Chapter 2

A serene smile crept onto Kate's lips the next morning as she woke up to the scent of Lucy's shampoo and body spray. She was very familiar with the citrusy scents and buried her nose into Lucy's hair as her eyes fluttered open. The streaks of sunlight peeking through the curtains of her bedroom window brightened the room and she looked down at Lucy's peacefully sleeping face. Their limbs were still intertwined from the night before and Kate took a moment to relish in how amazing it felt to have Lucy back in her arms. In the past, Kate did not pay much attention to intimacy. It was a natural part of relationships and sex, but she was acutely aware of how good it felt with Lucy. The sex was phenomenal, but the intimacy was what caught her off guard. She knew the day they met that they would be phenomenal together in bed. Something about the way the air crackled around them when they were close and they teased one another made that clear, but she was surprised by how well they fit together and how much holding Lucy put her at ease. She kissed the top of Lucy's head and gently rolled them over onto Lucy's side of the bed, a side Kate realized she designated for Lucy quite early in their so-called casual hookups. Lucy snuggled under the covers and re-adjusted to get comfortable as Kate quietly sat up in bed. She shook with mirth at the state of her bedroom. Their clothes were everywhere, shirts discarded on lamps and chairs and small piles of other clothes precariously left around the bed. She sat on the edge and stretched her neck as she began to truly wake up. Before she could stand up though, Lucy's hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, causing her to giggle.

"Nope, not happening, back in bed," Lucy mumbled as she blindly reached for Kate with her eyes closed and Kate crawled back over to her.

"Go back to sleep, baby. I'm going to make us breakfast," Kate whispered in her ear, but Lucy shook her head.

"Sex now, food later," said Lucy as she rolled over into Kate's arms and nuzzled her neck.

"You're exhausted and I'm very happy to be the reason why."

"I haven't had you in weeks."

"And you will definitely have me again. I'm not going anywhere. Go back to sleep," whispered Kate before rolling out of bed.

"Or, you could wake me up in the shower." Kate stopped in her tracks. She turned to see a suddenly more awake Lucy smiling at her with bedroom eyes and biting her lip in the way she knew Kate couldn't resist. Kate grinned cheekily.

"I guess breakfast can wait."

"That's what I thought," giggled Lucy as she crawled over to her. She wrapped her arms around Kate and beamed with happiness as she was hoisted off of the bed. Lucy kissed her neck and Kate sighed happily, knowing exactly how she wanted to start her day.

After exploring each other for another hour, Kate and Lucy eventually made it to the kitchen to make breakfast together. Lucy couldn't hide her smile as realization dawned on her. It felt right and familiar to be there. They moved effortlessly together in the kitchen. Lucy started on their omelets and Kate made their coffee. They stole kisses and glances at one another as their bagels toasted. Lucy melted on the spot when Kate wrapped her arms around her from behind and placed a kiss right below her ear.

"I've missed you so much," she whispered as they swayed together. Lucy's eyes slid shut and she reveled in the moment.

"I missed you too. I've missed being yours," confessed Lucy. Kate smiled at the words, but frowned when she felt Lucy stiffen.

"Speaking of that, um, not that we have to define everything right this second, but I do think we need to talk about what happened…well, not in great detail, I really don't want to rehash that again. Were we exclusive, were we not, Jesse says yes, Kai says no. It's a whole thing. I just mean last time I don't think we were on the same page and I don't want that again and…I don't want to be more in this than you are," she rambled. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, feeling vulnerable all over again. Her brain admonished her body for getting so caught up in Kate once again that she was back in the same predicament, wondering where they stood and if the woman even realized the effect she had on her. Kate pulled Lucy back into her arms and conveyed all the sincerity she could by gazing lovingly at her.

"Hey, look at me," urged Kate and Lucy let out a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry. We should've talked about this last night before we…" Kate cut her off with a tender kiss and leaned her forehead against Lucy's.

"I want to be with you, Lucy. Last night wasn't casual for me either. The truth is…" A knock at the front door interrupted their moment and Kate groaned.

"Give me one second to get rid of whoever that is," grumbled Kate as she made her way to the door and Lucy tried to refocus on plating their omelets instead of on her racing heart. Kate flung the door open, ready to get rid of the person as soon as possible, but immediately froze as her eyes widened. There stood Cara, looking haggard and worried.

"Shit," whispered Kate and Cara nodded as she sighed.

"Yeah, shit."

