Warnings: None for this chapter.
A/N: Short filler chapter. Hope you enjoy!
amaia- yes, the Tony and Natalie lovin' is coming in the next few chapters :)
Natalie woke up sometime after two in the morning when the painkillers finally wore off. Tony was asleep on top of her comforter, Luna snuggling on top of his chest. She smiled, affectionately at the sight. It didn't scare her anymore about her feelings for him. She knew she had his love back... they just needed to sort a few things out before taking the plunge.
Tony sighed in his sleep and rolled onto his side, sliding Luna off her perch. The cat stretched and found a new spot curled up against the senior field agent's side. It would appear that Luna and Natalie had something in common... Tony made them feel safe.
She reached out and scratched Luna behind the ears. The kitty purred and nuzzled against Tony. Natalie smiled and fell back to sleep, feeling content and secure for the first time since returning from Africa.
"Ah, good morning," Tony chimed in when he saw his partner stumble from her bedroom, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Luna and I made breakfast."
"Wow... dinner and breakfast..." Natalie teased him. "And we didn't even have sex."
Tony laughed, nervously, blushing slightly. His green eyes softened on her face. God, she was beautiful. Even early in the morning with no make up and hair wild. Someday they were going to have to change that... the whole making her dinner and breakfast but no sex... for now, he was just happy to make her food and have her appreciate it. The last woman he'd let enjoy his cooking was Jeanne... "What can I say, Callahan? You're a special lady."
Natalie smiled, sweetly at him and pat his cheek before she sat down at the counter. "What did you make me, Very Special Agent DiNozzo?"
"French toast and sausage," Tony replied, sliding the food onto a plate. "Luna approved of the sausage by the way."
"I bet she did," Natalie laughed, cutting into her french toast that was covered in the home made maple syrup that her mother had sent down. She popped a piece in her mouth and closed her eyes, letting out a little moan of bliss. "If you keep cooking food for me like this you're just going to have to move in."
Tony licked his lips and watched her, mesmerized for a moment. He should not be this turned on by a woman eating breakfast... but he was. And her joke about him moving in... well... "Rent would be cheaper."
Natalie opened her eyes and settled her grey orbs on his face, her tongue cleaning up the syrup on the corners of her mouth. Her heart skipped a beat though when he reached out with his thumb and wiped some of it away, keeping his hand there. Thoughts began swirling around in her mind. Was he going to do it? Was he going to kiss her? Because unlike the last time... when he had almost kissed her, she was not afraid of what it would mean. Screw Gibbs and his stupid rule 12...
Someone knocking on her door startled both of them. Tony pulled away, reached for his weapon on the counter and opened the door, slightly. And groaned, "McGee."
Tim entered the apartment looking flustered. "Hey. Why is your phone off? Gibbs has been trying to reach you. Anyways... we have a case."
"Ziva gone?"
"Oh yeah... didn't go quietly. She swore to Gibbs this wasn't the last time we would be seeing her."
"Is Hadar okay? I rather liked him..."
Tim nodded. "Yeah... Hadar was fine. Malachi said that Hadar's handled her like this before. He wasn't worried."
Natalie finished her breakfast and started to get up from the counter when her knee gave out. She winced. "Guess I need my brace."
"Oh, no, no, no," Tony chided her. "Ducky told you to stay off your feet for a few days. Let the swelling go down."
"But you heard, McGee! We have a case!"
"Not for you. You're staying right here, with Luna. Don't make me go across the hall and get Rosa to baby-sit you."
Natalie limped over to her sofa and sat down with a little huff, showing her obvious displeasure at having to sit this case out. Tim looked at her apologetically, while Tony gathered up his gear and led the way out of the apartment. She grabbed the remote for her TV and found a daytime talk show. Damn knee, causing her to miss out on this case, and better yet, damn case for causing her to miss out on getting kissed.
Groaning she threw her head back and stared up at the ceiling. Their luck was going to get better? Wasn't it? McGee at some point was going to stop interrupting them and they could just... get on with it.
Luna jumped up into her lap looking for some affection. Natalie stroked her back and sighed, "Patient... I just have to be patient, right? I mean... I just made the decision that breaking rule 12 was... well... I just decided I was going to break it. Tony might not even be on the same page."
But the way he'd looked at her before they were interrupted... she knew... he was on the same page... and that excited and scared her all at the same time.
Gibbs wasn't surprised that Tony and McGee showed up at the crime scene without Natalie. After the senior field agent had taken their newest member of the team home, and hinted that he was staying with her... the team leader expected Tony to order Natalie to stay off her feet and off the case.
