AN Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2018 is treating everyone right so far... And as always my eternal gratitude goes to Alexandra926 for being awesome and making this story what it is... I don't really have anything else to say and I left it on a bit of a cliffhanger last time so I'll stop talking and we can get straight to business..
Eliot regained consciousness slowly.
That was his first clue that something wasn't right. Usually he came awake all at once, ready for action.
Well, the first clue had been the pain, but he ignored that for now. He woke up in pain more often than he liked to think about. However, he'd long ago trained himself to treat pain as an ephemeral state of being; something to be pushed aside to be dealt with later.
He also instinctively knew that he was waking up somewhere unfamiliar, as he was certainly not at home in his own bed. Since that was never a good thing in his experience, he feigned unconsciousness as he found his bearings. The sounds of a beeping heart monitor and the antiseptic smell told him that he was in a hospital. The heaviness of his body, which spoke to painkillers that he didn't like to take, would seem to confirm that fact. He couldn't remember why he would need to be in a hospital, but what he did know was that he hated them.
He forced his heart rate to remain steady, since its acceleration would only bring attention that he didn't want or need at the moment. He didn't think he was wearing handcuffs, which was a good sign, but he couldn't be sure without moving his arm enough that it would alert anyone in the room that he was now awake. His mind was already turning, coming up with a plan on how he was going to make his escape, when he felt a gentle poke on his forearm. His whole body relaxed, knowing instantly who it was, realizing now that he wasn't alone.
It was a very distinctive poke.
He struggled to open his eyes, and when he managed to crack them open he was greeted with the sight of Parker, with her elbows propped up on the edge of his bed and her chin resting on her hands, watching him expectantly. A bright smile bloomed over her face when his eyes met hers.
"Hi," was all she said.
He tried to return the greeting, but the only thing that came out was a rough sort of croaking noise.
"Hold on," Parker told him, jumping to her feet. She returned seconds later with a glass of water and a straw.
Those first few sips were quite possibly the best thing that Eliot had ever tasted, as the cool water quenched his dry mouth and soothed his parched throat. Parker waited patiently, holding the straw to his lips until he'd had his fill and pulled away.
"Thanks, darlin'," he said, his voice still rough.
Parker just nodded, setting the glass on the tray table, before she sat back down, this time on the edge of the bed next to him, and waited for his inevitable questions.
"What happened?" he asked, letting his head fall back heavily against his pillow. "Why am I in the hospital? You know how I feel about hospitals."
"Yeah, I know, but we didn't really have a choice. You got shot twice, fell out a third-story window, and you got in a fight with a tree. Which you lost, in case you were wondering," she added as an unnecessary aside.
"A tree?" he asked confused, sure he couldn't have heard her right. "What?"
"Most of your injuries were caused by the tree you fell through on the way to the ground," Parker explained. "Of course, if you had fallen thirty feet straight to the ground you probably would have died, you were close enough to that as it is. So we should all be grateful that you got your ass kicked by a tree."
Eliot tried to remember what she was talking about, but it was all a haze. The last thing he recalled was standing in the lab looking for the prototype. "The job-"
Parker rolled her eyes. She had just told him that he'd almost died, and he was worried about the con. "You put the thingy in your pocket before you fell," she told him. "We found it when they gave us your personal items."
Her personal interest in the job had ended the second that Eliot had hit the ground. But Nate had taken a few hours to give the prototype back to the client and close out the case once they were sure Eliot was going to live. There had been an unspoken but unanimous decision to table taking down the CEO until the hitter was back on his feet. They'd decide then if it was worth revisiting.
"Where are the others?" Eliot asked curiously. "Is everyone else okay?" He couldn't imagine that they would simply drop him off at the hospital and leave, not as injured as he was. Speaking of which, he should really get around to asking Parker just what exactly was wrong with him.
"Everyone is fine, you're the only one who got hurt," she assured him. "They went home for the night a little while ago," Parker explained. "They'll be back in a few hours."
