A/N: I had a lot of fun writing my last Parker/Hardison piece… And there aren't enough of them in existence so I decided to write one about America Day. This is a stand-alone one-shot. I hope you enjoy.
(Please note that I'm Canadian even though I live in America… And I've only been here for like two Fourth of Julys before, so I'm just going by what people have told me. I'm usually in Canada this time of year so I've never experienced the whole "Fourth of July" thing so forgive any inaccuracies.)
Parker was American. She was born and raised in this country and had lived pretty much everywhere from sunny California to frigid Michigan. She supposed that the United States was her home because it's where she and Archie met and he was the first real glimpse of family she had. So, America was her home. And she, Parker, was American. So she figured that she should celebrate the Fourth of July like other Americans. But she had no idea how to do that. She had never celebrated it before and she couldn't even begin to imagine how she, an American, was supposed to celebrate it.
She sat on the couch in Nate's apartment (which was more of their office now) and pondered it over a bowl of cereal. Sophie came in all decked out in red, white, and blue. "Good morning, Parker!" she said cheerfully. Parker frowned. Wasn't Sophie British?
"Morning," Parker answered between bites. She finished off her cereal, sending suspicious glances at Sophie. Sophie was carrying a miniature American flag and Parker had no idea what to make of it.
"Yes, Parker?" Sophie asked, noticing the thief's stares.
"Why are you dressed like an American?"
Sophie grinned. "That's because I am an American. I got my citizenship right before I joined the team. So I am wearing my country's colours to celebrate being American."
Parker seized this opportunity to ask about celebrations. "So… what exactly do you do for America Day?"
"It's Independence Day. Or the Fourth of July. Not America Day. Anyways, there are parades and games and drinking and parties and fireworks."
Parker's eyes lit up. "Fireworks?"
Sophie couldn't help but laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. "Yes. There are fireworks all evening."
"Where?"
"Well… everywhere, really. Usually people set them off in parks and stuff… Some people buy their own and set them off at their homes."
"Are you going to see them?" Parker asked. She really, really wanted to go but she thought it would be more fun to take someone with her.
Sophie smiled wistfully, "Nope. Nate and I are going to a party."
"Oh…"
Sophie's smile vanished. "Don't be so disappointed. Ask the boys. I'm sure they'll take you." Parker's grin returned as she put her empty cereal bowl in the kitchen.
"Thanks, Sophie," she said as she dashed out the door. Sophie smiled and shook her head. Parker was still so childlike.
LEVERAGE
"Please, Eliot?" Parker begged as she stood next to Eliot's truck.
"No way. I have a date with this really great girl," Eliot answered as he focused on washing his car.
"Eliot," she whined.
"I said no. Get Sophie or Hardison to go with you."
"Sophie and Nate are going to a party…"
"Then just bat your eyes at Hardison. He'll take you."
She sighed. "Okay…"
LEVERAGE
"Hardison," Parker said, standing behind him. He was playing a game on his computer, sitting in the semi-darkness and surrounded by gadgets.
Hardison jumped, making a very girly noise, making Parker giggle. "Damn, girl! You scared the daylights out of me."
"Hardison," Parker began, her voice sweet, "will you take me to see the fireworks tonight?"
Hardison, who was taking a sip of soda, choked. "Um, what?"
"Please Hardison? I don't want to go by myself," she said, moving to sit on the edge of his desk. He looked up at her, mouth open in shock.
"Yeah… Yeah, I'll take you, Parker."
The grin that lit up her hopeful face made Hardison's stomach do summersaults. "Thank you!" she said, giving him a hug just long enough for him to wrap his arms around her and inhale the scent of her hair before she disappeared as suddenly as she came.
"You have a girlfriend?" he heard from the speakers. His guild on World of Warcraft was laughing at him.
"Shut it, Brian," Hardison answered. "She's hotter than any girl you've ever seen."
"I doubt it," another guildie offered.
"She's like a Blood Elf rogue, man," Hardison countered.
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Hardison scoffed. "Aite. I'll set my vent picture to a picture of her."
"How do we know she's not just some picture you pulled off the internet?" the first guildie asked.
"I'll get one with both of us," he said, minimizing his game and pulling up his favorite picture: Parker sat across from him, a grin on her face as she held his card up to him. They were both in the picture, both smiling at each other. He quickly set it as his picture for Ventrillo and said, "Kay, check her out."
It took all of three seconds for his guildies to look at Parker. "No way," was the general consensus.
"Damn! She is just like a Blood Elf!"
"Told ya," Hardison said proudly.
LEVERAGE
Night approached as Parker went back to Hardison's apartment. She walked into his computer room where he sat, playing the same game. Another screen contained about ten pictures of boys ages 14-50 wearing headsets and typing on computers. "Great job guys!" Hardison was saying as his little character jumped on the screen. "We hit every boss!" His laughter made Parker grin as she walked up behind him, silent as a ghost.
