"Merry Christmas!" Parker shouts with wide, twinkling eye while sticking her head directly in front of Avery's face. Avery jerks back as far as she can, which isn't much considering she's lying on the couch at headquarters. Parker shakes her antler headband, making the bells jungle, a big grin on her face. Avery smiles.

"Parker, Christmas isn't until next week," she corrects, flicking one of the antlers and hearing the bells jingle again.

"I know. But I love Christmas," Parker says, standing back up, her grin still firmly in place.

"Well, I hate to break it to you Parker but this place isn't very Christmassy," Avery says with a smirk while waving a hand at the apartment. Parker looks around, her grin disappearing and being replaced by a frown. Parker sighs dejectedly. Suddenly, her eyes brighten up and her grin appears again. Avery looks at her hesitantly and narrows her eyes at the thief.

"Let's decorate for Christmas," she says excitedly, her eyes shining and her arms shooting into the air. Avery raises an eyebrow and she looks around.

"You think Nate would let us?" Avery asks when her gaze lands back on Parker.

"Of course he will!" Parker says, her grin growing. She grabs Avery and pulls her off the couch practically bouncing to the door. Avery digs her heels in and halts Parker's forward movement.

"Parker, wait. We have to pay for everything," Avery replies while raising an eyebrow. Parker grins again.

"I know. I'm rich remember?" she says with a shrug of her shoulder, then, thinking about this, a small frown appears. "I'll have to spend my money."

A small smile appears on Avery's face and she shakes her head in amusement. A small chuckle escapes her mouth and Avery moves closer to Parker. Resting her hands on Parker's shoulders and meeting her gaze, Avery gives her a smile.

"Christmas, Parker. Just think it's for Christmas," Avery encourages before grabbing her coat on the back of the chair. Parker's frown turns into a grin again and she nods her head. Avery walks out of Nate's apartment and Parker follows after her, bounding towards the elevator.

LEVERAGE

Nate, Eliot, Hardison, and Sophie exit the elevator and walk over to the door to Nate's apartment. Eliot opens the door and walks in. He begins flailing his arms knocking garland out of the way as he walks through a wall of it. Eliot knocks it out of the way before turning to yank it down and throw it on the floor.

"Hey, that's my Christmas Wall," Parker protests in a whine as she quickly walks into the room to see Eliot destroying the garland on the doorway. Eliot turns and glares at her.

"Parker! You can't just hang garland in the doorway," Eliot growls, furrowing his eyebrows in annoyance. Avery walks in and sits on one of the stools.

"I told you dad was gonna be pissed you covered the door," she says to Parker, raising an eyebrow and fixing her with a gaze. Hardison, Nate, and Sophie look around the room. There are lights everywhere, along with garland on every flat surface. There is a big, blow up Santa in one corner and a Frosty the Snowman in the other. Christmas banners are hung on the opposite wall between the windows and random Christmas figurines are on shelves and in the middle of the table and counter.

"Parker what is this?" Nate asks his voice higher and his hand waving at the decorations.

"It's Christmas Nate!" Parker shouts in excitement, an ear-to-ear grin on her face, her arms thrown into the air. Avery crosses her arms, smirking in amusement as she watches the scene unfold.

"This isn't happening," Nate protests, shaking his head and pointing at Parker. "Take it down, Parker, take it all down. We can't even see anything."

"But, Nate, it's Christmas," Parker says, pouting slightly and crossing her arms. Sophie steps forward, trying to keep the peace.

"I think what Nate means, Parker, is, isn't this a bit much?" Sophie asks with a soft look, waving at all of the decorations.

"You can never have too much Christmas," Parker says, putting a smile on her face and her eyes lighting up.

"No Parker," Eliot growls out with a scowl, pointing at her, "You can."

"You're just being a Grinch," Parker accuses Eliot with a frown on her face, then, looks at Nate, "And a Scrooge."

"It…It looks nice Parker," Hardison says, looking around the room, an eyebrow raised, obviously agreeing with Sophie that it is too much but doesn't want to hurt Parker's feelings.