"Cara, what are you…"

"It's happening, just like I was worried it would."

"Shit," Kate hissed again as she nervously ran a hand through her hair.

"Everything okay, who are you…" Lucy trailed off as she saw Cara standing there. Cara smirked when she noticed Lucy was wearing nothing but one of Kate's Northwestern shirts.

"Hmm, what a weird sort of déjà vu, except on different sides of the door this time," said Cara with a smug smile. Kate spun around to face Lucy and saw all the hurt and heartache she feared she would.

"Lucy, wait, it's not what it looks like," called Kate as Lucy stormed into the bedroom. Cara shook her head in amusement.

"She's a bit dramatic." Kate gave her a warning glare as she pointed at her.

"Oh shut up and get in here before someone sees you."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am. You know I always aim to please," said Cara with a wink.

"You really are ridiculous," said Kate as she pulled her inside and Cara giggled. Kate quickly locked the door and turned on the alarm system as Cara let the guilt creep back in.

"Um, seriously though, thanks. I wasn't followed. I made sure."

"I know, but if you're right, all precautions from now on, okay?"

"So I can stay this time or is it all about your girlfriend again?"

"Don't start with that."

"Whatever."

"And don't whatever me either. We can talk about this later. You look like hell. Go freshen up. You already know where the guest bathroom is," instructed Kate before jogging into her bedroom. She dodged a heel being hurled her way and sighed.

"Calm down a second, I can explain."

"No need! I just need to find my stupid underwear and I'm out of here. You two deserve each other."

"Cara isn't my girlfriend!"

"Anymore, yeah, sure that's what you said last time, remember or was that not what it looked like either?"

"Technically, no it wasn't but…" Lucy ignored her as she finally found her underwear by the foot of the bed and marched into the bathroom. Kate sighed as Lucy slammed and locked the bathroom door. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and mull over her options. She could lie like she did before and end up hurting them both once again or she could try the truth and put her trust in Lucy. Neither option seemed ideal and both left her vulnerable, so she tried the one she often wondered if she should've chosen the first time Lucy and Cara met.

"She's CIA," called Kate through the door. She could hear Lucy's gasp in the bathroom and plopped down on her bed to wait for her to come out. Lucy flung the door open. She was dressed, but looked quite flustered.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Kate took in a deep breath and stood back up to walk over to her.

"Cara is a CIA operative. For a couple of years now, her cover whenever anyone would ask has been that she is my girlfriend," confessed Kate and Lucy slowly nodded.

"CIA?"

"Yes."

"Which would make you," questioned Lucy and Kate winced.

"Complicated."

"Yeah, I'm going to need more than that."

"And I will tell you, but can you please come sit down with me and stop trying to leave first," asked Kate as she held her hand out to Lucy. She saw the hesitation in Lucy's eyes and sighed.

"I need you to trust me." Lucy slowly slipped her hand into Kate's and allowed her to pull her over to the bed to sit down.

"Most of what you know about me is true. I am a DIA officer and have been since we met, but I used to be in the CIA and I was Cara's handler. I still feel responsible for her and that's why, even though I'm out of that world, I still told her she could always come to me if she needed anything. She's in trouble and I think it has something to do with the DIA."

"So you were CIA, but now you are DIA?"

"Yes."

"But still kind of like her handler?"

"Sort of, yes."

"Why didn't you tell me that night?"

"Because Cara asked me not to and it's her life on the line."

"Why can you tell me now then?"

"She thinks her cover is blown and either way, I can't go through that again. I promised myself I would never put you through that again either."

"So, she's CIA and needs your help as a DIA officer?"

"Sort of, but there's more."

"Of course there is."

"And I'm going to tell you, but first I need to…" At that moment, Cara casually strolled into the bedroom in nothing but a towel and Lucy arched an eyebrow at her as Kate rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing," asked Kate and Cara shrugged.

"You told me to freshen up. I need a shower."

"Okay, then go shower."

"I want to use your shower."

"What, no, why?"

"Because it has a detachable showerhead and that makes it far superior," informed Cara as Lucy looked at her like she was insane and Kate pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Just go take a shower in the other bathroom," said Kate and Cara rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but if you ever spend hours on a plane after running for your life and come to me for help, I'm making you use a basic bitch showerhead," said Cara before strolling back out of the room. Kate sighed as Lucy glanced back and forth between Kate and where Cara had just been.

"Is she serious right now?"

