CHASED BY THE SHADOWS

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger thing and making you wait so long for an update.

Tony could have screamed out in frustration when the oven buzzer went off. He turned the oven temperature right down as to keep the food warm. Kate was still waiting in the dining area but he felt like he was losing his nerve. He walked back into the dining room and, again they stood face to face. The revelation of Kate admitting her feelings for him had weighed on his mind. He figured it was also weighing on hers as well.

Tony thought that maybe Kate meant that she loved him as a brother or something like that. The team always had a family feel to it, yet this felt different. "It'd be ready to eat as soon as we are," Tony told Kate. The problem he had worried about in the kitchen came back up and it baffled him that a woman could do this to him. He was losing his nerve to make a move. "Now where were we?" He attempted to joke.

Kate had admonished herself harshly, since it had taken Tony almost dying for her to realize how she felt. She was just about to learn how Tony felt, when the buzzer had interrupted the moment. It was now probably lost. "You were just saying…" Kate had begun to ask.

He reached his hand gently out to the back of her neck… It's now or never… Tony maneuvered her head closer to him. If Kate was going to pull away, hide her feelings, it would be now. There was no fight or resistance. Kate allowed him to take the lead. Their lips tentatively brushed against each other, feeling for a response before tenderly locking together, longer. Tony released the hand from her neck. He wanted to see her reaction.

Kate couldn't believe that they were sharing this moment. She had always seen Tony as an obnoxious middle aged frat boy who refused to grow up. That was true up until he had contracted the plague. Her thoughts began to change after he'd apologized to her after she had told Tony that she was infected too. How could it have taken her this long to realize her buried feelings? Her lips protested as Tony withdrew his own. Her body took over as she leaned forward allowing her lips to search and reconnect with his. It didn't take long for her to reciprocate that needed kiss.

The force of passion sent Tony backwards for a moment until his feet were planted firmly. The mood was momentarily interrupted, once again, with the ring of the phone that floated loudly through the apartment. Their lips parted at the sound for a third time. Tony cursed to himself at the fates that interrupted them. "Let the machine pick it up," Tony said as he caught his breath.

"Are you ok?" She asked when she noticed the labored breathing.

"Perfect," Tony whispered. The passion grew stronger as they embraced…

Gibbs' Residence

Gibbs had decided to call up Tony to see how he was doing. It was a fair assumption that Tony had heard Kate kicking out both him and the Doctor. He knew she had the right to do it and knew what he had done wouldn't help Tony. He was a real bastard for blowing up like he did.

"You have reached the number of DiNozzo, Tony DiNozzo. I'm unable to come to the phone right now, so if you leave a message after the beep, I'll call you as soon as I can." Of course the imitation Tony used of Sean Connery/James Bond voice wasn't a surprise to him and a smile appeared just before leaving a message.

"Just checking up on you, DiNozzo. I wanted to make sure you're not doing anything stupid… Ah, hell. You're probably asleep… If you're hearing this now, don't come down and answer the phone," Gibbs hated talking to answering machines, but figured it was better to say what he did in case Tony had worn himself out. He knew Tony probably was too exhausted to even pick up the bed room phone. "I want you to call me as soon as you listen to this message…" The phone clicked as if someone had picked it up. "Hey, DiNozzo… What did I just say?" He rubbed his face in frustration when he didn't get a vocal response. "DiNozzo?" He questioned again.

His thoughts immediately halted when it sounded like someone had tripped over a table and he heard moaning. Gibbs wasn't sure what was going on, but he visibly jumped when it sounded like someone hit the glass table in the living room. Fear engulfed Gibbs chest and images of his agent falling or worse played in his mind. This was enough to get his body roaring into action.

Tony's place

Gibbs exited the elevator in a rush. Many possibilities still ran through his mind after what he heard over the phone. He put his own key into Tony's door and eased it open. His worst fear was the mental picture of Tony lying unconscious on the floor. This is what he thought he'd find going into the apartment.

"Hey Boss," Tony said as he tried to hide the grin on his face. After he received a famous Gibbs glare, he felt a little confused. "Anything the matter, Boss?" He asked, trying to figure out what was going on. There had to be some sort of an emergency for Gibbs to use his spare key to get into his apartment.

Gibbs looked over to the telephone. "I gave you a call but then the receiver… Fell to the floor," he picked up the receiver and put it back in its cradle.

