A/N: To be entirely honest I have no idea where this is going I just sat down starting typing and came to with three chapters. This is just to see if it's any good... Enjoy I guess... Oh and if I owened them Eliot and Parker would have been gettin' it on from day one ;)

She was silent on her approach as usual, and as usual he was fully aware of her presence despite the tangled emotions clouding his mind. As was their way she simply sat down beside him without a word, he saw her stuff some brightly colored pieces of paper into the back pocket of her black jeans and rolled his eyes. She almost beat her record by being still for four whole minutes before she began tapping her fingers against her knee. This led to cracking the knuckles of her other hand, she knew he hated it and was still under the impression that if he couldn't see it he couldn't hear it either. "Parker stop it." He reached over her body and took her hand sliding his fingers under hers to stop the crack.

"Are you mad?" she asked taking his acknowledgement of her presence as tacit approval for her to talk to him. He knew it from the day they met the simple fact that nobody else seemed to grasp; the pair of them were too alike she knew he needed to talk but that he didn't know how to ask for it.

"I'm worried Parker." He told her squeezing her hand gently. "I'm worried that he's going to screw up and get us all killed."

"Well that won't happen." She swung around still holding his hand so she was leaning back against the ledge of the building slouching down in her typical relaxed stance. A stance he knew she could pull out of and be in motion from in seconds. "You won't let anything happen to us and I won't let anything happen to you."

"It's that simple for you huh Parker." He replied his anger rising at her matter of fact tone. Did she think that what he did was easy, that being responsible for the four of them was something without its own unique set of headaches; most caused by the thief herself. He pulled his hand from hers and stood pacing back and forth in front of her punching the heavy bag he had placed on the roof on each pass.

"Yep." She replied unmoving other than her fingers playing out a piece of music across her legs. She had confided in him before he performed a year ago that she had also been a musician. Her middle school teacher had found her to be a piano prodigy; she had even played for him once in his loft. He was more of a guitar player but watching as her whole body responded to the notes while she played. Seeing her face light up as she completed a complicated key change and her silent smile of satisfaction as she held the final note knowing she had it perfect, it had been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"How is that possible?" he asked leaning his weight against the bar supporting his bag. Without Nate or Hardison's ok he had set up an entire home gym on the roof of the building. After a week of using it when the team didn't need him but he wanted to stay close he found different things had been added. A balance beam beside his speed bag, yoga mats and balls beside the treadmill, jump ropes in all colors and shapes draped over his free weights, and a set of practice rings and chalk to the far side of the roof. Another week after that and he would find her performing a complicated dismount off the rings or bar as he came upstairs for his own workout. Another week after that and they were silent partners, they would show up and stretch together, even going as far as to assist each other in some stretching maneuvers in an attempt to improve flexibility, Parker would then start with her jump ropes and yoga while he completed push-up's and sit-up's. Depending on the day they would then go to one of their stations, most commonly Eliot would wait for her choice before deciding.

If Parker chose her balance beam he would stay on the bags so if she fell, which she had yet to do, he would be there to catch her. If she chose the rings he would move toward her with free weights, and work out close enough to be of assistance. He had yet to figure out how she managed to get to the roof whenever he did. It was never a set time for him; he had searched for sensors and other possible trip wires but nothing. She just knew.

"I want to run." She told him interrupting his trip down memory lane. She stood and stretched lightly before trooping back down to Nate's apartment. He followed slower not quite sure what her plan was, he figured it out quick when she led him into one of the empty rooms at Nate's where they stored their gym bags and showered. She tossed him his bag and retreated into the other bedroom to change, one of his conditions upon starting their workouts. Eliot sighed but did as requested knowing running with her was easier than worrying about her while she was gone; or at least less trying on his already fragile control.

As per usual when they ran he was finished changing first, so he took their water bottles out of the loose floorboard she stored them in and filled them with water looping his own around his chest and setting hers on the counter as he began his own personal stretches. It was only a moment later that she joined him and they began stretching together. Their routine was so well honed they did not even need to speak to complete it; he couldn't help the smile on his face as he realized that was why it was her suggestion. She knew what helped clear his mind was running and even though she detested it she would always go with him on his typical five mile jog when he was upset.

Once finished stretching they trooped down the stairs into the bar Parker's spandex pants garnering a few looks of interest that were quickly dissuaded by Eliot's angry glare. Once they were on the street he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her, she turned to look at him a question in her eyes but he simply smiled. "Thanks Parker." He told her and then he took off ignoring her shouting that he was a cheater and instead listening to the pounding of their feet hers just a bit slower than his but she was still able to catch up to him quickly bumping his shoulder in retaliation.

As they made their way down the street he allowed the sounds of their feet, now in perfect synch, and their breathing to relax him and allow his mind to wander. He had been prepared for Nate to go to the crapper from the moment he took the drink from a loan shark while Sophie was gone. He knew that Sophie was aware of the problem but seemed to believe that Nate would pull through fine. Hardison however, who even had a clue what Hardison thought or was aware of, sometimes it seemed as if his whole world was wrapped up in his TV shows and computers. His eyes drifted to the right as he watched his running partner's steady progress, Parker it seemed was just waiting for Nate to fail her. It was the same attitude she had about each one of them. Sophie had failed by leaving them no matter how welcome the timing of her return was. Hardison had done it by not finding her when the team split up for the first time. Eliot had spent a day, just to see if he could, and found her in Rio at an art exhibit. He had stayed a week and been her backup on heist night both commiserating about the empty feeling the trunk full of stolen artwork gave them compared to the feeling of a happy family they had fixed.