"She tends to like to push my buttons when she is stressed and trust me, she's going through a lot. Look, I know this is a lot and I didn't expect to see her again, especially not so soon. I understand if you want to leave, but…"

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere with her just walking around half naked."

"Whatever is going on is dangerous. I wanted to keep you out of it, but…" It was Lucy's turn to cut Kate off with a tender kiss. Kate returned the kiss with just as much passion as they lay back on the bed.

"You don't have strawberry shampoo in here," yelled Cara from the guest bedroom, causing them to pull apart.

"Seriously," said Lucy in disbelief and Kate groaned as she untangled their limbs.

"Just give me a minute." Lucy watched Kate curiously as she hopped up from the bed, jogged into her bathroom, and grabbed the strawberry shampoo in question. She stomped out of the room and Lucy giggled when she heard a thud seconds later.

"Ow," exclaimed Cara. Kate walked back into her bedroom shaking her head.

"This is why I stopped being a handler," she muttered as she plopped back down on the bed. Lucy wrapped her arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek.

"You are kind of cute when you get frustrated."

"Oh yeah," asked Kate with a seductive smile. She leaned in to kiss Lucy, but Lucy placed a finger to Kate's lips.

"You still have a lot of explaining to do. You're cute, but not that cute," said Lucy before crawling off of the bed. Kate's jaw dropped in shock.

"I will have you know I'm very cute," argued Kate as she pulled Lucy back into her arms and the brunette giggled.

"I'm serious. I still have questions."

"I know and I'm going to answer them. I need to make a call first though. It's kind of important."

"Like CIA operative in danger and currently in your house important?"

"Yeah," said Kate. Lucy followed her into the walk-in closet and watched Kate place the tips of her fingers on the bottom of the mirror. It beeped and clicked before Kate opened it.

"Wait, that's a safe?" Kate nodded and sighed.

"It's kind of necessary, but I always hoped I would never have to use it. Where's your gun?"

"In my car, why?" Kate handed her a gun.

"Take this one until you go down and get yours. Cara said she wasn't followed and she was trained well, but I don't believe you can ever be too careful," explained Kate as she grabbed a phone from the safe and dialed a number. Lucy tried her best to figure out who was on the other end of the line, but not much was said.

"I need your help. It's important…my place. Thanks." Kate hung up and started to get dressed as Lucy stood there stunned.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You're ex-CIA and Cara is current CIA and now you're just going to what? Go back out there and do whatever CIA things you do?"

"The last time Cara showed up, she was worried her cover was going to be blown soon. I'm worried that the DIA is involved and I've been trying to get to the bottom of it discreetly."

"Involved how?" Kate quickly slid on a pair of black jeans and a red sweater before pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"There's a mole in the DIA and whoever it is might be targeting CIA operatives." Before Lucy could ask another question, Kate tucked her gun into the back of her jeans, grabbed a black duffle bag from the top of her closet, and walked out. Lucy followed her into the living room and rolled her eyes when Kate headed toward the guest bedroom.

"She better not still be naked in there," grumbled Lucy as Kate tossed the duffle bag onto the bed.

"That's one of Cara's go bags. There are clothes in it and she left it here the last time she came. A part of me hoped she was just being paranoid, but I know now that was wishful thinking. Lucy, I meant what I said when I told you I didn't expect you. I tried to keep you at a distance because I knew how important you were becoming to me and that someone could use that against me or you." Lucy cupped Kate's cheek and leaned her forehead against hers.

"I'm not going anywhere. You can't get rid of me that easily. You already tried, remember?" Kate frowned in confusion and Lucy gave her a knowing look.

"You made me think I was your side piece."

"No, you came to that conclusion. I told Cara I was out, but I couldn't just desert her either. I told you as much of the truth as I could that night. I never wanted us to break up. I couldn't tell you everything. It wasn't my secret to tell, but from the beginning I've given you every part of me that I can. Now you know the truth. There's nothing between me and Cara. There never was, but I do have to protect her."

"Isn't that the CIA's job?" They both looked up when they heard Cara's voice.

"She's naïve. I'm surprised that's your type." Cara smiled slyly as Lucy glared at her.

"What's your problem," asked Lucy, but before Cara could answer, Kate stepped in between them and gave Cara a look, daring her to challenge her.

"Enough, knock it off," warned Kate. Cara looked Lucy up and down and smirked before heading to the kitchen.

