followed, chuckling at the girls' eagerness.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
It was only for the knowledge that Parker was good at her job that kept him from rushing up the stairs to grab Ally from the attraction.
Parker had insisted that Ally would love it, and the red head had readily agreed, taking Parker's hand. It seemed that her father, brother and boyfriend weren't the only ones protective of her.
"She's in good hands man. Don't worry," Hardison said from next to him where they stood at the exit to the attraction.
"I'm not worried," Eliot retorted, though he never took his gaze off the object of his concern.
"Sure, okay," the hacker chuckled.
The harness apparently having passed her inspection, he watched as Parker secured the both of them in it, after having slapped away the attendant's hands when he had tried to do so. Unconsciously, he held his breath when they jumped, only to have his worry melted away seconds later at the sound of Ally's shout of pure enjoyment.
He watched as the two women made their way back to them, a smile on her face as she talked excitedly with Parker. "You liked it then?"
"Are you joking? That was absolutely, the most exhilarating thing I have ever done!" she exclaimed.
"I knew you'd like it," Parker piped in with a satisfied grin. "Wanna go again?"
Ally smiled. "I think I'd like to try the Scrambler ride you described to me."
"But that one's boring…I want to…" Parker saw Hardison shake his head with a look she recognized all too well. The one that told her she wasn't being tactful. "…go on this one again with Hardison actually," she corrected to the hacker's horror. Eliot didn't manage to hide the smile that crept over his lips as he ducked his head a little and chuckled under his breath. "Why don't you go on it with her Eliot?"
His amused expression was wiped away and replaced with a stern one. "I don't do rides."
Ally's hand found his arm easily. "But I haven't had the opportunity to ride one with you yet. Alec's even ridden one with me. Please?"
The hitter had experienced the team use various methods on him in the past to get him to do things he didn't want to. And he could proudly say that he never caved. But looking at the hopeful expression on her face, he suddenly found that the word no wasn't an option. "Okay."
Parker and Hardison smirked, but Eliot saw it. "Enjoy jumping off that platform Hardison." The hitter was rewarded with the horrified look returning to the younger man's face as he walked off with Ally.
The Scrambler consisted of three sets of four carriage like vehicles that spun in one direction, while the ride as a whole spun in another, giving riders the illusion that they would crash into the other carriages or the railing surrounding the ride.
He had never really been into amusement rides. His father had been a strict man that believed boys should have a firm hand to grow up to be a good man, and that didn't include amusement rides. So Eliot had taken on the belief that they were for girls or little kids. Any thought of trying them after he left home never crossed his mind, as he was too busy working for his country. But now, looking at the child like delight on his companion's face, he had to admit it might not be so terrible.
As the ride began, it quickly became apparent to him why the larger person was supposed to sit on the outside. Centrifugal force slid the inside person into the companion on the outside. But being as petite as she was, Eliot was hardly hurt by the constant impact to his left side. So he watched her laughing as she was continuously slung into him, and then began smirking when she kept repeatedly trying to scoot back to her side, only to be flung into him again seconds later. After the third time, she stopped fighting it and just continued to laugh, filling Eliot with a sense of the joy she was obviously feeling. And without even realizing it, he put his left arm along the back of the carriage behind her and just…enjoyed the moment.
They ended up riding it two more times, both of which he was happy to do…just watch her being so happy.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Okay, maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she murmured nervously, her knuckles turning white from her death grip on the pole in front of her. "I mean seriously…what the hell was I thinking?"
Eliot silently chuckled. As he had come to learn, she only cussed when she was severely stressed or angry which was very rare. This was only the third time he had heard her do so, and just like the other times, it amused him. Most of the time she was so polite and restrained, so when she cussed, it reminded him of a kitten trying to roar like a lion.
"Take a deep breath."
"Are you serious? I'm in a metal tub that's rocking back in forth at least 300 feet above the ground!"
"You're the one that wanted to try the ferris wheel."
