Leverage fic: Parker's Rescue
Fandom: Leverage.
Title: Parker's Rescue.
Author: vampire_rogue/Starlight
Rating: PG-13.
Pairing: Eliot Spencer/Parker.
Summary: Parker ends up in a bad situation, and it is Eliot to the rescue.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: Um, I don't think there is any. Some badly written attempt at Eliot!smash, and very possible OOCness because this is my first time writing for Leverage.
Beta: shadecat looked through it for me, because she is awesome. I did tweek one line after though, because it didn't sound right....
Disclaimer: Parker and Eliot and Team do not belong to me. This makes me sad. However, I like to use them to daydream about near impossible heists.
Word Count: 2,600+
Rambles: shadecat demands fic, and apparently I turn around and write it when that happens... At least I've been writing more. I know the show is going in the whole, Parker/Hardison direction, and yay! Because they are so cute, but I can't seem to fully get off the Parker/Eliot train... Well, I hope you enjoy this. :D
Parker's Rescue
Rogue/Starlight
He hadn't been expecting it when the muffled scream echoed in his ears. He doubted anyone else expected to hear it in their comms either.
"Parker?" He growled. The female scream may have only been able to be one of two people, but that didn't mean Eliot had to think twice of who it was. "Parker? Answer me!"
There were more muffled sounds through the comm; a struggle they were only hearing part of.
"Parker?" Nate's voice picked up the call and he did not sound calm. "Parker, report."
But they just got more struggles.
"Shit, Nate, I need to-" Eliot cut himself off abruptly, but Nate knew him all too well to not understand.
"Yes, you do. We'll reschedule this. Eliot, get Parker."
Eliot did not even need to hear Nate's words before he was throwing his gear back into his bag, the vault forgotten.
Turns out, there are some things more important than the job. Eliot laughed mentally at the idea of it. He was starting to get used to all his misconceptions of important things being thrown out the window. It had gotten to be an almost regular occurrence since he signed up with Nathan Ford and crew.
"Hardison!" Eliot barked into the comm. "Where’s Parker?"
"She's still on the 21st floor, Eliot," Hardison came through. "But she’s a couple rooms down from where she’s supposed to be." Hardison sounded a little bit stressed as he rapidly punched keys on his laptop.
"And the elevators are still down; maintenance," Sophie added. In her voice Eliot heard the worry he was trying to keep at bay himself.
Their Parker was a lot crazy, but she was still theirs.
"And how do you know where Parker is, Hardison?" Nate asked sounding calm again. It was strange when Nate was not calm and methodical about a job. The times he wasn't, well, those were dangerous.
"Well..." Hardison trailed off. Eliot was already jogging up stairs, two at a time. He had three floors to go, and he was going to make it fast.
"It's a good thing I put trackers in all her shoes?" Hardison finally admitted weekly.
From Parker's link in their comm, they all heard angry sounds, like she was grinding her teeth together to create the vibrations she needed to communicate.
"Well, you will be paying for that one soon, won’t you?" Sophie offered. "Nate, I need to reschedule my meeting with Rickson, soon."
"Yes, Sophie, I know. I'm waiting on finding out who these men are, before we plan further."
"Working on it, working on it. I've only got two hands and three computers." Hardison complained. "And there is no video for me to hack in the room where Parker is being held. All I got was as blurry shot of them from the other room. I'm running it through all known sources as soon as I clean it up a little bit."
"Either way," Eliot growled, "they won't be a problem." He had one more flight to go, and Eliot was not pausing in his pace. Parker was in someone else's hands, and that needed to be fixed.
"Eliot, don't do something you will regret," Nate warned him and Eliot said nothing. He didn't need to. His intentions were obvious.
Eliot paused outside the door for the 21st floor, his breathing heavier than usual. "Shut up," he whispered at his team members, and slipped open the door just enough so he could fit through. Carefully closing it, he glanced down the hallway in both directions.
"Hardison, just direct me." His voice was muffled and very quiet, so he couldn't catch the attention of anyone he couldn't see in the hallway.
"To the right," the geek said and Eliot started walking. "Take a left, then go straight." The commands came in soft words through the comm, as Eliot made his way to the room.
"Enough," Eliot finally said, a few moments later. "I can hear them."
He was standing outside a room, the door was closed and Eliot could hear struggling and angry voices on the other side.
