Stray Moment by thenewhope
... I cannot believe I just wrote this.
oh, who am I kidding? of course I had to write this.
title: Stray Moment
fandom: NCIS
codes: early s1 (sometime before "Bete Noir"), with vague allusions to a comment by Ziva in early s3 regarding her role in Mossad. Kate/Ziva (yeah. I don't know either) 1161 words
summary: There was an edge of awareness, of sureness, to the way she held herself and Kate found herself paying even closer attention to her.
notes: my muse is obviously evil. I mean, clearly. I would've liked to have done a bit more with this, but I barely made the 60 minute limit as it is.
*
Kate was tired and sore and well on her way to being drunk. Gibbs was to blame for the first two - he had worked them almost nonstop for the last week as they fought to track down a missing Marine. Kate had seen all of five hours of sleep in the last two days and she was definitely feeling the resulting exhaustion.
Of course, the large glass of cold beer she'd just finished off wasn't helping any in that department. Kate was happy to lay the blame for that at Abby's feet. She deserved it for dragging Kate out to a bar with Tony, when all she really wanted to do was to climb into bed and not come out for a month.
At least both Tony and Abby shared Kate's exhaustion and the conversation was being kept to a minimum. She settled her empty glass onto the table and let herself slide further into the comfortable warmth of the leather booth. She had to admit, coming here to unwind a bit before they went home to pass out wasn't the worst idea Abby had ever had.
"I think someone has an admirer." Tony smirked lazily and nodded at Kate before shifting his gaze toward the bar. Kate was not at all surprised to find that alcohol did nothing to soften the annoyance that look always brought her. It did seem to be dulling her senses a bit, though, because it was only after she'd turned to follow his gaze that she realized it might not be such a good idea to take the bait.
With a sigh she let herself take in everyone who was seated at the old wooden counter. It had been a while since she'd been on the receiving end of that kind of flattering attention - at least from someone who possessed more maturity than a hormonal teenager. It wouldn't hurt to at least check and see if Tony was just messing with her.
The clientele hadn't changed much since the last time she'd made a cursory visual sweep of the open room out of long ingrained habit. There was a rowdy group of men in business suits at one end, and an even rowdier group of women at the other end. The middle section of the bar was filled with various couples, and the same, lone, dark haired woman who had smiled at Kate during her last perusal. Much like she was smiling at her right now.
"Yeah, right." Kate turned back to Tony and rolled her eyes. She should've known he'd only been entertaining some masturbatory fantasy.
"Actually," Kate could hear a note of mirth in Abby's voice, and she turned to watch her friend. Abby was still watching the bar and completely missed Kate's warning look. "I think Tony's on to something."
Kate turned to look at the woman again, this time paying more attention to detail. She was beautiful, with long brown hair and dark eyes. There was an edge of awareness, of sureness, to the way she held herself. There was something... unusual about her and Kate found herself paying even closer attention to her movements as her gaze roamed idly across the room. Kate couldn't pin down what exactly it was, but there was definitely something about the woman that made her uneasy. It was probably just that she'd been spending way too much time around Gibbs and his paranoia. But that didn't mean there wasn't something to this. After all, Gibbs' hunches were almost always right.
"I'm buying the next round." She growled and slid off her chair, grabbing the empty pitcher and ignoring the giant smirk that sprung onto Tony's face as she set out toward the bar.
"Another pitcher and a martini." The bartender nodded his understanding and set to work on her order as Kate slid her credit card onto the scarred wood. She angled herself to lean against the bar as nonchalantly as she could and turned to the still smiling woman.
"Why are you watching me?"
Kate had been hoping to catch the woman off-guard with her forwardness, but she seemed unfazed. Her smile only sharpened as she focused even more on Kate. A light spark of heat trailed its way through Kate's blood as her gaze trailed down the length of her body, before rising again to meet Kate's eyes.
The woman leaned in close, even though only a low buzz of conversation filled the bar air. "I was only appreciating your beauty."
