Oh I said you better run real fast
When you hear that rattlin' sound
Rattle Snake Smile ~ Christian Kane

The next morning Eliot woke up slowly, forgetting where he was for a moment. His whole body felt like he'd been hit by a Mack truck. The swelling had gone down in his eye enough that he could at least open it. He glanced over to the other bed and was surprised to find it empty. Before he could panic, he saw Katie walk out of the bathroom.

"The others are waiting," she said, seeing he was awake.

Her hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail and she had on makeup and perfume. She was dressed in skin tight black pants and a low cut shirt. She didn't even look like the same girl from yesterday. She looked hot, like a model heading to a photo shoot but aloof and arrogant. She acted like he wasn't in the room while she put on gold hoop earrings.

Ah…she was wearing her rich bitch costume!

Eliot knew this was going to be a very long day. He cautiously sat up. As he debated what to say to her, he watched her repacking her clothes into the bag. Reluctantly he stood up, grabbed his own clothes, and made his way to the bathroom. She continued to ignore him when he returned.

"Katie…"

"My name is Kate," she said coldly, shooting him a warning look before turning away again.

Oh, she was trying to put him in his place. Cute. He came up behind her and waited. When he sensed the tension in her body, he put his mouth close to her ear and said as charmingly as he could with sarcasm purposefully dripping from it, "Yes, ma'am. Or would you prefer Miss Stanton-Williams?"

Eliot refused to play this game. Let her be pissed off. Maybe then they'd stop having sex and complicating matters. He jerked the door open and waited for her to join him. They met the others in Hardison and Nate's room.

Her ice princess routine melted away around the others. She was speaking geek with Hardison, treating Nate like he was a genius as she hung on his every word, and talked clothing and acting with Sophie. He thought he was going to be sick when she seemed to even be bonding with Parker. Katie had been a drama major in college and she apparently got her money's worth from her education. He was pretty sure that Nate and Sophie caught on quickly enough, but Hardison and Parker were eating it up.

Katie stood and reached into her jeans pocket, pulling out a twenty. "I'm hungry," she said to him. When he narrowed his eyes, she pushed the money into his hand and added, "Keep the change." Then she returned to her spot on the couch, clearly dismissing him, like he was some kind of step-and-fetch-it boy.

God dammit, she pushed his buttons! He wasn't going to indulge her enough to argue with her. He ignored Nate watching him with amusement.

"Call room service, princess." Eliot tossed the money onto the table. When she looked over at him, he gave her a look that dared her to say more.

The room grew tense while the two of them glared at each other until Parker cluelessly replied, "They don't have room service here."

"You know, I'm hungry too," Hardison jumped up. "Why don't Parker and I go get some food from that diner?"

"I'll go with you," Katie stood up to follow.

"Sit down," Eliot demanded.

"We're in the middle of New fuckin' Jersey, I think it's probably safe." Katie kept walking toward the door.

When Eliot stood up with the intent of jerking her back into her seat, Nate intervened and handed her a com. "She'll be with Parker and Hardison. Keep this in your ear. Eliot can monitor the three of you."

Katie had a flicker of annoyance and defiance in her eyes, but she smiled sweetly. "You're the boss." Then she followed Parker outside.

Sophie drifted her gaze to Eliot and he knew what was coming. She smiled with a little bit of 'I told you so' in her expression.

"You want to talk about this?" she offered as she watched him pull back his hair into a pony tail.

"What do you think?" he replied, putting in his com, signaling the end of the conversation.

"So I guess I missed the excitement last night," Hardison was asking Katie.

"I wouldn't say it was that exciting." He'd expected her attempt at a not-so-subtle jab to his ego and she didn't disappoint.

Parker's reply did make him grin though. "Well I've never screamed like that."

"Over the years I've gotten really good at faking things," Katie muttered. "Drama grad, what can I say?"

"Oh, I see." Eliot could hear the amusement in Hardison's voice. "I'm guessing I don't need to remind you that he can hear us, right?"

Katie quickly changed the subject and he tuned out their chatter. He didn't know what he was going to do with her.