Then the door opened, and a man with dark hair stepped out in a common blue work suit. "Hey!" he said when he saw Eliot, "what are you-" That was as far as he got, before Eliot punched him in the face. The man stumbled and gave Eliot the chance to hit him again, and knock him to the ground, out cold.
Eliot pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the unconscious man, sending it to Hardison for an ID. Then he snuck into the room. The lights were on low, large stacks of boxes covering most of the room and creating extra shadows for Eliot to lurk. There was a clear path between the piles of boxes that Eliot followed silently.
The voices got louder as he reached the middle of the room.
"What are we going to do with her?" One man asked, he sounded a bit scared. Good, he should be. Eliot growled as a second man spoke.
"Oh, I've got a few ideas, a pretty thing like her."
Then he heard the struggling and looked around a tower of boxes to see Parker. She was tied to a chair, duct tape over her mouth. She looked furious, absolutely livid as she watched the two men talk about her.
"Parker," Hardison whispered, "Eliot should be in the room."
In the dim light, Eliot was still able to make out Parker's widened expression as she looked around, and the relief that was sadly obvious as she spotted him in his hiding spot.
He'd have to remember to thank Hardison for that later.
"Damnit," the second man grunted. "Where is Alex? It shouldn't take him this long just to use the washroom."
"You know Alex, man," the first wavered insecurely.
Eliot could hear them walking around, and from Parker's wild expression, coming right around his corner.
Good.
The first man around the corner met with a dark smile from Eliot as well as a sharp punch. The second man walked into the two fighting and backed into a wall. Convenient. Eliot threw the first man at the second.
Watching them smash into each other, Eliot lifted a box, smirking at the heaviness in one. He chucked it at the two men, then heaved another at them when they tried to move. When they stopped struggling, he turned his attention away from them.
Walking towards Parker, he snarled darkly at the bruises on her face. Two already budding marks, one on her upper cheek, right beside her eye, another near her chin.
"Hey Parker." Eliot smiled at her, and pulled out his pocket knife. "I'm going to cut you loose, alright?"
She grumbled against the duct tape and Eliot knelt down so he was eye level with her. "The tape is going to hurt," he said, mostly to himself. Parker narrowed her eyes in annoyance and Eliot grinned up at her. Then he reached out and pulled the tape off her mouth.
Her curse was vulgar, and had Sophie gasping in their comms.
"The rope?" Parker demanded and Eliot set to cutting through the bonds. One of the men grunted before Eliot freed her feet and the hitter was on own his feet instantly, turning to pummel the other man again.
"Eliot! Don't kill him before I get to hit him too!" Parker demanded from the chair she was tied to.
"Don't you worry none, sweetheart, there will be plenty for you to play with." Eliot smiled at her and ducked a badly-aimed punch before elbowing the man in the ribs.
Parker's fighting ability had certainly been getting better, even if she was still best at attacking non-moving targets. Like Hardison, when he was least expecting it. Eliot had gotten a punching bag for her that they hung in one of the backrooms of their headquarters. He had added weights as well, and was proud that he was not the only one using them.
Eliot let the other man drop to the floor, and eyed the other one, making sure he wasn't moving.
"Hardison, make sure the man outside doesn't leave. First name is Alex."
"I've added that to the search, still nothing. Nate is heading up to the other guy."
"Good."
Eliot knelt back down at Parker's feet and finished sawing through the ropes there. Standing again, he winked at the blonde and circled around the chair to untie her hands.
"You've been pulling on the binds," he accused lightly as he saw the raw red rings around her wrists.
"I had to try and get out somehow," Parker muttered. "Couldn't be sitting here like a damsel in distress."
Eliot looked around the chair, so he was looking her in the eyes. "Sometimes," he said. "It is not so bad to be the damsel."
"Like you'd ever know," she said, but she smiled back at him.
Eliot went back to sawing through the ropes around her wrists, not even bothering to try and untie them.
He heard the painful shriek before he saw the body of the second man fall to the ground, cupping his crotch in pain. "You bitch," he said and Eliot raised his head at the voice of the second man, the one who had had ideas about what to do with Parker. Any sympathy he might have felt over her attack vanished.
Moving to his feet, Eliot stalked towards the quivering man. Parker pulled her wrists free finally, jumping to her feet.
"Eliot, no!" She ordered and Eliot turned his dangerously dark eyes on her instead.
