NCIS
The Last Days of Anthony DiNozzo
With a flourish of hand, Tony DiNozzo pulled two tickets from the upper breast pocket of his blazer and stuck them under Kate Todd's nose, causing her to cock an eyebrow at him. "What are those?" she asked, figuring to humor the man before shooting his ideas down in flames.
"Two of the first tickets to the new romantic comedy that hit theatres tonight," Tony said triumphantly, sitting down at his desk across from her, leaning back in his chair, hands folded behind his head as he grinned as only he can.
Kate gasped. "You mean As Summer Fades Away? I've been trying to reserve tickets for that movie for months! How did you get the first two tickets?"
Tony grinned again, his brown eyes twinkling merrily. "I have a buddy who works at the movie theatre who owed me a favor for hooking him up with a hot chick, so I asked him for the first two tickets. I kinda wanted to go see it, thought I might take a friend."
"But you don't have any friends. Poor muffin," Kate said, saying the last bit in a baby talk voice before grinning from ear to ear.
Tony narrowed his eyes and put one of the tickets back into his pocket. "Guess you don't want to see that movie as badly as you said you did. Maybe Probie would like to go…" He trailed off, while waving the other ticket in the air teasingly.
Kate was taken aback. "You're offering to take me to the movies? What is this, some kind of sick joke?" She shook her head. "Next you're going to tell me you have dinner reservations and plan on taking me for a stroll along the beach in the moonlight after the movie."
Tony raised his shoulders. "If that's what you want… Birthday Girl."
"How did you know it was my birthday?" she asked, taken aback yet again. She glanced at her cell phone, which was still in her purse and off, as she had left it that morning, and the calendar on the desk only showed the days she didn't have to work.
"I have my ways, Katelyn, but what fun would it be if I told you how I know these things?"
Just then, Gibbs walked in, coffee in hand and said, "He hacked the computer records from McGee's computer."
Kate just rolled her eyes. "Figures," she muttered as Tony sat sputtering at Gibbs.
Tony looked at her. "How does he do it?" He growled before asking, "So what do we have boss? Naval officer getting murdered in cold blood? Serial rapist break out of Bethesda's reform camp?"
"We got the weekend off," Gibbs replied coolly, shutting down his computer, grabbing his coffee and gun and headed for the elevator. On his way past Kate, he said, "Give Tony a chance, Kate. He might surprise you."
Kate sighed, looked at Tony and asked, "So where are we going for dinner?"
Tony shrugged. "Your birthday, figured I'd let the lady choose the dinner location. But if all else fails, I suggest my apartment. I have a batch of manicotti ready to go. All I have to do is throw it into the oven."
"You can cook?" Kate asked, trying very hard not to laugh. "This I have to see. Your place around 6:00 good?"
"Movie starts at 6:30, so better make it 5:00."
"Sounds good. Just give me some directions to your apartment and I'll be there."
Tony grabbed a piece of paper off his desk and began writing out the directions for her. "Here ya go. My home number is on there as well just in case you take a wrong turn or something. I doubt it will happen but you can't be too careful." He rose from his desk, slinging his coat over his shoulder and handed her the paper on his way past.
She took it and laughed sarcastically. "Just make sure your apartment is suitable for a lady to step into, DiNozzo. If it looks like a pigsty, I will leave and get dinner at Olive Garden instead and send you the bill. Clear?"
"Crystal, Your Majesty," Tony said with a bow as he hit the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he smacked his forehead. "Smooth move DiNozzo! Tell her to come to your apartment on the one day it looks like a tornado hit it!" When the elevator hit the garage, he bolted for his car.
At 4:50, Tony's doorbell rang, making him jump and nearly drop the lit match he was holding to light the candles on his dinner table. Lighting the candle, he called, "Come on in Kate! Door's open! I'm just getting the manicotti out of the oven!"
Kate popped the door open, coming inside and looked around casually while waiting for Tony. He actually knows how to decorate, Kate thought to herself as she started at the walls, a deep shade of burgundy, with a few pictures placed around tastefully. Her heels clacked quietly on the Italian rosewood flooring.
