Disclaimer - I do not own Leverage, any of its characters or plot line. I only own my original characters and anything that isn't familiar with the show's storyline.
I started writing this after watching the series. I absolutely adore Christian Kane and truly believe that Eliot deserves to find love just as his teammates have.
The title is based on Daughtry's "I'll Fight" which I consider Eliot Spencer's theme song.
Reviews and comments are appreciated.
So without further adieu, here we go. Enjoy!
So per Eliot and Katie's wishes (and incessant nagging) Alexa packed up her suitcases and moved her life to Boston with the team. It was difficult to say goodbye to Kohana, the Mustang herd and her other horses; but she knew they would be in excellent hands with her sister and Trent. Plus with the money she'd be making working with the team, she'd be able to take care of the farm and the Mustang's for the rest of their lives.
However her first official job with the team, one that incidentally fell into her lap, would test every part of her, but none more so than her friendship with Eliot.
Inside of a house in Memphis, a brother and sister singing duo are rehearsing a song that was written and given to them by a friend. The young woman Kaye Lynn is singing while her brother accompanies her on his guitar.
"Well, I know they say all good things must come to some kind of ending, we were so damn good I guess we never stood a chance. Go on and find what you've been missin', when that highway's tired of listenin'..."
Her singing is cut off as three large men bust through the locked front door and accost them in the living room.
"You can't just barge in here like..." Her brother is cut off as he gets hit in the face. The thugs beat up the brother and throw him on the floor.
"What did I tell you two about talking to lawyers?" The man in charge, Kirkwood bellows.
"I-I... no, we didn't! We didn't!" Kaye Lynn protests fearing for her brother's safety.
"You don't think I know what goes on in my town? When I tell you not to do something..." He stomps on the brother's hand with his cowboy boots.
"Aah!"
"No! No! Ah!" Kaye Lynn pleads as Kirkwood grabs her by the arm and throws her on the couch, then shoves her down again as she tries to stand up. "Sit down! Don't do it."
"Now, get me the other hand."
"No." The brother mutters cradling his broken hand.
"No. No. No. Please don't. Please. I swear, we didn't do anything. Please! We didn't do nothing."
Kirkwood stomps on the other hand and the brother screams in agony.
Alexa was going over some case files with Hardison up in Nate's apartment, which now doubled as their headquarters over McRory's bar; when she got a call from an old friend desperately needing her help.
"Lexi! I need your help!"
"Kaye Lynn? What happened?"
"We're in trouble. Big trouble. They hurt my brother."
With a side glance at Hardison who was looking at her with concerned eyes she made a plan. "Alright, go pack a bag. I'm booking you an immediate flight to Boston. I'll meet you at the airport."
Hardison quickly took down the girl's information while Alexa went downstairs to the bar to speak with Nate, Sophie and Eliot.
The next morning Alexa took Kaye Lynn to the bar to meet the team. It hadn't taken much convincing for Nate to agree to take the case as a favor to Alexa. So here she sat at a table beside Kaye Lynn, whilst Nate and Eliot sat across from them.
Kaye Lynn's hands shake as she picks up the creamer spilling milk on the table. "I'm sorry. I'm still a bit shook up."
"That's all right." Nate tells her compassionately.
"That's all right." Eliot says as he uses a napkin to mop up the milk. "I got it."
"Thank you." She replies as Alexa pours the milk into her coffee.
"So, uh, your brother, now, will he ever play again?" Nate questions.
"Doctors say he'll be lucky to move his fingers again. Music was his life. What Kirkwood did was more than wrong. It was..."
"It was cruel." Eliot finished for her.
"Now, this guy Kirkwood, you said he has a reputation for doing these kinds of things. So why would you work for him?" Nate asked.
"Well, he owns a record label, Mr. Ford."
"So?"
"Put it like this. The day I was born, my Mama said I looked at her, smiled, and asked, "Which way to music city?"
"She's got a voice like an angel Nate." Alexa said with a smile to her friend.
"He was your shot at stardom." Eliot concluded.
"Right. He hired us to write songs for other artists, his more established artists. It was good money, plus royalties, and we thought we'd hit the jackpot, but when it came time to pay..."
"He showed you the fine print." Nate surmised.
"Exactly. He charged us rent to park in his lot. He charged us for the pens we used. He... he owns our publishing."
"So the only difference between Kirkwood and the majors is that the majors use lawyers to do their dirty work."
"And our songs were good and they did well. And before you knew it, he owed us hundreds of thousands in royalties."
"You ever confront him?"
"Instead of paying us, he offered to record our own album in his studio, no charge, and he said he was gonna get us a spot in "Saddles & Spurs."
"Saddles & Spu..." what's that?"
"A big music festival in Memphis." Alexa answered knowing all about it. "It's where undiscovered talent can get their songs recognized and heard by record execs."
"All right. So, what happened?" Eliot questioned.
"When he heard the album, he decided it was too good to waste on a couple of unknowns. So he stole it! The devil may have gone down to Georgia, Mr. Ford, but he lives in Memphis."
Upstairs in the Briefing Room Hardison pulls up the Intel he had found on Kirkwood; relaying it to the rest of the team while Alexa stayed downstairs with Kaye Lynn. "Mitchell Kirkwood. Record producer and CEO of Kirkwood Records. Now, here's a fun fact. He started off his career as an artist. Does anybody remember this?"
He pulls up a music video of Kirkwood on screen singing. "Should have been. It took a single spark to set the sky a flame, when you were in my heart the stars spelled out your name…"
"I say we take him down for that alone." Sophie comments.
"Critics agreed. It's probably why he never released another single. He took all the money he made and funneled it into his record company, and judging by the number of lawsuits filed, and dropped within days, I'd say it's not his first time forcing somebody to settle out of court."
"Does he have a criminal record?" Eliot asks.
"None. He carved out a nice, little kingdom in the country-music world."
"Yeah, well, he stole Kaye Lynn's music. He stole her money, he took over their publishing."
"Yeah, but we're gonna get it back." Nate assures the hitter.
"I understand how to steal money, but how do you steal music?" Sophie wonders.
This brings out Hardison's inner geek. "Oh, it's called a digital master. It's high-quality, multi-channel, studio-recorded, mixed, and engineered. Price to produce hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions. Now, this building right here, this is Kirkwood Records, Memphis, Tennessee. Now, inside this building is a hidden safe that contains these digital masters, one of which has Kaye Lynn's music on it."
