March (continued)

"Do you know who the on-call agent is?" Tennant looked over to Tom Carter as both their agents started to gather in the briefing room. She was glad they were working as a joint team on this case. Tom Carter was level headed and smart, an asset that she loved to work with.

"I think it's Bradford." They both sighed. Bradford was slightly better than Anderson but it still would probably be Monday before they got any information from him and they needed information now. It was Sunday morning and two bodies, a navy sailor and Coastie, had washed ashore. The sailor had been found near He'eia Kea Pier and the Coastie by Kailua Beach.

There was talk of a joint military exercise going on, but there had been no mention of missing service members. Tennant was unable to get any answers from the military on whether the deceased members were active in the exercise.

"I could ask my officer," Tom said. He was well aware he needed to tread lightly on the subject as he knew Whistler used to work with NCIS. He had heard the split hadn't been exactly amicable but having no complaints himself on Whistler's work, he didn't look into it. "She'll occasionally bend the rules for us."

"I'd appreciate it if you would." Tennant breathed a sigh of relief. "It would be a pleasure to work with Whistler again."

"Good. I'll give it a go." Tom said. He reached for his phone dialed the familiar number.

"Tom?" Carter's phone was just loud enough that the other agents in the room could make out Whistler's sleepy voice on the other end. Tennant wondered if he had done that on purpose so she could be kept in the loop. She glanced over at Lucy but shook it off; she didn't have time to think about Lucy's feelings at this point; it would have to wait until the end of the case.

"Kate, hi!" Several of the NCIS team raised their eyebrows at the lack of formality between the two. If that had been NCIS, there was no way anyone, including Tennant, would have gotten away with using Whistler's first name.

"Are you alright?" Whistler sounded worried. "What time is it?"

"A little before nine, and… well, we have a sensitive case. I was hoping I could call in a favor…"

"Wait…" Whistler interrupted in a harsh whisper. There was silence for several minutes as they heard some shuffling around and then a door close. Whistler came back on, but her voice was only slightly louder. "You know you're supposed to go through the on call on the weekend, Tom."

"I know, but… well to put it bluntly, Bradford is a little slow and we really need to information ASAP. We have two dead service members. They were in full uniforms, and I just wanted to see if they were involved in the joint exercise and if there is some connection between them."

There was a loud audible sigh on the other line and then more silence. The lead agents looked at each other before Tom asked "Kate?"

Whistler finally came back on, "You want me to get fired."

"Don't be silly, Kate. No one is going to fire you for doing your job," Tom replied. "We just really need to act fast on behalf of these men."

There was more silence and Tom tried not to put any pressure on her. He had no doubt that if he let Whistler think through things on her own that she would choose to help. "I… I'm in a bad spot right now, Tom? I'm not sure I can break away to help you."

Lucy and Tennant both exchanged worried glances, what exactly did that mean?

Tom stood up and walked away from the table, "I'm not sure what that means, Kate? Do you need help?"

"No… God." Whistler closed her eyes, berating herself in her head before continuing. "I'd say your best bet is to go ahead and put in an emergency request to the on call." Whistler continued but seemed to be thinking more out loud rather than instructing Tom. "But then I wouldn't be able to help you at all if I manage to get free. It would raise and alarm if both Bradford and I were looking into the same information."

"So you do or don't want me to put in a request?" Carter asked.

"I really just can't guarantee that I'll be able to get it any faster to you than Bradford could. I am pretty tied up this morning."

"That's okay, Kate. Even if I have to wait until Monday for an official request during your work hours; I feel like that would still be quicker than trying to use Bradford today."

"All right, if that is your decision. I'll look into it as soon as I'm able. Can you text me the service member's names?"

"Right away," Tom replied motioning to Pike. "Thanks again, Katie."

"Ug, don't call me that… Tommy," Tom Carter smiled at the response. "And don't hold your breath either, Tom. I'm not guaranteeing anything."

Tom hung up the phone and gave everyone in a room a thumbs up. He knew that Whistler would come through for them and probably more quickly than they all expected.

