This story practically wrote itself. It was inspired by an episode of Doc Martin because Martin and Lousia are just too cute (and Lousia was trying to make fish but burned herself.) I hope you guys enjoy it because it is one of my favorites that I've written in a while. It takes place in season 3 sometime before The Gone Fishing Job…but not to much before. I don't own Leverage.

It Starts With Fish

Sophie checked on the fish in the oven. It still wasn't done. God, Nate was supposed to be here any minute. If it wasn't done when he got here she was going to look like a complete fool. She still needed time to get ready though. Her hair was a mess and she wasn't even in nice clothes. If she left the fish though it would probably burn. Damn her mothers recipe for saying it needed to be broiled.

"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?" Sophie pulled at her hair and paced back and forth. She checked it again. 3 minutes till 5:30. She couldn't get ready in three minutes. Why was she even so worried about it? It was just dinner as friends!

~FLASHBACK~

Eliot was chopping onions in the kitchen while watching The Food Network. Sophie came in munching on some pretzels.

"What're they making?"

"Fish," Eliot replied gruffly as he slid the onions into a bowl.

Sophie snorted. "Fish? I bet it's not as good as mine."

Nate looked at her curiously as he walked into the kitchen to get another drink. "Really?"

"What? I have a secret recipe. Best fish you'll ever have."

Eliot chuckled. "Sophie, sweetie, you can't cook."

"I can to cook! Just because there were a few...mishaps when I cooked here doesn't mean anything," Sophie said smally. There goes another bruise on her fragile ego again.

Eliot opened his mouth to remind her about another failure.

"We didn't have any oil here it's not my fault!" She defended before he could even speak. Then she turned to Nate. "Would you try it?"

"Yeah of course I'd try it," He replied without hesitation.

"Tomorrow: 5:30?"

His jaw dropped open and he stuttered a little. "Um, yeah..d-dinner together...sounds good. It's not like a, uh, a-"

"No, of course not. Just dinner as friends," She paused and then smiled. "Well actually me showing off-" she shot Eliot a glare "-my cooking skills."

"Awe-awesome. I'll see you at 5:30."

Then Parker popped in. "Oh, are you two going on a date? It took you long enough!"

"No. It's just dinner as friends." The two adults replied together.

"Yeah right," Eliot and Parker mocked.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

She gave up! Quickly she grabbed the fish out and set it down on the counter. If she was lucky he'd be a few minutes late. She ran into the bathroom and touched up her make up in a minute. Her hair was a mess still so she threw it up into a ponytail. As she ran into her bathroom she tripped and her box of glass bottles clanked around, some of them falling over. She swore under her breath and quickly changed into her black pin straight skirt that accentuated her curves. As she rummaged around in her closet the boxes on the top shelf fall down, creating quite the ruckus.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Sophie kicked everything out of the way and grabbed the first shirt her hand touched. She threw her shirt off to the side and fumbled to get it off the hanger.

"Oh! Shit! Sorry, I-I-I didn't know you were in here," Nate exclaimed, but didn't look away because he couldn't force himself to.

Sophie nearly jumped out of her skin. "What the fuck?" She covered herself with her shirt. "You don't just walk into people's houses let alone their rooms."

"You didn't answer my first two knocks and there was some clashing and banging and I thought maybe you were hurt. I didn't think I was going to walk in on you changing your shirt," Nate spewed out all in one breath. They were both thoroughly embarrassed now.

"Get out of my room!"

"Oh! Right!" He quickly rushed away.

Sophie threw on her shirt. She didn't even know what the shirt looked like or said; her mind was too scrambled to care. Trying to gather a calm composure she walked back out. "I appreciate the concern but can you call my name next time before you come barging into my room?"

"S-sorry about that. I'll make sure to do it next time," Nate said without looking at her. "I brought wine if you wanted any."

Sophie smiled despite herself. "Oh, good."

Nate looked at her but his eyes fell to her shirt. "Interesting shirt." It looked like a magazine cover (only black and white) and showed the back of a naked person with the words "sex" in huge bold across the top.

She looked down. "Oh," her eyes went wide, "I was in too much of a rush to pick one out." She laughed nervously and tucked a piece of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. "Food's done if you'd like to eat now."

He smiled at her. "Good. I'm starving." Without even asking he got up to get two wine glasses. Sophie turned around to grab something, bumping into him.

