073 Heat

Carter walked out of the main building into the open air of the base. He was hit by the heat of the bright summer day right away. The humidity in the air made his muscle shirt stick to his skin and he could already feel it sinking into his skin. He almost went back inside but he had a reason to be out.

Carter made his way across the base to a shed that was off to the side. Kat had acquired the shed to be her workspace while they were on base. The staff hadn't fought her on it. No one fought a Spartan when they wanted space. He moved to the door and knocked. He didn't wait for her to answer and opened the door, walking inside. Sadly, he found that the shed lacked air-conditioning.

"Kat, do you have your after action report from the last mission?" Carter stopped as he caught sight of the Lieutenant Commander. She must have been in the workspace for long enough that the heat had gotten to her. She wore only a pair of short shorts and a black sports bra. She sat on a stool, bent over some device that he didn't recognize. He could see a thin layer of sweat on her skin.

Kat glanced at Carter, then at her shirt which was draped over a crate, then decided not to bother with it. "Close the door, you're letting the cool out."

Carter shut the door and walked over to her. "The cool? You're in a metal box with no air conditioning and you are worried about letting out the cold. There's no cold to let out." Carter glanced down at her device. It looked almost like an EMP device but it wasn't a model he recognized. His eyes moved to her body and he watched the sweat run from the back of her neck, down her back until it reached the back of her bra.

Kat glanced over at him and smirked. "I am as cold as I'm going to get and you letting in the humidity and dry wind isn't going to help. You men really don't know how lucky you are that you can take your shirts off to cool down. This is as close as I can get." She sat up and turned so she was facing Carter, motioning to her torso.

Carter's eyes gladly traveled over her chest, and he took a deep breath. "Well, you could always take that off if you want to." He motioned to the black fabric. "This is your workspace." His voice was lighter than he felt as he teased her.

"So an ODST can barge in here like you just did and see me, then go tell his friends so I can have marines 'accidentally' barging in here all day. Then I'd have to catch them and bust some heads and that would just make me sweatier." She glanced over at him. "And that is not how I would want to work up more of a sweat." The words came out soft, almost as a purr.

Carter forced himself to tear his eyes away from her chest and look back up at her face. He knew she'd seen him staring. "I get your point. About that report."

"Right, I have it, sir." Kat stood up from the stool and moved across the room. She moved over to some shelves that were attached to the wall. Carter couldn't stop himself from watching her carefully as she moved. "I know that I put it over here. I just have to find it." She looked around for almost a minute before she stopped. She walked back to Carter and he frowned as she wasn't holding anything. "You mock me for it and I kill you."

Carter put up his hands in defense and she glared daggers at him. "I won't mock you."

Kat seemed to take his word for it, reaching into her bra and pulling out a data chip. She held it out to him and stared at the wall to their side. "Can't believe I forgot where I put it."

Carter took it and stood in silence for a moment, staring at the chip. "Why did you put it there?" He looked back to her.

Kat frowned at him. "Because these shorts don't have pockets." She motioned to the sides of the shorts. "And I wanted to keep it on my person. Where else could I put it?"

"Well, no other choices would be any better. The only possibility that would be better would be between your underwear and shorts I suppose, but then it would fall out if you walked." Carter frowned, wondering why he had said that.

Kat looked away from him again. "I don't think that was an option, if you know what I mean." Carter raised an eyebrow and she sighed. "It's very hot in here. The less cloth the better."

Realization dawned on Carter and he nodded. "Right, not an option." He slid the chip into his pocket. "I'm going to go review and turn these in." He paused for a moment. "Remember to put your shirt on before you leave." He then turned and walked out of the shed, back across the base to the air conditioned buildings.