Kate and Abby sat in the lab eating Chinese food for what seemed like the hundredth time that week.
"So Kate, if you were a lesbian, what would be your perfect woman?" Abby asked as she chewed her food. Kate almost chocked on her noodles.
"Abby, what kind of a question is that?" Kate asks as she takes a sip of water.
"Well I'm bored Kate. It's the only question I can think of" Abby explains herself with a grin. Kate sighs.
"You're right. Being stuck down here isn't as fun as what I thought. Ok, so my perfect woman" Kate thinks for a minute.
"Tall, long hair, I don't like the shaven head thing, soft eyes and a beautiful smile. I want her to be curvy and strong. I guess that would be my perfect woman" Kate said as she finished her food. Abby smiled and went to answer when a bullet shot through the window and into the room.
2 WEEKS LATER
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Kate sat at the table, her fingers drumming along the top.
"Do you understand?" US Marshall Mary Shannon asked looking at Kate. Kate sighed.
"Yes, no I don't understand at all. You're telling me I can't contact my family or my friends and tell them I'm ok, just because my ass of a boss thinks I'm a target?" she almost yells. Mary's partner, Marshall Mann, sits opposite Kate and doesn't dare try and calm her down.
"I know this is hard, but you have to understand" Mary said in a calm tone.
"No you have to understand I left everyone with even a goodbye. My parents, my three brothers and sister. Tell me, have you had to move somewhere, change your name and pretend that your past never happened?" she asked. Mary stood up.
"If you want out fine. You can walk, but I will not be held responsible if the cops find your shot up body tomorrow morning" Mary shot back. She was used to dealing with criminals and their families, but Kate was different. She was an innocent that needed protecting from a potential terrorist.
Kate was quiet as she thought about her options.
"Fine, but you better find me a damn good job" Kate grabs her bag and exits the room. Mary and Marshall both watch her leave.
"She's hot" Marshall comments. Mary looks at him and sighs.
"What? I'm just saying, she has a nice ass" he continues. Mary shakes her head as she watches Kate leave. Her eyes happen to trail down and land on her ass. If she was into that kind of thing, yeah she had a great ass.
"Well she is going to be a tough case" Marshall says as he goes to his desk.
"Well yeah, she's our first actual innocent person" Mary says sitting down at her own desk.
"Theirs is that, but I heard those NCIS Agents are tough" Marshall told her. Mary picked up her phone and shook her head at her partner.
2 WEEKS LATER
Kate knocks on the big door at the entrance to Marshalls office. Marshalls gets up and lets her in.
"Nice to see you again" he greets her with a smile. She gives him a soft smile. Mary sees her.
"Princess, what brings you here?" she says with a wide smile. Kate takes no notice of her nickname.
"I was hoping we could talk" she says kindly. Mary looks at Marshall then back at Kate and nods.
"Sure, you know the way" she says as she gets up and follows Kate into the meeting the room. Mary closed the door and stood at the head of the table, as Kate hadn't taken a seat either.
"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I acted before. I also came to say thank you for the job you found me. It may not be the same as being an agent, but it will do for now" Kate said with a soft smile. Mary was shocked. She hadn't expected this from Kate at all.
"No problem. I saw you had taken law, so the court house seemed to be the right place" she explained.
"Well thank you again" Kate looked at the window and saw Marshall watching them and smiled.
"I know how hard it can be being the only girl in the work place. You also seem like you don't get out much aside from work, so I was thinking we could grab a coffee sometime. You know just for some girl time" Kate said a little uneasy. Mary smiled and fidgeted with her hair.
"Uh, yeah sounds good" she replies. Kate smiles.
"Great. So call me when you're free" Kate says as she heads for the door. Mary's conscience got the best of her.
"Kate" she said stopping her before she left the meeting room.
"I'm sorry for the princess crack" Mary said. Kate smiled.
"It's ok. I probably deserved it" with a small wave she left, saying goodbye to Marshall and left the building.