Her silent treatment went on for days. She spent more time with Parker and Hardison, seeming to gravitate to them. Probably because Nate and Sophie were aware of the game while the hacker didn't care much either way. Her relationship with Parker could be a problem though. He fully expected the two daredevils to do something stupid any minute. While Parker could always handle the aftermath, everyone knew she was a little bit fragile behind the tough exterior, much like Katie. And Parker also had learned from the times she'd gone rogue on them. He kept trying to put a stop to Parker teaching her to lift wallets and shit like that but every time he said something, Katie just tried to learn more. At least they weren't jumping off the top of the hotel.

Eliot began to heal during the time they made plans. Nate didn't want to head to Kentucky without Eliot being physically up to the challenge. Sterling and the FBI had wasted a few days trying to track them down in Los Angeles and Hardison had gotten some information on the gunman's wallet from the other night. Unfortunately, this mob family seemed to be new in the states and very little was known about them other than the fact they had ties to the Italian mafias in New York and Chicago. The lack of information bothered Eliot and Nate more than anything.

At night, they slept in separate beds and she continued to ignore him, much to his annoyance. She changed clothes in front of him like he wasn't there and she made sure she put on a show. Her subtle attempts to get under his skin were more of an annoyance than anything else but he missed her affection. He knew it was probably for the best though.

Still…it'd been nice while it lasted.

oOooOo

Katie felt like she was in hell. Her stubborn pride wouldn't let her talk to Eliot but she hated being so close to him yet so far away. She'd pushed him a few times to get a reaction, but rarely received more than a glare.

'Guess it was just sex,' she thought in disgust. She hated the fact she had actually started to have feelings for him beyond their previous relationship.

"Why don't you just talk to him?" Sophie asked, surprising her while she brooded.

"Who?" Katie tried to look innocent, but Sophie cocked her head to the side and Katie shrugged. "And say what?"

"Whatever you're feeling. Be honest with him," Sophie urged. "He respects directness. But he won't come to you. He's too stubborn for that."

Katie sighed. She knew Sophie was right but didn't realize how stubborn Katie was.

"Remember what you said, he's all you have left." Sophie watched her and Katie knew the grifter was reading her body language, even though at times it felt like she could read her mind.

"He doesn't want me," Katie said dismissively. The statement hurt to say aloud.

"Well, if you're expecting him to send you roses and beg your forgiveness, that's not going to happen. But I think you know there is something between the two of you. He's hurting too. You've opened him up to his past and that's painful for him." Sophie placed her hand on Katie's arm. "But before you approach him, you need to decide what you want from him. White picket fences and charity balls aren't ever going to be part of his future."

"Mine either. Everyone I knew turned their back on me. As far as I'm concerned, that shit is the past."

"What will you do?" Sophie asked.

"I haven't really thought past getting my name cleared and John's reputation restored," Katie admitted.

"You're so young and you'll have the money to do whatever you want to do." Sophie smiled.

Katie shifted uncomfortably. She didn't know how to react to the other woman. Their worlds were so far apart and Katie felt like a country bumpkin next to Sophie. She honestly didn't know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She gave up on dreaming a long time ago. Her life had been planned out from birth practically. The only things that really mattered to her and that tied her to anything substantial were gone. No amount of money could fix that. Sure, she could buy more horses or build another ranch, but that had never been her dream. It had been her legacy.

"And as you pray in your darkness for wings to set you free, you are bound to your silent legacy," she whispered.

When Sophie looked surprised, Katie said, "It's from a song by Melissa Etheridge."

"I know the song. It always reminds me of Eliot," Sophie replied. When Katie furrowed her brow, Sophie added, "You are digging for the answers until your fingers bleed, to satisfy the hunger, to satiate the need."

Katie was quiet for a moment.

"He doesn't talk much about his past," Sophie commented. "We met Aimee and he's let a few things slip here and there, but that's it."

"John always thought he'd marry Aimee. I never quite got their relationship. It seemed like she chased after him because he was such a bad boy, then she wanted him to become something else." Katie smiled. "She should know that some wild horses can't be broken. It's not a conscious decision he's making, it's just his nature."

"You seem to understand him quite a bit."

Katie sighed. "He was more than just my brother's best friend. He's like family. You see, my mama was a lot like Aimee. She married my daddy thinking she could tame him and was in it for a challenge. But she never broke him. So when we were kids there was a lot of pressure for us to live up to the Stanton name. When my brother met Eliot, my daddy encouraged John to keep him around. He knew that it would be good for my brother to see how 'normal' people lived."