Even Nate had failed her by tricking them when he went to prison; Parker's digs about the drinking were because Nate was the only one who had not spoken to her about his failure. Eliot had walked in on the discussion between her and Sophie where the grifter explained what had happened to cause her to leave in a way that made Parker understand. On the opposite side everyone on comm's had heard Hardison's explanation for his being unable to find her and Parker's speech about locks in return.

"Hey, hold on I got a cramp." Parker told him making her way to a bench in the park they had just entered. He stepped forward taking the jacket she tossed to him leaving her in a tank top and her running pants as she propped a leg on the back of the bench nearly bending her body in half to stretch out her hamstrings.

"Here." He slung the jacket over the bench and reached down pointing her toes and massaging her calf to help her past the cramp. "Thought we stretched out enough." He told her gruffly, his own form of an apology.

"Not you." She said taking a sip of water, "It's an old injury from a few years back."

"What happened?" he asked easing her onto the bench upon realizing that she was likely not going to finish the run. She gestured for him to join her at the bench and put her leg over his pulling up the edge of her pants to reveal an ugly star shaped scar in her leg.

"We were trying to get out of this house and I was last out the window because I was fastest. He grabbed my leg and, you know those spiky hammers you use to beat up meat." At Eliot's nod she was quick to continue reciting her story the only way she knew how, perfectly blank no emotion whatsoever. "He hit me with it three times, shattered my bone."

"How old were you?" Eliot asked already knowing the answer would bring on that mix of anger and terror that came with each one of Parker's more horrific past memories.

"Seven I think, it was my first foster home." She reached down and removed his hand which had been unconsciously stroking the skin. "Anyway they had to do a bunch of surgeries and I got to stay at the hospital while they investigated and everything. But they had a bone shard get stuck in my muscles so they had to get it out and they said it might hurt sometimes."

"Hold on how is it that you do what you do then?" he asked still massaging her calf as they sat on the bench.

"I don't usually run seven miles Sparky." She told him with a smile.

"Seven miles?" he looked down at his watch and with a few quick calculations determined they had indeed been running for seven miles and change. He looked up realizing he officially had no clue where they were. The area was nice, residential with several middle class homes spread out around the small park where children were playing on the jungle gym in front of them.

"You weren't paying a lot of attention so I took us toward my place." She told him standing carefully testing her weight on her injured leg.

"This is nowhere near the warehouse district." Eliot told her rolling his eyes.

"I know, Sophie told me that since I had to pick a new place to live anyway she was going to pick it and decorate it for me." Parker informed him as they set off on a light walk, Eliot keeping a hand on the small of Parker's back in case she fell.

"Sounds like Sophie, she's been dying to dig her paws into my place for ages." Eliot agreed as they moved down a smaller side street stopping in front of a yellow house with a large chain link fence. The front yard was small, a signature of most Boston homes, the porch was painted white and the rope and various harnesses hanging over the railings were proof enough that Parker lived there.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" he asked gesturing to the glaring proof of what some of her extra-curricular activities were.

"Sophie told me to tell the neighbors that I'm a rock climber that way I don't have to hide anything." Parker replied leading him into her home. The front door opened into a large open room, he kicked off his running shoes beside the ones Parker had just removed and watched her vault over the back of a large leather couch with a contented sigh. The room was clearly designed by Sophie with the dark green walls that matched perfectly with the fireplace in the corner which was the focus point of a couch and two love seats. Above the fireplace was a TV and DVD cases on either side. To the other side of the room were two matching armchairs with a large oak bookshelf between them.

Though the room was clearly designed by Sophie it was completely Parker, from the two million dollar vase sitting perilously close to Parker's swinging feet to the large ruby holding down a stack of floor plans on the counter. Eliot heard the television turn on and took it as permission to continue his exploring. He moved over to a breakfast bar with three stools placed in front of it. He was almost jealous of the kitchen Sophie had put together, an industrial fridge and stove, a pantry, and a deep freeze in the corner. He opened the fridge and rolled his eyes, it was filled with pizza boxes, left over Chinese food, and two cartons of milk one that appeared to be filled with lumps.

He opened the stove and couldn't help his chuckle as he pulled out various rolled up art pieces from several museums around Boston. "If you wanted to cook you could take them out." Parker told him from her seat at one of the bar stools at the breakfast bar.

"You should learn to cook, cereal and take-out is not an acceptable option." He told her nodding to the cupboard he had just opened that was filled with different types of cereal.

"Fix it then." She told him bouncing slightly in her seat.

"Let me borrow your shower and we can go food shopping, we'll start with a few easy things then." He spoke before he realized what he was saying. When Parker bounced off up a set of stairs pushing open the door to a guest bathroom as she went Eliot came to the realization that he wanted to be with her. She would keep him calm in the way only she knew how and would help him through his frustration at their 'fearless leader'.