I"M BACK! HAHAHA! Just as a little summary, this is, of course, another Kate story. It'll a romance, with some old friends and bitter jealousy thrown in, coupled with bad memories! I hope you enjoy, I know I am. :)

And just to go throught the basics, I do NOT own Crossing Jordan.

Miiiyaa-heeeeeeeeeeeeee, miiiyaa-hooooooooooooooo, miiiyaa-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, miiiyaa-haha!

Miiiyaa-heeeeeeeeeeeeee, miiiyaa-hooooooooooooooo, miiiyaa- haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, miiiyaa-haha!

Miiiyaa-heeeeeeeeeeeeee, miiiyaa-hooooooooooooooo, miiiyaa-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, miiiyaa-haha!

Miiiyaa-heeeeeeeeeeeeee, miiiyaa-hooooooooooooooo, miiiyaa- haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, miiiyaa-haha!

"NIGEL!!" Kate stormed down the hall into Trace, where the dying-from-laughter Nigel was on Youtube. "TURN THAT CRAP OFF!"

Alo, Salut, sunt eu, un haiduc,

Si te rog, iubirea mea, primeste...

"Kate, you have to come look at this!" He motioned to the video playing. Kate was covering her ears.

"If I look at it will you turn it off?!"

He nodded and she reluctantly walked over and looked at the screen. Unfortunately for her, she did have trouble holding back a smile.

"What is it?!" She was having to yell over the volume and Nigel's laughs. He shrugged.

"I don't know! Just some guy in his bedroom singing this song! I think it's called 'Numa Numa'. You just type in 'numa numa guy' and he's the one in the white shirt, glasses and headphones! I think the little tag under the title says 'numa numa...' and..."

"I don't need directions! Now turn it off!" She yelled even louder. It was almost 11 pm, and he was obviously more of a night person than her. He reluctantly complied and turned his spinning chair so he was facing her.

"Come on, luv. Where's your sense of humor?"

She gave him a moody look.

"Back in my bed where I should be too!"

Nigel shot an "apparently" under his breathe, certainly not loud enough for her to hear it, though. She turned around abruptly and walked to her office, where she emerged a few seconds later with her coat and purse.

"Headed home?"

"That's what I was hoping." She said over her shoulder as she headed for the elevator.

"Night!"

"Night" She grunted. Completely worn out and exhausted, she just wasn't in the mood for talking. The elevator doors whooshed softly and she was alone.

'Finally.' She thought.

XXX

The drive home wasn't uneventful, even with most of the streets inhabiting only a few cars. When she stopped at a red light, Kate rolled down her window and leaned her arm out it. It was a peaceful night, and she savored the silence with the exception of the humming of her Chrysler 300. But before long she heard the blaring of rap and booze. A jacked up mustang full of what Kate recognized through her rearview mirror as wannabe homeboys pulled up next to her. A muscular guy in a black tee and big hat pushed to the side rolled down his window and took a look, noting the curvy figure he could see over her car door.

"Hey baby!" He said overloaded with confidence; or maybe that was vodka? "What's a sexy mama like you with a ride like that doing all by yourself tonight, huh? Why don't you come on over here and let me fix that!" Drunken laughter erupted from the car, and the speaker received a high five. Kate never took her eyes off the traffic light in front of her, her face and eyes steely. A voice came from the back seat of the mustang.

"Hey! Hey, Will! She ain't turning around!"

Will, the original idiot, turned to her again.

"Hey, why are you lookin' over there when you could be lookin' at all the pimps over here?" More laughing and high fives. Kate still couldn't believe that men so stupid were able to dress themselves. The light was unusually long, and she planned to wait it out patiently; but that possibility was blown out the window when Will got out of the mustang.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you!" He swaggered across, turning more aggressive. Kate was about to flash her badge, but found a far more... interesting solution. He had stopped in a precarious spot in front of the door.

Will knelt down and leaned on her open window, not picking up the fact that the woman he had chosen wasn't about to take any bull. This was probably because Kate seemed to have changed her mind, and now looked more interested.

"Then give me a reason to answer." She said in her best flirty voice, which was rusty but still pretty damn good. He smiled.

"Well, a hot mama like y- mff!" There was a dull click and a smack, and he tumbled over backwards, gasping and clutching his offended guy area. Kate smiled evilly and slammed her door shut again, making sure that they were no scratches from his belt buckle. The light changed to green, and she drove off, letting the idiots watch Will nurse his injury and his pride. He should've been wearing a cup.

XXX

She got home and was ecstatically greeted by Binky, so much so that she played tug-of-war with him even though she was dog tired. (No pun intended.)

Before heading to bed she saw there was a new message on her answering machine. She pressed play and listened. The familiar woman's voice made her smile.

"He-y, girl! Whatupwhatupwhatup?! Dude, you have GOT to learn to pick up your phone! Anyway, to get to the point; the tournament is in 2 weeks! Can't you take off a little time? I mean, I know that your schedules are strict, and it's a long drive, and everything, but... we need you! Think about it, ok? Call me when you make up your mind." The message ended. Kate let her head hang and groaned. She wanted to go, and she felt like she needed to, too, but getting time off on such short notice was next to impossible.

She brought her head up enough to look at the framed team photo on the counter. Next to it was a small plaque boasting '2007 National Women's Champions'. She looked at all the faces, all of her old girl friends. Her eyes stopped at three people in the center, the very middle of which was her.

On her right was Rebecca, the one who had just called her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, 6'1", and lean, she was a natural athlete. She was known for her comedy and seemingly super human hyperness. Never was she above wisecracks and insults, which made her an interesting friend.

On her left was Emileigh, usually just Emi, who was also blonde, 5'8" or 5'9", and a little stockier than Rebecca. She was the calm, cool, and collected one in the trio. That is, unless she gets into one of her moods. If that happens, there's no telling what she would do, except that it'll be crazy and you might die laughing.

Kate smiled. They had been friends since high school, and had stayed in touch ever since. Luckily, they all decided to stay in New York City. Or, at least, had. She was the only one to move away, though neither blamed her for it; she had her reasons.

She picked up the phone and dialed, then pressed it to her ear. A few rings and a sleepy, sarcastic voice answered.

"You have no sense of timing, do you?"

"Nice to talk to you too."

"Haha. You woke me up, so spill. Are you coming or not?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks so much for asking!"

"Sarcasm helps nothing."

"That never stops you."

"Hey, I'm funny when I use sarcasm."

"Go ahead and keep on thinking that if you want."

"Fine, I will."

Kate's heart started to thump just a little faster when she asked her next question.

"So, um... how's Steven?"

"Oh, he's fine, I guess. I think he misses you."

Just the statement made Kate feel horrible.

"Why would he miss me?"

"Well, come on, Kate." Rebecca said, trying to be pushy but not too much, "I think both of you know that you didn't leave on exactly the right terms."

Kate looked at the ceiling.

"Yeah. I know."

Rebecca knew that her friend didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she steered the conversation back on course.

"Let's cut to the chase, Kate. Are you going to be at the tournament or not?"

Kate looked at the picture and trophy before answering.

"You can count on it."