A/N: I had planned on getting this out a day or so sooner, but my computer has been acting...well, hinky for lack of a more appropriate word. Thank you all for the reviews, I'm sorry that this is another short one, but just like I said in the first chapter, they're going to be that way until I finish the set-up stuff. Next chapter will also be kinda short, but after that they should get longer.
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It had taken her almost ten minutes just to convince herself to get out of the car and another five to smooth down her black dress and head up the stairs into the hotel.
The reunion organizers had done a spectacular job with the arrangements. Everything from the barman, in his black tuxedo vest and tie, to the streamers in Kennedy High's purple and gold looked fantastic. The ballroom appeared to be capable of handling several hundred people, complete with bar and a live band on the stage and only half an hour into the night it was already packed with people.
Standing at the entryway, she scanned the crowd, vaguely searching for familiar faces. In reality she didn't actually expect to find anyone she knew. She hadn't been particularly popular in high school, generally taking a get-good-grades-and-get-the-hell-out approach over any sort of active social life. She'd played sports, but they were generally city leagues rather than school teams and she had gotten to know very few of her classmates. However, she knew that that wouldn't stop many of the more popular cheerleader types from giving her hell for showing up alone. The woman who had checked her in at the door and given her a name tag had also given her a pitying look when her question about Kate's expected guest only drew a small head shake from the agent.
Silently she railed against Rick, her latest ex; coming up with many pleasing fantasies about ways to kill him for making her do this alone. And for what she was sure wouldn't be the last time that evening she internally cursed the purely working relationship with her boss. If they had been actual friends, rather than coworkers who spent disturbing amounts of time together, or even if he had just come out drinking with her, Tony and McGee on one or two occasions she might have felt comfortable asking him. And despite what she had told Abby, the working relationship she had with Gibbs was not the only reason she would have felt uneasy about the situation.
Ever since she had first started working for NCIS, she had made sure to keep a certain amount of emotional distance between herself and her mysterious boss. She had felt a certain immediate pull towards him on Air Force One and had promised herself not to do anything that would allow herself to become overly attached. And while she hadn't really succeeded, she knew that pretending to date him one night and than having to return to work as though nothing had happened would break her heart.
With a heavy sigh she pushed those thoughts out of her mind and made her way slowly through the crowd toward the bar, hoping that a stiff drink would numb the pain of her impending doom. Making it over seemingly unnoticed she ordered a neat scotch and tried, unsuccessfully, to navigate equally unnoticed to a corner table. Her plan failed rather miserably as a voice reached her through the milling people.
"Caitlyn Todd! Oh, my God." The thick Southern drawl drew an immediate and pained groan from Kate, who stopped walking as the voice grew nearer. "I can't believe it, it's been forever."
Turning with all the reluctance with which one would face a firing squad, she faced the tall, blond who approached. Kate struggled to keep a smirk off her face as she noticed the brown haired man who trailed like a puppy in her wake. When the other woman reached her Kate gave a tight smile, while contemplating just how subtly she could drain her scotch. Her voice was strained despite an effort to make it otherwise.
"Hello, Diane. You're looking well. How are things?" Having failed with her original avoidance tactics, Kate switched gears, choosing instead to make an attempt to keep the other woman talking. She was sure that if she could keep Diane talking about herself long enough, she'd eventually spy a more interesting target and leave Kate alone.
"Oh, everything is great. This is Gary, by the way. My husband." She gave a half wave gesture to the man at her side before continuing. "Married twelve years now. Three kids. Our oldest, Joshua, goes to Brighton prep and his little brother, Matthew, just started as well. Melissa is only three, but I'm quite sure that she'll follow in their footsteps."
Kate gave a half-hearted nod, as Diane paused just long enough to catch her breath before boasting further. At least she was keeping the topic on herself, Kate thought hopefully.
"Gary works for a big DC law firm, just got promoted to partner." A long pause as she exaggeratedly scanned the area behind Kate. "So where's your mystery man. I was on the planning committee and I recall you're name having an 'and guest' next to it."
Kate gave a false smile as she prepared herself to explain, as painlessly as possible, she hoped, that she didn't have a date because of a recent break-up. Reminding herself forcefully that she had a great job that she loved, a group of friends she enjoyed spending time around, and that, most importantly, she would most likely never see any of these people again, she began to speak.
"He's-"
"Running a little late." The firm, masculine voice cut her off before she could get more than a word in.
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A/N: My composition instructor in high school always said to "leave 'em hangin' " so this is her fault. Honestly I'm not sure how I'm going to do the next chapter because I think I might want Rick to make an appearance at some point, we'll see. Let me know what you thought and I'll try for an update within a few days.