Kate was packing up her things when her phone started ringing.
"Hello?" she answered.
"You still up for that coffee?" came Mary's answer. Kate smiled.
"Sure, I'm just about finished. Where should I meet you?" she asked as she put the last of things away.
"How about out the front, in say two minutes" Mary says, the smile evident in her voice. Kate looked at the clock.
"Yeah sure. See you soon" she hung up and made her way out of the court house. She walked down the stairs and instantly saw Mary standing next to her car. Kate smiled and headed towards her.
"That was quick" Kate said. Mary gives a shrug.
"Was in the neighbourhood. Let's go, I know a great place" she tells her. Kate goes around the other side of the car and gets in.
A few minutes later they pull up outside a diner.
"They do great burgers" Mary says as she grabs her jacket from the back seat and heads inside, Kate following.
"So what do you think you will have?" Mary asked putting down her menu. Kate sighed and put hers down.
"I think I will go with the chicken salad and an ice tea" she replies with a smile. Mary looks at her.
"You kidding? We're not on a date, you can order a T-bone if you wanted to" Mary says seriously. Kate laughs.
"Believe it or not, I eat like this all the time" she smiles. Mary nods.
"So that's why you're so tiny" she says with a laugh. Kate chuckles.
"That and the ongoing training" Kate nervous plays with her fingers. The waitress comes over and they make their orders.
"So protecting the president must have been fun" Mary says trying to start a conversation. Kate smiles.
"It was, but I thought I wasn't supposed to talk about my past" Kate pointed out.
"Right. Okay, if you want to make this a thing we do. There is a rule, no talk about work, past or present" Mary said. Kate nodded.
"Deal" she agrees with a smile. After a few minutes silence of not knowing what to talk about, Kate finally says something.
"So is there someone special in Mary Shannon's life?". Mary was about to answer when the waitress came back with their orders. She waited for her to leave before answering.
"There was, not anymore" and she popped a chip into her mouth. Kate nodded as she poured dressing over her salad.
"What happened?" Kate asked. Mary gave a shrug as she added some sauce to her chips.
"Just didn't work. How about you? Did you leave anyone behind?" she asks watching Kate closely. She nodded.
"It doesn't matter. He put me here, so I guess that's over as well" Kate picks at her salad as she thinks about Gibbs. Mary stops and looks at her.
"You mean your boss? You were dating your boss?" she stops eating. Kate smiles.
"Well I wouldn't say dating. We only started sleeping together a month ago, then all this started" she pauses and takes a sip of her tea. Mary's conscience gets the better of her once again.
"Kate I really am sorry this has happened. I have been doing this for a long time, and in some cases it does get better" she says sincerely. Kate smiled and looked up at her.
"I hope so" she agrees. They share a smile before Mary snaps back to the present.
"Now you really have to try this burger" she says as she cuts a portion of her burger for Kate to try. Kate laughs and looks at it, her mind told her no, but her heart told her yes. This time she went with her heart.
"Mary Shannon" she answers her phone.
"Mary, what are you doing right now?" Kate asked excitedly. Mary looked around her office.
"Uh, sitting at my desk. Why?" she asked cautiously.
"I'm taking you out tonight. Go home get dressed and meet me at my place" Kate orders.
"Oh no, I don't go out" Mary said sitting back in her chair.
"Come on Mary. I want to thank you for what you have done for me. Look just come out for a few drinks, that's all I ask" Kate tried to bargain. Mary groaned and rubbed her eyes.
"Fine, a few drinks and that's it" Mary agreed.
"Great, so I will see you soon" Kate said and hung up. Mary put then phone back and sighed.
"A few drinks. No harm with a few drinks" she told herself as she grabbed her jacket and keys and left the building.
"Mary, come in. I just have to finish getting ready. Take a seat" Kate greeted her. Mary stepped in and got a good look at Kate.
"I thought you said a few drinks?" he eyes ran over Kate's figure that was covered in a tight red material.
