Back In Baltimore
Sep. 13th, 2006 08:55 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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ncisficathonTitle: Back In Baltimore
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
calleigh_j
Written for:gibbsgirl
Archive: Sure, just let me know
Rating: Um, PG-13, I guess – one tiny bad word
Warnings/Spoilers: None whatsoever; completely ignoring ‘Twilight’ and setting this a couple of months after ‘SWAK’
Genre: Het
Pairings: Tony/Kate
Word Count: 7637
Disclaimer: I don’t own NCIS and am not getting paid. I also don’t own the Crowded House lyrics I stole for a couple of chapter titles, or the REM lyrics either. Any characters you don’t recognise are my own creation
Prompt: Tony/Kate, anything you care to throw at me. Honestly
Summary: Baltimore changed all the rules
Author's Note: Originally, this was supposed to be only a couple of thousands words long, but the more I wrote, the more I wrote, and this is now the largest completed fic I’ve written. Hope it meets with your approval,gibbsgirl. And thanks to pixie_on_acid for beta-ing and telling me that it didn’t suck
The Phone Call (I).
Kate sighed – talking to her sister on the phone wasn’t something she really enjoyed. She loved her sister – she really did – but Liz just had a way of making everything she accomplished seem so insignificant.
“Yes Liz…I know…I promise I’ll be there.” Next month was their parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. They had a huge party planned, and every time Kate had spoken to her sister recently, Liz had reminded her, and every time, Kate had reiterated that she already knew, and that she really didn’t need to be reminded.
“Bringing anyone…I don’t know…Liz, I don’t know.” That was the other thing that really irritated Kate: Liz’s interminable desire to see her little sister married off. Whenever she visited her sister, Kate invariably found herself being introduced to some attractive doctor or lawyer or banker who just happened to be single. They were all nice guys, but Kate objected to being set up with friends of her sister, no matter how nice they were. She’d told Liz that too, but that was another thing her sister ignored.
“Liz…Liz…Liz, I’ve gotta go…to work…yeah, I know it’s Sunday…I gotta go Liz, I’ll call you in a couple of days…promise…love you too.” Sighing again, she pressed the ‘End Call’ button and put the phone back on its cradle. She looked at the clock above the oven and grimaced – even if she left her apartment now, which she couldn’t do seeing as she wasn’t even dressed yet, she would barely make it to work on time. It was going to be a long week.
Getting There.
She knew he was nervous; she could tell from the way he was driving: he pulled away less sharply from red lights, and hit fewer Gs going round the corners. Though his usual style of driving couldn’t have been described as ‘dangerous’ (sometimes it was close though), it did require a certain level of concentration, so it was easy to tell when he was preoccupied. He’d barely said a word since they left Washington – a very unusual occurrence – and all her attempts to make conversation had met with little response. As they pulled up by the yellow tape marking the perimeter of the crime scene, she tried a more blunt approach.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sorry?”
“I said ‘what’s wrong’ – you’re not acting like yourself.”
“I’m just tired, I guess,” he replied evasively.
“When has being tired ever shut you up? Come on Tony – pneumonic plague hardly quietened you down at all, so spill.” She fixed him with an unflinching glare which he held for a few seconds, before turning his gaze to the world outside the car windows.
Since that exposure and the pair’s stay in isolation, their relationship had lost some of its sharp edges. Though they bantered back and forth as they always had, and their conversations were still punctuated by cries of ‘DiNozzo’, Tony no longer tried so hard to irritate his partner, and she in return had loosened up, determined to roll with the punches instead of push against them. As a result, their partnership was stronger, and Kate felt she could genuinely refer to Tony as a friend, instead of just her annoying colleague. In this instance, it meant she could push Tony, despite his obvious reluctance.
“I didn’t get along so well with everyone in the Baltimore P.D. I had a few run-ins with another guy in Homicide after I got pulled onto one of his cases and ended up solving it. He had some friends in high places, and decided to make life a little more interesting for me. If Gibbs hadn’t come along when he did, I probably would’ve quit anyway.”
“Does this guy still work in Homicide?”
“Yeah – I still talk to some of the guys, and last thing I heard, he was still there.”
“Well, maybe he won’t be on the case, and even if he is, it’s not like he can do anything to you, now. Relax Tony.” She smiled at her partner before pushing open the car and stepping out into the early morning sunshine. He followed her out, and as they made their way towards the yellow crime scene tape, Kate was relieved to see her partner smiling again. But clearing the air in the car had been difficult for her: sure, they were friends, but she wasn’t used to having such discussions with him.
Since their stay in isolation together, their relationship had developed new, more complex levels that neither was particularly willing to explore. But they were both very aware that something had changed, and with the new changes came new rules: don’t look too long, lean too close, feel too much. To Kate, it felt like they were taking one step forwards and two steps back: they were closer than ever, so she could theoretically talk to him about everything, and ask him about anything, but doing either of those things would inevitably mean that they would have to examine their relationship more closely than either was willing to do.
Baltimore seemed to be changing all the rules.
The Reasons Why.
Three days previously, a Navy Lieutenant by the name of Alex Webber had been found in the parking lot of a bar on the outskirts of Washington D.C. He’d been shot in the head and then dumped on the tarmac, dressed in his formal uniform – Abby had deduced, from some partial fingerprints found on the insignia, that someone else had put the uniform on the Lieutenant. Unfortunately, the partials were not clear enough for a search; Abby could only tell that they did not match Webber’s.
The day after that, Peter Bentley, also a Lieutenant in the Navy, had been found in an alleyway in the centre of the capital. He too wore his formal uniform and a bullet buried in his brain. Searching his records, McGee discovered that the two dead Lieutenants had served together in Iraq, and had in fact just recently returned from there. Their C.O. said that the two were good friends and exemplary officers, but couldn’t offer any information as to who might’ve killed either man.
Two days later, in Baltimore, Lieutenant Alan Fletcher’s body was found in a park near the centre of the city. Like Webber and Bentley, he’d been shot in the head, dressed in his formal uniform, and dumped. As soon as the Baltimore P.D. identified him, they contacted NCIS and were told that a couple of agents would be sent out from Washington to them.
The Body.
Kate and Tony were led over to the Baltimore detectives on the scene by one of the uniformed officers standing guard over the area and deflecting curious passers-by.
“Detective Harris, these are the agents from NCIS.”
“DiNozzo, good to see you man.” Detective Jake Harris was a homicide detective who, four years previously, had worked alongside one Detective Tony DiNozzo.
“How’re Marcie and the kids?” Tony asked.
“They’re good. Lucy starts middle school in September, and Ella’s just started taking ballet lessons. Marcie’s still at the hospital – she’s Nurse Manager now.”
“She got it?”
“Yeah, a few months after you left. She’s making a real difference.” The smile on Harris’ face spoke of commitment and adoration, and Kate immediately felt that she could trust the detective. “What about you?” he continued.
“Ah, same old, same old. You know me,” Tony replied, shrugging off the question.
“Anyway, this is Rick Martinez,” Harris said, gesturing to the man standing next to him, “He just transferred up from Miami Dade” The two men shook hands. “And I’m sure you remember Parker and Lane.” Tony grinned at the other two men standing with Harris.
“Of course.” There followed a round of backslapping and inside jokes that left Kate standing to the side with an unimpressed look on her face. But she remained silent until Lane made a comment about ‘Tony and his women’.
“Guys,” Tony said, interrupting the reminiscing, “This is Special Agent Kate Todd, my partner. Kate, this is Jake Harris, my old partner; Rick Martinez, from Vice; and Dan Parker and Tom Lane, Homicide.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kate said, shaking the hands offered to her.
“So, how’d you put up with Tony here?” Harris asked teasingly.
“I have my ways,” Kate replied with a smile.
“Well, I’m guessing you want to see the victim then,” Harris said, and they turned back to the case at hand.
The Old And The New.
The Baltimore police headquarters were much larger than the NCIS buildings in Washington and housed many more people. Kate nodded absentmindedly at Jake’s commentary, looking around at the unfamiliar faces and wondering how many of them knew her partner. They headed into the elevator with Jake pointing out various people of interest, some of whom did double takes when they saw Tony.
Most of the desks in Homicide were occupied: it wasn’t even seven AM, but Kate guessed that more than a few of the detectives had been working cases overnight, looking at the coffee cups littering desks and filling trash cans, and the five o’clock shadows being sported by some of the men. The area was about the same size as the bullpen at NCIS, and various billboards on the walls held pictures of suspects and victims, event timelines, and names.
“Hey guys.” Jake’s loud yell cut through the bubble of conversation and his colleagues looked towards him, Martinez, and the two NCIS agents. “This is Special Agent Todd, and Special Agent DiNozzo from NCIS; they’re here working the Fletcher case. Please offer them any help or support they may need…” This remark was met with laughter and jeers, much as it would’ve been if someone had made it about the FBI or a similar agency at NCIS, and signified the end of Jake’s welcome speech.
As Jake showed them towards two empty desks along one side wall, Kate found her partner being accosted by those detectives who’d worked with him before he left. They were all men, as were most of the people in the room, and Kate snorted softly at the male bonding taking place all around her. Tony heard and grinned at her. As the men drifted away, Kate placed her bags down on the left-hand desk. Unlike their desks in Washington, these desks were back-to-back, with a cork board up on the wall between them. Pulling out her cellphone, she hit speed dial two: Gibbs.
