Chapter Text
When DIA Officer Kate Whistler was transferred to Hawaii she had no idea that she’d find love. She knew somewhere on Oahu there was a petite brunette with a radiant smile that she had shared the most intense weekend with; but outside of a first name, she had no idea how to find her. She pushed her daydreams aside and decided to focus on the task at hand…serving as the NCIS liaison. Whistler had been warned about Jane Tennant and her team. They were reckless and carried themselves as if the ends really did justify the means. There wasn’t anything DIA Officer Whistler couldn’t handle. That was, until she was once again face to face with the brunette she’d met at a bar months earlier.
Growing up in a household that expected excellence, Kate always strived for bigger and better. By her early 30s, she had climbed the bureaucratic ladder faster than any of her predecessors. The higher ups were impressed by her work and certainly had plans for her. This was all the more reason why a secret dalliance with a beautiful junior NCIS agent was out of the question. She had worked her entire life for this and she couldn’t let her personal desires jeopardize her career. But there was something about Lucy Tara that made her question everything about her life plan.
After multiple incredible hookups, both women were looking for more. There was an undeniable chemistry between them. It was a new feeling for each of them, especially Kate who had given up on the idea of falling in love. Always a bit awkward, Kate stumbled a bit in the beginning of their relationship. She tried balancing her want for a relationship with her desire for career advancement. The result was keeping Lucy a secret…which was disastrous. Because if there was one thing that Kate learned from Dirty Dancing , it was that no one puts Baby in a corner.
Being out in the workplace took a level of courage that Kate wasn’t sure she had. Coming out to her parents was one of the most painful experiences of her life. Patricia Whistler couldn’t wrap her brain around her only daughter being a lesbian. How would she explain this to her friends at the club? While her mother was in denial, her father was much more vocal about his disdain with her ‘lifestyle’. His exact words were “no daughter of mine is going to be a dyke.” Thankfully her brother accepted her as she was. “Liking girls is just one more thing we have in common,” he said as he gave her a big bear hug.
Lucy gave Kate the courage to conquer many of her fears. She was out and proud. She started sharing more pieces about her past, specifically Noah. In the nearly 14 years since his passing, Kate seldom spoke about her brother. It was too painful. But with Lucy, things were different. Kate knew that Noah would love Lucy just as much as she did. And with that, she wanted to share her memories of him so that Lucy would get to know him. It might have started off as a crazy idea, but the more Kate shared about her beloved big brother, the more she was able to heal.
As months went on, the tall blonde and the petite brunette were inseparable. Lucy spent most nights and weekends at Kate’s. Kate loved waking up with Lucy in her arms. She loved everything about that tiny woman. Even her propensity for blanket stealing. The more time they spent together, the more Kate wanted to introduce Lucy to the most important person in her life. But in traditional Whistler fashion, she overanalyzed and pushed off the introduction for another day.
Lucy Tara loved life. Pretty much everything about it; well, everything but water. She was currently smitten with a tall, slender blonde by the name of Kate Whistler. She met Kate less than a year ago when she stopped into her favorite bar for a drink. It was a hard day at work and she needed to unwind. And unwind she did. Using most of the lines in her pickup repertoire, the scrappy NCIS agent wooed the out-of-towner, Kate, back to her hotel for the most incredible weekend.
As quickly as the blonde departed, she then re-entered Lucy’s life. This time as the stoic, uptight, DIA-NCIS liaison. When she wasn’t wanting to jump Kate’s bones, she wanted to throttle her. Professional Kate was infuriating. Private Kate was intoxicating. Balancing the two was difficult, but Lucy was up for the challenge.
When Agent Tara took the position in Hawaii, she mostly did so because it was one of the furthest appointments from Texas. Her family frowned on her life choices, so it was best to get the heck out of Dodge and go live life. She had recently broken up with a long-term girlfriend and did her best to focus on her job at NCIS. She didn’t have time for dating, especially as a junior agent. That’s what she told herself…until the six foot blonde in heels rocked her world.
Lucy loved two women before she met Kate. Marcella, her high school girlfriend, and Tracey, her former girlfriend of three years. Ms Tara thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with Tracey. She had the whole thing planned, even down to the Cape Cod style house and their dachshunds, Frank and Oscar. That was until she caught Tracey with another woman in their bed. Lucy often thought it would have hurt less if the bitch had actually ripped out her heart and stomped on it. From that day forward, the scrappy agent would have her guard up, and love would never hurt her again.
Her relationship with Whistler was not without ups and downs. Lucy initially was on board with keeping their relationship private. Private allowed her to think of her time with Kate as hookups. A hookup could never lead to love. Or at least that’s what she thought. As the hookups became more frequent, she started to develop feelings for Kate and wanted more. She never felt like this, even with Tracey. As much as she was scared, she knew she needed to explore these feelings.