"Why not?" He growled.
"Because that is not what we do," she reminded him and walked towards him recklessly.
Eliot turned his body half way, reaching up to touch Parker's face. His fingers stroked the bruises on her face and Parker shook her head at him. "Trust me Eliot, I want them in a lot of pain. Lots."
"There are other ways," Nate's voice said from the doorway. "The one outside is unconscious, with about 30 thousand dollars of stolen property on him." Nate smirked. "His finger prints are on the vault, and his accomplices' will be on the doors. Very sloppy work for some thieves," Nate continued.
"Especially when they have the records they now do." Hardison sounded smug and Eliot could only imagine what the hacker had created.
"See?" Parker asked, her hand covering the one of Eliot's that was still holding her face. "That is what we do now." Eliot turned and looked back at the two men. "Eliot?" Parker spoke calmly. "Come with me to get my pack from the other room."
He didn't respond as he followed her out of the room, past a concerned and angry Nate.
Her bag lay open in the other room, her lock pick case open on the thick desk. Pulling her comm out of her ear, she tossed it on the desk and looked up at Eliot expectantly. He did the same with a grim smile, still thinking of the unconscious men in the room down the hall.
"Thank you, for rescuing me," she said honestly, sweetly.
"There was no thought that I wouldn't, Parker. I'll always come when you need me," he promised.
"I know," she admitted and stepped up to hug him. "I know," she said again. Her head was on his chest, her breathing oddly normal, given she had just been tied up by three unknown men. Then again, Parker had never been what Eliot would call normal.
He liked her that way,
Parker lifted her head and smiled carefully at Eliot. "I knew you would rescue me," she said. She leaned up and pressed her lips to Eliot's.
Her lips were soft, Eliot noted, but it was the taste of cherry chap stick that surprised him. Parker pulled away, licking her lips and peeking up at him through her eyelashes.
Eliot turned her head to face him fully, two fingers stroking the bruise under her eye. Parker worried her bottom lip between her teeth and Eliot's fingers found that, smoothing it out slowly. His eyes followed his fingers in surprise, absorbing the feel of her smooth skin.
Parker smiled up at him and Eliot leaned down, kissing her again. He tilted her face for a better angle and kissed her slowly. His hand touched her hair, and Parker stepped up against him, lifting one of her arms to loop it across Eliot's shoulders. She parted her lips for him, and Eliot took the invitation for what it was.
When someone knocked on the door, Parker fell back to her feet, glancing uncertainly over Eliot's shoulder. The hitter glanced over as well and scowled at Nate. Their boss looked from one to the other, a mildly curious look on his face.
"We need to leave," Nate said. He glanced purposely at their gear on the table as he left the room. Parker lowered her arm back to her side, and packed her gear. Eliot handed her her comm and put his own back in his ear.
"And no, of course not, lets ignore Hardison, he's only got three other things he needs to be doing outside of leading everyone out of the building and building fake criminal records for three upstanding men and..."
"Hardison?" Eliot asked. "What's our out?"
"Oh, so NOW you listen to what I have to say, because apparently I-"
"Hardison!" Eliot growled and Hardison sighed dramatically before giving them instructions. Parker tossed Eliot her pack, and ran ahead of him in the directions that Hardison was giving them. She glanced back at one corner, and grinned at Eliot.
It was only a few more minutes before they were out of the building, safe and carefully hidden as the police showed up. Parker squeezed his arm tightly as the cops dragged out the three previously unconscious men. Eliot looked down at her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, not wanting to let go of her.
Hardison's fake files were enough to have the three men locked up for a long time and Eliot carefully followed the proceedings on the internet, noting the jails they were sent to.
If he happened to know someone in lock-up at the jail the man with the second voice ended up in, it was only because he'd met a lot of people in his lifetime. If that inmate happened to owe him a favour, well, who was Eliot to deny the man his right to fulfil said favour?
When the man with the second voice ended up in the jail morgue, well, there were no strings attaching his death to Eliot's friend. Just some jail violence that had gotten out of control, all the reports said.
When Parker read the article, she turned and looked at Eliot for a moment before nodding. To herself, or to him, he wasn't sure, but she hugged him and said nothing about it. The bruises on her face had faded by then, but Eliot could still see them clearly when he thought about it.
He lifted her face and kissed her quickly, soundly. He was well used to the cherry chap stick now, even if he had never seen her actually apply it.
