Fornell decided to wait with Maura in MTAC. They took the back stairs and slipped in as Tony entered the bullpen. When Tony saw that they were out of sight in MTAC, he called Abby and Ducky and Palmer to come up to his desk. He had something to tell them. McGee looked at him curiously but said nothing. Gibbs studied Tony and was intrigued to hear what he had to say. For once, Tony looked genuinely nervous. He waited for the three to come up before he looked around at his team. He closed his eyes and prayed to God they still loved him after what he had to tell them.
"I... uh... I have something important to tell you." Tony looked down at his hands. The team waited patiently for him to continue. They could all sense this was important so they were silent as he gathered the courage to continue. "I'm in a relationship with... a woman... and it's serious." he said as he stalled for time. Gibbs scowled at him. "Did you get our attention to tell us this Dinozzo?" Tony shook his head. "No, I... the thing is you all know this woman. Well, Ziva you don't really know her but you've heard of her. Come with me. I want you guys to meet her." he said as he led them upstairs to MTAC. They all exchanged confused looks. Tony had many relationships, and true none were "serious" but they didn't know what to expect especially when he said they all knew her. Except Ziva. And why would he leave his girlfriend in MTAC?
As the team gathered in MTAC, they were all surprised to see Fornell. Gibbs turned to Tony. "You and Fornell? I thought you said you were in a relationship with a woman. Getting a sex change, Fornell?" he asked. Tony and Fornell looked at each other in disgust. "What? Oh, gross!" Tony exclaimed. Fornell looked at Tony and head smacked him. "What did you tell them, Dinozzo?" Tony looked at his team who all shared similar smirks. "No, I told them I am in a relationship... with a woman and since you were the first person they saw..." he broke off not even daring to finish the sentence and tried to hold back a laugh.
Meanwhile, Maura sat in the shadows silently watching the team. Gibbs was still Gibbs but he certainly had more white hair. Abby still had her pig tails and big black boots and funky clothes. Maura smiled to herself as she took in her best friend. McGee had changed so much. He had lost weight and confidence shined out from him. The way he walked, carried himself, and just the general attitude he generated impressed her. He was no longer Probie. Ducky and Palmer looked the same and she smiled as she took in her old team. Her old family. She spotted a young Israeli woman who she assumed was Ziva. This was Ari's sister. Maura shook her head trying to shake the thought from her head. She had told herself that she wasn't going to judge and instead try to be friendly towards her.
"My girlfriend's name is Dr. Maura Isles. She's a Medical Examiner in Boston." At this, Ducky beamed at Tony proudly. "You all know her because she used to be an Agent here. But when she was here, she was... she was..." he looked to Fornell for help who nodded encouragingly at him. "She was Special Agent Caitlin Todd." he said. He looked at the team who all just stared at him like he had lost his marbles. Tony looked over their shoulders and motioned for Maura to come down. Maura took a deep breath and stepped into the light.
The team watched, dumbfounded as Maura (or Kate as they knew her) walked over to them and smiled nervously. She stood next to Tony who took her hand in his. "This is my girlfriend Dr. Maura Isles also known as Kate Todd." None of the team knew what to say. They stared at Maura like she was a ghost. Abby was first to react. She slowly went up to her and looked deep into her eyes. This woman, Maura, was different but some of her features were still Kate. Her hazel eyes and her nose and her mouth... Her hair was longer and had blonde and light brown highlights. But her eyes were Kate's gentle eyes. "Hi Abby..." Maura said. Her voice was Kate's too... Abby gently held out a hand and touched Kate's face seeing if she was a real person. "But you died..." Abby said trying to convince herself more than Maura. Maura shook her head. "I didn't die. My death was faked."
"I think we'd all like to hear about that." Gibbs said as he stared at Maura trying to read her. Abby let her tears fall as she hugged Maura tightly. They stood like that, the two of them silently crying on each other's shoulders. When they pulled away, Abby wiped her tears and said, "I missed you so much, Kate." Maura smiled gently. "I missed you too Abs. So much. I'm so sorry, to all of you. I never wanted to hurt any of you but Fornell will explain the reason behind it to you." she said as Fornell nodded. McGee finally shook himself out of his frozen state and reached over to hug Maura. "Wow... I missed you so much Kate." Maura held McGee close and whispered to him. "I'm so proud of you, Tim. You have so much confidence. You're no longer Probie!" she laughed. The team laughed and Tony said, "He'll always be Probie!" Maura turned to hug Ducky. "My dear Caitlin..." he murmured as he gently stroked her hair. "I missed you and your stories, Ducky." she whispered to the elderly man. "I missed you too little one. Yes, this reminds me of..." he broke off and looked out at the team. "Actually, I don't have any stories for this one." he laughed. Everyone laughed at that, including Gibbs. Maura turned to hug Palmer who awkwardly hugged her back. He wasn't used to getting hugs from beautiful women that weren't related to him. Finally, Maura turned to Gibbs. They stared each other down until Maura surprised them all by throwing her arms around the older man's neck and hugged him. "I missed you too, Gibbs." she whispered in his ear. Gibbs was shocked at first. Abby was the only person of his team that had ever hugged him. He looked down at Maura and smiled before hugging her too. "I missed you too, Kate." he said gently.
