For the first time since moving to D.C., Kylie was stepping foot into NCIS headquarters. She walked up to the metal detectors and straightened her skirt. Even though she would never admit it, she was a little nervous. This was a federal building that had actual agents in it. Agents with guns and licenses to kill – or something like that.

Taking a deep breath, she gave her purse to the security guard and walked through the detector. No alarms went off, so she breathed a sigh of relief. The guard smiled at her, and handed her a visitors pass as well as her purse. She thanked him, and walked briskly to the elevator.

Act like you belong, and no one questions it, she thought to herself.

She rode up to the floor Gibbs had told her to and almost jumped when the elevator dinged. The doors opened, and she was almost blinded by the skylights and bright orange wallpaper. Not a great color – for anything.

She looked to her left, hoping to see anyone familiar, and scanned the room. Her head stopped when she spotted McGee and Ziva on her right. She took another deep breath, adjusted her purse on her shoulder, and walked over to where McGee and Ziva stood.

"Hi guys," she greeted.

The two agents turned around and smiled when they saw her. She asked where Gibbs and Tony were, and they looked at each other before answering.

"They are in MTAC," McGee answered. "They'll be down soon."

"You can just sit at Tony's desk," Ziva said. "Can I get you some water or anything?"

"No, but thank you."

McGee and Ziva nodded and went back to work. They talked quietly among themselves, while Kylie looked around Tony's desk. She picked up a Mighty Mouse stapler and smiled – it was so Tony.

She was just dying to look through the drawers, but she resisted the urge. There were probably top-secret documents in there that she, as a civilian, shouldn't see.

She wheeled around a little in the chair, and just as she was about to pull out her phone to play Tetris, she heard her name being called and footsteps on the stairs behind her. She instantly stood up and turned to face Gibbs, Tony and a red-haired woman walking down the stairs.

She walked over to greet them, and shook hands with the woman. "Hi, I'm Jenny Shepard, the director of NCIS," she said.

"Oh, Director Shepard, yes, I'm so pleased to meet you. I've heard wonderful things about you," Kylie said, not willing to admit to the gossip she had heard from both Tony and Abby about the strikingly gorgeous woman in front of her.

"The pleasure is mine, Miss Todd. I'm so sorry for having to drag you in here on a Sunday, but I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important," Jenny responded.

"Of course, it's not a problem at all," Kylie said. "And, may I just add, that blouse is beautiful on you. Chanel?"

Jenny smiled. "Prada, actually, but thank you. If you'll follow me, Commander Caldwell is waiting in the conference room upstairs."

Jenny and Gibbs led the way up the stairs, with Kylie following and Tony bringing up the rear. As they turned the corner, Tony brushed his hand against Kylie's lower back, silently sending her comfort.

When they entered the conference room, Alex sat in full naval uniform. He looked tired and worn out – after 24 hours of interrogation and little to no sleep, this wasn't surprising. Kylie was confused as to how she should feel as she looked at her sometimes boyfriend. Happy that he was OK, or upset that he had lied to her? Either way, she smiled briefly at him and greeted him warmly.

"Are you OK?" he asked her. She almost laughed.

"I'm fine. Are you?" Alex nodded.

"Usually we wouldn't do something so unorthodox, but this is of utmost importance and two heads are better than one," Jenny explained. "So, let's get started."

Three hours later, Kylie was gearing up to leave NCIS. They had gone through all the evidence of Alex's case, and Gibbs and Tony were sure they had a strong lead – back to Alex's friend, Matt Hunter.

After a quick debate, Jenny and Gibbs agreed to let Alex go. As soon as they caught Matt Hunter, Alex would be able to go back to active duty with no reparations to his record. As soon as the little conference was over, Gibbs and Tony ran out to gather all they could on Hunter, while Alex went to gather some of his belongings from downstairs.

Kylie was gathering up her own belongings and was about to leave the conference room when Jenny stopped her.

"Do you have a minute? I'd like to talk, just us if that's OK," she said.

Kylie nodded. "Sure, Director. What would you like to talk about?"

"Have a seat. First of all, please call me Jenny. Secondly, I'd like to ask you a somewhat personal question."

"Of course," Kylie said.

"I heard that you may have some contacts in the criminal world, is that true? And, trust that I won't be turning you in if you answer honestly."

Kylie paused for a moment. She liked Jenny and trusted her, so she felt she could answer honestly. "Yes, it's true. I moved to Miami because I fell in love with a man who turned out to be more of a dark knight than a prince charming. I was young and naïve, and in the process met some very shady people. They weren't dangerous, they just enjoyed a certain kind of lifestyle."

Jenny nodded silently as Kylie revealed things she had never told a single soul. She wasn't sure if it was her kind eyes or sympathetic smile, but Kylie felt a connection to Jenny that she hadn't to anyone besides Kate.

"I never did anything criminal myself Direc – Jenny. I never knew what exactly they did and I certainly never asked. In the end, I got lucky because the man I was seeing left me for another woman and the two moved overseas. After that, all of his contacts left me alone. A couple of months after that I went to New York and met Alex. I've been living a safe and clean life since. Is there a reason you asked me this, and a reason I just spilled my guts to a complete stranger?"

