Title: Raison D'être

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or its characters and I make no profit from this.

Spoilers: None. This belongs only to the universe in my head, and has nothing to do with what's going on in the show. I also make no claims as to whether or not it's in character.

Pairing: Nate/Parker

Author's note: I do still write, but now I work full time so it's harder. I recently found this on my computer; it was written back before I had 40 hour weeks. I thought the few other N/P fans out there might enjoy it along with me.

This is dedicated to Leverage3621 who inspired me with her last story. Part 1 of 3.

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It had been three weeks. Three interminable weeks. Nate couldn't believe Parker had lasted that long with anyone. And the fact that he hated the guy on top of that? It was simply infuriating.

"I'm sick of your 'advice,' Nate," Parker complained. "Especially when it involves breaking into the apartment of the person I'm dating. Why can't you ever say anything nice about Lance?"

Nate didn't bother telling her it was because he didn't trust him. Besides, he thought breaking into Lance's apartment was, at the very least, crucial in determining the true character of the man.

"Nate," Sophie said, "you need to stop being so critical all the time. It's a very unflattering characteristic."

He narrowed his eyes at her. Why was she never on his side? Instead of trying to talk to Sophie, he turned back to Parker. "I'm not saying break up with him, I'm only saying to…take things slowly. Get to know him, Parker."

"I already know him quite well," she said succinctly. And it was true…at least in terms of how well you could know anyone after three weeks. Why was he trying to ruin this for her? The first ounce of happiness she'd had in – she couldn't say how long. Did Nate exist solely to make the rest of them miserable? Sometimes it seemed that way.

"He's French, Parker!" Nate exclaimed, as if that were a reason not to trust him, or something.

"And?" She demanded, inordinately happy when he didn't have anything else to add. "He's a nice guy. Do you have something against them?"

"Not at all, I mean, I'm a nice guy!" The looks he received from Parker and Sophie at that statement told him they might not agree. He should have realized, by now, they wouldn't show any common sense on the subject. "Parker, all I'm saying is to be careful. Look out for yourself."

"I've been doing that forever," she said, somewhat bitterly, "I don't need you to remind me."

He threw up his hands in a symbol of defeat. "Fine, go ahead, don't listen to me. What's the worst that could happen? Yeah, go ahead and get as serious with him as you possibly can. He could be a criminal, for all we know, but who cares."

"You mean a criminal…like us?" She asked, as he didn't answer. She honestly had no idea why he was acting this way. Ever since she'd started seeing Lance, he'd disapproved, with critical comments every day, about faults that were mainly a product of Nate's imagination. "I have to go or else I'll be late meeting him for dinner," Parker said, turning to the other woman in the room. "Sophie, please try to talk some sense into him?" With that she left, sparing Nate one more annoyed glance before leaving.

"I don't know why I have to be the peacekeeper," Sophie complained, once Parker had shut the door behind her.

"You don't," Nate said, irritated. "Parker's making her own bad decisions. Let her make them. She'll learn soon or later."

Sophie mentally rolled her eyes; she'd been hearing variations of that same line for weeks now. She didn't know what Nate's problem was with Lance, but she wished he'd get over it already, because she was damn sick of listening to him complain. She turned the volume up on the TV, hoping he'd take the hint and stop talking.

Another fifteen minutes passed with Nate tapping his foot impatiently and Sophie trying as hard as possible to ignore him. Finally he jumped up. "I'm hungry, let's go to dinner."

"Really? Didn't you eat like two hours ago?"

"So what? It was like…an appetizer. I want to go somewhere nice."

"You never want to go anywhere nice," Sophie said, not taking her eyes off the TV.

He'd already gotten their coats. "Can't two friends go out to have a nice dinner in a nice restaurant without one of them grilling the other about it?"

"Not when it's us," Sophie told him. He really should have seen that answer coming.

In response he held her coat out and waited.

"Fine," she said, "but on one condition."

He hesitated only a few seconds. "Alright."

"If we go out, we're going to talk, Nate. Have you noticed we don't talk much anymore? You never open up to me."

"There's a reason for that," he muttered as she took her coat and put it on.

While they walked down to the street, he checked his phone. She guessed he was looking for nice restaurants in the area.

"Where are we going?" She asked as he hailed a cab.

"L'Espalier," he said, both to her and the cab driver.

"How are we going to get in there without reservations at this time of night?" Sophie asked. "Are you going to make me seduce the maître d'?"

"Only if you want to," he smirked.

