By the end of the evening, Kate and Tony were having the time of their lives and didn't really want to see the night end. Finally, moonrise found them in a park somewhere, sitting together and holding hands. Rubbing his thumb across her knuckles, he gazed seductively into her eyes.
"Kate, if you hadn't found out about Danny that night… Do you think you would have married him?"
"I might have. I was ready for it, I thought."
"Are you glad you found out before that happened?"
"I'm very glad, Tony." She looked off across the grass in the park. "If it hadn't happened, I might never have found out about…"
He reached over, cupping her chin in his hand and bringing her eyes to meet his. "I would have never told you that I love you."
Her mind went into shock. He had said it! He actually told her that he loved her! What should she do now, tell him the same thing? She felt so confused. Did she love him? Did she feel that strongly about this man who could charm with a smile anything out of anyone?
"Kate." He placed a finger on her lips. He had seen the hesitation in her eyes and read it for what it truly was… fear. "You don't have to say anything. Take your time with it. I'm not going anywhere."
She relaxed as he slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. Her head rested on his thick, strong chest as she listened to his heartbeat through the fabric of his shirt. His hand on her back traced lazy circles as he sniffed the shampoo in her hair. He truly loved this woman and he wasn't going to let her fear ruin this good thing they were sharing. One hand being trapped against his side, she used her free hand to brush against his chest, reveling in the firm muscles that hid just beneath the surface of the flesh.
"Should we go back to your place?" he asked.
"Yeah, I still have to give you back your clothes from the other night." She stood up with him and they began to walk in the direction of his car.
"You can keep them, they look better on you anyway." She laughed with him as they left the park together.
Coming into the hallway that led to her apartment, they talked about the movies that they had watched that day and laughed at what they thought were the best parts. It had turned into a double feature as they realized they had time for both movies. Kate held her arms out in front of her as she recalled the scene with the charger on its two wheels.
"How did they make that car do that, anyway?"
"Hydraulic jacks for the far shots, and a frame to hold part of the body on its side for the close ups," he answered. At her startled glance he continued, "I read it in Popular Mechanics once."
"You never fail to amaze me, Tony." She grinned at him just before he grabbed her wrist and turned her around in an expert dance move that brought her snuggly back to his chest, their faces close enough to kiss, yet not quite touching.
"Like that, Kate?" As he let his head fall to kiss her lips, he saw movement in the shadows up ahead. He stopped short of the kiss and shifted to but himself between Kate and the possible threat. His free hand moved to rest calmly on the butt of his weapon, tucked in the back holster that Kate hadn't noticed he was wearing. His voice was strong as he called out to the figure in the near darkness. "Who ever you are, come out where I can see you."
"Tony, don't shoot!" Danny stepped from the shadows near Kate's door, his hands high in the air. Kate blew out a sigh of relief, but Tony didn't release his hold on his weapon. She held his other hand and watched as Danny took another cautious step forward. Tony glared at him. "I told you I would shoot first and deal later, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember Tony," answered the other man. "But I need to talk to Kate. Can I do that before you kill me?"
Tony stood between the woman he loved and the man who had broken her heart, wanting so badly to beat the man to within an inch of his life for what he did to Kate. He moved his one hand away from his weapon and squeezed her hand with the other. "Kate, you want to talk to Danny-boy?"
"I think I should, Tony..." He watched carefully as she stepped around him to face Danny. Tony leaned against the wall, ever the watch dog. One wrong word from this guy and Tony wouldn't hesitate to punch him out and leave him in an alley somewhere. Kate felt strong enough to talk to Danny, knowing that she had Tony at her back to protect her honor if she needed it. She stared the other man square in the eyes.
"What do you want, Danny? I figured you would understand that it's over between us now."
"Kate, I wanted to explain…"
"There is nothing to explain. You were seeing some other woman while you were seeing me, and you got caught. There is nothing you can say that will change that fact."