"What time is it?" he asked, when he realized he had no idea how long he'd been unconscious for, a glance at the window told him it was still dark out, but that didn't narrow it down much.
"It's a little after four-thirty in the morning," she told him.
"I've been out all night?" he asked, surprised.
"Eliot," she said gently, something that was so out of character that it got his full attention immediately, since Parker was rarely anything but brutally blunt, "it's four-thirty on Sunday morning."
Eliot was speechless. The last thing he remembered was going on the job on Tuesday night.
"You had a concussion which caused your brain to swell. You were in a coma for over four days," Parker added, voicing what he was just figuring out. "Which by the way, I did not enjoy. Try not to do that again."
"I'll try," he promised absently, still a little stunned, looking down at the cast on his right arm.
"I told them you'd want a black one," she said following his line of sight. "Hardison said to give you a yellow one so it would match your sunny disposition when you found out you were in the hospital, but they listened to me because I'm your wife."
Eliot choked on thin air which made his chest light up in pain, despite the narcotics coursing through his system. "What?" he asked, as he tried to muffle his coughing. She reached for the pitcher to refill his glass, which only brought his attention to the diamond solitaire ring she was wearing on her left hand.
"Our covers," she explained, bringing his cup of water back up to his lips. "We're married, so I'm your medical proxy."
That, of course, made perfect sense, and he blamed the meds for not realizing it immediately.
"I picked black because I figured it wouldn't show blood if you had to beat someone with it," Parker explained her reasoning.
"Darlin', I don't think I'm gonna be getting into fights any time soon."
"You never know," she shrugged.
She had a point. "Besides the concussion and the broken arm, what else is wrong with me?" Eliot finally got around to asking.
As he listened to Parker recite his long list of injuries, he realized that whatever was flowing through his IV was the good stuff, because he was not in nearly the amount of pain he should be in. It also explained why practically his entire torso felt like it was on fire and why his knee was in traction.
"...And they stole your spleen!" Parker rounded out his list of injuries.
"They stole it?" Eliot repeated dubiously.
"Well, they were supposed to just be removing the bullet, but they took your spleen too, without asking. Isn't that the definition of stealing?" she asked, clearly offended on his behalf.
Eliot wanted to laugh, but it hurt what he now knew to be his six broken ribs and shattered collarbone. "Parker, darlin', if the doc felt the need to remove it, I probably wasn't going to be using it anymore."
Parker just scoffed, clearly unconvinced.
Despite the fact he'd apparently just slept for four days, Eliot was exhausted. But he didn't want to fall back asleep just yet, so he continued to make conversation. "So I guess you pulled the short straw in staying here tonight?" he asked.
"I've stayed every night," Parker stated simply.
"Wha-"
Eliot never got to finish his question, as the night nurse chose that moment to walk through the door on her rounds.
"Still not asleep I see, Miss Liz," the nurse, an older woman named Michelle, scolded gently, before stopping short when she realized Parker wasn't the only one not sleeping. "Mr. Pratt, you're awake!" she exclaimed happily. "Lemme go page the doctor."
Parker waited until Michelle was out of earshot before speaking. "I'm Elizabeth, you're William," she spoke quickly, filling him on their cover identities. "We've been married for three years. You're a mechanic and I'm a children's book illustrator. Nate's my brother and Sophie is his wife and they're using their Baker identities."
The nurse came back before she could finish filling him in. "Alright William, I'm just going to take your vitals and then the doctor will be in to run some tests."
Parker stood, letting go of Eliot's hand, neither of them exactly sure when she had started holding it. "I'm going to go call my brother and let him know you're awake."
"Darlin', it's five in the morning," Eliot pointed out, wanting her to come back. He was surprised how cold and bereft his hand felt with hers gone, but he blamed that on the drugs too. "He's gonna be asleep."
