Title: Attack of the Plotbunnies. Seriously, I have an invasion of them.

AN: I don't know where this came from, but reading it back, I think that it's a little bit of a strange writing style. But yeah. And I might continue, I might not, depending on how I feel about it. POV jumps around a little bit, but if it's not clear who's narrating, let me know and I'll edit it a bit.

Reviews welcome.

Disclaimer: Bruckheimer, you know what I want for Christmas.

Tony head towards the bar, ready to drink himself into oblivion. The day had been hard on him and it was the only way he could think of to help him forget it.

Vaguely wondering what Kate and Ducky were doing to help soften the memories of what had happened in the morgue, he ordered a drink.

It shouldn't be me who is overdosing on alcohol, he thought as he downed the shot. I didn't have such a bad day… not compared to either of them. They saw Gerald get shot; they looked the bastard in the eye; they probably even touched him. Or he touched them.

Two drinks later, he decided that he had had enough to drink. Gibbs would kill him if he came in the next morning with a hangover.

He headed to the bathroom at the other end of the bar, and when he came out, he was surprised to see a familiar face. Kate was sitting at the bar, next to a mounting pile of empty glasses.

So that's how she copes as well, he mused.

He was about to go over and see if she was okay, when she spoke to the bartender and another round.

Tony sank into the nearest seat. It was weird seeing Kate out of control. She was so far from her normal behaviour that Tony had wondered for a second if Kate had a sister in town.

He was debating whether he should go and take her home or not, when a man he didn't recognise took her hand and lead her to the dance floor. He suddenly sat up straighter. Letting her get stupidly drunk was one thing, but leaving now and letting some guy that she probably didn't know take advantage wasn't something that Tony wanted to do.

He looked at them dance and saw that it was pretty innocent; the guy was only holding Kate's hands and spinning her around. And she seemed to be enjoying it; laughing and smiling in a way Tony had rarely seen before.

Before Tony could come up with some kind of plan of action, the song changed from a floor-filling dance track to a slow ballad. Another glance told Tony that he had to do something.

This guy was lucky that Kate was so drunk; he would have lost his manhood a long time ago if she was sober. He had taken his chances with the ballad and stepped closer to Kate, put his arms round her waist and was kissing her neck. Tony wouldn't have thought anything of it if Kate hadn't been protesting so much. She squirmed and wriggled and pushed him away as he made his advances on her, but wasn't strong enough to fight him off.

Tony wasn't about to put up with that, but also wasn't about to start a fight in the middle of a crowded bar. He could feel Gibbs' hand make swift contact with the back of his head already.

He had to turn to what he did best; improvising.

He elbowed his way through the crowds until he reached Kate. Her protests had become feebler as she ran out of energy. It looked like she needed help to stand.

"Excuse me sir," Tony said, addressing the man Kate was using to stay upright. "Is this lady bothering you?"

The man looked at Tony angrily, but removed his hands from her backside and around her waist. "No-"

"She is?" Tony interjected. "I'll take her out of your way." As he spoke, he took hold of Kate's hand and pulled her towards him. She stumbled and fell towards Tony, who wrapped his arms around her and steered her away.

Once he was out of sight of the now angry man, Tony took a chance to find out what was going on. In the middle of the slow dance, no-one noticed how close Tony's face was to Kate's.

"Hey," he muttered softly. "What are you doing here?"

To Tony's great surprise, Kate burst into tears.

"It was… my… entire fault," she whimpered into his chest. "I could… I could have… stopped him!"

He had been expecting that.

"Kate, listen. It's not your fault at all. And Gerald is doing fine anyway. Now," he said, tilting her chin so she looked up at him. "Was drinking your own weight in alcohol a good plan?"

She shook her head, before leaning back on Tony's chest again.

After a moment: "Did you even know that guy?"

Again, Kate shook her head.

The track ended and Tony saw the guy that Kate had been dancing with heading their way. He decided that it was definitely time for Kate to head home, so he dropped a $20 note on the bar and guided her out.

The drive back to Kate's house was silent and uneventful.

Kate fell asleep on the way; her eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

Tony kept glancing at her, making sure she was okay, knowing that she was going to regret every mouthful that she had drunk in the last two hours when she woke up.

When the car pulled up at the end of the drive, Kate didn't stir.

"Dammit," muttered Tony, knowing that she would not be happy about being woken up.

"Kate," he whispered, poking her gently. "Kate!"

A moan told Tony that she was awake.

