Chapter 20
When Tony and Kate came to work on Monday, they found Gibbs' desk empty.
"Where's the boss?" Tony asked. "Isn't he here yet?"
"Of course he is", McGee answered. "He went up to see the director."
Tony nodded and wanted to sit down on his chair, when he noticed that Kate was standing in front of her desk, staring at it. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, when he realized that it wasn't really her working place she was staring at, but Susannah's. The other desk that Gibbs had made them carry over here for Kate was gone now.
"That son of a bitch", Tony said. "He didn't lose any time, did he?"
"But he told us before that I would have to go back", Kate said, trying to sound casual. "That's okay."
"No, it's not", Tony stressed. "You solved that case for us. It's not fair that Gibbs is sending you away again."
Kate wanted to answer, but at that moment she saw Gibbs come over from the stairs.
"Kate, what the hell are you doing here?" he barked. "You should be at home in bed. DiNozzo, why did you let her come in?"
"As if she'd listen to me!" Tony replied.
Gibbs smirked, then went to sit down at his desk. "I wanted to wait with this until Kate has completely recovered", he said. "But now that you are here, I can as well talk to you right away."
Tony glared at him. "We already noticed the new arrangements you made."
"Did you?" Gibbs asked amusedly. "Then I'm sure you already know what I want to talk to you about."
"It's okay", Kate said. "You made clear before that my return to the team could only be temporary. I'm not expecting anything from you now."
"Well, if that's your opinion I'm sorry to hear it", Gibbs said, shrugging. "I was hoping that you would accept my offer to come back into my team, but if you're feeling comfortable with the way things are, I don't see why …"
"Wait! What?" Kate interrupted him. "You're taking me back?"
Gibbs nodded.
"Why?" Kate asked incredulously. "I mean, yeah, I want to, but … why did you change your mind?"
"Because you proved to me yesterday that you and Tony can keep a clear mind, even when you're in the field together. What happened yesterday was a much greater test than I wanted, of course, but you used it well. You acted like professionals and that's what I wanted you to do. I didn't like taking you out of the team, Kate, but I needed to make sure that the two of you working together wouldn't develop into a catastrophe. I was sure that putting you under the right amount of stress would be enough to find out if your … relationship can face reality."
"Does this mean this whole thing … putting Kate on another team, having us work overtime … was a test?" Tony exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what we've been through because of it?"
Gibbs smiled at him, not reacting to Tony's harsh tone. "Are you saying it hasn't been worth it?" he asked nonchalantly.
Tony had already opened his mouth for an angry reply, when his eyes fell on Kate. She was smiling. Tony thought of the last month's events and finally had to admit that Gibbs was somehow right. Would they really have worked out how important they were to one another if they hadn't gone through all those problems?
"Okay", Tony muttered. "You have a point there."
Kate smiled brightly at him before turning to Gibbs again. "So, is this my desk again?" she asked, indicating the place where Susannah had been working during the past month.
Gibbs nodded. "All yours."
"But what about Susannah?" Kate asked.
"She's back on Agent Santo's team now", Gibbs replied. "Everything's back to normal."
In the first coffee break Kate and Tony took during the morning they went over to where Susannah was working and found her typing something on her computer.
"Hey!" she greeted them. "How are you feeling, Kate?"
"A little headache, that's all", Kate said. "Are you busy?"
"I'm writing my report for Gibbs. I'll be finished soon."
Kate smiled at her, then took a deep breath and said: "Susannah, I hope that you are not angry because of the changes you had to go through during the last weeks. I know it's not easy to be taken out of a team that you are familiar with."
"That's no problem", Susannah assured her. "Working on Gibbs' team was a nice change, but I also feel comfortable back with my old colleagues. This is where I belong. And you belong with Gibbs' team."
"Yes she does", Tony said, putting an arm around Kate's waist.
"Anyways", Susannah said, getting up and shaking hands with Tony and Kate. "It was a pleasure working with you."
"Same here", Kate said. "But there's something I wanted to ask you. Would you like to come to my place for dinner on Saturday? I'll invite McGee and Gibbs, too, and Tony will be there anyway."
"It's good to hear that you value my presence so much", Tony pouted.
Susannah laughed and nodded. "I would really like that", she said.
"I really like her", Kate said when they had entered the break room.
"No trace of the old jealousy left?" Tony asked, grinning.
"Aw, come on, that was … I didn't know her then and she …" Kate broke off, biting her tongue.
"I love it when you blush", Tony whispered into her ear; then he kissed her cheek before turning around to fill their cups with coffee. Leaning on the counter he handed her one and watched her take her first careful sip.
"I'm going to call Elizabeth Carter later", Kate said. "I want to tell her that we finally found out the truth about her brother."
"Are you going to tell her that it was him who shot their mother?"
She shook her head. "I don't want her to know that. And I'm not even sure if it's true. It's possible that Joseph Donovan didn't remember the events from his childhood correctly. I guess we'll never find out. But I want his sister to know what happened to him – and that he's dead."
"There's another thing", Tony said, reaching for her hand. "Tomorrow is Laura Adams' funeral."
"Oh!" Kate stepped closer to him and touched his arm. "Do you want to go there?"
He nodded, then looked at her hopefully. "But I was hoping you'd be coming with me", he said.
"Of course", she answered. "You don't have to go there alone."
Tony smiled at her, obviously relieved. After some seconds he sighed. "It seems like everything is finally back to normal again. Our killer got his punishment, you are back on the team …"
"Yes", Kate agreed. "But there are also things that have changed." The look she gave him made clear that she was talking about their relationship.
Tony grinned. "Things have to change sometimes. Otherwise life would be deadly boring." He set his cup on the counter and used both hands to stroke the hair back from Kate's face. "And so much less enjoyable", he whispered, one moment before their lips touched.
END.
So, this is it. Finally. This has become much longer than I intended in the beginning, but I enjoyed writing it a lot.
I want to thank all those who reviewed and who have been following this story from the beginning. You were really good to me and I was happy about every single comment you made.
I also want to thank those who have been reading the story but didn't review. I'm glad if this story has found an audience.