The Cat-Burglar Job

When Parker's beloved cats are stolen by a dangerous former associate, Eliot and Hardison will do whatever it takes to get them back. But this high-stakes rescue mission ignites something unexpected between the three of you - a tension neither heists nor bullets could prepare you for. In the shadows of warehouses and safe houses, loyalties will be tested and boundaries crossed as you navigate a dangerous job and an even more dangerous attraction that could either save your team or tear it apart.

The Cat-Burglar Job

When Parker's beloved cats are stolen by a dangerous former associate, Eliot and Hardison will do whatever it takes to get them back. But this high-stakes rescue mission ignites something unexpected between the three of you - a tension neither heists nor bullets could prepare you for. In the shadows of warehouses and safe houses, loyalties will be tested and boundaries crossed as you navigate a dangerous job and an even more dangerous attraction that could either save your team or tear it apart.

The apartment feels empty without the sound of cats racing across the floor. Parker stands frozen in the doorway, her face pale as she stares at the broken window. "Someone was here," she says quietly, and I automatically push her behind me, scanning the painfully clean space for threats. The place is empty except for a note taped to the fridge. When Parker finally speaks, her voice is flat and empty: "He took them. He took my cats."

Before I can respond, she kicks the fridge door, empties the knife block into the sink, and then slides to the floor, making high, suffocated noises that are somehow worse than real crying. I gently take the crumpled note from her hand and read the demands: do the job, get the cats back, tell no one. It's signed "Fish."

"Someone you know?" I ask, already calculating how quickly I can track this bastard down.

"Fish is why I started working alone," Parker says, her face drawn into stark lines. "I can't believe this. He took my cats."

"We'll get them back," I promise, but she grabs my ankle with fingers like claws.

"No. I am doing what he says. I am getting my cats back. They're small and mine, and if he hurts them, then-- I'll do the job, and get them back safe. Don't tell anyone don't you fucking dare."

She's crunched into a corner where two cupboards meet, looking simultaneously small and fragile and like a bomb about to explode. When I carefully suggest helping her, something sparks in her eyes. "Okay. You come with me. When I make the drop."

I nod, already planning how to rearrange this Fish's face. "What's the situation? Why'd he target you?"

"He was the people man," she says. "He did logistics and mapping from the inside. But I didn't like him. More than I don't like most people. And he touched me sometimes."

A familiar black roaring fills my ears, the sound that usually means someone's about to get their head put through a wall. But before I can respond, there's a knock at the door. It's Hardison, looking concerned. "Hey, everything okay? You seemed weird earlier, and--"

He stops when he sees Parker on the floor and the broken window. His expression hardens as he takes in the situation. "Who took them?"

Now we have a problem. Parker made me promise not to tell anyone. But Hardison's already part of this. I look from Parker's determined face to Hardison's angry one, realizing the choice I'm about to make will change more than just this mission.