"Kate, you're home. You need to get to bed."

She replied with another moan, before opening the car door and, less than gracefully, climbing out.

"Are you going to be okay?" Tony asked as she started heading towards her front door.

She nodded, but immediately sprang her hand to her forehead and let an expression of pain come to her face.

"You aren't okay," Tony told her as he got out of the car.

Tony walked her towards her house, catching her when she stumbled and twisted her ankle.

She was about to go inside and shut the door, when she turned back.

"You're right. I'm not okay. I thought I was going to get violated twice today and now I'm terrified that I'm not going to wake up tomorrow morning because so much can happen to a person who's sleeping."

Woah, where did that come from? Both Tony and Kate wondered the same thing.

That terrorist must have really, really got to her. I've never seen such a strong person so scared. Should I offer to stay?

Oh crap. He's going to think I'm weak and be constantly overprotective for the rest of time. But I'm so scared right now… maybe I am weak.

"Would you like me to stay here for a bit, Kate?"

There was a pause.

"That would be really great."

Buzzz---Buzzz---Buzzz---Buz-

Kate sat up, immediately regretting it. Her head was pounding and it felt like she had slept with it in a vice and the buzzing that was coming from next to her ear wasn't doing her any favours.

Cursing the person who invented alarm clocks, she headed to the bathroom, where she found a piece of paper stuck to the mirror.

Kate,

I figured you would be in here first when you woke up! I bought you some aspirin; I noticed you had none and I know you'll need it. Top shelf, medicine cabinet.

See you when you get to work.

Tony x

Wow, who thought he could be so thoughtful, mused Kate as she dry swallowed three little white pills and tried to remember what had happened to previous night.

"Would you like me to stay here for a bit, Kate?"

"That would be really great."

Kate led Tony into her living room and sank onto the sofa. Tony sat at the other end and they stared at each other.

"Hold me, Tony."

Her voice was so quiet, the whisper was masked by the tears that were threatening to fall, but Tony still heard.

When he didn't move, Kate spoke again.

"Please?"

Moments later, she was sitting in his lap, safe in his arms.

That was all she needed. Someone, anyone, to hug her and make her feel safe from the dark.

"I thought he was going to rape me Tony. I thought he was going to rape me and then kill me."

Tony was shocked. She hadn't told him that yet. She hadn't even told Gibbs that.

"What?"

"He made me lie down on my front and searched me for weapons, and then he said I could roll over. And he looked at me and in his eyes; I could see this hungry look. It was like he was saying 'I can have you Caitlin. Any time I want'. I don't know, I just keep thinking that he's going to come back for me. That's why I'm so scared."

It took Tony a moment to take in what Kate had said. Knowing that Kate was a trained profiler, he knew that what she had described was probably very close to what the bastard had probably been thinking when he saw her.

"… and then at the bar earlier, all I wanted was someone to ask if I was okay or someone to help me. I should have known. Most guys only want one thing."

This brought a smile to Tony's face.

"Just to clarify, that's the last thing I want tonight."

"Good!" she replied. "You weren't going to get it!"

They both laughed. Tony was glad that they could joke about something, even after the day they'd both had.

"Thank you Tony," Kate whispered after they had stopped laughing. "Thank you for saving me at work and at the bar, and thank you for not taking advantage."

She closed her eyes and relaxed a little more.

After a few minutes of silence, Kate spoke again.

"What did you mean about Stockholm Syndrome and falling in love?"

Tony thought for a moment.

"I have no idea. The words just came out. But I guess they made sense, right?"

"I guess."

Kate closed her eyes and instantly fell asleep.

Kate arrived at work two minutes before her shift officially started. Twenty-eight minutes later than her ideal arrival time, but still not late.

As she opened the front doors to the NCIS offices, she heard a car pull up behind her. Tony's car.

She had to wait and speak to him.

"Kate, wow. You're awake! And it doesn't look like you have a hangover! Well done!"

"Ugh believe me, I have a hangover!" she told him as he joined her at the doors. "I just don't show it."

"Yeah, right. How many as-"

"Tony," she interrupted. "I need to talk to you."

"You already are."

Okay, smart remarks: not a good idea.

"I need to thank you again for last night. And I need you to know that I'd do exactly the same for you, if you needed it."

"Of course you would," Tony replied in an offhand kind of way. "We are…"

They were looking at each other, deep into each other's eyes.

"…partners," Kate finished.

They shared a smile; a smile that they didn't know could evolve into something beautiful.