"Where would we be now?" he asked and stared at the ceiling. He took another deep breath and fingered the sheets of the bed.
She exhaled and and buried her head into her hands, "I don't know."
"I think we would be at the office, getting leads of a murder and watching how McGee gets slapped in the back of his head," he threw his hand in the air and made a slapping motion.
A laugh shuttered her body, "I think you'd rather get slapped than McGee."
"Hey, not always!" he said and poked her back with his finger and let it trace all the way to her lower back. His breath hitched and he pulled his hand away.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and took a deep breath.
She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled, "It's okay," she said and moved to the middle of the bed. She looked at him and sighed.
"McGee actually called, told us to come back home," he said and sat up. He stretched his arms and caressed her cheek with his fingers, "So we should go."
She leaned into his touch and smiled, "Few more hours," she said quietly, "There are plenty of flights to catch."
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to lean over and press a soft kiss to her lips, but she didn't let him. She took his hand on hers and smiled nervously, "I wanna tell you something."
He smiled, "What is it? What did I do now?"
"Nothing, you did nothing," she told him and took a deep breath again, "But I wanna tell you, that...," she took a little moment to flash a sincere smile, "I don't hate you."
He couldn't help but laugh and for that he got rewarded with a smack to his side.
"I'm serious, DiNozzo," she said, even thought she couldn't help but to laugh, "I want you to understand, that I don't hate you."
He laughed a little bit and nodded, "I know."
"I really hope you do," she said and moved her gaze from his eyes to the mattress.
"Hey," he lifted her chin up with his hand, "Believe me, I know. It's just bickering, nothing much. Always been and always will be, right, Kate?" he asked.
"Yes, except when you went through my purse, trash and PDA and -"
"Well, we can move on from that," he stopped her.
First she narrowed her eyes, but then broke into a wide smile, "I actually like you a lot, Tony. Sorry I don't tell you that very often."
"Thanks," he said and moved closer to her, "I like you too. And sorry about the snooping around back then. I should have found better ways to improve my investigative skills."
"I do agree with that," she chucked.
"But can I do something that I wanted to do ever since we arrived to the hotel?" he asked and lowered his voice.
She felt her stomach twisting into knots, "What is that?"
"This," he whispered and leaned forward, until he met her soft lips. And once in his life, he had imagined their kiss to heat up slowly and bring out the real feelings, but it didn't do it – instead the kiss brought up affection towards one another and he could feel it; how she smiled in between.
They broke apart.
"That was nice," he said and flashed a smile.
"I, um -" she started and he watched her eyes sparkle, "I actually liked it."
His smile widened into a cheeky grin, "Really?"
"Yes," she reassured him with a silent chuckle. He pressed his lips into hers again. The float of those familiar affectionate endorphins came rushing back. He actually thought of exploring her mouth with his tongue, but then he though about her catholic principals and left his though into his fantasies.
"Tony,"she whispered after they broke apart.
"Yeah?" he asked and smiled widely, because he couldn't believe this was happening.
"It's time for you to wake up," she said.
He narrowed his eyes in a confusion, "What?"
She smiled and faded away and the the hotel room in Paraguay changed into a small bedroom in his apartment. Kate turned into a sleeping figure next to him.
Tony sat up slowly and wiped his face with his hand. He took a deep breath and then exhaled loudly. The sleeping figure next to him woke up, "Tony," a dark voice with an accent asked.
"Oh, sorry for waking you up," he said silently.
She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and shoulder, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Ziva, sorry for waking you up," he said and wrapped his right arm around her, "Would you happened to remember what day it is?"
She thought for a while, "March 22nd".
His lips turned into a smile and he let out a deep chuckle from the back of his throat.
"What is it?" Ziva asked and pulled away from him.
He noticed this and pulled her back, "Paraguay."
"Excuse me?" she asked and wrapped her arms around him again.
"Years ago I was in Paraguay with -" he took a little break, "With Kate."
Her breath hitched and she felt a little uncomfortable. When it came to his ex-partner, she felt like an outsider. She didn't know Kate, but she knew the way she died. She didn't know how Tony felt for Kate, but she was sure he had cared for her a lot.
"We shared a hotel room and I just saw a dream about it," he smiled and thought about the times he had with her: all the childish arguing, Ducky as their councilor when no one else didn't want to help them and those pranks they pulled to McGee.
She saw the longing look in his eyes, "You miss her, yes?"
He nodded, "Yeah. She died years ago and every time I think about it, it seems like yesterday, " he sighed.
"I am sorry, Tony," Ziva said silently.
He looked at her and saw how awkward this subject was for her, "It's okay," he said and pulled her close. He kissed her hair and breathed in her shampoo.
"Tony," she trailed off and leaned against his shoulder, "Are you happy?"
He kissed her hair again and smiled, "I think I am."
"You think?" she pulled away from him. She raised an eyebrow to his hesitation.
"No...?" he said slowly, "I am happy," he emphasized the 'am' and made her smile again. She leaned over and pressed a gently kiss to her lips. He pulled her closer and ran his hands on her sides.
"Tony," she said and parted from him, "It is three AM and I am tired," she said and lied down to the bed.
"The dream was so much better than reality," he whined and remembered the kiss he shared with Kate in his dream.
"What?" she raised her voice.
"I -" he lied down next to her, pulled her closer, smiled and kissed her lips, "Love you."
"You better," she mumbled, "Or I will not make you breakfast in the morning."
He chuckled against her skin and kissed her shoulder, "Why am I together with you? Remind me again?"
"Because I make you one hell of a breakfast," she said and made him chuckle again.
It didn't take much of her to fell asleep when he rubbed her back gently.
He stayed awake for couple minutes. He though would Kate be happy for what he had now? Would she had been proud of who he had become? Even though she had been gone for years, he was sure that right now, wherever she was, she was smiling.
this was such a random idea. i just needed to write tate. okay great. and oh yeah, that date that is in there, that was the date when the paraguay episode aired.
ncis doesn't belong to me and i hope you even tried to enjoy.
L ~