"What're you doing?" she asked, head next to his ear. She was looking at the screen curiously, seeing some huge, dead thing on the screen.
"Parker!" Hardison yelped as he jumped. The boys in the screen on the left all laughed.
"Well?"
"Uh, I'm playing World of Warcraft. We just beat a huge boss."
"That's fun… So you ready to go see the fireworks?" she asked, bouncing in excitement.
"Yeah, I am."
"Damn, Hardison!" one of the boys said, leaning closer to his screen. "She is hot! You should bring her to Blizzcon!"
"Excuse me?" Parker asked, looking at the boys curiously. Some were disappearing but the one who talked waved.
"Hey, I gotta say that Hardison has great taste. I'm Brian—"
"He's a forty year old man who lives in Arkansas," Hardison interrupted. "Let's go, Mama." He turned off his web cam and closed out of World of Warcraft. He led the way out of the house, looking at Parker's attire as he went passed. "You're gonna wear all black?"
"Why not?"
"No, it's fine. It's just it might be hard to find you in the dark."
She smiled up at him, innocence written all over her face. "Don't worry. I'll find you."
She entered his car, without a key, and he stood for a moment, shaking his head. She was going to drive him crazy with her sweet little smiles and innocent delights. He climbed into his car and drove to the park, knowing that it would be the best place to watch the fireworks.
LEVERAGE
Hardison pulled into a parking lot about two blocks away, knowing that the park would be packed and parking would be a nightmare. "We have to walk the rest of the way," he told her. Parker nodded and smiled. She was excited to see the fireworks. He found her excitement contagious and couldn't help but grin as he reached into the back and pulled out a blanket and a small cooler he had left there earlier in the day.
"Let's go!" she cried, sprinting ahead of him. He shook his head, letting her run ahead. He knew that she was either going to end up waiting for him or sneaking up on him. He wasn't disappointed, either. When he turned a corner, she landed in front of him, presumably falling from the tree. "Come on, Hardison," she said, taking his hand and pulling him along with her.
"You do know that we have another hour before the fireworks start, right?" She pouted and Hardison immediately regretted saying that. "But, we can have fun until then," he added hastily. She lit up again immediately.
"Can we steal stuff?"
"No, Parker. We don't want to get kicked out before the fireworks start."
"I never get caught," she retorted seriously.
He grinned at her, "Yeah, but I might. I'm not the master thief like you, Mama."
She looked puzzled. "Why do you call me that?" she asked, still holding his left hand and dragging him along.
He frowned. "Call you what?"
"Mama. I'm not your mom."
"Oh, that." He felt himself begin to get flustered under the curious gaze of her pretty blue eyes and he had to clear his throat before continuing. "It's just… a term of endearment."
"Like when you call me 'girl'?"
"No. Well—yes. I mean, it's like that. But, more affectionate."
"Oh." There was silence for a moment as she walked next to him, still holding his hand. He ignored the fact that it drove him nuts to be so close to her, to have such a lingering touch against her surprisingly soft skin. He tried to put the fact that her hand fit so nicely in his out of his mind. She spoke again just as Hardison resorted to trying to think of other things to ignore her comforting presence next to him. "So, that means you like me?"
He looked at her, a frown on his face. "Of course I like you. You're very important to me."
"Oh…" this time it was shy. Hardison sent her a sideways glance, seeing the faint blush on her cheeks. "I um… You're important to me too, Hardison. Even though you don't have a cool nickname."
He couldn't help but grin at the last part. "We could think of one," he suggested.
Parker's enthusiasm returned as she looked at him. "Yeah! Um… umm…" she was at a loss. She had no idea of what to call him. "Uh, I could call you Alec," she suggested. "Though that's not really a nickname," she said, trailing off in defeat.
He looked at her again as he shifted his grip on the cooler. "That's a great nickname."
She eyed him suspiciously. "But Alec's your name," she pointed out.
"Sure it is. But you always call me Hardison." She still looked suspicious so he tacked on the last part. "For all I know, your name could very well be Mama," he said seriously. That got a giggle out of her, wiping away her serious expression.
"Alright. Alec it its. But only when we're just being us," Parker declared.
"You mean only when we're not pretending to be other people?"
"No. I mean… when it's just us. You know, hanging out…"
"Oh, of course. I'll try to keep the 'Mama' to a minimum, then."
"No!" she protested a little too quickly. "I-I mean… I don't mind," she clarified, embarrassed.
"Here we are, Mama," he said as they approached the entrance to the park. She laced their fingers and led the way. She noticed his surprise and explained.
"It's so you don't get lost," she told him with a small, shy smile. He was glad that she looked away because he did a very tiny, very fast victory dance as he held her hand. She dragged him through the crowds with ease as she led the way to a clear spot at the top of a hill. She finally released his hand when she stood on a relatively flat patch of grass. "Here," she said, looking around with a grin. "This is perfect."
