Parker pulled up a chair for Ash to sit down while she found a seat on her bed. She couldn't help but to smile to herself because now they were actually close to being eye level, which was usually a difficult feat for her since Acheron was nearly seven feet tall and she was only five and a half feet tall. He mirrored her smile and she almost asked if he had read her thoughts, but she held her tongue. Since he was practically her boss' boss, she didn't think that it would be appropriate to question him and she didn't feel comfortable enough around him to tease.

Acheron's swirling silver eyes twinkled with amusement as he watched Parker's smile start to fade into a worried look. He let out a soft chuckle as he said, "Parker, don't look so worried. I just wanted to stop by and check in on you. Last I heard you were out cold after your meeting with Nick ended badly."

Parker frowned at that description of the events of the night before and sounded more accusatory than she meant to when she asked, "Who told you that?"

"Talon. But before you call him to give him shit about his version of events, I know Nick didn't do this to you." He then leaned forward to gently touched her stitches. Parker winced ever so slightly so Acheron kindly offered, "I could heal that for you if you'd like."

Parker shook her head answering, "That's really nice of you to offer, but I think I need to keep this." Ash tried to keep a look of confusion off his face, but he couldn't quite manage it. The fact that she could perplex the oldest being she knew so easily amused Parker so much that she was giggling when she clarified, "I'm not wearing it as like some macho badge of honor or anything Acheron. I just… well… I keep trying to remind myself not to let my emotions get the best of me, so what better reminder is there not to be a bone-head than the big nasty scar I got from the last time I let myself get lost in my rage?"

"That sounds very wise, but I think for me to fully understand your rationale, I should probably ask how exactly you got hurt and ended up with stitches."

"You mean you don't… but I thought that you just… then again… and Talon doesn't know what happened either…" Ash cleared his throat loudly to get Parker to refocus her thoughts from her rambling and back to their conversation. "Sorry… sorry. I swear I'm trying to work on not doing that anymore."

"It's fine Parker. Don't worry about it. Now you were trying to say?"

"Thanks. So the cut… well after I was told that I couldn't Squire for Nick, I sort of… kind of… lost it. Not because of Nick or y'know anything like that, but without a Squire job here then I have to leave." She paused there then realized Acheron may not understand to what she was referring. "Oh, it's not like anyone said I have to get out of town or anything, it's just that I umm… I made this promise to my dad and…"

"It's alright Parker, I know all about that. So you got frustrated that you thought that you'd have to move again and…?"

"And," she picked up the narration with a relieved sigh. "And I decided that throwing bottles against a wall would be a good stress reliever. As you can see, it wasn't one of my brighter ideas. Thank the gods that Remi stopped me before I blinded myself or worse."

"Remi? But I was told that Otto was the one who brought you into the bears to be patched up."

Parker let out a loud, unimpressed scoff before she replied, "Trust that dumbass Otto to get it all wrong." She threw her hands over her mouth and then said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken about another Squire like that. I didn't mean to be disrespectful, honestly I didn't."

Ash let out a soft laugh at her over-reaction to her own words. "Parker don't worry about it. I've told you before that you can be totally candid with me. Plus, I know the history between yourself and Otto isn't the best, so I won't hold it against you if you need to get a little colorful with your language when you vent, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks Ash, I appreciate it. So back to the story. Otto came out and totally misinterpreted what he saw. He accused Remi of doing this, but don't worry I've made sure to clear the air with Remi. Which brings me here to you knocking on my door."

Acheron had an odd smirk on his face as he replied, "You most certainly did… ahem… clear the air with him."

Parker's cheeks turned a dark shade of red at the tone of Acheron's voice. She had heard rumors about his powers and how they differed from other Dark Hunters, but she had never had any of those suspicions confirmed. Now she was starting to wonder if some of what she had heard wasn't actually the truth.

Taking a chance that she never thought that she would, Parker hesitantly asked, "Ash? Are…? Are you…? Umm… Are you actually like…? Umm… omniscient?"

Ash laughed at how meek she was now being then answered, "Not all of the time, but yes I know about what I interrupted. Before you get worried, no I won't be telling anyone about it. That's between you two and I won't interfere… unless you need or want me to, okay?"

"Okay…" She replied with her hands still covering her cheeks. "Thanks again Ash. It's just that the thing between him and I… it's… umm…"

"New and complicated. Believe me, if anyone can understand being in a complicated relationship, I can so I won't judge. And that isn't why I'm here. I just wanted to stop by to make sure that you were alright because Talon seemed pretty worried about you. I can see now that you're doing better than fine, so I don't have to worry about going to the Squire's Council to have them look into what happened."

Parker groaned out loud and hid her face in her hands. "Oh gods! I hadn't even thought of that." Her head snapped up and she made direct eye contact with Ash as she practically begged, "You won't tell them about this, will you? Aimée said that someone had cleaned up all of the glass already so everything is fine from her perspective. You won't have to tell them about how reckless and immature I was, will you?"

"No Parker, I don't," Acheron replied in a calm, placating tone. He took one of Parker's hands into both of his as he added. "As I said, I can see you are alright and that really is the most important thing to me."

"Oh… okay," Parker answered as she relaxed in her spot.

"So that brings me to the other reason I wanted to talk with you." Parker frowned at the vagueness of his statement, but she didn't get a chance to voice her confusion. "I know that your dad was worried about you coming back here, even if it was for work, and that he made you promise not to return unless you were working for a Hunter. It sounds like most of your frustration last night came from thinking that if you weren't working for Nick that you would have to move back to England in order to keep from going back on your word to Jimmy. But what if I told you that you could stay without breaking your promise to him?"

