#was gonna do eliot but I couldn't choose what to put with him

[thenon-binaryone]

woke up in a cold sweat like it was the spring of 2023 and all my friends were using this filter

[vickyvicarious]

Eliot: "I'm gonna take the rigging off him, we need the rope."

Parker: "No. NO!"

Eliot: "Parker - it's done!"

Parker: "NO! This is what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to get him back to his wife! Nate would do it, Sophie would do it, Hardison would do it! They would do the right thing. I want to do the right thing!"

she chokes up on Hardison's name. He is the one she is thinking of most here, the best person she knows, the kind of person she wants to worthy of and be like.

she breaks down on "I want to do the right thing." She hasn't, before. Hasn't known she even could. But now she wants to, she wants to be a better person so badly, and she can't.

and then the next scene -

Eliot: "Hey. It's a good thing it was us."

Parker: "Because we'd leave him."

Eliot: "Because they woulda kept tryin'. And they woulda frozen to death right next to him. Especially Hardison. So it was a good thing it was us. The two of us, we do things they can't. Won't."

Parker: "That make us bad?"

Eliot: "It makes us... Us. Now you can take that as a gift, or you can take it as a curse. That's up to you."

she has calmed down. as ever, Parker understands practicalities and must-be-dones. she knows that saving him isn't viable. but it doesn't change the feeling that she is failing at being a good person for leaving like this

but eliot knows how she feels. he understands, and he brings up hardison specifically because they both know hardison is the best of them. they both love him. but sometimes being that good can hurt you. he couldn't do this. but parker and eliot can, and because they can it means that other people like hardison don't have to. they are protecting them.

and still, parker wants to know. does that make us bad? it's not quite as horrifying even if the answer is yes - because eliot is talking about the two of them. even if they are bad, it's not just her alone in being unworthy. it's not archie and his family, and parker on the outside. but she still wants to be better. she wants to not be bad anymore.

"it makes us... us." eliot cannot tell her she is bad. he doesn't believe that. he can't ever believe he is a truly good person though, he's done far too much for that to ever be true. he really does stop and think about it. and now, right now, in the wake of Moreau finally being put away, he realizes that being this way really isn't inherently bad. they play an important role. he internalizes this, look at his face when he comes to his conclusion. it is as much a relief to him as it is to her. they aren't good people like the others, but they aren't necessarily bad either. they are different and necessary and they will protect people like hardison who would otherwise give and give and give themselves until nothing is left.

his honesty and genuine thought put into the answer make it really resonate for parker. she is still so sad at the loss of the person she has started to picture herself being. the kind of person who is like hardison, who would save this man. but what eliot's saying rings true. she is not alone, she is not hopeless, she is just who she is and these are the things she can do. and she can choose what to make of that.

so she chooses kindness. she does what is necessary, but she also chooses to take the time to watch the last message. to see if there is anything else she can do for him. and it is that choice which saves them in the end. it is parker's act of kindness that saves the con, in the end. that protects their client, and delivers to her his last message, his final farewell and words of love. that happens because of who parker is. not like hardison, maybe, but not bad. she chooses to be kind, and that is enough.

Eliot: "You did it. You brought him back to her."

she finally hugs hardison back. in the big bang job parker couldn't hold back from telling hardison she loved him, but now she finally feels that she can act on it. she doesn't have to hold herself apart from him.