Author's Notes: Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.

I'm having a little difficulty getting Kate in all the episodes of Season Three so this might take some time before I post the next chapter. I do have an actual plan, I promise but it may take some time.

Enjoy.

The crowd milling around the terminal were all dressed in their finery for the occasion and Kate glided through looking every bit one of them. Glancing at her side she chuckled at the old man hobbling beside her.

"Why not come as Nathan?" she asked under her breath.

"Because we know the Seaquest have been given access to check the computer system," Tobias reminded her, his old man disguise throwing her every time she looked at him, "And being Nathan here could cause problems if we run into someone who knows him but I don't."

Kate shrugged, "I suppose you're right. And you're right about one more thing."

"What's that?" Tobias asked amused.

Kate motioned with her head, "Ford is here. Looking smooth," she paused and pursed her lips, "I wonder who he's trying to impress."

"Let's get onboard then you can mingle," Tobias told her, "You need to get into the main control centre and copy the base code."

Kate rolled her eyes at him, "Is that what we talked about all last night? I wasn't paying attention."

"My apologies," Tobias shook his head, "You know what you're doing."

Kate chuckled softly before they started to the train to take their seats.

x

The train left the station smoothly with pomp and circumstance that made Kate roll her eyes. Thankfully it meant she could start moving around the train properly and prepare to steal the code.

"Be careful," Tobias told her as she stood, "I'll see you later."

Smoothing her dress slightly Kate nodded before she started through the car towards the bar. Walking through the next car Kate spotted Ford again, she was about to just walk past hoping he didn't see her when she realised who the woman sitting beside him flirting away was.

Henderson.

Anger filled Kate.

Henderson had spent a good part of the previous tour trying to get together with Miguel once she'd moved on from Tim. Miguel had only been gone a few months and suddenly she had moved onto Ford.

Taking a deep breath she forced down her annoyance. Harkins taught her to be cold and calculating, not to allow her emotions take over. Even though it meant for a long time that she believed she didn't have any real emotions it was a skill she had been putting to good use these days.

She walked past purposefully, turning slightly to smile at them as she passed, "Commander," Kate greeted him softly before she continued on not giving them time to even acknowledge her.

Continuing quickly through the next car Kate entered the bar and slipped into the crowd, waiting for Ford to make his appearance. It was barely two minutes later he appeared, Henderson in tow. Kate smiled when they split up to look for her and easily made her way to Ford.

"You're looking very dapper, Commander," Kate noted coming up behind him, "Who knew you owned something smart that wasn't a uniform."

"Kate," Ford grimaced turning to her, "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged innocently, "Nathan got tickets, he couldn't come so I took one of them."

"Took?"

"Simply an expression, Jonathan," she replied coolly at his question, "No stealing was involved."

Ford frowned at her before asking, "So you are still with Captain Bridger?"

"For the moment," she was keeping her answers short and as enigmatic as possible. Mostly just to annoy him because that meant he wouldn't question her on the things she didn't want him to know if the answers to the simple ones frustrated him enough.

She could see his aggravation so she decided to ask him something.

"So," Kate said before simply stating, "Henderson?"

A frown covered his face, "It's none of your business, Kate."

"Well aware of that, Jonathan," Kate replied with the same sarcastic tone before she continued, "But I will remind you that she spent the first few months onboard chasing Tim, then moved on to Miguel and, now he's gone, she obviously decided to move up the chain."

Kate saw his jaw clamp while she kept a slight amused smirk on her face as he ground out her name once again.

"And let's not get onto the fact she somehow got a promotion, over people with much more experience, and was put in charge of my engines," Kate continued to bait, "Do you want to know my thoughts on that?"

She could see the annoyance filling his eyes and patted his arm, "Enjoy your day, Jonathan," Kate told him continuing to smirk, walking away she stopped to watch Henderson join Ford looking confused at the annoyance in his eyes.

Lucas had had enough of this guy, Dumont was just so annoyingly arrogant that Lucas was thinking back to a few of Kate's favourite put downs which then got him thinking about his surrogate big sister.

Lucas missed Kate and wished people would talk about her every so often but most avoided bringing her into conversation because they didn't want to be overheard by Tim. In some ways that annoyed the hell out of him because Tim was not the only one who missed Kate. He missed her presence, her smart comments and the way she could keep him focussed. Even if he had plotted ways to accidentally shoot her out of torpedo tubes during the punishments she doled out for stealing Bridger's bike when Dagwood was accused of murder.

"Why don't you go get me a drink," Dumont suggested when Lucas tried to do more than sit and watch.

Aggravated Lucas left the control room and headed for the bar.

x

Kate swore when Lucas walked passed her, thankfully oblivious to her presence.

"Tobias," Kate called over her radio, "My initial plan is out the window."

There was a quick pause before he asked, "And what was that?"

"Seduce the geek," Kate murmured as she mused over her next idea.

"Why won't that work?" bemusement filled Tobias' voice.

"Because Lucas is here."

"I see," Tobias replied understanding in his voice, "Do you have another plan or do you want me to try?"

Kate laughed softly, "I thought the whole point of me knowing was so I could do all the stealing?"

"It was," Tobias replied, "But if you can't do the job…"

"That's a challenge and I win challenges," Kate told him determinedly, "Just be an old man and annoy people, I'll let you know if I need a distraction."

Without another word she cut the link and waited for Lucas to return.

x

Lucas headed back to the main control room after his meeting with Ford and Lonnie. That was a pairing he had to admit he would never have expected. He was about to leave the car when a hand touched his arm.

