Katie stifled a groan when Quinn ordered another round of drinks for their table. He and Tara were charming the two men, Tony Price and Ralph something Italian sounding, but Katie was just sitting there trying to look interested and playing with the salad on her plate.

"I think your lovely wife is feeling neglected, Mr. Reed," Tony said, glancing at Katie who instantly grew alert. She thought she had been faking interest pretty well but apparently not.

"No, I'm just tired. After a big wedding and lack of sleep last night, well you know how it is," Katie laughed.

"Well honey, why don't you go upstairs and take a nap?" Quinn suggested, putting his arm around her. "I'll be up in a little bit but no reason you need to wait for me."

Despite the fact she'd love to get away from him, she knew that a newlywed probably wouldn't want that so she pouted and argued. "But baby, it's our honeymoon." Dropping her voice lower she added, "Why don't you come upstairs with me so I don't have to sleep alone?"

"Now don't get all pouty, sweetheart. You know how I hate that," Quinn patted her leg. "Go on upstairs. I'm going to hit the tables for a bit then I'll be up there soon."

Since she didn't have an earbud, she shifted her gaze to Tara who nodded slightly. "Well I know when I'm not wanted." Katie retorted. "Good afternoon gentlemen. I'll see you tomorrow Taylor. We'll go get massages and have girl time since my husband doesn't appear that attentive."

"You got it, Maria," Tara smiled, before shooting a glare at Quinn.

Katie stormed out of the restaurant, relieved to be free of them all. She was walking toward the elevator when an arm snaked out and grabbed her, pulling her into a short hallway. Before she could make a sound, she realized she recognized the arm and the man it was attached to. He led her into an empty meeting room, closing the door behind them.

"Babe, I almost had a cow there. What are you doing down here?"

"I was keeping an eye on you guys. Parker and Hardison already got in and out of the men's rooms so we're covered there. They're safely in the room. And I know this is your honeymoon and all," he smirked, his hands roaming her backside as he pulled her close against his body, "but, do you want to fool around?"

"I thought you didn't want to be distracted," she answered, as he buried his lips into the curve of her neck. "But if you insist…"

He made a face then removed his earbud. "I think everyone can take care of themselves for five minutes…maybe ten," he whispered, removing her cover-up quickly then locking the door.

"You're such an exhibitionist," she grinned.

"I can't help it. I need you," he muttered, his mouth moving down her throat with searing kisses.

She felt his need in his urgency and his reluctance to allow any space between them. But mainly she felt his need for something consistent to his life with her, something controlled that he could hold on to. Katie clung to him, aware of her own need to lose herself in the moment and just be with him. She felt overwhelmed with emotion, her heart aching to push away the nightmare of the last few days and go back to just being with her man, happy and in love.

Eliot was gentle, despite their rush and made love to her on the floor. His eyes frequently lingering on hers in unspoken terms of endearment, he caressed her longingly, savoring every moment. Tears welled in her eyes and he kissed her lovingly, never stopping his movements into her, their bodies merging together, as one. It was one of those moments in their relationship that Katie sensed his vulnerability in the way he loved her. She knew he never felt completely in control of his feelings for her and that bothered him but usually he accepted it. And his love making usually was demanding and dominating. But at times he seemed vulnerable and to take comfort from her.

Afterward, he held her rightly and she whispered, "I love you."

Eliot gazed deep into her eyes, his fingers wandering down her face. "When this is over, I'm getting out of this business. It's too risky now. I don't want you hurt…I don't want to be responsible for the others getting hurt."

"They'll do what they do without you. You realize that right? If you want out, I understand but don't do it for me. Do it for yourself. I'll love you and I'll be here for you no matter what you choose," she replied, tightening her arms around his neck. "I just want you to be happy and you haven't been happy for awhile because Nate's been out of control. But he's not part of this anymore. So you need to base your decision on your place in the team without him."

"Part of me wants to end it, to walk away. Part of me feels I have to stay and finish what we started but they'll always be someone hurting and we can't help them all. I used to feel like we were making a difference. Now I just feel like…it's never going to be enough," Eliot whispered, before kissing her gently. "I want some sense of stability and you ground me. If I lose you…"

"I'm not going anywhere. All of this doesn't change anything between us." Putting her hands on his face she forced him to look at him. "Nothing changes what I feel or the fact I want to be with you."

"Quinn is right…you don't know what I'm capable of or what I've done. You keep saying it doesn't matter but you don't know…" Pulling away from her, he began getting dressed. Katie watched him silently before finally pulling the cover-up over her head, then sliding her bikini bottoms on too.

"Do you wish you didn't have any ties?" she asked quietly. "Am I too much of a liability?"

"No. I just think I'm being selfish to be with you. I'm bringing you nothing but trouble. You deserve a more normal life."

