comment_fic | Wednesday | Forgive and Forget

Wednesday | Forgive and Forget

Now that we’ve had our share of pet peeves it’s time to Forgive and Forget

Is your character holding a grudge? Now the time to have them let it go. Give forgiveness or let them receive it. Or give them Amnesia whatever floats your boat.

But remember:

No more than 5 prompts in a row, and no more than 3 prompts per fandom. If one of your prompts is answered, you can prompt again.

No spoilers in your prompts for at least one week after publication/air date. If there are spoilers in your story, you must warn in bold and leave at least 3 spaces.

And use the correct formatting. Examples:

Being Human, Goerge/Mitchell, After a full moon George feels guilty and Mitchell helps him forgive himself

Marvel, Deadpool/author's choice, It's all in the past....right?

Being Human/Torchwood, Jack/Mitchell, “Did you forget me so soon?”

[theme tag = "ForgiveForget"]

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This ended up with lots of Nate in it, but the only pairing is P/E

It had started a few months after Eliot left the team. Nate had starting drinking again when his wife got remarried, and had started to just take on whatever 'bad guys' were featured in the newspaper that day, no matter how dangerous they were. Sophie got sick the change and left. Again. Which only made Nate worse. And he wouldn't listen to reason or objections to any of his plans, and three separate times, Nate had almost gotten shot while Eliot was way too far away to protect him.

So Eliot had left. After telling Hardison and Parker that it would be safer to stop helping Nate destroy himself. But he knew it would take something worse to pry those two away from him.

So when a few months passed and Eliot heard knocking at his door, he was surprised to find Parker when he opened it.

She stood there, looking small. Like she was afraid he would slam the door in her face.

So Eliot did his best to smile and say, "Thanks for knocking, darlin'. I know it's not your preferred way of entering a building."

She smiled then, as Eliot let her into his apartment. He had been cooking dinner, and she happily leapt up onto the counter to watch and ask questions as he continued to prepare dinner, now for two. They made small talk, or as close as Parker ever came to making small talk, and they ate. It was oddly pleasant, Eliot knowing that it was hard for to come here and making a special effort not to push her away, and Parker making a special effort not to breezily make the kind of comments that made Eliot the trained hitter scared to be in a room with her.

It wasn't until after dinner that Parker told him. Nate had made her leave. Even Hardison had had enough and had left, angrily. And Parker had tried to make him stay, even blackmailing him, but that just made Hardison more angry.

So Parker had stayed with Nate all by herself. She kept asking him to plan some more jobs, but Nate was just getting worse. When she finally decided to just steal all his liquor every time he brought some home, he had kicked her out. And said some things to her that even Parker didn't ever deserve to hear.

Eliot hated hearing it. Nate had become his friend and team leader, but to Parker, he was more like a parent or mentor. And he was probably the only stable person she had ever had, the only one who accepted her but also believed that she could be better.

Eliot could see Parker's guilt as she told him everything, her worry that somehow she was ratting out Nate. But at the end of her explanation she said, "So that's why I'm here."

And there it was. Eliot didn't have to ask to understand. Parker came to Eliot because she had no place else to go.

And though he knew he was going to regret it, though he was already thinking of all the horrifying results that might occur, he said, "Stay here as long as you like, Parker."

continued below

And as much as it astounded Eliot to discover, Parker was actually a pretty good roommate. He had to again get accustomed to the way she would just stare at him all the time, as if there were nothing wrong with that. And how she would looked confused if anyone in public treated her like she was a normal person. But Eliot had also noticed some changes.

She was more hesitant now. Less willing to open up unless asked. This was better for being in public, but it was painful to think what those months alone with Nate, unable to help him, were like for her.

But she was also different in other ways. Like at the end of every week, she would give Eliot a present. A large box wrapped in blue polka-dotted wrapping paper. Full of all the things she had stolen from him that week. He tried to look consternated the first time he opened her gift but he had to admit he thought it was kind of sweet.

And the way she would look online for people who needed help. Mostly people for whom a thief and a hitter alone could do some good, which limited their clientele - not to mention that neither of them were all they great at not yelling at and/or insulting their clients - but it was nice for Eliot to remember what it was like to help the little guy. Not because you're sent there, not because they have some political importance, just because they need it.

He even got used to her sitting as close to him as possible, as she claimed that his apartment was 'too Eliot' for her to sit alone in. And as she would lean her head on his arm and yawn, as she would fall asleep on his couch and wake up just enough to ask him to carry her to the guest bedroom, he sometimes wondered if maybe he had misjudged her.

Maybe she was just six pounds of crazy in a five-pound bag.

And though he was feeling increasingly protective of her emotionally, the more jobs they did, the more he recognized that professionally, he could focus on protecting the clients and rarely needed to physically protect her. Because she was a good thief. And she, for whatever reason, had become a regular old insanely bold risk-taker rather than the thief with the gleeful death wish.

continued below

And Eliot welcomed the change. But when he tried to mention casually that he admired the woman she had become, Parker had misinterpreted.