The rest was history as they say. They took things slow and here they are today. Together. Solid. Lucy couldn’t be happier. She falls asleep and wakes up next to the woman she loves. Kate loves her. Supports her. Completes her. And nothing could get in the way of that.
With both women working high stress jobs, they thoroughly enjoyed their lazy Saturdays. The mornings were typically spent snuggling on the balcony drinking coffee, and today was no exception. They spent the remainder of the weekend in bed. One of the benefits of falling in love was that the women couldn’t get enough of each other. While the rest of the NCIS team would never say anything, they knew why Agent Tara needed extra coffee on Monday mornings. It was the same reason why their normally stern DIA liaison had a smile on her face and extra pep in her step.
The beginning of the week saw Tara and Whistler clash over intel. “I don’t understand how you can put information over the lives of real human beings!!” the tiny woman screamed across the bullpen. “If you really think that, then you have no idea who I am,” the taller woman rebutted. Knowing that she was outnumbered, Whistler turned and left. There was no use in trying to explain her position. She was the bad guy.
For the next couple of days, Whistler kept her distance from the team in an attempt to let tempers cool. She sequestered herself in her office with stacks of information requests. Since she and Lucy needed a bit of a ‘cool down’ there was no better distraction than bureaucratic red tape and paperwork. Elbow deep in paperwork, there was a faint knock at the door. “Come in,” answered Whistler. She’d been waiting for Jones to drop off another stack of requests. Not looking up, Whistler simply motioned to the side table, “put them over there, thanks.” Realizing the person at the door wasn’t moving, Whistler looked up to see Lucy in the doorframe.
“Oh, hey,” Kate sputtered nervously as she took off her glasses and stood up from her desk. “I was expecting someone else. Sorry.” “No worries. I came unannounced.” Lucy started fidgeting with her fingers. “I just wanted to let you know that we found the guy. And…and I’m sorry for how I behaved the other day. I know you were just doing your job. I was frustrated and took it out on you.” The DIA officer knew it was hard for Lucy to apologize. She walked over to her girlfriend and pulled her in for a hug. As they ended the embrace, she looked the brunette in the eye, “it’s ok. I’ve been accused of and called worse. It’s part of the job.”
At that moment, the Texan saw the blonde’s armor come down. There was genuine hurt in her eyes. She was no longer the stoic intelligence officer, but rather she was a girl who craved human connection and needed love. It was then that Lucy officially decided that Kate Whistler was hers and it would be her life’s mission to never see that hurt in the blonde’s eyes again. She looked up and put her hand to Kate’s cheek, “it’s not ok. You do your job better than anyone else could ever dream of. You should never be made to feel less than. I’m sorry that I did that. From now on, me and the guys will do better. I promise.”
This was the first time in her career that anyone had ever apologized for treating her poorly. Overwhelmed, Kate found herself at a loss for words. She pulled Lucy in for a deep kiss, hoping to communicate her love and appreciation. “Whew! That was one helluva kiss there, Whistler.” The NCIS agent caught her breath and her composure. “I take it you forgive me?” “I do. And thank you for everything you said. I really needed to hear it.” Lucy held both of Kate’s hands and looked lovingly into her eyes. “Why don’t we call it a night and get some dinner?” After days apart, Kate was eager to have an evening in with her girlfriend. “Take out at my place? Hot tub after?” Kate said with a devilish smile. “Hmm. Sounds like a good night. Throw in breakfast and I’m there.”
One of the things that Lucy was still getting used to was how her girlfriend could go from ‘Work Whistler’ to ‘loveable Kate’ in mere seconds. Crossing the threshold into her apartment, Whistler kicked off her heels and put the Thai takeout on the counter. She pulled down a mason jar from the cupboard and poured herself some wine. “Babe, what kind of beer do you want?” she asked as she glanced into the fridge. “There’s Coronas and some IPAs for your drinking pleasure.” The beer in the fridge was just one of the ways Kate showed her love. Lucy knew the blonde preferred wine and liquor over beer, but still kept a few in the fridge for her. “Not sure what goes with Thai. Surprise me!”
Thai food, hot tub, and the latest episode of Top Chef made for a wonderful evening in. The two women loved cooking shows but Top Chef was a favorite. There was always one hot chef to ogle at, and Padma and Gail weren't bad on the eyes either. “Let’s make a game out of the show!” Lucy squealed with excitement. “What are you thinking? Like a drinking game?” Kate clearly didn’t have the imagination that the Texan did. Flashing her best smile, Lucy started to explain the game. “Everytime Padma says something snarky about a dish, you’ll take off an article of clothing.” “Lucy, I’ll be naked within the first 10 minutes!” “Well, maybe…but for everytime Tom calls something basic, I’ll take something off.” The blonde went to respond, but suddenly paused. Lucy could see her wheels turning. “I’m liking this game. But one more rule…once you’re naked, I get to do anything I want to you.”