"So it's a smash and grab." Parker states knowing her thievery skills would be put to good use.
"Well, no, no. Not exactly." Nate pauses her. "No. 'cause we have to make sure she gets back the money."
"And a little extra for hospital bills." Sophie adds remembering the brother.
"Making sure that he can't come after them, well, that wouldn't hurt." Nate says before sharing a look with Sophie which has them answering in tandem. "A fiddle game."
Parker raises her hand inadvertently smacking Hardison in the face which causes him to balk as Nate points to her. "Uh, Parker!"
"Uh, I don't know how to play the fiddle."
"Well, actually we're not gonna play a fiddle. No. We're gonna sell one. For a hell of a lot more than it's worth."
Downstairs in the bar Kaye Lynn had calmed down and stopped shaking, as she and Alexa catch up on old times. "So that's the Eliot Spencer huh?"
Alexa nods with a smile. "That he is."
"He's handsome." Kaye Lynn says wiggling her eyebrows making Alexa laugh.
"Yeah well don't tell him that. His ego's big enough as it is."
"I can't believe what you went through Lexi." Kaye Lynn said changing the subject. "How're you doing?"
"Much better." She says tucking her hair back behind her ear to show Kaye Lynn the scar. It had faded to a light pink but still looked like something out of a horror movie, so Alexa kept it concealed behind her hair. "Both mine and Kohana's wounds healed without a trace, minus this one which of course was the worst."
"So what made you move here to Boston?"
"Eli." Alexa answered swiftly. "Being without him the last ten years was really hard. So when he asked me to move here with him I didn't hesitate. Call it, making up for lost time."
"Well after what you went through, maybe a change of scenery would do you good for a while. And spending time with Eliot can't hurt." Kaye Lynn said making both women smile.
The following night the group had landed in Memphis, with the majority of the group going to the Saddlebag Saloon where "Saddles and Spurs" was taking place, to prepare for the start of their "Fiddle Game." Alexa and Kaye Lynn joined them after paying a visit to the hospital to check on Kaye Lynn's brother. Alexa sent Kaye Lynn down to the green room while she and Parker worked the floor; Nate and Hardison took up positions at the bar, whilst Sophie positioned herself at a special table where she was sure to be noticed.
"Uh, Mr. Kirkwood!" The young hostess at the front desk greeted the record exec as he walked through the front doors.
"Hello, Kelly." His smile fades as he sees Sophie at his table. "Who is at my table?"
"Uh... Well, the computer said you canceled!"
"Does it look like I canceled?"
"But the computer..."
"Go ahead. Say it again. Say something else about the computer." Kirkwood taunted the poor girl.
"I'll put a table together right away." She stammers quickly before moving off.
"Kirkwood's on his way over." Hardison tells Nate before he vacates his seat beside the mastermind at the bar.
A guy tries to take up the now empty barstool, however Kirkwood catches his arm stopping him. "Hey. Hey." He shoves the guy away and takes the seat beside Nate. "Oliver, pour from my bottle. Make it a double. Oh, no, no, no, no, no." He says forcing the bartender to put more in his glass.
"Hey, why don't you put it on my, uh, tab, there? You're, uh, Mitch Kirkwood, aren't you?" Nate says turning to the man.
"Yes."
In the hallway Hardison makes his way towards the DJ booth, radioing to the two thieves on the dancefloor over his comms. "Parker, Lexi, I'm on my way to the sound booth."
Down on the floor Parker, wearing a blue western shirt tied at the waist, flowered ruffle skirt and black ankle boots, cracks her neck readying herself; as she and Alexa, wearing a black tank, cut-off shorts and brown cowboy boots share devious smiles.
Hardison manages to get into the sound room when the technician leaves, slipping in he sits down in the chair and pulls up iTunes on the laptop. "Let's see what our friend likes to listen to. Most played... Brooks & Dunn." He refers to a clipboard on the wall which lists the festival concert line up. "I need tickets for Brooks & Dunn. You got that, Parker? Lexi?"
"All over it Hardison." Alexa radios back as she and Parker spin around the dancefloor together, their actions distracting unsuspecting cowboy's allowing the two women to pick pockets.
Hardison closes the laptop and stands up just as the technician returns. "Uh, you're not supposed to be in here."
"Tell me about it, buddy. Why are you here?"
"I work here."
"Flippin' fantastical." Hardison grumbles. "They call me on my night off and gone and double-book it."
"Better call the main office…" The tech says picking up the phone. "Find out what's going on here."
"Please do, Skipper, 'cause if I got to work tonight, then I need to find somebody to take this Brooks & Dunn ticket off my hands."
Hearing this the tech quickly hangs the phone back on the receiver. "You know what? I am starting to remember something about having the night off."
"Don't you think you could go on and double-check that, butter britches?"
"Naw. I definitely remember now."
"Really? All right, now. Think you can find somebody to take this ticket off my hands?"
"I think I can find somebody."
"Hot diggity dadgum. Let me..." Hardison starts looking in his pockets. "Get you this Brooks & Dunn ticket, so..."
Finished with their scavenger hunt, Parker and Alexa dump their loot onto a table and sort through them until Alexa pulls out a ticket and smiles. "Jackpot." She grins handing the ticket to Parker who sweeps off to deliver it.
Hardison looks down just as Parker slides the ticket beneath the door. "Well... Spick-and-span... Damn. Look. There it goes, right there. I must have dropped it. Been there the whole time. Whole time."
The tech picks up the ticket smiling. "All right, well, thanks." He turns and exits the booth.
"All right, yeah, well, you were right, man. Give me a t-shirt."
"I'm not gonna lie to you. Being rich? That'll get you the chicks." Kirkwood states as he sits at the bar talking to Nate. He snaps his fingers impatiently until the female bartender brings him another drink.
"Here you go, Mr. Kirkwood."
"But you add to that being famous? I tell you..." He reaches over the bar and grabs a pretty blonde girl by the wrist, much to her disgust and annoyance Nate notices. "I have the opportunity to turn down girls prettier than this. Damn near every day."
The bartender pulls away with distaste as Nate shakes his head. "Why, th-th-that's really... that's really somethin'. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Now, why... why would you just, uh, stop at one song?"
"Oh. Same reason you manage musicians. Why be the cow when you can be the farmer?"
"Oh. Well..."
