Chapter 1
Lucy sits at her desk in the bullpen absentmindedly twirling a strand of her dark curly hair while sorting some old case files. Half-listening to Jesse and Kai playfully argue about what they should do Friday night. Lucy never gets involved in these silly little debates as she would be happy to hangout with her team anywhere.
“Luce?” Jesse questions. “Who are you with? Me or Kai?” But Lucy wasn’t paying much attention to them so she is not quite sure whose side she is supposed to be on.
“Mmm, what?” Lucy mumbles, still looking at the case files.
It’s late on a Thursday evening and they're waiting on some intel for their current case. So all Lucy wants to do is either crawl into her bed and eat pizza or go to the bar near her place, maybe chat up someone cute. Neither of those options involve getting in the middle of whatever debate Kai and Jesse are having.
“I said…” Jesse clears his throat and this forces Lucy to look up. “Should we go to that fun new bar Friday or have a game night?”
“Why not both?” Lucy offers. Kai and Jesse give each other a look like they are thinking through the idea. Lucy shakes her head, spelling it out for them. “We have a little game night and we can pregame a bit and then head to the bar.”
“And that’s why you’re here Luce.” Kai stands up and pats her on the shoulder before heading towards the kitchen.
Lucy smiles and rolls her eyes. Yes, that's why she’s here to help solve the big case of ‘What to do on a Friday night.’ Not the any number of crimes committed by or against the navy on this good old island.
Sometimes she wonders how these two are Special Agents. Not actually though. They are both very smart and can kick ass. But sometimes boys will always be boys.
Lucy is still fairly new to her job. Came to Hawai’i straight from FLETC. Her first real job. She’s glad the team has taken a liking to her though. They all seem to get along well. In some ways Jesse and Kai remind her of her brothers back home, so their banter has quickly become like siblings.
Ernie is Ernie. Lucy quickly took a liking to him and even though he seems annoyed when she enters his ‘lair’ at all times of the day, she knows he secretly loves it.
And Jane Tennant. Wow she couldn’t think of a better boss. All smart and bad ass all the time. But still leaves room for caring. Tennant definitely has helped mentor Lucy along the way this past year. She hopes to become her someday.
“Oh, here comes trouble.” Jesse motions his head towards the door. Lucy’s head shoots up at the familiar sound of heels clicking against the floor.
“Whistler.” Lucy nods her head towards the woman and sucks in a breath. Lucy finds herself sitting up and straightening out her clothes, but she’s not sure why.
“Agent Tara. Agent Boone.” The tall blonde says in their direction, glancing at them for only a second. “I’m just going to speak to Tennant.”
Lucy and Jesse nod as they watch Whistler knock on Tennants door and walk into the room, shutting the door behind her. They exchange a look before going back to their respective paperwork.
Whistler. Where does Lucy even start? She’s driven, Lucy will give her that. But, other than that Whistler is a bit of a mystery. She came here from the DIA in D.C. not that long after Lucy arrived in Hawai’i.
She’s good at her job though. Makes it tough for Lucy and her team sometimes. Well more than sometimes. But, she gets it. They all have a job to do. But, maybe she could be a little more… human?
She’s intense and smart. And there’s something about Whistler that is just incredibly intriguing and aggravating at the same time. No matter how hard Lucy tries to ignore the strange feeling. She has a feeling there’s more to Whistler than she lets on. People are complex and she has the slight urge to find out what’s below the surface. Lucy isn’t sure why though. She guesses it could be that fact that Whistler is one of the most beautiful women Lucy has ever seen. Yeah could be that.
She shakes the thought as the door opens and Tennant and Whistler step out to join the rest of the team. Lucy can tell by the defeated look on Tennant's face that this was not a good meeting.
“Well looks like NCIS is off the case.” Tennant’s look says it all. DIA has shut them down once again.
“Whistler.” Jesse starts and Lucy opens her mouth to argue as well, but Tennant gives them both a look and she closes her mouth slowly, staying silent.
“Goodnight guys.” Jane goes into her office to collect her things and the guys start to do the same.
“So tomorrow night?” Kai gestures and Lucy and Jesse both nod their heads.
“What’s tomorrow?” All three of them whip their heads around, surprised by Whistler's remark.
