A/N: This is a backup story written for ncisabbylover for the NFA SeSa this year. It features a pairing I have actually never written before: Tony/Kate. I did my best with it. Most of the story is friendship, but it definitely ends with romance. So keep that in mind if you choose to read. It's set in season 1.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or the characters. I'm not making money off this story but I wish I was.

Ornaments
by Enthusiastic Fish

Kate sighed and looked at the undecorated tree in the corner of the living room. Two weeks ago, someone had broken into the storage lockers of her building. She hadn't kept anything valuable in hers, but she had kept her Christmas decorations there. They had all been broken by the thief who had thrown them onto hard concrete without caring about the loss of such treasured keepsakes. Kate had received the decorations from her family the first year she had gone to college and was feeling a little bit homesick. Her younger brothers had painted ceramic ornaments. Rachel and her mother had decorated some delicate glass balls. Even her father had helped by making the star. After college and after she'd joined the Secret Service, there was less time to take off and go home, although she did as often as she could. Decorating her tree with those ornaments had been a way to be with her family. She hadn't had the heart to tell them about the loss yet. It had been nearly twenty years since she'd got them. They probably didn't even realize she had them and how much they meant to her. ...but they meant a lot and Kate had actually cried about it...in the privacy of her apartment. It had killed a little of her Christmas spirit.

Now, as she stared at the barren tree, she knew that the best way to get over the loss was to stop thinking about the ornaments she'd lost and buy new ones. That much decided, Kate got off her couch and headed for the mall.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

As she stood in front of the umpteenth display of ornaments, Kate began to question her decision. This was only depressing her. There was nothing personal about these. They were pretty, but without meaning. She didn't want any of them but she didn't want her home to be devoid of Christmas, either. She was being silly.

Just pick something, Kate. You can get something else ready for next year!

"Kate! Fancy seeing you here! What a coincidence!"

Kate groaned inwardly. She hadn't told anyone at NCIS about what happened...and Tony wouldn't be the first person she'd choose to confide in. He was far too likely to make a joke.

"Hey, Tony," she said. "Have you started stalking me?"

"I don't need to stalk you, Kate," he said with a grin. "I see you way more than any stalker would. I can see you every day at work. All day long."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Thanks for reminding me."

"So...what are you braving the crowds for?"

"I'm shopping, Tony," Kate said. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out what to get Gibbs this year. I was going to try and be creative...but after looking at all the stuff around the mall...well, the boss doesn't inspire creativity. I'm afraid I'd pick something very wrong and end up with him staring at me. I'd take another Gibbs slap over that."

"What are you going to do, then?" Kate asked with a smile, relieved to have the conversation in safe territory.

"Probably get him a bottle of Jack. He'll get some use out of it at least."

"Yeah."

"What about you? What are you getting him? First year with a new boss? I wouldn't recommend sending him sexy lingerie or anything."

"Sexy lingerie? For a guy?" Kate asked.

"Oh, right. That's me. Uh...so?"

"I don't know. A card, maybe. I can be lame my first year," Kate said.

"True. I think I was, too. So...what are you shopping for? I told you. Your turn."

"Ornaments," Kate said, reluctantly. "For my tree...at home."

"Don't you already have ornaments?" Tony asked. "I mean, I'd think you'd be all over that kind of thing."

Kate felt a pang.

"Hey, what did I say?"

"Nothing. I...had ornaments, but they got broken," Kate admitted.

"How?"

"Don't you have shopping to do?" Kate asked.

"Nope. I told you. I gave up on being creative, and I'm not getting you any sexy lingerie."

Kate smiled reluctantly.

"Someone broke into the storage lockers in my building. Didn't find anything valuable but he managed to break all the ornaments," Kate said...and then, for some reason, she kept going. "The thing is that these were really special to me. They weren't expensive, but my family made them for me when I went away to college. I've used them every year for a long time and now I'm going to have to get new ones. The only thing that survived is the star my dad made, and even that's banged up. ...and nothing here means anything." She sighed. "I'm just trying not to be depressed by it. So don't make fun of me, DiNozzo. I'm not in the mood and don't even think that I'm above killing you."

Tony was quiet for a moment, and he didn't laugh at her.

"I'm sorry, Kate," he said.

Then, he was quiet again. Kate was surprised at how sincere he looked. She would swear that he meant it.

"Thanks, Tony."

It was strange. As noisy as the crowds were all around them, it was almost silent right where they were standing.

"Hey...Kate..."

