When they arrived back at the Navy Yard, they were surprised to see Agent Fornell waiting for them with another Agent at his side. "What do you want Fornell?" Gibbs asked as he sat down. Kate, Tony, and McGee all sat down at their desks but kept a suspicious eye on their guests. "This is Agent Anderson. We're here to offer our help. We have some information that involves your case, but first I need to speak with you privately in our usual conference room." Fornell replied. "Come on" Gibbs said as he led Fornell towards the elevators. Agent Anderson leaned against Gibbs' desk and looked around. His eyes fell on Kate who was busy typing away at her computer. His lips curved up in a half smile and he licked his lips as he unashamedly stared at her breasts. Tony noticed this and immediately saw red. He cleared his throat loudly and said, "When you're done checking out my partner, you can have a seat over there." pointing to the chair behind the little wall behind McGee's desk. McGee also noticed Agent Anderson's wandering eyes and gave him a cold glare. Kate looked up confused. She saw Tony and McGee standing up glaring at Agent Anderson. Tony's hands were clenched in fists by his side and his eyes were unrecognizable. The usual gentle green eyes were hardened with hate as he glared at Agent Anderson. McGee was also glaring at him which confused Kate even more. McGee was always so calm and sweet, it was weird to see him angry. She glanced at Agent Anderson who was looking back and forth from Tony to McGee. "What's going on?" Kate asked. "Nothing!" Agent Anderson scoffed as he grinned, trying to relax the tension. "It wasn't 'nothing'" Tony spat as he grabbed Anderson by the front of his shirt and slammed him on his back on Gibbs' desk. "Tony! Stop!" Kate yelled as she jumped up. "If I ever catch you looking at Agent Todd like that again I swear to God I will -"

"DINOZZO!" Gibbs' voice boomed behind him. The whole bullpen went silent as Tony, still breathing hard and glaring at Agent Anderson, let go of him and turned to meet Gibbs and Fornell's angry eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Anderson spat as he readjusted his clothes and moved away from Tony. As he passed McGee, he glanced at his face to see McGee still glaring hard at him. McGee moved to stand next to Tony. "You OK?" he asked. "I'm alright." Tony said softly. "What the hell is going on out here?" Gibbs demanded as he looked at him team in disgust. "Speak!" he yelled. "Agent Anderson was checking out Kate and looking at her like she was a piece of meat and it made me mad so I slammed him onto your desk and almost threatened to rip his eyes out of his pretty little head." Tony said as he continued to glare at Anderson. McGee nodded and stood next to Tony, backing him up. Gibbs looked at them and his eyes softened. He didn't know Anderson was checking out Kate and was proud of Tony for defending Kate's honor. Kate looked at Tony in awe. This was Tony Dinozzo, the man who had a new girlfriend every two weeks and checked out every female that crossed his path. And he was defending her honor... Why...?

