The Death of Katie Donnelly
Katie slipped in quietly, a tray of scones and muffins in her arms. She was well guarded against the elements in a form-flattering double breasted black wool peacoat with a faux fur lined hood. She set down the tray and removed her coat, hanging it on a coat rack by the bar. Dancing behind the bar, she began to prepare coffee and tea. She arranged the scones and muffins neatly so people could help themselves. Then she began to get out mugs and teacups to arranged them as well.
Nate drifted into the club behind His Kitten, pausing by the door to shrug out of his leather jacket. Underneath he's dressed up warm against the cold weather outside, and he hangs the jacket with hers by the bar. His eyes follow her as she dances across the floor, brighter than he'd first seen her. She was starting to come out of her shell, as he'd promised to do to her. He followed her back to the tray and brushed his fingers over her neck then down her back and around her waist.
Seeley lifted his eyes from his newspaper, seeing the coffee girl arrive with her usual array of food and drink. He started to fold his newspaper, preparing to collect something to drink, then noticed the man following her in. The man from the other night. Predatory. He stopped folding his paper, watching the pair as they covered the floor, her dancing, him striding purposefully. She seemed happy. Maybe he wasn't so bad for her after all.
He settled back into the couch and continued reading, giving them the occasional glance over the top. He still needed to tell her he'd passed on that message she gave him, The one he didn't look at. He only passed it on to Caroline, so it was out of his hands. It could wait.
Katie was dressed warm as well, though as she warmed up, the scarf came off, revealing the silver chain that served at her collar sitting on the middle of her neck. Her eyes fluttered and she closed her eyes as his fingers brushed over her neck, down to her waist, her body shifting fluidly to his touch.
Her eyes landed on Seeley and she gave him a friendly wave, a warm smile on her lips. Seeley, even if he hadn't passed on the message, he was still counted among very few Katie considered to be 'friend'. She reached for her messenger bag on the counter and pulled out two thermoses. One for her Master, and one for Seeley. “Master, please come with me a moment? I want You to meet someone.”
Seeley waved his paper at Katie in greeting, then folded it up and put it to one side, assuming he was the someone she meant.
Nate felt her motion and let her move however she wanted. He lifted his head, no longer focused on her, and noticed the man with the newspaper she looked at. She knew there was someone she made coffee for in the morning, so that must have been him. “Of course Kitten.”
Katie led Him over to Seeley and smiled warmly, holding out a thermos and a scone for Seeley. “Good morning, Seeley,” she began. “this is Nathaniel.” She said softly, using her Master's given name because Seeley couldn't very well call him Master too, right? She looked up at Nate then. “Master…this is my….friend,” She tested the word, then seemed pleased when it sounded right, “Seeley Booth.”
Seeley rose to his feet, holding out his hand for Nathaniel to shake. His eyes darted back and forth between Katie and her new man, noting the term she used to refer to him. He'd seen the collar yesterday, knew what it meant, had assumed. But he'd seen her with two men. Now he knew. “Pleasure.” He still regarded him with a little worry, he thought of her as a little sister.
Nate stepped out from behind Katie. His eyes narrowed a little as he took the man's hand, looking him up and down. If she considered him a friend then he could do the same. “Colt, please.” He gave Seeley's hand a firm shake in greeting.
Katie watched the two men, her smile slightly showing teeth, relieved that, even if there was some tension, they seemed to understand that they were both important to Katie. She leaned lightly on her Master and looked between them, still holding the coffee and scone for Seeley.
Seeley extracted his hand from Colt's grasp, reaching out to relieve Katie of the thermos and scone. “Thank you.” He unscrewed the top of the flask, smelling the barely bitter aroma of the black coffee inside, enjoying how it smelled. “You always make the best coffee.” He grinned his usual lopsided, boyish grin and looked back to Colt. “What do you do, Colt?” Direct. He wanted to make sure he could look after his friend. His little sister.
Nate turned his head slightly as she leaned on him, his arm reaching around her waist to hold her close. “You do.” He murmured, agreeing with Seeley. The question caught him unaware and he responded directly without thinking. “Fire department. I'm a Captain in Southside.”
