Prelude by Gibbsgirl for calleigh_j
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gibbsgirl, who is extremely sorry for the lateness of this.
Title: Prelude
Authors:gibbsgirl
Written for:calleigh_j
Characters: Kate, Tony, Tony/Kate
Genre: Het
Word Count: 1155
Rating: Teen
Prompt: Tony/Kate: The prelude to them actually getting together (basically UST, and then resolution), any genre, no higher than R
Summary: She touched her fingers to her lips and wondered idly when it got to this point.
Disclaimer: Does not own, not being paid.
She touched her fingers to her lips and wondered idly when it got to this point. They were just co-workers. Agents who worked together. They really shouldn’t be involved with each other. And yet, here they were, clearly on the cusp of something.
She moved from her doorway and shed her coat, hanging it up without thinking, then sank down onto her sofa. She thought back. Did she know when this whole thing began? She wondered, did he? She closed her eyes and let her mind drift.
They’d gone out after work one night for Chinese. Nothing special. Just two co-workers catching a meal. After they’d left the restaurant they’d stood by their cars and talked for nearly half an hour, as if they were reluctant to part company. A week later, they’d found themselves back in the same booth at The Szechuan Palace.
They laughed and talked and lingered over dinner and still found themselves standing outside by their cars talking for over half an hour before they left. When they stood there third week in a row, the autumn air getting noticeably cooler, he whispered in a soft voice as they said good-night, “You’re beautiful, Katie.”
Week four he dared to lean in and give her a light kiss on the cheek accompanied by one of his ladykiller grins. “’Night, Katie,” he said, with mischief in his eyes. And she watched him climb into his car before turning to her own.
And so the weeks progressed, a kiss on the cheek was now a hug and a kiss on the cheek. And she found that she liked the feel of his body against hers. Unlike when they sparred in the gym, she could appreciate the hard lines and planes against her softness.
One night the kiss on the cheek turned into a light kiss dropped gently on her lips. She pulled back, slightly surprised.
“You can’t tell me you weren’t expecting that, Kate.” His voice was low and quiet.
She stood there, saying nothing. He was right, she had been expecting it. What she hadn’t been expecting what how it made her feel. The way the warmth spread through her body, kindling fires this man shouldn’t light.
She kept him at arm’s length, never putting too much of herself into kissing back, always careful to keep reserved. They worked together, relied on each other, sometimes for their very lives. Becoming involved was not a good idea.
In the freezing night air, as he bundled her into her car, his fingers stroked her cheek and he kissed her with an intensity that neither of them had previously dared. Startled, she held back, as always. But as she drove away her fingers played over her lips and she wondered, did she dare give into the growing passion between them?
The following week she tempted fate. She kissed back. She kissed back like she meant it. She kissed back and surprised him. Then she turned away without a word and climbed into her car. Drove off without a backwards glance. Berated herself the whole way home. She never teased, yet wasn’t that what she just did? This could never go anywhere, so why then, did she lead him on just now?
There was never any mention of these moments at work. No looks exchanged, no comments made. It was as if they did not exist outside that one brief minute in time. Therefore, she did not worry that her actions would haunt her the next day. She was wrong.
She was preoccupied. She was distracted. She was confused, to say the least. This was not how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be in control, not dizzy with uncertainty like this. She knew she did not want to be just another one of his conquests or failures. She knew their time together felt different, somehow, than that, than the way he talked about other women in his life. And, she’d noticed, he’d been doing that less and less lately, as well. What she did not know was just what all this really meant.
As she sat, staring at her lunch, he snuck up beside her. “Penny for your thoughts,” he’d whispered, startling her. Though she’d declined to answer, the look in his eyes suggested he knew she was thinking of him.
Now here she sat, curled up on her sofa, wondering just when she’d started falling for him. Wondering when his annoying, self-serving attitude turned into an easy charm that she found attractive. Wondering precisely when she’d taken leave of her senses.
She stood and made her way to the kitchen, setting the teakettle on to boil as she thought of a hundred reasons why falling in love with another agent was a Bad Idea. And as she enumerated each of them she remembered the gentle feel of his lips on hers. Their quiet conversations over dinner. His fingers softly stroking her cheek. She groaned in frustrated misery.
“Face it, Kate Todd. You’ve gone and done the most hopelessly stupid thing in the world that you could possibly do,” she told herself aloud as she leaned back against the kitchen counter. “You’ve fallen in love with a man who is patently incapable of loving you back.”
She stared at the kettle, as if seeking an answer or reassurance from it. Instead there came a knock from her front door. Sighing, she shoved away from the counter and headed through the living room, expecting to find Mrs. Davis at the door, wanting to come in for a chat.
Kate prepared an excuse to send the lonely widow away for the evening, not up to entertaining, but when she swung the door open the words died on her lips. Tony slouched against the doorframe, an uncertain look on his face.
For a moment, neither spoke. Then softly, hesitantly, Tony said, “Can I come in for a moment, Kate? I won’t stay long.”
Still silent, Kate backed away from the door and watched as he stepped into her apartment, then closed the door softly behind him. She eyed him warily as he looked around before turning back to her.
He cleared his throat and stared at the floor a moment, then into her eyes. “Kate…” he trailed off as if uncertain. Then he reached out to her, seemingly intent on kissing her. She put her hands on his chest, as much to feel him as to stop him.
“Tony, you’re turning my world upside-down,” she whispered.
“Funny, that’s exactly what you’re doing to me. Kate, I’m falling in love with you.”
Kate searched his face, wanting to believe. In his eyes she found what she sought and a slow smile graced her lips. “I hope you didn’t mean what you said. About not staying long, that is.” And she leaned up to kiss him, awakening passion fueling their embrace.
