A/N: Oh my wonderful readers and reviewers - you make an author very happy with your kind comments, and I thank you all very much for that! Now, on with the show... I absolutely loved writing this chapter!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 5

Parker had skipped off just moments after she and Hardison left Nate's apartment. He had thought it was weird she ever wanted to go to the electronics store with him in the first place and so it came as no shock when it turned out he was right and she really wasn't in the least bit interested. They made it all the way to the van door before she told him she was going to head home instead of going with him to buy computer parts. When he asked why she'd ever said she wanted to go in the first place, she just shrugged her shoulders and turned to walk away.

"Because Eliot was there" she said simply as she left, and all Hardison could do was stare after her.

It hurt some to think that Parker would use him that way, to maybe make the hitter jealous. He still held a candle in his heart, a wish that maybe one day it would be him and the little blonde thief getting it together. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that was going to work out, and honestly, he could deal. After all, if Parker was happy and his best bro was happy too, he couldn't exactly argue with that. Of course, the idea of either of them being happily coupled up, especially together, still seemed a little crazy to the hacker, even if he did believe they both felt something when they kissed that time.

Hardison couldn't help but wonder on those two and how things might work out. So long as they didn't tell him what they did behind closed doors and it didn't hurt the family-vibe in the team, he guessed it was okay for them to like each other. Honestly, he never really thought Eliot was capable of liking anybody too much, and Parker was weird about even hugging people most of the time so getting into a whole dating thing seemed pretty unlikely.

"Can I help you, sir?" the voice of a store clerk brought Hardison from out of his thoughtful daze fast as he chuckled.

"No offence, man" he waved a hand at the teen, "but I doubt it" he said with a smirk as he strolled away, determined to now concentrate on why he was here, and not think on Parker or Eliot no more.

She didn't wear dresses much, it wasn't practical for most of the cons they pulled. Today was different, a special day like no other, and she was an absolute vision in white. So often in black, the pale silk fabric lit up her face that was perfectly framed by ringlets of blonde hair. Pretty flowers nestled on top of her head holding the veil there. She was gorgeous, there was simply no other word to describe Parker today, and Eliot couldn't take his eyes off her.

Unfortunately, it wasn't him stood opposite her now, waiting for the priest to finish his words and make her a wife. The dark guy who Eliot might call his brother was up there, making Parker his Mrs Hardison, and looking damn pleased about it too. The sun was shining on the soon-to-be-wed couple at this, their beautiful outdoor ceremony in the grounds of some fancy house...

"And if anyone knows of any reason why these two should not be joined" the priest was saying then, "Speak now or forever hold your peace"

"I got a reason!" the words were spoken loud and clear and yet it took the thirty seconds that followed for Eliot to realise it was his own mouth they'd spilled from.

Somehow he'd gotten from his seat somewhere in the middle of the congregation, into the centre aisle, though he didn't remember moving. He didn't see the look of shock or disappointment on Hardison's face or really hear the words said by all those around him that must've included Nate and Sophie to name but two. All Eliot cold see or hear was Parker, her face lighting up with the brightest of smiles as she looked back at him.

"Eliot" she said softly, his name never sounding better than it did on her lips.

"C'mon, darlin'" he encouraged her, gesturing for her to come to him and leave all this behind, "You know you want to"

Nodding her head, Parker was more than willing to throw down her bouquet, gathering up the skirt of her dress and bolting towards the man who would take her away from all this. She threw herself into the hitter's waiting arms and he willingly pulled her into his embrace. Their lips met in a hungry kiss and the world went away...

Eliot woke up with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed with beads of sweat on his brow. This was why he was better off sticking to that rule of sleeping only 90 minutes a day, more than that led to dreams and some of those he didn't care for. The one he'd just had scared the hell out of him, though it wouldn't do to have anyone know that. Pushing his hair back out of his face and then leaning back some on his elbows, Eliot replayed the dream in his mind, a frown settling on his features as he went over it all. The thing that confused him most, was the warm feeling he could still feel inside as he remembered Parker's smiling face when she'd run into his arms, so overjoyed he was there, so much in love with him it seemed.

"What's wrong?" asked a voice, a hand creeping onto his shoulder, making Eliot jump so much he almost fell out the bed.

"Parker?" he reacted with evident surprise as he realised not only was she there beside him but actually in his bed, and very much naked.

She was wearing a similar smile to before at the wedding he had witnessed in his mind, though there was an undercurrent of something distinctly sexual in her eyes. His brain was scrambled by her presence here and yet when he opened his mouth to ask her why, the words got stuck in his throat. Honest to God, he didn't care about the whys and wherefores, even though he knew he should. The feel of her fingers walking across his back, the sight of her skin as the sheet fell away from her body, and the sound of her voice whispering his name was all Eliot knew, as Parker moved closer and pulled him down beside her in the bed.

