A/N: I should be working on my WIPs, I know that, but I started rewatching Leverage from the beginning again the other day and this idea popped into my head and refused to leave until it was written, so here we go...

Disclaimer: Characters from Leverage belong to John Rogers, Chris Downey, and other important people that aren't me.

Poker Face

Eliot expected to have trouble sleeping, even after the long trek back from Kentucky. His head was way too full of the past, memories of Aimee, and thoughts of what his present and future might have been had he never got into the 'retrieval' business. The role he had in the con might've so easily been his life if he'd taken a different path, the whole horse trainer thing with Aimee as his wife and a couple of rugrats under foot. It hadn't been that way and he doubted he could've stuck at such a life anyway, stuck in a rut, a daily routine that would never be enough for him.

A bottle of Jack and a good workout against his punch bag to let out some aggression had Eliot feeling ready enough to fall asleep. Not that he expected to spend the whole night in slumber, he rarely got more than couple of hours before a nightmare hit him, or a tiny noise that most would never hear woke him up, ready and alert for a fight. Tonight was no different. The smallest sound made his eyes shoot open and he sat up fast when he realised he wasn't alone as he should be.

"You make noises when you sleep" said Parker from her place cross-legged on the other side of his double bed.

"What the hell, Parker?" he complained as he stared at her, pushing his hair out of his face and rubbing his eyes with one hand, whilst he reached for the lamp with the other and flipped on the light.

"It's not like snoring" she continued on her own train of thought, paying no mind to the fact she seemed to have startled him by appearing in his room in the middle of the night, "It's like you're talking, but not clear enough to figure out words..."

"Parker!" he interrupted her sharply, "What the hell are you doin' here?"

She opened her mouth to answer but never actually said a word. It was only then that Eliot noticed her eyes had lost proper focus on his face and he followed her gaze to his own body, decidedly exposed by the covers he had thrown aside before. A couple of inches lower and they were into really inappropriate territory for team-mates and almost-friends.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep" the little blonde said, shaking her head out of a daze as Eliot covered himself up again, "After a job I get kinda buzzed and I figured you'd probably be awake"

"How'd you figure on that?" he asked her with a frown, "And how'd you even know where I live?" he pressed.

"Wow, you ask a lot of questions" she exhaled upwards to blow her bangs off her forehead, "I watch people. I notice you don't sleep much, and never at the office" she noted, "and I know where you live because I followed you one time when you came home" she shrugged like it was nothing at all.

Eliot wanted to argue with her. He could hardly believe she had managed to follow him without his knowing. They were clearly more evenly matched than he could ever have imagined. She thought she was uncatchable and he was sure he was the most aware of anyone. Once or twice recently he had thought somebody might be tracking him but since he found no evidence he put it down to paranoia. It had to have been Parker all along and the realisation of it was at least welcome.

"You're smarter than I thought" he admitted with a smile that couldn't be helped, "Now, go home" he advised her, hoping to go back to sleep before long.

Parker didn't shift.

"I can't sleep" she repeated, "and I'm bored. Teach me to play poker" she asked earnestly.

"Parker, its two o'clock in the frickin' morning" Eliot pointed out the clock on the nightstand that proved his point.

"So?" she shrugged easily, "C'mon, I wanna learn! All you guys can play and it's like one thing I wanna do that I can't" she explained, turning on innocent wide eyes and an irresistible pout that any woman would be proud of.

Elliot wanted to argue with her. He really did mean to, but somehow it proved impossible. He knew he wasn't going to sleep any more tonight, not now, not after waking up like this and having this conversation. It wasn't as if it would be hard to teach Parker to play poker, and he had nothing else to do. She was here already and she looked so Goddamn cute right now.

"Fine" he conceded with a huff, moving as if to get out of bed but changing his mind when Parker didn't move, except to jiggle happily on the spot at her small victory, "Move your ass out of my room" he told her with a smirk, "This ain't a free show, darlin'"

She got up and left then, the bedroom door swinging behind her. Eliot was almost sure he heard her say something about being willing to pay, but he let it go. The hitter concentrated on getting himself dressed and stretching out his legs that were protesting. The muscles in his thighs and butt had forgotten the punishment that riding a horse brought on. Man, it'd been too long.

