Thanks To MSevenj for the read through and being so supportive... Insomniac-Angel and Cheryl for all the great support and encouragement... will get a hard beta once it's finished... All remaining mistakes belong to me

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Nathan was listening to his little family bicker back and forth on the pros and cons of Angel being apart of Eliot's life. On one side they had Parker think up ways to dispose of Angel's body for when he did hurt Eliot. Her reason being that it was obvious that Angel had already hurt Eliot and that meant he'd do it again. There was no reasoning with her on that front, for now, anyway. He and Sophie had already agreed to give Angel a chance but they would take their cues from Eliot and would only back him up, no matter the deal they had made with Angel. Their family was the only important thing in all of their lives and they wouldn't let anyone ruin it for them. He knew that Alec and Sophie had exit strategies in place and that was probably the only thing that was keeping them here instead of out looking for Eliot. Of course the fact he had Hardison put GPS trackers on all of them after Russia might have a little more to do with it.

Alec glanced at the GPS tracker to see where Eliot was, as he had for the last hour and a half. "Hey guys, he's in the building." All talking had stopped at his announcement.

They didn't even try to hide their concern or curiosity as Eliot invited Angel into his apartment. It would seem that Eliot had decided to hear Angel out. Not something they were happy about but maybe that could just mean they got rid of the problem faster. Then they got a good look at Eliot and noticed how slowly he was moving.

Eliot still found it unnerving to be on the receiving end of his teammates protection. It's very strange to go from no one caring to being apart of a family in such a short amount of time. Parker was the only one showing open hostility though and Hardison seemed to have a good grip on her for the moment. Which was a good thing from the looks he was getting. "Hey guys, you remember Angel." He waved his hand in the direction of the vampire. He groaned, eyes closing, as he sat down. Eliot instantly felt the charge of tension in the room. He opened his eyes to take in his family with various degrees of glares leveled at the vampire. Angel had his hands up trying to look harmless. He had forgotten about the fight and, of course, his family would automatically think the vampire was responsible.

"Linds, you mind?" Eliot added a glare that held more of a threat and shrugged. Maybe if stopped responding to Linds then Angel would get the point. Probably not, the vampire was rather dense sometimes. He just closed his eyes again. Serve the vamp right if Parker got a hold of him.

Sophie had gotten up when she heard the groan from when Eliot sat down. Meant the retrieval specialist had either bruised or broken ribs. She went into the kitchen where Eliot keep the ice packs and then went to the bathroom to get the first aid kit. Then looked thru the pill bottles to find the pain killers. It looked like everyone was still ready to kill the man in black. It wasn't until she sat by Eliot that he opened up his eyes again and smiled at her. She just rolled her eyes at him. This wasn't the first time one of them, usually her or Nate, had to patch him up. She handed him two pain killers and lifted up his shirt to get a better look at the damage.

"You might want to explain before someone does something to him." Eliot sighed at Sophie's request.

"Local gang broke the pact the leader, Carlos, and I had. They ambushed me and I laid them flat. Five against one were very good odds." Eliot hissed at the unexpected twinge of pain where Sophie was poking. He noticed she didn't apologize for causing the pain. He did notice the raised eyebrow. "What? For me those are very good odds and you damned well know it."

"I may know it, doesn't mean I have to like it. Doesn't mean I want to see you hurt," Sophie turned and looked at Angel. "ever." At Angel's nod that he understood, she turned around. "Okay, so is this gang taken care of or do we need to do something else to get the point across?"

"It's taken care of for now. I turned the boys over to Carlos and confiscated the weapons I found on them. Called Vinny, he's coming to pick them up later." He turned and looked at the rest of the team. "I know y'all are worried about me, about him being here but he and I need too talk, to get a few things straightened out. I'll call if there is a problem."

Parker spoke up then. "We're not seriously talking about leaving Eliot with this man, are we? We don't know him. Hardison couldn't find much on him which means he pretty much lives off the grid. What happens if he tries to take Eliot from us?"

"I'm going to have to agree with Parker here. I don't like the idea of leaving Eliot alone with him. I'm not leaving." Alec said as he crossed his arms in front of him. Parker copied his pose as she nodded her head.

Nathan saw where this was headed and he knew he had to diffuse the problem. "Look, Angel has already agreed to certain terms that Sophie and I set. So, with that being said we should leave them too talk."

Eliot's narrowed eyes spoke volumes to Nathan but at Sophie's soft whispered words as she continued to asses the damage. He noticed that Eliot had relaxed a little. The other two looked like they were going to object when Eliot raised his hand to silence them.

"Like I said, I do understand and I appreciate the concern but we have some history that he feels he needs to straighten out with me before he can move on. So, the sooner you leave the sooner he'll leave. I promise I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

Nathan had been watching Angel as Eliot was talking. He noticed the tightening in shoulders and the narrowed eyes. Clearly the man thought he had made some progress with Eliot and clearly their Eliot has just showed him how difficult that might actually be.

