A/N: These characters do not belong to me. The title of this chapter comes from a song by She & Him of the same name. I hope you enjoy this as much as I liked writing it.

Seventy-Two Months

Chapter One

I Thought I Saw Your Face Today

May, 2011

Washington, D.C.

The late spring rains had returned, falling in seemingly unending sheets that blanketed the city. It drummed against the windowpanes of Gibbs' house as his alarm turned to 5:30AM and began to beep. Lately, it was a rare morning that Gibbs actually awoke in his own bed instead of beginning the day in whatever awkward position in which he had fallen asleep in the basement while working on his boat. Today, however, he knew that he had a long two days ahead of him, so he had stopped at an early hour. As much as he had resisted the idea, Director Vance had made it clear that he expected Gibbs to attend a weekend fundraising event, all in the name of public relations. It did not matter to Vance that Gibbs was not exactly a "society event" kind of man, he had insisted just the same. In whatever free time Gibbs could manage, he would have much preferred to spend the hours in the solitary company of his boat and a bottle of bourbon. Therefore, he could not wait for the upcoming weekend to be over. He made his way through the daytime hours as if on autopilot. Early evening arrived before he knew it, which meant it was time to go back home and prepare for the night.

The rain was still pouring down in heavy torrents when Gibbs arrived home, setting a rather melancholy tone on the night. The late May rains always reminded him of the days immediately following Kate's death six years earlier. He realized, with fresh pangs of pain, that he missed her more now than every before, even after all this time. It had slowly dawned on him over the past six years how deeply he had cared for her. He had truly fallen in love!

He absentmindedly dressed for the night's events in a dark charcoal gray suit paired with a bright cerulean blue shirt and a striped tie. The tie accented the charcoal shade in the suit and the cerulean in the shirt, which made his eyes look deeper blue than ever. Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the hotel where the first event of the weekend was taking place. He moved quickly from the car to the lobby to avoid the ever-increasing downpour. Distracted by his thoughts, Gibbs took a wrong turn down the hallway and found himself in the room where the press had amassed to cover the weekend festivities. Upon realizing his mistake, he was just leaving when he saw a woman on the other side of the room. She was beautiful, wearing a plum-colored dress and very absorbed in a conversation with a man Gibbs didn't recognize. He closed his eyes and opened them again because he couldn't believe what he was seeing! She looked EXACTLY like Kate! The only difference was her hairstyle, which was longer, a deep caramel brown with scattered highlights. He stood frozen in place, transfixed as he watched her.

"Sir?" A man near the door approached Gibbs. "You need to pick up your press pass at the main desk."

"I don't have one," Gibbs replied, not taking his eyes away from the woman across the room. "Tell me," he began with an uncharacteristic lack of caution or assessment. "Who is the woman in the purple dress?"

"That's Tina Collins and her editor, Peter Roberts, from the New York Times," the man answered.

"I see," Gibbs said, as his heart fell to his feet. He instantly chided himself for such an irrational hope as the one that had sprung up in him upon seeing her. As he turned to leave, Tina Collins suddenly looked his way. They stared at each other for a moment in time that felt like an eternity. Her expression was thoughtful and intense but otherwise unreadable.

She turned to her editor. "I'll just be a moment, Peter. There's someone I need to talk to…" she trailed off as she watched Gibbs disappear into the hallway, quickly following after him. He stepped into the elevator and she barely caught up to him in time. The elevator was crowded with almost twenty people; however, she was determined to be near the man with the ocean-blue eyes. After four stops, everyone else had left the elevator and they were alone at last. She gazed at him for a moment, before approaching

him in what seemed to be slow motion. When she reached Gibbs, she leaned up to kiss him. As their lips met, Gibbs let himself give in to the mysterious spark that had begun in the pressroom. He closed his eyes and only opened them when they finally pulled apart and he heard her whispering in his ear, "I've wanted to do that … for seventy-two months.."

"I can't believe it," Gibbs thought to himself. "She even has Kate's voice." Who could she be?

The elevator suddenly stopped at the ground floor, returning them back from their thoughts into the present. Tina stepped off the elevator first, then turned back to the befuddled man behind her.

"Come to the jazz club," she said, her gaze still intent on him. "It's the one around the corner from here."

"Jazz club?" he managed to repeat.

She nodded. "Seven o'clock. It'll be fun." She grinned at him as she started to walk away. "You'll like it. I promise!"

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