History Heartwarming / Leverage

* Jim Frakkin' Sterling of all people gets one in "The Queen's Gambit Job" when he reunites with his daughter, explaining that [[BatmanGambit he knew Nate could pull off the job he asked of him, [[GuileHero even though that job was a secondary objective to distract from the real goal of re-obtaining his daughter.]] He tells Nate as much.]]

* "The Homecoming Job" has a few. One of the better moments comes at the end of the episode [[spoiler:after delivering a shipping pallet of cash to a strapped veterans hospital]], as the main characters really solidify into a force for good:

* Nate's words to the team at the end of "The Maltese Falcon Job," [[spoiler: after having traded his freedom for theirs]]: "You guys are the most honorable people I have ever met in my life. You have become my family, my only family. I won't forget that."

** Nate to [[spoiler: Sterling and a bunch of FBI agents]]: "[[spoiler: My name is Nate Ford and I'm a thief.]]"

** Sterling looking legitimately concerned as Nate [[spoiler: collapses from his bullet wound]].

** In a flashback, Hardison missed his high school prom because he was paying for Nana's medical bills. [[spoiler: Well, hacking the national bank of UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}} to pay her bills.]]
** The client for the episode, Cyrus, mentions he can't even contact his family thanks to the mark. Once the gang's con is successful, we see Cyrus finally doing that.

* TheReveal that [[spoiler: Eliot used to work for Moreau]] is this. Hardison is pissed that Eliot put him in danger, but Nate is pissed that Eliot didn't say this earlier, and starts to chew him out for it.
--> '''Nate:''' We've been chasing [[spoiler: Moreau]] for six months, and you didn't tell us?
--> '''Eliot:''' Because I was trying-

** Also in "The Long Way Down Job", [[spoiler: Parker and Eliot are trapped in a chasm where they found Alan's body. When figuring a way out, Parker is very insistent on taking the body with them, to TearJerker levels.]]

** Related, Eliot's reassuring of the obviously upset Parker is equal parts tearjerking and heartwarming, especially since Eliot himself is clearly feeling down about [[spoiler: being forced to leave the body behind]].-

** [[spoiler: And while they aren't able to retrieve Alan's body, Parker is able to slip his cell phone into the pocket of TheDragon, which starts transmitting the frozen hiker's final message for everyone, including his widow, to hear once it gets in range. His last words to his wife are incredibly sweet, made all the better when Eliot tells Parker, "You did it. You brought him back to her."]]
* In the "The 15 Minutes Job", the team meets a woman whose high school boyfriend has been in jail for the last 14 years [[spoiler: due to being framed as the drunk driver in an accident caused by the mark]]. She's spent all that time fighting on his behalf, with nearly nothing to show for it. At the end of the episode when the truth comes out, the innocent man is freed, and she is seen happily hugging her boyfriend and smiling. Hardison mentions that he left the happy couple a surprise at her home.

* In "The Carnival Job," the ''instant'' that it's revealed [[spoiler:the mark's daughter was kidnapped]], they immediately drop the con and devote everything to [[spoiler:rescuing her]]. It isn't even a question. It takes approximately half a second for Nate to switch gears.

** Also, Eliot bonding with the mark's daughter throughout the episode, demonstrating his particular brand of gruff affection while teaching her how to win at the carnival games. When [[spoiler:she's kidnapped]] he initially tries to keep her calm by telling her it's a security drill, but she sees through it and promises not to cry if he tells her the truth.
--->'''Eliot:''' All right, this is not a drill. [[spoiler:These guys are very bad guys, the guys that took you, okay? But I'm coming for you, me, and I'm gonna find you, and I'm gonna bring you home.]] Now, you tell me, does that sound like the truth?\\

* The last thirty minutes of "The Grave Danger Job". [[spoiler: Everyone is hell-bent on getting Hardison out of that coffin. They don't care about the con anymore. The phone call from Parker to Hardison, the hug the he and Eliot have...all of it just...damn.]]
** It's a small moment, but as time starts to run out, [[spoiler: Parker calls Hardison [[FirstNameBasis "Alec"]] while begging him not to leave her. Because he's her friend, and she needs him.]]
** Sophie also talks to Parker about the loss of her brother as a young child--but Sophie wasn't with the team when they learned about it in "The Future Job." Which means that somebody (probably Hardison) told her.
* Nate spots a random person in trouble at the airport in "The Cross My Heart Job" and stops to help. The woman's daughter was kidnapped to force her to steal a heart from the transplant list that is intended for a 15-year-old boy. The team, exhausted on their way home from an overseas job, leaps into action without complaint.
* [[spoiler:Jim Frakkin' Sterling]] of all people gets one in "The Queen's Gambit Job" when [[spoiler:he reunites with his daughter, explaining that [[BatmanGambit he knew Nate could pull off the job he asked of him,]] [[GuileHero even though that job was a secondary objective to distract from the real goal of re-obtaining his daughter.]] He tells Nate as much.]]
** Specifically, in a nice reference back to the season two finale, he calls Nate [[spoiler: the best thief he's ever known]].