"What?"

"I know this won't mean much as advice, seeing as you barely tolerate me, but...well, instead of buying ornaments here, why don't you make some of your own? Then, they'll be personal, even if they're not made by your family."

Kate smiled.

"I don't really have time to do that before Christmas, Tony. We have jobs, remember?"

She looked at the display again and shook her head.

"I can't do this tonight. I'll just head home. I'll try again tomorrow. We're not on call this weekend, either. Maybe on Saturday, even if there'll be more people out."

Before she left, she put her hand on Tony's arm.

"Thanks, Tony...and don't spread it around, please. I'd rather not have people talking about my attachments to old ornaments."

"My lips are sealed," he said and mimed locking his mouth shut.

"If only I could believe that," Kate said.

Impulsively, Kate kissed him on the cheek and then quickly walked away before Tony could say anything. When she got home, she looked at the sad, empty tree and then went to bed.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Kate got to work early the next day. It was Friday and they were off for the weekend, unless something came up, of course. It had actually been pretty slow lately and they were catching up on old case reports that had been set aside in busier times. Gibbs might even let them go early like he had the day before.

When she got to her desk, she was surprised to see some bags of...stuff there. Curious, she opened the first one and saw a do-it-yourself ornament kit. The second bag had ornaments and paints. The third had balls and glitter...and one ornament, clearly homemade. It was blue and glittery and had NCIS carefully painted on it.

Then, she saw the note.

—Kate, I'll help. Tony

In spite of herself, Kate smiled, gathered up the bags and moved them to her car. When she got back, Tony was still absent. She hesitated and then wrote her address on a piece of paper along with a time and stuck it on his desk.

Neither of them mentioned it at all that day. Tony poked teased as usual, and Kate started to wonder if it was all a big joke. Well, if it was, she'd kill him. That was that.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Saturday afternoon, Tony walked to the door Kate had said was her apartment. He was a little nervous. After all, he'd never been here before and Kate hadn't been exactly forthcoming with details about her life...at least, not to Tony. All he'd done was make an offer, almost impulsively, and she had agreed. What if there was an ulterior motive? She'd kissed him at the store. That wasn't the Kate he knew.

Still, here he was and there was nothing for it but to knock and see what happened.

The door opened and there was Kate. She was wearing a large lumpy sweater; her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and she was wearing yoga pants. Definitely not dressed up. But, privately, in the deepest recesses of his mind, he liked the way she looked.

If he was feeling a little awkward, Kate must have had a similar feeling because she shuffled awkwardly for a second before standing aside.

"Hi...come in."

"Could you at least try to sound a little more enthusiastic?" Tony asked, smiling a little.

Kate laughed.

"Believe it or not, you're one of the first people I've invited over."

"Not even Abby?"

"Abby invited herself over. I just unlocked the door and let her in. You know what she's like. Have you eaten lunch?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Of course. I tried one ornament to see if I could handle it. It was...okay."

Tony grinned. That was Kate through and through. Always trying to be perfect.

"It doesn't have to be perfect, you know. Homemade means flawed."

"Does it? That's not a definition I'm familiar with," Kate said, but she smiled.

"Then, you must be reading the wrong dictionary. I've never seen something homemade that was perfect."

"If you say so," Kate said in a tone heavy with skepticism.

"I definitely do."

She led him to her kitchen table which was covered with newspaper. Her first attempt was drying. She'd apparently covered the whole thing with glue and then dusted it with glitter. As she'd said, it was okay.

"I like it," Tony said.

Kate scoffed.

"No, really!"

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then Tony decided to take charge...at least to get them started.

"Well, the ornaments aren't going to decorate themselves. Let's get going...but we need some Christmas music."

Kate nodded.

"You're right."

She walked to the main room and started her stereo going. The strains of Bing Crosby crooning "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" filled the apartment.

"Nice," Tony said approvingly.

They started to work on the ornaments. It was an awkward silence for a while. They both focused on the decorations. Kate hadn't been on the team for very long and this was a side of her he didn't know well. The Kate he thought he knew wouldn't be so sentimental. She was too focused on her career to have time for that.

But this new Kate was devastated at the loss of a bunch of homemade ornaments...and she was currently focused on painting a curlicue on one of the glass balls. She was as devoted to something like making Christmas ornaments as she was to doing her job well.

Suddenly, she looked up at him, as if she'd felt his gaze and she smiled a little sheepishly. She held up the ornament for his approval.

