I don't own any of the characters or the show NCIS
Signed, SEALed and Delivered
Tony stood outside of autopsy and was fighting inner turmoil because the person that they had been called out to investigate was a friend of his from before he had went to college. He remembered back then about all the things that led up to this point right now.
He had joined the navy on a 4 year hitch for the GI bill because he was torn between that and serving his country and just going to Ohio State to play basketball. He talked to the head coach and told him his problem and the coach told him that in two years if he still wanted to come and play ball there he would welcome him but he wouldn't be able to offer a scholarship. Tony was very excited about this because he knew if he joined the service they would pay for his college costs.
Tony had trouble at first deciding which branch, he had narrowed it down to the Navy and the Marines but each one had its pro's and con's and finally all he did was flip a coin. He had joined the navy the next day. Senior was furious with him and told him that only worthless people joined that Navy and he would someday die in the gutter. Tony had grown immune to his father's ramblings and just left the next day for BUD/S and all the specialized training he would receive to become a SEAL. While doing his training, because he was in such great shape and did so well on all of his courses he was pulled aside one day asked if he had ever thought of becoming a SEAL and of course his answer was no. He had discussed it with the Commander at length and realized he liked the sound of becoming a SEAL.
While Tony was daydreaming outside of autopsy Kate had stepped off the elevator and saw him standing there in his own little world. She finally cleared her throat and startled Tony then said, "Tony if Gibbs catches you dreaming of blondes with big breasts he'll give you a head slap you'll never forget."
Tony shook his head to clear out the cobwebs and said, "Actually Kate I was thinking back to stuff that happened a lifetime ago." Tony paused for a moment and continued, "I am going to tell you something that I have never told anyone else but I can't do it here so will you meet me at my place when we get out of here for the night?"
Kate was very intrigued so she found herself nodding as they made their way back to the bull pen. It was 10:49 when Tony had asked Kate to come or to his apartment and now it was 4:17 and all she could think about was what secret Tony was going to tell her. The suspense was killing her even though she had work to do on the murdered SEAL down in autopsy.
Finally after they had run some searches on the victim and didn't come up with much because most of his file was deemed classified and TOP-SECRET and his CO wasn't going to be in the office until 1:00 tomorrow afternoon so Gibbs sent them home at a reasonable time, 7:00 o'clock to be exact.
Kate and Tony rode the elevator to the underground parking structure in companionable silence but on the inside Kate was bursting to ask Tony what he had on his mind but knew he wouldn't say a word until they got back to his place. They reached their respective cars and she followed him to his house which was weird because Kate would have picked Tony for an apartment kind of person. When they pulled up to the nice two story house in the upper middle class neighborhood Kate was astonished at how nice the place was, it was a red brick house with a large front yard and from what she could tell it also had a large backyard. There were many kinds of trees spaced perfectly around and she noticed that one huge tree had a tree house.
Tony notice Kate checking out his place and smiled and when he saw her looking at the tree house he said, "That was here when I bought the place, apparently the previous owners had two sons that were very hyper and loved climbing on things."
Kate smiled at that and then they both walked into the beautiful home. Kate was even more astounded by the way the interior of the house was eloquently made up and the way the furniture matched perfectly with the colors on the walls of each room, this is not what she expected of Tony's place at all.
Tony walked into the kitchen leaving Kate to explore while got both of them a beer, he knew he was stalling but he was afraid of what Kate's reaction would be when he told her of his past. He also knew he would have to tell her about recognizing the body on Ducky's autopsy table, so taking a deep breath he walked back into the lounge and sat down on one end of the couch as Kate sat at the other end. Tony finally looked at Kate, who was patiently wait for him to begin the conversation, and said, "I think what I am about to tell you that will find that it is hard to believe but I swear that it's all true. I am going to have to go all the way back to my high school days for you to get the whole picture and it's a long story so I hope you know what you are getting into." Tony paused for a couple of moments to see if Kate would stop him but of course she didn't so he continued. "Kate when I was in high school I went to Rhode Island Military Academy where everything was just like in the service. I was a late bloomer Kate my freshman year of high school I was a little skinny runt that wore glasses, but during the summer I grew six inches to my height right now and I was awkward as shit. My father and mother noticed this so they enrolled me in dance classes." Tony noticed Kate was about to burst out laughing but then he said, "No not ballet I took ballroom dancing and believe it or not I liked it and still do but it got rid of me tripping over my own two feet every two steps, also I started lifting weights because I was tired of being bullied at school and it was a great distraction because that was the summer that my mother passed away."
