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A Life in Constant Flux

Chapter 4

From the time Eliot and Parker stepped back into Hardison's apartment, Parker made the fire a taboo topic. Parker made it a point not to bring it up herself, and when others tried to ask her how she was doing or whether she needed a place to crash she said she was doing fine and had a place to stay. The team got the message, she was moving on in the way she deemed best, and that was to leave the event in the past. That didn't stop them from wondering amongst themselves, though, when she was out of the room. Hardison had tried without success to find out where she was living these days.

Eliot checked on Parker's burn from day to day, watching the wound blister and scar and then start to fade. Cons continued on as if nothing had happened and Parker seemed like her normal self for the most part.

Eliot may've been keeping his own secrets from Parker just as much as she was clamming up about the fire or where she was staying. Eliot went back to the warehouse a day after Parker and he had visited. He knew they would bulldoze the wreckage soon and wanted to get there before that. He'd combed through the area that Parker had been frantically looking around when he'd pulled her out of the fire. He moved debris and swept away ash until he pulled one small item from the debris, cradling close against his chest in much the same way he had carried Parker out of the blaze.

He'd dropped the item off with a specialist he knew. It was beat up; he knew it might be a lost cause. But he was willing to pay if the woman could do her best with it and try to put the pieces back together and mend the damage. A few weeks later found him pulling up to the small shop to pick up the item and take it back to the Leverage offices.

The offices were empty at the moment, save for himself. Hardison was at one of his geek conventions and Sophie had dragged Nate to some big art opening. Parker was supposed to meet him here tonight to hang out. He settled the restored item on the countertop in the kitchen. It slouched a little to the side as he let go, requiring him to go back and straighten it up again. With an approving nod he retreated to the kitchen table where he pulled out the latest Mixed Martial Arts magazine and waited for her to show up.

It didn't take her long, although she startled him by knocking on the window attached to the fire escape instead of using the door like a normal person. He shook his head and smiled, typical Parker. He popped the lock on the window and backed up to give her space to climb through. She smoothed her hair, straightened her jacket, and closed the window before turning around.

Eliot had dropped back into his chair and returned to flipping through his magazine, more skimming than reading. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Parker shoot him an annoyed expression. "I thought we were gonna watch a movie or something tonight."

"We are. I was waitin' for you, darlin.'"

She shrugged and moved toward the fridge for something to drink when she saw something that caused her breath to hitch and her movements to halt midstride. She lowered a shaky hand to the countertop and lifted her rabbit off of it, cradling it close against her chest. "Where did this come from?"

"I found it," he said, nonchalantly.

"But the fire-"

"Didn't destroy everything. I found the little guy in the wreckage and had a friend fix him up the best she could."

She didn't speak for the next few minutes, rocking the little stuffed animal against her chest. She saw that one eye was a little melted and he had patches of newer material sewn over part of his chest where the flame or heat or a combination of the two must've gotten to him. But even with new bits mixed in with the old, this was a piece of her past that had survived when she thought it long dead. And that meant the world to her. She looked up at Eliot with a breathless expression as she set her bunny back down gently and crossed the distance between herself and Eliot, wrapping him in a hug.

He bristled at that, not quite sure how to respond, but she ignored the awkwardness. Let him adapt. She may not express a lot of emotion, but when she did, she meant every bit of it. In a soft voice she spoke just two words, "Thank you."

He nodded and patted her back, not quite willing to give enough of himself to return the hug. But he didn't move for the few moments she remained there, warm against his skin. He stood there, solid as the rock he'd always been.

They watched a movie that night; she sat on the couch next to him instead of in the chair she normally favored. She didn't snuggle up against him or bury herself in his shoulder at the scary parts. He would've been more surprised if she had. But she kept that rabbit in her lap the entire time, and every once in awhile she'd readjust her position and just maybe her bare foot would accidently brush up against his leg. And for the evening, for him, that was enough to know that Parker was expressing her appreciation in her own quiet way.

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The next day a string of items began going missing from their headquarters. First it was Nate's favorite shot glass, followed in the same week by Sophie's favorite scarf and Hardison's gaming controller. A search of the place had turned up none of the missing items. Eliot had an inkling as to who was stealing the items, but he had yet to discover why that individual might be doing it, and until he had that uncovered, he didn't feel the need or the right to out her to the others.