"I'd say if it sounds too good to be true…" She started to reply automatically. Parker quickly slapped her hands over her mouth and said through her fingers, "Oh gods! I'm sorry!" She lowered her hands then added, "I meant to say 'and how would that be Acheron?' I swear that's what I meant to say."

Ash's eyes twinkled with humor as he once again laughed at Parker's embarrassed state. "Parker you're wise to be suspicious of anyone who seems to be promising you everything you want because you're right, there usually is a catch. But I can assure you that this offer is completely legitimate."

"Thanks Ash. You're too nice. So what is it that you propose?"

"Well as you know we've lost a few Dark-Hunters from our service here in New Orleans, but that doesn't mean that our workload has lessened at all. You might be asking yourself what that has to do with you, but I assure you that it will make sense in just a moment."

Parker's blush returned with a vengeance because she had silently asked herself that exact question. She once again started to wonder if Ash was a mind-reader, but stopped herself in case he was. She then tried to clear her mind and keep it blank, but that proved to be more difficult than she had predicted. Have you ever noticed that the more you try not to think about something, the more your mind wanders back to that exact topic? That was what Parker was being plagued with while she reminded herself again to focus on what Acheron was saying to her.

"So we've been able to find a doll maker, but trying to find someone that can forge good quality blades in a variety of sizes has proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated it would be. Now I read somewhere that you excelled in your metalwork classes, so I thought maybe you could help out at Dream Dolls & Accessories as a Dorean Squire for the time being," he explained not noticing, or more likely not pointing out that he had noticed, that Parker was more than a little distracted by her own thoughts.

"You mean stay here? Helping with odd Squire jobs, but not have my own Hunter?" Parker asked without trying to hide her suspicion. "I don't know Ash, I kind of had my heart set on being a Barnacle… err… I mean, I've always wanted to be…"

"I don't mean for it to be permanent, it can just be a temporary position. You know, until we find a Hunter suitable enough for you to attach yourself to," Acheron cut in sympathetically.

"It wouldn't be…? So I could still…?" Parker tried to ask as her excitement started to mount. "Then I could…? And I would still…? Do you mean…?" She let out a high pitched squeal and started to get off her bed. While Parker was in an awkward half standing position, she pulled her arms back towards her chest as she timidly asked, "Could I…? Umm… What I mean is… Ash? Can I give you a hug?"

He gave her a sly smile and answered, "It depends."

"Depends?" Parker asked with a confused frown on her face.

His smile spread across his face before he replied, "It depends on if you'll accept the position or not."

It took a couple of seconds for Ash's response to register in Parker's mind. The instant that it did, she practically lunged forward to wrap him in a tight, almost uncomfortable hug. Ash chuckled at her enthusiasm as he wrapped his arms around Parker's back while she buried his nose into the side of his neck.

His chuckling turned into full bellied laughter as he replied, "I take it that this is a yes?"

"Yes!" Parker nearly shouted as she pulled back to look at him. "A million times yes! Thank you Ash! Seriously thank you so much! I… I can't… can't even…"

"Shh… it's alright Parker," Acheron replied as he pulled her into a much gentler embrace. "He…they both are so proud of you."

Parker had been able to keep her tears at bay up until she heard that comment from Acheron. Once again she wanted to question him about his abilities, but she remained silent to keep him from hearing the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Ash knew the commentary that was running through her mind, so he was more than willing to give her some time to come to terms with her emotions.

"Thank you so, so much Acheron," she finally whispered into his neck. "Words can't even express…"

"Akri!? AKRI!? You in here?" A sing-songy woman's voice called out as Parker's bedroom door opened. "Aimée said you would be up here."

Parker quickly pulled away from Acheron, but he still kept his hands cupped around her shoulders when he turned to look at the newcomer.

Simi's eyes goggled at the two people that had been embracing. She moved up beside Acheron then asked in a faux-hushed voice, "Akri? Does Akra-Tory know about this? The Simi doesn't like it when Akra-Tory is sad or mad or anything but happy."

"Simi," Acheron replied with a soft laugh. "Yes, Tory knows that I was coming by to talk to Parker. She even told me to do whatever I could to keep her from getting sad."

"She did?" Parker whispered back at Acheron as she brushed away some tears that escaped.

Simi didn't seem to have heard the human speak because she was letting out an excited squeal while she hugged Acheron's neck. "Our Parker-Cub has come home? Oh the Simi is so excited to have her home!" Simi released Ash's neck with a flourish and started looking around the room. Her eyes quickly glazed over the woman sitting on the bed so quickly that Simi didn't even seem to have noticed her. "Where is she Akri? Where's Parker-Cub?"

Ash laughed as he shook his head and pointed at the woman seated on the bed. As Simi's eyes landed on the now timid looking female, they narrowed into a look of suspicion. She stepped around Acheron so that she was standing in front of Parker with her arms crossed over her chest and looking somewhat authoritative.

Parker shrank back slightly when she saw Simi step up in front of her. Just like Acheron, Simi didn't seem to have aged at all since the last time Parker had seen her. Simi was still the Goth fairy creature that Parker would never admit to having tried to emulate when she was a teenager because the human had never been able to pull off the look anywhere close to the way Ash's companion could. The corset top that matched the purple, black and gray plaid skirt looked like a perfect blend of sweet and sexy on Simi while on Parker they always looked like they bordered on being slutty or trashy. The stripped knee high stockings and tall combat boots had worked for Parker on occasion, but finding a suitable place and time where she felt comfortable in them still seemed to evade her.