The End
Title: Parker's Rescue.
Author: vampire_rogue/Starlight
Rating: PG-13.
Pairing: Eliot Spencer/Parker.
Summary: Parker ends up in a bad situation, and it is Eliot to the rescue.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: Um, I don't think there is any. Some badly written attempt at Eliot!smash, and very possible OOCness because this is my first time writing for Leverage.
Beta: shadecat looked through it for me, because she is awesome. I did tweek one line after though, because it didn't sound right....
Disclaimer: Parker and Eliot and Team do not belong to me. This makes me sad. However, I like to use them to daydream about near impossible heists.
Word Count: 2,600+
Rambles: shadecat demands fic, and apparently I turn around and write it when that happens... At least I've been writing more. I know the show is going in the whole, Parker/Hardison direction, and yay! Because they are so cute, but I can't seem to fully get off the Parker/Eliot train... Well, I hope you enjoy this. :D
Parker's Rescue
Rogue/Starlight
He hadn't been expecting it when the muffled scream echoed in his ears. He doubted anyone else expected to hear it in their comms either.
"Parker?" He growled. The female scream may have only been able to be one of two people, but that didn't mean Eliot had to think twice of who it was. "Parker? Answer me!"
There were more muffled sounds through the comm; a struggle they were only hearing part of.
"Parker?" Nate's voice picked up the call and he did not sound calm. "Parker, report."
But they just got more struggles.
"Shit, Nate, I need to-" Eliot cut himself off abruptly, but Nate knew him all too well to not understand.
"Yes, you do. We'll reschedule this. Eliot, get Parker."
Eliot did not even need to hear Nate's words before he was throwing his gear back into his bag, the vault forgotten.
Turns out, there are some things more important than the job. Eliot laughed mentally at the idea of it. He was starting to get used to all his misconceptions of important things being thrown out the window. It had gotten to be an almost regular occurrence since he signed up with Nathan Ford and crew.
"Hardison!" Eliot barked into the comm. "Where’s Parker?"
"She's still on the 21st floor, Eliot," Hardison came through. "But she’s a couple rooms down from where she’s supposed to be." Hardison sounded a little bit stressed as he rapidly punched keys on his laptop.
"And the elevators are still down; maintenance," Sophie added. In her voice Eliot heard the worry he was trying to keep at bay himself.
Their Parker was a lot crazy, but she was still theirs.
"And how do you know where Parker is, Hardison?" Nate asked sounding calm again. It was strange when Nate was not calm and methodical about a job. The times he wasn't, well, those were dangerous.
"Well..." Hardison trailed off. Eliot was already jogging up stairs, two at a time. He had three floors to go, and he was going to make it fast.
"It's a good thing I put trackers in all her shoes?" Hardison finally admitted weekly.
From Parker's link in their comm, they all heard angry sounds, like she was grinding her teeth together to create the vibrations she needed to communicate.
"Well, you will be paying for that one soon, won’t you?" Sophie offered. "Nate, I need to reschedule my meeting with Rickson, soon."
"Yes, Sophie, I know. I'm waiting on finding out who these men are, before we plan further."
"Working on it, working on it. I've only got two hands and three computers." Hardison complained. "And there is no video for me to hack in the room where Parker is being held. All I got was as blurry shot of them from the other room. I'm running it through all known sources as soon as I clean it up a little bit."
"Either way," Eliot growled, "they won't be a problem." He had one more flight to go, and Eliot was not pausing in his pace. Parker was in someone else's hands, and that needed to be fixed.
"Eliot, don't do something you will regret," Nate warned him and Eliot said nothing. He didn't need to. His intentions were obvious.
Eliot paused outside the door for the 21st floor, his breathing heavier than usual. "Shut up," he whispered at his team members, and slipped open the door just enough so he could fit through. Carefully closing it, he glanced down the hallway in both directions.
"Hardison, just direct me." His voice was muffled and very quiet, so he couldn't catch the attention of anyone he couldn't see in the hallway.
"To the right," the geek said and Eliot started walking. "Take a left, then go straight." The commands came in soft words through the comm, as Eliot made his way to the room.
"Enough," Eliot finally said, a few moments later. "I can hear them."
He was standing outside a room, the door was closed and Eliot could hear struggling and angry voices on the other side.
