Well, finally here it is, the tenth chapter. Probably the last one, I don't know for sure yet, I haven't come up with a good ending. And in this chapter I'm going to try to bring back the humor a bit. With Abby's help of course. Goth lab tech's are the answers to all humor-problems :) Anyway, I hope you'll like and please drop off a review :)
Chapter 10The next morning it was Monday and Monday meant work. When they were five minutes from HQ, Tony noticed that Kate was chewing her nail. She was nervous. Nervous and right now lost in her own thoughts.
"You're going to chew your thumb off" Tony said. Both to cheer her up and to get her attention. She looked up at him and gave a faint smile. Kate had spent the night at Tony's again. On the condition that they got time so she could go home and change.
"Tony, Gibbs will figure it out"
"Relax, Katie" The nickname awarded him a glare before she turned back to the window. She shouldn't do this. She shouldn't feel this. She'd promised Gibbs to not get involved with another co-worker. What the hell was wrong with her?! They arrived at the Navy Yard way too fast for Kate's liking.
"Tony, wait" she called out as the engine had died and he was just about to exit the car.
"What? You okay?" he immediately turned to her again.
"I…" she bit her lip. "What if Gibbs finds out? What do we do?"
"We take the shit and tell Gibbs the truth. That we can be adults despite what he thinks and that we will stay out of trouble" Kate smiled at his statement, but also at the fact that he'd said it to make her feel better.
"You make us sound like teenagers"
"Well, according to Gibbs, he feels like a high school principal so…I guess you have a point there" Kate smiled and Tony was relieved that she did. "So, wanna lie to Gibbs?"
"Not lying, Tony! Just…holding back a little of the information. I don't like the term lying" she playfully swatted his arm and Tony grinned at the smirk that played over her lips. Taking every reason available to hit me…he mused.
"Okay. Holding back, then. So, see you in a few" she nodded. "Great" Tony leaned in and quickly kissed her before exiting the car.
Since Gibbs probably knew she'd moved back home, she and Tony had decided to not come in together. She remained in the seat, absently chewing her nail again. This was more nerving than she'd imagined. She'd done this before, dated a co-worker and he'd ended up dead. But what was different now was that if he'd have to choose, she was pretty sure she would actually choose a personal relationship with Tony, than just working with him. In the Secret Service she would have, without doubt, chosen her job before the major she'd been dating. Of course she'd been shocked by his sudden death but along with her new job and new acquaintances she'd gotten over it without too much fuss. In the beginning she'd felt guilty for taking it so lightly but then reasoned that they'd only been going out for a few months, knowing each other just slightly longer. But now she couldn't even imagine having to hear that Tony was…dead. They'd known each other for more than three years. Gone through things someone on the outside could never imagine. Both good and bad and it was these feelings that made her pretty sure about what they were doing.
Now she checked his watch. Fifteen minutes had passed so it was probably safe to walk in now. Tony met her with his usual smile and greeted her like they hadn't seen each other since yesterday. She noticed the spark in her eyes and turned to greet McGee and Gibbs before her face showed some kind of reaction that sparkle in Tony's eyes. Even if Gibbs wasn't looking at her, it felt like he'd noticed Tony's gaze and that he somehow knew about their little improvement in their relationship.
Gibbs glanced at Kate. She acted like she was sitting on needled. For being a profiler, she wasn't that good at hiding what she was thinking and feeling at the moment. He watched as she nervously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Something made Kate extremely nervous because despite that she might show her emotions, she was good at controlling her nerves. Eyeing her more closely, Gibbs noticed how she kept glancing up at Tony. Then he knew. His agents were sleeping together. Once again, they'd defied his rules. Silently he left the bullpen and walked up the stairs and then towards the director's office. Today, he didn't just barge in. He greeted Cynthia and actually asked if Jen was available. When he got thumbs up, he first knocked and then opened the door.
"Jethro?" Jen's face snapped up and she slowly took off her glasses. "Since when do you knock?" she asked, both amused and curious what this was about.
