InsaneJournal

Who: Eliot Spencer and Penny and Thugs
Where: Las Vegas Streets and then The Bat Cave
When: This afternoon.
What: Penny is attacked on the streets and Eliot saves her. The shelter is in danger and needs the Leverage crew. Also, they stop pretending not to love one another. Yay.
Rating: R for violence and suggestion of sex.
Status: Complete



Penny had persuaded Eliot to meet her at a video store so they could get something the house would enjoy for the night. She liked promoting togetherness with the others, as if that would somehow make her presence there useful, and usually everyone went along with it. The problem was always what movies to choose, since everyone had different tastes. The store wasn't far from the shelter so she'd managed to assure Illyria she didn't need to be walked everywhere. There were people out and lights and it wasn't a bit deal.

At least it hadn't seemed like a big deal until she got a strange feeling in her stomach that she was being followed. It was just a paranoid thought at first, these two men had been outside the shelter and were behind her, but they were getting closer and she just had this sense. There were others around, and she wasn't very far from the store, so she just picked up her pace a little nervously. That seemed to alert the men and she abruptly was jostled by someone as she pressed forward. Before she could squeak out an appropriate apology, though, she was deftly "pushed" out of the crowd's way and into a side street.

Las Vegas was highly populated, but it was also populated by people who were distracted by the lights or simply not interested in the plights of others. So either no one noticed the girl disappearing off the street or no one cared. Once at a reasonable distance from the main area, she was backed up against a wall, and Penny found herself facing four men. The two that had definitely been following her, and the ones who took her to the side. I am most definitely in trouble. She clung to her bag and then timidly offered it to them. They only laughed. The lead of them stepped forward to tower over her.

"Mr. Connelly was heartbroken that you didn't seem interested in his generous offer. He sent us to see what we can do to persuade you to the right path." He smiled down at her, loving the way she cowered without much provocation. This wouldn't be hard at all.

"I'm n...not scared of y...you," Penny said without much conviction. Her hand snuck into her bag and she tried to blindly get the Blackberry, redialing the most recent number. It just so happened to be Eliot. She didn't know if he could find her, but he'd at least know she was in trouble and maybe follow the route back to the homeless shelter. It was the only chance she might have. "I'm not going to sell the shelter, you're w...wasting your time."

"I think you're going to change your mind quickly, or we'll do it for you. Your blue haired guard dog isn't here now, is she?" They had planned to jump her much earlier until they saw that bizarre woman. Word was on the street she was not someone to mess with, so they waited. And obviously their prey had no one now. He touched her hair, brushing his hand through it. "You're going to do what we say, Red."

Penny cringed away from his touch and glared, curling her hand into a fist. "You don't get to call me that." She wound up, as balanced as she could get, and punched him just like Eliot had taught her. It hit him right in the nose and he stumbled back a step, bumping into one of the others, and Penny tried to quickly move around them, rushing back toward the lane of people where she could hopefully get lost. Unfortunately as much as she tried, there were too many of them and one of the others caught her before she got too far. This time she was slammed hard against the wall, hard enough to lose her breath and let out a cry of pain.

The man she punched touched his nose which was stinging but not broken, coming over and slapping her full in the face. "Bitch," he spit at her, "now we're really going to make this hard for you."

Eliot had been on his way to meet Penny at the video store when his phone rang. Shifting gears in his car, he reached over to grab it, a smile already spreading itself across his face. "I already told you no more Disne-" He stopped when he realized that something was wrong on the other end of the line. Eliot's face darkened as he heard her voice, scared but trying not to show it. His grip on the phone tightened when he heard the male voice. Flooring the car in the direction of the homeless shelter, Eliot terminated the call and dialed Hardison.

"Hardison!" He yelled, his voice as close as it ever got to uncontrolled. "You need to turn on the GPS in Penny's phone and text me her location. Now." His tone left no room for argument, but even if it had, he hung up too quickly for Hardison to get even a single word in.

Realizing that he'd get further on foot than he would in the heavy Vegas traffic, he swung his car up to the curb and jumped out. By the time he got up onto the sidewalk, his phone buzzed with a text message. If Hardison was right, and he usually was, Penny was somewhere ahead of him, shoved off down a side alley. Shoving his phone in his pocket, he took off at a run.

