Hi! I'm Katie. I'm a writer with social anxiety. INFP. Lover of Leverage, Librarians, all 3 NCISes, the MCU, Agents of SHIELD, but here I only post about Leverage and maybe some writing stuff. AoS blog is maddalenamackelena and Scarlet Vision blog is whynotcallitvanda
Nate describes Hardison as âa 24-year-old with a smartphone and a problem with authorityâ at the end of Season Three. The flashback episode about stealing the dagger was in the middle of Season Three and was framed as âfive years ago.â
Ergo, depending on how much time passes between ânowâ in that episode and the San Lorenzo Job and on exactly when Hardisonâs birthday is, he was at most nineteen and possibly not quite eighteen yet at the time.
That makes the âis this free?â stuff around the appetizers and the champagneâwhich he definitely couldnât drink legally!âmake so much more sense; makes the hacking that much more impressive; and makes impersonating the Minister of Something-or-Other flat-out hysterical. âYes, I am definitely involved in making ⊠policy ⊠and such things.â
My Very ScientificTM Breakdown of Parker and Hardisonâs Relationship
Someone asked me to explain how Iâve charted out Parker and Hardisonâs relationship across all five seasons of Leverage, so here you go. All of this is off the top of my head, I literally just sat down and wrote this in a few hours, but Iâd love to hear any responses yâall have to it! Do you agree? Disagree? Did I leave something out? Let me know!
It begins in Nigerian Job with Hardison finding Parker attractive (because, of course, sheâs amazing). He offers her the whole box of earbuds and Eliot notices and teases him about it. So we know from the beginning heâs attracted to her, which isnât that surprising.
 In Homecoming Job (episode 2), while Hardison and Nate are watching Parker âsteal a law,â Hardison calls her âsexinessâ and Nate tells him to maybe ease up on that. Again, Hardison is commenting on his more surface-level attraction to Parker, and on his appreciation for her skills (because competence porn). Nate has noticed, rightfully, that Hardison doesnât appear to have that much experience with girls, and therefore might not realize that his comments about Parker being sexy might make her uncomfortable (which I think they definitely would at this stage). So Nate is trying to help Hardison out by saying, âhey, maybe chill with that especially if she can hear you.â Letâs face it, Parker would probably not want her appearance commented on in that way at that point.
 Which leads to Wedding Job, when Hardison casually says that she looks âmuch better in the same dressâ than the maid of honor, and Parker is kind of confused and asks âYou really think I look good?â He does think she looks good, obviously, he has from the beginning, but this more casual way to approach it was the much smarter move given her skittishness. I think that exchange is what prompts Parker to tell Hardison that sheâd pretended to be meeting him for sex in the screening room. I donât know if itâs what gave her the idea to use that excuse in the first place, but I definitely think itâs why she told him about it when he asked. I think it was an acknowledgement to say âI hear you, and I appreciate that you find me attractive, but Iâm not prepared to do anything with that, so Iâm just gonna tease you about it a little and never mention it again.â Basically, sheâs not shutting him down, but sheâs not prepared to encourage him, or take the relationship any further at this stage.
 (Thereâs another little quip in Mile High Job about how if Parker was a geek sheâd be really turned on by Hardisonâs hacking, and she just kind of rolls her eyes, which I think is a fair response. Itâs similar to the way she rolls her eyes when Eliot talks about some of his relationships. I donât really read to much into that.)
 By Bank Shot Job, we see them becoming closer friends. They work well together as the undercover agents (which they also did in Wedding Job, but they anticipate and riff off each other really nicely in Bank Shot, indicating that theyâve worked together long enough to be a well-oiled machine). Also theyâre obviously hanging out in the van together when the episode starts, and they mention theyâve been in Juan for a few weeks by that point, so I think itâs fair to say theyâve definitely reached friend territory by now.
 Regardless, once we get to Stork Job, theyâre âa little more than a team.â That episode is a lot for Parker, and has a lot of her personal growth in it, obviously. It also shows Hardison opening up about his own past for the first time, and it shows how deeply Hardison cares for Parker and her safety. Personally, I also think the scene when Whatâs-His-Face is flirting with Parker and Hardison keeps making Parker laugh by saying stuff like âdo my cape and fangs frighten youâ is a sweet moment because he makes her laugh. I donât really read this moment as jealousy, though Iâve seen that some people do, but I just think he was commenting on how ridiculous Whatâs-His-Face is. (I forgot the characterâs name because heâs always just gonna be Moriarty from the Librarians to me).
