A happy new year to all of you! I'm sorry I kept you waiting so very long. My aunt's cancer, the stress at university and the fact that I couldn't get a hold of my beta-reader delayed any progress on this. That being said, I am looking for a new beta-reader, so if anyone is interested just pm me and we'll figure something out.
Enjoy! :-)
The next morning Sean felt a strange wave of hope rushing through him as he stepped outside McCrory's, hope that justice will finally be done. He scoffed inwards, hope was a curious thing. When you're trapped in an ever dark cell, a single lightning in the far distance could give you hope, that you might get out of there, even if you know you don't. He shook his head and continued walking.
He needed to go to his place; he hadn't been there for over a week now. The mail was probably stacking at the door and his neighbors would have filed a missing persons report already. He smiled faintly; he had much bigger problems than that right now. He walked down the street and tried to sort out everything that happened. Why did they fail at every attempt to bring Fuller down? Had he someone following them? Was he blackmailing someone from the team? Had he bugged the office? He sighed, it was no use. He shook his head and kept on walking through the cold morning.
As he reached his apartment building, he nearly jumped as someone just started talking to him. "Good morning Mr. Murphy. Haven't seen you around here for quite some time now. Been busy?" Jeff, the doorman said in his usual cheerful voice. Sean needed to take a deep breath before his body relaxed and he allowed himself to put on a polite smile. "Yeah kind of. But I really need to wrap up some business. Have a nice one" he replied trying not to sound too harsh. That man was just being friendly; there was no reason to snap at him. Jeff nodded, though he looked a little confused as Sean stepped into the elevator.
When he got to his apartment it was as he expected it to be. Newspapers and mail stacking up inside, some notes from his neighbor as to where he had been. He sighed, better start cleaning the place up.
Back at Nate's place it was one of those mornings, on which everyone wrapped their stuff together to go to their respective 'homes'. Hardison mumbled something about he had some catching up to do with his online buddies. Sophie went for a clothes-shopping trip, while Nate said he needed to get some groceries. Eliot stayed longer for he had to clean up the kitchen (that was his and only his realm after all, despite Nate's cooking lessons in prison) and Parker was checking possible entrances for a break-in and also ran a test on their existing security system. After what happened to the original offices, she felt that she needed to protect her new found and strange family. That thought however still scared the life out of her; because the term family, in her case, was not exactly linked to pleasant memories. Every family she ever was in never really accepted her. Not even her real family understood her. Just her brother did… she let out a little sob. Don't go there Parker.
Eliot's heart almost stopped when he heard the distinctive sound of his favorite thief sobbing. He didn't know what it was that upset her, but if he'd had to guess he'd say it was either about foster children or her foster families. He really needed to ask Hardison to get him some names so that he could deliver the proper punishment to her former families for failing her. "You okay, darlin'?" he said towards the ceiling; he figured she would probably be crawling through the ventilation shafts. "Yeah, I'm fine. No need to worry" she replied matter-of-factly. He nodded; that voice usually meant that she wouldn't talk about it any further and he respected that.
"Hey Parker, want me to give you a lift to your place?" he asked; trying to shift her focus away from whatever it was that plagued her right now. However, Parker's body completely froze. Her instincts practically screamed at her to say no and just run. When you let people get close to you they all just end up hurting you. However, her heart and stomach told her the exact opposite thing. Eliot is not just anyone, he cares. He said that and what he says is honest, period. Her mind was racing and suddenly she found it hard to breathe. It took all her control to relax her body in order to ease her breathing. The fight inside her still raged on and eventually both heart and mind found some middle ground. "No I think I get home by myself. But maybe ... maybe we could do that coffee-thingy that Alice did with Peggy. You okay with that?" she asked, slightly trembling; unsure of what his answer might be. She still was freaked out by that dating business.
"Sounds great to me, sweetheart. Shall I pick you up, or do you want to meet there? Assuming you want to go to the same place you went with Peggy." he asked. He had to be careful how to talk to her when it came to that kind of things. "Yup, I'll meet you there" she replied and continued to make her way through the ventilation shafts.
