A/N: This is my first Leverage fanfic, so please tell me how I did. I'm still struggling to get the characters perfect, so any pointers would be greatly appreciated. PS Italics are music lyrics.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. No Leverage, none of the music/lyrics.
Before joining the team, music had been practically non-existent to Parker. The idea of noise in her ear would distract her, and she couldn't have that while cracking a safe or escaping through an air vent, not to mention how tangled the cords of earphones got with any miniscule movement. But, occasionally, she would be somewhere public and the radio would be on in the background, but she rarely paid attention.
Once she joined the team, though, her naivety was slowly exploited. She got a glimpse of Eliot's country background when they conned the crooked record executive and grew to appreciate his style of music. Along with what seemed like the rest of the world, she had been surprised and wooed at Sparky's crooning voice and emotion, both of which she had never before seen from her friend.
And speaking of unknown talent, Hardison had shocked all of them with his heartbreaking performance weeks before that when he had played, albeit supposedly under a spell or whatever Nate had called it. Her pretzels, playing a piece of wood (that oddly resembled a fiddle) had caused her chest to get all tight and her heart had sped up despite how slow and beautiful the music had been. After everything had gone down and the bad guys got caught, she had smothered him in a hug, her hands and feet tingling from excitement, partially because of his music, and partially because she had gotten to hold some very shiny, expensive rocks, always a plus to any day.
Hardison also tended to listen to his music to unwind after a job. Whenever they would walk home together, Alec would give her one of his earphones and they would walk side by side. He would sometimes try to talk really fast to drums along with the noise playing in her ear. He called it "rap" and "hip hop" and when she had asked, he had insisted that rapping was just as much music as Eliot's "hill billy ballads". How anyone could call someone talking so fast that you couldn't understand them to some loud banging music was beyond her, and all she could do was giggle when Hardison tried to keep up.
And even Sophie occasionally pulled out the old CD player that Nate kept stored in his apartment somewhere and would turn on some music while Eliot was cooking dinner. Usually Sophie's music reminded her of some of the romantic movies she had seen set in places like Italy and Rome. Parker found no joy in listening to, what she pictured, were old fat men with curly black mustaches belting out random notes in a foreign language. But when there were no human voices, just the twang of a guitar or the rattle of what Sophie called maracas, she was okay with it.
She had never heard Nate listen to any kind of music, so when she walked into the older man's apartment and heard something besides the talking of her teammates, she assumed it was Hardison.
And folks dressed up like Eskimos…
"What's that noise?" she asked curiously, sitting on her friend's lap and peering into the bright computer screen, searching for her answer.
"Well, hey to you too, mama."
Tiny tots, with their eyes all aglow…
"Seriously, what is that?" The blonde thief insisted again, turning to look at Hardison.
"I'm tellin ya it ain't me, girl. It ain't coming from my laptop. It's playin in the kitchen."
"Oh, uh, right." she muttered as she stood and slinked off to the adjacent room. Hardison just lightly chuckled, shook his head, and turned back to his computer screen.
…If reindeer really know how to fly…
Upon entry of the room in question, Parker noticed three things. One, there was an odd smell coming from a burning candle sitting on the countertop.
Two, there were several worn down cardboard boxes sitting next to the door, the top of which was pried open and apparently stuffed full of gold rope-like strands of something shiny.
And three, Eliot was sitting in front of the counter, versus behind it where he usually stood while cooking, with a plate piled with a haphazard stack of pancakes sitting next to him. After her initial scan of the room and its oddities noted, she found the music-emitting box sitting tucked on the far corner of the island bar.
…Merry Christmas to you
The song ended, and another began before Eliot acknowledged the blonde.
"What're you doin'?" Eliot said gruffly after she had walked across the kitchen and sat on the countertop, staring at the CD player. He had a half empty cup of cold coffee in front of him, and an unfinished crossword puzzle under his left elbow.
Silent night, Holy night…
"Parker?" Eliot prodded lightly.
All is calm, All is bright…
"What is this?" she asked softly.
"That's a cd player, Parker. It plays music and the radio." He said as if he was talking to a three year old.
She twisted to look skeptically at him and had the urge to stick out her tongue. "I know that." She slid across the granite top and plopped into the chair next to Eliot, instantly reaching for a pancake and munching on it before asking. "What is that music? It sounds funny. I've never heard stuff like that."
Anyone else would have stuttered and been shocked that Parker had never heard Christmas music, but Eliot had found that anything could happen with Parker.
"It's called 'Silent Night'. It's a Christmas carol."
Parker considered his words with a mouthful of peanut butter and pancake, then responded. "It's pretty."
Eliot huffed in reply. Hardison suddenly walked through the kitchen, his laptop in tow, and grabbed a pack of gummy frogs from the drawer beside the fridge before walking back around and sitting next to Parker. There was comfortable silence except for the music for a few moments.