In the background the teakettle whistled, unnoticed.
gibbsgirl, who is extremely sorry for the lateness of this.Title: Prelude
Authors:
gibbsgirlWritten for:
calleigh_jCharacters: Kate, Tony, Tony/Kate
Genre: Het
Word Count: 1155
Rating: Teen
Prompt: Tony/Kate: The prelude to them actually getting together (basically UST, and then resolution), any genre, no higher than R
Summary: She touched her fingers to her lips and wondered idly when it got to this point.
Disclaimer: Does not own, not being paid.
She touched her fingers to her lips and wondered idly when it got to this point. They were just co-workers. Agents who worked together. They really shouldn’t be involved with each other. And yet, here they were, clearly on the cusp of something.
She moved from her doorway and shed her coat, hanging it up without thinking, then sank down onto her sofa. She thought back. Did she know when this whole thing began? She wondered, did he? She closed her eyes and let her mind drift.
They’d gone out after work one night for Chinese. Nothing special. Just two co-workers catching a meal. After they’d left the restaurant they’d stood by their cars and talked for nearly half an hour, as if they were reluctant to part company. A week later, they’d found themselves back in the same booth at The Szechuan Palace.
They laughed and talked and lingered over dinner and still found themselves standing outside by their cars talking for over half an hour before they left. When they stood there third week in a row, the autumn air getting noticeably cooler, he whispered in a soft voice as they said good-night, “You’re beautiful, Katie.”
Week four he dared to lean in and give her a light kiss on the cheek accompanied by one of his ladykiller grins. “’Night, Katie,” he said, with mischief in his eyes. And she watched him climb into his car before turning to her own.
And so the weeks progressed, a kiss on the cheek was now a hug and a kiss on the cheek. And she found that she liked the feel of his body against hers. Unlike when they sparred in the gym, she could appreciate the hard lines and planes against her softness.
One night the kiss on the cheek turned into a light kiss dropped gently on her lips. She pulled back, slightly surprised.
“You can’t tell me you weren’t expecting that, Kate.” His voice was low and quiet.
She stood there, saying nothing. He was right, she had been expecting it. What she hadn’t been expecting what how it made her feel. The way the warmth spread through her body, kindling fires this man shouldn’t light.
She kept him at arm’s length, never putting too much of herself into kissing back, always careful to keep reserved. They worked together, relied on each other, sometimes for their very lives. Becoming involved was not a good idea.
In the freezing night air, as he bundled her into her car, his fingers stroked her cheek and he kissed her with an intensity that neither of them had previously dared. Startled, she held back, as always. But as she drove away her fingers played over her lips and she wondered, did she dare give into the growing passion between them?
The following week she tempted fate. She kissed back. She kissed back like she meant it. She kissed back and surprised him. Then she turned away without a word and climbed into her car. Drove off without a backwards glance. Berated herself the whole way home. She never teased, yet wasn’t that what she just did? This could never go anywhere, so why then, did she lead him on just now?
There was never any mention of these moments at work. No looks exchanged, no comments made. It was as if they did not exist outside that one brief minute in time. Therefore, she did not worry that her actions would haunt her the next day. She was wrong.
She was preoccupied. She was distracted. She was confused, to say the least. This was not how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be in control, not dizzy with uncertainty like this. She knew she did not want to be just another one of his conquests or failures. She knew their time together felt different, somehow, than that, than the way he talked about other women in his life. And, she’d noticed, he’d been doing that less and less lately, as well. What she did not know was just what all this really meant.
As she sat, staring at her lunch, he snuck up beside her. “Penny for your thoughts,” he’d whispered, startling her. Though she’d declined to answer, the look in his eyes suggested he knew she was thinking of him.
Now here she sat, curled up on her sofa, wondering just when she’d started falling for him. Wondering when his annoying, self-serving attitude turned into an easy charm that she found attractive. Wondering precisely when she’d taken leave of her senses.
She stood and made her way to the kitchen, setting the teakettle on to boil as she thought of a hundred reasons why falling in love with another agent was a Bad Idea. And as she enumerated each of them she remembered the gentle feel of his lips on hers. Their quiet conversations over dinner. His fingers softly stroking her cheek. She groaned in frustrated misery.
“Face it, Kate Todd. You’ve gone and done the most hopelessly stupid thing in the world that you could possibly do,” she told herself aloud as she leaned back against the kitchen counter. “You’ve fallen in love with a man who is patently incapable of loving you back.”
She stared at the kettle, as if seeking an answer or reassurance from it. Instead there came a knock from her front door. Sighing, she shoved away from the counter and headed through the living room, expecting to find Mrs. Davis at the door, wanting to come in for a chat.
Kate prepared an excuse to send the lonely widow away for the evening, not up to entertaining, but when she swung the door open the words died on her lips. Tony slouched against the doorframe, an uncertain look on his face.
For a moment, neither spoke. Then softly, hesitantly, Tony said, “Can I come in for a moment, Kate? I won’t stay long.”
Still silent, Kate backed away from the door and watched as he stepped into her apartment, then closed the door softly behind him. She eyed him warily as he looked around before turning back to her.
He cleared his throat and stared at the floor a moment, then into her eyes. “Kate…” he trailed off as if uncertain. Then he reached out to her, seemingly intent on kissing her. She put her hands on his chest, as much to feel him as to stop him.
“Tony, you’re turning my world upside-down,” she whispered.
“Funny, that’s exactly what you’re doing to me. Kate, I’m falling in love with you.”
Kate searched his face, wanting to believe. In his eyes she found what she sought and a slow smile graced her lips. “I hope you didn’t mean what you said. About not staying long, that is.” And she leaned up to kiss him, awakening passion fueling their embrace.
In the background the teakettle whistled, unnoticed.