"That's half the fun," she replied with a smirk. She leaned over his bed so she could quickly whisper the cover story for his injuries in his ear in case anyone asked him about it, then she dropped a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth, shot him a wink and was gone, calling that she would be back in a few minutes over her shoulder.
"You have quite the devoted wife, Mr. Pratt," Michelle said with a motherly kind of fondness as she checked Eliot's blood pressure. She'd been the nurse on duty the past few nights and had gotten to know Parker while she was on her rounds.
"Uh, please call me Will," Eliot said, his gaze still turned towards the doorway Parker had disappeared through. "She mentioned she's been here every night."
"Not just nights," the nurse said in a confiding tone, thinking she was simply telling a husband something nice about his wife. "According to the day shifts, Miss Liz hasn't left the hospital since you were admitted. She's barely even left this room. Not even when your in-laws have tried to force her to take a break or go home. They have to bring her all her meals because she refuses to even go down to the cafeteria to eat. I don't even think I've seen that girl sleep, she's been so focused on you."
And that was the truth. While the other had taken turns each day, staying at the hospital and sitting at Eliot's bedside, Parker refused to be moved. She was determined to stay right where she was until he woke up, unknowingly playing the part of the distraught young wife to perfection. Her actions didn't go unnoticed by any of the nursing staff in the ICU, who were all talking about the sweet and devoted Mrs. Pratt.
Eliot frowned, thinking that Parker was taking their covers a little too seriously. "She's going to make herself sick that way," he said unhappily.
"I told her that same thing last night," Michelle said, making notes in his chart. "I said to her, 'What would your husband say if he knew you weren't taking care of yourself?' And do you know what she told me?" She continued speaking without waiting for a guess from Eliot. "She said the sweetest thing. She told me, that you're what makes her feel safe enough to sleep well at home, and she was going to make sure that you were safe so you could sleep well and recover faster while you're here at the hospital."
"Oh," was all Eliot could say. That sounded just like Parker logic, and it also meant that it wasn't just their covers that impelled her to stay at his bedside.
"You're a lucky man, to have someone who loves you like that."
Eliot swallowed hard. "I guess I am."
He couldn't dwell on that for too long, because the doctor chose that moment to enter the room, and soon he was put through his paces as the doctor assessed his condition. By the time the doctor was satisfied, Eliot was beyond exhausted and felt ready to sleep for another four days.
Parker must have been hovering just outside the door, staying out of the way, because just moments after the doctor and nurse were walking out of the room, she was slipping inside.
"Your doctor said that they're gonna run some tests later this morning, and as long as everything checks out, they'll move you out of the ICU and into a regular room," she informed him, as she sat back down at his side. "And Nate was very happy to hear you woke up, he's going to call Sophie and Hardison, and they'll all be here to see you in a bit."
Eliot just nodded to show he heard her, speaking out loud feeling like too much effort at the moment. He was fighting a losing battle in trying to keep his eyes open, and Parker didn't fail to notice.
"It's okay, you can sleep," she assured him, seeing how he was fighting it. "I'm here to watch your back."
Eliot nodded again, this time letting his eyes shut on purpose, having faith in Parker's ability to keep him safe while he was vulnerable. Of their own volition, he felt his fingers twitch towards Parker, who knew what he wanted before he did, and slipped her slender hand back into his. Feeling anchored, he finally allowed himself to drift back to sleep.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"We could just leave," Eliot said casually, glancing at Parker who was shoving another handful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch straight from the box into her mouth, from the corner of his eye. "It's not like they could catch us."
It had been three days since Eliot had first woken up after his accident, and he was very much over being in the hospital. It was a little after four in the morning, the ward was quiet and he couldn't help but consider the fact that now would be the perfect time to sneak away unnoticed.
"You don't have any clothes, you can barely walk the three steps to the bathroom by yourself, and we don't have a car," she replied, not looking away from the Twilight Zone marathon they'd been watching all night. "Plus, Michelle would worry and sound the alarm if we were gone when she came in to do her rounds."
