I'm sorry for the delay, I've suffered minor WB. Now when they've finally gotten together, it's hard to continue the story in a believable way. I put in some humor of course, but also some seriousness. It's hard to write a story with only humor and nothing serious. But I hope I did a good job and that you'll enjoy. Please review and tell me what you think. Sorry for posting, Jos. You'll have a billion alert mails when you come home:)
Chapter 930 minutes later, they sat in Tony's kitchen with a fork each and a plate of chicken salad between them.
"We should...be rather quiet about this" Kate said. Tony nodded, immediately understanding.
"But if we tell Abby, I bet the whole NCIS headquarters and every other federal office building in DC will know within 24 hours"
Kate laughed. "We can't keep it from her. Both because she knows everything and because she's our friend"
He nodded thoughtfully and poked around in the salad. His smile faded for a moment. "It's going to be hard, Kate. And I don't want to…I don't want this to end badly"
"Me neither. Gibbs would kill you" Kate said with a half smile, but getting a warm feeling that Tony cared so much about their relationship.
"Yeah, probably. But seriously, Kate. I personally think we should stay quiet until we've proved to Gibbs that we can separate personal from professional out on the field" he reasoned. He sounded very serious…mature…and that made Kate even more sure about this. She and Tony'd always had a connection. But she'd never thought it would go farther than friendship.
"I agree. I think…that's the best for us as well…" she paused. "Want the last tomato?" she picked up the last cherry tomato from the plate between her thumb and index finger. Tony gave a wicked grin before leaning forward and gently grabbing her wrist. Slowly he brought it to his mouth, taking it from her hand and proceeded to gently kiss her fingers.
"Thanks" he murmured and Kate blushed slightly and smiled. "My pleasure"
They spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch, lazily watching old re-runs. For dinner they had some left over rice and curry from Tony's freezer before returning to the couch, catching an old movie. But now they did a lot of talking as well and Kate was surprised at all the deep things he had to say.
"You're staying tonight?" Tony whispered and let his lips play over her ear. Kate shivered and then nodded.
"If you'll let me, I'll be more than happy to"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you that I won't let you sleep in the guest room tonight"
"I'll live. Come on. Let's go. It's late"
---
As Kate entered his bedroom, she stopped. The last time she was here, they'd been supposed to watch a movie as friend and ended up spending the night in each other's arms.
"Something wrong?" Tony snuck up behind her after turning off the lights and locking the door. He wrapped his arms across her chest, chin lightly on her shoulder.
"Oh…no"
"Then I'll give you the infamous tour of the chamber of action" Kate laughed. He was still DiNozzo. That was fairly obvious. He moved them over to a closed door and then spoke softly in her ear.
"And right before us we see the DiNozzo closet. Filled with extremely boring and uncomfortable work suits, ties and dress shoes. But, I also have my favourite jeans, Ohio state shirts and my other weapon. In there I think you might find something to wear for the night. Any questions?" Kate laughed at his tone and choice of words.
"No questions"
"Okay. Great. Next destination, the DiNozzo drawer. Inherited from grandma DiNozzo" he moved over to the drawer by the wall, Kate still in a firm grip. "On top we see the compulsory family photos, in the drawer you'll find ammo to my gun, old stuff I haven't touched in years and this…" he moved them closer towards the top of the drawer. "This is Alfred the turtle. Alfred, meet Kate. Kate, meet my lucky turtle"
Kate laughed. "He looks sad"
"Don't offend him. He gives me luck. You have to keep him happy" Tony feigned hurt in his voice. Kate grinned. "Cute, Tony. Very cute"
"I know. I'm always cute" he showed of a wide charm smile and they continued. "And this, my dear Katie, is the DiNozzo bed. Where you, miss Todd, only days ago spent the night. It's also our location for tonight and many other nights. Hopefully…we'll do something else than just sleep then" he wiggled his eye brows and Kate blushed. "So, how was the tour? No questions?"
"No, no questions. And it was very enlightening" she turned in his arms to face him.
"I'll go and brush my teeth you can take a dive into the closet. I think you'll find something to wear"
"Great, thank you" Tony smiled at her and then released her and left the room.
