Mod Gift for Ariestess: Learning to Fly
Title: Learning to Fly
Author: telaryn
Mod gift for: ariestess
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairing: Tara, Parker, Sophie
Word Count: 1366
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Only own the effort involved.
Summary: In the aftermath of the wedding Tara decides to take the time to figure out feelings she's had for Parker since The Maltese Falcon Job.
Author's Note: As with most of my Parker stories I just sort of hung on for the ride - hope you enjoy the results!
”Got no particular place to be,” she’d said once the noise and the chaos of the wedding had finally died away and Nate and Sophie were finally husband and wife, and if there had been a logical progression of events from that moment to “Teach me how to fly like you do”, Parker was pretty damn sure she’d missed it.
Tara was the only one besides Nate that had ever shown a real interest in the things that made her Parker, and after Nate had wrenched both his wrists trying a simple fifteen story rappel, Parker hadn’t needed Eliot or Sophie to tell her their mastermind had no business leaving the ground except in an elevator or a plane.
Tara, on the other hand, had too many curves to be a proper thief but was otherwise in excellent shape. She even had some rock-climbing experience, which made Parker feel better about telling Eliot what he could do with his concerns…at least in the privacy of her own mind.
“What’s the worst you’ve ever been hurt doing this?” Tara asked. Parker, busy lining up the shot that would send the zip line hurtling across space to embed itself in the wall of the nearby building she’d selected barely registered that the other woman had spoken.
“Dunno,” she admitted when Tara had repeated the question. “It’s probably between a drop about this far where I ended up with a broken leg a sprained wrist, three cracked ribs and a concussion, and one a little bit higher where something went wrong in my harness. I was able to get it fixed before I hit the sidewalk, but the harness jerked me up so fast I ended up in traction for three weeks.” She shuddered reflexively. “At least once he knew I wasn’t going to die on him, Archie let me move around with the other stuff.”
She took her time checking the equipment and making sure everything was properly set; Tara waited at the edge of the parapet - either contemplating the drop and the potential for related injuries, or doing what Parker would have been doing in her shoes and getting a feel for what it was going to be like once she launched herself into space.
“If you’re scared, it’s okay,” she said when everything was ready and she’d beckoned Tara over to the launch point. She wasn’t sure it was the right thing for her to say, but Parker figured if Sophie wasn’t going to be around as much anymore for her to check these things with, best to err on the side of caution.
Tara’s usually perfect smile was a little shaky at the edges. “I trust you,” she said, “but yeah - I am a little scared.”
Parker felt a pleasant warmth steal through her body at the idea this woman who she’d once threatened to throw off a roof very similar to this one could say words like that and mean them. “You do mean that?” she asked as a momentary flash of self-doubt shook her. “That you trust me?”
“Of course I do!” Tara exclaimed. “You may come at the world a little strange Parker, but I’ve always known exactly where I stood with you. And when it comes to thief-stuff you’re as professional as they come; that’s what makes you the best.”
Being the best more often than not meant that Parker was rarely on the receiving end of praise for what she could do. “If you’re in this game for the glory you are wasting my time,” had been one of the first things Archie had ever said to her, and she’d taken the old thief’s words to heart. Her team appreciated what she could do, but after five years she was experiencing a little of what she imagined they all went through - when you saw the same impossible thing repeated over and over again, eventually it lost its magic.
“Hey…Parker. You okay?”
Parker shuddered, realizing that Tara had caught her thinking too much. “Just realizing that I’m really glad you asked me to teach you this.” Suddenly feeling outrageously self-conscious, she swung herself up behind Tara and fastened the woman’s safety line securely in place. “Your best move is always going to be to hold on with your hands,” she said, stepping back down off the perch and catching Tara’s eye again, “but don’t panic if you start to slip. One way or the other you’re getting safely across that gap!”
Quick running steps, the whine of high-speed friction, and suddenly Tara was away. Parker laughed out loud when the other woman’s scream drifted back to her on the wind - recognizing it as a yell of triumph instead of fear.
******************************
Like all the best things of her life, it was over too soon and yet seemed to go on forever. Tara staggered as her feet made contact with the roof on the other building, and after a moment of trying to recover her balance gave it up as a bad job and let go the cross bar.
She had a momentary surge of panic as she remembered the safety line Parker had secured, but gravity and inertia was on her side. “Not my most dignified moment ever,” she muttered, reaching behind her to disconnect the safety line, and then scrambling out of the way as Parker came sailing majestically into view.
