The Maltese Falcon Job:

Parker was staring in shocked horror at Nate, who had handcuffed himself to the railing on the upper deck of the ship. Eliot gently slapped her on the back and said, "Come on. Let's go." Nate was looking to him to take care of the rest of the team, to get them out of there. And he had promised Nate that he'd have his back. All the way down. That's what he'd said. He waited while the others made their way past him and down the stairs to the helicopter. He followed a little bit behind, and when he passed Sterling, Eliot speared him with an intense stare, nose to nose and toe to toe, and then he said, "Watch your back, Sterling."

As he stood at the chopper door, making sure the rest of the team boarded safely, he spared a look back toward Nate, and a wave of shock slammed through him. Nate had sunk to his knees on the deck and he was leaning back, holding his abdomen. Was it possible that Nate had been shot? How would he have hidden it from Eliot? In that one long moment, while Eliot stared at Nate, he realized that's exactly what had happened. Eliot was surprised at the sense of betrayal he felt, not that Nate would do this—being honest with himself, as usual, he could admit to himself that the mastermind had no choice—but that Nate chose not to share those plans with him. He could understand why Nate chose not to share his plans with Hardison and Parker. They were young and relatively innocent, and still naive about certain matters, and not only would they not understand it, they would try to stop it. He could even understand why the older man wouldn't share the plan with Sophie—he couldn't even tell the woman he loved her, and at the time, couldn't know whether she was coming back or not. There was no way he could tell her he was going to go to jail for the team.

Eliot couldn't help but wonder why the mastermind would have chosen to keep the plan from him? He'd seen and done plenty. Nate knew Eliot would keep it quiet if the older man asked him to do that, so it just didn't make sense that he wouldn't tell him. Eliot supposed it could be Nate's way of protecting him along with the rest of the team. Dammit. He should have seen this coming.

The helicopter trip was made in absolute silence. To be fair, no one really felt like talking. Sophie had arranged for the helicopter to land on the roof of the building that housed Nate's apartment and bar. Eliot knew they'd have to venture back toward Belbridge in the next couple of days, to get Lucille, but he knew the team had just been dealt a horrible blow, and they needed time to recover a bit first.

When the copter landed, the team tumbled out and huddled together on the roof. Eliot wrenched open the trapdoor that would give them access to the rest of the building. One by one, they climbed down the metal ladder attached to the concrete and steel frame of the wall, until they reached the second floor. They stumbled down the hall and came to a stop in front of Nate's apartment. Parker didn't wait for Sophie to produce the key; she just pulled a hairpin out of her hair, and set about picking the lock.

Once inside, they settled into their normal places, and then all of them started talking at once.

"I can't believe Nate wouldn't t—"

"He sold us out."

"Why would Nate do such a thing?"

Eliot listened to the confusion for a few moments, then growled low in his chest. "Quiet!" he said, forcefully. The rest of the group fell silent and looked at him. "We're not gonna do Nate or our clients any good if we fall apart."

"What clients, man? Without Nate, we might as well close the doors," Hardison said, with a dubious frown.

"All right, all right. Listen. It's important that we stay together. No matter what happens."

"Stay together? When there's nothing for us to do? How's that even supposed to work, Eliot?"

"Wait. We all worked alone before we joined the team, so we've all been the mastermind for our own jobs before. We'll be okay. Besides that, we'll be safer together than alone." Eliot fell silent, and moved through the apartment on the balls of his feet, checking for security risks. When he finished, he moved off into the treatment room to take care of his cuts and bruises, while Sophie settled at the dining room table with a glass of wine. Parker and Hardison sat down on Nate's sofa, and Hardison opened his laptop while Parker flipped through the channels on the television, trying to find something to watch.

A half hour passed, and Parker was starting to get bored. She got up off the sofa, and Hardison looked up from what he was doing. "Parker, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to check on Eliot."

"I'm sure he's fine."

