lmx_v3point3

Fic: Taking Care

Author: LMX
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Hardison/Eliot/Parker, Nana, OMC
Spoilers: Future!Fic, potential general spoilers for all Seasons 1 and 2. Specifics for The Stork Job and The Two Live Crew Job
Warnings: Indirect discussion of abused children and brief mentions of drug abuse. Completely innaccurate use of Hebrew (please buzz me to correct if you are a native speaker!!)

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the studio, producers and writers except the words themselves and the order I've put them in. Dean, Lana and Reph are original characters with no basis in canon or the real world.

Summary: Nana needs help looking after her Grandson. Unforunately, all she's got is a crew of only-semi-retired crooks.

- - -

Prologue

Part 1



Alec would never admit it out loud, (it wasn't like Eliot's ego needed any more swelling, and he was 90% sure Parker wouldn't even get it), but he'd dreamt more than once about taking his makeshift family home to meet his Nana.

Dreamt of showing them the house where he grew up. Dreamt of having the closest thing to a real and decent mother he'd ever had see the life he'd made for himself and the beautiful people he'd made it with.

A couple of times, the dreams had turned into nightmares, and his Nana had been disappointed that his beautiful people were both white beautiful people (which was so out of character he couldn't even explain), another where she'd decided that three people living together was unholy - that one had involved holy water and garlic - and one where she'd turned out to be a wolf and she'd eaten Parker, and then Eliot had chopped her head off. He didn't even know what to say about that one.

Still, obscure dreams aside, he was headed home with half the required complement, and while leaving town with Eliot still home had just seemed strange, he couldn't help but be excited that this was finally happening.

The feeling was only slightly dampened by the thought that Eliot was headed out to Israel and his it-was-never-serious-stop-stressing-about-this ex-girlfriend Dayan. He'd been suspicious of their 'business partnership' from the start, and it was only the fact that his paper-trail looked legit that stopped Alec putting bugs and cameras all over the hitter every time he left the country.

"Eliot said we probably shouldn't have sex at your Nana's house." Parker announced a propos of nothing. Alec tried really hard not to drive off the road. "Does your Nana not like sex?" Parker continued, oblivious.

Alec reminded himself that he was driving and shutting his eyes against the images would be bad. "I think Eliot was reminding you about the sex-in-other-people's-houses' rule."

"But it's your house," Parker pointed out.

"It's Nana's house and I used to live there," Hardison corrected her.

Parker frowned at him, studying him like if she looked closely enough, she could work him out. "That doesn't make sense."

"Think of it like Nate's apartment." Hardison tried. "We all used to spend way too much time there, but it was still Nate's apartment, yeah?"

"We had sex there," Parker pointed out blandly. "Eliot said that was an exception to the rule and that we shouldn't do it again, but it was fun and Nate's sofa is bigger than ours."

OK, bad example. Hardison pressed his forehead into the steering wheel briefly and resigned himself to a very long two days on the road.

- 0 -

Eliot was feeling more than a little fuzzy after his twenty hour flight out of Boston, but roaring down the roads in his rental car, readjusting to the local temperature and people and traffic was slowly waking him back up. He'd been fast through the airport, benefit of having no baggage but what he was carrying and a series of well used visas. He was already out of Tel Aviv, heading for the rendezvous point he'd already arranged.

Leaving the city's outskirts, the landscape was quick to change from skyscrapers and immaculate streets to more rural terrain. Houses people actually lived in, fields people worked, science parks and offices too, but real buildings - not shiny fronts with beggars in every doorway. Every city was starting to look alike that these days, no matter where you were in the world, as the food disappeared, or failed to grow, and no one could afford what was left.

Eliot slowed as he passed over the ridge and started to drop back towards the next town. He could see a line of cars backed up ahead, one car clearing the blockage as he watched. If it was the local police checking cars he'd be fine, but things had only gotten more unstable here since the start of the year. In a country where nearly every citizen did military service, an unfed army was an angry army, so the forces had acquired ninety percent of the food that was left and let those who'd finished their service starve under the banner of keeping them protected.

Eliot slowed further as he came into sight of the people standing at the roadblock edges. Lazy stances, mish-mash of weapons... It wasn't the police.

He swore, wishing - not for the first time - that he had a team at his back for this.

- 0 -

Hardison found himself creeping through the town, all of his childhood haunts looking more or less unchanged after all this time. Parker was staring at him like she was trying to read something in his face. He glanced over at her and flashed her a grin.

"Y'alright?" he asked.

"Your face is all..." Parker twisted her face into a mask of horror that Hardison was fairly sure didn't look much like Parker thought it did. "What's it mean?"

"Just remembering, 'sall. Made lots'a good memories in this town, did lots of things I ain't proud of too, but mos'ly... yeah, it was mos'ly good. Got my first job, earned enough to buy my first computer..." He turned down the road onto his Nana's street and grinned at the familiarity of it all.

"Is it good?" Parker asked quietly.

"It's weird," he said. "But good weird."

Hardison pulled into his Nana's driveway, parking Eliot's truck behind the eleven-seater van his Nana'd had forever. The house looked exactly the same; immaculately painted, windows clean, lawn a wilting mess. It looked strange without half a dozen kids playing on the steps and around the ramshackle bus, but that was the only thing missing from the scene.

"Are we waiting for something?" Parker asked, her voice breaking into his reverie as she leaned forward to study the house.

"Naw," Alec said, putting the car into park and opening the door. His Nana opened the front door as he stepped out. She took one look at the scene and shoved her hands on her hips, just as intimidating as she had been when he was twelve.

"What you doin' bringin' a shiny thing like that into this neighborhood. You tryin' t' get jacked?" she demanded, striding down the steps towards them. She looked smaller than Alec remembered, hair greying and thinner - though she was still far from being petite. Maybe just less round.

"Hey Nana," he said, grinning so wide he thought his cheeks might split.

- 0 -

Like he'd never left, Hardison was sat behind his Nana's ancient computer, trying to get rid of the hundreds and hundreds of viruses and pieces of malware she'd picked up from her aimless wanderings around the internet. Half the things weren't even affecting her computer's performance because the system was so outdated, that the virus didn't know what to do with it.

He only had half his mind on the job at the hand (though really, he could have done it with a lot less than that). The other was musing on the nephew he'd never met, due to arrive back from his playdate with a friend later on that day. He was worrying how their first meeting would go. Whether the kid would hate him straight away. If they'd ever manage to make this work, or if he'd signed them all up for two months of hell.

He was glancing up every so often to observe Parker and his Nana sitting across the room, sipping at homemade lemonade that had always been too sweet. Parker was fidgeting in her seat like she was thinking of disappearing any minute. His Nana had a sharp look on her, like she was about to launch into one of her questioning skits that always seems innocuous enough at first, but could tell her everything she needed to know about a person.

Parker beat her to it.