"Oh, watch it honey or you might get burned!" Sophie exclaimed. "The pans still hot."

He stepped aside. "I'll be more careful next time." As she walked past him and her back was turned he looked at her strangely. Did she really just call him honey? He followed her into the dinning room to see the table was set for the two of them. It wasn't romantic but it was...a little bit.

Sophie set the food down and brushed her hands on her skirt. "I am going to go change my shirt...again." Nate nodded. She left and changed into a white blouse that buttoned up. Before she went back she stopped in the bathroom and took the ponytail out of her hair, brushing it. Then she added some product before rushing back out. Nate looked at her curiously.

"You changed your hair?"

"Hm? Oh yeah," She smiled and sat down, "I didn't like having it up."

"Well, cheers then," He held up his glass of wine. Sophie clinked her glass with his.

"Cheers."

They both took a long drink. Sophie got her own food and got Nate his (despite his gentlemen-ly protests.) She waited for him to take the first bite, biting her lip nervously. He didn't wait for her and took the first bite of the fish. It was delicious.

"What's the recipe to this?" He asked after he swallowed his food.

"It's a secret," She smiled a little seductively and took a bite of her own food. "Don't think you'll get the recipe because I'm not going to give it to you."

He chuckled. "Maybe I'll steal it from you."

She rolled her eyes but smiled anyways. A large portion of the meal was spent in silence as they ate the delicious food. Nates eyes kept drifting over to Sophie's shirt. They way she was sitting had it pulled tightly around her and he could see her red lacy bra through the shirt. When he had walked in the image and had been burned into the back of his eyelids.

"Okay, Nate, stop it!"

He snapped his eyes up. "Hm?"

"Will you quit staring?" She buttoned her shirt up more and shot him a slightly disgusted look.

"Oh," he cleared his throat in embarrassment, "sorry."

There was another length of silence until they finished their food. "Hey...are we ever gonna talk about that kiss?"

She sighed and set her fork down. "What's there to talk about?"

"I don't know...I guess I was just wondering if it..." He tried to search for the right word. "I was wondering if it meant something to you."

"Well of course it meant something to me!" She blurted out. Oops.

"What did it mean to you?"

"I-I..." She took a deep breath and finished her wine. "It meant to me that you wanted me to know how much you loved me before you went to jail." Her face burned after she said it. Why was it so hot in here?

"That's correct but not what I was looking for. I meant what did it mean to you...how did you feel?"

"Listen Nate, um, you should probably go now...you're doing that thing." She got up and grabbed her dish. The night had been awkward to say the least...and quite boring in her perspective. As she went into the kitchen Nate followed her.

"What thing?" He asked cluelessly.

"You're analyzing and over analyzing the situation. You aren't letting your heart do some of the talking - you're letting the brain do all of it."

"Because I like to make logical, smart decisions about things!"

"Not in this case Nathan! Your handling a very fragile thing called love. When the brain becomes too overly involved or not involved enough it crushes it." She looked at him sternly. For a second the world seemed to stop. The two of them there together, balancing on the fine line of love and hate. "You want to know one of the reasons your marriage fell apart?"

"Humor me."

"Because you were doing the thing! You over analyzed things and you were such a control freak. Nothing could just flow. Everything was a plan...you tried too hard to make it work."

There was a beat of silence.

"That's why Maggie said you were horrible in bed! You were driven by your mind and it drove you too hard!"

"That was completely out of line for you to say!" Nate barked at her, his eyes boiling like blood.

"So it's out of line because I'm right?"

"I never said you were right. You can't judge me on something else someone says. I mean you don't even know anything about how I am in bed!"

Sophie took a step down and laughed a little. "Oh, that's what you're mad about?"

"Yes! It irritates me a lot."

"I'm sorry," She said softly, taking a step towards him.

"You're what?"

"It was out of line of me. I don't the first thing about how you are in bed." She smiled playfully and seductively at him. He looked confused. Slowly she reached up and wrapped her arms and kissed him slowly. "I could find out though."

"Or I could torture you and make you wait," He said as he went to step back.

Sophie let her hands drop and she grabbed his hips and pulled him back. He moaned. "Oh, what do we have here? Did I find your trigger spot already? Mmm...you're weak." She slid her hands up a little bit.

He growled at her and went to jerk back. She was having none of that and pulled him back. "Uh-uh-uh you can't leave and make me wait. You'll just devise a plan and then chicken out."

