Does anybody know how you can post titles to every chapter? I've seen that in a few stories but never figured out how you can do that.

This chapter is a bit long but I hope you will like it.

……………Thursday the 1st of December…………

"The year is coming to an end and that means the end of the year statistics need to be done before Christmas. I want everyone to have them updated by the 20th." Gibbs told them.

"Ok." McGee told him. Tony and Kate just nodded.

"After having said all the required things now we can get on to the important things. McGee and Dinozzo, how is it going with tracking down the car?" Gibbs continued.

"It hasn't been seen anywhere." McGee answered.

"We'll give it a few more days then we'll see what we need to do." Gibbs told him. It was his way to say that a stolen navy car wasn't their top priority since they had already caught the one who stole it. The car would probably never be found since the car thief said he didn't even remember where he left it or where he found it.

"Todd, Dinozzo is going with you when you talk to commander Murphy. McGee you're coming with me when we'll talk to the officers." Gibbs told them.

"I can handle it, boss." Todd told Gibbs.

"I know you can. It's just that commander Murphy is special and I think you need back up." Gibbs explained to her.

"I'm just going to ask him some questions." Todd said not understanding. It wasn't a suspect she was going to talk to and she knew they had a lot to do that having another agent go with her when he could do something else seemed unnecessary.

"We need to go now." Gibbs said before he left the office. McGee was just right behind him.

"Tony, I can handle it." Kate told him.

"You haven't met him before. I have. He's a bit intimidating and very controlling. Not easy to talk to. It's your case and I'll just stay in the background." Tony told her.

"You know something. The same thing Gibbs knows." Kate said suspecting they are not telling her something.

"I've met him. That's all I know. We need to go now." Tony told her. He took the car keys and went up from his desk. Kate followed him. She hated when Gibbs and Tony became cryptic.

…………..At commander Murphy's office…………

"He can see you now." His secretary said.

Kate and Tony walked in.

……………

"I'm agent Todd and this is agent Dinozzo." Kate told commander Murphy.

"I know. I've met agent Dinozzo before. Surprised to see Gibbs isn't here and that he let you lead this." He told Kate. There was a scary vibe around him which both Kate and Tony picked up on quickly.

"You don't need to sit down because this will only take a few seconds." The commander told them.

"I think it will take a bit longer than that. We have some questions for you. We know officer Dillon came to you the day before he was found beaten to death. What did he tell you?" Kate asked him. Tony looked at Kate and her gut feeling was telling her not to sit down and just stand strong.

"We talked about strategies and how we can make the navy better. It was a scheduled meeting. Nothing unusual happened. He seemed ok to me. I think that is all then." The commander told her.

"His wife told us something was bothering him. Did he tell you about it?" Kate asked him.

The commander went up from his desk and walked towards Kate.

"Women always imagine things. They never know what's really going on. This meeting is really over." The commander told her. If Kate didn't know better she would think he would do something to her. How he ever could get a job like this she didn't understand.

Tony just stood there and didn't say a thing. He knew Kate could handle this.

"It's not over. You know something and I want to know what it is. We're not leaving since we have some more questions to ask." Kate demanded.

The commander then raised his hand and even if Tony knew he wouldn't do something with him in the room he felt it was time to get out of here. It was the sign Tony had waited for all along since they entered the room.

"Thank you very much. We're going agent Todd." Tony told her. He looked at Kate and his expression told her they needed to get out of there.

"Tell Gibbs that he shouldn't let new agents practise interrogating people by interrogating me." The commander said. Then Kate and Tony left the room.

……….

"What was that all about?" Kate asked Tony as soon as they had left the building.

"The meeting was over." Tony answered cryptic.

"We got nothing. He wasn't scary." Kate told him.

"Tell that to them he has scared when he has been alone with them in the room. Before you started on NCIS we investigated if he had sexual assaulted a female officer and beaten his wife. He knew that and it was a warning sign when he raised his hand. When men are around he can control himself but when woman are around he can't. We never got enough evidence to prosecute him and he kept his job." Tony explained to her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kate asked.

