She had thought that they hid their relationship pretty well – no PDA at work (which suited her just fine; she was never a big fan of it to begin with), they never arrived or left together, they kept the glancing at each other to a minimum…
She had a feeling the others knew, though. McGee had an annoyingly smug look on his face whenever he saw the two of them doing as so much as conversing with each other about work. The other day, she had seen Gibbs pull out his wallet, and with a huge sigh, present a crisp fifty-dollar bill to Abby, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
It was a little unnerving, seeing your boss and co-workers bet on when the two of you would finally hook up.
If the others at NCIS had any doubts about the existence of their relationship, they were finally convinced the day it got pulled out into the open for all to see.
Incidentally, it had been raining that day, a slow, lazy drizzle. They were out on another case, and the two of them had entered a seemingly empty, abandoned warehouse adjacent to the crime scene, hoping that they would find the murder weapon inside.
Instead, they had found the man they suspected of murdering the commander. He had jumped out from behind a stack of boxes, grabbed Kate, and kept his gun pointed to her head, warning Tony to lower his gun and back off – otherwise, he'd shoot her.
She shot him a look that plainly read, "Get out of here. Now."
He was torn. "I can't just leave you here," his eyes told her, the expression on his face anguished.
The man smirked wickedly. "The two of you are together, aren't you?"
Other than having a gun trained on her head, this was another thing that sent shockwaves through her – were they that obvious? A complete stranger could tell that they cared a lot for each other, more than one would care for a partner or co-agent.
Tony swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat, holding his gun steady, his mind racing as he kept his eyes on Kate. What the hell was he going to do?
"Get the hell out, DiNozzo!" she finally snapped, her eyes flashing. "I can take him."
The man looked at her, blatant lust dancing in his eyes as he licked his lips slowly. "Feisty. I like that in a woman."
He gritted his teeth and cocked his gun. "I'm warning you, you son of a bitch…"
His finger tightened around the trigger. "I'd be careful if I were you, or your little girlfriend here wouldn't live to see another second."
Tony's cheeks heated with fury. He wanted to shoot the bastard dead, but he couldn't take the chance that Kate would get hit as well. He couldn't risk putting her in any further danger.
"Hey, buddy. You're completely surrounded, you know," he said conversationally, lying his $$ off. To be honest, he had no idea where Gibbs was. As far as he knew, no one had known that he and Kate had entered here. Keeping his voice steady, he continued. "You may as well give up. We'll even go a little easier on you."
He sneered in reply, showing off yellowed teeth. "Bullshit. They barge in here, she dies."
With that, Tony snapped and recklessly lunged at the man. He knocked the gun out of his hands and pushed Kate out of the way before throwing as many punches as he could at him, his blood boiling.
"Tony, stop it!" Kate screamed, pulling handcuffs out of her pocket and trying unsuccessfully to restrain him. "That's enough!"
A few seconds later, he moved away, chest heaving. The look on his face terrified Kate – it was pure hatred and fury, something she had never thought easygoing Tony DiNozzo was capable of feeling. He grabbed the handcuffs from her roughly and placed them over his wrists.
"You are in deep shit," he told him smugly, giving a satisfied smirk at the click of the handcuffs as they closed. He pulled out his cell phone. "Gibbs? Yeah, we need back up. We have a suspect in custody."
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A sharp whack to the head shook him out of the stupor he was in.
"Ow!" he whined, reaching up as if to assess the damage done. "What was that for?"
Gibbs looked down at him. "You know, DiNozzo, I usually don't need a reason to hit you. But this time you just asked for it."
There was a pause, and Tony looked back at him, waiting for him to continue with his lecture.
Not that Gibbs was the lecturing type, of course. The moment just called for it.
"I'm not going to say anything else, DiNozzo. I think someone else can do a better job for me," he said, nodding to someone behind Tony.
He turned and saw Kate there.
"Let's go up to the roof," she told him shortly. "Less people will be able to overhear."
Without waiting for a reply, she headed to the elevator, and he had no choice but to follow her.
Once they were up, the tension emanating from Kate was extremely palpable. Her mouth was in a straight line, and her eyes were flashing dangerously.
He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it, taking quick steps towards him until they as close as can be. She poked a finger in his chest, and he felt a strange rush of déjà vu, thinking back to the days when they used to bicker and fight like there was no tomorrow.
"What the hell were you thinking? You could've been killed! You weren't following protocol at all. What possessed you to do something so stupid? You could've just gotten out and called for back up, but you had to stay in there and play the hero. Well, let me tell you something – I don't need your protection, DiNozzo. I can take care of myself just fine. I mean, wasn't I in the Secret Service?" She blew a strand of hair from her face exasperatedly and looked at him crossly. "Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
He had been listening to all of this quietly, and now, all the emotions he had felt throughout the day caught up with him. "You think it was fun, seeing you with a gun pointed to your head, knowing I couldn't do anything about it? I was scared shitless, Kate. I couldn't just leave you with that son of a bitch! God knows what he would've done to you. And what is this about not needing to be protected? Bull, Kate! We're partners – we're supposed to have each other's back. And tell me something – why do you insist on putting up that tough mask you use with others when you're with me? Why won't you let me see you vulnerable, without the mask, without the walls?" He reached out and grabbed her hands. "Dammit, Kate, if you haven't noticed, I love you. You don't need to – "
He stopped, and his eyes widened, mimicking her own, as they both realized what had come out of this mouth.
"W-what?" she asked, her heart beginning to pound hard in her chest, much like earlier when she had had a gun held against her head. "What did you say?"
He looked surprised, but the surprise was soon replaced by a look of tenderness as he reached out and cupped her face in his hands. "I love you, Kate," he repeated, smiling softly down at her.
"I love you too," she choked out as she struggled to hold her tears back, a smile spreading across her face as he leaned down and captured her lips with his. She kissed him back eagerly, all the pain and anger and anxiety brought on during the day disappearing as she melted in his embrace.
As if on cue, a light drizzle of rain began, and they pulled away, laughing.
She rested her forehead on his, smiling slightly as she caressed his cheek lovingly, wiping at the droplets of water that had landed there.
"You know, we have to talk about what happened today," she whispered. "I mean, we can't have any more repeats of what happened today. We might not be as lucky next time."
"Work is work," he agreed. "We're keeping this relationship out of the office, out of cases… As much as possible, we shouldn't let our emotions get the better of us. Okay?"
"Okay." She nuzzled his neck, her arms around him. "So, how was work today, Tony?"
He grinned and pressed a kiss into her hair.
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