Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: I know I was in the middle of a House fic, but I needed to get this NCIS one out of my system before I could continue with House. So here it is. Its set sometime in the future... like 4 years into the future and Judgement Day didn't happen

One In A Million

The streetlights passed her in a blur as they made their way toward the hotel where the party was being held and for Ethan, who was one of the higher ups on the food chain at Homeland Security it was necessary that he attend. He turned to look at the woman sitting in the passenger seat next to him, and sighed softly as he noted the expression on her face,

"What's bothering you Leigh?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Nothing is bothering me, Ethan. It's just that I'd really like to go home, back to LA," she said as they drove on.

"We've only been in DC for a week, and you didn't leave the hotel room, not even to go sight seeing. And besides why are you in such a rush to get back home?"

'Ethan," Leigh turned to glare at him. "The most exciting thing as far as sight seeing is concerned, is looking at The White House from a distance, and if you're lucky enough you might just get a tour," she said, the sarcasm dripping from her words.

"I mean, why couldn't this thing be held in Virginia or some place else where it's warm?" she continued before Ethan could get a word in. Leigh really was not a person who complained about stuff, but somehow being in DC for the last week and a half had really frazzled her nerves.

"Okay, okay I get that you don't like DC, but it's one more night, and by tomorrow evening I will personally see to it that you are in LA where its warm," Ethan tried to appease her.

"Thank you,"

They drove the rest of the way in silence, each of them caught up in their own thoughts. Ethan and Leigh had met two and a half years ago, when he had to pick his niece up from her dance lesson that Leigh was teaching. They had become good friends and after a year Ethan gained the courage to ask her out. While she was not thrilled at the idea of starting a relationship she decided to give it a go. Ethan found her kind, extremely good with kids, generous, quiet, but able to hold her own if she needed to, but most of all he found her intriguing and that's what kept him interested in her. He couldn't help the feeling that she was keeping something from him, something big.

Leigh found Ethan charming, attractive; good looking and very good with words and feelings and for some reason that scared the heck out of her. It was not that he was so in touch with them, but that he wasn't afraid to show them in public. While she hated public displays of affection, he seemed non-plussed by them. He was a guy any girl could fall in love with, but he wasn't the guy she could fall in love with. She had already done her share of that…

She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt his hand on her forearm. Leigh looked up to see Ethan beaming down at her from outside the car, her door wide open and his hand on hers, offering his assistance. Slowly they made their way to the penthouse level of the hotel where the inter-agency party was being held…

NCIS

He stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and the steam escaping the small bathroom as soon as the door was opened. His hair was dripping wet and plastered to his head and forehead, the water slowly running down the sides of his face and neck. He walked into his bedroom and came to a complete halt when he saw what was on his bed. Sprawled out on the cerulean blue comforter was a complete set of formal attire along with a stern note of warning. He picked up the yellow post it and read the somewhat scribbled print on it.

"You will be attending tonight, and no you cannot use the excuse that you do not have clothes for the occasion because as you can see they have been provided for you. I will be awaiting your arrival. Do not make me come and get you, it won't be a pretty sight." God, he was such a sucker when it came to her; he could not for the life of him, tell her no for anything. He sighed and started getting dressed; he had less than an hour left. He would. However, find a way for her to make it up to him, he thought as he started getting dressed.

Special Agent Jethro Gibbs cussed for the umpteenth time as he buttoned up his deep blue dress shirt, leaving the top most one open to show just a hint of the white T-shirt he wore under it and tucked it neatly into his black dress pants. His black and grey diamond printed socks and black loafers already adorned his feet. All that was left now was his tie, which he hated wearing and the choice of wearing the silver cuff links Abby had left out for him. He decided to forego both items but stuffed the tie into his suit jacket pocket as he did a last inventory of his room and stepped out.

The wintry air was crisp and cold and it stung his lungs as he breathed it in, but he liked the fresh feeling of the cold wind. It was a short walk from his car to the hotel lobby and Gibbs was grateful for the little time alone he had before he would be stuck in a room full of people he barely knew and had to make inane conversation with. He waited for elevator to arrive at his floor to whisk him up where this inter-agency party was being held. He adjusted his tie nervously and stepped out when the metal doors swooshed open on the penthouse level. Damn… this was going to be a really long night for him. He hoped this one time would be different…

NCIS

The metal doors swished open and Gibbs slowly stepped off the cart. The entire room was filled with people from various agencies, some of them he knew and some he saw for the first time. He surveyed the room as he walked up to the bar, looking to see if any of his team members had already arrived. He was not surprised to see Abby, McGee and Ziva standing in a circle, looking in Tony's direction and no doubt laughing at his expense and neither was the sight of Tony trying to chat to chat up a woman who for some reason didn't seem interested in him.

Ducky was standing in a corner on the far side of the room, deep in conversation with someone who looked like a medical examiner from another agency, or someone who was extremely interested in the tales Ducky had to share on his travels of the world. Gibbs spotted Director Sheppard a few minutes later, in a breath stopping, heart racing, deep green, low front cut, cleavage showing, knee length cocktail dress, chatting with a man who looked like he pulled weight at whichever agency he worked at. For some reason his gut was telling him that there was more than a professional conversation going on. Well, that was his team accounted for, now if only the time could pass as quickly as he wanted it to.

McGee made his way over to where his boss was quietly standing, observing the patrons and generally being as unsociable as he possibly could without actually having to make conversation. The junior agent handed him the glass from his right hand and the silver haired man merely had to sniff it and he knew it was a top of the range shot of bourbon his co-worker had just handed him. He wasn't going to complain and he surely needed the drink if he was going to survive the rest of the evening.

