A/N – So this was written for my friend Rebekah.. who has a million usernames that I'm too lazy to look up how to spell, but she knows who she is, lol, so it doesn't matter. She requested Leverage – No pairings, Family. I… tried. If anyone has read my stuff, they know I love me some parker/Hardison, and its hard not to ship them… but I refrained. :D

But ANYWAY. Hope you like it, Rhi! Merry Christmas. Or umm, happy new year at this point. Either way.

"Sophie."

She nods to him, "Nate."

"This isn't how I wanted to see you again."

Sophie sighs and Nate can tell she's been crying. "This isn't how I wanted to come back."

"It's good that you're here," Nate says quietly as they make their way back to the waiting room.

Sophie glances around, slightly nauseated from the lights and smells of the hospital, "How could I not be?"

Seating themselves and glancing at the others, they wait. It's all they can do.

"I hate her!" Parker slams through Eliot's door, startling both him and Hardison from their football viewing. Eliot pauses momentarily to wonder when exactly Parker had figured out where he lived, but decides not to question it. Hardison pauses because Parker had actually used a door, but he knows better than to question it. Instead, he pulls his attention from the game to look up at the clearly furious Parker.

"Hate who?" he asks.

Parker stands firmly in front of the television, hands in tight fists at her sides. She doesn't speak, just glares at the men meaningfully.

Eliot sighs and mutes the television before speaking. "Tara?" he guesses.

"She took me shopping!" Parker fumes, moving to pace back and forth in front of the T.V. The men exchange similar glances of 'so?' but wisely say nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"She made me buy all this stuff. Stuff I didn't want. It was all frilly and lacy and silky and too tight! And how am I supposed to repel in a thong? I mean, really? I hate her!"

Parker slumps onto the couch between the two men, exhausted from her little speech. They all sit silently for a moment, until Eliot can't help but ask.

"Why was Tara making you buy frilly lacy silky things?" Only then does he notice the tiny little Victoria's Secret bag in her hand, and he really can't help the next question.

"What'd ya buy?" he asks, going for neutral curiosity instead of inappropriate interest. It's only by years of practice that he succeeds.

"What?" Parker looks confused before looking down at the bag, as if she just remembered she had it.

"Oh. It's just… underwear and stuff. Like, a set, I guess. Tara picked it out. I told her that I didn't even know how garters worked, but she promised to teach me."

Eliot bites his lip against the slew of images that sentence puts in his head. Hardison clears his throat and Eliot suddenly remembers the other man is there. He leans back against the couch to clear his head of the two blondes and silky underwear.

"So why did Tara take you shopping?" Hardison asks, reminding her of the original question.

Parker scowls, "She says that I need to learn to be sexier for cons. And apparently skimpy underwear is how you become sexy."

"It don't hurt," Eliot interjects before pointedly staring at the still muted television.

"She's crazy," Hardison shakes his head, "You don't need sexy lessons. You're damn…" he trails off, suddenly realizing what he was saying. "She's just crazy," he finishes abruptly.

Hardison stands suddenly and mumbles something about the horde and trolls, before practically running out the door.

After Hardison is gone, Eliot turns to Parker, no longer teasing. "Why are you really so upset? Shopping can't be that bad, even for you."

Parker glares at Eliot and his aggravating knack for knowing too much.

"She just…"Parker flails her hands helplessly, at a loss for words.

Eliot gives her a small smile and tugs a strand of her hair, "She just ain't Sophie, right?"

Parker looks down before muttering, "Yeah."

Eliot moves over slightly to nudge Parker's shoulder with his own. "She'll come back." He says it so resolutely that Parker is slightly taken aback.

"How do you know?" She asks.

Eliot shrugs, "We're her family. She just needs to figure that out for herself."

Parker crosses and her arms tight across her chest, "She better."

"Har-di-son."

Nate sighs as the younger man plays his part too big, again. All he's supposed to do is smile at the mark and offer her a newspaper. Instead, Hardison is having a lengthy conversation with the mark about the pros and cons between the Herald and the Globe. The mark, much to Nate's relief, looks merely amused and not the least bit suspicious. She grins up at Hardison while he rambles on. Meanwhile, Parker steals everything worth stealing from her pockets and purse. Nate wonders how far in life Hardison would have gotten if it weren't for that easy charm of his and his innate likability.

