Tony's Salvation Chapter 14
Back at the house Tony is still holding Laurie close. She runs a hand through his hair, while the other one caresses his back. Tony closes his eyes, fighting the memories that are threatening to overcome him. He starts swaying back and forth; for a moment Laurie is concerned then realizes that he's listening to music that only he can hear.
Laurie closes her eyes and sways with him, letting him lead the way. She doesn't know what he intends to do, but she knows he won't intentionally hurt her. Tony pulls her closer and runs his hand under her hair caressing her neck.
"May I kiss you?" the soft whisper makes her open her eyes. His emerald green gaze is so close to her she can almost feel the heat from his eyes. As it is, she sees hesitation, doubt and fear that she'll say no. She slowly nods and as she opens her mouth to say yes, his lips (finally) come down on hers.
When their lips make contact, they both sigh in satisfaction. They'd looked for completion and were one step closer to finding it. Laurie caresses Tony's cheek as the kiss deepens. When he (yes I said HE) finally breaks away, she stands still, wanting, needing to know if he wants her as much as she wants him. Tony takes a couple of deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm his own emotions. He tries to lighten the mood by saying, "You…don't kiss everyone like that do you?"
For her part, Laurie is almost as dazed as Tony is. She's never been so thoroughly kissed; not to the point that she's enjoyed it this much.
"You okay?" Tony tips her head up as he asks the question and she smiles at him. He catches his breath at that smile as it is one that she obviously reserves for someone special.
"I—you—wow."
"So is that a good wow or a bad one?"
The tone of voice is teasing; the look in his eyes anything but. She takes his hands in hers and looking him straight in the eye says, "Definitely good, Agent DiNozzo, definitely good." She finishes her statement with another kiss.
Once they again come up for air, Tony looks at her. "Where do we go from here? I mean I really don't know what to think at this point."
Laurie leads him over to the sofa and sits down, pulling him down beside her. She leans into him as she says, "I told you that I'm looking for restaurant locations. I didn't tell you that I'm retiring from the SEALs. I need to finish up some paperwork and can do that here as well as anywhere."
"Why retire? You love the SEALs; you could be an instructor with all of your qualifications."
"I could, and I still might if they ask me."
That's when Tony knows. They won't ask her. Despite the training and knowledge she possesses, they don't want to acknowledge her presence.
"Their loss is my gain. Of course you could always try out for NCIS." Even as he says it, Tony stops in wonder. Just hours ago, he'd been afraid that she was after his job, now he's offering it to her. She giggles as she reads the thoughts that flow freely in his mind and he growls at her.
"Easy tiger, I told you earlier that I have no interest in NCIS," he looks away and she continues as she puts a hand to his face, bringing it back to her, "except maybe a certain senior special agent." She emphasizes her point with a kiss, and then says, "The restaurant will keep me busy for at least the next two years Tony."
"So, I've got you for at least the next two years?" he wants it to be longer and her next words make him smile.
"Well, it could be longer, with the right incentive." She tries to duck away when she says it and Tony realizes that she's as scared of rejection as he is. He kisses the top of her head and pulls her closer. They sit there cuddling for several minutes neither of them voicing the thoughts running through their heads.
Tony finally sighs and asks, "So, am I going to be able to function properly at work doc?"
Laurie's not exactly sure what he's getting at, and turns to get a better look at him when he tells her.
"I've worked with my team for almost ten years now. I think I'd know when they start treating me with kid gloves. Besides, Gibbs never opens his house to strangers, even good looking ones like you."
"Are you okay with the knowledge that they care enough to call in an expert?"
He mulls it over and she wonders if she's going to regret what he has to say.
"If you had asked me two weeks ago, hell two months ago, I'd probably have said to hell with everything and everybody…maybe. You…no one has ever tried to help me or stay with me during a nightmare. Not even Gibbs. I know that I get violent; I've seen what can happen, what I've done just to my own hands.