Katie placed her hands on his face and said, "Listen to me. I love you. You make me happier than I have ever been. And I don't mean just when things are great. Even times like now. It sucks and everything is dangerous but I know in my heart that it will be okay because we're together. You say that I ground you but you don't seem to realize how much you do that for me. Everything can fall apart and I know if I reach for you, you'll be there. Always. And that matters more than a safe, secure life any day. Because life has proven to me that no matter who you are or how 'normal' your lifestyle is, at some point, the rug is going to be pulled out from under you. True, most people don't get kidnapped or forced to steal paintings but everyone is forced into dealing with something huge. Knowing that you're there to go through it with me is why I'm with you."

Tightening his arms around her, Eliot rested his forehead against hers. Katie kissed him, her lips lingering on his for a few moments before she wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her face in his neck. "I need you. I don't care what you do for a living. I just want you to always be part of my life."

"Maybe we should get married," he whispered and Katie chuckled, pulling back to look at his face. Seeing he was serious, she was speechless for a moment. "I don't mean right now," he added. "But when this is over…"

Tears filled her eyes and she nodded. "When this is over, we'll talk about it. I don't want you marrying me for the wrong reasons or because…"

Eliot kissed her hard then looked deep into her eyes as he cradled her face. "I want you, you want me. We need each other. How can that possibly be for the wrong reasons? I can't think of anything more right for us."

"I don't need a piece of paper to spell out any of these promises. And I don't want you marrying me because you think it will give me this 'normal' you want me to have. Part of me is scared that marriage would change us and I don't want that. Besides, it's legal and you tend to break the law a little bit," she grinned. "I can vow to you right now my undying love and faithfulness. I don't need a marriage certificate for that."

Eliot glanced at his watch and frowned. "We need to go. We've been off the grid for too long." He stood and helped her up, then they both got redressed. Picking up his ear bud from the counter, he checked in with the team. "We're on our way back up. You can tell me then."

"What is it?" Katie asked with concern.

"Parker found the painting," he said in a low voice. "We can get it tonight if we can keep our mob friends out of the way. Tara…meet us upstairs when you can." He grabbed her hand and they left the room, walking quickly to the elevator."

xoxo

Back upstairs, Katie listened to them plan distractedly. She knew when she needed to be involved, someone would get her attention. She felt sick again and excused herself finally when she couldn't take it anymore. She needed to get something to settle her stomach because otherwise she wouldn't be able to keep a poker face with the marks.

"I'm going to go downstairs to the giftshop," she said finally. Eliot glanced up in concern and she shook her head. "I'll be fine. I just need to pick up something."

"No, really someone should go with you," he rose at the same time as Quinn.

"It really should be me, don't you think?" Quinn asked. Eliot reluctantly nodded. Hardison handed her another earbud since Tara still had hers. After giving Eliot a quick smile, she followed Quinn out of the room.

"So what's really wrong?" Quinn asked as they waited on the elevator.

"Besides being held hostage practically? Nothing, why?" She felt a little light headed and swallowed viciously to prevent herself from throwing up.

"You're acting strange. Thought maybe it was that time of the month or something," he grinned as the elevator opened. They rode in silence as Katie struggled to not puke or pass out. The elevator was making her feel worse and she leaned back against the wall. Quinn studied her for a moment before removing his earbud and whispering, "You're really sick, aren't you?"

Not trusting herself to speak Katie nodded. Quinn put her arm around her waist when they got to the bottom floor and led her into an out of the way spot. "Come on. They always have doctors on staff here."

Katie wanted to argue with him but she wanted to not throw up even more so she kept her mouth shut and focused on that.

xoxo

"It's not possible," Katie told the nurse who had just delivered the stunning news so matter-of-factly. "The doctors said I probably couldn't…and…"

The nurse studied her for a moment before patting her hand, dismissively. "Follow up with your regular gynecologist and you can talk about your options. There really isn't anything we can do about the morning sickness so I'm afraid you're going to have to tough it out. Try to avoid too much time in the heat and don't eat a lot of spicy foods." As she was leaving, the nurse smiled at Quinn who sat outside the small room. Thankfully she didn't share the news with him.

The door clicked shut again and Katie sat in stunned silence. The doctors in Kentucky had basically told her less than a year ago that getting pregnant would practically take a miracle. She didn't worry too much about birth control after that so even though she was on the pill, she was hardly careful. Running her fingers through her hair she remembered a few weeks ago when she'd had a slight case of bronchitis. The doctor warned her that birth control could be affected by the antibiotics but once again she didn't think twice about it. Until now.

She'd have to worry about this later. Quinn was going to wonder what was taking her so long and if Eliot tried to contact her via the com he'd get worried. Slowly she put it back in her ear and took a deep breath, easing off the examining table and checking out the mirror on the door. Pale and shaken looking, but she was fairly sure 'I'm pregnant' wasn't written on her face. She straightened her hair and rejoined Quinn.

