Kimberly Gordon couldn’t believe her luck. After eight years at NCIS she finally got the opportunity to get out of the secretarial pool and into a real office. And not just any office either; this was Director Tom Morrow’s office. Even if she was only his interim administrative assistant until pitiful, pregnant Diana came out of her coma. Kim refused to feel bad about the poor girl’s tumble down the back steps as she gathered Diana’s impressive collection of personal items from the desk and shelves and placed them haphazardly in an empty cardboard box she’d scrounged from the copy room.

Months earlier Kim had heard it through the grapevine that Diana would need someone to cover for her during her maternity leave. Since no one else would be available during what amounted to vacation season she had been encouraged to upgrade her security clearance. She had jumped at the chance, even if it meant suspending her medications for a while to pass the drug screening. She stopped them immediately and by the time she peed in a cup her system was clear.

It surprised her to find she hadn’t really needed all those meds anyway. All they did was numb her to the world, making it a gray, lifeless place that she passed through almost without notice. Her job performance hadn’t suffered any and since she felt fine most of the time, except for the occasional jumpiness, she had elected not to start popping pills again after her promotion was complete.

A hushed but heated conversation broke into her thoughts, echoing into the office from the hallway just outside the partially open door. Tense moments like these were the only times she longed for something to calm her nerves. Willing her body not to respond, Kim reassured herself that the problem had nothing to do with her.

“Boss, there’s no reason for us all to go down for this. It was my mistake. Let me take the heat,” a frustrated tenor voice urged.

“Shut up, Dinozzo,” another man ordered brusquely. “You were doing what I told you to do and that’s exactly what I’m going to tell Morrow. So no grandstanding and no heroics, do you hear me?”

Kim physically flinched. The words were far from abusive but the angry tone took her by surprise, sending her mind down a path she really didn’t want to follow. Taking deliberate, deep breaths she clenched her fists and closed her eyes, counting backwards from a hundred as she willed her racing heart to slow.

“We’re going to be late,” a worried sounding female interjected, effectively cutting off the argument and bringing Kim’s attention back to the here and now.

For the third time in as many days Kim managed to fend off an impending panic attack without pharmaceutical intervention. By the time a very attractive man with silvered hair led a group of three into the office, Kimberly had her emotions firmly in check.

“Sit,” the first man through the door barked at the other two, pointing to the elegant leather sofa before turning to Kim.

With a practiced mask of detachment Kim watched the younger man and the woman obediently seat themselves on opposite ends of the couch, and then met their leader’s cool blue gaze levelly. “Can I help you?” she asked, projecting a composed demeanor in spite of the trepidation his voice had triggered in her. There was no doubt the man was handsome, but Kim knew she would never like him. First impressions with her were everything and he had come across as intimidating and rigid, not unlike her own father.

“I’m Special Agent Gibbs. This is Todd and Dinozzo,” Gibbs pointed to each of the other agents in turn as he introduced them. Kim ignored the woman, but the other man caught her attention as he pretended to casually straighten his already straight tie. NCIS was rife with this standoffish, GQ type of man and she constantly had to remind herself why they were off limits.

“He’s expecting us,” Gibbs added with a nod toward the director’s door.

“I’ll let him know you’re here,” Kim replied, hitting the intercom. “Sir, Agents Gibbs, Todd, and, uh... I’m sorry, what was your name again?” she politely asked the good-looking guy on the couch just to put him in his place.

“Anthony Dinozzo,” the man replied forgivingly, making eye contact as he leaned forward with a dazzling smile. “You can call me Tony.”

The man’s eyes lit up when he smiled and Kim found herself momentarily lost in his gaze. Her mouth went dry and her mind blanked for a second, registering only the handsome face.

“Ahem,” Gibbs cleared his throat, interrupting her minor fugue.

