Rattle Snake Smile (WIP) Chapter Fifteen ~ Catch Me When I Fall

[alikat]

Title: Rattle Snake Smile (WIP) Chapter Fifteen ~ Catch Me When I Fall
Author: alassante/alikatkaniac
Characters: Eliot/OFC, Parker, Nate, Hardison, Sophie, Sterling
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: sex, language, sex, violence, more sex
Disclaimer: Leverage characters belong to TNT.

Summary: A woman shows up from Eliot's past, desperate for help, but the team isn't sure if she a con-artist or the victim.





Well I keep everything inside so long till it burns
Everybody stokes the fire and the walls get a little higher.
I light the candle at both ends
And I hit the gas, the wheels start to spin
But she`s always there to catch me when I fall.
In the Darkness ~ Christian Kane



A/N: Thanks to Amy and Christina from AKC/Twitter for the beta work. Thanks to Tori for the awesome banner!!!




“What’s his name?” the ambulance driver asked as he tried to revive Eliot. Katie had been airlifted the hospital already and there were police and rescue squads pulling in one after another.

“His name is Andrew Winchester,” Mr. Smithfield answered. Nate slid his gaze to Sterling who remained silent. He had already let Sophie, Hardison, and Parker sneak out before the police stormed the building. Apparently, he had no plans of telling anyone who they were.

All Nate had to do was prevent anyone from getting fingerprints from Eliot while he was unconscious. The police were asking everyone who was still standing what happened. Luckily some of the ranch employees had seen the comings and goings between the shooting and had also seen Thomas shoot Katie before the mob dragged him off. He imagined he’d read about Thomas’ body turning up somewhere but for now, Eliot was his main concern.

“Can I ride with him to the hospital?” he asked and the driver nodded.

“Mr. Ford…” The lawyer looked annoyed and Nate grimaced. Apparently Sterling had told him who he was at least. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

Nate nodded and followed the two rescue workers out to the ambulance. His mind was a mess of guilt at the way this had all gone down. Looking at his hands he wasn’t surprised to see them covered with blood – Katie’s, Eliot’s - were both on his hands. He’d promised Katie things would be okay. Now she’d been shot and Eliot had taken one of the worst beatings he’d seen. If the mob hadn’t come in with guns when they did… Well, he didn’t want to think about that.

When they arrived at the hospital, the Emergency Room staff rushed him out of there with lots of forms to fill out, so he went to find the rest of the team. Sophie was sitting in the waiting room alone.

“Did he wake up?” she asked, wiping away the tears from her eyes and standing. He shook his head.

“Katie?”

“They’re taking her to surgery now. I overheard one of them talking about the bullets hitting one of her kidneys,” she replied, sinking back in the chair.

“Where are Parker and Alec?”

“The nurses insisted on checking both of them out. Alec got a little roughed up but I think they’ll both be fine. We…Nate…how did this spin out of control so fast?” Guilt was in her eyes and he sat down, wrapping his arms around her.

“I should have pulled the plug but…I…” His words drifted off.

“This wasn’t your fault,” she quickly replied. “Eliot was too close on this one. You couldn’t have stopped him.”

“Are we blaming him for protecting her?”

“No! I just meant, we all get careless when it’s personal,” she answered, burying her face in his neck.

Parker and Hardison came out soon after and waited with them, everyone was quiet, lost in their own little world. Mr. Smithfield walked in and sat down with them. He was quiet for a few moments, studying them all.

“Is he really Andrew Winchester?” he finally asked.

“Yes, well, he was born Andrew Winchester,” Nate replied, not looking at him.

“And you’re not his wife and his lawyer I presume?”

Sophie shook her head. “We were trying to help Katie.”

“Well…considering where she ended up, I’m not sure it qualifies as help,” the man snapped. Before Nate could defend their actions, if there was any defense for them, the attorney sighed. “I apologize. I know you aren’t to blame for what happened. I should have tried harder to help Katie when John died. I didn’t know how far in over her head she was until the house burned down. I should have thought like a lawyer protecting his client, instead of a grieving man.”

“Is the family of Andrew Winchester here?” A nurse asked and Nate stood up in a hurry. “He’s awake and we’re trying to take him for some scans but he keeps asking about someone named Katie. Even though he’s very agitated, we can’t sedate him until we know the extent of his injuries so we may have to use restraints.”

“No!” Nate and Sophie exclaimed at the same time. Nate rushed to tell the nurse, “Can one of us go back there with him? We can get him to calm down. Restraining him will only make it worse.”