Kate wasn't surprised to find several branded suits in his closet. These must have cost more than two months pay…Geez. She also found expensive Italian shoes and ties neatly placed on a rack. But behind his work attires, Kate found sweats, jeans, sneakers and hooded sweatshirt with Ohio State across them. Kate chose a navy blue NCIS t-shirt that didn't look too big.
"See, it fit" Tony came into the room and got his own t-shirt. He quickly changed and then told her there was a new toothbrush on the counter in the bathroom. When she returned Tony was already under the covers. He lifted them, offering her some space. She slid down beside him and rolled on her side, facing him. He eyed her back.
"Goodnight" she whispered, eyes still intently focused on his. His arm came around her and his hand slid under her shirt and up her bare back.
"Goodnight, Katie" he pulled her slightly closer, hand still under her shirt. Within minutes they were both asleep.
---
Happy that it was Sunday, Tony knew neither him nor Kate had to go to work today. But when he opened his eyes and rolled over he noticed that he was alone in the bed. He froze. Had she freaked again? Freaked and left? He sat up and his eyes scanned the room. He let out at sigh of relief when he spotted Kate's clothes still in a pile on the floor. She was still here. Glancing at his clock he saw it was almost ten thirty. So Katie is a morning person…He got out of bed and slipped on a pair of sweatpants before leaving the room. He spotted her in the living room, standing by a window, staring out at the DC skyline. She was chewing her nail, which meant that she was deep in thought.
"You okay?" his voice seemed to startle her and she spun around.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry" he said and managed to look apologetic. "So, anything wrong?"
"No…no. I just…needed to think"
"You're not freaking out again, are you?"
She glared for a moment. "I'm not freaking out. I just…needed to think. That's all" He walked closer and stood behind her. "Tell me what you're thinking about" he said softly and placed his hands on her hips.
"This. What we're doing" she said honestly. "If it's as dangerous as Gibbs thinks"
"How do you know how dangerous he finds it?"
"He told me that it makes agents do stupid things and…" she took a deep breath. "I don't know if it'll be that easy to not think of as just a co-worker if we would get into a dangerous situation"
Tony was taken aback by her words. Kate was a good agent. He trusted her to be professional. "Kate, I know you won't do anything stupid. I trust you with that" She smiled at him.
"Thanks. But you're right, this won't be easy. Simple relationships are tough and with what we do…it'll be a lot harder"
"But we'll do our best and I think that's more than enough. So don't worry" he said sincerely. Kate was touched by his words and smiled. "Thank you"
"No problem. So, you hungry?"
"A little bit"
"Come on, let's find something to eat" he let her go and walked for the kitchen, hearing her footsteps following him. Kate was right. Normal relationships were hard. And with what they did at work, their relationship would me much much harder. But he wanted to try. For the first time, Tony found himself not wanting to run as fast at things got complicated. Running would only make things ever more complicated.
"I have…bagels. Or eggs maybe?" he said and opened his fridge. "I need to do some shopping…"
"Bagels and coffee are fine" Kate said and snuck up by his side. "Got any cream cheese?"
"Always" he said and took out a small container. "Anything else you want?"
After digging through his fridge for some more tomatoes, Tony finally joined Kate by the table.
"So, what's on the agenda today?" she asked and put a layer of cream cheese on her bagel.
"Grocery shopping" Tony said. "You staying all day?"
"I guess I am" she said and took a bite and turned to look out the window. "I hate the snow"
"I'm pretty aware of that, Katie" he said teasingly and received a glare. "Why do you hate it so much?"
"I don't know. When I was younger, I felt suffocated by it. I never liked to play outside in the winter and I guess…it's something that've followed me"
"I like the snow. I used to…build a fort and hide there" he suddenly sounded a bit…sad. "I didn't like to spend so much time at home" Kate only nodded. She knew Tony was reluctant to reveal things about his childhood.
"Anyway, I like the summer better but I guess winter isn't that bad either" he said, turning away from the subject again. Not wanting to put pressure on him, Kate nodded and then switched subject again. Some things would have to wait…
Finished! Was it OOC? I promise the next chapter will feature the team as well. It will probably be the last chapter and then an epilogue. Please please review! I love reviews :D