Expect The Unexpected

Thanks to everyone has reviewed! They definitely gave me some inspiration to write this chapter, but I'm still struggling! Help!

Please review!

Also, I owe a huge "Thank You" to Loz and Annie-M: I couldn't have gotten this far without you!

Well, here is chapter 14. Kate finally goes undercover!

Part 14

At 0530 the following morning, Kate began the drive to the NCIS Headquarters. As she drove, Kate reflected on the events of yesterday, namely her dinner with Tony. They'd ordered pizza and sat watching the television, talking amicably. They talked about their respective childhoods, college experiences, and their first impressions of everybody at NCIS. The one topic that they stayed well away from was 'the case'. In fact, Kate was surprised at how much she had enjoyed spending the time with Tony. He'd managed to make her feel relaxed and less anxious; just as he had done yesterday at lunch with Abby and McGee.

He hadn't been childish or chauvinistic; he had been sincere and mature. Kate chuckled to herself. 'Tony' and 'mature' weren't words that she would usually associate with each other, but in the past twenty-four hours, she had seen a change in Tony. He'd become protective and supportive. She was touched that he had shown such concern for her, and she was surprised at the uncharacteristic hug goodbye that he had given her when he had left her apartment later that evening.

Kate navigated her way through the quiet streets on her way to work. They were dark and deserted, but you'd expect as much considering that it wasn't even 6am. She drove into the undercover carpark and pulled into her designated car space. As she switched off her engine, she noticed that both Tony and Gibbs' cars were already there.

After being cleared by security officers in the NCIS foyer, she walked quickly up to the bullpen. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as the elevator reached their floor and the doors opened. The bullpen was dimly lit; the only light coming from the few desk lamps that had been left on and the lights outside filtering through the windows. Her entrance to the bullpen was met by silence; those in the room followed her with their eyes as she made her way to her desk and set her handbag on top. It was only once she had done that did she acknowledge the three people already in the bullpen.

Tony, Gibbs and Commander Coleman stood by Gibbs' desk and watched as Kate set her things down and turned to look at them. "Morning, Kate," Tony said quietly, breaking the almost eerie silence that had descended upon the room.

"Hi," Kate replied, making contact with them all. She couldn't think of anything else to say. Tony walked over to his desk and sat down. He pretended to leaf through one of the files on his desk. Since Kate's arrival only moments ago, the atmosphere in the bullpen had become extremely tense, understandably, and it was making Tony uncomfortable. He just wanted to get it over with.

The sooner they got moving, the sooner the whole operation would be over- with Kate alive and unharmed.

"Here is your uniform. Go and put it on now, Kate," Gibbs said, his voice just above a whisper. He held out a coat hanger with a stark white navy uniform hanging from it. Kate moved out from her desk and accepted the uniform from Gibbs with a small smile. She felt everyone's eyes on her as she walked towards the bathrooms to get changed.

"Gibbs, this is so wrong," Tony said from his desk.

"But necessary," Gibbs said immediately, cutting Tony off.

"Is it?" Tony shot back. "Is it worth losing Kate?"

"We won't lose her."

"Physically, maybe. But emotionally, this will kill her. This is already killing her and it hasn't even started yet."

"I spoke to Agent Todd yesterday morning," the Commander said, speaking for the first time since Kate had arrived. Gibbs raised his eyebrows in surprise. The same expression was clearly evident on Tony's face. Kate hadn't said anything to him about speaking with the Commander. "She seemed fairly composed."

"Well, she wasn't composed when I saw her last night." Tony stood up to defend Kate. "She was distraught. I'd never seen her like that before."

"We've got her six, Tony. She doesn't need to worry." Gibbs' eyes bore down on Tony.

"Try telling her that. She knows that we're not going to let her die, but it's the bit before that that she is scared about." Gibbs looked at Tony; his confusion at Tony's comment was more than evident. "Rape, boss, that's what happened to the other two Petty Officer's before they died."