The phone call was short, and Kate quickly relayed the new information to her partner.
“Apparently, Fletcher served in Iraq with Bentley and Webber. Abby got some prints off Bentley’s uniform which match the ones she found on Webber’s, but there’s no match in any of the databases. Also, the bullets from the first two victims were fired from the same pistol, a Beretta, and Abby’s running those through the system as well. But so far, no luck finding anyone who might have a reason to go after any one of the three victims, let alone all of them.”
“So, whoever killed Bentley and Webber likely killed Fletcher as well.”
“Yep.”
“But we don’t know who, or why?”
“Again, yes.” Tony sighed.
“Well, seems like we’ve got some work to do then.”
The Past Is Myself.
Twelve hours later, Kate and Tony were no closer to finding out who’d killed the three Naval officers – fingerprints had been found on Fletcher’s uniform matching those on the previous two victims. It was approaching seven, and the two agents were taking a break, chairs turned around to face one another, cartons of Chinese takeout in their hands. They’d been throwing ideas back and forth for the past half hour, each scenario more wild than the one before. They’d just reached alien abduction when Kate was called down to the lab by one of the scientists to see the results of one of the tests they’d been running. Tony turned back to the files with a sigh, reading again through the autopsy reports from the first two victims. He was trying hard not to be distracted by the noise around him, but one familiar voice made him look up sharply.
“So, are we cooperating with them then?” Dave Yorkin had a voice which could always make itself heard over any amount of din, even when he was just carrying on an ordinary conversation, as he was now. Tony groaned inwardly: it sounded as though Yorkin was talking about him and Kate, and the last thing he wanted was a confrontation with his old colleague. It seemed inevitable though, when he heard the reply from whoever Yorkin was talking to: “Yeah – the NCIS agents are just over there.” Closing the file, Tony stood up, not wanting to have to look up to Yorkin.
“DiNozzo,” the detective said, a sneer marking his angular face.
“Yorkin.”
“So, you’re at NCIS now?”
“Yeah.” Tony didn’t feel the need to reveal any more information than necessary. Gordon Munroe, the man Tony had heard talking to Yorkin before, was a little confused by the exchange.
“You two know each other?” he asked curiously.
“DiNozzo used to work here, before he decided he was too good for the lowly Baltimore P.D.”
Jake appeared before Tony could reply, having spotted Yorkin from across the room, and being well aware of the history between the two men.
“Got anything new Tony?” he asked, jumping into the conversation in the hopes of preventing a confrontation. Tony shook his head.
“We’ve been going through these files all day, but we can’t find anything in of the three victims’ files to explain why someone would kill them.”
Stepping into the room, Kate looked across to the group of men standing around the desks she and Tony were using. She took in the tense stance Tony had adopted and the dismissive look on the face of one of the other men, and guessed that he had to be the man Tony had talked about earlier. Fixing a smile on her face, she approached her partner. With his back to the desks, Tony saw her before any of the others, and the look on his face confirmed her suspicions. She swallowed a grimace: Tony had been so unlike himself on the journey up that she knew there had to be more to the story he’d told. There was a brief lull in the conversation as she neared, so she unknowingly copied Jake’s tactic.
“So, there’s a match on the prints we got off Fletcher’s uniform, but we still don’t know whose they are. Also, the ME found some skin cells under his fingernails, presumably from whoever attacked him, but we won’t get any DNA results until tomorrow at the earliest.” Stepping between Jake and the side of the desk, she positioned herself next to Tony, and looked expectantly at the other two men, waiting for an introduction.
“Detectives Gordon Munroe and Dave Yorkin; this is Special Agent Kate Todd, NCIS.”
“So, you got stuck with DiNozzo for this job then?” Yorkin said, offering Kate a supposedly charming smile, despite his obnoxious comment.
“Tony and I are partners,” Kate replied calmly, returning Yorkin’s smile with a more insincere one of her own. “Did you two used to work together?” she continued, feigning innocence of their relationship.
“DiNozzo was my partner when he first joined: we never really worked that well together.” Tony snorted quietly at the understatement, and Kate struggled to keep her composure. “He was a little too fond of disobeying the rules for my liking.” Yorkin was still trying to win Kate over, ignoring the pointed looks Jake was shooting him.
“Really?”
“Yeah, he never really…uh…‘fulfilled his potential’.” Although the line sounded innocuous in terms of language, the voice delivering it was harsh, and the tone vicious.
“Well, he’s one of the best agents we have at NCIS,” Kate replied sharply, eyes glinting with undisguised anger, “Maybe you just didn’t take the time to help him fulfil that potential. So,” she continued, turning back to her partner, “Abby’s sorted out the hotel for us, and we don’t have to check in until later, so we can go through these files again.” She sat down at her desk, indicating clearly that her conversation with Yorkin was over. Tony followed her example. Annoyed, Yorkin remained standing for a few more minutes, but when it was clear that neither agent was going to talk to him, he left, stalking angrily towards his own desk.
“Thanks,” Tony said quietly, not turning away from his files.
When You Feel Your Attraction Again…
They arrived at the hotel shortly before midnight. The lobby was empty, marble floors echoing the sound of their feet around the space. Two receptionists sat behind the long desk, both tapping away at computers.
“Abby certainly got us a decent hotel this time,” Tony said quietly as the approached the desk. One of the receptionists looked up at them and smiled.
“Welcome to the Marriott. Do you have a reservation?”
“Two rooms; Todd and DiNozzo, NCIS.” Entering their names into the computer, the receptionist, whose nametag read ‘Becky’, quickly found their rooms and handed them their keys.
“Checkout is at noon; your rooms are on the second floor; elevators are just over there. Enjoy your stay.”
The adjoining rooms were just off the elevator lobby on the second floor. Both exhausted, the two agents said good night to one another, and went into their rooms.
Kate’s alarm went off at five the next morning. Despite having had little sleep, the thoughts running through her head preventing her from getting to sleep until almost two, she felt refreshed. She was just drying her hair when there was a knock on the door that led into Tony’s room. She unlocked it, allowing a somewhat subdued Tony into her room. As she returned to the bathroom, Tony flicked the TV onto ESPN and sat down on the end of the bed furthest away from the noise of the hairdryer. When Kate emerged and began to repack her bag, there was no comment from her partner about women taking so long to get ready, as she might have expected. For the second time in as many days, she found herself saying, “What’s wrong?” The response she received was the same too.
“Sorry?”
“We already did this,” she said, reaching over and snatching the remote from his hands so she could flip the baseball highlights onto mute. “What happened with you and Yorkin, ‘cause it was obviously a lot more than you told me about yesterday.” Still, he didn’t want to answer. Leaning across the small space between the two beds, she poked her partner on the knee with the remote she’d taken from him. “Hey, talk to me.”
“Dave and I were partners when I first joined the Baltimore P.D. On a personal level, we disagreed about almost everything, but we managed to work together. I didn’t wanna make trouble by requesting a new partner, and Dave seemed to enjoy pissing me off.” As he spoke, his eyes were fixed firmly on his hands, and Kate had the strange urge to reach across and link her fingers through his. “I was dating this girl: her name was Suzie, and she was a reporter. She’d just finished her internship, and was a back-up for one of the more senior anchorwomen. We dated for almost a year, and then I went to this conference in California. It was over a long weekend, and I got back a little early on the Monday, so I went over to Suzie’s.” Kate found herself wincing: she could guess what was coming.
“The door was locked, but her car was outside, and I had a key, so I let myself in. She was living in this little house downtown that her parents had bought for her. I called out for her, but there was no reply. At first, I thought she must’ve gone out somewhere on foot, but I could hear voices upstairs, so I went up to the bedroom, and found her in bed with Dave. They’d been sleeping together for over three months. I walked in on them, and he just laughed at me.” Though his eyes were still downcast, Kate could see how angry he was from the way his jaw tensed and his fingers clenched into fists.
“After that, I was partnered with Jake.” Finally, he lifted his head so their eyes met. Kate knew that Tony wasn’t as unflappable as he liked to think, but the pain in his eyes was strong and burning. This time, she couldn’t stop herself: she reached out her hands and unclenched his fists, running her fingers down his longer ones to try and smooth out some of the tension.
“I’m sorry.” The words were useless, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say, and hoped that the sincerity in her tone was audible. It seemed to be, because she was rewarded with a weak smile.
“Every case I worked,” he began again, “He was determined to get involved with somehow. He was constantly trying to show me up, and make me look bad. It didn’t work, but I was a couple days away from handing in my notice when we got a case involving a Naval officer, and Gibbs got called in. I was assigned as the liaison, and when the case was solved, Gibbs offered me a job.”
“Worked out well for NCIS then, didn’t it?” she said, trying to inject some of the humour that usually filled their interactions into the conversation.
“I guess,” was his unenthusiastic reply.
“Hey, trust me, I for one am glad to be working with you.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I mean, you’re a pain in the ass, and sometimes I really could shoot you, but most of the time you’re not that bad.” This finally earned her a genuine smile, and she knew she’d managed to lift the black cloud that had been hanging over his head ever since they’d arrived in Baltimore.
“I like working with you too – you’re way more fun than Blackadder was,” he said smiling, “But seriously, thanks for putting up with me today. I know I haven’t exactly been the greatest company.”