Hardison ignored the empty feeling that filled him when she had surrendered his hand as he placed the cooler on the ground. He shook out the blanket, spreading it evenly on the ground. Parker sat down, crossing her legs as she sat. He couldn't help but grin at her choice of shoes: black converse. He sat next to her, moving the cooler onto the blanket. He opened it as he stretched out his legs and pulled out a bottle of orange soda, a bag of gummy frogs, a bag of cereal, a bowl, and a small container of milk. He handed Parker the cereal, milk, and bowls, watching her grin.
"Thanks, Alec!" she beamed. His heart fluttered at her use of his first name.
"I figured you'd be hungry." She nodded as she put the cereal—Captain Crunch—in the bowl and covered it in milk.
"No spoon?" she asked as she went to eat it.
"Oh!" he said, reaching into the cooler. He pulled out a plastic spoon, grinning apologetically. "I only have plastic spoons at my house."
"That's fine," she said, taking the spoon. She ate her cereal in silence (other than the crunching noises, of course) as Hardison chewed thoughtfully on the gummy frogs. He watched families wander through the park, thinking about the family he wanted to have some day. Not now, of course. No, maybe in a few years he'd settle down with someone who understood him… Someone like Parker. Hardison glanced over at her. She was currently watching the families milling around in front of them.
"What're you thinkin' about, Mama?" he asked, curious.
She jumped a little as she realized that she was staring. "Oh, just families and stuff."
He hesitated but he decided that it couldn't do him any harm to ask. Parker wasn't the type to get offended over small things. "Do you ever think about having a family of your own?" he asked nervously.
She turned to him, facing him completely as she seemed to consider his questions. "I already have a family," she stated. Hardison felt his heart sink at her words. "I mean, there are Nate and Sophie. They're like my parents. And then Eliot's like my older brother. He beats up all the bad people and protects me. And you, Alec… Well, at first I thought that you were like Eliot. But… You're not. I care about you like family, but it's… different," she struggled to explain.
Hardison gaped, trying to think of something to say to that. That was probably the most Parker had ever told him about anything that didn't have to do with theft. He was about to answer when they heard the first telltale whistle of a firework being launched. Parker broke eye contact and looked up, seeing an explosion of red sparkles. She had a look of such joy that Hardison had difficulty remembering to breathe.
"Look, Alec!" she cried, pointing as a white firework exploded with a bang. He obliged, watching the fireworks with a grin. They lasted about twenty minutes, finishing with a series of deafening bangs as the rest of the fireworks were sent into the sky. Parker remained motionless for about thirty seconds after the fireworks stopped, reveling in the sparkly explosions. She finally moved, leaning on Hardison and resting her head on his shoulder. "Let's stay for a bit," she suggested.
"Whatever you want, Mama," he answered, wrapping his arm around her waist. Her head was a welcomed weight on his shoulder as they sat there, watching families pack up their young children.
"And, I do want a family," she said after a few minutes of silence.
"What?" he asked. He hadn't really been paying attention.
"I want a family. Like, a real family. With kids. And a house. And maybe a dog or something," she confessed.
He leaned his head gently on top of hers. They sat there in silence for a while longer before she looked at his shoes. He could hear the smile in his voice as she stretched her legs out next to his. "Our shoes match!"
She was right. Hardison was wearing his black high-top Converse that looked huge in comparison to her tiny low-tops. "That they do, Mama. We should get going before it gets too late."
"Yeah…" she said regretfully. She stood, offering a hand to Hardison. He took it and he yanked her down next to him on the blanket. She giggled as she forced him to lie next to her on the blanket. They lay shoulder to shoulder as they looked up at the sky. "This is nice," she pointed out, breaking the peaceful silence. They were the only ones left in the park that they could see.
"It is," he agreed. "We should do this more often."
"There should be fireworks every day!" Parker said excitedly.
Hardison laughed. "I mean we should hang out. Just us."
She looked over at him and he looked at her. "That would be fun, Alec," she whispered. Her nose was a centimeter away from his as he tilted his head slightly. She leaned forward, kissing him gently. She pulled away after a moment, grinning from ear to ear. "We should go," she whispered.
"We should," he agreed reluctantly. This time he stood up first, pulling her with him. He pulled her with a little too much force and she crashed into his chest. To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. She was the perfect height.
She pulled away and helped him put the stuff back in the cooler along with the blanket. As they went to leave, Parker took Hardison's hand, lacing their fingers once again. "So you don't get lost, Alec," she repeated with a wink.
"I'd hate to lose you, Mama," he whispered as she led the way out of the park.
A/N: That was longer than I thought it would be… but I hope you enjoyed! Anyways… Please review. And thanks for reading.