"Katie?" Tony called gently, perching on the end of the bed that they'd been sharing for the past couple of months and shaking her softly, "Time to get up."

Kate always struggled to get up in the mornings, no matter what time she'd fallen asleep the night before. It didn't make a difference if she went to bed at 7 PM or 11 PM, she was always exhausted when 6 AM came and she was forced to awaken in order to get to work on time. Tony waking his girlfriend up rather than the alarm clock doing so was becoming a rather regular occurrence in their small household, but he didn't particularly mind. Not that anyone knew this, of course.

In fact, nobody knew that they were even an item: they'd managed to keep their almost-2-month-long romance on the down low, so not one of their teammates at NCIS knew the slightest thing about it. It was definitely for the best- they were breaking one of their boss' most sacred rules, and were most likely to get fired or moved to a different team if they were found out. Normally, Kate wasn't one for breaking rules, but when it came to Tony, she couldn't help but break rule #12, especially after what their trip to Paraguay had helped them both realise.

When Kate didn't awaken, Tony slowly leant down and placed a light kiss on her cheek. At this, her eyes fluttered open groggily, adjusting to the light that the early morning sun was sending through the slightly open apartment windows. When she saw her partner leaning over her, she smiled sleepily.

"Rise and shine gorgeous," Tony grinned back, brushing a lock of her dark hair off her face and behind her ear.

"Morning Tony," she yawned, sitting up hesitantly and leaning back against her pillow tiredly. Tony couldn't help but notice that she was gripping the sleeve of her pyjama top tightly, as if she was holding the sleeve down forcefully. He wouldn't have thought twice about it if he hadn't seen what she looked like beneath it, covered with silvery white scars that he couldn't describe, that were all sorts of exotic shapes. The amount of them that she had seemed to increase almost daily and they covered her like a sheet, mostly along the arms and legs. However, whenever he tried to ask where they came from, she either ignored him, brushed his questions away by changing the subject or danced around them skilfully. He had no idea where they came from, but he knew that he was going to find out at some point, whether she wanted him to or not.

Since he was already washed and dressed ready for work, he shifted over so that he was beside her and wrapped his arm around her back as she downed the steaming mug of coffee that he'd placed on the dresser for her. The beverage was scolding hot, but she didn't flinch as she drained the mug in under a minute. Once it was gone, she planted a kiss on the tip of his nose, placed empty mug back on the dresser, picked out an outfit from the closet and headed for the bathroom.

Half an hour later, Kate emerged from the bathroom, freshly washed; make up done and wearing one of her typical work outfits. Once again, Tony couldn't help but realise that she was wearing a long sleeved top, even though it was positively warm today. While she was making a last minute breakfast- oatmeal and assorted fruit, he ambled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He smiled as she instantly relaxed against him, taking his hands in hers.

"You alright?" She giggled softly as he planted a small kiss on the star shaped mark on her shoulder. The mark that was unique to her and her heritage.

"Perfect," he smirked against her skin before pulling away. She shivered and ran her hands up her arms as he turned and walked towards the kitchen door. Tony watched as her sleeves slid up her arms and gaped at what he saw.

On her right forearm was a large, faded grey mark, in an ancient looking shape that had no meaning to him. It looked like some kind of tattoo, but he knew that tattoos didn't fade like that, and there was something in the blood pulsing through his veins that told him that this was no ordinary mark. Before he could take a closer look however, Kate hastily pulled her sleeves back down, and continued on making breakfast.

Though he was confused at what he saw, Tony made an observation; one that he was to prove and investigate.

Kate was hiding something from him, and he was going to find out what it was.