Sophie chuckled. "Your father considered Eliot 'normal'?"

Katie couldn't help but laugh. "He did at first. He caught on fairly quickly that Eliot was a little hellion but I think he thought maybe John and Eliot would balance each other out. It worked for John. Eventually my parents came to think of Eliot as their second son although my mother wasn't as thrilled about his affect on John and I as my father was."

"You miss them a lot, don't you? Your family?"

Tears burned Katie's eyes but she simply nodded. "Maybe that's what this is; just an attempt to hold on to my past."

Sophie nodded her understanding. Katie had gotten the impression that she had a long history with Nate.

No matter what this was with Eliot, Katie had to resolve it somehow. She loved him too much to lose him.

oOooOo

Eliot finished packing his bags and heard Katie enter the room.

"We're leaving tonight. Thought it would be better to get into town at night," he told her.

"Where are we going to stay?" she asked.

"My father's cabin," he replied shortly. "It's out of the way."

"You still own that?

He stiffly nodded. "Only thing he left me so I held onto it. John kept an eye on it for me even did some repairs on it I think, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"I didn't know that," she mused aloud.

He turned to look at her. "Good. Maybe no one else from your past does either."

Katie held his gaze and he wondered what was going on. She opened her mouth to say something but apparently changed her mind. Her eyes flickered away and he sighed, shaking his head. "Pack your stuff, Kate."

"Katie," she said softly.

He studied her through narrowed eyes attempting to decide if she was jerking his chain or trying to be difficult. She seemed on the verge of tears when she walked past him into the bathroom and said, "I don't like it when you call me Kate."

After she closed the door, he stared at it for a few moments trying to figure out what the hell he'd done now. One minute she's demanding he call her Kate and now she doesn't like it? When she came out of the bathroom, she began to pack, trying not to look at him.

Deciding she was just nervous about going back to Kentucky, he sat down on the bed, flipping on the radio. He scanned the channels until he found one with decent music. Anything was better than the strained silence between him.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was so soft, he barely heard it. He glanced up and she turned away quickly.

Eliot waited for her to say more but she didn't.

"Come here," he said, gently. When she walked over he stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She returned his embrace, relaxing against him, her fingers playing with his hair. Words were unnecessary.

oOooOo

The team arrived in Kentucky before dawn. Eliot drove and Katie kept him awake while Parker and Hardison slept in the back. She felt sick and grew silent when they drove near the back acres of the ranch.

"Do you want me to stop? It's still dark enough, you'd be safe," Eliot offered but she shook her head.

"We'll go together after we clear this up, put flowers on their graves," she tried to smile and he patted her knee.

"I always forget how beautiful it is," he replied.

"I guess you'll have time to go see Aimee again after this is settled."

He darted his eyes back to her before returning his gaze back to the road. "Nah. I think she'd prefer I kept my distance. I still talk to Willie occasionally."

"You miss her," she said, looking out the window.

"I guess part of me does. But…we're just too different now. She's a small town girl and wants a guy who'll buy her a house with white picket fence and settle down to the quiet life. I thought I could be that guy at one time but now I know I'll never be." He smiled at her. "And I'm okay with that."

"God, all I ever wanted to do was get out of this shit town. I wanted to see every corner of the world. I loved the horses and my family, but I never wanted to run the ranch. I saw how much John sacrificed of his life to it and I just didn't want that." She ran her hand through her hair. "You probably think I'm a spoiled brat. Had it all and didn't want it."

Eliot shook his head and replied, "No, I don't think you're spoiled for wanting something different. When this is over, you can do whatever you want."

He turned onto the gravel road that led back to his father's cabin which woke Parker and Hardison up. He drove deep into the woods and Katie smiled. "This brings back old memories."

"Where the hell are we?" Parker looked out the window in confusion.

"I'm expecting to hear Dueling Banjos any minute," Hardison replied and Parker snorted.

"Dammit Hardison! That was Georgia and on a freakin' river!" Eliot yelled at him.

"Squeal like a pig!" Parker said in Hardison's ear and Katie laughed so hard her ribs ached.