"You're really fat," she said bluntly. "Fatter than anyone I've ever seen. Is that why your heart is blocked? You should eat less carbohydrates."

Alec cringed and tried to hide behind the computer screen as Parker looked over his Nana like she was judging her for a prize draw.

His Nana just lit up. "Well aren't you the sweetest thing," she cooed, like Parker'd just given her the nicest complement. "And a skinny thing like you, I bet you put away more'n either of your boys."

"I eat a lot," Parker admitted, rolling her eyes. "Once Eliot made this meal and I was so hungry I ate the whole thing while Eliot and Alec were kissing." She leaned closer to add at a whisper, "It's the best way to get Alec away from the computer."

Alec tried to sink a little further into his chair, almost sliding under the desk with the effort to disappear.

"Sounds like not much has changed in that boy." his Nana replied gleefully. "Used to be nothin' would get him out from behind that computer. Used'ta have t' threaten t' unplug the power. Down like a shot, every time. Bet he still can't cook worth anything."

"We're only allowed in Eliot's kitchen when he's away." Parker nodded. "And to make cereal if he doesn't get home in the mornings, or if he leaves before we're up. But normally, if he leaves first he'll lay out cereal so we don't have to go into his kitchen," Parker looked up, thinking about it. "And he won't let Alec keep his soda in there, or his gummy worms. He has his own fridge, next to his computer."

Alec's Nana's eyes seemed to shine with laughter, only just restrained. "Seems like he runs a strict house, your Eliot."

"He's away a lot." Parker sighed. "He works too much. It makes us grouchy, and grouchy sex isn't as much fun," Parker's eyes flicked to Alec for a moment, remembering their earlier conversation and grimacing. "Still, he's a good house-Eliot. Not many people get one of those."

"Now that's true," Nana nodded seriously. "It's rare enough to find someone who loves you, my George always used to say, but to find someone who loves you and can cook, that's the best you'll ever get."

Alec's lips twitched at the mention of his Nana's dearly departed husband. When he was young, the man's stories and sayings had made up most of his Nana's side of conversations. They'd known all of them word-for-word by the time they'd been there a few years, firmly entrenched in their collective consciousnesses.

"Well, Nana," he interrupted before she could start on the stories. "Your computer's clean now so it'll run way faster. No more trawlin' those porn sites, y'hear. Pick up all kinds a nasties."

"You watch your tongue, boy. You know I don't do any of that kinda stuff." Nana scowled for a minute more, before relenting. "Well, thank you for doin' that." She turned to Parker, face serious. "I know you weren't comfortable sitting here with me," she said quietly. "But I've really enjoyed our talk. If you want to you can go now, the room upstairs is all made up, and you can look 'round the others if you'd like."

Parker stared at her for a minute, frowning like she was trying to work something out. Then she got up and skipped out of the room, a distant smile on her face. Hardison watched her go with something like awe.

"She really likes you," he told his Nana, stepping away from the computer and coming to sit in Parker's abandoned seat. "She doesn't normally talk like that to people she doesn't know. She's not..."

"Alec." His Nana interrupted. "Have you ever seen a child *not* like me?" she rolled her eyes at him. "I despair at you, sometimes."

"She's not a…" Hardison started, feeling like he'd just been ambushed.

"She is a child," she interrupted him again. "And a very special one. You take good care not to hurt her, y'hear me? 'Cause you know 's gonna be strange things that cause that girl hurt, not like anyone else."

"Yes, Nana," he shrunk down in his seat under the force of her glare.

"Don't just 'yes-Nana' me. You find out those things and you make a list, you make sure everyone who knows her gets a copy. That includes me, y'hear?" Nana dropped her 'you idiot' face and looked up the stairs at where Parker had gone. "Something tells me that girl hasn't had a lotta Nanas in her life," she added quietly. "I intend to make sure she's had at least one.

"And why d'ya always have ta leave things so late?" she demanded on a tangent. "Three of you been together longer'n is appropriate t' not introduce them to y' Nana."

Hardison grimaced. "Sorry Nana."

"Good." his Nana said, pouring him a glass of lemonade and putting it into his hands without asking. "Now, when's your boy getting here?"

Hardison took a sip of the lemonade to cover for his hesitation and grimaced at the sugar burn, "Nana, Parker mighta made Eliot sound like…" Hardison honestly didn't know what anyone would think, listening to Parker talk about Eliot's kitchen habits and his house-Eliot-ness.

"He's forces of some kind," his Nana saved him. "Maybe not the official kind anymore, knowing you and yours." She rolled her eyes. "It's all right boy, I know how t' read 'tween the lines."

"Between *Parker's* lines!?" Hardison spluttered.

"You worried he's gonna come home late, or hurt?" his Nana asked sharply.

Hardison chuckled. How to answer a question like that when it came to Eliot. "Both. Always. And he don't understand why. Like he don't flip when either of us gets a papercut."

His Nana gave him the kind of all-knowing smile that scared him a little. "You know my George, rest his soul, was forces, right?" she asked.

"Yes Nana." he replied obligingly, expecting another misty-eyed story.

His Nana smiled and nodded to herself. "Bet I bored y'all t' tears with the stories," she said, and Alec wondered if his expression had given him away. Her smiled turned wicked. "Y'know boy, I'll bet you never dreamed you were gonna be the one telling them, boring y'own kids to tears."

"Not yet," Alec replied quietly. "Maybe one day."

"Just make sure it never gets so he can't tell you the stories, your boy," his Nana added, her tone turning sharp. "He comes home and he can't talk about things, you make him stop."

Alec smiled. "I hear that."

- 0 -

Parker was aware that most people didn't let thieves just look around their houses. That was why there were locks and alarms and security systems. She wasn't quite sure what it meant that Hardison's Nana had not only let her walk around in her house, she'd suggested she look around. Like she was just some kind of visitor or something.

Still, there wasn't really anything of much value in the house. She knew that sometimes things were of more value to a person than they would be to resell -- like wedding rings, she'd found one of those on Hardison's Nana's dresser -- that was where the idea of ransoms had come from, people willing to pay more to get something back than it was worth. She wasn't into that kind of stealing, though. She liked to be able to understand what something was worth without silly things like people getting in the way.

She'd found the room where Hardison had put their bags and sat down on the bed. His Nana had called it 'your old room' when they'd arrived, so she guessed this was where Hardison had lived when he was little. The decoration was simple now, so she guessed there wasn't anyone living in this room at the moment. The blue walls had greasy marks from where posters had been hung up, but the blue curtains were still bright and cheerful. The bed was a double mattress laid over two single bed frames pushed together. It made sense, Parker thought, to have a bed that could change like that if you had a lot of children of different ages. That way while they were little they could share the room and when they got older they could have it to themselves.

Parker wondered who Hardison had shared with. Whether they'd gotten along together, whether they’d thought of each other as brothers. Where that person was now. Eliot had pictures of his sister and nephew in the safe under the bed. She'd never seen any pictures of Hardison's family. Not even his Nana.

