Chapter Text
Present - Tennant's house
“Oh, it happened,” said Lucy defiantly, mock-scowling in Jesse’s direction at his lack of faith, which she knew was him teasing her, not actually doubting her claim.
“And there are photographs,” confirmed Jane, smirking from behind her tequila glass. “Including the Santa hat.”
“No there…” Lucy stopped when she felt Kate give her a gentle squeeze, her eyes narrowing as she looked from her boss to her girlfriend, seeing the sheepish look of apology. “...are not photographs for the group of that,” she amended, willing herself not to blush. “I thought…”
“She was sitting next to me when you sent them!” protested Kate, unable to hold out when faced with the raised eyebrow her girlfriend was currently directing at her. “And only the first one, with the Santa hat I mean. Not the video.” Kate winced when she realised she was probably just digging her own grave at this point.
“It’s a great photo Lucy,” assured Jane, her calm acceptance of the photograph’s existence easing Lucy’s nerves a little bit. “And Kate’s right, we were sat there when you sent them.”
“Now I’m curious,” admitted Ernie, looking pleadingly at Lucy. “It’s a huge thing! Conquering your fear…”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Knowing he wouldn’t shut up now he knew there were photos, Lucy picked up Kate’s phone from where it sat on the table in front of them, holding it up in front of Kate’s face so it unlocked for her, then opened her photos. Although they were also on her phone, she’d reached for Kate’s, knowing that her girlfriend had them saved in a folder, because yes, she was that organised and had all of her photos sorted into folders, unlike Lucy who just had them in a continuous timeline. Well, most of them. There were some that were filed in a folder, but that was more to do with being ‘Lucy’s eyes only’ than organisation. Including the ones of Kate in her Christmas present bikini, which showed far more of Kate than her teammates were ever getting to see. Because while the freckle was occasionally sighted by others, the birthmark? That was definitely Lucy’s eyes only.
“There.” She’d found the one she wanted, of her stood up in the water, her Dallas Cowboys t-shirt clinging to her, damp and uncomfortable, snorkel mask still firmly on. “Proof.”
“Of snorkelling,” said Jesse as she turned the phone screen around so they could all see it. “Not a Santa hat. Or any hat.” That fifth beer had kicked in, and Jesse’s ‘Dad mode’ was nowhere to be found, replaced now with ‘annoying big brother’ mode. “Sun’s hot.”
“Yes, it was,” agreed Lucy as Kate moved her fingertip across the screen, scrolling to the photo she felt Lucy should show her friends. “Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about that one.” She turned Kate’s phone round so her teammates could see the screen.
“Very on-brand,” agreed Ernie, giving Lucy a thumbs up when he saw the photo of her stood, still in the water but it now only came up to just above her knees, arms folded as she stared down the camera. The NCIS baseball cap and t-shirt, coupled with the badge and gun sitting low on her hips, could have made for an intimidating picture, were it not for the brilliant smile on Lucy’s face, her bare legs and the glorious setting with the sparkling water behind her making it clear it was an ‘off duty’ Lucy. "Flippers are a nice touch."
It was one of Kate’s favourites, along with the one with Lucy stood in an almost identical pose, complete with badge and gun, though instead of the NCIS cap and t-shirt, Lucy was wearing a Santa hat and her bikini - apparently that had been Kate’s other Christmas present, and one she’d enjoyed very much - with Lucy’s general inability to sit still coupled with her loathing of water-adjacent environments, Kate didn’t get to see her girlfriend in a bikini all that often. That was the one Jane had seen on Christmas Day, and one of several that the rest of the team weren’t seeing. Because Jane was right - it was a photograph that clearly showed Lucy’s pride in her earning the right to wear the NCIS badge and gun, with the bikini also making it possible to see how hard Lucy worked in the gym. That the photograph even existed - her hands on her hips in a ‘Wonder Woman’ type pose, biceps flexed and abs clearly defined and visible thanks to the very skimpy bikini? That was all Kate, as without her girlfriend as the intended audience, Lucy would have never posed for the photo in the first place.
“That’s a hat,” agreed Jesse, giving Lucy a thumbs up, seemingly now forgetting his need to see a Santa hat photograph. “I’m proud of you.”
“How’d you get your badge and gun to sit…” Kai turned and looked sharply at Jesse, who had just not-entirely-playfully hit him. “What?”
“No wonder you’re single.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Never,” began Ernie, raising his glass in silent tribute to Jesse’s point, “and I mean never, ask a lady how she assembles her outfit.”
“But…”
“No.” Jesse shook his head at a bemused Kai, who was either still too sober or too naive to just accept the wisdom from his elders. “Trust us. You do not ask these questions. Especially when the lady in question is looking as fine as that.” His brain caught up with his mouth, and he looked to Lucy with genuine apologetic terror at her possible reaction. “No disrespect or offence.”
“Dive belt.” She turned to her partner, grinning. “None taken. Thank you.”
“Huh?” Now Kai was confused - he had Ernie and Jesse telling him off for asking, while Lucy had just given him the answer to his question.
“I mean, they’re not wrong,” she continued, taking pity on Kai. No wonder Hina hit him so often, he really was a walking disaster when it came to women in a sisterly way, nevermind anything more. Pausing to lock Kate’s phone screen, she put it back down on the table in front of Kate, wanting to avoid any accidental oversharing of the bikini photos. “Bit overkill applying it here, but definitely don’t ever ask for details about an outfit in a date type situation.”