“Wow,” Kate said softly, “I don’t think you’ve ever been so honest with me before.” The words sounded off, and she winced as she finished the sentence. She sounded unnecessarily harsh, and she wished immediately that she hadn’t said anything. Besides feeling as though she’d offended him, she knew she’d broken most of their unspoken rules by just asking him if he was ok. Now, he was looking at her with an unreadable expression, and she felt out of control: the next move was his, and she had no idea what it was going to be.
Your Instinct Can’t Be Wrong.
Of all the things she’d imagined she might be doing in a hotel room in Baltimore at six in the morning, being kissed by Tony DiNozzo came pretty close to the bottom of the list. One minute, they’d been sitting knee-to-knee, hand in hand on the two twin beds, and the next, he was leaning towards her, pressing his lips against hers, and somewhere along the way, as he tried to lose himself, and she tried to find him, they’d ended up sprawled across the bed closest to the bathroom. Her head was resting on the pillows, face framed by his hands, and the thought that what they were doing was entirely inappropriate had just begun to form in her brain when a buzzing from the table between the two beds had him pulling away like a guilty teenager.
“It’s just an e-mail,” Kate said softly, trying to diffuse the tension settling over them once again.
“Shit,” Tony muttered, pushing away from Kate and heading through the door connecting their two rooms, slamming it shut behind him. Taking a moment to brush the hair away from her face and calm her breathing, Kate stood up and followed him, pulling the door open and stalking into his room.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she said, the expression on her face conveying clearly the fact that, were it not six AM, she would’ve been yelling as loudly as possible. Tony turned to face her, eyes wild and fists clenched.
“Look, Kate…”
“Don’t ‘look Kate’ me – you don’t just do…that, and then walk out. I know you’re having a hard time here, but who do you think I am – one of your bimbos who’s just going to fall into bed with you?” She knew that just maybe she was overreacting a little bit, but she was angry.
“Woah, hey.” Immediately he was on the defensive, hands up in a gesture of surrender, “I didn’t mean to…I was just.” It was unusual to see Tony lost for words, but he was silent as he slumped onto the bed and dropped his head into his hands. When he spoke again, his voice was muffled. “I didn’t think it would bother me this much – seeing him again, I mean. You know me: I’m not one to dwell, and I thought I was over this.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
“Tony, ever since I’ve known you, you’ve never spent more than three weeks dating the same girl. That seems like a pretty good indication that you're afraid of being hurt again.” Still standing in the doorway, looking down at the top of his head, she felt awkward, as though she was giving a lecture or something, so she stepped forwards and sat down next to him, careful to keep some distance between them.
“So. what? You’re profiling me now?” His tone was bitter and only served to re-ignite her anger.
“Hey, don’t take this out on me – I’m trying to help here. You’re the one who’s running away, like always.”
“Running away? Come on: it’s not like your track record with relationships is much better than mine,” he snapped.
“Don’t make this about me – you’re the one who started this; you kissed me.”
Tony raised his head and looked at his partner. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise for that. I want to know why you just took off.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing here, Kate.” He was watching her now, examining her face for any sign to suggest how he should proceed, what he could say that would make the situation better, or least wouldn’t make it any worse. “I mean, this is what I do. I’m good with women. But then there’s you. You’re…different. You’re Kate, and I’m…I’m me. I don’t know where I stand with you.”
It was Kate’s turn to find herself at a loss for words. She had no idea how she was supposed to respond to his comment: whether she ought to laugh it off, or whether she should have some sort of deep and meaningful response to resolve his dilemma.
“Well, is that a good thing?” she asked finally.
“Which part?”
“Me being Kate, being different. You not knowing where you stand.”
“I don’t know – that’s half the problem. You stayed with me in isolation, when I had the plague. None of the women I know would’ve done that for me.”
“But you’re my partner: what else was I supposed to do? Just leave you in there to die?”
“I don’t understand you, Kate. I irritate you; I tease you; I blackmail you with pictures of you winning a wet t-shirt contest, and you’re still here.”
“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she said quietly. Her anger had subsided now, and she was very conscious of that fact that they were in the middle of a case, and that they’d chosen the worst possible time to try and sort out their relationship. “Tony, whatever this is – this ‘thing’ that’s going on between us – we have to deal with it, one way or another. But now isn’t the time.”
Tony smiled. “Yeah: I guess I could’ve chosen a better time to decide to ‘express my inner feelings’.”
Kate sighed inwardly, relieved at the return to their usual banter. “When we get back…” she began.
“We’ll talk,” he finished. “Yeah, we’ll talk.”
“Are you gonna be ok if Yorkin turns up again?” she asked, standing up and heading back towards her room.
“I’ll deal with it. I always do.” Kate was halfway towards her own bathroom when Tony’s voice floated in through the open door. “Thanks, you know, for not laughing at me. I don’t usually like to think about things like this. I really appreciate you listening.” She knew it was hard for him to express himself as openly as he had earlier – she found it just as difficult – and she also knew that his thanks were genuine, even if they were being delivered from a different room.
“It’s easier not to think about them,” she replied, “I’m happy you trust me enough to talk about them anyway.”
Kate went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. The woman looking back at her seemed somehow foreign: she was calm and self-assured, whereas Kate was filled with questions and an overwhelming sense of dread. No matter how much logic she applied to the situation – to their situation – the idea of sitting down and really talking about it was terrifying, and she was only just beginning to realise why.
“Get a grip, Kate,” she told her reflection sternly. The brown eyes looking at her from inside the mirror were telling her that she knew exactly why she was scared, and that she just didn’t want to admit it. They were taunting and teasing her, and she shook her head, irritated by her sudden insecurity. But when she looked back into the mirror, they were still there, and she couldn’t look away. She felt like Alice, peering into the looking-glass, and seeing something strange and unbelievable. As she spoke, her reflection mouthed the same words back at her.
“I’m in love with Tony DiNozzo.”
Making Progress.
It was mid-morning when their big break came. A call from the forensics lab, followed a couple of seconds later by a call from Abby, revealed the results of the DNA analysis carried out on the skin cells found under Fletcher’s fingernails.
“Burnett – where do I know that name from?” Tony wondered aloud as he pulled Fletcher’s record out again. Ray Burnett was the man whose skin cells had been found, making him the prime suspect for the three murders, if they could find a motive.
“Here,” Kate said, pointing to a name on the list of officers the three victims had worked with in Iraq, “‘Lydia Burnett’,” she read aloud. “Lieutenant Burnett was killed by enemy fire conducting a raid on a supposed weapons facility two months before the end of her TDY. On patrol with her at the time were Lieutenants Alex Webber, Peter Bentley, and Alan Fletcher. None of them were seriously injured. Burnett left behind a husband and two kids.”
“And the husband’s name was Ray?” Tony checked. Kate nodded.
After that, it didn’t take long for them to locate Ray Burnett. He’d flown into Baltimore from D.C. the day before Alan Fletcher was murdered, and was currently staying a hotel on the other side of town. He was booked on a flight back to Washington that evening – after a little more probing, Tony had discovered that the evening flight had been the earliest one available, answering the question of why Burnett hadn’t left town earlier, and that he held no driver’s license.
Kate had spoken to some of Burnett’s neighbours. Apparently, after his wife had been killed in Iraq, Ray had become disillusioned with the war effort, and had started attending anti-war protests. Although he had no criminal record, Mrs. Myerson, the Burnetts' closest neighbour, said that Ray seemed very angry about his wife’s death, and was constantly criticising the Navy and Lydia’s former colleagues.
With evidence placing him at the scene of all three murders, and now a motive, Kate and Tony set off for the hotel, along with Jake Harris and Rick Martinez. The drive was short and silent, and the hotel lobby relatively empty.
“I’m Detective Harris, this is Detective Martinez, Baltimore P.D., and this is Special Agents Todd and DiNozzo, NCIS. Do you know the whereabouts of one of your guests, a Ray Burnett, Room 314?” The receptionist, obviously a little awed by the badges the four had flashed, turned to his computer and began entering names and numbers.
“Mr. Burnett ordered coffee in his room about a half hour ago. It was delivered fifteen minutes ago, and as far as I can tell, he’s still in there.”
“Thank you,” Harris said as he followed the others, who were already heading towards the stairs. On the third floor, they found Burnett’s room almost directly opposite the exit from the stairwell.
“Mr. Burnett, Baltimore P.D. Open the door,” Martinez said firmly, knocking twice on the door of room 314.
A shuffling sound came from inside the room, and then the door was opened. Holding it open only slightly, Ray Burnett’s face appeared in the gap between the door and the frame.
“Can I help you?” he said nervously.
“If you could just step out here for a second,” Kate asked, smiling at the man. He stepped over the threshold, and immediately found himself pushed against the wall.
“Ray Burnett, you’re under arrest for the murders of Alex Webber, Peter Bentley, and Alan Fletcher.”
Standing Up For What You Believe In.
When confronted with the DNA evidence, Burnett confessed quickly to having murdered all three men to avenge his wife’s death. Kate couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the man, for though what he’d done was wrong, she could sympathise with his reasoning. As she sat her temporary desk, closing all the files and getting ready to return to Washington, she was lost in thought, and didn’t hear a woman approach.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Tony DiNozzo.” Kate looked up, startled, into the face of a tall blonde woman.
“He’s not here at the moment; can I help you?”
“I’ll just wait for him here…this is his desk, isn’t it?” she asked, gesturing at the desk behind Kate.