He found them quickly. Maybe it was too many years of dealing with fights in back alleyways, but Eliot zeroed in on their location in seconds. He knew before he even turned the corner that it was where he would find them. He arrived just in time to see one of the thugs slap Penny across the face. His rage boiled through to the surface and he snapped. "Hey!" He yelled, moving toward them "Didn't your mama ever tell you not to hit girls?" His hand reached out and locked into the hair of the man who had just hit Penny. Using his considerable strength, he tweaked the man's head to the left and smashed into the concrete wall that he had just been forcing the pale redhead up against.

Penny was cringing against the wall, expecting a hit or some trouble to come, but she heard a familiar voice and almost collapsed with relief. However he found her, she didn't care how, but everything would be okay now. The man was abruptly shoved up against the wall next to her and she quickly scrambled to the side. Her lack of experience in this situation showed because as she attempted to get away she simply bumped into the other three men. Oh damn it all Penny.

Luckily they didn't use her against him but rather moved her behind them, the last man giving her a sharp look. "Don't try to run, we'll just come after you once we take care of the hero here." Penny wouldn't even think of running at this point, not when Eliot was stuck with four men. Which was considerably different from four punching bags. She fumbled with her bag to take out her phone, hastily dialing 9-1-1 as the three remaining men surrounded Eliot. They wouldn't back down no matter how tough the guy seemed. Four on one wasn't a problem for the amount they were getting paid.

Eliot was glad when Penny instinctively ducked away from the fight. This was Penny for Chrissakes. Penny. He was not going to let these guys off the hook. Not even slightly. Frankly, they'd be lucky if he decided to leave them alive. Blood poured down his opponent's face. The flattened nose was broken, and there was a gash across his forehead from where the skin had split after colliding with the concrete wall. He spun around to face Eliot, but didn't get a chance to do much of anything before Eliot buried his fist in the man's stomach, doubling him over. Grabbing the hunched man Eliot tossed him to the side of the alleyway like he was nothing more than a bag of trash. Which, in Eliot's opinion, he was.

He turned to face the other three, catching a glimpse of Penny's hair behind them. "Well." He said, gesturing at them. "C'mon." The biggest of the three rushed him. The goon took a swing at him, and Eliot rocked back on his heels, leaning out of range. His arm shot forward and closed tightly around the other man's wrist. He clenched it with as much force as he could muster, actually feeling some of the smaller bones crack beneath the skin. Not giving his would-be attacker a moment, Eliot headbutted him, sending the other man toppling over backwards.

The other two wasted no time in jumping Eliot, seeing him as a more serious threat now that their numbers were down by half. And they apparently decided to bring in a little more leverage. Eliot shook his head when he heard the click of a gun being cocked. Letting out a growl, he threw his elbow into the gunman's face and twisted his arm around, wrenching the gun from his grasp. Without wasting a moment, he disarmed the weapon, letting the clip fall to the dirty pavement before tossing it away. The gunman barrelled into Eliot from the side, slamming the both of them into the wall. Letting out another yell, Eliot shoved the man away from him. Back far enough that he could slam his boot into his chest. He went down to the ground hard. Eliot strode over to him and raised up his foot again. They always said never kick a man when he's down. But, Eliot reasoned, anyone who would attack Penny in an alleyway with three other thugs, was not even remotely a man. He brought his heel down on the other man's face.

"What the hell?" The last man standing was breathing heavily, backing away from Eliot now that he realized he was on his own. Eliot knew this was his guy. Growling, he leapt forward and grabbed his arm, twisting it around behind his back and shoving his face into the wall. Eliot was covered in dirt, sweat, and more than a little blood as he leaned on the thug from behind. Keeping his arm twisted painfully behind his back, and using his free hand to keep a firm grip on his shoulder. "What the hell is this?" He growled. "You working for someone? Or do you make it a habit of attacking women in alleyways?" He twisted the man's wrist prompting him to let out a pained yelp.

"John...Johnny Connelly." He stammered through the pain.

"What for?" Eliot yelled, twisting harder.

"The...shelter. He wants the shelter."

"And you thought you could come in here and take it by force." Eliot shook his head. "Wrong move, man." Shifting his grip on the other man's wrist, he took a step backward and used his strength to spin him around so the two of them were facing. "Really wrong move." Eliot's fist met the side of his head, and the other man sank to the ground, unconscious. Breathing heavily, Eliot pushed the hair of of his eyes and quickly searched the alleyway for Penny. She was still standing, frozen, her phone in her hand.