Kate caught her breath and forced herself to hold steady. She hadn't expected that response, nor the accent that laid fluid curves into the softly spoken words. The part of her brain that was still in Secret Service mode guessed that it was Israeli. The rest of her was content in appreciating the warmth of the sound.
The taste of beer was still thick on her tongue, weighing it down, and she found herself unable to think of anything to say beyond a blushing, "thank you." The woman dipped her chin in recognition. A soft silence filled the space between them, and Kate was surprised to realize how nice it was.
After a few moments the woman smiled again, and pushed the refilled pitcher of beer closer to Kate's arm. "Your friends are waiting." She tilted her head toward the table where Kate had left the others, but her eyes and smile stayed focused on Kate. It took a moment for Kate to break away from her gaze, but when she did she hurriedly grasped the pitcher and turned to leave. Warm fingers against her free hand stopped her in her tracks.
"Don't forget your martini, Caitlin." the cold of the glass that was placed into her hand was a sharp contrast to the warmth of the fingers that where still cupped against her skin.
"How do you know my name?" All heat and sparks were forgotten as Kate's training kicked in. She straightened her back and watched the woman closely.
Her smile stayed steady and she nodded toward the pocket Kate had slipped her card into before grabbing the full pitcher. Her eyes danced with laughter in the bar light as she shrugged and answered, "It was on your credit card."
"Oh." Kate felt foolish and paranoid and like having another drink. The woman's hand was still on hers and she was once again acutely aware of the feel of her skin. Kate felt awkward, standing there with nothing to say, and couldn't help but glance down at her hand. She seemed to understand and pulled her hand away slowly.
She was still smiling as she slid off her barstool. Kate let herself return the smile as she watched her slip into a well worn leather jacket. She turned toward the exit, stopping only to smile over her shoulder. "Goodnight Caitlin."
Kate watched her leave, before squaring her shoulders and turning back toward the table where Tony and Abby were still watching her. She was still a little uneasy, but smiling, even under the looming threat of Tony's inevitable jokes.
*fin
oh, who am I kidding? of course I had to write this.
title: Stray Moment
fandom: NCIS
codes: early s1 (sometime before "Bete Noir"), with vague allusions to a comment by Ziva in early s3 regarding her role in Mossad. Kate/Ziva (yeah. I don't know either) 1161 words
summary: There was an edge of awareness, of sureness, to the way she held herself and Kate found herself paying even closer attention to her.
notes: my muse is obviously evil. I mean, clearly. I would've liked to have done a bit more with this, but I barely made the 60 minute limit as it is.
*
Kate was tired and sore and well on her way to being drunk. Gibbs was to blame for the first two - he had worked them almost nonstop for the last week as they fought to track down a missing Marine. Kate had seen all of five hours of sleep in the last two days and she was definitely feeling the resulting exhaustion.
Of course, the large glass of cold beer she'd just finished off wasn't helping any in that department. Kate was happy to lay the blame for that at Abby's feet. She deserved it for dragging Kate out to a bar with Tony, when all she really wanted to do was to climb into bed and not come out for a month.
At least both Tony and Abby shared Kate's exhaustion and the conversation was being kept to a minimum. She settled her empty glass onto the table and let herself slide further into the comfortable warmth of the leather booth. She had to admit, coming here to unwind a bit before they went home to pass out wasn't the worst idea Abby had ever had.
"I think someone has an admirer." Tony smirked lazily and nodded at Kate before shifting his gaze toward the bar. Kate was not at all surprised to find that alcohol did nothing to soften the annoyance that look always brought her. It did seem to be dulling her senses a bit, though, because it was only after she'd turned to follow his gaze that she realized it might not be such a good idea to take the bait.
With a sigh she let herself take in everyone who was seated at the old wooden counter. It had been a while since she'd been on the receiving end of that kind of flattering attention - at least from someone who possessed more maturity than a hormonal teenager. It wouldn't hurt to at least check and see if Tony was just messing with her.
