Hello my lovely readers! This is my second Leverage story, and I hope you will enjoy it. This is a song fic, based on a song that I love. This story will not take away from the other Leverage story, which I have in the works.

Setting: Takes place before the end of season 4, definitely before season 5.

Please review at the end! It would mean a lot! :)

"What do you mean he left?!" Parker screamed at the rest of the team.

Nate shrugged and grabbed a bottle of bourbon from the counter. "He just said he had to leave for a while. He'll be back, Parker." He replied in a reasoned tone.

Parker folded her arms across her chest, and frowned. She glanced at Sophie and Hardison, hoping one of them would have some answers.

"Where did he go?" She demanded, glaring at them.

Sophie stepped forward and gently touched her upper arms. "He didn't say, Parker." She began, calmly. "He just needs some time to get over what happened over there. It brought back some bad memories for him, and he needs some time by himself." She finished, looking into the thief's eyes.

Parker jerked out of Sophie's touch, and scowled. "That's not good enough." She muttered, stepping back, her eyes watering. "What if he never comes back? What then?" She ranted, shrugging her shoulders. "What will we do without him?" She asked them. What will I do? She added in her mind.

Sophie turned her head, and looked at Nate, who lifted his shot glass to his lips. She sighed, as she turned back to Parker. "We'll just carry on as we always have. I suppose." She replied in a motherly tone.

Parker shook her head, and turned on her heel, and walked out of Nate's apartment. She needed to get away. She knew the last job was hard on Eliot. It was hard on all of them, but that was no excuse for him to leave.

She climbed the stairs to the roof, and went to the edge of the roof, and sat down, with her feet hanging off the side.

So much had happened with the last job that Parker wished she could forget. There were a lot of things she wished she could forget, but she knew it was impossible. She sighed as she felt the wind blow her blonde ponytail to the right.

She knew when Nate suggested the job that it was a mistake, but they had done it anyway. Taking a job where old, painful memories surfaced for, not just her, but for Eliot as well. An accomplice of Damien Monroe's, who Eliot had worked with in the past, had taken over Damien's operation, and was bribing two Senators to push a bill through to make it legal for certain drugs, dangerous drugs, and ammunition would be legal to sell or to bring into the country. It was a dangerous bill, and the Senators were very prominent and influential. It was a matter of politics, but Parker had been kidnapped, in the middle of the con, and the team had to back off or else she would die.

Parker rubbed her side. Seven stitches had been placed, in her left side, and a bandage carefully wrapped to make sure no infection would set in, where they had tortured her. Her eye wasn't swollen anymore, but it was still bruised from the blows, they inflicted.

She still blamed herself for being captured. It was not her intention or the teams for her to get caught while swapping documents in one of the Senators offices. Hardison had lost control of the feed in the hallway, and did not see the men coming for Parker, until it was too late.

She closed her eyes, and bowed her head as she remembered them hitting her again and again, until he came. She smiled, when she recalled the look on his face, when he busted through the door, and saw her. She had never seen the look of pure anger before until he caught her eyes. He nearly killed every man in the room, except for one.

Parker knew he hated killing; he had done it so much in his past, he had wanted to forget it, but it had seemed useless when he got to the man, who had the knife in his hand, and stabbed Parker.

She heard the door open behind her, and footsteps approaching her. The wind shifted, and she smelled the aroma of orange soda. Hardison.

He came and placed his hands on the edge beside Parker.

"Parker, do you think you should come down from the edge?" He asked his voice shaky as he looked down.

Parker shook her head. "I like it up here." She replied, simply.

Hardison nodded, and stepped back. "Well, for my sanity, will you come down so we can talk?" He asked, taking another step back.

Parker sighed, swung her legs around, and jumped down from the edge. She didn't step away from the ledge, only leaned against it.

"What, Hardison?" She asked, propping her hands on the ledge.

Hardison folded his arms across his chest, and watched her carefully. "Are you okay?" He asked, lowering his head.

Parker closed her eyes, and turned her head. The wind picked up, and began to blow her hair in front of her face as she looked out into the city.

"Parker, it's me. You can talk to me." He pressed, stepping closer.

Parker rolled her eyes, and shook her head as she turned her head to look back at him. "No one was supposed to leave." She began, shaking her head. "I mean, we are a family, and he just left us." She shrugging her shoulder and shook her head, as tears filled her eyes.

"Parker, you heard what Nate said. He'll come back. He just needed some time to himself." He replied, reassuringly.

