Author's Note: This is longer than my last chapter!! YAY!! I'm totally shocked and moved by the response my first chapter got! That's more than anythng else I've ever written. So thanks to everyone that reviewed, it means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: Getting me to admit I don't own this is torture but I don't own NCIS unfortunately. If I did, Ziva would die in the same way Kate did, only longer lasting and very very very painful!!


Tony was still in bed when he heard his phone ring. He was just about to get up and answer it when he noticed three missed calls on his cellphone and his home phone stopped ringing. He looked at the screen, 'Abs'. He didn't want to worry her after what he had done last year, so he called her. After around a second of ringing, Abby picked up the phone.

"Tony? Are you okay? Why didn't you answer?"

"I was asleep, I just saw your calls. I'm fine. Well, not 'fine,' obviously, 'cause, well, y'know. But, yeah, I'm healthy and not about to do anything stupid."

"Take it you're not coming into work?"

"No. Tell Gibbs I'm sick or something, 'kay? I have someone I have to go see."

"Sure. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." They both hung up and Abby told McGee that Tony was okay and not coming into work that day. Neither were looking forward to telling Gibbs.

After Tony had hung up the phone, he started to get ready. His mind was drifting back to Kate.

FLASHBACK:

They were lying in beds next to each other, neither saying a word and yet both surprisingly comfortable.

"Hey, Kate." Tony rolled onto his side and faced Kate.

"Yeah?" Caitlin mirrored his action and they were looking directly into each other's eyes.

"Why did you stay with me? I mean, I know you had the mask and stuff so you weren't really at risk of infection, but why'd you stay?"

"Well, if I'm completely honest, DiNozzo, I didn't really think about it 'til now. I mean it was just my gut reaction. I guess I figured you could use a friend."

"Well, thanks." Tony paused and looked at Kate for a moment. "Although, I don't see you as a friend." Kate raised an eyebrow at Tony. "No! I mean, I see you as more than a friend." At that moment Tony wished he had Kate's profiling skills. That way he might've gotten something from her non-verbal reaction. After what was probably only a minute, but seemed like a lifetime, she smiled.

"You mean that, Tony? I mean, what exactly do you mean, Tony?" She looked nervous.

'Choose your words carefully, DiNozzo' was the only thing running through Tony's mind. "I mean that, earlier, I was dying, Kate. And the only thing that I could think was 'now Kate's never gonna know how I feel.' It scared the hell outta me. I think, well, I know, that for a while now, I've gotten feelings that I've never gotten before. I just want you to know that, I know you probably don't feel the same but, I love you, Kate." He mumbled all of this whilst staring at the ground. As soon as he was finished, he looked Kate directly in the eyes for a split second and looked away, mumbling something about needing sleep.

"What? I don't even get to respond to that?" Tony turned around to see Kate smiling. He nodded for her to say whatever it was that she wanted to say. "What makes you think I wouldn't feel the same? I thought I'd made it painfully obvious. At least I know I can be subtle." Kate knew that she was giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush, but she didn't care. "Tony, I've never felt like this either. I love you too." She slid off her own bed and moved to sit next to Tony. They looked at each other for a second.

"Fine, Tony, be selfish, see if I care." He shot her a confused look before realizing what she meant.

"Oh, sorry, sweetie." She smiled at the pet name and he moved up so she could lie next to him on his bed. They faced each other and noticed their faces were awfully close. "Y'know, I think it would just be wrong for us not to kiss right now, Kate." She laughed and they shared a first kiss where they were more comfortable than either one of them would have imagined. "Wow, Katie, you can kiss!"

"Don't be so surprised, DiNozzo. And you're not too bad yourself. I should move back over ther., Brad and Emma see us like this in the morning and you know they're gonna tell Gibbs." She smiled at him and kissed him again. "You know, I don't think I'm ever gonna get tired of doing that, Tony."

"Me neither. I should get some sleep anyway. Something tells me I'm going to be distracted from managing that if you stay over here." She raised her eyebrows and flashed him a mischievous smile. They both laughed and Kate got up and walked the few inches to her own bed. There was another couple of minutes of comfortable silence before Kate broke it.

"We can't tell anybody. We're breaking Rule Number 12 here." She felt it necessary to say this, even though he obviously knew.

"Yeah, sweetie, I know. When we've been together a while then we can tell people 'cause we can prove that it hasn't interfered with our work."

"Yeah, good idea, sweetie." Caitlin made a point to emphasize the word before blowing him a kiss. "Nighty Night, Tony."

"Don't let the bed bugs bite, Katie."

As Kate fell asleep, she felt like she was 11 again as she thought about how the name Caitlin DiNozzo sounded in her head.

FLASHBACK OVER:

Tony smiled as he thought about what had happened between him and Kate. Even though the day had pretty much sucked, that night had been the best of his life. It was as if that one night had erased any stupid mistake he had made. Almost as if, that would be the beginning of his new life. As far as everyone else knew, that was just another night. To him, it would always have a special place in his heart. Tony's phone started to ring, startling him. He looked at the caller ID, 'Dan'.

"Hey, Dan. What d'ya get for me?"

"Caitlin Todd? Yeah, how come you only asked me to check out the kids thing?"

"Following a hunch. Gimme some answers Danny."

"OK, just asking a simple question, SexMachine. One child, daughter, Isobel Sasha Todd. Now aged 16 and living in Washington DC."

"Washington DC? Katie moved her out here to her. I gotta talk to this kid. Got me an address or something?"

"No address, unfortunately, but I do have a place of employment for you. Joe's Coffee, little place."

"Yeah, I know it. Kate used to go in there."

"Why you wanna speak to this girl anyway?" Before Dan could question in anymore, Tony did a Gibbs and hung up without a word.