"Tell me about this kid you got."
"Yeah, well, his name is, uh, Kenneth Crane. Right? Now, a couple of years ago, uh, we took his best song, we put it on a demo tape, and we sent it out everywhere. Well, two days ago, this, uh, European lady, she offered $25,000 for the rights to that song."
"$25,000?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what did you say to that?"
"Well, that's the thing. I-I didn't know what to say to her. You know? And she's sitting right over there waiting on an answer." Nate states pointing over his shoulder at Sophie.
Kirkwood looks over at Sophie, the woman who is sat at his usual table. "Interesting."
"Yeah. Yeah. Do you know... do you know her?"
"No. No. Not... Not really, but I tell you what I will do. I will go over there for you, talk to her, see if I can't get her to show her hand."
"That... that's amazing. You would do that?"
"Hell yes, I would do that. Local boys got to stick together." He slaps the bar before walking away.
"Well..." Nate grins as Parker and Alexa walk up beside him.
"That man makes my skin crawl." Alexa fumes watching Kirkwood with a scowl.
"I know." Nate says patting her shoulder. "Let the fiddle games begin."
"Yeah. Um, I'm still a little unclear. Where, exactly, is this fiddle?" Parker questions.
"It just walked through the door." Nate says as the three of them turn to see Eliot walk in. Only Alexa notices the hesitation on the hitters face as he heads for the back.
Eliot steps out onto the balcony overlooking the stage and dancefloor, peering down at crowd. He startles as Alexa walks up and touches his shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asks him knowing a jumpy Eliot Spencer was a warning sign.
"Nothin'." He states, however he is not able to meet her eyes. Another warning sign for her.
"Eli, you're jumpier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." She places her hands on his shoulders, leaning in close to him. "Talk to me."
He glances back into her eyes, the aqua orbs causing him to crack as they always did. "I can't do this, Lex. I can't sing in front of this crowd."
"Eli I grew up listenin' to you sing. You have a great voice and real talent. You can do this, I have faith in you." She says matching his stare, but she can still see the hesitation and slight fear in his eyes. "Okay how about this, I will stand in the crowd at the front of the stage, if you get nervous you just look at me. Don't focus on anyone else, just keep your eyes locked on me. Just imagine that we're back home sittin' on my front porch."
After a tense moment Eliot sighed in agreement, turning around he brought her into his arms hugging her. "Thanks Lex. I couldn't do this without you." Kissing her cheek he moves towards the curtain to leave when Parker pops out from behind it and bumps into him. "What are you looking at?" She asks.
"Don't!" He snaps tersely.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm—nothing's wrong."
"Something's wrong." She pushes.
"I'm fine."
"I startled you." She says glancing concerned over his shoulder at Alexa.
"You're a cat burglar. That's what you do." He snaps.
"Yeah, I've been a cat burglar since I was 10 years old."
"Don't... Really?"
"Well, maybe 9, but this is the first time I've startled you."
"He's nervous, Parker." Sophie chimes in over the comms.
"I'm not nervous." Eliot retorts.
"I thought you said you could sing."
"I can sing. I just... I didn't... realize there was gonna be this many people." He mutters looking over at Alexa who smiles in reassurance.
Parker balks in shock and amusement. "You are nervous."
In the sound booth Hardison shakes his head looking at the computer screen. "Relax, man. I told you. I got you. Say something."
"I don't speak on command, Hardison."
"Perfect. Now, I rigged my laptop to record your comms. Now, this means that I can alter your pitch from anywhere to make you sound like Darth Eliot..."
"I don't speak on command, Hardison." Eliot smiles hearing his altered deep voice.
"...To Spencer Smurf."
"I don't speak on command, Hardison."
Both Parker and Alexa laugh as Eliot glares at them. "Hardison?" He growls.
"Don't ever do the Smurf thing again?"
"Right."
"So, the software takes the frequency of your voice, and it matches it to the key of the song, then uses a Fourier transform to correct the pitch, and sends the tuned audio out through the bar's speakers."
"What does that mean?" Parker asks not familiar with electronic devices of this caliber.
"That means that, for tonight, Eliot has perfect pitch. You ever wonder how Britney Spears sounds so good on her tracks? Well, this is it, except mine's in real time, Baby."
"Uh, who, exactly, did you just refer to as "Baby"?" Nate inputs from the bar.
"It's like the universal term of "Baby." How old are you?"
Downstairs Kirkwood walks up to his table where Sophie sits. "All right, where is he?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Beautiful girl like you couldn't possibly be sitting here all alone. Where is he?"
"This must be that southern charm I've heard so much about." Sophie says removing her sunglasses.
"Mitchell Kirkwood."
"Oh. I seem to have stolen your table." She says moving her purse aside to show the plaque on the booth wall. "You must be a very important man. Should I know you?"
"Truth be known, they give one of these to just about anybody who happens to own the place. I will let you make it up to me, by allowing me to give you the nickel tour. And I won't even charge you the nickel. Come on." He says standing up.
"Virginia. Virginia Ellington. My things gonna be safe here?"
"At this table, they will."
As they move away Kirkwood's associate Jesse, sits down at table and picks up her phone, dialing from recent calls.
At the bar Nate's phone rings and he answers it covering his mouth to muffle the background noise. "Worcester Studios. How may I direct your call?"
Jesse hangs up and opens the laptop, looking through the files he opens up one for Worchester Studios and finds a promo for rap star K-Gent.
Down in the green room Eliot is sitting on a chair frustrated as he again messes up the chords for the song. "Damn it..." He once more tunes the strings before looking up to see Kaye Lynn pacing. "What, are you nervous?"
"That song you're going out there to sing? That's the only thing my brother and I have left that Kirkwood hasn't stolen or destroyed, and if I lose it..."
"You're not gonna lose it, all right? We're gonna get you your money, we're gonna get you your music back. I promise you."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Cause this is what we do." He states and begins to play the guitar once again.
"You still having trouble with that bridge?" She asks watching him struggle.
"No. I-I think..."
"Let me... let me show you. Let me..." She climbs onto his lap under the guitar, leaning back against him. "Okay." She adjusts his hands. "When you strum, just do this, all right? So..." She moves her fingers as Eliot strums the chords. "G" Right."
At the bar Alexa leans against it with her eyes closed, thanks to Hardison's wonderful new comms she can hear everything going on between her two friends; she can practically picture it in her mind and it causes a flash of jealousy she didn't know she had to rear its ugly head.