"Har-di-son," he says again, harsher this time, needing to cut the man off before he went too far.

"Damn, Nate," Hardison grumbles after the mark has gone on her way, "You're starting to sound like Sophie."

Nate hears Eliot and Parker's chuckles through the comm. and he laughs along with them, but the sound is forced. Truth is, he misses that annoyed tone in his ear more than he cares to admit, as well as the accented voice it belongs to. Pulling the earbud from his ear, Nate stuffs it in his pocket before heading back home. He needs the silence for a while.

Eliot is tired. God damn fucking weary to the bone tired. But that doesn't stop him from noticing when Tara appears in front of him, in a long black coat he strongly suspects covers her naked body. He wonders idly if Parker taught her how to get into his house without him noticing, or if it was just an ability all leggy blondes seemed to possess.

"Hello," she says, smirk in place.

She toys with the jacket belt, and Eliot realizes there are no buttons. He supposes its more robe than jacket, and before he can really think on the practical purpose of such an item of clothing, she pulls at the belt and the jacket pools to her feet.

He was right about the naked thing.

"What is this?" he asks, always suspicious.

"You don't like me," Tara replies, but she says it with something close to glee.

"True," Eliot agrees, even though he's rapidly growing to like certain parts of her. Mainly, the naked parts.

"And I don't like you," Tara continues, "In fact, I really can't stand you most of the time."

Eliot scowls up at her, pulling his gaze from her breasts, "So, if neither of us like each other, why the hell are you naked in my living room?"

Tara moves closer, until she's nearly in arms length, "Because we are going to have really fantastic hate-sex."

"Are we now?" Eliot asks, already standing to meet her.

"Unless you say no," Tara smiles like she knows he won't say no. And damn it if she's not right.

"I'm not kissing you," Eliot blurts out, feeling the need to make sure they both know this is just sex.

"Oh honey," Tara laughs softly in a way that makes Eliot want to smack her, "There are much better uses for that mouth of yours."

Eliot is inclined to agree.

She's right. The hate-sex was fantastic. More than fantastic, and Eliot's more relaxed than he has been for months. Tara's long gone, and Eliot can't seem to care. He dozes in and out of consciousness before realization dawns on him suddenly, causing his eyes to shoot open and state up into the darkness. He's just slept with the enemy. The team is never going to let him live this down. He knows that Tara's not really the enemy, that she's just paid for hire, but he also knows she is in no way part of their little makeshift family. He knows that he's gone and fucked everything up. Literally.

He sighs. This never would have happened if Sophie were still here.

"Guys!" Hardison calls out to the others, practically giddy with delight as he sets up his latest gadget for display.

Parker laughs at his exuberance but follows him into Nate's living room anyway, dropping onto the arm of the couch. Eliot follows her a moment later, seating himself beside Parker. He knows that she needs to be near somebody when they have their meetings, even if she won't admit it. Nate comes in last, cup of coffee in hand and takes a seat next to Eliot.

"You're gonna love this one, guys," Hardison insists, still slightly jumping as his fingers fly over the keyboard.

Before he can pull up whatever he's trying to do, he stops suddenly and makes a sound not unlike some of those that Eliot has inflicted. The others look up in sync, instantly worried.

"I.." Hardison begins, before giving them a look of such panic that Eliot is on his feet just as Hardison passes out. The hitter catches the brunt of the fall and lays Hardison carefully on the floor, while checking his pulse.

"He's alive," Eliot growls out, "Call 911."

"Already on it," Nate says, and sure enough, his phone is at his ear."

"911, what's your emergency?"

Eliot hears the faint voice of the operator as he monitors Hardison's breathing. Parker is frozen in place, paler than he's ever seen her.

"Parker."Eliot's voice is demanding enough to break through her fog. "I need you to go dig up one of Hardison's aliases. He's gonna need it for the hospital." When she hesitates, he raises his voice slightly. "Go."