“She’s right,” agreed Kate, trying to ignore that, thanks to her phone, she now knew how late it was and worse, how soon her alarm would be going off in the morning. Unfortunately, she couldn’t, and her general tiredness from an altogether completely surprising and unexpected day began to creep up on her in a way she couldn’t fight. “Compliments only.” She turned to kiss Lucy’s temple. “And always true.” The soft comment had Lucy’s smile ratchet up a notch and she somehow managed to tuck herself even more tightly into Kate’s side, missing the happy sigh Ernie made.
“Huh.” This was new information for Kai, with Jane’s sage nod making him decide he should just accept it, even if he was still confused as to why it was such a big no-no to ask questions.
“I’m wearing a dive belt,” explained Lucy, confusing him further by actually answering his question. “That’s what my badge and gun are on.” It was more obvious in the photos where she was just wearing her bikini, but those were definitely for Kate’s eyes only. As were the ones of her, without her badge and gun, muscling herself up out of the water and onto the kayak - she’d not seen why Tima was so insistent, after Lucy had done that exact movement to get out of the water when she’d decided she was done after just one attempt at snorkelling, that it needed to be videoed and photographed. But then she’d got Kate’s reaction to the photos, which included Kate recreating them for Lucy using the side of the apartment block’s rooftop pool and things had made a lot more sense.
Turned out that Kate liked Lucy’s abs in a bikini as much as Lucy liked Kate’s…blinking, Lucy refocused on the present, recognising that she was no longer snuggled up to an affectionately tolerant Kate, but was instead snuggling into an almost asleep Kate, whose long and draining day had clearly finally caught up with her. They were therefore rapidly approaching the point where if they didn't leave now, Kate would be fast asleep where she sat before too much longer, and Lucy was determined not to let that happening, knowing Kate would be mortified when she woke up. "You mind if we head off?" She asked Jane, standing up and guiding Kate up with her, making the blonde start to automatically pick up the stack of dirty ice cream bowls, and head for the kitchen, which did make talking about her easier. "Only she's…"
"About twenty minutes from unconscious?" Jane stood, ever the hostess, and began redirecting the returning Kate's focus towards finding her shoes and suit jacket, her original intention being to continue clearing the dishes. "I'm familiar. You’re welcome to stay?" She knew Kate had driven them here, but had guessed early on that the couple had switched around at some point during the evening and, while both were sufficiently sober to be fine to drive, Lucy was the one who was intending to drive them home. "I can lend you some things if you’ve not got your go bags."
"Thanks, but I'm good. And she needs clothes from home for tomorrow." She continued her mental run through of the morning. "Jesse, can you get the coffees please?"
"Sure, but…"
"It's my turn? I know, and if you are in at 6 you can have yours hot." She saw their mixture of confused and horrified expressions, smirking. "I'm dropping Kate off at the airport at 0530.”
"I'll get the coffees," agreed Jesse, reminded too of his earlier plan to get Lucy an extra nice snack as a distraction from Kate being out on the ocean all day, actually reaching for his phone and starting to set a reminder so he didn’t forget.
"Thanks. Night guys."
"You got everything?" asked Jane, following Lucy to the door, not fazed that the guys were staying - it wasn't that late, barely half past nine, but Kate's day had clearly taken its toll and she had a much earlier start than the NCIS team tomorrow.
"I…" Kate nodded, yawning mid way through it, looking a bit sheepish. "...sorry. Today has been…"
She was not supposed to have been involved in the scene that morning, FBI only there because both CGIS and NCIS were a little bit light on agents available to maintain the large scene's perimeter owing to some unfortunate clashes with court dates and other active investigations. What should have been a completely straightforward background 'do what you're told and be useful' task that should have been well within Bambridge's capability had ended up in a very friendly and good humoured jurisdictional nightmare, as in pulling rank on Banbridge, she'd ended up having to lead at the scene as the ranking agent. Which when it had been Bambridge attempting to do exactly that (including then changing the plan from sensible to stupid) had been a tense and edgy situation, but everyone involved knew Kate and knew she was having to just follow the protocols and procedures that would ultimately save them all when hopefully they turned arrests into convictions. Plus it helped that she recognised a sensible plan when she saw one and had no desire to change it for a stupid one. But while the whole scene had been ultimately amicable and successful, it had totally messed up Kate's day and had meant being far more involved in the paperwork afterwards, when she'd been hoping to be focused on other work. Thanks to Bambridge's ego, her weekend was seeing rather more catching up with work time and less being lazy with Lucy time than she liked. But that was a problem for the weekend, and she could hopefully get a chance to get ahead again.
"Nothing like what you planned?"
"No…" She smiled as she automatically moved her arm so Lucy could tuck in against her side now she'd put her boots on, providing the exhausted Kate with a mixture of physical and moral support. "...and what really irritates me is I have to be a tiny bit grateful to Bambridge for being such a jerk that you guys had to ask me to get involved."
"Feels good that they all know now?" guessed Jane, knowing Kate had been worried about how to tell them, once she'd been allowed to. It wasn't the easiest thing to drop into casual conversation, and Lucy's time away hadn't helped as Jane hadn't needed to ask to know Kate would have refused to entertain telling the guys without Lucy's presence.
