Kate had been seeing Danny for about nine months now. Tony knew this because he had been marking it on the calendar he kept hidden in his desk drawer. It was nine months ago today that Kate had first walked in with a huge grin on her face and announced to McGee that she had been on the most wonderful date the night before. She actually told Probie that she felt that this guy was the one, the man that would fulfill all her dreams! Tony had snorted in disgust at that statement.
"And what makes you think we can't be happy, Tony?"
"Because no man is good enough for you, Kate. They all have some flaw that you will manage to find and realize that you can't overcome, and they will end up on the wayside as you search for your Knight in shining armor." He hadn't meant for all of that to come out at once. In fact, he hadn't meant to comment at all, but something in the way she was gushing about this guy made Tony's skin crawl. Kate kept it light, though.
"Another night alone, Tony? What happened, all the girls in this town know all your tricks by now?"
He had laughed at her then, but the questions were too close to the truth for his comfort and he had left her alone for the rest of the day.
And now, it had been nine months since that day. Nine months exactly of her endless praises of Danny-boy. Tony rolled his eyes as it dawned on him that Kate would most likely come in with some strange anniversary for being with the same guy for so long. As if on cue, Kate stepped off of the elevator with a single rose in her hand.
"Bet Danny wants to send her the other 11 later on today," mused Tony in his head. "I bet he sends them to her one at a time, each hour of the day, until she gets off and he can take her to some fancy restaurant."
"Nice flower, Kate. What's the special occasion?" Tony tried to look as uninterested as possible.
"Danny remembered that it was our nine month anniversary!" Kate was gushing already. "He says he wants to take me out to dinner tonight, he has something he wants to ask me."
Gibbs looked up from his desk and saw the rose in Kate's hand, then he caught sight of Tony and his eyes glazed over for a moment as if in thought. He was wondering where he had seen that look before… Then he remembered it; that was the same look that he had seen in the mirror as he watched the love of his life walk away with another man. It was a detachment from the situation, so that there would be no pain when she said yes to the marriage proposal that should have come from his lips. Gibbs sighed mentally as he realized something else.
DiNozzo was in love with Kate. Damnit, now what was he supposed to do? Rule 12 loomed before his eyes as he remembered that he had caused this to happen between his two field agents. He put them together with that damn rule holding them back from their feelings, and for him to take it back now would quite possibly make him look weak. He had to do something quick to defuse this situation or he was going to lose an agent, maybe even two.
Tony was talking to Kate again and Gibbs settled in to listen, like he always did.
"So, you think he's going to ask, The Question, Kate?" He stood up and came around his desk, to be close to her when he teased her about this.
"What question is that, Tony?" She waited where she was, one hand on her desk beside her, the other clutching the rose in her hand. She looked up at him with a smirk upon her lips, almost daring him to say anything.
"You know, the question that every woman eventually wants to hear." He leaned in close to her ear, his breath tickling her cheek as he whispered to her, "Will you marry me?"
She nearly choked as he pulled back to smile at her. She hadn't expected him to say that so smoothly. And the fact that he whispered it in her ear… Her mind flashed back briefly to his breath on her cheek, his lips close to her ear. She flushed bright red and stammered something about needing to get water for the rose. As she wandered off to the break-room, Tony smiled lightly as he heard the phone ring on Kate's desk. Reaching over, he picked up the handset and answered it lightly.
"Todd's desk, Agent Todd isn't here at the moment, may I take a message."
Gibbs chuckled lightly, he knew for a fact that Kate hated it when Tony answered her phone. His smile slid off his face as he watched Tony write something down and then hang up. Curiosity got the better of him and he raised an eyebrow, indicating that Tony should tell him what that was all about. Tony simply smiled as he walked back to his desk, picked up his phone and made a quick call. When he was done, he glanced up at Gibbs, smile still firmly in place. McGee walked in about that time and set his case at his desk as Kate was coming back from the break-room with the rose in a vase.
"Hi Kate, is that from Danny?" asked the young man innocently.
"Yes it is," she replied wistfully. Tony looked as if he were about to gag.
"Hey, Probie, what are you doing tonight?"
"Um, nothing that I know of, unless Abby has something planned. Why do you ask?"
"Good, because you're going to a special dinner tonight." Tony stood up and walked over to Gibbs for a moment. "How about you, Boss, care to join us?"
