Fic! How they could have met...
I've been kinda a-wall for a little while. I didn't mean to just drop everything but real life was kinda kicking my ass and I needed to take some time to get things back in order. Things are finally starting to get back on track in my life and I feel really bad that I was neglecting the parker_eliot community. I would have been coming back in time for the new season even if things weren't going welll in my life, but I'm happy that things seem to be going better.
I've quit my job and I've moved and well, things are going better. So yay!! :P
But I'll be working on some new fics, and some of my older ones. And, there's a new season!! And hopefully it'll give us all some great Parker/Eliot moments and some that are scripted and not just the great chemistry the characters and actors have together!!
Fic: How they could have met.
Author: AyLee Cambell
Rating: PG
Warnings: None that I can think of.
Eliot POV
He didn’t do team jobs, for a lot of different reasons, but mostly because he hated depending on other people. So he hadn’t agreed at first. It had taken a lot to convince him and in the end the only thing that made him change his mind was the price tag.
Well, that and knowing that it was a one time thing.
When he walked into the place they had all agreed to meet at, he scanned the room trying to figure out who the others were.
It was a semi public place. A little café that had an outside section that gave their customers privacy without making them feel like they were too far away to get good service. It was a good system.
He recognized Nathan Ford right away and couldn’t help but smirk. The man had tried chasing him down a time or two but hadn’t caught him. He didn’t like it that he would be joining them on this job but he would put up with it for now.
That left just two others. The hacker and the thief. The hacker’s name started with something with an H, and he had never met Parker, whoever he or she was, but he had heard that he or she was the best thief out there. It was said Parker could get anything.
That made him a little more nervous then he liked, but Parker’s skills would come in handy for this job.
Scanning the room he didn’t see anyone who could be the missing two. No one was looking around and no one was by themselves.
With a sigh he headed over to the table Nathan Ford was sitting at and looked at the waitress with a small smile.
"Just a beer sweetheart, whatever’s on tap. We’re expecting two more." He told her. He wanted it clear it wasn’t going to be just the two of them.
He watched her walk away, with a smile, before he turned look at Nathan. The smile he had given the waitress dropped and his eyes hardened. "I don’t trust you. But I’m being paid a lot of money to listen and work with you, so you better be worth it." Eliot told him.
Nathan smiled sarcastically and saluted his drink at him and Eliot winced.
"You’re not drunk are you?" Eliot asked then shook his head and held out a hand. "I don’t care man, just be able to do your job on this and we wont have any problems, blow this and then we’ll have a problem." He said in a low voice and went quiet as soon as the waitress came into view.
Nathan waved his words away. "I’ll be fine. That’s three days away. Today is just the meet and I’m not drunk." Nathan said and Eliot winced.
He could say whatever he wanted, but Eliot could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"Whatever man." He said and started looking around trying to locate the others, see if they were there yet. Talking to Nathan Ford was not all that intriguing and he really wasn’t interested in the man’s self-destruction. Maybe if they were doing more then one job together he’d see if he could get him to get himself back together, but he really didn’t care since after this was over he’d hopefully never see the man again. As long as they got through this job, the man could drown himself in alcohol if he wanted to.
"They aren’t here yet." Nathan told him and Eliot turned to look at him.
Nathan looked at him. "Hardison and Parker, they haven’t arrived yet. Hardison will probably be here a few minutes late and Parker, well, you can never really tell with Parker." He told him.
Eliot was torn. He could make conversation with Nathan Ford, and ask him about the others, see what he knew. Or he could just sit there in silence and drink his beer. With a sigh he looked at Nathan and took a drink of his beer.
"What do you know about these two?" He asked.
Nathan leaned closer a little bit and something in his eyes shifted just a little. It made Eliot wonder if the man was as drunk as he had previously thought.
"Hardison is a hacker, he’s one of the best. He can get into almost anything that has a hard drive. But he’s young, and he isn’t disciplined. He’s the newest of you into this world, but he’s not a novice. Still, he’ll panic in the wrong moment and need someone to reel him in. He’s been caught more times for doing things too big then for anything else."
Eliot nodded, taking the information in. "And Parker?"
Nathan winced. "Parker is…She’s…Parker’s crazy." He said.
