This chapter is for Anubus D. Wicked for all the support he gives me and because he loves Alec as much as I do. Hope you like it.

I hope you all enjoy this.

Hardison was the first person she ever trusted, sure, she knew Sophie couldn't possible hurt her, but the woman had too many faces and she didn't know if she could trust them all.

Hardison just got under her skin with his sweet smile and kind eyes, with the way he was always looking out for her, even when he didn't need to...

She only realized how good she felt about him when she fell asleep on his couch for the first time. She woke up in panic, mad at herself for letting her guard down; he raised his face from his computer and smiled nervously "I wanted to cover you, but knew I couldn't touch you. I am sorry if you didn't sleep well; I didn't wanna wake you either" and he shrugged; that was the day she learned she could trust him.

Two months later they were on plane back to LA and she couldn't go to Sophie because she was Nate; drunken Nate and drunken Nate scared Parker so, instead, she went to Hardison and sat at his side, her legs bent under body.

The hacker noticed how tired she was, the way her head kept falling forward as she drifted into sleep raising up seconds later, startled. That was understandable; the girl had broken in into different museums in only one night for the con.

"You know you can sleep, right, girl?" She shook her head silently. Sleeping at his house when they were alone was one thing; there were many people there though; she didn't like it. "Sleep, I won't let anyone get to ya!" On some other occasion she would have doubted him, of the team's men Hardison was the one that couldn't hold his ground on a fight, how could he protect her from whoever it was if she herself could take him down? That day she didn't doubt him though, he looked at her in such away, with such certainty in his eyes, she knew he'd fight the world for her if he had to and he'd leave a winner!

After that, whenever she felt tired yet lonely she went to Hardison's place, she'd crash on his couch with a blanket wrapped around her, knowing he'd still be in the exact same place the minute she woke up.

One time she slept for hours and woke up in the middle of the night with the living room empty, she panicked thinking he had left her alone then; she turned around and saw the wall. The hacker had projected a message on it; it said: "It's late and I had to go get some sleep, this house has a security system only you can break and I am in my room in case you need me. You're safe!"

She ran the hallways and sneaked into his room; surprisingly he woke up and rolled on the bed facing her.

" 'There anything ya need, girl?" She shook her head smiling.

"Thank you!" and she left.

When the nightmares came, the night she couldn't bear to be around Eliot anymore she went to see him; he was still awake, playing on his laptop when she burst through the window.

She was shaken, shaking actually, and as pale as he had ever seen her with little red dots on her chicks and swollen eyes from crying.

"Parker, are you okay?" She just shook her head, unable to talk.

"Is the baby okay?" She shook her head again.

"You want me to take ya to a Hospital?" Again; the same response.

"Wanna call Eliot?" Tears started popping out of her eyes.

He got up from his place on the couch and walked towards the kitchen, grabbing a teapot and turning the stove on.

"I'ma make you some tea, okay?" She approached the counter, giving small steps, almost as if she was afraid to approach him.

"Didn't know you drink tea" He gave her one of his bright smiles.

"Nana always said tea was the Holy Grail of health, I don't drink it all the time like Sophie, just sometimes… when I'm feeling down it helps..."

"Can I stay here for the nigh?"

"Sure you can, girl"

He found her the next morning fighting with Eliot; he was pissed with her, mostly worried and hurt though.

"Wanna tell me where you were last night, hu? Why did you leave without telling me anything? Answer me" She tried to walk away, hugging her own body in discomfort. Eliot grabbed her. "That's my baby too, you know!?" She tried to pull away, he didn't let go so Hardison pushed Eliot against a wall.

"What the hell, man!" Eliot shouted, more surprised than angry.

"Let her go! She's not ready to answer so let her go!" He shouted as he pulled Parker out of the room; it would take him and Eliot three weeks to speak with each other again and soon Parker left his house because she didn't want to bother him with her "silly little nightmares".

There was no way Hardison was letting his best friend go so he helped her find her new apartment downtown and forged all the documents so she wouldn't have to.

