The elevator chimed as the doors slid open to the squad room which was calmer than usual; not a lot of activity was going on in early November for any of the teams stationed at the Naval Yard. Looking at her watch, Kate realized that she was very nearly late for her shift. Silently cursing the longer than usual line at DC Beans that morning as she hurried to her desk, taking the last few sips of her coffee before disposing of the cup in the waste basket and removing the pea-coat she wore to ward off the late Autumn chill. Looking around, she realized that Gibbs wasn't at his desk, breathing a sigh of relief that maybe he wasn't aware that she had arrived late, she relaxed and turned on her computer.
The sound of the machine booting up caught McGee's attention, "Boss wants to see you in the small conference room."
"Great," Kate sighed, standing and smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles in her light charcoal suit. She'd been on the team nearly three years, enough time to know that if the boss wanted to see you in private, it was not bound to be a good thing. With a deep breath, to calm her nerves, she made her way to the conference room that had just been installed next to the newly renovated break room.
As she opened the door, she saw Gibbs standing next to the picture window a cup of coffee in his hand, "Good morning, Kate," He smiled, and nodded to one of the chairs surrounding the oblong table, "Take a seat."
"What's going on?" She slid into the indicated chair, trying not to appear too nervous.
"Got a job for you," Gibbs took the seat at the end of the table, diagonally from her, and slid a cup of coffee from his java dealer towards her.
"Oh no," She groaned, "Who do you need me to profile now?"
"No one," Gibbs took a sip of his coffee, but before he could continue, the door swung open again as Tony made his way into the small room. Kate felt a pain start to develop behind her eyes. "You're late, sit down." Gibbs directed, pointing to the other seat diagonally from him and across from Kate.
"Yes, Boss," Tony sat quickly, "Probie said you wanted to see me?" He then turned to Kate, giving her a flirtatious grin, "And good morning to you fair, Katie."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" She huffed her eyes.
"Oh, one cannot count that high," He teased, "I don't think I'll ever be able to stop."
"Hey!" Gibbs cut them off, getting frustrated with their banter, "Bicker on your own time, I have a mission for you two." He slid dossiers to them both which they promptly opened and perused the files.
Kate's file contained a picture of a beautiful woman with dark hair and hazel eyes. There was an air of mystery behind the woman's eyes, directly behind it was a picture of the same woman, dead, clearly taken on one of Ducky's autopsy tables. A quick glance of the reports identified the woman as Sophie Ranier, an assassin who allegedly been hired to enact a hit but had died in an automobile accident alongside her husband a few days before. "What does this have to do with us?" She looked back at Gibbs, searching his face for anything that might clue her into what the man was thinking.
"Sophie and Jean-Paul Ranier," Gibbs looked at them both, "Married assassins, they were on their way to the Barclay to execute a hit at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, but died in a car accident coming in from Quebec. We don't have information on who the target might be or who sent them, but since news of their deaths have not been made public, we are sending the two of you to stand in for them."
"Come on, Gibbs, can't someone else do it?" Kate groaned as Tony grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"No, you two are my senior field agents," Gibbs gave them both stern looks, "Ziva accompanied Ari's body back to Tel Aviv and hasn't returned yet, and McGee isn't ready for undercover work, not to mention I need him here during this op. Not to mention, the two of you are the only partners we have that come anywhere close to meeting the description of the couple. The two of you will just have to get over it and do the job."
"But…" Kate started.
"No buts, Kate," Gibbs shot her a look that was a cross between frustrated boss and scolding father. "You two will take the rest of the day to familiarize yourselves with the case and get ready, you check into the Barclay later tomorrow. If the two of you mess this up, I promise you that you will not like the results." With that he stormed out the door.
"I guess, we'd better start studying, Sweetheart." Tony teased, causing Kate to roll her eyes and leave, file in her hand.
Moments later, she made her way into Abby's lab, "Uh oh, I know that face," Her best friend chuckled, "What did Tony do now?"
"Tony is only part of the problem," Kate sighed, "Gibbs is putting us undercover…"
"That's not so bad," Abby shrugged, "You two work well together, it's like you are one unit, you have this unspoken way of communicating, moving, almost as if you share a brain."