"Hardison, don't encourage her," Eliot growls as he sends Hardison a glare. Eliot turns and glares at Avery, pointing a finger at her. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"Hey, she's a big girl. I'm not in charge of her," Avery says with a shrug of her shoulders before raising her hands in submission.

"Well, from now on you are," Eliot grumbles as he crosses his arms and glares at the blow up Santa in the one corner.

"Take it down Parker," Nate orders, walking to the kitchen, dodging Christmas lights, hanging down from the ceiling.

"You can leave some of it up Parker," Sophie assures while giving Parker a soft smile.

"Sophie…" Nate begins to scold, looking up at her and sending her a warning look. Sophie sends him one of her own before turning back to Parker. She gives Parker another assuring smile before speaking again.

"You can keep some of it up," Sophie reiterates, looking right at Parker.

"You can keep the garland on the counter up," Nate gives in before sighing and pouring himself a cup of coffee. He pinches the bridge of his nose and sends a scowl in Sophie's direction before taking a sip of his coffee.

"And the lights on that wall," Sophie says, pointing to the wall the TV is on. She points at the wall of banners and holds up two fingers, "And two banners."

"Can I keep Santa and Frosty up?" Parker asks, eyes pleading with a hopeful smile on her face.

"No," Nate and Eliot say at once, Eliot's more of a growl. Parker looks over at them and sends them a pout before turning her complete attention to Nate. She moves closer to him and fixes him with a puppy-dog look.

"Please Nate," Parker asks, walking over to the kitchen and clasping her hands together and pleading with him.

"No Parker," Nate says firmly, taking a sip of his coffee and sending a firm look at the thief. Parker sighs in defeat and her shoulder slump before she brightens up.

"Then, can we get a tree?" she asks excitedly with her eyes twinkling in glee. Eliot rolls his eyes.

"Parker," Nate sighs, slumping into a seat nearby and setting him coffee mug on the counter in front of him. He sends a glare at the string of lights that have gotten loose and fallen down far enough to for Nate to hit them sporadically with the top of his head.

"It doesn't have to be big or anything Nate," Avery says as she stands next to Parker and pleads with her eyes. Nate looks over at her and sighs in defeat.

"Fine. Just a small one," Nate replies, pointing at the two of them. Parker squeals in delight causing Nate to grimace and run a hand down his face.

"Hardison, Eliot you two have to come with us," Parker all but shouts while skipping over to them. Grabbing Hardison around the arm and leading him towards the door of the apartment.

"No Parker," Eliot grumbles, shaking his head and glaring at Parker. Parker doesn't seem to notice as she's focusing her attention on Hardison who's giving her a smile.

"There's a place down the street that's selling trees," Hardison says with a nod of his head, willing to go. Avery looks over at her dad with wide and pleading eyes and Eliot feels himself already caving. He looks over at Hardison and Parker hastily making their way to the door.

"Dammit Hardison, you can't get a Christmas tree from a store," Eliot says with a scowl, causing Hardison and Parker to stop moving towards the door.

"Yes, you…" Hardison starts with a furrow of his brow, but Eliot cuts him off.

"If we're doing this we're doing it the right way," Eliot says, giving in, sighing. He glances over at Avery who has an ear to ear grin on her face. Letting out a squeal Avery jumps into her dad's arms and gives him a hug causing Eliot to grunt at the sudden contact.

"And by 'right way' you mean...?" Hardison asks warily, his eyes narrowing at Eliot.

"There's a tree farm outside the city. We can cut down our tree there," Eliot explains as he sets Avery back down on the floor before turning around and walking back out the door. Parker bounces on her feet after him and Avery grabs her coat and runs out the door. Hardison hurries after them as well, his voice heard in the hall.

"Cut down, as in actually chop the tree down? I don't do the wilderness all that well. My allergies…" Hardison shouts after the group, his voice trailing off.