"That may be true, but I thought it would be properly put together and not a shaky mess. How is this safe!?" she cried out, her voice nearing panic.
"You had no problem with the bungee jump thing or the roller coaster," he said, glancing over a few carriages away, where Hardison was gripping onto the center pole with a terrified expression, while Parker purposely rocked it back and forth with a maniacal expression on her face.
"The bungee jump was over quickly and the roller coaster was on a track at all times," she argued.
"Well now you know you don't like it," he countered. He reached out and gently pried her off the pole and moved her to sit next to him, only to have her wrap her arms around him and grip him like her life depended on it. "How formal is this dinner I'm goin' to with you? Is it black tie? Or just a suit kind of thing?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
Without moving or even looking up at him, she answered, "Nice suit…not black tie," she mumbled, squeaking and clinging tighter to him when the ferris wheel began to move.
"What kind of restaurant is it?" he asked, motioning with his hand to the attendant as they neared the bottom. The man nodded in return.
"It's located in the Leather District. I…believe it's named O Ya," she murmured shakily. "Japanese cuisine of course."
As the ride slowed and finally came to a stop, Eliot could feel the relief that flooded her, as her whole body slowly relaxed and she pulled back.
"That was much quicker than I was expecting. I thought it went longer."
"It usually does…are you complainin'?" he teased.
"No!" she quickly answered, then stopped at the bottom of the steps. "You had him stop it sooner didn't you? That's why you asked me about the dinner…you distracted me."
"It seemed to work."
She smiled and squeezed his arm. "Thank you."
"Not a problem. You ready to eat?" he asked, leading them to a nearby food cart.
Her face brightened. "Definitely! What are my options?"
"Hmm, they've got Kettle corn, Cotton Candy, Corn Dogs, Caramel Apples, Hot Dogs, Nachos, Grilled Corn, Funnel Cake…"
"What's a corn dog and funnel cake?" she interrupted.
"Corn Dogs are beef franks dipped in cornmeal and fried, Funnel Cakes are Fried Sweet Dough sprinkled with powdered sugar," he explained.
"Oooh, that sounds wonderful," she exclaimed with an excited expression. "You Americans seem to love all things fried," she teased. "I'll have a corn dog, the grilled corn, and a funnel cake then."
Eliot smirked. "Hungry are you?"
"This is my first fair, I plan to take full advantage," she grinned. The cashier then asked if she wanted chocolate sauce on the funnel cake and her eyes widened, as what could only be an expression of manic glee crossed her face. "Yes please," she answered enthusiastically.
He shook his head. "I swear, you and Parker have a chocolate problem."
"I'm comfortable with my love of chocolate," she replied. "So it's not really a problem for me," she finished with a grin.
"You're gonna make yourself sick," he remarked, turning to pay the cashier.
"We'll see," was all she said.
As they waited for their food, Eliot spotted Parker and Hardison heading their way, the latter looking unsurprisingly pale.
"Ooh Hardison, I want some purple cotton candy!" the thief exclaimed excitedly. "And some funnel cake…and a hot dog…ooh, the nachos sound good too."
Hardison covered his mouth as if to stop himself from throwing up.
"You okay there Hardison? How was the ferris wheel?" Eliot asked with a knowing smirk.
Sensing that her friend was in distress, Ally turned in his direction with a concerned expression. "Alec? Are you okay?" she reached out and found him, gently grasping his bicep.
"Nah, I'm good girl, it's just…I ate before we came and you're supposed to wait an hour before you do any kind of…strenuous activity," he explained.
"I thought that only applied to swimming?" Ally replied in confusion.
"And we've been here for two hours," Eliot added in amusement.
"Yeah, well…you see the thing is…I have a delicate stomach and…well, what I'm sayin' is…"
"What do you mean you don't have purple cotton candy?" They all turned in Parker's direction. "But I don't want pink."
"What's it matter what color it is Parker?" Eliot asked.
"Cause it tastes different!" she retorted, as if it had been a stupid question.
"It does?" Ally wondered aloud.