"You're a lot better at this than I am," Tony said.

"Of course, I am," Kate said with a slightly haughty tone...but then, she set the ornament down and gave him an intense stare. "Why are you doing this, Tony?"

"Because I'm secretly an arts and crafts guy. The male Martha Stewart."

"No, really. Be serious. I know why this is important to me, but this is important to you, too. I could see it at the mall, and I can see it now. Why?"

Tony wanted to brush it away and not get into the whys. He was doing it. That should be enough, right? ...but it was too late. He'd let his guard down and Kate wasn't going to trust him if he wasn't honest. He cleared his throat and picked up another ornament. He started fiddling with it as a distraction from his sincerity.

"Well...it's important to you."

"We've already established that."

"My family...we weren't big on...family stuff, especially after my mom died, but I kind of like the idea of that kind of thing. The kind of thing you see in all those Christmas movies. The whole family vibe, you know. ...and if you had that...well, you should have it again, even if it's just me helping you and not your family making you the stuff."

There was a period of silence and Tony chanced looking up at her. Her expression had softened.

"It's not just you," she said.

That was all. She turned her attention back to the ornaments. Carefully, she put some paint inside a clear glass ball and began swirling it around, coating the inside with a sparkly green.

"So...did you have any Christmas traditions in your family?" she asked.

"Well, my dad would always promise that we'd have a real traditional Christmas and there was always something that came up. I made my own traditions later."

"Like what?"

"To go somewhere with someone, no matter who it is. It's my goal not to spend Christmas alone."

Kate smiled. "That's a good goal."

"What about you? Traditions?"

"Yeah."

Tony could see it. She complained about her brothers, but her eyes lit up at his question. She had traditions and she loved them, even if she hadn't been consistently a part of them for years.

"Mom and Rachel, my sister, and I...we'd always go out Christmas shopping together. We'd make a whole day of it and go and get lunch. It made me feel grown up when I was younger. We decorated the tree together. There were ornaments we'd fight over putting on. We had an advent calendar and we'd fight over opening each day."

"Is there anything you didn't fight over?" Tony asked, smiling.

Kate chuckled. "Not much, but we always went to Mass, and we didn't complain about that. Dad wouldn't stand for it. And Christmas Day was a time to spend together and for the morning, at least, we'd get along. It was fun opening presents together, seeing what we all got, how much we loved what the others gave us. Christmas morning...it was all about family."

"Sounds nice," Tony said. He felt some envy for Kate's normal upbringing, but it made him curious, too. "So...how did you go from that to Secret Service? That's not exactly the normal career path."

"Who ever said I was normal, Tony?"

"More normal than me."

"That doesn't take much." Then, Kate looked at him speculatively. "I think you'd be more normal if you stopped trying to hide it."

"Hide what?"

She held up the ornaments.

"That you have quite the sentimental streak in you, Agent DiNozzo. You don't have to play the fool all the time, or pretend that you don't care."

"Says you," Tony said.

"Yes. Says me."

"Well, let's focus on the ornaments and not on psychoanalyzing me. I'm helping. Isn't that enough?"

"And I appreciate it, really. I just want to understand you, Tony...because you're very contradictory."

"That's just part of my charm," Tony said with a winning smile.

Kate nodded and looked back at her ornaments, seeming almost disappointed. Tony was sorry about it...but he was uncomfortable with being analyzed.

"You're different here than you are at work," he said into the silence.

Kate looked up again.

"What do you mean?"

"You always act like you have something to prove...but you don't here."

"I do have something to prove, Tony. I'm a woman in what is traditionally a man's field. I have everything to prove. It took years to get to the point where I was actually on the President's protection detail. That was gone in a moment and I'm back at square one, starting over and establishing myself amid the 'good old boys' club. ...but I'm home here. There's no one to prove anything to."

"Except yourself?" Tony asked.

"Now, who's psychoanalyzing? But I'm honest about it, Tony. I have to prove myself every day until I have a position there that's mine."

"You don't have to prove yourself to me."

"Oh, really?"

"Really! I know that I give you grief, but I'd do that if you were a guy...if I ever get a probie, he'll be miserable."

Kate nodded but she still seemed less relaxed than she had been before. They had a lot of ornaments. Maybe it was time for a break.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

He got up and held out his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

Kate smiled.

"Sure."

She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. He led her to an open space and they started to dance.

"And folks dressed up like Eskimos
Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright..."