Lucy’s Top Chef meets strip poker game was a smash. As expected, Kate was mostly naked within minutes because one of the chefs had the audacity to serve Padma bland biryani. But Lucy quickly caught up when two other chefs served Tom nachos and pigs in a blanket. Not being able to keep their hands off each other, the lovers took their game to the bedroom, not coming up for air for hours.
After the evening and early morning naked shenanigans, the two decided to skip their morning run in favor of much needed sleep. While it was Friday, both women had a full day ahead of them and couldn’t afford to be on autopilot. Kate felt Lucy stir behind her and rolled over. “Morning!” Lucy was surprisingly chipper. “Morning,” Kate gave Lucy a quick kiss. “Last night was…hmm, fantastic,” moaned Lucy. Kate grinned in agreement, the night was, indeed, fantastic.
Buzz. Buzz. Kate’s phone started blowing up so she let Lucy have the bathroom first. As much as she would have liked to squeeze in a shower quickie, she needed to respond to the texts immediately. “You go ahead, babe. I’ve gotta take care of this,” she said while frantically texting a reply.
Sheila Masterson: I messed up the dates! The flight is actually tonight! 😬
Kate Whistler: What?!? You said Saturday.
Sheila Masterson: I know. I thought Saturday was the 14th, but I was wrong. Today’s the 14th.
Kate Whistler: Arrival time still the same?
Sheila Masterson: Yes. 6 pm your time. I’m so sorry about this.
Kate Whistler: It’s ok. I’ll move some things around.
Lucy exited the bathroom to find Kate sitting at the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. “Hey honey, everything alright?” Kate looked up. It’s now or never. “Actually, there is something important I need to tell you.” “Of course, I’m all yo…” Lucy’s phone rang before she could finish her sentence. She whispered “sorry” as she picked up the call. “Hey boss, what’s up?” Lucy stood up and moved to the kitchen. “Hmm. Ok. I’ll be there in 15.” She walked back to Kate, “I’m so sorry, that was Tennant. I’ve gotta go in. Talk later?” The blonde stood up to give her girlfriend a hug. “Sure. We’ll talk later.” Lucy leaned up on her toes to plant a kiss on Kate’s cheek.
Lucy Tara: So sorry. I’m swamped today! Won’t be able to meet for lunch.
Kate Whistler: It’s ok. I’m busy too.
Lucy Tara: Dinner tonight?
Kate Whistler: Working late. Tomorrow?
Lucy Tara: It’s a date!
The NCIS team was knee deep in a new case. Detective Reed from HPD asked for assistance with an investigation. Her department was closing in on Trey Santos but evidence had gone missing. Even worse, Reed suspected one of her own was a dirty cop. The team caught a lead when Jesse and Kai stumbled upon an illegal casino. Turned out that Santos was a regular at the weekly poker game and there was an empty seat at the table. The boys couldn’t tell the difference between a full house and a flush, so imagine their surprise when Ms Tara revealed her cardshark status.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Luce?” Jesse couldn’t hide his apprehension about her going undercover. “I mean, the rest of the table will be filled with a bunch of rich guys who think the rules don’t apply to them.” The junior agent let out a chuckle. “Guess all of those weekends at the country club weren’t for nothing.” Tennant had been observing her team going back and forth. “I think Lucy’s ready for this. Go see Ernie and he’ll get you up to speed with your alias and explain how to clone Santos’ phone.”
Ernie set up Lucy with her alias and gave her a crash course on how to use CHAD to recover the info they needed from Santos’ phone. Like Jesse, the tech genius had his own worries about Lucy going undercover. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle her own; the five foot three agent had kicked several butts before. But rather, it was that sometimes the junior agent didn’t know when to ask for help. “Promise me that you’ll be careful and use the safeword if you get in a jam.” Lucy felt blessed that her team cared about her, and she knew that they guys were just being protective of her. “Of course. But I’m not gonna need to,” she responded with confidence.
Lucy couldn’t wait to share her undercover news with Kate. They hadn’t been able to meet for lunch and Kate still needed to share something with her. She had some time before she needed to gown up for the op, so she hopped in her car and flew over to Kate’s. Riding up the elevator to the 12th floor, Lucy could hardly contain her excitement. This was her chance to prove to everyone that she was more than capable of handling an op on her own.
Knock, knock, knock.
Kate mentioned she was working late, but should be home by now. Lucy waited, imagining the kiss she’d plant on her girlfriend when she answered the door. The apartment door opened, but it wasn’t Kate who answered. Lucy stared at the young girl on the other side of the door. She looked to be about 13. Tall, blonde, and had a familiar sharp jawline. One could say she was a Whistler replica. Lucy regained her composure. “Hi. Is Kate home?” The girl smiled and nodded. “Mommmmmm! Some lady’s here for you!!”