Nate glared at her, his eyes a fiery dark blue now. "You think you know everything about me, don-"

She kissed him when his mouth was open this time. Her tongue slipped in easily without having to deal with his frustratingly adamant resistance. She moaned when he responded quickly by kissing her back. The next thing she knew Nate picked her up and set her on the counter, never breaking the heated kiss. Her skirt rode up higher, and higher went Nates hand travelled up her thighs. As her hands took care of his shirt she moved to kiss his jaw line and neck. Every now and then she nip at the skin lightly to keep him just a little on edge. Her hands fumbled with the buttons as she got lower. The last thing she wanted to do was tell him that it had been a while for her so she focused and managed to the rest undone. She slipped the shirt from his shoulders and pulled his undershirt off.

"The counter's a bit uncivilized for our first...don't you think?"

"So know you're the voice of reason?" He mumbled but reluctantly picked her up and carried her to her room. She leaned up and whispered in his ear, telling him all the things she'd do to him. When she saw the control start to crumble in his eyes she grinned. He couldn't help it. Nor could she help the fact that she was mostly likely going to lose her sanity by the end of the night. Oh well. She had waited too long for this to just let it slip from her fingers.

~LEVERAGE~

Nate awoke slowly to the faint sound of birds. He blinked his eyes a few times until they focused, showing Sophies beautiful bare back. Her dark brown hair contrasted with her olive skin. He moved close and pressed himself up against her. One arm wrapped around her stomach and the other propped his head up. He pressed light kisses to her neck and shoulder. She stirred underneath him.

"Mmm..."

He purred in her ear and kissed her cheek. "G'morning."

Sophie rolled over and pressed a kiss to his lips, tugging his bottom lip in between her teeth. "Mmm...it's definitely a good morning."

"I guess that means last night wasn't a disaster."

Sophie smirked and ran her hand through his hair. "Last night was not a disaster at all." She let her hands slip down his chest and caress his lower stomach. He kissed her quickly.

"Maybe after breakfast," He murmured in a teasing voice, brushing the back of his hand over her rib cage.

"You're making me breakfast?"

"Of course."

She got out of bed and left for the kitchen. Nate watched her leave and then got out of bed. He looked around for his boxers on the floor, spotting them, and then putting them on. His jeans weren't too far away and he grabbed them and pulled them on aswell.

"Hey Soph can you grab my..." he trailed off when she walked in wearing his shirt. "Shirt..."

"I wasn't going to let you wear your shirt anyway," She shrugged and walked over to him. "Take your jeans off; I want you to wear something different."

"What? My underwear?" He looked at her a little confused.

She rolled her eyes and walked over to him, unbuttoning it and unzipping them. "No," her hands pushed them down, her eyes flicking down briefly. "Ooh, Nautica. I was too busy trying to get them off I didn't even look at the brand."

"And that matters to you why?" He asked as he stepped out of his jeans.

She shrugged again. "Wear these. I stole them from you a while back." Sophie pulled out a pair of his sweatpants from her closet and tossed them to him. He gave her a look but put them on. She frowned and pushed them down a little bit so she could see a little more then the waistband of his boxers. When she looked up she smiled and him. "There...oh...wait..." She reached up with both hands and messed with his hair a little bit before letting them slip down. Her hands held his face and she leaned up and kissed him passionately. "There. Now you are fit to make me breakfast."

"Did you really need to do that?"

"Well if you're making me breakfast I want you sexy and shirtless."

"And if I'm making you breakfast I want you in lingerie."

"But your shirt's so comfy!"

"Ah-ah-ah. What'd I say?"

"Fine," She grumbled. She unbuttoned his shirt and let it stay where she dropped it. As she looked around for the perfect piece she was keenly aware of Nates eyes on her naked body. "What is it with you and staring at me?"

"I'm not staring...I'm zoning out."

"Uh-huh..." Sophie finally found the piece and put it on. It was deep blue silk with lacy edges and covered up only as much as it really needed. "Okay. Now can we have breakfast?"

His eyes raked over her body. "Yep."

They both walked into the kitchen and Nate started getting out ingredients. Sophie took a seat on one of the bar stools at the island. Nate shirtless and sexy whilst making her breakfast was definitely one of her fantasies, and dear god was it just as good as she imagined. His agile hands moved quickly as he mixed flour, eggs, milk, and other ingredients. She smiled. A lot of the guys she had dated would've just made eggs or something easy. No...Nathan made her pancakes from scratch. And she just melted into a giant puddle and started giggling like a foolish schoolgirl (or fangirl is what Hardison called it.) Nate looked at her, something between a smirk and smile on his face.