The last time she was even remotely close to a place of violence, Penny was frozen just like this. She'd watched a man, who turned out to be her friend, try to kill her current (soon to be ex) boyfriend, and the next thing she knew was pain, blood, darkness, and death. Before waking up here in the brightness of Las Vegas. She'd thought a hundred times since then that she had only moved, if she wasn't such a coward, she would've been able to change everything. And yet here she was again, unable to move and having trouble remembering to breath.

The only thing that drew a real reaction out of her was when she saw the gun. No no no. If Penny knew that this wasn't unusual for Eliot she might not have worried, but as it was she almost saw spots in her sudden panic. By the time she could even say a warning though the weapon was down, and he proved himself to be faster than the speed of her own thoughts. She heard his questions to the last man, things she could have answered herself had she just been honest, but it had seemed so unimportant. Certainly nothing to worry any of them over. Wasn't she enough of a bother just living there? The man had come and went.

She stared at Eliot as he looked for her in an inscrutable way, the phone hanging from her hand and ignored even as a voice asked over and over what the emergency was. "Are they ...." She looked pale, so unbelievably pale, and swayed where she stood. You are not going to pass out, you are not going to pass out. "Are they dead?"

Now that the threat had been dispatched, Eliot was starting to come back down to Earth. His thoughts cleared and he really took Penny in. Including the look frozen on her face. He'd seen that look before, and it wasn't one he'd ever want to see on Penny's face. There was a world of difference between him telling her that he got into a few scuffles, and her seeing what he could do.

He moved toward her, closing the distance between them, but stopped a few feet away. He wanted to comfort her, but that might be the last thing she wanted. Particularly with him looking the way he was in that moment. He brought the back of his hand up to his mouth, and wiped away the blood he could taste there. His ears picked up the faint sound of another voice, and he realized that she had called 911. "Hang up the phone." He instructed her.

She took the smallest step back when he came forward, it was slight but it might as well have been her fleeing at that point. Penny felt guilty about it almost instantly, this was Eliot and he just saved her. It was just a whole lot to take in all at once and she felt dizzy just trying to put things together about what she just saw and heard and felt. The terror from before was still very present, and while it was currently aimed at him, that didn't mean it was for him. But she couldn't explain that.

Instead she did something more useless after scrambling to hang up the phone, dropping it in her purse, and that was start to cry. Green eyes filled with them so fast she wasn't aware of it, and once she did she wiped at her eyes, ashamed, looking away from him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Here Penny was being so weak and he had to see it. She did look around him to the bodies in the alley, and noted that a few chests were moving, breathing, certain it was not just her hope. "I'm sorry," she said one last time, sniffling, her hands still shaking. She wasn't sure what she was sorry about exactly, but it seemed important to tell him.

When Penny took a step away from him, Eliot felt a bout of nausea so intense, he wanted to turn his head and be sick. After everything, this was what it came down to. This was where it was going to end up. He should have known better than to get his hopes up. He steeled himself, hiding any emotion behind a mask. What he was feeling wasn't important, right now all that mattered was that he get Penny away from here.

Maybe if she hadn't taken that step away from him, he could have brought himself to ignore her fear and comfort her when she started to cry. He could have taken her into his arms and shielded her from the ugliness she'd just witnessed. But in that moment, he couldn't do it. And so he stood there, unable to tear his eyes away from her tear filled eyes. "They're not dead." Was all he could say, noting when she glanced past him in their direction.

Though, I wouldn't mind it if they were. Eliot kept his final thoughts to himself. Penny was already terrified of him. He didn't need to make it worse. "They ain't going to be doing any jazzercise tomorrow, but they'll live." He pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." He said earnestly, as if that would make any difference after what she'd just seen. He sighed, resigning himself to the fact that any chance the two of them might have had was over now. "C'mon." He said, holding his arm out toward her. "My car's down the street. We need to get you home."

She wanted him to comfort her, she needed someone to, and then felt intensely stupid for that. Penny couldn't read his face, so in her panicked state she read her own things into it. He thought she was weak. A coward. That's how she was acting. She should've been able to take after herself, wasn't that the kind of girl he always went for? She'd been trying so hard to show him she could be strong and confident, and now he knew she wasn't at all. He'd realize how badly suited she was for him. She wanted to cry more now then before.

So the best thing she could do now was pretend to be stronger again, and maybe he wouldn't be so disappointed in her. Penny could sob her heart out to Sophie later, it wouldn't be the first time, but in front of him she could keep it together. Her hand slipped into his arm and she walked with him toward the car. Some of her control slipped when she felt the strength in his arm and she leaned into it, leaned into him, resting her head momentarily on his broad shoulder as if she could siphon his bravery into her.