"No," Eliot insisted, "She's just….it's Parker." To which Ally just nodded knowingly.
When their food was ready, Ally gently took Eliot's elbow as he led them to a nearby picnic table. The hitter briefly chuckled at the queasy expression on the hacker's face as Parker called off half the menu to the cashier.
Ally took a small bite of the corn dog, only to politely spit it back out seconds later into a napkin. "That is absolutely disgusting," she exclaimed, taking a sip of her soda as if to wash the taste out of her mouth. "That's considered edible?" she asked in disbelief.
"I wouldn't say edible, but they are pretty popular. I don't eat 'em myself."
"You could have warned me," she told him, giving him a contrite look.
"Figured I'd let you decide for yourself," he countered with a smirk.
A little tentatively, she bit into the grilled corn. "Oh, this is good," she almost moaned.
They sat in silence for a few moments, Eliot content to drink his beer and watch her enjoy her food.
He waited until she was finished with the corn to ask, "Why does Kieran call you firefly?"
She smiled. "When I woke up in the hospital after my…accident, my dad explained to me that I had lost my sight. For the next few months…"
She trailed off, an expression of sadness washing over her. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. You don't have to tell me."
"No…it's okay," she assured him with a soft smile. "At first I refused to eat, but my father threatened to take me back to the hospital, so I just stayed in my room and refused to speak. My dad was at a loss at what to do for me. Kieran…well, before the accident we weren't very close. I was his annoying little sister who always seemed to bug him. But one day, maybe six weeks later, he started paying attention to me. It started with him telling me about his day at school. And then he started bringing me chocolates from the store, telling me that he bought too much and couldn't eat it all." She chuckled. "Over the next month, he made it a point to come to my room every day and just…talk."
She paused for a moment, seemingly lost in thought again, and absently pinched off a portion of the funnel cake. Only to frantically reached for a napkin seconds later and spit the bite into it with a repulsed expression.
"Okay, so you don't like the funnel cake either," he remarked.
"That is NOT chocolate," she exclaimed in disgust, taking a drink of her soda.
"Looks like chocolate sauce to me," he quipped, trying hard, despite himself, not to laugh.
"No. What I make to drizzle over the chocolate velvet pie recipe you gave me is chocolate sauce. That?" she emphatically gestured at the plate. "I don't know what that is."
He quietly snickered. "I can get you another without the pseudo chocolate."
She chuckled. "No thank you…I'll just apologize to my taste buds tomorrow and make some true chocolate sauce."
He smiled. It was always entertaining to spend time with her away from her father, Kieran and Josh. Any conversation that took place around the three main men in her life, consisted of carefully thought out responses.
"So firefly?" he prodded, gently directing the conversation back to the original topic.
"Ah yes. After a little while, he began telling me jokes. And I don't mean good jokes, I'm talking horrible, horrible ones," she grimaced. "But every day, without fail, he would tell another joke. I think he knew how bad they were. And then one day…I giggled."
"What was the joke?"
That spectacular grin of hers lit her face in a radiant glow. "Why did the firefly have trouble sleeping?"
He had a feeling he knew the answered, "Why?"
"Because she didn't know how to turn off her nightlight."
Eliot almost choked on his beer. "Yeah, that was bad."
She giggled. "I was nine," she defended. "After that he admitted that he missed how I could brighten everyone's day by just being me. He said he liked how I 'danced to my own music'."
The hitter wondered what had happened to change that.
"And from that moment on, I was his firefly and we were closer than we had ever been," she finished.
Putting aside any tension he and the younger man were having in regards to the woman in front of him, her story gave him a new found respect for her brother.
Parker and Hardison finally joined them at the table, the hacker carrying half of the food the thief had ordered.
"Are you feeling better Alec?" Ally asked.
"I'm good," he assured her. "Me and heights…it just ain't natural to voluntarily be that high off the ground in something so unstable."
Ally chuckled. "I agree completely. How much food did you get Parker? It smells like you ordered the entire menu."