Jenny smiled. "Well, I don't know about the spilling your guts part, but I am asking because hypothetically if I were to ask you to contact some of these people in the future, would you be willing to do so?"

Kylie hesitated. She hadn't thought of this part of her life in a long time, and the idea of speaking to some of them again seemed like going back in time. Jenny sensed her hesitation.

"Just so you know, you would be known simply as an NCIS associate and no one but me will ever know what you were doing. You would, of course, be paid accordingly."

Kylie bit her bottom lip, and tried to do some fast thinking. She thought of some of the men she had left behind, and almost smiled at the thought of talking with them again. They were scum, of course, but they had always treated her with kindness and respect. It might be interesting. It might be fun.

"I'll do it," she said. "On the condition that no one knows but the two of us, especially not Gibbs or Tony." That was the last thing Kylie needed. Tony would freak out if he knew any of this.

"Of course," Jenny said. "And, I will give you a permanent pass to NCIS, since you will be visiting here more than you thought when you entered today." She pulled out a document, and filled it out. "Just sign the bottom, and I will have Cynthia mail you your new pass when it is ready."

Kylie signed it, and shook Jenny's hand. "Director Shepard, I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Later that night, Kylie lay on the couch watching a TV movie while Alex packed in the other room. They had gotten a call earlier from Tony saying he and Gibbs caught Matt Hunter, and that Alex's presence was requested back on his ship. Alex had apologized profusely to Kylie, and she had forgiven him. It wasn't his fault he had bad taste in friends – she knew something about that.

Alex suddenly made his appearance in the living room. He stood by the doorframe, with his back against it and his hands in his pockets. "I don't know protocol here," he said. Kylie put the TV on mute, and turned to look at him. "Can I call you? Or, visit you again?"

Kylie smiled. "You can call, and visit. But, I've been thinking too."

Knowing this was coming, Alex nodded and sat down beside her on the couch. She leaned over and kissed him sweetly, pulling back with tears in her eyes. Yes, Alex knew what was coming.

"We can't see each other anymore," Kylie said. "I can't put my life on hold waiting for you to retire, or worse. I want us both to move on, but I'd still like to be your friend. I care about you a lot."

"You know I care about you too," he answered. "But I agree. I can't be responsible for your call waiting lifestyle, and I do want you to be happy. So, I'm going to go back to the ship right now. We leave first thing in the morning."

Kylie nodded. "Can I at least drive you there?"

"I'd like that," Alex said. He leaned in and wiped a stray tear from her cheek, before quickly kissing it. "Let's go. And I want to talk to you about that guy Tony."

An hour later, after a few tears and a long hug goodbye, Kylie was standing outside Tony's apartment, softly knocking. A few fears ran through her mind. What if he wasn't home? Or worse, what if he was home, just not alone? What would she say?

Before she could come up with an answer, the door opened and Tony stood there, wearing sweatpants and an NCIS T-Shirt. He didn't smile or acknowledge her – just opened the door to allow her to walk in.

"I came to explain, and apologize," she said rather quickly. "And apologize again and again."

"Stop," Tony said. "There's no need to apologize. You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend and I didn't tell you I hate pears, so I guess we're even."

"Don't be like that, I hate that. Don't tell me not to apologize, but then keep making side remarks and treating me like crap forever."

"Not like crap, I wouldn't do that. We're just sexy friends, right? None of my business."

Tony started to walk away, and Kylie stopped him. "What did you say to Alex?" Tony froze where he stood. "Before I got there today, he said you spoke to him and he didn't like you. What did you say?"

Tony smiled. "I said that he should've been honest, and that if I heard he wasn't I'd come after him. Because believe it or not, Kylie, there are people here who actually give a damn about you."

"Are you one of them?"

"One of them, what?"

"One of the people who give a damn about me. Because some days you act like it, and some days you don't, and I know we aren't supposed to get attached but I can't help myself. I genuinely like you, Tony. And if that makes you uncomfortable I don't care."

"I do care about you," he said. "And I don't say that to a lot of people. In fact, I don't really say that to anyone."

Kylie could tell he was getting choked up. Tony didn't reveal his true feelings often, and when he did you pretty much had to engrave the moment in your mind since you were never sure when the opportunity would present itself again.

"So, what next?" she asked. "Can we go back to the way things were?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't think that's possible. These six months have been great, Kylie, but I can't be in this kind of situation with you. With any other girl, yes. Any other meaningless, nothing special girl, I can have this. With you, there is no way. But I think we both know we aren't ready for a real relationship."

"So then what? We just go on and act as if nothing has happened? Say 'hi' to each other at Starbucks, and pretend like the other doesn't exist?"

"Maybe that would be easier," he said. "I don't know."

Kylie sighed. "Wow. Two days ago I had two guys I could count on, and now I have none."

"Caldwell is gone?"

"Yeah, and he dumped me too."

"I'm not dumping you, Kylie, I just…"

"It's fine. We broke our own rules, I get it." Kylie opened the door and let herself out. "I'll see you around, DiNozzo." She slammed the door behind her.

Anger bubbled deep in Tony's soul. He paced back and forth briefly, before grabbing a nearby glass and throwing it hard against the closed door. He took some solace in the sound of breaking glass, and sighed as what just happened sunk in.

What had he done?

A/N: Reviews, please!