"He's been in there a long time. I'll be back." With that, she moved across the room and stopped outside the treatment room door, knocking lightly. There was no audible response, but a moment later, she opened the door and disappeared inside.

(0o0)

Parker stopped in the doorway, looking around the room. The treatment room was empty, but she saw that the door to the restroom was standing open, so Parker moved over, still looking for Eliot. She saw him standing at the sink, sponging the cut above his forehead with an alcohol pad. Moving up beside him, Parker took the alcohol pad from him and motioned for him to sit down.

"I can do it myself, Parker."

"Didn't you just say that we should stick together? Let me help. Please, Eliot?" Eliot caught a glimpse of her face and instantly understood how upset she was about what had happened. He had taken care of himself for a long time, but since he had been taking care of the team, it was starting to become a tradition between them to treat one another's injuries. It was something she needed to do for him, to convince herself that all was once again right with the team. Though they had never discussed it, it was becoming something they shared, as the two very active, extremely athletic members of the team.

He stifled the urge to sigh, and sat down on the small stool he kept next to the bathtub. With a small smile, she took the alcohol swab and cleaned the cut above his eye. When she was finished, she bandaged it for him and then stood back and looked at him expectantly.

Rolling his eyes, he unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his chest, and then smiled at her. She gasped at the lurid bruises that covered his torso. His breath caught as she started to probe his ribs, and he winced internally, but refused to show that she was hurting him. He knew she didn't mean to do so. She determined that one or two ribs were at least cracked, and she rooted around in the medical kit for a bandage. He worked his arms out of his shirt, and raised them above his head, helpfully. Grinning at him, she gently wrapped the bandage around his ribs. He stopped her once to have her loosen it up because she was starting to wrap too tight, and when she finished, she pinned the bandage in place. She sat back and admired her handiwork, and then asked, "What else hurts?"

"Just my head." She shot him a sidelong glance, and he said, "Got hit in the face a couple of times. Headache." She nodded, and walked over to the small desk, where she opened a drawer and took out a small towel, and then moved over to the small refrigerator and took out several cubes of ice, which she wrapped in the towel. Tying the ends together to make a small sack, she handed it to him. He placed it on his head.

When she finished, she turned around, looking in the kit for something to put on the bruises. Watching her, Eliot took the ice pack off of his head and placed it on his ribs. Watching her, he said, "Parker, it's your turn. Sit down over here."

"What? I'm not hurt. I'm fine."

"You landed pretty hard on some of those jumps. Better let me see for myself." He reached for her hand, and when she took his hand in hers, he led her over and seated her on one of the cots in front of him. She scooted down to the foot of the cot until her back was touching the wall, and stretched her legs out in front of her. Eliot began probing the joints of her knees, checking for injuries.

Without looking at him, she asked, "Why would Nate go and get himself arrested?"

Eliot sighed, the activity of the day starting to catch up with him at last. "That's a good question." He looked at her appraisingly, cocking his head sideways. Then he said, "Parker, what's wrong?"

"He abandoned us. He split up the team. Tore apart one of the best things that's ever happened to me."

"He didn't have a choice, Parker. It was the only way he could keep the rest of us safe." He attempted to stifle a yawn, but part of it leaked out anyway. "We'll talk about it with the rest of the team tomorrow." He finished his examination and continued, "You're fine. Get some rest, and be glad Sophie's back."

"There is that," she said, smiling. When she got almost to the door, she turned back to look at him. "Are you coming?"

"In a while. I'm gonna clean up a bit in here first."

"Goodnight, Eliot."

"'Night, Parker."

She made her way back out to Nate's living room, hoping Hardison would walk her out. He had fallen asleep on Nate's sofa, and Sophie was nowhere to be seen. Yawning, Parker walked to the closet and pulled out the cot she had seen in there. She found a blanket and spread it out. Fluffing the pillow, she laid it down on one end, and then climbed under the covers. She was asleep before she even had a chance to turn off the light.