A/N: To everyone who reviewed Chapter 1 - you warmed my heart with your kindness :-) It was just meant to be a short one-shot and for a fandom that I'm not totally settled into yet writing-wise, but even if I hadn't considered writing further chapters before, I totally would have after 20 reviews that I really never expected! So, here's what happened next...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 2

Parker was confused. It wasn't altogether an unusual feeling for her, since a lot of things often had her baffled, and strangely it was usually things that other people found simple that bothered her. Ask her to rappel from the top of a high rise or break into a vault without setting off an alarm, and Parker was just fine with it. When it came to more basic girly type things, she got a little lost.

Thankfully, these days Parker wasn't quite so alone as she had been for most of her life. Relying on herself worked most of the time, but having another woman around in particular, one that understood the things she didn't, that had some definite advantages.

Hopping up onto the kitchen counter in her usual silence, Parker turned to make sure the guys were occupied watching Nate's TV and wouldn't interrupt her conversation. Satisfied now was as good a time as any, she spoke.

"Sophie?" her voice came so suddenly to the English woman's ears that she very nearly burnt herself with the hot coffee she had just made, "Can I ask you something?"

"If it's how I didn't just scald my fingers off than I honestly couldn't tell you" she muttered a reply as she grabbed up enough paper-towels to mop up the mess on the countertop.

"No, it's about... guys" said Parker, speaking more quietly on the last word in particular, clearly mindful of being overheard.

Sophie turned to lean her back against the opposite counter, holding her now only half-full mug of coffee in her hands. She peered over at the couch where Nate, Eliot, and Hardison were sat watching football. They seemed completely engrossed and therefore they shouldn't interrupt them, which was a good thing.

"Which guys in particular?" she asked then, genuinely a little confused since Parker wasn't exactly girly when it came to men.

"Just, y'know, in general" the blonde shrugged, "See, I was thinking; when you're on a job, doing what you do, did you ever have to kiss a guy?" she asked, "Y'know for a con, to keep your cover or something?"

"A few times, yeah" Sophie nodded thoughtfully, sipping at her coffee, "Why do you ask that?" she wondered aloud, thinking it was strange that Parker should be suddenly so interested in her grifting.

"Did you feel anything?" came the blonde's next question and Sophie very nearly spat her hot drink all over her like a spectacular fountain, catching herself just before it actually happened.

"What?" she gasped, a little concerned now as to where this conversation tended.

Putting her hand to her mouth she wiped a stray drip of coffee from her chin and swallowed hard, as Parker frowned. She didn't understand what was freaking Sophie out so much, unless she's asked the question wrong. It wouldn't be the first time after all.

"When you kissed the guys" she tried to explain as best she could, "Did you feel... feelings?" she said with some strange emphasis and a look that it took Sophie a moment to catch onto.

"Oh! Feelings!" she gasped suddenly as she realised just exactly what the younger woman was getting at, "Well, um, only once" she admitted, "and that was, well, that was specific" she said, her eyes straying to where Nate was sat on the couch, cursing the fumbling football players on the screen, "Sweetie, why do you need to know this?" she asked Parker then, snapping out of her daze as quickly as it had come over her - now was not the time for reminiscing.

Parker sighed heavily. She almost didn't want to have to explain this, it was too strange, and yet she knew that unless she told Sophie about her problem, she was certainly never going to figure out the right way to deal with it on her own.

"It was that museum job we pulled, stealing the David statues" she reminded the grifter, though of course she was unlikely to have forgotten their last major heist in LA, getting revenge on Blackpoole, Stirling, and IYS as a whole, "Me and Hardison faked making out..." she went on, not getting to the point when Sophie cut in.

"And you felt something!" she said, perhaps a little too loudly, with a grin on her face wide enough to fill the apartment, "Parker, that's great. I think he actually likes you and..."

"No!" the thief interrupted far too loudly, inadvertently getting the attention of the guys from across the apartment.

