Six Months, Two States

Disclaimer: The characters belong to the brilliant creative team of NCIS: Hawaii and no profit has been made from this story.

A/N: We're still in the first week apart at this point in the timeline, hang tight we're just setting the stage! Get ready for some new faces, the return of some old faces, and the truth behind why Lena showed up in Hawaii.

The End Of The World As We Know It

"So that's it? Lena takes a job on the other side of the country and we're just, out?"

Sliding her hands into her pockets, Kate schooled her features into her most professional smile and responded for what felt like the millionth time that week, "You aren't out Erik, you're reassigned."

"To a bunker in Idaho! Are you serious with this?"

"I didn't choose your assignment," the blonde replied.

"You sure as hell didn't stop it," he growled, "and here I thought we were friends."

Surprised by the deluded man's words she asked, "Friends? We were colleagues Erik, you were never my friend."

"Yeah well, when Lena was on her little campaign to get you reassigned I was the only one who had your back," he grumbled.

"That little campaign failed miserably," Erianna Estrada snorted, "not only did she not get rid of Whistler the know it all, she-"

"Shut up Erianna!" Van Horn's ousted assistant Vera Beason snapped, and both former DIA officers looked guiltily at the floor.

Stung by the admission that drove home the point that the entire office had been against her, Whistler flatly observed, "I had no control or influence over the decision to relieve you all of your duties as officers of the DIA, but given the information gleaned from this enlightening conversation I am grateful that at least someone in this organization knew enough to take the appropriate action."

"In other words," former DIA Officer Erik Wagner grumbled, "be careful who you sleep with." Disgusted, he grabbed his box of personal effects and walked out the door.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do now," Vera blubbered as he stormed past her, "Lena promised that this wouldn't affect anyone here!"

"People shouldn't make promises they can't keep," Whistler replied.

"This is all your fault!" The distraught secretary wailed as she pointed an accusatory finger at the blonde, "You made her leave!"

"I made her leave?" Kate asked in disbelief.

"She's right," Estrada explained, "as soon as she received the feedback from your presentation in Honolulu she flew into a blind rage. We don't know who called her," the Latina explained, "but whatever they said, it set her off! After a few harrowing minutes it got quiet, and when Vera peeked inside her office everything breakable was shattered, there was a hole in the wall, and Lena's chair was broken. She calmly ordered Vera to find her a hotel and get her on the next plane to Honolulu, and that was the last time we saw her."

"Maybe she'll have a position for me once she gets settled in?" Vera gushed, her tone full of hope as she added, "After all, I was the one who had the Ritz free up a room for 'a high level federal agent' so that she had a place to stay."

"Not possible," Whistler replied, disgust in her tone as she expounded, "the brass isn't going to allow anybody from this office to join her team. And Vera?"

"Yes?"

"That entire floor was reserved for the conference, so all you did was literally confirm a reservation."

"We only have ourselves to blame," Erianna Estrada explained as the ditzy secretary pouted, "we all knew that Lena was only loyal to herself."

"Quite frankly, I'm happy to be moving on," Roger Phelps admitted as he packed up his belongings, "I don't know what's worse - the amount of agents sleeping with their co-workers around here, or the way the subordinates are punished while the bosses who should be held accountable get promoted."

"Nobody is being punished," Whistler insisted, "it's just-"

"Easy to say that from up there on that pedestal," Estrada interrupted, "just make sure you never make the mistake of falling for someone you work with."

"Falling for?" Kate challenged as she crossed her arms, "Are you really going to tell me that all four of you thought you were in love with Van Buren? That you thought you were the only one?"

"It's not like we were all seeing her at the same time," Phelps argued, "and no matter what you think of her, Lena has a very loving and vulnerable side to her." At Kate's snort of derision he insisted, "She and I weren't a thing for very long, but it didn't end badly, and I always thought that just maybe we could try again some day."