Parker scrambles up and begins to search through Hardison's things. Eliot knows that Hardison has at least three different ID's in his wallet alone, but he doesn't need to tell Parker that. The girl needs a distraction.

The sound of sirens comes a lot faster than they expected and Hardison is being wheeled away before they can even process it all. Parker climbs in the ambulance after him, and the glare she gives the EMT's is enough to stop them from protesting as they work on stabilizing Hardison's vitals.

And they wait. And wait. And wait and wait and wait. It's been hours. It's been nearly 5 hours since they first arrived.

"What did they say?" Sophie asks, searching their faces. She notices that Eliot is gripping Parker's hand tightly, and it would be cute if it weren't for the circumstance.

"All we know is that his appendix burst, and they were taking him to surgery. That was hours ago." Nate smiles grimly.

"Oh," is all Sophie can really say.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Parker asks suddenly, "I thought you were in Europe."

"I was in New York for the weekend," Sophie explains, "Shopping."

Parker lets out a slightly hysterical laugh that catches in her throat and makes her cough until tears roll down her face. Eliot rubs her back soothingly until she catches her breath.

They're spared further awkwardness by the appearance of a tall doctor who looks incredibly tired and asks for the family of Roy Smith.

"That's us!" Sophie says at once, standing to meet the doctor. The others stare in wonder for a moment before joining her, forming a semi circle around the increasingly intimidated doctor.

She smiles at the little group kindly, "First of all. Roy is going to be just fine."

Four breaths are released simultaneously, followed by four similar nervous chuckles.

Parker moves away, pulling Eliot with her, leaving Nate and Sophie to finish up with the doctor.

"Don't you want to know what's happening?" Eliot asks as he allows himself to be led to the cafeteria. He figures they both need some coffee.

Parker stares at him, wide eyed, "She said Hardison will be fine. That's all that matters."

Eliot barks out a laugh against his will. Leave it to Parker to simplify everything to its basic truth. In the end, Hardison being ok is all that matters.

"Yeah," he agrees, "We should get him some candy for when he wakes up, you know how he gets when he doesn't get his sugar."

Parker grins before pulling out several tiny and brightly wrapped packages from her pockets, "Already done."

Eliot sighs. Parker would find a way to steal candy in a hospital. He just hopes she didn't take from the children's ward.

It's not until many hour later that Hardison finally opens his eyes. He blinks blearily, trying to sort out the scene in front of him. The team is surrounding him, slumped in chairs, fast asleep. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, Hardison wonders how they managed to sneak four chairs into one hospital room, but he figures Eliot probably charmed or intimidated somebody. That, or Parker just took them and dared anyone to try and stop her. His own thoughts stop him, as he realizes what he's seeing.

Four chairs. There are four chairs. Four chairs filled with his team, and only one of them seats a girl with long blonde hair. His eyes drift over each of them, ignoring the twinge he feels as he notices Parker's hand in Eliot's. He moves on to Nate, whose neck is bent at an angle that can't be comfortable, and will surely hurt when he wakes up. Finally his eyes land on Sophie. Mascara tear tracks streak her face and her skin is blotchy and sleep lined from resting on her hands. Hardison thinks she's never been so beautiful.

A nurse appears suddenly to check on him, and stops short at the sight of the four sleepers.

"You're only supposed to have one person in here at a time," she tells him gently as makes her medical notes.

"Please," Hardison rasps, voice raw, "Please just let them stay. Please."

The nurse nods minutely, "I never saw them. Now get some rest."

Hardison nods.

"They've been here the whole time, you know," she adds as she's leaving, "You've got yourself some amazing friends."

Hardison grins widely, even though it makes his head hurt, "They're my family," he insists.

The nurse just smiles before clicking the door shut as she leaves.

"So are you gonna stay this time?" Hardison cuts straight to the chase, effectively trapping Sophie into responding.

He's been home from the hospital for over a week, and nobody's said a damn thing about what's going to happen next. He's more than a little stir crazy.

"I don't know," Sophie admits, looking more vulnerable than Hardison can remember seeing her.

