Disclaimer: I write fanfiction solely for my own enjoyment. No monetary gain is being made by this fanfiction. The characters, places, and events involved belong to the producers of NCIS.

Summary: Kate was going to shoot him, she really was. But then, he was just almost killed, and he had been thinking on his feet, right? He probably even set her up. His idea of a funny joke. He knew that she and Gibbs would find the guy, and he didn't say the dog was named Abby, did he?

Spoilers: "Chained"

Timeline: Picks up the moment "Chained" ends.

Kate closed her eyes briefly and tried to slow her racing heart. She kept her gun trained on the buyer. Sirens shrieked as several police cars squealed into the parking lot. Several officers jumped out, and one tapped Kate on the shoulder.

"We'll take it from here, ma'am," he said. She nodded, and holstered her gun as she moved towards Gibbs and the car whose window he was talking into.

"…can tell." Kate caught the last fragment of Gibbs' sentence. If Gibbs had been Ducky, she might have been afraid at this point, but as Gibbs was more inclined to talk to the living than the dead, her spirit soared. Tony was still alive.

Gibbs opened the car door and Tony stepped slowly out. He glanced up and his characteristic grin spread over his features. Kate suddenly realized that at some point she'd stopped walking towards the car. However, this didn't matter; Anthony DiNozzo was coming to her.

Kate surprised both herself and Tony by pulling him into a tight hug that lasted no more than a few seconds. Tony's disbelief at her unexpected form of greeting was short-lived.

"Miss me?" he said cockily, resuming his prior smirk.

"Not one bit," she said, offering him a smile.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the pair, and flicked open his ringing cell phone.

"We got him. He's okay." There was a pause.

"There is no Goddamn Volkswagen!" he barked, snapping the cell shut again, only to hear it chirp again. He glanced at the caller ID. Abby.

"Gibbs, is Tony alive?" Abby's tone was worried.

"Of course," Gibbs said. He ground his teeth together slightly as a loud cheer rang through the earpiece. "What the hell's going on over there?"

"Oh, sorry, Gibbs!" Abby sounded anything but. "We've got you on speakerphone. Say hi to Tony for me!" A click sounded the disconnection. He closed the phone and tucked it back in his pocket.

"So, Tony," Kate was suddenly dead serious. "I didn't know you had a dog."

"Hey, boss, shouldn't we be getting back to HQ?" Tony addressed Gibbs, who looked up at him, expression unreadable.

"DiNozzo," he said. "Aren't you gonna answer Kate's question?" He raised his eyebrows at Tony, who blanched slightly, and strode off in the direction of the police officers. Kate shot Tony a patronizing smile.

"This had better be good," she said, leaning back against the car and watching him expectantly.

Tony gave Kate an enigmatic smile. "Maybe I was just thinking about you."

"Try again."

"Come over after work and I'll show you," he said, grin still firmly in place.

"Tony!"

"Kate!" he responded.

"That is not funny!"

She glared at him and stalked off towards Gibbs.

That, he thought, had to have been the first time he'd ever propositioned her without meaning to. Ah, irony.

After being dismissed for the day, Tony jabbed the elevator button for Abby's lab. She was female. Maybe she could offer him a bit of insight.

He heard hysterical cackling and a "Stop laughing at me!" from all the way down the hall. As he drew closer, he overheard a snatch of their conversation.

"-and I just could not believe him, Abbs, why does he have to be such a-" Kate looked up abruptly from her bemoaning at Tony's sharp rap at the open doorway. She stared at him in disbelief for a moment, then turned to Abby questioningly. Abby grinned.

"Hey, Tony. Did you come down just to talk, too?"

"Yeah," he said.

Abby's smile grew wider. "I knew it," she said. "I need a sign. 'Abby Sciuto, local shrink.' I could stick it up on the door. "

Kate sighed, obviously not impressed with Abby's wisecracking.

"I'm heading out, okay? See you tomorrow." She stood up and crossed the room quickly.

"So, Tony," Kate heard Abby say, a smirk evident in her voice. "What seems to be the problem today?"

Kate looked heavenwards as if begging for deliverance, and in doing so managed to crash into McGee as he exited the elevator. She ended up sprawled on the floor, glaring up at the nervous wreck that was her coworker.

"Sorry, Kate, sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and I'll be more careful and I'm really so-" he was cut off by her brisk reply.

"Going to see Abby?" Kate asked, pulling herself to her feet and smoothing her clothes out. McGee nodded mutely, eyebrows furling in concern. "Well, you'll have to wait your turn," she said sourly. "Tony's in there now."

Someone laid a hand on her shoulder and she cried out in surprise, whirling around to face her assailant.

"No, he's not," McGee said rather belatedly.

"McGee." Kate looked murderous.

"Yeah?"

"Take a hike," Tony said, shoving the younger agent unceremoniously towards Abby's door. "Hey, Kate?"

"What?" she hissed.

"We really need to talk," he said, grinning faintly at the familiar line that popped out of his mouth.

"No," she said, cocking her head at him. "We don't." She walked into the elevator, Tony following behind, and prodded the elevator button for the ground floor. The doors closed with a merry ding.

Tony began to make a show out of searching for something in his pockets. Despite her acidic mood, Kate looked on with soundless interest. Tony tossed a dazzling smile in her general direction and pulled out his wallet. Rifling quickly through, he extracted a small picture and offered it to Kate. She took it and studied it quietly.

"That's Mandy," he said, breaking the silence.

"Tony," Kate said after a moment. "You have a-"

"Shih Tzu," Tony finished, watching Kate's reaction. She continued gazing at the picture, confused.

A Shih Tzu named Kate… they said she had long brown hair, kind of mangy.

"She's white," Kate observed. "And she looks quite well-kept to me."

Tony dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"So…" Kate said, looking up. She waited for the inevitable quip Tony was sure to follow with, but it didn't come. "So you just-" She broke off at the second cheery ding signaling the end of the ride.

"You have to admit," Tony said as they stepped out of the elevator. "It was a great joke."

He flashed Kate one last charming grin, and was gone before she could begin to think of a reply. Kate stood dumbly in the darkened bullpen, wondering what the hell had just happened.

THE END