Chapter 20

Eliot sat back in the dark shadows of the bushes across the road and studied the hotel in front of him. Quiet, not very busy. Pretty well lit, he had to admit. That might make things a bit trickier, but nothing he couldn't handle. Honestly, the lack of cars in the parking lot made the extra light almost a non-factor.

He studied the light on in Room 253. He hadn't seen a shadow moving back and forth for a while, but the flickering of the tv was still apparent. The Colombian was in there, all right. He'd been out here for several hours now, watching. And in maybe another hour or so, he'd be ready to move.

His job had always involved a lot of waiting. Waiting for the right moment, the right angle, the right move, the right weapon… When he took a job, he would calculate all those 'right' things to get the payout he wanted. And he always got the job right. Always got the payout. Always delivered the goods, or took down the mark.

Tonight, his job was the man in the hotel room. For whatever reason, a piece of Parker's past had found her and was out to make her life difficult. He'd left her sleeping in his bed, back at the hotel. Peaceful, relaxed, and out like a light. Eliot's job, to his mind, was to change the man's mind one way or another. He'd considered just killing the guy, but was reluctant to cause that kind of mayhem in small town Pennsylvania. It would really muck up life for the locals in a way that the city didn't worry about.

Besides, he'd gotten used to the idea of breaking heads instead of snapping necks. Not that he wasn't willing and able to do so for the right reason, and Parker was definitely the right reason. But… he'd rather try it another way first.

He'd been sitting back in the bushes, well hidden in the dark night, for another twenty minutes or so before the hair rose on the back of his neck, and he shifted his weight silently before moving lightning fast to grab the person who'd crept up behind him. And then he swore softly and let them go.

"Dammit, Parker," he growled. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Parker settled down next to him in the bushes, her pretty blonde hair tucked up under a black cap, and the rest of her covered in her usual black thief-clothes. "You're going to take care of the Colombian," she said.

"And?" Eliot grunted. "Doesn't explain you."

"I'm going to help you." She was very matter-of-fact, and even perhaps a touch surprised.

Eliot growled again. "I don't need your help on this, Parker."

He could sense her cocking her head and felt her eyes on him. "But who'll watch your back, otherwise?" she asked him. "Isn't that what my job is? You're supposed to keep us safe, and I'm supposed to be your back-up, right?" She was sitting very still, but he could feel the tension drawing her tighter. "I mean, I'm the thief, that's my job too, but you said I was your extra eyes and hands. And if I had extra eyes and hands, I'd use them when I was breaking into a vault, because then I could look for guards and stuff, which is what you do for me, so maybe you're my extra eyes and hands too…"

Eliot resisted the urge to heave a sigh. "Yeah, darlin'," he broke in. "You're right, I said that."

Parker was quiet for a few minutes, and Eliot thought that she was done talking for a while. He'd kept his eyes on the room, aware and ready for any change, but now he was letting his mind go back to the job at hand instead of focused on Parker. Right up until she opened her mouth again.

"So why did you try to come without me?" she asked, softly. "You got mad when I was going to go put the cameras in without you."

Well, crap. Eliot had kind of hoped that Parker wouldn't ask that. He didn't really want to answer it. He resisted the urge to rub his hands over his face, and instead kept himself still and calm in the dark shadows where they sat.

"Eliot?" Parker was getting quieter. He could see her head drooping a little. Christ, what was up with her? Something was different from this afternoon, and dammit, he wasn't liking it. The frown behind her eyes, the timidness now… It wasn't his Parker.

He took a quick breath and then let it out. "I wanted to take care of this for you, Parker," he finally said. He shifted a little, letting his shoulder bump hers. "I wanted to make sure that you didn't have to worry about it anymore."

It might be dark, but he could still practically see the wheels turning in her head. "But how wouldn't I worry?" she finally asked. "Because you'd be doing something for me and you could get hurt. And…" she hesitated a little, "You said this afternoon that that was ok. For me to worry. And I'd rather take care of it so you wouldn't get hurt, but you also said that was your job. And I'm just so confused!" She finally broke off in frustration.

Eliot wanted to groan. This wasn't what he'd wanted, not at all. All he'd wanted was to take care of the problem that was facing his girl, make it disappear and be done with. Instead he had a confused woman who was probably feeling a little hurt that he'd left her behind, and a mid-level mercenary in the hotel room in front of him.