Part of her knew she was spiralling down towards places she didn't want to be, but there was nothing here that didn't speak of childhood and kids passing through so fast they didn't even change the decorations. Posters up, posters down, schools and teachers and people who wanted to be parents. People who didn't want to be parents. People who just wanted kids around. There were locks on the inside of these doors - bolts, unpickable. None on the outside, can't lock her in. It felt safe, and she was tempted to put the bolt across, but she wanted Hardison in here first.

She shut her eyes and imagined herself in this house, with Hardison and his Nana. It was a good place to imagine herself. She liked it here.

- 0 -

There was a knock on the door and Hardison wondered if he should offer a hand as his Nana struggled up from the couch. He got there too late and she laughed at him as she waved off his hands.

"Go answer the door, you fool. That'll be Sandra now, with Dean."

Hardison scrambled to get to the front door, opening it to find a petite blond woman trailing three sullen looking kids, two blond and pale, and one of whom definitely wasn't her own.

"Oh, hi!" she greeted over-enthusiastically, her local accent making him nostalgic all over again. "You must be one of Nancy's sons."

He was stumped for a second. He honestly hadn't thought his Nana actually had a name. He shook himself and shoved out his hand. "Alec," he replied.

"I'm Sandra, Charlie and Bekka's mom," she replied, with a quick hand shake, pointing out the two blond kids redundantly. "I'm sorry I'm returning Dean in such a mood, they got a bit out of hand this evening and they had a bit of a telling-off." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

Hardison was shouldered out of the way as his Nana came down the hallway behind him. "Dean, get inside. We'll talk about this later," she growled. "Sandra, come in for a drink?"

"Oh, no. I couldn't." she shook her head. "You have guests, and these two are tired, too."

"Well alright, but I expect to see you in my kitchen soon, y'hear?" Nana chuckled.

Sandra turned, headed out the door and then stopped. "Oh, I meant to ask... When do you go in for your surgery, Nancy?"

Hardison wandered away from the door as Dean and his two friends took the initiative and snuck past his Nana, headed upstairs. It was obvious that despite what she'd said, Sandra would end up staying for coffee.

- 0 -

Eliot wrapped a strip of his T-shirt around the bullet graze across his upper arm, feeling like he was getting soft as he winced at the burn of the wound. He was short his bag and everything in it - some kid had bolted with the lot when he'd started fighting, and the rental car had a bullet in the engine block. But the thing that really pissed him off was that he was going to miss the supply drop that they were planning on commandeering. They had enough hands in their motley crew now that the others could do it without him, but it was *his* crew, damnit, and it wasn't so safe that he was happy leaving them alone.

Stealing supplies off the military and delivering them back to the people had been easy at first, but now people were catching on, and everything was better guarded. The fact that the whole country was effectively a trained military body hadn't passed by anyone's attention. Things were getting dangerous all over, with militias rising up against the police and the national military force, everyone looking for their own cut of the food.

He kicked the thug who was reaching for the disarmed gun, leaving him groaning in the dirt with his friends as he wandered over to their Jeep. He was lucky he'd left a passport and a bit of cash in a drop just outside Tel Aviv. It'd be enough to get him back to the States on a different flight, under a different name. Looked like Anthony Willis was going to go missing in Israel; there was no way he was getting that passport back now.

- 0 -

Roped into conversation with his Nana's friend, Alec found himself wishing he didn't plan out aliases quite so well, so at least he would have had to think before answering the quick-fire questions he was getting. The look his Nana was giving him was scathing, aware just how cock-and-bull these stories were, but Sandra seemed absolutely enraptured.

"Well I think you're such a good son, taking in your nephew right now, when your job seems so involved. Do you have someone else at home to help out?" she asked, looking like she was thinking of proposing then and there. Maybe he had over-sold his character a little.

"Oh, yes," he answered blandly. "I'm in a poly-amorous relationship with a mercenary and an arts collector." He watched the woman's jaw drop, amused. He'd always wanted to do that to someone.

She spluttered for a second, and then pointedly closed her mouth. "I bet that's wonderful for you." she smiled politely. "Dean will have lots of people around to make sure he's entertained. He's going to be wonderfully looked after. If you'll excuse me now, Nancy, I have to..." she stood, a little unbalanced. "Charlie! Bekka!" she shouted up the stairs. "We've got to go."

There was the noise of a herd of elephants stampeding down the stairs, and her two kids appeared, looking considerably more ruffled than they had when they arrived.

"Nancy, I'll see you... I'll see you soon, alright?" Sandra said, already half way out of the door and dragging her children with her protectively.

His Nana nodded and waved cheerfully out of the door after them. "See you then!" she called.

Hardison flinched, wondering whether he was about to get a reaming. His Nana turned with the biggest grin. "Oh my boy," she said, "You do have a way. Let's go see if Dean wants to meet his Uncle Alec."

- 0 -

Dean, as it turned out did not want to meet, his Uncle Alec. Not one bit.

"Dean Riley, you open this door please," his Nana demanded from the other side of the bolted door. "That bolt's there for a reason and we spoke about that. It ain't for keeping me out."

"I'm sleepin', Nana. Just go 'way." Dean shouted back from inside.

"You gonna talk to me about this tomorrow?" she said, more a demand than a question.

"Yes Nana." came the grumbled response.

"Well then, you sleep good. I'm gonna need a good explanation when you get outta there," Nana turned her back to the door, narrowing her eyes for a second. "Those two brat kids of Sandra's are no good." she murmured. She looked up at Alec. "You watch out for what kids he hangs around with, hear me? He's little for his age, but kids have a way of knowing when another kid ain't quite right, and it ain't ever good for him."

"Ain't quite..." Alec shook his head, baffled. "Nana, what ain't quite right about Dean?"

"You know what Lana was doing, right? Why they took her?" his Nana shook her head slowly, eyes distant. "That stuff she took ain't good for a baby, gets right into them an' does 'em all sortsa harm. Our Dean, he was lucky. Nothin' to him when he was born, smaller'n my hand, but he ate - some of 'em don't do that and they just fade away."

Alec tried to make sense of that in his head. His little nephew so small, and his sister so broken, so uncaring that she couldn't sort herself out for the sake of her own kid. "But he's alright now, right? He's just small, for his age."

"He just started reading, Alec. He's eight," Nana said blandly, like that was supposed to explain everything.

"And that ain't right?" he asked.

"It's right enough for me." his Nana replied, defensive all of a sudden. "Ain't nothin' wrong with the boy needs fixing, but he ain't where his teachers think he should be. He's at school with kids two years younger'n him. Stuff that his mama took got to him before he was born. Teachers he got now know what they're doin'. His readin's real good, confident. We gotta keep that confidence in him. Kids're gonna try and take it from him."

"Kids're mean no matter what." Alec observed.

