"Gibbs, come on" Kate was following him, protesting.
"Kate" he turned around and glared at her "I'm goin' home. To bed. Nothing dangerous about sleeping."
She made her usual I'm-doubting-you face, and frowned at him "I was assigned as your protection detail, Gibbs."
"Yeah, well if Ari shoots a grenade through my window, I'll let ya know" he said sarcastically.
She was glaring at him now, following him out of the bullpen "Gibbs, I will not defy an order from the director. And neither will you."
He stepped into the elevator "Wanna bet, Kate?"
She immediately got into the elevator with him, as he punched the button, pissed off "I will not let you go home by yourself, Gibbs. Tony has run himself ragged on top of being sick, and Tim is exhausted too from working for two people for the last few weeks. I'm the one who stepped up to protect you, and I'll be damned if you don't let me do my job!"
"Look, Kate, what do ya want me to say?" he asked, incredulous "I'm happy you're coming home with me?" he made sure to hide any truth behind his sarcasm.
She glared at him, raising an eyebrow. She cocked a hip, and the agent he'd met on Air Force One reappeared "Are you even wearing a vest?"
"Nah. Are you?" he asked, amused now. Balls are showing.
"No, Gibbs, Ari is here to kill you, not me. Remember?"
"He asked how you were" Gibbs shuddered, angry at himself that he hadn't shot Ari on the spot "We have to go to Danborn Avionics tomorrow. All I want, is for you to piss off so I can get some sleep!"
"I can sleep when I'm dead, Gibbs. Isn't that your motto?" she asked.
The elevator dinged, meaning they were at the parking garage "My motto?" he asked, as she followed him. No getting rid of her tonight. Meaning…. She IS coming home with me he thought, before wishing he could headslap himself for even thinking it "I don't have a motto, Kate."
"Nah" came her reply from behind him "You just have a hell of a lot of rules."
"Yeah the rules are useful, Kate. You hadn't noticed?" He reached his car, before she stood next to him. He sighed, before turning around to face her "I will meet you at my house. I trust you know the way?"
"Rule eight, Gibbs" she smirked at invoking on of his own rules against him. "Never take anything for granted. Of course I know where you live"
"You been stalking me, Agent Todd?"
She turned red, "That came out wrong. I just meant, I know where you live because… I came to pick you up for work a few weeks ago, remember? No, you wouldn't remember, it was before you'd had your coffee."
"Careful, I might actually be tempted to headslap you" he warned gruffly "I'll see you shortly."
"Yes, sir" she muttered sarcastically, as he got in the car. He mimed headslapping, before pointing at her car.
"Go, shoo" he said.
"Gibbs, I am not a pigeon" she reprimanded, climbing in her own car, glaring at him all the while. He started the engine, and sighed once he was out of her line of vision.
Keep it together he warned himself. Or you've got a headslap coming your way. He couldn't help it though. He found it quite amusing when Kate was pissed at him, because he could tell she wasn't really pissed. And right now, she was just worried and concerned for his safety. He was a federal agent, he should have reminded her. He could take care of himself.
I need a rule about letting pretty younger agents into my house. He immediately rolled his eyes, before turning on the radio. He needed some kind of distraction.
"After a dumpster exploded in downtown Washington, several of our callers have expressed a new need for starting bucket lists" the DJ started saying "This next song is for the listeners who are wondering if there is something they need to do before they die. Carpe Diem, my friends."
Gibbs knew exactly who was responsible for the dumpster blowing up. His fault. The radio started playing a song. "I've dealt with my ghosts and faced all my demons, finally content with a past I regret…."
He looked down at the radio, rolling his eyes. Demons. He had a lot of them. More so than Caitlin Todd ever would understand.
"I'm moving on, at last I can see, life has been patiently waiting for me, and I know there's no guarantees, but I'm not alone, there comes a time in everyone's life, when all you can see are the years passing by…. And I have made up my mind that those days are gone."
He looked in the rear view mirror, checking to make sure he wasn't being followed. And that's when he noticed exactly how gray his hair was- he'd never really noticed or minded really- and the wrinkles around his eyes were increasing. He wasn't getting any younger. And he was certain that a pretty young ex-Secret Service agent had undoubtedly noticed his shortcomings. That would be Kate, just to be totally observant. He nearly drove off the road, cursing his absentmindedness.
He pulled up to his dark house, wondering if it would look forbidding or welcoming to Kate- stupid. He was being stupid. Why was it that every single time his subordinate made a stupid remark he had the serious urge to drag her into the elevator, force her against the wall and-
He took a deep breath, throwing open the door to the car, and walking up to his front door. He went inside and started flicking on lights. It looked so empty and lonely, he wondered if she laughed to herself whenever she was here. His TV was black and white… his room was wood and navy and felt neglected. He did his ironing in the dining room. He suddenly saw his house through new eyes, and they were not promising.
"Wow" Kate said from the door.
Same script, same lines, he turned and grinned slightly "Yeah, that's what they all tell me."
"What, now it's my turn to bring in the body filled with poisonous gas?" she quipped.
"Personally, Agent Todd, I wouldn't have minded ice cream" he tried, and succeeded in getting a smile out of her.
