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English
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Published:
2011-06-08
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777
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1/1
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Detail

Summary:

Four short scenes from a Secret Service partnership.

Notes:

I gave myself a plot bunny in a crossover meme with the thought of Pete and Kate on the same Secret Service detail (though to be fair, I posted the prompt because crazedcrusader first set me on the idea); this starts out pre-canon for both shows, but eventually catches up with Kate's NCIS canon.
I don't own either show. I just borrow out of love.

Work Text:

After three weeks of, as far as she can tell, failing to learn anything, Kate snaps. “Look, Lattimer, would it kill you to at least pretend you’re taking this seriously?”

“You’d hate to see me kidding,” he replies, around a mouthful of vending machine cookies.

“You might think this is working out, but I think I should know a little bit more about counterfeiting prevention than I do by now, if I’m going to stay on this detail.”

“Okay,” Lattimer says, “quiz time. What’s the base of the paper US currency is made from?”

“Cotton.”

“Active ingredient in those detector pens?”

“Iodine.” Kate frowns. “Why, what are you--”

“And how do people try to get around the special paper issue?”

“Bleaching lower denominations, but you can’t get rid of the watermark like that.”

Lattimer grins. “And you say you haven’t learned anything.”

***

Pete’s on his third evening beer when the vibe hits - and it’s a huge one. It’s so big, in fact, that despite his standing policy against drunk-dialing his coworkers, he’s got his phone out and Kate’s number dialed before he can stop himself.

“Hello?”

“Don’t go to the Pentagon tomorrow, Kate.”

“But...” He can hear the confusion in her voice. “We have to get that briefing in, and anyway, the DoD wants the--”

“Trust me, Kate. Don’t go. Don’t. ‘s gonna be a bad day to be the Pentagon. Or New York, is your sister in New York? Tell her to get out of New York.”

“No, she’s in Boston, she’s there until Saturday - Pete, are you drunk?”

“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. The Pentagon can wait another day. Just - don’t. Please?”

“...All right,” Kate finally says. “But you’re explaining this tomorrow if nothing happens.”

As it turns out, Pete doesn’t have to explain anything at all the next day, but he does break another standing policy of his and gets a drink with lunch. But Kate does too - it seems to be one of those days - so he thinks he’s allowed to break it this once.

***

When Kate’s transferred to the presidential detail, her partners in the counterfeiting detail throw her a party. Before it’s halfway over, she suspects Pete’s too drunk to be fit for social contact with anyone, and yet he hasn’t gone home.

It’s times like these she’s glad DC has such good mass transit. If he gets on the wrong subway line, that’s one thing, but if he tried to drive home in this state - well, she wouldn’t let him.

“Presidential detail? Why the hell’d you apply for that, Todd?”

“Someone has to do it,” she says, “whatever you might think of the election results. Besides, it’s a great honor.”

“Still. Maybe they need, I dunno, a detail to protect lawyers from the vice president. He weirds me out, man.”

Kate smiles a little, almost despite herself. “Be that as it may, I think it’s time for you to put down the beer.”

Pete shrugs. “I can handle one more for tonight.”

“Do you always say that to yourself? Don’t think I haven’t noticed how often you come into work hungover, Pete. Not to mention the time you drunk-dialed me. I have no problem with relaxing in moderation, but I think you lost track of moderation a long time ago.”

“Yeah, well. You haven’t - seen what I’ve seen.”

Kate raises an eyebrow. “I’ll give you that one, but - as many times as you’ve said you wish you could talk to your father again, do you really think he’d be proud of you if he saw you like this?”

Pete freezes, then pushes his half-finished beer away from himself. “Low blow, Todd. Low blow.”

“But I note you’re not telling me I’m wrong.”

***

Pete gets the news about Kate’s death three hours before he’s supposed to pick up his three-year sobriety chip.

What he wants to do is get absolutely plastered, but that would do a disservice to her memory, especially since she gave him the shove that got him dried out in the first place. What he does instead is request annual leave to go to Evansville for the funeral; it’s the least he can do.

He almost doesn’t talk about it at the meeting that night, but - well, the whole idea is to talk about the things that might drive you to drink, right? So he does, and while nobody else has lost a former coworker or a friend quite so dramatically, there are a few people who know the general feeling, and that helps.

It’s because of her that, a few years later - when there’s a candidate that he actually halfway respects - Pete applies for presidential detail.