"Hey Simi, it's really good to see you again," Parker finally squeaked out with an awkward wave.

Simi appeared to have been finished looking the human over when her right hand shot out. Parker flinched, but managed not to move too much when Simi fisted a chunk of her hair. She did flash Acheron a worried look, but he appeared to be trying too hard not to laugh at their exchange to offer her any measure of comfort right then.

"I don't know," Simi commented as she ran her fingers through the human's hair. "Parker-Cub had pretty reddy-blond hair that felt like cotton candy. This hair… it more like Akri's or Simi's, not our Parker's. Plus, she was a cute little girl, in pigtails, all afraid of going away to school. You're a grownup."

"I'm sorry Simi… we humans have a bad habit of aging, especially after nearly ten years," Parker replied, still trying hard not to move too much in her place.

"She's right Sim. Remember she's one hundred percent human," Acheron said trying his best to lend Parker some measure of support. He then gave her a comforting smile then added, "I guess when you spend most of your time with Dark-Hunters, Were-Hunters, gods and goddesses, your interpretation of the normal aging process becomes a little skewed."

Parker gave him an appreciative and sympathetic smile as she said, "I'm sure that it could. And Simi I swear I'm me. Really I am."

Simi stood beside Acheron with her hands on her hips. She had a cheeky smile on her face as she said, "I don't know. How are you going to prove it to me?"

"Oh… well… I… umm… well… oh! Oh! Wait!" Parker jumped up off her bed and rushed over to her vanity. It took her no time to find a small jewelry box. She pulled out its contents and then hurried back to her spot on the bed. "Here! You gave these to me when I was getting ready to Trick or Treat when I was ten. You said that my fairy costume wasn't complete without horns."

Simi took the item Parker was holding and smiled at the memory they evoked. "Your daddy loved your hornays, but your mama got scared that they wouldn't come off. She was afraid she'd hurt the Simi's feelings so she waited until we left to ask Akri if he would be able to get them off."

"Remember how we pretended they were permanent? She was so angry with me that she actually grounded me… and took away half of my candy," Parker reminisced fondly.

"Oh Parker-Cub, I didn't know the Simi got you into big trouble with your mama. If I had of known, I would have shared my candies with you," Simi answered sounding truly contrite. "But these hornays, they're too small for you to wear now."

"Yeah I outgrew them a while ago, but they were a gift from you so I'll cherish them always."

Parker was back at her vanity putting the boxed horns away where she had found them. Simi quickly wrapped her arms around the human in an enthusiastic hug. Parker chuckled as she righted herself in her place with her old friend at her back.

"It is you!" Simi squealed as she turned Parker around. "I should have known it was you! Your eyes are still prettier than the spring sky."

"Thanks Simi," Parker replied as she pulled the other woman into a proper hug. "It's really good to see you again."

"Of course it is. The Simi always knows how to make people smile."

Parker sputtered out a laugh that was almost immediately silenced by the look on Simi's face. "Parker-Cub? What happened to your eye? Did someone hurt you? The Simi will roast them for hurting you! I have my favorite barbeque sauce with me."

"Simi," Acheron said with a hint of warning in his tone.

Simi was the picture of innocence as she turned to him and replied, "What? If someone hurt our Parker-Cub, they deserve to be punished. Unless… was it the Heifer Goddess that did that to her?"

"Simi," Ash tried again.

Parker looked between the two of them as she tried to keep from being the reason the two of them fought. "Simi, I don't think I'd taste very good roasted, no matter how much barbeque sauce you use." Acheron chuckled, but Simi looked confused so Parker quickly clarified her statement by saying, "I did this to me… but not on purpose! I made a bad choice and got hurt. And before you worry, I swear to you that I've learned my lesson."

"Good because we've had to wait too long to get you back home," Simi replied as she pulled Parker into another hug. "Welcome home Parker-Cub."

"Thanks Simi, it's good to be home."

Acheron allowed the two women to embrace for a minute in silence before he cleared his throat to get their attention. "And on that note, we should let Parker get some rest so that she can heal."

"Okay," Simi replied as she reluctantly pulled away from the human. "But now that you're home, we'll have to hang out. Maybe go shopping for sparklies!"

"Sure Simi, that sounds like a plan."

Ash started to usher Simi towards the door as he said, "I'll be in touch soon about the new job. And don't forget that you can call me, anytime, if you need to talk… about anything."

Parker blushed, understanding his unspoken words. "Thanks Ash. I promise I'll call if I need to. See you soon."

After Acheron and Simi had left, Parker went back to her bed and sat down. Everyone kept telling her that she should be resting, but she hadn't been feeling tired up until now. She wasn't sure what had drained the energy out of her, but suddenly Parker found herself curled up on her bed having a restful, dreamless sleep.

When she woke up, Parker checked the time and smiled when she realized that she had woken up in time to help with the dinner time rush. She quickly changed into a somewhat flowing, light wash colored denim skirt and one of her 'Sanctuary' t-shirts before she pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and touched up her make-up. As she got ready for work, Parker found that she couldn't stop grinning to herself because things were finally going her way. She had a Squire job to do in New Orleans, so she could stay in town without worrying that she might anger her dad. On top of that she had some sort of romantic something happening with a bear. She hoped that she would finally be able to silence the doubts running around in the back of her mind about her ability to attract the opposite sex. But then again, this new relationship wasn't exactly one just yet, so she reminded herself not to get too ahead of herself yet. Maybe he didn't actually have feelings for her and he was just...

