Sharp

This is the sequel to Unlikely Suspect. The prologue starts directly after the last chapter, but the story itself is set a month or so later. Essentially it's not really an NCIS crossover – only a few chapters, but well I needed Gibbs! I hope you enjoy...

Prologue

"So" Don stood and stretched "You wanna er, do something tonight?"

Kate grinned slightly, turning her head on one side "Depends what ya got in mind Batman"

He leaned over, kissing her on the cheek as his hands pulled her closer "You ever seen what a super hero wears under his cape?" he whispered in her ear.

She laughed "What girl can resist an offer like that?"

"Beer? Pizza? Film?" he pulled back but kept a light hold on her.

"Sounds good" she said "Your place? I've not even unpacked yet"

He nodded. They'd enjoyed the afternoon, watching Mac play with the band, his friends were warm and welcoming, even Lindsay, though Danny had grumbled that she'd cost him $50. It had been a good day, they finally appeared to have taken that step.

…...

"Aw c'mon Flack" she teased, it was pretty pointless holding it above her head, he was a good 4 or so inches taller than her, but she tried anyway "Let me see!"

He made a grab for his wallet. What on earth had possessed him to invite her for beer and pizza was beyond him right now, he thought as he tried again, but she was too quick. Of all the photo's he hated, his driving licence was the worst, ever. As luck would have it, as he paid for the pizza, she saw the picture briefly when he opened his wallet, and as soon as she'd laid the box down she'd taken him by surprise and grabbed it. He was in the process of trying to grab it back.

"Just give it here" he said making a grab and catching her wrist, he grabbed the other one, pulling her towards him slowly "Now whatcha gonna do?" he smirked.

"What you gonna do?" she smirked back "You only got two hands Flack, and they're both holding my wrists"

"I'll think of something" he said, not breaking eye contact at all, he was thinking of something, and it had nothing to do with a wallet either. He transferred both of her wrists into one of his hands, gripping tightly and backing her towards the sofa.

"Ow!" she squeaked "Flack my wrist!"

He dropped them immediately, he felt awful that he'd forgotten she was recently out of plaster. Before he could compute what was happening she grabbed his shirt, sliding a leg along his shin and knocked him off balance. He sprawled onto the sofa. She pinned him, grinning.

"I can't believe ya fell for that" she said, laughing.

"Maybe" he said lightly, smug written all over his face "But I've got a great view"

She lost the edge the second she followed his gaze down her top, he flipped her. Dropping her onto the floor between the couch and coffee table, scooping the wallet as she dropped it. He pushed himself back to his feet, grinning.

"Pizza?" he held a hand out to her, she brushed it away, standing back up herself.

"Get the beer open" she replied.

…...

"You want ice cream?" he asked, offering up a tub of Ben and Jerry's.

"You have ice cream?" she said, sarcastic amazement on her face.

"I even" he said, delving into a drawer "Have spoons" he held them up, triumphant.

"Careful" she said as he sat next to her, handing her a spoon "You're starting to seem house trained"

He pressed the TV remote and the picture unfroze, the film credits were just starting. She frowned at the screen and then turned to him, taking a spoon of ice cream.

"You said it wasn't scary" she huffed, trying to ignore that he was sitting closer than necessarily was warranted for sharing a tub of ice cream.

"It's not" he grinned.

"It's a horror!" she argued back.

"Yeah" he shrugged "But it's not scary"

"No wonder you're single again" she muttered as she went to take more ice cream.

"What was that?" he asked, his face close to hers, he had her wrist again, stopping her spoon mid delve.

"Nothin'" she said coolly.

"Somethin' about me bein' single again?" he pushed.

"Why ask if you know?" she challenged.

He held eye contact, he was well aware of the effect that a gaze from his eyes could have.

"Don't you turn them 'fuck me' eyes on me Flack" she said, beer and proximity making her brave.

"Fuck me eyes?!" he laughed, but looked away, dropping her wrist "I've been told I have nice eyes, pretty eyes, even sexy eyes, but that's a new one"

"Well they are" she blustered slightly, not again, she thought, I'm gonna need dental work if I keep sticking my foot in my mouth like this!

He shrugged "Maybe they're tellin' the truth"

"Humph" she said, slightly laughing.

"Shut up" he ordered "The film's starting.

…...

The spoon hovered midway to her mouth, she sensed from the music that a scary bit was coming up, choking was not considered sexy, she thought.

"Boo!" the spoon flew, depositing ice cream down her shirt.

"Flack!" she yelled, hitting him with one hand "You're a low down bastard!"

He just laughed louder, half fending her off with a free arm "Hey calm down!" he managed to get out.

"You're such a shit head" she moaned as she attempted to scoop the ice cream back onto the spoon.

"It was funny" he was still laughing.

"Hilarious" she rolled her eyes "Now I have to go home looking like some kind of idiot who can't even eat properly!"

He hit pause "I'll get you a clean shirt"

She followed him to the bedroom door, he rifled through a drawer, holding up a t-shirt. The caption read 'I'm with stupid' with an arrow pointing left.

"Remember this?" he asked.

"Oh you're so un funny" she told him. The last time she'd seen that t-shirt was when they had worked together as rookies and he'd worn it to parade one morning as a dare, she had been standing to his left. She grabbed the t-shirt as he walked back towards her.

"You better get changed" he said, a strange look on his face "Looks like that ice cream is pretty cold"

She involuntarily looked down, though she didn't really need to, looking back up she thought that it was one smug grin too many for one night and she pushed him.

