Leverage Fic: Nothing at All (Parker/Tara, past Parker/Maggie)
Title: Nothing at All
Author: firefly124
Recipient: jain
Fandom: Leverage
Pairing: Parker/Tara, hints of past Parker/Maggie
Rating: PG
Word count: 1600ish
Disclaimer: I don't own the Leverage team. No infringement intended.
Warnings: No warnings apply
Summary: This Tara chick might be Sophie's friend, but that didn't mean Parker had to like her.
A/N: Huge thanks to dacian_goddess and fuzzyboo03 for beta-reading. I've tinkered since they've both read it, so any mistakes are all mine.
The Lost Heir Job
Adorable?
Parker fumed all the way home.
This Tara chick might be Sophie's friend, but that didn't mean Parker had to like her. And it really didn't mean she had to sit there and be called adorable.
She wasn't sure what made her feel weirder. That Sophie thought she was adorable, that she'd talked about her to this person and said she was adorable, or the way Tara had patted her on the arm as she'd repeated the annoying word.
Parker was a lot of things. Adorable wasn't one of them.
She was sure Tara wasn't even a lawyer. Why was that funny? There were times they could've used one, and Sophie hadn't called this friend of hers in. And she'd given Hardison a bill! You can't just weasel your way into somebody's team without telling them, act like you have no idea what you're doing, and then hand them a bill at the end when they were the ones who did all the work. What was Nate thinking to agree to that?
Then again, that sort of was more or less what they did. Usually. Kind of. Parker missed the simplicity of just stealing stuff sometimes.
All right, maybe she had to give this Tara person a chance. But she didn't have to put up with being called names. If she did that again, Parker would find something better than a fork to stick her with.
That settled, Parker detoured to a busier street and picked a few pockets. Much simpler. Nothing to it at all.
The Runway Job
Parker was getting to like the role-playing more than she'd expected to. Yeah, stealing stuff was simpler than trying to figure people out, but making that snotty bitch cringe in front of her had been fun, and being fussed over as a model hadn't sucked.
And then there was the photography.
That wasn't exactly role-playing. She actually was good at taking pictures. Duh. She had to be able to case jobs under any sort of lighting conditions, and if it was kind of different getting Tara to pose just so for the fake magazine spread Nate wanted, well, different was okay sometimes too. Besides, she was hot.
Why had they all looked at her when she'd agreed with Eliot and Hardison about that, anyway? Tara was hot. That was useful in this kind of a job, and that's what they were talking about, right? Some days Parker wondered how people actually managed to hold a conversation at all if they couldn't keep the rules straight about whose turn it was to say things. Now there was something wrong with agreeing with people? Usually people looked at her funny when she didn't agree with their weird ideas. Well, except when it came to stealing stuff. Then they listened.
Even Tara. Who still wasn't allowed to call her adorable, but might actually be kind of all right after all, which had nothing at all to do with the fact she was hot.
The Bottle Job
It was all an act, the way Tara had been flirting with Doyle. Parker knew that. It was how the game worked. All part of the job. And she was good at it. Almost as good as Sophie. She might even be a little better at the hair-tossing, though it felt a little weird to think about that. Not to mention the way she kept touching him and brushing against him.
Even if it wasn't all part of the job, even if it had seemed like Tara might be enjoying herself a bit more than was totally necessary, there was no reason that should bother Parker. She barely liked Tara, after all. So that had nothing to do with why Parker opted for hard instead of subtle taking the Liams' ids. Or putting them back. Nothing at all.
Parker wondered where Tara had learned to break codes. She'd said something about studying cryptography, but only mucky-muck government types did that kind of thing, and no way Tara'd ever been one of them. Still, it was kind of cool that she knew how to do that. She might not be able to solve stupid problems like the one Nate made up on their last job, or at least she hadn't said if she did, but breaking codes was kind of like cracking safes, just without the satisfying clicks as each tumbler fell into place.
She bet Tara wouldn't have made jokes about the safe. She'd probably appreciate a classic piece like that. The challenge it presented. The rush from cracking it.