"Clearly nobody is listening because I said I'm not leaving Eliot alone with him." Everyone could hear the disdain in Parker's voice. Eliot could see something more was going on here than Parker's dislike of his choice in a past relationship. He grabbed Sophie's hands in an easy grip, never taking his eyes from Parker.

"Sophie could you let Parker finish this? I think we need to talk alone." Eliot turned his head, giving her a small smile. Lord his ribs hurt and was starting to feel a little sleepy from the pills Sophie had given him.

"Sure, come here Parker." Sophie relinquished her seat next to Eliot to the blonde thief.

"Thanks, Sophie." Eliot said even though his eyes returned to Parker, searching her eyes for something to clue him into what might be a minefield with them knowing so little of Parker's past. He did spare a glance to see where Angel was before turning back to the young woman beside him. Sophie was taking care of him.

"Sit up and hold your shirt up. Have to wrap your ribs." Parker was always sharp and to the point in her dealings with everyone, though lately she had started to soften the edge wall she had around herself. She had a family to protect.

Eliot pulled his shirt off, locking his arms over his head. A sharp intake of breath from the pain was the only noise in the room. He was going to wait for her to tell him what was wrong. Not the best plan but…

"You can't be here alone with him. It's not safe Eliot. He's different. He's not like most people. Not safe for you. Or us." Parker said trying to get her point across.

Eliot had his eyes shut. "What do you mean 'not like most people' Parker?"

"He's a monster. A vampire. He's only half human. I know what you're going to say, that there's no such thing as vampires, but there are and he's one." She really didn't know how to get him to believe what was a common hum an misconception.

Eliot watched for any expressions on her face as Parker slowly wrapped his ribs. Of all the things he expected that one didn't even hit the top forty.

"Parker." She wouldn't look at him, just keep wrapping the bandage around him. He lowered his arms slowly as not to spook Parker. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind and concentrated on his friend. Laying one hand over Parker's to stop the next wrap around. She went completely still. His fingers under her chin slowly tilted up and spoke softly.

"Parker look at me, please." He smiled as she squared her shoulder and met his gaze. "Tell me what's going on?"

"My first home, I mean my real family and real home, before the foster homes? I don't remember much but a warm feeling and being happy. But what I do remember is the monster came and I watched him drain both of my parents dry." Parker's voice was soft. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut as Parker searched his eyes for something. For what Eliot didn't know. He felt like he was swimming in murky water and playing catch up.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out. This was the most she had ever told anyone and it was even harder t han she thought. "I had an older brother but the vampire turned him into a monster. Telling you this…" Parker took a shuddering breath. "Telling you this means I can't leave you with him. He will hurt you and when he's done he'll kill you." She grabbed his arms trying to get through to him. She couldn't lose another family.

Eliot could feel vise grip Parker had on his biceps. He reached up and cupped her face gently, his wiping away the tears she hadn't even noticed. "Remember when I said he and I had been on opposite sides? Had many run-ins with each other?" He continued at her nod. "In those encounters *I* was the bad guy. Not Angel." He laid a finger over her lips to quiet the protest he saw forming in her eyes. You never wanted to think of your family as being truly bad. "The law firm I worked at was literally the lawyers for Hell. We got off demons, monsters of all kinds, and vampires. All those things deserved to be killed but we got them off. I got them off. I made their problems go away."

"We've all done things that were bad. I can't believe, *no* I won't believe that you didn't help the innocents when you could." Parker refused to believe that the man before her didn't even the playing field where he could. He was the big brother she should have had and she wasn't going to let him think that about himself.

"I helped some kids out and I couldn't have done that without Angel. You're right he is a vampire, but he was cursed with a soul by a gypsy. He's the stuff of legends. He's the champion against the evil of the world. He's one of the good guys." He gave an exasperated sigh as Parker shook her head and gave him a mutinous look. "I know this is going to take time for you to understand but he and I really need to get past this so the sooner you let us talk the sooner he'll leave."

"He won't leave and we both know that." Parker looked even more stubborn. "You want to talk, then you do it where I can be sure you won't be hurt or turned. I want talismans and every personal protection there is for everyone."

"Parker I've already told you he won't hurt an innocent and he's not here too hurt me. Look I'm plenty protected. I swear. Would it make you feel better to stay in the guest room tonight?" She nodded her head and tightened the hug he had pulled her into. "You still have to let us have this talk."

"As long as I get to be here I can deal with it." That was as good as she was going to give him. She could get Hardison to give her a bug to plant. She knew enough about vampires and several different types of demons but it never hurt to research more. "Let's finish wrapping your ribs and get them iced. I need to clean up that gash. See if it needs stitches."

Elliot raised his arms and let her finish the ministrations. He wanted to get this done and get the talk over with. Of course that was if he could stay awake long enough. After she wrapped him up he leaned back against the over stuffed chair and closed his eyes as Parker cleaned out the gash over his eye. He drifted off feeling content and safe.

TBC…