Title: It's The End Of The World (As We Know It)

Author: Kyra

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.

Summary: Everything changes when the bomb Parker and Hardison went after turns out to be a fake…And the real one goes off. In the aftermath of the Pulse, things only get more complicated when the Leverage team takes in a stray with secrets of his own.

Pairings: Very light Nate/Sophie and Hardison/Parker

Spoilers: Up through most of 'The Big Bang Job' for Leverage, goes AU on the train, and all of Dark Angel is fair game.

Warnings: None that I can think of.

A/N: Longer chapter! Yay!

Chapter 3: The Stray

Two weeks later, Nate frowned as he looked around the disaster area that was his apartment. He wasn't surprised that the place had been looted. Or that Eliot had had to physically throw out the squatter that had decided the apartment was now his. Not after they had made it out of DC only to find that the EMP bomb was a lot more powerful than Hardison had thought it was. At first they had thought it was just the areas immediately surrounding DC that had been affected, but it wasn't. After the first week, the military had managed to take some semblance of control over the situation and set up a very basic radio system. That was when they had found out that it wasn't just DC and the surrounding areas that was affected, it was the entire US, as well as most of Canada and Mexico. The Pulse, as it was being called, hadn't quite reached Europe or Africa, but nearly all the ships in the Atlantic were left dead in the water.

Between the mass panic, the lack of vehicles, and the security checkpoints being set up everywhere, it had taken almost two full weeks for Nate and his team to make it back to Boston after Parker, Sophie, and Hardison had made it to the warehouse nearly five hours after the Pulse.

"Eliot, Parker," Nate said as he turned to look at the others, "you two are on food detail for tonight. Get as much as you can and we'll try to make it last. Hardison, Sophie, and I will work on cleaning this place up while you're gone."

Eliot nodded as he pulled a gun from the small of his back, checking to make sure it was loaded before heading back out of the apartment with Parker right behind him. He hated guns, but they had become a necessary evil after the Pulse. Other people wouldn't hesitate to pull guns on them to get what they wanted, whether it be for food, clothes, blankets, or on one occasion, Parker. It was that last one that was the deciding factor. They would easily hand over material provisions when faced with a gun, they weren't worth being shot over, but Parker was a different story. Eliot wasn't about to let anyone in his little family be hurt, especially Parker, and if that meant carrying a gun then so be it. Nate carried one as well now and Parker, Sophie, and Hardison were with one of them at all times.

Eliot and Parker moved as quickly as they could, gathering as much food and as many supplies as they could in an hour. Rules had been established early on, one of which being that no one was allowed to be gone longer than an hour at a time unless previously agreed upon. So food and supply runs only ever lasted an hour. But Parker and Eliot were good and quick.

Eliot stood on the lookout as Parker flitted about the abandoned store they were in, gathering up what she could. There wasn't much left, but they knew how to make do. Suddenly Eliot stiffened as he saw movement at the other end of the store, closer to where Parker was.

"Parker," Eliot started calmly, never moving his eyes from where he had seen the movement, "come on, time to go."

"But there's more…" Parker trailed off as she looked up to see that Eliot wasn't even looking at her and she nodded. "Okay."

Before she could take more than two steps, Parker was being yanked back and was suddenly half-sprawled on the floor and half-held against a small but strong body, a knife at her throat.

Eliot's eyes widened as he saw the boy holding a knife to Parker's throat. And he really was just that, a boy. No older than nine or ten, the boy met Eliot's gaze defiantly.

"Just let me take the food and supplies and I won't hurt her," he stated softly, never breaking eye contact with the older man.

Eliot held his hands up to show he was unarmed since he hadn't even had a chance to reach for his gun. "Hey, go ahead and take it," he said. "Just let her go. We don't want any trouble."

The boy stared at him with mistrust before quickly shoving Parker away from him and grabbing the bag of food she had dropped when he yanked her back. The boy had moved so fast, Eliot had barely been able to track it.

Parker quickly scrambled over to Eliot's side before turning to look at her assailant, her jaw dropping as she saw the small boy. "Oh," she gasped softly. Tilting her head, she looked at him curiously. "Where are your parents?" she asked.

The boy didn't answer but split his attention between Eliot and Parker now instead of focusing solely on the more obvious threat of Eliot.

"I'm Parker," Parker tried again, taking a small step toward the boy.

Eliot's hand shot out to grab Parker's arm. "Parker…" he warned, tugging her back toward him.

"Look at him, Eliot!" Parker exclaimed as she turned to look at him while pointing at the boy. "He's, like, nine! What if he's alone? We can't leave him alone!" She stared up at him with wide eyes, her lower lip poking out just a bit and starting to tremble slightly.

Eliot glanced at her and groaned softly. "Damn it, Parker! Stop with the face already!" he exclaimed before focusing all of his attention back on the boy. "Do you have somewhere to stay, kid? Someone to stay with?"

"Why do you want to know?" the boy asked defensively, looking like he was trying to decide if he should run or not.

"It's dangerous out there," Parker said. "You shouldn't be alone."

"I can take care of myself," he stated firmly.

"We can tell," Eliot muttered to himself before speaking up and addressing the boy. "That's not the point. You're a kid; you shouldn't have to take care of yourself. So if you need a place to stay, you can stay with us."

The boy eyed them warily for a moment before making the mistake of looking at Parker, only to see her giving him the same look she had given Eliot moments before. "What do you want from me?" he asked, though he took a small step closer to them.

Parker shook her head. "Nothing," she replied, before amending herself. "Well, I mean, you'll have to do your share just like the rest of us, but we're a team, we take care of each other."

The boy hesitated for a moment longer before nodding and lowering his knife, though he didn't put it away. "I…I'm Ben," he said finally.

Parker beamed at him. "I'm Parker, though I already said that. And this is Eliot. Now let's hurry up and get the rest of this stuff gathered up, we have to be back soon or the others will worry." And with that, she shrugged off Eliot's hold and made her way closer to Ben, the two of them quickly gathering anything they thought might be useful, though Ben watched Parker and Eliot warily as he did so. Finally they headed back towards Nate's apartment.

"You get to explain the stray to Nate," Eliot stated, glancing at Parker as they cautiously made their way back out into the streets and headed for home.

Well, now you all know who the stray is! Hope no one was too disappointed.

~ Kyra