Kate noticed how it seemed like a great big storm cloud had descended on Tony. Kate knew that he worshiped his mother and it was also a very touchy subject for Tony and felt privileged that he was opening up this much to her. She reached over and placed her hand on Tony's arm and said, "Tony if you don't want to go any further we don't have to, it's only eight o'clock so why don't we order a pizza?" Kate looked over at Tony and saw that he had silent tears running down his cheeks so she reached over and gently wiped them away with her thumb.
Tony didn't like to show weakness in front of his co-workers especially Kate, but right now talking about his mother had forced long overdue feeling to come to the surface and he just couldn't help himself. When Kate wiped away the tears he leaned into her touch and took her hand and kissed it but then he set it down because he remembered that he had a story to finish but glancing at her face he could have sworn that he saw her blushing.
Kate couldn't believe what had just happened, Tony had kissed the palm of her hand in a very intimate way and it had caused her to blush, she tried to hide it by looking away but she saw a small smile on Tony's face when he put her hand down and this caused her to blush even more and she thought, 'great now he's going to ruin the moment by teasing me'. Surprisingly he didn't he just went and got his cell phone and ordered half pineapple and ham, her favorite, and half sausage and pepperoni with extra cheese for him.
After ordering their pizza Tony walked back into the lounge and sat next to Kate on the couch again, only this time they were a little closer. Since he had started he figured he should finish the story. "I put on a lot of weight to go along with the growth spurt I had and it made me a formidable player in whatever sport I played in. I excelled in basketball the most and by the time my senior year rolled around I had all kinds of offers from big time colleges to play either basketball or football. The one thing that caught my eye one day was a recruiter for the navy and marines both at the job fair they were having in the gym one day. I looked at the air force an army but for me they didn't really sound like something I would like. I couldn't decide so I flipped a coin and the next day I went and joined the navy," Tony said with a small pause to catch his breath.
Throughout this whole part Kate couldn't believe what she was hearing, she had a friend that still worked for the secret service run in depth background checks on every one of the people that she would be working with and didn't remember anything like this in Tony's file. She had a look of astonishment on her face and her mouth was open like a fish.
Tony noticed this and just smiled and said, "It wasn't in my file for a reason Kate and I'll get to that in moment so just listen for now okay?"
Kate couldn't have spoken if she wanted too she was in such a state of shock so she just bobbed her head to acknowledge she understood what he said.
"When I was going through basic I was doing excellent on all of my courses and the physical aspects that just two and a half weeks in I was approached by a gruff looking Lt. Commander that asked me if I ever thought about joining the SEALS. I listened to his pitch and it sounded good so the next day as I reported for PT I was pulled out and told to pack up all of my stuff and follow the Lt. Commander, his name was Pete Samuels, the same SEAL we have in autopsy right now. He took me to an undisclosed location and there I trained along with 2000 other men and had been handpicked from basic around the country. The training was so intense that half washed out in the first week and half of that the second week and each week of the training we lost a few here and there until at the end there were fifteen of us and we were trained in anything from hand to hand combat to knife fighting to being a sniper." Tony looked at Kate and again she had this shocked look on her face and then he continued. "Kate I know this is a lot to take in but like I told you at the beginning all of this is true every last word. I wouldn't lie to you; you are too special to me to do that to you." Tony realized what he had just said and turned beet red but then he saw a huge grin on Kate's face and just smiled at her nervously.
Kate was having a hard time believing all of this but then Tony made his little speech about lying and his slip up and it made her heart swell and those red cheeks of Tony's also was a little funny so she said shyly, "Tony you are special to me to."
Tony couldn't believe his ears but his body felt like it had a mind of its own leaning down and kissing Kate sweetly on the lips. It wasn't a kiss of desire and lust but it was one full of love, both of them could feel the love in that short but tender kiss.
