Two Knight's Closing: Learning to Fall
Title: Two Knight's Closing: Learning to Fall
Author: Magpie
Rating: pg-13
Genre: Nate/Eliot, referenced pre-series Eliot/OMC, Parker/Hardison
Verse: BlackKing!WhiteKnight!Verse
Summary: Those who forget the past will be doomed to repeat it.
Notes: Much praise and thanks to my beta: LMX_v3point3
This chapter is brought to you in part by the song Learning to Fall.
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five
New York NY,
Midnight
Parker was in the dark.
She knew, on one level, that she was in a hotel room in New York, that she’d just closed the curtains and turned off all the lights and unplugged everything and that her shin hurt because she’d only arrived this afternoon and Hardison got her a big room with lots of stuff that she hadn’t bothered to memorize because she was getting sloppy and was distracted.
She knew all of that, but if she sat very still she could pretend she was in her roost back in the castle (she’d been calling their building that since she heard Hardison say he’d castled their king. She always wanted to live in a castle) and that today never happened.
Sophie had tried to teach her how to make things not go wrong but Parker had made them go wrong anyway.
Now she missed Sophie along with feeling like she’d gone splat.
It was kind of like she’d gone splat and now people were walking over her with their pointy high heels.
She hated New York.
She’d thought coming here would be okay. After she left her last foster family, after Mr. Parker taught her about jumping off buildings (alright, facing her fears, but it was like jumping off buildings), she’d come here. After she came here she met Archie. Good things happened in New York.
And there were lots of buildings to repel from and lots and lots of things to steal.
But she decided, right now, she hated New York.
Outside, in the main room of their suite, she could hear Hardison moving around, waiting for her to stop being crazy. She could almost hear Eliot in her head telling her now was no time for Crazy.
Well she was crazy and if she stayed in here long enough maybe Hardison would just realize she was crazy and stop poking at it and just leave. That would be best right? She’d already gone splat. She didn’t want to go splat again.
She wiped at the stupid eyeliner and mascara she’d put on because Sophie had said it made her look good and Parker had tried to be normal.
Tried really, really hard.
But she just…
They’d had fun. She didn’t get the point of paying for the tickets to see the funny play with all the singing and the knights of Camelot (and she knows the story does not go like that. Archie liked the classics and Parker liked how expensive authentic Arthurian art was) but Hardison said the point was him paying for the tickets and Sophie had told her that meant it was a date which was weird but at least she didn’t have to wear plants on her wrist or anything like that. And she did like the cows and coconuts even if the murderous bunny was an insult to her sensibilities.
And afterwards Hardison had taken her to dinner in a really tall building and the food wasn’t as good as Eliot’s but she didn’t say that because she kinda thought it wasn’t nice, maybe, and they didn’t have thirty-nine story drops right outside the window next to their table at Nate’s which kind of made up for having to eat vegetables that Eliot hadn’t made the way she liked.
It had been normal and kind of boring (though the drop did help) but Hardison kept looking at her like Eliot sometimes looked at Nate and it made her insides feel like maybe she was eating the vegetables Eliot had made just the way she liked.
Then Hardison took her to the roof and there was her harness stuff all set up and his harness stuff and it should have been…
Then things went wrong.
oOo
There were some things Hardison knew for certain.
How he ended up here was not one of them.
Everything had gone according to plan, better than according to plan.
And then…
He’d frozen. He hadn’t known what to say, or if he should say anything at all.
He had had plans for this. A fun week (five days) of seeing the sights and the occasional theft, showing Parker what normal dating (or as close to it as millionaire thieves came) was, and ending the week by pulling a big heist on one of the scumbags on Nate’s list and telling Parker he loved her.
It would have been like a James Bond flick but better.
Instead he’d frozen at the wrong moment and Parker had gone running and now she was hiding in her room and he didn’t know what to do.
He’d been planning this for weeks months (years). A show Parker might actually like. Dinner at a place that she might like. Keeping it casual. Keeping it cool.
He’d even left every electronic device of his in the room except for his emergency smart phone. That was a big deal for him.
And everything had been set up and perfect and they’d been out on the roof of the building.
He’d checked, double checked, and triple checked the gear and knots and rope and everything.
Months ago in Kentucky Parker had asked him if he’d go rappelling with her. He had thought he could be the good, thoughtful, bo-… whatever he is and they could go repelling together here.
But he’d brought her up to the roof and told her that they could go repelling now.
And Parker had asked him if he’d ever asked Eliot what it was like to be with Nate.