By the time he got out into the living area, Parker was already sat one side of the table, shuffling a deck of cards. This was just one more bizarre night in a long list of bizzare nights that was only going to get longer, Eliot suspected. This team were cool and all, they knew their jobs, and for the most part they got along, but they were all wacky in their own way, and none so much as Parker.

"C'mon, cowboy" she called over her shoulder then, "I'm getting bored again"

"Seriously? Cowboy?" he echoed as he came and pulled up the chair opposite, looking more amused than angry about it.

"What? You call me twenty pounds of crazy and I'm not even allowed cowboy?" she checked as she pushed the cards across the table to him, "Deal already"

Eliot rolled his eyes but did as she asked.

"Okay, so poker..."

"So, now all bets are done, I declare" Eliot continued to explain the game of poker, laying down his cards to reveal his hand at last, "Full house" he smiled.

"That's good" said Parker thoughtfully, "but not as good as four aces" she added as she laid down her own hand with a flourish.

"How'd you...?" Eliot began, stopping short of asking as he looked up at Parker's grinning face, "Are you cheating?"

"How could I cheat?" she shrugged, "I never even played before tonight"

Eliot couldn't decide if he believed her or not. He was usually pretty good at reading people, and though Parker had to be good at lying to be a thief she was no grifter like Sophie. She was pretty honest and straightforward most of the time, for a woman that made a small fortune out of thievery. This time he was willing to believe her.

"Beginner's luck then, I guess" he agreed with her as he gathered up the cards again and shuffled them expertly, "So, you wanna play for real, since you're getting so good?"

Parker frowned some as she watched him prepare to deal again.

"You mean for money?" she asked eventually, looking strangely underwhelmed.

Sure, she liked money, much more than she liked stuff, but it wouldn't exactly be much of a challenge to play for cash. She had so much of it and so did Eliot, there was no reason to care who won or lost. There had to be something else.

"What else d'you have in mind?" Eliot smirked then, "Strip poker?"

"What's strip poker?" asked Parker, apparently completely genuine in her question.

The clever smile slid off the hitter's face when he realised she was serious. Now he had to talk to her about getting naked - that couldn't end well!

"It's, er..." he stumbled, pushing his hair back off his face, "You bet a piece of your clothing on your hand, and if you lose you have to take it off" he told her without ever looking up from the deck he was straightening into the centre of the table.

He meant to carry on and tell her there was no way they were actually going to do that here tonight, but he didn't really get a chance.

"Okay" she nodded happily at what she took to be a genuine suggestion.

"No" he shook his head immediately, "I wasn't..."

"What's the matter, Eliot?" asked Parker with a wicked look in her eyes as she leaned across the table towards him, "Scared you'll lose your underwear?"

Eliot met her gaze and held it. No way was she going to say that crap to him and get away with it. Sure, he knew that was just why she was doing it, to play him and get her own way. Unfortunately, even though he was well aware of that, he couldn't help but rise to the bait.

"I don't do scared, darlin'" he reminded her, leaning in just as she was with his elbows on the table, "and you're assuming that I even wear underwear"

Parker's eyes dipped at the comment, as if she was trying to figure out if that was a bluff or not. She gave up pretty fast, but was still smiling as she hopped up off her seat, and said she was going to get another drink before they started. Eliot let her go, since there was only so much damage even Parker could do in his kitchen fetching a soda from the fridge. Anyway, he had an idea to slip off to his room while he had the chance. It wasn't as if he was afraid to lose or in anyway embarrassed about showing his flesh, but this was at least going to be a fair fight. He emerged with shoes and socks on, items he'd been lacking before, and a blue button-down shirt thrown over his white T-shirt. If Parker noticed, which she must have done, she never said a word.

"You ready now?" he asked as she came and dropped in the seat opposite him once again, handing him a beer she had fetched along with her own soda.

"Sure" she nodded once and picked up the cards he had dealt to her, "Let's play"

An hour into their game of strip poker, Parker was starting to struggle to concentrate a little bit. It wasn't just the view of Eliot shirtless that had her attention wandering, but knowing that beneath the table he was without his pants too. By now, of course, she knew he'd lied about not wearing underwear, at least today. For once in her life, she was actually wearing both a bra and panties herself, and it was all she was wearing at this point too!

The hand ended with Eliot winning the vest top Parker had thrown on the table, and looking as if he wished he hadn't picked it up in victory the moment it was done. Parker picked up the cards to deal the next hand, but thought better of it when she thought seriously about their lack of clothes. Not that she had a problem with getting naked in front of Eliot, but his getting that way in front of her was giving her feelings she wasn't ready for somehow.

