Intentions by saulalovin

A NCIS fan fiction

Pairing: Tony DiNozzo and Kate Todd

Summary: "Why, Kate? Why tell me you were infected when you weren't?"

Spoilers: This is set post-'SWAK', so yeah.

Disclaimer: Not mine, but hey – a girl can dream! Heehee.

Author's Note: See what happens after you watch 'SWAK' thrice in one day? You get inspired and churn out a Tate fic at midnight. Read and review, please. I thrive on reviews. Oh, and the parts about pneumonic plague and its symptoms and after-effects? Mostly improvised. I did read up on it (http/www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/plague/factsheet.asp), but I'm no expert or doctor, so don't go looking too much into it. Also, I'm assuming the NCIS headquarters are in the city.

"Why, Kate?"

She ducked her head, her dark brown hair forming a curtain around her face, concealing the bright red color of her cheeks.

Good question, she thought. Still…damned if I know.

It had been four days since he was released. Aside from the occasional cough, Tony DiNozzo was fine. Today had been his first day back at work, and as soon as Gibbs had told them they could leave, he had taken Kate Todd aside and up to the rooftop to talk.

It was a cool night. She pulled her blazer tighter around her and stared out at the twinkle of the city lights. The silence was killing him. She could feel it. She could sense him trying to suppress his frustration, to let her answer him whenever she was ready.

Forcing herself to look at him in the eye, she told him simply, "You were afraid, Tony."

"I thought you took it back because I apparently don't have half a brain," he retorted.

In spite of everything, she cracked a smile, her eyes gleaming with laughter. "Oh, that's right. My bad. Glad to see the plague didn't rob you of any more brain cells. And you're thinking again! Good, that's coming back."

He smirked at her. "Cute, Kate."

They fell silent, the sounds of the city enveloping them as they lost themselves in their thoughts.

"I don't know," she said suddenly, clasping her hands together in front of her as she leaned forward on the railing, a slight breeze picking up and ruffling her hair.

"What?"

"I don't know," she repeated, craning her neck to look up at him before staring out at the city lights again. "Why I told you I was infected, too. Why I stayed with you in isolation, even when Brad told me I still had a chance of inhaling the Y. pestis from you. Why seeing you in such bad shape, hacking and coughing with such intensity, made me feel like I was going through the same pain as you. Why I broke down on Ducky's shoulder after they made me get out. Why I asked if I could sleep there that night. Why I was so relieved when you made that reference to…" She looked at him sheepishly. "What movie was that again? E.T.?"

He chuckled, and it turned into a violent cough that had him wheezing. She patted and rubbed his back, silently – and not so silently – cursing Gibbs for making him come back to work so soon.

"Alien," he rasped out finally after calming down.

"Right," she smiled. "I knew that."

"Sure you did, Kate." He paused, and then smiled almost shyly, looking very much like a little boy. "Um, thanks. For, you know… Everything."

She slipped her hand into his and squeezed it in reply, leaning into his shoulder and resting her head there. After a while she continued, knowing that both of them needed to hear this aloud:

"I don't know why I stayed as long as I could there in isolation with you. Why I practically bit Gibbs's head off when he tried to make me leave. Why I felt like a huge weight had been lifted on my chest when you began to get better." She pulled away from him slightly and looked up at him so she could see his face. "Or why I'm ready to take risks after what nearly happened," she said finally in a near whisper.

He looked at her, slowly processing everything she had just said, as well as the underlying meaning behind them. "Do you really not know?" He paused and took her hands in each of his own. "Or do you not want to say?"

A tiny smile spread over her lips. "I thought you'd need some company," she replied honestly, her right thumb absentmindedly stroking his hand. "I realized that if I had been in your position, you would've done the same for me. I knew you'd need hope. This was the one thing you were afraid of, because you couldn't do anything about it. Things weren't up to you; they weren't in your hands. You couldn't take action at all." She sucked in a breath, exhaled shakily and continued, her eyes on his. "And I finally admitted to myself that if I had left you in there, by yourself…and something had happened – " a sob rose up in her throat, and she fought to hold back tears " – I would've never forgiven myself."

Nonetheless, a tear slipped down her cheek, and she sniffed and let out a small laugh. "When I heard you make another stupid movie reference, I knew things were going to be okay. I knew you were going to be okay. Because for a second there, I didn't know if I was going to hear another one of your sexist remarks, or one of your wisecracks." She closed her eyes briefly and allowed a few more tears to escape before finishing in a small voice, "And that scared me…more than you'll ever know, Tony."

Wordlessly he drew her closer and into his arms. This seemed almost unreal, totally unlike anything he'd ever experienced, but the moment called for it. It was appropriate. It fit, and so did she. Like a puzzle, with the pieces slowly falling in place. With a start, he realized that nearly dying had forced him to grow up. It had made him open his eyes and see what had been in front of him all this time – what he had chosen to ignore and forsake.

And if he was right, it had done the same for another person, too.

"Kate."

She lifted her head from where she had buried it in his chest. Her face was tearstained, her eyes rimmed with red and her hair slightly messy from the wind. She wasn't the type of woman he normally went for – she was, in fact, the exact opposite.

And that's what convinced him that he was doing the right thing. It gave him courage, and for the first time in his life, he stopped running away. He needed to face reality, and she was the one he chose to face it with.

"That thing you said about taking risks…?" He lowered his face to hers slowly and whispered against her lips, "Could this be one of them?"

He pressed his lips to hers and she kissed him back, her heart threatening to explode with all the emotions that coursed through her. She deliberately allowed him to take her, and tuned out the thoughts that ran through her head haphazardly. She muted the alarm bells ringing in her head. She knew what she was doing. For the first time in her life, she was going to listen with her heart and overanalyze every little step with her head.

They stayed up there for a while, wrapped up in each other's embrace, occasionally kissing and whispering to each other, both content with the way things were going.

It wasn't until later when Tony cleared his throat nervously and looked at Kate guiltily:

"So, who's telling Gibbs?"