“Fine but if he’s a danger to himself or others we will be forced to use restraints,” the woman warned Nate. “Only one of you can come back with me.”

“I better do it,” Nate assured Sophie, not knowing what Sophie could do if Eliot got violent. Besides, the team was his responsibility.

The nurse led him back to a room and he could hear Eliot arguing with the doctors from the hallway.

“They won’t tell me anything about Katie. Said I’m not family,” the hitter explained.

“She’s in surgery now. We don’t know anything yet. Her lawyer is out there, maybe he can get some more details but right now, you need to let them check you out,” Nate kept his voice calm and even. “You don’t want to be sedated or restrained, I’m sure.”

Eliot’s eyes narrowed in anger but he didn’t speak. Nate studied him. Now that he was cleaned up, he wasn’t as bad as they had all feared. It was worse than he’d seen him before except maybe after the MMA fight he was supposed to throw.

“Just let them do some scans okay? I’ll find a way to get some information before you’re done,” Nate promised the younger man.

“I…I…she has to be alright. I mean…she just…” Eliot stammered, seeming unable to form a complete thought. He raised his head, then slammed it back on the pillow in an apparent effort to hold it together.

“They’re taking care of her now. But you need to let them see how you are,” Nate put his hand on the hitter’s shoulder. “I’ll do what I can, I promise. But you need to take care of yourself so you can take care of her when she’s out of surgery.”

Eliot nodded then flinched in pain. He seemed to zone out for a bit and the nurses rushed Nate into the hallway before taking Eliot to x-rays. Leaning back against the wall, Nate tried to ignore the smell and sounds of the hospital. He looked down and realized he was still covered in blood. Walking into the men’s room, he washed his hands and splashed cold water on his face. He wanted a drink, dammit.

After a few minutes, Nate returned to the waiting room, which was now bustling with people including Aimee and her dad, Willie.

Aimee barged up to him and demanded to know, “We just heard. Is he alright?”

“They’re running some tests and scans, but he’s awake and alert, being his normal charming self,” Nate replied, reaching out to shake Willie’s hand as he approached.

“What the hell happened? It’s all over the news about some shooting at the Stanton ranch but no one seems to be getting the story straight. I’ve heard that two women were shot and a few men including Eliot. Please…tell me it’s not true.” Tears welled up in her eyes and Nate felt a stab of guilt.

“Two women were shot and one man was killed, but Eliot wasn’t shot.”

“And Kate or Katie, whichever she’s going by now…is she…?” Willie’s voice drifted off.

Nate sighed. “Katie was shot and is in surgery now.”

“So you guys were helping her? I always knew she was innocent.” Willie shook his head in disgust. “They practically ran her out of town so soon after John died. But I knew that little girl wouldn’t do that. She’s always been a spirited one, but she loved her family. She’d never dishonor their memories by burning down the house. We bought some of her horses to help her out. She could have sold them for much higher than she did but she insisted her brother had wanted to help us starting our stables, thanks to you.”

Sophie walked up and smiled at Aimee and Willie before turning to Nate. “Any news?” When he shook his head, she gestured to a man wearing a plaid flannel shirt and ripped jeans that was standing beside her. “Nate, this is Brent. He came back to town this morning to meet with Sterling and the police about the arson. When he heard of the shooting, he came straight here.”

“Mr. Ford, pleased to meet you,” Brent gave him a firm handshake before nodding to Aimee and Willy.

“So you talked to the sheriff?” Nate asked. “Did they believe yours and Katie’s alibi?”

“Yes sir. I’ve known most of them all my life. They know I wouldn’t lie about something like that. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a liar,” Brent said politely and Nate studied his face.

“And Jim Sterling, the insurance agent?”

“Well sir, I don’t think he was as easily convinced, but…he didn’t seem overly surprised by anything I said either. Like maybe he had already heard it all before.”

“Oh I’m sure he already had his suspicions. Can you excuse me for a moment? I need to speak to Mr. Smithfield about getting Eliot some information about Katie’s medical status. They won’t tell him anything,” Nate replied. He noticed a flicker of something on Aimee’s face but she didn’t say anything.

As he walked over to the attorney, Sophie put her hand on his arm. “Hardison and I are going to get everyone a fresh change of clothes. Is there anything else you need?”

“A drink,” he joked before shaking his head. He watched her and Alec leave then approached the attorney and sat down beside him.

“Is there any way you can get Eliot - I mean Drew - access to medical information on Katie? The hospital says he’s not family so…”

“But he is her next of kin,” the lawyer interrupted. “Since her will hasn’t been changed since John died, Andrew was her backup on the power of attorney, as well as her health care power of attorney and living will. Let me get copies of those documents sent over.”