"Uh, yeah, Boss," Tony stuttered slightly before regaining his composure, "I heard your call and then the machine picked it up," he said as he tried to think of a plausible excuse to why the phone fell and he hadn't picked it up. "I was chasing what I thought was a mouse and I must have knocked the receiver off the base," he explained. Tony kept his face turned away so Gibbs couldn't tell that he was smiling.

"Right," Gibbs didn't believe him.

"Hey Tony," He heard Kate's voice entering the living area. "Before I go, are you sure there was nothing more you need?" She said nonchalantly. "Oh, hey Gibbs," Kate greeted.

"I'm great, thanks," Tony answered her question. "Thanks for coming around tonight Kate," he said smiling as she walked out the door. "Coffee Boss?" He asked as he stood up.

Gibbs eyed him and made no attempt to hide that fact. "Good to see you are feeling better DiNozzo," Gibbs said to him. It was evident that something had gone on and he wanted to find out… Immediately.

"I'm feeling a lot better," Tony said. That was the truth too. Maybe it was because he was no longer hiding his feelings for Kate, or having to clear his lungs all the time. Perhaps it was just a little of everything. Gibbs didn't have to know all the real reason, just his health issues. Hell, let him guess, Tony thought to himself. That's if he needs to. "In fact… I think I would be ready to come to work next week," Tony said. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He hoped it would convince Gibbs to allow him back so soon.

"The hell you are, DiNozzo," Gibbs told him flatly, "you have two weeks still left on sick leave and I strongly recommend that you take them," it was a hell of a lot more than a suggestion. The tone said it all.

"But, Boss," Tony whined a little. "Doctor Pitt said after two weeks if I feel well enough I can do light duty, desk work," he sighed to accentuate his level of frustration.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. The pathetic tone and look was almost laughable. But when it came from DiNozzo it was serious. Tony had always reminded him of one of the students he remembered from school. The one student that never knew when to stop, when his body had had enough and that kid was just like DiNozzo. He knew that Tony had played Basketball, Football, and Ran, even with work when it became physical. He never knew when to slow down. He always pushed himself too much, like now.

"You're taking the two weeks and that's final DiNozzo," Gibbs pointed the finger at him. "Doctor Pitt doesn't know you like I do," he said.

"I'll-," A Gibbs stare soon silenced his protesting.

"You'll stay home and do what I order you, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "What I heard on the phone was someone gasping and hitting the table. Now are you going to tell me that you're fine enough to come back?" Gibbs asked and then noted that Tony was about to say something. He cut him off with the wave of the hand. "I don't buy that rat bullshit. Either you're really sick and just not saying. Or, more likely you're trying to hide something from me that goes deeper. Gibbs knowingly said, his blue eyes met with green with the stare he used in interrogation to extract the truth.

Tony lowered his eyes momentarily. All that was running through his mind was rule number twelve. Gibbs would have his hide if he found out what had transpired between the two. "I just tripped over the table leg," Tony tried to explain. "I didn't want to say anything, because I felt so stupid for doing it, alright? I didn't realize I knocked the phone off the hook," he finished trying to explain; only to tangle him self in a bigger web.

"You take me for a fool, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked. He didn't believe the younger man's story, he only knew it would keep going around in circles.

"No, not at all Boss," Tony conceded with a bit of shame. Did he already know, Tony wondered?

"You call me if you need anything at all DiNozzo," Gibbs said, letting him off the hook, for now.

Tony swore that if he heard that offer one more time he was going to scream. Sure it was nice to know that he was cared about. But, he was feeling better now and didn't want to be treated like he was still disabled. "I think Kate has that covered," Tony replied. "She's been great," he said. Perhaps he'd given too much away, he feared,. "I will call you Boss," Tony suddenly added.

"Make sure you do," Gibbs told him.

"I will," Tony assured him. "But, boss, I really -,"

"If you but boss me one more time, I'll head slap you so hard even Australia will feel it," Gibbs warned harshly.

"If you're willing to head slap me… I must be," was all he got out before Gibbs' hand struck the back of his head. For a temporary second he felt blinded and light headed. It was almost like the pain travelled from head to toe. "See Boss, I'm good to go," that wasn't true, but he'd hoped the human lie detector would believe him.

Can you tell when someone is lying to them just by looking into their eyes… Yes I can… Ask me! Ask me! That kept playing through his head. Yeah, he could tell. Deep down, Tony knew he could never lie to his Boss. It didn't stop him from trying though.

