A/N: This is it, folks. The end of the road, beyond the end of the roadtrip ;) I am sincerely grateful for all the lovely feedback I have received throughout - you're all wonderful people, you really are! This fic has been one of my favourite to write, maybe ever actually. I'm so glad that so many of you have enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now, without further ado, the final chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 17

Mrs Rebecca Spencer was hilarious. That was one of the first things Parker learnt on meeting Eliot's mother, and she loved it. She had kind of assumed that a serious growly person like her hitter boyfriend would have a really stern, strict parent behind him. Whilst she was assured that Becky (as she was encouraged to call her) could be that way when she had to be, she was also loving and warm, and just so funny! She told stories of years gone by, happy family times when Eliot and his sister were little kids. Parker laughed along, eating home-made scones with fresh butter, and drinking real lemonade. Eliot's arm was around the back of her chair and his blue eyes sparkled all the brighter as he looked between his mother and Parker herself. This was definitely a good happy place to be.

It didn't matter that it was well past midnight before anyone checked the time. Nobody had anywhere special to be tomorrow, they all just wanted to be here together. Parker hadn't really known she could feel this good about a new and strange place before, but then she never knew anyone like Eliot in her dark and lonely past.

"I know I got me my old-fashioned ways, but I'm guessin' you two wanna be sharing a room tonight?" asked Becky as she got up to clear the table.

Eliot grabbed the glassware from her hands and made a big deal of doing the chore for her.

"We don't have to share a bed, if you think sex is wrong...?" asked Parker, not even noticing the way Eliot winced as he went through to the kitchen.

"Oh, honey, I got nothin' against a little sex," Becky told her with a wink. "Truth be known, that's one of the biggest things I miss about my late husband, God rest his soul," she whispered, for fear of damaging her son's brain if he overheard. "Fact o' the matter bein' I ain't as stupid as some think. I know you young 'uns all live for the moment, even more than some folks did when I was growing up," she sighed. "I ain't judgin' you, honey, or that boy of mine. The fact he brought you here proves to me that he cares for you a damn lot," she smiled warmly, taking Parker's chin in her hand.

To her credit, the little thief tried her hardest not to flinch. She even smiled when she realised how kind Eliot's mother was really being.

"My, but you are pretty. Eliot, I hope you tell this young woman just how pretty she is," Becky told her son just as soon as he was back in the room.

"She knows it, Momma," he rolled his eyes before turning them to meet Parker's own. "Parker's beautiful, inside and outside. Anybody who doesn't see that would have to be blind and dumb."

Becky might've said something else after that but Parker didn't hear. She was so overwhelmed by the things Eliot was saying about her. He'd said them before, of course, both in the truck and when they spent the night in that hotel room, exploring the passion that ignited between them. This was different. This was in front of another person, and that person was Eliot's own mother. Somehow that made it a much bigger deal because to her mind it made it all the more true.

Parker found herself being ushered up the stairs more suddenly than she was ready for, her mind still stuck back in the conversation where Eliot had called her beautiful and his Momma seemed to agree. She had never had so much warmth and love thrown at her all at once like this. Even though there were only two people here with her, she never felt so much like she belonged in a family, not even with the team.

"You okay?" asked Eliot just as soon as they were alone upstairs together.

"Yeah, sure," Parker nodded along, trying to get her bearings.

"I know Momma can be a little... I dunno, I guess she seems intense to you or somethin'?" he shrugged, pushing his hair back off his face. "It's just been a long time since she's seen me, and you're like her dream come true, y'know? A woman I care so much about and actually brought home for her to meet, I didn't think..."

Eliot's words were abruptly cut off as he suddenly found his arms full of Parker and her lips pressed against his own in a sweet kiss. It only lasted a moment but somehow he knew it mattered more than it seemed.

"What was that for?" he asked softly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

There was a long moment when Parker didn't answer. She was hardly looking at him, in spite of the fact that this close she had few alternative options. Eliot felt her hands clasp and unclasp behind his head three times in some kind of nervous gesture and it made him worry. Just when he was about to ask what was up, she came out and said it.

"I... I love you?" she almost asked more than said it the first time, but then a smile came to her lips and she sounded more confident when she repeated those words. "I do. I love you, Eliot Spencer."

It had taken her all this time to be absolutely sure of herself. Parker had gone around in circles in her head this whole trip, maybe even before that. If she thought about it much, she was pretty sure she could track this line of thinking way back, before Boston even. The truth was, she had always known she had some kind of feelings where Eliot was concerned, she just didn't know what they were or how to deal with them. This trip proved they had a different relationship with each other than anyone else in the team. When they made love at the hotel before, it was like her head cleared and Parker understood that if anything could ever be called love it had to be this thing she had found with Eliot. Here tonight with him and his mother in this cosy home, she was so completely sure of herself all of a sudden. It just seemed like the perfect time to speak up.

The moment after the magical three words were out in the open seemed to go on forever in its silence. Eliot didn't say anything, he just didn't seem to react at all. So many emotions ran through Parker in that time, all the way from abject fear that she just screwed up, to overwhelming relief that she finally said the L word and meant it. Then Eliot kissed her.