Sleep in heavenly peace…
"So who turned it on? We've never had Christmas music playing here before, have we? Cuz I don't remember ever hearing that player play anything but Sophie's romantic mushy stuff."
Two muttered "not me"s from either side of her made her role her eyes just as Sophie walked into the kitchen.
"What's up?" she asked curiously after grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and bracing her elbows on the countertop.
"Parker's trying to find out who turned on the Christmas music." Hardison said distractedly as his fingers flew over his keyboard, his shoulders hunched over as he leaned into the screen, as if hoping getting closer would pull him entirely inside the virtual world.
"Oh that? Nate and I were pulling out some of his old holiday decorations last night and I found a stash of CD's. Nate put one on this morning. Josh Groban's voice is simply magical." She smiled at Parker.
Parker looked confused for a moment, then her eyes lit in understanding.
"Oh, so Nate's music is Christmas music." She stated.
Sophie opened her mouth to retort, but the familiar tapping of feet on the metal stairs made her close her mouth.
Glories stream from heaven afar…
Nate walked into the kitchen, curly blonde hair tousled as usual. He opened the door of the fridge, looked around, and shut the door empty handed. He walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a mug before realizing that the four other people in the room were completely silent, leaving only the Christmas CD he had put on earlier to fill the absence.
With the dawn of redeeming grace…
"What?" he asked when he noticed three of the four were looking at him.
"So is your music songs like this? Cuz I don't think it fits very well."
"Huh? Sophie what is she talking about?" Nate asked the grifter.
"I have no idea Nate." She swooned as she moved closed to the confused man and turned to look at the thief.
"In order for it to be your music, it has to fit your personality and you have to listen to it all the time. It's a part of you. Well, you know how Eliot's music is country, and Hardison's music is Hip Hop, and Sophie's is romantic stuff? Well, is yours Christmas music?" she asked simply.
Nate looked taken aback, and then stated. "No."
"And thank all heaven for dat. I would never be able to listen to Christmas music year round. It gets annoyin' after a while." Hardison said without looking up.
Parker pouted at him. "How can you hate it? It's so pretty and happy."
"My Nana used to start playin' Christmas tunes in September. Sep-tem-ber! By November I'd be singin' Jingle Bells in my sleep. I can barely stand it for one month, not five!"
Eliot raised an eyebrow, and Parker just shook her head.
"Well, if it isn't Christmas music, what is your music?" Parker asked curiously.
Nate considered it for a moment, then said, "Jazz."
Nate looked to Sophie for approval, and the grifter was smiling so he took that as a good sign.
…Jesus, Lord at Thy birth
After a few minutes, Eliot spoke up. "What's your music then, Parker?"
The thief beamed at the question. "Well, first it was the Pink Panther theme song, but then it was Pirates of the Caribbean theme, but since Christmas music isn't taken,"
Hardison looked up in horror.
"..it's mine now. I like it." She stood and walked away with a mischievous grin.
"Oh no. Aw HEWL no." He whined. When the speakers from the TV set began blaring a jazzy rendition of 'Silver Bells' he visibly flinched. "Nate, what have you done?" He cried as he stood up and raced to turn off Parker's music. Hardison's desperate cries were drowned out by the music as he chased Parker to grab the remote from her hand. Elion glanced at the two behind the counter before grinning and walking into the living room to get a better view at the chaos.
Nate shifted and Sophie leaned into his arms, leaning into him as he pulled her close.
"Seriously, Nate, what have you done?" She asked quietly as she watched the three younger people wrestling on the floor, the two boys trying to pull the small remote from Parker's hand. But every time one of them got a good grip, the remote would quickly disappear and Parker would laugh.
Nate rested his cheek on her soft hair. "These are your kids, not mine." He winced when her elbow nudged his ribs, and he chuckled. "We," he specified, "have created a monster."
She turned and looked up at him, her eyes resting on his lips for a moment before settling on his eyes. "Good thing they earn their keep."
Sophie pushed onto her tip toes and Nate leaned down, their breaths on each other's lips before a triumphant, "AH-HA!" startled them and they each pulled back, staring at the scene before them.
Parker stood on top of a tangled mess of dark and light limbs, the remote in her raised right hand as she posed in victory. Eliot and Hardison caught each other's eyes and both slightly nodded. They reached up as one, and tugged the blonde girl into their heap on the floor, and the fight for the remote began again just as Justin Bieber's 'Mistletoe' began playing. Hardison's wail made both Sophie and Nate laugh, and Parker shrieked in delight.
"What are we going to do with them?" Nate whispered and turned to the woman in his arms. Sophie was fixated on something above his head, and he grinned as he looked up. Sophie's seductive grin made his heart pound.
"Is that, is that Mistletoe? Who could have put that there?" Sophie teased.
"Parker…" Nate muttered as their lips touched, and they kissed, the laughter of their three "children" and the music of Christmas filling their ears.