Archive of Our Own ^beta

The paper laid like a tabula rasa on the counter top, no content and waiting to obtain knowledge from outside experience. Rather, waiting to be written on by a sparkly pen with a pink pom-pom on top, Parker mused. She liked that pen. She saw it in a gift shop of a museum she was scoping out and just had to have it. Swivelling from side to side on the bar stool, she debated putting pen to paper. Sophie had told her that friends outside of Leverage were a good thing, and just like Alice had Peggy, Parker herself deserved to have a friend. Of course, Sophie had meant for Parker to pick up a hobby or join a club, but Parker didn’t see the use in that when she already had a friend. Just one that she hadn’t spoken to in a long, long time.

So here she found herself, debating whether to write to her friend, to invite him to Portland. On one hand, she really wanted to listen to Sophie and become more normal, but on the other hand, normal was boring (she would know, she had tried that). But it’s not like her friend was normal, she reminded herself, reminiscing on the time they had thought it a good idea to quadruple the yeast in the loaf of bread they were making. Thankfully, it was an industrial sized oven, so not too much mess was made, and in the end they had enough bread to feed the whole pond’s worth of ducks. Making up her mind, she took the cap off the (very cool) pen, and set herself to writing a letter.

-

“Hey Jules, I’m going away for the week tomorrow to visit an old friend.”

Juliet walked out of the laundry room, midway through folding a sheet, to find Shawn sat on their sofa, a piece of paper in hand and an open envelope strewn on the coffee table.

“Oh, that’s a bit last minute, what if we get a case?”

She was slightly put off by the certainty with which Shawn declared he was going away. She knew he was spontaneous, and that he had friends all over the world, but he was a taken man now, and she thought she should at least be considered before darting to goodness-knows-where the very next day. What if they had plans?

“You can handle it, you’re one of the smartest, most intuitive people I know and if anyone can solve a case without me, it’s you babe. And I know it’s last minute but by the sound of it, her job takes her places with a moment’s notice so she requested that I visit as soon as I could.”

Her? She? Juliet wasn’t the jealous type, and she knew Shawn was loyal to a fault, but his persistent avoidance of the mystery woman’s name concerned her. Shawn had friends on both sides of the law, and she didn’t want him to get mixed up in something he shouldn’t be.

“Tell me more about her, how’d you two meet?”

“I was working at a bakery in Italy one October; her and her dad were taking a vacation, though he called it a business trip. She tried to steal a pastry but I caught her. I would have let her have it anyway, I was about done with that job, but the look in her eyes was familiar. When she begged me to not tell her dad, I recognised it in myself, every time I knew I failed my dad, didn’t live up to his expectations. So I promised I wouldn’t and gave her some free ice cream to go with the pastry.”

“And then what happened?”

“She came back the next day, tried to steal something else, and the day after that, too. She accused me of cheating, said nobody else could catch her so I explained my, you know, my thing, and she was the first person to accept it without testing it or calling me a freak. So we hung out for a few weeks. By the time she had to leave, something about time being up and they had to leave asap, she asked me why I never told her dad.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I told her because we’re friends. She looked confused and asked me how I knew. I said I just do, we shook hands, and I never saw her again.”

Juliet was silent after that, though her mind was swimming with thoughts. Why did the friend have to leave so soon? Why wouldn’t Shawn tell her the woman’s name? Why was the girl stealing food? Why hadn’t Shawn told her he lived in Italy? But the most pressing one was the one she voiced later that evening as Shawn was packing a travel bag.

“How did she know your current address to write you if you haven’t spoken in years?”

“Oh, she mentioned that in her letter. She has a friend in the technology business that owed her a favour so she asked him.”

Satisfied, Juliet made peace with the fact that tomorrow, she would have the house to herself. She could even do a spa day.

-

Shawn set off before dawn, it was a long ride and was going to take the majority of a day, without stopping. He didn’t mind the journey, the weather conditions were optimal and it gave him time to think. About his past, his current situation, Jules, his future, marriage, children, jobs, anything to pass the time. Somewhere close to the state border he started to wonder about that job offer at the BAU but shook it off pretty quickly; he’d worked something similar before and whilst he was generally a happy man, that role sucked the life out of him. No, he’d stick to lower level crimes, even the occasional murders were more pleasant than the horrors he had witnessed working psychopath after psychopath. He rubbed a bullet wound scar on his thigh absently whilst regarding his many vocations that included terrible things. Never again.

He didn’t want to stop, but his stomach and his bladder got in the way a few times, and was forced to pull over for quick pitstops before continuing his journey. By nightfall, he was only a few hours out, and more than ready for the comfort of a hotel bed. When he finally reached Portland, he gave Jules a quick call to let her know he made it safely and ask her about her day. He paid cash at the nearest hotel and hopped into a steamy shower that his aching muscles rejoiced at. Shawn put his phone on charge, set his alarm, and settled down for a good night’s rest before meeting his estranged friend for the first time in over a decade.