Kate looked at Tony, dumbfounded, as she tried to figure out what he was up to. Gibbs looked up at Tony and thought for a moment. Did he want to be a part of what Tony was planning tonight? For the sake of Kate, he figured he had better be there.
"All right, DiNozzo. Where is this dinner and what time do we meet?"
"It's at Angelina's Italian Restaurant at 7pm tonight. So I can count on you being there?"
Gibbs thought for a second. Tony had glanced at the note he had scribbled down while on Kate's call. Suddenly he knew he had to be there. "Count me in, but you're paying."
"You bet, Boss!" Tony grinned as he turned back to Kate. "So that's McGee, Gibbs, Abby and Ducky all coming tonight. This is going to be great!"
"What is going to be great Tony? And how come you didn't invite me?" Kate felt a little out of the loop at this point and she didn't like feeling that way.
"I didn't invite you, because you already have plans for the night. Danny called and said he was picking you up at 6 tonight and to be dressed for a fancy restaurant." Tony continued to grin at her.
"Oh," was all she could say. Tony waited a beat until she had sat down at her desk before letting the other shoe drop.
"And he invited all of us to join you two tonight as well."
The groan from her desk was heard after her head thudded.
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That night, Kate was nervous as she slipped into the expensive red dress that she had decided to wear that evening. Her hair was piled up on top of her head and she wore the cross that her grandmother had given her around her neck. The diamond earrings in her ears shone with a sparkling brilliance as she turned her head and then her body to get the entire effect in the mirror. When she heard the knock on her door, she jumped slightly.
At the restaurant, Danny led her to their large round table and they sat waiting for their other guests to arrive. Gibbs was first, with Ducky as well, and the two of them couldn't help complimenting Kate on her choice of attire that evening. She blushed with the praise of her uncommon good looks as McGee and Abby arrived to join them. Looking around, she didn't see Tony anywhere and she wondered if he would even show up at all.
"He's probably out looking for a date to bring. Or maybe he isn't even coming." She couldn't figure out why she was so worried about Tony showing up. It wasn't like she had feelings for the Neanderthal that was her partner. But if she was going to get asked The Question tonight, she would like all of her friends and team mates with her. Just as she was about to give up on him, he arrived at the table looking decidedly damp.
"Sorry, had to wait for valet parking. It's starting to rain out there." Tony smiled at Kate as he took in her expensive dress and diamond earrings. "You look fantastic tonight Kate."
"Thank you Tony," she replied, trying to quell the sudden butterflies that had sprung up on her stomach. He nodded as he sat next to Gibbs, directly across from her. Now that everyone was seated, they could get to the business of ordering dinner.
During dinner, the conversation was light and fun. Danny got the chance to get to know each of Kate's team members and they in turn got to know him as well. The evening was going very well, when Danny turned to Kate and smiled lightly. Pulling a small velvet box out of his pocket, he glanced around at the table, then back to Kate.
"I've been waiting for the right time to do this…" he began timidly. "You have been so busy with this case, or that one. But finally, when I called today and Tony said you were between cases, I knew that the Fates had listened to me and set this night as the perfect night for me to ask you this."
Tony swallowed slightly. He had been afraid of this. The guy was going to ask her to marry him, right here in the restaurant, in front of her team… her family. Kate's face glowed and her eyes began to mist a bit as Danny opened the box to reveal a perfect diamond ring, set in a plain gold band.
"Caitlyn Todd, will you marry me?" Danny held his breath for the answer. Kate began to cry as she reached out for the ring, taking it from its box and slipping it onto her finger.
"Yes, oh yes, I would love to marry you, Danny!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in front of the entire team. Gibbs and Ducky smiled, while Abby whooped and yelled her encouragement. McGee glanced over and noticed Tony watching the happy couple. Tony simply watched as his last chance at a happy life was stolen right out from underneath him. McGee looked over at Gibbs, who glanced over at Tony as well. Under the table, Tony felt a hand squeeze his knee and he looked over to see Gibbs' understanding expression.
Abby stood up and leaned over to Kate. "Let's go to the ladies room for a moment, need to fix your make-up."
Kate nodded and the two women headed off to the bathroom to regroup. Meanwhile, Tony and the other men sat back, each giving congratulations to Danny for making Kate happy. As Tony was about to say something, a woman came and put her hand on Danny's shoulder.
