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Since Kate moved to Hawai’i, nearly every day and night had perfect weather. It was an adjustment for someone who had a collection of winter coats and autumn sweaters, whose fondest memories included building snowmen with her brother and sledding down the hill behind their house with her parents. She felt stupid complaining about nice weather, so she kept the temperature in her apartment low and wore the few hoodies she’d brought with her at home, pretended she could feel a winter snap in the air while she drank hot coffee from an oversized mug.
She was grateful for it now, because she’d been wearing a nice, warm hoodie when the fire alarm went off and she had to unexpectedly walk out into a wet, cold night. Because O'ahu had maybe three nights all year that were both wet and cold - or at least, under sixty degrees - and of course the night that the guy in 4C had stuck tinfoil in his microwave was one of them.
Not for the first time, she wished she’d gotten that beautiful apartment with the balcony overlooking the ocean instead of the one eight miles inland with only two windows overlooking a parking lot. She couldn’t imagine the neighbors there being too high to remember to take the aluminum off their leftovers, and even if they had, they’d probably be so far on the other side of the building she’d be back in her apartment by now.
Instead, she nodded politely at her downstairs neighbor, 2A, a sweet older woman who gave her gingerbread cookies at Christmas, glared at 4C as he sat on the curb with his head in his hands, and wondered if she could get any work done on her phone
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed movement in the bushes at the back of the parking lot. And then a flash of hair and part of an arm.
All but one of the firefighters were in the building and she was busy with the building manager. So Kate squared her shoulders and marched over to deal with person hiding in the bushes herself.
“Hello,” she said to the bushes. “Can I ask what you’re doing back there?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” they said.
While the person sounded more morose than evasive or threatening, that was not going to cut it. “I work for the DIA and I live in this building, so I need you to tell me why you're hiding over here.”
“First of all, I’m NCIS, so pulling the cop card is not real impressive to me. Second, I live in the building, too,” said the bushes irritably, “I just … don’t want to come out right now.”
Kate, frowned, softening. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” said the bushes. “Please go away.”
“Look, the firefighters said we can’t go back in the building until they make sure everything’s structurally sound, and who knows how long that's going to take. So why don't you come out here and let me help you.”
There was a long pause, and then a reluctant, “Fine.”
The bushes rustled and swayed, and then out stepped 4B.
She probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Their apartment building only had about forty or so people living in it, and if 4B had been in the crowd huddled in the parking lot, Kate would’ve noticed. She always noticed when 4B was around; it was impossible not to, she was stunning, beautiful eyes and dark curls and a contagious smile. Still smarting from her breakup with Cara before she moved, she hadn’t gotten up the courage to say anything to 4B other than ‘hi’ or ‘I think you dropped you umbrella’ that one time, but she’d been working up to it. Apparently fate and a stoned idiot had moved up her timetable.
Why 4B had been hiding in the bushes was obvious, once Kate was done being flustered enough to take in her appearance. She was wearing an overlarge t-shirt that went about a third of the way down her thighs and no pants. The t-shirt had some unfortunately place holes, too; nothing exposed anything strictly R-rated, but enough for Kate to be sure she wasn’t wearing a bra. “I was on my way to get my clothes from the laundry room when the alarm went off,” she said, scuffing her flip-flop on the pavement. “I got busy at work, let it go ’til this was all I had when I got blood on my work clothes today. Y’know what it’s like, right, working at DIA?”
She didn’t, because Kate’s pantsuits all went to the same dry cleaners every other Thursday and she spent every Sunday night washing the rest of her clothes. Except when … she narrowed her eyes. “Are you the one who keeps using all of the washing machines at the same time?”
“Sometimes? Maybe?” 4B gestured at her bare legs and shivered. “I think karma has already taught me a lesson.”
“Uh, here.” Kate unzipped her hoodie, shrugged it off and held it out towards 4B. “Take this.”
“No, I couldn’t -“
At that moment, the wind whipped up again and 4B had to pull on the bottom of t-shirt to keep it from flying up. All her exposed skin was prickled with goosebumps and the bases of her nails were purple-blue with cold.
Kate shook the hoodie aggressively in 4B’s direction, who smiled awkwardly and took it.
“Thanks,” she said softly as she pulled it on, zipped it up, tugged the hood over her head and buried her fingers into the overlong sleeves. The bottom of it brushed her knees and Kate tried not to find it adorable. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
The misting rain was starting to dampen her shirt and she was already missing the warmth of her hoodie. “I’m fine.”
The wind blew again, not as hard as before, but enough for her to shiver.
