Title: Alone
Author: A. Magiluna Stormwriter
Feedback address: stormwriter@shatterstorm.net
Date in Calendar: 10 December 2009
Fandom: Leverage
Pairing: Parker/Sophie
Rating: R [language]
Word Count: 1008
Date Written: 5 October 2009
Written for: seftiri
Prompt: "If she had a super power, right now the entire state would be a fucking sheet of glass and she'd be standing right in the center of it all. Alone."
Summary: If she had a super power, right now the entire state would be a fucking sheet of glass and she'd be standing right in the center of it all. Alone.
Spoilers: Consider both seasons of Leverage fair game.
Website: ShatterStorm Productions – Frisked & Conquered
Link to: http://f-n-c.shatterstorm.net/
Archive: ShatterStorm Productions only…all others ask for permission & we'll see…
Advertisement: Part of the FSAC:DW09

Disclaimer: "Leverage," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Dean Devlin, Electric Entertainment, and Turner Network Television (TNT). This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "Leverage," TNT, or any representatives of the actors.

Author’s Notes: I originally wrote this back in October when I was doing my Writing Challenge. I would love to say this is all seftiri's fault. After all, she gave me the prompt. But when I'd sat down to write with this prompt, I really had no idea which of my muses would pipe up. I kind of thought it might be Susan Ivanova, somehow. I was wrong. And kind of delightfully so.

Dedication: My muses, for always being kind enough to let the new kids play on occasion…

Beta: shatterpath

"Alone"
By A. Magiluna Stormwriter


If she had a super power, right now the entire state would be a fucking sheet of glass and she'd be standing right in the center of it all. Alone.

It didn't matter anymore anyway. It wasn't as if she really believed there was anything between them in the first place. She was nothing more than a temporary diversion… to all of them.

Elliot thought she was insane. And so what if she was? She was damned good at what she did. Could any of them have pulled off a fraction of the heists she had? Well, besides…

And Hardison had some weird sort of crush thing for her. It was cute, she guessed, but emotions were messy things she didn't get involved in. Emotions were for other people. For suckers. For marks. Not that Hardison was either. He was cute, and he was great to work with. But nothing more. He was a guy and she didn't have time for guys, even if they were interested in her.

And Nate… He was harder to figure out than either Hardison or Elliot. But, he was an easier mark to figure out, too. All it took to manipulate him was the merest mention of IYS or his dead son. Okay, the latter was a low blow, but it worked. She'd seen Sophie wield that hole card like a fucking pro. And yet, it had backfired almost as many times in the Grifter's hands.

The Grifter…

Just the thought of that damned woman brought on the strangest sensations she'd ever felt. There was a fire in her chest waiting to bust out, but she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Emotions were ugly and messy, and she'd vowed long ago never to deal with them if she could avoid it.

And she had been able to avoid it for most of her life… Until Nathan Ford brought her into direct contact with Sophie fucking Devereaux. Oh, she'd known about Sophie. She knew about all of them, even had a run-in or two with them over the years. But being in such close proximity to the brunette on a regular basis was making her lose a lot of self-control. And that was never a good thing.

She'd enjoyed scaring the hell out of Sophie in the first tandem freefall. It she thought about it, which she didn't, she might have believed the fear had turned Sophie on. But, of course, it hadn't; Sophie couldn't possibly be that easily swept up in emotion and arousal. She's a consummate Grifter and lies better than anyone in the whole world. She probably faked the arousal, too.

And all of her concern for everyone? Like she was fucking Mother Superior or Mother Teresa, or one of those mother-type people. Just another ploy to suck them all into her Grifter lies. And they all fell for it, even Nate. Until the first David job. That had very nearly pulled the team apart, but Sophie'd resolved things eventually.

But she still wasn't able to totally trust Sophie after that, even if she acted like she did. Sophie was too damned good at manipulating emotions -- and that was a problem.

She'd realized those messy, nasty emotions had struck in the aftermath of the second David job, when they'd all scattered to the wind. At first, she'd missed the regular work; she'd even kind of missed helping people. But eventually, she discovered she missed Sophie more than anything. She'd even gone as far as trying to track down the Grifter. But she was careful never to be seen by the older woman. The occasional hunt was more to keep her skills sharp than any sort of clingy emotional entanglements.

By the time they'd converged on Nate again in Boston, she thought she'd gotten over her… issues with Sophie. She'd been wrong. She just did her best to cover it up, which only made Sophie try harder to buddy up with the only other girl on the team.

She'd been torn between continuing to fight those fucking messy emotions and giving in to them.

And then the choice was taken from her. Sophie left to find herself, and no one knew when she'd be back. That first job without her had been difficult. They'd all called Sophie for help, begging her not to tell Nate. It was pathetic, like kids who wanted to prove their independence to Dad, but needing Mom's help to do it. Pathetic! She couldn't even really blame Nate for flying off to try to get Sophie to come back, but she certainly gave him hell for trying to hide it from them.

But when he said Sophie might never come back? It was like the ground sucked away from beneath her feet. Oh, she'd covered it well enough that none of them noticed.

The last straw, the thing that really made her angry enough to want to melt all of Massachusetts into a sheet of glass? Sophie sending in that… that woman! Who did she think she was to be checking out the team? And what was with the whole adorable thing?

Wait! Sophie thought she was adorable? Damn! Those fucking messy emotions had flared to the surface again, nearly choking her in their intensity. It figured, really. She no more than found someone that was intriguing, and the damned woman was nothing more than smoke and mirrors in the end. And just what had Sophie shared with Tara about her?

She knew Sophie was never coming back to them. Tara's presence pretty much cemented that fact. She didn't trust Tare, wouldn't trust her. Grifters were all alike.

And if she ever came face to face with Sophie Devereaux, she'd give the woman a piece of her mind. And then she'd run away and disappear from the lot of them.

She was never meant to have emotional entanglements of any kind. They were messy and ruined her focus. Sophie Devereaux only drove that point home.

Parker was alone. And would stay that way.