“And, um, yes... Agent Dinozzo,” Kim stammered as she dropped her head, feeling her cheeks flush at her slip in professionalism. She had expected cold indifference as usual, not blatant flirtation, something with which she had very little practical experience. Inwardly, she cursed herself for responding so readily to him. “Sorry,” she muttered without looking up again.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dinozzo replied almost smugly. “I get that a lot.”

Gibbs harrumphed and Todd shook her head sadly. “Like he needed an ego boost today,” she grumbled in a quiet aside, but Kim still heard her and it stung.

“No, I just meant that Dinozzo is a hard name to remember,” Tony protested his innocence, his smile still confidently in place.

“Sure you did,” Todd smirked.

“Send in Gibbs,” came the abrupt request through the speaker.

“You can go in now, Agent Gibbs,” Kim passed on the information before pointedly returning to her work.

Gibbs studied his subordinates for another second before moving towards the inner door. “Keep him in line,” he instructed the woman as he tapped on the door twice before opening it and disappearing inside.

Dinozzo quickly leaned forward to try to catch a glimpse of the director before the door closed. Agent Todd stared him down until he made a show of unbuttoning his suit jacket and relaxing back against the cushion behind him as he stretched an arm out along the back of the couch towards her.

“Comfy?” Todd questioned sarcastically.

“Very,” Dinozzo replied, nonchalantly lifting his right foot up to rest on his left knee. “You?”

“Not at all. How can you be so calm?”

“You haven’t been called on the carpet much, have you Kate?”

“I’ve never been called on the carpet. At least not until I met you guys,” Todd exclaimed, punching Dinozzo hard on the handiest body part.

“You’ll get used to it,” Tony assured with a maddening grin as he rubbed his battered knee. “Besides, you’re not even in trouble; you were just an innocent bystander.”

“So a character witness then?”

“Oh crap,” Tony deadpanned. “I am so screwed.”

Kim surreptitiously watched the byplay between the agents, trying to gauge their gentle banter and easy rapport. Her overactive imagination kicked in and provided explicit details of what these two attractive people got up to in their down time. She felt a surge of an old well-known hurt, a demon she thought she’d conquered long ago.

In one brief moment bright eyes and a brilliant smile aimed her way had done injury to her already jagged heart, even though she knew he hadn’t meant anything by it. Men like Anthony Dinozzo simply didn’t notice women like her. Kim knew she might as well be invisible next to his gorgeous partner. Jealousy was a brutal taskmaster and she hated the way it made her feel, burning her deep down inside. Suddenly she longed for her overly medicated numbness.

“I really don’t want to say the wrong thing and get you in trouble,” Kate fretted, suddenly very serious.

“I’m already in trouble,” Dinozzo noted as he brushed away a piece of barely noticeable lint from the cuff of his pants leg. “Look, don’t try to protect me, that’ll only make things worse. Just be honest.”

“Tony...”

“Seriously, worse case scenario; Gibbs gets yelled at and I get canned. No biggie.”

“Gibbs is not going to let that happen,” Todd objected strenuously. “He’s been bending the rules around here for way too many years to let them fire you over something like this.”

“Aw, Kate, you do care,” Dinozzo teased, batting his eyelashes at her.

“No I don’t,” Todd responded with a small smile and another gentler slap to his leg, “It would just be really, really boring around here without you.”

Both agents jumped when the much watched door opened and Gibbs poked his head out. “Kate,” he called. “You stay,” he instructed decisively, pointing at Dinozzo as he glanced once in Kim’s direction.

Kate patted Tony on the shoulder as she moved to the door, glancing back at him one more time as Gibbs ushered her into the director’s inner sanctum.

When the door once again closed, Kim unwittingly witnessed the remaining man’s bravado slip for an instant as he ran a hand over his face and sighed. “Sit, stay. What am I? A dog?” he grumbled under his breath as he thumped his elevated foot back to the floor. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, looking dejected as he studied the floor.