"I'm hungry, want me to cook breakfast? Oh good, you already did," said Cara as she grabbed one of the plates of food from the counter. Lucy marched over and slapped her hand away before taking the plate.

"That's not for you," scolded Lucy.

"It's getting cold. Someone has to eat it," argued Cara and Kate shook her head as she pulled a carton of Chinese food from the refrigerator to hand to Cara.

"Eat that."

"I'm a guest in your home and you feed me leftovers?"

"Sometimes, you're such a child," said Kate and Cara giggled as she placed the carton in the microwave. There was a knock at the front door and Cara stiffened as Kate and Lucy pulled their guns. Kate nodded toward Cara.

"Luce, stay here with her. We're expecting company, but…"

"Can't be too careful, I know," said Lucy as she stood beside Cara. Kate crept into the hallway and toward the door.

"It's just me, open up," called a voice Lucy recognized. Kate sighed in relief before putting her gun away, turning off the alarm, and opening the door. Jane walked in and noticed Kate's gun.

"So, it's going to be that kind of day, huh," said Jane and Kate smiled sheepishly.

"Unfortunately," said Kate.

"Tennant," questioned Lucy as she put her gun away and Jane walked into the living room.

"Your place is secure. I wasn't tailed and did a sweep before coming up," informed Jane and Lucy frowned in confusion.

"Wait, what's happening right now? You knew about Whistler," asked Lucy and Jane sighed.

"I always had my suspicions, but I didn't ask her to confirm them until everything went down with Maggie. Our kind give off a certain vibe," explained Jane. Cara eyed her carefully.

"The Special Agent in Charge worked for the State Department," questioned Cara.

"You must be the reason she called. I'm Jane…"

"Tennant, yeah, I looked up Lucy's team when I realized Kate was smitten with her. No mention of your time there though," said Cara and Kate rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, thanks for coming. Cara thinks her cover is blown and I have my suspicions about why that is. I need your help, Jane."

"Then you're going to have to start from the beginning," said Jane as she sat down. Lucy nodded in agreement.

"Good, so I'm not the only one in the dark about what the hell is going on," said Lucy.

"No, I didn't ask before," said Jane.

"Why didn't you? I would've told you," said Kate and Jane shrugged.

"You know how it works. Most things are need to know and I didn't need to know. That's changed. However, Luce, are you sure you want to get involved in this? This isn't a NCIS issue," reminded Jane and Kate nodded in agreement as she sat down on a sofa across from them.

"She's right. You can still walk away from this. I don't really want you involved, but I promised myself I would stop lying to you if I could. What you are about to hear is highly classified. Are you okay with that?"

"You're not going to scare me off," assured Lucy.

"You'd be surprised," warned Kate, but Lucy walked over to sit beside her on the sofa.

"I'm not going anywhere," she assured as she laced their fingers together and Kate let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. Cara rolled her eyes at them and sat down by Jane on the couch.

"As much as I love a feel good moment, there are probably some extremely dangerous people willing to torture and kill me, so can we move this along," asked Cara.

"Right, so, the beginning. The reason Cara is here and not seeking out the CIA is because we aren't sure if we can trust them or not, especially the director," explained Kate and Cara winked at Jane.

"This is my favorite part. I love a story with some daddy issues," informed Cara and Jane thought for a moment as Kate sighed.

"Damn it, Cara," said Kate as she shook her head.

"Daddy issues, wait, that rumor was true…well, parts of it. I thought the kid died in…Noah, your brother," said Jane and Kate gave a nod before looking down. Lucy frowned in confusion.

"Okay, great, so I am the only one in the dark," grumbled Lucy.

"Kate's father is the director. During my time, there had always been rumors that his kid was CIA, but then they were killed and that's why he went on a rampage. I guess there's truth to every rumor," said Jane and Kate slowly nodded.

"Noah was never CIA. My father retired when we were teenagers. My mom told him we needed him at home, so he left it all behind, just like that, and we were happy. He was never really around when we were growing up and then suddenly, he was just there. He didn't want Noah to enlist. Neither of my parents did and a part of me always knew that factored into why Noah did. He idolized my father, but wanted to make it on his own, so he enlisted. I, on the other hand, never planned for this to be my life."

"Until Noah died, that changed everything for you, right," asked Lucy.