Whistler sat on her living room couch, head cradled in her hands. How on earth had she gotten here in the last 24… she checked her watch… no 12 hours. Her boss was in her bed. Peterson had followed her to her room last night once Whistler had left. She had stood banging on Whistler's door refusing to leave until "Kate" spoke to her. Of course, once she opened the door they hadn't talked, they had wound up right back where they had left it. And now her life was fucked.

And to top it off, not only was her boss asleep in her bed, but now she was planning on breaking said boss's rules to try to help out CGIS.

"That seemed like an interesting call." Whistler startled and looked up to see Peterson already redressed in her slacks, and putting on her blouse in the bedroom doorway. "I didn't mean to eaves drop but that didn't happen to be a Tom Carter did it."

Whistler knew better than to lie because she was sure Peterson would easily check her work phone records, if she didn't already have people checking on it. "Yes. Would you like some coffee?"

Whistler stood up and headed for the kitchen. She had grabbed a robe when she left the bedroom and self-consciously pulled it tighter around her.

"No, that's alright. I don't want to interrupt any plans you have for the day." Peterson followed Whistler into the kitchen and pulled her closely to her so that there hips lined up. She titled Whistler's chin up to her so that their eyes would meet. "Are you all right with this?"

Whistler's head was screaming 'no'. But she managed to keep her voice calm and steady. "I can honestly say sleeping with my boss was not on my bucket list."

Peterson laughed. "Well, outside the office I don't want to be your boss. And I do want to keep it casual. Are you all right with that?"

Whistler wanted to reply that she wasn't really interested in any type of relationship casual or otherwise, but only replied. "I'm not looking for a relationship either."

"Good," Peterson replied. She opened Whistlers robe wrapping her arms around Whistler's naked body, kissing her and placing her thigh tightly between Whistler's legs. Whistler couldn't help the way her body responded and she let out a slight moan.

Peterson pulled back, letting Whistler's robe hang open she studied Whistler's frame, smiled and then turned towards the door. "I'll leave you to your day then… Don't do anything to get in trouble, okay? I won't do you any favors regardless of our arrangement."

Whistler walked into the CGIS office happy to be doing something and keeping her mind off the events of last night. She headed up to the briefing room, a stack of folders in hands. She knew Tom Carter would be happy with the results. He often reminded her of her father so she had a rather soft spot for him.

When she walked into the briefing room, she saw Agent Pike first. She liked to tease him knowing exactly what to say to push his buttons. Whistler took off her blazer, hanging it on the chair next to Pike. He looked up and awkwardly smiled at her.

"Hey, Pike. I just heard on the news today that Captain Picard is returning to the new season of the Mandalorian." Whistler got immediate satisfaction when Pike's smile fell and his left eye began to twitch.

"Whistler…Whistler, listen… Whistler," Pike tried to formulate his thoughts. "There is no way you heard that correctly."

"No, I'm pretty sure that I did. I remember it distinctly. Something about baby yoda on the Voyager… I sort of stopped listening after that. You know how I feel about sci fi."

Pike stood up at this point, turning his whole body to Whistler and giving her his full attention. "You are completely mixing up two different franchises. Picard is Star Trek… Star Trek, Whistler. It focuses more on exploration of space and peace keeping between alien races. And Picard was on the Enterprise, not the Voyager."

Pike continued his scifi brief as Whistler folded her arms, maintaining eye contact with a satisfied smirk. "Star WARS is now owned the Disney which is producing the Mandalorian which follows bounty hunter Din Djarin as he protects the child Groju… or better known as baby Yoda. So it would be impossible for the two franchises to merge at this point."

Pike looked satisfied with his explanation and stood staring at Whistler for a few silent moments. Whistler finally pulled out her chair, "You must be wrong, I just don't think that Robin Roberts would lie about something like that."

Pike started to stutter when Tom Carter made is presence know at the other end of the briefing room. "Whistler, are you quite down harassing my staff?" His gentle smile indicated he didn't particularly mind the harassment of Agent Pike.

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." Whistler smiled and looked down to Agent Carter. Her smile fell as she saw that her former NCSI team also sat at the other end of the table. "Ah, I didn't realize there would be guests to this operation."

"Yes, sorry. I should have told you. Given that we have two deceased service members from different branches we thought it might be best to pool our resources and work together on this."

