Title: A Complex Puzzle

Author: Tearsofamiko

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, though a girl can dream.

Spoilers: The Immortals, Sub Rosa

Summary: How a flippant gift can alter one's view of another and make you question what, exactly, you know.

A/N: Most of the dialogue will probably seem familiar. That would be because it came from the episodes. Ah. . .the first four pieces of dialogue are from The Immortals and the dialogue during the emergency blow is from Sub Rosa.

"You should try it on."

Kate stared at him in shock. She'd expect Tony to make a comment like that. But Gibbs?! Flustered, she tossed the suit bottom into her boss' face.

"You first."

He smirked and held them out, looked them over, and then crumpled them up. "They won't fit, I can tell you that."

Once again, Kate couldn't believe her ears. She watched as Gibbs tossed the suit onto the office table, taking in both her boss' and Tony's expressions. "Pigs. I work with pigs," she stated, throwing her hands up in the air and whirling to storm through the office door into the narrow corridor. She marched down the hallway, mostly disgusted at her colleagues' behavior but some small part of her thrilled at the thought of wearing Tony's topless bikini for Gibbs.

One month. That was how long she'd know Gibbs and all the time necessary for her to know she was deeply attracted to the man, bad attitude and all. But inter-office relationships had gotten her in trouble before and she wasn't about to go there again. And, while Gibbs' attitude was perfectly annoying most of the time, it helped her keep her distance. She fumed and mused silently to herself as she walked through the narrow corridors, closing out those around her as she dissected her thoughts.

"Something botherin' you, Kate?"

She nearly screeched at the sound of her boss' voice so close to her ear. Slowing her pace only slightly, she turned to face him and received another shock when his arm snaked out to wrap around her and pull her closer to him. Blinking, she looked at him, then looked around her, only to find she'd almost tripped over one of the corridor's knee-knockers.

"Easy, Kate."

"Sorry. Thanks, Gibbs."

"Mind answering my question?"

"Oh, uh," she trailed off. She wasn't quite sure how to answer him, deciding to temporize. "Nothing's bothering me."

He didn't believe her. "Uh-huh."

"Really!" she protested. He just stared at her. "Come on, Gibbs." Finally, hating herself, she gave in. "Okay, I expected that comment from DiNozzo, but I thought you were better than that. I mean, you, you're...you're...Gibbs."

"Kate. . ."

She looked pointedly down at his arm and, when he removed it from around her waist, took off down the hallway again. She was stopped again as he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him.

"It was a joke, Kate." He watched her expression, his blue eyes seeing everything, she was sure. "It didn't mean anything."

That wasn't what she wanted to hear either, if she was entirely honest with herself. She knew that any relationship between them was out of the question, but she wanted to know she held some meaning to her colleagues.

"Fine, Gibbs. Whatever."

He looked at her for a long moment, seemed about to say something, but Tony caught up and the moment was gone. His chatter about the case and mock-indignation at their reception of his gifts filled the silence as the team boarded their transport back to land.

Over the weeks that followed, Kate found herself analyzing that conversation over and over again. She worked on profiling her boss in her downtime – something she hadn't managed to do since she joined NCIS – and wondered at the man beneath the mask. No mention of the bikini ever passed between Kate and Gibbs, though Tony teased her unmercifully. Mostly, she didn't mind the absence of comments about that trip, but she wondered at what he really was thinking.

So, theoretically, being on a submarine almost 1000 feet under the ocean with the man in question would be the perfect chance to ask him what he'd meant, right?

Wrong.

No, instead, working one-on-one with him raised more questions.

It had started with that pompous-ass admiral prattling on about letting a woman aboard one of his subs. She'd been sent out of the room and left to stew in the parking lot. Waiting for him, she got so mad, she bit Gibbs' head off before realizing he was saying she should grab her gear. Only when they were in-transit to the sub did she realize that Gibbs must have gone to bat for her. Wondering once more if there was some more subtle reason for his actions, she stayed mostly silent on the sub and tried to be more observant. When he started forcing water down her throat, though, she spoke up. And when she forced him to drop the act and tell her what he really wanted, she once again felt her frustration with him peak.

"You could've just asked," she said and he just looked at her for a moment before shooing her – hand motions and all – down the corridor to the COB.

His ignominious return to their room, coupled with his semi-childish "busted," nearly made her laugh. Hiding a smile, she considered that almost playful side of him, something she only ever saw vague impressions of, something she adored about him. She tucked the image away, a defense against the days he really lived up to his second 'B.'

They worked together for a while with no interruptions from crew members and managed to finally get somewhere with the case. They'd been discussing one of the crew members, leaned over the table, when the world suddenly tilted on its axis and Kate was thrown into Gibbs.

"What's happening?" she asked, breathless from the sudden shift, from the weight of the force pushing against her, from his arm around her and the feel of his body against hers.

"Emergency blow," Gibbs muttered, not meeting her eyes and shifting under the strain of the sudden surface.

The COB stumbled in, leaned against the door near them, and told them the captain needed to see them. Kate vaguely heard him, more of her mind on the warm arm around her waist then the case they had been working. Time seemed to stretch under the strain, marked only by her heartbeat and the steady rise and fall of his chest under her hands. Just as she began to absently wonder how long it would last, Gibbs' arm tightened around her waist as gravity increased once more and she was nearly flattened.

"Wow," she breathed.

"That's what they all tell me," he replied, shocking her just as much as he had in Puerto Rico. She resisted the urge to smack the smirk off his face, shoving him back against the wall instead. The smile stayed, though, as he turned and walked through the door the COB held open for them. She moved to follow him, then caught a look at the suppressed grin on the COB's face. Making sure she had his attention, she glared at him, a you-better-keep-your-mouth-shut look that didn't damaged his smile at all. Narrowing her eyes, she walked to where Gibbs waited in the corridor.

"Are you all right?" he asked as they negotiated the ups and downs, turns, and knee-knockers on their way to the bridge.

She looked at him, her eyebrows raised, wondering why he asked. Master of the silent stare, he just returned her look. When she still didn't reply, he heaved a sigh and tilted his head in the direction of the room they'd just left. She nodded once, her eyes still on him. He stopped for a second, his eyes measuring her calm countenance, then he nodded in return and continued on to the bridge. She stared at his back as she followed, questions flying through her mind.

None of those questions received an answer, though Kate was pretty sure she knew most of them. They caught a major break in the case soon after the emergency blow, followed by a mad dash to decide the life-or-death of the crew – including themselves. Never once was anything other than the case brought up and, once back at headquarters and moving on with their caseloads, Kate was happier that way. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what her boss really thought of her, though the temptation was always there.

Still, she often thought about the twinkle she'd seen in his eyes on the ship in Puerto Rico.

She remembered the feel of his arm around her waist as gravity held them together when the sub surfaced.

She thought about his silent consideration of her after the emergency blow on the sub.

And she wondered if he thought about those times as much as she did.

Wondered if she was as complex a puzzle to him as he was to her.

A/N: FYI: I know it probably didn't actually take very long for the sub to surface in the emergency blow, but I imagine that, if Kate was slightly smitten with Gibbs (:grin:) and he had his arm around her and she was flush against him, time might've slowed down. I know it would've for me. ;)