“Yes, it is. If you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”
“I’m Suzie. Suzie Marshall.” Kate pasted a smile on her face, sure that this Suzie was the same woman who Tony had spoken of last night.
“How do you know Tony?” she asked, just in case this was a different Suzie.
“Tony and I were engaged a few years ago.”
‘Engaged?’ Kate thought. Tony hadn’t mentioned that fact last night.
“I heard he was back in town,” Suzie continued, “Just thought I’d pop by and say ‘hi’, for old time’s sake. Anyway, who are you?”
“Kate Todd, Tony’s partner at NCIS.”
“NCIS?”
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service,” Kate replied, turning her back on the woman and returning to her files. She wondered if, by ignoring Suzie, she could make her go away, but thought that unlikely.
“Are you leaving?” Suzie asked, either unaware that she was being ignored, or choosing to pretend that she wasn’t.
“Our case is closed, so we’re going back to Washington.” Placing the last of the files into a box, Kate looked up to see Tony approaching. She tried frantically to signal with her eyes that it was Suzie standing with her, as she was facing away from Tony, but by the time he got close enough to read her expression, Kate could tell that he’d recognised the blonde woman.
“Suzie,” he said flatly, brushing past her to put another box down on Kate’s desk.
“Tony,” she said enthusiastically, stepping forwards and embracing him. Tony remained rigid, glancing down at his partner with a rabbit-in-the-headlights look in his eyes. As soon as Suzie released him, he turned to Kate and started speaking, obviously eager to get out of the awkward situation.
“Are we done here?”
“Yep,” she replied, gesturing to the boxes, “I spoke to Gibbs, and he wants us back ASAP.”
“No afternoon off?” he joked as he slung his overnight bag over his shoulder and picked up the larger of the two boxes.
“Surprising as it may seem, he wants us to go straight to the office.”
“Ok, well, I’ll go and bring the car round the back and see you out there,” he said tentatively. She knew the reason for his hesitation: she was perfectly capable of carrying her bag and the second box down to the underground parking lot, and usually she would complain about him not treating her like he would a male colleague.
“Sure,” she replied, smiling to let him know that, just this once, she would play the part of helpless woman so that he could escape his ex-fiancée.
“Suzie, I’m sorry, but we’ve really gotta run,” he said in mock apology, “Katie, I’ll see you downstairs.” Any other time, she would’ve yelled at him for calling her ‘Katie’, but as the whole point of the plan was to get him away from Suzie, she let it slide, and watched him disappear out of the door. Expecting that Suzie would leave as well, she gathered up her bags and tucked the last box under her arm.
“Would you tell Tony to give me a call when he gets back?” Suzie asked, smiling insincerely.
“Nope, sorry,” Kate replied, heading past her and towards the door.
“Excuse me: do you know who I am?” Suzie demanded, raising her voice and catching the attention of everyone in the room so that Kate had no choice but to stop and turn around.
“I’m well aware of you are, and for that reason, if I were you, I wouldn’t expect a call from Tony any time soon.” There was silence as the two women faced off, and Kate suddenly wished she’d just told Suzie that she would pass the message onto Tony so that she could leave.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I know what happened with you and Tony, and I know he wouldn’t call you even if I gave him your message.”
“What are you – his knight in shining armour or something?” Suzie sneered, closing the gap between them so that Kate had to look up when she replied.
“No, I’m his partner, and his friend,” Kate replied, smiling at the taller woman, “He’s a good guy, despite his faults, and what you did was inexcusable, and I’m not going to help you worm your way back into his life because you just realised what you gave up.” Turning towards the crowd of staring men, she called out, “Bye Jake, Rick, thanks for all your help,” and breezed out of the room as if the events of the past few minutes hadn’t taken place.
Begin The Begin.
The journey back began in much the same way as the journey there; filled with silence.
“So,” they said in unison as they neared Washington. The awkward start to the conversation dispelled the tension that had formed in the car, and they laughed.
“You go first,” Tony offered, looking away from the road briefly to smile at his partner.
“Look,” she began, trying to sound confident, but inside feeling anything but, “I need to know where I stand. What happened this morning: was that just because of what went on with Dave, or was it…was it something…” She trailed off, unsure of exactly what it was that it might’ve been, or what it was that she wanted it to be.
“It wasn’t just because of Dave and because of being back in Baltimore.”
“But it was partly because of that, right? I mean, if it had been some other woman in that room with you, would you have kissed her?” Kate hated the way she sounded: she was an independent, strong-minded woman, and now she felt like some lovesick teenager. The pause before Tony’s answer only made her feel more nervous.
“I don’t know, because it wasn’t just some woman in there – it was you.” Their roles were reversed now: Tony was the confident one with all the answers, and Kate was the one seeking reassurance.
“That doesn’t help me Tony. Look, I know what you’re like: you’ve gone on about all the women you’ve slept with enough, and I’m not gonna be your flavour of the week – that’s not who I am. Either this is something real, or it isn’t anything at all.”
“Kate…”
“We’re here now,” she interrupted as they reached the Navy Yard, “You think about it; if you can commit to someone…if you can commit to me. If you can’t, then this morning was nothing, just a little blip. If you can…well, then we’ll see what happens.” Before he could say anything, Kate climbed out of the car, picked up one of the boxes, and headed towards the elevator. The doors were closed before Tony was even out of the car, and she leaned her head back against the metal wall, wishing that the day was over.
Into Temptation.
At eleven PM, Kate was sat on the couch in her living-room, watching a repeat of an old ER episode. Although she was tired, both physically and emotionally, her mind was racing and she couldn’t relax. Curled up against a pile of cushions with a cup of tea in her hands, all she could think about was Tony. A knock on her door brought her out of her reverie.
“Who is it?” she called.
“It’s me.” The ‘me’ was instantly recognisable, and she put down her tea and headed over to the door. Outside stood Tony, looking concerned. “Can I come in?” he asked. Nodding, Kate stepped back from the door to let her partner in. He had changed since leaving the office and now wore jeans and a dark shirt. She felt incredibly underdressed, despite the fact that she too was wearing jeans, though with a red t-shirt rather than a shirt. She shut the door and leant against it, looking at Tony as he hovered awkwardly in her kitchen.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked, her tone strangely formal.
“Coffee would be good.” Making the coffee released her from the obligations of conversation, and she tried to ignore the eyes she could feel burning a hole through her t-shirt. As she handed him the mug, he started to talk.
“I was thinking, about what you said in the car earlier, and I’m sorry if I gave you the impression you were just ‘some woman’ to me, because you’re a lot more than that. I thought you knew that.”
“How would I have known that Tony – all you ever do is talk about all your women, your conquests.”
“You’re not ‘some woman’ to me,” he repeated, stepping forwards so that she had to step back against the counter. He reached past her to put his coffee down, and though she tried to be annoyed that he was invading her personal space, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“What am I then?” she said softly.
“You’re intelligent, beautiful…”
“I don’t want to be flattered Tony; I want you to talk to me,” she said, pulling away to the other side of the kitchen, “I need to know where this is going, I need to know how you feel.”
“I’m not good at this Kate – at talking about how I feel. Last time I did…well, you met Suzie.”
“So neither of us are much good with relationships.”
“Apparently not. But maybe…maybe we can make this work.”
“‘We’?” Kate repeated.
“How about it?” Turning on his devastating charm, Tony was back to his old self. “You think you could lower yourself to my level?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kate replied, pretending to consider his question as he crossed the small space between them, “I could try.” She looped her arms around his neck and returned his smile.
“Did I ever tell you,” he mumbled against her lips, “How hot you look in red?”
The Phone Call (II).
“Todd…hey Liz, how are you?...yeah, not bad…I was in Baltimore a few weeks ago…for work, yes.”
As Liz began to update her on the latest goings on in the Todd family, Kate began to take the Chinese takeout out of the bag, putting the cartons down on the counter. She pulled a pair of chopsticks and a fork out of the cutlery drawer and carried everything over to the coffee table – she was hungry, and if Tony was going to be late, then she figured she could start without him.
“Yes Liz, I know…I’ve already got a present…you’ll see…that sounds nice.”
Switching on the TV and turning it to mute, Kate flicked through the channels until she found a familiar set of credits.
“Yeah…of course…hang on a second…” The buzzer had sounded to announce that there was someone waiting for her outside the main doors, and Kate walked over to the speaker and buzzed her guest in.
“Oh I know…maybe…bringing someone?” It was the sixty-four thousand dollar question, and she knew the answer was supposed to be ‘no’. She almost wished she was in Miami just so that she could see the look on her sister’s face. A knock at the door signalled his arrival, and Kate pulled the door open to let him in. She motioned for him to be quiet while she finished on the phone. He grinned, and headed straight for the takeout as she turned her attention back to the phone call.
“Yeah, I’m still here…I heard…actually, I am…his name’s Tony.”
Author:
calleigh_j Written for:
gibbsgirl Archive: Sure, just let me know
Rating: Um, PG-13, I guess – one tiny bad word
Warnings/Spoilers: None whatsoever; completely ignoring ‘Twilight’ and setting this a couple of months after ‘SWAK’
Genre: Het
Pairings: Tony/Kate
Word Count: 7637
Disclaimer: I don’t own NCIS and am not getting paid. I also don’t own the Crowded House lyrics I stole for a couple of chapter titles, or the REM lyrics either. Any characters you don’t recognise are my own creation
Prompt: Tony/Kate, anything you care to throw at me. Honestly
Summary: Baltimore changed all the rules
Author's Note: Originally, this was supposed to be only a couple of thousands words long, but the more I wrote, the more I wrote, and this is now the largest completed fic I’ve written. Hope it meets with your approval,
gibbsgirl. And thanks to pixie_on_acid for beta-ing and telling me that it didn’t suckThe Phone Call (I).
