"Agent Todd!" Jack called, upping his pace to catch her.
Kate turned at the sound of her name, startled. This place was intimidating, to say the least. She had been stopped three times already, and respectfully told that she was not allowed in certain areas of the base. She was used to classified information, of course, but to see it up close was unnerving.
"General!" she greeted nervously. "I'm sorry; is this area off-limits? I was just trying to find Colonel Carter's lab."
"No, no, you're fine," Jack reassured her as he caught up and began walking with her. "And it's Jack. I get enough rank crap from subordinates; you and me are practically related."
Kate laughed nervously. So that's what he wanted to talk about: Grace.
"What would that make us?" she asked, trying to humor him. "If you're my daughter's uncle..."
"Your brother," he deadpanned, highly amused at the brief, shocked widening of her eyes. "But," he saved her with a wave of his hand, "genetics was never my strong suit."
"I suppose you want to ask about Grace," Kate said suddenly. Nerves were making her jumpy; Jack O'Neill wasn't exactly the most unintimidating man in the world, himself.
"Well," he stalled, surprised by her sudden pronouncement, "the thought had crossed my mind."
"She's staying with a friend," she assured him. "Well, a coworker. But I trust him."
"Him?" Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Jimmy Palmer," she supplied. "You can look him up if you want. He's Ducky's assistant, a really sweet young man, and Grace likes him. Not like that!" she added hurriedly after seeing his worried expression. "They're just friends. I wasn't about to leave her with someone she didn't know."
Jack nodded reluctantly, still squinting slightly. "...Good."
"I'm as unhappy with the situation as you, trust me," Kate sympathized.
"Grace talks about you all the time," Jack began after a pause. "She thinks you're 'awesome.'" Jack framed the word with quote fingers.
"I think she's...awesome, too," Kate responded confusedly. Where was this going?
"For what it's worth," Jack said hesitantly, clearing his throat uncomfortably, "I think...you two are good for each other."
Kate recognized the compliment for what it was and smiled in thanks.
"Oh," he called over his shoulder as he left, "Carter's lab is two floors up."
-----------
"You want to play a game?" Jimmy asked nervously. He was friends with Grace, yes, but this was her turf and that changed the dynamics.
"Sure," Grace grinned mischievously. "How about Truth or Dare?"
"Okay," he agreed reluctantly.
"You first."
"Uh, truth," he selected.
"If you could pick one person to be stranded on a desert island with, who would it be?"
Jimmy turned beet-red as he shyly whispered, "Abby. See, I kind of like her..."
Grace raised an eyebrow. "I should make you go again," she sighed playfully.
"What? Why? Did I do something wrong?" Jimmy asked in alarm.
"You're supposed to tell me something I don't know."
"What -- oh," he grinned embarrassedly. "Is it that obvious?"
Grace patted his arm sympathetically. "Yeah. But it's sweet."
----------
"Kate!" Tony yelled, sprinting down a hallway to catch his colleague. "Kate, wait up!"
Why is everyone so eager to talk to me today? she wondered briefly. "What is it, Tony?" she asked aloud, not altering her pace.
"Where you going?" he inquired, not answering her question as he fell into stride with her.
"I'm looking for Abby," she explained. "She wasn't in Colonel Carter's lab."
"You know, that Colonel Carter's pretty hot," Tony mused, with his typical habit of turning any conversation to beautiful women.
Kate rolled her eyes. "You are unbelievable. And so out of your league."
"Whaddaya mean? You think military women are immune to the DiNozzo charm?" Tony grinned.
"Oh, no, Tony," Kate rejoined sarcastically. "I wouldn't dream of insinuating that."
"So, you think she'd go out with me?"
"I think General O'Neill would kick you into next year if you asked," Kate replied easily.
Tony had the good grace to look surprised. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"
Kate finally turned to look at him, smiling gloatingly. "According to Grace, the general and the colonel have been something of an item for years."
"Uh, Kate," Tony interrupted, smirking, "I hate to burst your bubble, here, but regs --"
"Thank you, Tony," Kate sneered. "You know, working for the navy for three years I hadn't picked up on that subtle rule. I mean, it's not like we encounter it on every case we work. And here I was, wondering why on earth they weren't already married with kids on the way..."
"Okay, I get it," Tony stopped her. "Sheesh. Still, maybe she's not feeling very exclusive..."
"You're forgetting the general," Kate reminded him, stepping into the elevator. He followed with a scowl.
"He's Air Force," he shrugged, "I could take him."
Kate snickered. "I would so love to see that."
"What, you don't think I could?"
"Tony, the man was in the Special Forces for who-knows-how-many years," Kate reasoned. "He'd probably beat Gibbs in a fight."
Tony snorted. "Now that I'd love to see."
-------------
"Hey, Daniel," Sam greeted distractedly, fiddling with a device that was spread over most of the available surface area in her lab. That surface area had been significantly reduced, not only by her various gadgets and doohickeys but by the added bulk of Abby's lab equipment.
"Hi," Daniel returned. "What's up?"
"Just trying to repair this thing," she explained, rather unhelpfully.
"Oh." Daniel cleared his throat. "So, what do you make of Colonel Havelock's murder?"
"Well, it's certainly unfortunate," Sam acknowledged, putting down her tools and looking at Daniel. "I can't say I knew him too well, but he seemed like a nice enough guy."
"You worried at all?" Daniel asked, forehead puckering in pensiveness. "I mean, that whoever killed him might come after someone else?"
"Of course," Sam admitted. "But I guess that's why NCIS is here."
"Yeah," Daniel mused. "An interesting group..."
Sam grunted in agreement, already re-engrossed in her work. Daniel, however, was not finished.
"You know, they took our explanation really well," he fretted. "A lot better than most people."
"I think they're in shock," Sam opined. "Well, except Abby. But she believed most of it before she even met us. And that Gibbs character -- the general said he was a Marine, right?"
Daniel chuckled. "You know, he reminds me of Jack when I first met him."
"Really?" Sam raised her eyebrows with a small grin. "Wow. And here I thought he'd been born sarcastic."