Tara didn’t know when her feelings for Parker had become so twisted up and confused, but the wedding had done nothing to sort them out. After days of watching the thief make her way through endless rounds of parties and people without losing control, Tara had finally confided her dilemma to the bride. Sophie had immediately looked doubtful, a fact that Tara found surprisingly comforting. “You need to find some way for her to invite you in. She’s used to having to make the changes…the adjustments…in order to deal with people who don’t see the world the way she does.” The woman who was probably Tara’s oldest surviving friend looked thoughtful.
“Whatever you end up doing, Tara, tread lightly here. Parker is a woman with a lot to offer people willing to take the time to get to know her and appreciate her.”
“I’m not going to hurt her,” Tara protested. “I just…I have to know what’s going on in my head Soph.”
“I’m just letting you know that if you do step wrong, it’s not me you have to worry about. Parker can take care of herself a lot better than we tend to give her credit for.”
Tara decided against letting Sophie know that she understood probably better than most how well Parker could take care of herself. “That was incredible!” she called as Parker dismounted from the line.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” the thief asked. Realizing she was still half collapsed on the roof, Tara quickly scrambled to her feet.
“I’m fine. Really. Okay, not the greatest landing in the world, but nothing broken.” She paused, realizing that somewhere in the midst of her babbling, Parker’s expression had gone almost unnaturally still. “What?”
“I was just thinking about the last time we were on a roof together.” She cocked her head to one side, and Tara felt her stomach twist itself into a knot. “That was the last time I saw you scared. You knew I really was going to throw you off that roof, right?”
Swallowing hard against a mouth gone painfully dry, Tara nodded. “You made that fact very, very clear.” What was less clear was why that knowledge had been acting on Tara like some kind of aphrodisiac. That’s what it is, she realized, staring at the thief with wide, almost frightened eyes. That was at the root of her feelings for Parker - she liked the fact that Parker would have killed her without a second glance.
“I don’t want to throw you off the roof anymore,” Parker said, coming over to crouch next to Tara. “You know that, right?”
Tara nodded. Parker was close - too close. “I know,” she said softly.
The girl grinned. “I like watching you fly too much to let you fall.” Leaning in, she kissed Tara for all she was worth.
Author: telaryn
Mod gift for: ariestess
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairing: Tara, Parker, Sophie
Word Count: 1366
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Only own the effort involved.
Summary: In the aftermath of the wedding Tara decides to take the time to figure out feelings she's had for Parker since The Maltese Falcon Job.
Author's Note: As with most of my Parker stories I just sort of hung on for the ride - hope you enjoy the results!
”Got no particular place to be,” she’d said once the noise and the chaos of the wedding had finally died away and Nate and Sophie were finally husband and wife, and if there had been a logical progression of events from that moment to “Teach me how to fly like you do”, Parker was pretty damn sure she’d missed it.
Tara was the only one besides Nate that had ever shown a real interest in the things that made her Parker, and after Nate had wrenched both his wrists trying a simple fifteen story rappel, Parker hadn’t needed Eliot or Sophie to tell her their mastermind had no business leaving the ground except in an elevator or a plane.
Tara, on the other hand, had too many curves to be a proper thief but was otherwise in excellent shape. She even had some rock-climbing experience, which made Parker feel better about telling Eliot what he could do with his concerns…at least in the privacy of her own mind.
“What’s the worst you’ve ever been hurt doing this?” Tara asked. Parker, busy lining up the shot that would send the zip line hurtling across space to embed itself in the wall of the nearby building she’d selected barely registered that the other woman had spoken.
“Dunno,” she admitted when Tara had repeated the question. “It’s probably between a drop about this far where I ended up with a broken leg a sprained wrist, three cracked ribs and a concussion, and one a little bit higher where something went wrong in my harness. I was able to get it fixed before I hit the sidewalk, but the harness jerked me up so fast I ended up in traction for three weeks.” She shuddered reflexively. “At least once he knew I wasn’t going to die on him, Archie let me move around with the other stuff.”
She took her time checking the equipment and making sure everything was properly set; Tara waited at the edge of the parapet - either contemplating the drop and the potential for related injuries, or doing what Parker would have been doing in her shoes and getting a feel for what it was going to be like once she launched herself into space.