Fornell turned to Anderson and smacked the back of his head. "What the hell is your problem? Apologize to Agent Todd." Anderson looked at Kate and said very insincerely, "Sorry." Kate shrugged and said, "I didn't even notice." Fornell glared at Anderson and turned to Gibbs "I'll be in touch later regarding what we discussed. We should go before Dinozzo and McGee put a bullet through my Agent's head." "I wouldn't blame them." Gibbs said with a smile. Fornell and Anderson headed towards the elevator. Kate turned to Tony and gazed up into his eyes trying to read his thoughts. She was very confused. His recent gentlemanly behavior confused her and Kate Todd did not like being confused. "Thank you Tony." she said softly. Tony looked down at Kate and smiled gently. "Your welcome." They stood there gazing into each other's eyes trying to read each other's thoughts. McGee looked at them with a small smile playing on his lips as he looked over at Gibbs. Gibbs was studying his two agents closely trying to decide if he should remind them of Rule #12: Never have a relationship with a co-worker. Before he could make up his mind, Tony cleared his throat and moved to grab his coat. "I'm gonna get some coffee. I need some air." he said as half walked half ran to the elevator. Kate silently watched Tony leave. Emotions that she worked so hard not to feel at work while on the job bubbled up in her chest. She couldn't put her finger on what she was feeling exactly and that frustrated her. Kate was used to being in control of her feelings and the fact that she couldn't and the reason was because of Tony Dinozzo made her even more upset. She wanted answers and she wanted them now! Gibbs' voice broke through her thoughts, "Are you going to go after him?" Kate looked at Gibbs and then McGee who smiled at her encouragingly. Without a word, she grabbed her purse and ran to the elevator. She knew the coffee shop Tony goes to. As she made her way down the street to the coffee shop she shivered and wished she had brought her jacket. Kate spotted Tony several yards away, sitting on a bench with a cup of coffee in his hands. She took a deep breath and approached him. Tony looked up and smiled. "I had a feeling you'd follow me." He moved over so she could sit next to him. "You cold?" he asked as he observed her shiver slightly. "A little, yeah. I forgot my jacket." Tony took his off and put it around her shoulders. "Here you go." "Oh, Tony. No, you're going to get cold." "No I'm not. Don't worry." he smiled. They sat there silent for a moment before Kate spoke. "What's going on Tony? All of a sudden you're kind and sweet and opening the door for me. And you don't tease me anymore." she said as she studied his face trying to read his reactions. "And when you got mad at Agent Anderson for checking me out... Tony, no offense but you're the last person I'd expect that from. You check out women all the time." Tony was silent as he listened to Kate. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her he was in love with her right now but how else was he going to explain his actions? How else was he going to explain that the sight of Anderson checking her out when she was his and only his made so mad he wanted to shoot the man?Taking a deep breath, he looked over at Kate who was patiently waiting for his answer. He looked into her big hazel eyes and decided if he really wanted to make this work, he had to be honest with her. "I'm in love with you, Kate. The other day when you were telling me that it was none of my business who you were dating, I realized you were right and the fact that you were dating someone that wasn't me made me really upset. And then I saw you and McGee talking and laughing and I was... jealous. I wanted to be the one to make you laugh and the one you turn to when you need a hug and the one who gets to wake up next to you for the rest of our lives. I want to be the one you tell your secrets to and I want to be able to hold you when you're sad and celebrate with you when you're happy. I know I'm not good at long term relationships. I've never done it before. But I know that's what you want and I want to try. If you want to..." he said as he searched her eyes. Kate sat there in silence trying to process all that she heard. After a minute she said, "Tony... I can't. I'm dating someone else. His name's Steve Adler and I'm really happy with him. He might be everything I'm looking for. He's respectful, caring, responsible, smart, makes promises that he keeps and he makes me happy." "I can do that too. I can be that man. I can be all those things and make you happy..." Tony said desperately as he took Kate's hands in his. "Please..." Kate looked into his eyes and saw his desperation and pain. 'He really wants this, but I can't... I just can't...' Taking a deep breath, she said, "I'm sorry Tony, but I can't. I can't just leave Steve because you decided you want to fall in love with me. If my heart breaks again, I need someone to still love me and support me and be there for me. I can't trust you with my heart... I just can't..." She slipped her hand out of his and wiped her tears away. Tony felt like his heart was being broken into a million pieces. This was the reason he never let his heart get involved in his relationships with women. He gathered his courage and remembered what Abby had told him: "If you truly love her, then you will understand that sometimes when you love someone you have to let them go." Knowing he loved her with everything he had, he did the very thing that broke his heart. "I understand Kate. I understand that and I wish you every happiness with whoever you're with." He whispered softly as he leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. They stood up and Kate pulled Tony into a hug. "Thank you Tony." "You're welcome but can I ask you something?" Kate looked up at him and said, "Of course" "Can we still be friends?" Kate smiled and said, "Yes, I would like that very much."

To be continued...

Don't worry, this isn't the end!