Kate could believe that Tony had just kissed her and she felt all of the emotion he put into it and she did the same even though it was a short kiss it almost made her toes curl. She leaned back and cleared her throat and said, "Tony it's not that I don't want to do more of that but I think you better finish your story before we end up in the bedroom doing something else."
Tony chuckled and said, "Yeah you are probably right so where was I? Right the training; well anyway the fifteen of us that completed the training just to get to be called a SEAL were all shipped to different teams. I can't tell you which one I was on but after all the training and re training I was the weapons specialist on my team. The next two years of the four year tour I had signed up for were spent doing mission after mission in various countries around the globe and had quite a few medals including the navy cross 2 bronze stars and a two silver stars. My call sign out in the field was 'Reaper' because⦠now I'm not proud of this next part Kate, I had over fifty kills in the first year that I was there and the next person even close had seventeen. Total Kate I have one hundred and thirty seven confirmed kills to my record and who knows how many unconfirmed." Tony hung his head and took a deep breath then leaned back against the couch and just stared at the ceiling.
Kate couldn't believe that the Tony that is the goof off in the office and such a free spirit and carefree way of life was the same man that had been a SEAL for close to four years and had 137 kills to his name. She stared at Tony sitting there leaning back on the couch but then she noticed that he had tears running down his face again and realized that he was crying because he did have that many kills and it bothered him. She then made up her mind that even though he had a past as a SEAL he was still her Tony, the class clown but fiercely loyal man with the heart of gold and courage to go with it. "Tony it doesn't matter to me what you did in the past even though I wish you had told me sooner it is just the Tony from the here and now that I care about," Kate told him.
Tony was still upset about what he had done as a SEAL but he knew that he had to finish the story because he felt like Kate deserved that, plus with the little speech she just gave him he knew she wouldn't hold it against him. Tony leaned forward, wiped the remaining tears from his eyes and said, "Kate this is hard for me because I'm not used to opening up but this story is almost over. After about three and a half years of being on the team we had a mission that was supposed to be simple, it was a snatch and grab but they were waiting for us. There were 5 of us that went in and made it to the subject's compound and got passed the outer defenses and made it to the place that our intelligence told us he was but when we got there the only thing waiting for us was an ambush. Destroyer was the first to go down just because he was the first through the door; wolverine took out three ambushers before he was riddled with heavy machine gun fire. I was next in the room but dove to the side for cover while spraying the enemy position; they told me later I took out three. Cowboy followed me in and went to the other side of the room and snake was following on our six and he didn't have a chance either because a sniper from outside put one right between his eyes. We had realized that it was a set up by now and most of the enemy in the room was dead or dying but we knew they were going to storm the room any minute. Somehow we were able to get the curtains pulled so the sniper didn't have a shot, then we proceeded to put on the ambusher clothes and slipped out into the hall acting like we were injured. It almost worked to, we made it to the front gate by eliminating any combatant that looked at us funny but at the gate the guards had been tripled because they had stormed the room by then." Tony got up and started pacing and subconsciously rubbing his shoulder thinking about that fateful day.
Kate watched Tony get up and start pacing and rub his left shoulder while getting his thoughts in order, she figured something else happened that he hadn't talked about yet. She was still having a hard time believing all of this but she knew one thing, there was a lot more to Tony DiNozzo that he let on and she wanted to get to know the real Tony.
"We were walking up to the gate and then we could hear the guard's radio go off and knew they ones at the house were telling him not to let anyone leave. We ran to the nearest vehicle, which happened to be a Jeep and took off busting through the gate but the guard let loose with his weapon and hit me in the shoulder and cowboy in the arm. His was just a through and through but mine was still in there. Cowboy drove across the border so we could get a safe extraction and I was airlifted to Germany where they operated on me taking out the bullet. When I woke up cowboy was nowhere to be seen and my CO was standing in the doorway looking like he ate puppies for breakfast. Before he could say anything I told him that someone had betrayed us and gave the Intel to the insurgents and it was a trap and that I was going to find out who it was and make them pay. It turns out that my CO had already been looking into it and had come across who the perp was even before I woke up. It turns out that it was cowboy he had dug a himself a huge hole betting on anything he could just to try and back a quick buck but instead he was over three hundred thousand in debt. The people we were sent after offered to pay off the debt if he would just give them the day when the raid was to take place, and he did and three of my closet friends died because of it. It also turns out that his gunshot wound was self inflicted; god I wanted to pull his head off and shove it up his ass I was so mad, but he was sent to Gitmo a few months later and I never heard anything else about him."