"You people are…" Eliot stopped when the glare of lights lit up the windshield. He slammed on the brakes. Hardison flew on top of Parker and she grunted.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hardison yelled at Eliot.

"Security lights."

"Yeah and?"

"It doesn't have security lights," Eliot said and backed the van up enough that the lights went out. He grabbed Katie's arm, pulling her out of the seat. "Get in the back. Hardison, call Nate and wait for my signal. Parker, come with me."

As Katie climbed into the back of the van she saw Eliot running through the woods with Parker following him. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode. Although it was probably only thirty minutes, it seemed like hours before Eliot walked out and signaled Hardison to pull in. The lights didn't turn on when they did.

"Apparently John decided to make some 'upgrades'," Eliot said with a note of irritation. He started grabbing their bags from the back of the van.

"Are you sure it was him?" she asked curiously.

"He left a note." Parker popped up beside Eliot to grab her stuff. She had a habit of just appearing out of nowhere. It was a bit unnerving.

Curiosity got the best of Katie and she jumped out of the van to walk into the cabin. Her mouth dropped open in shock. A huge screen TV took up most of the wall that didn't have the fireplace on it. In the middle of the TV was a Post-it. Walking over she saw her brother's scrawling handwriting.

'Happy Birthday, old man!

PS Sorry about the lights but it keeps the raccoons out of the trash.'

She smiled sadly. The TV and the note had so many inches of dust on them, she knew it had been done many years ago.

Parker came inside, asking, "Did you see the hot tub?"

"Hot tub?" Katie flipped around and followed the blonde to the back porch. "Holy shit! I can't believe John put in a hot tub."

Parker lifted the cover and both of them jumped back with a scream. Hardison and Eliot came tearing through the cabin and found the two women backed up against the farthest railing of the porch.

"What?" Eliot yelled.

"There's a cat in there!" Parker screamed.

Katie looked at her in surprise. "That wasn't a cat! It's a possum. Wait…you were scared of a cat?"

"They clean themselves with their tongues!" Parker exclaimed and once again Katie stared at her completely baffled.

"What's all the noise out here?" Sophie said from the doorway.

Eliot blocked her path quickly. "Go inside. I don't need three screaming women out here." He pushed Sophie back in the cabin. Grabbing an ax that was propped up beside the door, he said, "Hardison, you lift the lid and I'll kill it."

"Do I look like I know how to kill a possum?" Hardison's mouth gaped open. "And if you lift that lid, you're going to have two women and a man screaming out here."

Katie started giggling and began pushing Parker towards the cabin. "I'll help you, Eliot. After the initial shock, I think I can handle it, but do you really have to kill it? I mean…"

"Let him kill it. Please let him kill it," Hardison called over his shoulder. "Nate, can we go stay somewhere that doesn't have rabid killer animals? I'd feel safer in the ghettos of LA. Oh hold up, did you all see this TV? Sweetness! I'm in love."

Eliot shook his head and Katie began to laugh uncontrollably again. He muttered to her, "I swear, these people are making me crazy."

"Parker's not afraid of gunmen or jumping off a high rise but she's terrified of cats?" she gasped in between laughing.

"I don't even begin to understand it," he shrugged as he began to smile.

"God it feels good to laugh again. I wonder if this is complete insanity kicking in or something," she replied.

They stopped laughing when Nate appeared in the doorway looking serious. "You two might want to come see this."

Both of them followed him into the living room, where everyone was staring at the art hanging opposite of the TV. Katie didn't understand why everyone had gotten so quiet. When she glanced at Eliot, he explained. "A safe has recently been installed."

"How do you know?" she asked and was surprised when he pulled the painting away, showing a safe. "So?"

"Why would John install a safe in my cabin in the middle of the woods without telling me?" he asked her. "He had something to hide that he couldn't hide at the ranch. Parker?"

"On it."

Katie went and sat down on the couch. She watched Parker, but her mind was elsewhere. Her brother had kept this cabin from her. And now apparently he kept the safe from Eliot. Unlike the TV and hot tub, she couldn't chalk this up to him trying to surprise his friend. He actually hid something from them both. "What else did you hide?" she whispered to herself and honestly didn't know if she wanted to find out.