His gaze was drawn away from the room, however, when he felt a hand snake up his back and come to a rest on his shoulder. While he knew this was the safest place to be considering how many trained agents were in the room, he still felt uneasy. He just didn't like public displays of affection of any kind; even holding hands sometimes was a bit too much for him. He was not surprised to see, Hollis Mann standing behind him, but was he was caught off guard when he saw her elegant, ankle length, halter neck, burgundy dress. He smiled and nodded at her, partly as a greeting and partly as a sign that he approved of her dress.

Hollis leaned in to kiss him on the cheek as a return greeting, but Gibbs had stopped his movement midway, when a slight movement on the other side of the room caught his attention. He was about to head over and see just what it was when the former NCIS director Tom Morrow appeared at his side with a younger man in tow, his date no longer at the young man's side.

"Jethro," Morrow held out his hand, "it's been a really ling time. I see NCIS hasn't shot themselves in the head yet," he said, causing the silver haired agent to smile at the little joke.

"Nah, Jen's doing a better job than anyone thinks. Granted she's not you but she's getting there," Gibbs felt the need to defend his agency and his boss for some reason.

"This is Ethan Stark, he works with me. I thought he should get to meet the legend that works at NCIS," Morrow joked but Gibbs shook the man's hand and smiled slightly. It wasn't too much to ask.

By this time the entire team was circled around Tom and his friend and Abby was already questioning both Tom and Ethan about their work at Homeland Security. This gave Gibbs a chance to wander away from the group without being noticed, or so he thought, and walked to where he saw something happen. When he didn't find anything he decided to step outside onto the balcony to get a fresh breath of air before heading back into the stuffy room.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he did not see the woman making her way toward the door to head back into the room and somehow she walked right into him, causing them to be face to chest with each other. He caught her elbow gently in his hand, righting her before she lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Oh damn, I am so sorry," came the muffled voice of the woman who had crashed into him, and Gibbs thought he recognized the voice. It was familiar but he just couldn't place it. He stood his ground, keeping her arm firmly in his until she looked up at him. The sound of blood pumping in his ears was the only thing he could hear, and he knew his heart was doing at least a hundred miles a minute. He closed his eyes and opened them, thinking it was just a hallucination, but as he quickly found out, it was real. Maybe it was just someone who looked uncannily like her, he thought to himself, but even that notion was proven wrong when he heard her voice.

"Gibbs," it was soft, gentle with a slight lisp, exactly the way she used to say it all those years ago. Her warm brown eyes were pinned by his sapphire blues and while his face remained stoic, there was a hint of a sparkle in his gaze. He took a small step away from her, but he didn't let go of her arm, instead he lowered his grip to her wrist so he could put a bit of a distance between until his heart stopped banging against his rib cage.

"Kate," it was one word, but she heard the emotion come out with it, the pain, the anguish of how he felt for so long. She couldn't stand seeing him in pain and before she even realised it, she found her arms clasped tightly around his back, her chest pressing against his and her face buried in the crook of his neck. She felt his arms enclose her in his embrace and they stood like that in silence for what seemed like hours.

"You died on that rooftop. I was there, Tony was there," Gibbs's voice was a whisper but she heard the pain in it. "Ducky did your autopsy," he continued when she didn't say anything. "How are you still here then?"

"Witness Protection, Director Morrow knew as well as myself and Agent Fornell. We got someone else to play me. I think it worked well,"

"Yeah, a little too well," Gibbs was not impressed with her at all, and damn Morrow for not telling him.

Finally Gibbs made the first move, he pulled away slightly and opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could even get a word out, Kate placed her finger on his lips. This was not the time or the place to be having this talk. Instead she outlined the shape of his mouth with the tip of her index finger, keeping her eyes fixed on his. God, she had dreamed, waited for this moment for so long and now it was finally here, she didn't want to complicate it more with words.

Slowly she cradled his face in her hands and drew him down to her, his warm breath cascading down her neck. They both knew what was going to happen, he could have stopped her, but he didn't. He waited for her soft, gentle lips to meet his, his eyes closing involuntarily as he felt her lips on his. She kissed him lightly, gently, not sure if she should go on. Gibbs repositioned his hands, one resting on the nape of her neck and the other cupping her cheek. He pulled her closer to him, strengthening their kiss, and swiping at bottom lip with his tongue causing her to moan low in the back of her throat.

He took her opened mouth as an invitation to slip his tongue into her mouth. Within a matter of seconds they were kissing furiously, making up for lost time. Tongues danced and teeth clashed and Gibbs found he needed to come up for a breath to inflate his lungs with oxygen. He leaned down to kiss her for a second time, and this time it was less fury and more passion. Gibbs could have kissed her forever. They broke away for the second time, and Gibbs didn't wait for Kate to start again. Instead he broke the silence.

"Kate, we need to talk about this."

"I know. Could we just not do it right now?"

He was about to ask her when was a good time for her but was interrupted when Ethan made his way over to them. Gibbs thought Ethan was coming over to talk to him, and he was taken aback when Ethan made a bee line toward Kate, smiling at her all the way.

"Aah Leigh, I see you've met the legend Gibbs from NCIS," he said as he put an arm around her waist. Gibbs didn't miss the action, but he didn't mention it either. He knew Kate knew what was running through his mind.

"Yeah you could say that," she smiled up at him.

"Well I just came to tell you that your plane leaves in an hour and a half, so we need to get going." Then he turned to look at Gibbs, "it was really nice to meet you," Ethan called as he led Leigh to the door.

Gibbs watched in defeat as the woman of his dreams was taken away from him for the second time, and it felt as though he had received a punch to the gut. He needed to leave, and soon.

As he was heading out he heard the tail end of McGee's sentence to Tony the sarcasm dripping from his words, "Yeah Tony there's a one in a million chance that somebody's life is going to change tonight." Little did McGee know…

Gibbs had to be that one in a fucking million.

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