"Can I get a shot of whiskey please?" She asks the bartender feeling like she had cottonmouth.
"You have "D..." "D" Right." "You got... you got "G" again." "G." "A" minor." "Now the "G." "G" from the top. "Good. That's right." "That's right."
Taking a deep breath she smiles at the bartender. "Better make that a double." She shoots it down while Nate sits next to her giving her a curious gaze. "I'm fine." She assures him as she continues listening in.
"How do you feel when you play?" Kaye Lynn questions.
"I'm... I think... I think I got it." Eliot stammers.
"See, that... that's your problem." She gets off his lap. "You're thinking about how to play the song, and I'm asking you, "How do you feel when you play?" You ever been in love?"
A pair of aqua eyes flashes in Eliot's mind. "Once."
"How'd it end?"
"I made her a promise that if she ever needed me that I'd be there for her."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Because I made the same promise to the United States government and I found out you can't make that promise to more than one person."
"That feeling? Right there? Hold onto that, and you'll do just fine."
At the bar Alexa sat stoically staring off into nothing, hearing Eliot's words made her realize just how much guilt he'd been holding onto the last ten years. He held so much pain inside and knowing she was the cause of it brought tears to her eyes.
Sophie is sitting at a table on the back balcony with Kirkwood when Jesse approaches and pulls his boss off to the side. "Excuse me." He politely excuses himself and goes aside with his hired thug. "She's a record executive from England, sir."
At the bar Nate, who is rarely a compassionate and concerned man is watching Alexa closely as she dabs tears from her eyes. "You okay?"
"Yeah." She sniffs putting on a smile. "I'm fine."
"Okay, Hardison. How are we doing?"
"Ready when Eliot is."
Kirkwood having learned new information, returns to Sophie. "Tell me something. Why would a star like K-GENT send you all the way here from London to sign an unknown, unsigned country singer and give him $25,000 for a song on a demo tape?"
"Congratulations, Mr. Kirkwood. You've impressed me, and I'm not easily impressed."
"I didn't think you were."
"You gonna tell me how you did that?"
"I want you to tell me first. Right now."
"It's very simple. Box of demos, lying around the studio, waiting to go to the rubbish. K-GENT picks one up... Who knows why? Next thing we know, he's sampled one of the tracks on his new album."
"And you came here to offer the kid $25,000 before he realized he had won the lottery."
"Something like that."
Eliot walks out on stage and takes a seat on the stool adjusting the microphone in front of him. Feeling his nerves he glances around the floor until he finds the comforting aqua eyes of Alexa. She gives him a wink and her bright smile easing his fears.
"Hi, I'm Kenneth Crane. And, uh, I'm gonna sing a song... I'm gonna sing... sing a song I wrote about... the road not traveled." Adjusting the guitar he starts to play. "Well, I know they say all good things must come to some kind of ending we were so damn good…"
"Nate, something's wrong." Hardison radios.
"I guess we never stood a chance." Eliot sings staring down at Alexa.
"All right. What is it?" Nate questions.
"Go on and find what you've been missing,"
"Uh... The system's not working. S-something's wrong."
"No, it's fine." Nate replies smiling.
"And when that highway's tired of-"
"No, it's not fine. I'm looking at it right now. It is not correcting his voice."
"There's nothing wrong with it." Alexa whispers with a smile as tears cloud her eyes.
"-listenin', you'll see I'm not that easy to forget. And when a new moon shines through your window or you hear a sad song on the radio."
"That's because it doesn't need correcting." Nate states.
In the control room Hardison puts the headphones to his ear, as Parker stands up to look at Eliot.
"And you don't know why but you just start to cry. Or you're driving 'round on a sunny day and out of nowhere comes the pouring rain and a memory hits you right out of the blue… Yeah, that's just me, thinking of you."
Alexa had thought she'd be okay hearing Eliot sing this song, that it wouldn't hit her, but she couldn't have been more wrong; especially when he locked eyes with her as he sang the bridge and the tears fell freely down her cheeks.
"And I'm thinking about the road you're on, I'm thinking about you coming home, I'm wondering if you got your radio on. Yeah, when you find your way to another town and someone tries to lay you down and a memory hits you right out of the blue. It's me thinking of you, yeah, that's just me thinking of you."
The audience goes wild cheering and clapping, Alexa along with them as she gives Eliot another big smile praying he can't see the raw emotions on her face. She heads down to the green room to congratulate him with a hug. "I'm so proud of you Eli."
"Thanks." He says hugging her. "Man, that song, I swore you wrote it just for me." He says to Kaye Lynn, before moving into the green room missing the glances the two girls share.
"He doesn't know?" Kaye Lynn asks her brunette friend.
"No Kaye… he doesn't." Alexa admits before she takes her leave.
The younger woman goes into the green room as Eliot is setting his guitar down. "How'd I... How'd I do?"
"That was amazing!" She exclaims before hugging him. The two share a look before Eliot leans down and kisses her. "Hang on." He says before they can get too carried away, taking out his ear bud and setting it on the table.
Down on the floor Jesse approaches Nate tapping him on the shoulder. "Mr. Kirkwood wants to see you."
"He knows where I am." Nate states. Two big biker looking thugs move in threateningly. "Or, uh, you know... I could go to him. Yeah." He walks off ahead of the thugs allowing him to call out for help. "Eliot. Eliot, how soon can you get here? Eliot? Eliot!"
"On our way, Nate." Parker replies, but before they can leave the tech bursts through the door detaining them. "You! You lied to me." He states as he pulls the ticket from his pocket. "This is for tomorrow night."
"You offered, what? $25,000? I happen to know that you would pay half a million dollars for that song." Kirkwood states to Sophie.
"Fortunately for me, he doesn't know that."
"Fortunately for you, his manager and I happen to go way back. We did 4H together. It's a cowboy thing. Why don't you let me see if I can't nudge the deal along for you?"
"And what would you want, exactly?"
"Oh, I'll think of something."
Alexa was just coming up to the bar when she heard Nate calling out for help. With Parker and Hardison detained, she knew that she had precious minutes before Kirkwood's goons used Nate as a punching bag, so she headed after him not waiting for the hitter to respond. "Damn it Eli. I'll be right there Nate."
In a back room Nate sits calmly in a chair with his arms crossed looking up at the two thugs. "You two work out together?"