Kate sighed – talking to her sister on the phone wasn’t something she really enjoyed. She loved her sister – she really did – but Liz just had a way of making everything she accomplished seem so insignificant.
“Yes Liz…I know…I promise I’ll be there.” Next month was their parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. They had a huge party planned, and every time Kate had spoken to her sister recently, Liz had reminded her, and every time, Kate had reiterated that she already knew, and that she really didn’t need to be reminded.
“Bringing anyone…I don’t know…Liz, I don’t know.” That was the other thing that really irritated Kate: Liz’s interminable desire to see her little sister married off. Whenever she visited her sister, Kate invariably found herself being introduced to some attractive doctor or lawyer or banker who just happened to be single. They were all nice guys, but Kate objected to being set up with friends of her sister, no matter how nice they were. She’d told Liz that too, but that was another thing her sister ignored.
“Liz…Liz…Liz, I’ve gotta go…to work…yeah, I know it’s Sunday…I gotta go Liz, I’ll call you in a couple of days…promise…love you too.” Sighing again, she pressed the ‘End Call’ button and put the phone back on its cradle. She looked at the clock above the oven and grimaced – even if she left her apartment now, which she couldn’t do seeing as she wasn’t even dressed yet, she would barely make it to work on time. It was going to be a long week.
Getting There.
She knew he was nervous; she could tell from the way he was driving: he pulled away less sharply from red lights, and hit fewer Gs going round the corners. Though his usual style of driving couldn’t have been described as ‘dangerous’ (sometimes it was close though), it did require a certain level of concentration, so it was easy to tell when he was preoccupied. He’d barely said a word since they left Washington – a very unusual occurrence – and all her attempts to make conversation had met with little response. As they pulled up by the yellow tape marking the perimeter of the crime scene, she tried a more blunt approach.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sorry?”
“I said ‘what’s wrong’ – you’re not acting like yourself.”
“I’m just tired, I guess,” he replied evasively.
“When has being tired ever shut you up? Come on Tony – pneumonic plague hardly quietened you down at all, so spill.” She fixed him with an unflinching glare which he held for a few seconds, before turning his gaze to the world outside the car windows.
Since that exposure and the pair’s stay in isolation, their relationship had lost some of its sharp edges. Though they bantered back and forth as they always had, and their conversations were still punctuated by cries of ‘DiNozzo’, Tony no longer tried so hard to irritate his partner, and she in return had loosened up, determined to roll with the punches instead of push against them. As a result, their partnership was stronger, and Kate felt she could genuinely refer to Tony as a friend, instead of just her annoying colleague. In this instance, it meant she could push Tony, despite his obvious reluctance.
“I didn’t get along so well with everyone in the Baltimore P.D. I had a few run-ins with another guy in Homicide after I got pulled onto one of his cases and ended up solving it. He had some friends in high places, and decided to make life a little more interesting for me. If Gibbs hadn’t come along when he did, I probably would’ve quit anyway.”
“Does this guy still work in Homicide?”
“Yeah – I still talk to some of the guys, and last thing I heard, he was still there.”
“Well, maybe he won’t be on the case, and even if he is, it’s not like he can do anything to you, now. Relax Tony.” She smiled at her partner before pushing open the car and stepping out into the early morning sunshine. He followed her out, and as they made their way towards the yellow crime scene tape, Kate was relieved to see her partner smiling again. But clearing the air in the car had been difficult for her: sure, they were friends, but she wasn’t used to having such discussions with him.
Since their stay in isolation together, their relationship had developed new, more complex levels that neither was particularly willing to explore. But they were both very aware that something had changed, and with the new changes came new rules: don’t look too long, lean too close, feel too much. To Kate, it felt like they were taking one step forwards and two steps back: they were closer than ever, so she could theoretically talk to him about everything, and ask him about anything, but doing either of those things would inevitably mean that they would have to examine their relationship more closely than either was willing to do.
Baltimore seemed to be changing all the rules.
The Reasons Why.
Three days previously, a Navy Lieutenant by the name of Alex Webber had been found in the parking lot of a bar on the outskirts of Washington D.C. He’d been shot in the head and then dumped on the tarmac, dressed in his formal uniform – Abby had deduced, from some partial fingerprints found on the insignia, that someone else had put the uniform on the Lieutenant. Unfortunately, the partials were not clear enough for a search; Abby could only tell that they did not match Webber’s.
The day after that, Peter Bentley, also a Lieutenant in the Navy, had been found in an alleyway in the centre of the capital. He too wore his formal uniform and a bullet buried in his brain. Searching his records, McGee discovered that the two dead Lieutenants had served together in Iraq, and had in fact just recently returned from there. Their C.O. said that the two were good friends and exemplary officers, but couldn’t offer any information as to who might’ve killed either man.
Two days later, in Baltimore, Lieutenant Alan Fletcher’s body was found in a park near the centre of the city. Like Webber and Bentley, he’d been shot in the head, dressed in his formal uniform, and dumped. As soon as the Baltimore P.D. identified him, they contacted NCIS and were told that a couple of agents would be sent out from Washington to them.
The Body.
Kate and Tony were led over to the Baltimore detectives on the scene by one of the uniformed officers standing guard over the area and deflecting curious passers-by.
“Detective Harris, these are the agents from NCIS.”
“DiNozzo, good to see you man.” Detective Jake Harris was a homicide detective who, four years previously, had worked alongside one Detective Tony DiNozzo.
“How’re Marcie and the kids?” Tony asked.
“They’re good. Lucy starts middle school in September, and Ella’s just started taking ballet lessons. Marcie’s still at the hospital – she’s Nurse Manager now.”
“She got it?”
“Yeah, a few months after you left. She’s making a real difference.” The smile on Harris’ face spoke of commitment and adoration, and Kate immediately felt that she could trust the detective. “What about you?” he continued.
“Ah, same old, same old. You know me,” Tony replied, shrugging off the question.
“Anyway, this is Rick Martinez,” Harris said, gesturing to the man standing next to him, “He just transferred up from Miami Dade” The two men shook hands. “And I’m sure you remember Parker and Lane.” Tony grinned at the other two men standing with Harris.
“Of course.” There followed a round of backslapping and inside jokes that left Kate standing to the side with an unimpressed look on her face. But she remained silent until Lane made a comment about ‘Tony and his women’.
“Guys,” Tony said, interrupting the reminiscing, “This is Special Agent Kate Todd, my partner. Kate, this is Jake Harris, my old partner; Rick Martinez, from Vice; and Dan Parker and Tom Lane, Homicide.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kate said, shaking the hands offered to her.
“So, how’d you put up with Tony here?” Harris asked teasingly.
“I have my ways,” Kate replied with a smile.
“Well, I’m guessing you want to see the victim then,” Harris said, and they turned back to the case at hand.
The Old And The New.
The Baltimore police headquarters were much larger than the NCIS buildings in Washington and housed many more people. Kate nodded absentmindedly at Jake’s commentary, looking around at the unfamiliar faces and wondering how many of them knew her partner. They headed into the elevator with Jake pointing out various people of interest, some of whom did double takes when they saw Tony.
Most of the desks in Homicide were occupied: it wasn’t even seven AM, but Kate guessed that more than a few of the detectives had been working cases overnight, looking at the coffee cups littering desks and filling trash cans, and the five o’clock shadows being sported by some of the men. The area was about the same size as the bullpen at NCIS, and various billboards on the walls held pictures of suspects and victims, event timelines, and names.
“Hey guys.” Jake’s loud yell cut through the bubble of conversation and his colleagues looked towards him, Martinez, and the two NCIS agents. “This is Special Agent Todd, and Special Agent DiNozzo from NCIS; they’re here working the Fletcher case. Please offer them any help or support they may need…” This remark was met with laughter and jeers, much as it would’ve been if someone had made it about the FBI or a similar agency at NCIS, and signified the end of Jake’s welcome speech.
As Jake showed them towards two empty desks along one side wall, Kate found her partner being accosted by those detectives who’d worked with him before he left. They were all men, as were most of the people in the room, and Kate snorted softly at the male bonding taking place all around her. Tony heard and grinned at her. As the men drifted away, Kate placed her bags down on the left-hand desk. Unlike their desks in Washington, these desks were back-to-back, with a cork board up on the wall between them. Pulling out her cellphone, she hit speed dial two: Gibbs.
The phone call was short, and Kate quickly relayed the new information to her partner.
“Apparently, Fletcher served in Iraq with Bentley and Webber. Abby got some prints off Bentley’s uniform which match the ones she found on Webber’s, but there’s no match in any of the databases. Also, the bullets from the first two victims were fired from the same pistol, a Beretta, and Abby’s running those through the system as well. But so far, no luck finding anyone who might have a reason to go after any one of the three victims, let alone all of them.”
“So, whoever killed Bentley and Webber likely killed Fletcher as well.”
“Yep.”
“But we don’t know who, or why?”
