Not Your Type by Star24
Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't profit from them, but I had an urge to play with them.
Takes place after Sub Rosa
Tony slowly walked back from the elevator that had swallowed Agent McGee. There was a small frown on his face. Gibbs glanced up briefly, but then turned back to his desk and got busy with what appeared to be an intense phone call. Tony sat down at his desk and started to pull up his paperwork on his computer screen.
"Tony?"
"Huh, what?" He looked up and saw that Kate was standing there, regarding him curiously.
"You okay?"
Tony summoned up one of his patented grins and flashed it at Kate, "Why wouldn't I be okay?" He turned back to his desk, dismissing her. A moment later a hand came down in front of his computer screen and he sighed and looked up at Kate. "Changed your mind about that consultation with the doctor?" he quipped, looking her up and down suggestively. It didn't work. Kate wasn't going away, and she wasn't backing down.
"I need a cup of coffee. You look like you do too. Come on."
Tony gauged her mood and sighed. Kate determined about something, could be worse than a bulldog. He'd already learned that about her. "Fine. But I've got paperwork to do or the Boss is gonna have my ass. Ten minutes."
Kate was already on her way to the cafeteria. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," trailed behind her.
Five minutes later the two of them were seated at a table in the mostly empty cafeteria with steaming cups of coffee in front of them.
"If you want to ask her out why don't you just do it already?" Kate got right to the point.
"I have no idea…"
"…what I'm talking about." Kate finished for him. "Abby. Special Agent McGee. Come on Tony, it was pretty obvious that you weren't thrilled about their lunch date. If you want to ask Abby out, you should do it." She looked at him curiously. "Somehow I never pictured you as the shy type. Or is all that talk just that, talk?"
Tony glared at her. "If I want to ask a woman out I do. It's not like I'm lacking a social life, if you must know."
"So then what was the thing with Abby and McGee? Or is it just one of those male things, where you don't want the bone until some other dog comes sniffing around it?" Kate said.
"Abby isn't a bone. I happen to consider her a friend and I don't want to see her hurt. Just because she dresses the way she does, she doesn't need some uptight MIT grad making her feel like she isn't good enough for him." Tony responded.
Kate continued to look at him. "Abby's a big girl. I'm sure she can take care of herself. I wouldn't worry about McGee and her."
Tony grunted and looked back at his coffee. "Are we done with this? 'Cause I really do need to get that paperwork done and filed. I'd think you would as well. You know the Boss."
"Yeah, we're done." Kate hesitated, "You know it would be a hell of a lot easier around here if we could be friends instead of…"
"Enemies?" Tony suggested.
"I wasn't going to say that." Kate protested. "I just think that maybe we got off on the wrong foot. I was going to say, if we could stop some of the snarking at each other."
Tony was quiet as their eyes met. Finally he nodded and held out a hand, "Deal. If you don't snark, I won't either."
"Is snark actually a verb?" Kate wondered.
"Damned if I know. I was just a dumb jock, remember?" he grinned at her.
Suddenly Kate understood the reasons behind Tony's behavior with McGee. She remembered Stan Burleigh and smiled. "If he wanted some MIT grad for his SIC, he would have hired one." She smiled at Tony as she got up to throw away her empty coffee cup.
"You know, Kate, I think I'd like you better if you could manage to lose the amateur psychoanalysis thing." Tony observed.
"Sorry. Trained as a profiler, remember? It's kind of a habit of mine." Kate gave him a smile.
"Glad I'm not your boyfriend then." Tony observed as he followed her back towards their desks.
"Tony, that's one thing you'll never…" Kate stopped herself. "Oh. No more snarking. Sorry."
Tony grinned at her discomfiture. "Kate, I can tell that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Before she could reply, a familiar voice called out, "Dinozzo!" and Tony was gone. With a smile, she followed slowly after him. Life certainly had become interesting since she had signed on with NCIS.
Finis