She’d told him that Eliot said it was like going rappelling. It was about taking a flying leap off a building and falling and hoping you get caught and don’t go splat.
That was what being with Nate was like. What being…
It had sunk in and she’d taken a deep breath and asked him to go rappelling with her.
And he’d just stared back.
He’d just freaking stared back at her.
She’d come as close to using the L word as she’d probably ever be able to go and he hadn’t said anything.
And then she’d run and he’d stood there like the mother of all idiots he was, and now he was standing here, in their hotel room, staring at his phone like it would solve all his problems.
But he can’t hack Parker, or time.
All he can do is stand here and wait for the next in the long series of calls that have bounced around the world today. Sophie, Eliot, Tara, and Nate are all in or headed for L.A.. There was something going on but everyone was telling them to lay low and stay out of it.
All he can do is try to fix things.
Maybe it’s the fact it was L.A., of all places, that they were heading back to, and that brought back memories. Or maybe it was just…
What? That he was finally making his move after two years? More?
It seemed like they’d been together for a lifetime but really it hadn’t been that long since they were getting used to sharing offices. It was some strange break in space time in his head where it seems just yesterday that Parker was this unknowable enigma of crazy and sexy but at the same time it had been impossibly long since the incident with Eliot’s knives, his hair, and that paper clip, when Hardison had first realized her perspective was just skewed. You had to adjust your viewpoint to fit her frame of reference and you’d be just fine.
Of course getting it right was the hard part and he kept on getting so used to making the switch automatically he’d forget once in awhile.
He stopped pacing and sat down at the desk, poking idly through files he’d acquired in preparation for their end of date heist.
And found himself fiddling with the paperclip in the corner.
He could sit out here all night, wishing he could hack time, thinking about how he got here only to fuck up, and waiting for a call that wouldn’t come until the morning.
Or he could man up and just… try talking to her.
He got up and turned to head for the door before stopping and retrieving the paper clip. He needed whatever talismans for good luck he could get.
And it would be useful if she’d locked the door.
oOo
“Hey,” Hardison said from the door, softly, like he was trying to not spook her like Eliot taught her to not spook horses. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah,” she answered, because she only runs away from Sterling and people Eliot tells her to and when she’s trying to get away from a heist. She doesn’t run from Hardison.
Even if she just had.
The door opened and she blinked against the light intruding into the room. Hardison partially closed the door behind him before making his way over to sit in front of her. “So…” He couldn't seem to find any words.
She didn’t really have any either.
“I thought I locked the door,” she muttered after a too long pause.
Hardison held out his hand, opening it to show a paper clip. “Picked it. Been practicing. And these doors are easy.”
The paper clip in his hand triggered something, a memory; teasing it out of the chaos boxed up and classified as the general “Past” in her head with uncertain specifications.
“Do you remember when Eliot tried to kill you with a paper clip?” she asked.
Hardison smiled at her. “Yeah. I remember, it was for something you did though.”
Parker made a face. “It wasn’t me,” she repeated, reaching out to take the paper clip from him, adding, “And you thought it would be a good idea.”
Another pause. Another silence.
“It’s been forever,” Parker said, carefully bending the paper clip back to it’s original shape. But it looked wrong. She tried bending it back.
Hardison was quiet after that, watching her a moment before gently taking the paper clip out of her hands, twisting it so it was the way it had been and it looked right.
“It has been forever,” Hardison agreed. Another pause. She played with the paper clip. Mostly because otherwise she’d have to look at him and... yeah.
She wasn’t sure what she should say now.
She took a deep breath. She should have just said it earlier. She should have just not been crazy. Because Hardison understood her crazy and the paper clip proved it and everything else did and and…
“I love you,” she blurted.
“I’m rappelling with you,” Hardison said at the same time.
There was a long moment of stunned, shocked, silence. They stared at each other. The words registering.
Parker felt her pulse race and her stomach leap and turn like she was flying through the air waiting for the back up system to catch on the line and suddenly just…
It caught her, and she was there, and her insides swirled and mixed back together like hot coco and Eliot’s vegetables and Sophie’s perfume and Nate’s little grin and question about if she’s done this before and other things. Better things. If there were even better things than all of those, this is what it felt like.
“I’m gonna kiss you now okay?” Hardison asked.
“Hell yeah!” Parker replied and she wouldn’t remember the specifics later but somehow she ended up in Hardison’s lap and he kissed her and she decided he needed a breath mint before their next make out session, but it would do for now.
