AN: Sorry this took so long. I got caught up with stupid classes and I couldn't seem to get this chapter right. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and I promise I'll get this story moving again since I'll have spring break next week to work on it. As always, please review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 10

Half an hour later they walked arm in arm down the hall to meet Gibbs. They were talking in hushed voices and Gibbs could hear their laughter long before he saw them. He couldn't help but smile. It was like those two breathed life into each other. He didn't doubt that Tony would have died if Kate had, probably by doing something stupid to get himself shot after taking down Ari. He hated himself for helping keep them apart, but he planned to make up for it. No one knew what was waiting for them after they finally caught and killed that bastard.

He quickly wiped the smile off his face and tried to appear his usual, stoic self as his agents rounded the corner. "I promise to keep this quick. There are a few very excited agents upstairs who I practically had to lock away to keep them from charging in on you last night." Abby had been ready to kill him when he told them to leave the two lovebirds alone so they could rest. He knew he'd be paying for it today.

Kate brightened even more at the thought of seeing her friends. She hadn't realized how much she missed Abby and even McGee until now. She'd been a little preoccupied with the man beside her. She squeezed his arm and he winked at her, clearly reading her thoughts.

Without a word, Gibbs led them down another hall and through the first door they came too. It was a large meeting room containing an oval table, a projection screen, and a computer. He gestured for them to sit then sat down across from them. Tony laced his fingers with Kate's, still never wanting to let her go. She looked up and there eyes met, until Gibbs cleared his throat causing them to turn their attention back to the reason they were there.

"You don't need to know everything, especially you Kate. You're both here to relax in the safest place in the entire country. You can both help out upstairs if you want but your work time will be limited. I don't want either of you skipping sleep or working too hard. Got it?"

"Got it, boss." Tony answers simultaneously as Kate says "Yes, Gibbs."

"Good, then let me brief you on what we know. We know for a fact that Ari is still in the country. Every airport, train station, bus terminal, and car rental place is watching for him. His picture is on every news station in America. We know he's gone into hiding and we believe he's close. He knows we're watching for him so he can't go far and still be able to make it back to finish his mission. We know he wants NCIS dead but it's unclear if that's his only mission. He could even be creating a diversion for a large-scale al-Qaeda attack. Abby and McGee are coordinating a large volume of information from every agency and trying to sort through everything to find anything that might help us. I'm the only one that leaves here."

"Why, Gibbs?" Kate interrupts. She already knows the answer but she still has to try to convince him to stay. "If he's after all of us then you're making yourself a sitting duck."

"We need someone on the outside, someone who can act fast and hunt this bastard down."

"So stay here until we find him and we'll all go hunt him down. You'll be safe and you'll still get him." She kept trying to appeal to his rational side, but she knew it wouldn't work. She tried something else. Her voice got quiet and somber. "We can't find him without you. Please, Gibbs."

Abby had tried the same thing and Gibbs chose to give the same answer. He stood up and walked away, leaving his two worried agents behind. He knew they cared about him, and they were the closest thing to family he had. That's why he couldn't answer them. He couldn't tell them the truth about how guilty he felt or how he didn't really care if he died as long as he took Ari with him. He had to get out of here now before Abby and Kate got together and ganged up on him. He didn't think he could take that. He kept walking until he was back in the van.

As he pulled away, he couldn't help but think that he should have said goodbye. The thought had struck him while Kate was in the hospital. He never said goodbye, but he'd never really thought that one of his agents could die and he'd never get the chance. He'd lost people in combat but that was different. Even after Potchi died, it was like he knew it was always a possibility but he had fooled himself into thinking it could never happen to his team. It was proof that he'd gotten too close, that he considered them more like his friends than his agents. Of course, he sure as hell wasn't going to admit that. The gate opened and then closed behind him as he drove out of sight.

"You know he's going to get himself killed! We have to do something! He's not going to let us help him." Kate was worried, understandably, but she'd tried everything she could think of short of handcuffing Gibbs to the chair. That option was actually starting to look pretty good, except that Gibbs seemed to know everything and would probably see it coming a mile away.

The look on her face was killing him. Tony hated seeing her so upset, he just couldn't take it. Apparently Gibbs hadn't been able to either given the way he'd bolted. Slowly, it dawned on him and he started to smile.

"What are you smiling at! Gibbs could be getting taken out by a sniper right now, and you're smiling! You could at least pretend to care and try to…" Tony placed a finger to her lips.

"Shh, I have an idea." He leaned in conspiratorially and whispered softly in her ear. "I found Gibbs' one weakness. He actually cares."