Gibbs threw his head back in frustration. He had tried to prepare Kate to fight her attacker with her hands cuffed behind her, but he hadn't even considered the possibility of sexual assault.

"She's not going to be raped, DiNozzo. Do you think that I would let that happen to one of my best field agents?"

"Famous last words," Tony said, returning the glare that he had received from Gibbs.

McGee entered the bullpen just as Tony had been telling Gibbs, in a rather loud voice, that Kate was afraid of being raped. He stood by the elevators unnoticed as Gibbs replied and was rooted to the floor upon hearing Tony's response in regards to Gibbs', "famous last words." McGee didn't know what to do. Tony and Gibbs were not seeing eye-to-eye, and he was unsure of whether or not it was safe for him to walk over to his desk.

"Agent Todd will be under my supervision," the Commander said, breaking the tension that was nearing its peak. "Agent DiNozzo, I will not let anything happen to her. You have my word. Agent Gibbs and I have discussed this at length. She will not be the only person to be armed. I will be watching her six, as you so eloquently put it."

"Tony, I've had McGee at Norfolk all night putting up surveillance cameras that will feed straight through to MTAC, and you will be at Norfolk today. As of tomorrow, we will all be at Norfolk. She won't get hurt."

McGee took this as his opportunity to make his entrance. He walked tentatively into the bullpen and placed his backpack on his desk, breaking the eye contact between Tony and Gibbs. "It's all set up, Boss," McGee said, as he turned on the plasma. "I've got the cameras in the office, the corridor and surrounding areas."

"Feeding through to MTAC?" Gibbs questioned.

"And through to the computers here, boss. I've also installed a card on the computer in your office, Commander, just to be on the safe side," McGee said, as he acknowledged the Commander's presence in the bullpen. "And as per what you said to me last night about operational procedures, I need to install a microchip on Tony's laptop so that he will be able to see everything. Then it will all be set up."

"Good work, McGee. Go and take a shower to freshen up. You look like crap," Gibbs said. McGee, however, didn't make any movements indicating that he was going to leave. Instead, he sat down at his desk and began searching around in his draw for a microchip to put in Tony's computer.

"Just have to put this microchip in," McGee said, holding up the miniscule electronic device, "and then it will be all done." He walked over to Tony and held his hand out expectantly for his laptop. Tony reached under his desk and pulled out his laptop. Just as he was handing it to Tim, he saw Kate walking back from the bathrooms.

She brushed passed Commander Coleman and stood in the middle of the bullpen, aware that everyone's eyes were on her. Tony looked Kate's body up and down and was impressed at how good she looked in uniform, but he resisted the urge to make a comment. He knew that it would be inappropriate, not that it had ever stopped him before, but he knew that by making a comment about how attractive she looked, he would only make her more anxious.

There weren't many people who could make a marine uniform look good, yet Kate looked, well, gorgeous. She had tied her hair back into a neat bun and the white uniform drew attention to her womanly curves.

"Not bad, Agent Todd," the Commander said approvingly. "Petty Officer Kate Frasier looks like a real marine, Gibbs." Gibbs looked her up and down.

"Pull your shoulders back. If you're going to be a naval officer, then you need to stand like one," Gibbs said harshly. Kate adjusted her posture. "Now salute."

"Gibbs," Kate said, rolling her eyes.

"You will need to salute ever superior officer. You need to do it properly." Kate rolled her eyes at Gibbs before raising her right arm to salute him. "Good." Kate walked over to her desk and sat down.

"I'll meet you at Norfolk," the Commander said to Kate. She nodded at Gibbs and then walked out of the bullpen.

McGee stood up and handed Tony back his laptop. "It's all done. Just click on the link on the desktop and you'll be able to see everything that's going on."

"Thanks, Probie," Tony said graciously. He looked over at Kate to see her searching hopelessly for something in her handbag. "Whatchya lookin' for, Kate?"

"Nothing, doesn't matter. I must have left it at home."

"Did you want to stop at your place and pick it up on our way through to Norfolk?" Tony asked as Kate continued to rummage through her handbag.