They ignore him as the door opens and another man comes in. "Oh, hey. I'm just gonna leave my card and get going here. Listen, I gotta go take care of my musician."
In the green room a smirking Eliot puts his earbud back in, he can hear Nate talking to someone. "You know how artists get." Followed by Nate grunting as someone punches him in the stomach.
"Nate! Nate, I'm on my way!" He heads for the door but pauses seeing shadows along the bottom of the door. He yanks it open reaching out and grabbing the person in a choke hold. "Get in here! Who do you work for?!" He lets her go quickly assessing she isn't a threat.
"Forever 21! Don't hit me!" She pleads.
"I'm not gonna... What are you doing here?"
"I just want your autograph."
Eliot shrugs smirking as he takes her pad and gives her an autograph.
Alexa stood in the hallway waiting until the third guy exited the room. Needing a distraction on the two still inside she took off her tank top exposing her best assets, then approached the door and knocked. The door swung open and she was face to chest with the two thugs. "What do you want?"
"Good evening gentlemen, I seem to have misplaced my top and I was hoping maybe you could help a lady out?" She said using her sugary sweet southern twang to her advantage. Like true men thinking with the wrong brain they moved towards her sandwiching her body between them.
Nate sat back in his chair watching, curious as to what Alexa had planned. He received his answer a split second later as Alexa dropped the front man to his knees with a throat punch; then nailed the rear one with an elbow to the nose. Turning back to the first guy she knocked him out with a knee to face, before whipping out her right leg and kicking the second guy in the face. Nate was impressed. She had left two men twice her size unconscious in less than 10 seconds.
"You got it from here boss?" She asked him as she slipped her top back on.
"Yeah. Well done." He thanked her. She shot him a wink before slipping out and closing the door.
"He tried to leave so I had to get a little rough." Jesse explained as he and Kirkwood approached the door. Kirkwood enters and sees both thugs on the floor, Nate sitting comfortably in the chair.
"Oh, hey, yeah. They got into a fight, these guys. Yeah, something about reps versus sets. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention." Kirkwood pulls out money and throws it to Nate. "Yeah."
Back in the hotel Nate hands the money over to Kaye Lynn. "Now, that is how you run a fiddle game."
She stares at the money awestruck before looking over to Alexa. "I don't even know how to begin to thank you."
"And that's just 10% of it. Now, tomorrow, he's taking Eli into the studio, and we'll get you the other 90%." Alexa tells her.
"And while Eliot's in the studio, Parker will get into the safe and grab the masters." Sophie informs.
"Ohh! Eliot's the fiddle! Ha ha ha!" Parker suddenly hollers from the bedroom as it finally dawns on her.
Hardison looks at the closed door curiously. "What's she doing back there?"
"She's trying on her costume." Sophie tells him.
"We sold Eliot to Kirkwood. I totally get this." She hollers.
The next day Hardison and Parker wearing their god awful costumes are sitting in the office awaiting the poor girl who would be their assistant for the day. Hardison looked like an over-hyped rap mogul with his white fur jacket, white tank, white pants and white shoes. Parker meanwhile is lounging on the couch wearing her costume hideously designed to mimic Bjork's famous swan dress; including feathers and makeup designed and applied by their guru Alexa.
"Okay." The bubbly young lady walks in greeting Hardison and Parker. "Hi! Welcome to Kirkwood Records. I'm JC. Anything you need, you just let me know."
"Okay, first of all, my man, real quick, lose the attitude. Second of all, yes, it's her... breathe." Hardison says acting every bit the part of a stuck up celebrity.
"I'm okay. Um... If I could get you to fill out these visitor badges..."
The girl glances down at Parker who quickly looks away, snapping her fingers she motions Hardison down to her level and mocks whispers into his ear. "Did you just look her in the eyes?" Hardison demands.
"Oh. I-I-I don't think I was."
"Whoa! Chill with the attitude! Don't... don't raise your voice! Did they not tell you nothing? You know who you're in front of? Think about it. Iceland. Pop star. Figure it out. Click it together. Bells and whistles. Give me something!"
"Bjor..."
Parker screeches covering her ears with her hands, completely enthralled in her bizarre character. Hardison reaches down to comfort her. "Oh. Oh. I'm so... oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Are you okay? Is the duck...? Good. Woman... For real. Get up in here. Mommy, mommy, mommy, real quick. Okay. I hope, for your sake, that you was not about to say what I think you was about to say."
"Well, I don't think I was."
"What I'm gonna need you to do is just roll up out of here, cuz, 'cause you messin' up the aura. We was cool. We was vibin'."
"Okay. Um... Great. Well, I'm gonna get going on that paperwork."
"Okay. Yeah, you do that. So I can start recording this hillbilly. I crossed an ocean, a pond, and a creek to get here."
JC leaves and Hardison cues up his comms. "Hey, yo, Eliot, you got an ETA?"
Eliot is walking quickly down the sidewalk in town carrying his guitar, nervously glancing behind him every few feet. "Yeah. I'm almost there. But I think somebody's following me."
"Do some Eliot-fu on 'em. What happened to "this is what I do"?"
"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work this time." He says breaking into a job as a mob of teenage girls start chasing him.
Hardison is looking at fan sites on internet. "I been meaning to tell you, this, uh, Kenneth Crane? He is blowing up on Twitter. He's got a fan page and everything. It's a pretty good picture, too."
"That's the problem. I can't have my picture out there like that."
"Well, contrary to what y'all may believe, I do not control everything that happens on the internet."
"There's a price on my head in three different countries, and I'm fairly certain a fatwa was issued!"
"You are so vain, man." Hardison says working his magic on his phone. "Boom. There. Fan site... nuked. But you know what? When you get back, we gonna have us a serious conversation about the difference between caution and paranoia."
"When you've done the things I've done, there's no such thing as paranoia."
Alexa is sitting in a car outside of the studio waiting on Eliot, whom she was supposed to drive this morning, but he was conveniently absent from the hotel. She listens to the exchange between the hacker and hitter with amusement; she really was the only person who fully knew Eliot's background.
Meanwhile at the hotel restaurant Nate is mowing down a plate of ribs, while Sophie sits opposite him grimacing in disgust. "Seriously? For breakfast?" She questions.
"Mm. Oh, yeah." He mutters taking another bite. Sophie suddenly slaps him and stands up. "Oh! Geez. What, did Kirkwood just walk in or something?"
