A/N I know we have all our hearts broken thanks to TNT. Leverage has been cancelled and I feel like I have just lost a good friend! :( I had planned all this writing in these holidays, but TNT has practically killed my mood. But then I thought that we can still keep Leverage alive by honoring our stories.

This fic was written as a Christmas present. No spoilers as it's based around season 4

On Strike for Christmas.

Eliot walked inside Nate's apartment carrying the big fresh Christmas tree.

"Oh, good" Parker jumped from the kitchen counter clapping her hands enthusiastically. "The tree is here"

Eliot grumped and put the tree in the middle of Nate's living room / headquarters.

"You were supposed to help me" he hit the back of Hardison's head who was sitting on a couch playing at some videogames on the big screen.

"Ouch" he exclaimed turning around just to see his character killed by aliens. "See man, now I've lost the game. I was making a good score too."

"Dammit Hardison, it's Christmas Eve already and you were supposed to get the tree three days ago. Now we are behind with everything."

"Hey, it's not my fault the con was longer than we'd expected. Complain to the boss!" he shouted in his defense while starting a new game.

"Where is Nate by the way?" the hitter frowned while looking around the apartment. He lifted his eyes up wondering if the mastermind was sulking in his bed with a bottle of whiskey. Christmas period was always the hardest for him. Or maybe he was down in the bar.

"Sophie dragged him Christmas shopping." Parker told him while getting the tree decorations from Nate's closet. "He wasn't too happy about it" she snickered. "Especially since it started snowing"

Eliot shook his head while rolling his eyes. Since those two got together, Nate was unable to say no to that woman. Well, it's not like he had any choice before, either.

"Yes, well. Could you take care of the tree and decorations while I go groceries shopping, I need so many things for tomorrow's dinner" Eliot left the apartment in a hurry.

"Huh?" Hardison turned around distracted "Okay… okay…"

Parker was putting some lights around the tree humming Christmas songs.

"Hey" Hardison put away the controller and walked beside her "How about we hit the malls too? I still need a decent present for Nate"

Parker pouted "But… what about the tree?"

"We can do it when we get back" he was already putting his coat on.

She shrugged "Okay" and they were off.

Nearly two hours later Eliot came back to an empty apartment with his hands full of groceries' bags. "Hey," he shouted. "Need some help here!" No answer.

The apartment was now in the dark and he had to flick the lights on. There was nobody there. He put the bags on the kitchen counter just to curse when he saw the unfinished tree. "Seriously?"

He put the things away and then started working on finishing decorating the tree. An hour later the other four members of the team came back laughing.

"You so should have seen Nate's face!" Sophie exclaimed giggling.

"Never again" the mastermind grumbled going straight for glass to fill it with some whiskey.

"You said you wanted to buy me something special for Christmas" Sophie sat down on of the stools and looked at him with a glint in her eyes.

"I didn't think you were going to take me to a lingerie shop." He hissed embarrassed. "All those women looking at me" he looked down slightly blushing.

"Oh, I wish I had been there with a camera." Hardison smirked.

Nate just glared at him and walked to where Sophie was sitting and leaned against their working table.

"Just don't forget who will appreciate the present more" she whispered seductively at him running a finger around his ear.

Nate smirked. "Does it mean you will open it tonight?"

Hardison frowned in disgust "I so don't need to hear this"

"Well, how about this!" Eliot walked to him menacingly "I've asked you one thing, just one: to decorate the tree while I was out shopping for your dinner!" he pointed an angry finger at him.

"Hey, calm down man. We were going to do it when we got back. It's not my problem you've beaten us to it" Hardison put his hands up not knowing what was wrong with his friend.

"I'll show you…" Eliot was seriously on the verge of hitting him.

"Okay… okay…" Nate grabbed his arm and put himself between the hitter and the hacker. "Why don't we all calm down?"

Sophie was looking at the two of them with worry so was Parker. They two usually fight , but it was more like brotherly banter nothing too serious.

"Eliot, weren't you going to show me how to make cookies?" Parker intervened.

Sophie gave her an approving nod, glad that the thief learned some basic human skills.

"Okay" he sighed. "I guess we can make cookies"

"That's sound great!" Nate was trying to ease some of the tension. "Why don't we order some pizza and then we can all watch a Christmas movie together?" he hated Christmas movies, but now it sounded a lot better than spending the whole night at the hospital because Eliot beat Hardison.

The pizzas arrived after forty minutes and in the meanwhile Eliot and Parker had made the first batch of cookies which were still cooling down to be then decorated.

The ate the pizza in silence while Hardison put on Santa Clause on the DVD player. The tension was still tangible, but there were slowly relaxing in the festive atmosphere.

Eliot and Parker continued decorating the cookies while the movie was still going on and by the time it was finished they were ready.

"Can we have one cookie before leaving?" Parker asked with pleading eyes.

Eliot rolled his eyes. "Okay, we can all have one cookie" He glared at Hardison. "Just one"

They all ate their cookie in silence moaning in appreciation when they tasted it. Soon, Eliot, Hardison and Parker left Nate's apartment for the night while Sophie and Nate went upstairs to his bedroom.