"Yeah." Kate looked surprised at how easily she said that, before grinning. "It does." The grin however, quickly disappeared into another yawn.
“C’mon sleepy,” teased Lucy, patting her very tired girlfriend’s stomach. “Thanks for…” Lucy had been going to thank Jane for the evening, only to realise she actually wanted to thank her for so much more than just this evening, but for all the other times she’d clearly been there for Kate, be it during Lucy’s time away as Agent Afloat, or before that, when she and Kate were not together.
“Nothing to thank me for,” said Jane sincerely, leaning in to hug both of them individually.
“Hey Kate?” called out Ernie, Kai’s latest question being one the cyber specialist couldn’t confidently answer without the blonde’s input.
“Hmm?” Blinking sleepily, Kate swayed a little as she tried to refocus on him, Lucy helping to keep her swaying almost unnoticeable.
“What do we call you?”
“Call me?” Kate’s brain was running at not even half speed. “My name.”
“Yes, but…”
“I told you, Whistler’s my real name Ernie. I’m not a spy.”
“I think they’re asking if they should use ASAC,” nudged Jane kindly, thinking not for the first time how incredibly adorable Kate was when she was this tired, something clearly Lucy agreed with given how she was looking at Kate.
“Oh, right.” Blinking, Kate managed to get her brain into the correct gear. “Just keep calling me Whistler. Special Agent if you must, but not the other stuff.”
“We promise to only call you ASAC Whistler if your guys do it first.” Kai interrupted himself with a small, surprisingly delicate hiccup. “I mean, use their full titles.”
“Trust me,” said Kate, already mentally counting down the days until Senior Special Agent Bambridge returned to North Dakota, at least, she was doing when she was more awake. “They won’t ever do that, unless they’re ASAC Curtis.”
“Or in trouble,” added Lucy pointedly, patting Kate’s stomach again. “Which you will be if you fall asleep standing up, ASAC Katherine Marie Whistler.”
“That told me,” said Kate, a happy, sleepy smile showing everyone that she really wasn’t remotely concerned. “Night everyone.”
Double checking the apartment front door was locked, Lucy turned out the light and headed for the bedroom.
"Hey." Frowning at her far too awake girlfriend, Lucy actually put her hands on her hips. "You my love, are supposed to be asleep." In fact, she'd been pretty certain Kate had been asleep during the drive home from Tennant's.
"I know."
Kate stretched her arms above her head, proving why for someone so tall she insisted on sleeping with three pillows, as that meant her head was far enough away from the top of the bed that she didn't hit the wall when she stretched. It didn't make much sense to Lucy, as it also meant her long limbed girlfriend's feet were at constant risk of hanging out off the bottom of the bed. But Lucy didn't argue it, finding it oddly sweet that her incredibly logical and precise girlfriend was irrational about something, even if it was how she liked to make her bed. It was, decided Lucy, when Kate had finally explained her reasoning, perhaps just another little sign they were a good match, as Lucy had no issue with the extra pillow - she was nowhere near either end of the bed, no matter how much she stretched.
"I just…" Kate turned onto her side, her arm slipping under Lucy's pillow as she watched her progress through her own quick nighttime routine, eyes tracking her as Lucy took off her jeans and put them on the chair then grabbed her pyjamas and stepped into the en suite. With the door only just ajar, she could hear Kate if she finished her thought, but had a feeling that she'd not hear anything more.
Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, after completing a rapid change and necessary other tasks, Lucy stepped back into the bedroom, turning out the bathroom light as she went. Kate, she saw, was still turned towards Lucy's side of the bed, still half holding Lucy's pillow and still awake.
"Hey." Kate watched with a sleepy smile as Lucy got into bed, her arm staying tucked under the pillow. "I'm proud of you."
"That was going to be my line," said Lucy, frowning as she replayed the day, trying to pinpoint why Kate thought her day had been memorable. "In fact, overruled!" Lucy propped her head up with her hand so she could look down at her love. "Today is your day, you Kate Whistler, with your awesomeness. Not mine. I am proud of you."
"Me? What did I do? Apart from nothing that I'd planned to from mid morning onwards," grumbled Kate, the state of her email inbox weighing on her mind. "And tomorrow's a raid training day, so no WiFi," she continued, knowing that she was spending the day not on a Coastguard cutter which would have given her at sea WiFi, but instead on the 'guest' vessel Pike had organised for them to run the joint training sessions on.
"Oh? But I thought…" Lucy's heart rate ticked up a notch. She'd assumed that this would be like times they'd worked with CGIS, when they had been on Coastguard boats which came with open satellite links back to Pearl and constant contact. This was sounding very different. "I mean, you're not flying out to a Coastguard boat?"
"Hey!" Kate was suddenly very much more awake, picking up on the shift in Lucy's breathing and nervously darting eyes. "I'm right here Luce," she encouraged, drawing Lucy towards her then rolling onto her back, pulling Lucy so she was lying on Kate's chest. "We're right here, in bed, in our apartment." She started to run her right hand through Lucy's hair as she rubbed her back with her left, keeping her body relaxed and pliable as gradually the tension left Lucy's body and she sank into Kate, legs slotting together. Continuing to stroke and soothe, she kept her own breathing steady and even, smiling with relief when she felt Lucy start to shuffle around until she had her ear pressed against Kate's chest, hearing her heartbeat. After another couple of minutes listening to Lucy's increasingly steady breathing, Kate felt it was time to resume their conversation. "Would you like me to talk you through my day tomorrow?" She'd explained it in general terms last week, but after revisiting Lucy's carrier and snorkelling experiences, Kate wasn't surprised that a further review was helpful.