"How'd he find us?" She asks seeing Kirkwood coming down the stairs.
"Well, there's probably not a lot of five-star hotels in Memphis. Now, you should probably just, you know, act the part, ride this out, be in character, and... You should probably storm off about now."
"I thought I'd give it another beat." After a moment she leaves. "Okay, then." She strides up to Kirkwood. "Perfect. The other man in Memphis I'd like to slap."
"Just relax now, little filly."
"I am perfectly aware that you went behind my back to get the rights to that song. So let's just cut to the chase, huh? What do you want?"
Alexa gets out of the truck leaning against the grill as Eliot runs up, pausing he tries to catch his breath. "Have a nice jog?" She snarks.
"Not really."
"Well maybe if you'd been at the hotel like you were supposed to be, I could've given you a ride." She snips before heading into the building.
Eliot sighed knowing her cold shoulder meant she knew where he had been all night.
Inside JC leads Hardison and Parker down the hallway towards the studio. "Mr. Crane arrived just a moment ago. He's just setting up in his studio now."
Hardison walks into the studio taking off his jacket. "All right. Let the magic begin."
JC notices that Parker is still standing in the hallway with her. "You're not joining them."
"And risk being tainted?" She replies in her ridiculous accent.
"By what?"
"Exactly. Which way to the meditation temple? Hmm?" Parker states before walking away.
"Oh. Um..." JC mutters following her. "You know, we do have a few rooms. Just, um, actually, right this... Way..." Parker goes the other way, JC turns to follow. "Okay, that way's great, too. That's perfect. Okay."
"Parker's on the loose, but there are a lot of unfriendlies." Hardison says as he and Alexa get set up in the studio.
"Yeah, which is exactly why we have cover stories. How's Eliot?" Nate radios.
"He's good. He's about to record so he took his comms out."
Parker walks into an office and looks around. "Hmm. Too much clutter."
Hardison picks up the mic patched into the recording booth. "You ready, man?"
Eliot takes a deep breath situating his headphones and guitar. "Whew. Yeah."
"All right."
"When a new moon shines through your window or you hear a sad song on the radio…"
"Hold up, man. It's... it's a little pitchy. It's... Just a scooch. A little pitchy."
Parker walks into another office. "Not enough clutter." She walks out hoping if she irritates this woman enough she'll leave her alone and Parker can then snoop for the masters.
"When a new moon shines through your win—"
"It's pitchy in that very same spot, right? It's... yeah, it's a little pitchy."
"And when a new..."
"Hold up, man."
"Hang on, man. Let me get into the song."
"Did you practice your warbles? Just put a... smooth it out. Like, you... (singing): when a new moon shines through your..."
"When a new moon shines through your window—"
Following JC down another hallway Parker notices a secure room, she starts coughing loudly as she quickly swipes the woman's access card. "Water! Hurry!"
"Okay." JC quickly takes off and Parker uses the card to unlock the door.
"How's it going, Parker?" Nate radios in.
"I don't think I'm being weird enough."
"Somehow I doubt that."
"Yeah I don't buy that for a second Parker." Alexa chimes in laughing.
JC returns a moment later handing Parker a glass of water. "Okay, sugar, I got... I got your water."
Parker sniffs the water, taking a drink she swirls it around her mouth then gargles it before spitting it out. "This isn't from an iceberg!"
"Oh... I don't think we have that here."
Parker sighs handing the glass back. "Fine. Just... Bring me some champagne." After JC leaves Parker opens the door into the office.
"And when a new moon shines through your window or you hear a sad song on the radio and you don't know why, but you just start to..."
"No. Ma..."
"Listen to me, man. Say "pitchy" one more time... Say "pitchy" one more time and see what happens. I don't even think that word means what you think it means."
"It means "pitchy."
"Define it."
"You define it."
"I don't have to define it! I'm not saying it every five seconds!" Eliot shouts, his patience at its end.
Being the smart ass that he is Hardison turns the mic off, muting Eliot's ranting to them. "I'm... I'm sorry. Well, I can't... I lo... I lost you. I can't hear you. I'm sorry. I... I... it..."
He grins cockily, turning his head he finds Alexa smiling at him. "What?"
"You're lucky there's soundproof glass between you and him… otherwise he'd strangle you with that microphone cord." She smiles knowingly as Hardison's cockiness vanishes.
"Maybe the safe is off-site. I've looked everywhere." Parker concludes, but as she takes a step, she hears Eliot singing. "Isn't the recording studio supposed to be soundproof?"
"Uh, yeah. Completely." Nate tells her.
Parker lifts a floor panel and finds the safe, quickly breaks into it and pulls out several tapes.
At a place called Ribs, Ribs and More Ribs, Sophie sits at a table with Kirkwood having lunch, although she hasn't touched her plate of ribs. "I don't understand. You just paid $100,000 for the rights to that song, and you're just gonna give them to me for free."
"That's just about the lay of the land."
"You must want something."
"I would like you to forget that you ever heard the name "Kenneth Crane."
"Well, why would I do that?" Sophie questions.
"I'm thinking about getting back into the spotlight, and I don't think there's anything that would, uh, jump-start a career any more than having a song of yours sampled by a major rap superstar. Hmm?"
"You're gonna steal Crane's song for yourself? How are you gonna get him to go along with that?"
Kirkwood's phone rings. "Well, I wasn't exactly gonna give him a choice in the matter. Uh... You know, I guess there is one more thing that you can do for me." He says, looking at his phone he stands up. "Stop asking questions." He walks away answering the call. "Hey, hey! Talk to me."
"Okay, Nate. We have a little problem." Sophie reports in as she exits the room.
"Y-yeah, what kind of problem?"
"The guy who's buying our fiddle? He thinks he is the fiddle."
In the hallway outside of the studio Eliot is in, Jesse stands speaking to Kirkwood on the phone. "Yes, sir. I'll take care of that first." He hangs up, taking out his gun and racking the slide.
Parker comes into the studio noticing that Eliot is still in the booth. "You're not done yet?"
"He's doing one for him." Hardison tells her.
"Well, I found it." She says dumping out the bag of tapes onto the counter.
Hardison picks up the tape and takes it out of the case slipping it into the deck. "Got it."
"Great. Keep an eye on him. I'm gonna go call Kaye Lynn." Alexa says nodding to Eliot before leaving the studio.
