Work Text:
Danny frowned at the bouquet of flowers that he had just been handed by a delivery service, stomping down the hall to the family room where Kara was sitting, glass of wine in hand as she reviewed paperwork. "You want to tell me why somebody else is sending you flowers?"
Kara raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps as a hint that you should send me some?"
"I ..." Danny started to protest, before realizing that he didn't have much to say, having never, in fact, sent Kara flowers. Partially because that type of thing was impossible after the virus hit, but also because he never thought about it.
She started laughing. "Oh your face!"
"Hey, I brought flowers to the hospital after SJ was born," Danny protested, setting the arrangement down on their train-slash-coffee table. Although now that he was thinking about it, he didn't do anything when Frankie was born. Not that he knew about the birth until after the fact, since Frankie arrived early and communications to the Nathan James in the Pacific were spotty, at best. Still, that did seem like a pretty big occasion to miss. He should have figured out something.
Kara seemed to agree, looking less than impressed with him as she snagged the card. Flipping it open, she grinned as she turned it so Danny could see Sasha's name.
That raised even more questions. "Why is Sasha sending you flowers?"
"Because, as of this afternoon, I work for her," Kara replied, lifting her wine casually, as if she hadn't just dropped a huge bomb.
Danny stood, staring at her blankly. "What?"
Kara shrugged, smiling mischievously. "Mike fired me so..."
"Mike fired you?" Danny interrupted, before stumbling to a seat, grabbing Kara's drink, and chugging it in one go. "You're the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations. Plus, Andrea is going out on maternity leave in a couple of months so he's already short a Vice-Chief. How the hell is he going to run his office?"
"That," Kara replied, standing to refill her wine, "is not my problem."
Her voice held just a bit of an edge, one that Danny recognized. Kara might be acting cool, but she was pissed — or hurt. Probably both, Danny guessed. He reached over to take her hand. "What happened?"
"Mike took issue with me agreeing to let Maddie move in here and fired me," Kara explained, confirming Danny's guess. She grinned at him smugly. "So, I asked Sasha if her job offer was still open. Not only was it open but Sasha sweetened the deal with a pay raise and a three-month maternity leave policy. You are looking at the new Assistant Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency."
Danny grabbed the wine bottle. "God help us all."
xxxxx
Mike stomped into Sasha's office. "Why is my Assistant Chief of Naval Operations working out of the DIA office?"
"Hello to you as well, Captain Slattery. Lovely day, isn't it?" Sasha replied, smiling sweetly. When Mike simply glowered, she continued. "As it happens, my new Assistant Deputy Director is settling in very nicely. It's so kind of you to come by and check."
"Sasha," Mike said, voice definitely irritated, "you promised not to poach my people."
Sasha's grin grew. "I promised not to steal away any of your current personnel. However, as you fired Kara, she was a free agent. One that I scooped."
He narrowed his eyes. "Kara knew I wasn't serious. I was just upset."
Sasha shrugged. "Doesn't change the prior answer."
"Kara told my wife that it was okay to leave me and move into her spare bedroom," Mike snapped.
"Again, that doesn't change a thing that I said. Although," Sasha said, holding up a hand to stop Mike from talking, "in the future, I suggest considering why your wife wants to move out before you do something stupid like firing the person who keeps your office running smoothly."
Mike actually growled. "You made your point. Now give me back Kara."
Sasha looked at the ceiling, as if she was considering his proposal, before meeting his eyes. "No."
Mike threw up his arms. "How the hell am I supposed to run Naval Operations without Kara? Especially with Andrea going on leave soon?"
"That is not my problem." Sasha picked up her pen, clicking it as she lifted a stack of paper. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my new Assistant Deputy Director has a number of proposals for me to consider, so I really need to get cracking."
She waited until Mike was almost to the door to speak. "Unless you're planning to also fire Lieutenant Green. In which case, I have a phone call to make. And it won't be to Utt."