Maura turned to Ziva and smiled warmly. Everyone held their breath as they watched Maura and Ziva. They didn't know what to expect. What do you say to the sister of the man who tried to kill you and force you into hiding? And what was Ziva supposed to say to Maura, 'I'm sorry my brother tried to kill you and you had to go into hiding for the past almost 5 years and leave behind everything while I was supposed to be taking down your government?' But Ziva looked at Maura's outstretched hand and soft smile and she knew she was forgiven. Much to everyone's surprise, Ziva pulled Maura into a hug. Without words, the two women shared a mutual understanding of the other and accepted that what happened was in the past. Nothing can change the past. Tony watched with pride. Maura was going to have no trouble getting along with Ziva.
They pulled apart and Maura looked around at her family and smiled. Almost 5 years had passed but they welcomed her back with open arms. They all smiled back at her as they welcomed her back into their lives. Whether she was Dr. Maura Isles or Special Agent Kate Todd, she would always have a place in their hearts.
Abby turned to Tony with hurt in her eyes. "Tony, you knew...? All these years, you knew Kate was alive? And you were spending time with her! And you didn't feel the need to tell us!" she exclaimed as she looked at him. Tony knew this was coming. However, Fornell spoke up. "He was given direct orders not to. This was an FBI protection detail. He was acting for us." Gibbs also turned to Tony. "So, you're FBI now Tony?" he asked quietly. Tony shook his head. "No, Boss. I'm NCIS and always will be. I've always been loyal to NCIS. But I'm also head over heels in love with Maura and if teaming up with the FBI was what kept her safe, then yes, that's what I'll do. And if it makes you feel better, the only FBI agent I agreed to work with was Fornell." Tony said. Maura moved over to Tony and he wrapped his arm around her waist. Gibbs looked at the young couple and decided he could not be mad at Tony for this. Gibbs would do the same thing for the woman he loved. Gibbs nodded slowly and shook his head and smiled at them. "Alright. Just don't let it affect your work." Tony's heart swelled with happiness as he leaned over to kiss Maura. McGee watched amused. He wasn't used to seeing Tony and Kate (or Maura as she was now called) kissing and holding each other. He kept expecting her to elbow him in the ribs and yell, "Dinozzo!"
Tony turned to Abby. "Abs, please don't be mad. I couldn't tell you guys and it killed me everyday." he said as he reached out to her. Abby smiled warmly at him and threw her arms around his neck. "It's OK Tony. I understand. I didn't know..." McGee, Ducky and Palmer smiled warmly at Tony letting him know that he was forgiven and all was well. Gibbs turned to Fornell. "I want to know everything that happened in the past 5 years." The team all took a seat while Fornell, Tony and Ziva explained everything. They decided that it would be best if Ziva explained her part. Fornell showed them the flash drive Ziva gave him and Tony explained his part in Kate's fake death. The team sat and listened for the next hour. When all three of them were done with their story, Gibbs stood up. "You're lucky I don't shoot you Fornell." Fornell smiled and joked "I wouldn't put it past you, Gibbs." Then Gibbs turned to Ziva and stared at her before grinning and shaking his head. "Well, I think it's time we got you signed up to take the test to be an American citizen." Everyone grinned but the biggest of all was Ziva's. She knew her actions could be could be considered treason and unforgivable but here was Gibbs letting her keep her job and helping her become an American citizen and soon she could be an NCIS Agent!
Tony turned to Maura and nibbled lightly on her earlobe before whispering, "I love you, sweetheart." Maura turned and kissed him fully on the lips. "I love you too." He laced his fingers with hers. "Should we tell them about..." he broke off but rubbed her stomach. Maura grinned and whispered "Don't you think they've had enough surprises for one day?" Tony shook his head. "Nope. And plus, Gibbs has developed this vein in his neck that pops out when he gets stressed. It almost came out twice already. I'm pretty sure this bit of information will bring it right out." he joked. Maura burst out laughing. "That's so mean!" she giggled in his ear. Tony laughed and said "Come on it'll be fun..." Maura giggled and said "Ok, yeah... I have to see this."