"You must think I'm stupid."
"Hey!" Kate nudged Lucy repeatedly until she was able to make eye contact with her, ignoring the strain it was putting on her neck. "I never think you're stupid." She saw Lucy's eye roll, knowing that her reactions were ingrained after years of mocking and teasing that was cruel, not 'fun' by her brothers. "Do you sometimes do things that are sufficiently reckless or baffling that I for a moment might think you have done something I think is stupid? Yes, but you feel the same about me when I use a four tab spreadsheet to ask you to move in with me."
"Six." Lucy shuffles a little bit, so it is easier for her to look at Kate without moving off her. "It was six tabs. With cross referencing."
"Actually," said Kate, smirking, her voice dropping in pitch and taking on a huskiness that made Lucy's insides flip, glad her deliberate mistake had been enough to help bring Lucy back to the present. "It was nine, but three were hidden."
"I'm honoured!" exclaimed Lucy, her own fears and anxieties momentarily retreating as Kate's new revelation distracted her. "But you know you had me at ‘move in with me?’"
"I mean," Kate's smile shifted, a hint of cockiness shining through it. "I am pretty amazing."
"Your bathroom alone, nevermind the balcony. And the commute to Pearl?" continued Lucy, feeling Kate's fingers starting to tickle her, laughter bubbling up from her. "Truce! Truce!" Still grinning, she settled back down into her previous position, head resting on Kate's chest, her heartbeat steady and comforting in her ear. "You're incredible my love," said Lucy seriously, snuggling into Kate's embrace.
"And you, my sweet, are the most amazing woman I have ever met."
"Even though I live on an island and work for the Navy?"
"That's part of what makes you amazing and the total opposite of stupid." Kate hated that Lucy's perfectly legitimate and understandable fear had been ridiculed and mocked for so long by her brothers and parents that it was something she still had moments of shame and insecurity about.
"But…"
"In fact," continued Kate, ignoring her own growing sleepiness, wanting to make sure that there was no lingering doubt on her girlfriend's part. "It was the first thing you shared that I completely understood."
"It was?" This was a new puzzle, and had Lucy propping herself up a little bit more so she could study Kate's face for any clues she was being anything other than 100% serious.
"Flyer?" Kate shuddered, closing her eyes like that would help the mental image fade. It didn't, so she opened them quickly. "You know what I'm like with heights, and need I remind you what happened when you asked if I could cartwheel?"
"Oh. Yes." Lucy bit her lip, trying not to laugh at the memory of Kate attempting a cartwheel at the NCIS gym for, she thought, the first time in twenty years.
"That Marine actually called out ‘Timber’!" protested Kate, now able to see the funny side, and accuracy of the Marine's response to her attempt, which just saw her land, rather like a felled tree, on the gym mat. “And don’t get me started on trying to jump in a rhythm.”
“You’re great at jumping! Like freakishly brilliant at it, I’ve seen the video of you going after that Mom.”
“Which Mom?” asked Kate, making a mental note to not let Lucy get away with this distraction for too long, but slightly alarmed at the idea of there being a video of her somewhere.
“The Accountant one? The case we had the day I was told about the Reagan.” Lucy contemplated reaching for her phone to show Kate, but decided she was too comfortable. “You ran onto and off a picnic table?”
“Oh, that.” Kate turned her head to the side as she tried to recall that ultimately fruitless chase. “That wasn’t jumping, just track.” She knew Lucy knew she’d run track in high school and college, so wasn’t seeing why this was such a surprise. “That was just like the hurdles in steeplechase, only without getting wet feet.” She had felt bad for the tourists whose picnic lunch she’d run through, but by the time she’d gone back to check in and apologise after dealing with the idiot bounty hunter, they’d gone. “And we’ve discussed opening Christmas presents on the 23rd, though I grant you last year it definitely worked out, as there was no way I was wearing that bikini if I’d only opened it on Christmas Day.”
It had been very differently cut to her usual ‘go to’ bikini and swimsuit that she’d been wearing for surfing and swimming during Lucy’s time away, and had required a change to her usual routine in order to be comfortable and confident wearing it outside of their bedroom. “But I do at least now understand the backup shoe thing was you just trying to confuse me.” Kate had discovered a couple of days later that Lucy meant she had a pair of back up boots in her car, and had only borrowed one of the boots to complete her pair because she’d already laced up her left boot and was running late as it was. “Although I still don’t get why you leave the apartment in only your socks each morning.” Surely putting her boots on before she left would completely eliminate the need to make use of backup boots before the day had properly begun? Kate put her finger over Lucy’s lips when she saw she was about to try and explain her logic, again, knowing that was exactly the sort of topic Lucy could use to complete the distraction from what Kate had originally been talking about.