"My father blamed himself. He swears to this day that ambush would've never happened on his watch. He tends to get his way, so even though it was unheard of for a director to return like that after so many years, he came back. Even after they changed the rules about nominating directors, he somehow has managed to remain in power. His first act was to take out those responsible for the ambush. I didn't care about the terrorists. The military would take care of that. I wanted those in power who were responsible for the leak. The intel was intercepted by an operative sanctioned by the Saudi prince and that's who I went after. It was my first op. I thought it would bring me closure, but it didn't and my father didn't want to stop there. He had no problem sending me out on mission after mission, but once I realized I was giving a piece of my soul each time I went out in the field, I decided to leave. Cara was the only active op underway when I left. She was assigned a new handler, but I always told her to come to me if anything went wrong or she wasn't sure who to trust."

"It's why I got out too. It's a dirty game. There's no way around it and if you aren't careful, nothing you do feels like it will ever be clean again, even the good missions," said Jane and Kate nodded in agreement.

"I chose the DIA for a reason, though. There had been some leaks that were suspicious and I had a feeling the DIA was involved. Operatives and operations are highly-classified for a reason, in the wrong hands, that information could cause World War III. I joined the DIA to keep an eye on things and it was simple enough, until I got assigned as NCIS's liaison," said Kate as she smiled at Lucy. The brunette cleared her throat and tried to hide her blush as she spoke up.

"So, you think someone in the DIA is a mole trying to reveal the identities of operatives like Cara," asked Lucy. Cara nodded.

"I'm supposed to be in deep cover in Moscow as a Russian intelligence agent. My last mission was routine enough, but something went wrong at the last minute, something that never should've, and I was almost killed. Someone set up an explosive device and the area was supposed to be swept by our agents before I arrived. I was given the all clear when I shouldn't have been. Luckily, I noticed it and was able to get out just as it detonated. I was assured it was human error and the agents involved had been reprimanded, but that's when I knew something was wrong. I went underground, regrouped, but was worried about going back in, so I came to Kate."

"I looked into it and nothing was flagged on our end or theirs," said Kate.

"My handler told me to go back in, but if he's wrong, I'm dead the moment I step foot in Moscow."

"How are you stalling and how long do you have," asked Jane.

"I told them I was still recovering from an injury from the blast. I need to be there and ready to be briefed by Tuesday."

"It's Saturday morning," said Lucy.

"Saturday night there," reminded Cara and Kate nodded.

"Okay, so we're on the clock. Cara, you're going to stay here and keep a low profile. Jane and I will head to the base and figure out who the mole is. If we can figure that out, we can figure out what intel they have. For all we know, you're still in the clear. If that's true, you can carry on as usual and be on the next plane to Moscow," said Kate.

"What about the CIA? They don't know about any of this," asked Lucy and Cara shook her head.

"I told my handler I was preparing to head back in. That's all they know."

"Don't you have a tracker or something," asked Lucy.

"No, on ops like this you never bring anything that can be traced back to us. Once I'm out there, it's radio silent and I'm in the dark."

"Which also means no one knows if they need to help you," said Lucy.

"We all know the risk when we accept an op. Once you are out there, it's unlikely there will be a retrieval mission. Plenty of us don't come back," said Cara.

"Yet another reason I left," said Jane.

"The director has always been cutthroat about that. Alright, Jane, let's head to base. I need you to help me narrow down my list. It's short, but we'll need to be quick. Cara, stay here. Lucy, go home," instructed Kate as she stood up.

"Oh boy," muttered Jane as Lucy darted up.

"Excuse me," exclaimed Lucy and Kate sighed.

"This is too dangerous and I already feel bad enough bringing Jane into all this. I wanted you to know why Cara was here. Now you do, go home." Kate was about to walk away, but Lucy stood toe to toe with her and glared.

"A word, now," Lucy practically growled and before Kate could protest, Lucy grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bedroom. Cara gave an impressed nod as she and Jane heard Lucy scolding Kate in the other room.

"She can hold her own. Maybe she isn't so useless after all," said Cara before taking a bite from her carton of Chinese food.

"Yeah, that's not going to work for me." Cara frowned in confusion.

"What?"

"The shots, the attitude toward Lucy, that's not going to fly, and we are about to risk our lives for you, the least you're going to do is act grateful." Cara slowly nodded and swallowed one more bite. She turned to Jane and gave a nod.

"That's fair. I apologize. I know she's a member of your team and I've seen her record. She can hold her own."

"So, how long," asked Jane.

"How long what?"

"Have you been in love with Kate?" Cara guffawed.

