The hardest part about Sunday had not been explaining in detail to Mario that he and Kate hadn’t been dating, but were now. It wasn’t leaving behind his beloved brother and sister-in-law and their two girls, watching them wave from the back step. It wasn’t the drive back to DC, with its discussions of expectations, history, and ideas on how to keep it from their friends at work. No, the hardest part had been dropping Kate off at her apartment building and watching her struggle not to invite him in. The second hardest part had been his own struggle, to not invite himself in. Oh, they’d sat in the car for near on half an hour, doing significantly more kissing that talking, but eventually they’d begun to feel like ridiculous teenagers, and Kate had finally opened the door and got out of the car. He’d watched her carry her suitcase up the steps, and turn back to wave at him, before she opened the building door. He took that as a cue, and had stepped on the gas and floored it out of the parking lot before the rebellious elements of his personality could take over, park the car, and follow her up. By the time he’d parked in his own parking spot, he wasn’t sure if he was extremely proud of or extremely disgusted with himself. But he decided not to think about it, had unpacked, made some dinner, and watched TV for the rest of the night. He couldn’t remember what he’d watched; he kept tasting Kate on his lips, and had drowned in thoughts of her instead.

Now it was Monday morning, and he had come in early to work. He hoped he and Kate would have a few minutes to talk before anyone else showed up. They still needed to talk, in private, about what to say to their friends, and he wanted some time to figure out how he was going to react to her at work, given the changes in their relationship. He wanted to do that before Gibbs came in. He did not want his boss to be able to read this off of him, or her.

But she wasn’t here yet. It was almost seven, and she hadn’t arrived. So he was sitting at his desk, doing some of the work he’d let slip at the end of last week. Good Lord, was it only three days ago? So much had changed…

Where the hell was she? Paper kept disappearing, reports kept being written, and still she hadn’t come in. Was she avoiding him? Was she having second thoughts?

On the other hand, maybe she was sleeping in. He laughed in his head at the thought. Kate, sleeping in. How droll.

The elevator arrived, and Tony looked up, trying to surreptitiously catch a glimpse of those it contained. A rather heavy stone fell on his stomach, and he dropped his head before they could notice his attention. Gibbs and Kate had exited the elevator together.

No one’s business but ours, he thought desperately. You can do this. No problem. You don’t need time to get yourself together. When he deemed the time right, he looked up. “Boss!” he said, getting out of his chair. “You’re back!”

“Obviously,” Gibbs said. “You were expecting me, weren’t you, DiNozzo?”

“Yeah, but not until, oh, nine or so,” Tony said as Gibbs passed him for his desk. He glanced over at Kate as she went to hers. Her eyes met his, and a wicked humour showed in them. He fought a smile. She was enjoying the secret! He returned his attention to Gibbs before their boss could pick up on the delay. “I figured you’d want to drag your vacation out as long as possible.”

The look that Gibbs gave him was priceless. He wished he had a camera. “My vacation was mandatory, DiNozzo. Why would I want to drag it out?”

“Didn’t you have fun relaxing?”

Gibbs rewarded him with a roll of his eyes. “What happened while I was gone?”

Kate and I started dating, Boss. May we have your blessing? “Not much. Couple of minor drug infractions, some Marines going AWOL, a friendly fire injury investigation. Pretty routine, actually.”

“Friendly fire? Why didn’t you call me?”

“We didn’t call you because we were under orders not to, Gibbs,” Kate broke in. “We handled it. The report’s on your desk there.”

Gibbs looked down at the pile of paper in front of him. He seemed annoyed, but Tony hoped it was because he was feeling a little out of the loop, and not because they’d done anything wrong. “All right,” he said. “Let me get caught up on these, and then we’ll brief on what you’ve got right now.”

“Sure, Boss,” Tony said. “Kate and I will just get to work.”

“You do that.”

Tony turned back to his desk, but stopped and looked back. “Boss?”

“DiNozzo?” Gibbs replied, looking up again.

“It’s good to have you back.”

There was a slight pause, but then Gibbs nodded, acceptance of the welcome and all it implied. Tony nodded back, then dropped into his desk chair and pulled the current files towards him.

When he was sure that Gibbs was engrossed in the reports they’d left for him, he looked up. Kate was also behind her desk, looking at him. This was going to be easier than he thought, Tony realized. Yes, there was a new undertone between them, but he didn’t have the urge to throw her on the desk and kiss her senseless. There was a time and place for that, and this wasn’t it, so it didn’t seem to be an issue. But the mischievous light was still in her eyes, and Tony could help but grin at her. She glanced to her left and back to him. Tony raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. She pressed her lips together and shook her head slightly.

“If you two are done making faces at each other, I believe you have some things to do,” Gibbs said.

Tony returned his gaze quickly to the file in front of him. “Yes, Boss.”

“Sorry, Gibbs.”

Tony didn’t look up again, even when Gibbs sighed. “Thank God,” Tony heard him say. “Everything is back to normal.”

Normal? Tony thought, and his amusement doubled, though he kept it from showing on his face. Boss, you have no idea now not normal everything is. And if it all works out, you never will.