xp_logs | Nathan, John, and Juliette, Friday around lunch

Trying to decompress after the events in Kyrgyzstan, Nathan's first day back in the office is interrupted by some bad news.

He knew he shouldn't actually be in the office; it wasn't as if he'd gotten much sleep on the plane home. Then again, I also had a full night's sleep the night before, didn't I? Nathan thought bleakly, sifting through his inbox without really seeing anything.

It was better to be in the office, anyway. With Moira and Ray on Muir - and he needed to call later, see how the kid from Mailuu-Suu was settling in - the rest of the boathouse would be too quiet. Pretending that he was busy was preferable to sitting around and thinking.

Everyone else who'd been to Kyrgyzstan was doing the sensible thing and had not shown up to work, of course. Although Angelo, from the sounds of it, was probably down at Harry's with Jubilee. Bad coping strategy. Talk to him about that, the dutiful part of Nathan's brain said. Later, the rest of his brain added.

"No, no more former USSR for at least a month," Nathan said irritably as Juliette appeared soundlessly and placed a folder on the desk in front of him. She'd been lurking, all too obviously keeping an eye on him. "I'm sick of the former USSR. It's starting to be too much like Russia in terms of getting us into trouble."

Juliette gave him a slight smile and shrug - but left the folder on the desk as she returned to her seat. Nathan glared at it. Then glared at her. Then glared at John, who'd just walked in the door, back from lunch. "What are you looking at?" he said, as he opened the folder.

"Nothing." John shrugged, managing a crooked smile as he slipped his jacket off and took a seat behind his desk. He was used to Nathan's little temper tantrums in the office. "Had your lunch yet?"

"If that's some not-so-subtle question as to the state of my blood sugar..." It sounded vaguely like a threat. Nathan leafed through the file Juliette had given him, frowning at it. "This is interesting," he conceded grudgingly, looking up at her. "Thank you."

Juliette repeated the slight smile-and-shrug. "I don't spend all my time filing, you know."

John cleared his throat. "Exactly," he remarked, raising his brows at Nathan before turning his attention to Juliette. "So have you had your lunch?"

"Down, boy," Nathan muttered in grudging amusement as Juliette turned to answer the phone - if not before giving John a particular sort of look. One of those looks that said many things.

John flicked his gaze back to Nathan before turning to look at the files on his desk. Right. Time to get back to work. He reached for his lighter and snapped the lid open, fiddling with the device.

"Nathan?" Juliette said, looking around from the phone. Her voice was tight, and her face a shade paler than it had been a moment before. "It's Anika."

Nathan looked up at her, saw the change in her mood, and snatched at the phone, fighting back a rush of something close to panic. What could have happened? They'd dropped Dom off on the way to Muir, everything had been fine... "Ani? What's-"

He fell silent, clearly listening. After several seconds, his jaw tightened, almost spasmodically, and he started to blink, too rapidly. "When?" he asked, his voice far more hoarse than it had been. "Who - okay. Yeah, I will. I'll call you when I know when I'll get in." He set the phone back in the cradle, his hands shaking visibly. "Juliette," he said, "book me a flight for Tel Aviv?"

"Nathan, what-"

"MacInnis died this morning." He said it, and it still sounded unreal, even aloud. Shock, probably. "Looks like a stroke, Ani says." But I was just talking to him a few days ago... Nathan stepped on the internal protest, hard. Pushed away the too-sharply-remembered image of MacInnis from the dream, the expression on his face peaceful as he watched the others at the picnic. "I need to go to Tel Aviv. Could you-"

"Of course," Juliette said, immediately sinking into her chair and picking the phone up again. "I'll get the first flight available. They reserve seats, for... for situations like this."

Oh, boy. John shifted slightly in his seat, wishing he'd opted to take a longer break during lunch hour. He bit down on his bottom lip and hunched forward in his seat, staring at a point on his computer screen. MacInnis. Colin MacInnis. John didn't know much about the guy; he knew the old man was a researcher for Elpis, and judging by the way Nathan was reacting to the news, well, they must have been pretty close.

"I have to pack," Nathan said somewhat numbly and got up, moving towards the door in the partition. Juliette waited until he was out of sight in the living room and then looked at John.

"I'm on hold," she said. "I'm getting two seats - you'll go with him."

"Wha--what?" he sputtered, sitting up in his seat. "Why me?" He gave her a look, brows furrowing slightly before he lifted his hands up in surrender. "Fine.." He closed his file and grabbed his jacket. "You owe me lunch." He smirked and took his pack of smokes from the draw before heading out the back door.

"And here my opening offer was going to be dinner," she called after him. "Your negotiating tactics need some work. Go pack, John."

He glanced over his shoulder at her and snorted out a chuckle. "Yes, ma'am."