They're all in Nate's living room once again, Hardison having called a meeting. Nate had laughed and asked since when did Hardison call meetings, but his uncharacteristic somberness had been enough to make Nate relent.

"You need to stay," Parker says quietly. "Everything is wrong when you're not here."

"It's true," Hardison agrees, "We do stupid things when you aren't around, like get our appendix burst and stuff."

"And sleep with Tara," Eliot mumbles before he can stop himself.

"Hardison, you cannot actually expect me to believe my existence would have stopped you appendix… wait, did you say you slept with Tara?" Sophie quickly turns to face Eliot who has the decency to look ashamed.

"Maybe," he mumbles even quieter, but refuses to drop his gaze.

"See? Stupid." Nate points out, gesturing to Eliot.

"We need you," Hardison says, and he looks so young in that instant that Sophie can't help but wrap him in a hug.

"Didn't you miss us at all?" Parker asks, the anger as well as the hurt evident in her face.

Sophie sighs, "Sweetie, of course I missed you. I missed every one of you, every day. This just… isn't about you. At least, not entirely."

"We need you," Hardison repeats firmly before seating himself next to Parker on the couch. Eliot's still sprawled in the chair, a consciously calm expression on his face.

Sophie speaks. "Did you all miss me?" she asks, but her eyes are boring into Nate's alone. The younger members of the team don't even bother responding, they know what she's asking for. What she needs.

Nate can't quite look her in the eyes, but he mutters something unintelligibly.

"What was that?" Sophie asks, moving close, tilting up Nate's head with her finger.

"I missed you," Nate says only an octave higher, but he's finally looking her in the eyes.

Her lips twitch, but Sophie doesn't smile, not yet. Instead, she keeps looking at Nate, staring him down, daring him to take it back.

He doesn't. "I missed you," Nate repeats, louder this time. "We need you. I need you. Stay."

Sophie grins, something bright and earnest and entirely unexpected from the actress.

"I don't know…" Nate begins, but Sophie cuts him off.

"It doesn't matter," she says, "We'll figure it out. I just needed to know that you wanted me to come back." She looks around, "all of you," she adds quickly to the others, though they all know it's Nate she's speaking to.

Nate just blushes slightly, saying nothing. Wanting Sophie has never been the problem. Before he can change his mind, he tugs Sophie into a brief hug, smiling when she relaxes into him for just an instant.

They part and turn to face the others, who have lined up on the couch and are staring at the older members with eerily similar expressions. It's Eliot who finally breaks the silence.

"We are all gonna need so much therapy," he groans, dropping his head to his hands.

"Ooh! Sophie was a therapist!" Parker exclaims, excitedly. "We could like… role play!"

Hardison nearly chokes, he's laughing so hard and Eliot just groans into his hands again.

"We don't need therapy," Nate says, rolling his eyes, "This is actually pretty close to normal, for us anyway."

"Us?" Sophie questions, smirking slightly.

Nate stutters, "Us, you know, us," he waves his arm across the room, gesturing at them all. "Our little… whatever this is."

"You know what this is," Hardison grins up at him.

"Our team," Nate replies stubbornly, left standing alone when Sophie goes to perch on the couch arm by Hardison.

"Close," says Parker, and she's looking at him like she's really seeing him, into his soul. It freaks him out more than he cares to admit.

He realizes that there's only two ways this can end. Hide in his stubbornness and fear and possibly lose everything again, or take a step forward for once and hope for the best.

"Family," Nate sighs, but with clear endearment. "Our…family." The others just stare. "Happy, now?" He asks, crossing his arms across his chest and waits.

And when Nate finds himself with an armful of hugging Parker, he only pretends to be annoyed for a moment before squeezing her back.

Still sitting, Sophie wonders idly when Parker became so… affectionate, but doesn't dwell on it. She's missed a lot these past months, and now all she wants to do is settle back in and get to know her family again. But first things first.

She turns to Eliot. "So, Tara. Seriously?"

Eliot glares, "Shut up."

Sophie just smiles. It's good to be home.

THE END

Good god I am a sap. With that, carry on. :D