 Juror # 6 Job is also great, and I really didnât want to make this an episode by episode break down, I was really just going for broad overall themes, but Iâm in too deep at this point. In Juror #6 we have Hardison who initially brushes off Parkerâs concerns just like the rest of them, but he does come around and convinces Nate to listen to what Parker is saying. He also has the insight to say that Parker never had experience with people, etc. I like this scene because it mimics the previously mentioned scene in Homecoming Job with Hardison and Nate sitting in that same spot discussing Parker. Obviously at the end, we also have that sweet moment where Parker is proud of Hardison for his closing statements and also proud of herself for acting ânormalâ (and I think heâs proud of her too).
 Then in First David, we get the first kiss. Obviously there are different ways to read this one. Either Parker is only focused on the job, and only kissed him because it helped her break in, OR she used the break-in as an opportunity to get to kiss him without actually having to follow through with anything else because she could just play it off. I like to believe the second option, because I think her awareness of his feelings is high enough that sheâs starting to question her own feelings at this point, but isnât consciously ready to go there. So I think she wanted to kiss him and she got to use this as an excuse, and then shut that door again immediately and pretend it never happened. Because later in Second David she was obviously just pretending to not know what Hardison was talking about. She just wasnât ready to talk about it yet.
 I do also think that small moment in Second David is really telling when Hardison says something like  âno calls no texts for three months, I donât need yâallâ and Parker is seriously offendedâlike seriously offended, and says âWhat do you mean âyou donât need usâ?â In her mind, not only does he obviously need her (theyâre more than a team at this point, after all), she stayed away and didnât contact him because she was protecting him. That was the safest thing to do, it doesnât mean she didnât want to talk to him. But Hardison is less . . . emotionally equipped to have to split up from his new family for months without contact, so it makes him feel like they never cared about him in the first place.
 Then we reach season 2, where we have the âpeople are like locks. You have to have patience and be fiddlyâ conversation. (By the way yâall, literally all of these quotes are off the top of my head, so if I misquote stuff please forgive me). Anyway, here Hardison wants Parker to know that he did look for her because he wants to be sure she knows he cares about her enough to try (I think sheâs perfectly aware he was looking and has been intentionally not letting him succeed because she wasnât ready for that yet, but who knows). And Parker encourages him with the fiddly message, but is again emphasizing that sheâs not really ready yet. This encouragement is different from the acknowledgement she gave in Wedding Job in season one, when she was just saying âI see you.â Here, sheâs saying âI see you, and continue, maybe one day it will work out.â Importantly, though, she still hasnât addressed within herself her own feelings for Hardison.
 Skipping forward a bunch, because this is already 1200 words long and Iâm only on season 2, weâve got other small things, like them pretending to be a couple several times, and Hardison getting kind of jealous of McSweeten in Fairy Godparents Job. Parker also gets mad at Hardison in Ice Man Job, but that doesnât really advance their relationship that much. The main thing we are seeing over the course of this season is Parkerâs willingness to touch Hardison more and more. She holds him in that arm bar for a long time in Tap Out Job, and she pulls him close in the safe in Ice Man. Again, these can all be written off as being part of the con or for a bigger purpose, though, because she doesnât want to admit to Hardison or to herself that she likes touching/being close to him.
 This similar thing is clear in Jailhouse Job, when he says âsee, I like when we pretend to kissâ and she goes âpretend?â and scrunches up her nose. (also, is it just me, or did it look like they were trying to imply something other than kissing? Were they also kissing too? What was happening?) Because Parker may be pretending that kissing him doesnât mean anything, but sheâs not pretending to kiss him. The kisses themselves are real. Also, we see her in this episode once again get naked in front of Hardison, and once again it could be interpreted as Parker doesnât really view her own body as sexual (perhaps hinting at being on the asexual spectrum here) or it could be interpreted as Parker wanting to mess with Hardison, or wanting to see how heâd respond. I think it kind of could be more of the latter, though I do maintain that Parker doesnât naturally view her body as inherently sexual regardless. I think that she may have gotten naked because she knew it would make Hardison flustered, and she likes that she can make him flustered, but again she doesnât want to examine why she likes it.