And he was soft and hard in the right places and his hands felt nice and once he got over the shock he at least knew how to kiss her right and…
Later, much later, when he was asleep and she was trying to because Sophie told her it was bad to leave in these situations, she’d admit that; this feeling?
It was, maybe, better than rappelling.
She rolled over and Hardison reached out in his sleep, hand finding her, arm winding around her waist, pulling her closer.
And she didn’t want to wake Hardison up so she stayed.
And, maybe, she closed her eyes and didn’t just pretend to fall asleep.
oOo
When Hardison’s cell phone rang at ten in the morning, he decided that the universe officially sucked. He was exhausted and tired and his right arm was asleep and worse he’d been woken from possibly the best dream ever.
And he had hair in his mouth.
That registering brought him aware of the fact his arms were around someone and that someone was possibly Parker and…
Oh. No. Freaking out and self congratulations would both have to wait until after he answered his cell phone.
He rolled over, reaching for it, trying to extract himself from Parker without waking her. She seemed dead to the world asleep, cuddling her pillow and using his arm as a replacement for it.
“What’s up Tara?” he asked in a whisper, having caught her name on the caller ID.
“Hardison, it’s Maggie.” What? “Tara was attacked last night. She called me and I got her to safety but Nate’s expecting her to meet him. There’s something going on and I can’t get in touch with Nate, Eliot, or Sophie.”
Hardison fought the surge of fear. “Nate’s probably in the air. Eliot and Sophie are flying into L.A. from London but the tickets I got them should have had them there hours ago.” His sleep hazed mind fumbled with the time zone changes. “I think.”
“They’re in L.A.?” she asked, a note of relief. “I’ll call them again then. I think Tara might need more medical help than I can give her.”
“You still living at the same address?” he asked, mentally nodding when she confirmed it. “I’ll call them. They’ve both been on leave so you might have the wrong numbers.” It only made sense. “I’ll send them your way and get in touch with Nate.” He did the math in his head. “His flight should get in soon.”
He said goodbye to Maggie, too much going on for small talk, and hung up. Carefully he finished extracting himself from Parker and slipped out of the room to make the rest of his calls.
Eliot didn’t answer his phone, Sophie didn’t answer hers either. He tried pulling up the locations of their phones.
Disconnected. Signal lost.
“Okay. Not the time to start panicking.”
“What’s wrong?” Parker asked from behind him and Hardison turned. He paused, taking a minute to just enjoy the fine show that was a completely naked Parker (that he totally could look at all he wanted) coming down to perch on the desk next to him.
But no. Back to business. “Tara was attacked in Los Angeles. Maggie’s looking after her but it sounded like she’s hurt pretty bad. Eliot and Sophie got to L.A. early this morning but they’re off the grid.” He shook his head. “I’m gonna call Nate.”
Back when they were still in L.A., actually right around the paper clip incident, Eliot had gotten captured buying them time to get out of a job gone south. After the team got him back, Nate had convinced Eliot to let them implant a tracking device. Something that had a program as close to hack proof as Hardison could make it, was completely inactive until triggered, and was programmed so that a single incorrect passkey entered would cause the tracker to permanently disengage.
And only Nate and Eliot knew the password.
As long as Eliot was still in L.A., they’d be able to find him.
“Nate,” Hardison said once Nate had answered. “It’s not a good time for me either but Tara was attacked and-“
Nate mentioned Sterling. He was having a chat with Sterling.
Not good.
“I know Sophie and Eliot are here. I arranged for their tickets. I can’t get in touch with them...”
Nate made a neutral remark. Sterling was listening to his side of the conversation apparently.
“Okay, you get away from Sterling ASAP. I need the password to find Eliot. I don’t know what’s going on Nate but I-“
Another interruption and dismissal then Nate had hung up.
“Something’s going on in L.A.” He said to no one in particular. He wanted this date, but the team…
“So…” Parker said, drawing out the word. “There are tall buildings in L.A. and I know all the good ones. We can go there now and be there if Nate decides we should go steal something.”
Hardison looked to Parker. “I could kiss you.”
She gave what he was pretty sure was an attempt at a pout. “Why don’t you? We had sex like four times last night.”
He opened his mouth to respond but really? He just stood up and kissed her, briefly, before pulling away. “Let’s pack and get to L.A..”
Parker nodded, resolutely. “We save Eliot and Sophie. Make sure Tara’s okay. Then more kissing. And sex.”
Hardison watched her all the way back to her room, a slight swish in her hips that would have made Sophie proud.
“That’s my girl.”
