The drive back to Tony's place was silent. They were both tired and Kate was freezing again, despite the fact that Tony had turned on the heat the moment they left HQ. They didn't exchange another word as they climbed the stairs up to his apartment. Inside, Tony was the first one to speak.
"You go and take a shower" he said gently. "I'll fix something hot to drink" he disappeared out to the kitchen; Kate's watching his back. There it was again, the change that happened the moment Tony DiNozzo arrived home. Was this how the real Tony was like? His sincere side that she'd only seen a few times before. He didn't bother to cover it up for her either. She liked it. It suited his usually playful personality. Kate quickly went to her room to fetch her things and took a hot shower. It felt like she'd spent the whole day out in the snow.
When she was finished and dressed, she joined Tony on the couch. An old episode of AFV was showing on the TV on low volume. She sat down beside him, gratefully accepting the tea he offered.
"I've always loved AFV" Tony said with a tired smile.
"I hate the host, he's so silly. He thinks he's funny but he's just making a fool out of himself" Kate said with a shrug.
"Katie, come on. It's harmless, boring humour. Enjoy it!" he teased which made Kate smile, but she was too tired to come up with something to fire back.
They watched the rest of the episode in silence, Tony letting out a small chuckle now and then. When the credits rolled, Tony pressed the power button on the remote and the screen went black.
"It's late. I'm going to bed" he stood, holding out his hand to take her empty mug too.
"Thanks" she mumbled and also stood. Out in the kitchen she just stood and watched Tony move around, putting plates in the sink along with their tea mugs. It was very strange to see Tony DiNozzo in the kitchen, let alone at eleven pm.
"Oh, by the way…" he walked over to a drawer and began to dig around. "Here" he held out his hand and Kate slowly accepted the object. It was a key.
"If we don't get to leave the office at the same time…" he mumbled as an explanation.
"Um…thanks" Kate still looked at the key, a bit surprised. Tony just gave her a key to his apartment. That was a very intimate gesture.
Now Tony yawned and shut off the lights.
"I'm going to bed. Sleep tight" he said with a small smile and without really thinking, placed a light hand on her shoulder and then kissed her cheek. "G'night" Well….okay. Kate thought. If playing with her hair as he'd done this morning was a very affectionate and intimate gesture for being them, what was a goodnight kiss then? Kate smiled though, she had to admit that she liked Tony's playful and light mood, but the way he was at home was much better. It was…sweet. She slowly twirled the key in her hands, looking down at it. Still smiling slightly, Kate turned off the last lights to go to bed as well.
---
When Kate woke up the next morning, she caught herself realising that once again she'd slept through the whole night without waking up once. It was rare, for her to really relax like that. All the training she'd gone through had taught her to always have her guard up. Glancing at the digital clock on her cell phone, Kate sighed as she saw it was time to get up. She opened the door and stepped out in the hall. Tony's bedroom door was still closed and she assumed that she was asleep. Shrugging, she went out to the kitchen to prepare breakfast even if she remembered how she'd refused to do it, yesterday. She opened the fridge and checked the contents. Bagels would do for today. A while later, she stood by the counter, slicing up tomatoes when she felt a pair of hands on her hips. She shrieked
"Tony!"
"What?"
"You scared me and this is definitely invasion of my personal space. Back off" He didn't move. "You do realise that I have a knife, don't you?" Now her comment made him let go of her and take a few steps back.
"Oh, come on. I have to take advantage of the situation. That's what I do best; you've said it yourself. Although I see it as strategic thinking"
"Whatever!" Kate rolled her eyes and turned back to the tomatoes. "Hold on, what situation?" she turned around, knife in hand.
"Having a housewife" Kate just glared and with the sharp knife in a firm grip, she looked pretty menacing. Tony stared back at her, amused look on his face and a smirk playing in the corner of his lips.
"You do know that this is supposed to be the part when you'll drop the knife and we'll have wild, unrestrained sex on the counter?" he couldn't help it. He knew how much sex-jokes at inappropriate times, pissed Kate off. She waved the knife at him. "You pervert!"