Kate had been following Tony's tale of betrayal and couldn't believe what she was hearing, of course tonight had been full of surprises for her, and having been stabbed in the back like that was just surreal. She didn't know if she could take losing three of her friends and having the fourth be a traitor, she'd been hurt by boyfriends cheating on her but that was nothing like what he had went through.
"You know Kate when I said I was a star basketball player for Ohio State I didn't lie, you see after I got out of the Navy because of that mess I realized that I was still a decent player so I used the GI bill to pay for my first year of tuition and the whole shebang. I went to the tryouts and made the team as a starter as a walk on, which pissed of the younger scholarship guys who thought that they were god's gift to basketball. Once they tried to haze me and I ended up giving them a few black eyes and bloody noses. This was just after I left the SEALS so everything was still very much instinctual, after that they left me alone. The next season the coach offered me a scholarship and well you know the rest about my college sports career. I would like to make a couple things clear though, first all the bragging about sleeping with women every week is just a story to get people to underestimate me in the field or interrogation. I am not the playboy type you and everyone else think I am. Yes at one time I was like that but it was right after I got out of the Navy and for about a year I was a party animal, drinking and sleeping with every woman that was in a five mile radius of my dorm, that's where the nickname sex machine came from. Second you are the first woman to step foot in my place because I consider it my sanctuary the only people that have been here are Gibbs and Ducky. Gibbs because one time when I first started at NCIS I forgot to set an alarm and he shows up pounding on the front door. Ducky because he gave me check-ups after I had the plague, those two are the only ones that have ever been to my place."
Kate was astounded by what Tony had just revealed to her and in a way she felt honored because she was the first woman to be in his place. She then got up off the couch and walked over to him as he looked nervous and she realized he was afraid of her reaction. Stopping in front of Tony she reached up and kissed him soundly on the lips until they both had to break away for the lack of oxygen. "Tony I feel very special for being the first woman here at your house, it tells me that you really care about me and trust me with more than having your back. It tells me that you trust me with your heart and soul and that Anthony DiNozzo pleases me in more ways than you could understand," Kate said softly to Tony.
After the awesome kiss he had just shared with Kate he felt like the luckiest man on earth. He was afraid that she would judge him for not inviting anyone back to his place and would think it was just weird. It turned out though she respected that and understood the reason why which really surprised him even though he had a dark past which made him extremely happy.
Kate could practically see the wheels turning in Tony's head as he processed what the kiss had meant for him and as she watched him a smile slowly came to his face in turn caused her to smile to.
"Kate I don't think even Gibbs knows about my past, I know he tried to get access when he first pulled my file before hiring me but he wasn't able to get that part of my life. You see whenever someone tries to look into my shady past it sets off red flags and I am notified whether or not I should let them see it or not. When you did the same when you were hired on I almost let you see it because I wanted you to know the real Tony DiNozzo, "Tony said quietly to Kate.
This surprised her because this means that even back then Tony had feelings for her. She wasn't the kind of person that believed in love at first site but this was a whole new development because even though Tony had acted childishly on air force 1 she was attracted to him and wanted to get to know him better. Tony admitting that he felt that way also gave more credit to the whole concept of love at first sight. She did have one question to ask him though and said, "What are you going to do about the body in the morgue though Tony? I mean are you going to tell Gibbs and everyone else or are you just going to keep quiet?"
Tony's face turned sad at the mention of one of the instructors and as he thought about it he finally said, "I am going to have to get a hold of my old CO and see if I can get permission to tell everyone but I would like to be able to let everyone know the real Tony DiNozzo."