"Isn't this what you really want?" she asked him, as they kissed, his answer obvious as he pulled her body on top of his, revelling in this feeling of closeness and...

Thud!

Eliot woke up with a start, finding himself not in bed but on the floor of his room. His limbs were tangled up in the bed sheet and the pain he was in was not specific to his back that had hit the solid floor. Breathing heavy from both the double-hit dream and the shock of taking a tumble, it took Eliot a while to calm himself down and get his bearings. He was really awake this time, though he hadn't quite believed til he pinched himself and felt the sting of it.

Running his hands over his face that was damp with sweat and then back through his hair that felt the same, Eliot exhaled and tried to let the knot of confusion in his head fade out with the air. Unfortunately, it just wasn't as simple as that. He'd had dreams and nightmares aplenty in the past, things that were more frightening than most people could even stand to watch in movies and sometimes more erotic than most pornos. This was different, because this wasn't something he could assign to a memory or a repressed feeling... unless that second one was just what it was.

"No way" he said to himself as he got up off the floor and threw the sheet back onto the bed, "No frickin' way" he said with determination as he stormed off to the shower, determined he was going to put Parker and that screwed up dream he'd just had right out of his head.

Now that was easier said than done.

"Okay, well, we'll get back to you as soon as we have any news" said Nate, standing up shaking the hand of the teams would-be client, nudging Sophie when she seemed oblivious to what was happening.

"Oh, yes" she said like a sudden reflex, forcing a smile as she took her turn at shaking the offered hand of the young man before her.

The truth was, she really hadn't a clue what he'd said beyond the first few sentences. Her mind was in a whole other place since the cell phone vibrated in her pocket, summoning her attention. She had been so quick to check the screen, so hoping it might be Parker so she could better instruct her on how to behave both with Eliot and Hardison. She got a surprise that she hoped would be pleasant when she realised it was her boyfriend that had sent her a text. Her smile was a frown in an instant when she read the words written on the screen, and Nate couldn't fail to notice both her crestfallen expression and lack of concentration from then on.

"Are you going to explain to me what was so distracting that you couldn't pay our client any attention?" he asked perhaps a little too harshly as he pushed his empty coffee mug away.

"Possible client" Sophie snapped back, "And I was paying attention... for the most part" she said, still staring at her cell as she turned it over and over in her hands.

"Sophie..." his hand on hers stilled the nervous movement and caught her attention at the same time.

"I got a message from my boyfriend" she shrugged as if it were nothing, not wishing to elaborate as she made a big deal of turning away to put her phone back in her purse.

Nate watched her with suspicion. Either the guy had just done the unthinkable and dumped her via a text message, or he had at least said something else that upset the grifter. It hurt Nate enough to know Sophie was even dating, though he never let on, but seeing her in pain because of this guy might prove too much to bear.

"Nothing to worry about, I hope?" he prodded, making her sigh.

"Nothing for you to worry about, since my personal life is none of your business" she said, pushing her chair back from the table and getting up to walk away.

It made the mastermind mad that she would shut him out like this, after so long of trying to get him to open up to her. Perhaps Nate should have remembered that he never really had given in and let her get too close, so he could hardly expect her to return the favour.

Sophie was out of the door before Nate caught up to her. She had hoped to get away without him following though she should have known better, hoping against hope she could hold in her emotions til he was gone. So well practised was she at being somebody else it ought to be easy, but nobody wanted to hear 'we need to talk' from their lover, especially in such an impersonal way as by text message.

"Sophie" Nate called after her, and she turned back, knowing he would only pursue her if she bolted, "I... I can't have you being like this on cons, it's dangerous if you're going to be distracted..."

Her incredulous laughter cut off whatever else he might've been about to say.

"So nice to know you care, Nathan" she snapped a moment later, all trace of humour gone, if it were ever there in the first place, "Is that all I am to you? Just a name on your team list?"

Nate wouldn't rise to her, he couldn't afford to and settled for doing what he always did, taking his parting shot and walking away before things got any worse.

"Maybe right now you should just concentrate on your relationship" he told her with a firm nod, "instead of trying to matchmake Eliot and Parker"

He turned to go then but her words stopped him in his tracks within a second.

"Even if they could make each other happy?" she challenged him, not as much talking about the hitter and the thief as themselves perhaps.

"Even happy relationships can go wrong" he told her, glancing briefly over his shoulder before striding back towards the bar that was his solace and sanctuary, even now that he was sober 24/7.

"You'll never know, if you never let them start!" he heard Sophie call too loudly behind him, tears in her voice that he couldn't bear, not quite drowned out by the clatter of her stiletto heels on the pavement as she hurried away.

Today really wasn't going well.

To Be Continued...