"Yep, that's me" he grinned teasingly. Kate once again rolled her eyes and turned back to the counter, back to him, which was good so Tony wouldn't see the small smile and the faint blush on her cheeks. Very vivid images had suddenly come into her mind as Tony fired his last comment. What the hell is wrong with me?! A few minutes later they sat by the table, silently eating their breakfast.
"You clean up the table" Kate demanded as she stood.
"Hey, there. This is my apartment. You know as in I pay the rent and I call the decisions here"
Kate gave him the famous "duh"-look and dumped her coffee cup and plate in the sink. "I'm taking a shower" she announced and left Tony to clean up.
---
Today, they only took Tony's car but didn't dare to show up at the same time. If Gibbs noticed a long series of uncomfortable questions would follow and neither Kate nor Tony wanted to risk that. So, to be on the safe side, Kate left the car first and Tony waited for another ten minutes. Showing up separately was probably a good idea since Gibbs was by his desk, looking extremely grumpy. And when Gibbs was grumpy, he noticed things.
"Petty officer McKenzie's sister will be here later this afternoon"
"All the way from New Jersey?" Kate asked. Gibbs ignored her question. She understood he was pissed. Days had passed and they had nothing on the case.
"Since we got nothing from the evidence, we'll wait and see what she has to say. I'm going for coffee" he said and left. Reluctantly, Kate, Tony and McGee turned towards the stack of paperwork that had gathered on their desks.
"This is probably second worse after the snow, at the moment" Kate deadpanned and opened her first file. Being a federal agent was great, but sometimes the paperwork made you doubt if you'd really made the right choice of career.
"This is hell" McGee said. Kate and Tony looked at him, surprised. Probie was always pretty enthusiastic and rarely complained. After several hours of writing reports, Kate decided it was time for a break. And as if on cue, Abby appeared around the corner.
"Hi, guys"
"Hey, Abbs" Tony said, relieved that he now had a reason for taking another pause. Gibbs had come and gone all day and at the moment he was absent. Which made it perfect for a break.
"Still nothing on the case?" Abby asked as she slumped down in Gibbs chair without hesitation.
"Nope" Kate replied. "But at least no snow"
"Kate, why do you hate snow?"
"I don't hate snow. It's just that…it's okay for Christmas and all but then I see no purpose of it. It's cold, it causes accidents and it's just depressing" Kate reasoned. Abby looked skeptic.
"So you've never had a snowball fight?"
"Well, not in the last ten years"
"You're kidding?" Abby's eyes went wide in shock. "I always have snowball fights"
"With?" Kate asked.
"Well…the kid next door, my nephew when he swings by…"
Kate just shook her head. The mere thought of being dragged down into the snow and have the extremely cold flakes shoved into her face, made her freeze.
"I'm more of a summer person" she said.
"I think it's kinda nice with four different seasons" McGee butted in. "Imagine in California, they have no snow and I mean…I think nobody on the East coast wants to celebrate Christmas without snow"
"It would be paradise" Kate said. Tony grinned. "Loosen up a bit, Kate. We should have snowball fight tonight"
"NO WAY!"
"Can I come?" Abby asked excited. Kate glared. "We're not having a snowball fight, DiNozzo. If we do, you'll be the one to handle all my wet clothes and then when I get a cold, I'll pass it on to you"
McGee now looked confused. Why would Tony clean up after Kate? Sensing his confusion, Abby turned to him and explained.
"They live together"
"What?"
"Yep"
"It's not like that, McGee" Kate was quick to protest. "The heating in my building broke and since you occupies Abby's place I had to stay with Tony"
"I'm not that impossible" Tony protested. "I made you breakfast yesterday"
"One breakfast doesn't make up for all the annoying things you say and do"
Abby just watched them bicker back and forth. It was better than reality TV. It almost was like reality TV. She could imagine them in Tony's apartment, fighting and tossing their amusing comments at each other. What she would give to be a fly on the wall. Suddenly Kate's cell rang and she was given a reason to stop fighting with Tony.