"Shocked that I actually know how to decorate an apartment?" Tony said, causing her to jump slightly. "My dad was a home designer back home in Philly, so I asked for his help, but I did all the color picking myself. He just offered his opinion now and again."
"You did a great job Tony," Kate said, still staring in awe at the wonderful palette he had chosen for his small apartment. "Let me guess, your mother was the cook in the house and ran a local diner?"
"Partly correct," he said. "Mom did run a local diner but Dad did most of the home cooking. I just did odd jobs around the neighborhood to make a few extra bucks here and there."
A timer dinged quietly in the kitchen. "Excuse me for a minute will you? Dining room is straight through there," he said, pointing. "Just have to make a finishing touch on dessert and get rid of this apron."
Kate hadn't noticed his apron and had to laugh. It had a picture of a fat man, who looked very Italian, which read "Italians do it better." "I'm eagerly awaiting this manicotti you told me about."
He smiled his signature smile and said, "You will not be disappointed Miss Todd." With that, he was gone, a swirl of apron and black slacks.
As she walked into his dining room, she gasped quietly to herself. He had gone quite far to impress her, setting his table like that of a high-end restaurant – red tablecloth, candles glowing softly with all the lights off, two wine glasses with red wine already poured and on the table, and there was some soft saxophone music playing in the background. She stood in awe of the time and dedication he had put into making her birthday special.
Tony walked in, carrying two plates of manicotti and garden salad. Setting them both on the table, he moved to the left side of the table and pulled out her chair, waving his hand towards it, saying, "Please, have a seat Birthday Girl." He smiled nicely as she sat down. He gently pushed her chair forwards towards the table… but he had placed her plate a bit too close to the edge and her white blouse got some red sauce on the middle section, just below her right breast.
He winced, saying, "Sorry Kate. My fault. Let me get that for you." He grabbed his napkin, dabbed it into his glass of water and began to carefully wipe out the stain, much to Kate's shock. In any other situation, she would have smacked him in the back of the head for going anywhere near that part of her body, but before she could say anything, the stain was gone and her shirt was dried.
"Tony… why can't you be like this all the time?" she asked him as he sat down across from her.
"Like what?" he asked before taking a bite out of his manicotti.
"A gentleman. You obviously took time to clean your place, you set up a wonderful dinner that would have taken hours and even got me a ticket to a movie I wanted to see." She took a bite of the salad before continuing. "This is not the Tony I know. Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"
He swallowed the bite he was working on. "Truth is, I honestly feel bad for treating you so harshly as of late. I've rode you the minute you came on board."
"But that was to be expected. I pick on you all the time too, so that end of things balances out. Why the sudden change of heart?" She took a bite out of the manicotti and her eyes widened in surprise. "This is amazing! What's in here?"
Tony grinned and his eyes twinkled merrily in the dancing candlelight. "Secret family recipe. Can't disclose that to a non family member, Katelyn."
She sighed. "Of course. But still, I'm amazed at how good of a cook you are." She took another bite of her dinner and took a small sip of wine and was again caught off guard. "Chardonnay? If this tastes this good, it has to be at least 1865."
"Wrong Miss Todd. That would be homemade wine, using red Concorde grapes and a few miscellaneous spices and other flavors." He rose, heading into the kitchen and came back with a recipe card. Handing it to her, he said, "This I can give you, seeing as it isn't family."
They sat around for another half-hour, finishing dinner and chatting idly before heading off to the movie. As Tony drove, Kate asked again, "So why the change of heart Tony?"
He said, "Ah, here's the theatre. Right on time. If we hurry, we can get in right before the previews finish." He parked the car, got out and opened her door, offering her his hand as she exited the vehicle.
She was able to watch the movie with him, but she wasn't completely there, trying to figure out what he was holding back from her. She wondered, Is he getting transferred? No, that can't be it…gotta be worse than that…
The movie ended and Tony rose. "Well, I should probably get you home. You probably have plans lined up for tomorrow and a lady needs her sleep."
