Six Months, Two States

A/N: Let's keep going...

Disclaimer: The characters belong to the brilliant creative team of NCIS: Hawaii and no profit has been made from this story. Also, F you CBS, Paramount plus and everyone else who had a hand in screwing over the greatest cast in the history of network tv. #SaveNCISHawaii

Oh, Truck!

The rhythmic hum of the ceiling fan was the first thing to hit Lucy's conscious mind as she slowly emerged from the vestiges of a near blackout, liquor induced slumber. Yawning and stretching as she came fully awake, she rubbed her eyes and grimaced in disgust at the cottony feeling in her mouth. Eww, why the hell do I drink like that? Why is my phone in my bed? Oh man-

Bolting upright, she recalled the late night scrolling and the immediate urge for a new couch and the promise she had made to pick up the "like new, free if you can haul it" sofa and thought, who's awake and has a truck? Going down her rather small list of acquaintances, she immediately eliminated anyone from the bar (because she honestly didn't have any of their numbers and by the time anyone was there it would be too late) as well as her co-workers (hey boss, I know it's your day off but instead of spending time with your kids would you like to help me haul a couch?) which left her landlord, who she was definitely not going to ask. When she had rented the tiny studio apartment he had told her that she could keep the furniture or put it in the building's rec room, and though she had brought her own mattress (which Ernie had helped her strap to the top of her NCIS issued SUV) she had insisted that she didn't need to replace the couch. Now? She realized that wicker was a horribly uncomfortable choice for a person who loved lounging on the sofa and binging bad tv, but she didn't want to be a bother so she figured whoever she got to help her get the new couch could help her move the cane wicker nightmare across the courtyard and into the rec room.

"Okay so," she said to the empty room, "first we need breakfast!"

She grabbed a quick shower and considered going for a run, then decided food, sofa situation, run.

As she sat at her favorite little hole in the wall diner in Waikiki and started looking at rental trucks and moving companies she decided to go with a local, independently owned business as opposed to a big box store or chain. Making a selection and punching in their number, she borrowed a pen from the waitress and flipped over her paper menu just in case she needed to write anything down.""Yeah hi," she said between bites of banana pancake, "is this the Thrify Movers on Beretania? Ok good, I was looking to rent a truck, was wondering what it would cost for about an hour? Yes, I'll hold," she replied, tapping her pen as she waited, "Yeah, still here...did you not hear me say only an hour? What do you mean you only rent by the day? That's highway robbery!" Ending the call she said, "Thrifty movers my-"

"What do you need to move?" Came a voice from behind her, and when she turned around she zeroed in on the scruffy looking guy in the trucker cap who had asked the question.

"You said what?" She asked, caught off guard by the imtrusive stranger's question.

"Sorry Miss, didn't mean to offend but it was kinda hard to not overhear," he replied, "you said you needed a truck for about an hour?"

"It's nothing," she deflected.

"Didn't sound like nothing," he countered.

Assessing the affable stranger and deciding that he seemed harmless enough, she sighed and admitted, "I may have agreed to pick up a rather large piece of furniture that I actually have no way to pick up or move by myself. Last night it seemed like a great idea to just wake up and rent a truck and go get the too good to be true freebie, but now in the light of day I'm realizing that these rates are ridiculous and that even if I could afford to rent a truck I would still need to find help, so-"

"So buy us breakfast and we'll help you," he suggested.

"We?" No way I'm going anywhere with this guy and his friends, no matter how nice he is. Does it look like my first day on earth? Seriously, some people -

"Yeah, we," he chuckled, gesturing to the booth in the corner across the diner, "my buddy and I are already helping his sister move some stuff today, but we have time to help a pretty lady in distress. Whaddaya say?"

"His sister will be there?"

"She's stuck with us for the day, so yeah." Turning to the pair in the corner, he bellowed, "Becks, Butch, come meet-" turning back to Lucy with a questioning look, he smiled when she responded, "Lucy."

"Lucy," he finished, "she's gonna buy us breakfast then we're gonna help her move a couch!"

"Dammit Bret," the woman with her back to them grumbled as she stood and turned to address the pair, "how many times do I have to tell you to quit taking-" Eyes landing on her best friend, she seemed to mentally check herself as she saw the way he was looking at the tiny newcomer. "Rebekah," she offered as she extended her hand, "Lucy is it?"