She had lunged at him and kissed him, lips warm and wet, her hands grasping at his hair and face.

Though, if Eliot were really honest with himself, it wasn't a misinterpretation at all. But he wasn't about to take advantage of her feelings of abandonment and betrayal and loneliness. And he told her so. He told her that though he thought she was beautiful and fun and full of surprises and a great thief and a truly good, decent human being, he didn't think of her that way.

And she responded, "Eliot. You know Sophie taught me how to spot a lie, right?"

Eliot grimaced then but found the strength to walk away.

But the next job they did, Parker picked a risky one. And Eliot didn't want to start a fight by saying no. And it all worked out fine in the end, and the clients got to keep their home, but not before Eliot and Parker had to run from a half dozen security guys who, based on their very distinctive style of running, were all former special ops.

And when they were finally in the clear, bodies pressed tightly together in the narrow passageway they were hiding in, hearts pounding and lungs gasping as their torsos bumped into each other's, sweat dripping and adrenaline coursing and fear and relief and excitement pushing its way through their bodies, she looked up at him. And, against his will, his body utterly betraying him, Eliot licked his lips.

And that was all the permission Parker needed. She came at his mouth, harder than she needed to, and her hands gripped his hips, stronger than he thought they would be. She pressed him even harder against the wall at his back, and he let her, savoring the hotness and need as her tongue pressed between his lips. And his brain, the thing that knew that this was such a very bad idea, almost got a word in edgewise. But she stopped, and said to him in an out-of-breath rasp, "If you say no to me, Eliot, I'll leave. I swear it, I'll leave."

Eliot didn't say no to Parker after that. Not to anything.

Not when they got home and she pushed Eliot on to his bed. Not when she did the same thing in the morning but on the hard kitchen table.

The closest he came to saying no was when he came home to find her talking to Sophie on the phone. And when she hung up, she got her serious face on, the one she never used to have. And she said, "Eliot, when I came here, it wasn't originally because I thought we would get together."

"Safe to say it was a surprise both ways, Parker."

"I came here because I needed to regroup. To plan."

"Plan what?"

"How we're getting the team back together."

"Parker -"

"Listen. I know you're mad at Nate. We all feel... betrayed. But he gave us a chance when most people wouldn't. Especially me. And it's not just Nate that's apart, it's the whole team that needs to find each other. And I think that's what we should do."

"I'm sorry Parker, but I just don't think that's the reality of the situation."

"Reality can go bite itself in the ass!"

"While that is an excellent point, are you sure you want us to go through this again? It's probably going to just be the same crap, another cycle. All that hurt you felt, that long process of our team - our family - falling apart? You want that again?"

"Yes. If that's what it takes. Sophie has agreed to give it another chance if you will. And Hardison I think we can get back if the rest of us were there. So all we need is to re-recruit Nate. We owe him that much. And even if we didn't owe him, I'd want him anyway."

Eliot sighed, troubled. But some part of him couldn't help feel a swell of pride, of admiration. And he asked, "How can you just forgive and forget, Parker? You got the worst of it at the end."

She smiled. "I don't take many things personally. It's not like Nate cheated us out of our money or anything."

He smiled at her. "Fair enough, Parker. But if this doesn't work out the way you want it..."

"Then we'll be sad. But we'll still have each other. So are you coming to Boston or not?"

Eliot smiled. And he answered, "You know how bad I am at saying no."

I love your futurefic in this fandom. It's always a little dark, a lot of awesome. I had to distract myself when I kept pushing refresh waiting for the next bit and yay! it was worth it. Great fic!

Thanks so much :)

Yeah, don't know why I'm always with the dark.... I must have problems ;)

this was lovely and fun and then lovely some more.

Thanks!

Oh, that was wonderful. No all softness and light, but I appreciate the good, real emotions - and there were positive ones between Eliot and Parker. I've never really wondered if they could work as part of a long-term relationship, but given what you wrote, maybe they've got a real chance at it.

Thank you so much for anwering my prompt!

Thanks - so happy you liked it.

Yeah, I agree, it's hard to think of them long term sometimes, but hey - anything's possible. My personal fanon is that anyone on the team could be with anyone else if they just changed a little. (tin hat is on) :)

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Wednesday | Forgive and Forget

angsty futurefic - warnings for non-happy stuff

futurefic -Part 2

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Re: angsty futurefic - warnings for non-happy stuff

Re: angsty futurefic - warnings for non-happy stuff

Re: angsty futurefic - warnings for non-happy stuff

Re: angsty futurefic - warnings for non-happy stuff

Re: angsty futurefic - warnings for non-happy stuff

Re: angsty futurefic - warnings for non-happy stuff