"I have no desire to share a brain with Tony," Kate scoffed, "And you didn't let me finish, he's sending us under as a married couple! I mean can you believe that? How is anyone going to believe that me and Tony are married to each other? He so…"
"Handsome, kind, caring…" Abby led her friend over to the futon in her office where both women sat.
"Frustrating, immature, annoying..." Kate rebutted.
"Oh, he's not all that bad," Abby rolled her eyes, "And you know Tony is harmless. How much time do you have to prep?"
"We check into the Barclay Hotel tomorrow." Kate laid her head back on the futon.
"Nice digs." Abby smiled appreciatively.
"Gibbs gave us the rest of the day to study the dossiers but how are we supposed to convince people we are a married couple?" Kate demanded, "I can hardly stand to be in the same room with him most times."
"Me thinks the lady protests doth too much," Abby chuckled under her breath before an idea struck her. "Wait here, I have an idea," She popped up and ran out the door.
Kate was just finishing up her second look over the back history of Sophie Ranier when Abby came in, Tony and McGee hot on her heels. Kate raised a questioning eyebrow to her friend as she stood and walked over to the group, "Okay, so we know that Kate and Tony have to go undercover and be convincing as a married couple," The excitable goth explained.
"That shouldn't be too hard, they already fight like an old married couple," McGee chuckled.
"Not helping, Timmy." She mock-scolded, "We have to assume that they will be under observation not only by us but by whomever hired them. Which means that they may have to carry on the façade inside their room as well, but we'll get to that in a minute."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like what you're thinking?" Kate groaned.
"What, are you afraid of me, Katie?" Tony taunted her.
"Tony, not helping," Abby shot him a glare before rolling her eyes. "We first have to get you comfortable touching each other."
"I'm liking this plan so far," Tony grinned stepping toward Kate and pulling her toward him by her hips.
"DiNozzo!" Kate pushed him off, slapping his bicep.
"Tony, for once in your life, would you just be serious?" Abby sighed, "If you two are going to be convincing, you have to trust each other. We'll start with the little things, like hand holding."
Tony nodded solemnly, he walked to stand next to Kate and gently took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers. "Like this?" He checked.
Abby and McGee observed the two, waiting until Kate relaxed a bit before proceeding to the next step in their experiment. "Good, just like that," Abby nodded, "Now try walking around the lab as if you were escorting her on a date. Try other types of physical connection than holding hands." The pair nodded as they walked aimlessly around the lab, Tony alternated holding Kate's hand with having her hold his arm, having his hand gently at the small of her back as he led her through narrow areas and pulling her tighter to his side, his hand resting comfortably on her hip. Each change in contact, caused Kate to tense up a little bit before relaxing into the contact, as the exercise continued, that flinch got smaller and smaller until it was almost non-existent.
He loved how after a while the contact became second nature to them, when he would place his hand on her hip, or shoulder, she was starting to lean into him a bit. He knew it was just pretend, but there were a few moments when had his arm over her shoulder that her arm instinctively wrapped around his waist, the delicate brush of her fingers on his side and the subtle scent of her perfume bringing new awareness to his body. He always knew she was attractive, and if they didn't work together, he probably would have given into the attraction for a night. She was his partner now, and he knew better, knew they were incompatible, and even if they weren't, there was still rule number 12 they had had to contend with. If he tried anything, or even thought anything romantically inclined about Kate, Gibbs would skin him alive.
"Well I think that is working out just fine." Abby smiled, "Now for the next step, intimacy."
"What?!" Cried Kate, "No, no way!"
"I don't mean sex, Kate," Abby insisted, "I mean the way you look at each other, interact."
"What do you have in mind, Abbs?" Tony asked, looking between the two women.
"Okay, I need you two to face each other." She instructed as the pair stood facing their friends who were running and observing this little experiment.
"Tony, take her hands in hers and look into her eyes." Abby instructed, "I want you to focus on each other, but not to speak." When Kate opened her mouth to protest, Abby shushed her, "I said no talking."