Three pairs of eyes all turned to stare a moment, until the girls just smiled and waved like nothing was wrong. The men were soon back to their sports, and the girls continued their chat in lower voices.

"I don't feel that way about Hardison, I don't" said Parker firmly, "He's a nice guy and all but, no" she shook her head.

"Then I don't understand" admitted Sophie, "Is the problem that he felt something?" she guessed.

"Kind of" Parker sighed once again, "See, I was trying to explain to him that when we kissed I felt nothing. I was demonstrating that when you're pulling a cover for a con it doesn't mean anything" she explained, "that two people like us can just kiss and not feel anything at all"

Sophie was listening, she really was, but whatever it was Parker was trying to tell her was clearly getting lost in translation. It was difficult because she so wanted to help the girl find a balance between her own personality and the normality of everyone else's lives. It never came easy, but she wasn't giving up, especially not when Parker had actually come to seek her out and have what must seem like a very important conversation to her.

"You... demonstrated?" she checked, that particular part bemusing her.

"On Eliot" confirmed Parker with a nod, "It didn't work" she said with a sigh, and the penny finally dropped for Sophie.

"Oh!" she gasped, eyes shifting from Parker to the couch and back, "Really? You and Eliot?" she said, a slight frown marring her features as she thought about the possibility.

It seemed an odd pairing at first glance perhaps, but she could certainly see Parker's attraction to the hitter. The man was pleasing enough to the eye, and his occupation gave him that bad boy vibe that many a woman had fallen for in the past. Of course, underneath all that he really was kind of a sweetheart, though Sophie was pretty sure he'd threaten to rip the limbs off anyone who suggested it to him.

"I know, I don't get it either!" Parker was saying when her friend finally tore her eyes away from the back of Eliot's head across the room and listened again, "But I just, I kissed him, and he kissed back and... I don't even know what happened" she waved one hand in a random gesture, rolling her eyes for good measure before leaning in to whisper, "And now, every time he looks at me or talks to me, I feel all... girly" she admitted, unable to find any adjective that better suited the feelings she was getting lately.

Of course there had been guys in her life before now that she had liked, been attracted to, wanted to be close to, mostly to sleep with, but this was different. This felt like nothing Parker had ever felt before and she didn't like it, mostly because it could not be easily explained. Most things were black and white to Parker. She liked someone or she didn't; she felt happy or she felt sad; she knew how to steal the thing or she didn't (usually the former rather than the latter) but these feelings she was getting now, they didn't fit one side of a line or the other. Parker had hoped Sophie would be able to help her with that, but honestly she looked almost as baffled as the poor blonde herself felt.

"Well" she said after a long silence, "Um, Parker, I don't really know what to say" she admitted, "I mean, do you think... Has Eliot said or done anything to make you think he likes you?" she checked.

"I dunno" she shrugged, kicking her legs back and forth like a kid, "Like I said, when I kissed him he definitely kissed back but I don't really know if that means anything. That's why I was asking you" she admitted, making Sophie feel bad.

She wanted to help her friend out, of course she did, but Eliot was hardly the easiest man to read or to talk to most of the time. She was certain he had a heart of gold held within the iron shell he showed the world, but as far as women were concerned he only ever seemed interested in one night stands, though even those he tried to keep private from the prying eyes of the team.

"Okay, so here's what we'll do" said Sophie eventually, "Don't say or do anything differently for now" she advised, "Try to act naturally, and I'll keep an eye on Eliot. There are certain signs you look for with men, to tell if they're interested and to what degree that interest stretches..." she tried to explain, though she could see already she was losing Parker, "Just act naturally and leave the rest to me" she said with a smile, glad to see a similar expression form on her friends face as she hopped down off the counter and walked away.

It was getting late in the evening. The girls had long since made their excuses and gone home, barely getting so much as a wave out of the guys who were still engrossed in their football game then, at least they all appeared that way to Sophie and Parker. Nate knew different, of course. Though he'd had one eye on sports, he'd had the other on the guy sat next to him on the couch.