Maybe it wasn't so bad having her on the team. Maybe it was even kind of nice.
The Zanzibar Marketplace
It was weird seeing Maggie again. Good, Parker supposed. Just weird. Maggie tried so hard to be nice, apologizing for things that weren't insults (why should they mind being called thieves?), so Parker had tried to be sure she'd be set for a life on the run. She wasn't sure Maggie would know how to use them, but as long as she kept the toothpaste and the explosives straight, she'd probably be okay. She was pretty smart, after all.
Well, mostly smart. She hadn't run. When people break you out of jail, that's supposed to be what you do next. Unless you're too honest, and then … well.
Instead she'd almost gotten herself (and Nate, and that idiot mucky-muck from the embassy who was totally being a coward even if it was his first bomb) blown up. See? Now that's where honesty got you. Of course, swapping the bomb for the egg had been fun, even if it had meant dropping in on Maggie and Nate making out.
That didn't make her feel as weird as it used to. Well, as thinking about it used to. Or something. Anyway. Good thing, because it had been strange that it had bothered her at all. She didn't like Nate like that. He was old, for one thing. And back drinking again. She was worried about Maggie getting back with him while he was like this, that was it.
It figured that jerk Sterling got to join Interpol based on their hard work. And Tara and Hardison were right, they hadn't even been paid for this job that was bumping him up the career ladder. So not fair.
Parker wasn't sure why it bothered her that Eliot was the one who got to clink bottles with Tara and welcome her to the team. Kind of like the way she'd have expected Nate and Maggie kissing to bother her but it hadn't, she wouldn't have expected this to bother her but it did. She didn't like Eliot that way either, so it didn't make any sense at all.
After she finished her beer, Parker went out and rode the T for awhile, swapping out people's wallets for spent Charlie passes, until the weird feeling went away.
The Future Job
Parker didn't like it when people touched her. It wasn't so much the touching-except when it was-as that she knew better than anyone what you could get away with pretending at a casual pat or, worse, a friendly hug.
It was a good thing the team knew this. Bad enough they could see she'd been crying when they got back to Nate's apartment. If any of them had tried to hug her, like most people probably would've, she'd have had to leave. And she didn't want to.
Later though, while they were making Rand pay for being a creepy phony psychic, Tara put a hand on her shoulder, and that wasn't so bad. In fact, it kind of made Parker want to smile in a way that had nothing to do with imagining Rand being humiliated in front of thousands of people. It was almost enough to make her turn towards Tara and try hugging her, to see if that felt even nicer, but they had things to do, so she didn't.
When the pregnant lady's brother hugged her about the money, it was the way she remembered hugging felt, and she was glad she hadn't tried it earlier. Tara's hand on her shoulder had felt nice, and she'd rather just remember that.
The Three Strikes Job and The Maltese Falcon Job
Getting talked through handling the mayor's secretary was one thing. No fun costumes, but Tara had talked her through it, and it was exactly and nothing at all like when Sophie did. Parker could almost wish she got caught more often so she could just keep hearing Tara's voice like that.
Seeing her naked, though, was even better. Much, much better.
Her legs had always looked nice, but you could never be sure that wasn't just the skirts. Creating illusion was what all of them did, one way or another, and Tara obviously used her clothes for that. She did it well. But even without clothes, she was beautiful. Hot. Eliot had had to drag Parker into the hotel room once the room service guy left, and his mouth was half hanging open too. Parker wanted to slap that grin off his face.
So it really, really pissed her off when it looked like Tara had sold them out to Kadjic. She really would've dropped Tara off that building for it. Nobody sold out the team. Especially not after making Parker feel … things.
Tara was lucky she'd explained fast.
Sophie had been surprised when Parker had hugged her. It wasn't as nice as hugging Tara would've been, but she'd missed Sophie, and she might as well get some practice in.
It was probably a good thing that Tara believed Parker wouldn't have dropped her. Because even though Tara had taken off when the cops showed, Parker hoped they'd get to work together again. They might have Sophie back, but now they needed to rescue Nate from the cops, and they'd need all the help they could get.