“Again, yes.” Tony sighed.
“Well, seems like we’ve got some work to do then.”
The Past Is Myself.
Twelve hours later, Kate and Tony were no closer to finding out who’d killed the three Naval officers – fingerprints had been found on Fletcher’s uniform matching those on the previous two victims. It was approaching seven, and the two agents were taking a break, chairs turned around to face one another, cartons of Chinese takeout in their hands. They’d been throwing ideas back and forth for the past half hour, each scenario more wild than the one before. They’d just reached alien abduction when Kate was called down to the lab by one of the scientists to see the results of one of the tests they’d been running. Tony turned back to the files with a sigh, reading again through the autopsy reports from the first two victims. He was trying hard not to be distracted by the noise around him, but one familiar voice made him look up sharply.
“So, are we cooperating with them then?” Dave Yorkin had a voice which could always make itself heard over any amount of din, even when he was just carrying on an ordinary conversation, as he was now. Tony groaned inwardly: it sounded as though Yorkin was talking about him and Kate, and the last thing he wanted was a confrontation with his old colleague. It seemed inevitable though, when he heard the reply from whoever Yorkin was talking to: “Yeah – the NCIS agents are just over there.” Closing the file, Tony stood up, not wanting to have to look up to Yorkin.
“DiNozzo,” the detective said, a sneer marking his angular face.
“Yorkin.”
“So, you’re at NCIS now?”
“Yeah.” Tony didn’t feel the need to reveal any more information than necessary. Gordon Munroe, the man Tony had heard talking to Yorkin before, was a little confused by the exchange.
“You two know each other?” he asked curiously.
“DiNozzo used to work here, before he decided he was too good for the lowly Baltimore P.D.”
Jake appeared before Tony could reply, having spotted Yorkin from across the room, and being well aware of the history between the two men.
“Got anything new Tony?” he asked, jumping into the conversation in the hopes of preventing a confrontation. Tony shook his head.
“We’ve been going through these files all day, but we can’t find anything in of the three victims’ files to explain why someone would kill them.”
Stepping into the room, Kate looked across to the group of men standing around the desks she and Tony were using. She took in the tense stance Tony had adopted and the dismissive look on the face of one of the other men, and guessed that he had to be the man Tony had talked about earlier. Fixing a smile on her face, she approached her partner. With his back to the desks, Tony saw her before any of the others, and the look on his face confirmed her suspicions. She swallowed a grimace: Tony had been so unlike himself on the journey up that she knew there had to be more to the story he’d told. There was a brief lull in the conversation as she neared, so she unknowingly copied Jake’s tactic.
“So, there’s a match on the prints we got off Fletcher’s uniform, but we still don’t know whose they are. Also, the ME found some skin cells under his fingernails, presumably from whoever attacked him, but we won’t get any DNA results until tomorrow at the earliest.” Stepping between Jake and the side of the desk, she positioned herself next to Tony, and looked expectantly at the other two men, waiting for an introduction.
“Detectives Gordon Munroe and Dave Yorkin; this is Special Agent Kate Todd, NCIS.”
“So, you got stuck with DiNozzo for this job then?” Yorkin said, offering Kate a supposedly charming smile, despite his obnoxious comment.
“Tony and I are partners,” Kate replied calmly, returning Yorkin’s smile with a more insincere one of her own. “Did you two used to work together?” she continued, feigning innocence of their relationship.
“DiNozzo was my partner when he first joined: we never really worked that well together.” Tony snorted quietly at the understatement, and Kate struggled to keep her composure. “He was a little too fond of disobeying the rules for my liking.” Yorkin was still trying to win Kate over, ignoring the pointed looks Jake was shooting him.
“Really?”
“Yeah, he never really…uh…‘fulfilled his potential’.” Although the line sounded innocuous in terms of language, the voice delivering it was harsh, and the tone vicious.
“Well, he’s one of the best agents we have at NCIS,” Kate replied sharply, eyes glinting with undisguised anger, “Maybe you just didn’t take the time to help him fulfil that potential. So,” she continued, turning back to her partner, “Abby’s sorted out the hotel for us, and we don’t have to check in until later, so we can go through these files again.” She sat down at her desk, indicating clearly that her conversation with Yorkin was over. Tony followed her example. Annoyed, Yorkin remained standing for a few more minutes, but when it was clear that neither agent was going to talk to him, he left, stalking angrily towards his own desk.
“Thanks,” Tony said quietly, not turning away from his files.
When You Feel Your Attraction Again…
They arrived at the hotel shortly before midnight. The lobby was empty, marble floors echoing the sound of their feet around the space. Two receptionists sat behind the long desk, both tapping away at computers.
“Abby certainly got us a decent hotel this time,” Tony said quietly as the approached the desk. One of the receptionists looked up at them and smiled.
“Welcome to the Marriott. Do you have a reservation?”
“Two rooms; Todd and DiNozzo, NCIS.” Entering their names into the computer, the receptionist, whose nametag read ‘Becky’, quickly found their rooms and handed them their keys.
“Checkout is at noon; your rooms are on the second floor; elevators are just over there. Enjoy your stay.”
The adjoining rooms were just off the elevator lobby on the second floor. Both exhausted, the two agents said good night to one another, and went into their rooms.
Kate’s alarm went off at five the next morning. Despite having had little sleep, the thoughts running through her head preventing her from getting to sleep until almost two, she felt refreshed. She was just drying her hair when there was a knock on the door that led into Tony’s room. She unlocked it, allowing a somewhat subdued Tony into her room. As she returned to the bathroom, Tony flicked the TV onto ESPN and sat down on the end of the bed furthest away from the noise of the hairdryer. When Kate emerged and began to repack her bag, there was no comment from her partner about women taking so long to get ready, as she might have expected. For the second time in as many days, she found herself saying, “What’s wrong?” The response she received was the same too.
“Sorry?”
“We already did this,” she said, reaching over and snatching the remote from his hands so she could flip the baseball highlights onto mute. “What happened with you and Yorkin, ‘cause it was obviously a lot more than you told me about yesterday.” Still, he didn’t want to answer. Leaning across the small space between the two beds, she poked her partner on the knee with the remote she’d taken from him. “Hey, talk to me.”
“Dave and I were partners when I first joined the Baltimore P.D. On a personal level, we disagreed about almost everything, but we managed to work together. I didn’t wanna make trouble by requesting a new partner, and Dave seemed to enjoy pissing me off.” As he spoke, his eyes were fixed firmly on his hands, and Kate had the strange urge to reach across and link her fingers through his. “I was dating this girl: her name was Suzie, and she was a reporter. She’d just finished her internship, and was a back-up for one of the more senior anchorwomen. We dated for almost a year, and then I went to this conference in California. It was over a long weekend, and I got back a little early on the Monday, so I went over to Suzie’s.” Kate found herself wincing: she could guess what was coming.
“The door was locked, but her car was outside, and I had a key, so I let myself in. She was living in this little house downtown that her parents had bought for her. I called out for her, but there was no reply. At first, I thought she must’ve gone out somewhere on foot, but I could hear voices upstairs, so I went up to the bedroom, and found her in bed with Dave. They’d been sleeping together for over three months. I walked in on them, and he just laughed at me.” Though his eyes were still downcast, Kate could see how angry he was from the way his jaw tensed and his fingers clenched into fists.
“After that, I was partnered with Jake.” Finally, he lifted his head so their eyes met. Kate knew that Tony wasn’t as unflappable as he liked to think, but the pain in his eyes was strong and burning. This time, she couldn’t stop herself: she reached out her hands and unclenched his fists, running her fingers down his longer ones to try and smooth out some of the tension.
“I’m sorry.” The words were useless, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say, and hoped that the sincerity in her tone was audible. It seemed to be, because she was rewarded with a weak smile.
“Every case I worked,” he began again, “He was determined to get involved with somehow. He was constantly trying to show me up, and make me look bad. It didn’t work, but I was a couple days away from handing in my notice when we got a case involving a Naval officer, and Gibbs got called in. I was assigned as the liaison, and when the case was solved, Gibbs offered me a job.”
“Worked out well for NCIS then, didn’t it?” she said, trying to inject some of the humour that usually filled their interactions into the conversation.
“I guess,” was his unenthusiastic reply.
“Hey, trust me, I for one am glad to be working with you.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I mean, you’re a pain in the ass, and sometimes I really could shoot you, but most of the time you’re not that bad.” This finally earned her a genuine smile, and she knew she’d managed to lift the black cloud that had been hanging over his head ever since they’d arrived in Baltimore.
“I like working with you too – you’re way more fun than Blackadder was,” he said smiling, “But seriously, thanks for putting up with me today. I know I haven’t exactly been the greatest company.”
“Wow,” Kate said softly, “I don’t think you’ve ever been so honest with me before.” The words sounded off, and she winced as she finished the sentence. She sounded unnecessarily harsh, and she wished immediately that she hadn’t said anything. Besides feeling as though she’d offended him, she knew she’d broken most of their unspoken rules by just asking him if he was ok. Now, he was looking at her with an unreadable expression, and she felt out of control: the next move was his, and she had no idea what it was going to be.
Your Instinct Can’t Be Wrong.