The one-finger salute that Mike threw in Sasha's direction was definitely not regulation.
xxxxx
Danny juggled the fruit basket and the tower of assorted chocolates that had just been delivered as he headed down the hall. Kara was in the nursery, rocking SJ. She looked up as he entered. He showed her the offerings. "Fruit from Mike, chocolate from Sasha."
She shook her head. "Does he seriously think fruit beats chocolate?"
Chuckling, Danny pulled out an apple. "Apparently he asked Maddie for ideas, but she refuses to get involved. Said something about natural consequences and grown men having temper tantrums. When he came by to see the team, I suggested a basket of green apples."
"Does Mike know that green apples are your favorite and I only eat them covered in chocolate?" Kara asked, stroking SJ's head.
Danny shrugged. "I may have forgotten to mention that." Then he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "Maybe he'll fire me. I heard through the grapevine that there's a job opening at DIA for someone with my skill set."
As Kara chuckled, SJ began to fuss, and she returned to her rocking. She glanced down, sighing. "He's already so big. Almost a year."
Danny leaned against the door. "Is that a hint that you're ready to think about another one?"
Kara didn't answer immediately, instead gazing down at SJ. Then she grinned at him, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Well, Sasha did promise me a nice long maternity leave. I should take advantage of it."
He narrowed his eyes. "Why would she do that? Was she betting you were done after two?"
Kara snorted. "No. She's betting that Mike will eventually find a way to get me back in Naval Operations, but he'll have to give me the same amount of leave. It's something to lord over him."
"That woman is scary," Danny replied, turning to deposit the offerings in the kitchen. "Let me know once SJ is asleep. I have plans for tonight."
"Those plans better involve chocolate!" Kara called softly.
Danny considered, then tossed a chocolate bar onto their bed before going to put the apples away.
xxxxx
President Oliver stared at Mike, incredulously. "You're asking me to order Commander Green to resign from her position with the DIA and return to her position at Naval Operations?"
Mike winced. He wouldn't have put it quite like that. "Well, um, yes."
Oliver shook his head. "Admiral Slattery, you have two choices."
Mike brightened. "Yes?"
"You can do the work yourself, or you can apologize and beg." Oliver stood. "Now, get out of my office."
xxxxx
Danny considered the contract sitting on the kitchen table as he ate a donut that was delivered earlier. Bacon would be pissed that Mike ordered from Tim Hortons rather than the Hangout, but Danny figured that was Mike's problem. It really didn't matter that Danny was the one to tell Mike that Kara preferred Tim Hortons. After all, Mike was the one who thought Kara actually ate donuts.
As if she would waste the calories on something that wasn't chocolate.
He looked up at his wife. "You're sure you want to balance the two of them?"
Kara made a face. "Not really, but it is the best way to train people and there is a lot of overlap with the positions. The hardest part will be pretending to ignore the snipping and gloating."
"You could probably stomp on his foot and Mike wouldn't dare fire you again," Danny pointed out. "Did he really apologize for losing his temper?"
"Not just that, but I can write my own offer." Kara smiled, lifting her pen. "So, I am."
xxxxx
Sasha relaxed against the couch, enjoying her glass of wine as she updated Tom on the Mike-Kara debacle. "So I'll keep Kara fulltime for the next three months while she gets operations at DIA on track and trains Dennis with how to organize the records. Then she will split her time evenly between Naval Operations and DIA."
Tom picked up Sasha's foot, pressing his thumb into the middle of her sole where there was always a knot. "Does Mike know that she's pregnant again?"
Snickering, Sasha shook her head. "Nope. But he did agree to a four-month maternity leave — for both Kara and Danny. So he'll be looking for a temporary Vice Chief and Deputy Chief. How do you feel about working for Mike? You might score some green apples and donuts out of the deal."
Tom leaned forward to give Sasha a kiss. "Haven't you heard? I'm retired."