"What's so funny?"

"Mmm, nothing," She said truthfully, grinning hugely.

"I'm sure of it you little liar," He joked and put some of the batter on her nose. She wiped it off and rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself.

"I really do have to ask this before I die of curiosity. You seem different...why?"

He shrugged. "Now, yeah, I'm different...but I guess it's because, like you said, I'm not letting my mind do all the thinking. Now when we get back to work...well...don't expect this."

"Why can't you find the balance Nate? You'd be so much more of a happy person."

"You know me Soph...you've known me. I have to focus on my work. I can't let things distract because if they do then I don't perform at my best. If I let..." He paused and thought about what he was going to say for a moment. "If people know that I cared for any of you they could use it as a liability. That's why we try to avoid characters that have strong emotional involvement in each other. Things will blow up."

As much as Sophie didn't want to admit he was right, he was. She traced patterns in the countertops boredly. "So...business as usual?"

"Soph," He set the bowl down and gave her a look, "can't you enjoy this? You can complain all you want about who I am and my decisions but you're the one that likes to poke the bear to get a reaction."

"Kiss me and I'll forgive you," Sophie commanded.

He smirked and walked over to kiss her. Her mouth was slow but forceful against his. When her hands fell to his hips and squeezed them, making him moan. Damn her. She moaned and let the kiss linger for a few more seconds before pulling away. "Okay, I forgive you."

"Good." He stole another kiss and then tested the batter. As he got a pan out and got it heating up he sat down across from Sophie. "You know we're going to need to talk...eventually."

"I know. But like you said: we should just enjoy this. Here. In the moment."

Nate smiled. That was really all he wanted. They chatted a little bit about whatever came to mind. Nate did his best not to talk about the job or the past. He tried to make the conversation light-hearted and, well, a little silly. The both smiled and laughed like a couple of dorks.

"You know what I don't get?" Nate said.

"What?"

"Whale poaching."

"No, Nate, I don't want to talk about that!"

"Just-just hear me out," He said, holding his hand up a bit. She nodded. "I mean they're always talking about lead killers of whales. As if there's competition! Number 1," his voice changed a little to impersonate a news anchor, "mankind. Number 2, the pelican with the machine gun. And a distant third, the lion on a jet ski."

Sophie laughed. "Okay, that's pretty funny."

He grinned. The pan had heated up by now so he got some pancakes cooking. Then he remembered something. "You know Sophie..." He walked over to her, "they say people that are ticklish are great in bed."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." He was behind her now and he started tickling her. She broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as she tried to squirm away from his hands.

"N-Nate, stop," She breathed in between laughing. He stopped. She tried to catch her breath, panting, and wiping tears from her eyes.

"You're really ticklish," Nate smiled at her.

"I know you bastard," She replied, although the name wasn't meant to be very hurtful.

Nate flipped the pancakes and watched them until they were done. Once he got another batch going Sophie got up and started tickling him for revenge. He tried to slap her hands away but he could stop the fit of laughter he was in.

"You are so weak," Sophie said roughly as she continued to tickle him. He managed to grab her by her hips and pull her close so she would stop tickling him. His body craved air but he also craved her lips. He kissed her, often breaking away to breathe. Sophie firmly put her hand on his chest and pushed him away. "Catch your breath. I don't want you passing out."

After he got his breathing under control the pancakes were done. He set her plate in front of her and stopped to kiss her. Then he sat back down across from her with his own plate. As they talked Nate found out Sophie had a love of vintage American cars and Sophie found out Nate could play cello very well. Once they were done eating Nate took care of his mess. Sophie pitched in every now and then, putting something away or putting a dish in the dishwasher. When they were done Nate sat back down on the stool.

"So, uh, what do we do now?"

Sophie pulled herself up on the counter and gave him her sexiest smile. "I say...dinner."

THE END

The joke about whale poaching is from Jim Gaffigans special Mr. Universe, which is hilarious. Also the part about tickling is from The Art Of Getting By. And the shirt Sophies wearing at the beginning is my bad explanations of one of Florences (from Florence + The machine) shirts. And why did I feel a need to specify the brand of Nates boxers…I'm not sure.