"I have never said that you are hot!"

"Well, you said I was good-looking!"

"When?"

"The other day, when you called me an action figure, you said that I was good-looking!"

Kate scoffed at me. "It was an analogy, DiNozzo, what I meant was--" The ringing of her cell phone interrupted our lively banter. "Don't you go anywhere, Tony," Kate told me as she reached into her purse for her phone, "We will finish this." She flipped open her phone. 'Man, I love the way she swishes her hair like that.' "Hello?" I couldn't tell who it was on the phone, but I noticed that Kate suddenly looked pretty worried. "Why would she call? Is everything ok?" The person on the other end of the line said something that made Kate's jaw drop. Then she dropped the phone. She just stood there, unmoving, looking shocked, so I asked her, "Kate, what's wrong?" When she didn't respond, I walked around the side of her car, and put my hand on her shoulder. "Kate?"

She turned around to face me, and I could see tears in the corners of her eyes. I had never seen Kate cry. "Kate, what is it?"

"My friend, Joe, was stationed over in Iraq. Today there was a shooting and," her voice wavered, "he didn't make it." As she said that, tears cascaded down her cheeks. I tried my best to comfort her. "Oh, Kate, I'm so sorry." She looked at me with her brown eyes, that seemed to be begging for love and compassion. "I-I don't know what else to say."

Kate managed to choke out, "Don't say anything, just hold me." And then she threw herself on me. I was a little shocked at first, but then I wrapped her in my arms and held her close. She started crying into my shoulder, so I massaged her back. "It's ok, Kate, it's gonna be alright," I said in a soothing tone. "I'm here for you."

We stood there for a while, with her just bawling in my arms. When her sobs had finally quieted down, she said, "I just can't believe that Joe is really gone." Then she started crying again, so I pulled her in closer and whispered, "I know, Kate, I know." And then I did what I had been wanting to do since she joined NCIS: I kissed her. It was just on the top of her head, but I still did it. Then, she hugged me tighter. After a couple more moments, Kate had stopped crying. She looked up at me and said in her sweet voice, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For caring… and for letting me cry on your shoulder."

"Oh, Kate," I said gently, "You know that I am not completely unfeeling. You know that I care about you." I placed my hand on her face and proceeded to wipe the tears off her cheeks. "Now, are you gonna be ok? Because I can drive you home if you want…" 'Say yes, say yes, SAY YES!'

"Would you? I'm still a little shaken up."

"Sure." She smiled at me. 'I would do anything to make that girl smile.' "And I guess you'll need a ride up tomorrow since you are leaving your car here, right?" She nodded, and picked her cell phone up off the ground. I would have gotten it, being a gentleman and all, but she beat me to it. "Ok. I'll swing by your place on my way." We were now walking towards my car. She smiled as I opened her door for her. We drove to Kate's apartment in silence. When we got there, she turned to me. "Thanks for the ride, and thanks for everything."

"No problem." I gave her one of my grins. She opened the car door to leave, stopped, turned back around to me, and gave me a peck on the cheek. I just sat there and grinned as I watched her walk up the steps and into the apartment complex.