Primetime Love

Chapter One: Lia

Disclaimer: My closet connection to NCIS is the fact that my husband is a former Marine. And trust me, he didn't own the Marines, the Marines owned him. NCIS belongs to CBS Television and Donald P. Bellisario.

"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open."

- John Barrymore

"What do you mean production's moving?" Ophelia 'Lia' Ryan eyed the producer in front her wearily.

"Lia, we're bringing the show back after over ten years off the air. The network doesn't want to sink too much money into it until we can prove we can pull in ratings like we used to." Aidan Abner, the co-executive producer of Lia's show, 'Kutte Out for Family', explained. "It costs too much to produce in LA or New York. D.C.'s offering huge tax incentives to production companies to film there. Tourism is down with Trump in office and they want to lure more than Republicans and protesters to the district."

"D.C.?" Lia groaned. "That is way too close to my hometown for comfort."

You seem Lia had been a television actress since roughly the age of six when she had been cast as Angel Rogers on the original run of 'Kutte Out for Family'. The show was about a biker couple, Tank and Pinky, raising their three kids, Rivet, Widow, and Lia's character, Angel. A show along the same lines as Roseanne, with parents who struggled to keep the family finances afloat and kids who weren't always perfectly behaved angels, was an instant hit with late 90's viewers and enjoyed a full decade-long run, ending shortly before Lia turned seventeen. Sadly, this meant that Lia had to move back home to Norfolk, Virginia with her mother. A failed actress, Lydia James was a true stage mom, pushing Lia into the spotlight at every turn. Hell, if it hadn't have been for her TV mom, Amelia Carter, she wouldn't have had a childhood at all. Amelia used to take Lia on outings with her and her own children as often as she could. She also made sure that the 'Kutte Out for Family' set was a kid-friendly environment. It was Amelia who helped her completely break ties with her mom when she turned eighteen. Amelia had offered her a room in her home in LA while Lia took a step back from acting and attended UCLA.

Now Lia was just shy of thirty with a Masters degree in film and an impressive resume as a Hollywood producer. It had been Lia's idea to bring 'Kutte Out for Family' back to the airwaves. With other 90's sitcoms such as 'Full House', 'Roseanne', and 'Will and Grace' successfully returning to television, Lia thought that it was a good time to introduce a new generation of viewers to the Rogers family. With the success of newer biker shows like 'Sons of Anarchy', bikers and characters with real flaws were in vogue and they needed to strike while the iron was still hot.

"I'm sure if the ratings are good for the first season CBS will let us move production to an LA soundstage. But, for now, we either move to DC or CBS cancels the season order," Aiden broke the bad news.

"They cancel the season order, they cancel the show," Lia stomped her foot. "Urgh! Fine! Where exactly are we moving to?" It looked like she now had to start house hunting and packing on top of everything else she had going on as co-executive producer of the show. She mentally tallied up the number of Redbulls in her fridge because wasn't going to be getting any sleep for a while. She could only remember seeing six. She now also had to make a stop by Whole Foods on her way home. Wonderful.

"The Navy has some old, unused warehouse in the Washington Navy Yard that have been converted into film studios to help und the Navy and Marine Corps. We'll have to install seating for the studio audience but I found some money in our budget to cover it.

Lia laughed in disbelief. "A Navy yard? Are you kidding me? What, did we personally offend the president of CBS in some way? This is a joke. We were CBS' top-rated show for a freakin' decade and the buzz about our return is huge. We even got Charlie Hunnam and Kim Coates to guest star in episode thirteen. I'm supposed to call Jax Teller and Tig Trager and tell them we're filing at a navy yard in DC? Kim is almost as crazy as Tig in real life!"

Aiden shrugged. "Take it or leave it, kid."