"I know, doesn't mean I can't dress up. I'll be right back" Kate disappeared into her bedroom leaving Mary alone. She took a seat on the couch and sighed.
"There's beer in the fridge if you want one" Kate called out.
"Thanks" Mary got up and went to the fridge and took out a beer, popped the top off and sculled half of it.
"I didn't know you drank beer" Mary said as she closed the fridge door.
"I don't. I brought them for you. I'm they are ok" Kate calls back. Mary smiles and takes another sip.
"Thanks, they're good" she goes back and sits on the couch. Kate comes out a few minutes later.
"Ok, I'm ready to get going" she says with a smile. Mary lifts her head form the back of the couch and looks at her. She has to admit, Kate looks pretty hot when she is dressed.
"Can't we just stay here and drink. At least we wouldn't have to put up with guys staring at your chest" Mary said taking another sip of beer. Kate looks down at her boobs then back up at Mary.
"Well if that's what you really want to do. I have some chips and other stuff to eat" Kate says. Mary smiles.
"Great, we can have our own party right here" she takes another long sip of her beer. Kate smiles, takes her shoes off and goes to the kitchen. She comes back with two more beers and a bowl of chips. She hands one of the beers to Mary and opens her own.
"I thought you didn't drink beer?" Mary says. Kate shrugs.
"That was the old Kate, this is the new. Cheers" they clanked bottles and Kate took a sip and made a face making Mary laugh.
"Ok, now I know why I didn't drink this stuff" she says putting the bottle on the coffee table and staking a seat next to Mary.
"Don't give up, it tastes better the more you have" she tells her. Kate eyes her then picks up her beer again and keeps drinking.
"For the record, you look pretty good dressed up" Mary says taking another long sip. Kate blushes slightly.
"Thank you. I never got to dress up much before" she gave a soft smile before taking another small sip. Mary watched her.
"So why did you want to thank me? I thought you did that with the lunch last week" Mary said. Kate smiled and shrugged.
"That didn't seem like enough. I know I can be difficult and you didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated you. I guess you could say I wanted to say sorry" Kate looked at her. Mary had a small smile on her face. Kate looked into Mary's eyes and her conversation with Abby popped into her head. Then it hit her.
"Shit" she looked away and laughed, taking a bigger drink from her beer.
"What?" Mary asks. Kate doesn't look at Mary when she answers.
"You have soft eyes" she says. Mary blushes slightly.
"Thank you" she says. Kate looks at her and can't help the smile that graces her face.
"And a great smile" Kate adds. Mary keeps smiling as she takes another drink of her beer.
"Sorry, it's just, the night that almost ruined my life, my friend and I were talking about what would be our perfect woman and" she laughs.
"I just realised you have every quality of my perfect woman" Kate told her. She looked away and took a chip from the bowl. They had only known each other for a month and this wasn't exactly the type of conversation you have with a new friend. Mary didn't know what to say.
"It's a good thing we didn't go out" she said, changing the subject. Kate looks back at her.
"Why's that?".
"Because I would have had to find my own way home" she grins as she takes another sip. Kate laughs.
"I wasn't going out to get laid, it was just for a few drinks with a friend" Kate explains. Mary chuckles.
"If you say so" she reaches forward and takes a few chips.
"Ok, I may have thought about taking someone home, I mean it has been a while since" she pauses and looks at Mary.
"Well you know" Kate sits back into the couch and sighs. Mary looks at her.
"Oh I know. After Raph, it has been a while" she agreed. Kate looked over at her. She didn't know what had come over her, she had only had one beer and she was straddling Mary's lap, her lips crashing into hers in a passionate kiss. She pulled back, her eyes still closed. When she opened them she was met with wide hazel eyes.
"Oh my god. Mary I am so sorry" she apologized as she started to get off Mary. Mary smiled and grabbed Kate's hips, stopping her from moving away. Kate looked at Mary shocked.