"You're a thief," he reminded her, as if she could have forgotten. "I'm sure you could find me something to wear, steal a wheelchair, procure a getaway car and we could be halfway home before the nurse even notices we're gone."
"Of course Parker and Eliot could do that," she agreed easily, it wouldn't even be a challenge. "But Liz and Will Pratt are good, law abiding citizens who don't steal cars and listen to doctor's orders."
Eliot sighed heavily. Sometimes he really hated it when Parker committed to a character. It really should have been much easier to convince her to plan a great escape. If he'd been alone, he probably would have left already. Sure, it would have been much harder without Parker's help, but he'd escaped more heavily-guarded buildings while in worse shape, several times in the past. But now, he wasn't alone, and he knew he was going to have a hard time going anywhere with Parker playing gatekeeper.
He did have to pause and contemplate the state of the world when Parker was being the responsible one between the two of them. There was something seriously wrong with this picture. But it just boiled down to the fact that he really hated hospitals. It was a cold comfort to realize that if the situation were reversed and Parker was in this hospital bed instead of him, he would have to handcuff her to the bed to keep her from trying to escape. Not that he would actually be able to stop her, it wouldn't even slow her down. But it was the principle of the matter.
"The doctor said he'll probably release you tomorrow," Parker reminded him. "They just want to scan your brain one more time this afternoon to make sure it's not turning to mush. And then we can go home."
"My brain is not turning to mush," Eliot said, exasperated.
Parker gave him a look like she wasn't entirely convinced. "But wouldn't it be nice to have scientific proof?"
Eliot rolled his eyes and she reached over to pat his arm.
"You can make it one more day, Sparky."
"Can't come soon enough," he complained, trying to scratch under the cast on his right arm without moving his left arm too much and aggravating his broken collarbone.
He didn't see why he needed to stay here when he could lay in bed and do nothing at home just as easily. If there was anything he knew, it was how to nurse his own injuries.
From what he'd been told, there had been some initial fuss about visitor limits and visiting hours in the ICU, but after Hardison made a sizable donation in the Pratt family's name, word came down from on high to look the other way when it came to certain policies. That was all well and good when he'd been unconscious, but now Eliot was fairly confident that the donation that the hacker had made on his behalf had backfired. At least as far as he was concerned. Because now, instead of wanting to send him home as quickly as possible to free up the bed, Eliot, or rather William, was now considered a VIP and his doctors insisted on running every test known to man on him, wanting to triple and quadruple check that they hadn't possibly missed anything, despite the fact that he was sure he would have been fine to go home several days ago.
"I know how much you hate being here," she offered in a tone that was as close to sympathetic as Parker got.
"Doubt it," he muttered surlily.
"My first memory is waking up in a hospital," she revealed, "in a body cast from the waist down."
Eliot's gaze snapped to Parker, who appeared to be reading the ingredients list on her box of cereal with far more focus than was necessary, especially for someone he knew had never cared about a nutritional fact in her life.
"What happened?" he asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer. "How old were you?"
"Dunno," she shrugged, shooting him a wry sort of half grin. "Like I said, I don't remember anything before that. I was little, I know that. Too little to really know what was going on, but it felt like I was there forever. I had a whole bunch of roommates that moved though, and they always had moms and dads and other family staying with them or visiting. But I just remember being alone most of the time except for the doctors and nurses, until a social worker came to visit. I liked her at first because she brought me Jell-o, but then she told me that I wasn't allowed to go back home again. I went straight from the hospital to my first foster placement."
"Jesus, Parker," Eliot breathed, suddenly understanding why the woman who enjoyed anything and everything sugar-based had such a visceral dislike of Jell-o.
"So yeah," she said, "I get what it's like to hate being stuck in a hospital bed."