"It never ends badly with manipulators like Van Buren," Kate explained to the deluded trio, "don't you know that's how the game works?"

"You can't help who you love," Estrada snapped, "and if you're lucky someday you'll understand that."

Rolling her eyes as the pathetic group left the building, Kate looked at the empty office and hoped that Sophie Quinn, Dorian Soto and Seth Burgess were a lot more like her and a lot less like her predecessor.

"And just like that, your first week in charge has concluded," she said aloud, "and all you've accomplished thus far is finding out that the entire team was not only screwing the boss, but also helping that boss to screw you over. Welcome home Whistler, isn't it great to be back?"

Grabbing her purse and her keys from her office, she smirked as she looked around at the freshly painted space and realized that it had been repainted because of Lena's temper tantrum. I would've left the hole and hung a frame around it. Fucking Lena. At least she's no longer my problem. But replacing her staff is. "Ok so, now what?"

Laughing out loud as her phone rang in perfect timing with her inquiry, she smiled as she looked at the display and saw her former assistant's name on the screen. "James," she greeted, "have you had time to consider my offer?"

Smiling widely as she hung up the phone, Kate felt a pang of guilt for the brief flash of happiness and instantly wondered why being happy elicited that response. Am I going to spend the rest of my life feeling guilty for experiencing anything that doesn't hurt? Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me? It was just a fling, why can't I let it go?

Why Kiki?

"I'm fine, Ernie," Lucy insisted as she flopped onto the couch in her newly acquired, teeny tiny studio apartment on Ohua Avenue, "it's not like I need a lot of space or spend much time entertaining."

"I meant it when I said you could just stay with me until you saved up or found a better option," he insisted, "I have plenty of space and would enjoy the company."

"And I appreciate it, and the fact that you helped me move more than you could possibly know," she replied, "but I'm good."

"Alright well, let's hope that today is uneventful and you can get some sleep," he said with a wistful sigh, "considering how late you were up last night I worry that five am was too early for your morning run."

"You know I have to run that early, otherwise-"

"It's too hot to know if the sweat is because you're getting a good workout or if it's just the heat," he said, finishing the sentence that had become her mantra in the past week, "I know. Hey Lucy?"

"Yeah Ernie?"

"No Cake Boss for you. That's an order."

Laughing out loud at how well he already knew her, Lucy smiled as she hung up the phone and walked the ten steps it took to get from the couch to the shower. Truth be told, she was not exactly happy in her new home, but it was not within sight of Diamond Head or Waikiki and she wouldn't be hearing the tell-tale booms of the weekly fireworks from the Hilton Hawaiian Village here, so she was good. It had the added bonus of a covered parking spot, took less than ten minutes to clean, and was a short commute to Pearl Harbor.

Stripping off her workout clothes and tossing them into the hamper, she pushed aside the thoughts of the blonde that always seemed to creep in when she was alone and it was silent. Scrolling through her playlists as she turned the water on, she intentionally avoided the one that contained every song she associated with that weekend and instead went with the one that was heavily influenced by her parents' love of classic rock. Jumping in the shower as "All Right Now" boomed from the bluetooth speaker, she quickly washed her hair and scrubbed her body and hated how much the blonde had invaded the fabric of her life, so much so that she couldn't even take a shower without experiencing an acute sense of loss every time she stepped under the spray. It's been an entire week, I've got to let this go. We were just having fun, right? She's gone back to her life, I need to get back to mine.

Sighing as she stepped out of the tiny stall and dried herself off, she wondered, not for the first time, if she shouldn't just use her resources to track down the mysterious woman who had blown her mind and rocked her to her core. Based on what you know, Ernie could find her. He's found people with less. Shaking her head as if to rid herself of the idea, she reminded herself that if Kate had wanted more than just a fling she would've provided more than just her first name. She probably went back to her girlfriend in DC, maybe even her wife or husband. She wouldn't be the first woman to experiment while alone on vacation, and she really is too insanely hot to be single.