Sean inwardly cursed the strange magic that Nate's apartment and his dysfunctional little crew of high-tech Robin Hoods had on him. That and his little vacancy at the ICU prevented him from taking care of his place. Answering all the missed calls, e-mails, letters and what not made him grunt more times than he remembered letting out before. It appeared to him that he suddenly climbed the ladder of importance (as far as his family was concerned) straight to the top. All those hypocrite condolences he found made his blood boil. They sent them because they needed to ease their minds, not because they cared. He cleared out the bad things from his fridge but tossed the thought to refill it aside. He would probably be staying at Nate's longer than he planned anyway.
As he stepped onto the street again and began to walk to McRory's he had the strange feeling that someone was watching him. Normally he put such feelings aside, assuming he was just paranoid. But this time it felt different, more intense which told him that it was not his mind that was playing trick on him. He looked around but was unable to make out anything special. Everything was as it was supposed to be. And that was what bugged him; it was too normal. He kept on walking; trying his best to appear as ordinary as he could.
He turned into an alley so that he might get a picture of who was following him but again, nothing was out of the ordinary. Now he began to get scared, which in turn made him furious. He exited the alley again and continued on his way towards the office with a grim expression on his face. He was so focused on not lashing at people who accidentally ran into him that he didn't notice the two men in black leather jackets following him. He also failed to notice that they followed him into yet another alley which was a shortcut to McRory's. He only noticed the two men closing in on him as one of them jammed a syringe into his throat. After that everything went black.
Parker was sitting on the bed in one of her safe houses hugging her bunny. The emotional war that was raging inside her made her want to hide in a dark corner and wait until the storm was over. But she knew that wouldn't help anything. So she tried to figure out everything that happened in this last week. Eliot kissing her (which again sent a wave of giddy excitement through her), Sophie's revelation that the hitter and the thief were in love with each other, her instincts telling her to run as far away from Boston as she could. Why was she feeling this way? She had been alone with Eliot before, so why was she scared of him driving her home? Didn't she want him to see how she lived? No, he had already seen it when they tried to free her from the Steranko.
It was not like he hadn't given her a lift to where she wanted to go before. But those time were different, there was always someone around that she could turn to for help; even if she had to scream into her com. She mentally kicked her butt for assuming that Eliot would do anything to her. Behind his rough and bitter exterior she knew that deep inside, he was just an oversized teddy bear. Something she could hug furiously, like her bunny.
And then her mind did the one thing she hated it for. It tried to compare the feelings she experienced when she was in his presence or when she just was thinking about him, or the team in general, to something it knew. Which unfortunately caused it to dig up memories of her brother's death, how her family fell apart, how she was handed over from one foster family to another, how nobody cared about her. Tears made their way into her eyes and down her face and eventually landed on her bunny's head, like they had times beyond counting. And it was then, that she realized just how much the team meant to her. She put her bunny along with her gear and tools inside a duffle bag and all but stormed out of the building to the one person she knew could make her feel safe.
As Eliot pulled into the parking lot of his apartment his mind was in a completely different place. Way before he even heard the name Nathan Ford. When he thought he had a shot at a normal life; when he was still wit Aimee. He growled, that woman would always be a mystery to him. He left her back in the day because he was protecting her. His line of work was not exactly about making friends. He had enemies, people who wanted him to suffer. And he just couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt because of something he did. He even tried to explain to her but she wouldn't listen and just kicked him out. Left him on the street like a wet dog with no home, no family to turn to. That was when he decided to never let anyone get close to him again. What happened with Aimee would just keep repeating itself over and over again.
He growled, trying to burn that memory out of his mind but it wouldn't let him. It kept telling him that this was the way things would end between him and Parker, that he would end up hurting her while trying to protect her. However, his heart started rebelling against the alleged dominance of his mind. It told him that with Parker it was different, she could take care of herself and moreover, he had a family now that would stand beside him no matter what.
Realizing he sat in his car for about ten minutes while listening to the discussion his mind and heart were having he let out a chuckle. Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I'm in charge here he said to himself to shut out the voices in his head. He grabbed his bag and went up the stairs to his apartment. When he arrived at the door he noticed that someone had messed with his lock. It was almost impossible to see but Eliot knew what he had to look for. His body tensed, ready to fight for his very existence if need be. But as he slowly stepped through the door he smirked. He could sense that scent everywhere; Parker was here.