Nate nodded and Mr. Smithfield got up to go make his phone call. He noticed Parker sitting by herself, staring outside. It always pulled at his heart to see the young thief looking so lost and in pain. She had grown very attached to all of them since they started working together, perhaps the closest thing she’d had to a family. And she had accepted Katie fairly quickly as well, perhaps only because of Parker’s genuine affection for Eliot.

What a mess. He didn’t know what to say to her or he’d say something…anything.

A few reporters started drifting in after a little bit so the nurses moved Katie’s friends to a private waiting room upstairs. Nate remained downstairs with Parker, waiting for some news about Eliot. Sophie and Hardison returned so Nate and Parker went and cleaned up, putting on fresh clothes. Nate threw his blood soaked shirt in the trash. He returned to the waiting room only to be told that Eliot was now in a private room on the second floor.

“I’m going to find Mr. Smithfield and see if he has any information about Katie because I know that Eliot will ask,” Nate told them when they got on the elevator.


~*~

Eliot’s head felt like it would split open at any minute. The MRI showed he had another severe concussion. Luckily for him, he was pretty hard-headed or he might be dead. He tried to ignore the dull roar in his ears that echoed loudly. The nurses kept trying to give him morphine but he’d tough it out.

“Eliot?”

Glancing at the door, he was surprised to see Aimee watching him. Oh lovely…this could be a bigger headache. “Hey.” He tried to smile but it made his head throb so badly it made him a bit nauseous.

“Hey yourself.” She came into the room and leaned down to kiss him, a light brush of her lips against his, before taking his hand gently. “So would I have known you were even in town if you hadn’t ended up causing a big commotion at the Stanton ranch?”

“I figured you’d prefer not to know…”

“Coward.”

“Aimee, I don’t want to fight anymore today,” he sighed, staring at the ceiling.

She was silent a moment before asking, “So you’re helping Katie?”

“Is she out of surgery yet?” he blurted out then winced, putting his hand against his forehead.

“I don’t think so,” she shook her head and studied him for a few moments. “Oh…I didn’t realize…”

“What?”

“You two are…together?”

Eliot glanced away quickly. Shit! Not now, not like this. Aimee let his hand fall from hers and his gaze drifted back to her face.

“Do you love her?” she asked bluntly. “No. Don’t answer that. I really don’t want to know.”

“Aimee…not now…”

“Let me go see if I can find your friends. Maybe they know something about Katie,” she quickly left the room and it was all he could do not to groan. When the nurse walked in again, he finally agreed to pain medicine but only the weaker pill version, not morphine. He did not want to be knocked out. Well, at least not again.

Sophie, Parker, and Hardison came in and all looked relieved to see him in one piece. He could see tears glistening in Parker’s eyes but she just smiled slightly, flustered by her emotions. He knew how hard it was for her to deal with any emotions or attachments. He got that.

Eliot watched Sophie’s face for a moment before saying anything. “She’s pretty serious, isn’t she?”

Sophie looked like she wanted to lie to him but just nodded.

“This is all my fault,” he whispered to himself.

“No it’s not, man. You couldn’t have known…I mean we all thought the danger was over. It just went all to hell and…” Alec’s voice trailed off.

“Eliot, she would have been dead weeks ago if it weren’t for you. Stop blaming yourself. It’s not going to help her now. She’s young, strong, and resilient. That’s really important right now. She’s going to pull through,” Sophie insisted but he knew her well enough to know when she was putting on a brave face.

“Andrew? Or would you prefer Eliot?” Mr. Smithfield walked into the room with Nate and a doctor. Aimee was with them but she lingered in the back of the room, near the door.

“I really don’t care. What did you find out about Katie?” Eliot demanded, trying to sit up a little bit more. Parker proceeded to push him back onto the bed then, with a little roll of her eyes, handed him the remote to raise the head of the bed up further.

“I’ve talked to the hospital’s lawyer and since you’re her next of kin…”

“Her next of kin? What!?” Without even thinking, Eliot jerked upright.

“No! She’s not dead, Eliot,” Sophie quickly interjected. “He just means that the all of the legal documents list you as the person responsible for her medical decisions as well.”

“Exactly,” the lawyer nodded. “This is the intern working with her surgeon. Dr. Young needs to ask your consent to a few things before they perform them.”

“Like what?” Eliot eyed the lawyer warily.