"I know it, son. I know it." Nana glanced at the bolted door and turned her back. "You just leave him be for tonight. He's been busy all day, he'll be more tired than's good for a little one. Talk with him tomorrow, see what he's got to say."

"Nana..." Alec followed her as she wandered through the hallway. "What do we do if he doesn't want to go with us? He might hate us."

"We'll talk him 'round," she answered, suddenly cheerful. "He's gon' have an adventure with you, that'll be enough to get him out of that room."

"But..." Alec started.

"Stop y' worrying now," she interrupted. "And go check on your girl. Get a good night's sleep and we'll see if we can't coax him 'round in the morning. You need anything?"

Alec shook his head and let his Nana wander away to her room. He stood in the hall a moment longer, remembering finding Lana in that room her son was sleeping in now, staring defiantly at him as she pretended she hadn't just moved the tiny bag of cocaine into her purse. Pretended she wasn't going to go out and do stupid things with the wrong people.

She was younger than him by two years, but she'd seemed so much older right then. So much older that he'd assumed she'd known what she was getting herself into. Assumed she meant it when she said she'd stop once she got away from school and the horrendous people there and how they were treated, all of them.

It felt like he should have done more, now. Like that was his chance to stop this, and he'd missed it.

Half tempted to go downstairs and spend the rest of the night doing something pointless and brainless on his Nana's computer, he forced himself to go join Parker in his old room. He'd left her alone most of the afternoon, and even if she didn't really care about stuff like that, he felt guilty about it.

She was sitting on the bed when he walked in, eyes a little distant. She moved like she was settling again as he started undressing, like he'd startled her coming in.

"Y'alright?" he asked her, settling on the bed by her side and dropping the discarded clothes on the floor, wishing Eliot was here to tell him off about it. "Y' look jittery."

"I don't think we should be doing this." Parker replied, not meeting his eyes.

Alec narrowed his eyes. Parker had been the one all for this when they'd left Boston. "Why not?" he demanded.

"We're not right. We shouldn't be looking after someone who's right, we'll make him wrong." Parker replied, logic no less squirly than usual.

"There's nothing wrong with us." Alec retorted. "And y'know, it ain't like Dean's had the perfect family growing up. Nana's kinda awesome, but he's only been here two years."

"What if he doesn't like us?" Parker continued, like she hadn't really heard Alec's reply at all. "He might run away."

"Parker..." he tried, seeing that she was working her way up to something and wanting to derail it as soon as possible.

"What if he steals things from us and blows up our house?" she interrupted him. "I like our house, I don't want it blown up." She stood up and stepped away from the bed with Eliot's truck keys, which had been in his coat pocket downstairs, already in her hand. "Can I borrow the truck?" she asked, like he needed to give her permission. Alec wasn't sure whether or not it was sensible to let her out when she was like this, but he knew better than to trap her when she needed the space.

"It's nearly midnight," he said gently, reaching for her arm.

"I'm not going swimming." Parker replied flatly, stepping away from his hand.

He shook his head at the logic. "You gotta sleep some time, girl."

"I'm not tired," she replied, sharply, like Alec had accused her of something nasty. "I'll be back later."

Exhausted by the drive, and Nana and Nana's friends and the memories of his childhood, Alec just let her go. He threw the covers over his head, sank into the smell of his Nana's soap powder and hoped Parker would be more settled tomorrow.

- 0 -

"Hi Dean." Parker chirruped from the doorway as Dean got to the bottom of the stairs, and then she stood there, staring at the poor kid like she was waiting for a response. Dean stared back at her, wide-eyed, and then looked to his Nana. He shuffled around until he was stood at her side and then used her as cover to dart back up the stairs.

"Parker, you can't stare like that. You'll weird him out." Alec said, walking through from the kitchen with a bowl of cereal, tone exasperated.

Nana turned with a sly grin at the boy standing just out of sight at the top of the stairs. "Dean, honey," she called up. "Nana's making cookies this afternoon an' your Uncle Alec says he don't know how. You gonna help me to teach him?"

"Always with the cookies," Alec muttered under his breath to Parker, moving close to bump her shoulder in welcome. A dark head appeared at the top of the stairs. "Doesn't matter how old, or how long the kid's been here, every time..."

"C'n I eat one?" Dean asked in a tiny voice.

"Y' gonna help y' Nana cook?" Nana asked, as if she was thinking of saying no.

"Maybe," Dean replied tentatively.

"Then you can eat one after yer dinner." Nana replied easily.

"C'n I wear the apron?" Dean asked, three steps down the stairs, but still moving like he might bolt at any minute.

"Oh, so you're the chef now are you?" his Nana chuckled.

"Jus' f' cookies." Dean insisted.

"Alright then," Nana conceded, heading into the kitchen. "You better go clear up all those toys in your room, then, and wash up if you're gonna be the chef."

"Cookies." Alec told Parker. "Works every time."

- 0 -

Eliot grimaced as he pulled into Hardison's Nana's town, trying to straighten his torn, dust-dirty clothes. He was lucky that he'd managed to pick up his emergency stash; money, passport and ID. Enough money to get him on a different plane home and into a fresh shirt without blood on the sleeve and the right ID to let him pick up the rental car he'd booked and paid for before he'd left the States. The worst thing was that he was going to have to introduce himself to Hardison's Nana looking like the desert had chewed him up and spat him out. Upside was, at least he wasn't late. A day early even.

He pulled into the driveway behind his truck and fished the sadly wilting flowers off the passenger seat of the rental. Bracing himself, he stepped out of the car and wandered up the steps, jet-lag making him ache all over.

A huge woman opened the door before he could even knock and he stood there uncomfortably for a minute.

"Ma'am, I am so sorry to turn up on your door dressed like this," he said, forcing on the charm. "But the airport gone'n lost my bag. Not for the firs' time either."

"You must be Eliot," the woman smiled, cheerful and warm and not seeming to notice how badly he was dressed. "Come on, now, let me look at ya. Oh, are those for me!?" she exclaimed, spotting the flowers. Eliot handed over the bouquet sheepishly. "Get yourself in here, boy," she said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and practically dragging him into the house, "Yours are in the kitchen, let’s see if we can't find you something ta wear."

Eliot found himself standing in the hall, bereft, as Alec's Nana bustled off into the house. There was young laughter from just down the hall, so he stooped to strip off dusty boots and left them on the door mat as he wandered into the kitchen.

The scene of chaos was pretty much the one he'd imagined might result if he left Parker and Hardison unsupervised in a kitchen. In amongst the flour and food coloring he identified a third face that he assumed to be Dean.

"Eliot!" Parker shouted, and near threw herself at him, stopping inches away like she knew to now, after one too many times grabbing an injured Eliot. "Can I hug?" she asked seriously.

"I'm dirty, honey," he answered easily. "And you're cooking." This with a little bit more surprise.

