PART THREE – DON'T RAIN ON MY PARADE

She found him at the park, sitting on a park bench and staring off into space. A relieved look crossed her face, and she pursed her lips together before sticking her hands in her coat pockets and taking the seat next to him.

Soon enough, she found herself staring into the waters of the pond in front of them, lost in thought.

It had worried her greatly when he had run off all of a sudden in the middle of the case they were working on. He hadn't told Gibbs, McGee or her anything – he had just taken off all of a sudden after interviewing PO2 Julian Bradford's fiancée a couple of hours after finding his bruised and bloodied corpse tossed carelessly into a ditch. When she had told Gibbs that Tony had left abruptly, his eyes had narrowed, but not in anger like she had originally thought – it was, in fact, understanding.

She had puzzled over it earlier, but she had no choice but to stay focused on her work. The urge to go look for him had nearly overpowered her, but she had forced herself to stay and work the case in an almost mechanical manner – like she wasn't really there at all.

She didn't really want to find out how pleased Gibbs would be when two of his agents suddenly left in the middle of a case.

They solved the case by mid-afternoon – a miracle, really, considering they had had cases before that went unsolved for days, weeks even.

When Gibbs barked, "Find DiNozzo, Kate," her heart had leaped and she raced to her car. She headed first to the apartment they shared, and then several places that the two of them frequented. Following her gut, she had driven to the park, and now here she was, next to him.

"What's going on?" she asked finally in a small voice, craning her neck to search his face with her big brown eyes. "Why'd you just leave like that?"

She saw him bite his lip before turning to meet her gaze. "It was…" He paused, and she noticed a frustrated glance flicker over his face as he struggled to find the words. "There were certain…parallelisms between the two of us and the petty officer and his fiancée."

It wasn't the clearest answer, but she instantly knew what he meant. She reached out and took his hand, trying to sort through the thoughts in her head before coming up with a reply.

Now that she thought about it, it was eerie how similar their situations were – just like her and Tony, and the petty officer and his fiancée had gotten engaged only recently. They even resembled each other slightly in terms of physical features.

A shiver ran up her spine, and she understood why Tony had run – it was extremely unnerving.

"We're not going to end up like…that," she finished lamely.

He looked at her, his eyes filled with worry and fear – two things she rarely saw on his face. "How do you know, Kate? I mean, come on. Things could…happen."

It was her turn to bite her lip, and she searched his face, noticing that there was still something that he wasn't saying.

"There's more to it, isn't there," she said, her tone mild.

Faint surprise flickered across his face, and he let out a shaky laugh. "You know me too well," he muttered.

He slipped his hand out of hers and shifted in his seat so he could see her better. "You think…you and me - us ­– we could work?"

Kate felt her chest tighten. "Tony…what – ?"

"I know, I'm being stupid," he said, running his hand through his hair, annoyed at himself. "I'm just… Kate, this is me we're talking about. You and me, together… We're like a time bomb, waiting to explode. I haven't ever been in a long-term relationship, and this… I'd like to believe this is different, but I – " His voice broke. "I can't trust myself. I don't want to hurt you."

She didn't say anything, just looked at him tenderly. After a while she spoke up as she stared off into the distance.

"People ask me, 'Why Tony? What could you possibly see in someone like him?' I would look at them and think about how much they didn't understand. Like how yes, you can be self-absorbed sometimes, but I've never, in my entire life, met someone who cares for me as much as you do. You tell stupid, childish, sexist jokes, but you can make me laugh when all I want to do is cry. I mean, all you have to do is put your arms around me, and I feel better in an instant."

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and tried to blink back the tears that were teetering at the edge of her eyelids. With a small watery smile, she continued. "The hold you have on me is amazing. I never thought I'd get married, have kids and live happily ever after. Wasn't in the cards for me, I thought. I didn't think I would ever find the person I would want to spend the rest of my life with. But then you came along, and…"

She turned back to him, meeting his gaze. A tear, and then two more, rolled down her cheek, and she took his hand in hers, never looking away from him. "Don't you get it, Tony? I want to be with you. I love you. You and me…this is right. Don't run away from this, or expect me to run away. Because love will always lead us back to each other. And I know that you know that… Otherwise, you wouldn't have given me this."

She raised her left hand. The diamond caught the bleak light that broke through the gathering storm clouds and sparkled magnificently. "Am I right?" she asked quietly.

Instead of answering, he pulled her to him and kissed her. She could feel his relief, and most importantly, his love, and she returned the kiss eagerly, her fingers tangled through his hair.

They broke apart, and she leaned against his shoulder. He put his right arm around her shoulders, and she automatically snaked her arm across his waist. She could feel his heart beat steadily, and she let out a contented sigh.

"So your being with me has absolutely nothing to do with my undeniably good looks or my charming smile?" he asked after a while, humor tingeing his voice.

"Nope, sorry," she fired back, smiling. "Didn't even notice the – how did you put it? – 'undeniably good looks and charming smile'."

He chuckled. "And here I was, convinced that they played a huge part in getting you to be with me."

"You wish, DiNozzo," she said teasingly, and the smile on her face widened as she felt him press a kiss onto her forehead.

"I really lucked out this time, didn't I?" he murmured, running his fingers gently through her hair. "I mean, these days it's hard enough to find a beautiful woman who has even the slightest ounce of intelligence. But you – you're drop-dead gorgeous, unbelievably intelligent, and you can kick butt. Plus you can put me in my place – when necessary, of course."

"Let's just say the stars must be aligned. For both of us," she said, her voice catching as tears sprung into her eyes once more.

They sat there for quite some time, occasionally exchanging sweet kisses and losing themselves in their intimacy. Soon after the wind picked up and thunder rolled in the distance.

As the first fat droplets fell on them, Tony pulled away from her reluctantly. "We better go, before we get soaked."

"That wouldn't be so bad," she said with a grin. "We seem to have a knack for staying in the rain."

He laughed. "Yeah, we do, don't we?"

Sorry for the delay. School seriously sucks. Thanks for sticking with me. Review, please - it makes me happy. Oh, and there's an epilogue after this...at least, if I ever get around to writing it. ;)