A/N: For those of you who've been waiting patiently for it for the past 11 chapters, here's a bit of lovely fluffiness at last. SQUEE! Enjoy...
Disclaimer: The Canon characters belong to DPB and CBS. No copyright infringement is intended.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 2:07 p.m.
There was a long silence after the elevator doors closed. All four men stood pondering Tony and Louisa's little 'moment', each with a different perspective.
Admiral Penachetti had met Tony before, at Pete's house, and he liked him. But he'd never thought of him as a potential suitor for his daughter. To his surprise, the thought appealed to him.
Gibbs had made note of Tony's friendship with Pete when they'd met five years ago, working the case of a Navy pilot from NAS Corpus Christi who'd been accused of discharging his weapons while on a training exercise over international waters. He'd never heard mention of Pete's sister, however, and now he found himself wondering how Abby had managed to pick up on signals that he himself had missed. Admittedly, he'd been distracted lately. He gave his head a shake – if he'd been alone, it would have been a self-inflicted slap.
For his part, McGee couldn't wait to get back to Abby's lab and spill the beans. And he also wondered what Ziva would think, upon hearing confirmation that there definitely was 'something' going on between the Senior Field Agent and the Petty Officer. She'd been a little too quick to dispute the idea earlier, and Tim felt certain that possessiveness, if not outright jealousy, was consuming their partner. However this whole thing ended, it would be interesting. Of that, he was certain.
"What the hell was that?" Pete Penachetti broke the silence. He couldn't remember ever seeing Louisa behave that way with any man, let alone a guy with a reputation as a womanizer. His protective, big brother instincts were coming to the fore, and even though this was his best friend, he knew Tony's track record with women, and he was wary of letting his sister lose her heart to him. He was certain no good could come of it.
Gibbs shook his head with a sly smile. "That... was Tony being Tony." There was nothing more to be said. He spun on his heels and headed back towards the bullpen. McGee shrugged his shoulders at Pete, a bemused look pasted across his face, turned, and followed his Boss.
"Dad, I swear, I didn't know... " Pete protested, anticipating his father's displeasure at what they'd just witnessed.
"He's Italian, Son," the Admiral smiled, patting his astonished offspring gently on the back and pushing the down button on the elevator.
2:07 p.m.
Tony and Louisa descended to the parking garage level, and he led her past the banks of vans and squad cars to the other end, where the agents parked their personal vehicles. She played a game in her mind, trying to guess what type of car Tony drove. She heard the 'beep' and saw the tail lights flash as he unlocked the doors with the key fob... a 2010 Mustang convertible, in Performance White with a grey soft top. She'd been way off (she figured him for a BMW kind of guy, especially given how spiffy he was looking today. She almost had to pinch herself to believe she was really being escorted by this handsome, impeccably-dressed man).
Ever the gentleman, he opened the door for Louisa, and she slid down onto the grey leather seat with glee. It was smooth as butter, and seemed to fit her body perfectly. Tony came round the back and took the driver's seat, unclipping the soft top where it met the windshield, and hitting a button on the dash. The top began to recede as he started the engine and gingerly backed out of his spot. He'd only had this baby for a few weeks, and he was still treating her with kid gloves, afraid to get even the slightest scratch on her. He'd named her Molly.
Louisa had never had a ride in a convertible before. She tried to hide her excitement, but she was giddy with anticipation, and giggled a little more than she wanted to when Tony smiled across at her. As they pulled out onto the street from the underground garage, she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, I've just remembered – my car is still at work!"
"No problem," Tony responded airily, "I'll take you there instead." And with that, they headed out into the traffic, and made their way to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. He put the pedal to the metal once they'd merged with the highway traffic, and put Molly through her paces (they were just ahead of the rush hour, when everything would slow to a painful crawl, and he didn't often get the chance to run her full-throttle). Louisa let out a yelp of delight as she experienced the wind breezing through her hair, and Tony tilted his head back and laughed.
"I feel like Sloane Peterson in Ferris Bueller's Day Off!" she exclaimed. Tony glanced over at her with delight – a movie reference! Could this get any better?
"Well, if you're Sloane, who am I, Ferris, or Cameron?"