So it didn't surprise him one bit when something of his own had gone missing. No, it had been something else that surprised him, and that had been that he'd seen the item disappear. Parker and he had been in the kitchen together. She'd been watching him cook. He'd shed his trademark bandana as he'd worked over the stove, using it to wipe the sweat off his brow before he'd discarded it on the counter. After dinner, he'd turned around from putting the last dish in the dish washer to see Parker lock eyes with his and then slide the bandana into her purse.

"Parker, that's mine."

She didn't respond, instead heading for the door, leaving it open on her way out.

He growled and shook his head. Parker's thievery was far from news to him, but still, it was annoying to catch her in the act. And then he had to think for a moment, Parker didn't ever get caught unless she'd intended to. Which meant what? That in Parker's own way she was telling him to follow her?

He didn't know, but he did know that he wanted the bandana back. It was the same one he'd carried for the last five years and he wasn't about to surrender it to her without good reason. So he snagged his coat off the back of his chair and jogged out of the offices after Parker, shaking his head as he went. That girl led him on more wild goose chases.

Parker didn't make it easy for him, he noticed that. She led him through a construction site, over a ten foot fence, and through a slew of other obstacles before the journey finally ended. But he knew how she was when she really was giving it her all, and she didn't make it impossible for him either. Just when he thought he'd lost her, he'd see her figure disappear around a corner or hear a sound that pointed him in the right direction.

He was out of breath by the time her convoluted path led him into an apartment complex, up three flights of stairs, and finally to an open door in a hallway. Which was odd, this location. It was a place where real people might actually live, not a warehouse like her last haunt. But just as he had during the rest of the night, he trusted Parker and followed her in.

She was in the sparsely furnished living room. There was a TV and a well-worn couch. Parker was sitting on that, facing a box she had sitting on the coffee table in front of her. He walked over and sat down next to her.

"You going to tell me what this is all about? Or give me my bandana back? I saw you take it."

She opened the lid on the metal box and dropped the bandana inside amongst a collection of other items. His eyes scanned the interior of the container. He silently noted that it would protect the items inside if there were a fire. The bandana partially obscured a silver, polka-dotted scarf. It was surrounded by a small glass shot glass with a corner chipped out of it where Nate had drank a bit too much one night. Leaning up against one of the walls were Hardison's controller and Parker's bunny.

She began to speak without looking at him. "Things change a lot in my life. I've never really had a home, just places I've lived. And I've never really had a family, just enemies or acquaintances or business associates or clients. Things are constantly changing, for the most part, so I try to collect small bits and pieces of the few things and the people that I treasure." She picked up the rabbit and ran a hand through its worn fur. "Because it means when the people I love are gone, I have a small piece of them that I get to keep."

He laid a hand over hers for a moment. "Parker, we aren't going to leave you, if that's what you're worried about. Teammates don't do that, families don't do that."

She laughed. "Tell that to every family I've ever had."

"And this family?" Eliot asked, "What about us? We've been together through a lot and we'll continue to do so."

She shook her head. "It doesn't have to be a conscious decision. Sometimes things just happen. Like after the David Job when we had to split and go our own ways to stay ahead of the feds."

"And look what happened afterward, huh? We're back together again."

"How can you have that much faith, that things, people, the universe won't conspire to break up this good thing we have? I don't know how to do that."

"It takes faith, and trust, and a lot of hard work on everyone's part. But our team has all of those things. We aren't going anywhere."

She looked up from her box and her rabbit to meet his expression. "Do you think we can keep this going? Create a constant in an ever-changing world? Everything I know says the opposite."

"With as much effort as we fuel into keeping this good thing going every day, I think it's impossible that we would fail in that."

She nodded, thinking. "You want your bandana back? You can take it if you want; I know it's wrong to steal from you guys."

He removed his hand from hers, slowly shutting the lid on the box. "I have others."

"What about the rest of the stuff. You gonna tell the guys?"

He shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, the other guys got a bit sloppy in handling their stuff and misplaced it."

She beamed a wide smile at him, putting the rabbit in the box and shoving it under the couch before retaking her seat. She sat a bit closer this time. Not quite touching, she wasn't ready for that yet. But close enough to feel the heat radiate off his body. Close enough to know he was right there. And they sat there into the night, side by side and silent, battling the continuous flux in the universe as they started to generate something long-lasting and constant.

-THE END-

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