"So, Goldilocks, you been sleepin' in my bed?" Hardison accuses after Eliot leaves.
"Only when you fall asleep at the computer," she defends. "Which is a lot."
"Not last night…"
"Eliot's place is nice. Huge kitchen," Parker says, not knowing how to respond to his comment. "But, it kind of smells like a locker room."
"Are you ever going to tell me why you were so upset last night?"
"Yes."
"Anytime soon?" Hardison ventures, drawing her attention out of her cereal bowl.
"I screwed up!" she blurts out after a heavy pause.
"It was an accident."
"It shouldn't have been!" She puts her breakfast on the coffee table and pushes herself back into the couch cushions. "Any idiot could have seen that the pier was dangerous."
"Parker, everything you do is dangerous," Hardison points out as gently as possible.
"Exactly! I should have known that the structural integrity was compromised." Her body is practically buzzing with anxiety at this point.
"We all make mistakes," he offers.
"Not people in my profession." She levels her gaze on him. "One mistake and we're either dead or arrested."
"You're not dead and you're not under arrest," he points out.
"Because of you!" Parker exclaims in agitation. To Hardison, she seems angry, but he reminds himself of Sophie's words. 'She's mad because she's scared.' "If you hadn't been there-"
"Eliot was right behind me."
"But, what if he-"
"Nate would have been right behind him." He really doesn't want her to finish that train of thought. "And, Sophie…well, I'm not sure if she would have jumped in herself, but you can bet your ass she would have gotten ten of the toughest fishermen in that harbor in a heartbeat."
Parker smiles at the thought, but is determined to get her point across.
"What if all of you hadn't -"
"But we were," he says cutting her off again. He edges over and tentatively places a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to worry about what could have happened."
"I would have died," she says after making sure he was finished. Hardison swallows hard and shrugs noncommittally. "I thought I was dead." Her voice seems fragile and thin. "I was fighting so hard but I couldn't get anywhere. My body just kept getting heavier." Tears are filling her eyes but she refuses to let them fall. "Then you were there, pulling me out. After that, I just remember falling. I waited for the impact, but it never came."
"You passed out. I caught you."
"I thought I died and went to heaven," Parker mumbles with childlike innocence. She blinks away her tears and shakes her head to snap herself out of it. "I've had close calls before, but it was different this time. "Usually at the last second I would think about my money and the stuff I hadn't gotten the chance to steal yet." Hardison can't help but smile at this. "This time I thought about you."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you and Eliot and Sophie and Nate." For the second time this morning she has hurt him without realizing it or intending to. "I thought about the team and the job; the client and his daughter… I've never disappointed anyone before. When I'd screw up, it only affected me." She stares at her hands for a long moment. "I let you guys down."
When he tries to dispute the statement Parker clamps her hand over his mouth.
"I'm not finished!" she cries. "What if Nate finds a better thief?" She drops her hand to reveal on odd smile on Hardison's face.
"Is that really what you're worried about?" She nods. "Parker, you don't have to worry about that," he says, staring straight into her eyes.
"How do you know?" She asks, sounding much younger than her years.
"Because I'm like the smartest dude on this block," Hardison declares trying to lighten the mood. When she doesn't even crack a smile, he takes a deep breath and tries again. "There's nobody better than you," he states simply. "Even if Nate could find somebody better, he wouldn't want them."
"That doesn't make sense," she squeaks.
"Baby, you don't have to understand it. You just have to believe it." The whole concept seems to confuse her. "Trust me. You're stuck with us," he adds, sliding an arm across her shoulders. She considers this statement for a moment then accepts it whole heartedly. Parker is hugging him before he can react. Hardison barely has a chance to enjoy it; she pulls away faster than she launched herself at him.
"So…What will we do today?" she asks, leaning back and putting her feet up. "Since I can't do anything supposedly strenuous." Parker seems fully recovered. No one would guess that she was at the brink of tears a few minutes ago.
"Mama, I got 700 channels," he says, handing her the remote and ambling toward the kitchen. Hardison soon returns to the living room with a pop-tart and a bottle of orange soda. "Breakfast of champions," he proclaims when Parker turns up her nose. "What are we watching?"
"I don't know. I thought it would be about a mutant bee, but-"
"What?" He bursts out, taking a better look at the screen. "Parker, this is The Sting," he says with emphasis.
"Never heard of it," she shrugs.
"Wait, you're a con artist and you've never seen The Sting?"
Her blank look is answer enough. Hardison insists that this must be rectified immediately and backs up the movie to the very beginning. He tosses her a blanket and they get comfortable as the sound of an old time piano playing 'The Entertainer' fills the room.
(AN: if you like leverage and you haven't seen 'the sting,' you need to. I'm not going to give anything away.)