"Yeah," Lucy replied, trying to hide her disappointment as the rather attractive, baseball cap wearing tomboy's touch did nothing for her, "thank you, for letting me steal your manpower."

"Like I could stop them," Rebekah mumbled under her breath.

"What's that?" Lucy questioned, pinning the other woman with an inquisitive look.

"Oh I was just saying thank you for saving me from footing the bill this morning," an unconvincing Rebekah lied, "you have no idea how much these oafs can eat."

"They can't eat that much, can they?" Lucy asked skeptically, looking back and forth between the two men who were possibly the skinniest pair of best friends she'd ever met.

"You'd be surprised," Rebekah warned, "why don't you join us and see for yourself?"

Lucy shoveled down her last two bites of pancake, grabbed the bacon off her plate and, cup of coffee in hand, slid into their booth. As Rebekah and her brother Butch took good-natured jabs at each other she couldn't help but feel a poignant stab of homesickness, and her ever expressive face clearly portrayed the fact that she was really missing her family. "Sorry," Rebekah said as she misread Lucy's expression, "you must think we really hate each other, but it's not like that at all. It's just-"

"Sibling stuff," Lucy interjected, "I get it. I have a brother," she smiled, "two actually. My oldest brother and I are more like y'all," she explained, "but my other brother? Not so much. You guys just reminded me that I haven't seen them in a really long time."

"So you didn't just move to the island?" Bret asked.

"No, I've been here for a while now, but it was initially for a temporary assignment," Lucy explained, "so I've been bouncing from one short term lease to another and living with whatever the fully furnished apartments have contained. But," she added with an almost embarrassed smile, "I recently found out that my temporary assignment has become a permanent job, which means that I just signed a much more long term lease. The one drawback, besides the fact that the apartment is super tiny, is that the couch is awful, which I thought I could live with. Then last night I realized, as I was trying to settle in and veg out on some mindless tv, that I spend way more time on that thing than I would like to admit and that it must go."

"Well eat up, little lady," Bret smiled, "then we'll go and get your couch situation squared away."

Little lady? Ewww. Wait, why does Rebekah look so annoyed? Aren't they just friends?

After breakfast Lucy punched in the address that cat_trick93 had given her last night, then led the small caravan from the restaurant to the charming little bungalow where, as promised, her contact was waiting outside.

The pick up was quick, with the guys easily maneuvering the sofa through the double wide doorway and lifting it into the bed of Bret's truck. Lucy was surprised and slightly impressed when Rebekah, who clearly knew what she was doing, clambered up into the bed of the Tacoma and expertly secured the furniture with a few strategically placed ratchet straps. "You do this often?" Lucy good-naturedly asked as she watched the other woman tighten the straps.

"She drives a beer delivery truck," Butch chuckled, "she literally handles strap ons for a living!"

Rebekah jumped down and slugged her brother in the arm, her face bright red as she implored, "Please ignore him, my brother can be such an ass!"

"Most brothers are," Lucy chuckled, but she didn't miss the questioning look that passed over Bret's face as he looked back and forth between them, his gaze settling on the blushing Rebekah for a brief moment before he seemed to catch himself and look away.

What's In A Name?

"So let me get this straight," Ivana Jankovic, the cool blonde Serbian who had been Kate's roommate in law school stated, "you went to Oahu for work, got blindsided by the wicked witch who was but is now no longer your boss. Met a really cool pair of newlyweds who helped you ditch said wicked witch, had a passionate romance in their hotel room while pretending to be them. Never told "Lucy" your real name, never learned hers, lost the job on the island to the wicked witch, then a few months later got offered a job in Florida that you turned down because it wasn't in Oahu?"

"That about sums it up," Whistler agreed as she nodded her head affirmatively.

"And you loved everything about Florida - the job, the location, the director who would have been your boss?"

"Yes."

"Yet you still turned it down?"

"I did."

"Damn Kate, I never thought I'd see the day that you put personal above professional. Good for you!"

"Yeah well seeing how all it's gotten me is stuck in DC with an ex-girlfriend who seems hell bent on making my life miserable I'm not sure how good that decision actually was," Kate admitted, "but it just seemed wrong to take the position if I couldn't really commit to it."

