The characters of Leverage are not my property.

Thanks to MusicEstVista for the beta work.

The Tracker

When the screen of his laptop shut to reveal Parker, Hardison knew immediately that he was in big trouble.

"Parker" he greeted her nervously, obviously guilty.

"Hardison" she responded, her eyes locking onto his. She stared at him intently, like a bad hypnotizer trying to wrest all of his dirty little secrets.

"Who told you?" he gave up, feeling dizzy from her odd facial expressions.

"You're not the one to ask the questions."

"Is this an interrogation?"

"Why would I do that? Are you a criminal?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Hum. Point for you. Bad question. Here's a better one: Have you done something recently that makes you feel guilty?"

For a moment, Alec seemed reluctant, but finally answered.

"Ok, I admit, I shouldn't have hacked Eliot's laptop, but I was curious and I couldn't resist. I realize now that it was a bad idea; Eliot could kill me, so please don't tell him about that. Anyway, there was nothing interesting in his computer; this guy doesn't live in our century. He would be more…"

"Hardison! I don't care about what you did to Eliot's computer!"

"Hey, you're the one who asked…"

"Anything else you want to confess?" she cut him off.

"Yeah, I put a tracker in your shoes."

"Ah, ah! I knew it!" she pointed him, a triumphant grin on her face.

"And I knew you knew." he replied.

"And I knew you knew I knew."

"If you knew, it's just because someone told you."

"You have no proof. Maybe I found the tracker by myself."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you look at the soles of your shoes all the time." Alec retorted, voice full of sarcasm.

"Perhaps."

When she said that, she sounded serious, she looked serious, but was she really serious?

"You look at your soles?" he questioned, skeptical.

"Perhaps." she said again, squinting ominously at him. They stayed like that for a while, staring at each other.

"Ok, I give up, you win this battle. But be warned, you haven't won the war."

She smiled at his comment, the pleasure of the victory soothing her mood. She knew she would win the war in the end. And he knew that too. And she knew he knew. And he knew she knew he knew… She lost the thread of her thoughts, she should focus.

"Why did you do that?"

"You disappeared after having skewered Mister Heavy Charmer, I didn't want that to happen again."

"But I came back; there was no reason to put a tracker in my shoes."

"You said that, but if I hadn't done that, we wouldn't have known that you were at the orphanage."

"Maybe… But you couldn't know."

"You're right. But I'm not going to apologize."

"Hey! You have violated my privacy, it deserves an apology!

"Your privacy? Parker, I didn't put a camera in your shower, just a tracker in your shoes."

"No camera in my shower?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"Uh, no. Why?"

"You sure of that, because I was sure there was a camera in my shower. You swear on Nana's head that you didn't pose any cameras in my shower?

"On Nana's head" he declared, raising his hand solemnly.

"Hum. I don't trust you. You didn't tell me about the tracker, even after the job."

"If I told you, you would have taken off the tracker." he pleaded, developing a sudden interest in the tips of his shoes.

This reaction aroused the curiosity of the blonde.

"And it would have been bad?"

"Yeah, he said, shyly, because you could have faded away again and… and I don't want to lose you."

Silence took place between the two, Hardison more interested than ever by the pattern of the tiling, Parker gazing at him with an unreadable expression.

"You put a tracker in my shoes… because you don't want to lose me." she repeated for no one in particular.

At this moment, Alec was sure she was going to jump on him. And effectively, it's what she did, but the rest was different from what he had imagined, less painful to say the least.

She pressed her lips on his cheek in a noisy kiss.

"It's the cutest thing someone has ever done for me."

And she kissed him on the lips this time. It was not long, but it stunned Hardison more than anything else. He grinned like an idiot.

"And because your intentions were noble, she added, I will not tell Eliot about his laptop."

The End