He also had not been surprised when Tony's cell had been off that morning. McGee had been flustered, not being able to reach Tony, but once Gibbs revealed where the senior field agent was... well... something clicked in the junior agent. And he seemed... surprised... that the older man was okay with it. Truth was, after seeing how Tony and Natalie circled the wagons around one another against Ziva... he couldn't deny how the two agents felt about one another.
But now the ball was in Tony's court. Hopefully he didn't mishandle it. He had been honest with Tony when he told him not to be him. Gibbs didn't want his senior field agent ending up lonely and bitter. "McGee... go interview our witnesses," the team leader ordered. He threw his thumb over towards the young couple that had found the body in the snow. He waited until the junior agent had walked away to ask, "Natalie?"
"Pissed off at me for ordering her to stay home," Tony replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Good thing you stayed with her last night. She might have shown up at the office," Gibbs said with a slight smile.
"Oh, well... I didn't want... I didn't want her to be alone doped up on painkillers," the senior field agent said, anxiously.
Gibbs chuckled and told Tony to get work. He was certain that nothing had happened between his agents last night, Tony wasn't the type of man to take advantage of a woman... the team just hope that his words had gotten through to Tony. Or he was going to have more messes to clean up other than dead marines.
"Hey Abs," Tony greeted as he entered the lab late in the day. "Did you manage to get any prints from that hammer we found at the scene?"
"Two sets. One was our victim's... the other is, I'm going to assume, our killer," Abby replied, spinning about to meet him. "You find me a suspect..."
"You'll be able to get a match," Tony finished with a smile. "Got a suspect. Just waiting for Gibbs and McGee to bring him back."
Abby grinned. "Impressive. Took you guys a day... and down an agent." She frowned for a moment and nervously twirled her finger around a pigtail. "Is... is she okay? Natalie... I mean... Gibbs and I watched the security footage... Ziva really wailed on her, huh?"
Tony shrugged his broad shoulders. "Natalie held her own...and she'll be fine. Just needs to stay off her knee for a few days. If she follows that order... that remains to be seen... she can be rather stubborn."
"I'm sorry, Tony."
"For what?"
"I... I misjudged Ziva... and I didn't listen to you."
"Abs, don't worry about it."
Suddenly she launched herself at him, hugging him fiercely. "Tony. Promise me that this time you won't make things complicated."
He was confused. "Complicated? What are you talking about?"
Abby pulled away from him, held his arms firmly in place so he couldn't run. "I know that you had feelings for Ziva but you never told her and things just got... messy. And maybe it was a good thing that you never told her because... well... thoughts for another day. But I know you care about Natalie, you smile more around her... more like when Kate was alive."
Tony tensed, visibly. He had cared for Kate, deeply. Had he been in love with her? He would never know, she was taken from them too soon. "I don't want to mess it up, Abs. But she... she's easy to talk to... she gets me."
"Are you in love with her?"
"I think I might be."
His cell phone rang before Abby could launch herself at him again, and Tony pulled out of her grasp and held his finger up while he flipped the phone open and answered. He only spoke briefly, and for a second, but then hung up and said, "Gotta go. Gibbs needs me upstairs."
She watched him go, wondering if he had made that up just to get out of talking to her. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done and it probably wouldn't be the last time.
"You ordered my favorite pizza?"
"I knew you were going to come by to check on me."
Tony plopped his bag down by the door and kicked it shut. He was happy to see that Natalie still had the brace on and was elevating her leg. "Talked to Ducky today, he says you should be able to come back to work by the end of the week."
Natalie threw her head back against the coach and let out a grateful little sigh. "Oh thank God! I was so bored today. Daytime television sucks and Luna... well, she isn't that much company because she sleeps all day!"
He laughed and grabbed some pizza. "Brought a movie from home," Tony announced, holding up a DVD. "Hope you're ready for some Pulp Fiction."
"Odd choice," she quipped with a smile, scooting over to give him room on the sofa with her.
Tony popped the movie into the DVD player and went to sit with her, eating his dinner. Halfway through the movie he realized that Natalie had curled up next to him and fallen asleep. He reached behind him and found the fleece throw and pulled it over her. As he tucked it around he heard Abby's voice in his head... Are you in love with her? I think I might be.
Natalie sighed in her sleep and snuggled against him. She had a peaceful, content look on her face. Tony couldn't remember the last time he saw her look like that when she slept. Since returning from Africa it had been no secret that she had been plagued with nightmares... nightmares of what Saleem had done to Ziva, that he had killed Tony... that he had killed her. Now, she looked like those nightmares were nothing but a distant memory.
He ran his fingers through her hair and placed a soft, feathery kiss on her forehead. Are you in love with her? "Yeah," he whispered, "I am."