"Because you would say you still could handle it alone. This way you didn't protest which you probably would have done if we had told you before. The female officer he assaulted had gone to his office for a meeting and a few hours later she was found in a hospital. She refused to tell anyone what happened in the end and no one had seen or heard what had happened either. She then left the navy and city." Tony explained to her.

"What about the secretary?" Kate asked.

"Best job she has ever had according to her and that's all we got out of her. She claimed she had gone home early that day." Tony continued.

"What about his wife?"

"He got her committed because of insanity. Everyone felt sorry for him because of his wife's sickness that no one liked we were investigating him for assault. Gibbs and I know he did it but we can't prove it. Didn't you notice the secretary was conveniently not at her desk when we left his office? No witness to collaborate our story. He would say Gibbs is after him and we would lose our jobs."

"So if I had gone there alone he would have threaten me and even hit me? Everyone would have believed me if I had told the truth. Why didn't Gibbs question him?" Kate kept asking.

"No one believed the female officer at first and then she changed her story with saying she couldn't remember a thing at all. He hates Gibbs and he hates women even more. I think that answers your questions. We did our duty now lets try to find the truth another way." Tony told her.

"I just can't leave it that way…I need to know what happened because it would help in this case. Gibbs would never withhold and stop using old information when it can help in a new case." Kate demanded.

"You weren't there…Everything which could go wrong went wrong. He got suspended for a week and was told never to get close to the commander again. Never ever tell him I told you this. He would kill me." Tony told her.

"So I'm just a pawn in your game? Is that all I am?" Kate asked pretty upset.

"You're so much more than that…You're a damn good NCIS agent who can make someone instable. That's why Gibbs wanted you to question commander Murphy. He'll make a mistake one day and Gibbs will be right there when he does." Tony explained.

"So I am a pawn in your game!" Kate concluded.

"No, you're not…" Tony told her but he sensed she didn't want to listen.

"Yes, I am…You disappoint me…I've never felt this bad since I started at NCIS. I'm an agent not a woman you can order around." Kate told him.

"What do you want to hear? That this is a sick and twisted game and somehow we are trying to make the good guys win no matter which methods we use? Even if they are hurtful and feel so morally wrong? Is that what you want to hear?" Tony yelled at her. He didn't mean to yell at her but it just happened.

Kate stood there and watched him. Tony raising his voice like that and the way he said it…Deep down inside it did something to her.

"If we'll win…" Kate told him quietly. She didn't want to fight and this case meant a lot to Tony and Gibbs and she was excluded from it. It was like a little club she couldn't get in. The past meant too much and she hadn't been in it so she couldn't join the club. She wondered if Abby was in it too. Maybe even Ducky…Of course Ducky was in it…He knows everything…

Tony saw how her expression changed. He shouldn't have yelled at her in the middle of the parking lot with everyone watching. Then he knew who absolutely was watching them. He turned around and looked up at a window. He saw someone watching them. Tony didn't want him to win.

Tony went closer to Kate and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry. I'll tell you more about it when we're alone and not at work." He said while still hugging her.

"Why are you hugging me?" Kate asked surprised.

"The truth is that he is looking at us and I want to piss him off but it is also a good way to show I'm really sorry about yelling at you. You didn't deserve it." Tony told her anticipating a bad reaction from her.

"Thanks…Just don't tell Gibbs. He will get ideas and lecture us about rule number 12. I've heard enough about it." Kate told him while she let him go. She felt like pissing off the commander as well.

……………….Back at NCIS…………

"So how did it go?" Gibbs asked them when he and McGee came back.

"As you thought it would go. We did what we had to do according to protocol and now we can move on." Tony answered. Kate just sat there and she didn't want to say a thing since she knew it was probably Tony who Gibbs wanted to answer the question. Gibbs noticed it and immediately understood what had happened. He knew the bastard.