All too soon it was morning, and he quickly got washed and dressed before heading downstairs to ask the receptionist for directions to the diner his friend had told him to go to. He ended up being half an hour early, but as she had told him all those years ago, early is on time and on time is late. He picked the booth with visibility for both the door and to the kitchen, remembering she liked to be as observant as he, and it wasn’t long before a head of blonde slid opposite him.

“Parker!”

“Shawn.”

“How are you? I’ve missed you!”

“I don’t work with him any more. I have other people now. Friends.”

“Good! That’s good!”

“You didn’t like him?”

“No, no, not like that. I mean it’s good that you’ve found your own people, doing what you want. I am, I work with with my girlfriend catching criminals.”

...

They conversed for hours, neither caring about how disturbing their conversation was to other people. Or, would be, had they not been speaking in Italian, thus allowing eavesdroppers to understand them. Before long, it was closing time, and Shawn knew all about Leverage and Parker knew all about his steady con as a psychic. They had exchanged phone numbers and arranged to meet the following day. Shawn got back on his bike and offered Parker a lift, which she gratefully accepted (Sophie had also been teaching her manners), though she didn’t tell him her address and got him to drop her off a block or two from her place.

Once again meeting first thing in the morning at the self same diner, Parker ran Shawn through the activities she had planned for them for the day over pancakes. He nodded enthusiastically for each one and they climbed back on his motorcycle. Her hair danced in the wind as they sped along the highway to their first destination, and when he swerved between cars, she was screaming and calling out in glee, on hand wrapped around his torso, the other in the air feeling the breeze (Eliot had taught her about motor safety and always holding on).

One abseiled building, two zip-lines, 4 parachute jumps, and many terrified members of the public later, Parker directed Shawn to the brewpub, boasting about the best chilli he would ever taste. They pulled up to a very modern looking building, and she told him to park around the back, claiming to be friends with the owner. He instantly believed her claims, of course, when she pulled out a key and unlocked the back door.

“C’mon, I’ll get Sparky to make some of that chilli I mentioned.”

Shawn smiled at her enthusiasm. She was him, only female and blonde. Anybody could easily make the comparisons: same childlike wonder and fascination; same obsession with nicknames; blatant confusion at very obvious things masking a deeper intellect; same hyper personality and disregard for danger; same loyalty to those they loved the most; same lack of social awareness; and the same insecurities based on parental upbringing. Honestly, if you armed the two of them with a candy store worth of sugar, the horrors of what they may get up two were unfathomable.

-

No more than ten minutes later and he had to concur with her that the chilli was in fact the best that he had tasted. She was overjoyed with the positive feedback from one of her friends about another of her friends that she jumped up to go get Eliot so Shawn could tell him in person. If Shawn liked Eliot’s cooking then Shawn would like Eliot so Eliot would like Shawn and her friends would be friends and she would be like the super-friend. Parker found Eliot dicing green peppers and, knowing not to disturb him when he had a knife in his hand, waited until he was finished chopping to drag him away from the kitchen.

“My friend just had some of your chilli and wanted to compliment you on it”

Parker didn’t tease Eliot for the proud smirk she saw from the corner of her eye as he wiped his hands on his apron. She liked seeing him happy.

“Lead the way, Parks.”

“Sure, he’s right over-“

“Shawn?”

“Eli?”

Oh, they already knew each other. She was slightly disappointed that she wasn’t the first person to discover Shawn as a friend, she thought he was all hers. The disappointment disappeared though, when she saw Eliot hug Shawn. Eliot didn’t hug anyone unless they had just got out of a serious situation and he was glad they’re not dead. But as far as she knew, they weren’t in danger, and she had double checked Shawn’s rigging before their abseil so he hadn’t nearly died. So that only meant that this was a happy hug. She liked seeing Eliot happy.

“How do you two know each other?”

“Shawn’s my cousin, dad’s side.”

“Man, it’s been forever. Everyone thought you were dead and it’s not like I could tell them you weren’t because we crossed paths in Argentina and I really hated keeping that from them.”

“I know, man, I’m sorry. But it’s good to see you. You’re not with the Secret Service anymore are you?”

Parker interrupted here, wanting to be part of the conversation again.

“No, he’s one of us now. And maybe we should take this to the back room, people are starting to stare.”

-

Shawn ended up staying at the brewpub long after it had closed, and had met the rest of the team. Parker didn’t fail to notice that Eliot kept his arm around his cousin for the majority of the night as the group shared anecdotes and tales of each of their travels. Apparently Eliot and Shawn had worked together on a few of Eliot’s retrieval jobs, and after a particular one went sour and they both almost died, Eliot had ran away to protect Shawn, and Shawn travelled around Europe. Parker supposed she had Eliot to thank for her meeting Shawn and making a friend; but Eliot had her to thank for reuniting him with his cousin.

For the rest of the week, the three of them (or sometimes just Parker and Shawn, after all, he was here so they could catch up and become better friends) explored the city, worked a low stakes job, and finally got Hardison to admit that Thief Juice wasn’t that great. Shawn left on his bike early hours in the morning (after some heavy appreciation of his vehicle from Eliot), promising to keep in touch and visit often; even offering an open invitation for them to visit the Psych office sometime.

She was glad she listened to Sophie’s advice after all.