A/N: Thought I'd give a try at a Kibbs drabble. This takes place in "One Shot, One Kill" (1.13).
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. Any resemblance to real dialogue from other TV shows, movies, or elsewhere is purely coincidental.
Honorable Inspection
By GallaudetLurker
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop fiddling around with her Marine uniform.
Everything about her was perfect, yet so many things were wrong, and he supposed that it gave him a plausible (read: perfect) excuse to keep his hands all over her — or at least in a way that wouldn't get him shot.
God, it sounded wrong and inappropriate, but as he had always done in the past, he banished them to the darkest recesses of his mind, where vile, unspeakable thoughts reigned. These thoughts would be back, they always came back. He was always ready for them. Every time.
She was watching him with a bemused expression as he straightened out her collar, tugging them into place, and smoothed her shoulders for the millionth time. He then proceeded to brush the lint off her beige uniform; he didn't care that the lint had been brushed off a long time ago.
Her amusement intensified as Gibbs removed her Marine hat and put it back on, adjusting it. Looking everywhere but her face — her hazel eyes that never failed to rob him of his breath and render him speechless at times— he then proceeded to adjust, and readjust, her name tag and ribbons (which were endearingly in the wrong order) before smoothing out her collar once again.
"Gibbs—" she began, but he cut her off.
"I'm Gunnery Sergeant Thomas, ma'am." Kate's smile widened, her eyes swimming with mirth, as he ran his hands all over her arm sleeves before tugging the hem of her uniform.
Stepping back, he gave her the check-over for the millionth time before frowning at some imperfection and stepped forward once again, checking to make sure her buttons were, well, buttoned-up properly.
"Sergeant Thomas, if I didn't know better, I'd think that you wanted to touch me all over," Kate teased back, and he looked up into her eyes. A smirk slowly came over his lips.
"Just want to make sure that everything's top-notch," he said simply as he adjusted the ribbons once again. "These are still in the wrong order, though."
"Why don't you do something about it, then?" His ears were probably playing tricks on him again, but he swore he heard a hint of a purr in her voice.
"Nah, we don't have time." The damn inappropriate thoughts were back with a vengeance, and he violently forced them back into where it belonged. Gibbs brushed the name tag off before moving on to her shoulders, buttons, and the sleeves.
"You do realize I'm your commanding officer, right?"
"Yeah. Always liked a woman on top," he quipped. Kate's face reddened.
"I see."
Gibbs hid a smirk as he continued to inspect her uniform. As he smoothed the collar, one of his fingers inadvertently brushed over the bare skin of her neck, and she let out an imperceptible shudder, her mouth opening ever so slightly. He let his hands brush over the front of her uniform to the hem; his fingers pressed a bit harder than they should.
After a thorough once-over, he finally nodded in satisfaction.
"Everything looks good, Commander," he said with a smile as he took in her dilated eyes, reddened cheeks, and slightly heaving chest. With a last grin, he readied himself, pasted on a stern face, and strode out of the recruitment office to greet the crowd of reporters assembled outside.
A/N: Reviews, favorites, follows, and constructive criticism are welcomed and appreciated.