She shook her head. "Not before you take me on the last half of my birthday present." Her blue eyes looked at him as his brown eyes shone with pure confusion.
"What are you talking about? I gave you dinner and a movie. That's all I had planned."
"What about that walk on the beach?"
He laughed. "Well if you insist. Nearest beach is about ten minutes out." He offered her his arm, which she took lightly as they walked out.
Ten minutes later, they were walking side by side on the white sands of the local beach. The full moon glistened above them, making the dark blue water shimmer and sparkle.
"Tony, I want you to be completely level with me here. I know something's wrong, so what is it? The only way you'd be nice to me is if you're going to be moving or moving on."
He sighed. "That's the reason you're an NCIS officer. You pick up on everything." He stopped and looked at her. The moon was shining on her, giving her the look of an angel – face glowing with white light, wind lightly teasing her hair, eyes full of sympathy. How could he not tell her the truth?
"I've had breast cancer for the past 2 years. Doc only gave me 3 years at the original diagnosis, but they checked again and it's gotten worse. I've got two months as of today."
She gasped. "Oh Tony! Why didn't you say anything? Aren't you taking chemo or something to try and prevent it?" She began pacing back and forth. "Does Gibbs know?"
"He knew as soon as I had the diagnosis. I've already filed for my leave. End of next month I'm leaving the business. Gonna go and visit some old friends and family back home. Need to make a few wrongs right, you know what I mean?"
She started to cry, softly at first, but it began to creep towards an open sob. He moved forward, wrapping his arms around her gently, stroking her hair with his hand. "Hey, hey, come on Kate. It'll be okay."
"No it won't Tony," she choked out, tears starting to soak into his shirt. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I didn't want something like this to happen. I've never been big on the whole pity party scene," he said, still stroking her hair, leaning his chin on the crown of her head gently. "I didn't tell anyone because I care too much about you guys and I didn't want you to worry about me more than the cases we got."
She pulled back, sniffling a little, a few unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Tony, you're an idiot." She laughed a little, smiling. "You're an idiot but I wouldn't change you for the world." She leaned back into his chest with a sigh. "This is the best and worst day of my life."
"How so?" he asked, looking down at her.
"Best birthday I could have ever asked for and I got the best gift ever, but my gift isn't going to last long," she said sadly.
"What gift is that?"
She smiled. "You." Pulling away from him slightly, she lightly traced his face with her hand before leaning up to catch his lips in a kiss.
Tony nearly fell over in shock, but managed to keep himself upright before leaning into the kiss, deepening it, causing Kate to moan quietly into his mouth.
Pulling back after what seemed like an eternity, he smiled down at her. "Kate, you are the biggest sucker of all time. Come on out guys!
From out of the trees on the fringe of the beach came Gibbs, McGee, and Abby. Gibbs had a bemused smirk on his face; Tim and Abby were outright laughing, tears of laughter rolling down their faces.
Kate turned to Tony, to Gibbs, to McGee and to Abby before finally returning to DiNozzo. "You mean you set this up? None of that was actually true?"
Tony grinned wide as he replied, "Well, the dinner was my cooking, the wine was homemade, the movie was real but the whole cancer bit was a giant practical joke to prove to everyone else that you do have feelings for me. Seems to me I was right, Miss Todd." He moved away from her and stuck out his hand towards the others. "All right guys, cough it over."
Begrudgingly, everyone reached into their pockets and pulled out a Benjamin and handed it to Tony. "You got her good DiNozzo. I can't believe she fell for it," Gibbs said as he paid up. "See you on Friday." He walked off into the woods and soon, the roar of his Dodge Charger was heard.
Kate looked at Tony and asked, "Friday? Did you also bet time off of work for this?"
He grinned and nodded as Tim gave him a high five. "I knew it Tony. Just took a little persuading, eh?" Tim slapped him on the back as he and Abby turned to go.
"Tony, you slimy, double crossing scumbag!" Kate made a move forwards and Tony took off running with Kate in hot pursuit. "You're gonna die DiNozzo! When I get my hands on you, you're gonna wish you were dying of cancer!"
Fin