She had been used to being a ghost, to wearing disguises and becoming new people every few days. She hated that she had been used to it, that she didn't mind picking up and going wherever they sent her. But, she had loved her work at the same time.
On that sunny day in Panama City, though, she wasn't loving it very much.
The job had been simple. She had to meet a contact who had some important information, who would be in danger if he was discovered passing that information to an intelligence agency, and after a few days, she would return to her superiors with the information.
But, then she met him. She hadn't met many decent guys---because most guys she worked with were power-hungry bastards---but she met Tony and he was with his fraternity brothers and as lame as that sounded, she also found it kind of endearing. He was a year younger than she was, but she didn't mind that. He didn't mind that she couldn't tell him much about her past; he told her about some of his, instead.
Three days turned into five and then her superiors were calling. She had to return within the next two days or she would be officially reprimanded. She didn't want to leave, but she didn't want anything to mar her perfect record.
"Hey, beautiful," Tony said as he sat down next to her in the bar they had claimed as their meeting place. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Whatcha doin' today? We're thinking about playing some volleyball before---"
"I have to leave," she said quietly, as she ducked her eyes and looked away from him.
"Today?"
She frowned. "Tonight or tomorrow."
"Okay," he said in a slow voice, as if he were thinking as he was talking, "so, no volleybally, then. What do you want to do today?"
"Just like that?"
He grinned. "Yeah. Although, if you're planning on getting lucky, I suggest we go to your room and not mine... because we threw a party last night."
She smiled and kissed him, letting her lips linger against his as she savoured the moment.
What she hadn't been used to was being only one person. She wasn't used to letting her personality show through in conversations with colleagues; she wasn't used to having replies to questions about her past. And, as rarely as it happened, she wasn't used to being asked if she had been seen before---in one of her previous disguises.
"Have we met?"
Kate hadn't wanted to turn around, to see Tony's face, to see how he aged after college, but she knew she had to. When she did, she saw that he was just as handsome as ever---but he was more polished and more mature.
"Ah... I don't think so," she said after a brief hesitation. She smiled and offered him her hand. "Kate Harper. Does that sound familiar?"
"Tony DiNozzo," he said as he shook her hand. "Are you sure we've never met? Have you ever worked with NCIS? I'm an agent there... maybe we have a case in common."
She shook her head. "I've never worked with NCIS," she said, lying as their hands separated. She studied him and realised that she never suspected he would end up in law enforcement. She was proud of him, even though they had only known each other for a few days many years ago.
"Yeah, probably... I think I would've remembered you," he said with a not-so-subtle leer.
Kate smothered a laugh. Some things never change, she mused silently.
"That was a compliment, right?" she asked as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes.
He grinned. "Yeah... sorry about that," he said with a tilt of his head. "So... any chance you'd like to---"
She put a hand up to stop him. "I don't mean to be rude but... I don't think... I mean, you are not at all my type," she said in a firm tone of voice. "I have an important job and I don't have time for entanglements."
Tony looked at her with a small shadow of disappointment in her eyes. She wanted to apologise for being so blunt, but she had an appointment in twenty minutes with the President of the United States and Nancy McNally, and she really, really didn't want to be late.
