Story 2 – the Weaker Girl
An Eliot & Parker Story
By Brown Eyes Parker
Summary:
Parker needs all the protection she can get, and Eliot is just the one to defend her from the stronger man. A request fic for Bprice, an anonymous reviewer. LOOSELY based on "Mean" by Taylor Swift. I'm mostly focusing on the lyrics, "You picking on the weaker man". Eliot/Parker romance, if you squint.
Shout Outs:
to the girls (or guys) who reviewed my story. . . Bprice, saides, Alece, & leavenotrace: thank you SO much for your reviews, and your constructive feedback. (Alece, I really don't like lyrics as dialogue either, I want to scream "THAT WOULD NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE OR THE SHOW!)
to Bbarton for putting me in her/his favorite stories
to televisionluver for putting me in her/his story alerts
Disclaimer:
It's just my twist of fate, but I don't own anything. Not the characters in Leverage, or the rights to the song "Mean".
.
"What happened?" Eliot asked as Parker came in one morning, trying to avoid him.
"Nothing," Parker replied, pulling her tweed fedora down lower over her left eye.
In a second, Eliot had pulled the hat off to reveal a black and blue mark that took over the greater part of her eye. "Parker. . . darlin', who did that to you?"
"Nobody!" Parker snapped. "I walked into a door! Gosh Eliot, why do you always expect the worse?"
Eliot pulled her closer and examined the mark closely. He felt a surge of hot anger rush through him. It was not a bruise made from walking into a door. He could make out the imprint of a fist, it was as clear as crystal.
"Parker, who did this to you?" He snarled.
"You don't know him," she replied, snatching her hat back and strategically placed it over her eye again.
"It wasn't a boyfriend, was it?"
Parker shrugged. "Do you think I'm that stupid?"
Eliot laughed half-heartedly. "Well. . ."
"Well, I'm not."
"I still want to go and beat whoever he is up."
She looked surprised. "Why?"
"Because. . . it'll teach him a lesson. Guys shouldn't beat girls up, it's not right. Besides, somebody like you doesn't deserve to have people be mean to them."
Parker blushed. "I can take care of myself."
"Maybe." There was a pause in their conversation, and then Eliot took her by the hand and brought her into the kitchen. He found a gel pack in the freezer and gently placed it over her eye. "Promise me that you'll tell me the next time he bothers you."
"Sure," Parker said unenthusiastically.
"Good."
.
A couple of weeks later, Eliot was in Dunkin' Doughnuts getting his coffee when he overheard a couple arguing. He tried to mind his own business, but it was hard to when the woman's voice sounded a lot like Parker's.
"I told you Mo, I'm not going to give anymore money to you!"
He turned his head just slightly. It was Parker alright, and she was arguing with a tall, burly looking man, who probably weighed three-hundred pounds more than she did. He paid for his coffee, and watched from the corner of his eyes as Mo swore at Parker, then pushed her into the counter that held the cream and the sugar.
Enough was enough. He slammed his coffee down, and marched right over to Mo. He tapped him on the shoulder, and before he had a chance to react, Eliot's fist made contact with Mo's nose, breaking it in the process.
"Hey!" Mo let loose a few choice words. "What was that for?"
"You were hitting a girl! She's weaker than you are! Didn't your mama ever teach you to treat ladies with the respect they deserve?" Eliot retorted. He turned to help Parker, who was struggling to her feet. "Are you okay darlin?"
"What do you care?" Mo asked. "You don't even know her!"
"Is this the man that's been hitting you?"
Parker barely nodded.
He turned back to Mo and delivered a hard punch to his eye.
Parker grabbed his hand. "Eliot! Please. . . don't!"
"I thought you weren't dating this goon?" Eliot said, turning his attention back to Parker and swallowing his anger so he wouldn't lash out on her.
"I'm not," Parker said weakly. "Mo was one of my foster brothers. . ."
Eliot swallowed hard, it took everything in him not to punch the guy again.
She sighed. "I don't know how he found me. . . he just did. At first, I was kind of happy. We used to be friends, he used to be nice to me. But he's changed, all he wants from me now is money for drugs and booze. And sometimes, I give it to him."
"But only when he threatens you?"
"No. . . after he hits me," Parker admitted, burying her head in his chest. "But only because I want it to stop."
"Come on, let's get you out of here before I kill him," Eliot said, his coffee forgotten.
"Leah, if you leave than I'm going to report you and your boyfriend to the police!" Mo warned, but his threats fell on deaf ears.
.
When they were out of ear-shot, Parker turned to Eliot and let go of his hand. "Thanks. Even though, I can take care of myself."
"I'm sure," Eliot said dryly. "Hey, do me a favor?"
"Anything," she replied.
"Please, don't ever agree to see that guy again. You might not get so lucky the next time, I probably won't be there to rescue you."
Parker giggled. "You're so full of yourself Eliot."
"I'm serious."
"I'll try not to then."
"Say that you won't!" Eliot demanded.
"Okay, okay, I won't!" Parker promised.
"Thank you," Eliot said, sighing in relief and taking her hand again. And silently, he vowed to himself that he would try and always save her.
_The End_
Author's Note:
I hate this story. I know for a fact that this one is OOC, probably even more so than the last one. And it's SO short! I don't care if anybody likes it, except for Bprice, who requested that I write a story to "Mean" and how Eliot defends Parker. Anyways, feedback is always appreciated. And so are Parker/Eliot scenes. . . so I can get a better feel for them, and then they won't be so OOC. Tell me your favorites please!
Holly, July 11th, 2011_
P.S
It took me a while to talk myself into posting this, four days to be exact. But please, give me an honest opinion. It'll be for the best. Just know, I HATE this story. So I don't care if the opinion is bad or good, I just hope you'll keep reading.