A/N: Yay for all the reviewage - you guys rock! Now, I'm trying to build the chapters around the cons at this point, as you will have noticed, and with a little luck it'll work and not become ridiculous!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

Parker was falling, from a hundred storeys high, free-wheeling, flying, as she loved to do... and then it was different, something was wrong. The rope wasn't going to stop her before the ground that was coming up too fast. A shot of pure panic flew through her body, like a lightning bolt come to strike her down. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact, the concrete that would end her fall, her journey, her life... but it never came.

"You okay, darlin'?" that familiar comforting voice asked as strong arms held her body close and safe.

Parker didn't have words to say as she allowed her eyes to open and stared up into the sparkling blue orbs of her saviour. Eliot always caught her when she fell, she ought to have trusted that this time would be no different. A smile curved her lips to match his own as she pushed herself up and brought her lips to his.

The falling began again, the scene around them flipping on its axis as the ground went out from under them, this time in the best possible way. Like flying through white fluffy clouds, Parker was in heaven as Eliot held her close and kissed her til she couldn't breathe and yet didn't care at all.

When they made their landing it felt as if it was straight into one of those clouds they'd been floating amongst, as they laid down together. There were no words, only kisses that grew in heat, as fingers sought out skin, and for the first time in forever Parker felt like she was losing control without caring about it. Usually she would be afraid to let go in such a way, but this was Eliot and he always kept her safe. Besides, nothing had ever felt this good, not ever in her whole life.

Where their clothes went, she wasn't sure, she didn't really recall the removal of them but before she knew what was happening they were gone, and the world was getting fuzzier in the best way. There was a moan that she belatedly realised had escaped her own throat as Eliot's lips returned to her own. Just when she thought this couldn't get any hotter, any better...

Parker woke up fast, eyes darting around the room, though no other part of her body shifted.

It was still dark outside, though the sun ought to be appearing any time soon she realised as she glanced at the clock. She wasn't sure at first why she couldn't stop breathing so fast or why her heart was pounding at a mile a minute, then she remembered her dream and a grin came to her lips.

If she really thought that was how things would turn out if she kissed Eliot in his truck the other day, she totally would have gone for it without a moments pause! Of course, she hadn't known that and time ran out on her before she really had a chance to consider whether it was a good idea or not. It was strange for Parker to have to think too hard on things like this. She was usually action girl, do now and worry later about any consequences that might come up. When it came to relationships she really hadn't a clue and so diving in as she would from a fifty storey building was way more scary than any rappelling task she'd ever undertaken.

Fairytales stated that dreams always came true, but Parker didn't believe in those. As far as she could tell, happily ever afters couldn't really exist, else the Leverage team wouldn't have to exist to fix everything. Of course, if she and the team were able to bring fairytale endings for their clients, then she and Eliot ought to be able to get one for themselves.

Thinking too hard about all this was just giving Parker a headache and definitely preventing her from going back to sleep so she gave up even trying. Getting out of bed, she pulled the comforter off the bottom and wrapped around her shoulders, headed for the shower. Then she needed fresh air and breakfast, she decided.

Maybe she would go up on the highest roof she could find and watch the sun come up, that always helped her mood. Unfortunately, Parker wasn't really trusting anything to get fixed all on its own right now. She figured if she wanted to work anything out with Eliot, she was going to have to do the talking thing, even though they both hated it. It was that or try to jump his bones and see where that got her. The thought made Parker sigh as she recalled her dream and how good it had felt to be with him that way. Surely the reality couldn't feel as good as what her mind had conjured up whilst she slept, but damn if the thief didn't want to find out!

It blew her previous plan out of the water. For a while there she had considered just running out on the whole sorry situation before it got any more tangled and confused, but that just wasn't an option, she knew that even before today, she realised, as she headed out, and before long was up on a high-rise with a box of cereal in her hand. The fresh air felt good against her skin, the wind whipping her hair in all directions as she settled herself near the edge, facing east so she could watch the sun make its appearance - she was just in time.

Parker liked Chicago, though she wondered if it was so much the town she loved as the team and the work they did here. Hanging out at Nate's apartment was comfortable and familiar, even now with Sophie gone and things all a little weird between herself and Eliot. Running away would ruin that, and besides the grifter had tried it and so far it was only making things worse. Nate was even meaner than when she was around and Parker worried a little more every day that he'd be back on the booze before long. She knew Eliot and Hardison must be worried about it too, not least because the mastermind lived over the top of a bar!

