Hey, this is going to be more than a one-shot, but I don't know how long yet.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own this. If I did, don't you think I would have gotten Kate and Tony together?
Idea came from the end of Caught On Tape. That's 2x15 to anyone interested.
'Abby', Kate subtly shook her head.
'What Kate? You never slept with a friend?'
Kate turns to looks at Tony, to see his reaction, but all he could offer was to avoid her eye contact.
Later
'How did she find out?'
'We don't even know if she knows' Tony reasoned, trying to stop Kate from getting too overworked.
For the rest of that afternoon while the team was finishing paperwork for the case, Kate kept glancing around nervously. Luckily neither Gibbs nor McGee saw this, but Tony saw it. He was just as worried. Abby's comment earlier was stuck in both their heads, and now they were both paranoid.
Even though it happened about a month ago, Kate was still worried that someone would find out. If everyone found out, what would they think? The only woman who could resist Tony's "charms" had somehow ended up in bed with him. It was a mistake and she regretted even doing it. Or that's what she kept telling herself.
Tony though, was worried about what would happen to him, in terms of his physical appearance. McGee and Ducky aren't that much of a worry, but what would happen if Gibbs or Abby actually found out? That didn't even begin to cover what Kate would do to him if everyone was to find out.
'How can she not know?' Kate exclaimed, along with wild hand movements. Suddenly she stopped her pacing of Tony's lounge room and realisation dawned on her face. 'Oh God'
'What?' Tony asked curiously, removing his feet from the coffee table in front of the lounge.
'If Abby knows, then Gibbs knows. Gibbs knows everything!' Kate practically yelled the last part, and resumed her pacing. Tony was sure that there was going to be wear marks in the carpet.
'Kate, don't you think of Gibbs knew, I would have already been fired by now?' Tony said, even though he was starting to get a bit worried himself.
'I guess so. But you never know with Gibbs.'
Kate continued pacing for another five minutes, with Tony watching her closely. He was trying to figure out what she was thinking by studying her body language. Her constant fumbling with her fingers showed that she was worried about something, and her deep breaths every now and then showed she was trying to stop from hyperventilating, meaning she was getting stressed.
'Hey Kate,' Tony suddenly asked, scaring Kate.
'What?'
'Do you regret it?'
'Of course I do' was her immediate answer.
Either Kate didn't see Tony's hurt look or she completely ignored it and kept on pacing. It wasn't that Tony's ego was bruised, but it was that he though he actually meant something to Kate. Kate defiantly meant something to him. It wasn't that his other experiences were regrets, but this thing was Kate was much more than a mistake. He wouldn't trade it for anything.
'For God's sake Kate, stop pacing!' Tony said, with a slightly raised voice.
This managed to get Kate to stop, and she fell down into the arm chair that was next to the lounge Tony was sitting on.
'What do you want me to do Kate?' Tony barely whispered after moments of tense silence.
'Huh?'
'What do you want me to do, so that you can forget all about that, so you can stop stressing about everyone thinking less of you because you slept with me? What do you want me to do so that you can just move on with your life?'
Kate just stared at Tony with her mouth open. This isn't how she expected him to react to this. She expected him to make a joke about everything, or threaten to tell everyone about it. That is how she would have preferred him to react.
She can't take it when he is serious, which she has only seen on a handful of occasions. He is completely different, and you need a whole different tactic for dealing with it.
'Tony, don't' her voice was strained, and all the energy she had a few minutes ago to be able to pace was slowly draining out of her.
'Don't what?' Tony asked, genuinely confused.
'Don't say that.'
'But you regret it, so why wouldn't you want me to say it? I'm sure You've been thinking about it' Tony questioned bitterness clearly in his voice.
'For the past month, I have been trying to forget about it, because I knew that nothing would ever be able to happen. You would just move on to the next woman and I would be left, picking up the pieces of what you left behind' Kate had tears in her eyes as she finished.
'Kate, I would never do that to you. For the past month, I haven't been out clubbing; I haven't even hooked up with any girls. You are too special for me to even consider seeing another woman since then. Although you can't say the same about me. Do you really think that less of me?' Tony also had tears in his eyes, which was a sight that shocked Kate. That, along with what Tony said, left Kate sitting speechless.
Tony took this as a sign that he was blown off. Shaking his head in despair, he stood up and walked towards the closed door that Kate could see form where she was sitting. Even though it had been a month, she knew it was his bedroom.
When he reached the door he didn't go straight in. Instead he said just loud enough for her to hear 'Lock the door behind you'.
Kate watched the door close, feeling everything just drain away. She was tempted to go and tell Tony that he assumed wrong. Never assume anything. Should she have said something? There was nothing to say. Except that she was wrong. She wanted him. Kate could feel a headache coming on.
Feeling fairly uncomfortable sitting in Tony's living room without him there, Kate decided that it was best just to leave this conversation for the next day, when they were both less emotional and she could make coherent sentences.
Standing up from the armchair that she fell into, she went to the kitchen bench where there was a not pad. Writing down the four words that she so wanted to say but couldn't, at the time. She headed along the hall way towards the front door. She had a brief glance at Tony's closed bedroom door, but she could hear nothing and there was no light coming out from under the door. She presumed he had gone to sleep. Opening the door, she stepped into the warm, spring night. As much as she wanted to slam the door, she closed it gently. She cared about Tony, regardless of what he thought.
Knowing that Kate was still on the other side of the door kept Tony awake. He didn't want it to happen like this. He really did want Kate, and he really thought if they ever did get together, as cliché as this sounds, they would live happily ever after.
Hearing the door close quietly, Tony took a deep breath. He really needed to talk to Kate, but not tonight. Tomorrow.
Closing his eyes, he dreamed about a utopia life. In that life, Kate wouldn't regret what happened. They would have already been together.
Probably wasn't that good. The next chapter shouldn't take too long, I hope. :)
