When Kate reappeared in Tony’s, she frowned. It was absolutely silent. A quick check of her watch indicated that Gibbs had just left his house about five minutes ago, so he was still on the road, but it didn’t explain the silence. She walked into the living room and stopped; Tony was laying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Kate bit her lip and checked her watch again, it was a twenty minute drive from Gibbs’ place to Tony’s, ten if Gibbs’ driving was the way she remembered it, which meant that she had maybe five minutes before Gibbs would be banging on the door, so she decided to make use of it by doing one of her favorite things to do; Tony-Watch. She’d loved doing it while she was alive, but she’d had to be careful because if Tony caught on, he’d get nervous and a nervous Tony was not someone you wanted to mess with; but since she was dead and he wouldn’t know she was there unless she was given permission to reveal herself, she could watch him to her heart’s content.
Tony was still every bit the handsome rogue she’d met on Air Force One five years ago, but there were changes, there were lines on the boyish face that hadn’t been there before. Stress, unhappiness, natural ageing and his continual struggle with the aftermath of having the plague had all taken their tolls on his face, but they didn’t detract from his good looks, in fact they enhanced them. His eyes were still beautiful too, but the same things that had put those lines on his face had also taken their tolls on his eyes; they didn’t sparkle with laughter the way they used to but they were still beautiful, just not in the same way they’d been when she’d first met him.
Kate sighed, these were the times she hated not being able to reveal herself whenever she wanted. But those were the rules, no Angel, not even the Archangels, were allowed to show themselves to mortals without The Board’s permission, something about Angels interfering when they shouldn’t have and making a mess of things, so she had to content herself with stroking Tony’s arm, even though he couldn’t feel it.
Suddenly, a pounding on the door startled the both of them and Kate sighed as she looked at her watch; yep, Gibbs was right on time. She steeled herself for the confrontation to come, Gibbs had been one thing, Tony was a totally different animal. He bottled everything up and Kate was a little afraid of what would happen if Gibbs pushed Tony too far.
She watched Tony stalk over to the door and pull it open, sure enough, there was Gibbs.
“Gibbs,” Oh, this wasn’t shaping up well, Tony’s voice was hard, not like the soft tones he’d often used when he and Gibbs had been together and Gibbs had showed up at his apartment out of the blue.
Gibbs at least had the decency to look sheepish, “May I come in?”
Kate watched Tony’s face and she could see that he was torn between wanting to tell Gibbs to go to hell, slamming the door in his face and going back to his fruitless search for the scotch or letting Gibbs in and going from there.
“I’m really not in the mood for company, Gibbs. If you want that, go see Director Shepard.” Kate winced at the bitter tone in Tony’s voice. Okay, maybe she’d been too confident in thinking that Tony wouldn’t hold a grudge; after everything he’d been through, God knows he had every right to hold a grudge against Gibbs. But Kate prayed that Tony’s innate ability to forgive just about anyone hadn’t been destroyed along with his car and his relationship with Jeanne.
Gibbs shook his head, “No, that’s not why I’m here. I just wanna talk.”
Tony was quiet and for a minute, Kate was afraid that he was going to shut the door, but instead, Tony stepped aside to let Gibbs in without a word.
Kate breathed a sigh of relief; okay, so maybe Tony was at least going to listen to what Gibbs had to say. That is until Tony knocked Gibbs flat on his ass with one punch.
TBC
Author's Chapter Notes:
Kate's mission hits a snag.
Chapter End Notes:
Tony is OOC.