When Sophie led Nate into the hotel restaurant for breakfast on their first morning, she spotted Eliot and Parker immediately. Actually, anyone who entered the swanky dining room probably noticed them, as they did not naturally blend into this environment. She was fairly certain that with the appropriate clothing and personas, they'd be, on the surface, indistinguishable from the other wealthy guests, but they were not in the midst of a job. Eliot was being Eliot and Parker was being Parker.

The pair were sitting at a table, a nervous looking waiter having just delivered their breakfasts. Parker was perched in her chair, clad in an interesting outfit, even by her standards. She was wearing a white, v-neck t-shirt with three olive diamonds lined up vertically on the right side layered over a long sleeved, olive and pink striped hoodie. Her dark wash, five pocket denim mini skirt was tame enough, but paired with knee high, olive, black and blue argyle socks with calf high, slouchy, buckled black leather boots. A pair of large neon blue plastic framed sunglasses sat by her plate.

Clearly the other patrons thought she was deranged. Her meal of white bread slathered in mustard and raspberry jelly and lucky charms (marshmallows only, the cereal bits picked out) hold the milk, didn't help.

Eliot was slumped in his own chair, tucked neatly into a corner so he could warily eye the room. When he caught someone staring for too long, he'd fix a glare on them that would chill a polar bear to it's bones. He was wearing yet another variation of his usual outfit of battered, boot-cut jeans, a worn t-shirt, white and a light weight Haas work shirt with contrasting Oxford stripes in aged blue, white and antiqued red. His boots were heavy, brown and quite possibly steel toed. His meal at least was more normal, the pile of omelet, bacon, sausage and toast probably a bit bigger than the kitchens were used to, but not too odd.

Though the room was fairly crowded, none of the tables adjacent to them were occupied. It was as if Eliot's general aura of menace was creating a buffer around them, but, since they were guests at the hotel, no one could say anything about them. The only people willing to venture anywhere near them were the staff (and they were reluctant) and the wandering children of various diners. It was actually fairly interesting.

"Well," Nate said with a smirk, "I see we fit in."

Sophie sighed and strode over to the other two. Stopping by their table, she chided, "Stop threatening people with your eyes, Eliot!"

He looked at her unapologetically as Nate dropped into one of the spare chairs. He looked casual, but not entirely out of place in his grey cotton pants, pale blue Oxford shirt and charcoal Hush Puppies. Sophie knew she looked at home in the swanky hotel, resplendent in her rose and blush wrap dress in a vibrant print with delicate cascading ruffles, nude platform pumps and tasteful platinum jewelry.

With a sigh, she sat as well, smoothing her skirt and nodding to the least skittish looking member of the wait staff. The young man slowly approached, carefully keeping himself in Eliot's line of sight, a sure sign he had seen the results of approaching Eliot from behind. They placed their orders and he scampered away eagerly.

"So," Nate began, looking at the two who were eating their meals, "You two do anything interesting last night?"

Sophie was also interested in the answer to that question, as she hoped they hadn't stolen any priceless works of art until the end of their vacation. Things were always easier if you pulled a heist on the way out of town.

The silent glance Eliot tossed to Parker did not bode well for Sophie's hopes, and the blond smiled brightly as she finished her bite of bread. "Oh yes," she said, a happy little smile on her face that Sophie usually associated with jobs that involved huge piles of money.

Nate exchanged a glance with Sophie. Parker was happy and Eliot didn't want to tell them what they'd done. This might be a bad thing. "You two didn't knock over MOMA yet, did you?" Nate asked with a nervous chuckle.

Mouth full of Omelet and sausage, Eliot shook his head and mumbled, "No."

Parker laughed at Nate. "Of course not, everyone knows that museum security is always tight during an upgrade. You go in right after," she said as if he had made a funny joke. Sophie found it a bit odd that Eliot seemed to relax, sharing a little smile with the blond, who continued, "No, we stayed in and had lots of sex."

Nate and Eliot both choked, Nate on his coffee, Eliot on his breakfast. Sophie just looked between Parker and the retrieval specialist, who seemed quite adept at performing the Heimlich maneuver on himself. "Oh, you did, did you?" she asked in amusement. "That's lovely, but perhaps something to be worked in to conversation with a bit more finesse."

Parker cocked her head to the side. "Did I overshare?"

"Just a bit, Buttercup," Eliot rasped, sipping his tea to sooth his throat. "'S okay."

Nate just seemed uncomfortable with the whole situation now and Sophie knew he was trying his hardest to repress the memory of Parker's admission. Unperturbed, she said, "Well, I hope you do plan to venture out of the hotel at some point. It's a lovely city."

Eliot nodded, his own cheeks stained faintly with a rare slight blush. Parker seemed happy her verbal gaffe hadn't deterred Sophie. "Nope," the blond said, "After breakfast we're going to go see if Hardison want's to wake up and come to Staten Island with us."

Sophie blinked, unsure why that would be their destination of choice. Why Staten Island?"

"Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is there," Parker informed her. "I want to get the lay of the place and Eliot wants to visit the temple and gardens." "Sounds lovely," Sophie assured her with a smile.

"So," Eliot said, clearly trying to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, "What's on the books for you two."

"We're going to Barney's," Sophie informed him with a happy sigh. It had been to long since she'd been to that particular bit of shopping nirvana.

"Barney's?" Nate said, obviously alarmed. "I thought you said a spa. I was okay with getting a massage while you do…what you do at a spa."

Sophie smiled triumphantly and Parker grinned too, knowing the grifter had got one over on Nate. Eliot offered Nate a sympathetic look as Sophie said, "Did I forget to mention that the spa we have reservations at is on Barney's ground level. While we're there we might as well enjoy a bit of shopping."

Eliot, and even Parker, looked at Nate in pity. The hitter reached over and clapped the older man on the shoulder bracingly. "Stay strong, man."

Nate just groaned.

TBC

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