"I guess you do," he replied, at a loss for anything else to say. He knew instinctively that this was a story she'd never shared with anyone else, and realizing that made the fact that she'd stuck by his side this whole time all the more meaningful.
"But the good news," she said brightly, visibly shaking off the memory, "is that my hips didn't heal right. Which is why they're double-jointed and partially why I'm so flexible. So that's definitely come in handy over the years."
Eliot really didn't know what to say to that either, but then Parker yawned so hard her eyes watered.
Sophie and Hardison both regularly urged to go home and get a good night's sleep, but Parker steadfastly refused. Their efforts had redoubled since Eliot had woken up, but she'd only dug her heels in further. Eliot himself had only suggested it once, before seeing the stubborn set of her jaw and realizing it was futile. Only Nate left her alone about it, knowing all too well that everyone reacted differently to having someone they cared about in the hospital.
"Why don't you get some sleep, darlin'," he suggested.
"I'm fine," she responded automatically.
"You're exhausted and we both know it," Eliot replied sternly.
He knew she had to be sleeping at some point. While they were both adept at functioning on way less sleep than normal people, it was physically impossible for anyone to stay awake for a week at a time. But since he'd woken up a few days ago, Eliot had yet to see her fall asleep. Once when she'd left the room to use the restroom, Nate had mentioned his theory that she had been sneaking off to an air vent somewhere to take cat naps whenever he was out of the room having tests done. But she always unfailingly reappeared just minutes after he was wheeled back in, so they couldn't be sure.
"I'm not telling you to go home." He knew she wouldn't, so there was no point in trying. "But why don't you just close your eyes for awhile," he encouraged. He continued when he saw the resolve weakening in her tired eyes. "I slept on and off all day, so I'm wide awake," he added, knowing how much she hated sleeping somewhere unsecured. "But you can nap for a little while. I'm just gonna watch TV until the others get here in a couple hours."
Parker sighed and looked out the window for a moment while she considered her options. She could force herself to stay awake and they both knew it. Sleep deprivation wasn't anything new to her. But she'd been running on nothing more than snippets of sleep at a time for a week now, and it was catching up with her. A nap really did sound good.
"Fine, just for a little while," she finally agreed.
Eliot had expected her to lean back in the recliner she had been camped out in the last couple days, so he was surprised when instead she folded over in the chair and rested her arms and head on the edge of the bed near his hip. It wasn't that he minded. It was just unexpected. He was less surprised when it only took a few minutes for her breathing to even out, as she fell almost immediately into a deep sleep.
He didn't even realize he was doing it at first, but as the sun rose that morning, he found himself gently running his fingers through her hair as she slept. The repetitive motion was soothing and he was in a semi-trance state while he continued to watch TV. Which was the only reason that he didn't realize it had gotten as late as it was, when Hardison burst through the door at nine, with Nate and Sophie trailing behind him.
"I've come bearing the gifts of donuts," the hacker called, announcing his presence. "Don't all thank me at once."
"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot growled, when Parker shot up straight in her chair with a gasp, startled out of her sleep.
"What? I said I brought donuts," Hardison repeated placatingly, giving the pink box in his hand a little shake.
"Parker was finally sleeping," Eliot informed him with a glare.
"No I wasn't," Parker denied reflexively.
Eliot rolled his eyes, but didn't bother correcting her.
"Sorry Mama, didn't mean to wake ya," Hardison apologized genuinely, knowing how little sleep she had gotten over the past week. "Here, have some donuts," he added, handing over the box, knowing that gifts of sugar was the best apology in Parker's opinion, second only to cash or diamonds.
"How are you feeling this morning, Eliot?" Sophie asked, handing the hitter a bag with a breakfast sandwich from his favorite deli, knowing he would appreciate that more than Hardison's donuts or anything the hospital cafeteria could cook up.
"Like I'm ready to get out of here."
"Yes, I've actually been giving that a lot of thought," Sophie mentioned. "About what you're going to do when you get out of here."