Once in the car Penny resisted the urge to curl up, sitting stiffly with her bag pulled tightly to her chest. "I punched him. The way you showed me." There, maybe that would impress him a little. She didn't just lay there and let them attack her, she did try to fight back. She looked down at her fingers, and her knuckles were red but not really hurt over it. Or maybe she couldn't feel it yet. "I can't just sell him the shelter, we can rebuild but there are people there barely holding on by a thread, if it's taken away they'll lose hope." This was all true, and she wasn't exactly one for letting bullies win, but there was more at stake here. "But what if he goes after them next?" Illyria would protect them, of course she would. Penny wasn't thinking very clearly.

Eliot felt slightly more confident as Penny slipped her hand around his arm. At least she wasn't so terrified of him that she wouldn't touch him. Maybe...maybe once he could get her home, and Sophie could calm her down with some tea, and he could clean himself up. Maybe he could make her understand that she didn't need to be afraid of him. Eliot wasn't stupid. He'd seen the video. He knew that the last time she'd been witness to a fight like this, it had ended with her death. Her head touched itself to his shoulder, and he could feel her lean into him slightly. He turned his head to glance at her again. The only reason he'd taken his eyes off her in the first place was because he hadn't wanted to see the fear in her eyes. He wanted to stop walking completely, to wrap her up in his arms and promise her that nothing bad was going to happen to her.

Instead he opened the door for her and helped her get into his car. She spoke up once he had gotten behind the wheel. She was right. He was a little impressed that she had punched one of them before he'd arrived. But he was also angry. Angry that Penny was being forced to witness this ugliness. He closed his eyes briefly and concentrated on getting his emotion under control. When he opened them again, she was watching him. Going against his better judgment he reached out and covered her hand with his own.

"You're not going to sell them the shelter." He said evenly. "And they're not going to be going after anyone else." He didn't care if he had to sit on the shelter's stoop day and night. These people weren't going to touch Penny or her shelter ever again. "This is what we do. These people," he said bitterly, "think they can get whatever they want through money and intimidation." He turned his head forward, looking disgusted. "It's not gonna happen." He turned to look at her again. "Let us help you." He knew that Penny was independent, and liked believing she could handle everything on her own, but this was out of the realm of her capabilities. He intended to get the team involved regardless of her answer. No way was this son of a bitch not going down. However, it seemed important to ask first. He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Everything felt better a little better when his hand touched hers, and she let out a deep breath she'd been holding all this time. Her breathing had been shallow and fast until now, probably why she'd been so close to passing out in the alley. If he touched her hand maybe he wasn't completely disgusted with her, and she had a chance to prove she was brave. Penny turned her hand so their palms were together and wrapped her fingers in his, taking what comfort she could from his gesture. "Eliot, thank you. I'm sorry I didn't say thank you immediately, god I'm so stupid. But thank you." That was intensely rude of her, but she had been in shock. She still was a in shock.

She listened to him, willing herself to believe in what he was saying, because he was smart about these things and he definitely knew better than she did. Penny looked back at him, weighing what he was saying. She didn't want to get them involved, that was why she hadn't mentioned it in the first place. "Maybe they'll stop now. You might not have to do anything." Her fear and uncertainty in the issue showed, but Penny could be remarkably stubborn too when she got something into her head. She looked down at her lap, shivering even if she wasn't cold in the least. At least the tears had stopped so he wouldn't have to deal with that. "Everyone's already been so nice letting me stay there for now, I don't want to ...." Be a bother. She said it so often it might as well be her slogan by now.

But this was about more than her, this was the shelter, she couldn't let those thoughts get in the way now. Those people needed help she couldn't provide, no matter what she might argue otherwise, and Penny sighed, resting her head back on the seat and closing her eyes tightly. "I think he might try something else," she confessed quietly. "He said something about ... a board. And if I didn't sell it, I'd lose it another way." This was about the shelter, not about her.

Eliot noted the way she relaxed ever so slightly at his touch, and felt a little better. Particularly when she turned her hand and laced her fingers through his. He felt the bizarre urge to laugh when she called herself stupid for not remembering to apologize. He ran his thumb along hers as he shook his head. "Don't do that." He said. "Don't apologize. I should apologize. I never wanted you to see that...that part of me. I should have just taken you and gotten you the hell out of there."