"I hope she, or he," Lucy said aloud as she pulled on her favorite pair of soft cotton boy-shorts and a tank top, "appreciates you." Trying very hard to ignore the physical reaction that felt like a gut punch every time she imagined Kate with someone else, she grabbed a bottle of electrolyte water from the fridge and returned to the couch, where she queued up "The Great British Baking Show" and settled in under her favorite blanket. As the dark green fabric began to work its magic she set down the bottle, stifled a yawn and did her best to pay attention to the showstopper tiered cakes, but the stress of the move and her as yet unacknowledged depressed state proved to be too much, and soon she was sound asleep and dreaming about chasing a rapidly moving blonde under the palm trees swaying over Kalakaua Avenue. The ringing of her phone shattered the scene, and she was pulled from the vivid dream as she unceremoniously tumbled off the tiny couch and onto the floor.

"Lucy Tara!" She snapped as she automatically answered the call, her eyes barely focused in the dark as she squinted at the display and registered that it was the landline from Pearl.

"Were you sleeping?" An amused sounding Jesse Boone asked as she pulled herself up onto the couch, grumbling about stupid on-call shifts as she rubbed the fresh bruise on her hip. "Yeah, sorry I must've dozed off after my run," she explained, "I guess I was more tired than I thought from the move last night. What's up?"

"As much as I hate to interrupt your much needed rest," he explained, "I'm on doctor mandated desk duty and the boss needs you in the field."

"Wait, what? Why are you on desk duty?" She asked, genuine concern in her voice as she realized that it was only a little past nine in the morning.

"I had a minor disagreement with the new rug my wife added to the dining room floor," he admitted, and as she stifled a laugh he added, "it was like trying to walk on ice!"

"Why am I picturing you sliding across the floor like Tom Cruise in Risky Business?" She guffawed, actual tears of laughter streaming down her face as he corrected, "It was more like the bad guys on the matchboxes in Home Alone."

"Oh, my gawd, stop," she said through bursts of uncontrollable laughter, "I can't breathe!"

"Anyhow," he announced, pivoting to the actual reason for the call, "we have an assault on a Navy vet. The suspect is on the run and Tennant said to call you and-"

"Got it," Lucy interrupted, pulling on a pair of jeans as she promised, "no time like the present to see how long this commute really-"

"Lucy," Jesse said a little sharply, effectively cutting the brunette off.

"What?" Lucy asked, annoyance clear in her tone.

"The crime scene is in Waikiki, boss wants you to meet her there. I'm sending the address now."

As she started the car and punched in the address that Jesse had provided, Lucy felt a little sick as she realized where in Waikiki their crime scene was located. A homeless vet had been attacked, and given that the address was for the Waikiki Grass Shack Bistro the junior agent naturally assumed the worst. Please don't let it be the man that Kate bought breakfast for on our last morning together, and if it is please let the dog be okay.

The struggle to find a parking spot was a level of difficulty she hadn't expected, considering that the last time she'd been here she'd walked from the hotel. We walked from the hotel. Deciding that public safety trumped parking issues, she finally just pulled up in a no parking zone and left the lights on.

As soon as she stepped out of the car Lucy was hit by a flood of memories from her last morning with Kate, and every step she took seemed to be tracing a path through the recent past as she approached the crime scene.

"Everything ok?" Tennant asked in greeting, her voice laced with concern as she scrutinized the younger woman.

"Yep all good," Lucy lied, "what do we know?"

Not believing the young agent's lie for a minute but allowing the deception for now, Tennant explained, "Petty Officer First Class Todd Holt, honorably discharged due to undisclosed medical conditions, was attacked on the beach in front of The Grass Shack. His attacker..."

On the beach? If he was on the beach he wasn't Kate's guy, thank god. I'd hate to have to be the one to tell her that - wait, I wouldn't be telling her anything. Even if it was that guy, I'm never going to see her again, so why would my mind even go there? Oh crap, what's Tennant saying?

