Thanks for all the great reviews so far, I enjoy reading them! :-) Here you go with another chapter.

Of course I do NOT own NCIS, but this fanfiction is all mine.

The two federal agents continued their work, mostly silently. Both had a lot on their minds, but knew that they had to keep it exactly there.
"It's no good, I can't find anything", the brunette complained after searching the computer for two hours.
Tony looked up from the papers he went through, "I told you there's not gonna be anything on there."
"No I mean I can't get any access to their stupid computers!"
"I thought your guy friend hacked you into their system?"
Kate gave Tony the death glare that he knew too well, "First of all he's a colleague who happened to be male, just like you, Tony, and second, he did but all I can see is what their desktop looks like. I don't get access to any of the folders."
Tony sighed, "I guess McGee really is a big help at times."
"There's no way we can get into their system with this laptop. Neither can we use the computers at the Secret Service Headquarters. How else are we supposed to find out what's on their computer?"
"You know...", Tony started, gaining Kate's full attention again, "I know this might sound crazy but I think we need McGee."
"Tony", Kate started but was cut off by her colleague.
"I know it's a secret mission and it's a risk. But at the same time it's about protecting our country. And as long as you don't have a better plan, I don't know what else we could do?"
Kate sighed shortly, and eventually nodded, "McGee is good and I'm sure he can do it better than the people from the Secret Service but what do you plan on telling him what you need him to hack you into the Mossad's computers for?"
Tony had to think about that for a second, "Well it's not like he doesn't know I'm part of a mission right now. So I could just tell him that I need him to hack in the computer of someone."
"Even though that's a good thought, don't you think he'd ask you what the hell the mission is about as soon as he finds out it has something to do with the Mossad? I mean he'll immediately wanna know what's it about."
"And then I'll tell him that I can't tell him. Or rather, I'll tell him before he'll even know that it has something to do with them. It's my job, Kate, have some trust in me."
"I rather not", she mumbled, looking back at her screen.
"Hey!" Tony called out, trying to hide that he felt offended and hurt by it, just to be calmed down by Kate grinning at him.
"I was kidding, no need to freak out."
"I didn't freak out."
"Sure", Kate winked.
Tony grinned at her, "Weren't you the one telling me to pretend we don't actually know each other?"
Kate's face immediately turned serious again, "You're right, sorry."
"What? No. I mean... it's good to know that there's still you in there", Tony smiled.
"I don't know how but I guess this was supposed to be some sort of compliment, so... thanks, Tony, I appreciate it."
Tony grinned at her and was about to say something, when his cell phone started ringing, "DiNozzo", he answered the phone.
"DiNozzo, this is Director Vance. I talked to Secret Service Director Foster and we agreed that it would be better if you went back to NCIS and worked from there."
"What? Why?" Tony was shocked. Did it have something to do with Kate?
"Director Foster informed me that the Secret Service doesn't have any access to the Mossad's computers anymore, which is a huge problem in this mission. So Foster and I agreed on having you work at NCIS from morning till noon and then go to the Secret Service to work with them again."
Tony nodded, "What am I supposed to tell Gibbs then? Or the others? Don't you think they'd ask me questions like what am I doing there again?, or how was the mission?"
"You'll simply ignore their questions. Even when the mission is over for real you will not be allowed to talk about it anyways."
"Okay, but about the hacking into the computers... how am I supposed to do that? First of all, what if my colleagues notice? And second, how am I supposed to hack into those damn computers? I don't know how to do that."
"Ask McGee for help if necessary", the Director replied.
"Why is everyone saying I should get McGee to do that? Why does no one care about the fact that he would start asking questions and probably tell Gibbs?"
"You'll only tell him in who's computer he needs to hack in. He'll find out that your mission has something to do with the Mossad but we can't change that. What's important is that we find out what they are planning."
Tony nodded and hung up, sighing.
"Who was that?"
"Director Vance", Tony said, looking at Kate, "He agrees with you. And my schedule kind of changed. I'll go back to NCIS tomorrow morning and be back to meet up with you at the Secret Service HQ's in the afternoon."
Kate nodded, "Okay. Do you think you can do it?"
"What do you mean?" Tony asked in confusion.
"Facing Gibbs. Pretending as if nothing special is going on. Pretending that I'm not alive."
Tony held back memories, "Did you have to bring that up again?"
"Sorry."
He smiled at her, "It's okay. And yes, I can do that."
Kate looked at him seriously.
"Hey, c'mon. Are you saying I'm bad at hiding my feelings?"
"You know Gibbs, and so do I. He'll know."
"Thanks, that's gonna help me", Tony sarcastically replied.
Fortunately for Tony that was a good way to respond because it brought that beautiful smile on Kate's lips he had missed all those years.
"Plus", Tony started grinning, "If he asks I might as well say that my co-worker on this case is a girl I once slept with."
Kate leaned over the table to hit his chest with her fist. She wanted to elbow him, but sitting towards each other made that hard, "Only in your dreams, DiNozzo."
"He'd believe that."
"I doubt that."
Tony smiled at her, "You really haven't changed, Katie."
"Unfortunately, neither have you", Kate replied, giving him a funny look.
"You've missed me, admit it", Tony playfully grinned.
"What's to miss? Your constant womanizing. You not letting me have my privacy and even going through my trash to know who I'm going out with? Or maybe you needing to pretend to be the boss as soon as the real boss isn't around?"
The grin on Tony's face disappeared, "You can be such a meanie."
"Right, I forgot to add that you're also very childish."
"Now you're crossing the line, don't you think?"
Kate gave him a funny smile.
"I can't believe you."
"Why not?"
"This is just too crazy, okay?"
Kate lay her hand down on Tony's, looked him in the eyes and ironically said, "Don't worry, I believe you can survive this mess."
The two colleagues and friends looked into each others eyes for a few seconds, before starting to laugh for a long time.