Kate smiled at him and said, "The real Tony DiNozzo is the one I like more than the one that pulls my pig-tails at work and I think that everyone else will like him just as much as I do. Tony I knew that most of what you do at work, the pranks, pretending to not do any work, throwing paper balls at McGee and so one was just one of your personas that you were using to toughen McGee up and to make me loosen up. I appreciate everything you have done for me Tony it has made me a better crime scene investigator and person altogether."
Tony doesn't know what to say so he thinks actions speak louder than words in this situation so he kisses her with every ounce of love and passion he can muster. He knows he took her by surprise because when they finally break apart for the lack of air she almost falls down because she is weak in the knees and he has to catch her.
Kate stood on wobbly legs as Tony had kissed her and it had taken her by surprise but it also turned on a fire in her that she had never felt before, it was true desire for Tony. When she does regain her equilibrium she takes him by the hand and leads him towards his bedroom and says in a seductive manner, "Make love to me Tony."
During the night Tony had left the bedroom to call his old CO to get permission to tell the team about his past and received it as long as he didn't go into detail about any of his missions. Kate was awake wondering why Tony had gotten up but as quickly he had left he was back again snuggling up to her. Tony then said, "I made the call to my former CO and he said it was okay to tell the team if I don't go into any detail about any of the missions I was on while I was a SEAL."
Kate contemplated this and said, "How are you going to do it, I mean you can't just blurt it out in the bull pen, everyone on our floor would know. You should probably talk to the director beforehand then call the team plus Abby down to autopsy where it would be safe."
Tony thought about it for a moment then smiled and said, "Sounds like a plan my beautiful girlfriend," then kissed her softly on the lips as they both drifted off to sleep.
Reactions
The following morning Tony had woke up at 5 o'clock just like every other morning and first went for a five mile run then went to his home gym and lifted weights for thirty minutes and took a shower. Just as he was getting out of the shower at seven thirty five Kate sleepily walked into the bathroom to see a near naked Tony and she blushed a deep shade of red. Tony noticed this of course and decided to really lay it on and said, "Really Kate you're blushing, after last night I would have thought that we were past the boundaries stage by now." This of course made her blush ever more so she reach over and elbowed him in the ribs as always.
When they had left and went to her place so she could change into clean clothes and then headed off to the Navy Yard. The first thing Tony did was head up to the director's office to explain to Morrow about his past while Kate was calling Abby and Ducky telling them to meet in autopsy at nine thirty sharp.
Tony walked in to the director's office and saw him sitting there almost as if he were waiting for him but Tony took a deep breath and as he walked in front of the director's desk said, "Sir there is something I think you need to know. Before I came here to NCIS and before college I was in the navy, I was a SEAL sir. I can't tell you any details but I will give you my call sign which was reaper." Tony saw several emotions go across Morrow's face there was surprise, then annoyance then disbelief and finally acceptance.
Tom didn't know what to think, he'd just had a bomb dropped on him, and he thought that DiNozzo was coming up to complain about the two junior agents underneath him but he was dead wrong. Tom had heard stories about a SEAL that had been in the navy only a short amount of time but had racked up a very large amount of kills. He only had heard the SEAL's call sign because he was wanted dead by so many people throughout the world most of his navy career was expunged from his file. He had no idea that this SEAL of all the stories and legends were told about was Tony DiNozzo. Finally He regained the use of his voice and asked, "Are you the reaper, the one that every single person that goes in to the SEAL program wants to be?"
Tony just sighed and said, "Sir I don't know about that but yes that's me, most of my file is black lines sir, I got out because one of my team betrayed us and it cost the lives of some of my friends and I just couldn't take it anymore. I will tell you this though sir, I had a total of 137 confirmed kills and am trained in several martial arts and also several languages but don't even think about making me special operations. The first time I even smell an op like that coming my way then I will hand in my resignation, that's why I didn't stay at any of the other police departments was because they wanted me on a task force or something like that because of my skills. You know what I did I flipped them the bird and moved on so if that's all director." Tony got up out of his chair and walked out leaving a truly stunned director in his wake.
Tom thought about what Tony had just said to him about being on special assignments for NCIS, how had he know that's what he was thinking, and the veiled threat of quitting backed up with the explanation of why he had quit his 3 previous jobs. He wasn't a man that took threats well but DiNozzo revealing who he was and what he can do brought many things and one was going to be to try and get Tony DiNozzo on the black ops team.