"Damn near," Eliot muttered.
"Are you still going to have room for dinner in a couple of hours?" Ally inquired.
"This?" Parker asked, looking at the food. "This is a snack. And I plan to share it with Alec."
"Do you wanna try out some of the games?" Eliot offered Ally.
"You mean the ones that are almost always rigged?" she answered.
"They're not rigged," he told her.
"Not all of the time, but more often than not, yes," she defended. "The basketball toss either over-inflates or uses smalls balls with baskets that are smaller or oval in shape. The balloons at the balloon toss are never fully inflated, making them harder to pop with the already dulled and lighter weighted darts they expect you to use. The rings for the bottle toss are barely wider than the bottle tops and are made of plastic, meaning they'll bounce instead of hook on a bottle. The balls are always going to bounce back out on the barrel of fun game and don't even get me started on the shooting game where you have to shoot the little star off the paper," she finished. The other three just stared at her for a moment.
"Damn girl," Hardison exclaimed, breaking the silence. "A little sensitive about the subject there."
"Sorry. When I was younger, I used to listen to all my friends in school talk about playing these games. They would spend all their allowance on them, and the few that were lucky enough to walk away with anything…it always felt like it wasn't worth the twenty euros they had spent to win it. So when I was twelve, I hired someone to investigate the local fair. I think it's wrong that they do that when kids are handing over their allowance money and not walking away with anything to show for it."
"You hired an investigator when you were twelve?" Hardison asked in disbelief, to which she just nodded.
"I'm sure I could do well enough on the balloon pop to win you a cheap giraffe," Eliot offered with a smirk.
Ally chuckled, "No thank you. They never have my favorite animal anyway."
"What's the deal with the shooting game?" Parker wanted to know.
"Either the sights are off or they don't used properly weighted bee bees to break through the paper."
"What's your favorite animal?" Hardison asked.
"Otters," she answered.
"Otters?" Eliot repeated.
"Yes otters," she replied, a little defensively. "They're very playful and affectionate. When I was seven, I went to the zoo in Dublin and watched a few of them rough housing and chasing each other through the water. I fell in love instantly. Did you know that they hold hands when they float so they don't drift too far away from each other? And they are one of the only mammals that use tools to eat and hunt by using rocks to open shellfish and crustaceans."
Listening to Ally speak about something she was passionate about was always interesting for Eliot. It was at times like these that she let her true feelings on a subject come out.
"Can't say I've ever known an otter person," Eliot quipped. "Okay, so no games. Did you want to try any of the other rides then?"
"Unless you want to try the bungee jump with me, I think I'm…" her phone ringing interrupted her. "Hello?...Samm, what…it's broken?...slow down sweetie…where's Victoria?..." Eliot, Hardison and Parker watched an irritated expression cross her face. "Okay, calm down….I know…Samm, take a deep breath. I want you to call Dr. Barrett and see if he and either his wife or daughter can come in today to volunteer. You'll find his number in Victoria's office. Next call Jack…alright you already did. Did you leave a message? Good."
Eliot, Parker and Hardison just sat in shocked silence as she seemed to take charge of what appeared to be several administrative problems…over the phone. This woman, their friend…had only ever shown such assertiveness on one occasion….when she had berated Eliot about insulting her mother's memory.
"The number for our maintenance man is on the cork board in my office. Yes you can do this…I'll need a copy of the order form for the missing shipment…yes, I'm coming in. Don't apologize…it's alright. No, I'll call her," she asserted, a look briefly crossing her face that reminded Eliot of himself when he needed to punch someone.
Ally hung up her cell phone, all enjoyment she had been having before the call having been wiped away momentarily. "Eliot? I'm so sorry to ask, but can you take me to the clinic?"
"Sure," he replied easily, getting up to throw their trash away.
"What about your birthday dinner in a couple of hours?" Parker wanted to know, popping a pinch of cotton candy in her mouth.
