Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of it's characters.

Chapter 10

Taylor sauntered along the main street, trying to decide where to go first. She really wanted to find Katie and Lucas, she'd spent most of her time here last summer with them. It was hot and sunny so she figured they would be somewhere down by the lake.

It didn't take long for her to find them, they were sitting on a small jetty, feet dangling in the water. "Sure you can handle all that excitement?"

They both spun round,

"Heard you were in town, didn't see you around though!" Lucas said with a grin

"Been workin' in the store"

"That sounds like real fun!" he replied sarcastically

"Not my idea." determined to change the subject she continued "So what have you two been up to ?"

"Not much, considering there's absolutely nothing to do around here." Katie said with a bored sigh.

Still feeling the rush of her newly acquired freedom Taylor refused to believe there was nothing to do. "You're just not lookin' hard enough! Come on, you can't just sit here all day.

Reluctantly they got to their feet, slipped their sneakers on and followed Taylor as she made her way further round the lake.

It didn't take Taylor long to find something to pique her interest. One of the jettys had a small rowing boat tied up to it. It wasn't in the greatest shape but the oars were there, and it was afloat. At first they were content to leave the boat tied up but the novelty soon wore off. Before long they were taking it in turns to row up and down the lake.

Mindful of the time Taylor made sure they headed back to the jetty with about half an hour to spare. As they approached the wooden structure they could see two teenagers sitting watching them.

"Shit, that's Patrick and Ethan, they think they own this place!" Katie whispered

"Yeah Taylor, don't piss them off!" Lucas added, he'd witnessed her temper in full flow before, "Just ignore them."

From her position in the stern of the boat Taylor eyed the two boys up. As they pulled up alongside Katie jumped out.

"What the **** are you little shits doing? We wanna use the boat!"

"It's not your boat!" Lucas yelled at them, but got out anyway.

"It is now!" Ethan pushed him hard enough to knock him down onto the wooden boards, before turning to Taylor who hadn't moved. "Out!"

"What? No Please? Where's your manners?" her temper was rising fast.

"Get out now!"

"Okay, okay, you can have the dumb boat"

Not understanding her sudden change of heart, Lucas and Katie watched as she reached under her seat before climbing out.

The trio watched as the boys began to row towards the middle of the lake. They could clearly hear their laughter and knew they were the reason behind it. Lucas and Katie turned to leave but Taylor stopped them.

"Keep watchin'.

Confused by the huge grin on her face, they turned their attention back to the boat. The laughter coming from the lake suddenly stopped and was replaced by panicked yells and frantic movement as the two boys tried to turn the boat and row back. As cold water filled the boat, the yells changed to shrieks. They didn't stand a chance of making it back to the jetty. It was over in seconds. The two teenagers were left splashing around in the water with no idea what had happened. The boat was gone.

Taylor, Lucas and Katie were by this stage doubled over with laughter. As Taylor wiped the tears from her eyes, she realised the two boys were swimming towards them. "Think it's time we left." Heeding her advice they took off at a fairly quick pace, still giggling. They only slowed down when they reached the relative safety of the town. They stopped outside the store, and Taylor checked her watch. She was five minutes early. Looked like her luck was changing. She was just about to head inside when Katie stopped her. "Wait a minute. How did you know that was gonna' happen?" she asked with another giggle.

Taylor didn't say anything, just smiled, and opened her hand, revealing the bung from the bottom of the boat.