Of all the things she’d imagined she might be doing in a hotel room in Baltimore at six in the morning, being kissed by Tony DiNozzo came pretty close to the bottom of the list. One minute, they’d been sitting knee-to-knee, hand in hand on the two twin beds, and the next, he was leaning towards her, pressing his lips against hers, and somewhere along the way, as he tried to lose himself, and she tried to find him, they’d ended up sprawled across the bed closest to the bathroom. Her head was resting on the pillows, face framed by his hands, and the thought that what they were doing was entirely inappropriate had just begun to form in her brain when a buzzing from the table between the two beds had him pulling away like a guilty teenager.
“It’s just an e-mail,” Kate said softly, trying to diffuse the tension settling over them once again.
“Shit,” Tony muttered, pushing away from Kate and heading through the door connecting their two rooms, slamming it shut behind him. Taking a moment to brush the hair away from her face and calm her breathing, Kate stood up and followed him, pulling the door open and stalking into his room.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she said, the expression on her face conveying clearly the fact that, were it not six AM, she would’ve been yelling as loudly as possible. Tony turned to face her, eyes wild and fists clenched.
“Look, Kate…”
“Don’t ‘look Kate’ me – you don’t just do…that, and then walk out. I know you’re having a hard time here, but who do you think I am – one of your bimbos who’s just going to fall into bed with you?” She knew that just maybe she was overreacting a little bit, but she was angry.
“Woah, hey.” Immediately he was on the defensive, hands up in a gesture of surrender, “I didn’t mean to…I was just.” It was unusual to see Tony lost for words, but he was silent as he slumped onto the bed and dropped his head into his hands. When he spoke again, his voice was muffled. “I didn’t think it would bother me this much – seeing him again, I mean. You know me: I’m not one to dwell, and I thought I was over this.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
“Tony, ever since I’ve known you, you’ve never spent more than three weeks dating the same girl. That seems like a pretty good indication that you're afraid of being hurt again.” Still standing in the doorway, looking down at the top of his head, she felt awkward, as though she was giving a lecture or something, so she stepped forwards and sat down next to him, careful to keep some distance between them.
“So. what? You’re profiling me now?” His tone was bitter and only served to re-ignite her anger.
“Hey, don’t take this out on me – I’m trying to help here. You’re the one who’s running away, like always.”
“Running away? Come on: it’s not like your track record with relationships is much better than mine,” he snapped.
“Don’t make this about me – you’re the one who started this; you kissed me.”
Tony raised his head and looked at his partner. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise for that. I want to know why you just took off.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing here, Kate.” He was watching her now, examining her face for any sign to suggest how he should proceed, what he could say that would make the situation better, or least wouldn’t make it any worse. “I mean, this is what I do. I’m good with women. But then there’s you. You’re…different. You’re Kate, and I’m…I’m me. I don’t know where I stand with you.”
It was Kate’s turn to find herself at a loss for words. She had no idea how she was supposed to respond to his comment: whether she ought to laugh it off, or whether she should have some sort of deep and meaningful response to resolve his dilemma.
“Well, is that a good thing?” she asked finally.
“Which part?”
“Me being Kate, being different. You not knowing where you stand.”
“I don’t know – that’s half the problem. You stayed with me in isolation, when I had the plague. None of the women I know would’ve done that for me.”
“But you’re my partner: what else was I supposed to do? Just leave you in there to die?”
“I don’t understand you, Kate. I irritate you; I tease you; I blackmail you with pictures of you winning a wet t-shirt contest, and you’re still here.”
“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she said quietly. Her anger had subsided now, and she was very conscious of that fact that they were in the middle of a case, and that they’d chosen the worst possible time to try and sort out their relationship. “Tony, whatever this is – this ‘thing’ that’s going on between us – we have to deal with it, one way or another. But now isn’t the time.”
Tony smiled. “Yeah: I guess I could’ve chosen a better time to decide to ‘express my inner feelings’.”
Kate sighed inwardly, relieved at the return to their usual banter. “When we get back…” she began.
“We’ll talk,” he finished. “Yeah, we’ll talk.”
“Are you gonna be ok if Yorkin turns up again?” she asked, standing up and heading back towards her room.
“I’ll deal with it. I always do.” Kate was halfway towards her own bathroom when Tony’s voice floated in through the open door. “Thanks, you know, for not laughing at me. I don’t usually like to think about things like this. I really appreciate you listening.” She knew it was hard for him to express himself as openly as he had earlier – she found it just as difficult – and she also knew that his thanks were genuine, even if they were being delivered from a different room.
“It’s easier not to think about them,” she replied, “I’m happy you trust me enough to talk about them anyway.”
Kate went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. The woman looking back at her seemed somehow foreign: she was calm and self-assured, whereas Kate was filled with questions and an overwhelming sense of dread. No matter how much logic she applied to the situation – to their situation – the idea of sitting down and really talking about it was terrifying, and she was only just beginning to realise why.
“Get a grip, Kate,” she told her reflection sternly. The brown eyes looking at her from inside the mirror were telling her that she knew exactly why she was scared, and that she just didn’t want to admit it. They were taunting and teasing her, and she shook her head, irritated by her sudden insecurity. But when she looked back into the mirror, they were still there, and she couldn’t look away. She felt like Alice, peering into the looking-glass, and seeing something strange and unbelievable. As she spoke, her reflection mouthed the same words back at her.
“I’m in love with Tony DiNozzo.”
Making Progress.
It was mid-morning when their big break came. A call from the forensics lab, followed a couple of seconds later by a call from Abby, revealed the results of the DNA analysis carried out on the skin cells found under Fletcher’s fingernails.
“Burnett – where do I know that name from?” Tony wondered aloud as he pulled Fletcher’s record out again. Ray Burnett was the man whose skin cells had been found, making him the prime suspect for the three murders, if they could find a motive.
“Here,” Kate said, pointing to a name on the list of officers the three victims had worked with in Iraq, “‘Lydia Burnett’,” she read aloud. “Lieutenant Burnett was killed by enemy fire conducting a raid on a supposed weapons facility two months before the end of her TDY. On patrol with her at the time were Lieutenants Alex Webber, Peter Bentley, and Alan Fletcher. None of them were seriously injured. Burnett left behind a husband and two kids.”
“And the husband’s name was Ray?” Tony checked. Kate nodded.
After that, it didn’t take long for them to locate Ray Burnett. He’d flown into Baltimore from D.C. the day before Alan Fletcher was murdered, and was currently staying a hotel on the other side of town. He was booked on a flight back to Washington that evening – after a little more probing, Tony had discovered that the evening flight had been the earliest one available, answering the question of why Burnett hadn’t left town earlier, and that he held no driver’s license.
Kate had spoken to some of Burnett’s neighbours. Apparently, after his wife had been killed in Iraq, Ray had become disillusioned with the war effort, and had started attending anti-war protests. Although he had no criminal record, Mrs. Myerson, the Burnetts' closest neighbour, said that Ray seemed very angry about his wife’s death, and was constantly criticising the Navy and Lydia’s former colleagues.
With evidence placing him at the scene of all three murders, and now a motive, Kate and Tony set off for the hotel, along with Jake Harris and Rick Martinez. The drive was short and silent, and the hotel lobby relatively empty.
“I’m Detective Harris, this is Detective Martinez, Baltimore P.D., and this is Special Agents Todd and DiNozzo, NCIS. Do you know the whereabouts of one of your guests, a Ray Burnett, Room 314?” The receptionist, obviously a little awed by the badges the four had flashed, turned to his computer and began entering names and numbers.
“Mr. Burnett ordered coffee in his room about a half hour ago. It was delivered fifteen minutes ago, and as far as I can tell, he’s still in there.”
“Thank you,” Harris said as he followed the others, who were already heading towards the stairs. On the third floor, they found Burnett’s room almost directly opposite the exit from the stairwell.
“Mr. Burnett, Baltimore P.D. Open the door,” Martinez said firmly, knocking twice on the door of room 314.
A shuffling sound came from inside the room, and then the door was opened. Holding it open only slightly, Ray Burnett’s face appeared in the gap between the door and the frame.
“Can I help you?” he said nervously.
“If you could just step out here for a second,” Kate asked, smiling at the man. He stepped over the threshold, and immediately found himself pushed against the wall.
“Ray Burnett, you’re under arrest for the murders of Alex Webber, Peter Bentley, and Alan Fletcher.”
Standing Up For What You Believe In.
When confronted with the DNA evidence, Burnett confessed quickly to having murdered all three men to avenge his wife’s death. Kate couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the man, for though what he’d done was wrong, she could sympathise with his reasoning. As she sat her temporary desk, closing all the files and getting ready to return to Washington, she was lost in thought, and didn’t hear a woman approach.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Tony DiNozzo.” Kate looked up, startled, into the face of a tall blonde woman.
“He’s not here at the moment; can I help you?”
“I’ll just wait for him here…this is his desk, isn’t it?” she asked, gesturing at the desk behind Kate.
“Yes, it is. If you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”
“I’m Suzie. Suzie Marshall.” Kate pasted a smile on her face, sure that this Suzie was the same woman who Tony had spoken of last night.
“How do you know Tony?” she asked, just in case this was a different Suzie.
“Tony and I were engaged a few years ago.”
‘Engaged?’ Kate thought. Tony hadn’t mentioned that fact last night.
“I heard he was back in town,” Suzie continued, “Just thought I’d pop by and say ‘hi’, for old time’s sake. Anyway, who are you?”
“Kate Todd, Tony’s partner at NCIS.”
