First off, you should know that I'm nervous about this one. I haven't gotten any complaints from the Grey's and the NCIS writings, but Bones is a whole different ballgame. Addison and Kate, they're just kind of easy to write. I actually have to work to sound like Brennan. I hope I do her justice here.
Secondly, I've decided that each chapter will start with a flashback (check out those neato italics!) from either Kate, Addison, or Brennan's point of view. It'll say at the top, so no guesswork.
Thirdly, I don't own NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, or anything I might reference.
Addison
You want to know the first thing I learned when I became a teenager? How to become invisible. Because being a tall, gawky redhead in a sea of petite blonds and brunettes didn't exactly make for being accepted. I was too nerdy for the popular kids, too cool for the nerds. I didn't fit in anywhere. So instead, I disappeared. And no one noticed. That is, until one day.
I was sitting in the cafeteria, in my usual spot, a discreet table near the exit, reading. I did a lot of reading back then. I'd read anything you'd hand me, but I definitely had a certain penchant for murder mysteries. It probably made everybody think I was trying to figure out the best way to kill them. But anyways, so I was reading, when a shadow fell across my book and didn't move. I looked up, and there was this girl, another petite brunette, standing there.
"Can I sit?"
"Uh… yeah. Sure." My social skills back then were rudimentary at best.
"I'm Kate," she said. "Kate Todd."
"Erm, I'm Addison Montgomery. Are you new? I haven't seen you around."
"Just moved here from Pennsylvania."
"Oh. Well, I really hope you don't have any delusions of popularity," I told her. "Because you've basically just committed social suicide."
She looked around the cafeteria. "Yeah, I'm thinking that this is the smart move. Who cares what they think anyways, right?"
"Er, right," I said hesitantly. Not caring, that was a new philosophy for me. I mean, I tried to act like I didn't, but I know I did. So Kate was new, different, and just the kick in the ass I needed.
0ooo0
"Oh, come on, Kate, pick up," Addison pleads into the phone. "Please."
"Hi, you've reached Caitlyn Todd. I can't pick up just now, but leave your name and number, and I'll get back to you soon!" Kate's voicemail chirps.
"Damn it, Kate, I know your busy being a secret agent for the government and all, but for once in your entire life could you just pick up the phone when I need you to?!" Addison complains into the phone. "I'm having a major crisis here, and I need to talk to you or Tempe, mostly you. So call me back as soon as you get this, okay? It's Addison, by the way, but you probably already knew that."
Addison hangs up with a sigh. Of all the days for Kate not to pick up her phone…
Addison's phone rings. She glances at the caller id, which reads, Kate. Oh, thank God. "Kate!" she exclaims the moment she picks up.
"Addie," Kate answers, sounding incredibly sleepy. "Your call woke me up. Are you okay? You sounded panicked in that message you just left me. Crisis? What crisis? Is everything okay?"
"I did something stupid, Kate," Addison admits.
"What? Addison, it's like four in the morning over here. You're going to need to give me more than that."
"I told you about Alex, right?"
"Uh… Alex?"
"Intern?"
"Oh my God, right. The sexy one making eyes at you. Hold on, I'm calling Tempe."
"No, don't!" Addison exclaims. "You know she hates this sort of thing."
"What sort of thing, Addie? You haven't told me anything yet!"
"I kissed him."
"Who?"
"Alex!"
"Oh my God!"
"I know! Kate, what the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Uh, kiss him again?" It sounds as if Kate wants to add a "duh" to the end of her suggestion.
"Okay, so not helpful, and so not happening."
"Why not?"
"Because he's my intern!"
"That's it, I'm calling Tempe."
"What? No, don't! She already thinks I'm some irrational, illogical idiot!"
"Too late, already dialing." Kate's voice holds that teasing tone that only best friends can get away with without being smacked.
"Whoever this is, I'm hanging up," Temperance Brennan answers, sounding just as groggy as Kate did a couple minutes ago.
"Tempe, don't hang up," Kate replies. "Addie's in a crisis right now."
"What? What's wrong?"
"She kissed her intern."
"What, the one she's been in lust with for the past four months? You know I'm not good at this sort of thing, Kate! You should call Angela, she's good at this."
"No, Tempe, she needs her best friend now. Not Angela."
"Can we please stop talking about Addison as if she can't hear a word you're saying?" Addison interrupts.
"You didn't tell me she was on the phone!" Brennan accuses Kate.
"Sorry," Kate apologizes. "You didn't give me a chance."
"Hey, Bren," Addison says.
"Hi. So you kissed your intern. Alex, right?"
Addison groans. "Right."
"I don't really understand the problem," Brennan admits.
"Everything!" Addison exclaims in her usual hyperbole.
"Why?" Brennan asks. "Lust is a perfectly valid feeling. Without it, the human race would die out."
"So not what I want to hear, Bren," Addison replies. "But thanks for trying."
"I told you I'm not good at this!"
"Well, maybe it's not a bad thing. Maybe it's a good thing in disguise," Kate suggests.
"Oh no, trust me, it's a bad thing. A very, very bad thing," Addison assures her friends.
"What are you going to do?" Brennan asks.
"I don't know!" Addison exclaims. "That's why I called you!"
"Actually, you didn't call me," Brennan points out. "You called Kate."
"You know what I mean! You're here now. Help me!"
"Why don't you just talk to him?" Kate suggests. "Tell him it was just a mistake."
"I can't do that!"
"Why not?" Brennan asks. "It's the logical thing to do."
Addison is quiet for a really long time.
"Addison," Kate finally says. "If you don't talk, I'm going to assume you've hung up and do the same. Tempe is too."
"Yes. I am," Brennan affirms.
"I… I don't know if it was a mistake," Addison says quietly, her eyes downcast, even though her friends are on the other side of the country.
"So talk to him about that," Kate replies.
"But I don't know if it was the right thing either!" Addison exclaims.
"So don't talk to him," Brennan suggests. "It's rational that if you don't know what to say, you shouldn't talk to him."
"So I should avoid him?"
"I'm not saying this as an empirical scientist, Addison. I'm saying this as a friend. It's not exactly the most reasonable approach, but if it works for you…"
"Bren, you are a life saver," Addison breathes. "Okay, I can do that. No. Wait, I can't."
"Why not?" Kate asks.
"I've been meaning to talk to you guys about this. There's a medical conference in D.C. next week. I invited him."
"So un-invite him," Kate says, in her "duh" manner again.
"What are we, ten?" Addison asks rhetorically. "No, I just have to… I have to suck it up and deal with it."
"Okay, good. Now that we've established a plan, can I go to sleep?" Brennan asks.
"I'll call you guys with details about the conference soon, okay?" Addison says.
"Good night," Brennan says and hangs up.
"Night, Addie," Kate says.
"Night, Kate."
So... yes? No? Should I write more or not? Please give me feedback on this one!
-Juli-