"Do you think it's sign that in both locations you met an awesome new friend named Chloe?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," Kate admitted, "the Chloe in Hawaii was married and when I think of her I only think of her wife's delightful Irish brogue. And when I met the one in Florida it was after I had gotten to know her twin, Corey, and when he told me he had a twin sister I somehow got it in my head that her name would be Carly. When I did finally meet her I was so surprised that it wasn't Carly it never even dawned on me that I had recently met someone with the same name. I-"

"I bet if the girl in Florida had been named Lucy you'd have made the connection," Ivana smirked.

Blushing, Kate admitted, "I know I would have."

"God, you've got it bad!" the Serb hooted, "I can't believe you just walked away."

"I know! I'm telling you," Kate replied, "I literally don't know who in the hell was on that island! Island Kate was fun, carefree, passionate. She-"

"Island Kate?" Jankovic smirked.

"What?" Kate defensively replied.

"You made a Fun Kate list, didn't you?"

When Whistler glared in response Ivana laughed and said, "Please tell me she didn't see it."

When Kate crossed her arms and turned her head Ivana exclaimed, "Oh my god, and she still wanted to be with you?"

"Are you done?" Kate asked, trying very hard not to smile as she remembered telling Lucy about the list. "Not only did she still want to be with me, she asked me what was left on that list so that we could check off the boxes together."

"Marry her," Ivana replied, "marry her now. Get your butt on a plane and-" at Kate's wounded expression she relented, softly adding, "okay Fun Kate, I'll let it go, but if you ever find your way back to Lucy I think you need to marry that girl."

"Not sure that will ever be in the cards," Kate sighed, "she's so amazing, I don't think she'll be single for long."

"Well you're pretty amazing yourself, yet you haven't moved on."

"I can't," Kate whispered, and at the raw vulnerability Ivana heard in her friend's tone she took pity and changed the subject. "Okay so, tell me about your family. How are your parents? Is your mother still expanding that wedding board?"

"It's now an entire wall," Whistler admitted with an exaggerated eye roll, "and she's started getting on the waiting lists of her top three reception locations."

"She hasn't really, has she?"

"She has."

"And how is she with-"

"Still in denial," Kate answered, "but I just let her go on with her delusional thinking. She-"

"Needs to accept you for who you are."

"I know," Kate deflected, "but she's already lost so much, you know? What's the harm in letting her have her dream?"

"The harm in letting her have her dream is that it's at the cost of yours," Ivana argued, "and she's not the only one who lost him."

Ivana knew she was taking a gamble with bringing up Noah, the one person in Kate's family who had completely supported her when she had come out. Her mother acted like it was a phase, her father simply didn't talk about it and still referred to anyone Kate dated as her "friend", but Noah? He had been his sister's best friend, champion and confidante. When the first girl that she had really fallen for broke her heart he had responded in the best way by dragging her to Montauk for the weekend, where they had gone shark cage diving and sacrificed "voodoo tuna" (which was just a frozen slab of tuna with the girl's name carved in the side) to the jaws of the beast outside the cage. He was always like that with his closed off sister, always seemed to know the exact amount of ridiculous it took to make her smile, and Ivana couldn't help but wonder how different things in Oahu would have ended if he had still been around.

"My wish for you, my friend, is that your mother will accept that there will never be a groom in your future but still give you that grand wedding with the beautiful dress and over the top celebration anyway."

"Who says I want that?" Kate unconvincingly countered, "That's her dream, not mine."

"You know I almost believe your lie, but before you argue any further," Ivana said with a mischievous grin, "look me in the eye and tell me that if Lucy were here, right now, asking you to marry her that you'd still insist that you didn't want it."

Kate couldn't help it, the image of Lucy proposing that her friend's words evoked sent her into a tailspin, and her face lit up as she considered spending forever with the amazing woman who had rocked her world and stolen her heart.

The goofy look on Kate's face said it all, and as Ivana smiled in response to the unbridled happiness in her friend's expression she quipped, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Adventures On Ohua

When they arrived at her apartment Lucy instructed Bret to pull up on the curb, and after parking her own vehicle she hopped out and said, "Sooo, did I mention that the original couch is still in there and that I need to find a way to move it to the rec room?"