“NCIS?”
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service,” Kate replied, turning her back on the woman and returning to her files. She wondered if, by ignoring Suzie, she could make her go away, but thought that unlikely.
“Are you leaving?” Suzie asked, either unaware that she was being ignored, or choosing to pretend that she wasn’t.
“Our case is closed, so we’re going back to Washington.” Placing the last of the files into a box, Kate looked up to see Tony approaching. She tried frantically to signal with her eyes that it was Suzie standing with her, as she was facing away from Tony, but by the time he got close enough to read her expression, Kate could tell that he’d recognised the blonde woman.
“Suzie,” he said flatly, brushing past her to put another box down on Kate’s desk.
“Tony,” she said enthusiastically, stepping forwards and embracing him. Tony remained rigid, glancing down at his partner with a rabbit-in-the-headlights look in his eyes. As soon as Suzie released him, he turned to Kate and started speaking, obviously eager to get out of the awkward situation.
“Are we done here?”
“Yep,” she replied, gesturing to the boxes, “I spoke to Gibbs, and he wants us back ASAP.”
“No afternoon off?” he joked as he slung his overnight bag over his shoulder and picked up the larger of the two boxes.
“Surprising as it may seem, he wants us to go straight to the office.”
“Ok, well, I’ll go and bring the car round the back and see you out there,” he said tentatively. She knew the reason for his hesitation: she was perfectly capable of carrying her bag and the second box down to the underground parking lot, and usually she would complain about him not treating her like he would a male colleague.
“Sure,” she replied, smiling to let him know that, just this once, she would play the part of helpless woman so that he could escape his ex-fiancée.
“Suzie, I’m sorry, but we’ve really gotta run,” he said in mock apology, “Katie, I’ll see you downstairs.” Any other time, she would’ve yelled at him for calling her ‘Katie’, but as the whole point of the plan was to get him away from Suzie, she let it slide, and watched him disappear out of the door. Expecting that Suzie would leave as well, she gathered up her bags and tucked the last box under her arm.
“Would you tell Tony to give me a call when he gets back?” Suzie asked, smiling insincerely.
“Nope, sorry,” Kate replied, heading past her and towards the door.
“Excuse me: do you know who I am?” Suzie demanded, raising her voice and catching the attention of everyone in the room so that Kate had no choice but to stop and turn around.
“I’m well aware of you are, and for that reason, if I were you, I wouldn’t expect a call from Tony any time soon.” There was silence as the two women faced off, and Kate suddenly wished she’d just told Suzie that she would pass the message onto Tony so that she could leave.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I know what happened with you and Tony, and I know he wouldn’t call you even if I gave him your message.”
“What are you – his knight in shining armour or something?” Suzie sneered, closing the gap between them so that Kate had to look up when she replied.
“No, I’m his partner, and his friend,” Kate replied, smiling at the taller woman, “He’s a good guy, despite his faults, and what you did was inexcusable, and I’m not going to help you worm your way back into his life because you just realised what you gave up.” Turning towards the crowd of staring men, she called out, “Bye Jake, Rick, thanks for all your help,” and breezed out of the room as if the events of the past few minutes hadn’t taken place.
Begin The Begin.
The journey back began in much the same way as the journey there; filled with silence.
“So,” they said in unison as they neared Washington. The awkward start to the conversation dispelled the tension that had formed in the car, and they laughed.
“You go first,” Tony offered, looking away from the road briefly to smile at his partner.
“Look,” she began, trying to sound confident, but inside feeling anything but, “I need to know where I stand. What happened this morning: was that just because of what went on with Dave, or was it…was it something…” She trailed off, unsure of exactly what it was that it might’ve been, or what it was that she wanted it to be.
“It wasn’t just because of Dave and because of being back in Baltimore.”
“But it was partly because of that, right? I mean, if it had been some other woman in that room with you, would you have kissed her?” Kate hated the way she sounded: she was an independent, strong-minded woman, and now she felt like some lovesick teenager. The pause before Tony’s answer only made her feel more nervous.
“I don’t know, because it wasn’t just some woman in there – it was you.” Their roles were reversed now: Tony was the confident one with all the answers, and Kate was the one seeking reassurance.
“That doesn’t help me Tony. Look, I know what you’re like: you’ve gone on about all the women you’ve slept with enough, and I’m not gonna be your flavour of the week – that’s not who I am. Either this is something real, or it isn’t anything at all.”
“Kate…”
“We’re here now,” she interrupted as they reached the Navy Yard, “You think about it; if you can commit to someone…if you can commit to me. If you can’t, then this morning was nothing, just a little blip. If you can…well, then we’ll see what happens.” Before he could say anything, Kate climbed out of the car, picked up one of the boxes, and headed towards the elevator. The doors were closed before Tony was even out of the car, and she leaned her head back against the metal wall, wishing that the day was over.
Into Temptation.
At eleven PM, Kate was sat on the couch in her living-room, watching a repeat of an old ER episode. Although she was tired, both physically and emotionally, her mind was racing and she couldn’t relax. Curled up against a pile of cushions with a cup of tea in her hands, all she could think about was Tony. A knock on her door brought her out of her reverie.
“Who is it?” she called.
“It’s me.” The ‘me’ was instantly recognisable, and she put down her tea and headed over to the door. Outside stood Tony, looking concerned. “Can I come in?” he asked. Nodding, Kate stepped back from the door to let her partner in. He had changed since leaving the office and now wore jeans and a dark shirt. She felt incredibly underdressed, despite the fact that she too was wearing jeans, though with a red t-shirt rather than a shirt. She shut the door and leant against it, looking at Tony as he hovered awkwardly in her kitchen.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked, her tone strangely formal.
“Coffee would be good.” Making the coffee released her from the obligations of conversation, and she tried to ignore the eyes she could feel burning a hole through her t-shirt. As she handed him the mug, he started to talk.
“I was thinking, about what you said in the car earlier, and I’m sorry if I gave you the impression you were just ‘some woman’ to me, because you’re a lot more than that. I thought you knew that.”
“How would I have known that Tony – all you ever do is talk about all your women, your conquests.”
“You’re not ‘some woman’ to me,” he repeated, stepping forwards so that she had to step back against the counter. He reached past her to put his coffee down, and though she tried to be annoyed that he was invading her personal space, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“What am I then?” she said softly.
“You’re intelligent, beautiful…”
“I don’t want to be flattered Tony; I want you to talk to me,” she said, pulling away to the other side of the kitchen, “I need to know where this is going, I need to know how you feel.”
“I’m not good at this Kate – at talking about how I feel. Last time I did…well, you met Suzie.”
“So neither of us are much good with relationships.”
“Apparently not. But maybe…maybe we can make this work.”
“‘We’?” Kate repeated.
“How about it?” Turning on his devastating charm, Tony was back to his old self. “You think you could lower yourself to my level?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kate replied, pretending to consider his question as he crossed the small space between them, “I could try.” She looped her arms around his neck and returned his smile.
“Did I ever tell you,” he mumbled against her lips, “How hot you look in red?”
The Phone Call (II).
“Todd…hey Liz, how are you?...yeah, not bad…I was in Baltimore a few weeks ago…for work, yes.”
As Liz began to update her on the latest goings on in the Todd family, Kate began to take the Chinese takeout out of the bag, putting the cartons down on the counter. She pulled a pair of chopsticks and a fork out of the cutlery drawer and carried everything over to the coffee table – she was hungry, and if Tony was going to be late, then she figured she could start without him.
“Yes Liz, I know…I’ve already got a present…you’ll see…that sounds nice.”
Switching on the TV and turning it to mute, Kate flicked through the channels until she found a familiar set of credits.
“Yeah…of course…hang on a second…” The buzzer had sounded to announce that there was someone waiting for her outside the main doors, and Kate walked over to the speaker and buzzed her guest in.
“Oh I know…maybe…bringing someone?” It was the sixty-four thousand dollar question, and she knew the answer was supposed to be ‘no’. She almost wished she was in Miami just so that she could see the look on her sister’s face. A knock at the door signalled his arrival, and Kate pulled the door open to let him in. She motioned for him to be quiet while she finished on the phone. He grinned, and headed straight for the takeout as she turned her attention back to the phone call.
“Yeah, I’m still here…I heard…actually, I am…his name’s Tony.”
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Date: 2006-09-13 08:54 pm (UTC)Sequel? Tony and Kate at the anniversary?
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Date: 2006-09-13 09:26 pm (UTC)Sequel-wise, since about halfway through this fic, my mind's been buzzing with sequel ideas: it's turning into some sort of series. So far, I've got the anniversary, complete with Kate's psychotic brothers. Then there's Gibbs and the team finding out, either involving the Secret Service or some sort of formal event - hell, maybe both. Finally, today, inspired by 'All Access: Celebrity Weddings' (I know, shame on me), we have Tony and Kate getting engaged. Should I go ahead and start writing?
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Date: 2006-09-13 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-13 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-13 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-13 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-26 09:08 pm (UTC)Nicely done hun. *smooch*
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Date: 2006-09-27 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 12:48 pm (UTC)That was fabulous! You did such a terrific job on that story! What a wonderful piece of work. Well laid out, excellent pacing, just the right detailing along the way. Perfect.
Bouquets of roses to you, my dear for a masterpiece of short fiction. Thank you ever so much.
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Date: 2006-10-11 03:12 pm (UTC)