A/N: My reviews for the previous chapter are all full of 'aaaww', and I love that! lol I thought I'd gotten too corny, but nope, apparently not. Now the truth of what Eliot meant by 'going home'...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16

Parker wasn't sure when she fell asleep. It was unlike her to do so in any place that she hadn't locked and bolted, ensuring she was alone and safe. The difference was that this truck was a safe place to be without any checking or locking. Eliot was here to make sure she was okay, safe, taken care of. There was no fear in Parker when the hitter was close by, there never had been. Now more than ever she trusted this man, and allowed herself to drift off right there in the passenger seat of his truck.

There had been dreams that made her smile. Beautiful memories of the night before, mixed up with romantic scenes from movies she had seen and wondered at. Now she thought she finally understood how people got so happy and even so dumb over being in love. Not that she was quite willing to admit that was the state she had found herself in with Eliot, but it had to be damn close.

Right before her eyes opened to the darkening sky, she smiled at the thought of always waking up as she had this morning, wrapped in Eliot's arms, all warm and safe. She had been on a ranch in her dream, something very similar to Aunt Katy's place. Thinking of her usually drew a tear from Parker, but today it was only a smile she could find for the memories in her mind. She understood why her unconscious mind had linked that place from her childhood with her new feelings for Eliot. Both had felt so much like home.

"Hey, sleepyhead," the man himself smiled when he realised Parker was back in the land of the living. "You okay?"

"Uh-huh," she replied groggily, a yawn escaping as she stretched her body out as much as the truck would allow.

She had been comfy enough for a while there but this was not an ideal place to rest.

Every muscle in Parker's body protested at being stretched to capacity after so long cramped up. She didn't pay much mind to the aches though, her mind was more occupied with the view through the windshield.

"Where are we?" she checked, noting the sun riding low over a hill.

Eliot had a definite plan to be wherever they were headed before dark, so they had to be close.

"A couple of miles out," he explained. "Won't be long now."

Parker didn't really react to his words or his tone. Bless her heart, she probably didn't even notice the shake he tried to keep out of his voice, Eliot realised. Truthfully, this was the only place he had wanted to be for weeks now, and yet, now they were as close as close could be, all he wanted to do was turn and run.

Home was where the heart lived, that was what they said and what Eliot knew to be true enough. He really did leave a part of himself here way back when the family up and left for Kentucky, and his Momma had done the same.

With himself and his sister gone off into their own lives, and Daddy long done for this world, it was obvious to Eliot that his mother would come back to Oklahoma. They'd had their best years in this place, she always said so, and he knew she was right.

Of course, in a lot of ways he felt at home just being here with Parker at his side. The little thief had snuck up on him in more ways than one, found a way into a heart Eliot barely believed he had anymore, and set up home. She was amazing, in more ways than the hitter could ever count, and as crazy as she was, he wouldn't change her for the world. Introducing her to his mother actually didn't bother him at all, though usually having Parker meet 'normal' people was a bad idea. She wasn't just the crazy thief on his team anymore, if she ever really had been that. She had become a friend, and then closer. Now she was everything and more to Eliot. He had meant what he said about never being able to deserve her, that was true enough, but he also meant every word when he promised to try in the future. She deserved the best and yet she had chosen him. It was flattering, humbling, and a whole bunch of other things Eliot couldn't even put into words. He loved Parker for wanting him in spite of everything, for caring, maybe even loving him like she did. In didn't matter that she might never say it or even understand it. She was here, and she was staying, from what she had told him. That was all Eliot really needed.

"Is it a big hotel?" she asked all of a sudden, and Eliot pushed down a smirk.

"There is no hotel, Parker," he told her.

"Oh," she reacted with a nod that he thought meant she understood, but she didn't. "So you have a house here? I guess that's where some of that money went that you never explained in the beginning," she went on thoughtfully, looking out all around.

"I don't have a house here," Eliot told her, as he pulled over to the side of the road.

Parker was confused and it showed on her ever-expressive face. Between Eliot's spotty explanation of where they were staying tonight and his suddenly pulling over like this, it was just weird. The engine cut off and he turned some in his seat to look at her in the half-shadows of twilight.

"I probably shoulda talked to you about this before," he considered, looking as awkward as Parker had ever seen him. "Er, when I said I was coming home, I never really explained," he went on, one hand pushing his hair back off his face. "See, this is the town I grew up in, from a babe in arms 'til I was almost thirteen," he explained. "Momma moved back here a while back, got herself a little house with the money she had left when my Daddy passed on... It's her I was coming to see."

Parker wasn't sure what she was meant to say to that. Eliot was coming back to Oklahoma to see his mother, a person he mentioned rarely and who she had never seen in a picture or anything. She had no mother herself, she certainly wouldn't know how to act around the woman Eliot called Momma. The panic was evident on her features, it must have been from the look Eliot gave her then.

"Parker, please, don't go freakin' out on me, darlin'," he urged her, reaching for her shaking hands. "Sweetheart, I know this is supposed to be a big deal, when you meet a persons folks and all, but... well, I had no idea this was gonna happen on the way down here," he shook his head. "You and me, that came as some sort of surprise. A good one," he promised with a smile. "But still a surprise."

"Surprise, yeah," Parker echoed, thinking more about where they had ended up and what it now meant.

She wasn't traditional, and knew little of how relationships were meant to work. Still, even Parker had seen movies and heard talk. She understood it was a very big deal when two people were dating and one wanted the other to meet the parents. She had no parents for Eliot to meet, except for Archie, and that already happened. Honestly, it hadn't gone so well, now that she thought about it. God only knew what would happen if Eliot took her to his mother's house and introduced her.