"We can just grab it after we get this bad boy inside," Butch replied, but Lucy crinkled up her nose and shook her head and said, "Not possible." At their questioning looks she said, "Follow me."

Oh my," Bret exhaled as they entered the tiny space, "I see what you mean! Grab that end," he ordered Butch, who readily complied and lifted the rather light, red aloha pillow adorned eyesore, "where is this rec room?"

"I have a key," Lucy replied, "follow me."

When they returned to the truck a few minutes later they found that Rebekah had the ratchet straps removed and the door to Lucy's apartment propped open. "I took some measurements and I think if we turn it sideways it will fit through the door," she explained, and when the guys got it up the steps and partially stuck she crawled up underneath the sofa and somehow magically repositioned it and got it the rest of the way through the doorway.

"Wow wow wow, that was amazing!" Lucy exclaimed, "I think I need to sign you up for all of my moving days!"

"It was nothing," Rebekah replied, "between my job and how many times I've moved myself, this was a piece of cake!"

"Well I sure do appreciate y'all, there's no way I could have done it without you," Lucy admitted as she reached into the fridge and emerged with a handful of green bottles, which she distributed to the trio who were currently lounging on the wee bit too large for the space sofa.

"Thanks," Butch said as he popped the top off and took a long swig, "this sure hits the spot."

The others chimed in their agreement as they drank, then as the siblings finished their drinks Rebekah noticed that Bret had barely touched his. "As fun as this has been, if I let these boys keep loafing on your couch and drinking your beer they'll never finish helping me move. So," she suggested, knowing that Bret was trying to stall by drinking slowly in an attempt to spend more time with Lucy, "why don't you join us for drinks tonight?"

Drinks? Is she hitting on me, or does she think I might be into one of the guys? I- "Tonight works," she heard herself say, "when and where?"

"Duke's too touristy for you?"

"Too touristy, overcrowded and overpriced," Lucy laughed, "but if that's your spot-"

"I deliver to Duke's, so I get the friends and family pricing," Rebekah explained, "and now that we've moved furniture together you're practically family, so my discount is your discount."

"Well then, I'll see you at?"

"We'll be there at eight," Bret eagerly supplied as he drained his bottle, "see you then!"

As he hurried back to the truck, Lucy reached to stop Rebekah and said, "Hey, I really appreciate the help today and I don't want to seem ungrateful, but is he?"

"Into you? Dying to get to know you? Rushing to get my stuff moved so that he can spend a ridiculous amount of time getting cleaned up and obsessively choosing exactly the right thing to wear to impress you?" Rebekah replied, "Absolutely."

Crap, I thought so. "Look, he's a really great guy, but-"

"But you're seeing someone?"

Yes, but she's on the other side of the country and I don't even know her last name. "No," Lucy admitted, "but-"

"But there is someone, isn't there?" At Lucy's silence, Rebekah softly stated, "I saw the red numbers on the calendar while I was measuring to see if it would fit. I'm guessing it's been about four months since-"

"Let's just say it's, complicated?" Lucy replied, cutting off the other woman's words as unexpected tears stung her eyes, "But even if this other person wasn't in the mix, I still wouldn't be interested."

"I see," Rebekah responded, then pausing a beat as if to gather her thoughts she took a deep breath, looked at Lucy and said, "then you're a fool."

Lucy simply shrugged and said, "No offense, I like Bret but he's just not my type."

"Single? Handsome? Hard working? The kind of guy who will volunteer himself and his friends to help out a perfect stranger? Tell me Lucy, what about him isn't your type?"

"Let's just say that you are more my type," Lucy explained, to which Rebekah replied, "Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Lucy repeated, "so if you invited me for him, I definitely shouldn't go. And if you invited me for you, I probably-"

"I did not," Rebekah cut in.

"Oh ok, I wasn't sure, but your brother's comment about the strap on and Bret's reaction kind of made me think-"

"Bret's definitely more my type than you are," Rebekah firmly stated, "but Butch is always taking jabs like that because I haven't really dated anyone and they're convinced it's because I'm gay. It would probably be easier if I was," she admitted, "because the only guy I really want? He doesn't want me back."