"Take a wild guess..." she winked at him, and held out her hand on the seat next to her. He took it and gave it a firm squeeze.
"You know, Ferris was a very bad boy..." he teased.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this carefree, especially when in the company of a woman. Normally he would have his guard up, even as he tried to charm her with his wit and humour. He'd be playing a role, showing her what he wanted her to see... not the real Tony DiNozzo, but Undercover Tony, who was perfectly at ease.
Because, in truth, the real Tony DiNozzo was actually not comfortable around women. After all, he hadn't exactly had great role models to follow. A mother who drank to escape the emptiness of her life, and a father who drank to avoid feeling anything at all. Both of them, running away from reality. Was it any wonder Tony had a hard time listening to his heart? And it had only gotten more difficult after Jeanne. He'd taken a chance, let down his guard, and had been hurt, deeply. After that, a retreat, back to the comfort zone of make-believe and swagger.
Somehow though, with Louisa he felt free to be himself, without pretense. It dawned on him that perhaps this was because in the beginning, he'd never thought of her as a potential romantic partner, and so Undercover Tony had never shown his face. She was just Pete's sister, an ordinary girl (sorry, Kate - woman), not a knockout beauty on whom he'd set his sights from afar. But she was beautiful, he thought to himself. And she had a lovely spirit behind those big brown eyes and that 1,000 watt smile.
"I guess we caused a bit of a stir back there," Louisa remarked.
Tony groaned. "Yeah, between McGee and Abby, they'll probably have us married off by the time I get back..."
Louisa turned bright red at this remark. "I'm sorry, Tony, I didn't mean to embarrass you."
He laughed. "No worries – it's what we do. We tease each other, like family. If it wasn't that, it'd be something else... besides, who said I was embarrassed?"
She smiled, relieved. "You seem to be a very close-knit team... they went out on a limb for you, didn't they, tracking down all that extra evidence?" Tony nodded. She continued, "So, how did that guy manage to prove that I didn't send the signal?"
"You'd have to ask McGeek for the technical explanation, but the Dummies version is that he figured out Mossad had put a glitch in the programming to make it look like it was you. Even our Cyber Crimes division missed it, but Tim figured it out," he remarked.
She pondered his response for a moment. "You're proud of him, aren't you?"
DiNozzo grinned. "Yeah. But don't ever tell him that – I'd never live it down."
"But what about my fingerprints?" she pressed on. "How the heck did they make it look like my fingerprints were in his apartment when I'd never even set foot in it?"
"Ah, that's Abby's department."
"She's the one who got you out of jail, right?"
"One and the same. Brilliant forensic scientist... a bit off the wall, but she's a sweetheart nonetheless... if you ignore the black lips, the tats, and the spiky dog collar, she kinda reminds me of you, actually." Ignoring Louisa's furrowed brow upon hearing the physical description of her forensic benefactor, he proceeded to summarize for Louisa how Noreen Jessop had created fake fingertips, assumed her identity at the gun club, and then visited Jacob Halpern in his apartment, tarrying long enough to share a glass of wine with him before shooting him in cold blood.
Louisa shuddered. "I'm so blessed... if it had been any other team investigating this, I wouldn't have stood a chance." She smiled gratefully at him, fingering the rosary in her pocket with her free hand. Her thoughts then drifted back to their first encounter, in the staff lounge. "What about that other woman, the one who was doing the interrogations with you? She seemed a bit intense... " she drifted off, uncertain whether it was wise to open up this line of questioning.
"Ziva David. She's scary." He kept his eyes fixed on the road. "Trained assassin. Once killed a man with a credit card, if you believe what she says." Louisa made a face. "Former Mossad agent. Her father's in charge of the whole agency, back in Tel-Aviv."
At this, she turned to him in alarm. "Are you sure you can trust her?"
"Oh, yeah, she's cool. She's left all that behind. Basically cut off all ties with her father – he sent her off on what amounted to a suicide mission, left her for dead... we had to go in and rescue her."