Then the door opened, and a man with dark hair stepped out in a common blue work suit. "Hey!" he said when he saw Eliot, "what are you-" That was as far as he got, before Eliot punched him in the face. The man stumbled and gave Eliot the chance to hit him again, and knock him to the ground, out cold.
Eliot pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the unconscious man, sending it to Hardison for an ID. Then he snuck into the room. The lights were on low, large stacks of boxes covering most of the room and creating extra shadows for Eliot to lurk. There was a clear path between the piles of boxes that Eliot followed silently.
The voices got louder as he reached the middle of the room.
"What are we going to do with her?" One man asked, he sounded a bit scared. Good, he should be. Eliot growled as a second man spoke.
"Oh, I've got a few ideas, a pretty thing like her."
Then he heard the struggling and looked around a tower of boxes to see Parker. She was tied to a chair, duct tape over her mouth. She looked furious, absolutely livid as she watched the two men talk about her.
"Parker," Hardison whispered, "Eliot should be in the room."
In the dim light, Eliot was still able to make out Parker's widened expression as she looked around, and the relief that was sadly obvious as she spotted him in his hiding spot.
He'd have to remember to thank Hardison for that later.
"Damnit," the second man grunted. "Where is Alex? It shouldn't take him this long just to use the washroom."
"You know Alex, man," the first wavered insecurely.
Eliot could hear them walking around, and from Parker's wild expression, coming right around his corner.
Good.
The first man around the corner met with a dark smile from Eliot as well as a sharp punch. The second man walked into the two fighting and backed into a wall. Convenient. Eliot threw the first man at the second.
Watching them smash into each other, Eliot lifted a box, smirking at the heaviness in one. He chucked it at the two men, then heaved another at them when they tried to move. When they stopped struggling, he turned his attention away from them.
Walking towards Parker, he snarled darkly at the bruises on her face. Two already budding marks, one on her upper cheek, right beside her eye, another near her chin.
"Hey Parker." Eliot smiled at her, and pulled out his pocket knife. "I'm going to cut you loose, alright?"
She grumbled against the duct tape and Eliot knelt down so he was eye level with her. "The tape is going to hurt," he said, mostly to himself. Parker narrowed her eyes in annoyance and Eliot grinned up at her. Then he reached out and pulled the tape off her mouth.
Her curse was vulgar, and had Sophie gasping in their comms.
"The rope?" Parker demanded and Eliot set to cutting through the bonds. One of the men grunted before Eliot freed her feet and the hitter was on own his feet instantly, turning to pummel the other man again.
"Eliot! Don't kill him before I get to hit him too!" Parker demanded from the chair she was tied to.
"Don't you worry none, sweetheart, there will be plenty for you to play with." Eliot smiled at her and ducked a badly-aimed punch before elbowing the man in the ribs.
Parker's fighting ability had certainly been getting better, even if she was still best at attacking non-moving targets. Like Hardison, when he was least expecting it. Eliot had gotten a punching bag for her that they hung in one of the backrooms of their headquarters. He had added weights as well, and was proud that he was not the only one using them.
Eliot let the other man drop to the floor, and eyed the other one, making sure he wasn't moving.
"Hardison, make sure the man outside doesn't leave. First name is Alex."
"I've added that to the search, still nothing. Nate is heading up to the other guy."
"Good."
Eliot knelt back down at Parker's feet and finished sawing through the ropes there. Standing again, he winked at the blonde and circled around the chair to untie her hands.
"You've been pulling on the binds," he accused lightly as he saw the raw red rings around her wrists.
"I had to try and get out somehow," Parker muttered. "Couldn't be sitting here like a damsel in distress."
Eliot looked around the chair, so he was looking her in the eyes. "Sometimes," he said. "It is not so bad to be the damsel."
"Like you'd ever know," she said, but she smiled back at him.
Eliot went back to sawing through the ropes around her wrists, not even bothering to try and untie them.
He heard the painful shriek before he saw the body of the second man fall to the ground, cupping his crotch in pain. "You bitch," he said and Eliot raised his head at the voice of the second man, the one who had had ideas about what to do with Parker. Any sympathy he might have felt over her attack vanished.
Moving to his feet, Eliot stalked towards the quivering man. Parker pulled her wrists free finally, jumping to her feet.
"Eliot, no!" She ordered and Eliot turned his dangerously dark eyes on her instead.
"Why not?" He growled.