The sky started to turn pink and orange as the sun put in an appearance at last, bringing a smile to Parker's face as she munched on a handful of dry cereal. Sometimes it was worth an early rise to see a sight like this, though that very thought just reminded her why she had woken up so soon in the first place. The intensity of her dream had been such that just the fleeting memory of it now made her shudder in the best way... or maybe that was her cell vibrating in her back pocket?

Sure enough, Parker found it was a combination of two factors as she reached for her phone and found a message from Hardison, asking her to come over to Nate's as soon as she was up because she was needed for the next part of their latest con. With a smirk, she couldn't help but text him back: 'You haven't been taken by the Russians again, have you?'

It didn't take long for the reply to come: 'Girl, that ain't even funny'

Well, maybe it wasn't, but Parker laughed all the same as she sent one further reply promising to be over as soon as she could. She sighed then, wondering how this meeting would go, if Tara Carlisle, Super-Lawyer, was going to be there. Parker had yet to meet her, but she already knew she didn't like her much. All Hardison and Eliot had really said about her was that she was hot. It wasn't exactly useful information as far as Parker was concerned, she would rather know if the other woman was capable of rappelling or hacking or safe-breaking, something actually useful. Which reminded her that she'd really like to do some safe-breaking today, and no more grifting. Yeah, that would be cool.

The door slammed too loudly as Eliot came into the apartment, making Nate look up sharply from the papers on the table before him. It was clear from the look on the hitter's face that he wasn't happy about something and honestly Nate almost dreaded asking what it was.

Today wasn't running quite as smoothly as he would've liked already. First thing this morning, he had called the team together and they had headed out to Blanchard'soffice, with a view to Parker breaking into his safe whilst Nate did the grifting himself as Jimmy Popodockulus, LA lawyer extraordinaire. Between having to pull a sudden cover in front of Blanchard and his best little thief not having time to finish the safe break, it hadn't gone well. Parker might be odd but passing her off as the meth-head illegitimate daughter of Bennett Kimble had been a stretch to say the least. These things coupled with Tara Carlisle hanging around wasn't helping his mood much, and clearly something was damaging Eliot's calm as well.

"I don't like this job" the hitter complained, though that much had been obvious from the get go.

"You want to elaborate on that or..." Nate prompted for more information to work with and was duly given it as Eliot continued to pace the floor like a caged animal.

"This guy we're dealing with? I don't think he's buying the story" he pointed out as Nate got up from the table and came to stand at the end of the couch behind which Eliot came to an abrupt halt in his pacing as he pointed an angry finger in the masterminds direction, "You shouldn't've used Parker that way"

"Ah, so that's what this is about" he sighed, leaning on the furniture, not at all phased apparently even as Eliot went red in the face and got a little more mad, "It's not the job that's got you riled up, it's Parker's part in it"

"That's the same thing!" the hitter snapped, though whether he was trying to convince himself or Nate at this point was anybody's guess, "Besides, it's not just that. I don't trust this Tara chick either" he pointed out, slightly more calmly, perhaps because they had moved away from the topic of Parker, or so Nate guessed.

"She's not doing any harm" the older man shrugged, "In fact she might prove to be an asset yet, being a lawyer and all. We might be able to use that to our advantage. It'll all work out just fine" he said reassuringly, though still a little uncertain himself, and honestly Eliot didn't look all that much better for their little chat either.

He watched as Nate went back to the table and the paperwork he had spread out there. It wasn't easy to take the guy seriously whilst he was still dressed as Jimmy Pokadokulus anyway, but right now he had done little or nothing to calm Eliot down. He hated what he was feeling right now, the worry and the confusion, and he knew as well as he did it had much less to do with the con as a whole, and a lot more to do with his undefined feelings for Parker.

"You didn't talk to her yet, did you?" asked Nate, without ever looking up from his paperwork, making Eliot actually wonder if the guy had taken up mind-reading as a hobby.

"Talk to who?" he asked, knowing very well the anwer to that, but the look on Nate's face then as he did glance up suggested he was not amused by the question, "Yeah, 'cause that's gonna solve everybody's problems. It's just gonna make new ones" he said crossly, leaning his weight on the back of the couch.

Eliot so wished he had someone to beat up right now and was glad that Nate gave up on trying to help because otherwise it might've been the mastermind himself that got his face flattened. This whole situation was getting pretty crazy. He couldn't remember the last time he got a good nights sleep thanks to dreams of Parker that grew more intense all the time. He knew he was making it worse by obsessing, but he couldn't help the fact he was built this way. It was the same obsessive streak that made him good at his job, that made him refuse to give up til the merchandise was collected, til all the guys were unconscious or dead, until the task was complete. The kind of tasks his subconscious had in mind for him and Parker were not things he was about to suggest to her, not just for fear of her over-the-top reaction but for fear of any reaction at all.