Katie turned red as Seeley asked him what he did, even though she smiled to hear them both praising her coffee. “My goal is to have the best coffee in the city…” She murmured, pushing her glasses up on her nose.
Seeley took a sip from his coffee while he waited for a response. Fire department. He was a good man if he did that sort of work. His goofy grin returned somewhat brighter now he knew she would be safe. Well, safe enough. He wasn't going to change her mind if she was happy with this man. “FBI.” He offered his job without asking, in return for the information he'd been given.
Nate chuckled quietly. Something was on her mind if she was pushing her glasses up her nose again. “You're already well on the way.” He spoke quietly, only to her, even with the man in front of him close enough to hear. If he was going to have to deal with someone she considered to be her big brother, it didn't hurt to have someone in the FBI as that big brother. “Good. Good.” He didn't know exactly how to respond to that.
Katie blinked as her phone rang in the pocket of her dress and she fished it out, looking at the unfamiliar number. Figuring it had to do with her mother, she still got calls. How many times did she have to explain that her mother was dead? She took a step away from the two men and answered it. “Hello? Yes, this is she…” She frowned then and her back straightened, lips pressed into a line. “No, I'm sorry. Niall Shea doesn't live here. No, I don't know where to find him.” Something was upsetting her. “Listen, mister.” She bit out as she took another step from the two men. “He bailed. I don't know him, I don't know where he is and I don't want to know.” She blinked and then her face went blank, expressionless. “I have no father.” She seethed, then hung up.
Nate watched his Kitten as she took the call, seeing her frustration. He didn't like seeing her like this when she had been so happy ever since meeting him. “Problem, Kitten?”
Seeley watched as she took the call. He took a sip from his thermos as she spoke on her phone. He was about to ask Colt something before he heard something that made all the color in his face drain. He closed his mouth. Tight. Was it his place to say anything? He should if it was upsetting her that much. “Katie? Did I hear you say 'Niall Shea'?” All his muscles tensed, a nagging feeling at the back of his mind as he dug through memories of recent cases. Then he found it.
Shit. Fuck. Damnit. All those words he wouldn't say out loud. She had to know.
Katie snapped her gaze between her Master and Seeley and while she was trembling, while 'Public Katie' was very much out in full force, she'd been asked questions. She knew answering Seeley would also answer her Master, and so that was how she addressed it. “Niall Shea is my father. If you could call him that. He bailed on my mother the moment she told him she was pregnant with me. He's on my birth certificate but I've never seen him, never met him. I don't know anything about him and that caller was looking for him. But why call me?” She was shaking in anger.
Nate moved to stand behind His Kitten and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Everything will be fine. You have me. I'll keep you safe.”
Seeley held out his hand and was prepared to ask her to hand over her phone. Immediately. Then her Master seemed to go into protective mode. If only he knew. He was about to find out. “No, it won't. You won't.” He reached up to pinch his nose with his left hand, face still drained of color, his goofy grin gone from his lips. Serious Seeley. You did not want to mess with him when he got into this mood.
“Your Father? Niall Shea? He's a high-up in the Irish mob. Sorry… Was a high-up in the Irish mob until last month.” He'd been called in on that one. It was a sensitive case. He breathed a long, exasperated sigh. “Hide. Change your name. Change your hair color. Change everything you can about yourself because that was probably the same people who contracted the job on your father.” Now she knew. “Hold that thought.”
He pulled out his old fashioned flip phone and punched in the numbers, walking into the shadows where nobody could hear the conversation he was about to have.
Nate listened to Seeleys comments to his Kitten. He should be the one protecting her but here was a man doing that job better than he could. “Do you trust him, Kitten?” He couldn't think of anything else to say about the matter, it was outside of everything he knew.
Katie paled as the sheer gravity of words cracked her shell. For a moment, she looked like she'd been punched in the gut. A…what?
Words disintegrated in her mind as he told her to…change everything? What? She looked to her Master, then back to Seeley as he walked away. Her gaze went to her phone and she almost dropped it. The world tilted. Shifted. Crackled. None of her tells to give away her state. She was frozen. Everyone in the city knew to give the various mafias and their factions a wide berth. She was… A word brought her back, for a moment, her focus and her gold-flecked blue eyes honing in on her Master. She couldn't speak. A dumb nod. She trusted Seeley.