"Todd" she answered. "Oh hi. No, it's okay. When? I see. I guess I have no choice" she let out a small laugh. "Good. Thanks" Then she hung up.
"Care to share?" Tony asked.
"It was my landlord" she said harshly.
"I take it was it was bad news…" Abby said.
"You could say that…It will take longer than expected to fix the damn heating!" Kate said angrily.
"Then you'll stay a few more days with me. Great" Tony grinned mischievously. Another glare from Kate. "Aw, Kate it's not that bad, and now we have time for a snowball fight!"
"If you toss a snowball at me, I'll shoot you!" She said, still glaring at him.
"You shouldn't glare so much, Katie. You might get stuck like that"
"Tony! Please. I haven't been at home for two days, I haven't slept in my own bed for days and half of my stuff is probably ice blocks so shut up!" Abby and McGee sensed that it was time to leave them alone. This was a serious fight. Without sparkling eyes and smirks threatening to show. Kate was really pissed now. As they disappeared around the corner, Tony tried another tactic.
"Kate, calm down, okay" she slouched down in her chair again, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, Tony. It's not your fault and I know you do more than enough by letting me stay but I just…" she sighed. "I'm sorry" She looked up and smiled and when she met his eyes she saw that he'd forgiven her.
From around the corner, Abby and McGee heard Kate's sudden apology and they both raised their eyebrows. Kate rarely apologised to Tony. Something was going on here. Back in the bullpen, Tony had sauntered over to Kate's desk.
"How long did he say it would take?"
"At least three days. Is it really okay that I stay at your place? I mean, it's three more days"
"And I get to have a housewife for three more days. Fabulous" Tony joked to lighten the mood. To his relief it worked and Kate showed off a small smile.
"Thanks, Tony"
"No problems. You think Abby and McGee were scared by your yelling?"
"Very funny. They showed respect. It was a…private conversation. You should learn from them" she retorted. Tony just gave her a sarcastic smile.
---
What Kate and Tony didn't know, was that Gibbs stood by the railing outside MTAC and watched and heard parts of their argument. Without a word, director Sheppard stood beside him and also watched the agents.
"They live together" Gibbs said after a moment of silence.
"What?"
"Kate's heating broke, she's staying at Tony's" Jen just eyed him, and then they both watched the agents' affectionate banter for a while.
"They can make their own decisions, Jethro" She could sense his worry. She knew about his rules.
"That's what I'm afraid of"
"You can't deny that there is good chemistry between them. It's good. It makes them good agents"
"It's just that…"
"They're not us" Jen said in a low voice.
"Jen! It makes agents make stupid decisions on the field"
"When I said that they can make their own decisions, I also meant that they will make the right one if they have to. They're good agents, Jethro"
"Relationships between agents can jeopardize the safety for our team"
"Don't doubt their judgement. Agent Todd was on the president's protection detail. She if anyone can make the right decisions. And DiNozzo is not a bad agent either"
"But still, they shouldn't. I have the rule for a reason, Jen"
"For their sake or yours?"
Gibbs turned and gave her a duh look. "They do make a good looking couple though" she said with a half smile before walking back to her office. Gibbs watched her back disappear and then turned his attention back to Kate and Tony, who was currently involved in a conversation. Jen was right. There was chemistry between them and as long as they didn't go to far, it made them really good partners out on the field. They could read each other and predict each other's actions. But if they crossed the line towards more than partners and friends, threatening situations could end badly. Still, he couldn't forget Jen's words. "They make a good looking couple" And they really did…
Another long chapter I hope. First time I wrote the director's character. Was it too OOC? Well, I hope this chappie was long enough for you until the next update. Had a slight WB earlier but luckily it disappeared. Dedicated to Jos for encouraging me to fight the damn WB:D Please review!!