That had nothing to do with the possibility there might be more nakedness next time. Nothing at all.
Author: firefly124
Recipient: jain
Fandom: Leverage
Pairing: Parker/Tara, hints of past Parker/Maggie
Rating: PG
Word count: 1600ish
Disclaimer: I don't own the Leverage team. No infringement intended.
Warnings: No warnings apply
Summary: This Tara chick might be Sophie's friend, but that didn't mean Parker had to like her.
A/N: Huge thanks to dacian_goddess and fuzzyboo03 for beta-reading. I've tinkered since they've both read it, so any mistakes are all mine.
The Lost Heir Job
Adorable?
Parker fumed all the way home.
This Tara chick might be Sophie's friend, but that didn't mean Parker had to like her. And it really didn't mean she had to sit there and be called adorable.
She wasn't sure what made her feel weirder. That Sophie thought she was adorable, that she'd talked about her to this person and said she was adorable, or the way Tara had patted her on the arm as she'd repeated the annoying word.
Parker was a lot of things. Adorable wasn't one of them.
She was sure Tara wasn't even a lawyer. Why was that funny? There were times they could've used one, and Sophie hadn't called this friend of hers in. And she'd given Hardison a bill! You can't just weasel your way into somebody's team without telling them, act like you have no idea what you're doing, and then hand them a bill at the end when they were the ones who did all the work. What was Nate thinking to agree to that?
Then again, that sort of was more or less what they did. Usually. Kind of. Parker missed the simplicity of just stealing stuff sometimes.
All right, maybe she had to give this Tara person a chance. But she didn't have to put up with being called names. If she did that again, Parker would find something better than a fork to stick her with.
That settled, Parker detoured to a busier street and picked a few pockets. Much simpler. Nothing to it at all.
The Runway Job
Parker was getting to like the role-playing more than she'd expected to. Yeah, stealing stuff was simpler than trying to figure people out, but making that snotty bitch cringe in front of her had been fun, and being fussed over as a model hadn't sucked.
And then there was the photography.
That wasn't exactly role-playing. She actually was good at taking pictures. Duh. She had to be able to case jobs under any sort of lighting conditions, and if it was kind of different getting Tara to pose just so for the fake magazine spread Nate wanted, well, different was okay sometimes too. Besides, she was hot.
Why had they all looked at her when she'd agreed with Eliot and Hardison about that, anyway? Tara was hot. That was useful in this kind of a job, and that's what they were talking about, right? Some days Parker wondered how people actually managed to hold a conversation at all if they couldn't keep the rules straight about whose turn it was to say things. Now there was something wrong with agreeing with people? Usually people looked at her funny when she didn't agree with their weird ideas. Well, except when it came to stealing stuff. Then they listened.
Even Tara. Who still wasn't allowed to call her adorable, but might actually be kind of all right after all, which had nothing at all to do with the fact she was hot.
The Bottle Job
It was all an act, the way Tara had been flirting with Doyle. Parker knew that. It was how the game worked. All part of the job. And she was good at it. Almost as good as Sophie. She might even be a little better at the hair-tossing, though it felt a little weird to think about that. Not to mention the way she kept touching him and brushing against him.
Even if it wasn't all part of the job, even if it had seemed like Tara might be enjoying herself a bit more than was totally necessary, there was no reason that should bother Parker. She barely liked Tara, after all. So that had nothing to do with why Parker opted for hard instead of subtle taking the Liams' ids. Or putting them back. Nothing at all.
Parker wondered where Tara had learned to break codes. She'd said something about studying cryptography, but only mucky-muck government types did that kind of thing, and no way Tara'd ever been one of them. Still, it was kind of cool that she knew how to do that. She might not be able to solve stupid problems like the one Nate made up on their last job, or at least she hadn't said if she did, but breaking codes was kind of like cracking safes, just without the satisfying clicks as each tumbler fell into place.
She bet Tara wouldn't have made jokes about the safe. She'd probably appreciate a classic piece like that. The challenge it presented. The rush from cracking it.
Maybe it wasn't so bad having her on the team. Maybe it was even kind of nice.
