Chapter 3: The Chariot Part II

Kate pulled her purse out of the bottom right desk drawer. She also pulled her keys from the drawer and dropped them into her pocket. Kate grabbed a few case files and stowed them in

her large purse. Gibbs could order her to go home, but he couldn't stop her from working. Kate had grabbed her purse and was walking from the bull pen when, almost as an

afterthought, she went back to her desk drawer and clipped her Sig to her belt.

Kate stepped into the empty elevator and on the ride down to the parking lot; she considered picking up dinner instead of cooking. She would never admit it to Gibbs, or anyone else for

that matter, but the events of the day had left her drained, physically and emotionally. Secretly, Kate was glad that Gibbs had ordered her to go home.

The sun had begun to set when Kate strolled across the parking lot and the Special Agent quite enjoyed seeing the Navy Yard bathed in deep gold and orange tones. Kate approached

her car quickly. Gibbs had called her in early that morning, and a small compensation had been a parking spot close to the building. Kate reached into her pants pocket and drew out her

car keys.

As she did so, a small scrap of white paper fluttered to the ground. Kate stooped to pick up the slip of paper. Suddenly, the afternoon flashed through Kate's mind, and she remembered

the note Ari had left folded in her phone.

Kate quickly walked the few paces left to her car, slid into the driver's seat smoothly, and started the car. As she drove out of the Navy Yard, her eyes were on the road, but her mind was

focused on the message that the slip of paper had contained. Kate recalled the words written on the piece of paper;

"Kupin Khavia, 1356 Monroe Av., 8:30 PM".

Kate reasoned that the first part of the message was an address, located somewhere in downtown D.C., and the name must belong to some sort of establishment. She assumed the

second part of the message was a meeting time, and since no date was specified, the rendezvous was probably set for that very night. Kate could only presume that Ari had slipped the

piece of paper into her phone, he'd been the only one in possession of it between the time that she'd called the FBI and later, when she'd called Abby. Kate had the who, she had the

where, she even had the when, but as she drove towards her uptown D.C. apartment, the why still eluded her.

Oh hell, screw the "why", thought Kate. If Ari was involved, she knew she'd probably never figure out the true reasons behind anything that went down. Kate knew that the man was an

enigma, wrapped in a mystery, and always wrapped in some sort of striking black outfit.

As Kate pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, she realized that she was in a mighty fine predicament. She had a specific time and location where Ari would most likely be

present. Kate knew she should probably call Gibbs immediately and tell him, but something stopped her. Kate wondered if it was curiosity, some sort of strange fascination with this darkly

charismatic man that made her fingers pause above the speed dial button.

Kate knew that if she told Gibbs, he would undoubtedly put her under cubicle arrest at NCIS. Then he'd call in the rest of the team to take down Ari. Or more likely, he would go to the

meeting alone, and try to take Ari down himself. Kate knew that neither of those scenarios would play out well, for anyone.

Kate began to consider a new course of action. A course that did not involve informing Gibbs of this little arranged appointment. She knew that in the best-case scenario, she could wind

up gathering some valuable intelligence about the elusive Mossad officer, but Kate paused when she thought about the worst-case scenario. What if the whole meeting was an ambush?

Kate's logic screamed "trap!", but her gut told her that Ari wouldn't try something like that, at least not so soon after the events of the afternoon. And even if Ari did try something, Kate

reasoned, she'd always have her Sig for back up.

Kate continued to sit in her car for the next few minutes, trying to convince herself with logic that the idea of meeting Ari was crazy, maybe even dangerous, but she knew that her mind

was already made up. Kate looked at her watch. It read 6:04 PM. Good, thought Kate. That left her about two hours before she would need to leave, the address of the meeting place

was only about 15 minutes away, but downtown traffic could be a nightmare, even in the late evening.

Ari sat on the far side of the second-floor porch, somehow subtly scanning the space for a familiar Special Agent from behind the day's newspaper. Ari put the paper down altogether

when he realized that the woman he'd been looking for was already half way across the porch and that he hadn't noticed her the moment she'd stepped out into the warm night air.