The breath was completely knocked out of Parker, but in the best possible way. Her knees buckled with the intensity of the moment, making her entirely grateful for Eliot's strong arms that easily held her up. Her body pulled flush against his own, she was sure she about to drown somehow, when suddenly the kiss was over and his lips were near her ear.

"Love you too, Parker," he promised in a whisper that sent a shiver down her spine. "Love you 'til the day I die."

"Uh-uh," she said then, startling him from their moment of passion as she made a big deal of seeing his face and shaking her head emphatically. "No dying," she warned him too seriously. "Now you and me are an us, there is no dying, okay? You always have to come back from stuff, for me, to me," she insisted. "Always," she said definitely.

It was an impossible promise for him to make and he swore he wouldn't do it, yet when they made love that night, it kind of felt like he had, without a word being spoken.

The garage to the back of Becky Spencer's house was not all meant for a car. Half of the smaller structure attached to the house held her vehicle, though she admitted to barely ever using it. The other half, or what actually proved to be the larger part, was where her horse lived.

Parker tried not to freak out when she found out a large four-legged beast was living right outside the back door. She wasn't as completely terrified of horses as she had been, and a part of her wondered if sharing with Eliot where her fear came from had helped to ease it a little somehow. It didn't make sense, but then very little of what happened with her and Eliot ever did. Parker never thought for a minute she could love a person the way people in movies and books seemed to, but here she was doing it. The craziness of her revelation made her snort with laughter, startling Becky who was sat beside her on the front porch.

"You okay there, honey?" the older woman checked, opening her eyes to look at the blonde.

They were relaxing out here and enjoin the sunshine whilst Eliot went to visit with Blackjack, his Momma's horse, that she swore could be the twin of one they had years ago when Eliot was a child and learning to ride himself. He had also promised to take a look at the car that had been rattling some lately, swearing that he didn't understand why his mother didn't trust garages at all, but she never did.

"I kinda love being here," said Parker with a sigh. "I love being anywhere with Eliot. It just hit me that... Well, it's weird, right?"

"Not when you love somebody, sweetheart," Becky assured her. "Y'know, I had dreams when I was young, much younger than you are now. Thought I needed to see the whole world, travel and all, y'know? Then I met Eliot's Daddy and... Oh, everything changes when you meet that special someone."

"Did you know right away that you loved him?" asked Parker with genuine interest, pulling her legs up under her until she was lotus style in the chair and yet still maintaining balance as it rocked back and forth.

"Aw, darlin', no!" said Becky with a veritable roar of laughter that Parker found contagious. "Me and Billy, we started out having a feud worthy of the Hatfields and McCoys," she shook her head, smiling fondly at the memories, even though they didn't sound so great to Parker. "When you fight that hard with a person, there has to be a genuine passion underneath it all. One day, we had this blazing fight, I up and threw a rock clean at his head without so much as thought about it. He dodged it, but not by much, and he come rushing at me, all bluster and yellin' like the sky was fallin'... and then he just kissed me."

Parker was riveted by the tale Eliot's Momma spun. She understood that sometimes people fought when they cared for each other. Eliot and Hardison fought all the time, but underneath it all, they loved each other like brothers, she was sure. Then there was Nate and Sophie. They had some terrible fights but Parker was sure one day they'd get married and have babies and live happily ever after like a fairytale, an unconventional kind of fairytale, but still. For her and Eliot, they had fought pretty hard in the beginning too. Now they were in the kissing and loving stage, and Parker liked that a whole lot better.

"You love my Eliot a whole lot, don'tcha, honey?" Becky asked, startling Parker just a little. "Ah now, don't ya go all coy on me," she smiled kindly when the blonde floundered. "I know I ain't the person you wanna talk to about what you and my boy get up to, and I understand, but I need you to know... Well, I used to worry about Eliot a whole lot," she explained, looking too serious suddenly. "Truth is I know he ain't no saint, furthest from for a while there, but he come through that. He's been atoning and, and I truly believe that monster that lived in him a while might finally have breathed its last."

Parker was a little surprised by the way Becky was talking. She kept her mouth closed about things she knew Eliot had done, things they had done on jobs together, all that kind of stuff. She wasn't clear on how much Eliot had told his mother about his 'career', and it wasn't her place to spoil anything. That'd just make him mad, and she had no want to do that. As it was, it seemed Becky knew a whole lot, if not everything about her son's past, and she was okay with it. When you loved someone, Parker knew it was so much easier than perhaps it ought to seem to accept bad things.

"You done made the difference, Parker," Eliot's Momma told her, leaning across to reach for her hand. "I'm not sayin' he weren't gettin' there on his own. Maybe he could've, but I believe you make a real difference. You're a very special woman, Parker. I see that. I know it from the was my boy looks at you and all."

"He's special too," she shrugged like it didn't really matter, like it was no big deal, even though somehow she knew it was. "He cares about me even though I'm... the way I am. Not everybody gets me," she tried to explain. "Eliot does somehow."