Kate had just gotten on the elevator to go down to autopsy so she could give Tony her support when the doors were closing a hand was stuck in between the doors so the figure that was one Leroy Jethro Gibbs to step on. Kate was nervous because Gibbs was giving her one of his, you are going to tell me everything you know whether you like it or not looks and it took every ounce of willpower she had to not say anything the whole ride to autopsy and she hurried out of the elevator away from Gibbs.
Gibbs stared after Kate as she got off the elevator and rushed into autopsy and smirked because he was actually a little proud of her for lasting that long under his strong glare. This also told him that Kate knew something about this team meeting but didn't want to share at the moment. He walked into autopsy to see everyone was there except DiNozzo and knew then that what was to come had something to do with him.
Tony got on the back elevator and hit the stop button as soon as possible then he leaned back and slowly slid down the back of the elevator thinking to himself 'what are you doing Anthony. These people are your friends though and they will accept you even though you have a sordid past'. With that he stood up and flipped the stop button on waiting for it to reach autopsy.
Kate was worried about Tony because he was late for his own meeting when at that moment the autopsy doors swished open and in walked the man of the hour, Tony DiNozzo. She thought he looked a little worse for wear at the moment, but didn't say anything to him because at that time Tony stepped forward and said, "Everyone thanks for coming here because I don't really know if I can repeat what I have to say here again." Gibbs acted like he was going to say something but Tony cut him off saying, "I know you will have questions but please I am asking you to wait until I finish, okay? Alright it started right after high school I joined the Navy, and because I was in such great physical condition one of the instructors asked if I had ever thought about becoming a SEAL, of course I answered no but wouldn't mind doing it so instead of going through all of basic I was put in the SEAL training courses and made it. My call sign was 'reaper'.
Everyone heard a gasp and look over and to everyone's surprise it was Gibbs. He stared at Tony to see if he was lying but all he saw was sincerity. Gibbs then said in an awed voice, "You are the reaper, the SEAL that was only in the teams for three and a half years but had a total of over 130 confirmed kills. The reaper is like a legend, there are some people that don't believe that he exists, and I was one of them." Gibbs then turned skeptical and continued, "DiNozzo I had your file pulled before I hired you there was no mention of you being in the Navy or a SEAL, How do you explain that?"
Tony just sighed and said, "You won't find anything about my time as a SEAL in that file Gibbs you would have to have a whole hell of a lot higher clearance than you do to see my Navy file Gibbs. The total by the way is 137 confirmed kills, I also know several kinds of martial arts and seven different languages like, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Pashtu, and Portuguese."
Gibbs was in a state of shock and everyone was also because they had never seen him like this.
Abby was the first to recover and was excited but also hurt because Tony hadn't told her about his past and they were like brother and sister and told each other all kinds of things they wouldn't tell anyone else.
Ducky regained his composure and said, "Why is it my boy that you are telling us all now instead of when you first started here?"
Tony ran his hand over his face and said, "Well there are several reasons, the first is I just couldn't live with the lie anymore and the second is that the SEAL in your freezer was one of my instructors for my specialized training. Last is that you all are like my family and deserved to know the truth about me. I can't give you any details about my missions or anything and I had to get permission just to tell you about me being a SEAL."
McGee was still in a state of shock standing there with his mouth wide open and his eyes as big as saucers when he finally managed to say, "Tony I thought you went to Ohio State after high school and graduated with a P.E. degree."
Tony smiled at this and said, "Well probie what I did was flip a coin on whether or not to go to college or the navy and Navy won but after I got out of the service I did go to Ohio State and did get my P.E. degree along with several others including my masters in criminology and psychology and bachelors in music. See McGeek I have a photographic memory so whatever I read stays in my brain, oh by the way I have an I.Q. of 152."
