Title: Places The Heart Has Not Yet Discovered

Genre: Romance

Pairing: Tony/Kate

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters.

Summary: The team takes on a dangerous case. When something happens to Tony, Kate has to take care of his daughter. Story #2 in the Katharine DiNozzo Series.

AN: I suggest reading the first story, A Little Secret, before you read this one, just so you understand where Kit came from.

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Kate and Tony were on less than speaking terms. It had been a little over a month since the team found out about Kit, Tony's five year old daughter. The team also found out that Tony and Kate had a relationship. The key word was 'had'. Kate couldn't deal with the fact that Tony kept that little girl from her. They promised each other they would keep no secrets because secrets can ruin a relationship. And that's what it had done.

Luckily, the team still functioned with Tony and Kate acting like this. Gibbs constantly reminded them to keep their personal lives out of work, but they couldn't help it. On several occasions, Tony attempted to talk to her, to gain her trust back, but she'd either ignore him or tell him off. While working, they'd avoid each other as much as possible. And that's what they were doing, avoiding each other when Gibbs got a call. He hung up and walked over to Tony's desk.

"DiNozzo, remember that case that went cold?"

"Yes, boss, that one, yeah, of course." Tony said sarcastically. He received a threatening glare. "I need more info, boss."

"Three years ago. Petty Officer Jack Richardson died of strangulation. No murder weapon found. Hardly any forensic evidence. No …"

Tony cut him off. "Suspects identified. Yeah, I remember. Do we have a new lead?"

"We may. A cold case agent found a buddy that was overseas with him while he was deployed. Chief Petty Officer Ron Henderson. He was the only one Richardson trusted. Go talk to him. Get a DNA sample and have Abby compare that to what evidence we have," Gibbs ordered.

Tony got his gun out of the drawer and holstered it. He grabbed his gear and began to walk out. He stopped in front of Kate's desk. There was a silence between the two.

"Kate, I …" he began.

"Tony, go get the DNA," Kate said without looking up from her work.

Tony sighed and left.

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Tony walked up to a run-down ranch style house with boards on the windows. Tony double checked the address, not believing he had the right one. When he was satisfied he was right, he went to knock on the door.

"Petty Officer Henderson! Open up, it's NCIS. I need to talk to you for a minute!" Tony shouted.

There was no answer. Tony looked through the tiny window in the door. There was no movement. As Tony reached for his gun, he felt a hard object hit the back of his head. Things around him got fuzzy and went black.

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"Kate, where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Don't know. He went to get that DNA sample and hasn't come back yet." Kate told him.

Gibbs took out his cell phone and dialed Tony's number. No one answered.

"Let's go get him. It doesn't take three hours to go get a damn DNA sample." Gibbs said irritably.

They got into a NCIS-issued sedan and drove to Petty Officer Henderson's house. They pulled up next to Tony's car in front of the run down house. As soon as Gibbs looked towards the front door, he could see a pool of blood on the doorstep.

Kate watched Gibbs pull his gun. Though not sure why, she did the same. When she saw the blood, they both ran up to the door. Each taking one side of the door, they stood there while Gibbs called for the petty officer.

"Petty Officer Henderson! NCIS! Open up!"

He waited all of three seconds before kicking the door down and they ran into the room. There were a few pieces of furniture. A couch, rocking chair, coffee table and a bookshelf with no books. Paint was chipping off in several places and the floorboards creaked. They cleared the house without finding Tony.

Gibbs sighed. "Kate, call Tony again."

She put her gun in the holster and pulled out her cell.

After a few seconds, someone hung up on Kate without saying a word. She pulled back the phone to look at it.

"Some one just answered and hung up. Like they were trying to ignore my call."

"Let's start processing. Somebody took DiNozzo."

"Gibbs?" Kate asked.

Gibbs looked over at Kate and waited for her to speak.

"What about Kit? Who's going to take care of her until we find Tony?"

Gibbs thought about that for a moment.

"You are, Kate."