 In Reunion Job we have the sweet dance, which I think is one step further than what we saw with the touching in season 2, where this time thereâs no âexcuseâ for her to dance with him, she just does it because she wants too, which is great. But I donât think at this point if heâd tried to talk to her about it directly that sheâd be willing to. For the most part, Hardison is really doing as she asked and being patient, but itâs still clear heâs eager to see where things go.
 (BTW, I started writing fic set in this time because thereâs so much in these episodes in season three that I want to explore, so if youâre interested hereâs the link but be warned I never finished it: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12707019/chapters/28977393)
 In Inside Job, obviously Hardison is super concerned about Parker, and I really think itâs so nice that heâs the one she calls when she gets to a phone. I also like that this is the first (?) instance of Hardison calling her âmamaâ that I can think of which is personally one of my favorite nicknames of his. I also think it was really eye-opening to Hardison to see how Parker lived and what her warehouse looked like. I think even though he knew all that stuff about her, it was different to see it in person.
 In Scheherazade Job, Parker sides with Hardison against Nate about the whole hypnotism thing, which I think is really interesting especially given that Nate says Hardison doesnât have the ruthlessness needed to run a crew, but he leaves Parker as the mastermind at the end of the show, indicating that she does have that ruthlessness (which she does) but here she is still on Hardisonâs side. I also doubt sheâd be able to con her own team the way Nate does unless it was absolutely necessary for their survival, not just for the con. Like, sheâd con them to save them from jail or to save their lives, but I donât think sheâd con them just to get a job done the way Nate did with Hardison here.
 ANYWAY, we come to the biggest development, which is the Pretzels conversation in Double Blind Job. One thing I love about this is that Hardison is in no way trying to make Parker jealous in this episode. That would be really kind of manipulative of him given what he knows about her, etc. That said, I think he does a good job of pointing out that thereâs no reason for him not to date someone else. Parker hasnât said anything concrete to him about her feelings one way or another, so if someone like Ashley came along and he wanted to date her, Parker would have no reason to object. Parker realizes this too, which is why I think she actually does say something, even if she canât actually say the words in the end. This is when Parker realizes that not only does she like Hardisonâs attention and get upset when itâs given to someone else, she likes it because she likes him back. So she tells him she has feelings for pretzels, and he understands that it means âI like you but Iâm not ready yet so please donât move on to anyone elseâ and he accepts that and says âtheyâll be here for you when you want themâ essentially saying that heâs not going to move on now that he knows she really does have some feelings for him. That allows him to justify to himself waiting on her because he has something concrete, and it allows her to work through her feelings for him without having to worry that heâll move on to someone else before sheâs ready for it to go anywhere.
 There are further moments this season where they grow together and are comfortable together, until finally, in Big Bang Job when they almost get blown up on the train and they manage to work together and disarm the bomb, she realizes that she is ready for pretzels. I donât know if itâs the adrenaline of the situation or what, but somewhere in that she realizes she does want to move forward. How theyâre going to do that is unclear, and doesnât come up in San Lorenzo because theyâre busy with Moreau and then they have to split up for a few months, so none of this comes up again until Long Way Down Job.
 In Long Way Down Job, Hardison is coming in kind of expecting a relationship at this point. Parker has said she wants pretzels, and this is the first time theyâre seeing each other in the months since then. Parker, on the other hand, has used those few months to kind of get cold feet. Itâs not that she doesnât want to be with him anymore, itâs that sheâs kind of gotten into her own head about being good enough for him or being able to handle a relationship in a way thatâs fair to Hardison. Thatâs why she reverts to pretending not to see his obvious advances, and responding with âthis isnât going to be a thing, is it?â when heâs concerned for her. Sheâs trying to push back again, and again he respects that, but itâs obviously really upsetting for him. But after her whole experience in the crevasse with Eliot, she understands that itâs okay to be herself while sheâs trying to be a better version of herself, and as long as Hardison knows that, then itâs okay. So in the end when she says âyou know this isnât going to be normal, right?â sheâs admitting that she is, in fact, ready for âthis.â Thatâs what they have in season four, a kind of limbo thing where theyâre not saying theyâre dating, but theyâve admitted that they like each other and theyâre going on very date-like outings together. I always refer to season 4 as when they have their thing because of how Parker said, âthis isnât going to be a thing, is it?â and then turned around and said it is a thing, itâs just not normal.
