AN: Sorry this update took so long, I kinda hit a brick wall with my writing and then my stupid internet quit working so I was completely screwed. That's why you get 2 chapters at once! As always, thanks for the reviews. Please let me know what you think of these chapters. I'll update a lot sooner if I get reviews, and they'll keep me from hitting another brick wall!

Chapter 5

Kate was still snuggled inside Tony's embrace. Although her sobs had quieted, she couldn't make the tears stop. She knew that Tony was safe and that she was safe in his arms, but it didn't seem to matter. She couldn't quit seeing the terrifying sight of Greg standing over Tony's lifeless body. It really was her worst nightmare, and she prayed with all her might that if Greg was going to hurt anyone it would be her. No matter what, she couldn't let Greg kill someone else that she cared for, especially when that someone was Tony.

She held him tighter, wishing she could have protected him from her screwed up life. She should never have gone to work today. She should have run as soon as she found the letter, just like she'd always done. At least everyone she cared about would have been safe then, and they never would have had to know the truth about what she'd let happen to her and the death that she'd caused. She really had messed up everything.

At the same time Kate was worrying about protecting him, Tony was thinking about the best way to protect her and wishing there was more he could do. He wanted to erase everything that had happened, but he couldn't. All he could do was hold her, keep her safe, listen if she wanted to talk, and kill the bastard who'd dared to hurt her.

Just as he'd decided that they needed to move her to a safe house, someone started pounding on the door. Kate jumped and Tony, seeing the fear in her eyes, held her tighter and whispered "Gibbs." Then he yelled, "One second, Boss," so that Gibbs would know they were fine. The pounding immediately stopped but Tony made no move to get up. He had known Gibbs would be coming but hadn't wanted to let go of Kate long enough to get his phone off the kitchen floor and let Gibbs know it was a false alarm. Besides, Gibbs would have insisted on coming over anyway, so it really wouldn't have accomplished anything.

Kate stared at the door. She really didn't want her boss to see her like this and she didn't want to answer his questions or tell him the story, but she knew it was unavoidable now. She looked back at Tony for support as she reluctantly released her arms around him. She tried to move back so he could answer the door, but he didn't let her go.

"Don't worry." He spoke softly, with a sad, small smile gracing his lips in a small attempt to reassure her. He knew how much she didn't want to speak to Gibbs. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right beside you the whole time. I promised you that I wouldn't let anybody hurt you, and that includes Gibbs. Just say the word and he's gone."

She focused all of her attention on his breathtaking eyes, shutting out the rest of the world and allowing his words to wash over her. She could do this, as long as she had Tony by her side. He released her from his arms and took her hand, pulling her with him as he stood up. They paused in front of the door, each taking a deep breath as Tony looked out the peephole. He shared a look with Kate, making sure she was as ready as she'd ever be before opening the door to reveal a worried Jethro Gibbs.

"You two probably took ten years off my life." Gibbs yelled a bit too harshly as they opened the door. He winced at his own tone and the small flinch he'd seen from Kate, feeling like a total ass now. He definitely hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but he'd been so worried when he'd heard Kate scream and so relieved when he knew they were ok. He'd heard a little bit of their conversation through the phone before hanging up to call the team that was protecting Tony's apartment. None of them had reported a problem, but he hadn't been able to relax until he saw them in person.

Tony dropped Kate's hand and quickly wrapped an arm around her waist. He pulled her closer until she was leaning against his side. He'd noticed her flinch and stared at Gibbs with fire burning in his eyes. Gibbs took a step forward and Tony quickly reached at and flicked the door closed, releasing Kate for a moment so he could slide the deadbolt into place. Gibbs was left staring at the closed door in front of him, completely dumbfounded as to what had just happened, as was Kate.

"Tony!" Kate shrieked, completely shocked that Tony had just slammed the door in Gibbs' face. "What…" She was silenced as Tony turned back to her and placed a finger to her lips.