“Nevermind.” She suspected it probably involved being able to slide along the polished hallway floor to the elevator, or something equally innocent and joyful, with Lucy’s ability to continually find the light and sunny in any situation one of the things Kate loved. “But promise me,” continued Kate, her tone shifting to serious as she searched Lucy’s eyes to make sure she was really focused on what Kate was saying, “promise me that you will always remember I do not think you are stupid in general, and definitely not at all stupid when it comes to water.”
“Yes, but…”
“ Promise me ,” repeated Kate, refusing to tolerate anyone disparaging her girlfriend, least of all Lucy herself. “Because I never thought you were stupid that first weekend when you told me you were afraid of the ocean so had never gone surfing before I knew you worked for NCIS, and I didn’t think you were stupid when I did know you worked for NCIS. And I definitely never thought you were stupid when you told me the reason…”
Flashback - a couple of days after the FBI barbeque
“Something smells good.”
“It’s just onions.” Kate continued to gently nudge the chopped onions around the shallow pan as she leaned down and kissed Lucy on the temple, noting the still wet hair. “Feel better?”
“Much.” Lucy wrapped her arm around her girlfriend’s hips, contemplating the pan. “Thank you.” She’d had a shower at Pearl, which had washed most of the sand away, but she’d spent the rest of the day with that itchy feeling she always had after having to head out onto the sand. “Why do they always run?”
“Because your reputation precedes you.” Kate reached for the plate of chopped vegetables she’d prepared while Lucy had been showering, waiting for her to emerge before adding them to the onions. “Did you get checked out?”
“No need.”
“Luce…”
“No, seriously!” Lucy stole a slice of carrot from the plate, squeezing Kate’s hip in reassurance. “Have you ever been to Ka’ena Point?”
“Out by the Space Force Base?” Kate nodded, then canted her head to the side. “I mean, I’ve been to the Base a couple of times, second time I drove out to a viewpoint to look at the ocean…”
“DIA stuff?” guessed Lucy, knowing Kate’s previous on-island role had seen her working with all branches of the military in the region, not just the Navy, knowing too that unlike her the ocean was a natural place for the blonde to gravitate to when she’d been left frustrated and annoyed by her colleagues.
“DIA stuff,” agreed Kate, trying to work out why Lucy was bringing up the western-most point on the island. “Though I prefer to remember it for the sunset. You were there? Today?” She put aside the empty plate and carried on stirring the pan, though she did so while looking at Lucy. “But I thought you were working with Jane on the divorce gone wrong?” Kate had been in meetings most of the day and had minimal involvement with the NCIS case beyond a quick text exchange with Jane confirming if the child custody case they’d become involved with went bad fast, FBI hostage negotiators were on Oahu for once and at her disposal. Since she’d not heard anything else, she had assumed that the NCIS team had managed to resolve it somewhat peacefully, even if it did sound like it was a rather sandy conclusion.
“I was, but the kid was there on a school trip. We ended up cuffing the Dad in the sand dunes. Less punches and tumbles, more stumbles and sand in some really uncomfortable places.”
“Ah.” Kate winced when she mentally filled in the blanks, appreciating now why Lucy had been adamant she wanted to shower the moment she arrived, and why it had been a longer than usual one. “At least it was the dunes not the waves,” she added, trying to find a silver lining for Lucy.
“That would have been way worse,” agreed Lucy. “I’ll do the table?”
“Thanks.” Dropping another kiss on Lucy’s head, this time in exchange for the one Lucy pressed into her bicep, Kate refocused on cooking their dinner, their settled routine making her smile as she heard Lucy puttering around the apartment. She’d been about to ask Alexa to turn on some quiet music when Lucy started to speak, her quietness and lack of curiosity about Kate’s day a result of preoccupation with something.
“I was eight, like Liam.”
“Liam?”
“The kid, from today. His father was a bully and seeing him being cuffed by Tennant…” Lucy put the last fork down on the table, her hands resting on the top of the chair back, gripping tightly. “...it was like that day on the lake.”
“When you were eight?” guessed Kate quietly, sensing it was important that she stayed seemingly focused on the cooking, giving Lucy the space and distance to process whatever it was that she was thinking about.
“Mmm. It was Cart’s 16th birthday.” 'Cart' - Kate quickly reviewed what she knew of Lucy's family - Carlton 'do not call me Carl' Tara, Lucy's eldest brother, followed by Brad who must have been thirteen and Aiden who would have been eleven, and his twin sister, Lucy's only sister, Michelle. "He was driving his birthday present."
"A car?" Kate didn't want to interrupt Lucy's memory too much, but sensed a nudge or two wouldn't distract her enough to change the subject.
"Power boat." Lucy sighed, straightening the fork. "Rich people present. Cart got the boat and we went down to the lake for him to use it. He shouldn't have been driving it, none of them should have but I didn't know that then."
"You were eight Luce…" reminded Kate quietly, turning the heat off from under the pan, but otherwise maintaining an outward 'I'm cooking' demeanour. This conversation was starting to have a ‘feed Lucy pizza afterwards’ feel to it, one Kate was happy to accommodate. And if she was wrong, she could always turn the heat back on.
"Mmm. I meant I didn't know, when I got on the big floaty chair thing he was going to tow, that none of them had done the mandatory boater education. I mean my Dad and Uncle Aziz had driven boats loads of times when we were visiting my grandparents, but that wasn't Texas. He was not happy when she put the cuffs on him."