"Don't be sorry" she said softly as she kissed Kate. Kate smiled into the kiss and entwined her hands in Mary's soft hair and deepened the kiss. Mary's hand went from Kate's hips to her ass and up under her dress. Kate stopped kissing her.
"Wait" she said, reached back and unzipped her dress and pulled it over her head, tossing it over the couch. Mary stared at her with wide eyes.
"Wow" was all she said as her hands ran over the smooth skin of her toned stomach. Kate watched her with a smile. Mary eye's ran up Kate's body and stopped at Kate's red lacy push up bra. Kate reached back and undid her bra and threw it away. Mary swallowed. She had never been attracted to another woman before, but that was before Kate Anderson showed up.
Mary leaned forwards and started kissing Kate's chest, Kate's hands running over Mary's hair. Mary stops and looks at Kate.
"Do you want this?" she asks. It was a question not just for Kate, but for herself. Without a word, Kate's hand went down to the hem of Mary's shirt and pulls it over her head and throws it away. Then she grabs Mary's singlet and pulls that over her head and throws it away and grins.
"That answer your question?" she says arching her eyebrow. Mary smiles and nods and Kate leans in and starts kissing her neck as her hands reached around and unclasped her bra. Mary lets out a soft moan as she feels Kate massaging her breasts, her fingers running over her hardening nipples. Mary runs her hands up and down Kate's back, over her ass and along her bare legs. Then in between their bodies to undo her belt and jeans. Kate gets up and help Mary get her pants off then gets back on top of her.
"Better?" she asks with a grin.
"Much" Mary says and kisses Kate, her hands tangling in her brown curls. Kate's hands trailed down Mary's chest, over stomach and down between their two bodies. Mary moaned as she felt Kate rub her already wet centre.
For someone who has never done this before, Kate felt so confident in what she was doing. She got up off Mary, pulled her up off the couch and led her down the hall to her bedroom. She turned the light, pulled Mary flush against her and kissed her deeply. Mary's hands grabbed Kate's ass and steered her over to the bed. They fell to the bed, Mary on top, her hands running all over Kate's body. Kate moaned, wrapped her legs around Mary's waist and before Mary had time to think, Kate had flipped her so she was on her back with Kate now on top.
"Secret Service training?" Mary questioned with a grin. Kate nodded her head.
"I knew it would come in handy one day" she a chuckle she leaned down and kissed Mary again. Her lips trailed down her neck, over her collar bone, down the valley between her breasts, down her stomach and stopped when she came to Mary's underwear. Mary took in a breath when she felt Kate pull them down her legs, then ran her finger tips up the inside of her leg.
"Kate" Mary groaned as she placed kisses on the inside of her thigh. Kate grinned and looked up at her.
"I've never done this before" Kate tells her. Mary chuckles.
"And like I have" she reaches down and takes Kate's hand.
"Just tell me what you like ok?" she raises an eyebrow. Mary nods.
"Shouldn't be too hard to figure out what I like" Mary grins. Kate chuckles and starts kissing her stomach. Mary took in a deep breath when she felt Kate's breath near her clit. Kate ran a finger up through her wet folds, getting a low moan from Mary. Kate grinned and started rubbing her clit. Mary squeezed Kate's hand as she let out another moan. Feeling more confident, she stopped her finger and replaced it with her tongue.
"Oh god" Mary moaned loudly, lifting her hips up off the bed. Kate ran her free hand up and down Mary's thigh as she sucked on her clit.
"Kate" Mary growled, making Kate grin and suck harder. Kate moved he hand from her thigh and slowly slid one finger into her. Mary's hand tightened in Kate's as she took in a deep breath. She moved her finger in and out slowly as she started to nibble of her clit.
"More" Mary moaned. Kate entered another finger and moved them in and out of her a little faster. Mary moaned again, even louder this time, her free hand grabbed the sheets as she felt her orgasm growing.
