Okay, I'm sorry this took me so long! I just couldn't bring myself to write, but I'm back now. Thank you SO much for all the support on this story! I'm still nervous about it, but not to the same extreme. So thank you! Now enjoy!

Disclaimer: Bones, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS are amazing shows and I have absolutely nothing to do with that.

Kate

Somehow my entire family seemed to inherit the popularity gene, except me. Every last one of my brothers was on some sports team. Basketball, soccer, lacrosse, water polo, you name it, one of them played it. And my sister did absolutely everything. She was student-body president, on the honor roll, a swimmer, a cheerleader, an actress. Like I said, absolutely everything. And me, at sixteen, with all of five feet, one inch to my name, I got lost in there somewhere.

I always felt like kind of an afterthought. My siblings were always introduced and then it was, "Oh, and this is Kate." I didn't do anything particularly extraordinary. I mean, I got good grades, but that was about it. At my old school, before the move, I was class president, but that was overshadowed by my sister being student body president. I was always overshadowed. Don't get me wrong, I love my family. It was just hard in high school. That's why I was so glad to have Addison when we moved to Connecticut right before my sophomore year. We established that we weren't going to care, and that's what we did. No one bothered us, no one looked our way. That changed, though.

Addison and I had just gotten our lunches and were heading to our normal table, the same one where I had first talked to her. We stopped short when we saw a girl already sitting there. Addison and I looked at each other and shrugged. Neither of us had seen her before.

"Uh, hi, um, we usually sit here," Addison said, marching up to her. Ever since she got her braces off, she'd made leaps and bounds in the confidence department.

The girl looked up and just stared. "Uh, but you're welcome to sit here," I added, sitting down. "I'm Kate."

"Temperance. Brennan," she said, a weird pause between her first name and her last.

"I'm Addison," Addison finished as she sat down, looking resigned. Addison was usually wary about new people. The fact that she even sat down was a pretty big step.

"So you're new?" I asked.

"Yes. I just moved here." Temperance didn't offer any more, and she didn't look like she wanted to, so we didn't pressure her.

"Ugh, so Miller was being so annoying today!" Addison exclaimed, sensing the need for a new topic.

"Wait, Mrs. Miller? I have her for biology next," Tempe asked.

"Yeah. She can be really sweet, but sometimes she's a total hard-ass," Addison replied. "The class is really cool though. But I'm a science nerd, so…"

"I don't really know what nerd means, but if it means interested in science, so am I," Tempe said. Addison and I looked at each other. Was this girl for real? Yes, as it turned out.

0ooo0

"Dinozzo!" Kate barks. "Give me my phone!"

"Pleasure talking to you, Addison," Dinozzo smirks into the phone.

"Give it!" Kate practically screams when she hears it's Addison.

"She sounds hot," Tony comments as he hands her the phone. "You didn't tell me you have hot friends."

"That's because I actually like my friends speaking to me, Tony," Kate replies. "Touch my phone again and your voice will be an octave higher." She glares at him and he quickly throws up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, Addie. I had to send Tony to time out. He thinks you sound hot, by the way."

"Aw, Kate!" Tony groans.

"Did you tell him that I am?" Addison smirks.

"Trust me, you do not want Dinozzo on your scent."

"He sounds cute," Addison says.

"That's only because you haven't talked to him for more than two minutes. So, why'd you call?"

"I talked to Alex."

"What?!" Kate exclaims. "Really?"

"Sort of. Not really. Kind of. Maybe. I don't know! We did this weird hidden message talk thing, except now I don't know if I got the hidden messages."

"Which were?"

"What?"

"The hidden messages!"

"It was a mistake."

"Isn't that what you said it was?" Kate asks, confused.

"Yes, but… I just didn't think… I didn't think it would hurt so much coming from him."

"Oh, Addie, I'm sorry," Kate apologizes.

"Does she need a rebound?" Tony perks up. "Because I am an excellent rebound man. And I am great at cheering women up."

"She lives in Seattle, Dinozzo!" Kate exclaims exasperatedly. "And I'd rather die than let you near one of my friends."

"Ouch, Kate. That hurts. Right here," Tony replies, patting his heart.

Kate shrugs.

"What's going on?" Addison asks.

"Tony's offering to be your rebound. Don't worry, it's all taken care of."

Addison laughs. "Thanks, Kate. So I have a huge favor to ask you."

"Sure, anything."

"The hotel just called me to say that they overbooked and that they don't have any rooms for us…"

"You can stay at my place." Kate picks up on the favor instantly.

"Really? Me and… Alex?"

"Sure. I'll make up the guest room for you and he can stay on the couch. It'll be fine. And maybe the sleeping arrangements will even change," she teases.

"Kate, no," Addison says firmly. "Just… leave it, okay?"

"Fine," Kate sighs.

"Thank you. Anyways, I have to go. I have a surgery coming up soon."

"I'll talk to you later, Addie."

"Bye, Kate."

"So, Kate," Tony says. "Who is this mysterious Addison person?"

"None of your business, Tony," Kate replies.

"Why does she need cheering up?"

"None of your business, Tony," Kate says more forcefully.

"Well, what about you?"

"What about me?" Kate asks.

"You look like you could use some cheering up."

"Your idea of cheering up? I'd rather cut off my own hand using a plastic knife, Dinozzo," Kate smirks.

"Ouch, Kate!" Tony exclaims. "I was only suggesting Chinese food, but you'd rather cut off your own hand, so…"

"No, Tony, wait. I am pretty hungry," she admits sheepishly.

"I'll go run and get some," he says, getting up from his desk and starting to walk away. "It's a date."

"Thanks Tony." She waits for him to reach the elevator before calling, "Hey, Tony?"

He turns around. "Yeah?"

"It's not a date!"

"Food? Dinner for two? It's a date, Katie Pie!" he calls back cheerfully before stepping onto the elevator.

After a minute, even though he's long gone by now, she grumbles, "Don't call me Katie Pie."

So I'm thinking I might play with the NCIS reality just a tad, as in giving Kate and Tony a nudge in the right direction. For those of you who watch, that will mean something. To everyone else, who is just reading because of Grey's or Bones, that will mean absolutely nothing to you and you can just ignore it.

All the best!
-Juli-