It was a dull day stuck in the bullpen. No new cases, no excitement or action – just stacks of paperwork she and Tony had to finish before the end of the day. But Kate was so very tired. It had been a busy week and it had begun to catch up with her. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples only to be jolted back to life when Gibbs slammed another file on her desk.
"When you two have finished the McGrath case you can leave," Gibbs told her. Although there was a ton of work left on the McGrath case, she was grateful he reduced the load a little.
"Thanks boss. See you Monday." She watched him grab his coat and head to the elevator.
She sighed and looked across at Tony who was frowning at his computer screen. He was concentrating so hard he was in his own little world. She smiled. He looked so cute when he was concentrating.
She rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. She'd been thinking about Tony in that way more and more lately and she annoyed herself in doing so. He was Tony DiNozzo for crying out loud. He was an obnoxious, rude womanizer who annoyed Kate to no end… So why was he so frequently in her head?
She went back to work until she thought she would actually die of boredom. Squeezing her eyelids shut, she was startled by Tony calling out.
"No," he mumbled "NO!"
Kate was about to ask what the hell his problem was when she saw he was asleep. Should she wake him? She stayed in her chair watching him for a moment longer, half amused and half concerned at what he was dreaming.
"I want the chocolate ice-cream mama!" He suddenly called out. Kate tried everything in her power not to burst out laughing and wake him up. Oh this was blackmail gold! She got out her PDA and started recording in case he spoke again. Then she had an even better idea. She glanced at her watch to discover it was 10pm. Abby and McGee would still be working on the evidence in the lab. She picked up the phone to ring them.
"Abbs, it's Kate. You have got to come see this!"
"Be right there!" was her response.
When they arrived DiNozzo was actually sucking his thumb. McGee's eyebrows rose and his eyes widened, giving the impression of a stunned mullet. Abby's grin became huge and she got an evil twinkling in her eye. Kate put her index finger to her lips to silence them so as not to wake sleeping beauty.
Kate could have some fun with this. She tiptoed over to where he was curled up in his desk chair and blew ever so lightly into his ear. Stirring, he let out a sigh and muttered "get me a sweater mama."
Abbs put her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing too loudly and McGee developed a grin from ear to ear. This sure beat paperwork.
As Tony started mumbling about what his brother had done to his ice-cream, which none of them could really understand, McGee hurriedly started rummaging for the video camera he had in his bag. Kate was thinking one thing and one thing only – revenge. This would make them even for that photo DiNozzo had flashed around of Kate in the wet t-shirt contest.
Still sucking his thumb and drooling a little, Tony had stopped talking as soon as the film started rolling.
"Aww I think he's camera shy," Abby whispered.
"We'll soon see about that," Kate said as she approached him slowly.
"Tooonnyyy," she called ever so softly into his ear.
He moaned and turned over, now facing her.
"Tooonnyyy," she whispered again.
"Kate?" he got a confused look on his face and Kate tried her best to stifle a giggle.
"Yeah Tony it's Kate," she whispered trying to get more of a response for the camera. She leaned closer to him and blew in his ear again.
He grinned softly in his sleep. That grin was so sexy it almost made her blush. She looked over to where the others were also grinning wildly, McGee with the camera aimed towards them.
"C'mere Katie," he slurred.
"I'm here Tony," she whispered inches from his face.
"You're beautiful."
She froze. What did he just say? She could feel herself blushing and she couldn't move. "He was just having a dream Kate get a grip on yourself," she told herself sternly. She glanced at Abby whose grin had become even wider and whose eyebrows had lifted another inch or so.
She didn't know what she could say next but that didn't much matter because DiNozzo had begun muttering again.
"I'm falling for you Katie… most wonderful, smart, gorgeous…" he trailed off and she couldn't understand the rest of what he was mumbling so quietly. Kate was in shock. She heard Abby gasp and grab McGee's arm. She stared at Tony in amazement. What was she supposed to do? She didn't know. Was this just a crazy dream he was having or is this really how he felt? She didn't know. Did she want this to be true? She didn't know… Or did she?
"Kiss me," Tony said.
And so she did.