A/N: Okay, I do have an excuse. My boss is a mean SOB who dumped the new girl's load on me. Thanks to my mei-mei Jass who wrote Fauve and Chloe's conversation.

TC was prepping the chopper when Benny pulled up next to the landing pad. He waved cheerfully at the new arrivals, shouting, "What took you so long Benny?"

Chloe roused herself and clambered out of the bed of the pick-up with experienced grace. Tripp and Fauve somehow managed to get out the door at the same time without falling flat on their faces. Moving considerably slower, Jack joined them in greeting the latest competition. Why did Chloe seem to know so many younger men? At least this one was wearing a shirt.

Upon seeing Jack, TC's eyes narrowed, reminding the agent of Fauve. "Hey, Chlo. I see Fi finally dragged you away from your computer."

Snorting Chloe muttered, "Literally."

At TC's glance, Tripp held up his hands and responded, "I don't know anything 'bout this, T. Though I'd love to hear it."

Both TC and Tripp looked expectantly at Chloe. She flushed slightly and answered, "Fauve kinda stormed in and forcibly kidnapped me right in front of my boss." After a moments pause, she added, "And she brought Jack along too."

Jack noticed Fauve was sidling away from the new guy during Chloe's explanation. Her expression was slightly wary, as if she expected the other shoe to come dropping down at any moment. Jack was enjoying the look immensely. It was nice to see her taken down a couple of notches.

After hearing what had happened, TC appeared to consider for a moment. "Fi," he said in a sing-song voice, "did you really try to abduct a Federal Agent."

"It wasn't abduction, per se," Fauve defended herself, "the victim went willingly. And I explained what was going on to her boss."

TC raised an eyebrow. "Meaning you fed him a line of BS."

Rolling her eyes, Fauve snapped, "The ends justify the means in this case."

Watching them bicker, Jack leaned over and breathed into Chloe's ear, "I feel like I'm missing something here."

Chloe smiled up at him and whispered back, "Fauve is an only child, but TC is her cousin. They're practically siblings."

A particularly nasty, "Look who's talking, fly-boy," interrupted Jack and Chloe's conversation. Tripp had moved to stand between the two combatants, holding them apart with a hand the sternum. It was a comic sight, harassed looking Tripp separating the broad shoulder pilot from the tiny psychiatrist, like a little terrier going after a mastiff.

However, Chloe appeared to be deriving a great deal of amusement from the situation. Snickering when TC began a bout of name calling, she told Jack, "They'll wind down in a few moments. Either that or Tripp will shut TC up."

As Jack watched, Tripp prevented Fauve from lunging at TC. "They always like this?"

Shaking her head, "Nope. Normally they get along really well. But when they do fight it's not pretty. Hold on," Chloe leapt forward and caught TC's wrist before he could take a swing at his cousin. Tripp gave her a grateful smile as she cut loose on the both of them. "Stop it! Right now! Or I'll have Jack stop it!"

Scowling fiercely, both combatants withdrew. TC stormed over to the chopper to finish his preflight, while Fauve crossed her arms and sulked. Jack stared incredulously at Chloe, "I'll stop it?"

Unruffled, Chloe replied, "Yes, you would. You're too nice of a guy to let TC or Fauve beat up on Tripp or each other." There was a darkly muttered statement from Fauve that Jack didn't catch, but made Chloe glare at the woman. "That wasn't nice."

Clearing her throat, Fauve looked up, "It wasn't supposed to be."

To Jack's surprise, Tripp was the one who stepped in. Laying one hand defensively on Jack's shoulder, he drawled, "Hey, little sister. You're still running hot. Why don't you take a few minutes to cool down, 'kay. Chlo, turn down the laser vision, beautiful. Fi won't do us much good as a pile of ash. Jack, my man, you want to help me with the bags."

Out of a sense of self-preservation Jack followed Tripp to the bags. The tension between the two women had ratcheted up the scale to uncomfortable. Hesitantly, he asked Tripp, "Are Fauve and Chloe...?"

Tripp shrugged stoically. "They don't really argue. Fi snaps and Chlo stands there glaring, and they do that until Chlo gives or, more likely, Fi feels guilty." He paused a moment, eyeing Jack. "You ought to feel honored. Chlo doesn't usually defend her men against Fi," a sarcastic snort, "not that any of them deserve it. Hell, you're the first one since that rat-bastard to meet the family."