"Well, I'm hoping I can solve the issues in quick fashion so I can still go. I couldn't ask you to wait while I…"
"It's not a problem," Eliot assured her. "My day was free today."
"I know…I'm so sorry. You three planned this amazingly fun day and I'm ruining it."
"No worries girl," Hardison told her. "What's wrong?"
"Samm is the admin intern for the clinic, and it seems more problems arose than she's accustomed to handling. Now I have to track down Victoria, the Admin in charge, as well as find someone to repair the computers and the X-Ray machine, as well as track down a shipment of much needed antibiotics we were supposed to get," she explained, beginning to look a little flustered.
Eliot threw a look at Hardison as he unknowingly placed her hand at his elbow.
"I can take a look at the computers if you want," the hacker offered, "free of charge."
"Oh no, I couldn't ask you…"
"You don't have to…he offered," Parker stated, throwing her trash away, holding a half-eaten spool of cotton candy. "And he's the best…you won't find anyone that can ha…" Eliot and Hardison threw her a look, "fix computers like he can."
The red head easily accepted and made her way to the car with Eliot.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
By the time they pulled into the clinic parking lot twenty five minutes later, she had scheduled for what sounded like the regular repair guy to come fix the x-ray machine within the hour after Samm had called again saying they couldn't come today, and left a message for Victoria, having apparently gotten the woman's voicemail. He could tell by the carefully restrained tone of her voice, that she was livid with the woman, but as usual, she didn't show it and remained restrained.
It wasn't until he walked around the car so she could take his elbow, that he got his first look at the clinic. Eliot knew she volunteered here, helping them with the financial aspect of things, but he had never been to it. When he thought of clinics, he usually pictured small one story buildings with neutral outside facades, blending in with the surrounding businesses.
That was not the case with this one.
Standing two stories, the clinic, which looked to be at least ten thousand square feet, presented arrivals with a bright and fun first impression of glass and stone in bright primary colors. ' Mission Hill Pediatric Clinic' hung over the front doors in a messy childlike font, under which a kid's face smiled brightly.
A young woman, no older than twenty two, rushed toward Ally the moment they entered the front door, pushing a strand of sandy blonde hair out of her face. Standing a good inch taller than himself, she focused her panicked blue eyes on his companion as words began streaming out of her mouth at an alarming rate. Eliot might have had trouble following what she was saying, but by the way Ally listened patiently, nodding every once in a while, she not only was able to follow her, but was used to it as well. Ally took a couple sheets of paper from Samm, which turned out to be the pharmaceutical order, and then turned toward Eliot.
"I'm not sure how long this will take. You don't have to wait, I could call…"
"I'll wait," he interrupted, earning a smile from her.
"Point me to the computers and I'll work my magic," Hardison stated with a grin, walking in behind them.
"Samm, this is Alec, give him access to the router and computers." Ally turned back to Eliot as she brought out her cane and unfolded it. "I should only be half an hour," she told him, before walking past the check in desk and punching in a code into the side door.
For the first time since entering, Eliot took a moment to actually look around. A quick perusal of the brochures around the check in desk told him that the clinic also provided speech, occupational and physical therapy, had its own in house pharmacy, as well as a teen pregnancy center upstairs, dedicated to free tests and counseling. The large waiting room itself was a kid's visual dream. It looked like outer space with large representations of planets hanging from the ceiling, the surface of the moon painted on the walls, and bulbous, cushioned, futuristic chairs in an array of colors. A large fifty inch TV hung on the wall nearest most of the chairs, playing some sort of animated movie, with a few bean bag chairs filled with kids in front of it, watching intently. In the middle of this main area, sat a low table, where numerous kids sat, using the paper and crayons provided to draw. Half of another wall was painted in chalkboard paint, and provided kids with plenty of chalk for their artwork, the other half of which sported four twenty seven inch screens low to the ground, to which was connected a couple of popular game consoles, with more bean bag chairs for seating. There was a decent sized alcove that housed not only fine and gross motor toys of all kinds, but also small tables for Legos and one for a train set. There was a small indoor slide that both toddlers and younger kids could enjoy, as well as a tea set laid out on a tiny table. One corner was even cordoned off with extra cushioning, and littered with toys obviously geared toward infants and crawlers. And the only decoration to be found on the clinic's walls besides the murals, were numerous framed art pieces, obviously done by kids in the waiting area. Whoever had designed the clinic deserved to be commended for an excellent job of providing and welcoming kids with a fun and comfortable atmosphere, obviously meant to distract from what would otherwise be a scary or boring visit.