Gibbs had been quite since his initial shock and let everything play out in front of him while trying o keep his temper in check. He realized that Tony was a killing machine and a smart one which makes him dangerous which made him glad he was on his side of the law and not the other. What made him really mad was he hadn't picked up that Tony was in the service and usually he could spot someone like that at just a glance. Looking back to when Tony first started though he was always calling him sir and didn't think twice about it. There was the way he knew all the military terminology also; dammit it was little things like that that made him realize he had missed a lot about the real Anthony DiNozzo.
Kate had stepped back and watched as each one of her friends reacted to Tony's news as she leaned against the wall of autopsy with her arms crossed and was smiling with pride. She was proud of him and not just because they had gotten together the night before, it was because Tony could do anything he wanted to if he set his mind to it. Kate looked across the room and of course she spotted Gibbs staring at her and all she did was nod her head as if to confirm for him several things, like her and Tony breaking rule 12 and that she had known about Tony's news before hand and that this was not just a fling but the real thing with Tony.
When Gibbs looked over at Kate leaning up against the wall behind everyone he saw her look at him and nods her head ever so slightly and in that moment he knew that Tony and Kate were together and he had told her all about his past before calling this meeting. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Tony was one of the most feared SEALs in the modern era. He had heard rumors about the 'reaper' a couple of years after getting his own team but didn't think that they were real but Tony DiNozzo had confirmed to him that he was the reaper. The number of kills he had was not a lot but for having only been in the service for three and a half years it was astronomical that's why everyone was in awe of him.
McGee was still flabbergasted by this revelation, he was intimidated by Tony when he first joined the team but was gradually working up his confidence but this revelation about DiNozzo had wiped it all away. Tim was thinking that if Tony ever got angry with someone he could probably kill them but now that he thought about it he had never once seen Tony lose his temper and he hoped that he never would.
Abby was fawning all over Tony now, but she did that to him even before he told her about his time as a SEAL, yeah she had punched his arm when she found out he was keeping a secret but Abby was so carefree she didn't judge him for having a high kill total, to her he was, just Tony.
Ducky was more laid back than Abby but they both didn't judge him on his past and Tony seemed to be very thankful for that. Ducky did wonder if the director would try and put Tony on a specialized team now that the truth was out there.
Gibbs had gotten over his shock of both Tony being the reaper and him and Kate starting a relationship. He had seen the writing on the wall so to speak with these two, it was like they were magnets or something because they were drawn to each other and knew it was only an amount of time before they broke his rule 12 but he decided he wasn't going to get in their way because they both deserved a little happiness. The next thing Gibbs did really shocked everyone in the room for the second time today. He walked over to Tony, slapped him on the back of the head and said, "I am proud of you Tony but you break her heart and I break your neck." Gibbs then gave him another head slap and continued, "That's for breaking rule 12," then proceeded to walk out of autopsy leaving a bunch of shocked people in his wake.
Tony's mouth fell open because the way Gibbs had said that it sounded like he was giving them permission in his own Gibbs like way. He quickly regained his composure and looked over at Kate in the and she was furiously blushing, then their eyes met and Tony smiled his 1000 watt smile at Kate which made her blush even a darker shade of red. When Tony saw this he started laughing causing Kate to turn away.
At first Abby didn't know what in the world Gibbs was talking about but when she saw Tony turn and look at Kate, who had turned beet red, and then even redder when Tony smiled at her, everything clicked into place. Tony and Kate were seeing each other, the way Tony made her blush and Gibbs' speech it all made sense now. Just as Gibbs left she started jumping up and down squealing like a teenage girl instead of an adult. She then ran over to Kate and gave her a huge 'Abby hug' and said, "I'm so happy for you, I knew you and Tony were meant for each other. I have to go up to HR and collect my winnings from the bet." Abby then let go of Kate, who was having trouble breathing, and put a hand over her mouth because she knew she was in trouble now.
Tony whirled on Abby as did Kate and both said at the same time and in a very menacing way, "What bet Abby?"
McGee started to step forward and defend Abby but Tony hit him with his best Gibbs double death glare, which actually made Tim back up and he tripped over the edge of the autopsy table and fell on his ass with a thump. Even though it wasn't done on purpose it did the trick of diffusing the situation as everyone burst out laughing.