Not letting go of her hand, Eliot used his free hand to turn the keys in the ignition and shift the car into drive before pulling back out onto the road. He needed to get her home. He looked back over at her, blue eyes serious. No it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. Any creep who would send in four thugs to intimidate Penny was not going to back off just because his muscle took a beating in an alleyway. No. They'd have to take him down hard to make sure he didn't come back. Something Eliot had no problem with whatsoever.

"I had a feeling." He said quietly. "These guys, they always have other plans." He squeezed her hand again. "I promise, we're not going to let him get away with this." And if Eliot got to smash his face in in the process, then so be it.

They drove in silence awhile, which really tipped Eliot off to how troubled Penny was. He was fairly certain he'd never heard her this quiet in the entire time he'd known her. Thankfully the end of day traffic hadn't clogged up the roads yet, and Eliot was able to get the two of them home quickly. He turned the engine off, and reluctantly let go of her hand so he could get out and open the door for her.

"You're going to be okay." He said, brushing her hair away from her eyes once she was standing outside the car. "Being afraid back there, it doesn't make you weak. It makes you smart." He leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to her forehead. "If something had happened to you..." He swallowed, unable to finish the thought.

Penny didn't argue with him about what he should've done, mostly because ... she didn't know what she should've done. Was there a way to stop that from happening? People got hurt, and even if they were bad people, it was because of her. She was unusually silent, not responding to the things he was saying and not starting a conversation again. It was completely unlike her, and she was replaying everything in her head, trying to find a way that she could've done things better. And sometimes her mind was going to where it could have gone, and she started getting upset and frightened all over again. She never let go of his hand as they drove, however, keeping that strength close so she wouldn't get lost in those thoughts.

When he stopped the car she jumped, not even realizing where they were. The entire trip felt like it was a second long, and she looked down at her hand when he moved away, frowning. He either drove at warp speed, or she'd just blacked out the time, which was never a good sign. Penny got out of the car and turned to him. This time when he came closer and tried to touch her, she did not shy away, her eyes closing when his lips touched her forehead, and the tears started to well up again.

His reassurance about her fear being okay made it impossible for her to hold them back, because she wanted to believe him. And him saying it meant that maybe he wasn't annoyed by her actions, that maybe he could still like her. "I wasn't afraid of you. I'm not afraid of you," she whispered to him. Her hand lifted to touch his hair, brushing it out of his eyes as he had to her, but then her fingers trailed along his cheek, a caress. "Nothing happened because you saved me." She wasn't the hero, he was. Did that make her the damsel?

"I can learn to be braver. I know I'm not tough or ... or badass like those other girls, but I can learn." Like those other girls you like went unspoken. Her eyes, bright and wet from tears, looked up at him pleadingly. Hoping he'd believe her and know she could change for him.

A wave of relief crashed through Eliot at her words. She wasn't afraid of him. Normally he'd question the statement. Penny was such a nice person that even if she was terrified of him, she'd still probably tell him she wasn't, afraid of hurting his feelings or something. But he knew she was being honest. There was no hiding the expression on her face. He let out a deep sigh of relief.

Her fingers brushed his skin, and watched the tears in her eyes spill slowly down her cheeks. And then there she was, comparing herself to the other women in his life again. She didn't understand he didn't want those girls anymore. He hadn't since the moment he'd realized he had feelings for her.

"Penny," he said, "I don't want you to change. I'm in love with you just the way you are." Ignoring years of emotional distance, Eliot had to make her understand. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her. And not on the forehead.

She could see how worried he'd been about her fear once she explained, and she felt awful for not making that clear from the beginning. Penny might be nervous about what he could do, but this was Eliot. How could she ever be scared of him? She might be scared of her feelings for him, but never him.

Her eyes widened with his words, things she honest to God had never expected to hear from him, and by the time she could even respond he was kissing her. All the terror and anxiety from before fell away, and she pretty much forgot that not too long ago she was certain she was about to die, because Eliot Spencer loved her. And he was kissing her. And all she could feel was joy. Arms willingly moved around his neck, leaning up into him and returning the kiss with everything she'd been feeling the past few weeks for him. She didn't care if Parker, Nate, Sophie, and Hardison all walked in right then.

She broke the kiss out of a joint need for air and the fact she started to laugh, but it was a happy sound. "You love me. You really do? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?" Penny's smile was blinding, still wrapped up in him and basically having no intention of leaving his arms any time soon.

