AN: Just a little check in on our favorite reporter and our favorite boys, with minimal angst (I say minimal: it's still pretty sad)

To say that Katherine was having trouble with her article on shell shock was an understatement. She'd had a surprisingly easy time at convincing her editor to let her write it - she suspected she had a good two more days before he stopped feeling sorry for her and started hating her again. The problem, however, was getting any of the men at the Veterans Home to talk to her. She'd approached about ten of them so far, and they hadn't even let her tell them what she wanted. They wanted nothing to do with her.

The director of the Home had told her that it was fine for her to interview them, that they'd be happy to talk to her. Clearly, that wasn't the case. All the veterans seemed like they were more interested in playing poker than talking to her, and they were less than polite about their refusal.

"Sorry sweetheart, we're busy." One of the older men told her, not even looking up from his cards.

"I just wanted to ask you - "

"I'm only gonna tell you this once." The same man turned to her, setting down his cards - face down, of course. "Get lost, we don't want to answer any of your questions."

Katherine exhaled slowly and simply turned and walked out before she allowed some choice words to slip out of her mouth. This was the kind of thing she desperately wanted to rant to Jack about. But Jack wasn't there, and she wasn't allowed to visit him for another three days.

But, she had the next best thing. So instead of going back home to sulk by herself, she turned in the opposite direction, and headed towards the Lodging House.

oOo

When she reached the Lodging House, she walked in without saying anything and started pacing. She needed to get her frustration out, and she the boys were always quick to figure when that was the case.

"Hey, Kat - " Romeo started to say, but Katherine cut him off.

"I was at the Veterans Home today, to get some interviews for my article - "

"Okay, guess she's talking now." Race muttered.

" - and I had fairly high hopes, based on the fact that the director assured me that all the residents were pleasant and willing. That was obviously a lie, he probably just wanted to watch me get rejected. Because I went in and started talking to people, but did any of them let me interview them?"

She paused, and Specs, assuming she was waiting for an answer, helpfully supplied one. "No?"

"No!" Katherine repeated, gesturing wildly with her hands. "Not one of them would talk to me, they didn't even give me the chance to tell them why I was there! They didn't even care that, if I can get this article released, it could bring attention to the issue, it could potentially lead to a scientific breakthrough!"

The boys patiently listened as Katherine walked back and forth in front of them, almost grateful for her ranting. It brought back a little bit of normalcy to their lives - they'd already begun to miss Jack.

"And the words that they used! 'Sweetheart', 'princess'... one of them called me a girl scout... I have never been called such degrading things by people who I was trying to help! And now what am I supposed to do? This was what I was supposed to do while Jack was gone, this is how I was supposed to help him. If I can't help him, I have to just sit back and wait for him to come home, and I... I can't do that again, I can't." 

Katherine stopped pacing and took a deep breath, calming herself down, and forcing a smile on her face. "Sorry about that." She took a seat on the worn couch next to Crutchie. "What's going on with you boys?"

But they wouldn't let her change the subject that easily.

"It's okay to be upset, Katherine." Crutchie told her gently, but she just shook her head.

"I'm not upset, I'm fine." She sounded more like she was reassuring herself than them, and her voice was becoming increasingly strained. "There's no need to be upset, Jack is getting the help he needs, so that he can be okay. I can't be upset about that."

Race crossed over to her, perching on the armrest of the couch next to her. "No offense, Kath, but you sound pretty upset to me." 

She looked over at him and choked back a sob at the kind look in his eyes. She buried her face in her hands and Crutchie put an arm around her. She instantly leaned into his embrace.

They stayed like that for a moment, Katherine sitting with Crutchie's arm around her shoulders and Race's hand on her arm, the rest of the boys gathered around her, either lightly touching her comfortingly, or just being there, until Katherine finally let her hands drop into her lap with a sigh.

"I miss him."

And as Katherine looked around at all of these, these amazing boys who had immediately dropped whatever they'd been doing to comfort her, and she was reminded that these are her brothers. They all miss Jack, and they weren't going to stop missing him, but at least they could miss him together.