Parker opened the safe with a click but didn't pull open the door, moving aside to let Eliot do it. He took a deep breath and glanced over at her before he opened it. Katie closed her eyes, terrified to see what was going to happen next.

"I think I found the missing two million," Eliot announced before opening the door all of the way for everyone to see. Katie stood up and walked over in shock as Hardison whistled loudly.

Eliot picked up a velvet box off the top of the cash. After opening it, he handed it to her with a slight smile. Katie started crying when she saw what was inside. John had taken all of the jewelry that belonged to four generations of women in her family. She'd searched for it in the house after the safety deposit box was empty but couldn't find it.

Eliot was reading a note that he'd found and holding a brown envelope. When she looked at him, he read it aloud. "I knew you'd find this, D. Figure out the rest. And protect Katie."

"Figure out the rest?" Katie exclaimed. "What does he expect you to pull a Sherlock Holmes and solve some kind of mystery? Why didn't he just tell you in the note?"

"Maybe he didn't figure it out himself before he died," Nate suggested. "I'm just assuming your brother wasn't trying to be cryptic simply to annoy you."

"No, you're probably right," she answered. "What's in the envelope?"

"Pictures of you and a pack of cigarettes," Eliot sounded surprised. Walking over to the table he dumped them all out.

"Those aren't just pictures. They're surveillance photos," Nate sat down as he and Eliot began to look through the pictures. The others moved in closer and began scanning the pictures as well.

"What do you mean surveillance photos?" Katie asked, frustrated that they once again seemed to be speaking in code.

"Like a Private Investigator takes," Sophie explained.

"So my brother hired a PI to spy on me?"

"These aren't recent," Eliot said, turning around and handing her one of them. "When were they taken?"

"How would I know?" Katie exclaimed.

"Katie, this is really important. We need to know when and where these were taken." He pulled her to look at the pictures.

Pushing a couple of them around the table, she said, "Vanderbilt, a few years ago."

"Study them and think hard. We need to narrow it down a little bit more than that," Nate suggested. "Look at the surroundings, what season is it?"

Taking a deep breath, she picked up a few of them and studied them. "Fall, I think. The trees are bare but I'm still wearing short sleeves so it couldn't be too cold."

"Good. Now, do you know what year it is?"

"No, I don't think so. I went there for four years."

"Every year clothes change, hairstyles change, really study the pictures. There has to be something," Sophie urged her.

Katie tried to take in every detail but the years blurred together. Then she saw a picture of her and Sasha. She smiled. "It was my Junior year. Sasha was a freshman from Russia. I helped him learn English."

"Hey, look at the background in this picture," Hardison held it up. "It's announcing a football game."

"Yes! The Tennessee Volunteers! They were our rivals," Katie exclaimed.

"I can look up when the game was that year." Hardison grabbed his laptop bag. "Do you think I can get an internet signal out here?"

"Did you honestly just forget the big ass TV behind you? Don't you think that John would have made sure there was a way to connect cable or satellite?" Eliot snapped.

"You did great, Katie," Nate said with a smile.

"But I don't understand. What difference does all this make?"

"If we can find out when the pictures were taken, maybe we can connect it with an event in your life or a person in your life. Were you and Sasha more than friends?" Sophie asked. "Have you seen or heard from him since you graduated?"

"No and no. I left right after graduation to come back here to help John sober up."

"Did anything important happen around the time the pics were taken?"

"Nothing that I remember as being important, it was just life at college."

"What's with the cigarettes?" Parker said. "Why would anyone put them in a safe?"

"John didn't smoke," Eliot said before looking at Katie when she snatched the cigarettes. "What?"

"Oh my God, I know," she whispered, staring at the pack, feeling as if the blood was draining from her body. Everyone stared at her; even Hardison stopped typing to look up. "It's the tobacco company that Thomas' father owns."

"Thomas?"

"Wait. Is that the jerk you were going to marry?" Eliot exclaimed.

"Yes."

"And when did you meet him?" Nate asked.

"Valentine's Day, Junior year," Katie answered.

Eliot threw the pictures down on the table in disgust. "I guess we know who took these pictures. John must have found them somehow."

"I still don't understand. Why would Thomas be spying on me before we were dating? Was he some kind of stalker?"

"No, you were a mark," Eliot said, before getting up and slamming outside.