"How do you know that?" Lucy asked.

"Because he just walked up to a beautiful stranger while I was right there."

"Ah, I see," Lucy said, nodding her head in understanding. "First of all, flattered," she grinned, "second of all, do you think maybe he did that because he doesn't think you're an option?"

"I don't know," Rebekah sighed, "this one time we were playing truth or dare and he dared me to kiss him and I did and it was amazing, but then the next day Butch was teasing us about it and I blamed it on the alcohol and said it was weird because he's like my brother. After that Bret started treating me like just one of the guys so-"

"So why don't you stop being his bro and tell him?" Lucy interrupted.

"What if you're wrong?" Rebekah whispered.

"What if I'm right?"

At Rebekah's stricken expression and heavy silence, Lucy softly stated, "Look, I'm a trained investigator, like an actual cop with a badge and a gun and from what I've seen, just today? That man is as into you as you are into him."

"You know what?" Rebekah huffed, "You, you-" pausing as if to gauge what to say next, she deflated and said, "You're probably right."

"I know," Lucy quipped.

"So now what?" Rebekah asked, "How do I even have that conversation?"

"Well I would start by leaving your brother at home," Lucy advised, "he seems to be the source of the disconnect between what y'all want and what you're actually doing."

"Good point," Rebekah concurred, "and then?"

"And then you take off that ball cap and let down that hair and tell him," Lucy smiled, "don't wait until it's too late."

"You know I think you're alright Lucy, despite my original impulse to totally loathe you," Rebekah chuckled, "I think maybe we needed you today more then you needed us."

"Yeah well, maybe," Lucy said with a sympathetic smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Hey," Rebekah offered, "the invitation still stands to join us tonight, or any other Saturday night if you want to."

"I appreciate that," Lucy replied, "and since you no longer despise me I think I might actually take you up on it."

Oh, Brother!

"You know I have to admit, it's been really nice seeing you again," Kate said as she sipped on her wine after dinner, "I had forgotten how good it feels to talk about something that isn't related to intelligence, the government or my colleagues here in DC. Tell me, how are Ratko and Nikola? I know we reminisced about the time I defended Ratko, but you never did tell me how he's doing these days."

"Ratko is still as ornery as ever, and trouble seems to follow him but for the most part he's on the straight and narrow. He met a girl who has been a really good influence, and we're hoping to soon hear news of nuptials in their future. Nikola is doing well, he's risen in the ranks of the police force and is now a Kommandant in Belgrade. The family is very, very proud of him, and I am personally proud of the way he has still stayed true to who he is deep down. He's a tough as nails, no nonsense leader, but he's also a remarkable human being who can see all sides of an issue."

"Sounds like everyone is doing well, your parents must be so proud," Whistler remarked, smiling at her old friend, "speaking of which, when is the wedding?"

"Miklos proposed right before I left for the states, and I was honestly surprised by the timing. He's a little insecure, and I'm not certain if he proposed because he was ready to get married or because he didn't want me in a foreign country without his ring on my finger. So it's new," Ivana said as she sipped on her own wine, "but I'm thinking I would like a nice and slow, unhurried march to the altar."

"Got it," Kate responded, then lifted her glass and added, "well it's beautiful and he seems like a really good guy, so congratulations," she smiled, "and I look forward to receiving the invitation."

"It may be a few years," Ivana chuckled, "maybe by then you will have pulled your head out of your ass and found your Hawaiian girl."

"She's a Texan," Whistler corrected, "she just lives and works in Hawaii right now."

"All the more reason to get yourself back there before her circumstances change," Jankovic warned, "right now you have a loose idea of where she likes to go and what she likes to do, but if her job changes there's no way that you're ever going to find her. Now, what can we do to get you back there?"

"Have I told you about the job my horrid former boss stole from me?"

"As a matter of fact, you have! But you also said that you thought you made a connection with the NCIS leader in Hawaii?"

"Yeah," Kate said with a nod of her head, "Special Agent in Charge Tennant really seemed to be, I don't know, rooting? For me. She was the first to greet me at the meeting, definitely made it known that she did not like Lena, and even brought me coffee on the morning that I interviewed for the job at the DIA office in Hawaii."

"Have you considered reaching out to her and seeing if there are any openings with NCIS?"

