Disclaimer: I still don't own Leverage…

A/N: Here it is guys, the final chapter. The one time that Parker wasn't subtle. Are you ready?! ARE YOU PSYCHED?! CAUSE I SURE AS HECK FREAKING AM!!!

I have a request guys. When you review, please, tell me what you would like to see in an upcoming story. Give me some ideas as to what you want. I'm trying to get a million hits on my Leverage stories, so anything to keep you guys happy!!! So, this is it, I hope you enjoy! Please review! That includes you my silent stalkers as kausingkayn refers to you. And this one is actually dedicated to Meg, for being very excited about this story and inspiring me to keep writing, and to kausingkayn, who's constant withholding Eliot/Lindsey chapters to get me to write my story faster is the reason this is here right now! Onward!

Chapter 6: Mission

Parker watched as Eliot fought the small army that had surrounded him, each man going down in a quick and orderly fashion. She just stood by the side, not wanting to get involved in case she would get hurt and distract the hitter from his job.

The job had gone wrong. Their cover had been blown and the mark was trying to get rid of them, not just by having the nice men with badges come and take them away. He was going to get rid of all evidence that could be used against him, even the people trying to take him down. It almost reminded her of the first job they had done together, but she needed to focus on the present and pushed the thought out of her mind.

The last guy went down and Eliot turned to Parker. "Darlin', you need to get out of here," he said, walking over to her. "There are going to be more guys coming and I need you to get out so I know you're safe."

"I'm not just going to leave you behind," she protested.

"Parker, listen to him," Nate said over the comm.. "Just get to Hardison and come back to the office. Eliot's truck is there, so he can follow behind."

Sighing, Parker nodded and turned to leave. A hand on her arm stopped her and she turned around to meet the hitter's gaze. "I will make sure you are safe…I promise. No one is going to hurt you," he said quietly and she nodded. As soon as Eliot released her, Parker turned and headed out of the building. She ran to the van that was waiting not too far from the entrance and jumped in next to Hardison.

"Nate, they're here," she heard Eliot say over the comm..

"Take care of them and then get out Eliot. We can rethink strategy and finish this guy off later."

"Got it boss."

Hardison started down the road and back for the office. When they were about at the end of the drive for the building there was an explosion and the hacker skidded the car to a halt. Parker jumped out and turned back to the old warehouse, looking in horror as the whole thing went up in flames. A few moments later, the whole thing blew apart.

"ELIOT!" Parker screamed, running back down the drive until strong arms held her back. "WE HAVE TO HELP HIM! LET ME GO!"

"Parker, we can't do anything," Hardison murmured and she heard the pain in his voice. "There's nothing."

"NO!" she screamed. "ELIOT! YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED!"

Her legs buckled beneath her and Hardison picked her up, cradling her, and carried her back to the van, setting her in the passenger side and buckling her in. She was crying, sobs wracking her body.

"Hardison, what's going on?!" Nate shouted.

"The warehouse is gone, Eliot was still inside…" the hacker replied before going back around to the driver's side and got in, continuing down the road. "I'm bringing Parker back now."

"No…" Sophie murmured over the comm..

"How is she Hardison?" Nate asked, knowing that the thief would most likely be tuning out the conversation. Alec glanced over at her and shook his head sadly as he watched his best friend cry, knowing that there was nothing he could do to ease her pain.

"Not good Nate, not good at all…"

*****

Back at the office, Sophie was holding onto Parker tightly, rocking the crying thief back and forth as they sat on the couch. Parker hadn't said a word since Hardison had placed her on the van and buckled her in, and now, she was slowly starting to revert into herself, not wanting to deal with the grief and the loss that had once again been thrust into her life. Made worse by the fact that she was in love with him, but she had never told him.

Nate had tried everything he could think of, the comms., Eliot's cell phone, everything that he could think of, and yet there was no word. The hitter was gone.

"How could we lose Eliot?" Sophie asked Nate in her quiet, shocked voice.

"We knew that this was a possibility," Nate said firmly, trying to stay strong. "His job was always most dangerous."

"Come on man," Hardison protested. "He was always so careful about it, there was hardly ever a chance that anything would happen. What the heck happened?"

"I don't know, but we need to find out where the mark is and make sure that he thinks he got rid of all of us in that warehouse, so that we can finish the job."