"...need to help interview the patrons and staff who were here during the attack. Even if they didn't see what happened, they might have valuable knowledge that could help us catch our suspect."

"Got it boss," Lucy exuberantly replied, though the older woman noticed that her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, "let's do this!"

Break Up, Break Out, Break Down

Smiling as she arrived home to find that the case of wine from Hawaii had arrived, an ecstatic Kate struggled to pull the crate inside.

"Need a hand with that?"

Kate stopped struggling the moment she heard that voice, the disgust clearly written on her face as she stood to face her ex-girlfriend. "No thank you," she growled, "I'd rather do it myself."

"Stop being such a petulant child," Cara replied, "I know you're mad at me, but seriously, let me help you."

"Fine," Kate grudgingly acquiesced, "but just to be clear, we are no longer together."

"I deserve that," Cara admitted as she helped the blonde get the crate across the threshold, "and I know that it's all my fault. But," she continued, "now that Lena's gone you're the best friend I have in this miserable town, and I'd like to think that I'm yours too. There's no reason we can't still be friends, right?"

"You were in bed with Lena when you called me in Hawaii," Whistler said with a shiver of disgust, "how is that not a reason we can't be friends?"

Caught, Cara stared at the ground and twisted her hands together and said, "We felt pretty done before you left, and I honestly didn't expect you to answer that call. I didn't intend to hook up with Lena that night, but I ran into her at the bar and I was pretty devastated by the way you left things. She bought some shots, gave me a shoulder to cry on and well, one thing led to another..."

"So you thought, hey! I'm in bed with the most horrible woman on the planet who has made a mission out of making Whistler miserable, let's call her?" Kate snapped, and Cara had the good grace to look ashamed.

"I know you can't believe this, but Lena can be a really good friend. Sex with her doesn't mean anything, it's just a nice workout, a way to scratch the itch. And when she suggested that if I felt so bad that I should call you, it seemed like she genuinely just wanted me to be happy. To tell the truth, she's the one that placed the call, but when you answered she shoved the phone at me. You were already on the line so-"

"Do you even remember that conversation?" The blonde challenged.

"You said you had to think about giving me another chance," the brunette replied, a hopeful smile on her face as she moved in closer and batted her eyes up at the much taller woman, "and that the next time I should join you."

Rolling her eyes in disgust, Kate stated, "Of course that's what you remember. Do you know what I remember?"

Silence.

"I remember you saying, and I quote, 'I can change, I want to change, for you. I want you Whistler, only you.' And when I said that you slept with my boss and kept it from me, you said that I was punishing you for something that you did before you even knew me. And then I find out that during that very conversation you were in bed with her?!"

"I know," Cara deflected, "but I swear-"

"Don't," Kate warned, "just, don't. You're a cheat and a liar and I'm not going to believe anything you say anyhow, so why waste your breath?"

"That hurts," Cara sniffled.

"Truth usually does."

"What about your truth? Are you ever going to tell me the truth about what your high and mighty self did on that island?!" Cara spat, her true colors coming out when she realized that the blonde didn't care at all that she had upset her, "The Whistler that left here would never have spoken to me like this!"

"Yeah well, the Whistler that left here didn't know how despicable you truly were."

"Oh, I'm despicable for finding comfort in another woman's arms?" Glaring up at the blonde and making a ridiculous attempt at an Irish accent Cara continued, "Tell me Katie, how much did you think about me while you were indulging in your island delights?"

"Get out."

"Whistler-"

"Now."

"Do you want to know who called Lena about your presentation in Oahu?" Cara tried, and when Kate just shook her head in disgust she added, "I don't want to leave things like this Kate. Even if we are over, I still want to fight for our friendship."

"You want to fight for a friendship filled with lies, betrayals and half truths?"

