A Very Leverage Christmas:

Chapter 1: Operation Elf

Eliot was acting suspicious. Parker had been sitting in the rafters watching him for the last half hour. Every few minutes, he came out of his office carrying a cardboard box. Some of them were big, and some were small. There was nothing special about them, and Parker might not have even noticed at all except for the sheer number of boxes. She was starting to wonder how he had ever managed to fit in there with all the boxes.

Moments later, he came out wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap and heavy work gloves, and he had his black, retrieval specialist duffel bag on his shoulder. This time, he carried three boxes stacked on top of one another. He carried them out, presumably to his pickup truck (though Parker hadn't checked, but it didn't seem realistic that he could fit that many boxes in his Charger) and came back in. When her curiosity finally got the better of her, and she rapelled down to see what he was doing, he was bent over, rooting around in the storage closet. She knew not to touch him while he didn't know she was there, so she quietly said, "Eliot?"

He jumped, whacked his head on the closet door, and cursed loudly. "Dammit, Parker."

"I scared you."

"Yeah. You're supposed to be out with Hardison."

"Wha—?"

"You told me yesterday that you and Hardison were going to catch a movie this evening."

"The one he wanted to see was sold out. What are you doing?"

"Nuthin' Parker. I'm just going out for awhile."

It looked to Parker like he was moving out, which was definitely not okay in her universe. Eliot was the one who cooked for her, took care of her, and helped her bug Hardison. She wasn't going to let it happen if she could help it.

"It looks like you're leaving."

"I'll be back in time for supper, Parker. Now go find something to do." With those words, Eliot walked out the front door, closing it softly behind him. She followed him out, only to see him put the boxes he was carrying into the back of his truck and step back inside one more time. Without really having any sort of plan in mind, and before she allowed herself to think too much about what she was doing or about what he would do when he found out, she crawled up under his truck, and grasped the undercarriage. Holding on while the truck was moving wasn't really as easy as she thought, especially when Eliot was driving, so she really didn't have an opportunity to think about where they were going. She had her hands rather full instead.

A few minutes later, the truck stopped abruptly at the curb, and she was very nearly dislodged. She heard a car door slam, a muttered curse, and then footsteps hurrying away from the truck. When the footsteps died away, she slipped carefully out from under the truck, looking around, trying to figure out which direction Eliot went.

There was a playground across the street, and Parker was scanning it, thinking that might be where Eliot went. She stifled a scream as a hand closed on her wrist with a grip like iron, and yanked her around.

"Damn it, Parker. What are you doing here?" His eyes were blazing. "I thought I told you to find something else to do."

"I did. I came with you."

"Why?"

"I wanted to see what you were doing. I was curious."

"There's something wrong with you," he said, but it was affectionate enough. Then he continued, "I guess you might as well help, since you're here."

"Oh, goody," she said, smiling and rubbing her hands together. "What are we doing?"

"We're sneaking. I want you to take these three boxes and put them on that porch. Then come back here. Don't make any noise. We don't want anyone to know we're out here."

"Okay," she agreed, eyes sparkling. She took the boxes, as requested, and placed them carefully on a small table on the porch. Then, she quietly made her way back to Eliot's truck. He was gone. She started looking for him, and found him walking back up to where she was from across the way.

"Eliot?"

"What?"

"Why are we leaving boxes at random peoples' houses?"

"Well, darlin', it's Christmas."

"So?"

"So, it's our turn to play Mystery Santa. There's a custom in the town I grew up in—when somebody had it rough, the people of the town would come together to help provide for the family. Santa does his thing every year, but this was more special because we got to be Santa's helpers, and do really nice things for our neighbors, when they needed us most. If their fence needed fixing, we fixed it. If they needed food, that's what Mystery Santa left. It was a way of taking care of people without hurting their dignity. It wasn't charity, it was Mystery Santa, and for whatever reason, they could stomach that better. Santa provided toys and games for the kids, but we took turns providing what the rest of the family needed. Each time, a different person was chosen to be Mystery Santa, depending on the needs of the family. That was an honor my neighbors used to fight over. "

He paused and looked at her, wondering how she would react to the news that someone else was helping Santa with his work. You never knew how Parker would react to any given thing, but her expression didn't change. She just looked at him, expectantly, like a little kid waiting for the rest of the bedtime story, and with Parker, that might not be all that far off. Finally, he said, "The people who live in these houses are having a hard time this year, and if we don't do something, their children won't have anything under their tree or in their stocking."

"Santa won't let that happen."

"I know. That's why he asked me to help deliver these, and since you came along, you get to help, too. Now, be quiet before someone hears us and comes to see what we are doing. It's supposed to be a surprise."

It took longer than Eliot had estimated to deliver the packages, close to three hours, even with both of them working on it, and he found himself grateful for her presence. Smiling widely, Parker took great pride in helping Eliot, and soon they had all of their packages delivered and they were ready to head back. It was getting cold, and looked like it might snow later.

He saw the little thief shivering, and he turned up the heat in the truck. When they got back, he sat her down in the living room and chatted with her while he fixed them both some hot chocolate. It was late, and everyone else was either long gone or in bed. Walking back over to her, he handed her the mug he had fixed just for her, with extra chocolate and the tiny little marshmallows, just the way she liked it, and wishing Nate had a fireplace, in front of which he could warm himself, he settled instead for standing next to Parker, drinking his hot chocolate.

"Thank you for your help, today," he said, smiling at her.

"Merry Christmas, Eliot," she said.