Eliot looked at him for a moment, waiting for him to go on. So Parker was a woman, interesting to know. Not that it changed anything. She was still going to be off limits. She played the same game as the rest of them and he didn’t dip in that pool.
"How crazy are we talking about?" Eliot asked.
Nathan never got the chance to answer, because the waitress came into view, a man following behind her.
"Hardison?" Eliot questioned, shooting a glace at Nathan before looking back at the newest arrival.
"Yeah, that’s him." Nathan said and took a sip of his drink.
Hardison arrived at the table and looked at both of them, grinning. "I’ll take an orange soda." He told the waitress before sitting down.
He waited for her to leave before turning back to them. "Isn’t this great? Huh? Aren’t you excited?" He asked, and Eliot stared at him before turning to look at Nathan.
Great, this was who he was going to be trusting to have his back? The overeager frat boy and the washed up drunk?
Nathan shrugged and took another drink. "What can you do?" He asked.
Hardison looked at him, confused. "What, man? Never mind. When do we start? Cause I’ve got everything we need on this baby." He said, holding up his laptop bag and patting it with pride.
"We’re waiting on Parker." Nathan told him and Eliot nodded, grimacing as he looked Hardison over. Well at least he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about Hardison, he could snap him like a twig.
"Right here." A female voice said, coming from his left.
Everyone jumped and looked at where it came from. The seat that just a moment before had been empty now held a blonde haired woman.
"Jesus." Hardison gasped, grabbing his chest. "I think I’m having a heart attack." He told the others.
Eliot just ignored him as he studied the blonde who had appeared without him realizing it. He didn’t like that. Not many people could sneak up on him and she just had, in a public place no less. That really didn’t sit well with him.
Realizing the others were looking at her she looked back at them. "What?" She asked.
"Nothing." Nathan said.
"Never mind." Hardison said.
"Whatever." Eliot growled.
Not one of them wanted to admit that she had just scared the devil out of them. So they were all choosing to ignore it.
"Alright, now Hardison, lets get a look at the building plans. You have those in your laptop right?" Nathan asked and Hardison grinned at him and started pulling out his computer.
"Oh I have something so much better then just blueprints." He told them as he started up the laptop.
Eliot ignored him, choosing to pay attention when they actually got to the relevant information. Until then he sat there studying Parker. She was probably the only one at the table who could be a possible threat to him. He could outfight her, he wasn’t afraid of that, but someone who could sneak up on him should always be treated with respect and watched closely.
She looked back at him after a moment. "What?" She whispered, so she wouldn’t interrupt Hardison and Nathan arguing about blueprints and cameras and whatever else.
"Nate says your crazy." He told her in a low voice.
Parker grinned at him. "So?" She asked.
Eliot wasn’t sure what to do. Most people wouldn’t admit to actually being crazy, especially not so quickly. Though technically she didn’t actually say she was crazy… but she didn’t deny it either.
"You don’t look that crazy." He said then felt like an idiot. Just because she didn’t look like it didn’t mean it wasn’t true. He of all people should know that appearances don’t mean shit.
Parker’s grin widened. "Just wait." She said, amused.
Eliot narrowed his eyes. "If you screw this up." He said in a low voice.
Parker glared at him. "I don’t screw things up. I’ll get my part done. Just worry about them." Parker said, head tilting to the two who were still arguing over what was better to use.
"What do you know about Nate?" Eliot asked her, leaning a little closer. Close enough that he could smell the jasmine scent that came from her.
"That he couldn’t catch me even on a really good day of his, or a bad day for me. He’s gotten out of the insurance business because his son died, and I’ve heard he’s falling apart." She told him in a low voice. She really didn’t want Nathan hearing her.
"Great so we’re depending on a guy that’s breaking down and a frat boy." He said, looking at the other two.
Both men had barely paused when the waitress came back to set down the soda and ask Parker what she wanted to drink. As soon as the waitress left however, they were back to their little fight.
Parker laughed at his description, it was a quiet laugh and it made her smile. It was a weird feeling but Eliot cracked a grin when he realized he was responsible for it.
"You two ready?" Nate asked a moment later when he and Hardison had come to an agreement and he noticed that they hadn’t been paying attention to them.
Parker and Eliot both looked at him. "Ready." Parker said, and Eliot just raised an eyebrow.
"Good, now we’ve decided that the best way in is through the roof. Parker, you’re going to have to get in first…