"I wasn't going to stand here and let him yell at you." Tony answered her unspoken question with a slight shrug, like it was no big deal. Now, though, he was faced with a dilemma. He had to talk to Gibbs, but he didn't want to let Gibbs anywhere near Kate yet. They could talk in the hallway, but he didn't want to leave Kate all alone. He didn't even like letting go of her, let alone letting her out of his sight, but he didn't have a choice.

"As much as I hate to, I really do have to talk to him, Kate, but that doesn't mean you have to. You can wait in the bedroom. I won't let him talk to you, ok?" She shook her head no and wrapped her arms around him, snuggling against his chest.

"I should be able to handle this." A few tears escaped and she was thankful Tony couldn't see them. He'd seen her cry enough today, and she was starting to feel like a total crybaby. He stroked her hair as she continued. "I have to do this, Tony. I can't let myself be this afraid. I can't let Greg have that control over me anymore. I'm an NCIS agent now. I'm not the same weak, naïve, defenseless girl I was back then and I can't let him keep making me feel like that again. No matter how much it hurts, I have to do everything I can to catch him, even if it means I have to tell Gibbs everything."

She moved her head from its resting place on his chest so that she could stare into his eyes, trying to gage his reaction. Tony was completely blown away by the strength and the conviction he saw swirling in her gaze. She was, without a doubt, the single most amazing person he'd ever known. He understood why she had to do this and, even though he wanted to protect her from the pain of having to relive everything for Gibbs, he had to let her do it.

"Then I'll be right here with you the entire time." Tony finally broke the silence, flashing her a smile. "You ready?" She nodded, but he could see the fear shining in her eyes. He took her hand again before reaching for the doorknob. She took a deep breath as he opened the door to reveal Gibbs standing exactly as they had left him, looking somewhat confused as to what he should do but immensely relieved that they'd opened the door.

Tony took a step back to allow Gibbs to enter. None of them spoke until they were all seated in the living room, Tony with his arm around still around Kate on the couch while Gibbs took the chair closest to them. "What do you want, Gibbs?" Tony was the first to break the silence.

"I need to know everything that's going on, then I'll catch you up on what we know and we can figure out where to go from there." Gibbs was speaking to Tony, but he couldn't take his eyes off Kate. Her eyes were red and a little puffy, so he knew she'd been crying. What they'd already told him was bad enough, making him want to strangle this guy with his own hands, but there was obviously a lot more if Kate was this upset.

Kate looked at Tony, unsure of where to start. She opened her mouth, hoping it would just come out, but Tony's voice stopped her. "Why don't you tell us what you know and then we can fill in the blanks. That way we won't have to waste time repeating things." He didn't want to put Kate through any more than they had to. This way she could answer Gibbs' questions without having to relive the entire story.

Gibbs was ready to object, but the look on Tony's face stopped him. Tony was obviously trying to spare Kate as much pain as possible. Gibbs didn't want to hurt Kate either, so he briefly nodded. "Just answer a couple questions to start with and then I'll tell you everything we've learned so far." He focused his attention on Kate. "How did this all start?

Kate took a deep breath before beginning, trying to stick to the basics and retain her calm. "I met him my senior year of high school and we started dating. Then things started getting bad and I ran right after graduation. He found me and a little while later and took me home, but I ran again. He found me again and hauled me back home, but as soon as I could walk I bought a ticket to D.C. and joined the Secret Service. About a year later he showed up and killed my friend Mark when he found him in my apartment."

She tried to keep her voice steady and impersonal, like she was reciting facts about somebody else, but it was impossible. Tony could tell she was fighting back tears when she got to the part about Mark, so he squeezed her tighter. Her hand was resting on her knee, so he placed his free hand on top of hers, lacing their fingers together. She offered him a weak smile of thanks when she was done, none of which went unnoticed by Gibbs who was staring at the pair intently.

Their feelings were as obvious to as the fact that there was more to the story than they were telling him. He was pretty sure he'd figured out the basics of what Kate had left out, and there was no need to make Kate relive any more. He could always double-check his suspicions with Tony later. Even though he was dreading it, it was time to tell Kate what they'd found at her apartment.