Parker liked him, Sophie had said as much, which meant if he really liked her, as Eliot knew by now he must do, they could start a relationship. It wasn't the starting that bothered him so much as the ending, because their would be one. Then he lost a friend for one thing, which he didn't exactly have an abundance of anyway, and it'd wreck the team dynamic. One or both out of him and Parker would end up having to leave, her need to run was stronger than his own but he wasn't sure he could live with being part of this group anymore if he'd forced her out.

All this deep thinking made Eliot crave two things - to hit something or someone, and to drink. Since the bar was much closer than the gym, he chose the latter, pretty sure that before the day was out the con would most likely provide him with the former.

The door slammed as Eliot left the apartment much the same way as he'd come in, and Nate shook his head.

"It's like living with teenage kids" he sighed, before going back to his work, hoping against hope that this would get figured out sooner rather than later, and more so that Sophie had come back when he asked this morning, to help things along in more ways than one.

It was only twenty four hours since Eliot was last sat at McRory's bar. Yesterday he had come here angry and alone after his confrontation with Nate. Today the whole team was here and celebrating. They had made it through the con and everyone was still in one piece. That was kind of a miracle to Eliot, given how crazy things had gotten. Sure, they always came through, but it was actually starting to scare him how close the close-calls were becoming, especially when his mind had been wandering so much of late.

He would like to blame Parker for this, but he couldn't do it. It was true that she had caused all this, just walking up to him and laying her lips on him like she had, but she hadn't meant for it to mean as much as it had. Besides, after all she'd been through today, it was kind of amazing that there was still a smile on the girl's face.

Sat across the bar with Hardison, it was as if today had never happened. As if she hadn't been chased and shot at by bent cops on behalf of Kimble's crooked lawyer. If only it was as easy for Eliot to just let it go and be fine. The bad guys taking pot-shots at him, swinging fists and bats and God knows what, he could deal with that. Every cut and bruise was his to bear and he could take it. When it came to those he was protecting, especially when it was Parker, he didn't handle it so well. If that cop had actually aimed better, if Eliot hadn't been there to chase him off... He couldn't stand the idea of her getting hurt, he just couldn't.

Now more than ever he knew that Nate and Sophie were right, that he ought to just tell Parker how he felt already, and yet the right moment never seemed to come. Even if it did, he wasn't sure he could do it. He'd meant what he said before, more problems could be made than solved by him actually having feelings for Parker, by them actually trying to have a relationship, not least because she was barely capable of upholding friendships never mind anything more. It could never work, could it?

"Eliot!" the hitter was suddenly aware of his name being called and his shoulder being jostled, "C'mon, man. Upstairs" Hardison gestured, piquing his friends interest if nothing else.

Though he asked, nobody seemed willing to explain to Eliot what was going on as they all ascended the stairs as a team, Nate in front then Hardison and Parker, and the hitter bringing up the rear. Just as he was about to get mad for being kept in the dark, the door to the apartment was flung open and there, bold as brass, sat Tara Carlisle. No longer was she the 'sexy librarian' type as Hardison had called her, but just all-over sexy with an attitude to match. The bigger issue was of course that she was in Nate's apartment and it would seem she had played the team somehow.

The letter she thrust into the mastermind's hand seemed to answer that question, as he explained that Sophie had sent this Tara Cole, as her name really was, to cover as a grifter for the team whilst she was away. Immediately Eliot's arms were folded across his chest. Parker might've noticed if she wasn't busy subconsciously copying the action as she also stared the new girl down.

"I'll bet she's not even a lawyer" said the blonde thief, much to the apparent amusement of the grifter.

"Aaw, Sophie was right" she cooed, sqeezing Parker's cheek, "You are adorable"

"Hey, back off, Barbie!" said Eliot, shoving Tara away though not very hard, just enough that she stumbled back a step on her high-heels.

"Ooh" she reacted with an amused chuckle as she raised her hands in mock-surrender, "Sophie didn't tell me you two were..." she said, gesturing between Eliot and Parker with an eyebrow raised.

"What?" Parker reacted with shock, mostly because she felt as if maybe this Tara had just read things out of her head - that would be way too freaky!

"You're crazy!" said Eliot with a shake of his own head, unable to look at the blonde next to him, especially when she laughed.

"Wow, that's just... Why-why would you even think that?" she chuckled, the two of them apparently amused by the suggestion they would ever be more than team-mates and friends.

Neither really noticed the look Nate shared with Hardison, or the way the hacker was miming shooting himself through the head.

This was getting ridiculous!

To Be Continued...