Title: Mutual Attraction

Author: Jeana

Spoilers: none

Pairing: Tony/Kate all the way!

Disclaimer: Navy NCIS is the property of Belisaurius, Paramount, DPB, CBS, and all that jazz...The characters just run around in my head all day long, so I put them to work. (And yes I realize that on one of my previous disclaimers, I said that DPB stood for "Donald P. Belisaurius". Blonde moment, sorry. The NCIS characters have all been created by Donald P. Bellisario.

Author's Note: Thank you Hannah and nikkinor for catching my mistakes. I hope you all enjoy. This is a two-parter, just to let y'all know.

Chapter 1

"Alright, guys, here's the deal: we were only able to get two rooms," Gibbs informed us, holding up two keys. "Kate, I'll let you decide who you want to room with."

'Oh, how considerate of him,' I thought, 'letting me choose which man I will be stuck with all night long.' I opened my mouth to say 'McGee', thinking that he would be the safest choice, but instead heard myself say, "Tony." 'Tony! Why the heck did I say that?' I wondered. I had a little - alright a big - crush on him, and I would be torturing myself with him as my roommate!

I saw the surprise in all of their faces, especially Tony's. Gibbs even raised an eyebrow at me, but I maintained my composure, acting as if I had meant to choose Tony all along. I picked up my bag and grabbed a key from Gibbs. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I began walking towards the room. Realizing that Tony was not following me, I stopped and turned around. "You coming?" I asked in an exasperated tone.

Tony shook himself out of his shocked state, grabbed his bag, and quickly caught up with me.

When I reached the door, I set my bag down and inserted the key into the slot. 'It won't be that bad,' I reasoned. 'At least-' the door swung open and I groaned; there was only one bed. 'Gibbs conveniently left out that little detail,' I thought angrily. Stepping inside, I threw my bag next to the nightstand and flopped down on the bed. I rubbed my tired eyes; it had been along day. Suddenly I felt the spot next to me depress. I opened my eyes to see Tony sitting on the edge of the bed, removing his shoes.

I sat up, grabbed the remote, and began flipping through the channels. "Great, no cable," I muttered. Out of the ten stations that the motel received, there was nothing on. 'Perfect! Guess I'll have to make conversation with DiNozzo for entertainment,' I concluded.

But Tony broke the silence before I had a chance. "Hey, Kate, I hope you don't mind me asking; you've got me way curious. Why did you pick me?" He lay down beside me with his back against the headboard.

"Well, Tony," I began, thinking quickly, "McGee snores, and Gibbs talks in his sleep, so I'm stuck with you."

"So, it has nothing to do with the fact that you are attracted to me?" he asked with one of his grins.

"Nope," I replied, not denying his assumption. I quickly turned and began digging in my bag that lay on the floor. I had no idea what I was looking for, I just had to hide the blush that I could feel burning on my cheeks. My hands found a thick book, which I was now very glad I had packed. Pulling it out, I began reading.

Deciding that I wasn't going to talk to him, Tony retrieved his Gameboy from his bag and began playing some game with an annoying frequency of beeps.

Well, the book turned out to be pretty boring, so I let my thoughts wander and found myself recounting the events of the day. We hadn't had to wait long for Gibbs' phone to ring, and soon we were on our way to Salem, New Jersey. First Lieutenant Richard Holmes had been murdered - one shot to the head - in his home, and had been found by his girlfriend, Lilly. His house had been sacked and his safe robbed in all entirety; it was plain that it had been forced open.

His house had been sacked, and the now-empty safe in his closet had been forced open. Lilly told us that the only thing Holmes' kept in there was his coin collection, and, she informed us, it was extremely valuable. By the time we finished investigating, it was too late to return home, so we ended up here.

Around nine-thirty, I put away my book, grabbed my pajamas and toiletry bag and went into the bathroom. After I changed, I came out and looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. I sighed miserably. 'Why did I have to bring the "cutesy" pajamas?' I asked myself. 'Oh yeah, they are the only warm ones that I have.' They were pink with little white sheep and numbers on them, and consisted of pants and a long-sleeved button-up shirt. The buttons on the shirt were spaced such that if I buttoned the top one, it was almost choking me, but if I left it undone, I showed a little bit of cleavage. 'Well,' I thought, unfastening the top button, 'maybe I can make a run for it and dive under the covers.' So I turned and ran - smack- straight into Tony.

"Whoa!" He grabbed my shoulders to steady me. "Slow down, Kate, I'll be here all night." He grinned. It was then that he noticed what I was wearing. As his eyes fell upon my unbuttoned collar, his lips curved slightly upward in a small smile. He looked the whole outfit over and then said, "Cute."

"Thanks." I noticed that he was still holding me, and although my mind told me to shake loose from his grasp, I didn't move; I just stared back into his green eyes.

After a few seconds, he released me. Then, picking up his clothes that I had knocked to the floor, he went into the bathroom.

I shuffled over to the bed, crawled under the covers, and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heartbeat. 'Chill out, Kate! All he did was grab your shoulders!' my logical side said.

'But his arms were so strong!' my emotional side countered.

'Wouldn't it be great for him to wrap those strong arms around you?'

'Yeah, like that will ever happen.'

I began humming, trying to silence my thoughts.

By the time Tony came out of the bathroom and finished brushing his teeth, I was ready to go to sleep. He returned wearing a blue t-shirt and navy flannel pants. He climbed into the bed next to me and turned off the lamp. "G'night," he mumbled.

"Goodnight." I lay there for a few minutes before realizing how cold it was. "Tony, did you turn on the heater?"

"Yes."

"It's still freezing in here." I shuddered.

"Aww, does Katie wanna snuggle?" he teased, scooting next to me.

"Touch me, DiNozzo, and you're dead."

"Okay, okay." He slid back over to his side of the bed.

I shivered again and sighed. Rolling over so that I was next to him, I muttered, "I'll shoot you, if you breathe a word of this to anyone."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he grinned, wrapping a strong arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his body.

Well that warmed me up right away! I could feel the heat shooting through my body. I snuggled deeper into his embrace and slid an arm around his waist.

As I pulled myself closer to him, he murmured in my ear, "Ha! I knew it was a mutual attraction."

"Wow, you're smarter than I thought," I teased back. It was dark, but I knew he was smiling.

Then he began gently stroking my hair. "Can I call you 'Katie'?"

"Mmm."

"Katie-" it has never sounded more wonderful that then, coming from his lips "-I've known you for about a year now, and I think you're incredible. I really like you, Kate. I mean, really, really like you. And I was hoping that maybe…if you feel the same way about me… maybe we could…date?"

'Oh my gosh!' I thought, 'He's asking me out!' I thought of all the things I liked about him: his sense of humor, his charm, his wit, his skills…the good heavily outweighed the bad. I gave him my answer: "Yes, Tony."

"Really, You'll be my girlfriend? You mean it?"

"Yes, Tony, I'll be your girlfriend."

"Alright! DiNozzo charm wins again."

I rolled my eyes; as if he needed this to boost his already huge ego. "Yeah, yeah…" I nuzzled his chest with my nose and could picture in my mind the grin that had to be on his face. Finally I murmured, "You know, we should get some sleep; tomorrow will be busy."

"Yeah."

"Goodnight, Tony."

He kissed my cheek and I beamed. "Goodnight, Katie."