"What are you talking about?" Eliot asked his brow furrowed, as he carefully unwrapped the sandwich without aggravating his injuries. "I'm going to go home."
"Well, of course you are," she agreed, before clarifying. "I just mean that you're going to need some assistance around the house while you're recuperating."
"I'll be fine Soph," he said flatly. "This isn't the first time I've gotten hurt."
"Eliot, dear," Sophie began again. "You've been shot twice, had major surgery, been in a coma, have over half a dozen broken bones, you've got two bad arms and one bad leg. You can't possibly think we're just going to leave you to fend for yourself."
Eliot opened his mouth to interject, but Sophie wasn't done yet.
"I was thinking we could make up a schedule. That way we could make sure that you always have someone available-"
"That's not necessary," Eliot interrupted.
"I think it is," Sophie disagreed. "See, I was there yesterday when your physical therapist was giving Parker your rehab instructions and what your limitations will be, as you heal. And we wouldn't want you hurting yourself by trying to overdo it."
Eliot grit his teeth. He understood why the physical therapist would have had that conversation with his 'wife', if Eliot really was just a mechanic who'd had a freak accident. But he wasn't. He knew his own body and how to rehab it better than someone he'd only met a couple days ago.
"I don't need to be babysat," he ground out. "And I really don't need y'all traipsing around my house at all hours of the day and night." He turned his attention to Nate who'd been silent so far. "Would you talk some sense into her?" he asked, exasperated.
"Do you think I'm capable of that?" Nate countered, bemused. "Besides, she isn't entirely wrong. I know you're a fast healer and that you know how to take care of yourself, but you're still going to need some extra help for awhile."
"Yeah, man," Hardison agreed. "We're happy to help out. You always take care of everyone else, let us return the favor. You don't have to be all self-sufficient all the time."
Eliot was seriously about to lose it on all of them, when a muffled something came from the corner where Parker was sitting. All four of them turned to look at the thief, sitting there with a maple cruller in one hand, a cream-filled in the other, and her mouth stuffed with another donut entirely.
"What was that, Parker?" Nate asked.
This time she chewed and swallowed before speaking. "I said, don't make a schedule. That's dumb. I'll just stay at Eliot's until he's cool to stay by himself," she volunteered. It was what she had been planning on doing anyway. "I am the one that all the doctors and nurses have been telling the homecare information to, right? No reason to make it into a big deal."
Nate, Sophie, and Hardison all started talking over each other, each giving their opinion on why they thought that was a terrible idea. As much as they all loved Parker, none of them could imagine a scenario where she was living with Eliot full time, and not driving him absolutely nuts while also being a terrible caregiver.
"Would all of you... shut up!" Eliot shouted over the din. "No schedule! Parker can stay with me."
His announcement stunned the others into silence for just a moment, before they all started speaking at the same time again.
Eliot and Parker shared a look that encompassed an entire conversation.
Sure, the other members of their team had no idea how much time Parker already spent over at Eliot's place. And yeah, as a result they didn't realize how accustomed they already were to cohabiting, whereas the other three would definitely be an unwelcome intrusion into his personal space.
But even before they had settled into their current arrangement, Eliot still would have picked Parker over the other three to give him an extra hand if he really needed it. Hardison was squeamish when it came to any sort of blood or wounds. Nate would be awkward about it and make them both uncomfortable. And Sophie would try to baby him until he started contemplating jumping out another window just to get away from her. Parker, though, despite her propensity for poking at his bruises, with her steady hands and solid stomach, was always the one he went to if he needed stitches somewhere he couldn't reach himself. She had a certain practicality when it came to these things. Not liking to be babied or ask for help herself, she seemed to know instinctively when to help without asking, when to offer help, and when to leave well enough alone.
"I think I should be insulted," Parker said conversationally, taking a bite of the maple donut and wrinkling her nose as she chewed.
