I don't own leverage. Sorry if this is bad and for any mistakes.
If Sophie was classes as the mother hen of the group then Nate was most definitely the father of the group, strict with the 'kids' when they needed to be reprimanded for something or steered back to the right path, a good listener to any problems they had when he wasn't drunk and the father who organised all these fun adventures for the family. They knew that Nate was using them to fill the gaps and wide spaces left by the death of his son Sam and then by splitting from his ex-wife Maggie but they needed him all in their own way as much as he needed them so they didn't mind so much. He may have been drunk most of the time they were together before they were forced to split up after the two David's job but he was a surprisingly perceptive drunk and he still formed strong connections to the team despite his adamant denials that he didn't need them and that he would be fine on his own. In the end it was with their memories in his mind that he got himself sober and they were the reason he was determined to stay that way.
Nate had seen the way the team had bonded and how much they relied on each other for support and back up in areas they weren't as strong, allowing the others to see their weaknesses which for people like them who had been so private and had worked alone their whole lives had shown great attachment. It was this that made Nate keep an eye on all of his team after he called the split regrettably. He knew it would have a big impact on the team, on some more than others, and he just hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid or too dangerous in the time where they were alone with no backup to help them out. Nate had been closest to Sophie, having known her for a long time and having a personal connection to her and so he was unsurprised to find her close by to him when he was finally sober, no doubt keeping an eye on him and making sure he didn't relapse or cause more trouble than he could get himself out of. Whilst he didn't plan on doing much that could get him into trouble, he appreciated the sentiment, or maybe just the person in particular having enough interest to look out for him not that he would ever admit to that. It was nice for him to have a team member close by and when he was feeling particularly lonely he was comforted by her presence but it also made hI'm think about the three 'kids' of the team and hope that they were coping well.
He was very aware that Sophie was going all mother hen on them and keeping track of them as best she could but she wasn't aware he knew and seemed keen to keep in secret and whilst he knew she would tell him if one of them was in trouble and needed help, he couldn't help but use his old contacts from his days chasing them all separately to try and keep an eye on them. Hardison was surprisingly easy to track despite being a hacker and spending most of his days holed up in a room, or maybe Nate was just getting to know them and their habits better. He watched Hardison grow bored and even hack the Pentagon and look for national secrets but even though he seemed to miss the team as much as Nate admittedly did himself, he appeared to be coping just as Nate thought he would. Hardison hadn't formed as strong of an attachment to the team yet as others had and despite being integrated he still felt comfortable working alone. Nate was surprised but pleased to see that he seemed to have had an effect on the man as Hardison no longer seemed to be doing so much illegal work or using it for any malicious purposes any more. He must have had more of an effect on the team in his drunken state than he thought he had.
Eliot was one that Nate wasn't too worried about. While he knew that Eliot had actually formed quite strong attachments to the team and felt strongly compelled to protect them, Eliot was a master at dealing with, ignoring or hiding his feelings and if anyone could handle the separation with seeming ease then it would be him. Nate knew, however, that the split was affecting him more than he let on and that he missed the team as much as the rest did but he could cope as he always had before and seemed determined to prove that and to restore his reputation to use in the future if his activities in Pakistan were anything to go by.