Lucy could literally feel the relaxed Whistler who had walked into the briefing room shut down. Whistler stood back up from the table and opened one of the files, she purposefully avoided looking at any of the NCIS agents as she began her brief. Lucy couldn't help but stare at her ex lover. Whistler looked beautiful, wearing a dark blazer, white shirt, and black skirt. Lucy always loved Whistler's legs and Lucy felt a familiar longing in her heart as she listened to Whistler's voice. This had been the first time she had gotten to see and hear Whistler in months.

"Both Petty Officer Mike Turner and Seaman Jeff Stone where participants of Exercise Golden Eagle which is a two week exercise that is set to end tomorrow. Neither service member had been reported missing. Turner had reported to sick bay yesterday morning and confined to his bunk with flu like symptoms. Seaman Stone was conducting night shift operations last night, but left his control room around midnight also reporting an illness."

"Can you give us a synopsis of the purpose of Exercise Golden Eagle and what the men's roles were. Is there some sort of connection between them?" Tennant asked.

Whistler finally looked at Tennant. She passed a folder to Pike to have it passed down to Tennant. "Those answers are all in the report. Without getting too deep into details. The mission of Golden Eagle is to help prepare for a nuclear attack from North Korea. We know that they have the capability of getting nuclear missiles to Hawaii and this exercise is designed to help deter and train against North Korean aggression. It is not limited to Hawaii. There are simultaneous exercises going on between US and foreign national troop in Japan and the Republic of Korea as well."

"That is a lot of power, movement, and secrets," Boone said.

"Mmm," Whistler continued, "Petty Officer Mike Turner was a RADAR technician for the Raytheon SPY 6 radar on the USS Jack H Lucas. The RADAR is primarily used for air and missile defense. He recently came back from training members of the Japanese Navy whose ships have recently been installed with this same Radar."

"Radars provided courtesy of the United States?" Lucy asked.

Whistler raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "I'm sure Japan paid for them in some way. Turner came back from Japan only three weeks ago."

"And Seaman Stone?" Carter asked.

"Seaman Stone," Whistler sat back down in her seat and took a deep breath. "Seaman Stone." Whistler opened a folder and glanced down at what was written there. She then closed the file and passed it down. "He is also a radar tech but for the 78 radar which is more of a surface search radar found on most coast guard ships. Not really a platform necessary for defense or in particular air defense."

Tennant looked at the file. "Very basic info Seaman. There is literally nothing here."

"Mmm." Whistler replied. "A basic man, basic report. The 78 radar is… nothing noteworthy."

"We all know that I like to gamble, but even I wouldn't take a bet that these two men are unrelated," Lucy said. "Just the job description alone… what are the odds that two radar techs die of 'mysterious accidents' on the same night."

"I agree, Lucy." Carter stood up and walked over to Whistler, sitting down in the seat next to her opposite Pike. He used a low tone, "So... Kate. Tell me, what's the classified version of Seaman Stone?"

Lucy felt her stomach turn to butterflies when she saw a familiar sparkle in Whistler's eyes. The same sparkle she got when she was hunting smuggled guns, or walking the team through a classified briefing. The same sparkle that Lucy used to see appear as she went in for a kiss.

"I'm glad you asked that, Agent Carter." Carter had been around for a long time. He knew that in some DIA briefings, agents were required to ask about specific details before the liaison could tell them specific classified information. A policy of 'Don't offer the information, only provide it if it is specifically asked for'. A bunch of bureaucratic bs that didn't do anyone any favors.

Whistler leaned towards Carter. "Due to the precarious location of Hawaii and the continuous threat of both Russian and North Korean assets, the Coast Guard is taking a more active role in anti aircraft and anti missile defense. Something that, until recently, had been left to the other services. There is a new, more advanced type of radar that several of the coast guard ships are being outfitted with. Now whether or not Seaman Stone has been training and working on this new radar; I really wouldn't be authorized to say."

Tennant flipped through the classified file. "Can you tell us anything about this new radar. Is it like the SPY 6 Turner worked on?"

"I am not authorized to release to name nor the specs of the equipment."

"So we can assume they both worked on anti-missile Radar systems?" Tennant phrased it as more of a statement than a question. "Have they been communicating together with this joint exercise?"

"I could not find any evidence that they have communicated during this particular exercise, no."