"Stop it!" She scolded herself out loud as she laced up her knee high boots that Aimée had found hidden under her bed. "Until you talk to him... like he promised you he would... don't think anything else about it." She let out a heavy sigh as she double checked her reflection and then said to it, "Once you're working for Ash you might not even have time for him... yeah..."

By the time she left her room, Parker had managed to put herself into a melancholy mood. Although rambling to people was probably one of her worst and most persistent bad habits, she also had a bad habit of letting her insecurities get the best of her and turn any thought into a negative one. Right now that meant that she had practically convinced herself that Remi's kissing her had nothing to do with him having feelings for her. What that action actually was an expression of hadn't quite become clear to her, but she was sure that if she gave herself enough time to over-think it that she would be able to come up with something, no matter how ludicrous it was.

Or you could just not think about it at all, she thought to herself as she passed through the kitchen towards the dining room. You had a hot, brief make out session with a guy... a smoking hot guy... who just so happens to be a carbon copy of one of your oldest friends. She managed to silence the sigh that wanted to escape her lips as she thought, Okay. Now don't think about THAT. Oh gods... this is hopeless. Work! Just focus on work.

Once she was in the dining room she noticed that they were having a relatively busy night and she couldn't help but to smile. A packed restaurant meant that she would have more than enough work to do, which in turn meant that she wouldn't have enough free time to let her mind wander back to the topic she didn't want to think about right now.

All of the tables looked like they had food and drinks, so she figured that meant that they had enough servers for the night. There were enough Were-Hunters that lived at Peltier House as well as human staff members to keep the bar running at all hours of the day and night, so them being fully staffed and that her absence wasn't missed on the floor wasn't a huge surprise to Parker. But even with that being said, or rather thought, she knew that there was always some sort of odd job that needed to be done. Tonight she decided that that would mean that she would help out by bussing tables instead of serving them.

She quickly ducked behind the bar to retrieve an apron, a towel and a plastic tub to clear tables so she missed seeing Aimée making her way across the room towards her. She also missed the unimpressed look that Aimée was wearing at seeing Parker out of bed.

While Parker was tying on her apron, she felt someone standing close to her. She looked up and saw Cherif quickly pouring a pint of beer from the tap beside her. He appeared to be rushing because he spilled a fair amount of it, but that also could have been a result of him not watching what he was doing. Instead of his eyes being on the task he was doing, the bartender's eyes appeared to be focused on someone… Someone that was now standing right behind Parker.

He rushed away towards the awaiting customer which caused Parker to wonder who it could be that had him so spooked. And if they were that scary, why had he left her alone with them without so much as a word of warning?

Feeling thoroughly confused, Parker turned around and actually jumped in her place because of the other person's close proximity. She kept her hand over her racing heart as she quietly exclaimed, "Aimée! Oh gods you scared me!"

"You're supposed to be resting," Aimée retorted without acknowledging Parker's statement.

"But Aims, I did… I mean I have been. I'm all… I'm not tired anymore. Please let me help with the dinner rush."

Parker tried to stand her ground without starting an all-out fight with Aimée. Since they were in the crowded bar, Aimée didn't want to cause a scene by physically forcing Parker out of the room. Instead, when Parker tried to cement herself into place, Aimée simply untied Parker's apron and started to remove it from her body.

"Oh good! Someone's ready to help with the dirty work," a voice praised from behind the two women.

Parker and Aimée turned to face the owner of the familiar voice. Fang's smile faded when he saw the look on Aimée's face and asked, "Honey? What's wrong?"

Aimée continued to take Parker's apron off as she answered, "Nothing much. It's just that Parker isn't here to help, she's heading back upstairs to her bed to rest."

Fang badly suppressed a smile when he heard Parker let out a soft, indignant scoff. He did, however, manage to straighten his face by the time Aimée turned to look at him. They truly were in need of an extra pair of hands to help clear tables for what felt like an unending stream of customers that were coming through the door, so he forced himself to behave so that he could least get his wife to hear him out.

"Please Aimée? It looks like it's a super busy night and I'd really like to help, please?" Parker tried pleading once again.

Fang noticed Aimée's face had softened ever so slightly at hearing Parker's near desperate plea. He took this as his opening to try to get Aimée onto his side. "Hold up there Parker. You took a pretty nasty blow to the head so we need to make sure that you're fit enough to be vertical."

Parker looked thoroughly confused because she thought that Fang was on her side in this. She tried not to sound disappointed as she quietly answered, "Okay."

"Okay," he repeated with a nod. "Have you eaten today? And I don't just mean a small snack here and there so that you could take pain killers."

"Yes, I had lunch and dinner today. You can ask Dev and Cherif if you don't believe me."

"I trust you. Now how about your head? Any headaches? Double vision? Dizzy spells? Loss of coordination?"

Parker finally recognized what Fang was doing, so she let her mounting excitement show as she answered, "No, no not of that… well except for the last one, but I've always been a klutz and everyone would know I was lying if I didn't fess up to that."

That small confession managed to evoke a soft laugh from Aimée. Fang shared a smile with Parker then asked, "If we let you help, do you promise to let someone know if you have any dizzy spells, headaches, or unusual bouts of clumsiness?"

"Yes! Absolutely!"

Aimée opened her mouth to speak, but Fang silenced her with a gentle squeeze on her shoulders. "And once the rush is over, do you promise to go to you room and rest for at least an hour?"