"Kaaatttteee" she let out as Kate's finger curled inside of her, hitting her g-spot. Kate moved her fingers faster and sucked her clit harder. Mary's hips lifted off the bed and her muscles tightened around Kate.
"Fuck…Kate…Yes" she moaned loudly, then collapsed back onto the bed. Kate removed her fingers then ran her tongue through Mary's folds, making her shiver. She then started kissing her inner thigh, then worked her way up her body, sucked on her nipple before finally attacking her mouth.
"Wow" was all Mary could say. Kate grinned and kissed her again.
"Was that ok?" she asked with a smile. Mary nodded.
"It was, it was great" she said tucking Kate's hair behind her ear.
"Now I get to return the favour" Mary quickly rolled them over so she was now on top of Kate.
Kate rested her head on Mary's chest, a smile cemented on her face as Mary's hand lazily drew circle on her bare back.
"Do you regret it?" Kate asked as she placed her hand on Mary's stomach. Mary shook her head.
"No I don't, but it's not something I'm going to go bragging about it" she said. Kate chuckled and moved her fingers up and down Mary's stomach and stopped when she felt a slight difference in her skin. She looked up and saw a circular scar.
"What happened?" she asked tracing the scar. Mary's hand stopped on Kate's back.
"I was shot last year" she said. Kate looked at Mary. She had so many questions, yet the look on Mary's face stopped her. She leaned up, kissed her once and rested back down on her.
"I'm glad you're ok" was all she said as she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her.
4 MONTHS LATER
Kate was making her way out of the court house when her phone started ringing. She checked the caller ID and smiled.
"Miss me already" she answered with a smile.
"Kate, you need to come in to the office" Mary said glumly. Kate froze.
"Why? What's happened?" she asked. Mary sighed.
"Just come in as soon as you can" and Mary hung up. Kate hung up and made her way to her car.
"So you're telling me I can go home if I want to?" Kate looked from Mary to Stan. They both nodded.
"I was contacted by your director and he confirms that there is no longer a threat. So, it's up to you if you wish to stay in the program" Stan explained to her. Mary kept quiet. Kate watched her and nodded.
"And if I leave, I can't come back to this life?" she asked. Stan shook his head.
"No" he simply answered. Kate looked down at her lap then at Mary.
"Stan, could you give us a minute?" Kate asked. Stan looked between the two and nodded.
"Yes, of course" he stood up and left the room.
"Mary I" Kate started but Mary cut her off.
"You want to go home" she said. Kate looked at her and nodded.
"Then go home. That's what you want, I can't stop you" Mary told her. She was trying so hard to hold it together. Yes it had only been a few months, but those few months were the happiest she has ever been.
"It is, but I just want you to know" Kate started again.
"Don't even ok. I've known you what, five months. I can't compete with them" Mary got up from the desk and went to the door. She paused before exiting.
"Hope you enjoy the rest of your life" she said and left. Kate let out a big sigh and ran her hands through her hair. She was so happy to be going home, yet it felt like her heart was being ripped out.
2 Weeks later
"Kate you're back" Abby squealed as she hugged Kate tight.
"I missed you Abby" Kate said hugging her back. They were in the bullpen, everyone there to greet her and welcome her home. Next was Tony, then McGee, Ducky and last was Gibbs. She stood in front of him with a soft smile.
"I guess I have you to thank for bringing me home" she said. He didn't say anything, just wrapped her in a hug.
"It's good to have you back" he whispered and kissed her cheek. She smiled and hugged him back.
Abby and Kate were sitting in her old apartment.
"So what was it like? Pretending to be someone else?" Abby asked. Kate sat down opposite her.
"I was still me Abby, I just had a different last name and couldn't tell people about my past" Kate looks down at her plate of pizza and smiles.
"I did meet someone though" she said softly. This caught Abby's attention.
"Really? Who?" she asked. Kate smiled as she picked at her pizza.
