Disclaimer: NCIS belongs to DPB and not to me!
The Secret of Good Luck
„You're late!" Tony greeted Kate tauntingly when she hurried into the office.
"Shut up, DiNozzo, I'm in no mood today!" she snapped, dropping her purse next to her desk and sinking down on her chair.
"Aw, did Katie have a bad start of the day? Or bad sex during the night?"
Kate didn't even answer that and only glared at him with an expression in her eyes that predicted terrible pain for him if he continued.
"Where've you been?" Gibbs asked, walking around the corner.
"I'm sorry, Gibbs", Kate replied. "My alarm clock didn't go off this morning."
Gibbs only grunted something indiscernible and sat down behind his desk.
"No new case?" Kate asked.
"Nope. Just paper work", her boss replied.
Good, she thought. Staying in the office was definitely better on a day like today, when even simple gadgets like alarm clocks or toasters seemed to be in conspiracy against you. Content, she switched on her computer and started to work.
"Pst, Kate. Pst!" Tony tried to draw her attention to him and Kate looked over at Gibbs' desk, which was empty. He must have left sometime in the half hour that had passed since he had sat down there.
"Kate! Hey, Kate!"
"What?" Kate shouted. Ignoring DiNozzo was really difficult when he was being such a pest.
"Hey, what really happened this morning?" he asked. "I mean, seriously, 'my alarm clock didn't go off' is the oldest excuse in history."
"Yeah, because it really tends to happen sometimes, you know?" Kate sighed, trying to hold her temper in check.
"I think you had a hot date last night and didn't get to sleep until two in the morning", Tony mused. "But that doesn't explain your bad temper, of course." He came around his desk and went over to Kate's. "Did the guy get too obtrusive in the morning?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of her desk.
"My alarm didn't ring!" Kate hissed. "Then I found out that my boiler was broken and I had to take an ice cold shower."
"That of course tamps down on good intentions for morning sex", Tony sighed.
Kate glared at him. "My toaster was broken too", she continued. "And when I tried to toast a bagel, it caught fire."
Tony started to grin, but stopped when she slapped him over the head. "Ouch!" he yelped. "Dammit, Kate, you're spending too much time with Gibbs."
"I managed to extinguish the fire, but it had already set off the alarm!" By now, Kate was almost shouting and her eyes were blazing. She was taking her anger out on Tony and even though he found it extremely unfair, he couldn't help but notice how hot she looked when she was so agitated.
"Five minutes later the firemen came bursting through my door and I had to explain to them that there was no fire to be extinguished. They were not pleased."
"You should have answered the door wearing nothing but a towel, that would have made them forget about the false alarm."
Kate stood up from her chair abruptly and stepped in front of Tony, hands on hips and eyes narrowed down to slits. She came so close that when she was speaking, her breath brushed his face. "This has been the worst day of my life, and it is only nine in the morning", she hissed. "And the last thing I need now is you making fun of me!"
Tony's eyes were locked on Kate's and for some seconds his head was completely empty. He wasn't able to think of an appropriate retort and when he finally came up with something Kate was already sitting behind her desk again and he decided to keep his words to himself. It was probably for the best.
He returned to his own desk and started typing an overdue report. He actually managed to concentrate on it and an hour later he was almost finished, when suddenly a cry of outrage was to be heard from the direction of Kate's desk.
"What is it?" McGee asked.
"My computer just shut down. I had almost finished the report and now that damn thing won't start again."
"Did you make a copy of it?"
"Not yet", she sighed, massaging her temples with her fingertips.
"Let me see", McGee said and came over to Kate's desk. He hit some keys and looked at the screen with a frown, before bending down to examine the cables. But when he took his hands away from the keyboard he accidentally knocked over Kate's coffee and spilled the brown liquid over her beige skirt.
Kate jumped up and, accompanied by McGee's nervous apologies, started looking through her purse for a tissue before giving up and hurrying over to the women's restroom.
Tony had watched the whole incident in fascination. This must really be Kate's unlucky day. But no need to worry because he happened to know the best way to end even the worst streaks of bad luck. After having given her a minute he followed her to the women's restroom and knocked on the door before pushing it open an inch.
"Kate, are you alone in there?"
"Go away!" she snapped.
Tony sighed. "If any woman other than Kate is in there, please, say it now, because a male creature is going to enter." He waited for five seconds, ignoring Kate's threats to castrate him if he dared enter the bathroom, and when nothing happened, he entered.
Kate was standing in front of the basin and dabbed her ruined skirt with a wet paper towel.
"What the hell do you want, DiNozzo?" she asked.
"Offer my help."
"What? You have some magical coffee remover with you?"
"No. I fear there's nothing I can do for your skirt, but I can definitely make the bad luck go away."
"Oh. And how's this supposed to work?" she asked sarcastically.
Tony, hearing her ask the question he had been waiting for, started to grin. "Well, you may be unaware of it, but it's a DiNozzo family secret that we are able to end any streak of bad luck."