"Do you punch bad guys?" Dean asked, eyes full of curiosity. "Uncle Alec said you punch bad guys. How do you know which ones are the bad guys? Does it hurt when you punch them? Doesn't your Nana tell you not to punch people, huh? 'Cause my Nana says you gotta solve things with your brain." Dean grinned and tapped the side of his head with a floury finger, leaving a white patch in black hair. Eliot tried to decide if he was waiting for an answer to any of those questions.

"Umm..." Eliot looked to Hardison for help. "The bad guys are generally the ones people are scared of," he offered. "And if you punch right, it doesn't hurt."

"Will you teach me?"

Hardison watched curiously as Eliot visibly paled. "I don't think so." he answered quickly, looking more than a little relieved as his Nana appeared in the doorway dwarfed by a cardboard box.

"Eliot, sugar," she said from somewhere behind it. "Take these off me and find yourself somethin' that fits. These all been in storage a while, but they're clean enough."

Eliot took the huge box from Alec's Nana, startled by the weight of it, and carried it out into the hall to get away from the floury mess. "You didn't have ta do that, ma'am." Eliot said, smiling at the '16+ boys' labelled neatly on the side of the box. He opened it to find neatly folded and obviously well worn shirts and trousers packed inside. "You must've had a lot of kids through these clothes." he smiled, pulling out a faded pair of jeans that looked big enough and a T-shirt that might have had a logo on it once, but now just had a speckled grey patch across the chest.

"They've had their wear, that's sure enough. There's a woman down the road, Christine, fostering. She's taken all the girls’ things now mine have all grown, but I wanted to keep enough to see Dean through while he's with me."

Eliot didn't say anything about her foresight in keeping clothes for a kid she was never supposed to have to care for. He just nodded quietly and went to wash up and change.

- 0 -

"So, Eliot, will you tell us about your family?" Nana asked as they settled around the lounge, full of good food and slightly dubious tasting cookies. Eliot saw Hardison flinch on his behalf and thought about the times Hardison and Parker had asked about his home. And how rudely he'd answered.

"Not much to say I'm afraid," he managed, fairly evenly.

"Well, not much is more'n nothin' at all," Nana coaxed. "I know everything your girl is willing to tell about herself, and that ain't much either."

"'M from Kentucky. My Dad's out there still, an' I got a sister and her kid in Alabama. We don't talk, but she sends pictures sometimes." Eliot figured that was about as much as he'd told Parker or Alec.

"Well then, that's an awful lot more than 'not much'." Nana gave him a serious look. "You told your Daddy about these beautiful people you've fallen in love with?"

"No Ma'am." he answered blandly.

"You give me a reason why?" she pressed.

Eliot surprised himself by opening his mouth, ready to answer, before reining himself back in. There was a power about this woman. "No Ma'am." he answered, clamping down on the waver in his voice.

Nana stared at him seriously for a minute. "Hmmm." she murmured. "Anyway, I best show you where you're gonna be sleepin', 'fore this one falls asleep on me." Nana smiled down at Dean, sprawled out over her and blinking sleep-slow at Hardison in the next seat.

She shuffled to the edge of the sofa with him in her arms, but he leaned away and reached out for Alec as she moved to stand, nearly toppling them both.

"Alec's going to tuck me in." he declared quietly. Hardison looked startled, taking Dean off his Nana by instinct and meeting her smiling eyes.

"That all right with you, Alec?" she asked.

"'Course." he murmured, shifting Dean's weight in his arms and giving Eliot a wide-eyed look before disappearing upstairs.

Nana watched them go for a minute before turning to the other two. "You kids gonna be alright taking care of my grandson?" she asked.

"We're gonna do our best." Eliot replied seriously.

"I don't doubt it." she smiled. "'Tween the three of you I think you probably seen the worst of the world."

"It won't be for long," Parker interrupted her. "You're going to be better than ever soon, and he can come back home."

"No doubt." she nodded. "Now tell me how y'all met."

- 0 -

Eliot and Parker were most of the way through a carefully edited retelling of how Dubenich had hired them all when Alec wandered back in with a distant smile on his face.

"He go down alright?" Nana asked, taking advantage of a pause in the conversation.

"Three stories." Alec chuckled. "Don't think he was much awake for the last one."

"He's got a pile of library books he needs to read while he's with you, ones the school sent with him." She gave them a serious look. "He's got to read them, mind. Not have them read to him."

"We have a library," Parker added absently. "It's got all statues in it that're hard to steal because they're big and in open galleries. Exposed."

Alec and Eliot exchanged a look, both struggling for something to say to take the attention off Parker.

"Well then, maybe you could pick him up some more if he finishes all of his." Nana smiled. "Books, that is."

"Alice White has a library card." Parker added, still distant.

"Did you sleep alright last night, sweetie?" Nana frowned, glancing over at Alec.

"You're not supposed to notice that kind of thing until we've known each other longer," Parker frowned at her, wandering out of the room without waiting for any kind of response. Alec stood and followed her immediately, and Eliot looked to Alec's Nana for permission.

"Go on, boy. Don't stand there lookin' at me like I'm gonna fix it. Looks like she needs you two close right now." She stood carefully, wary of her weary body, and frowned after the three that had headed upstairs.

It felt wrong to be leaving the girl to her two boys, both loving but hopeless in their own way, but they were who she needed right now. Evidence of this life that she had made for herself. Escape from the memories of her past.

- 0 -

Alec was only a couple of steps behind Parker as he followed her into the room, but when he got through the door he couldn't see her at first. Eliot walked in behind him and shut the door, frowning at Alec.

"Where is she?" he asked, voice low so as not to disturb Dean in the next room, looking around the room himself.

"Your guess is as good as mine, man." Alec replied at a murmur, shrugging. "She could be anywhere by now."

"Was she..." Eliot's eyes widened, and Alec followed his gaze up, spotting Parker as Eliot had done, in the gap between the top of the closet and the ceiling. "How the hell..." Eliot started, but cut himself off. "Parker, you alright?" he asked, getting as close as he could.

Her eyes were open, but not focused on anything. She didn't meet either of their gazes as they stood there, just lay curled up in the tiny space.

"Parker?" Alec asked gently. No response.

"Hey girl, eyes on me. You in there?" Eliot pleaded, wishing for a couple of extra inches so he could reach her, try and coax her down.

"Shit, man. It's been..." Alec trailed off, trying to remember when Parker had last pulled away from them like this.

"Years," Eliot replied softly. "She alright last night?"

"She was jittery." Alec said, wishing he'd paid more attention. "She went out in the truck, late, didn't get back until this morning. She might not'a slept."

"D'ya know what's got her all het up?" Eliot asked, scrubbing at his eyes.

Alec knew Eliot was tired, but he couldn't help be a bit exasperated at the question. Wasn't it obvious? "Put money on it being back when she was a kid." he said sharply.

Eliot's eyes widened. "Shit, I didn't even... I still just think of her as your Nana, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know." Alec offered, forgiving.