Deciding that while Tripp might be competition, he was also a font of information, Jack asked, "Rat-bastard?"

Nodding, Tripp began picking up bags and putting them in the chopper's cargo sling. "Spence...or something like that. I had to talk T and Fi out of killing him. Of course, I wanted to do the deed myself. But T said if he couldn't then I couldn't."

"'Course, the dude deserves it. Chlo actually cared about him. She doesn't care 'bout a whole lot of people, man. But when she does, she really cares." He shook his head in disgust. "Rat-bastard, broke her damn heart. Broke ours too seeing her like that, blaming herself for not being 'good enough.' I tell you man, I'd love to hand whoever hurt Chlo so bad over to Fi."

Jack grunted as he lifted another piece of cargo up to Tripp. "Fauve, why not TC?"

Grinning, Tripp explained, "T may be a bad-ass ex-Nightstalker, but Fi...Man, Fi's got what we call imagination." The word was loaded with wryness, respect, and not a little fear. "TC might torture'em a bit, but he'll just kill'em. Fi will make'em wish they were dead and leave'em hanging there. Girl's got no concept of mercy. The whole 'revenge is best served cold' thing."

Lifting up the last container, Jack asked, "And Chloe?"

"Breaks noses," Tripp replied factually. "Pray she never catches you with a right hook." He shuddered pointedly. "Put at least two guys I know of in the ER." Seeing Jack's stunned look he added hastily, " 'Course it was justified. Chlo's to sweet to go around beating up random guys. They swung first."

Jack was still fixated on the previous facts, "Breaks noses?" Dammit, was that a sqeak in his voice.

---------------------------------

"What'd you think they're talking about?"

Chloe followed Fauve's line of sight, and watched as Jack and Tripp engaged in what could only be described as 'manly conversation' while messing with the luggage. She told Fauve so, at which the petite shrink burst into a fit of giggles.

They had, effectively, made up. It was rare for the two of them to fight, despite the fact that they were as different as night and day. (Fauve would insist without hesitation that she was the 'night' part of that equation, while Chloe was 'day'.)

The Hawaiian stole a glance at her friend and couldn't help the smile that popped up. Chloe was practically glowing. For the first time in months (if not years...) the analyst looked happy. And it was genuine, too. That thought made her frown briefly.

She had known Chloe wasn't happy, but now that she did a side-by-side comparison, the poor girl had been downright miserable before. Why the hell hadn't she seen it sooner? She knew how Chloe was when she was happy and content- relaxed, easy-going, and generally a very fun person when she wasn't being stubborn. It should've been obvious.

But, no, she had ignored all the signs. And she called herself a shrink...

Fauve yelped when she felt a small pinch on her arm, and smacked Chloe's hand away with a glare. "What was that for?"

The blonde shrugged and smiled. "You were thinking too hard."

"Look who's talking!"

Chloe snorted, before her expression turned serious. "What were you thinking about? You looked upset..."

Fauve paused, "...you."

Chloe's attention was suddenly focused on her shoes. There was a spare thread on her right toe... "I've told you; I don't like it when you analyze me."

"I wasn't-" At Chloe's glare, she bit her lip. "Well, maybe just a little..."

A small, awkward pause passed between them. Fauve broke it, "...Chlo?"

"Hmm?"

"How come you never told me how unhappy you were?"

Chloe slowly dragged her vision up to meet her friend, and swallowed in an almost guilty fashion. "I didn't want you to worry. You have enough bouncing around in that head of yours."

Fauve gave a smile at that. "Yeah, but you still should've said something. I would have kidnapped you sooner."

They shared a laugh at that. Fauve sobered, and then, deciding they needed a switch of topic, blurted out, "Did I tell you Tommy's going to be there?"

Chloe brightened instantly. "Little Tommy? Little Tommy who used to try and eat my hair?"

"The one and the same. Only, he's not so little anymore... still tries to eat hair, though..."

Chloe let out a coo. "How old is he now? The last time I saw him, he was... what? Six months?"

Fauve nodded. "Something like that. He's three and a half, now. Such a little monster... Claire and Dave were in town on business, and they decided to dump the little monster on us. Which means we get to play with the baby!"

"And spoil him rotten before passing him back to your cousins."

Fauve snorted. "They already thought I was a bad influence; apparently I destroy childhoods..."

Another peal of laughter floated out at that.