* In "The Experimental Job": [[spoiler: When Parker rescues Hardison from the Secret Society]] by beating up the entire group, normally [[TheBigGuy Eliot's]] job.

* Jimmy Ford finally admitting in "The Radio Job" that he loves his son and is proud of him. Too bad it happens right before [[spoiler: [[TearJerker he gets blown up right in front of Nate.]]]]
** Either even more of a Tearjerker, or even more Heartwarming...when you realize he possibly knew it would stop Nate in his tracks...long enough to keep Nate from dying too.

* There's a bit where [[spoiler: Eliot holds Dubenich at gunpoint, ready to shoot, all so that Nate won't be able to.]] Yes, it's a bit terrifying, but it really shows what Eliot is willing to do for the sake of his friend. More, watch closely -- his hand is shaking. [[spoiler:Not because he's afraid to kill -- which we know he can do without flinching -- but because he's been trying hard for most of the series to not be that man any more. A line he is willing to cross again for the sake of making sure Nate doesn't.]]

* The entire plot of "The D.B. Cooper Job". Over Nate's objections, the team helps [=McSweeten=]'s dying father, an FBIAgent, with the one case he could never solve--the RealLife [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper D.B. Cooper skyjacking]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:Cooper was actually Steve Reynolds--[=McSweeten=]'s own partner, whom he himself recruited into the FBI. While [=McSweeten=] never caught "Cooper", he did something even better by turning him into a good person.]]
* One of the sideplots for "The Broken Wing Job" was Parker solving the personal problems of customers who frequent the team's restaurant. She manages to pair the lonely singles "Romeo" and "Juliet" together. There is also a surgeon who orders a chicken parmesan every day but always stops after the first bite because [[spoiler:it's not the same as the one his deceased wife used to cook for him]]. Parker goes out of her way to cure his depression by telling him his wife would be proud of him, and she lets him try every dish the restaurant offers so can he can find a new favorite dish.

** Nate trusting Sophie's insistence that [[spoiler: Ma Mystere is a forgery]], and committing a crime they've just been cleared of to help reassure her doubts. When it turns out [[spoiler: she's right]], he takes on Sterling again, voluntarily, to help her get to the bottom of it.
** On a different note, both John Metier and Jonas Gault [[spoiler: respecting Sophie's wish that the painting never be exhibited until after her death.]] Gault's daughter notes that he could have made a fortune off of it, but instead Gault kept it quietly hidden away, taking daily visits to appreciate its beauty, because that was what Metier wanted and [[spoiler: what he had promised Sophie.]]
* While talking with Hardison during "The Low Low Price Job", Eliot reminisces fondly about his father, but they both left on bad terms and have not talked to each other in years. At the end of the episode, Eliot goes back to his hometown in an attempt to make amends.
** A FreezeFrameBonus shows that the six-pack of beer he takes with him is the brew pub's beer. Eliot brought ''Hardison's beer'' with him to share with his father.

* The FINALE! Oh God, the ''finale.'' The [[spoiler: proposal. The good-bye scene. The {{callback}}s. It's all so warm and ''fuzzy''--when it's not all dark and depressing, that is.]]
** [[spoiler:Especially the way Nate passed on leadership of Leverage - not to Hardison, but to ''Parker''.]] It's a wonderful acknowledgement of how far she's come from the barely socially adjusted thief in Season One.
** Hell that's impressive considering that in the pilot [[spoiler: he was as all right with just about everyone as Nate could be at the time EXCEPT Parker. He called Parker insane while criticising the choice of her, even if there's nobody better than her]].

** The reason why the client's wife disappeared after clearing out his accounts. [[spoiler: She was a grifter like the others in the ring, but she actually fell in love with him and was on the verge of admitting the entire con to him. She only left when the mark threatened to have him killed if the ring was exposed. She breaks down crying when Eliot and Sophie come to her and tell her they're here to help, so she finally has a way to reunite with her husband.]]
** Heck, the entire premise of the episode is a meta example. The client is the only millionaire on the show who isn't a corrupt and heartless scumbag, a reminder that being rich doesn't automatically make you evil in this world. That's an uplifting story.

* On a meta-level, this, from Creator/JohnRogers' Kung-Fu Monkey site.
-->"We've got one more to go, but I thought I'd put a spot here, where all you obsessive, cranky, persistent little bastards I love so much come to harass me. I'll do a proper wrap up later this week. Talk amongst yourselves. ''Thanks. For everything.''"