Ari appraised Kate's figure as she strolled towards him. Her legs were encased in a light pair of blue jeans that Ari would've brushed off as too casual for Caitlin Todd to wear. The navy

colored tank top also struck Ari as surprisingly dressed down for the Federal Agent. Where was the professional appearance that he had come to expect from his, could he actually admit

it, favorite NCIS agent? It was then that Ari noticed the Sig strapped to Kate's right hip. Ahh, thought Ari, so Caitlin Todd hadn't blown all of his expectations out of the water.

As Kate walked towards the small table where Ari sat, she felt a mixture of relief and apprehension. Relieved because she and the black-clad Mossad officer seemed to be the sole

patrons on the porch of the small cafe, but nervous for the very same reason. As much of a bastard as Kate thought Ari was, she had to admit, if only grudgingly that the man had good

taste in restaurants.

Kupin Khavia was a small Finnish café tucked away on the second floor of a three story building shared by a law firm on the first floor and an insurance office on the third. The café was

modest, but it was cozy and boasted the best pirrakkaa's on the East Coast besides. Plus, the coffee could've surpassed even Gibbs' rigorous standards. The café had several tables

inside, but as Kate felt the cool nighttime air on her shoulders, she was glad that Ari had chosen the outside porch for their clandestine rendezvous.

As Kate approached the table, Ari rose from his birch-wood chair. He walked around the table, also made of birch, and held out Kate's chair for her, pushing the chair ever so slightly

towards the table when Kate was properly seated. Ari resumed his seat across the table from Kate and for several moments, or maybe minutes, the two contemplated each other in

silence.

Their quiet interlude was broken by the appearance of a bright-faced, blonde-haired waitress right beside their table. In a heavy, but not unpleasant accent the waitress inquired,

"A drink you will be having tonight, yes?"

Ari turned his face to look at the waitress, his face breaking into a rare genuine smile as he answered, "Kyllä. Ottaisimme kupin teetä ja…" at that point Ari turned his gaze towards Kate,

his eyebrows raised in inquiry. Kate responded with a quiet, "just a cup of coffee for me, black please."

Ari turned back towards the waitress and continued the order, "…kupin khavia, musta."

The waitress, with a bright smile illuminating her face, quickly scribbled the order down on her green paper pad, and with a quick nod of her head, she was off to fetch the two drinks. Ari

watched the waitress as she scurried back into the indoors portion of the café and when she was out of sight he slowly turned to meet Kate's inquisitive gaze.

Suddenly, Kate spoke, "What language were you just speaking?"

Ari's grin stretched out even wider as his laughing eyes gazed momentarily at the wooden table. "Finnish" he responded.

He continued, "And before you ask, it was an eight month assignment in Helsinki. I discovered this café when I came to Washington after my mission was complete. Upon the conclusion

of my assignment in Finland I found that I had become quite accustomed to the tastes I had acquired there."

Kate simply sat there and listened, truly interested in Ari's travels, and only when he had paused in his little speech did she venture the shy comment, "I've always wanted to visit

Helsinki." Kate's eyes gazed at the table as she spoke and her right hand supported her head as it rested along the right side of her neck, her elbow resting on the table. The lower part

of her other arm rested on top of the table.

Ari leaned forward in his seat. With his left index finger, he gently lifted Kate's chin so that her eyes met his. In this close proximity, Kate's pulse quickened, she was close enough to feel

the warm breath that Ari exhaled, and close enough to hear the words that he whispered next. "You should go in the winter; the snow is dazzling in December."

Kate felt as if she would faint, smelling the scent from Ari's throat every time she inhaled, struggling to escape the warm, brown gaze that pinned her to her chair. Luckily, their smiling

waitress showed up at that exact moment, looking a bit flustered as she realized the intimacy of the moment she had just interrupted. She quickly sat a cup of steaming, black coffee in

front of Kate, and an equally hot mug of tea in front of Ari. He momentarily released Kate from his stare to throw a quick, "Kiitos." towards the waitress.

Ari gazed back at Kate and slowly curled his index finger back, releasing her chin. He briefly looked down at his mug of tea before he picked it up and took a sip. The tea was strong,

exactly the way he liked it, and a bit scalding when it washed over his tongue. Ari resisted the urge to grimace and instead remembered a bit of advice someone had told him long ago,

that the best pleasures in life are made all the more worth the while by a small amount of pain. After a few more sips, Ari set down the mug.