“If you’re scared, it’s okay,” she said when everything was ready and she’d beckoned Tara over to the launch point. She wasn’t sure it was the right thing for her to say, but Parker figured if Sophie wasn’t going to be around as much anymore for her to check these things with, best to err on the side of caution.
Tara’s usually perfect smile was a little shaky at the edges. “I trust you,” she said, “but yeah - I am a little scared.”
Parker felt a pleasant warmth steal through her body at the idea this woman who she’d once threatened to throw off a roof very similar to this one could say words like that and mean them. “You do mean that?” she asked as a momentary flash of self-doubt shook her. “That you trust me?”
“Of course I do!” Tara exclaimed. “You may come at the world a little strange Parker, but I’ve always known exactly where I stood with you. And when it comes to thief-stuff you’re as professional as they come; that’s what makes you the best.”
Being the best more often than not meant that Parker was rarely on the receiving end of praise for what she could do. “If you’re in this game for the glory you are wasting my time,” had been one of the first things Archie had ever said to her, and she’d taken the old thief’s words to heart. Her team appreciated what she could do, but after five years she was experiencing a little of what she imagined they all went through - when you saw the same impossible thing repeated over and over again, eventually it lost its magic.
“Hey…Parker. You okay?”
Parker shuddered, realizing that Tara had caught her thinking too much. “Just realizing that I’m really glad you asked me to teach you this.” Suddenly feeling outrageously self-conscious, she swung herself up behind Tara and fastened the woman’s safety line securely in place. “Your best move is always going to be to hold on with your hands,” she said, stepping back down off the perch and catching Tara’s eye again, “but don’t panic if you start to slip. One way or the other you’re getting safely across that gap!”
Quick running steps, the whine of high-speed friction, and suddenly Tara was away. Parker laughed out loud when the other woman’s scream drifted back to her on the wind - recognizing it as a yell of triumph instead of fear.
******************************
Like all the best things of her life, it was over too soon and yet seemed to go on forever. Tara staggered as her feet made contact with the roof on the other building, and after a moment of trying to recover her balance gave it up as a bad job and let go the cross bar.
She had a momentary surge of panic as she remembered the safety line Parker had secured, but gravity and inertia was on her side. “Not my most dignified moment ever,” she muttered, reaching behind her to disconnect the safety line, and then scrambling out of the way as Parker came sailing majestically into view.
Tara didn’t know when her feelings for Parker had become so twisted up and confused, but the wedding had done nothing to sort them out. After days of watching the thief make her way through endless rounds of parties and people without losing control, Tara had finally confided her dilemma to the bride. Sophie had immediately looked doubtful, a fact that Tara found surprisingly comforting. “You need to find some way for her to invite you in. She’s used to having to make the changes…the adjustments…in order to deal with people who don’t see the world the way she does.” The woman who was probably Tara’s oldest surviving friend looked thoughtful.
“Whatever you end up doing, Tara, tread lightly here. Parker is a woman with a lot to offer people willing to take the time to get to know her and appreciate her.”
“I’m not going to hurt her,” Tara protested. “I just…I have to know what’s going on in my head Soph.”
“I’m just letting you know that if you do step wrong, it’s not me you have to worry about. Parker can take care of herself a lot better than we tend to give her credit for.”
Tara decided against letting Sophie know that she understood probably better than most how well Parker could take care of herself. “That was incredible!” she called as Parker dismounted from the line.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” the thief asked. Realizing she was still half collapsed on the roof, Tara quickly scrambled to her feet.
“I’m fine. Really. Okay, not the greatest landing in the world, but nothing broken.” She paused, realizing that somewhere in the midst of her babbling, Parker’s expression had gone almost unnaturally still. “What?”
“I was just thinking about the last time we were on a roof together.” She cocked her head to one side, and Tara felt her stomach twist itself into a knot. “That was the last time I saw you scared. You knew I really was going to throw you off that roof, right?”
Swallowing hard against a mouth gone painfully dry, Tara nodded. “You made that fact very, very clear.” What was less clear was why that knowledge had been acting on Tara like some kind of aphrodisiac. That’s what it is, she realized, staring at the thief with wide, almost frightened eyes. That was at the root of her feelings for Parker - she liked the fact that Parker would have killed her without a second glance.
“I don’t want to throw you off the roof anymore,” Parker said, coming over to crouch next to Tara. “You know that, right?”
Tara nodded. Parker was close - too close. “I know,” she said softly.
The girl grinned. “I like watching you fly too much to let you fall.” Leaning in, she kissed Tara for all she was worth.