Sean's eyes slowly opened as he tried to figure out why he had to open his eyes in the first place. He remembered walking to Nate's and the feeling of being followed. But after that, nothing. However, his headache and the fact that he was tied to a chair told him that he had not just passed out. He had been kidnapped but was too tired and groggy at the time to free himself from his shackles. But he already knew who had him kidnapped, there was only one person he had pissed off enough to get himself abducted. Unless he had fallen victim to some psychotic serial killer for whom he resembles someone.
"Ah, Mr. Murphy. It is so kind of you to finally honor us with the pleasure of you being conscious" a voice behind him said, mockingly. Sean didn't even need to turn around to know which face went with that voice. He had heard it enough times already on the TV, where it tried to profit from other people's suffering.
The sudden wave of adrenaline and anger that raced through him caused his dizziness to fall off in mere seconds. Instead he started to growl and his muscles flexed and strained his shackles to the edge of bursting while said restrains grinded into his flesh. His vision entirely reddened and he could hear the beast within him, telling him to let it out, to give into his rage. He had to submit to the pain at some point and he took a few deep breaths while he told himself that he was above this primal need for blood vengeance. Needless to say that it was useless, he wanted nothing more than to rip that man's spine out.
"Ah-ah, dear Sean. Yes that is correct, I know who you are. And I know who your friends are. A shame, really, that I am unable to take you all out at once. But I will get rid of you nonetheless." Greg Fuller replied is his humiliating tone. "Moreover, all this growling and rambling like a rabid animal really doesn't help our relationship here. You might want to think that over. I'm sure your daug…"
"Don't you dare mention her" Sean barked over his shoulder while he shot up, taking the chair he was restraint to with him. It was no comfortable stance but his pride would no longer just sit by while that creature made fun of him and his family. As he turned around and slowly hobbled (moving with a chair tied to your back doesn't really allow normal walking) towards Fuller he could see the slightest trace of fear in said man's eyes. Good he thought as his mouth turned into a wicked grin.
"What are you doing here, darlin'?. And how did you know where I live?" Eliot asked both surprised and utterly glad to see her in his apartment. She didn't respond but just stood inside his living room and took everything in. "It suits you" she whispered, afraid that this would all crumble beneath her if she spoke too loudly. The warm and comfortable colors of his furniture somehow soothed her and made her feel welcome at the same time.
"Well thank you Parker, but that still doesn't answer why you came here" Eliot said as he put his bag down and slowly moved towards her. She turned around and faced him "I was scared. And lonely, I don't like being scared" she said before her face brightened up and she rushed towards him and jump-hugged him. "But now you're here" she hummed into his neck and for a second Eliot thought that he might have fallen asleep in his car and was having a very nice daydream. The contact of their bodies however told him otherwise and he let out a small but content sigh. She was as light as a feather but she hugged him with a force that Eliot didn't think she had.
"So what was it that scared you so, sweetheart?" Eliot whispered as he gently put her down on her feet again. But the moment he saw Parker's face he regretted asking her, her lip was trembling and he could almost hear the tears forming behind her eyes. "I remembered. What it was like before I met you all" she answered in such a tiny voice that Eliot to move a little closer to understand. "What did you remember?" he inquired further.
Parker took a very deep breath to keep it all together. "I feel safe with the team. Even more so with you. But every time I felt safe in the past something happened that destroyed it. Mean people, greedy people. I know you are not mean or greedy or anything. But I'm still afraid that something will come around, destroy it and laugh at our faces after it is finished" she said frantically. Eliot stepped closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's alright Parker. Nothing is going to destroy our family. I won't let it happen, I promise" he said in the most calming voice he was able to create. He felt her relax under his touch and the tiniest smile spread across her lips. She closed her eyes and hugged him again, putting a small kiss on his neck that left goose bumps in its wake. "Can I stay with you, Eliot?" she whispered into his ear "Just for a few days, nothing major" she quickly added.
Eliot felt like an angel just picked him up and lifted him to heaven. "You can stay as long as you want, darlin'. And I promise I won't let anything happen to you. If anyone wants got get you, they have to go through me first, and then there are still the others. You're safe here, Parker" he said as he moved her head up and put a tender kiss upon her lips.
Sean's head hurt like hell, again. Someone whacked something over his head, again. He was sure he had concussion, if not two. He could only hope that Eliot and the others would soon grow suspicious as to why he wasn't showing up or answering his phone. Luckily he still had his com on him. Those rookies didn't even search him properly. When this is over he thought to himself you'll wish you had, Fuller.