Work Text:
Dé Profundis*
Tony flipped the card between his fingers, the edge of the white paper frail from constant handling. In the last few months, he had entertained thoughts of dialling the numbers written on it, but something always came up: a dead marine, a long legged blonde, almost dying of the plague.
Tony DiNozzo wasn't stupid. He might not be a computer whiz like McGee, or a forensics genius like Abby, but he had his own little niche. He wouldn't be on Gibb's team if he were stupid. After waking up in that hotel room, Tony did some digging; he didn't even have to look that hard. Typing "Alexander Luthor" had been enough to turn up over 20,000 hits on Google. It was only then, Tony realised, exactly how stupid he was.
His family might not be as well off as the Luthors, but they were in the same social circle. Tony couldn't believe he had spent two nights – one of them being completely sloshed – with one of the richest men on the planet and hadn't even recognised him. And if his memories of the night were accurate, he had even kissed Alex... or Lex, as the rest of the world called him.
Kate would probably have found it amusing, if she could get over the whole voluntarily kissing a guy thing. Not to mention the fact that, if she ever found out –
The card stilled in his hand.
Kate will never find out.
"Ha!"
Tony looked up. Kate was standing in his living room, right in front of the muted TV.
"Knew you were way too into women for it to be anything else but over-compensation! And God!" She looked down at her outfit. "You're still dressing me up in this ridiculous thing?"
Tony couldn't help but smile.
"Show a little respect for the dead, will you? Wait. What am I saying? It's you we're talking about."
Tony's smile got wider. Kate only shook her head at him, a somewhat indulgent smile on her face. "Well, guess it's no harm, now that I know that you're more into guys than gals."
"Am not!"
"Oh please! You know more about shoes than any straight man has the right to. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. On the other hand, it still doesn't explain your obsession with those Hawaiian shirts."
"I don't have an obsession with... wait, why are we even talking about this?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "How long have you had that card?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Judging by how worn it looks, quite a while. Just call him already!"
"Easy for you to say. Do you have any idea who he is?"
"Fine, he's rich, and famous. So what? He probably liked it that you didn't recognise him. No pretences, no pre-formed judgments, just two guys hanging out. Men like him don't hand out their private cell number just to anyone. He probably enjoyed your company. Besides, isn't he right in your target age group?" Kate finished with a smirk.
"My target age group?"
"You know, early to mid-twenties."
Tony let out a groan, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the chair. "You're gonna haunt me for the rest of my life, aren't you?" He opened one eye and peeked at Kate before closing them again.
"You wish!" Kate snorted. "Just doing some last minute good deeds before I go along my way. Someone's got to make sure you don't screw up your life too much."
When Tony opened his eyes again, Kate was still there, only she was wearing a different outfit. Instead of the school girl uniform, she was in a black silk evening gown, diamond necklace and earrings glittering under the light. Her hair was pinned up elegantly, she looked stunning.
"Wow." Kate looked at her outfit. "You do have good taste in clothing. Definitely gay."
Tony laughed.
Kate smiled at him, almost motherly. "Call him. Trust me on this."
Tony looked at the card in his hand, when he looked up, Kate was gone. Taking a deep breath, Tony picked up his phone and punched in the numbers he memorised long ago.
Two rings.
"Lex Luthor."
Tony remembered that voice. "Hi, Alex."
There was a long pause and Tony wondered if he'd made a mistake. They guy probably didn't even remember him. Just one of his countless encounters with...
"Tony?"
The knot in Tony's chest loosened and he felt himself letting out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. "Guess you remember me."
Alex chuckled. Funny how Tony couldn't bring himself to call him Lex. "How could I not? After the first couple of weeks, I'd pretty much given up hope that you were ever going to call."
"Well, life and all. They tend to get in the way of things."
"How have you been? You sound tired," a clear note of concern in Alex's voice.
Tony chuckled, almost scaring himself over how bitter he sounded.
"Tony?"
"I'm fine. I'm fine." But Kate wasn't. Kate was gone. "It's just.... It's been a very, very, very long few days."
A quiet "Tell me," was the reply.
And Tony complied.
Two and a half hours later, Tony hung up the phone, and said a silent thank you to the night sky.
He knew Kate had heard him.
The End.