"That's ridiculous. The girlfriend thing is just a cover. Nothing has ever happened between us besides a kiss once and it was to make sure I wasn't blown."

"That's not what I asked you. You don't trust your handler. You don't trust the CIA. Full disclosure, I wouldn't either, but you trust her. You also don't seem too broken up about the fact you caused issues in her love life the last time you were here. If you cared about her, you would, unless you are in love with her and in that case, Lucy is your competition."

"You were in the CIA too long. You know it makes you paranoid," she said before taking another bite as Jane simply shook her head.

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose as Lucy paced back and forth, furious and fuming. They were not on the same page once again and Kate found herself at a loss for words after Lucy unloaded her anger on her over the very notion that she wasn't coming with them.

"I don't tell you how to be a DIA officer or CIA handler, and you don't get to tell me how to be a special agent."

"I know."

"And, you don't get to pick and choose when you let me in. This isn't the DIA, Whistler. You don't decide what I can and can't access about you!"

"It's not about that."

"Well then, if it's about you wanting to protect me, I'm not your damsel to rescue either."

"I know," conceded Kate and Lucy frowned in confusion.

"Well, if you know all that, what's the problem!"

"I know that you're right. That's not how relationships work. That's not how we work, but I need you to understand something." Lucy stopped pacing and sat down beside Kate on the bed.

"I'm listening."

"None of this is easy for me. I've seen what happens when someone who an operative loves gets too close to stuff like this. I can't lose you, Lucy. It's why this has always felt like an impossible situation. It isn't about you being a damsel, but it sure as hell is about protecting you. I kept you at arm's length because I wanted to protect you from this but that hurt like hell and now that you know, I'm terrified that you're going to get burned and that's…I can't…" Lucy tenderly kissed her and Kate pulled her closer to deepen the kiss.

"I know that you're scared. I feel that way too. I can't lose you either, but at some point, you're going to have to accept that there are two of us in this relationship and we can protect each other. I'm not some fragile person you have to hide things from and keep safe. I put my life on the line every day."

"I know you do. I just never expected my worlds to collide like this. I've busted my ass to make sure they don't."

"I want every part of you. You have to trust that I can handle getting that."

"Then I guess we should get going," conceded Kate. Lucy kissed her again before standing up, but Kate pulled her back down to sit on her lap.

"Problem," asked Lucy in amusement.

"We're official now, right? No more unspoken words or wondering what we are or…"

"I don't know. You haven't actually asked me."

"Well, why haven't you asked me?"

"I feel like after last time, you should have to be the one to make that move, Whistler."

"Why am I back to Whistler?"

"I only call my girlfriend Kate," said Lucy with a smile as she bit her lip.

"You really have to stop being this cute. I mean I'm trying to focus. There's a DIA mole on the loose, but here you are, being so damn cute," said Kate as Lucy giggled.

"You're stalling…Whistler."

"I'm starting to hate my last name."

"Then ask me what you want to ask me."

"I technically did when I asked…"

"Whistler," warned Lucy and Kate laced their fingers together. She kissed the top of Lucy's hand and smiled adoringly at her.

"Lucy, will you please be my girlfriend?" Lucy tried not to smile as she shrugged.

"I'll think about it."

"What the…" Lucy giggled as she showered Kate with kisses.

"Yes, of course," she said as Kate beamed with happiness.

"Good, so as my girlfriend, want to go do something with me that's technically not sanctioned or legal?"

"Sure, yeah, sounds fun," said Lucy as she hopped up and Kate shook with mirth.

"We'll see if you feel that way when we end up at a black site off the grid."

"Wait, have you been to one before?"

"Surprisingly…not actually black," teased Kate as they headed back to the living room. Jane gave them a knowing smile as they entered.

"So, Lucy, you ready to go," asked Jane and Kate frowned.

"How do you know I didn't win that," asked Kate and Jane laughed as she waved her off.

"Oh, you were never going to win that. Let's go, we're on the clock," reminded Jane and Cara waved at them from the couch.

"Okay, be safe, try to hurry, no pressure…just trying not to die over here," called Cara as they headed for the door. Kate jogged back into the room and gave Cara a look.

"Stay, be good, and no going through my things. If you do, I will know and the Russians won't get a chance to kill you."

"Good to see you haven't gone soft," said Cara with a salute and Kate rolled her eyes as she headed back for the door.

AN: So…a lot happened, but Kacy is finally official! I hope you enjoyed that chapter. More soon.