"My perfect woman" Kate said with a smile. Abby gasped.
"What? You mean, you" she trailed off and Kate nodded.
"Wow. Where did you meet her?" Abby asked. Kate looked up at her.
"She was my protector. Four months we" now it was Kate's turn to trail off.
"Dated?" Abby helped her out.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that" Kate said as she looked down at her pizza.
"So do you like her?" Abby asked as she took a bite of her own pizza. Kate thought for minute.
"Yeah, I think I do" she said sadly.
"So why did you come back? It's clear you're not happy" Abby told her. Kate looks at her.
"I wanted to see you all again. And I thought, seeing Gibbs again that maybe…" she pauses.
"You thought you and Gibbs would pick up from where you left off" Abby helped. Kate nodded.
"But when I saw him, I felt nothing. I just wanted to be back with Mary" she said putting he plate with untouched pizza on the table.
"So call her" Abby shrugged. Kate sighed.
"She won't answer my calls" Kate told her.
"Then go back to her. Go back. There is no law saying you can't go back and not be in the program. Plus I can always come for a visit" Abby grinned which made Kate laugh for the first time since she had been home. Kate hugged her tight.
"Thank you" she said.
3 WEEKS LATER
"Come on get up off the lounge and go to bed" Jinx said as she walked passed her daughter who was stretched out on the small couch, looking up at the ceiling.
"I'm fine here mum. Just leave me alone" Mary said. There was a knock at the door and Mary didn't even flinch. Jinx sighed and went to answer it.
"Hello, can I help you?" she asked the brunette standing at the door.
"I was wondering if Mary was home. I know it's late but" Kate was cut off by Jinx pulling her inside.
"She's on the couch. Hasn't moved since she got home. Maybe you can talk some sense into her" and with that Jinx walked off to her room. Kate took a deep breath and started towards the couch.
"What are you doing here?" Mary asked before she even saw Kate.
"I needed to talk to you" she said as she moved so she could see Mary.
"A phone call would have been cheaper" Mary said.
"I tried but you wouldn't answer" Kate told her. Mary sighed and finally sat up, looking at Kate.
"What are you doing here Kate?" she asked. Kate sat down in another chair.
"I miss you Mary. I know you probably don't believe me, but when I got back you were all I could think about. I left because I thought it was the right thing to do" Kate explains.
"Right for who? You or me?" Mary asks bitterly. Kate shrugs.
"Both I guess" she answers.
"Kate, you shouldn't have come back" Mary went to stand up but Kate grabbed her wrist.
"Mary please, talk to me" Kate pleaded. Mary looked back at Kate and saw the hurt in her eyes. She sighed and sat back down.
"Kate, you have to understand that we can't just pick up where we left off" Mary tells her. Kate nods.
"I know that, but what we had was real. It was me and I didn't have to hide anything from you. Mare I was myself with you" Kate could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Mary sighed and took Kate's hand.
"I know, but everyone else knows you as Kate Anderson and think" Mary was cut off by Kate.
"he director of NCIS got in touch with the court house and the real estate and explained what happened. I have my job back and my house is available next week" she said with a soft smile. Mary stared at their hands.
"And you're sure this is where you want to be?" Mary asked. Kate nodded.
"I'm sure" she said. Mary looked up and saw the tell- tale sign of tears in Kate's eyes. She smiled and pulled Kate towards her, wrapping her arms around her.
"I missed you too" she said and kissed Kate's cheek. Kate buried her head in Mary's neck and let her unshed tears fall.
"I'm so sorry Mare" she whispered. Mary pulled back and looked at her, wiping away a few tears.
"It's ok. I forgive you" she leaned in and kissed her. It started out as a soft kiss, which soon escaladed into a passionate and needy one.
"Not here, my mother" Mary breathed. Kate grinned.
"I have a hotel room not far away" she said and kissed Mary again. Mary was off the couch in two seconds, grabbed her jacket and pulled Kate with her out of the house and to her car.