The morning after Eliot started cooking early. He was making pancakes for everyone while preparing the turkey to be put in the oven. Parker was next to arrive and her eyes grew bigger in excitement when she saw all the presents under the Christmas tree.

"Oh, can we open them?" she exclaimed.

"Not yet" Eliot grumbled while filling a plate with a pile of pancakes and then working on the stuffing. "We have to wait for everyone else"

Hardison entered the apartment wearing a Santa hat. "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas" he put his pile of presents under the tree and then tried to steal one fresh strawberry from a bowl but Eliot slapped his hand away.

"Nate and Sophie are not up yet. We'll have breakfast all together!"

Right in that moment they saw Nate coming down the stairs followed by a barefoot Sophie who was wearing only one on Nate's shirt.

"Oh, shush…." She exclaimed "You're all already here!" and she rushed upstairs to put on something more decent.

Nate just chuckled while shaking his head. We looked at Eliot who was fanatically working behind the kitchen counter while Parker and Hardison were doing nothing. "Hey, you two!" he ordered "Set the table!"

The two youngest knew not to mess with "Dad" so they quickly go to work.

In the meanwhile Sophie came back down dressed in black yoga pants and one of Nate's baggy t-shirts. "When are we going to open our presents?" she asked putting an arm around Nate's waist and leaning into him. Nate put an arm around hers and pointed up to the mistletoe standing above them. Sophie rolled her eyes smirking but she leaned up to kiss him on the lips.

"After breakfast" Eliot grumbled while putting the turkey and the stuffing in the oven.

When Hardison and Parker finished setting the table they grabbed the plates with pancakes and the different things to put on top of them. "Nate and Sophie are here, so…." Hardison stuffed his mouth with a big pancake.

The others all sat around the table eating while Eliot began chopping the vegetables.

"I like my potatoes roasted" Hardison reminded him.

"Boiled are healthier" Sophie exclaimed to the hacker.

"Smashed!" Parker intervened with a grin.

"Oh, and mushy peas"

"Yuck! Fresh peas!"

"And carrots!"

"Cabbage!"

"You're joking, right?"

"Broccoli?"

The suddenly they hears a bang. Eliot stood there infuriated after smashing a pan over the kitchen counter. "STOP!" he glared at them. "In these two days I did everything. Brought the tree, decorated it and the house, went shopping, put the presents under the tree, cooked and you're all sitting there complaining " he threw his apron away.

"I QUIT!" and with that he walked out of the apartment slamming the door behind him.

The other sat there dumbstruck.

"What's his problem?" Hardison just exclaimed shocked and a bit angry.

The other three rolled his eyes at him in exasperation.

"Okay" Nate took control of the situation. "Sophie, please go downstairs to him and do some damage control"

The grifter nodded and followed the hitter downstairs knowing he would be down at the bar.

"You two" he pointed at the thief and hacker. "Finish eating and then clean this mess" he got up and went to the kitchen. "I'll try to finish cooking" he sighed.

Sophie found Eliot sitting at the bar already drinking a beer.

"A bit too early, don't you think?" she sat on the stool next to him.

"You can nag Nate about his drinking habits, leave me out of it" he snapped back.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" she tried to make him talk. "I know we haven't been very helpful this Christmas and I'm sorry for that. I'll make sure the others apologize too. But it's not just that. You've always wanted to do everything at Christmas and never lost your temper."

Eliot sighed and then took a long sip from his beer bottle. " I went to see my father the other day. He didn't even open the door." He told her quietly. "My sister told me that it would be better if I didn't go to them this year. I usually spend at least one day at Christmas time with them, but…"

She laid a hand on his back. "Oh Eliot, I'm so sorry"

"I just wanted this Christmas to be perfect for us. If I can't spend Christmas with my family, then I wanted my other family to be happy."

"It's going to be okay" she promised him.

"I guess I've kind of lost it up there" he gave her a small grin.

"We deserved it a bit" she smiled back. "Come on, let's go back upstairs"

They walked back inside to find the other three working together on their dinner. They stopped abruptly when they saw Eliot come inside, his shoulders sagged and head down.

"Guys, I'm…" the words caught in his throat. They didn't do apologies.

"It's okay, man" Hardison reassured him giving him a pack on his back. "Nate pointed out to us that we left you doing everything. I just was so used to my Nana doing everything for us, I never understood the work that there was behind it"

Eliot looked up at Parker.

"Yeah, it's fine" she shrugged like nothing happened. "it wouldn't be Christmas if someone didn't yell or hit someone"

They all looked strangely at her but didn't comment.

"So" Nate clapped his hands satisfied that they could leave the food to cook. "Presents time?"

"Yeah" Parker shouted jumping towards the tree.

Eliot smiled and walked towards her followed by Hardison.

Sophie put her arms around Nate and smiled at her "family". "Merry Christmas, Nate"

Nate smiled down at her. "Merry Christmas, darling" he kissed the top of her head.