"Come on, don't be ridiculous", Kate said, focusing her attention back on her skirt.
"It's not ridiculous", Tony said sulkily. "It started with my great-grandfather Louie DiNozzo. He earned his money accompanying rich people into casinos, for luck. It always worked. He was famous!"
"And why didn't he win a fortune himself?" Kate asked.
"Because we don't have luck, we bring luck", he said matter-of-factly.
"I can't remember ever having had a great amount of luck while I was with you", Kate retorted.
"That's because you need to do something to make it work", he explained patiently.
"And that would be?"
"That's different with each one of us", Tony said.
The annoyed and impatient look Kate gave him left no doubt about how ridiculous she found his story, but, for some reason, she still played along.
"And what do you have to do?"
"I'd have to show you."
Kate rolled her eyes. "I think I can live without ever finding out", she said.
"Are you sure?" Tony looked at the huge stain on her skirt.
Kate hesitated. After some seconds she sighed deeply and threw her hands in the air. "Fine. Show me."
And before she could react, Tony stepped forward, slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her full on the lips.
At first, Kate was too surprised to react. Then it suddenly sank in what he was doing and she pushed him away with her hands on his shoulders.
"Tony!" she exclaimed, more shocked than angry. "What was that?"
Tony only smirked. "That's what does the trick", he explained. "It's good luck."
Kate sighed deeply, waiting for her temper to flare again, but for some reason she was only amused. "You're such a moron", she said, almost softly, pushing him away from her.
Tony's grin widened. "It works, you'll see", he said. Then he left the restroom, returning to his desk.
Kate went down to her car to get the pants she had in her bag in the trunk and changed into them in the restroom. Then she returned to her desk and continued with work. She noticed that Tony was looking over at her and she smiled at him, before looking back at her computer, which McGee had fixed by now. She should have been furious with Tony, but she wasn't. He had only tried to coax her out of her bad mood and he had actually managed to cheer her up. Kissing her had been inappropriate, but it really had only been a short peck on the lips, he hadn't tried anything dirty. Which really was a pity if she thought about it …
Kate cleared her throat uncomfortably and started typing away on her keyboard with a bit more force than necessary.
Even by the end of the day, Kate was still blushing slightly every time she looked over at Tony. Of course, he noticed each time and grinned at her cheekily.
Gibbs let them go home at five o'clock and Kate quickly switched off her computer and grabbed her purse. She wanted to be inside the elevator before Tony left his desk.
And she almost managed. But the moment the doors dinged open in front of her and she let out a sigh of relief, she heard Tony's cheerful voice right next to her left ear and the sigh hitched in her throat.
"How are you doing?" he asked politely. "Any unlucky incidents?"
Kate cleared her throat uncomfortably, not willing to admit that, really, nothing bad had happened to her since she had left the bathroom.
In order to gain some seconds, she stepped inside the empty elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. Tony, who had followed her in, was leaning against the side wall.
"Admit it", he said. "I ended your streak of bad luck."
"I don't believe in streaks of bad luck", Kate replied, unimpressed. "It was all just a coincidence."
"Okay, then admit that I made the coincidences go away."
Kate rolled her eyes and saw that he was grinning. She blushed again.
When the elevator stopped she stepped out without paying any further attention to Tony. But she could hear that he was following on her heels all the same.
"You know, the good luck charm doesn't work if you don't believe in it", Tony said when he had reached her side again. "And are you really prepared to take on another day full of … coincidences?"
Kate raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything until she reached her car, where she stopped. "Are you ever going to give up?" she asked.
Tony leaned comfortably against the side of her car, arms crossed in front of his chest, a smile tugging at his lips. He shook his head slightly. "Not on you", he said.
The sincere expression on his face made all of Kate's resistance melt away in an instant. Why did he always have to do this, first he annoyed her, then he made it impossible for her to be furious just by smiling at her?
Kate took a step forward until she was standing right in front of him, so close that she could feel the heat radiating off his body. "You know", she said, looking up at him. "I don't think I can risk my car breaking down on the way home."
"Or breaking your key on the way into your house", Tony added, mock worry evident in his voice.
Kate placed her hands on his shoulders, her eyes never leaving his face. "And what if there's a water main burst during the night?" she asked, feeling Tony leaning closer. His arms encircled her waist.
"I can't let you go home without making sure that you'll be safe", he whispered, his breath a warm caress on her face.
Their lips met in a gentle, lingering kiss that soon went beyond light and playful. Tony held her close to him with his hands on her back, making sure that there was not an inch of empty space between them. Kate's arms soon went around his neck and the fingers of one hand threaded through his hair.
When they parted, Tony leaned down and touched his forehead to hers.
"This should keep you safe", he whispered. "At least until tomorrow. But then we'll have to renew it."
"And what if we don't let it wear off?" Kate asked, starting to smile.
"What do you suggest?" Tony asked, sounding very interested.
"Dinner?"
"I'm driving."
Kate smiled. "Okay."