Katie breathe. She had to tell herself. Her knees had locked to keep herself upright, but even that had its own pitfalls. Speaking of falls…
She was falling.
Nate reacted instinctively and caught Katie under her arms before she fell. He turned her body to set her down on the couch Seeley had been sitting on to give her support. His back went up from the way Seeley had caused this to happen to her before he realised he was looking out for her. He looked over to the G-man as if to ask for help, but couldn't say anything.
Seeley returned from where he went to make a few phone calls, folding his phone closed and putting it back into his pocket. He realised he hadn't actually taken her phone from her when he said to give it to him, and he took it from her fingers now, popped the back, pulled the battery, then dropped it and crushed it under his heel.
“I've pulled in so many goddamn favors right now. Go to the FBI building, tell them Seeley sent you. There will be a package ready, and her obit will be in the papers in the morning. Say goodbye to Katie, say hello to Kathleen Nichele McMichael.”
Katie stayed unconscious for several moments before she stirred in time to have her phone snatched from her fingertips. Her arms reached for her Master, and then Seeley began to talk. More words. He wasn't making sense. Or maybe she wasn't making sense. She was struggling to bring Public Katie back online. 404: PublicKatie.tv/run not found.
He'd killed her off. Well…not killed her. But he'd killed her. Katie was dead.
She exploded back online. Favors? She looked at Seeley in shock. Had he put himself in danger? She pushed the thought away. He'd said he worked Homicide, he was likely always in danger. Her gaze went to her Master then and her fingers flexed. Hold me…
Nate took in everything Seeley was saying as his Kitten came back to him. He crouched down beside her and leaned against her, putting one arm around her to comfort her as well as he could. “So, let me get this straight. You've given her a new life, for, what exactly? I should be the one to protect her, not you.” He was starting to get a little cagey and aggressive because he couldn't protect her.
Seeley breathed in deeply, a long breath through his nose to gather his thoughts and plan a course of action. He reached up to pinch his nose again, taking even longer. When he finally brought his hand down and spoke, his voice was quiet, calm, controlled. Not to be messed with. “Yes. I'm doing you both a favor. I don't know you, but it's obvious that she loves you, and it's obvious you are good for her. Before you came into her life, she was quiet and reserved. Now.” He paused. For emphasis. “Now, I can see how you make her feel.” Always observant. Part of the job.
“I've done my part. She's like a little sister to me. I want her to be happy. Now it's your turn. Take her home, look after her. Do what you need to do.” He wanted to punch something. It wouldn't do to punch the man who made her happy, so he choked down that feeling. “Just. Do it.”
Katie felt His tension…and ironically it helped her even more. He needed her. She leaned into him, slipping her arms around him, her eyes slipping to Seeley. Her eyes closed and she nodded. She made a mental note to have a courier deliver his coffee and scones to him tomorrow, and she looked back up at her Master. “You protect me wonderfully. I think…this is one time where a little help…isn't a bad thing. He's…giving you the tools to keep your promise….” She whispered. “Look at it that way, Master…please…” She added softly. Neither Katie nor Nate would have known how to best keep her safe, but with what Seeley had done, they'd been handed the manual. They could learn together.
Nate reached under her to pick her up and carry her off. “I'll accept your judgment on this, Kitten.” He lifted her and turned to look at Seeley. He was still feeling aggressive, but it wasn't directed at the man in front of him. It was directed at whoever had been on the other end of her phone call. He couldn't do anything about that but he could protect his Kitten. “Thank you, Seeley? That was your name? For protecting my Kitten in a way I couldn't.” It hurt to admit that the G-man had done something he couldn't but it was the truth. “Come on, let's get that package and get you home safe.” He carried her to the front door and into the dangerous world beyond.
“This is where You take over. Protect me in a way no one else can.” She whispered softly in his ear as he carried her out. She closed her eyes and touched her long, beautiful brown hair and sighed.
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