He also kept breaking in, leaving a teapot with water and some tea bags on the kitchen, along with her favourite cereal so she knew she wasn't alone; he would never leave her alone.

Sophie called him that night, telling him Parker had called and if he could take an eye on Eleanor while they were gone. When he got back home the thief already was waiting for him, she seemed lost, but better than a few weeks before that.

"Huu...Sophie told me I shouldn't be alone... Hope you don't mind..." Hu hugged her tight, he couldn't lose her.

Three days after that Nate reunited them all on the Headquarters informing them that they had a new job, to haunt down Ronald Brown, one of Parker's foster parents and kill him. Eliot and Hardison both smiled at that; that was a job they had been looking forward to in a long time.

Parker still hadn't come back home which meant she was there watching over his shoulder as he did his research on her "father", he already had the man's address when she stopped him.

"There's something I've got to tell you!"

She told him everything without shedding a tear, every dirty little detail she never told the others, all of her memories from that house and life she had left behind; Hardison cried, not blaming the dust this time; someone had to cry over that and Parker couldn't anymore, she had grown cold over the years, concluding she had cried too many times already over that sad tale.

Hardison said nothing, he listened to every word that spilled out of her mouth and in the end swore he'd never tell the others what he had been trusted with. She hugged him and left for bed, Parker was for months pregnant now which meant she slept more than usual; it was still not much; just more...

As soon as she left the room, Hardison grabbed his phone and dialled Nate's number.

"Yo, Nate, listen I want in on this job, man!... Yeah, I know, I know... No, I won't be there personally, I just... Listen! I'll build a bomb and you take it with you, you make that guy suffer as hell, but don't kill him, I want my bomb to kill him!... Thank you man, 'ppreciate it."

He threw the phone on the table as his thoughts run back and forward over the last two years, Eleanor was almost ten now.

Alec Hardison was not a murderer, he didn't have cold blood like Nate or Eliot, he didn't have a taste for blood and fire like Parker, he didn't have Sophie's vengeful reasons, however, almost two years ago when he heard what had happened to his little niece he knew he had to be a part of it and he was. He loved to inside the church with Eleanor, he loved the horror look on the priest's face, he loved to know the man felt nothing but fear as his lungs collapsed and his heart stopped.

He was a great part of the entire revengeful thing, he was the one that found out where the man's church was, the one that arranged for it to be empty that afternoon, the one that did the cover story and he was damn proud of it; this time though, that was not enough

Sure, he'd still do the cover hope, he'd still find them a good location to torture the man and he'd still lie back as the others did the dirty work, taking care of Eleanor evading all of her questions, yet he needed to know he had helped finish that horrid man's life.

Parker appeared from the shadows wearing one of his shirts.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" He frowned at that strange request.

"Is there anything wrong with your room?" She quickly turned around, ready to head back.

"No..." She stopped and turned around again. "Yeah... you're not in it... I don't want to be alone"

He smiled and got up from the couch, after all, he needed some sleep too.

They were already in bed when he placed his arm around her, his hand cupping the bump that now was her belly.

"Alec, what are you doing?"

"I'm protecting the baby"

"Protecting it from what?"

"From the monsters, silly!"

"You realise there aren't any monsters sleeping under our bed, don't you?"

"No, not under the bed..."

"Night, Alec..."

Parker woke up in the middle of the night thinking Alec must have been right; his arm did protect the baby from monsters.

She had had a nightmare during her sleep, the same as always except this time the grownup version of herself wasn't there; Alec was and he walked in and stopped Eliot from advancing. The moment the hitter turned back his mask fell and she could see it was really her dad, not Eliot, abusing her all those times.

She smiled, the baby was safe, she was safe too and soon she'd be able to go back home, just where she belonged.

Parker covered Alec's arm with her own and fell asleep, she'd dream no more that night.

On the next chapter things will start to get serious, we will meet Parker's father, just a warning.

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