The vulnerable man behind the self-assured façade was even more appealing and Kim had to make herself turn away to keep from reaching out to him. She quickly shoved a lid onto the box of Diana’s things as she stood. Hefting the whole thing, she moved towards the row of tall filing cabinets, searching for the most out of the way spot for it until she could realistically dispose of it. Belatedly she realized the box was heavier than she’d estimated as she faltered when she tried to lift it to the top of the nearest filing cabinet. She startled violently when arms suddenly reached around her to take the weight of the box.

“Easy,” Agent Dinozzo advised smoothly. “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

The clean, masculine smell of him triggered an unwanted and quite noticeable increase in her respirations. Kim couldn’t stop the tremors that suddenly racked her body, which seemed to have a mind of its own as it rebelliously leaned heavily against the solid chest behind her. “S... sorry,” she stuttered, her breathing coming even more rapidly.

“S’okay. I got it,” Tony assured cheerfully, easily sliding the box into place. “You could have asked for help.”

When the arms retreated, Kim felt herself wilt with the loss. Her knees became embarrassingly weak and she actively began to hyperventilate as the delayed panic attack finally hit home.

“Hey,” her unsuspecting hero called out, once again rescuing her by catching her arm and deftly maneuvering her back to her chair. “Are you okay?”

Unable to speak, Kim shook her head as he started going through her desk drawers. Finding her lunch he emptied the contents onto the desk and helped her crumple the edges of the bag and hold it over her mouth and nose.

“Slow deep breaths, Kimberly,” he soothed, rubbing her back with his free hand. “That’s it.”

Usually she couldn’t stand to be touched but found his hand warm and oddly invigorating so she didn’t pull away. The concern on his face was heartening, but remaining in such close proximity to him did nothing to help her regain her composure. It had been a long time since she’d been so close to a man and even longer since one had been so kind to her. Confused tears pricked behind her eyes as she slowly began to calm down.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered in mortification, lowering the paper bag when she finally had the breath to speak. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“Don’t be silly,” Tony placated with a pat to her back. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Kim lied unconvincingly as a single tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. “I suddenly felt dizzy... um, sick. There must be something going around.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Tony joked, offering a box of Kleenex. “For a minute there I thought it was me.”

Taking a tissue Kim wiped her face before accepting the already open Diet Coke he pressed into her hand. “Take small sips,” he encouraged, still kneeling beside her.

“How did you know my name?” she asked, realizing he had called her Kimberly.

“I’m an investigator,” Tony grinned, threatening to make her hyperventilate again. “That’s why I make the big bucks.”

“Dinozzo,” Gibbs growled in apparent irritation as he and Todd stepped out of the director’s office. “I should have known better than to leave you alone in an office with a woman.”

“She needed help,” Tony declared defensively, rising to his feet and refastening the single button on his jacket. “What was I supposed to do? Sit on the couch like a good little agent and let her pass out?”

“Are you alright, Miss Gordon?” Gibbs asked in concern when he noticed her pale face and shaking hands.

Remembering the nameplate she had placed on her desk just that morning Kim felt like a fool for even imagining that Tony had somehow instinctively known her name. She was surprised how quickly she had slipped back into her old habit of what Doctor Burke used to call ‘magical thinking’.

“Miss Gordon?”

“I’m better now,” Kim managed, “Thanks to Agent Dinozzo.”

“Tony,” Dinozzo insisted.

“Tony,” Kim repeated with a tiny smile, glancing up at him in adoration.

Gibbs sighed and rolled his eyes. “If you’re through being a boy scout,” he thumbed over his shoulder indicating the open door, “Director Morrow would like to see you now.”

“See ya later,” Tony whispered, giving Kim’s arm a little squeeze as he turned to go.

“I’ll look after her,” Kate assured, stepping over to the desk.

Dinozzo winked at her then squared his shoulders and followed his boss into the lion’s den.

“Is he in a lot of trouble?” Kim asked in a shaky voice as soon as the door closed.