Parker's eyes went wide at hearing that. She really wanted to get mad at the wolf and the bear standing in front of her and remind them both that she wasn't a child who needed to be babied. But she knew that would be counterproductive, so instead she nodded and quietly replied, "I promise."

Fang and Parker then turned their eyes towards Aimée. The bearswan still didn't look convinced that Parker should be out of bed. She knew that she was being hard on her human friend, but she was beyond worried about Parker's well-being. On top of that she had made a promise to Parker's father before their fight with Eli's pack that if he didn't make it that she would take care of Parker. The two women had always been friends and corresponded occasionally, but after Parker's father's death, Aimée had started to pay closer attention to what and how Parker was doing. Even though she would have made the offer to Parker to stay with them when she returned to New Orleans, Aimée knew that the reason that she had insisted on it so emphatically was because of her promise to Jimmy Wallace.

Before Parker could speak, Fang gave her a look to keep her silent as he said, "Aims, Sweetheart, we really could use the extra help. We've had to move a couple of busboys into the kitchen and behind the bar to help keep us with the orders coming in. In fact, we were almost thinking about asking Remi to help out."

Parker bit her lip almost hard enough to break skin at the look Aimée was wearing. Everyone knew that because of Remi's surly demeanor that he usually only did jobs that would keep him away from the general public. Aimée glared at her mate for a couple of seconds because they would have to be absolutely desperate for help to ask Remi to lend a hand.

Aimée let out a heavy sigh before her entire demeanor softened as she replied, "Okay… fine. If we really need the extra hand, then I guess it wouldn't hurt to let Parker help out."

"Really?" The human questioned with an excited squeal. "Thanks Aimée! I promise I won't over do it!"

Parker pulled Aimée into an enthusiastic hug that the bear readily reciprocated with a chuckle. After she released her friend, Parker turned to embrace Fang. She had her arms opened wide but stopped herself short from touching him.

He let out a low chuckle at her awkwardness. He knew that if he okayed it that Parker would treat him like she did Dev and Aimée, but he still felt that it would be best for him to keep some distance form her. Even though she had grown up as a Squire's child, she still seemed to have a somewhat genuine naiveté about her and he really didn't want to be the one to tarnish any of the 'shiny' on her.

To try to help to diminish the inherent awkwardness of the situation they found themselves in, Fang picked up the tub Parker had previously been holding and said, "Here, you'll probably need this."

Parker took it with a smile and a quiet 'Thanks'. Aimée quickly retied the knots on Parker's apron and then passed her a towel. Up until that moment Parker had still looked somewhat hesitant about the job she had volunteered to do. When Aimée passed her the towel, she finally let her lingering self-doubts go and took it as Aimée's final consent to let her work tonight.

"Thanks again Aims. I really do promise to behave myself."

Fang and Aimée watched as Parker tried to force herself no to run around the bar into the dining room. Fang wrapped his arms around Aimée's shoulders and pulled her against his chest. She still appeared to be stressed about the situation, so he started to massage her shoulders. She then relaxed slowly against him and let him continue to release some of the tension from her muscles.

"She'll be fine Aims. Your Cub is all grown up, but she still has a lot to learn and she'll make a few mistakes along the way. It doesn't mean that anything's wrong." He dropped his hands down to her stomach and rubbed gentle circles on it and whispered, "She's been good practice for you. Baby, you're going to be an amazing Momma Bear."

PARKER was nearly skipping as she moved from table to table to remove the used place settings and cutlery from them. Every once in a while she would stop to chat with some of their regulars. Each of them had questioned her about the cut above her eye. At first she tried to give them an earnest answer, but after a while she started having fun with it. She told them ridiculous stories of fighting everything from vampires to monsters to a huge gang of bikers. By the end of her harrowing tales she had them all laughing. Even though she was only on clean up duty tonight, she knew that entertaining them now would help her to have healthier tips when she waitressed in the future.

She was still laughing at something a customer had said when she turned to take her next load of dishes to the kitchen. She took a couple of steps towards he destination before she froze completely in her place. First it was the sound of a familiar voice that had given her a moment of pause, but it was a familiar scene that had caused her to come to a complete, abrupt stop.

Deep down she knew that it wasn't unusual for Squires to hang out at Sanctuary, but right now she felt like Otto was here with his friends just to mock her. They were laughing and enjoying their drinks without paying her any attention, which reminded her of the time that he had done something similar in a small bar in Greece. That time he had done it on purpose to prove to her that he held more sway with the people she had hoped to befriend. She had continued to try, in vain, to win them over before she finally turned tail and ran back to school. Well in reality she just hid out in her room pretending that she was ill until their trip abroad came to an end.

Not wanting to relive any of those emotions again, Parker turned on her heel, placed the filled tub on a chair and then rushed towards the stairs to the second floor. She would have loved to have gone to her room at Peltier house, but that would have meant that she would have had to pass right by him, which would defeat the purpose of running away in the first place. She wanted to hide, but she didn't want him to how that she was trying to hide from him.

Once she made it to the second floor, Parker flopped down on one of the couches and let out a soft, frustrated cry. This was her home now and she had let him run her off from it to try to hide from him. From HIM! That was probably the most infuriating part for Parker. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let Otto rule how she lived her life once she got back to England and his had only been the first, well second time, that she had seen him since then and each time she had gone back on that promise to herself.

Feeling utterly frustrated and disgusted with herself, Parker punched the cushions on either side of her legs ash she screamed out a low, guttural, "Fuck!"

"Whoa… hey now," a voice called out from behind her. "Some of us have delicate sensibilities."