"You not only took it, you rode the nightmare with me. You stayed, even when they told you not to."
"You needed me Tony, and I need you." that simple sentence is enough to bring him to tears. Someone needs him, wants to be with him. Then she says, "Just don't brush my hair too often."
That request throws him off guard. What does she mean by that? As he contemplates her request, he remembers that when she'd been in his mind and he'd been stroking her hair, she'd fallen asleep almost as if she'd been drugged.
"It's worse when you brush it. It's the reason I don't wear my hair down too often unless I trust the person that I'm with."
Tony twists so that he's lying on the couch with her slightly propped up on his chest. Then he asks her why she has so much trust in him. "It's …from the moment you laid eyes on me you've trusted me. No one, not even Gibbs has trusted me that implicitly."
She reaches up and rubs noses with him, smiling at the sensation as she thinks about her answer. "I can't explain it, not rationally. It's as if I looked at you and saw your soul and it said…trust me."
As soon as the words leave her mouth, she knows what's happened. She buries her face in Tony's neck. She really doesn't know how to explain this to him; not in a manner that they'll both understand. She covers her face with her hands making him wonder just what is going on.
She finally lets out a long sigh as she struggles to a sitting position. Tony just wraps an arm around her, pulling her back down to his chest.
"Talk to me. You trust me with your life; now trust me not to laugh at what you say."
She starts tracing a pattern on his chest. "Have you ever heard of recognition? No? That's okay, neither has the majority of Earth's population. I personally have never, until now, experienced it. The easiest way to explain is that our souls met when our eyes did."
She waits for the laughter that never comes.
"'Soul meets soul when eye meets eye.'" Tony's voice brings her gaze back to his. At her silent nod he smiles. "I like the idea that we're soul mates."
"It can be scary sometimes." She's remembering the friends she's helped who have soul mates.
"We'll get through it together; just like we have the last 24 hours. So, your pad or mine?"
She giggles at his lecherous look.
"Now see, that's what I like to hear from a woman; a laugh or giggle, not an embarrassed explanation of something that is going to make our lives better."
She mutters, "If I'm bare assed it won't be in your boss's living room."
Tony gives her an approving look as he says, "Come here." His hand at the back of her neck gently pressures her into another soul searching kiss.
"We keep those up, we're gonna need that bedroom." She runs her hand across his chest and he shudders at a vivid thought of that hand touching somewhere lower.
"Would you ever make me choose between my team or you?"
"Technically, we already did. No Tony, I could never make you choose between us for one main reason: they are more than your team; they are your family. I respect that, and the fact that this job is something that you truly love doing. It can be a bitch on occasion, I get that, but it keeps your life interesting."
"So would you mind if I helped you in the kitchen now and then?"
"I take applications every Tuesday and Thursday. All teasing aside Tony, I'd love to have you share your culinary talent with me, regardless of whether it would be in the home or at my restaurant."
They lay there in silence and then, "I loved them you know; Jeanne and Ziva both. This just feels so different to me. I'm not as unsure about us as I was with either of them."
Her hand reaches up and strokes his cheek.
"A true soul bond, or so I've been told, the partners become whole. It's almost as if they've found a missing link. There is no manipulation and the bond that is created is strong enough for either to sense if the other is in trouble."
Tony muses on her words while she caresses his chest. Seconds, maybe minutes or even an hour later her hand slows as her breathing deepens, indicators that she's fallen asleep. Tony having had little sleep himself soon follows her into a deep dreamless sleep.
NCIS Special Agent Anthony 'Tony' DiNozzo wakes up slowly and stretches. For the first time in months he almost feels refreshed. He glances around the room, searching for Laurie when it hits him: he's in his own apartment. He'd dreamed the entire thing.
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A/N: The recognition quote is out of Elfquest, a graphic novel by Richard and Wendy Pini. As for this being the last chapter...reviews could keep it going...