"Like hell you are," Gibbs responded quickly. He'd seen the lasting effect the head slap had on his senior field agent and felt bad about doing it. That was one way he had in order to figure out how badly Tony felt, "there's no way you're going to work next week, DiNozzo," Gibbs gruff voice sternly told his agent.

Tony slumped on the couch, not totally defeated. "Should I find a bunch of stairs to climb?" he sighed heavily as he asked. "If I can climb the stairs I can go back to work," he thought of the movie Something's Gotta Give, but that stair climbing meant that Jack Nicholson's character was ready for sex… Now there was a thought.

"You know, I'm going to leave right now. I don't care what the doctor says. You have two weeks to go. Now, get use to it," Gibbs growled out the order, tired of the dance they were doing.

"Yes Boss," Tony responded. He was left no choice but to tow the line. Doing anything differently would just irritate Gibbs further and that would be a huge mistake. So he would do what he always did… Fall into line.

The Beginning of the Weekend.

Abby had been counting down the days until DiNozzo was due back. The waiting however had been a killer. It had been like forever since she saw him and it was a quiet Friday. A few times a month they'd get together on a Friday night so she decided to pick up a pizza and a video. Tony looked through the peek hole before answering the door.

It wasn't surprising that the first thing Tony could smell was the Pizza. He knew Gibbs would go off the wall if he found out and so would Brad. Tony smiled as the food of the Gods was not on the prescribed food list he was given.

"Thanks Abs," Tony said gratefully. It didn't matter how great pizza was, he just couldn't bring himself to eat something that meaty. Oh God, I'm turning into a bloody vegetarian. Damn diets. "Uh, no thanks," Tony told a very shocked Abby. "I had something not too long ago," he explained, which he had.

Tony knew it wasn't just the diet Brad had given him but also he'd been eating a lot with Kate. So he tried to make his excuse believable and was glad when Abby didn't question him on it.

"That's ok," Abby said cheerfully. She was a little disappointed, but Tony didn't look like he needed a doctor or a nurse to lecture him. She smirked… Tony and Kate might think everyone's ignorant, but Abby had observed the change in Kate. She wished Kate would talk to her, after all Kate and Tony were her best friends. But, from knowing them each so well, Abby knew they were becoming an item, if not one already.

Tony rested his head on Abby's lap which was something they often did when they watched a movie. Occasionally they would swap positions depending on which one was feeling down. Abby stroked Tony's hair and he let out an elongated sigh of contentment. Abby swore that if he was going to get anymore content from her stroking his hair, which she loved to do, that he'd be like a cat and start purring.

"What are you thinking about?" Abby asked.

Tony grinned like a Cheshire cat. Abby being a scientist knew that contrary to popular belief, Sodium Penathol commonly known as truth serum does not force people to talk. It just puts them in such a relaxed state that they're willing to share anything. "I was thinking about Kate," Tony answered in a dreamy and tranquil state. Right now, Abby was his sodium penathol,

"I just knew you two would hook up," Abby said in her high pitched tone.

The relaxed state evaporated as Tony sat up in a flash. "Whoa Abs," he said emphatically. "I didn't say that," he said. There was no way that he wanted it out. "We're not together."

"Oh yeah, right," Abby responded.

Tony didn't know how to respond. There was one person he dared not lie to and one he couldn't lie to. "You can't say anything Abs," Tony pleaded.

"I won't say anything," she said. "I'm so happy for you two. It's great. You have to. tell me when this happened," Abby's tone went into full speed.

"Only a few days ago," Tony answered her. He knew if he didn't it would only bring on more questions, "At first I thought she was talking about brother sisterly love but it turned out to be a lot more," Tony confirmed.

"Tony…" Abby said slowly.

"Yeah Abs," Tony's voice matched the pace of Abby's tone.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Abby squealed. "But promise me one thing Tony… That you won't screw this up," it sounded like a warning. "You two can have a great thing going if you let it," Abby added.

"Nothing will get in our way Abs," Tony responded. He was sure of that. There was no way he was going to let his past habits interfere with what was looking like an optimistic future. There were only two things that worried him. One was he'd never been in a serious, long term relationship. And two, Gibbs with his all knowing sense and that damn rule twelve.

A/N: A headslap for my kangaroo Paw for the beating she's going to give herself for any mistakes.