Since it was a Wednesday night, it turned out that it wasn't as busy as Sophie had thought. She waited while Nate slipped the maître d' a fifty and watched while they had a conversation that Sophie thought was a bit too long. Was she forgetting something important? It wasn't her birthday, and she didn't know why else Nate would be requesting special accommodations. She'd figure it out eventually, she was sure. He had promised they would talk tonight.

They were led to a small, intimate table near the back of the restaurant. Despite how many diners were present, they were pretty well-hidden. She enjoyed the sense of privacy. After they were told the specials, the waiter disappeared to get the wine Nate requested.

"This is actually very nice, Nate," Sophie was strangely impressed – which made her immediately suspicious. "You never go to this much trouble when we go out."

He appeared uncomfortable at her words. "I told you I wanted to have a nice dinner."

They made small talk for a few minutes until the waiter brought their wine and poured them each a glass. Sophie felt something was off, though. Nate wasn't acting like himself. Coming to this expensive restaurant was an aberration in and of itself – to have him acting bizarre only heightened her sense that something was wrong.

Come to think of it, he'd been acting strange the entire night, back to before they even left his apartment. On top of that, he kept looking around the restaurant, as if waiting for something. He couldn't be… "Nate, this isn't a romantic dinner, is it?"

He nearly choked on his wine. "What? No! God no!"

"It's okay, Nate," she said, reaching over to pat his hand reassuringly. "It takes a lot to get over me, I understand."

"No, Sophie, it's not what you think," he tried, but she wasn't listening to him.

"Take as much time as you need. Granted, it's been a long time already, but…I don't blame you. Really, I'm not mad."

"Sophie –"

"It's just that bringing me here, going to the trouble to make it a romantic evening, it's a bit over the top, Nate. Maybe you should be focusing on someone else? Have you thought about dating again? It might help you get over –"

"Sophie!" He yelled. "I'm not interested in you!"

She drew back, offended. "Be a little more vehement."

"I didn't mean it like that," he explained. "It's just…didn't we put that issue to rest over a year ago?"

"Exactly," she said. "Which is why I had to bring it up. I can tell something's going on, Nate. I mean you brought me out to this fancy restaurant, and you're not yourself." Even as she spoke, he glanced around again. "What do you keep looking for?"

He turned back to her immediately. "Nothing. Let's order."

She let it go – for the moment. They both decided on their entrées and after they'd placed their order, silence fell over the table. Usually she and Nate could settle into comfortable silence. They weren't the type to always need to talk about random things, and she found it strange that, suddenly, the silence between them felt unnatural.

"I'm going to wash my hands," she said. "When I get back, we are going to talk."

"Wait, Sophie –" he reached out to try and stop her but she had already stood. It was too late.

"That's strange," Sophie commented, leaning back down to speak in his ear. "Parker and Lance are over there."

"What? Where?" He asked, in an entirely unconvincing way, which Sophie obviously noticed.

"Oh my god!" She gasped, quickly dropping back into her seat. "Nathan Ford! Why did you bring me here? So you could spy on them?"

"No!" He argued. "Keep your voice down, they might hear us."

"Nate." Her tone was deadly and he immediately knew that his promise earlier to talk to her was going to be one he sorely regretted. "How did you find them? Parker didn't tell us where she was going – wait, your phone. You tracked her!"

How could he deny something that was completely true? "Um…no, I didn't?"

"Nate!" She yelled, ignoring his attempts to shush her again. "What is wrong with you?"

He had to get her on his side before she made an even bigger scene. "Okay, I admit it. I can track all of you by your cell phones."

"Does she know this?"

"You didn't, so I'm guessing no. Then again, with Parker, who knows?"

"That still doesn't explain why we're here," Sophie said. If he'd known she'd be this upset, he would have considered explaining his plan to her beforehand. Then again, if he'd done so, she probably would have refused to come.

Nate really didn't find it fair he had only a few minutes to explain before Sophie stormed out – or worse, over to Parker's table. "I have a bad feeling about this guy, and I tried to talk to her about it, but she wouldn't listen to me! Therefore, I've had to resort to these types of measures to keep an eye on her."

"Come on," she sighed.

"Really, Sophie, the guy's creepy! You can't deny it."

"From where I'm sitting, you're the creepy one," she pointed out. "Nate, this is stalking!"

"No, it's not," he insisted, "we just happened upon the same restaurant where Parker and Lance were having dinner. That's not unusual."

"You're right, that's not unusual – if it were true! You planned this whole thing. You followed her, and now you're spying on her."

