Title: I would do anything

Pairing: Parker/Eliot

Disclaimer: not mine at all!

Spoilers: Post "The Future Job"

A/N: Another super short totally out of the blue story! I hope you like it and thank you for reading.

Love,

Fran

Another con over and another job successfully done. Parker was more than pleased to know the man had been put away, especially after making her feel uncomfortable and sad.

The team now was spread around the apartment; Hardison sat in front of his computer checking whatever new software he could lay his hands on, Nate sat alongside Sophie discussing the case they had finished and Eliot had marched straight towards the kitchen the minute they set foot in the apartment.

Parker stood in the middle of the room and looked around, indecisive. She could sit on the couch and talk to Nate and Sophie, but they were wrapped in their conversation she felt weird interrupting them. She could talk to Hardison, but she hardly understood things about computer programming and sometimes he got annoyed when she asked too many questions. Her eyes fell on Eliot, who already had his apron on and was moving around the kitchen pulling out pots and spoons.

He was completely focused on the task at hand with a deep frown adorning his face. She didn't know why but she found that quite charming.

She finally decided to sit on a stool in front of him, without saying a word, just watched him as he moved around. Then, all of a sudden, a question rose in her head. Something that had been flying around her head since she had come back from her first meeting with the 'psychic', when she was laying on the floor crying her eyes out. She had made a lame suggestion, purely out of rage, and Eliot was the first to respond (in his very Eliot way) and she was partially surprised at what he was willing to do for her. She only wondered why?

"Eliot?" she spoke, playing with her fingers nervously. Eliot raised his head long enough to look at her. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure." he responded.

"Were you really—you know? Going to cut his head off? And his arms?" she asked him. She didn't need to be specific, for the look on his face told her he did remember the conversation and the whole situation.

"Yeah…" he said without hesitation. She couldn't suppress the smile creeping on her face, nor the feeling building inside her chest. He smiled in return, and she forgot about the pain she had felt that moment, or the anger, or the sadness, for she felt protected and cared for.

"Why?" she asked him. "Was it because I told you to? Or just because…you felt like it?"

"What? Do you think I go around cutting off people's legs?" he asked her, though he didn't seem annoyed at all, only slightly amused at her assumption. She nodded slowly. "No. I mean yes, I did want to do it because you asked me to, though if it hadn't been that I would have surely kicked his ass. Repeatedly. But the truth is, there are two things in life I can't stand; bullies and people who hurt someone I love. That man fell into the second category so…yeah, I could have done that."

She watched with awe, partially surprised at his words and also shocked it seemed to natural for him to say that.

"Does that mean you love me?" she questioned him, her voice in a whisper. She waited for his answer, even fearing for it, not quite understanding why she felt so strange asking him.

"Okay, enough questions for a night." Eliot responded quickly, avoiding her eyes all of a sudden and moved around the kitchen to finish dinner. "You should get ready; meal will be ready in a second."

"Sure…" she replied. Standing off her stool slowly, she stopped in her tracks when he called her name, turning around to face him.

"The answer to that question is—yes. Yes, I do." he said, smiling softly. She grinned in return, feeling butterflies in her stomach at his words.

"Yo man, what are you cooking?" Hardison asked him, stepping onto scene, interrupting them. Eliot still watched her when he replied, and Hardison felt like he had done something wrong. "Where you guys busy? Did I interrupt something? Where you about to make out? 'Cause if you were, please don't do it in front of me, okay? 'Cause gross. I have enough with Nate and Sophie."

"Yeah, we were, just not yet." Eliot spoke and winked at her. She didn't know if he was serious, or joking, or was even suggesting they should do it.

"Right." Parker replied and bounced out of the room laughing as Hardison whispered, "I'm gonna be sick," but it was loud enough for them to hear.

The end