Kate could feel Ari's eyes on her as she stared into her coffee cup and wondered why she was suddenly so shy. She wondered what it was about this tall, dark, handsome man that

made her reserve her words and avert her gaze. Perhaps it was the intensity of his presence. Kate didn't get a chance to continue her musings because at that moment, her practical self

made an appearance and reminded her that she still didn't know why the fiendishly hot Mossad officer had arranged their little rendezvous.

Kate looked up from her coffee cup to find Ari staring at her over the rim of his own mug as he sipped his tea. Kate bluntly posed the question,

"Ari, why did you want me to meet you here?"

Ari chuckled and responded, "Caitlin, can I not simply request the company of a lovely woman on this pleasant evening?" T

he glare that Kate shot Ari would've crumbled a mountain into a small pile of rocks.

Ari sighed, "No? Well, then I will tell you. I invited you here tonight to apologize for the events that took place this afternoon. I wished to compensate for any…unnecessary distress you

may have been caused."

Ari paused for a moment as his gaze flickered towards the three small stitches carefully sewn into Kate's lower lip.

Ari added, "By the way, how is your lip?"

Kate's mouth hung slightly open in surprise. Ari chuckled and with his trademark smirk, asked, "Am I still such a bastard, Caitlin?"

Kate regained control of her facial muscles and with a twinkle in her eye, she threw Ari's smirk right back him before she responded with, "Probably."

Ari threw his head back and laughed. When he recovered, he looked back at Kate, a full smile stretched across his features,

"Ahh, Caitlin, I knew there was a reason why I liked you."

Kate allowed herself a small chuckle as she looked into Ari's features, her wide smile matching the one currently occupying his countenance.

The ice had been broken. Kate and Ari sat at the table for at least another hour, ordering another round of steaming drinks in the process. They held a natural and easy conversation. Ari

talked about all the assignments that he'd been given by Mossad and about some of the consequently sticky situations that they had gotten him into. Kate talked about her time in the

Secret Service and about some of the more ridiculous circumstances that she'd dealt with while on the job. Kate enjoyed the subtle irony of Ari's wit and Ari took pleasure in Kate's dry

sense of humor. The pair laughed through the duration of their conversation, only pausing when they fell into a natural lull in their discourse.

Ari looked at the bottom of his now empty cup and sighed. He looked back up at Kate with a pursed smile and rose from his chair. Kate gazed up at his tall figure from her seated position

as Ari spoke, "Caitlin, I would like to thank you for a delightful evening and for your engaging conversation, but I'm afraid that a few affairs still require my presence tonight. Perhaps…we

will meet again."

At his last words, Kate saw the flicker of kindness in his eyes that had prevented her from stabbing him in autopsy.

Ari unhurriedly put his black jacket on and reached down to grab a motorcycle helmet that Kate hadn't even realized was sitting under the table. Ari began to walk towards the exit of the

café, but he paused by Kate's shoulder and leaned down, his mouth close to her ear. He halted for a moment, taking in her soft scent and feeling the warmth that radiated from her petite

form before he whispered, "Shalom, Caitlin."

Kate didn't see Ari as he descended the stairs that connected the second- floor porch to the street below. She simply gazed at the wooden table top. She heard Ari's motorcycle fire up

but she missed the quick backwards glance that Ari threw in her direction as he sped down the darkened streets of D.C.

Kate sighed to herself, lost within her thoughts. She was suddenly broken from her musings when the bright-faced waitress took her coffee cup from the table. Kate's head snapped up

and she grabbed her wallet as she addressed the waitress,

"Will a twenty cover the bill?"

The waitress' face held a soft, knowing smile as she responded, "Don't worry, the gentleman was already paid for them."

The waitress took the coffee mugs back inside, humming merrily as she did so.

Kate looked down at the darkened street and chuckled. Maybe he wasn't such a bastard after all.

Author's Note: Take the Kate/Ari interaction for what you will. As for why Mossad would send an agent to Helsinki for eight months? Well, I have no clue, you'll have to ask them, but be

warned, if they tell you, they might have to kill you! BTW, all of the Finnish is accurate to my knowledge, the name of the café means, "A Cup of Coffee", and when Ari orders, it's just the

basic "We'd like a cup of tea and…a cup of coffee". "Kiitos" means "Thank you" and is really fun to say, try it "Keee-tohs"…fine, just review, please!