Eliot had something on his mind, that much was obvious. His head was not in the game, and it bothered the mastermind. After all, if the hitter couldn't even concentrate on football, there was a chance his mind might wander at a more serious moment, like in the middle of a con, and that could have dire consequences.

Hardison was next out the door, though he claimed he wasn't tired and would not be going to sleep. Some online game just got released in a new version and he intended to spend all night attempting to complete it by fair means or foul. When Eliot didn't even make an anti-geek comment at that particular declaration, Nate really did start to worry.

"I guess I should be goin' too" said the hitter, drinking down the remainder of his beer and gathering up several other empties to dump in the kitchen before he left for the night.

"Actually, before you do go" said Nate, following Eliot with empty potato chip packets and such in his hands, "We need to have a talk. What's on your mind, Eliot?" he asked as they reached the kitchen counter, and Nate pulled himself up onto a stool.

"What do you mean what's on my mind?" he asked snippily, "Nothin' is on my mind, and if it was, no offence, but I probably wouldn't want to talk about it anyway, Dad" he said with a pointed look, clearly feeling he was being spoken to like a troubled teen.

Nate couldn't help but smile at the implication, after all, this wasn't the first time he'd felt a little like the father of at least three unruly children whilst running this team. Between Parker, Hardison, and Eliot, they certainly caused him enough trouble from time to time.

"Look, I don't want to be your father, Eliot" Nate told him easily watching the guy bag up the trash and stack up the empties for recycling, "I don't even have to be your friend if you don't want, but whilst you're on this team I need you focused and right now you're not" he told him, expression firm as Eliot turned to look at him, "So, I'll ask again, what's on your mind?" he smiled amiably as he waited for an answer.

The hitter was unimpressed at being strong-armed into talking about anything, least of all something related to his feelings. Of course, on some level, he kind of wanted to talk about it, if only so someone could tell him he wasn't going crazy. Honestly, right now he was feeling as if he just might be.

"Okay, first off, you're a hypocrite, Ford" he told him, pointing a finger at him, "Last year, between the family issues and the booze, your head was as far away from the game as it could be, more than once" he reminded him, "And second..." he faltered a little, the anger that bubbled beneath the surface fading as he let out a sigh, "It has to do with Parker" he admitted, pushing his hair off his face as he came to sit on the stool facing Nate.

"What did she do?" the older guy asked curiously, sure he wouldn't be shocked by anything Eliot said next, after all, it was Parker!

"She, er, she kissed me" he smiled perhaps too much as he explained, catching himself suddenly and turning his expression neutral, "It didn't mean anything, she was tryin' to make Hardison get off her case about their fake make out on the David job" he explained, "but since then... I just don't want her having a crush on me" he said definitely, not actually looking at Nate, until suddenly the guy just burst out laughing far too loudly, "Okay, what's so funny about that?"

It took Nate a while before he could catch his breath, slamming a hand on the counter as he fought through a severe bout of the giggles. Eliot did not look at all amused, and for his sake the mastermind tried his best to stop fast.

"Oh, Eliot" he said eventually, wiping a tear from his eye, "Honestly, I am sure you have nothing at all to worry about with Parker" he told him sincerely, "In case you hadn't noticed, she's not exactly an ordinary girl when it comes to relationships with anybody. I highly doubt she got anything from that kiss with you, no matter how good you think you are" he said with a wry smile, sliding off the stool and slapping the hitter on the back as he walked away.

Eliot stared after him a moment, then shook his head and chuckled to himself. He was being an idiot, of course he was. There was no way Parker would feel that way about him, and he sure as hell had no interest in her... no interest at all, nope, not at all. At least, that was what he was telling himself right now.

To Be Continued...

A/N2: So, is it still good? Do you still want more? Please let me know with reviews!