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Having finished their most recent job earlier that day, the team mills about the New Orleans headquarters aimlessly. In the kitchen, Parker watches Eliot chop vegetables stiffly until he puts down his knife and grimaces. Parker frowns, and for the umpteenth time that day, she watches Eliot rub his tender shoulder.
Annoyed with the hitter’s stubborn insistence to suffer in silence, Parker stalks around the kitchen island and pokes him hard in the back.
“Lie down,” she orders.
Eliot stiffens under Parker’s touch. “I’m busy, Parker.”
The blond thief doesn’t back down. She begins ushering her uncooperative hitter into the next room, poking him repeatedly in his sore shoulder and ignoring Eliot's colourful, but halfhearted, protestations.
“Parker, I don’t have time for this." He grumbles, "The vegetables –“
“The vegetables can wait. Shut up and lie down.”
Their bickering garners the attention of Harry and Sophie, who were chatting at the bar, and Breanna, who had been tapping away at her laptop. The three outsiders stare with morbid fascination as Eliot grumpily submits to Parker’s whims.
“Parker? What are you doing?” Sophie asks as Parker carefully manipulates Eliot’s body until he’s lying, face down, on the briefing table.
“Shh.” Parker spins around to glare at the interruption, “I’m fixing Eliot.”
“I don’t need to be -” Eliot’s sentence ends on a low groan of pain as Parker shoves her finger harshly into his sore shoulder.
“Stop being a baby and let me fix it.” Parker rolls her eyes as she rolls up her sleeves. Her face is alight with the same determination that it dons when she begins cracking a new safe.
Breanna cocks her head at Eliot’s prone form, “What happened to Eliot’s shoulder?”
Hands positioned carefully above Eliot’s right shoulder blade with anticipation, Parker pauses, “What hasn’t happened to Eliot’s shoulder?” she scoffs.
Her strong, calloused fingers begin systematically palpitating Eliot’s shoulder in search of knots.
“It’s been shot, dislocated, bruised, and stabbed.” Parker ignores the hiss of pain Eliot emits under her careful manipulation, “More than once, which is why I have to fix it.”
The rest of the team watch in silence as Parker continues to rub at the aches in Eliot’s abused shoulder. Eventually, Parker gently pats Eliot’s head with a smile.
“Deep breath, Eliot. Relax your shoulders for me.”
She positions her hands on his spine, waiting until he's nice and relaxed before pushing gently as he exhales deeply. A series of satisfying cracks resound through the room and Eliot melts into the table.
Parker claps her hands and beams, “See? Don’t you feel better now?”
Eliot tiredly mumbles the affirmative from his face down position on the table. The team looks on in shock.
“Parker?! Did you just break his back!?” Sophie exclaims.
Giggling, Parker responds, “No. I just massaged his shoulder. Then I readjusted his upper spine. It’s okay. We helped a chiropractor a few years ago. She showed me how to do it.”
Eliot begins pushing himself up from the table only to have Parker firmly push him back down.
“Just relax, Eliot. I’ll get you a heating pad.” Parker rolls her eyes, walking toward the nearest heating pad and mumbling about stubborn punchy men under her breath.
“N-no,” Eliot mumbles tiredly, "I gotta go finish dinner."
The hitter makes another fruitless attempt to sit up. This time, Sophie gently pushes him down, “Eliot, take the night off. We’ll order take out.”
“I’m fine. I can cook.” Eliot protests through half-lidded eyes.
“We know you can, but I’m not letting you.” Parker grumbles as she returns with a heating pad that she lovingly places on Eliot’s shoulder.
“Parker –“ Eliot whines.
Parker silences Eliot with a piercing look, “You’re lucky I didn’t force you to take the pain killers. Don’t make me call Hardison.”
Much like a belligerent child, Eliot wilts at the threat.
Having uncomfortably watched the entire situation unfold, Mr.Wilson speaks up, “Umm. I don’t mean to speak out of place here, but shouldn’t Eliot rest on something more comfortable than a table?”
Parker turns to smirk at Harry, “You want to help me take him upstairs? He’s half-asleep already. It makes him very uncooperative.”
“Oh. Um. Uh. I-“ Harry sputters.
“C’mon Harry, let’s put Eliot in bed.” Parker claps, elated that someone offered to help her finish her ritual in Hardison’s absence.
With a shrug to Sophie and Breanna, Harry carefully makes his way over to Eliot and begins hoisting the grouchy hitter off the table with Parker. Somehow, it’s one of the more normal evenings Harry’s spent with the Leverage team.