A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I have been writing it. Please review and let me know!

Chapter 5: The Breakfast Chat

Mac was surprised to hear a knock at his door, considering he couldn't remember the last time anyone actually knocked on it. Pretty much everyone just walked right in at this point... "It's open," he said, continuing to tinker on his laptop at the kitchen island.

"You don't ever lock it?" Kayla asked as she made her way in.

He shrugged. "Sometimes." He pushed the laptop aside slightly. "What brings you here?"

She held up a cup of coffee for him, sitting down in another chair at the island.

"You expect me to believe you just dropped by to have a cup of coffee?" he asked as he accepted the cup.

She held up another bag. "Muffin?" she asked.

He chuckled slightly before nodding.

She handed him one before taking the other for herself.

"Okay, so aside from breakfast…" he started.

Kayla took a sip from her coffee.

Mac watched her, arching his eyebrows before realization set in. "You're checking up on me," he deduced.

She shrugged.

"And here I didn't think you cared."

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

Mac scoffed. "You don't act like it," he said.

"There's many different ways of showing someone you care."

"Seriously? You act like we're all some sort of nuisance to you."

Kayla rolled her eyes. "Really? Is that what you guys think of me?"

Mac tilted his head side to side as he took a drink.

Kayla snorted lightly, shaking her head. "You're not a nuisance," she said. She took a bite of her muffin.

"But…?" Mac prodded.

"But… nothing." She took a drink from her coffee. "We all have our histories, Mac."

"Yeah," he breathed.

"Speaking of, which white whale were you hunting there, Captain Ahab?"

He looked at her. "Seriously?"

"What's with all the 'seriously's? Are you, like, a 15-year-old girl or something? And for the record, yes, I'm dead serious."

Mac sighed. "The Ghost didn't get his name for no reason."

"So, his trail disappeared," she summarized.

"Yeah," he replied.

"So, you've gone back to Nikki."

"And how, exactly, do you know her again?"

"We were on the DXS cheer squad together."

Mac groaned.

"Look, it doesn't really matter how I know her," Kayla said. "What does, is that you want to find her and catch her, but every trail you follow, she seems to be one step ahead of you. Because she knows you too well, Mac. Just as well as you know her. You're always gonna play cat and mouse if you shut everyone else out."

"And what do you suggest?" he asked.

"Question everything. Every moment you were with her, every piece of evidence she ever gave you."

He clenched his fist around the paper coffee cup without crushing it. "I already have. A million times."

She shifted on the chair. "But think about the why. Why did she leave you that key in Portugal? You found that place how, by following a passport that she hid in an electrical outlet that only someone like you would have realized wasn't real? She knows that, because she knows you. She'll lead you to her on her terms."

"That doesn't make any sense."

Kayla snorted slightly. "Neither did her turning traitor."

Mac leaned back a little in his chair, eyeing her questioningly. "You're saying she's involved in something?"

"I don't know," Kayla conceded. "I just… have a hard time believing that she betrayed us."

"Well, she did," Mac said. "She betrayed me, her country. Sold a biological weapon…"

"But gave us every damn clue on how to find it," she interrupted.

"…escaped FBI custody."

"Well, that one is kinda on you there, with the whole bobby pin trick."

He sighed heavily.

"You don't believe me," Kayla said. "And that's fine. I know I haven't exactly been warm, and fuzzy, and super open enough to make you all just wanna trust everything I do or say. But… you have your white whale."

"This is yours," he replied.

She shrugged.

He shifted in his seat, turning to face her more. "Why me?"

"Huh?" she asked.

"Why are you only telling me?" he clarified.

"Because Jack has damn sure made it clear how he feels about Nikki, and Riley… well, Riley's great, but she's never even met Nikki outside of the few minutes in San Carlos."

Mac looked curiously at her. "If you think there's some bigger thing going on, why not talk to Thornton?"

Kayla scoffed harshly. "Fuck that bitch," she said.

"Wow, you really do hate her," Mac replied with a smirk.

Kayla shook her head. "It's a long story."

"We have time."

As if on cue, their phones went off with a text, informing them of another mission. "Or not," she said.

"To be continued?" he suggested.

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"So, she goes over to your house for breakfast?" Jack asked as they drove to the target of the mission for them, while Riley and Kayla were back at base camp.

"Yeah," Mac said.

"And tells you she doesn't believe that Nikki is a traitor because she knows her?"

Mac nodded.

"Do you believe her?" Jack asked.

"I don't know," Mac answered, shaking his head. "So far, she hasn't proven anything, just talked about it. I told her if she thought there was something bigger going on, she should be going to Thornton, not me."

"What'd she say?"

"And I quote, 'fuck that bitch.'"

Jack snorted. "Wow, she really hates Patty, huh?"

"Yeah."

Jack glanced over at Mac, who was playing with his hands. "What are you thinkin'?" he asked.

"What if she does have a point?" Mac replied. "I mean, her instincts are good. If she's suggesting something larger's at play…"

Jack shook his head with a disbelieving half-smirk. "I don't know, man. You're basing that off her claim that she 'knows' Nikki. But she won't even tell you when she ever met her. For all we know, she could be working with Nikki, and that's why she hates Thornton."

"You really think Kayla's a traitor?"

"Who knows with her, ya know?" Jack commented. "What she actually does when the rest of us are asleep."

Mac sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know, I just don't see it," he remarked. "She's helped pull us out of some bad situations. Covered our asses and helped stop Murdoc. If she was working with Nikki, wouldn't she want us to go away?"

"I don't know, man. Does seem pretty weird that she wasn't on the contract list."

Mac half-nodded in concession. "I guess." He bit the inside of his cheek in thought. "She keeps saying Nikki's gonna reach out at some point, that she's leading me somewhere, that all the clues were placed intentionally. That Nikki knows me too well, and that's why we can't find her."

"She might be right on that one," Jack said.

Mac scrubbed his hands over his face. "I can't tell if she's paranoid and completely crazy, or if she's onto something."

"Well, when we get back from this mission, we'll just have to have a little chat with her then, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay."

Jack nodded. "Alright. Until then, we got a job to do, so let's do this."

Mac nodded, turning his attention back to their mission.