As they danced, Tony was surprised at how well Kate followed him, how well they...fit together. The song ended and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" began. They kept dancing. Then, he was even more surprised when he noticed that Kate had closed her eyes and she was leaning against him.

And, what was perhaps the most surprising of all, he liked the feeling.

"Through the years we all will be together if the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough!
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now."

The song ended and Kate pulled back a little bit and looked at him.

"Thanks for the dance, Tony," she said, her voice soft.

"Ready to go back to ornaments?"

"Yes."

They walked back to the table and sat down. As they got back to work, they were able to talk more freely, albeit on lighter topics. They continued to work on the ornaments.

Finally, the ornaments were done and drying.

Tony got up and was ready to excuse himself, but Kate stood up, too.

"Do you...want to help me decorate the tree?" she asked.

Tony thought about saying he had things to do, but that would be a lie, and the prospect of spending the evening with Kate was incredibly tempting.

"Sure."

"Good."

The tree was bare and waiting for them. They picked the ornaments that were already dry, first. They laughed as they found the best places to hang each ornament. The easy camaraderie was as if they'd known each other for years.

The sun had set and the only lights in the apartment were from the tree. All that remained was the star. Kate picked up and handed it to Tony.

"Would you put it on top?"

Tony looked at it. The star was a bit banged up, but he could see that it had been hand made. It had an antique look to it and the metal was thin enough to puncture. The only reason it had survived was because it was made of metal. He took the star and carefully placed it on top of the tree. Then, he turned back.

...and he was surprised one more time.

He was generally the one leading when it came to things like this. He was a traditional kind of guy, but Kate wasn't a traditional girl...not in everything.

As he turned back to say something inane about how the star looked nice on top of the tree, he found himself kissing Kate. ...or rather being kissed by Kate. He wasn't ready for it and it took a moment before his brain got in gear and he could respond.

She pulled back all too soon, blushing furiously. She looked at the tree.

"Wow, sorry...that was...I..."

"I'm not sorry," Tony said, cutting into her stammering. "Not at all."

She looked back at him.

"You're not?"

"No. I think...you've never looked more beautiful than you do right now."

Kate laughed. "Right. I'm in my grubby clothes. I have paint on my face, on my hands and glitter everywhere."

"And you're beautiful, Kate," Tony said. "I'm not just saying that. Really. I mean it."

Kate swallowed and looked nervous. She rubbed at a splotch of paint on her cheek. Tony stopped her.

"Stop that. You're going to ruin the moment."

"Am I?" she asked, smiling. "What moment?"

"This moment."

Tony stepped forward, leaned in and kissed her. He took it slow so that she had time to say absolutely not, but she didn't. So he kissed her gently.

"That was a nice moment," Kate whispered when they parted.

"I thought so, too."

"So...now what? I'm not usually this fast."

"Depends on what you want to do," Tony said.

"I know one thing I don't want to do."

"What's that?"

Kate smiled.

"I don't be alone on Christmas."

Tony smiled, too.

"I don't, either."

"And I don't want to be alone on Christmas Eve."

"Neither do I."

Kate looked past him to the tree.

"And the tree is beautiful, Tony. Thank you."

"They're just ornaments."

She looked back at him and shook her head.

"No. They're not. The old ones weren't, either. They're not just anything. They're ornaments and the reason I loved the old ones...and the reason I love these now...it's the same reason."

"What?"

"It's not the ornaments themselves. It's what they represent. The old ones were my family's love for me. These new ones..."

"Yeah?" Tony asked, daring her.

"Whatever else they represent, they show someone who sacrificed his time to do something for me. ...I don't know if I dare go farther than that."

"I don't know if I want you to go farther than that...right now."

Suddenly, Elvis Presley began singing.

"I'll have a blue Christmas without you."

Both of them started to laugh.

"I'd like to order something for dinner," Kate said, sounding a little more practical. "Do you want to join me?"

"Sure. Love to."

"And then?" she asked.

"Stop planning ahead," Tony said. "Just let things go. It doesn't have to be anything right this minute."

"And what if it is? I hear that Gibbs has rules about this kind of thing."

"What Gibbs doesn't know won't hurt us."

Kate smiled and kissed Tony again.

"I'm okay with that."

"Me, too."

She started to walk to her phone, but she turned back and whispered in his ear.

"They're not just ornaments, Tony. ...not to me."

Tony threw caution to the winds.

"They're not to me, either."

Somehow, he was sure he was going to have a great Christmas this year.

FINIS!