Parker didn't look at either of them, but she slid out of the space in a way that didn't look feasible for a human form and settled on the bed, back straight and feet folded in front of her. Hardison knelt on the ground, trying to get her to meet his eyes. He sighed as her gaze slid away to the side.

Eliot had moved around to the other side of the bed, standing behind Parker pensively. Alec met his eyes and he shook his head in response. They'd never been able to get her out of one of these funks before, they'd always had to wait them out. However long it took.

"Hey Parker," he said quietly. "Eliot and I are gonna try'n get some sleep on this bed here. You wanna join us, you do that. You don't, no drama. You try'n get some sleep though, a'ight?" Alec looked past her to Eliot, who shrugged tiredly.

"I'll watch her." he offered.

"You need to sleep too, man." Alec objected.

"I will." Eliot lied.

Letting it go, because that really wasn't a priority argument right now, Alec shed his clothes and shuffled under the covers. He hid a smile under the sheet as Eliot huffed and wandered back around the bed to pick up his clothes and fold them, putting them on the chair to one side. He really was their house-Eliot.

- 0 -

Eliot was dozing, tucked tight in against Alec's side and feeling his snoring breaths all the way through his own chest. Parker hadn't moved much in the last couple of hours, still sat on the edge of the bed with her knees tucked into her chest. In his sleep, Alec had moved so his shoulder was pressed up against her lower back, but she hadn't reacted to that either, and he couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or just a sign that she really wasn't aware of what was going on around her.

Eliot wasn't sure how much later it was, but one minute she was sitting there, the next she was slipping off the bed and heading out of the room. Alec had moved again while he'd dozed, his ridiculously long limbs wrapped around Eliot's waist and legs. Eliot spent a couple of minutes disentangling himself and then pulled on a pair of jeans before following Parker out.

She hadn't got far, stood staring at the photos which lined the walls, up the stairs and down the halls.

"I want to be in these pictures." she muttered, to herself or to him, Eliot didn't know.

"We've never really done the picture thing, huh." he replied, yawning.

"I want to be little-girl happy," Parker spoke over him. "And sit in pictures and not blow things up and steal things which belonged to me already." She was raising her voice, working herself into something more. He moved up close, wanting to shush her, to warn her that there were people sleeping, but not sure how.

"We'll take some photos while Dean is with us," he soothed, quietly. "Go to some nice places, print 'em off shiny."

"What if Dean's not smiling?" Parker's eyes slid over him, but it was a response at least. She knew he was there.

"Sometimes you don't want to smile, Parker," he said with a shrug. "His Nana's not well, he's got a right to be sad. We're gonna try, though. Alright? Make him as happy as we can."

Parker turned her back on him again, going back to the photos on the walls. Studying each one intently. "He's here somewhere. He's upstairs too, but here on the wall like he's been waiting for himself to come home."

Eliot took a minute to puzzle out Parker-speak, looking over the photos on the wall. Family portraits, but so many kids huddled around their Nana, a different group in each one. "Shit, yeah." he realised. "There must be at least one of these with Alec in it." He chuckled, joining her search in the half-light coming from the street lights outside. "D'ya think we'd recognise him?" he asked.

He hesitated as he came across an empty hook. He was sure he would have noticed that earlier, right in amongst the others. "Do you have Alec's photo, Parker?" he asked, smiling. Parker just wandered away. Eliot glanced back at the empty space, at the empty frame now filling it, and smiled wider. "I want to see that y'know." he chuckled, following her into the living room.

- 0 -

Alec had woken up to Eliot and Parker both asleep in his bed, which was a prize on any given day, but even more so this morning. He'd spent a minute studying the bandage on Eliot's upper arm, hating that he hadn't noticed it the night before, and equally hating that Eliot hadn't thought to mention it.

It didn't seem serious. No blood visible on the bandage, and only a small strip of skin covered. He would have liked to have known though, even with Parker's little episode.

Leaving the room without waking anyone, he'd come downstairs and found Dean driving a whole freeway worth of trucks around on the floor under his Nana's feet as she dozed into her book.

Alec took a seat on the sofa that promptly tried to eat him and watched Dean stage an epic pile-up. Squirming down to sit on the floor beside him, Alec scooted a couple of tiny Chevys around on the carpet.

"Y'ever been to a big city before, Dean?" he asked, curious.

Dean shook his head absently.

"Parker and Eliot and I, we live in Boston. Yer Nana thought you'd like to come visit with us while you're on holiday from school."

"She told me there'd be lots of computers." Dean said quietly. "And that you might have a robot who did your homework."

"Dean, that's not what I said." Nana said, sitting up and patting her hair back into order as if that would convince them she'd never been asleep.

"Naw... but do ya?" Dean asked, enthusiastic at the thought.

"I got some little robots, sure, but they ain't much good at homework." Alec leaned closer conspiratorially. "D'ya know who does my homework for me?" he asked. Dean shook his head, wide-eyed. "Eliot does. And sometimes Parker too."

"Really?!" Dean hissed, too excited for even a stage-whisper.

"Yup." Alec couldn't help but think back to Nate's long-held belief that his blueprints and on-sight reconnaissance was something Alec just 'found on the internet'. "We use little cameras and teenie tiny walkie talkies and I tell them what I need to know and they go and find it out for me."

"Like spies?" Dean asked breathlessly.

"Man, so much like spies." Alec grinned. He could get used to this kind of hero-worship.

"Spies, huh?" Nana dead-panned, reminding him of her presence sharply. "Don't you go teachin' this boy none of your 'spy' ways. I want him home as law abiding as he left, you hear me?"

"Yes Nana." Hardison replied grudgingly.

"Nana, how will you manage here without me?" Dean asked seriously.

Nana threw her hands in the air with a whoop of laughter. "Oh, my boy you are *too* sweet." she said, gathering him up into a smothering hug. "You'll be alright, won't you. With y' Uncle?"

"Yes, Nana. I'm gonna go to the city with Uncle Alec and Uncle Eliot and Uncle Parker."

"That'd be y' Auntie Parker, sweets."

"Auntie Parker, Auntie Parker!" he sing-songed, wiggling out of his Nana's grip and scrambling out into the hall.

"Leave'm be a little longer, Dean." Alec called after him. "Auntie Parker didn't sleep well last night, she's still tired."

"Oh!" Dean put both hands over his mouth, as if he were holding the sound back.

"Who's tired?" a bright-eyed Parker asked, bouncing down the stairs like she didn't have a care in the world. Eliot ambled down behind her, meeting Alec's gaze as Parker swooped Dean up and spun him around. He offered a little shrug and tried to push wayward hair into a ponytail.

"Well it obviously ain't you." Alec grinned as Parker set Dean back down on the floor. Her smile was still brittle at the edges, but she was meeting their eyes now.

"Well good morning to you, sweetpea." Nana greeted, standing to gather Parker up in a hug. Parker flailed quietly in the embrace until Nana released her and stepped back. "Y'all know where the food is, help yourself."