She quickly whipped around to find a familiar face playing pool by himself. She watched him for a couple of seconds to make sure that he was in fact the brother she thought that he was.

When she had that confirmation, Parker jumped up and rushed towards him replying, "Ha ha, too funny. Everyone knows there's nothing delicate about you Remi."

He hit the cue ball and sunk a solid colored ball into a pocket before he straightened up and placed a hand over his heart in mock horror. "Oh how she wounds me!" He then stepped up to her side and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "And here I thought we shared a delicate moment together yesterday."

Parker shivered as his breath ghosted over the shell of her ear. "Nope it wasn't delicate," she whispered back in a humorous tone. Remi straightened up and tried to hide the hurt in his eyes. Parker immediately noticed that he had misunderstood her teasing statement, so she grabbed his face to pull him down for a scorching kiss. "it wasn't delicate Remi, it was fucking hot and sexy."

He chuckled against her lips then quietly said, "Well I can't argue that." He then lifted Parker up and sat her on the edge of the pool table. Parker let out a surprised squeak before she settled in her place. "So last I heard, my sister had given strict orders that you are supposed to be on bed rest. What brings you up here to beat up a poor, defenseless couch?"

Parker let out a frustrated breath and did nothing to hide her annoyed tone when she answered, "I'm not a child. Plus, Carson said that the cut isn't even that bad, so I think that I've gotten enough bed rest thank you very much."

Remi placed a hand on either side of Parker's hips on the table top and leaned in so close that their noses almost touched. She swallowed thickly and had to force herself not to lean back and away from him. She didn't want to move away from him because of how close he was to her, although that was slightly unnerving. She wanted to do it because she wasn't able to focus on his eyes when he was that close and she always found that even when someone was able to keep their facial expressions in check, they normally couldn't control their eyes before they betrayed them and showed their true feelings. Parker had even noticed that that could be true for Acheron and he was the best 'actor' that she knew.

"And what does my sister think?" Remi asked so quietly that Parker's human ears almost didn't register it.

Parker swallowed uncomfortably again before she practically whispered her reply. "She said that I could help with the dinner rush."

"She did, did she?" He asked knowing that the human was leaving some tidbit of information out of her explanation.

"She did… well…" Parker finally gave into her urge and shrank back in her place. "Well she did after Fang told her they really needed some more help… and…"

When she trailed off, Remi waited a couple of breaths for her to continue before he asked, "And?"

"And… she would only agree to it if I promised to rest for at least an hour after the rush was over."

"And is it?"

"Is it what?" Parker asked sounding thoroughly confused.

"Over?" Remi clarified. "The rush that is. I mean if you're up here that must mean that the rush is over, right?"

"No," Parker whispered as she let out a shaky breath and vigorously shook her head.

Remi took a small step back so that he could see her better and sounded gravely serious when he asked, "What happened Parker?"

She shook her head again and gave him a watery smile as she replied, "It's nothing Remi. I just needed a breather…" She then added through a mumble that he wasn't supposed to hear. "And to get away from… everyone."

Because of his preternatural hearing, Remi caught the last bit of her statement with no issues. Thinking she meant that she wanted to be left completely alone, he started to take a large step back and away from her replying, "In that case, I'll stop bothering you. Sorry I intruded."

"NO!" Parker nearly shouted as she caught his arm. She pulled him closer to her and said, "I didn't mean you, Remi. You being up here was a VERY pleasant surprise. I just didn't want to deal with anymore customers and their questions or… umm… err…"

"Aimée?" Remi posed it as a question, but he knew he had it right.

Parker's cheeks turned a dark pink causing Remi to chuckle. He placed his hands on her cheeks and tried to ease away her blush by running his thumbs back and forth over her cheeks. She let out a contented sigh as she relaxed in her seat. Her blush was still dark and vibrant, but Remi allowed himself to smile when she closed her eyes and let him claim the full weight of her head.

"I know Aimée can be a little intense right now," he explained in a soft, calming tone. "But it's because she loves you and is protective of you. Our Maman as the same way… actually pretty much all of the mothers that live under our roof are so fiercely protective of the young in our house that it's kind of scary sometimes."

Parker let out another sigh. She wrapped her arms around Remi's waist and slipped her hands into the back pocket of his jeans. To an outsider it may have looked like Parker had become overly friendly with Remi in a short amount of time, but for both of them it just felt strangely natural and comfortable and frankly it just felt 'right'.

"I know they are and honestly I usually don't mind, but tonight I just… I don't know. It just… it's… it's a little… stifling. I slept most of the night and day between yesterday and today, so I'm ready to… to… y'know… to join the land of the living again."

Parker let out a strange sound that was a cross between a groan and a sigh. In order to get a better read on her current demeanor Remi let go of her face. Almost immediately Parker let out another groan as she did a face plant into his chest. He chuckled softly and started to stroke the back of her neck to try to ease her troubled mind.

"I sound so ungrateful, don't I?" Parker asked as she leaned back to look up at him.

He continued to pet the length of her hair in the ponytail as he replied, "No, you don't. You've lived on your own for quite a while now, so it must be quite an adjustment to have a mother hen looking over your shoulder everywhere you turn." Parker sat up a little straighter and tilted her head to one side as if to look at him like he was a puzzle to be solved. Remi looked over each of his shoulders then asked, "What? What is it?"

"You," she answered without a moment of hesitation. "You are way smarter and insightful than you let anyone see. Why?"

He gave her a cheeky smile as he answered, "When you start to give advice, especially if it's good, then people expect it from you all of the time. They'll even search you out just to harass you for even more of it. That just make it hard to keep up."