LEVERAGE

"We should get this one," Parker says excitedly, jumping up and down towards an eight foot pine tree. Her eyes are bright and her grin broad.

"We can't get that one Parker. It's like eight feet tall," Eliot growls, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, a scowl on his face. With a huff, Eliot glances over at Avery who grins in return before turning his attention back to Parker. "It won't fit in the room."

"But I like this one," Parker says with a pout, pleading with her eyes.

"No Parker," Eliot grumbles, walking past her and the tree. Hardison walks after them, giving Parker a sympathetic look all while hugging himself and shivering, his teeth chattering in his mouth.

"T…t…tell me ag…g…gain why we c…c…can't get a tree at th…th…the store?" Hardison asks with a grimace, wrapping his arms tighter around himself.

"It's about the experience Hardison," Eliot says, never looking back at him, continuing to walk through the trees. Avery runs ahead and over to a tree about six foot tall. She takes off a glove and grabs at the needles, seeing they are soft. She turns around with a grin aimed at her dad.

"Can we get this one?" she asks, putting her glove back on. Eliot looks the tree over closely before nodding his head. Avery throws a fist in the air in victory. Eliot chuckles and shakes his head. He hands Avery the ax and studies the trunk of the tree, looking for the best way to chop it down. Coming to a decision, he points to a spot in the middle of the tree and looks over at Hardison.

"Hardison, go on the other side of the tree and hold the trunk there," he instructs. Hardison grumbles to himself, trudging to the other side of the tree and holding the trunk where Eliot told him to.

"I want to help him," Parker says in a high pitched voice, jumping over near Hardison and hanging on to the trunk herself. Eliot shakes his head and takes the ax back from his daughter and swings it at the tree's trunk, a loud thud sounding as the ax strikes it.

Ten minutes later, Eliot is almost done only needing a couple more swings to effectively disengage the tree from its stump. Eliot swings the ax a couple more times, seeing the trunk coming loose. He hits the trunk one last time, separating the tree. The tree falls towards him and the branches smack Eliot in the face. Eliot throws his hands up quickly, stopping the trees' descent, holding it steady the same time Avery jumps in and grabs it as well.

"Hardison! You're supposed to be hanging on to it!" Eliot yells, furrowing his eyebrows with a scowl on his face and a glare piercing through the tree branches where Hardison should be.

"I didn't know you were done!" Hardison argues while throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"You were supposed to be hanging on to it the whole time," Eliot growls with a scowl on his face, rolling his eyes and glaring at Hardison again.

"I'll remember that next time," Hardison says sarcastically and sending Eliot a scowl of his own.

"Yeah, you will. Because I'll beat it into you," Eliot threatens, shaking his head and sending Hardison another glare through the branches of the tree.

"We can bring it back to Nate's now?" Parker asks as she all but shoves her face through the tree branches to see Eliot, her enthusiasm filling her voice. Eliot lets out a huff as he pulls his face back from where Parker is attempting to become one with the tree.

"Yeah, Parker, we can," Avery says, shooting her dad a smile, which he returns.

LEVERAGE

The leverage team is sitting in Nate's living room, looking at the tree Eliot, Hardison, Parker and Avery just put up and decorated. Eliot is staring at the tree, his head slowly tilting to the right, seeing the tree is leaning up against the wall. Avery is watching her dad, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Dad, what are you doing?" she asks, still watching him in confusion. Eliot doesn't take his eyes off the tree and addresses Hardison.

"Hardison, did you put the screws into the tree trunk?" Eliot asks the man as he is furrowing his eyebrows.

"Screws? There's supposed to be screws?" Hardison asks, eyes wide looking at Eliot. The Christmas tree slides to the right and crashes to the floor and Hardison's head whips towards the tree. Nate closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. Sophie's hands fly to her mouth and lets out a gasp.

"No!" Parker shouts, eyes wide and arms stretched out towards the tree. Avery's eyes grow wide, letting out a nervous chuckle. Eliot narrows his eyes at Hardison.

"Dammit Hardison!"