Sadly I do not own NCIS, because if I did, Kate would not have died and she and Ziva would be best friends. All characters are the products of Donald Bellisario's and Don McGill's brilliant minds.
It was over. Finally finally finally it was over.
Ari was gone.
The mission failed. The bastard escaped. Gibbs was shot. Gerald was gone. Thankfully the EMTs got to him in time and he would regain use of his arm, though only after months, maybe years, of recovery.
And Kate… Kate was fine.
When he saw her standing there, unharmed, he literally let out a sigh of relief. But duty called and in the heat of the moment he only saw her for a glimpse. Once he knew she was safe, his mind went on to other things. His boss was down on the ground. His attention was required elsewhere.
But now everything was silent. Now the actions of the day were finally sinking in.
Most everyone had gone for the night. The bullpen was quiet. And yet for some reason Tony couldn't bring himself to leave. When he heard that she had been taken hostage along with Ducky and Gerald, he felt like he had been punched in the gut. He had so little time to register that immediately he was on his feet barking out orders almost as fast as Gibbs. When he saw that she was safe, there wasn't anything he wanted to do more than to take her in his arms and just hold her there, keeping her safe from all potential harms.
But the simple fact was he couldn't. And now he waited for her, even though he knew that his presence most likely wouldn't help the situation one bit.
"Tony, what are you still doing here?"
Tony's head snapped up as he saw Kate cross over from Abby's lab. "Nothing. Just getting through some paperwork," he covered, shuffling a stack of files on his desk.
She nodded and moved to stand in front of his desk. She noticed that his hair was half standing up on end, like he'd been running his hands through it for the past few hours. She grabbed her chair and rolled it up to his desk. "Do you mind if I stick around for a bit?" Silence. "I'll take that as a yes."
Tony shook his head. "No. Kate, you don't need to be here any longer." He grabbed his backpack and lifted her from her chair.
"Tony, I can get up by myself…" He went around to her desk and gathered her things. "Tony!!"
"Come on, I'll walk you down to your car."
"Tony…" Kate protested, but vainly as Tony was marching determinedly towards the elevator. "Tony, I'm fine! Really I am."
"Does that mean I can't help out a damsel in distress?"
Kate's eyes narrowed. "You know I don't know why I even bothered trying to be nice to you Dinozzo." Tony winced as he was "Dinozzo" once again. The elevator door opened. "For once I see you looking like you've been through hell and back and decide to make sure you're okay, and what do you do? You blow it back in my face referring that I'm some helpless damsel in need of a prince charming. I was in a hostage situation today Tony. Hostage. If I was some damsel in distress I wouldn't have almost stabbed the bastard in the heart."
The elevator started to go down and then lurched to a stop. A bell rang and the lights flickered and extinguished before the emergency lights clicked in. Tony moved his hand away from the emergency switch. "Well why didn't you Kate?" His voice was cold. Gone was the joking Tony she knew. His eyes had that glint in them and his voice had the hardness in it characteristic of his interrogations. "Why didn't you stab that slimy bastard in the heart before he ruined Gerald's career and gave Gibbs the charlie horse of a lifetime?"
Kate dropped his gaze. "I… I don't know…" She looked up at him, pleading. "He threatened to shoot Gerald again. I tried to take him out, but there he was bleeding out on the autopsy table and… I couldn't do that to Gerald…" Tears welled up in her eyes. "I couldn't do that to Ducky…."
Tony's features softened as he saw the tears. It wasn't often he let tears get the better of him, but this wasn't some murder suspect crying in interrogation; this was his partner, and seeing her cry wasn't something he could look upon with a cold heart. She stood across from him, trying to keep the tears at bay. He crossed over to her and gently took her shoulders in his hands.
"Kate, are you sure you're okay?"
After one look into those concerned and caring hazel eyes, Kate's defenses fell. "Oh Tony…" One moment Tony was holding Kate's shoulders and the next he was holding her as she broke down. Her sobs filled the elevator. "It's my fault Gerald got shot Tony," she gasped. "He got shot because I broke the rules. Because I tricked him."