Of course Sophie was only focusing on the negative aspect of things. "It's for her own good," he insisted, glancing around Sophie to where Parker was laughing along with Lance at their table on the other side of the room. God, he hated that guy.

"And to think I believed you when you said you wanted to spend a nice evening with me," she threw her napkin at him, just barely missing his glass of wine.

"Soph, I'm sorry I lied to you," he said, contritely.

She heard, from his tone, that he was sincere. That didn't mean she would automatically forgive him though. Wait a minute… "Your discussion with the maître d', you were asking for a table where you could watch her, weren't you?"

He may as well admit it, since she'd already figured it out. "In my defense, after everything I already did tonight, how can you find that any more objectionable?"

"Your defense is that...you've already done so many questionable things tonight, I should overlook it? That's a terrible defense," she told him.

He shrugged. "I didn't claim it was any good."

"She's gonna find out, Nate. Maybe you're forgetting that she's clueless about some things, but not observational skills! I bet she spotted us the minute we came in the room."

He hadn't really thought about that, but Sophie did have a good point. Still, maybe they'd gotten lucky. "I think if she had seen us, she would have come over by –"

"How can I help you folks this evening?" Parker asked cheerfully as she stood next to their table.

Sophie's eyes widened in question and Nate shook his head. He hadn't seen her come over, either.

"Wow, Parker, strange running into you here!" Sophie tried, feigning surprise.

"Yeah, um, do you work here?" Nate asked.

"Oh, this little act you two are doing, that's sweet," Parker said. The saccharine disappeared from her voice as she dropped to her knees next to them at the edge of the table, so they wouldn't be as easily overheard. "What are you two doing here?" She hissed.

"We're out to dinner," Sophie said innocently. "Why are you here?"

"Don't give me that. You two followed me, didn't you?" She glanced back and forth between them as they both talked over each other, trying to deny it.

Sophie was more insistent in her denials, and Parker thought she sounded guilty. Nate, however, couldn't look her in the eye.

"No…not both of you. You!" She said, turning to Nate. "I should have known, after all your 'warnings' about Lance. You think you know everything, and now what? You're treating me like a child by following me around? Keeping tabs on me? You're both better than that."

"Hey, I'm trying to help you," Nate told her. "Parker, something about him doesn't feel right."

He sounded genuinely concerned, worried even. Her voice softened slightly in response. "He's a good guy, Nate. Maybe you don't think so, but that's not your decision to make."

"If you would let me explain –" he began, but as with every other time he tried, she didn't want to hear it.

"I'm still mad at you. Both of you," she added, turning to Sophie.

"I was brought into this against my will," Sophie exclaimed. "Don't blame me for being dragged into stalking you."

Parker sighed in frustration and stood up again. "I'll let it go this time, but you two better finish your meal and then leave. So help me, Nate, if I see you hanging around outside my building or –"

"Parker, if you'd look at this rationally –" he tried.

"No," she hissed. "No, Nate, you do not get to talk to me about rationality! You're practically a step away from a restraining order, so I think you better follow my advice. Which is to leave me alone, from now on."

He knew he should simply agree with her, whether he meant it or not. But for some reason… "I'm sorry, Parker, I just can't do that."

She honestly didn't know what to say to that. She settled for grabbing the arm of the nearest waiter. "My friends here have offered to pay my bill for tonight, isn't that generous of them?" She nodded to Nate and Sophie.

"It certainly is, ma'am," he said, glancing at Nate who sighed and nodded. The waiter went off to change their bills, and Parker returned to her table with Lance. Nate wondered if that was a sign of her giving in – or of getting ready to call the police.

Sophie didn't want to wait around to find out, as she flagged down their waiter and told him to bring their meals to go.

"Hmm, Sophie," Nate said examining the bill they got a few minutes later, "here you go."

"You are not serious," she cried, "you want me to pay? For your crazy little excursion?"

"I'll pay you back," he waved her off, "just tell Hardison to take it from an expense account."

"I am never going anywhere with you again," she swore, practically throwing a credit card at their flustered waiter.

"Why is everyone in such a bad mood tonight?" He called after her as she swept out of the restaurant. His eyes wandered back to Parker and Lance, who looked as sickeningly happy as they had earlier in the night. And now he was paying for it.

The only consolation he had was that it wouldn't last long, if he had anything to say about it.

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TBC - 2 more parts, posted as soon as I subject them to my editing, which shouldn't be long. The story is already done.