"She?" A knot began to form in Kate's stomach - she had a hunch where Lucy's memory was taking them.
"Game Warden. Cart he, I don't know…" Lucy's grip on the chair was now knuckle-white-tight as she stared at the middle of the table, seeing that day decades ago. "...was speeding or took a turn too tight maybe? Whatever it was, the float we were on flipped and we were dunked, shrieking at the cold and at him but…" Lucy frowned, squinting as if that would help the memory come into focus. "...I couldn't get to the surface, there was grass or weed or something making it thick and dark. And the…" She bit her tongue, the sharp shock an instinctive reaction after years of learning to mostly manage what had happened next, the sting bringing her mostly back to the present, or at least the part of the memory she was better able to navigate through. "...Cart pulled me out, I was ok, but we'd attracted the Game Warden patrol. That's when…Cart's alright really, I mean, I never really had much to do with him when I was little because of how old he was, but I think…I like to think if our parents hadn't been who they are he'd have served you know? He's an engineer now, for Dad, but I meet the Navy engineers during cases and some of them? They remind me of him. The good, innocent squared away ones I mean, not the lying to the feds ones." It was a more charitable description of her oldest brother than she’d used when she was younger, with ‘boring’ and ‘dull’ being her main opinion on her quiet, studious brother whose recent appointment as Tara Oil’s newest Vice President had seemed inevitable ever since he went to college to study engineering.
"By the book?" suggested Kate quietly, not wanting to interrupt Lucy's flow but picking up on her stalling over her brother.
"Mmm, but not annoying about it." Lucy had always wondered if perhaps that was a way to describe Noah, wondered too what he would have made of Cart, of all her brothers really but Cart in particular, age now helping her see she’d confused focus and a genuine fascination with chemical engineering with a lack of personality. Cart wasn’t dull, he just didn’t volunteer to join in whatever amusement or entertainment had caught a young Lucy’s attention, something it seemed Noah had been especially good at with Kate. Unsurprisingly however, she'd never asked her thought. "He's stood up, on the boat after getting me out of the water, water dripping off his face, listening to this Game Warden asking him all these questions when Dad turns up."
"He wasn't on the boat?"
"He was on his boat, which he also didn’t have mandatory boaters education for. That he’d bought for himself at the same time. We were on Cart's new boat."
"Ah." Right, rich people. Kate could just about remember her parents hiring a kayak one summer for Noah and her to use, but couldn’t picture them joining in on the water. Somehow Kate suspected the Tara boats would have been longer and more powerful than the average weekend boater’s craft.
"Dad's all 'how dare you' and 'what makes you think' and suddenly this Game Warden's partner is on his boat arresting him."
"That's…" Kate was about to comment on that seeming to be quite an escalation by the Warden given he was a father whose kids had just been in a minor marine accident, but stopped herself. Lucy's comments about being expert in all the family drama echoed in her memory and made her wonder at the ambiguity in her words as her brain helpfully reminded her that in Texas Game Wardens were also given federal commissions by the Department of the Interior…oh shit. "...he tried to buy off the Warden?"
"Gold star right there," said Lucy, starting to straighten the cutlery and glasses on the table for the third time, needing an outlet for her nervous energy. "He didn't care about why we'd fallen off the float, didn't wonder why Cart was soaked too, and definitely didn't care about why I was still screaming. He was outraged that this…" She wrinkled her face up like she was confronted with a bad smell, "... pretend cop was writing Cart a ticket when he'd just pay the fines and give them a bit for themselves for the trouble."
Kate's eyes widened at that, hearing Lucy's commentary of 'rich people attitude' in her mind, but keeping her own reaction otherwise silent. But she now understood the cuffs. Lucy it seemed, was now on a roll as the words started tumbling out from her as her hands once more white knuckled the top of the chair.
"She cuffed him, had her partner start writing up the tickets I guess, then came over to me and crouched down, because I was extra little… I'm sorry honey , she said, in this really strong Texas accent, I didn't mean to upset you but …I'd got hiccups from crying and couldn't speak so Cart…he says 'excuse me Ma'am? She, when I got her to the surface, she was asking me who the man was."
Kate's stomach dropped right through the floor hearing Lucy's distracted, almost fully removed from herself account, like she was recounting a case she'd worked rather than something she'd been a part of, the significance of what she was saying horrifically clear. This wasn't what Kate had been anticipating hearing, but it was certainly one hell of a good reason for aquaphobia.
" ’What man honey?’ She asked, all soft and kind and I just…pointed at the patch of plants that Cart had pulled me out from. I could hear Dad, Uncle Aziz, my brothers all making noise but all I could really see was her, crouching in front of me. ‘Breathe in through your nose honey, hold onto it. Can you give me a smile? Awesome-sauce, now breathe out through your mouth. That’s it honey, can you do it again? Can you show me with your fingers how old you are honey?’ She kept going, just talking to me like that while I started to calm down. Then I started to hear Dad shouting, arguing with the other warden I guess, but she kept me focussed on her…” Lucy blinked, her gaze shifting from the middle of the table to Kate, who was stood motionless by the stove. “Anyway,” shrugged Lucy, letting go of the chair and, after a moment of wondering what to do with her hands, crossed her arms across her chest. “Turns out his eight-year-old being nose to nose with a dead body in the lake was enough to make my father low priority and he got off with the tickets and a warning. Still waiting on that thank you,” she joked awkwardly, chewing on her lip.