“Oh. You wouldn’t like it.” Lucy answers quickly. The words escaping her mouth through a smirk. “It’s going to be a lot of fun and not at all professional.”
“We’re going to that new bar.” Kai turns and faces Whistler. Lucy narrows her eyes at him, begging him to stop. “You can join if you’d like.”
Whistler turns to Lucy before Lucy is able to hide the scowl on her face. Whistler grins for a second before moving her lips back to neutral. Clearly enjoying how much this is affecting Lucy.
“Maybe I will.” Whistler smirks at her before turning and heading out of the bullpen. The click, click, click of her heels echoing in the silent room. Lucy finds herself rolling her eyes in annoyance. But not before a small part of her secretly hopes Whistler comes, but the thought is fleeting and leaves almost as soon as it comes.
Kai and Jesse just laugh as they both grab their things and head home. Clearly not so much affected by Whistler's appearance as Lucy. Why is that? They all work with Whistler and are equally affected by her actions. So why is Lucy so hung up on it?
________
A few games (and a few drinks later), the team makes their way from Tennant’s house to the new bar. It just opened up last weekend so it’s a bit crowded with locals and tourists. It’s nice. Island themed as expected. But, the lights are cool. There are tons of neon colored lights with different sea animals.
Everyone opted for a casual dress this evening. Kai, Jesse, and Ernie all sporting different colored Khaki shorts and Ernie has on a signature floral print shirt. Tennant is wearing a casual sundress. The orange flowery dress, bringing out the color in her skin. Lucy opted for a pair of black jeans and a tight fitting pink shirt.
She observes the people in the bar more closely, keeping a hopeful eye out for Whistler. Lucy isn’t sure if the hope is for Whistler to be here or not to be here. That is still undetermined.
She lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as Whistler doesn’t seem to be here. A result of her nerves gone if she was here or relief that she isn’t. Again undetermined.
“Let’s order some drinks, yeah!” Kai shouts towards the group and they make their way over to the bar.
That’s when Lucy sees it. The familiar blonde hair of one tall blonde, beautiful-very annoying-DIA officer. The blonde woman turns around and locks eyes with Lucy right away, smirking.
Whistler is wearing a blue blouse that is low cut, very low cut that Lucy can’t help but notice, and a pair of Khakis. Damn why did it have to be blue? Lucy feels her body heat. Anger? Or maybe it’s something else? Both? Lucy settles on both.
“Whistler!” Lucy hears everyone around her say in surprised but somewhat welcoming voices. But Whistler hasn’t taken her eyes off Lucy. So Lucy hasn’t taken her eyes off Whistler either. They are in a sort of secret stare-down that everyone doesn’t seem to notice. Or maybe they do. But Lucy doesn’t care.
Everyone orders a drink after a round of tequila shots. There were an assortment of beers and mixed drinks ordered. Lucy opted for a tequila lemonade, double.
The guys went off to who knows where and Jane found someone she knew from Alex’s baseball team, one of the player’s dads, Lucy thinks. That leaves Lucy and Whistler at the bar. Lucy watches Kate play with the stir straw in her drink. A vodka soda. While Lucy takes a large sip of her own drink.
“So, uh.” Lucy starts. Not exactly sure how to talk to Whistler, in a non-work setting. They definitely aren’t friends. And they definitely don’t get along. “I guess I don’t really know much about you.”
“Other than you being a pain in my ass.” Lucy adds for good measure with a playful smirk. Was she flirting? No, not flirting. Bickering. That’s what she’ll call this.
“Um.” Whistler looks surprised and Lucy thinks maybe it’s because no one really does know anything about her. She sure hasn’t asked before. “Well, I graduated from Northwestern. Was in a sorority.”
“Wait. You.” Lucy points at Whistler with an amused look on her face. “Kate Whistler. In a sorority?”
“Yup.” Whistler sips her drink with a knowing smile. “I was a Theta.”
“Hmm.” Lucy smirks, thinking of all the new ways she can use this new information against her in the future. “Learn somethin’ new everyday.”
“Hey!” She playfully smacks Lucy’s bicep. “That’s not fair. You know something about me, now I get to know something about you.”
“Fine.” Lucy grumbles. But it’s less of a grumble out of annoyance, more out of playfulness. But, don’t get her wrong there is still plenty of annoyance. “I was a flyer.”
