Title: I Just Haven't Met You Yet

Author: rekkidbraka

Rating: T

Pairings: Tony D. and Ziva D.

Category: Romance

Disclaimer: No infringement intended.

Spoilers: None

Summary: A look into the future when Baby Jack's all grown up and...

Note: These "looks into the future" don't necessarily mean things are going to happen. Not at all. But sometimes I enjoy imagining "What if?" And while I'm no fan of one character mentioned later in this story, I couldn't help wondering what if... Tony's son fell for her daughter someday? So let's have fun and just think "Hmmm..." :-)

Sipping his Jamaican Mocha coffee, Jack DiNozzo indulged in one of his favorite pastimes that didn't involve the removal of clothing: People-watching.

Specifically, Jack was most closely watching those people of the female gender.

From his seat at the outside table of his favorite D.C. café, he enjoyed a panoramic view of one of Washington's busiest streets. Women strolled by him, making their way to lunch or heading off on quick errands. Jack's green eyes followed their legs as they moved down the sidewalk.

Best seat in the house, he thought to himself, taking a long swig of coffee as his eyes fixed on one young woman seated on a nearby bench beneath a tree. Dressed in a prim skirt and button-down shirt with her brown hair pulled back into a severe ponytail, she looked bookish — not really Jack's type. But her legs had his full attention; he couldn't take his eyes off them. They were slim, smooth and strong. Was she a little older than he was? Looked like it. Just a few months or so — not quite a year, maybe. Did he care? No. He liked the idea of it, actually. He liked the idea of her.

As if sensing she were being watched, the woman looked up suddenly from the text she'd been reading and glared at Jack, her ice-blue eyes cold with anger. Jack's response was to shoot her a sexy smile and a wink, toasting her with his coffee as he raised an eyebrow at her suggestively. Slapping the book shut, she hurriedly gathered her purse and stormed off. Jack studied her form as she walked away.

Great body, he judged. Slowly, he brought his coffee once more to his lips. Cute, the way she's trying to hide it under that...

Jack's thoughts were rudely interrupted by a cellphone call from his partner, Tom McGee.

"This better be good, McWhipped," Jack barked into the phone, fuming at having lost sight of his mystery woman. "If the little woman asked you to pick up milk, bread and eggs and you need me to swing by the store again to C-Y-A, well, the answer is a big, fat N-O 'no' and..."

"Boss wants you back in the office NOW, Jack," Tom said, ignoring his partner's insults. "I've been trying to cover for you but she's starting to ask where you are and I don't think 'girl-watching' qualifies as the kind of answer she'll accept without question."

"Have you tried?" Jack drained the rest of his coffee. The mystery woman was gone and Jack felt strangely depressed at the thought of probably never seeing her again.

"That supposed to be funny, DiNozzo?" Jack's boss, Special Agent Susan Palmer, had taken the phone from Tom. She wasn't in the mood for jokes. Just as she wasn't ever in the mood for dirt. The Bullpen had to be kept spotlessly clean.

"On my way in now, Boss," Jack stammered, rushing to leave enough cash to pay for his coffee and tip. "Getting in some... uh... field surveillance and I was just..."

The phone clicked off and Jack sighed. He was in a fix with Palmer again. Tom was the clean-cut "perfect" agent and Jack, like his old man had been before him, was known as NCIS' resident troublemaker.

Those were the thoughts distracting him as he ran across the busy street, barely noticing that the "WALK" signal had changed. White lights had turned red.

He never saw the taxi hurtling around the corner. It, too, was in a hurry.

Once Jack awoke, the first thing he noticed was the bright light beaming right into his eye. He blinked against it, squinting. His head throbbed, aching as if a thousand-pound elephant were sitting on his forehead and he groaned, the pain hitting him as he regained full consciousness.

When the bright light shut off, Jack noticed the person behind it — the doctor who'd been examining him.

The skirt and shirt ensemble she'd been wearing earlier were now replaced by blue scrubs and a short white lab coat. The icy blue eyes that had glared at Jack now viewed him with real concern. She asked him a few questions about where he was, did he remember his name, what did he do for a living. He answered them, joking that he knew she really hadn't been that mad at him before. Before? she asked. Remind me about before, she pressed, pushing back her light brown hair from her face; the harsh ponytail was gone. Jack recounted the scene at lunchtime, his green eyes sparkling as he did so. The doctor couldn't help but smile. She was glad he remembered; it meant his concussion might not be as serious as she'd initially feared. He told her there was no way he could forget her. No taxi running me down could get you outta my head, Jack told his doctor. Now she blushed, nervously studying her write-up on him.

They'd be keeping him overnight, the doctor told Jack. For observation.

Would she be the one doing the observing? Jack asked, a grin playing at his lips. The doctor blushed again, trying not to smile herself. But Jack knew she enjoyed his attention. The flirting wasn't one-sided; she was doing her share, too.

Perhaps, she replied. Maybe she'd come check on him when she got off later.

He'd love to see her, Jack said, when she got off. Later.

You're getting better, Mr. DiNozzo, the doctor said with a sexy smile as she started to leave.

Yeah, well... Wait'll you see me at my best, Jack answered, winking.

By the time the doctor ended her shift and headed up to Jack's room as she'd promised, he was already sound asleep. But she looked in on him anyway and, carefully so as not to wake him, touched his hand. When the EMTs had brought him in that afternoon, bleeding and unconscious, she'd recognized him immediately as the handsome man who'd been watching her at the café. She'd hoped she might run into him again somehow but not like this.

DiNozzo, she thought. Sighing, she took a seat by his bed and studied his face. He looked just like his father had when he was younger. She'd seen an old photo of Tony DiNozzo with his wife and children that had been sent to her mother. Her parents and the DiNozzos were friendly from years gone by and the two couples sent each other occasional postcards and photos, always promising to visit sometime soon but never quite getting around to it. Now she was treating the boy she'd seen in all those photos. He'd grown into a devastatingly handsome and charming man. Just like my mother said his father was, the young doctor thought to herself. But her mother and her patient's father weren't meant to be together. Her Mamá fell head over heels for her Papá and had never looked back. And Tony DiNozzo had done the same with his wife. Separately, they had each found their true soulmates.

Closing her eyes just for a minute after her long, stressful day, the doctor wondered what real love must feel like. She'd never known. All the highbrow men in medical school who were interested in her only because of her father's fame as a doctor... It's why she'd started using her mother's maiden name. She only wanted respect for her own work, not flattery for her medical pedigree. But her principles left her often alone with that work — and lonely. She hadn't been prepared for what had happened earlier, when she looked up to see Jack's eyes fixed on her. Men didn't look at her... that way. She'd worked to look plain so that she'd go unnoticed. So why had he keyed in on her? How was he able to see through her disguise? She was interested. Could she trust him? Jack looked like a man who knew women — many women — and enjoyed knowing them... in every sense of the word. She wanted only one man in her life. Maybe he was the one. She'd like to find out, but...

Opening her eyes to take one last look at Jack before she left the hospital for the night, she found him staring solemnly at her. Stroking his hand, she introduced herself — Dr. Gabrielle Benoit — and tenderly reassured Jack that she would take good care of him. He grinned and replied that he knew she would. And not just there in the hospital. Could she begin seeing him on an... outpatient basis? I'm a sick, sick man, Doc, Jack said with a wink. Then he gave her that look again, the one that searched her soul. Something told her that despite all the joking around, Jack was trying to send her a serious message. His thumb caressed her palm. He wants me, she realized.

She had to laugh before telling him that he was right about being sick. And that perhaps she'd make a house call sometime. He promised to be a good patient if she would.