"Hi you, did you forget to call me last night?" She dripped sweetness and Tony felt his hackles begin to rise. Danny glanced up startled at the woman, honey blond hair surrounding a perfect porcelain face with perfectly set baby blue eyes. Tony knew this woman had to be candy coated, and he suddenly knew that something was wrong, very wrong here.
Danny stood up quickly. "Umm… excuse me a moment, will you gentlemen?" He politely led the woman off a little ways and began a quick conversation with her. The conversation turned into a heated argument with such words as Bastard, Cheating and come clean with her wafting back to the table. Tony glanced at Gibbs, who was staring intently at the back of Danny's head, as if his glare alone could kill the man in one second. Finally they all heard it.
"I told you, I'll take care of it! Right after I marry her, I'll get the kid and then you and I can be together." Danny's voice had carried just a bit too loudly and Tony rose from the table swiftly as the realization hit him that this bastard was using Kate! Gibbs was at his side with a restraining hand on his arm, McGee on the other side matching the gesture. Tony wanted nothing more at this moment than to pound the guy into the ground, but it wasn't his place. He didn't notice Kate and Abby rejoining them, but he heard Kate's sharp intake of breath at the last statement from her fiancé.
"I love you, Diane, and it won't take long to get rid of this woman. She might get killed anyway, what with her dangerous job and all."
Kate's eyes brimmed with tears as she watched her fiancé, no this snake wasn't her fiancé, he was nothing but a lying son of a bitch! She strode over to the couple and pulled Danny's arm, causing him to turn and stare into her angry eyes.
"Kate!" He knew he had been caught. He tried to effect damage control as quickly as possible. "Kate, it's not what you think. Diane and I are… just friends! We work together and she… umm… she needed to know something…"
Kate slapped him. The sound was a shock to the entire restaurant as she stared at him, pain evident on her face. He stood there, unable to say anything, knowing that there was nothing else to say. She had found out and she was mad, and if there was one thing you didn't want to face was an angry Kate. She turned on her heel and walked back to the table. Tony and the rest watched her pick up her purse, then stop and glare at the ring on her hand. She angrily tried to screw the offending piece of jewelry off her finger, but couldn't get it to budge. Abby reached out, took Kate's hand in her own and, with the help of some butter that was in a dish on the table, slipped the ring off quickly and easily.
She handed it to Kate, who turned and threw it at Danny's face. She didn't watch as he tried to catch the ring, but instead turned back and picked up her purse. As she stalked out of the restaurant, Abby turned as if to chase after her, but was brought up short by Gibbs' expression. There was more of this scene to play out, and Gibbs felt the entire team should stick around to watch it. Turning his gaze to Tony, he nodded slightly to let the agent know that now he could do something about the man that had hurt their partner.
Tony left the table, coming around to glare deep into Danny's eyes, his green orbs glittering dangerously. "You son of a bitch! Don't you ever come near Kate again, or so help me, no one will find the body, do you hear me? You made the biggest mistake in hurting her like this. She is a wonderful woman and you took advantage of her sweetness and understanding. If I every see your face again, I'll shoot you first and deal with the ramifications later; get it?"
He didn't wait for the other man to reply as he turned on his heel and went back to the table. Gibbs caught his arm in passing and stopped him for a quick word.
"There is one more rule you need to know… Follow your heart. It doesn't have a number, because it transcends them all." Gibbs looked into the eyes of his best Agent and friend. Tony nodded grimly as he understood exactly what Gibbs was saying. Some rules are always made to be broken, including Gibbs' rules, as long as you followed your heart. And Tony's heart was crying out to him to get moving before she got away.
Story Notes:
Thanks in large part to Gibbsgirl, MiddleAgedCrazy (MAC) and Rinne for encouraging and Beta work of this story.
I started this at LiveJournal, took it to ff.net and fosff.net, and am now leaving it here for archive purposes.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony has waited long enough for the woman he desires.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks in large part to Gibbsgirl, MiddleAgedCrazy (MAC) and Rinne for encouraging and Beta work of this story.
I started this at LiveJournal, took it to ff.net and fosff.net, and am now leaving it here for archive purposes.
I started this at LiveJournal, took it to ff.net and fosff.net, and am now leaving it here for archive purposes.