"I have not," Whistler admitted, "I'm an administrator, not a cop. I respect what they do and support the team here, but solving Navy crimes isn't why I took this job."

Ivana nodded sympathetically, then suggested, "But sometimes priorities shift and things change." At Kate's aghast expression she patted the air and continued, "Look, I know why you chose to do what you're doing now, and it's honorable. I'm just asking you to consider what Noah would say to you right now, while you're sitting here in misery and pining over the one that got away. Would he tell you to stay the course and hope that it works out, or would he tell you to take a leap of faith?"

"He would probably book some crazy adventure and drag me along," Kate laughed, "and it would probably help for a little while, but-"

"But you don't want to forget about her and move on, do you?"

"Let's just say that there aren't enought sacrificial tuna in the sea to heal this one."

"Okay so if I were you," Ivana suggested, "I would reach out to Tennant and see how things are going in Honolulu. Remind her that you exist and that you are ready and willing to transfer if the opportunity arises, even if that opportunity isn't quite what you thought it would look like."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to call her..."

Just Another Day At The Office

Lucy had opted to stay in for the weekend and skipped out on joining her moving buddies at Duke's, more because of the fact that after her run that afternoon she had melted into the obnoxiously comfortable sofa than because she didn't want to go. If she were being honest, she would probably admit that it also had to do with the fact that she currently found it exhausting to be "single and uninterested" in Honolulu, specifically in the bars in Waikiki. Her almost permanent butt imprint on her couch from the wasted weekend made it even more pathetic that she just couldn't seem to get going in the morning, and she cursed as she glanced at the clock and realized that she was once again more than five minutes late for work.

"Hey boss, sorry I'm late but the line at the coffee shop was ridiculous," the young agent explained as she handed Tennant her cup, "I think I'm going to have to branch out and find a place that's not so crowded."

"Or you could just leave earlier," Tennant smiled as she took her first sip of the heavenly brew, "but in all honesty I wouldn't have even known you were late if you hadn't told me."

"Wait, what? Really?"

When both Jesse and her boss chuckled in response, a perplexed Lucy threw out her hands and said, "What?"

"She doesn't watch the clock, because we don't punch one," Jesse explained, "and she knows we're both too honest to try to cheat the system."

"Oh," Lucy replied as she handed him his cup.

Jesse and Jane exchanged amused glances, then when the young agent yawned he remarked, "Is that the sign of a good date?"

"Come again?" Lucy asked.

"Just figured maybe you were tired and running late this morning because you were up too late last night with a new...friend?"

Rolling her eyes at the way he sounded so much like a dad she replied, "No. Not that it's any of your business, but I stayed in last night. On Saturday I got this amazing new couch, and I'm happy to report that it is so comfortable that my binge game just went pro!" Looking back and forth between her superiors she could see the concern that both had expressed about her rather reclusive lifestyle written in their expressions, and though she had tried to explain that she was just a homebody by nature who preferred staying in with occasional nights out, she knew that they still thought that she was socially stunted. Then you go and tell them that you just took steps to up your reclusive binge game? Way to go, dumbass. "Look! Case files," she said, changing the subject as she focused the stack that Tennant had placed on her desk, "what's on our agenda?"

Pausing a beat as she scrutinized the young agent, Jane decided to let it go for the moment and responded, "I need you to familiarize yourself with Lieutenant Stavros Nikos. Dig into his background, look at his fitreps, current assignment, friends and family and recent activity. Jesse, I need you to run to AFMES to get the autopsy report."

Flipping open the first file, Lucy asked, "Hey boss?"

"Yeah?"

"When do you-"

Right at that moment Jane's phone rang, and when she looked at the display Lucy was confused by her expression. "Sorry Lucy, I have to take this," she said, then pressing the green button and raising the phone to her ear she stated, "Whistler, so nice to hear from you, to what..."

The rest of the conversation was lost to Lucy, who simply returned to the file she was reading as she wondered when Tennant would finally trust her enough to send her to AFMES.

Rumor Has It

"Whistler, so nice to hear from you, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Tennant asked as she answered the call that she felt the need to take in her office.