He felt her arms wrap themselves around his neck, and he pulled her closer, months of friendship and feelings leading up to this moment. With her arms raised, the hem of her shirt lifted, revealing patches of her pale skin. Eliot ran his hands along her skin, keeping her pressed tightly against him, kissing her hungrily.

They parted. Eliot could see her cheeks were flushed, her eyes full of a hope he hadn't realized had been missing since he'd found her in the alleyway. Her smile was infectious, and he couldn't help returning it. "Yes." He leaned forward again, unable to keep himself from not kissing her after waiting for so long.

His hands were on her skin and Penny was getting to that warm, heady place where it seemed completely inconsequential that they were in the garage and up against a car. She really was thinking about being able to take off his shirt and not just stare at him, but to be able to touch him and know he was hers.

"I love you," she murmured into his mouth. He probably already knew that, it was obvious all things considered, but she still thought it was important for him to hear it. Or for her to say it. Her fingers tangled in his hair like she desperately wanted to do for weeks, and she pulled away more breathless than before. "We don't need to tell them about everything right now." She kissed him again, quick and lingering, and her hands dropped to the hem of his shirt, reaching under to the small of his back and pulling him closer to her. It was bold, but Penny had hinted she wasn't quite as innocent as she appeared. "You should walk me to my room. And check inside. You know. For anything suspicious." Her grin was playful.

Eliot knew it was important that they fill the team in on everything that had happened, particularly after his tense phone conversation with Hardison earlier. But he was rapidly losing his will to care. The closer Penny got to him, the less he cared about anything other than getting her inside and putting his lips on every inch of her skin.

Her hand was warm on his back. He brought his own up to the curve her neck and could feel her pulse racing. It's important. He tried to make himself focus, to reign himself in and assert a little self control. But then she grinned up at him and all but told him to come upstairs with him, and he realized he didn't stand a chance of resisting. All of Eliot's control was lost in her presence.

He responded by pressing his lips to the skin of her neck, moving the hand that had been their and dropping it down to her hip, his fingers just barely slipping below the waistband of her pants. "Right." He mumbled against her skin, kissing his way up to her jaw and toward her earlobe. "Room." The words were there, but he wasn't moving. He couldn't think about not touching her long enough to get upstairs.

Yes, it was important. Very important. And because it was important and the fact that Hardison was probably worried, that meant even if they went inside the others might be waiting. And they'd ask questions. Penny really didn't want questions at the moment or to relive what had happened, not when he was leaning against her and oh god he was kissing her neck. That was one of her weak spots. Her knees felt weak and she had to step back, bringing him with her and leaning against his car.

"The room is really far away," she pointed out breathlessly. A part of Penny knew it was probably much more appropriate to have her first time with someone she loved in a bed, and it would be romantic and all that, but she wasn't a Disney character. Plus she really wasn't thinking about how to make it 'perfect' when his mouth was moving to her ear. She was just thinking about the nearest surface that could suffice. Oh my god I'm such a ho. The thought made her giggle.

Her hands didn't seem to want to stop moving on him, generally innocent since it was on his shoulders and back, just enjoying the freedom of touching him now that she was allowed to do so. She'd been so careful before not to cross any boundaries. Her hands moved around under his shirt to his abs - oh those were nice - and then stopped at the top of his pants, hovering there. "Eliot," Penny sighed and turned her head so she could catch his lips again in a kiss. It was meant to entice, because she pulled back a little after and green eyes were almost shy. "Would you ... would you think I'm slutty if I suggested not bothering to go anywhere?" It still mattered a lot what he thought of her; even more so now!

Eliot moved with her as she took a step backward, leaning against the side of his car. He continued to press himself against her as he kissed her neck. His hand slipped from her exposed hip to underneath her shirt. His hands pushing it further up, revealing her stomach.

At that moment, Eliot didn't care where they ended up. Her room, the garage, they could end up on the kitchen counter for all it mattered to him. The only thing that was important was that Penny not stop touching him. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her hands traveled from his back to his shoulders to his stomach. Her trailing fingers paused at the top of his jeans and he almost groaned against her lips as she kissed him again.

His lips turned up in a smile at her question. He could see actual shyness and concern in her face as she asked. He might have laughed, if he didn't think it would hurt her feelings. Instead his arms wrapped back around her waist, and he picked her up, easily, her legs wrapping themselves around his waist. "Best idea I've heard all day." He said, kissing her again, before reaching his right hand out to open the car door again. Shoving the passenger seat out of the way, he moved the two of them to the backseat. The heavy door swung shut of it's own accord once they were back inside.