Yeah, they weren’t even on a job and things were going south, but for some odd reason he couldn’t stop grinning.
Author: Magpie
Rating: pg-13
Genre: Nate/Eliot, referenced pre-series Eliot/OMC, Parker/Hardison
Verse: BlackKing!WhiteKnight!Verse
Summary: Those who forget the past will be doomed to repeat it.
Notes: Much praise and thanks to my beta: LMX_v3point3
This chapter is brought to you in part by the song Learning to Fall.
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five
New York NY,
Midnight
Parker was in the dark.
She knew, on one level, that she was in a hotel room in New York, that she’d just closed the curtains and turned off all the lights and unplugged everything and that her shin hurt because she’d only arrived this afternoon and Hardison got her a big room with lots of stuff that she hadn’t bothered to memorize because she was getting sloppy and was distracted.
She knew all of that, but if she sat very still she could pretend she was in her roost back in the castle (she’d been calling their building that since she heard Hardison say he’d castled their king. She always wanted to live in a castle) and that today never happened.
Sophie had tried to teach her how to make things not go wrong but Parker had made them go wrong anyway.
Now she missed Sophie along with feeling like she’d gone splat.
It was kind of like she’d gone splat and now people were walking over her with their pointy high heels.
She hated New York.
She’d thought coming here would be okay. After she left her last foster family, after Mr. Parker taught her about jumping off buildings (alright, facing her fears, but it was like jumping off buildings), she’d come here. After she came here she met Archie. Good things happened in New York.
And there were lots of buildings to repel from and lots and lots of things to steal.
But she decided, right now, she hated New York.
Outside, in the main room of their suite, she could hear Hardison moving around, waiting for her to stop being crazy. She could almost hear Eliot in her head telling her now was no time for Crazy.
Well she was crazy and if she stayed in here long enough maybe Hardison would just realize she was crazy and stop poking at it and just leave. That would be best right? She’d already gone splat. She didn’t want to go splat again.
She wiped at the stupid eyeliner and mascara she’d put on because Sophie had said it made her look good and Parker had tried to be normal.
Tried really, really hard.
But she just…
They’d had fun. She didn’t get the point of paying for the tickets to see the funny play with all the singing and the knights of Camelot (and she knows the story does not go like that. Archie liked the classics and Parker liked how expensive authentic Arthurian art was) but Hardison said the point was him paying for the tickets and Sophie had told her that meant it was a date which was weird but at least she didn’t have to wear plants on her wrist or anything like that. And she did like the cows and coconuts even if the murderous bunny was an insult to her sensibilities.
And afterwards Hardison had taken her to dinner in a really tall building and the food wasn’t as good as Eliot’s but she didn’t say that because she kinda thought it wasn’t nice, maybe, and they didn’t have thirty-nine story drops right outside the window next to their table at Nate’s which kind of made up for having to eat vegetables that Eliot hadn’t made the way she liked.
It had been normal and kind of boring (though the drop did help) but Hardison kept looking at her like Eliot sometimes looked at Nate and it made her insides feel like maybe she was eating the vegetables Eliot had made just the way she liked.
Then Hardison took her to the roof and there was her harness stuff all set up and his harness stuff and it should have been…
Then things went wrong.
oOo
There were some things Hardison knew for certain.
How he ended up here was not one of them.
Everything had gone according to plan, better than according to plan.
And then…
He’d frozen. He hadn’t known what to say, or if he should say anything at all.
He had had plans for this. A fun week (five days) of seeing the sights and the occasional theft, showing Parker what normal dating (or as close to it as millionaire thieves came) was, and ending the week by pulling a big heist on one of the scumbags on Nate’s list and telling Parker he loved her.
It would have been like a James Bond flick but better.
Instead he’d frozen at the wrong moment and Parker had gone running and now she was hiding in her room and he didn’t know what to do.
He’d been planning this for weeks months (years). A show Parker might actually like. Dinner at a place that she might like. Keeping it casual. Keeping it cool.
He’d even left every electronic device of his in the room except for his emergency smart phone. That was a big deal for him.
And everything had been set up and perfect and they’d been out on the roof of the building.
He’d checked, double checked, and triple checked the gear and knots and rope and everything.
Months ago in Kentucky Parker had asked him if he’d go rappelling with her. He had thought he could be the good, thoughtful, bo-… whatever he is and they could go repelling together here.
But he’d brought her up to the roof and told her that they could go repelling now.
And Parker had asked him if he’d ever asked Eliot what it was like to be with Nate.