“Luce…” began Kate, taking a step towards her girlfriend, filling in the gaps that Lucy wasn’t talking about, but which Kate could now clearly see, like why she’d never returned to the water with anything other than fear and trepidation, and maybe also why she’d been drawn to a career as a federal agent once she’d decided to break free of her father’s grasp.
“I should get a t-shirt printed, ‘caught my first homicide case at eight and all I got was aquaphobia'. On the back it could say ‘and I bought this shirt myself’."
"Or," said Kate gently, lightly catching hold of Lucy's Daydream rainbow t-shirt, nudging her focus towards her. "You get the t-shirts, wind breaker, cap, backpack…" she paused, trying to remember what other logoed kit Lucy had, "... vest, umbrella and badge that say you're an incredible federal agent?" Ok, maybe the umbrella was a stretch - she knew they had them, but did they say NCIS? The FBI ones did…Kate gave herself a mental shake and refocused on what Lucy was saying.
"I work for the Navy and live on an island," said Lucy, not with her usual higher energy, but with atypical cynicism starting to creep in as she looked up at Kate. "That's pretty stupid."
"And I live on a tropical island that puts pineapple with everything."
"You hate pineapple because it hates you."
"And I love you." Finally Kate felt Lucy relax enough to draw her into her arms, enfolding her with love and pulling her close, so close she felt her girlfriend's face turn into her chest as she tucked herself under Kate's chin. "All of you, especially the brave and incredible parts." She heard a noise that was probably a sniffle but might also have been an attempted objection, which she wasn’t going to allow. “And one of the bravest and most incredible parts of you is the NCIS Special Agent who is helping the Liams of the world here, on an island, in spite of her perfectly logical and rational hatred of anything big and wet.”
“You mean that?” asked Lucy in such a small, quiet voice that Kate’s heart broke for her, broke for the ‘extra little’ eight year old Lucy who’d come face to face with a truly horrible sight during a genuinely terrifying ordeal and was clearly neither believed nor supported by her father or family, although at least her brother had helped a tiny amount.
“Completely.” She gave Lucy a tight squeeze of a hug to emphasise her sincerity and complete belief in what she was saying, absolutely certain she’d be distrustful of the water if she happened upon a dead man while trying to return to the surface after falling off her surfboard, and she was a federal agent in her thirties, not an eight year old. She dropped a kiss into thick, silky hair as she heard a knock at their door. “Now, you want to grab the door?”
“The door?” Lucy hadn’t heard the knock but pulled away from Kate enough to look at her, hearing the follow-up knock in the process. “What did you do?”
“Open it and find out,” said Kate, extricating herself from Lucy’s arms with another kiss before heading over to the stove to quickly put away their part cooked meal - she’d turn it into soup or something later.
Present - Kate & Lucy's Apartment
“You ordered pizza…” remembered Lucy, smiling at the memory. “Texas BBQ pizza from the place I love...”
“...with extra ground beef because no Texas barbeque is complete without brisket,” recited Kate, smiling at a different memory, of her girlfriend miraculously bonding with her barbeque obsessed boss and his wife at the FBI picnic a couple of days earlier. “Which reminds me, I have an email for you from Mrs Curtis.”
“Jolene?” Lucy nearly elbowed Kate in the ribs in her enthusiasm to sit up and seek out Kate’s phone to start to read it. “She’s emailed you? Does that mean she’s finally sharing…” Lucy’s eyes were wide and sparkling with her excitement. “...her secret family pulled pork rub and sauce?”
“I guess so?” Kate knew when she was beaten and reached out to grab her phone. “I mean, I have an email from Curtis with the subject ‘JC says only Lucy can read it’.” It was almost six months since the FBI barbeque and given everything that had happened in the last 48 hours, an email from ASAC Curtis’ wife for Lucy with sacred Texan barbeque secrets was nowhere near her bingo card.
“Oooo.” Now kneeling up on the bed, seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that she was straddling Kate’s hips, Lucy gestured for the phone, smiling at how respectful her girlfriend was and had, true to instruction, not opened the email. “Wait, what did you do to get this? She was holding out on me.”
“Umm…so you know I mentioned this morning’s chaos was because Curtis was off island?”
“Ye-es.” Lucy’s eyes narrowed, trying to connect Curtis’ sudden absence with Jolene Curtis deciding to break the sacred family code and share the secrets of their barbeque success. “What happened? And what did you do to help fix it?”
“So, remember they said their daughter is now working at State?”
“In D.C. Proper State, not State-as-a-cover-for-CIA-State? Sure, Jolene was telling me about it at the weekend. Wait, is she ok?”
“Yes, I mean, I guess so since her Mom’s sent that email.” Kate paused, ordering her thoughts. “I don’t really know what happened, but…”
“You knew someone who could help,” finished Lucy, leaning down and kissing Kate, grinning when she saw her leap of logic had managed to ‘break’ her girlfriend again, as she was sporting her adorable confused look. “I know you.” She also knew Kate well enough to see how tired she really was, so she stretched over to the edge of the bed, putting Kate’s phone back on charge. Secret barbeque recipes could wait until morning. “And you’re sleepy.”