“The damage to one of her kidneys was extensive so they’d like to remove it rather than continue to try to repair it. Otherwise…”

“Yes. Just do it,” Eliot interrupted quickly. “She can survive with one kidney.”

The young male doctor spoke up then. “There is something else we need a quick decision on. She was also hit near her uterus and we cannot stop the bleeding. We might need to do a complete hysterectomy and need your consent for that as well.”

Eliot opened his mouth to speak then noticed the look on Sophie’s face. When he paused, she shrugged slightly. “Does Katie want kids?” she asked.

“Does it matter? She can’t have kids if she’s dead,” he argued.

“Can you not freeze some of her eggs?” Aimee stepped forward, asking the doctor.

“Once again, we’d need Mr. Winchester’s consent,” Dr. Young replied, gesturing to Eliot.

“Eliot…you really should do it. I mean, Katie might want kids some day and…” Aimee shrugged. “She shouldn’t lose that option when she’s so damn young.”

His gaze drifted to Sophie who nodded. He really hadn’t thought about it at all. To him, if they needed to remove an organ for her to survive, then take it out dammit. All this worrying about the future was stupid: if she was dead, then she doesn’t have a future.

“Do it. Do the egg thing too or whatever…just don’t let her die.” Eliot ran his fingers through his hair. Dr. Young nodded and quickly left the room. Glancing up at Aimee, Eliot said, “Thank you. I didn’t think of that.”

She shrugged and answered, “Course not, you’re a guy.”

“Eliot, you really should rest. We’ll be in the waiting room with the others until Katie’s out of surgery,” Sophie said, grabbing his hand and lightly squeezing it.

He felt like his head was swimming so he didn’t argue with her. The pain medicine was kicking in and starting to make him feel funny. Since he couldn’t do anything but wait, he might as well sleep.

After everyone left the room though, he couldn’t turn off his mind. The more he tried to not think about Katie not making it through this surgery the more he feared it. But Sophie was right, she was young and resilient. His chest felt tight thinking about her. He realized it was the longest they’ve been apart since she showed up at McCory’s. He couldn’t just lie here and wait for news, doing nothing. The second hand on the clock seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Exhaustion crept in but he couldn’t fall asleep. He hated hospitals. Not quite as much as Nate but enough. The way they smelled and all the beeping from the various machines got to him.

“You doing okay in here?” Willie said from the doorway.

“Hey. I didn’t know you were here,” Eliot smiled slightly.

“Course I’m here. Heard you were in trouble,” Willie smiled and walked in, pulling up a chair beside the bed. “You sure know how to make an entrance, don’t you?”

“Not exactly my plan,” Eliot smirked. “And you know how my plans turn out.”

“Usually involving blood and mayhem so I guess this is par for the course.” Willie shook his head. “Boy, you know you need to stop living life on the edge so much. You’re gonna get yourself killed. You do realize there ain’t no coming back from that right?”

Eliot resisted the urge to chuckle – he knew it would hurt his head. “How’s it been going Willie?”

“Better than with you I’m sure. Sorry about John. I know that must have hurt you real bad. You two were thick as thieves for as long as I can remember.”

“Unusual choice of words,” Eliot muttered under his breath. “It was a shock.”

“Bit more than a shock I’m sure. The sheriff is now investigating his death saying it was possible homicide. That right?” Willie asked, leaning back in the chair and crossing one leg over the other.

“He was murdered by the man who got killed today; Katie’s ex-fiancé’s father. Bastard had a grudge against her dad and was in the process of trying to take it all away and John got nosy,” Eliot explained. Malice laced his next comment. “Katie’s ex-fiancé is the one that put her in here.”

“You really care about her, don’t you, son?” Willie asked bluntly.

Eliot didn’t answer, looking outside the window for a few minutes. After a few minutes of strained silence, Willie sighed. “Well I wish it had worked out for you and Aimee but I kinda knew it wouldn’t. More than anything though, I want you to be happy. And if Katie makes you happy…don’t let her get away. You only get so many chances in love before your luck runs out.”

Willie stayed with Eliot, keeping him company and distracting him away from the clock. They talked about the new stables and everything else, but women and love. After a few hours, Dr. Young returned with two older doctors.

“Mr. Winchester?” the woman asked. “I’m Dr. Van Zant and this is Dr. Allen. We were Katherine Stanton-Williams’ surgeons.”

“I’ll give you some time…” Willie stood up and Eliot grabbed his arm.

“Please stay,” he asked, afraid what he’d hear and how he’d react. Willie returned to his seat and they both waited for the doctor to speak.