Lucy saw the sparkle in Whistler's eye return. "But there is something else? They have been in contact before?" Lucy asked.

"Mmmm," Whistler hummed again. Meeting Lucy's eyes for this first time, still with a mischievous grin. Lucy noted that this was the first time since their breakup that Whistler had looked at her and smiled.

"What does agent Whistler know that we don't?" Carter asked. "Nothing you can just come out an tell us, I'm guessing."

"Not when it comes to this platform and anyone working with it," Whistler replied. "But the whole situation reminds of an old Japanese Proverb, 'nito wo oumono wa itto wo mo ezu," Whistler said carefully.

"Those who chase two hares won't even catch one." Pike replied.

"A man with many talents," Whistler said looking at Pike. "I'm impressed." Pike automatically blushed and looked away from Whistler.

"Those who chase two hares won't even catch one." Tennant repeated.

"A Japanese proverb?" Lucy asked after thinking for a second. "Seaman Stone didn't also happen to travel Japan recently did he?"

"Why yes, Agent Tara, he had been on a three month long training in Japan. He just happened to return to Hawaii just three weeks ago." With that Whistler rose and pushed in her chair, putting back on her blazer.

"You're going to ditch us already, Whistler?" Carter asked.

"You have exhausted all that I have been permitted to say on the case. You'll have to infer your own conclusions at this point. Anything else necessary I'm sure you'll be able to get from military personnel files or the on-call DIA officer, since it is my day off…"

"So… are we leaning towards a North Korea operative looking for information? Shouldn't DIA be more concerned with this?" Carter thought out loud wanting to pick Kate's brain before she left.

"DIA has no concerns at this point that any information has been compromised. North Korea always makes threats during our joint exercises. Though I would focus more on Russian or Chinese interference over that of North Korea if I was doing an investigation. And I have heard that there has been Russian ship and fighter jets located just off the Hawaiian coast on the Leeward side. But again that isn't particularly unusual given recent activities. These exercises are publicly announced and generate interest in all players in the Asian Pacific."

"Two men working on a secret radar system end up dead and the DIA really isn't concerned?" Jesse asked disbelievingly.

Whistler shrugged. "Well, again, I'm not confirming that either man worked on any such radar. But, no, we are not concerned… at this current time."

"As always, I appreciate your help Officer Whistler." Carter said not willing to create any animosity or tension with his DIA officer. He opened the door to walk Whistler out and the team could just hear him whisper. "Are you alright? You had me a little worried earlier."

The team didn't hear the answer as Whistler walked out the door. Lucy watched the two talk briefly just outside the briefing room. They then shook hands and Whistler started to walk out the door. Lucy instinctively rose, feeling a natural urge to run after her. Lucy met Tennant's eyes. Her bossed jerked her head in Whistler's direction, giving Lucy permission to leave the briefing.

Whistler had already made it out the front door of the CGIS building by the time Lucy caught up to her, calling her name.

Whistler looked back in surprise and stopped, straightening out her jacket. "Agent Tara?"

"I was hoping you might have a minute to talk."

"I assure you that I have provided all the information I currently have regarding your deceased men. I'll revisit some information when I'm at work tomorrow so if you have any more specific questions, please have Agent Carter or Agent Pike submit them to me."

"No… no," Lucy was a little heartbroken that Whistler couldn't see past her work. "No I meant on more of a private issue."

"A private issue." Whistler repeated. Whistler sighed, of course Lucy would want to talk now. After she messed up again by sleeping with her boss. There was no way she could see Lucy getting past this one if she found out. If Whistler could go back and erase the last twenty-four hours she would be happy. "Lucy, it's been three months. I'm… I don't really want to rehash the past at this point."

"But you left NCIS because of me. And we need you." Lucy felt like adding, 'I need you' but she couldn't quite get the words out.

"Lucy… I would have left NCIS even without what happened between us. I was not.. my work with NCIS was not good. For the DIA office or myself. You need a different caliber of liaison than what I was."

"Well, I can assure you Anderson is not that solution."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not the solution either." Whistler reached out and hesitantly squeezed Lucy's shoulder. "It was good to see you again, Lucy." And with that Whistler turned and left. Lucy stood in silence watching Whistler walk away, her shoulder tingling from the touch.