[MD2, 5:00PM, University Hospital]

Kate listened to Megan's ranting for about another ten seconds, then in spite of the audience, pushed her against the wall and twisted the girl's arm behind her back. Again. Not hard - she wasn't looking for a lawsuit - but hard enough to get the girl's attention.

"Ouch! You're hurting me," Megan yelled loudly.

"Megan," Kate said, leaning close to the girl's ear, "you can walk out of here with whatever dignity you have left, or I can arrange for handcuffs and leg irons. It's up to you."

"I'll be good," Megan said sarcastically, then in a more sincere tone added, "I promise."

Kate's cell phone chose that inopportune moment to ring. With a sigh, she released Megan, who took a step toward the door only to find her way blocked by Flynn, Patrica and Craig. Kate smiled at the look of defeat on the girl's face and reached for her phone.

"Calloway." She hoped she didn't sound as exasperated as she felt at that moment.

>"Kate, it's Josh."

Kate's mood brightened considerably. "Hi! Uh, could you hold on for just a second." She turned to address the agents. "I need to take this call. Take Megan down to the car. I'll be there in a minute." As they left, she turned to Quinn. "Will, you're not planning on going anywhere, are you?" Somehow, in the midst of all that was going on around him, Officer Quinn had managed to fall asleep. "No, I guess not," Kate whispered. She left the room as quietly as she could, turning off the light as she went. Once she was out in the hallway, she picked up the phone again. "Hi, Josh."

[I didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?]

"That would depend on your definition of a bad time. If this is a pleasure call, and not business, then there's no such thing as a bad time."

[Would you settle for a little of both?]

"I guess I'll have to. Any idea why all the shake ups in Delta?"

[Okay, business first. No idea. Bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo, it came down from the top. Which stock answer do you want?]

Kate laughed. "That'll do. But three team leaders and nine agents in two days does seem a little bit… excessive."

[Ten. Agent Dinah Weill arrives there at eight tomorrow morning.]

"Who's being recalled?"

[Glass.]

Kate blinked a couple times before she answered. "Well, I'll tell him as soon as I… see him." She almost said 'as soon as I find him,' but caught herself and decided to save that little bombshell for later. Misplacing two agents on your first day as TL sounded a bit better if you didn't tell anyone until after you found them! With that reminder, she checked her watch. It was now over an hour since she lost contact with Damian and Sharlyn. As much as she would have loved to stand around in some obscure corner and talk to Josh for the rest of the evening, she knew she couldn't. She allotted herself as much time as it would take to get down to the parking lot.

[So, how are things going there in Virginville?] Josh asked. Kate thought she detected the same hint of sarcasm she heard in her own voice whenever she had to say the name.

"Ah, the town that launched a thousand quips. As one of the security guards on campus took great pleasure in telling me, 'It looks kind of old and dried up right now, but you should have seen it in spring when the cherry trees were in full bloom.' We're keeping busy. We've got a good lead on a suspect, all the pieces of the puzzle seem to be falling into place."

[That was fast. You'll be coming back soon, then.]

"I think so."

[Good. You kept the key.]

"Yeah," Kate said. "You know, you scared the hell out of me with that."

[I noticed. It was just the logical thing to do, though. I really expected to find it in my mail box when I got home.]

"You almost did. But then this image flashed through my mind of you finding it there and thinking that the other night meant nothing to me."

[I know better than that.]

"But can you honestly say you wouldn't have wondered? That's not a fair question is it?" Kate was starting to regret letting the conversation go in this direction. She could almost see Josh smirking at her as he had done a couple times before when her ineptitude was showing, and she knew exactly how to wipe that smirk off his face. But as pleasant as that line of thought was, *this* wasn't the time to be thinking about *that*! Leaving University Hospital, she spotted the rest of her team waiting by the car. "I've got to get back to work."

[See you when you get back.]

"Unless you want to call me back later and talk dirty," Kate said with a wicked grin that carried over into her voice, and quickly cut the connection.


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