Black Swan-Sara Lance

Witch Hunt...

1 week later...

I was writing a budget proposal for the bureau when a door closed somewhere. I was immediately concerned and got up from my desk.

"Gary? Is that you? Did you sleepwalk to work again?" I turned my head and Nate jumped out in front of me.

"Oh my god!" He yelled at me. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nate?" I asked him in shock. "What the hell are you doing here? And why aren't you wearing pants?" I looked away from his bare legs.

"I can explain." He said as he took the toothbrush out of his mouth. "And thank you for not mentioning the shower cap." He pulled the shower cap off of his head.

"Pretend I did."

"Coconut oil. Makes my hair more buoyant."

"Really? I should try that. And the pants thing?" I looked away from him again.

"Well, I decided to extend my trip to 2018, and I may possibly be living a little bit at the bureau."

"You couldn't spring for a hotel?"

Well, here's a fun fact about staying in the present; it costs money, and as a legend, your salary is the friendships you make along the way." He said as optimistically as he could.

"Gotcha."

"Yeah. And you? I know you love paperwork, but..." He eyed the papers on my desk.

""Oh, yes, I'm presenting my budget to the Department of Defense tomorrow." I explained. "Rip was always good at schmoozing the bigwigs. It was never really my thing. And now with this whole magic initiative, we're gonna need even more money."

"I can help. I'm great at schmoozing."

"Hmm? Oh, uh, no- no, thank you."

"What? Why not? I need a place to stay. You need a wingman. It'll be fun and we can hang out. We'll get into adventures."

"Okay, okay, you know what. Let's do it." I said to shut him up. How bad could it be? "Just put some pants on." He walked away but turned back quickly.

"Hey, you just got schmoozed."

"I did, didn't I?" I asked underneath my breath.

XXX

"All right guys." Nate said as he, Gary, and I walked down the time bureau hallway. "Remember the three C's of pitching- confidence, charisma- Oh crap. That's my dad." He pointed to one of the agents from the Department of Defense.

"Wait a second. That's your dad?"

"Yeah." He whispered. "This must be one of his secret government projects he can never talk to me about. I can't go in there, Cat. I will make this worse."

"Come on, Nate. You're family. How bad could it be?"

"Oh, last time I saw him I insulted his life's work and literally told him I don't need your money."

"Oh, okay that's bad."

"Mhm."

"Look, I cannot do this alone."

"You don't have to." He told me.

"Thank you."

"Gary, you know my part of the pitch, right?" He turned to the agent.

"Okay, okay, maybe I can do this alone." I said quickly.

"No, look at this guy. He's got confidence, charisma-" Gary cut Nate off.