"You want…to finish the job?" Parker asked, looking up at Nate. Everyone glanced at her in surprise, shocked that she had said anything at all. "You want to finish the job after Eliot got killed?"

"Parker," Sophie started, but was cut off by the thief.

"Eliot is dead! He's dead Nate!" she shouted, standing up and standing in front of him. "This job is over! There is no way we can finish it!"

"Parker," Nate said, grabbing her shoulders and holding onto her when she tried to pull away. "Yes, he's gone, but do you think he would have wanted us to abandon our clients?" She was silent and refused to meet Nate's gaze. "Parker?"

"No…no he wouldn't…" she whispered, just loud enough for Nate to hear. "He…he would have wanted us to follow through, kick some butts, bust some heads…"

She was trying to be humorous but it hurt too much. It was like a giant hole had been punched in her chest. She didn't know if she could keep going after this.

"So, how are we supposed to finish this without him? I mean, he was the only person who had a chance of taking down Johnson's men. Without him, there is a slim to none chance that we are going to be able to get through the security, get the information we need and take him down. Without him, we're finished."

"Without who?"

Everyone froze and turned their gaze slowly towards the door and saw the hitter standing there, looking around at them, his expression telling them that he had no idea what was going on. "What's up?" he asked.

The next moment, he was being bombarded by Nate, Hardison and Sophie, the three of them running over. Sophie and Hardison gave him a huge hug and Nate shook his hand as soon as he was free of the grifter and hacker. "Seriously, what's up?" he asked.

"The warehouse exploded. Parker and I thought you were dead man!" Hardison exclaimed.

"Johnson had the place rigged just in case I was able to take his thugs down. I found out about the bomb and luckily I was able to get out. I couldn't get the others out though."

"We've been trying to contact you! Where have you been?!" Sophie exclaimed.

"My comm. got knocked out during the fight. I was going to call ya'll, but when I got up from the explosion, I realized that my cell phone had been fallen out of my pocket while I was running to get out. I got back as soon as I could. I figured you might be worried, but…" Eliot trailed off, motioning around the room, "…I had no idea you were going to be this ups…"

He trailed off when he saw Parker, still standing in the middle of the room. "Darlin', you okay?" he asked.

Eliot knew she wasn't. He could see it in her eyes saw the tear stains on her face and knew that she was everything but okay.

Parker didn't say anything. She stared at him, walked towards him, reached up with her hands, held his face and leaned in, smashing her lips against his. The hitter tensed in surprise and then relaxed into it, reaching down and putting his hands on her hips, holding her in place.

There was a gasp from Sophie, an "Uh," from Nate, and a muttered "Get a room," from Hardison. After what seemed like an eternity, Parker released Eliot and they both caught their breath.

"Parker…what was that?" Eliot asked when he had caught his breath. Glancing around he realized that the others had vacated the room and left them by themselves.

"I love you," she said flatly. "And I thought I had lost my chance to tell you when I saw that warehouse go up in flames. I know that you don't feel the same way but…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Eliot had pressed a finger to her lips. "How do you know that I don't feel the same way? I think you're doin' a lot of assumin' darlin'."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and when he took his finger away, he bent down and pressed his lips against hers gently. When he pulled away he smirked at the shocked look on her face before giving her a look she had never seen before. Yes, there was concern, but there was something else there too…caring…love.

"I love you too Parker, I just didn't want to tell you and risk ruining our relationship."

"Well that was stupid," she said bluntly. "How else was I supposed to know?"

He looked at her, mouth hanging open for a second before he threw back his head and laughed. "Come here darlin'," he said and pulled her against his chest, holding her tightly. "Are you better now?" he asked, swaying with her.

"Yeah, now that you're here…" the thief murmured. "I was so scared…when I thought you were gone…"

"I'm here, I'm here," he soothed. "Now, why don't we go find the others and figure out how to take this guy down."

Parker nodded and pulled away a bit reluctantly. As they headed down to the bar, Eliot wrapped an arm around her waist and she leant into him, resting her head on his shoulder. They had each other, the two most screwed up members of the team, the loners, had found someone. And no thanks to taking their time.

Subtlety is overrated.

A/N: Okay, that is it folks! All wrapped up! If there is anything you want me to expand on, I shall do it! If you want me to do another story like this, gimme some ideas! Drop me some reviews! I hope you come back to read what I have planned for the future!