 We of course get more great moments in episodes like Carnival Job and Grave Danger Job where Hardison expresses that he would never replace Parker and Parker expresses that she needs Alec. I donât think they would have said âI love youâ yet at this point, but I think these things are essentially saying that in different words. In Queenâs Gambit, again we get that assurance from Hardison that heâs got Parker and heâs not going to let anything bad happen to her, and he proves it.
 In Experimental Job, Parker kisses him again, first on the cheek after she tells him that heâs really cool, and then on the lips to convince Zilgram that Hardison is worth having in the Dustmen. The ease with which she kisses him on the cheek indicates to me at least that a) she doesnât mind showing him that kind of affection at this point, and that b) she doesnât mind doing so in public. You could argue back and forth on the second kiss because it is for the job, but also I think she just really wanted to kiss him and knew she had an excuse to do so. Obviously she was acting for Zilgramâs benefit before and after the kiss, but thereâs a spot in the kiss where theyâre body language changes, and I think in that moment itâs a ârealâ kiss and not just for the con.
 Parker and Hardison both have some doubts again in Girlâs Night and Boyâs Night, but again those are pretty self-explanatory, so I wonât go into them. But itâs also interesting that the team does see them as basically dating at this point regardless of whether they use that terminology. Sophie references âearly relationship jittersâ and itâs clear by the way Eliot gives Hardison advice that he knows whatâs going on (not that they were that subtle with it, lol). Itâs clear enough by the end of the season that theyâre together even if they havenât officially said anything.
 They spend the 6 month break between season 4 and 5 together traveling the world, and then they finally admit to the team that theyâre dating. The traveling the world time is when I really think they kind of hammered things out and actually talked not in code, which lead to their official admission to the team. I think this official admission really just means that theyâve become more comfortable talking about their relationship with others. So now theyâll refer to each other as babe (or, memorably âmy santa babyâ) in front of the team, etc, and refer to things as dates instead of just hanging out or activities together. Theyâll spend the night together in the apartment above the brew pub, etc. But if you notice, their behavior around each other doesnât really change that much between season 4 and 5, which I think is just more proof that they were just as much in a relationship in season 4 as they were in season 5, they just werenât calling it that yet.
 So, to break it down:
Season 1: Hardison likes Parker; Parker realizes this, and experiments with kissing him
Season 2: Parker encourages Hardisonâs advances, but warns him to be patient and fiddly; she begins to touch him more
Season 3: They have the pretzels conversation, and Parker confirms she has feelings for Hardison but asks him to wait for her and he agrees
Season 4: Sheâs ready for Pretzels now so they have a âthingâ where theyâre basically dating/in the early stages of dating, but they donât call it that.
Season 5: Theyâre finally comfortable admitting to everybody that theyâre together, and acting like a couple in public. Theyâve gotten over most of their doubts/insecurities about their relationship and are mainly just being happy together as a couple.
The team is in France for a wedding at a luxury resort. The bride and groom prepared a simple ceremony, but of course nothing ever goes completely to plan when the Leverage team is involved.
Set post-season 5, basically my interpretation of what a Nophie wedding episode would look like if weâd been lucky enough to get an episode. Iâm trying to get into the headspace of how the writers would give us a Nophie wedding, while also being far too self-indulgent. Hope you enjoy!
Words: 3402, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Leverage
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/M
Characters: Eliot Spencer (Leverage)
Relationships: Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford, Alec Hardison/Parker
Additional Tags: wedding fic, With A Twist, I promise thereâs a real wedding too, Mostly Nophie, But I added some P/H because I canât help myself
I really genuinely love the fact that the person who is the âHonest Manâ gets carried away in his quest for balance and reparations for the masses while the person who is the Hitter and has a history of murder and violence is the Moral Compass of the family.