"I think you should be too," Eliot agreed with a frown, seemingly more offended on Parker's behalf than she was for herself.
Realizing what they were doing, Sophie tried to backtrack, not so much in what they were saying, but at least the way they were saying it. "It's just, what we're all just trying to say is, are you sure this is what would be best? I think even Parker would admit that she's not exactly the most…" she paused to find the most diplomatic word, "nurturing person in the world."
Eliot was torn on whether to tell her that that was part of Parker's appeal since he didn't need a nursemaid, or defending Parker's ability to care about someone other than herself.
"I'm the one who knows all the homecare information," Parker pointed out yet again.
"Only because they think ya'll are married," Hardison retorted. "Parker, you do realize you ain't actually married, right?"
"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot exclaimed, but he was distracted from what else he was gonna say when when the woman in question reached over to put one of her donuts in his free hand. "Why are you handing me this?" he asked, even as he took the partially-eaten cruller.
"Because I don't want that one anymore," Parker answered, already picking through the box for a replacement, clearly having lost interest in the conversation happening around them. "And because you killed your sandwich."
Eliot looked down and saw that at some point, in his irritation, he'd accidentally mutilated his breakfast and he now had bacon, egg, and cheese mashed into his cast. Rolling his eyes, he dropped the mangled sandwich on the tray table in disgust.
"Decision made, conversation over," Eliot said firmly, taking a bite of the donut Parker rejected.
Sophie wasn't ready to give up the fight, "I just think-"
"That's enough, Soph," Nate interjected. He looked back and forth between his hitter and his thief like he was seeing them with new eyes. "Eliot is not a child and it's his decision to make."
Hardison was the next to try to protest. "But-"
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Nate said, cutting off Hardison as well.
Before anyone else could speak, the nurse came in at that moment on her morning rounds and derailed the conversation. Eliot was sure that he hadn't heard the end of this, but he'd take the reprieve.
The conversation stayed light for the rest of the morning, time passing quickly, and soon it was almost time for Eliot's final round of scans before the doctor gave the okay for his release. Right before the tech came to retrieve him, Parker, reenergized by four solid hours of sleep and half a box of donuts, slipped her shoes on before grabbing her jacket and her bag.
"Where are you going, Parker?" Sophie asked curiously, since the thief hadn't shown any interest in leaving the hospital for the last week.
"Eliot's gonna need clothes and a getaway car for his great escape tomorrow," she said, thinking back to the conversation they'd had that morning. "I'm going to go get both. Do you want the truck or the Charger?" she asked Eliot.
"Why does it matter?" Hardison asked, when the hitter took a moment to consider his options. "He's not going to be driving either for awhile."
"Because one is going to be hard to get into, the other is going to be hard to get out of," Nate explained, impressed by Parker's foresight.
"Bring the truck," Eliot decided, figuring that was the better choice with his particular set of injuries. "It's at Nate's though."
"That's okay, I'll go pick it up first," she shrugged.
"Anyone know where my keys ended up?" he asked, realizing that he had no idea.
"Don't worry about it, I don't need them," Parker assured him, before anyone could answer.
"Do not hotwire my truck," he said sternly.
She rolled her eyes, "I meant, I know where you keep your spare."
He was not at all convinced that that was what she had meant initially. "And drive it like you're a normal, boring person," he added. "Not like you're auditioning for a monster truck rally."
"You never let me have any fun," she sighed, before flitting out of the room.
"Wait, how is she gonna get to Nate's to pick up Eliot's truck?" Hardison asked, once she was gone.
"It's Parker," Sophie shrugged, figuring that was explanation enough.
"And why does she know where you keep your spare keys?" the hacker continued.
"It's Parker," Nate echoed for the same reason.
"But how is she-"
Eliot didn't even let him finish his question. "Because it's Parker!"
A/N And there we have it, first chapter of the new year! We're now officially half way through this story so it would please me ever so much if you all let me know what you thought!