Parker gave an over-loud laugh that ended abruptly, and then turned to Eliot who was leaning up against the doorframe behind her.

"Pancakes!" she declared.

"Honey, this ain't my..." Hardison watched Eliot give in, and wondered how much sleep the man had actually had in the last four days. "Ma'am, do you mind if I use your kitchen this morning?" he asked, almost apologetically.

"You seen my kitchen, son. I should be asking if *you* mind." she replied.

"Hardison, supply run?" Eliot asked.

"Can do." Alec nodded amiably.

"I'll make y' a list." he smiled. "Hey Dean, y' ever make pancakes?"

- 0 -

Eliot watched as Nana... as Hardison's Nana sat down next to Parker and started telling her a story about her husband flying planes over some battle zone or other. Parker interjected with comments and questions and brutal honesty which didn't seem to faze the older woman in the slightest. He wondered absently what kids the woman had met in her life that Parker didn't even seem to register as off.

Parker was relaxing into the seat, not perched tentatively on the edge any more, intensely engaged in the story Nana was sharing. After last night Eliot had expected days of getting her back to normal, hadn't expected it to happen at all while they were still in Hardison's childhood foster home. But now the girl was sat there like she hadn't got a care in the world.

Eliot shook his head and headed back upstairs to get a shower. For now, at least, Parker was being well looked after.

- 0 -

Hardison looked over the pathetic offerings of the local shop. There was nothing even resembling vegetables or fruit on the shelves, too expensive now to be stocked by any but the biggest chains and the green grocers with really good connections. Grain was one of the few things still growing in patches across the country, but flour was still getting more expensive as stocks fell and eggs were a problem as farmers tried to keep their hens well fed.

Still, they had money between them, enough to get them through even this. They were much better off than most. He pulled together the ingredients for Eliot's pancakes and the other things on his list which looked like the makings for the night's dinner.

"Hey Dean?" he asked, realising the kid wasn't behind him and suddenly worried he'd lost him before he'd even left his Nana's town.

"You know," a young voice said from an isle over. "I kinda like this whole a'cultral thing. No vegetables."

Alec peered over the shelves, spotting Dean staring at the empty vegetable racking. He wandered around, trying look cool, as if he hadn't just lost his nephew in a tiny local store. The old lady Dean was talking to gave him an evil eye as he put his hand on Dean's shoulder to drag him away.

"Yeah, problem is, we don't got any blueberries or bananas for our pancakes either." he pointed out, heading for the checkouts.

"I don't like bananas." Dean said, pulling a face.

"Well then, sounds like it's just about perfect for you." Alec laughed. "Come on, lets get these back to Eliot so we can sit back and watch him do all the work."

- 0 -

Eliot shoved his wet hair back into a tail as he heard Alec and Dean come back in through the door, pulling out pans and bowls ready for the pancakes.

Alec looked around the kitchen door and froze in the motion of handing over the groceries.

"Man, are you wearing...?" he started, grin blooming and then totally taking over his face.

Eliot looked down at the old long-sleeved t-shirt he'd pulled out of Nana's box, checking it wasn't pink or something. It wasn't, it was red with a black collar and some kind of tribal-looking logo on the breast. It had to mean something, though, because Alec was now laughing hard enough that he could barely stand, Parker having taken the paper bag off him before he could throw it all over the floor.

Parker handed it off to Eliot, who thumped it down on the side, careless of the food inside.

"Explain." he demanded when Alec paused to draw breath.

"It's a Star Fleet uniform shirt, man." Alec gasped. "Oh God." and he collapsed again.

"Star Trek." Parker added in explanation.

"Oh come on." he moaned, pulling at the material as if he was going to have an allergic reaction to its geekiness. "I just pulled it out of the box."

"Dude." Alec said, moving up close, voice dropping low. "It's like a dream I had once. Ask Nana if you can keep it."

"Look, I'm gonna go get changed." he growled. "Heat the pan up, I'll get your pancakes in a minute."

- 0 -

Hardison watched Parker talking with his Nana and Dean, eating her way through a truly impressive pile of pancakes Eliot had laid out for them, Dean's eyes round in awe as he watched her take another. Now she was back in the daylight she seemed to have settled right down. She just looked tired now, her and Eliot both.

He looked over his shoulder to try and spot Eliot finding his zen in the kitchen. The sound of new pancakes had stopped, finally, but Eliot hadn't emerged. He might have been putting things together for dinner - he had educated Alec in dinners which took twelve hours to prepare, but he still wasn't sure he understood the appeal - or he might have just been hiding.

When he turned back around his Nana caught his eye and glanced past him towards the kitchen. He got the hint.

"I'mma find Eliot." he said, and left Parker to talk with Dean and his Nana about everything and not much.

Hardison stepped up beside Eliot, leaning back against the counter with him, shoulder to shoulder. Eliot kept his eyes shut and leaned into that support.

"Long couple of days, huh." Hardison muttered.

"I didn't expect her to be so turned around by this. Shoulda guessed I suppose. Hadn't even thought about it."

"You get much sleep while you were out of town?" Hardison asked, frowning when Eliot shook his head. Not much for Eliot was none.

"Been too long sharing my bed." Eliot said tiredly, pulling the tie out of his hair and shaking his head to get the kinks out. "'S hard sleepin' without you rattling the windows and Parker kicking me in the shins."

"Dude, I do not snore. Y' makin' it up." Hardison joked back automatically. "You should try and sleep a while before we leave. Long journeys with kids... they can be long."

"You watch Parker for a while?" Eliot asked, eyes gone distant like he was already most of the way to sleep already.

"'Course, man." Hardison shoved him with his shoulder. "But I think Nana's got it pretty much covered. You want me to wake you in two hours?"

Eliot shook his head sharply. "I ain't gonna make it to two hours after last night. Wake me in ninety."

He'd known this was going to happen. He could spend months getting Eliot sleeping longer than an hour and a half at a time, but as soon as something happened or something changed all his hard work was undone. He didn't half pick 'em. "Come on, man. You been doin' real good." he insisted. "Don't break your rhythm."

"Two hours when we get back home, Hardison. Promise. But I ain't pushing this after last night, and not in your Nana's home."

Alec imagined himself trying to explain to Dean why 'Uncle Eliot' was screaming fit to wake the dead. "Fine." he gave in. "I'll come wake you in ninety."

- 0 -

"We're all one-bag travellers. We're not really used t' travellin' with kids." Eliot said as another bag was loaded into the bed of the truck.

Hardison's Nana stood on the front step, overseeing the action. "Well then," she grinned. "This is your chance to learn. Who knows, maybe one day you'll find yourself in the position where y' gotta know these things." Nana eyed each one of them with a wicked grin. Alec and Eliot blanched simultaneously and Parker just nodded wisely, like this was one of the rules of the world she lived by. "Dean's pretty well travelled for someone so small," Nana continued. "But that don't mean he don't got needs."