He stepped back, the edge of the bed catching him and he went, putting his arms out to save himself as he landed flat on his back. He frowned as she laughed, and made to get up, wincing and putting a hand to his back.

"You alright?" she asked, suddenly concerned.

"My back" he groaned, not moving.

Oh shit she thought, what a great night this is turning out to be, we've done nothing but assault each other!

She leaned over, dropping the t-shirt, holding out her hand "Here"

He took her hand, and suddenly she was on top of him, then in a whirl of covers and ceiling, he was straddled across her with her arms pinned above her head. His face was close to hers.

"I can't believe you fell for that" he whispered her words back at her.

This he thought suddenly this is what I don't want again, this feeling. Only that I do.

And then as he kissed her there was no thought, no coherent thought anyway. As clothes were shed, nothing except how alive he felt mattered. There were no words, and he didn't want to think, in case he bottled out, and right now he wanted to go through with this and to hell with regrets. Muffled sighs and the slide of skin on skin filled the room.

…...

"You want some coffee?" she stirred as someone whispered in her ear, and then kissed her neck.

"Mmmm-hmmmm" she mumbled, unwilling to open her eyes, then it hit, where she was and with who. She opened her eyes, looking into his. She could handle this smug grin.

"A shower would be good" she said.

"Help yourself" he got out the bed and stretched, raising his eyebrows as he caught her looking "To the shower I meant, but hey, if you're thinking about somethin' else..."

"Make coffee" she said, she was definitely thinking about something else, but she needed a shower.

He chuckled as he pulled a pair of sweat pants on, deliberately avoiding the inevitable analysis of what he'd done last night.

It was certainly good, she reflected as she showered. Sniffing various half empty shower gel bottles before choosing the one that smelled less masculine. Probably not a turn on.

Unexpectedly good, she thought. Frantic, and rushed at times, but definitely good, not good, great, amazing, she smiled to herself. Quite what happened from here she didn't know. She'd realised that she'd wanted to do this a while ago, not exactly sure when, but she'd felt it creep up on her. The sexual tension had been almost as good as the sex itself, she hoped that it wasn't one of those situations where once two people had been to bed together, especially as explosive as they had been, the tension was gone. She wanted to do that again, several times.

He stood watching the coffee drip into the pot, he wanted to just enjoy the morning, maybe the afternoon and evening too, but his doubts would not leave. He had no issues with the fact that it'd been the best sex he'd had for ages, a long time, and he wanted more, he just didn't know if he could handle more. He already cared about Kate, as a friend, an old friend, and the minute she grabbed his wallet last night he realised that his feelings had shifted permanently, but he'd pushed it away, gone with the moment, or moments. His phone shook him out of his thoughts, Danny. Gee does the guy have a radar? He thought.

"This better be good on my day off Messer" he answered.

"Did I wake you?" Danny asked.

"No, I'm making coffee, but for work purposes, I'm outta state, or the country, or dead, until Monday" he said.

"Visiting the folks?" he heard Danny's smile in his tone as he eyed Kate coming out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, she'd finger combed her hair. She sat on the stool at the bench, taking the cup of coffee he silently offered.

"Not quite" he turned away to pour his own coffee, grinning to himself.

"Anyway, we still gonna catch that game tonight? I got a weekend night pass from the girls" Danny asked.

"Sure" he said "Sounds good, who's drivin'?"

"You can" Danny said "You get to get drunk when you like, I have to stick to a timetable"

"Ok" Don laughed at him "I'll pick you up at six" he snapped the phone shut, looking at Kate.

"Fast mover" she commented.

"Danny's my faithful Saturday night date" he said back.

"I thought you said the rumours weren't true" she teased, putting her cup down as he advanced across the small space of the kitchen.

"Oh I think you know they're not" he put an arm each side of her "Or do I need to prove it again?"

"I'm hungry" she smiled sweetly "You can prove it all you like after breakfast"

"Then you better get dressed" he warned quietly, a hand sliding up her thigh "Because if I get out the shower and you're still in that towel, I won't be responsible for my actions"

…...

"Hey Bo?" Kate tapped on his door lightly "You got a sec?"

"Sure" he waved her in from across a pile of paperwork, he looked up, grimacing "Sifting through the potentials, there's a lot of applications"

Kate controlled the inner wobble, the potentials were the officers from regular NYPD who had applied for ESU, they had two vacancies, one after losing Jones, and one after losing the man who killed him. Jones had been the closest thing to family she had on this side of the Atlantic, she was learning to put it into perspective, but not sure she was ready to have him replaced. Although she knew that two men down, they were all at risk, they needed the replacements.

"Any good?" she asked.

Bo shrugged "Some, hey your friend Flack wanna change of direction?" he joked "He's a pretty good shot"

"I think he's happy being a detective" she smiled, not ready to clue him into the fact he was now more than a friend, maybe "Anyway, I came to ask you something"

"OK" he said.

"I want to do the sharp shooter training" she said, she had an idea Bo would be unhappy with it, he'd already lost two men. But she would still be on the team, the only difference being that when a sniper was needed, she'd split from them and fulfil the role. She'd need a replacement whilst training.

"Are you sure this isn't just a gut reaction?" he frowned "To Jonesey?"

"No" she was prepared for this question, Jones had been the unit sharp shooter, taking the sniper role when needed "I know it looks like that, but it is something that I've always thought about"

Bo sighed "Let me think about it Kate" he said finally.

…...