The clientele hadn't changed much since the last time she'd made a cursory visual sweep of the open room out of long ingrained habit. There was a rowdy group of men in business suits at one end, and an even rowdier group of women at the other end. The middle section of the bar was filled with various couples, and the same, lone, dark haired woman who had smiled at Kate during her last perusal. Much like she was smiling at her right now.
"Yeah, right." Kate turned back to Tony and rolled her eyes. She should've known he'd only been entertaining some masturbatory fantasy.
"Actually," Kate could hear a note of mirth in Abby's voice, and she turned to watch her friend. Abby was still watching the bar and completely missed Kate's warning look. "I think Tony's on to something."
Kate turned to look at the woman again, this time paying more attention to detail. She was beautiful, with long brown hair and dark eyes. There was an edge of awareness, of sureness, to the way she held herself. There was something... unusual about her and Kate found herself paying even closer attention to her movements as her gaze roamed idly across the room. Kate couldn't pin down what exactly it was, but there was definitely something about the woman that made her uneasy. It was probably just that she'd been spending way too much time around Gibbs and his paranoia. But that didn't mean there wasn't something to this. After all, Gibbs' hunches were almost always right.
"I'm buying the next round." She growled and slid off her chair, grabbing the empty pitcher and ignoring the giant smirk that sprung onto Tony's face as she set out toward the bar.
"Another pitcher and a martini." The bartender nodded his understanding and set to work on her order as Kate slid her credit card onto the scarred wood. She angled herself to lean against the bar as nonchalantly as she could and turned to the still smiling woman.
"Why are you watching me?"
Kate had been hoping to catch the woman off-guard with her forwardness, but she seemed unfazed. Her smile only sharpened as she focused even more on Kate. A light spark of heat trailed its way through Kate's blood as her gaze trailed down the length of her body, before rising again to meet Kate's eyes.
The woman leaned in close, even though only a low buzz of conversation filled the bar air. "I was only appreciating your beauty."
Kate caught her breath and forced herself to hold steady. She hadn't expected that response, nor the accent that laid fluid curves into the softly spoken words. The part of her brain that was still in Secret Service mode guessed that it was Israeli. The rest of her was content in appreciating the warmth of the sound.
The taste of beer was still thick on her tongue, weighing it down, and she found herself unable to think of anything to say beyond a blushing, "thank you." The woman dipped her chin in recognition. A soft silence filled the space between them, and Kate was surprised to realize how nice it was.
After a few moments the woman smiled again, and pushed the refilled pitcher of beer closer to Kate's arm. "Your friends are waiting." She tilted her head toward the table where Kate had left the others, but her eyes and smile stayed focused on Kate. It took a moment for Kate to break away from her gaze, but when she did she hurriedly grasped the pitcher and turned to leave. Warm fingers against her free hand stopped her in her tracks.
"Don't forget your martini, Caitlin." the cold of the glass that was placed into her hand was a sharp contrast to the warmth of the fingers that where still cupped against her skin.
"How do you know my name?" All heat and sparks were forgotten as Kate's training kicked in. She straightened her back and watched the woman closely.
Her smile stayed steady and she nodded toward the pocket Kate had slipped her card into before grabbing the full pitcher. Her eyes danced with laughter in the bar light as she shrugged and answered, "It was on your credit card."
"Oh." Kate felt foolish and paranoid and like having another drink. The woman's hand was still on hers and she was once again acutely aware of the feel of her skin. Kate felt awkward, standing there with nothing to say, and couldn't help but glance down at her hand. She seemed to understand and pulled her hand away slowly.
She was still smiling as she slid off her barstool. Kate let herself return the smile as she watched her slip into a well worn leather jacket. She turned toward the exit, stopping only to smile over her shoulder. "Goodnight Caitlin."
Kate watched her leave, before squaring her shoulders and turning back toward the table where Tony and Abby were still watching her. She was still a little uneasy, but smiling, even under the looming threat of Tony's inevitable jokes.
*fin