(no subject)
Sophie waits until she gets back into her own apartment before she lets herself get the shakes.
It had been incredibly close. They all knew physical harm was a distinct possibility on a job and this hadn't been the first time that Hardison wound up in the clutches of the mark, but only having thirty minutes to plan and execute a rescue, it was too much. Hearing his voice, the terror that made him sound like a young boy, Sophie could barely breathe herself.
Parker had gone very quiet as they waited for Nate and Eliot to get back to the apartment. She'd brought up the fake identities with sure keystrokes, staring steadily at the screen, while Sophie fished the sheets out of the printer. They'd all known that Parker and Hardison had begun something, had started down the road that turned two into one, but this was the first time Sophie understood what that would mean.
After Hardison called and Nate came up with the plan to 'borrow' emergency vehicles, Sophie had made the call about the gun and Eliot called about the heart attack. Parker stood behind the sofa, the phone clutched tightly in her hand, still on speakerphone. Nate was doing his best to keep Hardison talking, to keep him focused on something other than his situation. She'd passed the phone to Sophie when she put on her jacket and Sophie was able to calm him down a bit more. She stayed on the phone with him, explaining the situation as they sprinted to the coffee shop two blocks over.
When Sophie took the wheel for the ambulance, she gave the phone to Parker and refused to take it back a few minutes later. Parker had noticeably paled, but she breathed deeply before climbing into the back of the ambulance. Sophie had never heard that tone in Parker's voice before. It was soft, gentle, as she coaxed Hardison into following her instructions. For anyone else, it would be maternal, but Sophie felt like she was listening to the Parker that could've been, the one raised by loving parents with an adorable little brother and a fluffy kitten.
Sophie spent most of her life reading people so she could hear the fear buried deep, could see it in the way Parker's fingers shook a little as she turned on the bluetooth headset.
She didn't know everything that had happened to Parker when she was growing up. She and Nate had discussed it a time or two, piecing together what they could. They learned enough to know not to ask. Still, in the four years they'd been a team, Parker had been slowly changing. The younger woman saw everything and she was intelligent enough to make comparisons between herself & the others. Of course, it wasn't until this past year, when Hardison pushed a little, just enough, that Parker began to let herself really feel. Eliot had a quiet word with her after they watched that hug between Parker and Eliot, just to let her know that Parker was starting to ask questions.
Hardison had been lucky, landing with his 'Nana,' a woman who was fierce enough by all accounts to keep him from the fate that befell too many young black me