A Penny for Them by Star 24

Disclaimer: Characters of Navy NCIS belong to Paramount Studios and Belisarius Productions. Don't own them or profit from them.

A series of vignettes of the characters thoughts.

Why I Can't Like You

Tony's thoughts after Marine Down.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Kate." Damn. What the hell are you thinkin', Dinozzo? Good thing Gibbs was there and she took it as part of our joke over revenging ourselves on him for my cap and her PDA. Kate is one sharp cookie and you don't want her getting any ideas about, well about anything.

Let her keep thinking that you are the worst horndog to walk the face of the earth, a sucker for anything in skirts. That's safe. Kate is not the kind of female you want to get yourself involved with. She's too smart. And underneath that tough exterior she's too…soft. She could get hurt too easily. One of your specialties with women. Besides, you know from experience, what happens when you hook up with the smart ones. Sooner or later they figure out the real deal about you, underneath that playboy façade the world gets to see.

Abby's smart, too. But Abby's safe, somehow. Sure there are sparks there and she probably wouldn't be averse to some fun and games sometime. But she's different. Stronger somehow. With Abby it'd be a short-term deal and then she'd be off, marching to her very own drummer. You gotta respect that about Abby. She takes life on her own terms.

Kate though. She tries to put on this tough façade. But underneath she's all soft and vulnerable. It really shows when she deals with a vic's families or friends like the mother of that wacko game player, or the wife of the mummy. I bet she was all sweet sympathy when they interviewed the Marine wife who got that phone call from her dead husband. At least Gibbs didn't make me go on that one with her.

Nope, Kate Todd is dangerous. You knew that when Gibbs walked into that room in Colombia, depending on us to have his back. Your mind should have been 100% on what was going to go down, but instead one tiny part of it was worrying about Kate, and what would happen if the bag of shit had a chance to get a round or two off in her direction. It was okay this time, but one time it might not be. And it could be you who gets her killed in a moment of distraction.

So ignore the looks she's been throwing you lately. Ignore the sparks that seem to be flying. And forget the warm feeling you get inside when you trade barbs with her or team up with her against our fearless leader. You know better than anyone the dangers of getting involved with a colleague. For both of you. So take her up on her brother-sister act and keep it light and simple. That way everyone will live to see another day.