"Are you a superhero?" a childlike voice asked him, pulling him from his scrutiny.
Looking down, the hitter was met with big brown eyes, a heart shaped face and curly auburn hair. Dressed in a princess costume, the little girl couldn't have been older than five.
"Why do you think I'm a superhero?" he replied, crouching down to her level.
"Because you have muscles like a lot of superheroes do."
He smirked. "Nah, I'm just a regular guy."
She looked doubtful. "What do you do then?"
"I'm a…bodyguard," he settled for.
"So you protect people?"
"Yeah, you could say that," he smiled.
"Then you're a superhero," she declared, obviously happy to have proven she was right. "I'm Mara," she said, holding out her little hand. "You're the first superhero I've ever met."
"Eliot," he replied with a chuckle, holding his out to shake it.
"Mara Lynn, what have I told you about pestering adults?" a woman said, walking up to them. Eliot stood up as she turned her attention to him. "I'm sorry, she has a…" the woman seemed to forget the rest of the sentence as her hazel eyes met his azure ones. "I hope she wasn't bothering you," she settled for, flashing him a warm smile.
She was an attractive woman. Her auburn hair fell in soft curls around a heart shaped face, lending her a youthful appearance. "I'm Lauren."
"Eliot," he replied, flashing her a grin. He knew she was interested, and usually he'd be receptive to her flirting, but her having a child changed things. It's wasn't that he disliked kids…he liked them well enough, it was just that women with children were looking for commitment more often than not, and that wasn't something his job allowed.
"I haven't seen you here before. Are you a parent?"
"No, I'm just waiting on a friend," he answered.
A statuesque, olive skinned woman with curves and curled, brunette hair, stalked past wearing a scowl on an otherwise overly made up face, and bumped into Lauren sending her into Eliot's arms.
"I swear, that woman is a menace," she muttered, straightening herself with a faint blush from the contact.
"Who is she?"
"That's Victoria Rawlings, the clinics administrator."
She looked like a bitch to Eliot.
"She's horrible at her job in my opinion. She's constantly relying on Allyson and acts as if she's at her beck and call. If it wasn't for Allyson or Mara's therapist and doctor, we'd probably find another clinic."
Eliot thought back to a phone conversation Ally had in his car the first time he met her. She had said the exact same thing about not being at their beck and call, and wondered if that was who she had been talking to. "You know Ally?" Eliot asked.
"Oh yes, Ally is a godsend. She's amazing with the children. And what she's done with this clinic…just eight months ago, this place was going to be shut down. It would have been devastating to a lot of parents since it's only one of two low cost clinics in Boston. But then it was closed down for a month and renovated. When it was reopened…it was completely different. None of what you see around you was here before. Even the front of the building was redone. Equipment was replaced, bad staff was weeded out and new ones were hired." She looked over at her daughter, now playing tea with another little girl. "Mara hated coming to her weekly occupational therapy sessions. But the gym and therapy rooms were also redone, and now she looks forward to them. Which is saying a lot, believe me," she chuckled.
"What does that have to do with Ally?"
"Well, because she's the owner," she answered with a smile.
AN: Okay my readers…I'm in Beta limbo at the moment, so if she doesn't come off as Irish to you, that's why. Lol. I might be looking for another Irish beta reader soon, but I'm not sure yet, so if you know someone that might be interested, put them in contact w/m via fanfiction pm.
Thanks for all of your reviews AND your patience. =)
Jen