"You okay?" he asked warily and stood up.

"Fine. Just my nerves or some type of virus, like I said."

"Katie, I heard the nurse. And I can tell you aren't happy to be pregnant with his baby." He studied her for a long moment before putting his hand on her cheek. She flinched away from him before removing the earbud again.

"Don't pretend you care anything about me or what's wrong with me," she snapped. "I'm shocked and I had to find out this big news while pretending to be newlyweds with a man I hate, rather than finding out with the man I love, so yes, I'm less than thrilled. But I assure you, you and the situation we're currently in are the reason why I'm not happy, not because of anything to do with Eliot or this baby."

Quinn's eyes grew cold before he said, "My mistake, princess." They walked silently through the hotel corridors to the elevators. Katie's mind was racing. How was she going to tell Eliot? She didn't want to tell him now or here. But Quinn being the only one that knew didn't exactly fill her with joy either. God, she wished she could talk to Parker or something. When the elevator dinged open she got on and finally turned to Quinn.

"I know you probably won't have any desire to do me a favor but please…don't tell Eliot. I really don't want him to hear it from you," she said quietly. "If you have any decency in you, I beg you, let me tell him."

He looked at her for a long time before nodding. For the first time he actually seemed to be human and have real emotions. As quickly as she saw it though, it disappeared before he said gruffly, "I don't want it to interfere with the job anyway. Here," he handed her a bag. "I got this at the gift shop while you saw the nurse. Don't want to raise suspicions by coming back empty handed do you?"

Katie took the bag, surprised he would think of something like that and stunned that he actually did something helpful for her. After a moment she said, "Thanks. I didn't even think about that."

"I don't know if it's the right thing to say or not but congratulations, I suppose…I mean, assuming you want…well…you know." His eyes didn't meet hers as he stammered to say the right thing.

"Thank you," Katie whispered, smiling slightly. The shock hadn't worn off but for the first time, she felt the tremor of excitement. Not quite joy because she wasn't sure how she felt about having a child now exactly but the idea that she had a baby, Eliot and her baby, inside her made her feel…warm and tingly. She still felt pukey but knowing why made it a little more bearable.

When they reached the room, Eliot stood up and, shooting a glare in Quinn's direction, walked over to her, concerned. "You didn't answer me."

Glancing down at her hand, she remembered the earbud and looked at him guiltily. "I'm sorry. It doesn't come second nature to me like it does you. I take it out and I forget it. I'm fine."

"Why did you take it out in the first place?"

"I went to the bathroom. I didn't feel like sharing and I just forgot," she shrugged. Partially true. She did go to the bathroom at some point. She hated lying to him and knew it was written on her face when she did. His eyes narrowed and she added, "Please, trust me. Now is not the time to talk about it but I'm fine, nothing happened."

"We're going to talk about this later," he warned and she nodded.

xoxo

The plans were set. Tara, Quinn, and herself were to meet with the marks then Quinn was going to make excuses to leave. As much as Eliot hated it, he needed the extra muscle to get the painting. Apparently it was in a warehouse close by under some intense security. Tara and Katie had to keep the marks busy at dinner, while the others broke in and stole the painting. Then Quinn had to return and extract Katie from dinner. Tara would join them later and they'd be done with the job. Hardison already had a car ready to drive them to the airport plus a private jet booked for that night.

"I don't like leaving you alone like this," Eliot said, watching Katie get dressed.

"I'm not alone. I'm with Tara. Besides, I'd feel better if Quinn was actually helping you out rather than babysitting me," Katie replied before putting her earrings in. Coming to sit beside him on the bed, she smiled. "I'm doing the easy part, remember?"

"If something goes wrong…"

"Tara can get us out of it, I'm sure. She didn't always have you watching her back so I'm sure she can handle this. Besides, I can't deal with worrying about you, worrying about me, and being less than careful."

"I'll be fine. Just be careful okay? Take your cues from Tara," he warned and she nodded. "And tonight, I want you to tell me what happened earlier when you went downstairs. I don't like you keeping things from me."

"You'll understand when I tell you okay?" She avoided his eyes and stood up, throwing her makeup bag into her luggage. They had already packed up their stuff and Hardison arranged for a rental car to be delivered. When it arrived they gathered their bags and prepared to leave.

"Be careful," Katie said with a quick hug to Parker and Hardison. Everyone was strangely quiet and tension filled the air. She kissed Eliot quickly and whispered, "I love you. Please…be careful."

"I love you too," he replied quietly. "You be careful. You need me, I'm just a shout away. Well…a shout and a short car ride but…"

"I'll be fine." Katie smiled and after a moment he left, leaving Katie and Quinn alone in the room. He paced like a caged animal, reminding her once again how dangerous he could be. After what seemed like an eternity of strained silence, he said it was time to go.

"Let's get this over with." Quinn said, polishing off his drink.