"I know, that's why we're here and he's out there. That doesn't help us!"

"Yes it does, trust me. Just let me handle everything." That earned him a glare. "OK, but you have to remember that this is to save Gibbs. He's not worth it if I have to sleep on the couch." He grinned and winked at her, and she couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes.

"What exactly are you planning?" She was starting to worry. After all, this was Tony we're talking about. They were either about to get into a lot of trouble or he was about to do something stupid that would piss her off.

"Uh-uh, first you have to promise you won't get mad and I won't be sleeping on the couch."

"Fine, I promise you won't have to sleep on the couch. Now tell me what this brilliant plan of yours is."

"We're here because Gibbs wants to keep us safe. I'm going to call him and show him that he has to be here if he wants us to be safe." He really didn't want to tell her the entire plan but she looked at him with that "you're annoying the hell out of me and I'm about to smack you" look. "I have two ideas on how to get him back here."

"Wow, two ideas in the same morning! Guess you're done for the year." She fought the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. She couldn't help it, it was just too easy. She'd spent the past two years covering up her feelings with sarcasm and it was a hard habit to break. Besides, she'd grown to like their constant banter. It's what made them "them." She hoped that wouldn't completely change, although know they'd get to kiss and make up afterwards.

Tony couldn't help but smile, although he did manage not to laugh. He'd walked right into that one, not that it could have been avoided. "Easy, Katie, there's no need to be jealous. Just because I doubled your yearly record in a single morning doesn't mean you have to hate me." He winked as he stood up and offered her a hand. This was so much better than their usual banter. Now, he didn't have to make some smart ass remark just to have an excuse to be close to her or talk to her. He didn't have to look for some opening that he could use to touch her for the briefest second.

She took his hand and stood up, sliding easily into his arms like it was the most natural thing in the world, which it was. He kissed the top of her head. "Tony," she murmured against his chest. "The plan."

He'd completely forgotten everything but her. She was right, they had to take care of Gibbs first. He held her a little bit tighter and hoped she wouldn't be too upset with him, but it was all he could think of. "I'm going to call him and tell him that we have a problem."

"He won't fall for that. He's Gibbs." She interrupted.

"That's why I'm going to tell him that there's a problem with you and that he needs to get back here right away. He cares too much to stay away."

"Why would I make you sleep on a couch because of that? And how will you convince him to stay once he sees everything is fine?" Kate was beyond confused. She knew that he approached things differently sometimes. It was part of what made him a great agent. Usually she could pick up on his line of thought after he started the explanation, but she really couldn't see where he was going with this.

"When he gets here I'm going to meet him out front. I'll tell him that I'm really worried about you. The doctor said you had to relax and heal but I'll say that you're totally stressed out and it's all because of him. I'll say that you're too worried about him to sleep. I'll go off on him and tell him that Abs is the same way, and that he's being a real bastard for putting you guys through this after everything that's happened. Just trust me. I'm going to deliver the most killer speech in the history of speeches and he's going to stay 'cause he won't want to hurt you, either of you. And if he doesn't I'll tackle him and handcuff him to a chair."

He was hoping the last part would get a laugh. He was really worried about her reaction. He didn't want her to feel like some kind of pawn, or that he was underestimating her or putting her down because she was a woman and women tended to be more emotional. He knew how much she hated appearing weak. He held his breath and hoped she'd be okay with it and that his plan would work. Finally, she took the tiniest step back and his heart stopped. She was going to leave him. He closed his eyes because he couldn't bear to see that hurt look in her eyes and know that he was responsible for it.

But she didn't take another step. He could feel her staring up at him and he slowly opened his eyes. She started to speak and his heart dropped. "I don't like playing this pathetic little victim who's been through too much to put up with our job. I don't want Gibbs to think I can't handle it."

"I know that you can handle it, that you can handle anything." He scrambled to let her know that he didn't think of her like that. "I didn't mean…" It was her turn to reach up and place a finger to his lips.

"Shh, I'm not mad. I just don't want Gibb to think he has to treat me like I'm glass now, if he doesn't think that already. But I understand that we have to get him to stay here, so if you think it'll work then that's what you have to do. Just make sure you get him to stay, okay?" He nodded, visibly relieved, and bent down to kiss her. It was slow and tender, a simple "thank you for understanding" kiss.

They broke apart and he hugged her to his chest, resting his chin on her head. "You are the most amazing woman in the world," he whispered. "How did I get so lucky?"

"I've been asking myself the same question." It was muffled by his chest, but he could still hear the smile in her voice. For what seemed like the millionth time, he said a silent thank you to God for sending him heaven on earth.