4B pursed her mouth and looked around. “C’mere,” she said, grabbing Kate’s hand and towing her to the far end of the parking lot, to the benches under a pair of koa trees. One of the benches was under enough branches to be almost dry. 4B wiped off what water she could with her hand and then sat, tugging Kate down next to her. She opened the hoodie back up, ignoring Kate’s protest, then draped the left half over Kate’s shoulder. “Put your arm through.”
“But -“
Huffing, 4B leaned in and wrapped her left arm around Kate’s back, leaning in close. “It’s a big hoodie, it’s stretchy, we can both fit.”
Trying really, really hard not to blush, Kate put her left arm through the arm of the hoodie, then gingerly wrapped her right around 4B.
Together, they pulled the hoodie closed and zipped it up. The green and white stripped fabric pulled against both of them, but 4B was right, it fit.
It was also a lot, going from not getting the courage up to talk to 4B for months to being pressed up to her, wrapped around her, feeling her fingers clutch at Kate’s side.
“So … NCIS," she said awkwardly.
“Yep. And you’re DIA.” 4B’s eyes flicked over Kate and she smiled. “Wish you’d been assigned to work with us instead of Dalton. He’d never lend me his hoodie.”
“No, definitely not,” Kate said with feeling. She didn’t get along very well with any of her colleagues, but Dalton was particularly insufferable. “You wouldn’t happen to be the agent that got him into trouble by reading a report upside down, would you?”
“Yeah,” 4B said, laughing; then she bit her lip, her big eyes staring into Kate’s. “Um. My name’s Lucy, by the way. Lucy Tara.”
Caught up in 4B’s - Lucy’s gaze, Kate extended her free hand to shake on autopilot, just like she would if she was meeting a colleague at work. “Kate Whistler.”
Lucy looked down at her hand with quizzical amusement, then took it with her own free hand and awkwardly shook it as best she could. “Nice to meet you, Kate Whistler."
And her hand lingered, and her thumb brushed Kate’s wrist, and Lucy was such a nice name, and Kate wanted to tell her that, but also she couldn’t help letting her eyes drop to Lucy’s lips, still a little pink from her biting them, and she couldn’t help but notice that Lucy was still holding her hand, and Kate opened her mouth to say something, maybe ask her out or up to her apartment for some coffee or -
“Excuse me.”
Kate jumped, jostling Lucy so much she might’ve fallen off the bench if they weren’t stuck together, and looked up to see the nice old lady from 2A smiling at them. “Sorry,” 2A said kindly, “but they’re letting us go back inside and I thought you’d like to know.”
Now she was definitely blushing.
She unzipped the hoodie and unwound herself from it and from Lucy, allowing her fingers to brush along Lucy’s back as she did. “Keep it,” she said, as Lucy tried to shrug off her her half. “You can bring it back after you get your laundry.”
Lucy smirked at her as she zipped the hoodie back up again. "That almost sounded suggestive, DIA Whistler."
Kate grinned right back. "Only if you want it to be, Special Agent Tara."
*
Buzzing with anticipation, Kate walked back into her apartment with a bounce in her step. She’d barely had time to change her wet shirt for a dry one and pull out a new hoodie - blue with pink stripes this time - when there was a knock at her door.
She opened it to Lucy, now wearing black pants and a flow-y blue top, her hair and skin still damp from the rain. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Lucy held out the hoodie. “I wanted to return this.”
Kate took it, trying not to smile too wide. “Thank you.”
“And I thought,” Lucy pressed on, holding up the bottle that was in her other hand, “maybe I could thank you with some wine.”
“That sounds great. Actually," Kate said, trying not to sound too eager, "I was about to order something for dinner, if you want to join me.”
“That sounds great,” Lucy said, stepping into Kate’s apartment. Then she frowned. “Why’s it so cold in here?”
*
A year later, 4A set his couch on fire somehow. This time, they were both wearing Kate's hoodies, and pants, and Kate was hugging Lucy from behind as they waited in the parking lot, and they were both completely, comfortably warm.
"Y'think we should move?" Lucy asked as they watched 4C try to explain how the couch had caught on fire with increasingly elaborate hand gestures. "I'm getting kinda worried he's gonna burn the place down one day."
"Both of us?" Kate asked as calmly as she could even while her heart started beating double time. "Together?"
"Of course," Lucy said, turning her head enough that Kate could see her smirk. "I have to go where the hoodies go, in case of future laundry emergencies."
"Oh, and is that the only reason?"
"And I sort of love you." Lucy turned around completely and pushed up on her tiptoes, kissing Kate soft and sweet. "Move in with me?" she asked, soft and vulnerable.
"Absolutely," Kate whispered, kissing her back.
As Lucy settled back down in her arms, Kate looked at 4C over her shoulder and realized she might owe him a thank you.
And maybe she should get him some fire extinguishers. Just in case.