"Aren't you a little young to drink?" a familiar and welcome voice made him spin.

Lucas grinned at the woman standing there, "Kate," he wrapped his free arm around her and hugged her tightly; "I've missed you."

"Missed you too," she murmured in his ear before pulling back, "And I'm sure you're still too young to drink."

Lucas rolled his eyes at her, "Technically I'm twenty-eight," he reminded her before adding, "And it's not for me. It's for Dumont."

"The guy who created all this," Kate nodded musing, "You wouldn't be able to get me in to have a look, would you?"

Suspicion filled him, "Why?"

"Because I'm an engineer and I like things like this," she reminded him amused, "Come on, I'm already bored."

Lucas grimaced slightly, "Dumont is kind of a pain in the ass."

"Is he a bit of a geek?" Kate asked with a smirk, "Who might have issues meeting women?"

"Ah…"

"Look at me," Kate stepped back slightly so he could see the full effect of her dress, "He'll understand how I persuaded you to let me in."

Lucas grimaced wrinkling his nose at the thought, "You're like my sister, Kate. Don't say things like that."

Kate let out a soft chuckle giving him a hopeful look.

Lucas sighed as he cracked, "Fine, come on but if he complains…"

"I will show you some other talents I have, Lucas," Kate patted his cheek before strolling past him.

Kate knew they were more than likely screwed as the train sped out of control, the young man who had built it was dead meaning they had no way to get into the computer system. The only blessing they had was the fact they had managed to disconnect the other carriages so the other passengers were safe.

"What do we do?" Henderson asked staring at the mess in front of them.

Kate turned to Ford, "We need to find the guy who did this. Lucas, do your best to get into the system."

"What about me?" Henderson demanded annoyed at being ignored by Kate.

Kate opened her mouth to reply but Ford beat her to it, "Work with Lucas. Kate, let's go."

As they started out Ford turned to her and frowned, "Can you fight in that dress?"

Kate smiled at him before she unzipped her dress and slid it off to reveal her 'work outfit' that had been hidden beneath it.

"I'm not asking," Ford told her as they headed out to find the saboteur.

x

"Mason Freeman," Kate stated as they came face to face with the man responsible for their current predicament, "This is so your style. Ham fisted and over-elaborate."

Freeman glared at her, "And I thought the Kitten was a thing of the past."

"So did I," she replied with a shrug, "But then again times change."

Freeman straightened, towering above her, "You don't have your daddies here to protect you this time, little girl."

Jonathan chuckled from her side, "You have no idea," he glanced to her side, "Kate?"

"We never did get a chance to try this before," she grinned, "Let's do it."

Kate grabbed Jonathan's hand and used him to swing round, her foot connecting with Freeman's chest before he had a chance to dodge throwing him back. He staggered and swung for Jonathan who easily spun out of the way.

They'd spent years training together and during that time Jonathan had insisted they worked on team tactics. Kate had to admit it had been a great idea, though she would never tell him. Freeman was a professional assassin; he managed to get several good hits in, at one point slamming Jonathan into the wall but he was past his prime and together they managed to bring him down.

Looking at the man lying unconscious on the ground Jonathan wiped a small trail of blood from his mouth, "You wouldn't happen to have something to tie him up with?"

"I'll deal with that," Kate told him, "Find out how the others are doing. I'll catch up."

x

Kate picked up Freeman's discarded jacket and using her knife cut it into strips before binding his hands and feet tightly.

"Tobias," she called over her link, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," his voice came after a few moments, "What about you?"

"This was not as easy as you promised," she told him.

Tobias chuckled, "Will you be able to get out?"

Kate let out a sigh, "I am pretty sure the UEO will be meeting us if we manage to prevent this thing crashing but Ford won't stop me leaving."

"Are you sure?"" he asked concerned.

Kate smiled to herself, "He knows me well enough to know what I would do if he tried to."

"Are you sure?" Tobias asked again before adding, "I could call Mac to get you out."

"No," Kate told him sharply, "Mac is a last resort, always a last resort. I don't need him."

"Kate…"

"I will meet you at the rendezvous point," Kate cut him off before she cut the link.

After quickly checking that Freeman wouldn't be a problem, Kate headed to rejoin the others and hoped they had a way to stop this runaway train.

Lucas sat with his head in his hands. It had been far too close, they had almost died and it was pure luck he had thought of something. He could hear Lonnie and Commander Ford talking nearby giving their report on what had happened.

He felt a presence at his side and turned to find Kate sitting beside him once again in the dress she'd been wearing when he first saw her.

"You really don't suit that uniform," she noted leaning back in the chair.

Lucas frowned at her, "It was the only way to stay on the Seaquest after…"

"Nathan didn't abandon you," Kate told him when he trailed off, "You're a big boy who can look after himself and Nathan has other things going on right now."

"You left too."

Kate rolled her eyes at the accusation, "Not exactly by choice, Lucas or did you forget the guards pulling guns on me and Hudson trying to arrest me?"

Before Lucas could reply Kate patted his arm before standing to go, "Tell Tim hi."

"Kate, you can't leave," Ford called coming over to them.

She rolled her eyes but didn't stop.

"Kate," Ford called again.

She folded her arms across her chest, "Jonathan, do you really think you can make me stay?" when he didn't reply she nodded giving a quick, "Thought not. Take care, guys."

With that said she walked away.