Chapter 4

"Um, unless you have an accountant in your pocket, I don't know that I have a lot of choice. From what Minerva said when I asked her, there is a list of approved people that Agents can contact. People that the Agency trusts not to divulge information and so on."

"Kat, I don't have one in my pocket, but I have the number of one programmed into my Comm." Pan's expression turned pensive, for a moment, as if trying to make a decision. He pulled Kat back down into his lap before continuing.

"We haven't talked a lot about our pasts. I know the Agency would prefer if we never did, but sometimes I wonder. I respect your privacy and would never pry, and I guess I was not talking about my own so that you would not feel pressured."

"Here's the thing." he continued, looking embarrassed now. "I'm ... well off. My family is in ship building, you see, and I was given a piece of the company when I was a child. I got more as I got older, as gifts from Uncles and grandparents. Then, on my majority, I received an even larger chuck of stock."

"Well off? You are rich?" Kat was surprised. Shocked even. She had never known anyone who was rich. Her parents had been poor, though it didn't really register to her at the time. She had lived a hand-to-mouth existence for a couple of years before she left Ovid, and she had spent several years not much better off. Her career as an assassin had only started paying well the last few years before she was 'recruited'.

"We rich prefer to say 'Well Off'. It doesn't sound as snobby." Pan said in a petulant voice, his nose raised in the air. The twinkle in her eyes made Kat smile, even as she hated how much he had sounded like Mr. Dean Chalmers, the prig.

"Ok. So what does this have to do with my problem?"

When I was recruited, they Agency knew all about my parents, and about my financial situation. They are quite thorough, you know, in doing background investigations. The accountant that handles the family finances is my brother." Pan stopped, now looking a little embarrassed. Softly now, he said, "I really want you to meet my family anyway."

Kat was shocked. Not at the revelation about his wealth, though that would require some thinking about later, but at the tentative way he spoke, as if fearing rejection. He was afraid that she would not want to meet his family? She had no family, no ties to anyone except him and he was, without a doubt, the most important person in her life.

It was then that she realized that this was all her fault. By being too damned proud, too afraid, to talk about her own past, she had almost forced Pan to bury his own. She had cut him off from the people who loved him. As far as she knew, they had not even been to see him since he returned.

"Pan, David. I would love to meet your family." Kat said, her eyes filling with tears. "I have been dying of curiosity but didn't want to pry. All this time I have been so damned self-centered, so concerned about my own past, my own secrets. You sound very close to your family and if I have been the cause of you not seeing them, then I am so sorry."

Pan hugged her to his chest. "Kat, I love you. Period. You are what matters. You can tell me or not tell me anything you want. As for my family, I have been in contact with them and I have been telling them all about you. They want to meet you, you know. Now, dry your eyes before you get my shirt all wet and put something decent on. We have to go shopping."

Kat looked into Pan's eyes, seeing that he was serious, and that he was happy. "We are going to have a long talk. Tonight."

"Fine, fine." Pat waved his hand as if it didn't matter one way or the other, but Kat could see in his eyes that it did matter, very much.

"Now get off my lap, woman! We have places to go, stores to empty and a huge, rare steak with my name on it waiting for us!"

"No."

"No? Unless you plan on ravishing me right here and forgetting about dinner altogether, we will have to get up some time!"

Kat felt her face turning red, but she shook her head. "No, you are not taking me shopping, but you are taking me to dinner, so don't think your innuendos are going to get me to forget your promise! I am going to go shopping, you can go find clean socks or do whatever it is that men do to get ready for a date." she said, hopping to her feet.

Pan looked torn between confusion and pleasure, glad to see that she was looking happy again. At her door, Pan kissed her goodbye and then bowed formally. "I will pick you up at 2000. We have reservations at a very nice place down by the water." Kat waved goodbye and then immediately called her fellow student Maris. "I have a date. A real date, and I need your help!"

Maris, for her part, was more than happy to help. She was, in Kat's estimation, the epitome of femininity and was never without companionship. She had even tried to entice Kat, at one point.

"Querida, you are a beautiful woman. But you dress so plainly! One would think you didn't want anyone to notice. Tonight, we change that, yes?"

Kat, a little unsure, was willing to give Maris her way, to an extent. Shopping was something that Kat never really took a lot of pleasure in doing. She knew that some women could window shop for hours, trying on clothes and shoes, yet never buying anything. Kat preferred to know what she wanted before she arrived, to make her purchases and leave as quickly as possible. Crowds bothered her.

Today was different, somehow. She was shopping for herself, but she really wasn't. She was shopping for something that Pan would like to see her wear. It was a new experience for her.

Kat trailed Maris from store to store, some of which she would never have entered on her own. Store clerks and sales people rushed to fawn over Maris and she just took it all in stride, directing them to pull this garment, or to fetch yet another pair of shoes. They drank champagne and had actual live models, in sizes that were close to Kat's own, parade in front of them.

Finally, her purchases wrapped and packaged, and a hired man laden like a pack mule, they packed the autocab full for the return to the Citadel. On the way back, red-faced and much to Maris's delight, Kat called and made reservations at local resort hotel. She wanted this evening to be perfect.

Once back in her room, Maris insisted on helping her get ready and Kat was just as happy that she had let Maris have her way. The dress they had chosen was a sleeveless number in a dark, emerald green. The back was cut all the way down to her small waist and the neckline plunged daringly. Not so deep that Kat felt exposed, but deep enough to offer enticing views of her fair skin and just the tiniest hint of her cleavage. Kat had debated wearing something to enhance that area, not being as well-endowed as Maris, but Maris put her foot down.