"Um... Hey, look. This is that song Kirkwood did." Parker says holding up another cassette.
"This is the original master. Why is the artist's name blacked out?" Hardison questions.
Inside the sound booth Eliot is getting ready to sing when the door opens and Jesse steps inside. "You need to come with me."
Eliot calmly puts down the guitar and stands up, his right hand grabbing onto the mic as he rounds it to face Jesse. "No."
Jesse pulls out his gun. "Try telling this guy that."
With a flick of his fingers Eliot detaches the auxiliary cord, flips the stand up and slams it into Jesses' face; then spins it around and jabs the base into the thug's chest, followed by Eliot kicking Jesse in the stomach sending him tumbling over the drum set. "Get up."
With the mics off neither Parker nor Hardison can hear Eliot fighting for his life in the booth; nor can they see him with their backs to the glass.
"Okay. So, this is the original recording of the song that made Kirkwood famous." Hardison says playing it.
"It took a single spark to set the sky aflame when..."
"And this is the recording he released to the video..."
"It took a single spark to set the sky aflame…"
"It's not the same." Parker says noticing the difference.
"Which one is Kirkwood?" Nate questions over comms.
"That's just it. Neither. It's the same song, just with a pitch adjustment." Hardison says.
"Well, then, who's singing the song?" Parker asks.
"I am matching a voice print right now."
Parker turns and looks toward the sound booth but finds it empty. "Where's Eliot?" With a shrug she turns back missing Eliot coming back into view twirling a pair of drumsticks which he's using to beat Jesse's ass.
"Got it. Boom. Jesse Jenkins." Hardison says as the voice match comes through.
"All right. That's... that's why Kirkwood never recorded a second song. He didn't record the first one." Nate surmises as he sits on the hotel couch beside Sophie.
"Kirkwood paid him off?" She questions glancing over at him.
Hardison meanwhile is looking through the Jenkins website for Intel. "I don't think so. Jenkins sued him. Copyright infringement, harassment, fraud, the whole nine… But those charges weren't formally dropped."
"They went to court?"
"Not exactly. Any other guesses?"
Behind them Eliot continues to beat Jesse, who finally goes down with a last punch to the face.
"Jenkins was killed. Circumstances were suspicious. Kirkwood was implicated but never charged."
Hardison is impressed by Nate's deduction. "Yeah. Dead on. How'd you know?"
"Because he is about to do the exact same thing to Eliot."
Alexa who had just come back into the building felt an icy flash of fear shoot up her spine at Nate's words. "Eli!" She quickly ran through hallways to the sound booth, bursting through the door to find Jesse out cold on the ground.
Hardison and Parker turn to see Eliot beating on the window of the sound booth. He moves to the door grabbing Alexa by the arm and opening the studio door. "Let's go! Now!" He snaps.
Eliot, Alexa, Parker and Hardison enter the hotel room where Nate and Sophie are waiting for them. "Oh. All right. Good." Parker dumps the tapes onto the table. "Ahh, I do love it when a plan comes together. Okay." Nate looks through the tapes but can't find Kaye Lynn's. "Uh... Yeah, but... Wh-where's the tape?"
"I think I may have left her tape in the deck." Hardison confesses.
"Are you serious!?" Alexa snaps.
"Unbelievable!" Eliot exclaims as he shrugs on his leather jacket.
"Where are you going?" Nate questions as the two friends head towards the door.
"When they find Kaye Lynn's tape, they're gonna want to ask her some questions, and we know they don't ask questions very nicely, do they? Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot bellows as he and Alexa leave.
The two pull up outside of Kaye Lynn's house, Alexa getting out of the truck and Eliot climbing off his bike. The two burst through the front door to find Kaye Lynn sitting on the edge of the coffee table.
"Are you okay?" Alexa asks concerned seeing her friend's crestfallen face and tears.
"The festival director just called. Kirkwood took my spot in the showcase. He's gonna sing yo- my brother's song." She corrects herself quickly, Alexa hoping Eliot doesn't notice. "And you told me you were gonna get our money and our songs back, but all you did was lose the only thing I had left!" She gets up storming out of the house passed them.
Not willing to give up just yet Eliot and Alexa head out of the house behind her. "Come with me." He tells Kaye Lynn before radioing to Nate. "What's the plan?"
"All right. Come back to the hotel. We'll rework the approach. Hit him hard in a couple of days."
"Are you serious? No way Nate." Alexa protests.
"No." Eliot states backing her opinion up. "Kirkwood's getting ready to sing this song in front of the Who's Who of country music."
"Listen, uh, you know, it's too late to stop him tonight."
"No, I hacked into his truck's navigation system. He's on the move. It's game over." Hardison reports.
"Guys, if he plays that song in front of those A & R's, I'll lose it forever." Kaye Lynn states looking pointedly at Alexa who nods in understanding.
"Eliot, Lexi, it's too late." Hardison says.
"The hell it is! Let's go!" Alexa snaps heading for the truck.
"All right. Help don't help, but don't tell me it's too late!" Eliot exclaims following suit as he hands his helmet to Kaye Lynn. "Put that on." Eliot and Kaye Lynn get onto the motorcycle and head back to town following Alexa.
"Sometimes you... you... you don't get a second chance to get it right." Sophie says admitting their defeat.
"Why not?" Parker questions.
"Rules of life."
"But that's exactly what we do. We change the rules." Nate states knowing they couldn't give up now. He leads the team down to the lobby where a group of fangirls wearing "Craniac" shirts run by, which gives Nate an idea. "Uh, uh, where's Kirkwood right about now?"
Kirkwood is in the backseat of his truck lip-syncing to Kaye Lynn's song. "Oh, you're driving 'round on a sunny day and out of nowhere comes the pouring rain and a memory hits you right out..."
Suddenly that group of fangirls storm the car surrounding it. "We got three blocks, Jesse. Go on. Go!"
"I can't move."
"Give me the cd." He takes the CD and gets out of the truck pushing through the crowd. "All right, come on, girls! Get out of my... I'm trying to get somewhere. Get out of here!"
A fangirl shows a shot of her phone saying that Kenneth Crane is in the truck with horns.
Eliot is driving the motorcycle through traffic following Alexa who is blocking the road for him with her truck. "Eliot, I used your fans to stall Kirkwood. I bought you like two minutes." Hardison radios to them.