"I have a problem"
"Oh…okay?"
"They're dating"
"Agents DiNozzo and Todd?"
"Yeah"
"And that's a problem?"
"Don't play stupid with me, Jen. You know it is a problem. It makes usually good agents make stupid decisions"
"It may not happen to everyone cause it happened to us. They are good agents"
"They've already done it, Jen. When DiNozzo had the plague, Kate stayed isolated with him even if she wasn't sick. She risked getting infected by a genetically altered bacteria, by staying there with him"
Jen sighed and eyed him. "Sounds like a personal experience for Tony"
"Guess so. It became personal for all of us"
"Well, then it seems like it was for Kate as well. She stayed for her friend. Not her co-worker"
"Jen, you don't get it!" he exclaimed exasperated.
"You don't even know for sure that they're seeing each other" she retorted calmly.
"You're kidding me?"
She just raised a brow and then Gibbs gestured with his hand for her to follow him. Gibbs stormed out of the office, a skeptical Jen in tow. They stopped around the corner, not visible from the bullpen but they got a perfect view.
"They're dating?" Jen said teasingly, upon spotting Tony, Kate and McGee working silently by their desks.
"They don't dare do anything until I've been gone for a while. When they work late and I leave for more than 30 minutes they're always asleep when I come back" Jen chuckled. "Doesn't that prove that you shouldn't make them work so late?" He ignored the question just like she knew he would.
"See, I told you" he said then and gestured for the bullpen. Tony had snuck up to Kate's side, blocking the view of what they did and said from McGee.
"They're…talking?" he just sighed. The two of them kept watching the pair interact. Jen getting unsure about whether this felt like a stakeout or like two teenagers spying on their friends to win a bet. Jen was about to head back to her office when she begun to see Gibbs' point. Tony had leant closer from where he stood behind her chair. Kate had leaned back and slightly turned her head so their cheeks were touching.
"They're dating" Gibbs mumbled firmly.
"And? Let them have a personal life"
"Together?"
"Yes. Since you make them work almost 24/7 I don't see why they couldn't spend their rare time off together"
"But listen, Jen. They've already proved that they take unnecessary risks"
"Jethro, they know what they're doing. Trust them! Leave them alone about this. As long as they're keeping it out from the fieldwork I don't see the problem. They've worked together for years, they trust each other about this. Leave them alone. They're not us" she said and then returned to her office without another word.
Gibbs sighed and shook his head. He was worried for the team. If their relationship ended badly, the team would take the consequence. How could he be certain that they would stay professional if they ended up in a situation out on the field? Trust them…Reluctantly Gibbs admitted that Jen's way of thinking was worth a try. He kept watching his agents. The whole episode seemed to go unnoticed by McGee. He was probably used to Tony and Kate fooling around. He watched as Tony's lips played over Kate's cheek for a very short moment before he went back to his own desk, leaving Kate with a faint blush. There was no doubt that they were more than co-workers. And it seemed like Gibbs would have to stand by the sideline this time and try to…trust them.
---
By noon, Gibbs told them to go to lunch. Tony and Kate saw the opportunity to spend some time alone and after promising Gibbs to be back by one thirty, they left.
"I swear he knows" Kate said the moment the elevator doors shut behind them.
"Come on, Kate…I f he knew, he would have confronted us"
"I guess he would…"
"Listen. Now we go on a lunch break, we take the car and go somewhere far away where we can't be spotted and then we'll have lunch just like any other couple okay?" Kate nodded.
A few minutes later they sat in Tony's car. Since it was lunch, they caught the rush hour and realised this would be a quick lunch to not get back late.
"We're barely moving, dammit" Tony exclaimed. Kate tried to hide the smile that threatened to show. She knew how frustrated Tony could be when he was driving and in some way, she found it amusing.