"Anything we need to know?" Eliot asked, picking up a brightly coloured rucksack that rattled like something broken inside. "Medical, dietary..."

"Damn, why didn't I think to ask that?" Hardison asked, passing him in the doorway. "Suck-up."

His Nana cuffed his head, scowling. "Nothin' serious." she answered Eliot. "Jus' make sure he brushes his teeth before bed and all else... well I think y' got enough experience with your girl t' know the basics."

"No sugar, no caffeine, no colourings?" Eliot offered with a grin, glancing over to see that Parker had climbed into the back of the truck with Dean.

"Kids will be kids, big or small." she nodded, sharing the grin.

"Well, we can manage that, least on the days I ain't working." Eliot said, punching Hardison's shoulder as he passed him.

Nana's eyes hardened. "You gonna be working much, Eliot?" she asked.

Eliot's smile faltered. "I might not have a choice." he answered carefully.

"Hmm... not the best answer there, boy." she said.

Eliot shrugged, unable to meet her eyes. "Sorry, ma'am, best I can do. My work ain't something I can do from home, and I don't have leave or holiday."

"Hang on," Hardison said as he came back from another run to the car. "Does he need to be enrolled in school? 'Cause I don't even..."

"It's summer, moron." Eliot said. "School's out."

"Oh." Hardison grinned, visibly relieved.

Parker appeared beside him, out of the truck again. Hardison hoped to God she slowed down when they were finally on the road, because as hyper as she was now, Eliot was going to end up violent before the first day was out. "Are you gonna be alright?" she asked his Nana. "'Cause you're gonna be on your own. In the hospital. Nate doesn't like hospitals, it's his secret superhero weakness."

"'S'at so?" Nana grinned, "Well, you promise me you'll phone 'n tell me how y'all are and I'll be just fine. I got friends who'll visit and keep me sane. Knowing Dean's safe, that's all I need."

Eliot pulled the tarp over the last of the bags to go into the truck. "You ready to go ma'am?" he asked, throwing the truck keys back over to Hardison.

The plan was that he would drive the rental back to the airport while Alec and Parker took Nana to the hospital and got her settled there, then Alec would pick him up on the way back East and they'd get as far as they could before stopping for the night.

It had been an unspoken decision that Parker wouldn't be driving today, and that took their distance down some. If they'd have needed to, he and Hardison could have tag teamed it all the way home, but they were all tired, and kids weren't good at sitting still for twenty four hours.

Nana picked up the bag at her side and let Hardison help her into the high cab of the truck. Dean was mostly asleep against the window and observing the last of the packing effort carefully. Giving them a wave, Eliot headed back to the rental and started for the airport.

- 0 -

Alec was having a crisis.

His Nana was settled in her comfy chair next to her hospital bed, her clothes put away in the drawers and the stack of magazines she'd packed out on the side. Dean had presented her with the picture he'd drawn in the truck, and Parker had scoped out the security and told Alec seriously that she thought it was lacking.

He'd escaped to the men's room to avoid having his Nana notice quite how fraught he was getting.

"You look like you're planning on climbing out a window."

He jumped sky-high at Parker's declaration. "This is the men's room, Parker!" he squeaked. "You can't come in here."

"You looked like you were planning on climbing out a window. You have the car-keys," she pointed out blandly. "I wanted to know if I should call Eliot." She said it like it wasn't that unexpected. Like she'd expected to have to call Eliot to come and get her and Dean from the hospital after he'd bolted.

"I'm not going out the window, Parker," he answered with a sigh, and then flushed as another guy walked into the bathrooms and eyed Parker warily. "I wouldn't fit." he added, giving the guy an apologetic look.

"You would," she corrected, but looked ready to drop it when she added. "What's wrong with you?"

Alec didn't take offence, he knew what Parker meant. "We're leaving her alone here. We're taking her boy away. It takes like... two days to get here. If something happens..."

"Like what?" Parker asked blandly.

"Like...? Parker..." Hardison felt like he was falling down a hole. A deep black hole.

"Don't pass out, stupid." Parker said from somewhere over his head, and Hardison realised that somehow he'd ended up with his head between his knees.

"What do I do if she dies, Parker?" he whimpered.

"We'll steal a private jet. Eight hours, tops." Parker answered. And somehow, that really did make sense.

- 0 -

Eliot pulled the truck into a motel about ten that night, Dean and Parker were both sleeping in the back and Alec was most of the way there in the passenger seat.

"Hey," Eliot nudged him, keeping his voice low as he said. "I'm gonna get us a room, alright? Grab what y'all need from the back."

"No, wait." Hardison grabbed his arm, groggy. "How we gonna do this, man?" he asked.

"Do what?" Eliot replied.

Hardison scowled, too tired for proper words. "How many beds we gonna get?" he managed eventually.

"Two, Hardison," Eliot said firmly. "If they don't like that, they can talk to me about it."

"I just don't think..." he started.

"It's just a motel room, man." Eliot snapped. "What's the problem?"

"I just don't think we should... I mean, it's setting the wrong example." he said eventually.

Eliot frowned at him a minute, as if trying to work him out. "Sharing a bed? We all sleep together, Hardison, 'less you're planning on using your own bed while Dean's around, he'd gonna work that out pretty damn fast." Eliot glanced into the back, checking Dean and Parker were still asleep.

"Shit, man. Do you think we should?" Alec asked.

Eliot shot him a sharp look. "What?"

Hardison flailed for a minute. "All sleep in separate rooms?" he insisted.

"No!" Eliot retorted sharply. "For a start there ain't enough rooms."

"What?" he asked.

"There's two spare rooms - the two of yours," Eliot glanced back as Parker sat up and draped herself over the centre of the truck to poke absently at Hardison's shoulder. "Y'all sleep in *my room*."

"But mine's full of computer parts," Hardison pointed out.

"And mine's full of equipment," Parker added.

"And one of you 's got to make enough room f' Dean." Eliot pointed out.

"I don't know, man..." Hardison complained.

"Having a kid around means giving up your space, Hardison." Eliot growled sharply. "You signed up for this."

Eliot got out of the truck, not-quite-slamming the door behind him. Parker slid out of her seat and followed him, leaving Alec with a blearily blinking Dean. He pulled his rattled thoughts back together and slapped on a grin.

"Hey, man," he greeted. "We're stopping for the night. Figured you'd rather sleep in a bed."

"Can I sleep in Eliot's room?" Dean asked groggily. "With you?"

Hardison flinched. "You were listening to that, huh."

"Or... well, I like computers." he offered. "I don't mind sleeping with computers. So long as they aren't evil computers like in Teminator." He made a face and Hardison laughed.

"We'll find ya someplace, don't worry." Hardison reached out and ruffled Dean's hair with a grin. "Right now, let's just get in there and get some sleep."

- - -

Part 1B