She dropped her overnight bag on the floor and then held up a grocery bag. "Way ahead of you, Agent Gibbs."
"You're serious?" he scoffed "You brought ice cream to your protection assignment?"
She half-shrugged, and smirked, a move she'd learned from him "Consider it my apology for barging in."
"Since when do ya apologize, Kate? There's a rule against that…." He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at her "What kinda ice cream are we talkin'?"
"Not pumpkin?" she suggested.
He rolled his eyes "That's funny, Kate."
"Okay, fine" she relented "I got four types of ice cream. Plus brownies, chocolate sauce and whipped cream."
"What kinds?" he asked impatiently. He couldn't help but notice she'd changed into a shirt and jeans. His mouth was watering and he wasn't sure whether it was from the look of her so casual (he liked Kate when she was casual) or the idea of ice cream.
"Never took you for an ice cream fanatic, Gibbs" she smirked, as she brought the grocery bag over to the table.
"Ice cream" he barked. "Now!"
She held up her hands, and pulled out mini cartons of chocolate, rocky road, cookies & cream and butter pecan. He stared at them suspiciously, as though forgetting something, and then clued in. "Ya tryin' to be funny, Kate?"
"What? I told you, all out of pumpkin" she started laughing.
"Your memory is frightening" he told her, before pointing at the drawer behind him, sitting down at the table, "Spoons in there."
She grabbed them and then handed him one. He opened the rocky road, and started eating it. Kate was picking away at the chocolate with her own spoon, and he had to force himself to stare down into the ice cream, instead of looking at her sensuously licking the spoon after every bite.
She made eye contact as she reached for the chocolate sauce. But her hands were slippery from when she'd rinsed her spoon, and the open bottle slipped through her fingers, dropping on the table-
And squirting chocolate sauce right into Gibb's face, assaulting him with a sweet-tasting sticky wave.
He glared at her, as she stared at him in horrified silence. As he wiped most of the chocolate from his face, she finally spoke again- "Oh- oh my god, Gibbs, I'm sorry-."
He calmly picked up the chocolate sauce from the table, and held it up, defensively, as if examining the label. But he was making sure it was open, and then he turned it on her.
Her face and shirt were suddenly covered as she shrieked in surprise. She wiped her face with her shirt, and the sight of her bare, toned stomach made his stomach swoop in suddenly unparalleled excitement. He fought the feeling, as he flicked a spoonful of ice cream at her. It hit her in the forehead, and he couldn't help but start laughing to himself.
"What the hell, Gibbs? I said it was an accident!" she cried.
"Aw c'mon Agent Todd. Ain't you ever heard of an old-fashioned food fight?" he asked, eyebrows raised.
Her mouth dropped open "I must be going crazy" she proclaimed "Because Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs does not know the meaning of the word fun. Or food fight"
He walked up behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders. Before reaching down and grabbing the whipped cream from the table. He pressed the nozzle so a spurt of whipped cream was suddenly covering Kate's nose. It was hilarious… hilariously cute.
She turned around to glare at him "What do you think you're-."
Maybe it was the way she was worrying about Ari. Maybe it was something else. But Gibbs was going to shut Kate up for once. He was going to get the last word. So he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers.
And surprise surprise, she didn't immediately pull away. In fact, she placed her hands on the back of his head, tangling her fingers in his hair, deepening the kiss and leaning into him. He realized exactly why she hadn't been complaining about protection duty. She wanted this. She tasted like chocolate, and whipped cream smeared across his face from hers. He was kissing her senseless, the smell of mint and soap filling his nose.
He pulled away, and she stared at him. He was quite certain that it was the first time he'd ever see Caitlin Todd, master of comebacks, speechless. And then she grinned, a dazzling smile slowly spreading across her face. She reached around behind her, and grabbed her spoon, flicking ice cream back at him. It splattered across his chest, and he grinned, mildly amused. He took her wrist in his hand, gently, and licked it.
"Mmmm, you taste good, Kate" he growled, meeting her eyes. She understood the message behind his smirk.
"Gibbs-," She protested with a laugh "I'm covered in ice cream"
Eyes flashing, he merely smirked and said "Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?" He grabbed her around the waist, as she squealed slightly, and hoisted her onto the dining table, knocking the ice cream cartons out of the way as he did so. She stared up at him with a smirk, before grabbing his shirt and pulling him in for another kiss.
If I'd known… he thought to himself I would've nearly gotten killed sooner. But that probably wasn't a good idea.
She glared at him, "I don't know what you're playing at, but if you just licked me to make a point, then you're not proving anything"
"Really?" he ran a finger down her cheek, her eyes involuntarily closing. "Wanna test that theory, Katie?" He started to caress her back with his other hand.
"Gibbs…." was what she managed.
"I think we should continue this elsewhere…." He trailed off, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Since I distinctly remember you expressing an interest to Abby in seein' me naked" he smirked.
She blushed "You heard that? Remind me to buy you a pair of squeaky shoes" she whispered the last part, as he hand reached her neck, as he forced her into another kiss.
"As long as they're all I gotta wear around you…" he sighed into her hair, which he'd been desperate to smell, to preserve its scent.
"I think we have rules against that" she breathed against him, barely audible.
"To hell with the rules" was all he managed to say.