"You okay?" he asked, when she stopped shuffling and continued to stare off into space.

"Sure, yeah" she reacted fast, forgetting anything else she might've said when her eyes drifted back to him and she watched him push his hair back off his face, every muscle clear to see as it flexed and rippled... "I, er... I could use another drink" she said quickly, up out of the seat and practically running for the kitchen, before the hitter had a chance to be a gentleman and offer to go for her.

Eliot wasn't dumb and he understood that being mostly undressed would make any person skittish. He kinda didn't expect it from Parker though. She had no shame, no capacity for embarrassment, as far as he could tell. Maybe he'd been wrong about that, but then he was hardly the easily embarrassed type himself and this was all getting a little weird.

Getting up and following her to the kitchen, he briefly thought of putting some clothes back on, but figured that might be a little unfair when Parker hadn't got the same chance. He found her stood practically in the fridge, muttering to herself with words he couldn't quite make out.

"Hey, you're gonna freeze like that" he warned her, not meaning to make her jump but doing so anyway, as he appeared suddenly behind her and pushed the refrigerator door closed.

Parker turned around and found herself very close to a very under-dressed Eliot. She was like a rabbit caught in headlights as she looked up at him, shivering from the cold but breathing quickly only because he was so close right now. It wasn't entirely clear who moved first but suddenly they were kissing, hands running over freely accessible skin, and a strangely sudden but fierce passion taking over the two of them.

Parker was soon sat up on the kitchen counter with her legs around Eliot's waist, deep in a moment that was threatening to swallow her whole. Suddenly, her brain seemed to catch up with her body.

"No" she said as she pulled away, so fast that Eliot almost pitched over on top of her.

He wanted to protest, he really wanted to carry on where they left off, but as he opened his eyes and properly looked at her, he could see she was deadly serious. Immediately, Eliot mentally slapped himself for being such a fool.

"I'm sorry" he apologised, moving so she could get back to her feet, and turning away because he felt like such an idiot.

"It's okay" Parker shrugged easily, though she felt far from comfortable right now, "I don't mind, I mean, I like sex" she admitted freely, "and I'm pretty sure you'd be good at it but..."

"But?" Eliot prompted, wondering why she had stopped this if that was the way she felt.

"But you're not thinking about me" she smiled a little sadly, "You're thinking about Aimee" she told him, "and I don't really get relationships, but even I know you and her were like, in love, or whatever"

Eliot opened his mouth to argue but quickly closed it again. She was right, and there was no denying it, even though he wished there was.

"Yeah, I did love Aimee, a long time ago" he admitted, folding his arms, unfolding, and shifting around like he didn't know how to be right now, "I guess a part of me always will but... darlin', this isn't about that" he tried to tell Parker, reaching out to brush her hair back off her face.

For someone so weird about anyone touching her, she never did have that problem with him. Right now, she was even smiling.

"I'm crazy, Eliot" she rolled her eyes, "but I'm not stupid" she said definitely as she moved closer, letting his arm slide around her body.

"No, you're not" he agreed, never believing it as much as he did now as she planted one more kiss on his cheek and darted away.

He followed her back to the living area and found her already dressed again. It was scary how quick she was sometimes, in body and in mind. Sure, he called her crazy and she lived up to that description a not small part of the time, but she was smart too, when it mattered.

"I'm sorry" he repeated, feeling stupid still.

"It's okay" she said easily as she tied her second shoe and righted herself in front of him, "Thank you for teaching me poker, Eliot" she smiled, tying her hair back in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in her way, "Maybe we can play again sometime?"

Eliot only nodded in response, and then she was gone.

There was no doubt about it, Parker was a damn sight smarter than anyone gave her credit for. As much as he meant what he said about liking her not having to do with Aimee, she knew on some level that Eliot could't help but think of his ex. She didn't want to be used, and he could respect that.

It was probably better for everyone that this didn't happen tonight. Of course, that didn't mean it couldn't happen another night. She wanted to play again, and he couldn't believe she was only talking about poker. Maybe that was wishful thinking, but Eliot was pretty sure he was right. He was getting better at reading Parker all the time, and apparently she was just as good at reading him. It would made poker all the more interesting, and perhaps life in general from now on.

The End