Tony silently nodded and took a step toward Kate, with his hands on her shoulders, he gently turned her to face him so that they were perpendicular to the other two. He gently slid his hands from her shoulders, down the backs of her arms and finally to her fingertips before taking her hands in his, his thumbs gently tracing small circles on the backs of her hands. He took the time to take in all of her, from the burgundy heels that raised her height to just below the level of his nose to the grey skirt that flowed gently over his hips and flared slightly at the bottom, flirting with her knees. Her matching grey suit jacket followed her form nicely without being too revealing. The camisole she wore underneath matched the shoes she wore, the golden crucifix that always was around her neck rested just below her clavicle. She had worn her hair half up so that the lower portion flowed to just below her shoulders, while the upper half was caught up in a clip. Her bangs were swept to the side, but fell slightly over her eyes which were akin to warm milk chocolate. This is where he rested, looking into her eyes, matching her breathing to hers, it was like they were in their own world, everything else faded away.
"Wow," Abby sighed, watching her friends transfixed on each other just a few moments longer.
"No kidding," McGee chuckled, looking between Abby and their co-workers, "Are you sure we should be doing this?"
"Of course we should, Timmy," Abby insisted, "If they can't pass as a married couple in all aspects of the words, their cover might be blown."
"You're not going to make them…"
"No," Abby cut him off, "I would never, not that I would complain if they did, I mean can you imagine what their babies would look like?"
"Abby…" McGee warned.
"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist, McGee," Abby rolled her eyes, "I think I know a way to make it seem as if they are without them actually doing it."
"If you say so." McGee shrugged.
"You'll see," Abby smiled turning back to their friends who had subconsciously stepped closer to one another. She had been watching the two of them dance around each other for the past three years, and although she knew of Gibbs' rule number 12, she was still surprised that something hadn't happened after Tony had the plague or even after Kate had narrowly escaped being killed by Ari. She would have thought one or both of those events would have knocked some sense into the partners, but they were both so stubborn. "Great, now kiss her."
Tony nodded his understanding, seeing the slight panic in Kate's eyes, he took it slow. He lifted his right hand to brush her bangs back from her eyes, trailing his fingertips down her jawline before tucking his finger under her chin and tilting her head up as he bent his own down until their lips met. The kiss was soft and sweet, he didn't want to push his luck and undo all the work they had done so far. He heard her sigh as he stepped back, he watched as her eyes fluttered open. He was surprised to see that her hazel eyes had turned a deep emerald green.
"Well, that was certainly PG rated," Abby teased, "You're married, you gotta give it more than that."
Tony looked back down at Kate, seeking permission at her slight nod, he weaved his fingers through her hair and pulled her in once more smiling as she gripped he lapels of his suit jacket. His lips were gentle at first as he wrapped his other arm around Kate's waist, pulling her closer to him. He gently traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue, requesting permission for entrance. He couldn't believe it when he felt her hand move to play with the short hairs on the nape of his neck as she sighed and opened up to him, allowing him to deepen the kiss. He didn't know how long they'd been there before he heard someone clear their throat loudly, causing them to jump apart, both blushing.
"What the hell is going on here?" Gibbs demanded, looking between the three agents and the lab tech who looked all levels of pleased and embarrassed.
"Sorry Gibbs," Abby spoke up, "This was all my idea. You see, Kate was worried about her and Tony being able to pass as a couple in public just in case they were under surveillance aside from ours."
"Uh huh," Gibbs nodded, looking at the agents in question.
"So, we ran a few experiments, starting with having them hold hands, then slowly moving to more intimate touching and interactions."
"'Intimate?'" Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the lab tech.
"Yeah, you know, arms around each other, the way a guy's hand will sometimes rest on the lower back of a woman he's escorting through a narrow area, looking into each other's eyes, intimate." Abby explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"That was not what I just saw." Gibbs countered.
"Well that was the next step," Abby shrugged, starting to get nervous under the penetrating stare of the team leader, "I figured they should probably be comfortable kissing, so that was what I had them do first, and while their first kiss was very sweet, it was too 'first date' for a married couple to be engaging in, so I told them to turn up the heat, so to speak."
"I'll say that it worked." Gibbs turned toward the soon-to-be-undercover agents, "So long as pretend is all it is. I have rule number 12 for a reason." With that, he turned on his heel and walked out the door leaving the four younger people to let out a collective breath that none of them realized they'd been holding.
"Now that we have the kissing down, I think we need to talk about sex…" Tony and KateR shared a concerned look before looking back at their friend who had an impish look on her face.