She’d told him that Eliot said it was like going rappelling. It was about taking a flying leap off a building and falling and hoping you get caught and don’t go splat.
That was what being with Nate was like. What being…
It had sunk in and she’d taken a deep breath and asked him to go rappelling with her.
And he’d just stared back.
He’d just freaking stared back at her.
She’d come as close to using the L word as she’d probably ever be able to go and he hadn’t said anything.
And then she’d run and he’d stood there like the mother of all idiots he was, and now he was standing here, in their hotel room, staring at his phone like it would solve all his problems.
But he can’t hack Parker, or time.
All he can do is stand here and wait for the next in the long series of calls that have bounced around the world today. Sophie, Eliot, Tara, and Nate are all in or headed for L.A.. There was something going on but everyone was telling them to lay low and stay out of it.
All he can do is try to fix things.
Maybe it’s the fact it was L.A., of all places, that they were heading back to, and that brought back memories. Or maybe it was just…
What? That he was finally making his move after two years? More?
It seemed like they’d been together for a lifetime but really it hadn’t been that long since they were getting used to sharing offices. It was some strange break in space time in his head where it seems just yesterday that Parker was this unknowable enigma of crazy and sexy but at the same time it had been impossibly long since the incident with Eliot’s knives, his hair, and that paper clip, when Hardison had first realized her perspective was just skewed. You had to adjust your viewpoint to fit her frame of reference and you’d be just fine.
Of course getting it right was the hard part and he kept on getting so used to making the switch automatically he’d forget once in awhile.
He stopped pacing and sat down at the desk, poking idly through files he’d acquired in preparation for their end of date heist.
And found himself fiddling with the paperclip in the corner.
He could sit out here all night, wishing he could hack time, thinking about how he got here only to fuck up, and waiting for a call that wouldn’t come until the morning.
Or he could man up and just… try talking to her.
He got up and turned to head for the door before stopping and retrieving the paper clip. He needed whatever talismans for good luck he could get.
And it would be useful if she’d locked the door.
oOo
“Hey,” Hardison said from the door, softly, like he was trying to not spook her like Eliot taught her to not spook horses. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah,” she answered, because she only runs away from Sterling and people Eliot tells her to and when she’s trying to get away from a heist. She doesn’t run from Hardison.
Even if she just had.
The door opened and she blinked against the light intruding into the room. Hardison partially closed the door behind him before making his way over to sit in front of her. “So…” He couldn't seem to find any words.
She didn’t really have any either.
“I thought I locked the door,” she muttered after a too long pause.
Hardison held out his hand, opening it to show a paper clip. “Picked it. Been practicing. And these doors are easy.”
The paper clip in his hand triggered something, a memory; teasing it out of the chaos boxed up and classified as the general “Past” in her head with uncertain specifications.
“Do you remember when Eliot tried to kill you with a paper clip?” she asked.
Hardison smiled at her. “Yeah. I remember, it was for something you did though.”
Parker made a face. “It wasn’t me,” she repeated, reaching out to take the paper clip from him, adding, “And you thought it would be a good idea.”
Another pause. Another silence.
“It’s been forever,” Parker said, carefully bending the paper clip back to it’s original shape. But it looked wrong. She tried bending it back.
Hardison was quiet after that, watching her a moment before gently taking the paper clip out of her hands, twisting it so it was the way it had been and it looked right.
“It has been forever,” Hardison agreed. Another pause. She played with the paper clip. Mostly because otherwise she’d have to look at him and... yeah.
She wasn’t sure what she should say now.
She took a deep breath. She should have just said it earlier. She should have just not been crazy. Because Hardison understood her crazy and the paper clip proved it and everything else did and and…
“I love you,” she blurted.
“I’m rappelling with you,” Hardison said at the same time.
There was a long moment of stunned, shocked, silence. They stared at each other. The words registering.
Parker felt her pulse race and her stomach leap and turn like she was flying through the air waiting for the back up system to catch on the line and suddenly just…
It caught her, and she was there, and her insides swirled and mixed back together like hot coco and Eliot’s vegetables and Sophie’s perfume and Nate’s little grin and question about if she’s done this before and other things. Better things. If there were even better things than all of those, this is what it felt like.
“I’m gonna kiss you now okay?” Hardison asked.
“Hell yeah!” Parker replied and she wouldn’t remember the specifics later but somehow she ended up in Hardison’s lap and he kissed her and she decided he needed a breath mint before their next make out session, but it would do for now.