Parker smiled and retorted teasingly, "Uh huh. I'm sure that's all there is to it."

That reply elicited another laugh from Remi. Parker reveled slightly in a euphoric daze at the fact that she could cause such a happy sound to issue from this member of the Peltier clan. She could never have predicted that she and Remi would ever become anything close to being friends, let alone the type of friends that were touchy-feely or, even more shockingly, the kind that kissed. But again she dismissed that feeling of awe because strangely it felt so right that it seemed natural.

She then wrapped her hands around his waist and pulled him closer to the pool table. He pulled the tie from her hair so that he could comb his fingers through her hair as he started to get lost in his own thoughts about their somewhat strange relationship. There had only been one woman with whom he had felt this way, but that had only lasted long enough for him to have his heart ripped out and stomped into a million pieces.

Was he prepared to open himself up to feeling that way again? He knew that in some ways he wasn't and probably never would be. But when he looked into Parker's bright, light blue eyes he felt himself get completely lost in them. Normally he wouldn't be alright with that, but with Parker he was willing to let the moment last. Well at least for as long as she would allow him to because he was sure that sooner or later she would come to her senses and completely change her mind about this whole affair.

Parker watched the light fade from Remi's eyes and she quickly recognized what was happening. She had seen that look on her own face enough times to know that words wouldn't be enough to erase it. She then wrapped a hand around the back of his neck so that she could pull his face down to hers. As she laid claim to his lips with her own, Parker lifted her buttocks slightly so that she could pull her skirt up her thighs. Thankfully Remi took control of their kiss so that she could focus on other things such as wrapping her legs around him so that she could rub her now moist panties against the front of his jeans. He growled into her mouth at the feeling of her rubbing herself against him, which was the effect she had desired.

Once Parker's legs had wrapped themselves fully around his waist, Remi cupped her buttocks with both of his hands so that he could lift her up and press her more firmly against his body. When she felt that she had caused a certain part of his body to harden, Parker detached her lips from his so that she could let out an excited gasp.

"This is a family establishment," he whispered against her neck between kisses as he started to carry her away from the pool table. "I think we should take this somewhere more private."

"Me too," she replied with another breathy gasp. "Plus I did promise to head to bed after working… but no one said that I had to be alone."

"Bed… yeah… good idea."

Parker was still chuckling softly when she opened he eyes to see that Remi had teleported them to a bed room. He seemed content to focus his attention on kissing every inch of her neck that he could reach so she took some time to look around the room. She had assumed that he would take them to her own room. But this definitely wasn't it.

Remi had waited a half of a minute before moving to make sure that Parker wasn't going to get sick from him teleporting them. In his experience all humans reacted differently to it and since Parker had gotten a head rush the last time, he worried she might this time as well. When she voiced no words of complaint, he decided that he would carry her over to his bed.

"This isn't my room," Parker stated quietly, almost as if she was worried that someone might overhear her.

Remi stopped kissing her so that he could reply, "I wasn't sure if you had moved anything and I didn't want to risk messing up the landing."

"Moved…? But last time… oh gods… Remi!" He froze in his place at hearing Parker nearly shout out his name. She sat up higher in his arms to look into his eyes as she asked, "Does that mean that I have you to thank for cleaning up the mess I made in my room?"

"I knew you'd need to rest after everything that happened and I didn't think you'd be able to do that with the way you left your room."

"Remi… you shouldn't…" She moved her hands from his shoulders to his face and gave him another deep kiss. "I meant to say… Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you."

"It's nothing," he replied moving towards the bed once again.

"It's something," she countered as he laid her down on the mattress.

Parker didn't release her hold on him, so Remi was forced to lay down on top of her to keep from hurting the human. That was precisely what Parker had planned, so it didn't take much maneuvering on her part to make them more comfortable. Although Parker didn't seem too concerned about it, Remi still tried to keep the majority of his weight off of her body by planting one arm onto his mattress as he devoured her mouth with hungry kisses. Parker let her legs fall away from his body, but kept her arms wrapped around his neck so that she could cup the back of his head with her hands.

Once Parker's legs fell away onto the bed, Remi ran his hands up her thighs under her skirt and gently tugged at the waist of her panties. She quickly took the hint and lifted her butt off the bed so that he could easily work them down her legs. Her grip on his neck tightened, but neither of them relented during the kiss. Parker's attention had been so focused on wrestling her tongue with his that she actually gasped when he felt him press his now bare self against her entrance.

Remi felt her stiffen underneath of him, so he pushed himself up into a modified pushup so that he could look down at her to quietly ask, "Parker are you…? I mean are…? Is…?

She let out a breathy laugh at his hesitation then answered, "I've only ever been with humans. Do you have…? Umm… protection?"

He lowered himself and then thrust softly into her as he said, "We aren't mated, so that won't be an issue."

Parker felt like her breath had been stolen away as he continued to push his full length into her. Although she wasn't a virgin, this was her first time with a Were-Hunter and she had always wondered how different the experience would be. She had also never had any close human girlfriends with whom she could have talked to about the differences, so she felt herself starting to become very nervous.

Once Remi had managed to work his full length into her, he froze and placed a soft kiss against her lips. Parker tried her best not to move because she had never felt this full before with any of the male humans with whom she had shared intimacies. She almost worried that Remi had stopped because her frail human body didn't measure up to the Were-Hunters he had been with previously, so she didn't want to move and do something wrong.

Remi lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, "Are you alright Cub?"

Parker turned her head to kiss his cheek before she answered, "Better than alright."