"Found it!" Kate exclaimed triumphantly. She held her hand up to reveal what she had been looking for.

"A CD?" McGee asked, puzzled. Gibbs looked up to see Kate holding a CD in her hand.

"Yeah, it's got some stuff that I might need." She looked directly at Tony, and instantly, he knew what was on it; it was the CD that he had given her at her apartment the day before.

"Are you ready, Kate?" Gibbs asked, as she put the CD back into her handbag. Kate looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Are you armed?"

"Yes." Tony raised his eyebrows, wondering where her sig was hidden Gibbs leant over his desk and opened his top drawer.

"Rule 9," he stated simply. Kate, Tony and McGee each gave him puzzled looks; their faces revealing the trouble that they were having trying to think back to Gibbs' famous list of rules.

"Never go anywhere without a knife," Tony stated, before anyone else. Gibbs pulled out a knife from his draw and held it out for Kate. She walked over to him and accepted it hesitantly. She turned it over in her hands, checking out its shape and form.

"It's styled so that it can go underneath the belt," Gibbs said. He moved over to Kate and turned her around. "It slips into the belt buckles like this," he continued, as he tucked the knife in, "can you access it from there?"

Kate reached behind her back and felt for the handle of the knife. In one quick movement, she turned around and had the knife pointed at Gibbs. "I take that as a yes," he said, stepping back. Kate smiled wickedly at him before putting the knife back to where Gibbs has positioned it only moments before.

"Where did you learn to use a knife like that, Kate?" McGee asked. He'd watched Kate pull the knife on Gibbs with an open mouth.

"Ignorance is bliss, Probie!" Kate replied, in her usual teasing manner.

"Alright, you two," Gibbs said, pointing towards Kate and Tony, "get going." The two agents nodded and began collecting their things.

As they made their way to the elevator, Gibbs' voice stopped them. "Don't be complacent." Kate and Tony looked at each other before turning around to face their boss, who had walked up behind them. "Just because the other two murders happened on the second Thursday after they had started, doesn't mean that he will follow that same pattern. Kate, just be alert, ok?" Kate nodded solemnly and continued walking to the elevators with Tony.

Kate and Tony drove the entire way to Norfolk in a comfortable silence. Tony concentrated on navigating the early morning, peak hour traffic, whilst Kate sat back in her seat and tried to calm her nerves. Kate's phone began ringing just as they pulled into the carpark. "Kate," she said into it, knowing that she'd have to drop the 'agent' and 'Todd' parts whilst she was undercover.

"Are you there yet?"

"We've just pulled into the carpark now, Gibbs," she replied.

"Commander Coleman should be meeting you out there."

"I can see her from here."

"Well, good luck," Gibbs said in a soft tone.

"Thanks, Gibbs. I'll see you back at NCIS tonight." With that, she closed her phone and put it in her handbag.

Tony switched off the engine and looked over at Kate. Her head was resting on the back of the seat and she was staring absent-mindedly out of the window. "You're scared, aren't you, Kate?"

"No," she said, as she turned around to face him.

"If you're not scared, then what are you?"

"Petrified." Tony placed his hands on her upper arms.

"Don't be," he said sincerely. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He looked into her eyes and saw that she was in complete turmoil. He drew her into a hug and rubbed her back in soothing circles to show his support.

Eventually, she pulled out of his embrace. "Let's get this bastard, hey?" she said. "Any last words of advice?"

"Just be yourself, Kate. No-one else can." He leant in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Now, get your ass into gear! You don't want to be late for your first day of work!" Kate laughed at his remark. "And smile for the cameras that Probie's hidden!"

"Tony!" Kate exclaimed, as she playfully punched in the arm. Tony winked and flashed her one of his mega-watt smiles.

"I'll meet you here at five, and not a minute later."

Ok, that's all I've written so far. I don't really know whether this is worth continuing anymore... I'm not sure it's worth it. Let me know if you want to read more... I might be able too dig deep and write at least another chapter!