"I'm sorry Kate for putting you through it. How close did he get?" Gibbs asked Kate but knowing Tony would probably answer it before Kate could.

"It went ok." Kate replied. She wanted to show she could handle it. She had been undercover before and that was far worse and dangerous than this.

"He never came close." Tony then said.

The silence spread across the office. No one wanted to say a thing.

"The officers all said the same thing. He was worried about something. He talked a lot about the commander but not about a specific thing so no one really knew what was going on. I'll go to Abby with the things we found on board the ship so she can check them out." McGee told them hoping it would make someone work again. He had noticed something was going on with this case. That it was unusual and even more unusual than the cases they usually get. It was more personal for Tony and Gibbs. Something that was before his time there. The little Gibbs told him about an old case didn't help him much in the search for answers but he didn't want to push it by asking around too much at the moment.

……….3rd of December…………

"Addy Art Gallery. I like the name. Wonder where the name came from." Tony asked as they arrived to the gallery.

"Adrian Sharp. His nick name is Addy." Kate replied.

They had talked a bit the last 48 hours and things were back as normal again.

"That's what I like about you. You know such stuff. I'm sure mom will ask me that when we come here." Tony told her being a bit amazed over her knowledge but also that she reminded him about his mother. He started to wonder what his mother would say if she met Kate. Tony knew he probably should not let his mom meet Kate. The conclusions she would make would not be good for their work relationship. Still he couldn't stop thinking about how he compared Grace to Emma when he was younger to see that they were similar in some ways. The feeling that it was why his dad chose to marry Emma was because of those similarities were strong in the beginning but kind of disappeared when he got to know Emma more. Emma was nice back then and still is now. Just as nice as Kate was to him now. Tony wondered how he started to compare his two mothers with Kate. Why had he started to think like that?

Tony never had a problem with starting to call Emma mom even if he and everyone else knew Grace would always be his mom. The best two relationships he had with women except his sisters were with them…Why did going to an art gallery stir up so much memories and feelings? Then it hit him…His mother Grace had taken him to an art gallery when he was little…His mother Emma had done the same and now Kate did it…

"We've walked in and passed some paintings but you haven't said a thing. Is something wrong? Am I boring you?" Kate asked him.

"Not at all. It is just the opposite. Keep on explaining and I'll ask you questions if I need to know more." Tony quickly replied after he stopped being so caught up in his own thoughts.

"This is his daughter's Adrianna Sharp's painting. She is only ten but he loves showing of his children's work even if they aren't so arty. Adrian wants to show everyone is great even if they can't paint. He's deep in that way. He was great at drawing and painting when he was her age but he loves his daughter so much that he doesn't care if she isn't the same. You can feel the pride in the room when you look at these pictures and paintings which are all taken by children between 5 and 15." Kate explained to him.

"When the tour is over can I buy you dinner to say thanks?" Tony then asked her. She expected her to say no but he wanted to have asked her anyway.

"I don't think I have time. My mom is coming tonight and I'll have to make the apartment look really nice. I'm sure you have a lot to prepare before your mother comes." Kate told him. The offer sounded really good and tempting but she knew that with her mother coming and rule number 12 she had to say no but she wanted to let him down gently. He had been so nice to her the whole day. Kate had guided him around the city showing him some good places to show his mother before this last attraction. Tony had been his usual self but also a completely different person too. His charm felt more compelling and irresistible today. Kate wondered what that thought came from.

……………..A while later………..

They had gone through the whole gallery and were headed to Tony's car. He had picked Kate up and was going to drive her home. Just as he opened the car door for Kate his cell phone rang. He talked for a little while and Kate observed him. At first it was because of his nice gesture to open the car door for her since he hadn't done it once during the whole day but then as the conversation went on it was because of what he said. A few seconds later the conversation was over.

"Who was it?" Kate asked.

"Mom…She decided to come here a day earlier and by train. She'll be here around 9.20 pm." Tony told her.

"That's when my mom is coming. Do you think they're on the same train?" Kate asked.