Tony pulled Maura up and wrapped her arm around her. "Also, we have one more announcement. We're going to have a baby!" Tony's voice was drowned out by a loud squeal from Abby. Maura and Tony looked over at Gibbs and sure enough he was glaring at Tony with a red line forming on his neck. Maura and Tony looked at each other and laughed as everyone got up to congratulate them. When Gibbs approached, they fought to keep a straight face. He just glared at Tony and then without warning he smacked the back of his head. When Tony recovered from the initial shock of the head slap Gibbs smacked him again and pulled Maura into a hug. He leaned over and whispered. "If he hurts you, you let me know and I'll kick his ass." Maura laughed and Tony looked at Gibbs in amazement. He gets smacked around and Maura gets hugged. Not fair... Gibbs turned to his team. "Any other surprises? McGee are you secretly dating Paula Cassidy?" McGee shook his head and laughed. "No Sir." Gibbs turned to Ducky. "Duck, you dating Jenny?" Ducky laughed. "Not that I'm aware of!"
Ducky took Maura's arm in his and said, "Anthony had mentioned you are a Medical Examiner..?" Maura smiled. "Yes! I work for the Boston Police department doing basically the same thing you're doing. I was lucky that I was provided an amazing tutor who was able to accelerate my doctorate so I just started last summer. But I could always use some extra practice and tutoring." she said. Ducky puffed out his chest proudly and said "Well, my dear. I believe that can be arranged. It would be an honor." Maura smiled and kissed the old doctor on the cheek. "She even talks to her patients, Ducky" Tony said. Everyone laughed as Ducky blushed. "I am flattered Caitlin. Would you like to accompany me to autopsy? I have this dead Petty Officer and I could use a second opinion."
"Not now Ducky." Gibbs interrupted. "Lets all go for lunch, my treat." Everyone stared at Gibbs. This was a new side of Gibbs they had not ever seen. As they all made their way downstairs, Maura took a moment to look at her old desk. Ziva's jacket was draped over the chair but everything still looked the same. She looked over at Tony's desk and wasn't surprised to see a stack of paperwork waiting for him. McGee's desk was nice and tidy as well as Gibbs' desk. Shaking her head, she smiled. Some things never change. She turned to see the team watching her closely. "It's almost just how it was when I left." She stared at her desk when a thought popped into her head.
Turning to Ziva she asked. "May I...?" Ziva nodded. "Of course." Maura sat at her old desk and looked around. She smiled as she remembered sitting here having food fights with Tony and the two of them flicking paperclips at McGee... she leaned over and ran her hand along the underside of the drawer. She was amazed when her fingers hit the very thing she was looking for. She was stunned no one had found this... The team looked at her curiously. She pulled out the picture of Tony that Abby had photo-shopped for her when Tony had gotten his hands on a picture of her at a Wet T-Shirt contest when she was in college. She laughed as she gazed down at the picture to see "Tony" dressed as a gay cowboy. Smirking at Tony, she held up the photo for him to see. Everyone burst out laughing. Tony blushed and looked around at the team. "That's not me!" he yelped. He tried to grab the picture but Maura held it out of his reach. "Maura... don't..." he grimaced as she held it out to Ziva. "Just in case you get bored..." Ziva laughed and hugged Maura. "I might be getting bored soon." Tony made another attempt to grab it but Maura elbowed him in the ribs as Ziva locked it in her drawer and patted Tony's cheek. "Don't worry, you'll see it soon." she laughed. Maura hugged Tony as he made sobbing noises. 'My life is over...' he mumbled. As they all made their way to the restaurant, Maura linked her arm in his. "I'm surprised you didn't try to show them my Wet T-Shirt picture." Tony grinned and wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. "No way. Only I'm allowed to see you like that." he said possessively. Maura laughed and kissed him playfully.
As they all settled down to eat, Abby turned to Maura. "So are you Dr. Maura Isles or Kate Todd? I mean either way you're still my friend but I'm not sure what to call you. And are you staying here in DC or are you going back to Boston?" Maura shook her head. "I don't know what I'm doing yet because I have responsibilities and commitments in both places... I haven't really had much time to think about it..." she said thoughtfully. Fornell said, "Well, we can reinstate your passport and ID's and Social Security number. All you have to do now is chose: Dr. Maura Isles or Kate Todd?"