Chapter 4

Sunday, after hours of making love and promises to return soon, Lucy and Kate headed for the airport. They said their goodbyes to Beau, who made Lucy blush by telling her he liked Kate and to make sure she held onto her. The flight back went by quicker than they would've liked and they were back at Kate's apartment by that evening. They lay in bed together, exhausted and yet rejuvenated from their trip. Kate noticed Lucy's change in mood on the ride back to her house, but didn't want to say anything until she noticed it again. She ran a hand through her girlfriend's hair to get the brunette's attention.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lucy sighed.

"I know it's stupid. I'm just coming down hard from our time away and that perfect bubble we had."

"We still have it, Luce. I'm in it as long as I have you."

"I know, but now we have to go back to work and face reality and chains of command and professional workplace behavior and all that stuff." Kate slowly nodded her understanding.

"You're worried about how I'm going to treat you at work." Lucy looked down.

"I know it's important to keep things professional. I just…nothing, I told you it was stupid." Kate rolled on top of her and gazed lovingly into her eyes.

"It isn't stupid. Yes, we need to be professional at work and I have to make sure that my love for you isn't clouding my judgment as a liaison, but that doesn't mean things will go back to how they were before. I love you, Lucy, and we aren't breaking any rules. Trust me, I checked. I love you and I'm going to keep loving you whether we are here or at work," vowed Kate. Lucy captured her lips in a tender kiss, but groaned when her phone began to ring. She cursed under her breath when she recognized the number and Kate grabbed her phone from the nightstand when it started buzzing as well. Lucy answered her phone as Kate rolled out of bed to read the message on hers.

"Hey Tennant…yeah, we're back…okay, be there soon." Lucy hung up and sighed.

"They found a Marine," informed Lucy as she got out of bed. Kate was already in her closet getting dressed.

"He was part of a highly classified op. My director thinks it's likely connected. Looks like we are both heading in, your car or mine?"

"Yours because I know you will pester me to make sure you get to drive anyways."

"I'm a better driver," reminded Kate and Lucy smirked as Kate tossed her a shirt she knew Lucy would want to wear.

"No, you're the more uptight driver."

"I believe the word you are looking for is, safer," said Kate as she enunciated the last word and Lucy giggled.

"Well, get us there safer and quickly, Whistler." Kate kissed her again before jogging back into her closet to finish getting dressed.

By the time they got to the base, Jane, Kai, and Jesse were already in the bullpen. Kate headed for the DIA office and Lucy went over to her team, who smiled in greeting when they saw her.

"What do we got," she asked.

"Look whose back and looking like she got some sun," teased Jesse.

"I may have gotten a few rays. What do we know about the Marine?"

"Not much, still waiting on DIA to give us something to work with, but they have been pretty tight-lipped," said Kai.

"It might be a while before Whistler can read us in. Whatever this guy was into was a pretty deep cover so…" Jane was interrupted by Kate entering the bullpen with a file.

"War room, ASAP," called Kate as she skimmed over the pages of the Marine's file.

"That was quick," said Jane and Kate gave a nod.

"This one is time-sensitive. Preliminary findings and the coroner report suggest he may have known his killer and that means others from the mission may be in danger as well. I assured my director I would help NCIS navigate the red tape and that you would be on your best behavior as I did."

"We're always on our best behavior," assured Jesse. Kate arched an eyebrow at him before turning to Jane, who gave her a nod of understanding.

"We'll go by the book…within reason," assured Jane. Kate handed her the file.

"That's all I ask. Let's get you read in," said Kate. Jane took the file with a smile and perused it as she, Jesse, and Kai headed up the stairs. Before Lucy could follow her team, Kate stepped closer to whisper into her ear.

"I may have an ulterior motive for why I vouched for the team with my director."

"Oh yeah, what's that," asked Lucy as their eyes locked.

"The sooner you catch the bastard that did this, the sooner I get you all to myself again. See, work-life balance, habib albi," whispered Kate before giving her a wink and heading up the stairs. Lucy blushed and hid her smile as she followed her girlfriend up the stairs, ready to focus on the case, so she could focus on her later.

AN: The song they danced to at the bar is "You Are in Love" by Taylor Swift. It's one of the songs on my #Kacy playlist: playlist/3MvQQBFenzh8kTnrUk5r9i?si=GPnrbbXJT-CPGYvhSH-baw

What did you think? This was a lot of fun to write. I think I needed something lighter, fluffier, and less dramatic after the last fic. I really enjoy UndercoverKacy, but FluffyKacy in love and in their bubble is becoming a new favorite. It also allowed me to explore Lucy more as a character…it is no secret I am in love with Kate…so that was a welcomed surprise. I hope you enjoyed and were able to bask in some Kacy vacay time.