A/N: Fairly, umbrellas can keep You okay, untouched.

Chapter 3

Max and Kat were on their way back from France, the two of them seated inside the small aircraft that was Hawk, and Berto Martinez silently accompanying them via the small communications screen situated in front of Kat. Max had this thing about being the one to pilot Hawk, but he seemed reluctant to want to argue with his partner, who conducted the plane through a series of harsh turns and sudden accelerations. It seemed Kat was a terrible pilot when pissed off, and coincidentally, that was when she most wanted to be in control. Figured.

Berto, being the more perceptive one, had chosen to remain quiet at all possible times while monitoring their flight. Max, however, felt compelled to test the waters.

"So…" he started, but wasn't sure exactly what would get him a response…and what would get him chewed out by the infuriated woman in the front seat.

"So what," she snapped.

"Hermano," Berto warned softly.

Being his normal stubborn self, Max decided to ignore his friend. "So…that wasn't that bad, now was it?"

Immediately he regretted his choice of words as Hawk went into a barrel roll. Max felt nauseous. He was used to flying, but the whole upside-down deal thousands of feet above the ground got to him, and Kat knew it. Extreme sports, you controlled your momentum and position…but not when someone else was flying.

"Kat-" he managed through gritted teeth.

"Hm?" she smirked, seeming to enjoy herself for the first time all week.

"Cut. That. Out." Max tried not to look as the ground was suddenly below, then above, then below-another wave of nausea washed over him.

"Oh, sorry," she replied in a too-sweet voice, and stopped rolling the craft. They were now flying completely upside down.

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!" Max whined.

Berto hid a smile as he watched the scene before him. Who needed paperview?

However, Kat decided that being in a bad mood already, she did not want to listen to Max's whining. She turned Hawk right side up and continued flying without saying another word about it.

Amazingly, Max went an entire twenty minutes without breaking the silence. Then: "Can I talk yet?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because I'm flying, and I can make you puke all over the cabin."

At this, Berto snickered loudly, and earned himself an angry look from Max.

"Hey, Bro, whose side are you on here."

Berto considered this for a moment. "Hers, definitely."

With a huff, Max kept his mouth shut and turned to stare out the window. Thankfully, the view was now right side up.

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It was another hour before the two were back at N-Tek. Right before they landed, Kat had thrown one last barrel roll in, causing Max to go into 'plotting revenge mode'. But in the meantime, he was more curious than angry.

"Now that we're back on the ground again and you have nothing to threaten me with, you want to tell me what's got you so pissed off?" Max asked casually as he and his (still fuming) partner made their way through the mostly empty corridors to get to Jefferson Smith's office.

Talking more to herself than she was to him, she muttered "They think they're so much better just because they have a website."

Max stopped walking for a second and stood in place, trying to make sense of what she had just said. He couldn't. "…What!"

Halting her own forward progression, Kat spun around. "I'm just sick of it! I'm sick of other agencies thinking they're so much better then us just because they get more publicity! We do more than most of them combined, and what do we get? No recognition whatsoever!"

Max didn't know what to say. So that was what had her so pissed off. "Well," he said cheerfully, "we're going to see Jeff now anyway! Come on, you can complain to him all you want."

Kat rolled her eyes, knowing Max (or really Josh) wanted to see his dad getting 'talked to' for once instead of him. Still, she took note of that dopey grin on his face and couldn't help but smile. "All right, all right, let's go."

They resumed their walk down the hallway, and Berto was finally able to go back to his chess game, having ensured that Kat had not crashed the plane.

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Kat's mood had been drastically improved during the walk to Smith's office, on account of the fact that Berto had updated them on the whereabouts of one of their old…acquaintances. Berto had "found" a police report while surfing the net that mentioned a man attempting to pose as a llama in the local petting zoo. The incident had escalated into a 'police matter' when the man resisted leaving the grounds once the petting zoo closed for the day. He insisted that he had "found his true home". The police had had to forcefully remove the man from the property, and brought him to the station, as he carried no ID and refused to reveal his name. Upon doing a fingerprint scan, they found that the individual had a previous criminal record. The man was identified as a Woody Barkowski, who was (after some deliberation) sent to a hospital for the mentally insane.

Upon hearing this, Kat and Max reacted first with a stunned silence, and then with hysterics.

After finally calming down, Max finally said "I thought the nice men in white lab coats had taken him out a long time ago."

"Nuh-uh," Berto disagreed. "I always knew he was still out there, getting closer and closer to cracking every day."

"You did not."

"Did so," Berto sniffed.

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"As much as I hate to interrupt your conversation," Kat started, rolling her eyes, "it's time to inform Smith that the CIA has screwed up yet another one of our investigations."

"Another?" Max asked blankly. This was the first incident he could remember. "They've never done this before."

"Steel, maybe you should remember that some of us have been here a little longer than you."

"Yeah, junior," Berto mocked.

"Hey, Berto, remember that newest version of Fido? The one that hasn't blown up yet?"

Berto sounded nervous. "…Yeah?"

"Watch out for it."

Max heard a flurry of movement over his biolink, and guessed that Berto was probably running to hide Fido XXIX.

"Hey, leave his little pets alone!" Kat protested.

"Since when do you care?"

"I…don't. Come on, let's get this over with." Noting that Jefferson Smith's secretary wasn't at her desk, Kat assumed that the woman was on her coffee break and pushed open the office door.

"Hey, Da-" Max began, then stopped dead in his tracks as he took note of who was sitting in the leather office chair. It wasn't Jefferson Smith.

Max stood in shock as the voice over his biolink contributed "no way."

John Dread gave a half smile and waved charmingly at the two before Max flew over the desk and tackled the man to the ground, and Kat ran to assist. "Where's Jefferson Smith!" Max demanded.

"Right here," came from behind them as the door admitted the form of Josh McGrath's surrogate father.

"Nice timing," Dread commented, with his usual good humor, "Now would you mind calling them off?"

Smith hesitated for a minute, then motioned for Max and Kat to release the man.

Letting go of Dread, Max was still tense. "Explanation, please?" he asked Jeff through gritted teeth.

Jeff sighed heavily and went to help John Dread up off the floor. "Mr. Dread will be here for a while."

Kat snorted. "Yeah, maybe in a jail cell."

"I resent that," Dread answered.

"Well who asked you?" Max shot back.

"If you'll let me finish," Jeff continued, giving Max a stern look, "John Dread will be staying as a…guest…for a short time while he helps us to track down and capture the freelancer we know as Psycho." The corporate executive nearly choked on that g word.

Max and Kat blinked, and Berto was silent. This had to be a joke. It had to be. However, reality was confirmed as Rachel Leeds walked through the door and observed the scene before her. "So you've told them?" she addressed Jefferson Smith.

Smith nodded.

Rachel sighed and now addressed Dread. "Welcome back to N-Tek, Mr. Nathanson."