No, Nate wasn't worried about Hardison or Eliot, he knew as hurt they may feel by the split that they would be able to cope and get on with their lives, Nate was worried about their little crazy blonde thief, the girl he thought of as the daughter he never had, Parker. Parker had been the most detached and the frostiest to the team at the start but that was just her defence barrier against getting hurt again. Parker had been hurt too much in the past to let people in easily but the longer they worked together the more the thief seemed to let them in, letting them see her methods and her weaknesses, something she had allowed very few to see ever before and the team should have felt very privileged by how much Parker allowed them to see of herself but as Nate realised now, they had taken her friendly, open bubbly persona for granted and now that was the thing Nate had to admit he missed the most. Parker, without realising it, had a way of cheering up the whole team with her antics as much as they tried to hide it and she was the life and innocence at times of the team. Parker had let the team into her heart though and there in lay Nate's fears as he could see her attachment to them and it had only occurred to him after the split itself how Parker would see this. The team splitting up was like them abandoning her like so may foster parents had and this would be what would cut Parker the deepest and Nate worried about how she would cope. His worry was only exacerbated hey the blank his contacts were turning up when he tried to track her. Now he knew that if she didn't want to be found then Parker could drop off the map and not be seen but she would rarely ever do it for that long and he dreaded to think of the threat that could be after her if that was the case. Another worry for him was the lack of thefts and the reports of thefts where the items were given back. That wasn't Parker's MO at all and he became to fear that she had been killed or captured. The lack of rumours at all for her was disturbing, it was almost as though people had been threatened into silence but he didn't want to go down that route of thought for fear of what that might mean.
He had kept up his surveillance but with still no luck in finding the missing and elusive Parker although there were slightly more reports of thefts which put his mind at ease somewhat as he hoped these meant Parker was safe and well and coping. Sophie's invite to her musical the Sound of Music had him wanting to find an excuse but he had to go really and he was further persuaded when he found out that Sophie had invited the rest of the team. It would be a subtle chance for him to check that they all were truly ok and he hoped that Parker wouldn't be able to refuse an invitation from Sophie knowing she would face her ire if she didn't show and that would give him a chance to confirm that she was alive and find out what she had been doing in the six months the team had been split.
Nate approached opening night with more enthusiasm that he usually would have for one of Sophie's shows, she truly was an awful actress on stage and he knew for a fact her singing was worse, and Sophie would have been suspicious had she not been so excited about her 'big break' or as Nate knew it was being able to see the team again. Secretly he was pleased to hear Sophie suggest drinks after although he didn't show it as he looked around the cosy lobby in search of a bouncing blond head of his favourite thief in the crowd. He became more and more worried as he failed to spot her in the crowds of people and sad that she didn't show when the rest of the team made an effort. It was clear they were all holding out hope that she was late and they were all clearly worried for her but as the show started they all began to accept that she wasn't going to show. The mood deflated and was crushed further by the performance without the normal attempts at positive comments for Parker.
They trudged out at the end and Nate thought he caught a glimpse of blonde hair through the crowds but it was gone in an instant and Nate had to write it down to wishful thinking. The three men stood in near silence, each lost in their own thoughts, waiting for the grifter to emerge and when she did just that her hurried step and face full of emotions so unusual for her made them all look for the threat. The piece of paper. Crumpled from her clutch was shoved into their faces whist still holding on to it like it was a lifeline and Nate began to understand that after he saw the message and the signature. Reading the note and seeing the footage that Hardison had found caused a wave of relief to wash over Nate before he was hit with the disappoints ce that she wouldn't even be bothered to see them and speak to them herself. There had to be something going on with Parker but what he just didn't know.
The rest of the case was a bit of a blur for Nate after the attempt on his life and the mystery appearances of evidence they needed just at the right times with the latter confirming Parker's presence at some point and the former leaving Nate a bit jittery and on and for a long while after the case was over. It became clear a few cases in that Parker had left Boston when no more evidence turned up and there were no more notes. Nate had to admit he was a little disappointed that she didn't leave him a note just to let him know she was alive and well but he figured that she assumed they had all read the note to Sophie or at least he hoped that was the case as he didn't like the other option very much. Despite the need for a thief a lot of the time, Nate couldn't find it in himself to replace her, especially not when he felt partially responsible for her disappearance in the first place, and so they got help when and where they needed it and left her spot open on the team for if she ever decided to return. It was the consensus of the team that they would set out to find her one day but they would have to leave her be for the while, if she didn't want to be found then she wouldn't be and that first case in Boston wouldn't be that last time they would see Parker.