"Are you laughing at me, Todd?" he said and pretended to threaten her. "Huh? Are you?" Kate burst out laughing. "You're just cute when you're being so mad at the traffic. Calm down, Tony. You're not a patient driver"
"Being patient wasn't one of the conditions to get a driver's license"
"True"
"Seems like it'll be take out and eating back at HQ" Tony mumbled, looking a bit disappointed. Kate reached over and placed her hand on his thigh.
"Hey, we'll have plenty of time tonight, okay? I'll get some stuff from my place and I'll stay with you okay?" Tony's face split into a smile and he leaned over and kissed her. He felt Kate challenge him and deepened the kiss. But then she broke apart.
"Tony, I'm not going to do it, with you, in the car. Just for your information"
"Come on, Kate…" he said with a smirk.
"Tony! I'm not having sex with you in your car, in the middle of the high way!" she hissed and Tony laughed.
"There are plenty of rest stops along the way"
"Seriously?!"
He wiggled his eyebrows and Kate both blushed and rolled her eyes at the same time. "You're crazy. We're going to get lunch, and if you're nice we'll see what I can do about this, tonight! Deal?"
He eyed he for a second and then suddenly turned right, switching files to the one that were on the way out of town, where the traffic wasn't as heavy.
"DiNozzo! What are you doing?!" once again she only received a wiggle of his eye brows and he sped down the road. "Tony, what the hell…-" he made a quick turn into a smaller road and stopped at an empty rest stop.
"You gotta be kidding me! Tony! What the he all are you doing?"
"See, Kate. No people and we have exactly….58 minutes"
"You're crazy! Get back on the highway or we won't get any lunch at all!" she hissed. Tony laughed. "Stop freaking out, Kate"
"I'm not freaking out"
"Yes you are"
Now she just ignored him. "Oh, come on, Kate" he tried but she only turned her face to the window, away from him. She heard him sigh defeated, and smiled to herself. Then she heard him unbuckle his seatbelt and within a second he'd grabbed her shoulder and claimed her lips with his.
"Damn you" she said into his mouth before kissing him back.
"You didn't say anything about steamy make out sessions" Tony teased when they parted for air.
"You're crazy!"
"Aww, don't be so rough on me, Kate" he feigned hurt and Kate smiled against his lips. "You're so silly"
"Silly, maybe but not crazy"
"Oh shut up" she said and leaned in again. Just as their kiss deepened and she felt Tony's hand under her shirt, the shrill ring of a cell phone interrupted them.
"If that's Gibbs, I'll shoot him" Tony said as Kate broke apart to locate her cell. "Hello? Oh, hi Abs"
Tony groaned. Abby always called at the most inappropriate times. "No, I'm out at lunch. Yes, with Tony. No" Tony eyed her impatiently. Why couldn't she just say she was…busy? Grinning wickedly, he leaned in again, lips hovering just above hers.
"Uhm..what, sorry I didn't hear you" Kate said into the receiver and Tony smiled at the fact that he'd distracted her. "Okay. Great. Yes…" Rolling his eyes, Tony placed his lips upon hers, gently kissing her. He felt Kate hesitate whether to kiss him back and just drop the phone or break away and end her phone call. Quickly deciding, Kate pressed the receiver to her shoulder, while responding to Tony's kiss.
"Hang up" he whispered.
"That's rude" he ignored her statement and kissed her with more emotion and passion. Kate's grip of her phone slowly loosened and making her final decision she broke away from Tony and quickly end the phone call.
"You know what, Abs. I'll call you back, okay. Bye" and then she hung up and dropped her phone to floor, now giving Tony all her attention.
---
Back at HQ, Kate felt guilty for ending the phone call like that so she decided to pay Abby a visit.
"You sounded very busy" Abby fired at her as she stepped into the lab.
"Well…yeah"
"Are you and Tony sleeping together?"
"What?"
"Oh come on! You've lived together, you went to lunch with him and in the middle of a phone call you disappeared only to come back later and quickly say bye. Very suspicious, Kate" Abby said, amused at the face Kate pulled.
"Okay! So maybe we are. But you have to promise to not tell neither a living nor a dead soul about it!" Kate admitted with a hint of warning, knowing that Abby would probably tie her to the chair if she didn't get a straight answer.