The Zanzibar Marketplace
It was weird seeing Maggie again. Good, Parker supposed. Just weird. Maggie tried so hard to be nice, apologizing for things that weren't insults (why should they mind being called thieves?), so Parker had tried to be sure she'd be set for a life on the run. She wasn't sure Maggie would know how to use them, but as long as she kept the toothpaste and the explosives straight, she'd probably be okay. She was pretty smart, after all.
Well, mostly smart. She hadn't run. When people break you out of jail, that's supposed to be what you do next. Unless you're too honest, and then … well.
Instead she'd almost gotten herself (and Nate, and that idiot mucky-muck from the embassy who was totally being a coward even if it was his first bomb) blown up. See? Now that's where honesty got you. Of course, swapping the bomb for the egg had been fun, even if it had meant dropping in on Maggie and Nate making out.
That didn't make her feel as weird as it used to. Well, as thinking about it used to. Or something. Anyway. Good thing, because it had been strange that it had bothered her at all. She didn't like Nate like that. He was old, for one thing. And back drinking again. She was worried about Maggie getting back with him while he was like this, that was it.
It figured that jerk Sterling got to join Interpol based on their hard work. And Tara and Hardison were right, they hadn't even been paid for this job that was bumping him up the career ladder. So not fair.
Parker wasn't sure why it bothered her that Eliot was the one who got to clink bottles with Tara and welcome her to the team. Kind of like the way she'd have expected Nate and Maggie kissing to bother her but it hadn't, she wouldn't have expected this to bother her but it did. She didn't like Eliot that way either, so it didn't make any sense at all.
After she finished her beer, Parker went out and rode the T for awhile, swapping out people's wallets for spent Charlie passes, until the weird feeling went away.
The Future Job
Parker didn't like it when people touched her. It wasn't so much the touching-except when it was-as that she knew better than anyone what you could get away with pretending at a casual pat or, worse, a friendly hug.
It was a good thing the team knew this. Bad enough they could see she'd been crying when they got back to Nate's apartment. If any of them had tried to hug her, like most people probably would've, she'd have had to leave. And she didn't want to.
Later though, while they were making Rand pay for being a creepy phony psychic, Tara put a hand on her shoulder, and that wasn't so bad. In fact, it kind of made Parker want to smile in a way that had nothing to do with imagining Rand being humiliated in front of thousands of people. It was almost enough to make her turn towards Tara and try hugging her, to see if that felt even nicer, but they had things to do, so she didn't.
When the pregnant lady's brother hugged her about the money, it was the way she remembered hugging felt, and she was glad she hadn't tried it earlier. Tara's hand on her shoulder had felt nice, and she'd rather just remember that.
The Three Strikes Job and The Maltese Falcon Job
Getting talked through handling the mayor's secretary was one thing. No fun costumes, but Tara had talked her through it, and it was exactly and nothing at all like when Sophie did. Parker could almost wish she got caught more often so she could just keep hearing Tara's voice like that.
Seeing her naked, though, was even better. Much, much better.
Her legs had always looked nice, but you could never be sure that wasn't just the skirts. Creating illusion was what all of them did, one way or another, and Tara obviously used her clothes for that. She did it well. But even without clothes, she was beautiful. Hot. Eliot had had to drag Parker into the hotel room once the room service guy left, and his mouth was half hanging open too. Parker wanted to slap that grin off his face.
So it really, really pissed her off when it looked like Tara had sold them out to Kadjic. She really would've dropped Tara off that building for it. Nobody sold out the team. Especially not after making Parker feel … things.
Tara was lucky she'd explained fast.
Sophie had been surprised when Parker had hugged her. It wasn't as nice as hugging Tara would've been, but she'd missed Sophie, and she might as well get some practice in.
It was probably a good thing that Tara believed Parker wouldn't have dropped her. Because even though Tara had taken off when the cops showed, Parker hoped they'd get to work together again. They might have Sophie back, but now they needed to rescue Nate from the cops, and they'd need all the help they could get.
That had nothing to do with the possibility there might be more nakedness next time. Nothing at all.