“As in…?” Whistler gestures, hoping Lucy offers more of an explanation.
“As in cheerleading.” Lucy grins, looking up at Whistler.
“Ah.” Whistler hums, taking a sip of her drink. “That checks out.”
“What?” Lucy says, playing it up with an offended tone in her voice.
“I mean.” Whistler motions to her hand, pointing out Lucy’s height. “You are short.”
“Hey!” Lucy spits, narrowing her eyes, but keeping a slight smile on her lips. “We don’t use the s word here. And besides, I'd rather be short than be a robot.”
Whistler's face falls to a frown. She hides it quickly but Lucy can see the pain on her face. Lucy’s heart drops.
Shit.
Lucy was actually having a nice time. Joking around with Whistler. Now she messed that up. She’s the one who is acting mean now. No, that’s not what Lucy wanted at all.
“Someone has to be the bad cop. It’s not always fun.” Lucy sees a flicker of sadness reappear in Whistler's eyes. She feels a ping of regret for being so hard on Whistler all the time. And feels even more regret for being the one to make her feel this way right now.
Lucy feels the urge to reach across the bar and pull Whistler's hand in hers. Weird. She feels herself begin to narrow the space between them. Deciding how to best offer Whistler comfort.
“I don’t think you’re bad.” What the fuck Lucy. She must be drunk, that's it. She can’t be saying this to Whistler. Not here. While their faces are inches apart.
“Um… I…” Something buzzes on the bar table and they both quickly back away from each other. Lucy observes Whistler's face closely and watches as her face twists in confusion. Or was it fear? “Shit. I… I have to go. Bye Lucy. Tell the rest of the team thanks for the invite.”
With that Whistler leaves the bar before Lucy even has the chance to say anything.
What. In. The. Actual. Heck. Just. Happened.
Lucy is left confused? Saddened? Turned on? Annoyed? All of the above? As she watches Whistler leave the bar.
_______
“Whistler!” Lucy says out of breath as she jogs to catch up to Whistler who clearly doesn’t hear her or is choosing to ignore her. “Whistler!”
“Huh?” Whistler stops walking and turns around. This abruptness causes Lucy to run straight into her.
Whistler drops the folders she was holding. Lucy apologizes in sort of a mumble as they both pick up the folders that fell. Whistler's hands brush Lucy’s for a second and Lucy feels heat rise to her cheeks. Instead of questioning why, Lucy is annoyed at Whistler for making her feel this way. Again. Weird.
“Hey, thanks.” Whistler gives Lucy a confused look. Probably since Lucy has been standing there for a moment and hasn’t said a word since shouting her name and then accidentally crashing into her. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to see how you were doing.” Lucy hates the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about Whistler all weekend after she left the bar so quickly. She already thinks about her too much at work. Why does she have to think about her in her personal life too? But, their talk at the bar did seem more along the territory of friends, no acquaintances, so she feels like making sure Whistler is okay is the nice thing to do. Something an acquaintance would do. “You left so quickly the other night.”
“So what you’re saying is you were worried about me?” Whistler laughs before a nervous look takes over her face. “I just got a text from an old friend. A sorority sister actually. Leaving me in a bit of a jam.”
Lucy looks over Whistler and again feels something other than annoyance. For some reason Lucy wants to be the one to cure the concerned look on Whistler’s face. She wants to make her happy. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Actually.” She looks like she starts to move her lips to finish the sentence. Decides against it. Then shakes it off before continuing. “I need a girlfriend.”
“You need a what now?” Lucy’s cheeks redden. She hopes Whistler doesn’t notice.
“I mean I need someone to pretend to be my girlfriend.” Whistler clarifies. But, Lucy must look very confused, so she continues. “Long story short, Grace and I are what you’d call frenemies. And she and her fiancé are coming to the island for a week. I know it’s pathetic but I don’t really have many friends and I want to show her I have a life. Even if it’s fake.”
Lucy considers this for a moment. Whistler and her don’t exactly get along. She can’t do this right? The pain on Whistler's face appears back in Lucy’s mind and she finds herself not wanting to ever see that look on Whistler’s face again. And in that moment Lucy finds herself wanting to do anything not to see that look again. They could make it work right? How hard could it be?
“I’m in.” Lucy responds, ignoring all the alarm bells going off in her head.