Rebuilding
It's been seven years since Eliot's come home, seven years since Adam gave him a push and Tony and Faith welcomed him back. Eliot will never be able to express his gratitude to Adam for giving them back to him.
The others are a little more complicated. He’s part of the family, that’s undeniable, but it’s still not the same as it used to be. None of them let people in easily, and they each have their own reasons for that, so Eliot can't exactly blame them, but it doesn't make things easy. He’s lost something with the rest of them; comfort and dependability, faith, trust maybe. It’s intangible and he’s not sure what to do about it.
So bumping into Parker on a job that's supposed to be quick, easy and profitable – and he knew better by now, he really did – was never the plan. He knows she's had lessons on flexibility and gymnastics from Faith and the twins, and whatever extracurriculars she could get Adam to indulge her in, but it's still a surprise to see her in action. There's part of him that doesn't believe she isn't enhanced like their siblings even though he knows better.
He doesn't get a chance to really catch up with her until after they've been blown up, escaped custody, recruited Sophie and holed up at Hardison's apartment.
“Hey,” he says, brushing aside the sting of Nate's 'you and I are not friends'. She stares at him, unspeaking and unblinking, but he knows that's just her way. “I didn't know you were in town.”
“Was I supposed to tell you?” she asks, genuinely confused and it takes him a moment, like it always does, to remember how to talk with her.
“No,” he says and her expression clears. He tries to think of something to say, but comes up blank.
“Good. Because you didn't tell us where you were for ages,” she tells him, looking caught between hurt and accusing. She's not like normal people, none of them are, but she's a lot better at recognising what she's feeling than she used to be.
She doesn't know about Moreau, though, none of them do except Adam, and maybe that's why it's been so difficult trying to rebuild the bridges he'd burned. They don't know why he left and he can't bring himself to explain, to lose even more of their trust and respect.
“I know,” he says softly. “I'm sorry.”
She's back to staring at him again and he wonders if he should just cut his losses.
“Things made sense,” she says suddenly. “It all fitted together and it was safe and it all made sense. And then it didn't because there was a piece missing and nothing fitted right and we all had learn how to make sense again.”
“I'm sorry,” he says again, knowing it's useless.
“It's better now,” she tells him, eyes wide and earnest. “Adam doesn't have to frown when he watches the news and Tony doesn't have to try to stand on his own any more and Faith doesn't have to spend all her time worrying about what the rest of us are up to.”
“Good,” he says and she smiles faintly at him. “Good.”
“And we've got Oz now, too.”
He grins back, knowing that no one could have predicted how well Parker and Oz get on together.
“To payback,” he says, tapping his beer bottle against her glass.
“And money.”