"With our luck I think so. It's already 6.15 and I haven't even cleaned up the guest room." Tony said to her.

"It's 6.15…When did time go so fast? Mom is going to freak when she sees my apartment." Kate said.

"So she likes it tidy then?" Tony asked her.

"Don't start…It's tidy already but not as tidy as she likes it. Not up to her standards and she has high standards." Kate told her.

"High standards on many things I presume!" Tony continued.

"I love her and she is a great mom…Stop talking and drive me home…At least my mom isn't coming a day early." Kate said a little mad.

"Why don't I help you? I know how a mother visit can drive you crazy." Tony said nicely. He knew his previous comment wasn't a good one.

"Don't you want to get your place ready?" Kate wondered.

"First we go to your place and tidy it up. While on our way back to my place we order some Chinese food and when we're there the food is there and we can eat while cleaning up a bit. We'll be at the train station 9.15. I told my mom to meet me at the meeting point at the train station…" Tony told Kate before she cut him off.

"Outside the café…That's where I'm meeting my mother…They are going to meet…I don't like this Tony." Kate told him aware of how her mother would react if she met her partner and his mom at the same time.

"I understand you. Not an ideal situation but it is what it is. Maybe we can try to solve it while we're cleaning up two homes and eating. It is three hours to go." Tony told her.

………………………Three hours later…………

"So how come we didn't manage to solve it?" Kate asked as they were waiting for their mothers. They had just arrived and they were taking them home in Tony's car. They knew they had to do some explaining for their parents.

"I don't know…Everything took longer than expected." Tony answered.

"Katie…" someone yelled.

"Tony…" someone else yelled.

The two turned around and saw their mothers. The mothers then looked at each other before looking at their children again.

Mrs Todd and Mrs Dinozzo were here and stood now in front of their children.

"Is there something I should know?" Mrs Todd asked.

"I'm wondering the same." Mrs Dinozzo then said.

"It's not what it looks like mom." Kate said.

"You're early mom. I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow." Tony told her.

"Is this your girlfriend?" his mother asked.

"Is he your boyfriend?" her mother asked.

"We're partners." Kate told both of them.

"Katie…I don't like this." Her mother told her.

"We'll talk more at home mom." Kate said taking her bags. Tony then took his mom's bag.

They all went to the car.

"Why are we driving home in the same car, honey?" Tony's mother asked.

"Because we are mom. I'll tell you more at home." Tony replied.

…………………At Kate's home………………

"I didn't like him and his mother. Are you sure you're only partners?" Kate's mom asked.

"We're only partners and when you get to know them more you'll see they are really nice. Mrs Dinozzo did invite us for lunch tomorrow." Kate told her mom.

"I know but the first impression I got wasn't good but I'm willing to give them a second chance since you obviously want me to get to know them more. You're sleeping with him aren't you?" Her mother asked her daughter.

"I'm not sleeping with him and Tony is very nice and so is his mother. I didn't plan for this to happen. Believe me." Kate pleaded.

"I believe you. I came here for you not for the Dinozzos. I love you." Her mother then said before hugging her daughter and going to her room.

…………….At Tony's house………….

"Why mom? Why invite them for lunch?" Tony asked his mother.

"I got the feeling you wanted me to get along with them. I admit the first impression I got wasn't good but maybe it was because you both surprised us by this. Picking us up together." Mrs Dinozzo told her son.

"For the last time mom, it wasn't planned. You came a day earlier." Tony told her getting a little sick by her insinuations.

"I immediately felt something is going on. I'm your mother and you shouldn't be afraid to tell me that you're sleeping with her. I know you want me to like them so I'm going to try to do my best to like them tomorrow." His mother continued.

"There isn't anything to tell. I didn't intend to hurt you so please don't be hurt because there isn't anything to be hurt by." Tony pleaded.

"I'm not hurt. I'm going to bed now. Good night. I love you." She hugged her son and went upstairs.

…………………………………………………………………