“Mmm.” Kate wrapped her arms around Lucy again, holding her close and still. “But I’m not going to sleep.”
“Ka-ate.”
“I’m not going to sleep until you promise me you will not think you are stupid about anything, especially not water.”
“I promise.”
“Like you mean it,” corrected Kate, slipping her hands under Lucy’s pyjama top and splaying her fingers out across the warm, smooth muscles of her girlfriend’s lower back. “Without rolling your eyes at me,” she added, anticipating Lucy’s instinctive reaction.
“I promise,” repeated Lucy, this time sounding like she did actually believe what she was saying. “I know you’re right, it’s just…a lot to forget you know?”
“I know,” agreed Kate simply, thinking back to all the times her own confidence and sense of self had been casually eroded or dismissed by her parents, only unlike Lucy, Noah had been her number one supporter and champion. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have three brothers, nevermind three brothers that mostly either ignored her or belittled her and a sister who resented her. “But the first step to forgetting can be not remembering, not living in the past.” She ran her hands up Lucy’s back, savouring the softness of her skin, smiling as she remembered a very happy moment in the past, when she’d seen the photos and video Lucy had sent her of her Christmas sea adventure. “Or at least, only remembering the fun parts...”
“Like you in a bikini…” hummed Lucy, Kate’s sleepiness infectious as she relaxed into her long love’s body. “...sea’s gotta be good if it gets me that.”
“It is,” mumbled Kate, her eyes drifting closed as she relaxed under her ‘Lucy blanket’, the mixture of the stress of a day going off the rails combined with the relief that her NCIS ohana now knew about her and weren’t judging her for keeping secrets. “And it does…get you that.”
“Yum.” Lucy was almost asleep, fingers of one hand now tangled with Kate’s, her others lightly resting against a fair cheek. “Secret…”
Kate had no clue if her half asleep girlfriend was thinking about the not-for-sharing photos they’d exchanged at Christmas or the pulled pork recipe. With Lucy she knew it could go either way, and she smiled, genuinely not caring. Actually, were she to have asked, it would have been both, with Lucy wondering if she could manage to host a beach barbeque ‘Texas style’ for their friends sometime, wondering too how Kai in particular would cope with Lucy trying to cope with Kate in a bikini…
“Love you...” Kate’s words were slurred, like her brain was fighting her body’s sensible recommendation that sleep was what she should be doing.
“Love you more if you go to sleep.” Lucy waited for a reply, ready to continue the debate but all she heard was the gentle sound of Kate’s heartbeat as her chest rose and fell in time with her breathing.
It had been a long day, but a good one. Bad guys were in jail, put there by the good guys and finally Kate’s brilliance was better understood by their NCIS friends and colleagues, who rather than being intimidated or irritated by the discovery, had embraced her with respect and love.
That was ohana.
That was their ohana.
That was…
“No…” It felt like it was only seconds since she’d closed her eyes, but judging by the fuzzy view of the clock on Kate’s side of the bed it was almost 1am.
“Damn it.” Lucy carefully moved off Kate, reaching for her phone, hoping that she managed to answer it before the three vibrates gave way to loud annoying music that signalled this was NCIS calling her. “Special Agent Tara, and this better be good…” she whispered, looking at her fortunately still sleeping girlfriend. “...of course there is.” Sighing, Lucy rolled onto her back, glaring at the ceiling as she mentally planned what she needed to do, starting with getting dressed again. “Sure, I can pick you up in thirty.” Hanging up, she turned and reached for Kate’s hand, kissing the knuckles. “Sleep well my love.” And, with a final sigh she forced herself to get up.
Ohana, like any family, really sucked sometimes. As did the bad guys who insisted on murdering Naval Officers outside twenty-four hour convenience stores in K Bay.
“Luce?” Kate was still mostly asleep but had noticed the loss of her ‘Lucy blanket’, so rolled towards her girlfriend’s side of the bed, seeking some confirmation she was alright.
“Dead sailor, go back to sleep.”
“K…love you.” Kate pulled Lucy’s pillow towards her, snuggling into it like she would if she was spooning Lucy.
“Love you too.” She kissed the tiny patch of Kate’s forehead not buried in pillow, then dragged herself to the bathroom, loving her super-organised girlfriend’s insistence that they kept ‘emergency underwear’ in there so they could get dressed in the middle of the night with the minimum of fuss, reclaiming her jeans and bra as she went, starting to feel the buzz of adrenalin as the reality of a new case starting to hit.
Maybe she’d get done at the scene in time to take Kate to the airport, though it didn’t sound like they’d be done before lunchtime given what the HPD scene summary was.
Maybe, even if they weren’t done, she’d ask Tennant to excuse her for a bit so she could come home and take Kate to the airport. K Bay coffee sucked, so adding in returning with a round of Red Eyes with a Bullets from Sunrise Shack would surely sweeten, or rather caffeinate the deal.
Yeah, that was a better, Whistler-grade plan.
Nodding, Lucy picked up the hairbrush and started to tidy her hair back into something that was baseball cap compatible. That was what she’d do, she’d ask on the way to the scene, rather than wait until later, or worse, wait until Tennant suggested it. Because she would, if Lucy didn’t say anything first.
Any of them would.
It was what they did for family.