Tony felt good. He hadn't laughed like this for ages. He always knew he missed Kate, but now he noticed that he had missed her even more than he thought. Laughing with her felt so good, he never noticed. Tony felt relief, seeing as Kate was the one who said that they would have to pretend as if they had never met before. But now she was joking with him like they used to. He was glad. For a moment he thought that she didn't care about their friendship, but that proved that she as well cared. In all those years he had no one he could be the way he was with Kate. Even though they were often fighting or disagreeing, he felt certain and strong with her. No one else made him feel this way, probably because he was never looking for someone to replace Kate. He wouldn't and couldn't do that. He knew there was only one Kate and to his luck, she was still breathing. There was simply something missing in all those years, but now he got it back. He wouldn't let her slip away again. This time, he would fight. He was more than certain that there was a dangerous connection between the mission and Kate, and he didn't like that.

"Is everything okay?", Kate interrupted Tony's thoughts.
The male looked up, into Kate's worried face, "Sure, what shouldn't be okay?"
"You looked worried."
Tony put on the smile he put on when he wanted to hide his feelings, "Did I?"
"You don't need to do that, Tony."
"Do what?"
"You know what I mean", she said, a warm smile on her lips.
Yes, he did know what she meant. But if he told her what he just thought about, she would tell him that she had nothing more to do with the mission than he had. It wouldn't change anything.
"I'm just glad that you're alive and that I got to see you again... that's all", he honestly answered, looking into her eyes, lighting up.
"Me too", she softly smiled. But what Tony didn't know was that she was as concerned for him, as he was for her. What was to come would be hard, and she didn't want Tony to get involved in it. At the same time though, she was glad to have him by her side. Together, they would make it through, she was sure of that. They were a team and have always been one. And a good one. Maybe without Tony working with her, the mission would not turn out to be a success. Maybe only with Tony they had a chance. They would see how it would be. But for now, the two had to try to keep their emotions aside, concentrating on the mission.

That's it for this chapter, hope you enjoyed it!