by Raine Wynd

Back at Escapade 2011, I promised Agnes Tomorrow (bientot) I'd write a H50/Leverage crossover, specifically involving Parker and Chin. Agnes, it's taken me a while, but here you are. Hope you like it!

Canon notes: This takes place prior to Parker joining up with Nate and the crew, but after Chin is no longer with the HPD.

Thanks to Mischief for betaing and for making this better than when I started.

Crash Here Tonight

By Raine Wynd

2008

Chin noticed her hanging around the shops he patrolled one rainy Tuesday afternoon. The rain had driven most of the tourists off the beach and there really wasn't much going on to warrant his attention. In her black jeans and gray hoodie sweatshirt tied around her waist, she looked sixteen, maybe even younger, but the street vibe he got off her said whatever her true age was, she'd seen more than her share of life. Her blonde hair hung past her shoulders as she stared at the restaurant, looking as though she was trying to make up her mind whether or not to enter. Chin had seen that look before; enough street kids hung around the USS Missouri, panhandling, that he'd learned to recognize the kid was trying to decide whether she had enough money to eat.

Stepping closer, Chin noticed more details. The fine bone structure of her face reminded him of a fairy princess he'd seen in a book he'd once read to his cousin Kono. The way she stiffened slightly at his approach told him the young woman was more aware than he'd first thought. With flash of distaste, she shut the book she held in her hands and turned to face him.

"You know, if you tell Ana you're hungry, she might be willing to share something with you," Chin offered.

"I'm not hungry, and you can't arrest me for looking."

"I'm not a cop," Chin said and buried the twinge produced by having to say those words. Three months of knowing he'd done the only thing he could given the circumstances didn't stop the hurt. "But I am security, and I noticed you're staring. I just wanted to know why."

"The book," she said, thrusting it into Chin's hands. "It said there's a restaurant named Zoey's here, and it's not here." She pouted. "I wanted the roast pig and the haupia."

Chin looked at the book, turned it over to read the blurb, and realized the story was fiction. Some instinct told him telling her that the story wasn't real wasn't going to work. "Well, you can have Ana's if you want. I'm sure it's better than in the book, because it's fresh."

"That's true," she allowed after a moment's consideration. "They had to use alien technology to make food." Her blue-gray eyes studied Chin before narrowing slightly. "I know that story is made up, but I wanted to see if any of it could be true. Some stories are true."

"Are you disappointed none of it is?"

She made a rueful face. "Archie said it wouldn't be. I wanted him to be wrong, just once."

"Who's Archie?"

"A friend," she said, abruptly defensive. "Not a creepy one." She stared at Chin, daring him to comment. "Is Chin Ho your full name?" She pointed at his name tag.

"No," Chin said. "My last name is Kelly."

"Archie said names have power."

"It's hard to be friends with someone without knowing that," Chin offered.

"I don't need a friend," she said, then bit her lip, as if to take the words back. "My name's Parker."

Chin smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Parker," he said, offering his hand to shake. She stared at it as if she didn’t quite know what to do with it, and after an awkward pause, Chin dropped his hand.

"Well," Chin said into the silence that followed, "what you do you say; we go get something to eat?"

"I don't like fries," she volunteered, thrusting her chin out in stubborn defiance.

"That's okay," he told her confidentially, "I don't like pickles."

She stared at him as if he was a curious specimen, one she wasn't entirely sure she liked. After a moment, she came to a clear decision and followed him into the restaurant.

Chin greeted the elderly woman behind the counter warmly. "My friend here would like to try some of your roast pig, Ana," Chin told her. "And the haupia, too."

Parker flashed him a smile and bounced a little. "You too," she said. "I'm not eating alone."

Chin chuckled. "Okay. But I want the spareribs; I had the roast pig yesterday."

Parker made no fuss when Chin paid for their meals, though her sudden interest in the contents of his wallet made him decide to put it in his front pocket rather than his back. "Just so we understand," he said quietly as they took seats at a table in clear view of the exits, "we have a deal. I pay for lunch, and you leave my wallet where it is."

Parker looked insulted. "You don't carry anything interesting, except that mark where you used to carry a badge," she said, and he realized abruptly she already had lifted it. "Were you a cop?"

Chin blew out a breath. "Used to be," he said carefully, reassessing the slender girl.

"Did you suck at it?"

For a moment, Chin stared at her, then burst out a short laugh. "No."

"Oh," Parker said, as if that solved a long-standing question she'd had in her head. "I've never met an ex-cop before. I wondered what happened to them when they stopped being cops." She took a bite of her meal. "I like this. I’m not sharing."

"That's okay. I didn't expect you to," Chin told her, amused. "Is it as good as the story made it sound?"

Parker thought about it. "No." She ate some more.

"No?" Chin prompted when it became clear she wasn’t going to elaborate.

"No," she said firmly. "Have you seen a million dollars all stacked up?"

Chin eyed her warily, and she stared right back.

"What?" she countered. "It's so pretty when it's all bundled up like that."

"I can't say I have," Chin finally answered and decided to change subjects. "So where are you from?"

Parker shrugged. "Wherever I want to be." She ate some more of her meal before asking guilelessly, "Does everyone sleep on the beach?"

"Not everyone. A lot of people can't afford to live here, so that's where they often go," Chin told her.

Parker made a face. "I hate sleeping in tents. It's so cold at night."

"Did you camp a lot?"

"Every night for three months," she revealed. "Then the state found out and I got new foster parents." She looked mildly bewildered at this. "I was mad because I didn't have privacy anymore. But I'm on my own now and I have a big wrought iron bed all to myself." She looked pleased at this, then looked directly at Chin. "You live here?"

Chin's heart went out to her. "Grew up here, too. I can't imagine living anywhere else."

Parker studied him. "But you've been other places?"

He nodded. "I've been to the mainland for a few weddings and a couple of training conventions," he told her. "One of my cousins used to compete as a surfer, and a few of us went to watch her compete in Australia once."

"I like Perth," she said. "Next I'm going to Europe. I have plans."

"Oh?" Chin ate, watching her.

She started to speak, then visibly stopped herself. A secretive smile on her lips, she nodded. "It's going to be the best trip."

Just then, Chin's phone buzzed, reminding him that his lunch break was over. Wishing he had more time to spend to get to know her, he rose reluctantly. "Unfortunately, my break is over. Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

Parker shrugged indifferently, then belatedly said, "Thanks." She paused, then sheepishly handed over his wallet. "You might want this back."

"I'm glad I didn't have to ask. Did you leave me any money?" Chin kept his voice calm but firm.

"It wasn't worth stealing."

Parker pouted, and Chin smothered a laugh at her expression.

That was the last he thought he'd see of her, but somehow, he wasn't too surprised to find her in the guest room of his house later that evening. Already asleep, looking far more innocent than the knowledge of how to defeat his security system warranted, Chin decided she deserved a break. She was gone by the time he woke the next morning, and his wallet was significantly lighter for its lack of cash. Ruefully, Chin wondered if he should upgrade his security, and made a mental note to be more cautious about approaching people in the future. It wasn't until four years later, when a national "be on the lookout" alert came through the H50's systems, that he learned that Parker had been far from a teenage runaway and was, in fact, an accomplished international thief. When that happened, he was abruptly grateful he hadn't been a cop when they'd met.

Finis 2/21/12