Sophie, Hardison and Parker walk into the Saddlebag Saloon, looking around for Kirkwood. "We're here."
"Is Kirkwood there?" Eliot radios.
"I don't see him. Wait. Yeah, he just walked in." Sophie announces as Kirkwood hits the side of the control booth and hands the CD to the DJ.
"All right. A few more minutes."
"Eliot, I'm sorry. We did everything we can."
"Maybe not everything." Parker states before she steps up onto the stage to stall.
While Alexa parks the truck, Eliot drives the motorcycle into the back hallway of the saloon. Kaye Lynn walks off dejected. Alexa after having a quick conversation with Eliot follows after her. This was far from over.
She catches up to her and leads the way up to the balcony. "Kaye. It'll be fine. Eli's got this. I promise."
The young woman nods trusting her friend, but something is nagging at her. "You ever gonna tell Eliot who really wrote that song? That you wrote it for him?"
Alexa sighs unconsciously reaching up to finger the stone around her neck. "Wasn't planning on it."
"It should be you singing it today, not me." Kaye Lynn tells her.
"No. The right person is singing it."
"Well at least sing it with me, just this once. Please?" She says giving Alexa her best puppy dog face.
Alexa laughs and nods. "Okay."
Downstairs Eliot steps into the back room where Kirkwood is awaiting his turn. "Hey. Surprised to see me?"
"Why would you say that?"
"Well, you tried to kill me. Same way you killed Jesse Jenkins."
"You're unstable, Kenneth. And I'd really like to help you, if you'd let me." He says purposely speaking into the mic in front of him. He punches Eliot in the stomach, doubling him over; grabbing the back of Eliot's jacket Kirkwood leans in pushing the microphone away. "You think I'm gonna confess to a murder in a room full of microphones? If I was that stupid, I never would have gotten away with it."
Out in the main room three security guards have grabbed onto Parker and escorted her off of the stage.
"Well, let's put an end to amateur night and give a warm welcome to Mitchell Kirkwood!"
Kirkwood walks out and sits down on the stool, picking up his guitar he starts singing. "Well, I know they say all good things must come to some kind of ending we were so damn good I guess we never stood a chance go on and find what you've been missin' and when that highway's tired of listenin' you'll see I'm not that easy to forget. And when—"
Kaye Lynn and Alexa cut him off singing a Capella from the balcony above. "And when a new moon shines through your window or you hear a sad song on the radio and you don't know why, but you just start to cry. Or you drivin' round on a sunny day and out of nowhere comes the pouring rain and a memory hits you right out of the blue. That's just me thinking of you."
The crowd breaks into cheers as the two women stand together hugging; Eliot gives them a smile as he watches from the side of the stage.
"How about it? Oh! She's wonderful! Isn't she?" Kirkwood says trying to bring the focus back onto him.
"...The same way you killed Jesse Jenkins." Eliot's voice comes over the house speakers allowing everyone to hear.
"You think I'm gonna confess to a murder in a room full of microphones? If I was that stupid, I wouldn't have gotten away with it."
Kirkwood sees Eliot standing beside the stage.
[Flashback]
Kirkwood doesn't realize he's speaking into Eliot's ear bud. "You think I'm gonna confess to a murder. In a roomful of microphones? If I was that stupid…"
"And you make fun of earbuds." Hardison comments as he hears the confession and records it to the computer.
"I wouldn't have gotten away with it."
"Hmm. That was a, uh... That was a joke, ladies and gentlemen. Very funny joke." He says backpedaling as he points over to Eliot, standing up he sets the guitar down. "I'll be right back. How about that, huh? Give it up for her." He walks off stage only to be confronted by Eliot.
"Let me explain something to you, Kirkwood."
"Yeah?"
"Next time you hit somebody in the stomach and you want 'em to stay down—" He blocks Kirkwood's punch. "You gotta hit him in the solar plexus!" He slams his fist into Kirkwood's stomach, then punches him in the face tossing him back against the stage. "See the difference?"
Eliot walks over to Nate and the team as the cops handcuff Kirkwood and lead him off. Nate hands the Master copy to Eliot as Kaye Lynn escapes the crowd of Music Executives bombarding her with business cards and comes over to them.
"All right. Th... um, just... just a sec." She walks up giving Alexa a tight hug. "Thanks Lexi. I owe you."
"You don't owe me a thing Kaye. Keep in touch alright?"
"Promise." She hugs Alexa once more before the brunette heads over to the rest of the team.
"There's a lot of A & R's who want to meet with me. Thank you. For my brother, too." Kaye Lynn tells Eliot.
"For what? It was all you." Eliot tells her.
"Thank you for keeping your promise."
"Speaking of that..." He hands her the master. "That's yours. That's for your trip to Nashville."
"You can come with me, you know. You're a natural-born country star if I've ever seen one. We can be the next Johnny and June?"
Eliot kisses her lightly. "Some roads, you start going down, well, you can't turn back, and I'm about 100 miles down one of those right now, so..."
"Excuse us. Kaye Lynn?" An agent interrupts them and she motions for a minute.
"I sound like a bad country song." Eliot laughs.
Several people surround Kaye Lynn moving her off to the side. "Oh. Um..." The agent continues talking. "I have some folks I'd like for you to meet. We have so many ideas for you. We're dying to talk to you." Kaye Lynn is pulled away and Eliot rejoins the team.
"Ready?" Nate asks as they start walking to the front doors.
"Yeah. Tell me something, man. How'd you take those two guys out by yourself?" Eliot questions referring to the two thugs from the previous day.
"Oh, they got into a fight." He says glancing over at Alexa and winking, she chuckles hiding her face from the others.
"Yeah, but, really, I mean, how'd you do it?"
"Can't say it any plainer. They got into a fight."
"You're not... you're not gonna tell me."
"And where were you when all this was going on, huh?" Sophie questions cutting off Eliot's interrogation.
"What? I was getting notes from Kaye Lynn on my performance."
"I'll bet you were." Alexa states giving him a raised eyebrow.
"So. How were you?" Sophie asks.
"No complaints." He chuckles. A young girl stops in front of him and he sighs. "Excuse me, sir?"
"Yeah. Oh. Man. All right. This is the last one, Sweetie." He grumbles thinking she wants an autograph.
"I just wanted to know what time it was."
"Yeah. I know. It's late. Go home. It's past your bedtime."