"I knew it!" Abby squealed. "So, what hinky activity were you up to during your lunch break?"
"Nothing!"
"You sure?"
"Abby! I would never have sex with Tony in the car, on the highway!"
"Sounds hinky. Is he good?"
Kate groaned. She didn't feel like telling Abby they hadn't crossed that bridge yet but she didn't have to since Abby kept talking.
"When you disappeared there for a while, it sounded suspiciously much like saliva swapping, but that's only my opinion. I can isolate the sound later and…"
"Hold on! You recorded our conversation?!"
"I record all my phone calls"
"Abs!" Kate hissed. "Why are you so obsessed by our relationship?"
"Because, you've had this killer sexual tension since…you started working here. It was frustrating to just see you dancing around the issue. That's all, and I don't like the term obsessed. Think of me as…your caring friend who only wants you to be happy"
"You make it sound like a bad soap opera"
Abby rolled her eyes but with a smirk. "So is he as good as he pretends to be? As in risking-marriage-good, cause last year, he did date a married woman for almost two months, you know"
"Abby, that's need to know. And I'm not going to tell you!"
"Oh come on. I'm your best friend"
"Bye, Abby" Kate said as she stalked out of the lab. Abby smiled after her. I knew it…
---
The rest of the day was spent up in the bullpen, Gibbs going through the case file, not accepting that he'd failed. The rest of the team pretended to do paperwork but truth was, McGee were synchronizing his iPod, Tony played Tetris online and Kate were IM:ing Abby. Their activities seem to go unnoticed by their superior so around five pm the three of them went home. Kate followed Tony back to his place almost automatically since they'd taken his car that morning. They quickly swung by Kate's place so she could pack a smaller bag for the night.
"We survived the day, Katie. Let's celebrate" she glared skeptically. "We went unnoticed by Gibbs for almost eight hours" she met his gaze for a moment and then they spoke simultaneously.
"Take out"
35 minutes later they sat by Tony's kitchen table with several boxes of Chinese take out spread out over the surface. Tony's chopsticks lay untouched on the brown paper bag as he thankfully had accepted the fork Kate'd handed him.
"Something was up with Gibbs today" Kate commented as she poked around in her carton.
"What do you mean?"
"I think he knows, Tony"
"Calm down. If he did, he would have said something. Gibbs isn't really the kind of man to…hold back if something bothers him"
Kate chuckled, before turning serious. "Thank you"
"I have my moments" They smiled at each other before finishing their meal in silence. When they were done, Kate volunteered to clean the table and take care of the dishes that had fathered during her two nights there.
"You don't have to, Kate" Tony protested but only for a moment. He hated to do dishes.
"I know" Kate said with a small smile and then turned back to the sink. Tony sat back in his chair and just watched her. The woman he'd secretly wanted for years now stood in his kitchen, doing the dishes as it was a part of their routine.
"Stop staring at my ass, DiNozzo" she called out teasingly, feeling his eyes on her. It was almost scary that she knew when he was looking.
"Well, I have to take advantage of the situation"
"You're so dead"
"So you've told me and from what I know you can only die once, and I feel pretty alive" he heard Kate laugh. "You're so silly"
"I know" he replied cheekily. Kate smiled. She was slightly amazed by his easy going manners and his view of life. Really living every day that was something she admired him for.
"You owe me one" she said as she dried her hands. Then she walked over to him and sat down in his lap, gingerly snaking her arms around his neck.
"Any plans for tonight?" she asked and gently placed a kiss on his lips.
"Not really. You?" he replied, capturing her lips again. He didn't get an answer from Kate since she instead responded and deepened their kiss.
"We're not on the highway now" Tony said, voice low and husky.
"I'm aware of that" Kate replied teasingly, not putting more than an inch between their faces. Tony grinned and in one move he'd placed her on her feet, standing up when she did.
"Your phone off?" he asked into her mouth.
"On silent"
"That's my girl" he said and one moment later, Kate's shirt fell to the floor.