"Because that is not what we do," she reminded him and walked towards him recklessly.
Eliot turned his body half way, reaching up to touch Parker's face. His fingers stroked the bruises on her face and Parker shook her head at him. "Trust me Eliot, I want them in a lot of pain. Lots."
"There are other ways," Nate's voice said from the doorway. "The one outside is unconscious, with about 30 thousand dollars of stolen property on him." Nate smirked. "His finger prints are on the vault, and his accomplices' will be on the doors. Very sloppy work for some thieves," Nate continued.
"Especially when they have the records they now do." Hardison sounded smug and Eliot could only imagine what the hacker had created.
"See?" Parker asked, her hand covering the one of Eliot's that was still holding her face. "That is what we do now." Eliot turned and looked back at the two men. "Eliot?" Parker spoke calmly. "Come with me to get my pack from the other room."
He didn't respond as he followed her out of the room, past a concerned and angry Nate.
Her bag lay open in the other room, her lock pick case open on the thick desk. Pulling her comm out of her ear, she tossed it on the desk and looked up at Eliot expectantly. He did the same with a grim smile, still thinking of the unconscious men in the room down the hall.
"Thank you, for rescuing me," she said honestly, sweetly.
"There was no thought that I wouldn't, Parker. I'll always come when you need me," he promised.
"I know," she admitted and stepped up to hug him. "I know," she said again. Her head was on his chest, her breathing oddly normal, given she had just been tied up by three unknown men. Then again, Parker had never been what Eliot would call normal.
He liked her that way,
Parker lifted her head and smiled carefully at Eliot. "I knew you would rescue me," she said. She leaned up and pressed her lips to Eliot's.
Her lips were soft, Eliot noted, but it was the taste of cherry chap stick that surprised him. Parker pulled away, licking her lips and peeking up at him through her eyelashes.
Eliot turned her head to face him fully, two fingers stroking the bruise under her eye. Parker worried her bottom lip between her teeth and Eliot's fingers found that, smoothing it out slowly. His eyes followed his fingers in surprise, absorbing the feel of her smooth skin.
Parker smiled up at him and Eliot leaned down, kissing her again. He tilted her face for a better angle and kissed her slowly. His hand touched her hair, and Parker stepped up against him, lifting one of her arms to loop it across Eliot's shoulders. She parted her lips for him, and Eliot took the invitation for what it was.
When someone knocked on the door, Parker fell back to her feet, glancing uncertainly over Eliot's shoulder. The hitter glanced over as well and scowled at Nate. Their boss looked from one to the other, a mildly curious look on his face.
"We need to leave," Nate said. He glanced purposely at their gear on the table as he left the room. Parker lowered her arm back to her side, and packed her gear. Eliot handed her her comm and put his own back in his ear.
"And no, of course not, lets ignore Hardison, he's only got three other things he needs to be doing outside of leading everyone out of the building and building fake criminal records for three upstanding men and..."
"Hardison?" Eliot asked. "What's our out?"
"Oh, so NOW you listen to what I have to say, because apparently I-"
"Hardison!" Eliot growled and Hardison sighed dramatically before giving them instructions. Parker tossed Eliot her pack, and ran ahead of him in the directions that Hardison was giving them. She glanced back at one corner, and grinned at Eliot.
It was only a few more minutes before they were out of the building, safe and carefully hidden as the police showed up. Parker squeezed his arm tightly as the cops dragged out the three previously unconscious men. Eliot looked down at her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, not wanting to let go of her.
Hardison's fake files were enough to have the three men locked up for a long time and Eliot carefully followed the proceedings on the internet, noting the jails they were sent to.
If he happened to know someone in lock-up at the jail the man with the second voice ended up in, it was only because he'd met a lot of people in his lifetime. If that inmate happened to owe him a favour, well, who was Eliot to deny the man his right to fulfil said favour?
When the man with the second voice ended up in the jail morgue, well, there were no strings attaching his death to Eliot's friend. Just some jail violence that had gotten out of control, all the reports said.
When Parker read the article, she turned and looked at Eliot for a moment before nodding. To herself, or to him, he wasn't sure, but she hugged him and said nothing about it. The bruises on her face had faded by then, but Eliot could still see them clearly when he thought about it.
He lifted her face and kissed her quickly, soundly. He was well used to the cherry chap stick now, even if he had never seen her actually apply it.
The End