Fic: Coffee Cups and Caffeine Drops Part Two
Kate Todd was a true feminist except when she wasn’t. She was tough, engaging and never backed down from Gibbs. She reminded Tony too much of Viv in all the wrong ways, but he liked her and not just because she had some interesting curves.
The first few times she went toe to toe with Gibbs, Tony saw it for the same train wreck it had been with Viv, but unlike her, Kate didn’t try to plow her way through the unmovable force that was Gibbs. She voiced her opinions, strongly, but followed orders like the trained agent she was.
She also didn’t have a chip the size of Texas and an axe to grind that made her act impetuous at the worst possible times.
Kate argued with Tony and could more than hold her own against him. They bantered; they pushed and pulled each other’s buttons in a bizarre platonic way despite the sexual tension he knew she felt. The relationship was very different from most he’d ever had with the opposite sex. He didn’t feel the need to protect and cradle Kate like he had with Viv. Kate was tough but without losing her femininity and she fit into their tight little troupe like no one before her.
Still, Tony had lost too many teammates to Gibbs’s wrath or indifference - or both - to let her in. Abby, on the other hand welcomed Kate into their fold like a long, lost sister. It didn’t help that it had taken Tony months and a near death experience to get past the chilly exterior Abby erected whenever Tony was around. And Kate, on her first day had won Abby over without even trying.
It was probably that last bit that - three months later - prompted Tony into giving Agent Todd the welcome she deserved. The case they had been working for three weeks was finally closed. A Second Lieutenant had been smuggling illegals using the navy as his personal transports. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the women being brought in were then being sold into a sex ring operating right out of DC. It had been a big case, with it going up the ladder all the way to senators and company executives that would ride out the scandal but never see the inside of a cell.
The only positive of this whole mess was that the trials and legal proceedings would take years, and while that sucked, it gave the women the opportunity to put Uncle Sam to work for them. All the women were now in federal protective custody as witnesses. They would probably never be called in to testify, but they were going to get green cards and with some string pulling - all hail the power of the director of NCIS - they would get the change at permanent citizenship in a few years.
Tony doubted he would be closing his eyes to anything other than those hopeless faces for a long while. They were all worn down, exhausted from so many sleepless nights and long hours, and raw from dealing with bottom feeders disguised as decent human beings. So in Tony’s mind, there wasn’t a better moment for him to make his move.
Kate was at her desk, putting the finishing touches on her notes and official report. Dilligence, Ducky had called it, but Tony doubted it had anything to do with Kate being anal. She always did that at the end of a difficult case. Crossing the Ts and doting the Is. Tony understood that, that need to do just about anything to keep your mind from wondering into those dark shadows.
He slid over to her, waiting patiently - he played with her the pens and pencils - for her to acknowledge his presence. She did with an annoyed glance, “I’m busy, Tony.”
She also had dark circles under her eyes and was so pale she could pass for a ghost. “And you look like hell.” He gave her a flirty smile and watched as a vein bulked out in her forehead.
“What do you want, DiNozzo?” Her hand crept toward a letter opener and Tony decided that keeping certain pieces of his anatomy intact far outweighed any entertainment value he was getting.
He shrugged carelessly, keeping a façade of disinterest and just adding the tiniest hint of concern to it. He hadn’t excelled in undercover ops just for his pretty face. “I was going to get some tea and was wondering if you wanted me to get you some coffee.” He said casually. Then went in for the kill when he saw her surprise turn into suspicion. “You look like you could use it.”
Kate’s suspicion meter went from defcon four to one in the blink of an eye. She tensed, her eyes narrowing, “Okay, I know you haven’t gotten hit on the head lately and I’m not sleep deprived enough to be hallucinating. So what are you really up to, Tony?”
“Oh come on, Kate, have you seen yourself in the mirror? With those bags and that hair, I consider getting you caffeine a public service.”
Subconsciously Kate started combing her fingers through her hair, and once she realized what she was doing, let her hand drop with a glare in his direction. That only made Tony grin wider. Which in turn made the throbbing vein on her forehead that more visible.
“Fine!” She bit out, “But I swear, you put anything else in my drink -”
“Other than cream and two sweet&lows?”
“- and I’ll make your life hell.” Tony grinned, Kate sighed and before she could change her mind, he was out the door and at Gibbs’s regular coffee shop. One order of Gibbs’s regular, flirting with the pretty cashier and a phone number later, Tony was back at the office. He only stopped for a minute to chit chat Henry, the regular security guard of their building, who gave a pointed yet amused look at the cup in his hands.
“Thought you didn’t drink coffee.” Henry said as he handed Tony his side arm, bag, keys and other metallic knickknacks that would had trigger the metal detectors.
“Not for me.” He waggled his eyebrows and in a conspiratorial voice, “it’s for a Kate, a Gibbs special.”
That caught the man’s attention, “You really have death wish. Agent Todd doesn’t strike me as the forgiving type.”
Tony shrugged. His own incident with the beverage had spread through the grape pipe like a wildfire. By the time Tony had been able to get back to work, there wasn’t anyone in the whole building that hadn’t heard. Gibbs’s coffee became legendary and people avoided it like the plague. After that, people tended to try and stay on Abby’s good side.
“If she makes it, I can always outrun her.” He said in parting, heading toward the elevators. As the doors closed he could still heard Henry’s hearty chuckles resonating in the open area.
As it turned out Kate didn’t hallucinate talking furniture or did a fine imitation of a chipmunk on crack. In fact, Tony didn’t even realize she had been affected until day two she showed at his doorstep kneed his in the groin, and bitched about not having been able to sleep for 48 hours.
The sacrifice of future generations of DiNozzo’s had been well worth it, not being able to walk straight for a week hadn’t. In the end Kate stayed up for four days total and Tony gave wide berth to the ball crushing knee of hers.
Part Three