Gifts
Title: Gifts
Rating: PG
Pairing: Parker/Eliot
Verse: none
Summary: Twas the night before Christmas and all through the apartment...
Notes: This was my Christmas Fic of Joy gift to Hollow_Echos who left me the prompt of "Parker loves surprises. So begins her plot to surprise Eliot on Christmas morning."
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house.’ Parker paused, balancing on the edge of the sill and her harness, considering the window before her. She could just cut through but the change in temperature would no doubt alert her quarry and it was (probably, she’d have to ask Sophie) kind of rude.
It would have been so much easier if it was a house.
‘And all through the apartment. Not a creature was stirring.’ She made a face, trying to think of something appropriate that rhymed with Apartment. Or maybe condo. Was this a condo? She shifted forward, opting for plan ‘B’, giving herself a little more slack before climbing along a narrow ledge to the windows to the apartment next door.
It was empty, she wouldn’t be bothering anyone by cutting and entering to get into the air ducts.
She made quick work, flipped herself in, and came to her feet with the answer to her own questions. ‘and all through the apartments Parker was trying to avoid the entrapments.’ She nodded to herself satisfied, heeding her own words of caution as she climbed through a ventilation shaft.
At least it was kind of Christmassy.
Well until she ran into a familiar *off* feeling. She made a face, pulling out her spray can to confirm her suspicion.
Apparently the Steranko wasn’t the only one to put laser trip wires in a ventilation shaft. It made some sense, she supposed. Most people thought they shared certain personality traits.
At least she’d been prepared. It had taken her a couple adrenalin-fueled insomniac nights but she’d worked out a fix.
Only a minute or so later she was making progress forward again, slipping out of the vent only long enough so she could hide the first of the two (red velvet) sacks she’d brought with her while she went back for the other, glad she’d had to foresight to ensure she packed in preparation for tight spaces.
Roughly three minutes later she had both sacks and was looking around her, feeling mournful on behalf of the room.
‘No stockings hung from the chimney were there.’ She thought sadly to herself before setting about her work. There wasn’t a chimney, but she hung a stocking next to the ventilation shaft since it was kind of acting like a chimney. She filled it with nice things, like yen, euros, a horse stuffed animal, a Serbian phrase book, and bottles of things that smelled good enough they had to be useful.
Next came the tinsel. She might have gone a little overboard. But she knew *now* not to put too much on the plants.
Next a string of lights and she knew she was running out of time because he’d be coming out soon so she shook out the fake miniature tree and set it to stand, placing the present under it and shoving her now empty bags back into the shaft.
She was giving the room one last survey when she noticed it, sitting on the counter as naturally as if it had been left there accidentally by someone tired and absent minded after a few long hard days.
Except Parker knew he’d *never* leave a glass of milk sitting out to spoil unless (maybe even if) the apartment was on fire and there were guys with guns.
And there is a cookie and a carrot sitting next to it. She remembered when she’d put carrots on the list and specifically explained that the cookie was for Santa, the carrot was for a Reindeer. Only one carrot. They took turns eating the carrots from the houses because they’d get sick if they ate too many.
She mentally apologied to Santa, but she didn’t think he’d mind if she took the offering. It was how it was supposed to work after all.
And everyone needed to have a little Santa magic in their lives, even hitters who only got grumpy around kids over the holidays because of *hurt* Parker’s gut understood even if her head didn’t really.
She drank the milk, took a bite out of the cookie, and pocketed the carrot before retreating to the ventilation shaft and out into the night.
‘But there was hope because Parker soon would be there’
oOo
Eliot had known she was there, had long ago coerced Hardison into working a warning system so that any time any of their electronics came within a hundred yards of his building he was alerted. It was for safety, theirs. He reacted most violently to intruders, surprises while nursing an injury, or when woken without proper warning. Combining the three might turn deadly and he was working with people who had no concept of boundaries.
He hadn’t wanted to deal with her, not tonight. While on the job he’d been distracted enough that her joy had been survival able, even enjoyable.
It would only make tonight worse though.
He pretended to be asleep and hoped she would know to leave him alone.
He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He was exhausted, but there were nights he knew better than to sleep and this was one of them.
But he didn’t dream of a sky that looked like it was on fire, or the song silent night wafting through a house long after ‘bed time’ mocking him or the sound the dog made when he put it down, the name on it’s collar engrained in his mind. He only knew the names of the man and the dog.
Instead he dreamed of Parker in an old-fashioned night gown, and of doing battle with a rat-king with Sterling’s face, a toy soldier with a cell phone opening up a hole in the story book, a trip through a land of snow and ice to meet a fairy queen, her consort, and court. Delivering Parker safely and setting down his saber and using his sword to prepare nuts for a feast for the fairy-court, for his family.
Darkness was on the horizon when he woke up, the glitter Parker had left in her wake not enough to hold it back.
But the reprieve from memory, the moment he’d stepped out and felt a flicker of that child who had once been innocent, had believed in things like Santa, and the present under the little tree, a picture of the team happy, smiling, together, framed simply by four popsicle sticks tied together with red string…
The end of this game was coming, but this?
