It was an extremely slow day at NCIS Head Quarters. Tony DiNozzo looked up from his cellphone, despite his increasingly difficult game of Tetris. He first looked around for his boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who would surely allot a smack to the back of the head for screwing around on the job. There was no case to investigate, and Tony didn't feel like doing mindless paperwork. It was already 9:30 pm, which meant Ducky, Abby, and Palmer were probably long gone by now.

Tim McGee was at his desk next over, typing away with an intrigued look at whatever was happening on his computer. Probably some stupid MMORPG game, Tony thought to himself with a half grin. McGee wasn't much fun to talk to, anyway.

Then he looked across the way to his remaining partner. Her green eyes were barely being held open. She was staring at her computer with a blank look, the bright light from the screen shining on her suddenly pale face being the only source of light anywhere near her. Everyone else had on their desk lamp, at least. The city lights of Washington out the window to Tony's right weren't much for illumination, just a pretty view.

"Psst," He said, continuing his game half heartedly, now more curious about her sudden loss of energy than winning the high score. When she kept the same blank expression staring at the screen, he said again, "Psst! Kaaate..."

Kate Todd kept her heavy head propped up on her right palm, attemping to stay awake. She shut her already drooping eyelids and sighed. "What now, DiNozzo?" She said as she dropped her hand down on her desk and looked over at her adolescent partner, expecting something important despite her knowledge of his character.

"Do you know where Gibbs went?"

"Probably out for coffee," Kate said, disinterested.

Tony kept his smile, despite Kate's apparent boredom. "Well, whatcha doin'?"

Kate suddenly clicked her mouse and the light from her computer screen changed from blueish white to plain blue. Tony guessed that she exited whatever she was doing and the light was from the NCIS logo Kate kept as her screen saver lately. She usually had a picture of a pretty nature sceen or her family, but as of late she switched it to the default. She hadn't even whipped out her trusty sketch pad, something she used to do before heading home each night when it was slow.

"Nothing," she said, returning her gaze to him. "Why haven't you gone home yet?" She asked, annoyance noticeable in her voice.

"Is it so wrong to want to stick around longer? Maybe I wanted to do some paper work or something." Yeah right, he thought to himself.

Kate looked down at her desk. She scooted back in her chair, and said "Right...Sorry," and began mindlessly digging through her purse.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Kate...Apologizing to little old DiNozzo?"

"Would you prefer an elbow to the gut?" She snapped. McGee laughed quietly.

"What are you laughing at, Probie?" Tony turned his head to look over.

"Nothing," McGee said with a trace of fear in his voice. Tony noticed that he wasn't nearly as afraid as he was a few weeks ago.

He returned his attention to Kate. "Do I detect a little PMS there?" Tony quipped.

"DiNozzo, I swear, If you don't..." Her voice drifted off.

"If I don't what, Katie?" He asked with a smile, anticipation glowing in his bright blue eyes.

"Hmm?" Kate said after a breif pause, looking from whatever held her attention back to him. "Uh...Never mind," she said, seeming flustered.

Tony frowned. Something was definitely wrong with her. Hell, something had been wrong with her for the past few days. She'd been getting slowly less...Kate as the days went by, and Tony was getting genuinely concerned.

DiNozzo flipped his cellphone shut and stood up. He made his way over to Kate's desk and sat on the corner.

"Kate," he said in a hushed tone to keep McGee from hearing. "Are you okay? You've been acting weird lately. You haven't even drawn anything since a few days ago."

"Well, Tony, maybe I just don't have anything to draw." Kate gathered her things quickly, put on her coat and stood up. She walked around him out of her desk, saying "See you tomorrow." And with that, she got in the elevator, the doors shutting as she pressed a button on the panel.

Tony huffed. He was now determined to find out what was bugging her. He looked over at McGee, who was now getting his things ready as well.

"Hey Probie," he said, making his way over. "You've noticed how un-Kate Kate's been acting, right? What do you think it is?"

"You can't be serious, Tony..." McGee said, looking up from his computer.

"What do you mean; of course I'm serious." DiNozzo was now making it a point to intimidate Tim. "Do I look like I'm joking? It's not very wise to talk to your Senior Field Agent like that-"

"Maybe she's still shook up about that terrorist incident."

Tony frowned. He thought she had gotten over that whole thing. Everyone else had. Except Gibbs...He still obsesses over finding that bastard.

"You think so?" He said, following McGee to the elevator as he called it up.

"Yeah. I do," Probie said as the elevator doors opened, revealing Gibbs with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"See you tomorrow, Boss," McGee said, stepping in after Gibbs stepped out. Gibbs remained silent as usual, heading to his desk. DiNozzo followed.

"Where's Kate?" Gibbs said, sipping his coffee.

"She went home already, boss."

"Good. She needs the sleep."

Tony felt so stupid. Everyone else seemed to have noticed what was wrong before he did, even Probie. More than stupid, he felt...bad. Bad for Kate. She doesn't get upset over much. And there was nothing he could do to help her.