“She’s going to have a long recovery ahead of her. We did have to remove one of her kidneys as well as her spleen but she’s going to be fine,” Dr. Allen said. “We were able to avoid a hysterectomy but there was some damage and she may not be able to bear children.”

“I need to see her,” Eliot replied quickly.

“She lost a lot of blood and is very weak after such a radical surgery. Besides, she’s still unconscious in ICU right now and you need your rest…” Dr. Van Zant began.

“Either you can take me up there, or I go myself but either way, I will see her,” Eliot swung his legs over the side of the bed but instantly felt dizzy.

“Wait…I’ll take you up there but only if you go in a wheelchair,” Dr Young said then left the room to return with a wheelchair. Eliot decided he’d allow it because the room was starting to spin around him.

“Willie, can you go tell Nate and the others?” he asked as he stood, holding onto the bedrail for a moment before sitting in the wheelchair.

“Yeah there’s quite of few people in the waiting room. Seems like all her old ‘friends’ that abandoned her are coming out of the woodwork again,” Willie replied, in a disgusted tone.

“I’m sure the fact she’s got her money back will help her ease right back into their good graces. But I don’t think she’ll be willing to forget so easily after how they all treated her,” Eliot grumbled.

Willie went off to tell the others and Dr. Young took him to ICU. When he saw Katie lying in the hospital bed, looking so very pale and fragile, it reminded him of the last time he was in this hospital, when Katie and John’s daddy died. She was hooked up to a ventilator as her father had been and he felt relieved hearing the beeping noises in here. Here they didn’t bother him, they meant life.

“I’ll give you a few minutes but you both need your rest,” Dr. Young said, parking his wheelchair beside the bed. “She probably won’t wake up until tomorrow anyway.”

Left alone with Katie, Eliot reached out and took her hand in his. Her fingers were cold. She had bruises all over her, especially on her face and neck. Unexpected tears burned his eyes and he brought her hand to his lips. She looked so frail and it cut him deeply to see her this way.

The guilt was overwhelming. He should have protected her. If anyone had to get shot, it should have been him, not her. Would the world truly mourn the loss of him? It’s not like he’d completely atoned for his previous actions. Sure the team would most likely miss him but the world wouldn’t be any worse off. Whereas Katie…she was truly a good person, in ways he couldn’t even begin to ever live up to. He only wished he could be as good a man as she thought he was, or as good as she deserved. A nurse came in to check her vitals and he quickly wiped the tears from his eyes.

“She’s doing really well considering what she’s been through,” the nurse smiled.

“Thank you,” he murmured, unsure what else to say.

“You look like you’ve had better days as well. Were you with her with this happened at her ranch?” she pried.

Eliot shot her a look that didn’t encourage any more questions. He always hated this small town nosiness, too many damn years of his life spent being badmouthed by them all. Until he met John, his life had been pretty miserable and he didn’t remember those years fondly.

His friendship with John was probably the first good thing that had happened to him. He lost his mama when he was eight and his dad had become a violent drunk. Eliot spent more years taking abuse trying to protect his two younger siblings. When he was bigger he started fighting back.

The first time his dad hit Chrissy, his little sister, when she was only ten and Eliot was sixteen, he’d put his father through the wall. His father had him arrested for assault but the Stanton-Williams had gotten involved. They also made sure the three of them, including himself, Chrissy and Mark, were put in a good foster home. They’d even offered to take them in but Eliot was too proud to allow that. His foster parents, Ann and George, were really good to his siblings, so he couldn’t complain. They allowed Eliot to come and go as he pleased and didn’t interfere. He refused to allow them to get close. So they poured love onto the younger two, compensating for the fact they’d never had children.

Chrissy and Mark had turned out okay. They’d been young enough to learn to forget a lot of the past with their real father. Their foster parents had even put them both through community college and continued to stay very close to them. Chrissy was some type of executive assistant at a bank outside Cleveland, married with another kid on the way. Mark, two years older than her, was working as a mechanic in some shit town in Florida. He lived like a surfing beach bum but he was happy, that’s what mattered. John had even kept an eye on them after Eliot left town before they moved away from Kentucky as well. He wasn’t sure how much Katie knew or remembered about the situation with his family. She’d been pretty young. He’d have to take her to see Chrissy when she had the baby.

Eliot swallowed hard. He knew that thinking about their future was dangerous. He was in complete denial thinking that it would work out. He’s not exactly boyfriend material. Running his hands through his hair, he tried not to think too much about tomorrow. She was safe and alive today. And she was protected from his dangerous impact on her life, at least while she was in the hospital.




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