** It's a small one, but after all of Elliot's hard work preparing food for the wedding, Hardison is the first and only person to genuinely compliment it. Elliot noticeably responds with genuine appreciation, telling Hardison what he did to make the dish without his usual gruffness.

--> '''Eliot:''' -to figure out a way around this, alright? Maybe take my shot before-

--> '''Eliot:''' I'm protecting YOU! Alright? Last time I checked, that's my job.

** Actually, just that ENTIRE EPISODE, barring bits where Eliot is beating people up and the Tearjerker bits. From Real!Hardison and Real!Parker's handholding cuteness and Sheriff!Nate's dedication to the right thing and also his warbride (Sophie, who else?) and of course, "Don't waste time."

-->'''Eliot''': Don't spend it all in one place.

** It's a small one, but after all of Elliot's hard work prepping food for the wedding, Hardison is the first and only person to genuinely compliment it, and Elliot noticeably responds with genuine appreciation, telling Hardison what he did to make the dish without his usual gruffness.

** The mark has been locked in a spiral of grief ever since his wife died, focusing on work and perfecting the renovations she started on their home, and neglecting his daughter because he can't bear to look at someone who reminds him so strongly of his wife, but when she's kidnapped it snaps him out of it and he turns back into the loving father and good friend he was a year before.

** Midway through his BitterWeddingSpeech (interesting because he's posing ''as the officiant'') that's making everyone uncomfortable, Nate swings things back to positive while [[ShipTease making a great deal of eye contact with Sophie]] and remarks that the bride has made the groom a better version of himself and there's no way he can go back, clearly also referring to himself and Sophie.

* In the "The 15 Minutes Job", the team meets a woman whose high school boyfriend has been in jail for the last 14 years. [[spoiler: He was framed as the drunk driver in an accident caused by the mark]]. She's spent the 14 years fighting on his behalf, with nearly nothing to show for it. At the end of the episode when the truth comes out, the innocent man is freed, and she is seen happily hugging her boyfriend and smiling. Hardison mentions that he left the happy couple a surprise at her home.

* Nate spots a random person in trouble at the airport in "The Cross My Heart Job" and stops to help. The woman's daughter was kidnapped to force her to steal a heart from the transplant list that is intended for a 15 year old boy. The team, exhausted on their way home from an overseas job, leaps into action without complaint.

** Parker finds the money the criminal who kidnapped the fake psychic was looking for gives some of it to the client, claiming it was all the money his pregnant widowed sister was bilked out of in order to take care of the baby.

* In "The Experimental Job": [[spoiler: When Parker rescues Hardison from the Secret Society]] by beating up the entire group, normally [[TheBigGuy Elliot's]] job.

** Parker bonding with the client's young daughter by teaching her to pick a lock. Consider that this was very early in the series, before she started really opening up emotionally, making this even sweeter. In the end when the team but back the restaurant, the girl runs up to Parker and sits on her lap, which she's fine with.

* "The Bank Shot Job" is the first time that "the kids" are left without Nate and Sophie to guide them. Nate later comments on their use of pizza boxes to smuggle the judge's briefcase back into the bank. Hardison says, "Yeah, I know, you could have done better." But Nate says that he couldn't have, a pleased smile on his face.

** Hardison himself says "He should be shot".

** Parker having found the money the criminal who kidnapped the fake psychic was looking for gives some of it to the client claiming it was all the money his pregnant widowed sister was bilked out of in order to take care of the baby.

* "The White Rabbit Job" stands out because the team is actually trying to ''help'' the guy they're conning, since his guilt over the death of his cousin is sending him in a self destructive spiral. Even the client, one of the mark's employers, contacts the team not because he's angry or got screwed over by his boss, but because the employers were worried because the boss' recent behaviors (isolating himself and issuing random layoffs) were completely opposite from the boss devoted to the company who they were happy to work under. However, the mark is nearly DrivenToSuicide, but Parker managed to talk him down by actually opening up about how she dealt with the death of her little brother, something she had never told anybody outside of the team.

* "The Homecoming Job" has a few. One of the better moments comes at the end of the episode [[spoiler:after delivering a shipping pallet of cash to a strapped veterans hospital]], as the main characters really solidify into a force for good,

* In "The Gimme A K Street Job," the team gets exasperated and in way over their heads trying to navigate politics. The whole plan is treading water--until Nate and Parker end up talking quietly with a single teenage girl who blames herself for her friend's career-ending injury, and who reminds them what they're doing and why. The team refocuses from a series of paper-thin and inexpert political machinations to a simple, laser-targeted con and knocks it out of the park.