"It's been a few months and I didn't know if you had heard that I've had some changes in my career," Kate responded, "so I just wanted to touch base and remind you that no matter what my current position is, I am still ready and willing to take any opening at the DIA in Hawaii."

Man has she got it bad. I wonder what would happen if I told her that the Lucy from her hotel room was right outside my door?

"I was going to call and congratulate you," Tennant replied, "I guess maybe losing out on this job worked out for you in the end. I heard they promoted you the day you returned?"

"They did, but I'd give it up in a heartbeat to be back there," Whistler admitted, "I'd rather take a step back and be at Pearl than take another step forward and be stuck here. Did you know that I interviewed for a job in Jacksonville?"

"I didn't hear about that," Tennant admitted, "but if I'm being honest I'm surprised you didn't get the job."

"Oh, I got the job," Kate corrected, "I just didn't take it."

"Can I ask why?"

"Didn't seem fair to Director Mullins, who I really liked, to say yes to a job I would leave without hesitation if a better offer came along."

"You really fell in love with our island, didn't you?" Jane asked.

"You have no idea," Kate wistfully replied, "I feel like my body is here but I left my heart there."

Oh I have some idea, in fact I'm looking at her right now. Gazing out at her still not quite herself young agent, Jane knew in her heart that Whistler wasn't the only one who needed Van Buren gone.

"For what it's worth," the SAC confided, "Van Buren is on the outs with everyone over at the DIA. ASAC Curtis at FBI can't stand her, my people dread dealing with her, and I actually filed a formal complaint because she sexually harassed one of my younger agents."

"Male or female?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really," Whistler replied, "either way I'm not surprised, but-wait, why are you telling me this?"

"Because I think you needed to hear it. And Whistler, if I could make a suggestion?"

"Please," Kate replied, interested to see what the other woman was thinking.

"Think about building on your field training. Make the best of the time you have now and increase your skillset, take advantage of your proximity to the training facilities and let it be known that you are serious about expanding your role in the bureau so that if anything opens up here on the island you will pop to the top of the list as the most qualified candidate."

"Thanks Tennant, I think I'll do that."

Ending the call with Whistler, Jane shook her head and returned to the task at hand. As she pored over the volumes of information her mind kept returning to the situation with Kate Whistler, the DIA and Junior Agent Lucy Tara. She was one hundred percent certain that she had heard Lucy in the background when she had spoken to Whistler while she had been MIA in Honolulu, and between that distinct Texas drawl and that ridiculous ring tone she knew that she was right. Lucy's complete personality change further reinforced that belief, and the more time that passed the deeper into depression Lucy seemed to fall and the more certain Tennant became that something had transpired between the two women. So why doesn't Lucy react, at all, when Whistler's name is mentioned? Why doesn't Kate ask about Lucy when I talk to her? There's no way they didn't talk about their careers or discuss why Kate was here on the island, right?

A few hours later they were wrapping up for the day, investigation now in the books when Jesse asked, "Hey Luce, wanna join us for dinner tonight?"

Pausing as she considered it, she looked down at her bag, slid a few files in and zipped it shut. "I'd love to, but I sort of have plans."

A surprised Jesse responded, "Sort of?"

"Well there's this guy, a regular at my neighborhood bar, and tonight's his going away party. I wasn't going to go, because I hate goodbyes, but-"

"If he's a friend, in any way, you need to go," Jesse advised, "don't spend the rest of your life regretting not getting that closure."

Thanks Dad, where was that advice four months ago? "Yeah, you're right," Lucy said, ducking her head to hide the sudden tears that thinking about that final goodbye evoked, "closure is definitely a good thing."

Lucy almost convinced herself to just go straight home, to hole up inside the tiny, dismal apartment with the massive, almost irresistibly comfy sofa and pretend that she had never met the tiny crowd that had become a weird little family to her, but in the end she drove straight to the bar and forced herself to go inside. She had tears in her eyes when she saw the "Aloha, a hui hou" banner hung from the ceiling, and she reluctantly stepped into the crushing embrace of her soon to be departed friend. "I was really hoping you were going to come," Trig admitted as he held her tightly, "I think I'm going to miss you the most."