“Well, the director didn’t seem too mad and the impending lawsuit looks like so much smoke and mirrors,” Todd mused, slipping a hand down to cradle Kim’s wrist, inconspicuously taking a pulse. “I don’t think he really has anything to worry about.”

“Poor Tony.”

Kate laughed lightly. “Now don’t go feeling too sorry for him, he did handcuff a high-powered attorney and drag him kicking and screaming into the office. Men like that don’t take public humiliation easily, there are bound to be a few repercussions.”

“Tony must be very brave,” Kim replied, apparently still in a daze.

“Riiiight,” Kate drawled with a frown. “How are you feeling now? Your heart rate is still a little high.”

“No, I’m fine,” Kim insisted, coming to her senses and tugging her arm away. “Low blood sugar, I’m better now.”

Eyeing the diet soda suspiciously, Kate nodded and moved back to the couch. “Uh huh.”

As much as she’d already begun to hate Agent Todd on general principle, Kim didn’t want anyone to dislike her. “I wasn’t flirting with your boyfriend,” she couldn’t stop herself from blurting out at the sudden change in the other woman’s disposition.

“Boyfriend?” Kate asked incredulously. “Tony is not my boyfriend. Did he tell you that?”

“No! No, I just assumed... the way you two act together,” Kim explained hastily. “I just thought...”

“Um, Kimberly, right?” Kate asked, clearly reading the placard. “Look, you don’t know me from Adam, but I do know Tony. I love him like a brother, but really, you don’t want to go there.”

“He’s already got a girlfriend?”

“It’s hard to say on any given day,” Kate hedged guiltily before taking a deep breath and plunging on with brutal honesty. “Tony’s a player.”

“But he’s so sweet,” Kim objected, irritated that this person dared to pass judgment on such a wonderful man. Suddenly it became clear; the agent was simply jaded because Tony had not been interested in a relationship with her.

“Yeah, he can be very sweet when he wants to be,” Kate allowed grudgingly, “Or when he wants something. But he’s definitely a skirt chaser. You seem like a nice person. Don’t set yourself up for a fall.”

With a self-effacing laugh Kim shrugged dolefully. “He wouldn’t be interested in me anyway.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Kate replied. “It’s none of my business; just don’t expect too much if you do go out with him. He’s not the type to settle down. That’s all I’m saying.”

Kim stifled her growing resentment and got back to work. “Thank you for your concern,” she sniffed haughtily.

“No problem,” Todd muttered dryly, realizing she might as well be talking to a brick wall.

A tense silence stretched out until at long last Tony came out of the director’s office shutting the door quietly behind him.

“How’d it go?” Kate whispered, eyes wide.

“Ouch,” Tony proclaimed with a grimace. He turned around and raised his jacket to show off his rump. “Is there anything left?” he asked, looking demurely at Kate over his shoulder.

“Yeah, there’s plenty left, Tony,” Kate assured with a small huff of relieved laughter, catching Kim’s appreciative glance out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh good, ‘cause we’ve been ordered to get our butts back to work and I wasn’t sure I had enough to do that.”

“Good thing you had some to spare,” Kate teased relentlessly.

“Watch it,” Tony warned with a raised finger before turning toward the reception desk. “Kimberly, it was nice to meet you. I hope you feel better soon.”

“I already do, thank you so much... Tony.”

Tony pulled a business card out of his pocket and borrowed Kimberly’s pen. “If you ever need anything, you know, boxes moved or whatever, give me a call,” he flirted as he scribbled the number of his cell phone on the back.

“I will,” Kim breathed softly, accepting both the card and pen.

“Tony,” Kate urged, glancing warily at the still closed door. “Gibbs probably meant now.”

“I’m sure he did,” Dinozzo agreed with a final grin before gesturing for Kate to precede him out of the office. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Kim called after him, waiting only seconds after he was gone to pull up his personnel file on her computer.