Hello again :) I decided that I would turn this into a series of one shots. Probably a lot of them will deal with Parker, but I'm sure a few of the others will be a central focus for some of them. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

"There's something wrong with you." They said it often, especially Eliot.

In the beginning it hadn't bothered her. After all, what did a lone wolf care what anybody thought of her, especially when that someone was a person she wasn't likely to see again. But then Sophie had said it. Nate and Hardison repeated it. The words soon became all too familiar. The more she opened up and let her unique personality shine around them, the more those words came out. And Parker was beginning to become self-conscious about it.

Was there something wrong with her? And if there was, was that really such a bad thing? Parker didn't really know much about people, or the world in general, not unless if involved thieving or jumping off buildings. But wasn't being different and unique a good thing? If everyone was the same, the world would be a boring place. Not to mention how hard it would make stealing if everyone thought the same.

These thoughts and contemplations were starting to wear her down. It didn't take long for the team to find that there really was something wrong with their little thief. None of them were quite sure how to approach the subject. They were all used to the odd and perky Parker, even knew how to deal with her to some degree. A sullen and quiet Parker was a different story.

Parker sat perched on the arm of Nate's couch. One leg was curled under her and the other swung lightly, her toes softly scraping the wood floor that she was staring at listlessly. Eliot spared her a mildly concerned and irritated look from his spot on the couch, he shook his head and turned back to the Hacker's presentation. It seemed to lack its usual flare, Hardison himself kept glancing over in concern at the blond waif. It didn't matter, Nate seemed to be the only one paying attention anyway.

Finally, an exasperated Nate stood up after catching the Grifter and Hitter's stares turning once more to Parker.

"People, this has to stop. Parker, whats wrong?"

At first it appeared that Parker hadn't heard him, as if she was tuning out the whole world, as she sometimes did when things weren't interesting enough to keep her attention

"Par-" Eliot began, reaching out to tap her shoulder.

Parker shied away from his touch and stood up from her perch and Eliot let the rest of her name drop away. The team tracked her with their eyes as she walked around the couch to stand behind it, still not responding. She didn't lift her eyes to look at any of them, instead examining the couches material.

Finally she opened her mouth and spoke, "You know." Was her vague response.

Her four teammates glanced around the room at each other, not sure who her statement was meant to address. Was she singling out one of them in particular? Or all of them together? Or was this just one of the random things she spewed, that she expected them all to understand.

When the silence carried on a little too long, the Hitter spoke up once more.

"Who knows, Darlin'?" Despite the irritation that often comes when dealing with Parker, his voice was gentle.

Nothing ever came from yelling at Parker in irritation...except more irritation.

"You." She replied, to his surprise, and confusion. "And Sophie, and Nate, and Hardison." The thief continued before he even had time to ask what it was he was supposed to know.

"What do we know?" Nate asked patiently.

"That I'm wrong." She replied simply.

No one was sure quite how to take this. It seemed as if the conversation was going around in circles.

"We know somethings wrong baby girl, that's why were asking." Hardison piped in with that tone he reserved only for Parker, when he was trying to explain something she didn't understand.

It seemed to the team that Parker was only restating their question. Telling them what was obvious, something was bothering her. Eliot was the first to understand. Comprehension and then guilt flashed in his eyes.

He remembered a conversation they had had earlier. One in which he had used his favourite phrase when dealing with Parker. There's something wrong with you. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but her reaction had been different. Her smile had faltered and she had fallen silent as the group continued to chatter around her. In fact, if he thought back on it, this had been the reaction the last couple of weeks, whenever that phrased was used by one of them. This wasn't a realization he liked, and guilt seeped through him and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"That's not what she means." He pipped up, looking at the petite blond. "Is it sweetheart?" His tone was soft, apologetic.

Nate seemed to be the only one who had reached Eliot's understanding. Sophie and Hardison were still lost in the woods. It made sense that he would figure it out, he was the mastermind of the team, but Sophie and Hardison hated being clueless.

"Well, will one of you please explain?" The Grifter asked in irritation.

"Yea, we'd like in on this little secret or epiphany, or whatever y'all are having." Hardison added in his two cents.

Parker glanced around the room. Her eyes landing on all of them in turn, and finally fixing on Eliot as he clarified the situation, and a small smile graced her lips. She was happy that he understood. It faltered a moment later and she frowned, wondering it a smile was the wrong response, if it was weird to smile when something was bothering her.

"Parker thinks there's something wrong with her... Because it's what we always tell her."

As realization dawned on the faces of the others, Parker studied them. Confusion displayed itself in her furrowed brows. She didn't understand their expressions. The shock, and something she couldn't identify.

"Oh Parker..." Sophie murmured as she stood and made her way around the couch.

She wrapped her arms around the younger woman tenderly, and Parker let her, still bemused by the turn of things. She had admitted to what they all knew. That something was wrong with her.

"It's a term of endearment. It may not have started out as such, but it is. I guess we all just say it with out thinking. She tried to explain. "It's one of the ways we show affection for you."

"But Eliot only says it when he's upset with me for doing something weird."

Eliot, who had come to stand beside Parker while Sophie spoke, laid a hand gently on their thief's head running it soothingly over her hair.

"No matter how many times I say it, I wouldn't change a hair on your head sweetheart." The Hitter's words, and the hug that followed them, eased Parker's mind the most.

And when Hardison wrapped his arms around her next, commenting loudly, "Eliot's always upset about something." She laughed in good old Parker fashion.

Velvet~