Secret
Kate Todd was a skilled profiler. She usually had people figured out within minutes. Usually. DiNozzo gave her a bit of a struggle. He held a secret; she could just feel it.
After working for a couple of months on Gibbs' team she had started to notice small things about her new partner. The way he always fought tooth and nail to get to ride shotgun when Gibbs was driving was annoying, but also intriguing. He either raced her to the garage and flung himself in the front seat or simply pulled the seniority card on her, and Kate had grudgingly complied. So far. She was the new one after all.
Even more, he wanted to drive the car himself. When Gibbs was with them there was never any question as to who would sit in the driver's seat, but when they were left on their own, DiNozzo would snatch the keys so fast she never had a chance to argue. She figured it was a typical male thing. She always thought they could probably need the impression they were in charge once in a while, however great the illusion.
The few times DiNozzo was forced to occupy the backseat - due to either Gibbs' explicit orders or Kate's stealthy moves - he always seemed to fall asleep or was acting hopelessly juvenile, talking a mile a minute preferably while leaning dangerously in between the front seats, reaching for the radio or just staring out the windshield.
Then there was the occasion when Gibbs had tried to kill them all in a crazed fury, roaring down the back roads of Virginia, refusing to drive back to DC on rush hour highways. DiNozzo had previously been slurping away, milkshake firmly in his hand, but ten minutes into the shaking hell ride that was Gibbs' driving, Kate caught a glimpse of him rolling down the window and bringing up said milkshake and the enchilada he'd had for lunch, before worriedly looking at the occupants of the front seat to see if they had noticed. Gibbs hadn't - he was quite busy just keeping the swerving car on the substitute for a road all the while talking on the phone with Ducky. She, however, had seen him out of the corner of her eye. She never found the time to tease him about it, before they got so involved in chasing down suspects that Tony's puke-breath was the least of their worries.
She didn't think about it until the next surreal driving session with Gibbs; racing down a mountain road at sixty miles an hour in the pursuit of a kidnapper. Tony had graciously given up the front seat, but only because somebody had needed to read the map while Gibbs drove. "You go ahead, Kate", Tony had murmured and solemnly slid in the backseat, fastening his seatbelt tightly, "or he'll only do it himself."
She had smirked and victoriously snatched the map from his hands, and it was only after a while she had realized her mistake. Reading the map meant no eye contact with the road and one would definitely want to keep an eye on the road when Gibbs was driving like this; just to make sure it was still there.
And then they finally reached their destination, in a huge cloud of dust but still alive, though Kate had no idea how that happened.
She took long, deep breaths to calm her racing heart and watched as DiNozzo stumbled out from the backseat, holding onto the car door, face and knuckles white. Actually, his face was tinted green.
All the pieces fell into place. His secret.
"You get carsick, don't you?" Kate blurted out, unable to keep the glee from her voice.
"No!" he quickly - too quickly - replied, all the while obviously fighting to keep down the bile. "Kids get carsick, Katie, not highly trained federal agents." He sounded very indignant.
She just eyed him for a while; the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead, and his compulsive swallowing. His green, worried eyes had widened and made him look younger by years. He then apparently made the decision that being honest might be the best thing in this situation, them being partners and all. She watched as he slumped his shoulders in defeat.
"Well, maybe a little bit," he murmured, and then in a more defensive tone of voice; "It's really not that strange the way Gibbs drives." He gave her a sour look.
Kate just burst out laughing. A friendly, warm laughter that earned her a surprised look from him, but then he snorted too and added "Don't tell anybody, okay?"
"No promises, DiNozzo," she chuckled.
She never did tell anyone, and then she was dead and Tony felt that he would go crazy just thinking about it and he really tried not to and then there was a new face staring back at him from behind her old desk and he had no idea how to react to that. The Mossad agent intrigued him, and maybe he liked her, but after her war zone driving that made him throw up corn dog in the truck, he deeply wished Kate back.
He would NEVER tell Ziva his secret…
End
Tadaa! Finished. I find it utterly adorable that Tony has puked not once but twice on the show, when riding in a car. And I think Kate would actually NOT tell everyone even though she would find it fun to tease him about it on occasion.