"It wasn't always like that, we just weren't meant to be a couple. C'mon Whistler, you know we had some really good times before-"

"Before Lena wasn't available and you suggested we 'scratch that itch' for each other? Right," Kate said with an ironic chuckle.

"What can I do to prove to you that I mean it when I say that I want to fight for us?"

"There is no us."

"I'm strictly talking about our friendship," Cara sniffled, "I know you said we're over, but there has to be a way that we can still be friends. Isn't there?"

Pausing a beat, Kate decided that there really wasn't an answer to that question, because she was never going to believe a thing the other woman said ever again. "You can start by giving me back my key."

"Whistler," Cara sobbed, "please..."

In response Kate simply held out her hand.

"She was just trying to be a good friend," Cara pouted, "which is more than I can say for you. I know what you did in that hotel, thanks to Lena telling me the truth, and I forgive you. You just don't like her because-"

"News flash Cara, she doesn't know how to be a friend to anybody, she was just using what she thought she knew to manipulate you! And I'm happy to hear that sex with her doesn't mean anything to you, but you should know that to me? It means we're over."

Arms crossed as she stood in her doorway, Kate could feel the tears coming, and she didn't know if she was upset about Cara's betrayal or if the emotional roller coaster of the past two weeks was just catching up with her. Either way, she didn't want the brunette to see her cry, so she softly commanded, "You can either give me my key or I can change the locks, but either way you are no longer welcome here."

Taking the key off of her ring and handing it to the blonde, Cara whispered, "I really do care about you Whistler, and I hope that this will show you that I'm serious about earning your trust back."

Surprised that the woman actually handed over the key, Kate sent a silent prayer heavenward as she took it. But when the shorter woman grazed her palm with her fingertips and she realized that the touch triggered no reaction, she knew that they were truly finished.

"I can't make any promises," the blonde offered, knowing that nobody on earth could ever rival what Lucy had made her feel, "but Cara? Thank you, for helping with this," she said as she gestured to the crate of wine, "and for this," she said as she held up the key.

Beaming, Cara bade her good night and turned to leave.

Shutting the door behind the falsely hopeful brunette, Kate rolled her eyes and shoved the key in a drawer, then grabbed a wine glass from the cabinet. "Okay," she said aloud, "let's see if you taste as good as I remember."

As soon as she opened the crate she was inundated with memories of the sexiest, sassiest, most adorably irresistible woman she had ever met. As her hand closed on the neck of the bottle she was transported to a Waikiki hotel room in the middle of the night, and could almost hear Lucy's breathing as she tiptoed past her in the dark. When she screwed off the lid she could see Lucy on that balcony, opening the bottle and pouring it for her in the soft glow of the candlelight. Shaking off the taunting images, she decided that a few drinks would surely help to dull the pain, and as she headed outside to sit and sip while she watched the riverwalk teeming with weekend nightlife she was overwhelmed by the flood of memories that assaulted her with the first sip. She put her fist to her mouth to stifle the sob that had erupted, shoulders shaking with the effort it took not to burst into tears. Two nights, three days. Why the hell did I agree to that? A sudden sting on her ankle had her swatting at the mosquito that had decided she was a tasty treat, and the moment her fingertips connected with the embroidered anklet she lost the battle against the wall of emotion she'd been holding back.

Bolting from her chair and barreling inside, she vaguely registered the sound of the shattering wine glass as she rushed to her room. Barging frantically into the closet, she was gratified when her fingers closed on the handle to the cleverly concealed fireproof mini safe, and even more relieved when she punched in the combination to find the neatly folded note inside. Where did you think it would have gone, Whistler? It's only you here. Rationally, Kate knew that the note would be right where she left it. Irrationally, she imagined that Cara or Lena had somehow found out about the cherished scrap of hotel stationery and managed to find and destroy it while she had been at work. Paranoid much? Reverently raising the beautifully handwritten note to her face, she dropped to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably as the reality that she would never see Lucy again finally, fully hit her.

A Hui Hou