And he was soft and hard in the right places and his hands felt nice and once he got over the shock he at least knew how to kiss her right and…
Later, much later, when he was asleep and she was trying to because Sophie told her it was bad to leave in these situations, she’d admit that; this feeling?
It was, maybe, better than rappelling.
She rolled over and Hardison reached out in his sleep, hand finding her, arm winding around her waist, pulling her closer.
And she didn’t want to wake Hardison up so she stayed.
And, maybe, she closed her eyes and didn’t just pretend to fall asleep.
oOo
When Hardison’s cell phone rang at ten in the morning, he decided that the universe officially sucked. He was exhausted and tired and his right arm was asleep and worse he’d been woken from possibly the best dream ever.
And he had hair in his mouth.
That registering brought him aware of the fact his arms were around someone and that someone was possibly Parker and…
Oh. No. Freaking out and self congratulations would both have to wait until after he answered his cell phone.
He rolled over, reaching for it, trying to extract himself from Parker without waking her. She seemed dead to the world asleep, cuddling her pillow and using his arm as a replacement for it.
“What’s up Tara?” he asked in a whisper, having caught her name on the caller ID.
“Hardison, it’s Maggie.” What? “Tara was attacked last night. She called me and I got her to safety but Nate’s expecting her to meet him. There’s something going on and I can’t get in touch with Nate, Eliot, or Sophie.”
Hardison fought the surge of fear. “Nate’s probably in the air. Eliot and Sophie are flying into L.A. from London but the tickets I got them should have had them there hours ago.” His sleep hazed mind fumbled with the time zone changes. “I think.”
“They’re in L.A.?” she asked, a note of relief. “I’ll call them again then. I think Tara might need more medical help than I can give her.”
“You still living at the same address?” he asked, mentally nodding when she confirmed it. “I’ll call them. They’ve both been on leave so you might have the wrong numbers.” It only made sense. “I’ll send them your way and get in touch with Nate.” He did the math in his head. “His flight should get in soon.”
He said goodbye to Maggie, too much going on for small talk, and hung up. Carefully he finished extracting himself from Parker and slipped out of the room to make the rest of his calls.
Eliot didn’t answer his phone, Sophie didn’t answer hers either. He tried pulling up the locations of their phones.
Disconnected. Signal lost.
“Okay. Not the time to start panicking.”
“What’s wrong?” Parker asked from behind him and Hardison turned. He paused, taking a minute to just enjoy the fine show that was a completely naked Parker (that he totally could look at all he wanted) coming down to perch on the desk next to him.
But no. Back to business. “Tara was attacked in Los Angeles. Maggie’s looking after her but it sounded like she’s hurt pretty bad. Eliot and Sophie got to L.A. early this morning but they’re off the grid.” He shook his head. “I’m gonna call Nate.”
Back when they were still in L.A., actually right around the paper clip incident, Eliot had gotten captured buying them time to get out of a job gone south. After the team got him back, Nate had convinced Eliot to let them implant a tracking device. Something that had a program as close to hack proof as Hardison could make it, was completely inactive until triggered, and was programmed so that a single incorrect passkey entered would cause the tracker to permanently disengage.
And only Nate and Eliot knew the password.
As long as Eliot was still in L.A., they’d be able to find him.
“Nate,” Hardison said once Nate had answered. “It’s not a good time for me either but Tara was attacked and-“
Nate mentioned Sterling. He was having a chat with Sterling.
Not good.
“I know Sophie and Eliot are here. I arranged for their tickets. I can’t get in touch with them...”
Nate made a neutral remark. Sterling was listening to his side of the conversation apparently.
“Okay, you get away from Sterling ASAP. I need the password to find Eliot. I don’t know what’s going on Nate but I-“
Another interruption and dismissal then Nate had hung up.
“Something’s going on in L.A.” He said to no one in particular. He wanted this date, but the team…
“So…” Parker said, drawing out the word. “There are tall buildings in L.A. and I know all the good ones. We can go there now and be there if Nate decides we should go steal something.”
Hardison looked to Parker. “I could kiss you.”
She gave what he was pretty sure was an attempt at a pout. “Why don’t you? We had sex like four times last night.”
He opened his mouth to respond but really? He just stood up and kissed her, briefly, before pulling away. “Let’s pack and get to L.A..”
Parker nodded, resolutely. “We save Eliot and Sophie. Make sure Tara’s okay. Then more kissing. And sex.”
Hardison watched her all the way back to her room, a slight swish in her hips that would have made Sophie proud.
“That’s my girl.”
Yeah, they weren’t even on a job and things were going south, but for some odd reason he couldn’t stop grinning.