Lucy returned the embrace, sniffling slightly as she felt hot tears on her face. "I still can't believe you're leaving," she drawled, her accent thick as emotion took over, "even if I do understand why." Trig had met a girl, a mainlander on assignment in Oahu for just a few weeks, and he had fallen head over heels in love. The relationship had escalated quickly, and when it was time for her to pack up and head back home to Savannah he had decided to go with her. "I will miss Hawaii," he had explained when he'd broken the news two weeks ago, "and it will always be my home, but I don't want to make your mistake Luce. I don't want to let her go, don't want to spend every day wondering where she is and what she's doing and who she's doing it with."

"Ten out of ten do not recommend," Lucy had replied with a self-deprecating sigh, "I wouldn't wish this feeling on anyone."

So here they were, laughing and drinking and eating everything Miguel slid in front of them, and all Lucy could think about was how lonely she was going to be without her loosely adopted brother and hating that he was so happy and hating herself for hating his happiness. Dani had the night off, and she and Kiana were circling in the predatory way that alcohol consumption seemed to bring about in them ever since that night on the dance floor. "It's getting old," Lucy growled as Dani slid up next her and once again suggested that they could be really good for each other. "Kate was just a few days, a mere blip on your timeline," the bartender smirked, "but I could be your forever. Why won't you give us a chance?"

Scrutinizing the other woman who she had mistakenly started to think of as a new friend, Lucy narrowed her eyes and replied, "Dani I really like you, so for the sake of trying to have a friendship let me be clear - Kate was more to me than just a fling. It was deeper than I realized and more profound than I thought it could be and quite frankly, nobody else can possibly measure up to her. I'm not crazy," she continued when the bartender looked ready to protest, "I know she's gone and I know that it's over, but I'm not ready to move on just yet. When I am, I really hope that it is with someone I want to be with, not someone who wants to be with me because we've both been hurt in the same way."

"See? That's why you should hook up with me," Kiana said as she shoved in between Lucy and Dani, draping her arm across Lucy's shoulders as she boldly explained, "I just want hot, dirty, meaningless sex." When Lucy shuddered and removed the unwelcome arm from across her shoulders Kiana responded by asking, "Who doesn't want guilt free orgasms? I don't even care that you're hung up on your imaginary mainlander, won't even care if you scream out her name while I-"

"Anyhow," Lucy interrupted as Antonio appeared behind Dani, "I think somebody wants to dance."

"Yeah! Whooo! Let's dance," party girl Kiana said as she grabbed Dani by the hand and asked, "Are you coming?"

"Yep, be right there," Lucy replied, rolling her eyes as Coral plopped into Dani's vacated seat.

The old surfer had been unusually quiet that evening, and Lucy knew that she was going to miss Trig just as much as if not more than herself. "Well, it's down to the two of us and the help," she chuckled good-naturedly as she watched the drunken roommates clumsily stagger away. "Yeah kid," Coral replied as she clinked her glass against Lucy's, "here's to the left behind ladies. Well, us and that party girl Moana? Tatiana? Whatever the hell her name is," she smirked, and Lucy laughed out loud. "There's that laugh," Coral smiled, "I really miss that sound. Anyhow-oh crap," she mumbled as she looked past Lucy, "he said he was going to do it but-"

"But what?" Lucy asked, turning in her seat and coming eye to eye with a voluptuous blonde in a white t-shirt with Coors Lite scrawled across her ample chest.

"Lucy, meet Candi," Trig, who was definitely more than a little drunk, exclaimed. "Candi, this is my friend Lucy," he said with a giant smile, then leaning in close to the tiny Texan he whispered, "Candi was in last week, working the Saturday crowd and asking about you. She's a promoter for Coors and she had seen you the last time she was here, but you didn't come out on Saturday and she was disappointed because she had just worked up her nerve to ask you out. Anyhow, we got to talking and she told me how hot she thinks you are so I told her to stop by tonight and I'd introduce you. Please don't be mad," he said as he reached to massage her tense shoulders, "I'm just really worried about you and since I'm leaving I figured the least you could do is just give her a chance? For me? I know she's no Kate, but-"

"Fine," Lucy snapped, looking across the bar at the wildly gyrating Kiana who was watching her every move, "one date." Turning to the newcomer she extended her hand and said, "Candi, is it? Hi, I'm Lucy, would you like to join us for a drink?"

A hui hou