---
IT was hours later, when Tony woke up. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at Kate, sleeping peacefully, tangled in the sheets of his bed. She lay on her back, so he got a perfect view of her face. She seemed so…relaxed when she slept. No signs of her earlier worry.
"You're staring again" she murmured softly without opening her eyes. Tony chuckled and slipped his hand under the sheet to caress her stomach.
"Is it your famous sixth sense speaking again?" A smile appeared on her face as her eyes cracked open. "Guess it is" They stared fondly at each other for a while before Kate broke the silence.
"What time is it?"
"1:19. We should get some more sleep" Tony suggested, lying back down.
"G'night" Kate mumbled and settled in his arms.
"You know who I feel like?"
"Wait, let me guess. James Bond"
"Actually no. I feel like Mumble. In Happy Feet"
"What?"
"Who's Mumble?"
"The only penguin who can't sing, he tap dances instead. The others tease him, his father blames himself and Mumble doesn't get to graduate with the others. He's an…outsider, longing for the girl with the most beautiful voice and in the end…he wins her heart"
"Sweet. But you're not an outsider"
"Well, I'm not the ideal man, Kate" he said and for a moment, he almost looked shy. Kate smiled. "To me you are" he blushed which made him look even cuter. Kate closed her eyes again and snuggled closer to his chest. His words rang in her ears. Was that how he felt? Not like everybody else? Like an outside? She remembered their conversation from this morning. When he'd told her he built a snow fort and hid from the world. During their three years at NCIS, he'd revealed very little about his childhood and she couldn't help but wanting to hear the story. She wanted him to be able to trust her with things like this.
So she opened her eyes again and pulled back slightly so she could face him.
"Tony, is that how you feel?" she said sincerely, still a bit unsure about this. What if he took it the wrong way? Was it maybe too painful for him to share with her?
"What do you mean?"
"Like…an outsider. Like…a disappointment?" she asked fearfully. He stared into her eyes and knew what she asked him.
"I…" he sighed. "It's a long story, Kate"
"I have time" he let out another heavy sigh and turned away his gaze. "I don't know where to start, Kate"
"But is that how you feel? Like…Mumble?" she said, using his metaphor. He smiled slightly as she mentioned the animated little penguin. Truth was, Mumble reminded him a lot of himself when he was little. His father who was very disappointed in him and didn't fail to tell him that either.
"Yeah, I do. My dad was…it was obvious that he was disappointed in me since I didn't choose the life he'd picked for me. He said that I wasn't grateful for what I was given…He put me in private school when I was eight…I didn't know a soul and I couldn't stand it for more than two years"
"You were alone for two years?" Kate asked incredously. She suddenly felt a lump in her throat and a twinge of guilt for all the times she'd teased him for that his life was easier than hers since his parents were rich. He smiled a small smile and shrugged. Kate's heart broke into pieces and she reached out and gently touched his cheek.
"I'm sorry, Tony"
"It's okay. But I won the heart of the most beautiful girl" he said with a grin and Kate blushed. "Yeah…you did. What happened to him?"
"Who?"
"Mumble"
"I don't know. Still waiting for the sequel" Kate chuckled. "Yeah, of course. But while we wait, maybe we should get some sleep"
"Good idea" he shifted and pulled her closer. "Goodnight, again, Katie" Kate closed her eyes and for once let the nick name slide. "Whatever. Goodnight"
Ooo, long chapter here. How was it? It's easy to build up tension and then get in some Tate but afterwards, that's hard. So how did I do? Was it good? I brought in some more GibbsJen interaction since it's pretty fun writing them. Like an adult version of Tony and Kate. I've planned a sequel, and actually already written the first chapter. It will be up as soon as I've posted an epilogue for this story. Now, review, cause I know you want to!
By the way! I thought Abby was the only one using the word hinky. Apparently lt. Stillman, the boss in Cold Case also says hinky. In serious conversations…Just some insignificant trivia. Now I'll leave you alone to review!