He took that as her giving him the green light to continue so Remi gave her a wicked grin before he thrust his tongue into her mouth as he pulled his hips back and snapped them forward. He swallowed Parker's gasp of excitement and surprise at his rougher treatment of her body. He continued to piston his hips back and forth at such an incredible pace that Parker hadn't had a chance to try to catch up to him before her first orgasm ripped through her core.

Remi was forced to relinquish his claim to her lips so that he could throw his head back and let out a soft cry. Parker was not as reserved. The instant Remi removed his mouth from hers, she let out a wordless scream in reaction to the intense feelings rippling through her. He let out a breathy laugh at how her hands scrambled to find the head board to hold onto while her eyes were squeezed tightly closed.

The motion of Remi's slowed down slightly while he watched Parker's reaction. She didn't seem to notice at first, but when she did her eyes snapped open. Her eyes quickly found his now that he was sitting up on his knees and towering over her. She remained with her back on the mattress, but she did move her hands to his still jean clad buttocks and pulled him even further into herself. He didn't require any other prompting and quickly resumed her see-saw motions inside of her body.

Parker once again grabbed onto the headboard so that she could try to keep up with him in a complimentary motion, but she quickly realized that she wasn't going to be able to keep up. She then maintained her grip on his headboard to try to anchor herself. He gave her a satisfied smirk at watching her give herself completely over to him to satisfy her.

"Oh gods!" She cried out as he added a slight swivel to his hips while he continued to move in and out of her.

He started to give her a cheeky reply, but he was silenced by his own climax claiming him. Parker opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out as he brought her to her second apex. She laid back and relaxed in her place thinking that he would collapsed soon form his exerting, but that was not to be. She opened her eyes in pure fascination as a variety of emotions fluttered across his face until he finally slumped in his place and slowly disconnected from her.

"Wow," she commented in quiet awe as she raised her hand up to pet his cheek. "That was amazing."

Remi nuzzled his face into the palm of her hand and then kissed the middle of her palm. Parker watched him in rapt attention as he continued to caress the palm of her hand with soft kisses. She started to feel slightly uncomfortable with the attention he was paying that part of her anatomy, but after the feelings of sheer bliss he had given to her, she was willing to let him indulge himself for a while.

After felt like an uncomfortably long time (well at least to Parker), Remi let go of her hand and just stared down at her. Without saying a word, he fastened his jeans and moved off of the bed. Parker rolled onto her side so that she could watch him more easily. He walked over to his bedroom door and for a second she thought he was going to leave, but he just checked that the door was closed tight and then flipped the lock to fully secure it.

He then turned around and moved towards her looking like a predator stalking its prey. Parker couldn't really decipher the look on Remi's face, but she tried not to show her fear as she moved back across his bed. Remi didn't seem to notice the human's unease and he just slipped onto the bed beside her as if she had moved just to make room for him.

Remi lifted up one of her hands and braided their fingers together as he laid down beside her. While he settled in beside her, he quietly explained, "My nieces and nephews like to come and bug me when they wake up sometimes. If they saw you in here, they would have questions and… well not that I'm ashamed, but…"

Parker surged forward to silence him with a kiss. He released his hold on her hand in exchange for tangling his fingers in her loose hair. She hadn't meant for this kiss to lead anywhere, but at the same time she knew that she would do nothing to stop whatever Remi wanted to so when he started to ease out of the embrace, she wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or annoyed.

Since she had initiated the contact, she decided that she should just be happy that he had reciprocated it. As such she smiled brightly then said, "It's alright Remi. This… whatever it is between us, it's… well it's new and we need to figure… I mean… it'll be easier if we aren't under everyone's microscope while we figure it out… on our own."

He chuckled and once again took her hand in his. "Yeah, something sort of… kind of… exactly like that," he kidded.

Parker blushed and removed her hand from his hold so that she could playfully shove his shoulder. "Hey I have a head injury. You should be nicer to me."

"I thought I was pretty nice to you," he countered with a teasing tone. His face quickly sobered up as he gently ran a fingertip over her stitched wound saying, "But all joking aside, after… err… exerting so much energy, you should probably try to get some rest."

"That's true," Parker agreed as she sidled up closer to his side. Their noses were nearly touching as she whispered, "But I can't sleep in this."

"Well I think I can take care of that," he whispered back before he pulled her in for a kiss.

Without breaking the embrace Remi rolled onto his back and he pulled Parker on top of him. She shivered at feeling him slip his hand under the hem of her shirt to brush his fingertips over her spine. She had no idea how a hot make out session would help her to sleep in her t-shirt and denim skirt, but then again it was a hot make out session with Remi so she was completely happy with where she was right now.

Suddenly Parker pulled back with a gasp at feeling her naked body pressed against his now naked flesh. Not trusting her sense of touch, Parker quickly looked over her shoulders to confirm what she felt. When she turned back to give him a look of astonishment, Remi chuckled softly and ran both of his hands over her back and then down her legs.

"Another bonus of being with a Were-Hunter… we can wield magic," he teased.

Parker placed a hand on either side of his head so that she could look down at him. She then raised a playful eyebrow as she asked, "Another? What was the first?"

Remi raised his buttocks off of the bed to brush his now nearly completely rigid member against her stomach answering, "We also don't need as much turnaround time as humans."

Parker gasped before she shimmied down his body so that they lined up more comfortable from head to toe. This time their lips found each other's while they both worked at joining their bodies.

"Oh gods!" Parker breathed out against his ear. "I wasn't really tired yet anyways."