It was enough to hold it at bay for a little while longer.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Parker/Eliot
Verse: none
Summary: Twas the night before Christmas and all through the apartment...
Notes: This was my Christmas Fic of Joy gift to Hollow_Echos who left me the prompt of "Parker loves surprises. So begins her plot to surprise Eliot on Christmas morning."
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house.’ Parker paused, balancing on the edge of the sill and her harness, considering the window before her. She could just cut through but the change in temperature would no doubt alert her quarry and it was (probably, she’d have to ask Sophie) kind of rude.
It would have been so much easier if it was a house.
‘And all through the apartment. Not a creature was stirring.’ She made a face, trying to think of something appropriate that rhymed with Apartment. Or maybe condo. Was this a condo? She shifted forward, opting for plan ‘B’, giving herself a little more slack before climbing along a narrow ledge to the windows to the apartment next door.
It was empty, she wouldn’t be bothering anyone by cutting and entering to get into the air ducts.
She made quick work, flipped herself in, and came to her feet with the answer to her own questions. ‘and all through the apartments Parker was trying to avoid the entrapments.’ She nodded to herself satisfied, heeding her own words of caution as she climbed through a ventilation shaft.
At least it was kind of Christmassy.
Well until she ran into a familiar *off* feeling. She made a face, pulling out her spray can to confirm her suspicion.
Apparently the Steranko wasn’t the only one to put laser trip wires in a ventilation shaft. It made some sense, she supposed. Most people thought they shared certain personality traits.
At least she’d been prepared. It had taken her a couple adrenalin-fueled insomniac nights but she’d worked out a fix.
Only a minute or so later she was making progress forward again, slipping out of the vent only long enough so she could hide the first of the two (red velvet) sacks she’d brought with her while she went back for the other, glad she’d had to foresight to ensure she packed in preparation for tight spaces.
Roughly three minutes later she had both sacks and was looking around her, feeling mournful on behalf of the room.
‘No stockings hung from the chimney were there.’ She thought sadly to herself before setting about her work. There wasn’t a chimney, but she hung a stocking next to the ventilation shaft since it was kind of acting like a chimney. She filled it with nice things, like yen, euros, a horse stuffed animal, a Serbian phrase book, and bottles of things that smelled good enough they had to be useful.
Next came the tinsel. She might have gone a little overboard. But she knew *now* not to put too much on the plants.
Next a string of lights and she knew she was running out of time because he’d be coming out soon so she shook out the fake miniature tree and set it to stand, placing the present under it and shoving her now empty bags back into the shaft.
She was giving the room one last survey when she noticed it, sitting on the counter as naturally as if it had been left there accidentally by someone tired and absent minded after a few long hard days.
Except Parker knew he’d *never* leave a glass of milk sitting out to spoil unless (maybe even if) the apartment was on fire and there were guys with guns.
And there is a cookie and a carrot sitting next to it. She remembered when she’d put carrots on the list and specifically explained that the cookie was for Santa, the carrot was for a Reindeer. Only one carrot. They took turns eating the carrots from the houses because they’d get sick if they ate too many.
She mentally apologied to Santa, but she didn’t think he’d mind if she took the offering. It was how it was supposed to work after all.
And everyone needed to have a little Santa magic in their lives, even hitters who only got grumpy around kids over the holidays because of *hurt* Parker’s gut understood even if her head didn’t really.
She drank the milk, took a bite out of the cookie, and pocketed the carrot before retreating to the ventilation shaft and out into the night.
‘But there was hope because Parker soon would be there’
oOo
Eliot had known she was there, had long ago coerced Hardison into working a warning system so that any time any of their electronics came within a hundred yards of his building he was alerted. It was for safety, theirs. He reacted most violently to intruders, surprises while nursing an injury, or when woken without proper warning. Combining the three might turn deadly and he was working with people who had no concept of boundaries.
He hadn’t wanted to deal with her, not tonight. While on the job he’d been distracted enough that her joy had been survival able, even enjoyable.
It would only make tonight worse though.
He pretended to be asleep and hoped she would know to leave him alone.
He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He was exhausted, but there were nights he knew better than to sleep and this was one of them.
But he didn’t dream of a sky that looked like it was on fire, or the song silent night wafting through a house long after ‘bed time’ mocking him or the sound the dog made when he put it down, the name on it’s collar engrained in his mind. He only knew the names of the man and the dog.
Instead he dreamed of Parker in an old-fashioned night gown, and of doing battle with a rat-king with Sterling’s face, a toy soldier with a cell phone opening up a hole in the story book, a trip through a land of snow and ice to meet a fairy queen, her consort, and court. Delivering Parker safely and setting down his saber and using his sword to prepare nuts for a feast for the fairy-court, for his family.
Darkness was on the horizon when he woke up, the glitter Parker had left in her wake not enough to hold it back.
But the reprieve from memory, the moment he’d stepped out and felt a flicker of that child who had once been innocent, had believed in things like Santa, and the present under the little tree, a picture of the team happy, smiling, together, framed simply by four popsicle sticks tied together with red string…
The end of this game was coming, but this?
It was enough to hold it at bay for a little while longer.