Author's note: I'm alive! Okay so this is not actually the Annie-centric fic I was talking about doing, but that one wasn't formulating as well as I had hoped, so I decided to go ahead with other ideas. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of one-shots about the Parker-James family set after, and maybe even before and during the movie. None of these will have anything to do with my other fic. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Parent Trap (1998) or any of its characters.

Poker

Annie Parker-James had always had a fairly good picture of herself. She knew she was pretty, but she was not so vain that she thought there weren't more beautiful girls out there because there were. She was polite and proper, as she was raised to be, and somewhat of a quiet, more reserved person. She was fairly intelligent and social, though truth be told, she could be quite shy, especially around boys. It was not as much of a problem anymore, however.

When she had moved to California after her parents' second wedding, Annie had been rather surprised to discover most of her sister's closest friends were male. Hallie had insisted that she overcome her shyness by using said friends as practice dummies. They were all very nice, if only to avoid a beating from Hallie, and her bashfulness had faded significantly as she integrated herself into the group.

Annie also knew the several expectations the people around her had for her future. Her grandfather hoped she would become a doctor like himself, though he was now retired. Her mother had a dream of her coming to work for her at the studio as an inspiring designer. Her father… well she did not actually know what he wanted her to be.

"It's more like he has a list of things he doesn't want you to be." Hallie had answered when she had asked "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get to hear the speech soon. It likes to make an appearance whenever he thinks I'm not taking school seriously enough."

She was also responsible. It was always her that diffused Hallie's wackier schemes and reminded her about school assignments and when it was getting late and they needed to get home. Annie was often the one to calm her sister's temper and keep her out of trouble in school and, of course, keep her company when she was forbidden to leave the house.

Annie found her doing just that now. They were in their room, playing cards on the floor in between their beds. Hallie was not actually in trouble this time, however. On the way back from their family's annual camping trip a rock, that had proven sturdy for everyone else, had suddenly given away just as Hallie had stepped on it and had sent the unfortunate girl tumbling down the steep trail resulting in a broken arm. Nick, all too used to the accidents Hallie was often involved in, had gotten them down the mountain and to the hospital without too much of a fuss, though Liz wasn't nearly as unaffected. She had been refusing to allow Hallie out of the house and made it clear it would not be an option again for at least another week, much to the girl's frustration.

So here she was, playing the responsible sister and attempting to keep the cooped up girl entertained. It was not exactly easy; sometimes she would swear her sister had a touch of ADD. It never ceased to amaze Annie just how different they really were. They were exactly identical appearance wise, but beyond that… it was a wonder they managed to switch places and still could if the need ever arose…

They were currently playing poker both Annie's great love and the bane to her existence. She was a great poker player; it had always been something she had known about herself. As soon as she was taught the rules of the game she seemed to be a natural, even her grandfather had a hard time beating her. No one besides him had ever come close until… Hallie. Since that fateful meeting at Camp Walden they had played hundreds of times, and still Annie had no wins to show for it. Sure she would win a few hands, but it was always her sister who took the pot. Always.

She laid down her pair of tens only to have Hallie slap down a pair of kings. She concentrated on controlling her expression to conceal her frustration, but her sister saw through it like always.

"What's wrong sis?" Hallie taunted as she put down her cards to rake the small pot of coins to her pile with her good arm. "Feeling a little irritated?"

"Not at all." She replied coolly as she eyed her sister's blue cast. It was bulky, but it allowed enough finger movement that she should at least be able to hold her cards... "Does it hurt?" she asked gesturing to the broken limb.

"Course not." Hallie replied as she handed her cards back the more able twin for shuffling, but when the cards where dealt she still picked up her hand with her right hand.

Annie's eyes narrowed. "You haven't been taking that pain medication the doctor gave you."

The injured girl laughed and shook her head. "I swear, you and Mom are the biggest worrywarts I've ever seen! And you know I'm not in to painkillers. They always give me these freaky nightmares. I'll take two." She said as she awkwardly put her cards down to discard two of them into the pile.

Annie sighed as she dealt her sister two more cards. "Dealer takes one." She said as she discarded and drew one card. "What do you bet?"

Hallie gave her a mischievous smile before setting down her cards and scooting her entire pile to the middle. "I'm all in."

Her twin raised an eyebrow. Hallie was an excellent bluffer, but even she would not go all in unless she had something good. If she went all in she would lose for sure, but if she didn't…

"What's wrong? Chicken?" Hallie was grinning.

The British girl suppressed a sigh as she pushed her pile into the pot. It was foolish, but her pride wasn't about to let her back down. She should really learn not to get so annoyed, it was only a game after all, and there were plenty of other things she was better at than Hallie. Math was an example. Homework that only took her a few minutes often took her sister hours. It was only with her help that Hallie scrapped through Pre-Algebra with a border-line C-. She could always beat Hallie in tennis, chess, and fencing. Being bested at poker should not be that big of a deal… but it was. They laid down their cards.

"Dang!" Hallie exclaimed. Her straight had been bested by Annie's full house. "You win." She said glumly.

"I won?" Annie questioned frowning.

"Yeah, but don't get used to it." the injured girl stood. "Come on, I think Mom's working on some sketches. Maybe I could sneak outside for a little while." She started for the door.

"Now you hold it right there!" Annie shouted standing. "Before you came along, there wasn't anyone who could beat me-"

"I believe you." Hallie replied confused by her sister's sudden anger. "You're the best poker player I've ever met."

"What are you talking about?" Even Annie was startled by the fury she was suddenly unleashing. "I've never beaten you before now! And if you think I'm going to stand here and be insulted by you letting me win, then you've got another thing coming!"

"I didn't let you win." Hallie assured her. "And I don't really count…"

"Why not?" the British girl asked confusion creeping into her anger.

Hallie laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Annie, I don't count because I cheat."

Annie's face went blank and she blinked several times. "What?"

Hallie kept laughing. "I cheat. I've always cheated. That was the first fair game I've played in years."

"Years? So at camp…"

"You didn't honestly believe I would've come up with jumping in the lake if I wasn't sure I'd win did you?"

"But why play fair now?" Annie questioned.

Hallie held up her casted left arm. "It's too hard to do with one hand. You would've caught me. In fact, I can't believe you didn't figure it out before. Honestly Ann, no one is that good at poker! There's just too much luck involved." She grinned. "You're such a sucker."

Yes, there were many things Annie knew about herself. She was the best poker player she knew of, and maybe even quite naïve when it came down to it. And…

"So all of those other times we played you were cheating?" Annie asked as she followed her twin out of their room and toward the stairs.

"Yeah. We already went over this remember?"

"Then I want all my things back!"

"Um…" Hallie suddenly bolted down the stairs and around the corner out of sight.

"Sorry! Can't hear ya!" She called as Annie heard the back door open.

"Hallie Parker-James! You get back in this house this instant!" Their mother shouted, her hands on her hips as she glared at her injured daughter who had stopped several yards from outside of the door.

"Ah come on Mom! It's only a broken arm! Besides I'm actually trying to prevent further bodily harm…" Hallie took off towards the barn as she saw Annie coming down the stairs.

…And her sister was the only person in the entire world who could infuriate and amuse her at the same time.

"What's going on?" Liz asked as Annie came beside her to watch Hallie's flight.

Annie smiled. "Let's just say if I catch her, I might have to break her other arm." She said as she took off after her sister.

Ending Note: So what'd you think? This one was mostly about Annie and her point of view. I'm going to try to make the characters and themes vary. If you have any suggests for what you'd like to see in later chapters let me know!