"I wanted to tell you about her, Kate, really I did. But things began to get so complicated and…"
"How did it get complicated, Danny? It was down right embarrassing to have my fiancé say those words in front of my team mates… my friends… my family." She took her keys out of her purse and proceeded to open the door to her apartment as Danny continued speaking.
"Kate, I loved you, really I did." He tried to give her a broken look, but she wasn't having it. She recognized it for what it was; she was a profiler after all. She could read people when she tried hard enough.
"Loved, past tense. I know you say you loved me, Danny. But the truth is, when it came right down to it… you couldn't control me." She swung the door open and turned back to her ex-fiancé, preparing to end the conversation. Tony noticed the sign and moved to stand behind her in the open doorway, giving her all the strength and comfort he could to help her to continue. "It's over Danny, I'm moving on. You should do that as well."
Danny could have left it at that, he didn't have to say another word. But he couldn't leave well enough alone. "Moving on, eh? I take it that Tony here is helping you with that, quite nicely I suppose?"
Kate's head snapped back with shock evident in her chocolate eyes. That he had the nerve, the audacity to say something like that to her? For a fraction of a second she considered having Tony shoot him for that remark. She knew he would have loved to do it for her. Instead, she took a deep calming breath and stared Danny down.
"How dare you for one minute presume that Tony and I are involved in any way." Not that it wasn't so, but for Danny to infer that she was… what? What did Danny think of her relationship with Tony? Danny wasn't done yet, and he continued to berate the couple from the hallway.
"How fast did it take you to get in her pants, Tony? An hour, maybe two? Did she scream for you that first night or was it more of a whimper? Did you manage to break that tough hide of hers and find a heart?" Danny was dangerously close to having his teeth knocked in by the tall Italian, but he didn't care. He wanted to hurt Kate and he knew this was the best way to do it.
Before he could take another breath, though, he found himself slammed against the wall on the opposite side of the hall, his feet barely touching the floor, very nearly not even supporting his weight. Tony, his long fingers wrapped around Danny's throat, held the other man pinned against the wall so that he could look him in the eyes when he spoke. His voice had taken on a strange and dangerous quality and Danny paid very close attention to every word spoken.
"Listen to me, you worm. You made a very terrible mistake tonight. One that I would suggest in the future you never make again. You see that woman right there?" Tony moved his head slightly to give Danny a better view of Kate, who was standing still in shock at the scene before her. Danny tried to nod his head and Tony continued, "That is the most beautiful woman in the world, did you know that? And you lost her. You tried to screw her over and look what it got you? Nothing, absolutely nothing."
Danny began to panic as he watched Tony, wondering if the other man would make good on his threat to shoot him and hide the body. Tony held his cool just a bit longer, wanting Danny to realize just how serious this was to him.
"If I ever see you around her, the office or her apartment ever again, don't expect to see me coming. You have no claim on her, you never did. You destroyed her with your lies and I was the one to pick up the pieces of your destruction. And I would do it again, if there was a need to. You don't know her, you don't know me, and you never will. She is my friend, and the woman that I love. You wouldn't understand that as scum like you never have friends, you would stab them in the back as fast as lightning. And who would love scum?"
He dropped the man on the ground, turned on his heel and strode back to Kate's apartment. Taking her by the arm, he steered her back inside and closed the door behind them, flicking on the light by the front door. She finally pulled out of her stunned trance and fell shaking into his arms. He held her tightly, stroking her back and shifting her hair back and forth. Soothing words tripped off his lips as she tried not to cry. She pulled back just enough to look up at him.
"What just happened out there?" she asked.
"Closure," he answered firmly. "Are you ok?"
"I will be, now that it's over." She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close again. "My knight in shining armor."
"Even though it's somewhat tarnished?" He laughed.
"Nothing about you is tarnished, Tony," she assured him. Her sigh flushed out the last of the tension that had been hiding in her bones over the last few days and she looked up at him. Taking a moment to gaze deep into his eyes, emerald green with desire, she smiled. "You, Tony DiNozzo, are perfect."
He grinned back at her, leaning his head in close, closer, both of their lips nearly touching. "And you, Katie Girl, take my breath away."
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.