"This guy was obviously in your apartment. We went through your photo albums and it looks like several pictures are missing." He decided to skip what that asshole had done to her pictures, trying to protect her from what little he could. "From the way you had the albums organized, it looks like they're all pictures of guys from your past and your present." He paused, watching her eyes go wide at the thought of that bastard going through her things so that he could hunt down every guy she'd ever cared about.

She looked so scared and violated, and Gibbs hated himself for having to put her through this even though it had to be done. He let out a deep breath, wishing there was something more he could do. But just as the thought entered his mind, he watched Tony lean down and whisper something in her ear. Gibbs strained to hear what Tony was saying, but it was too soft for him to make out the words.

It didn't matter that Gibbs couldn't hear, because Kate heard Tony's words perfectly. "It's okay. Don't even think about it. Just focus on my words." Gibbs saw her eyes close, shutting out everything but Tony's voice. "You're safe here with me, and Gibbs is going to get this guy. We won't let him hurt anyone else. I'll make him pay."

Kate took a shaky breath before opening her eyes. Gibbs could still read the fear in her eyes, but it was less pronounced. At that moment, he developed a new respect for Tony. He had always worried about their chemistry and their odd relationship and how it could potentially affect their work, and a lot of his worry had focused on what would happen when Tony acted like typical Tony and treated Kate like he treated every other woman he became involved with. The most likely scenario in Gibbs' mind started with Tony sleeping around and ended with Kate shooting, strangling, or beating him to death.

It was clear now that their feelings went a lot deeper than he'd ever thought, especially Tony's. He would have never thought he'd actually be happy that Kate and Tony had this strange relationship, but he was immensely grateful for it now. Tony had known something was wrong and had amazingly gotten Kate to confide in him, something Gibbs probably wouldn't have been able to do. He mentally shuddered at the thought of Kate trying to deal with this on her own. He didn't even want to think about what could have happened if she'd been all alone, if Greg had gotten his hands on her. He wished Kate had felt comfortable enough to confide in him, but he'd forever be thankful that at least she had Tony.

Now, he had some tough things to ask both of them. "Kate, I'm going to need you to make a list of all the important guys in your life, especially the ones you had lots of pictures of. Try to make it as chronological as possible."

Kate opened her mouth to ask why but quickly froze when the profiler in her supplied the answer. That's how he'd go after them, either starting with the guys closest to her now or the ones he'd view as taking her from him. She realized that she understood how Greg's mind worked, and she knew which option he'd go for. She immediately shuddered at the thought and felt Tony's arm tighten around her, so she immediately sank into his embrace.

"He wants to break me." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She rested her head on Tony's shoulder and closed her eyes, wishing that what she was about to say wasn't true and that being in Tony's arms would make it all go away. "He'll go after the guys I'm close to now. That's what will hurt the most." She opened her eyes but kept her gaze locked on Tony's knee, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. They didn't need to see her eyes though, because they could hear the shame mixed with fear in her voice as she flashed back to another time and softly admitted, "He always does what hurts the most."

Tony pulled her closer until she was snuggly settled in his lap as Gibbs looked on shocked, completely horrified by Kate's revelation and at a loss for what he could do besides slowly and painfully killing this bastard. Tony tried to comfort Kate, only briefly raising his eyes to share a murderous glare with Gibbs, both men wanting to tear Greg limb from limb.

Kate wasn't crying. She didn't have any tears left to shed. She tried to turn herself to stone, blankly staring at a spot on Tony's chest. She couldn't handle any more emotion. She just shut down. She heard Tony whisper her name, but she couldn't make her mouth move to answer him. He lifted her chin, searching her eyes for a sign of what she was thinking. She met his eyes, which was a good sign, but she quickly lowered her gaze and it broke Tony's heart. She was pulling away from him, and he couldn't figure out why.

All Kate could think was that this was all her fault and that everything Greg had said about her had been true. Her friends were going to die because of her. She wished she'd never told anybody, that she'd never gotten Tony involved. She would rather been killed without them never knowing the truth, but it was too late now. Greg was going to make her watch while he killed everyone who'd ever made the mistake of caring about her. She was basically a death sentence.