Tony then remembered that he was very angry at Abby and slowly made his way behind her as she wasn't paying attention and then he put both of his hands on her shoulders squeezing while leaning down and whispering in her ear. "Abby I think you have some explaining to do," Abby was so startled that she yelped and whirled on Tony to smack him on the chest but out of nowhere Kate had grabbed her wrist, of course this scared her some more.
Abby was laughing hysterically at McGee falling on his but when she felt two hands squeeze her shoulders and then Tony whispered menacingly in her ear and it frightened her. She reacted on instinct and went to slap him in the chest but all of a sudden someone was holding her wrist in mid air. She looked and there was Kate looking at her, holding her arm and waggling her index finger of her other hand and saying, "Ah-ah-ah, now that would not be very nice would it and especially since you are making bets on Tony's and my love life, so please explain it to us." Kate then let go of Abby's arm and went to go stand by Tony and when she came up next to him he put his arm around her shoulder and she around his waist.
McGee was sitting on his backside on the autopsy floor watching all of this unfold right in front of him and if Tony and Kate didn't intimidate him before they sure as hell did now because of Tony's revelation and then Kate suddenly appearing next to Abby to stop her from hitting Tony like she was in stealth mode or something. The more he thought about it the more intimidated of both of them he got.
Kate let go of Abby's wrist and said, "Abby I know I wanted you to explain but I also wanted to ask you what ever made you want to do this it just seems totally wrong betting on people's lives."
Abby had her mouth open because the first thing was she was surprised that Kate had been able to stop her from hitting Tony and second she really didn't have an answer but said, "Kate I just thought it was fun, when Tony first started here people all over the building were making bets on how long he would last and again on him if he would stay here past two years because that's all he ever stayed at any other place. When you came here the same bets were made about you and Timmy. I do know I shouldn't have done it but it was just for fun and then the whole building got in on it and it got out of hand."
Tony and Kate looked at each other and communicated in the weird way they did then Tony said, "Abby we forgive you but you have to do two things give us half your winnings and pay for our date this Friday at the new French place downtown."
"And no more betting on Tony and me no matter what and you also have to try and stop the betting if others try to start it," Kate said following up on Tony's conditions. She then crossed her arms over her chest staring at Abby.
Abby couldn't believe the conditions that Tony and Kate had made for her but then realized that they were right and she should just go with it and did saying, "Okay you two you have a deal but after you date is over I'm not responsible for whatever else happens and I don't think I can contain myself from not doing it again."
Tony looked at Kate again and she nodded and Tony said to Abby, "I think we can live with that, this is a change of subject but why don't we all go out for drinks after work, it's ten thirty in the morning but already it's been a full day plus we haven't done that in a while." Tony then stepped next to Kate and put his arm around her waist and leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
Little did Kate and Tony know that what they did later that night after returning from their night out with their friends would cause Kate to be put on maternity leave at just the right time that the whole Ari Haswari thing would heat up, and that would save her life. It would not only save her life but it would help her to bring a new life into this world, Aaron James DiNozzo, 7lbs. 9oz. with a smile, set of lungs and green eyes just like his daddy. That was it though because the rest was all Kate.
Gibbs at first hadn't been to happy that Kate was pregnant but once he got a look at the little guy he knew that little Aaron had him wrapped around his little finger and he was okay with that, especially being called grandpa Gibbs.
Abby was over the moon about having a new addition to the "family" and was very excited about being Auntie Abby and planned on spoiling him rotten.
McGee was a little apprehensive about little Aaron, but he soon warmed up to the little boy and planned on teaching him all about computers when he got old enough.
Ducky was just as happy as Abby was because now he had someone to tell a lot of his stories from his youth to.
Even though Tony thought that him being in the SEALs and having such a high kill total was not something to be proud of others told him otherwise and over time he started to believe it himself.
Kate couldn't have been happier because she had accomplished what she had been dreaming about since she was little, which was to fall in love, get married, and have kids. She had 2 out of 3 but what she didn't know was that as soon as she would bring Aaron home from the hospital, Tony was going to propose.
A/N: This just seemed like the right place to end this. I hadn't planned on it being this long I just wanted a short 1-2 thousand word one-shot but it just kept coming, oh well hope you liked it and enjoy, reviews are appreciated.