Louisa picked up on the undertone in Tony's voice. "You're very close." She hadn't meant it to sound like jealousy, but that was how it had come out. She groaned inwardly. What right did she have to lay claim on this man, anyway? She'd known him for less than 48 hours, whereas he worked beside Ziva every day. The woman was his partner - she might even have saved his life a time or two. Tony's silence alarmed Louisa, and she struggled to fill the void. "I didn't mean – "
"No. I know what you meant." He nodded. There was no point in denying it. "We've had our moments. Pretty hard not to, when you work as closely as we do. But we have kind of a 'love/hate' relationship. Like I said, she's scary. Sleeps with a gun. One time, when she was really mad at me, she shoved me on the ground and stuck the barrel of her Sig in my gut. Now, I like 'unpredictable' as much as the next guy, but... that was a bit much."
Louisa's jaw had dropped open. "I know she's a federal agent, but... even so, isn't that illegal?"
"Very. But when you're a Mossad officer on Israeli soil, people tend to look the other way."
"And you still feel comfortable working with her?" she asked incredulously. "I sure hope she got some anger management training."
Tony guffawed. "That's really good! I'll have to use that one on her sometime... anger management training... " he chuckled.
The easy banter continued as they approached the NSA. The agency was so large that it had its own employee off-ramp from the freeway. There were 112 acres of parking spaces surrounding the building, so Tony was very grateful that Louisa knew exactly where her vehicle was parked. She wasn't anywhere near high enough on the food chain to qualify for a designated parking spot, but she nearly always managed to get one within easy walking distance of the building, thanks to her hours of work. Usually she'd be pulling in just as someone from the day shift was begging off a bit early, and she could just slide into their spot.
"Turn right – down here," she motioned to Tony. As they finally pulled up behind her 2007 tan-coloured Ford Escape, Louisa's heart sank at the thought of this adventure coming to an end.
"So... wanna do lunch on Thursday?" He tried to make it as casual a question as could be, but in reality his heart was pounding as he anticipated her response.
She nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to! What time?"
She said yes! "Well, I guess you normally eat later in the afternoon, right?" She nodded. "Ok, how about we say 14:00? I think I can hold out that long. I'll have a big breakfast," he grinned.
"That's perfect."
"Ok, why don't you meet me downstairs in the atrium at the Yard, and we'll go from there?"
"Sounds good," she smiled.
Tony stared into her eyes for a long moment, debating whether or not he should do what he really wanted to do next. He swallowed, plucked up his courage, and leaned towards her. Picking up his signal, she responded, tilting her head to the side and shutting her eyes as her lips met his. A warm tingle passed through her body as she thrilled to his kiss. She slid her hand behind his head and ran her fingers through his hair, as he sidled closer, laying one hand on her thigh and wrapping the other around her neck. He let out a soft moan as her fingers worked their magic, and he deepened the kiss, their tongues doing a slow dance.
It wasn't fair – she got to go home after this, whereas he would have to head back to the Navy Yard, and present himself to his colleagues as if none of this had happened. For one fleeting moment, the thought occurred to him that he should have worn a suit that didn't crease. It was the longest 48 seconds in Tony's recent memory, and when finally they pulled back and gazed at each other in amazement, he was breathless.
"Well, I guess I'll see you on Thursday, then," he mumbled, his eyes locked on hers.
"Uh-huh," was all the giddy Louisa could manage to respond. She glanced down at her purse, and fumbled for her keys, unlocking the SUV with her fob. DiNozzo climbed out of the car and quickly came round to her side as she did so, opening her door. He noted with appreciation the smooth, toned legs as she climbed out.
Both of them were now conscious that there were other people in the parking lot. The odds were slim that any of them knew Louisa, but just in case, Tony didn't want to make life difficult for her by giving anyone fodder for the office rumour mill. So he simply gave her a final peck on the cheek, muttering once more, "Thursday..." and sauntered back to the driver's side of the Mustang, putting the vehicle in reverse and making room for her to back out. As she drove off, she gave a finger-wave to him in the rear-view mirror, and he responded in kind, following her out so he wouldn't get lost in the maze that was the NSA parking lot.
How the hell was he going to last until Thursday?
A/N: Ok now girls, go and take that cold shower. I know you need it, 'cos I sure do...