"Shhh shhh…" Tony sat her down on the elevator floor. "It's okay Kate, it's okay… Nobody blames you." Her sobs became muffled cries as she buried her face in his shoulder. She felt his hands stroking her hair and that just made her cry harder. Tony shouldn't be nice to her. Tony shouldn't be comforting her. The Tony she knew would just sit back and laugh at other people's pain and disregards anyone's hurt save his own. And yet here he was, stroking her hair, comforting her as she broke down on the floor of the elevator. He put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Kate… Kate, look at me." He reached and gently pulled her chin up to meet his face. "Kate. It's not your fault. You did the right thing. You kept Gerald and Ducky safe. Going after that son of a bitch would have proven disastrous for all of us. And Kate… I'm sorry for what I said earlier… I know Rule 6, but to hell with the rules. What I said earlier was stupid and I'm sorry. I was just so worried about you that I… When I heard that you were… and Ducky and Gerald… Oh gosh Kate I'm just glad you're safe."
Kate watched as Tony's eye grew more and more pained as if he was reliving the terrible day over again. His arm around her middle grew tighter and tighter as the day progressed further and further. "And then finally we were able to come down… I saw that you were safe and I could breathe easy. Just seeing you there was enough to put my mind back on track; enough to get me to focus on Gibbs lying on the floor."
"How is he?"
Tony chuckled. "Good. Well enough to be barking orders at the EMTs to let him get back to work. It took a direct order from the director to get him to spend the night at the hospital and even then he was growling like a lion. The nurses will have their work cut for them tonight."
Kate smiled and leaned against his chest. "Maybe he'll get lucky and one of them will be a redhead."
Tony eyed her surprisingly and shot her a smile. "Look at you. Only mere hours after getting out of an intense hostage situation and you're already playing matchmaker. Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match… Find me a find, Catch me a catch…"
"Tony I didn't know you could sing."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Katie," Tony murmured as he leaned down and involuntarily kissed the top of her head. He realized what he'd done immediately and was ready for any attack the brunette would unleash upon him, but she didn't even look up at him.
Kate was surprised when she felt Tony kiss her head again, but in all reality, she really didn't care. For once all day, she could just let everything out. She didn't have to worry about keeping everyone alive. She didn't have to worry about keeping calm to get the job done. She didn't have to worry about making sure everyone else was taken care of, while she had not even a scratch on her body. Only now she could just let it all flow out of her, and when it was gone, she was visibly drained.
"Maybe I'll learn some of them someday…" she replied, settling further into his chest.
"Maybe…" He kissed the top of her head one last time and gave her a tight squeeze. "Come on. We should probably get you home." He helped her stand. "You've had a busy day."
Kate chuckled and wiped the tears from her face. "You could say that..." Tony hit the emergency switch and the elevator lurched back to life. When they reached the parking deck, they both started out towards their cars.
He shouldn't have been that nice… Kate thought. Why was he so nice? Maybe he… no. That's ridiculous. But what if it's true? Kate stopped halfway to her car and turned back to her partner. "Hey Dinozzo!"
"What?"
"What would you do if I said I have a hankering for a movie night and I need a partner?"
"Depends. What movie?"
"The Game."
Tony shook his head. "Never heard of it."
Kate's mouth dropped open in awe. "Seriously?! Okay you're coming with me." Tony smiled as he crossed his way over to her car. He smiled as he caught her muttering under her breath. "And you call yourself a movie buff…"
They both got in and Kate started the car, but neglected to put it into drive. She turned to Tony, her eyes avoiding his. "Thank you Tony… for what you did in the elevator. I… I needed that."
Tony nodded. "I could tell." He saw a strand of hair had fallen in front of her face and he almost reached out to move it out of the way, but stayed his hand. "Are you sure you're okay Kate?"
She gave a small smile. "I am now." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he murmured. "Kate?" His voice had dropped to almost a whisper.
"Yes…"
"You have a little something in your teeth."
"Oh grow up Dinozzo."
A/N.
Please review! If I get enough feedback I may continue this story line. If not, it'll just stay a one-shot. Also I want to know what you guys think. Do you like? What don't you like? Please be nice though. This is my first fanfic.