"Feels good when you find that, don't it?" Becky smiled fondly, remembering feeling just the same with her beloved husband.

The pair of them were smiling like fools when Eliot came around the side of the building. His arms were on show, hair flying loose, and grease marks on his hands and face from where he worked on the car. If Becky hadn't been sat there, Parker would've jumped him right there and then, just because she could. As it was, she had learnt a few scant lessons in propriety these past two or three years with the team. You don't make out with a guy in front of his mother, even Parker knew that.

"You girls having fun?" he smiled at the sight of his two favourite women getting along.

"Just talkin' 'bout menfolk," his mother told him with a smirk to rival her son's own.

She slapped his hand when he stole her lemonade, but let him have it anyway when he turned on those puppy dog eyes she knew so well. He had fixed the car apparently, and complimented his Momma on her beauty of a horse. It was all very sweet and civilised and family-like. Parker loved being a spectator in the scene. She hoped to see many more like it.

It was late in the evening. Parker had thoroughly enjoyed splitting her time between getting to know Becky and just being close to Eliot. The couple had walked all through the countryside around the house, took in the views and literally rolled in the hay. It was all about freedom and love and everything Parker could think to want. There were no high rises to jump off, her harness was forgotten, and money didn't matter. This was such a beautiful place and a beautiful day, and it was set to end just as well as it started.

Wandering out onto the front porch, she found Eliot sat on the steps with his guitar in his hands. He was strumming chords and humming a tune, just for the moon and stars above, as far as Parker could tell. Wordlessly, she came to sit beside him, and he barely knew she was there until her head landed softly on his shoulder.

"Hey, darlin'," he greeted her with a smile and a kiss on the lips. "You okay?"

"Happy," she sighed contentedly. "It's just... Here feels good."

"Really does," Eliot agreed, not so sure he was any more eager to leave than she was.

It was true that they had left a make-shift family back in Boston. He did care about Hardison, Sophie, and even Nate. They had made a kind of home over there in Massachusetts, but the fact of the matter was, this still felt that little bit better. Eliot came on this trip to clear his head, to make his peace with Moreau rearing his ugly head again, stirring up emotions and memories he had thought long buried.

On the way down here to his Momma's house, he had connected with Parker in ways he never could have imagined. They'd been friends a long time, closer than friends, maybe, though he hadn't thought on it much until he was made to. Now Eliot understood what he had tried to deny too long. He loved this woman, and she loved him. He wasn't really worthy of her in his own eyes, but the fact of the matter was, she thought he deserved her, she wanted to be with him. As he'd known from the beginning, there was just no arguing with Parker, and he really didn't want to anymore.

"How long can we stay here?" she asked, running her fingers along his arm as he played a few more random chords.

"Well..." he started to answer but never quite managed it as a buzzing started up in Parker's pocket, and then quickly after, in his own as well.

Eliot carefully put down the guitar, a bad feeling stirring in his gut as they both reached for their cells. He wasn't surprised to see a message from Hardison and guessed Parker had the same one or something very similar on her own display. Nate was putting a job together, and their help was needed. The hacker wanted to know if they were coming home or not.

Eliot and Parker looked up and met each other's eyes, neither of them looking exactly thrilled, neither of them wanting to be the first one to give an answer. Home. It was an objective sort of word. Boston was where they had settled with the team, and that same team were like family. It would be good to see them again, but here felt good, being the two of them together as they were, without the complications of outside influence.

"You wanna go?" asked Eliot eventually, honestly not sure which answer he was pulling for.

"No... and yes," Parker admitted, blowing her bangs off her forehead. "You think they'll mind that we're... y'know, together and stuff?" she asked awkwardly.

"Ain't none of their business, darlin'," he told her definitely, looking as severe as he ever did about anything. "They'll learn to live with it whether they like it or not, if you wanna go back."

"Don't you?" she checked with a slight frown as she stared at him. "I mean, we told your Mom that we help people, and I like that we do," she considered. "It's good, it's... atoning," she used the word she hadn't really understood until Becky had said it today.

Eliot felt a smile spread across his lips unbidden then. He put a hand behind Parker's head and drew her in to kiss her long and deep. She had no idea what she meant to him, or how much those words she just said meant either. The team was good for him, good for both of them, and Parker was much smarter than anyone else realised because she knew that. She knew they needed to keep doing what they were doing if they were going to survive. For now, it was their therapy and their penance and a whole bunch of other things that were harder to label. The upshot of it was, they had to go back to Boston, it was just the right thing to do, for everyone's sake.

"We'll set off first thing in the mornin', okay?" he checked with Parker, still holding her close.

"Uh-huh," she smiled and nodded her agreement, up until a yawn overtook her.

Eliot wasted no time lifting her into his arms, managing to grab the guitar on the way up too. He walked her inside and up to their room, saying goodnight to his Momma on the way.

Tomorrow they headed back the way they came, him and Parker against the world. Somehow Eliot felt it had always been that way, maybe even before they met each other on that first job in Chicago, whether it made sense or not. It was certainly going to be that way from now on, that was for damn sure.

The End