"I just wanted to take care of you, ok?" he finally said. "I wanted to just… take care of it," he finally ended, rather lamely.

Parker was quiet again. Maybe not as tense as earlier. She was thinking again, those wheels turning a little slower and less frantically.

"Is this more of… caring?" she finally said. "Doing something for the other person, even if you don't need to?"

Eliot gave in and reached over for her hand, lacing his fingers with her dark, gloved ones. "Yeah," he said.

"What about sneaking off behind their back to do a job that should have them in it?" she asked. "Is that caring, too?"

Eliot winced. Well, when you put it that way… frankly, he was getting the impression that Parker wasn't nearly as confused as he'd thought. Regardless, she was now letting him know that she wasn't happy with him, and put that way, he didn't blame her.

He sighed, and rubbed her fingers with his thumb. "Yeah," he admitted. "That, and maybe a measure of stupid." He risked looking away from the window and found those eyes he… well… found those eyes of hers in the dark. "I shoulda brought you," he said quietly. "Sorry."

She didn't blink at him for a long moment, then nodded a little and looked back at the hotel room. "Ok," she said.

"Ok," he echoed. They sat in silence then, fingers still laced together.

Some time later, Parker stirred again. "So what's the plan?" she asked.

Eliot nodded at the hotel. "Wait until he checks out for the night, slip in and rough him up enough until he decides to let you alone."

"Why would he do that?" Parker had a curious tone. "You'd just get mad and get even later, if someone did that to you."

Eliot sighed. "Yeah, it's a risk," he said. "But this guy isn't me. He's not… quite up to my level, I guess. He can still be scared off."

Parker nodded. "Ok," she said. She cocked her head a little, thinking. Clearly. "You can still get scared," she said a few minutes later. "You got scared when he was shooting at us in the car."

Eliot blinked a little. Huh. "Yeah," he finally said. "But that was because he could've hurt you."

Parker sounded puzzled. "That scares you?"

Eliot snorted a little, and unconsciously gripped her fingers a little tighter. "I… It scares me," he finally admitted. "Not being able to keep you safe, that scares me."

"And hurting me? Like with your nightmares?" Parker asked.

"Yeah," he said. Shortly, and not wanting to talk more about it. But of course, this was Parker, and things weren't going to be that easy.

"You don't get scared for you," she said. "You get scared for me. Do you get scared for Nate and Sophie and Hardison?"

Eliot blew out a breath. Jesus, she was asking hard questions tonight. "Yeah," he grunted. "But it's not the same."

She was nodding slowly. "Like how you care about me," she said. "It's different."

He softened a little. "Yeah, darlin'," he said, rubbing her fingers again. "Different."

Parker sighed a little, and settled a little closer against him. "I get scared, too," she confided.

"Really? What are you scared of?" he asked, tipping his head so that the side of his head rested against the top of hers. He was kind of curious what kind of things would scare his fearless thief.

Parker was quiet for a moment. "Drugs scare me," she finally said. "I don't like them. I don't like being on them. I don't like when people give them to me." Eliot immediately flashed to Darrien and his move at the bar the day before and wondered if he should go back and do something a little more to the guy.

Parker was toying with the cuff of his shirt now. "I don't like when you get hurt," she said. "I get scared that you won't get back up, that someone got you too hard. I get scared if I get stuck alone and can't help."

Eliot turned his head and pressed a kiss against her cap. She sighed again. "Eliot…" she started, then stopped.

"What is it?" he asked, softly. She'd been on the verge of asking, or maybe telling him something this afternoon, and it felt like she was back at that point again. Somehow he really really wanted to know what it was.

He felt her take a breath and open her mouth, and then stop. She tugged his hand. "The light's been out for a while," she said. "We should go."

Eliot felt strangely let down as he got up, carefully, cautiously. He started leading Parker forward toward the motel, and his mind turned to the job at hand. Some little part, however, stayed on the woman right behind him. He really wanted to know what she was going to say.

Whew! Wasn't sure I was going to get a chance to write this! Hopefully another chapter tomorrow… otherwise, it'll be next week. Enjoy!