"Parker?" he prompted when she continued to stare into the nothingness beyond the windshield, not saying a word.

"I should go," she blurted out. "I mean, you came to see your mother, and she'll want to see you, obviously," she rattled on without really breathing in at all. "She doesn't know me. She won't want to, when she can just have you to herself. I'll just get in the way and not know how to talk to her or act like a normal person, and..."

"Hey, hey, slow down," Eliot urged her to both breathe and stop trying to scramble from the truck. "Darlin', c'mon, this is crazy," he told her, reaching to put a hand to her face and make her look at him.

"I am crazy, remember?" she snapped perhaps a little too harshly. "I.. I can't meet your mother."

"Parker, calm the hell down," he told her firmly but without any real anger or spite. "Babe, there's nothing wrong with the way you are, not in a bad way, I swear to God, there's not," he promised her, eyes locked onto her own so she understood how much he meant what he said. "Now, if this is too big a step for you, I get it. I can find a hotel for you, you don't have to meet my mother," he assured her, at which she visibly relaxed. "But Parker, don't let it be 'cause you don't think you're good enough. I already told you a thousand times that I'm the undeserving one here. You... you're worth a million of me, and my Momma would love you."

She didn't know what she was supposed to say, how to express what she was feeling. At this point in her life, Parker thought she was well used to the fact she could never verbalise the warring emotions inside her heart, but it never got easier. She wanted so badly for Eliot to just know what she was thinking and feeling, it'd make life that much easier. Sometimes he managed to read her like a book, but this was new territory for both of them, and she couldn't expect him to be that smart all the time.

"How do you know she'd like me?" she asked shakily, leaning her cheek into his palm. "When we first met, you didn't like me, and I didn't like you."

Eliot had to admit she had a point there. When the team first came together in Chicago, even when they reunited later in Los Angeles, he couldn't imagine genuinely caring for any of them. Now he saw brothers and a sister in those they'd left behind in Boston, and Parker meant the absolute world to him. Eliot couldn't promise his mother would like his new girlfriend instantly, but he had a pretty good idea that she would somehow.

"You trust me, right?" he asked, at which Parker huffed.

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes, a movement he could only just make out against the ever darkening surroundings.

"Then trust me when I tell you that you and Momma will get along just fine," he assured her, running his hand back through her hair as he leaned in closer. "And if you don't, I swear we can leave whenever you want, okay?"

It was a good deal, Parker could see that. She could also feel the warmth of Eliot's body close to hers and his breath on her face when he spoke. She so wanted to kiss him right now and decided why the hell not as she made it happen. A good long deep kiss gave her the last bit of confidence she needed.

"Okay," she said breathlessly when they parted, foreheads still pressed together. "If you really want me to, I'll meet your Momma," she smiled.

"Thank you, Parker," Eliot replied. "Thank you."

Despite agreeing to meet Eliot's mother, and being sure she did want to, Parker felt so very nervous as they neared the house. Her palms were sweating and her heart beat faster, much like was prone to happen when she started to panic on a job. It didn't happen often, but when the Steranko had her pinned down, when the FBI had them surrounded at the docks, she felt the symptoms of blind fear start to build. This was less terrifying because Eliot was here and he promised to make it all okay, no matter what. She was as excited to see the missing piece of the puzzle that was his mother as she was nervous at being turned away by yet another person.

All of a sudden, Eliot pulled the truck up outside the front of the house and turned off the engine. Parker looked sideways at the building, a medium sized house, out on its own, though the lights of the town they'd just passed through were not even a mile away. It looked like something out of some senators campaign commercial. A happy little family home in the country, except no family lived here, just one woman.

"You ready?" asked Eliot as he took off his seat-belt and reached for the door handle.

"Yeah," Parker all but squeaked, making herself breathe as she hopped out the passenger side.

They met at the front of the truck and Eliot reached for Parker's hand, squeezing it gently as they headed for the front door. The hitters free hand hooked his aviators in between the buttons of his shirt and then straightened out his hair. This was the first time he had seen his mother in maybe five years. Parker thought she was nervous, but she had no idea what he was feeling right now. His heart hammered in his chest as he headed up to the front door and raised a fist to knock.

Clearing his throat, Eliot knocked in a specific pattern, and then waited. Parker shifted from foot to foot beside him, unsure what to expect, when suddenly there was a grumbling behind the door. The words weren't clear, but Parker was sure she heard a couple of light curse words, then a rattle of locks being undone. All at once the door came open, and there she was.

"Hello, Momma," said Eliot with a kind of nervous smile at his lips.

"Land sakes!" the woman before him exclaimed, her hands flying to her face a moment. "Oh, Eliot! Oh, my boy!" she all but laughed as she reached out to grab at her son and pull him into a tight hug.

Eliot's hand came free of Parker's own whilst he hugged his mother back, tears in his eyes that he just couldn't help. Man, he had missed her so much, and hadn't entirely realised how much until he saw her again.

"It's so good to have you home," the older woman sighed against his shoulder, and even Parker felt a little moved, but more so as if she were intruding.

"'S good to be here, Momma," Eliot promised her. "But it ain't just me that came visiting. I got someone here I want you to meet," he explained as they pulled out of their hug and he reached once again for the little thief's hand. "Parker, this is Rebecca Spencer, my mother," he told her. "Momma, this is Parker. She's... she's my girl," he said simply.

Before Parker had a chance to react to those words, she was being pulled into a tight embrace by the woman she had only just met. Strangely, there was no feeling like she should stab or run. On the contrary, Parker hugged Mrs Spencer back and stared over her shoulder through a veil of tears at Eliot. She hadn't realised when he said they were going home just how much it would feel that way for her too.

To Be Continued...