Sequel to "Nothing Left for You". That should be read first before diving into this.

xXx

"No, Tony." Kate looked him straight in the eye. "We are not telling Jane."

"That's more like it." Tony laughed to himself. Now she was sounding more like Kate.

"But we can't tell Jane."

"Why not?"

"How do you think she'd handle this?" Kate's face saddened. "We both know she'd be so hurt she wouldn't want to talk to me again."

"But it's not like you had a choice," Tony said.

"You're taking this a lot better than I expected." Kate's mind was running in different directions. "I don't think Jane would see it that way."

"You're right," Tony said. "She'll see it as you lying to her instead of you protecting yourself."

"That's exactly why we can't tell her." Kate was already sounding like her regular old self, in charge and ready to tell Tony what to do.

"Well, what are we supposed to say?" Tony said. "That TonyandMaura deliberately disobeyed her orders to stay celibate and decided to be together?"

Kate stopped her fidgeting and looked at Ton's face.

Tony took the hint. "That is, if we are even going to be together."

"Tony, you know I want to," Kate kept the sad, worried look on her face. "But will it work? We have Maura to think about. We have McGee, Gibbs! You can't tell them either!"

"Hold up," Tony said, putting his hands in the air. "You're talking about not telling Jane. That's one thing. But making me go back to DC with this hanging over my head and not telling Gibbs or McGee?"

"I can't let them know." Kate was stern. "I didn't even want to tell you. Tony, look how long I stayed quiet about this! If we continue to tell people, then it'll be a public thing. I… my family doesn't even know."

"Kate, I can't keep this from them." Tony smiled a little bit. "Think about Abby! How happy she'd be to see you! She missed you more than any one of us."

"Abby…" Kate said her name like a small child, trying out a word for the first time.

"Yeah, Abby. She hasn't been the same."

"I figured she'd change the most."

"She changed a lot, but she wasn't the one who changed the most." Tony sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Gibbs." Tony looked at her. "Gibbs is completely different. Only recently has he started to smile again. He rarely laughs. His past has been haunting him for years."

"I started all this." Kate was staring off into space.

"It's not your fault," Tony said. "You did what you had to do. No one can blame you for that."

"I know. But you still can't tell anyone. If you really need to, you can talk to Ducky about it…"

"Ducky knew?" Tony almost seemed hurt that he wasn't the one she trusted.

"He had to," she said. "He was the one with the body, he had about the body and whatnot."

"It was quite the elaborate act, wasn't it?" Tony said.

"It had to be," Kate said back. "It wasn't like I could just walk into the bullpen and say, 'Hey, I'm in danger, see ya'all later!' It could never work like that."

"Well, I guess so."

"Besides, it took me a long time to recover from the whole ordeal. Between the physical bullet in my head and the emotional toll of leaving everything I ever knew, I didn't know what to do." Kate kept her sad look.

"I know you keep feeling alone, but you're not now." Tony was trying to get her to feel better. "I know. I know you're here. I know you're here and you're safe."

"I guess that changes something," Kate said. "I… can talk to you. I can keep in touch, find out what everyone else is up to…"

"I'll tell you everything. What do you want to know?" Tony asked.

"Tell me about Abby. I miss her so much. We were so close…"

"Well, honestly, she never really got over you." Tony shrugged. "In fact, she doesn't have many friends. She still bowls with the nuns. Oh, she found out she was adopted, and she has a biological brother."

"Abby? No way!" Kate was shocked. "Has she met her parents? Does her brother know?"

"I don't think she had the heart to tell him. Maybe she will soon. Or maybe she needs someone to back her up while she does," Tony said, looking at Kate with thoughtful eyes.

"You know, it's sounding better and better, going back."

"That's the idea."

Kate walked out of the room, with Tony following. They found themselves in the kitchen by the sink, not thirsty, but needing something to break the cycle of thinking about the past. Kate drank her water and sat herself up on the counter.

"Maybe I can do both."

"Huh?"

"Maybe I can… go back. See Gibbs and Ducky and McGee, hang out with Abby, and still come back here too. I just don't know if I should tell Jane." She swirled her cup around in her hand.

"You might want to just tell everyone. Maybe even all at once." Tony shrugged.

"How would I do that?"

"You and I could invite everyone here…" Tony was thinking hard; it was evident by the look on his face. "Or I could invite everyone to my house. That's it. I know everyone, since Maura doesn't know the team. We'll get everyone in one place and we can just tell them together."

Kate smile at Tony's use of the terms we and together. Years ago, she would have had to do everything on her own. She would have had to come up with a plan, execute it, and babysit Tony all at the same time.

Kate had spent what felt like an eternity missing the old Tony, the Tony that was almost hers. Now that he was here, in front of her, and different, she decided it was okay to love the new Tony too.

"You grew up a bit," she said to him.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, in a good way."

"Just remember you said that when it comes time for you to do the talking." Tony grinned widely and playfully punched her in the arm.

Kate shook her head. "Maybe some things don't change."