Parker nodded. "Yeah, I heard, but what if he doesn't?" She asked, shaking her head once more.

Hardison shrugged. "Then we carry on without him, like Sophie said." He answered.

Parker twirled around with her back facing him. "If we are a family, then how can we just write him out of our lives?" She asked, looking out into the city. How can I write him out of mine? She thought in her mind.

Eliot had become such a big part of her life; she didn't want to think about what would happen if she lost him.

"Parker, we would never write him out." Hardison replied, watching her carefully. "But we can't just carry on like it's the end of the world." He added, unfolding his arms, and placing them in his pockets.

Parker turned back around and narrowed her eyes. "Do you know where he is?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Hardison opened his mouth, and then slowly lifted his shoulders.

Parker's eyes became dangerous at his reaction. "Where is he, Hardison?" She asked, stepping towards him.

Hardison shrugged his shoulders. "He made me promise, Parker." He said, looking everywhere, but at her.

Parker shook her head. "Hardison." She drawled out, stepping closer.

Hardison lifted his hands, in defense. "Alright." He replied, stepping back. "He said he was heading to Texas." He replied with a huff.

Parker nodded. Texas, great. She moved past him, heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" He shouted at her as she reached for the door.

"Texas." She stated, simply with determination in her voice.

Hardison sighed as she opened the door. She paused and turned her head back to him.

"Why Texas?" She asked, still holding the door.

"He owns a small ranch there." He replied, simply.

Parker's eyes widened at his words. A Ranch. Horses. Not Good. She pondered, the thought of going after him, and still came up with the solution. Horses or no she was going after him. She was going to let him know that the team needed him, and more importantly, she needed him.

Hardison watched as she gave another nod, and then told him to send the location to her phone, and continued on her mission. As the door closed behind her, he knew the door had also closed on any shot he had with her. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and bowed his head.

"Good job, Hardison." He mumbled to himself. "Thanks man." He added, as he walked to the door.

~Ranch in Texas~

Eliot stepped onto the porch, and took a deep breath. He missed this when he was traveling. He missed the sound of horses neighing and running through the fields. He missed waking up every morning working on the fence line. Good decent, hard work. No one threatening your life. No one making demands out of you. No one expecting you to hit anyone who interrupts the plan.

He took a sip of his coffee, and sighed as he leaned against the porch post. He had arrived at his ranch late the night before, and was glad to see his friend, Derek, still keeping it in shape. Whenever the team had a break from their jobs, he would come, mainly to unwind, but mostly to put a little dirt under his nails, and to keep the callouses on his hands. He had built the ranch four years earlier, after the first big payoff, and had hired his friend from the army Derek Young and his wife, Sheryl to help run it, when he was away.

He sighed as he drained the coffee cup, and went back into the house. He set the mug in the sink, and grasped the sink with his hands.

Two weeks. Two weeks since the last mission. Eliot frowned as his eyes closed voluntarily as Parker's cries rang in his ears.

He had thought he was too late, when Hardison had narrowed down the locations where she was being held. He had barged in the room, only to find a man with a knife, stabbing Parker's side, and her face covered in bruises. Her right eye was swollen from a beating, and he noticed a long cut on the side of her left cheek. The sight of her beaten and bloodied up was enough for his rage to boil. He let into the men, and nearly killed them. He wasn't sure why he let them live, when they had clearly hurt Parker, but he had. The only one who wasn't allowed to live was the one who stabbed her. After a couple of near misses, Eliot had swung the man's arm up, and then brought it down to his stomach. He had watched as the man's life drained away from him.

What had snapped him out of it, was Parker. She had witnessed the whole incident, but she didn't care. She wanted to get out, and he was wasting his time, staring a dead man.

He opened his eyes, and lifted his right hand to his face. He rubbed it gently, and then walked towards the front door.

He stopped dead in his tracks, after he opened the front door, when he saw a car speeding down the long driveway to his house. He only knew of one person, who could or would drive like that, and she was back with the team. He shook his head, when it came to a screeching halt ten feet behind his truck. His face contorted to a frown, when the driver door swung open, and a furious blonde bounced out of the car.

He was ready for whatever words she had to say, and with a few words of his own. He had even opened his mouth to tell her to get back in the car and go home, when she raised her right hand in a fist, and collided it with his face.

"That's for leaving." She stated, folding her arms across her chest with a glare.

What do you think?

I hope you approve. The second chapter will be up shortly. Please remember to review!

Until Next Time...