Author's Note: This is my first singularly Nate and Sophie fanfiction! Wow, it's certainly taken me long enough lol XD

See, I like them. I might even love them (especially after their special episode in Season 5). And I definitely like them more now than I did in Season 1. But I just like writing the Hardison/Parker/Eliot dynamic so much more than them that I've just never gotten around to spending quality time with Nate and Sophie. Ya know?

Nate liked to think that he was pretty solid in the romance department. He knew how to make Sophie laugh, hum in approval, get flustered, and even blush. That last one in particular was something of great accomplishment, in his opinion, considering Sophie was a grifter and highly trained in not showing any physical responses to anything ever unless she wanted to.

But, ever since the Christmas season started, Sophie had been sneakily implying that he wasn't doing something. She wouldn't say what (this was Sophie, after all), but he was definitely screwing up in some department.

So Nate did what he always did when he had a problem: He sat down in his favorite "Mastermind" chair, and thought things through. What had changed recently? It was the holidays, which for the Leverage crew basically meant even more heart wrenching, Christmas-themed pleas for help. What else? Sophie would certainly be expecting a gift, but Nate could easily supply that. He'd probably be getting gifts for the entirety of his team.

So what? Nate's gaze drifted around the room thoughtfully, and caught on a Christmas "doodle" (read: masterpiece) that Parker had been working on. It showed a Christmasy scene filled with five people who were undoubtedly the Leverage crew. Decorations covered the walls, a tree stood in the corner, and there was a sprig of green hanging from the ceiling.

Realization hit Nate with enough force to get him out of his chair. He grinned, the mystery that was Sophie Devereaux puzzled out yet again.

Five days later, the crew was running a con that landed them at some rich snob's Christmas party. Said snob had also been taking donors money to put into a fake charity of her creation, but what Nate really cared about was that his and Sophie's cover allowed for them to be perfectly couple-like.

"You are really selling the part tonight," Sophie muttered with a smirk as Nate's hand twined around her waste and fiddled with the tie of her sash.

"Do you mind?" Nate asked into her ear, a grin on his face.

Sophie snorted a little. "Of course not; don't be ridiculous. I was simply commenting because you know Eliot will tease us about it later."

"I think Eliot is pretty busy at the moment," Nate replied, jutting a chin into the thick of the party where Eliot was charming a pretty young woman wearing a full outfit of expensive designer clothing.

"You've got a point," Sophie said, shaking her head a little.

"I think..." Nate said after a moment. He had just given the room a quick scan, and had laid eyes on exactly what he'd been looking for. "That we should move over there."

"Why?" Sophie asked, but followed along with him as he lead her slowly through the crowd, sticking to the outskirts of the room. "We don't need to be close to the mark for this to work."

"Believe it or not, I'm actually thinking of something other than the con," Nate replied in a teasing tone, knowing Sophie always felt that the job came before her. He stopped and stepped around so he was facing her, offering her a smile. "I believe, Miss Devereaux, that I found some mistletoe."

Sophie's face lit up. "Oh, you figured it out!" she squealed. "I was really hoping you would find some somewhere. You know I've always dreamed of having a kiss with my true love under a mistletoe."

Nate actually hadn't known that, but it seemed like the kind of thing Sophie would wish for. "Uh, right," he said, grinning at her. "So...?"

Sophie stepped forward, barely having to get on her tiptoes with the three inch heels she was wearing. "Just kiss me, genius," she muttered.

And Nate was never one to refuse his Sophie, so he did just that.