Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or the song "First Time" by Lifehouse.
Looking For Something
"Gibbs" Kate prompted as their helicopter landed. He had been staring into space for the duration of their flight into Puerto Rico, where they would catch their plane back to D. C.
"Yeah, Kate?" He finally responded. She studied him for a moment before answering.
"We're off loading." He nodded and helped her gather their gear, giving the sleeping Dinozzo a slap to the back of the head. Tony shot out of his seat like a rocket. The bikini bottom he'd picked out for Kate fell out of his pocket. Gibbs noticed and picked it up before anyone else did. He tucked it into his jacket and followed Kate and the bumbling Tony of the helipad and to the plane. They were all exhausted from the trip. Tony dropped back into sleep as soon as he was settled in his seat. Kate wiggled a few times before dropping off herself. She and Gibbs hadn't slept well during their time aboard the destroyer, cramped in the XO's quarters. Tony snored, keeping Kate awake and simply being in such close confines with her, had been driving Gibb's crazy. It was no surprise that he dropped into a light doze a few minutes later.
When the team arrived back at NCIS, they logged the evidence and started their paperwork. When Tony started to nod off at his desk despite the amount of sleep on the plane, Gibbs cut them loose. Tony's head snapped up at their boss's words. He finished his report and dashed out the door. Kate just shook her head. Tony came back a moment later to search his desk and the area underneath.
"Looking for something, Dinozzo?" He took in Gibb's smirk and pretended to check his pockets again.
"No, Boss. Goodnight." He zipped toward the elevator and was gone in a soft whoosh of the doors. Gibb's took in Kate as she sat reading over the file in front of her.
"Kate, go home, get some real sleep." She just looked at him, taking in his appearance and slightly disheveled hair. There was something magnetic about his gaze, about his personality. In the short time they'd been working together, she'd come to find his presence addicting. "Kate?" He prompted, jolting her out of her reverie.
"Yeah?"
"Go home."
"When I'm done." Gibbs studied her as she turned back to work. They were both looking for something. He was afraid of what they would find with each other, afraid of having his heart broken again. It was easier to pretend he was broken than it was to admit that she was slowly healing him. She looked up and caught his gaze.
Her heart suddenly beat double. There was something warm in his eyes, something that called to her and she felt herself being drawn into him. It would be easier to hide from him, but she had never taken the easy way out of anything.
We're both looking for something
We've been afraid to find
It's easier to be broken
It's easier to hide.
"Gibbs," she whispered, never breaking eye contact with him.
"Yeah, Kate?"
"Do you feel it too?"
"Yeah, I feel it too."
"I…" She started to say then looked away and down at her desk. She knew that he as about to tell her that nothing could come of their feelings. She started gathering her belongings to head home. He copied her actions and followed her into the elevator. She was intensely aware of him standing next to her.
"Come home with me." He said. She looked up at him sharply, gauging his sincerity. She nodded once, unable to trust her mouth to utter the right words.
They rode in silence to his house, the radio playing something soft and bluesy. She was just as unsure as he was about where they were headed in their relationship. She felt her stomach flutter in anticipation. There was something electric in the way he made her feel, like being in love for the first time. It didn't matter to her in that moment how wrong they were, because everything felt so right.
When they arrived at the house, he led her inside. They stood awkwardly in his living room for a few minutes before he mumbled for her to make herself comfortable and disappeared down the hall. Kate stared after him, unsure how to make herself comfortable with out him there to set the boundaries. He came back before she actually moved beyond the thought, dressed in old jeans and a Marine Corp t-shirt. He was dressed exactly how she imagined he would be for working on his boat. All that was missing was the tool belt slung low across his hips. He invaded her space and she breathed in his scent of soap, sawdust, and warm male. She held her breath, unsure what would happen next.
Gibbs stared into her eyes trying to get a read on her, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking or feeling. He was taking a chance letting her into his heart, but as terrifying as it was, he knew she was worth the risk. He just needed some space to gather his thoughts. He kissed her cheek and stomped down into the basement.
Kate wasn't quite expecting that reaction, but knew him well enough to figure out why he headed for his basement. He needed to gather himself, to test her patience. She calmed her breathing. The man made her heart race in the most pleasant way. She got a drink of water from his kitchen and took a few minutes to look over his living space. Something pink caught her eye, a string hanging out of his jacket pocket. She had a feeling she knew what it was, and upon investigation discovered the bikini bottom Tony had chosen for her. It was a skimpy thing, not that she had ones that weren't just a small at home. She'd been more offended over the idea of Tony buying. Had it come from Gibbs, she probably wouldn't have minded as much. This of course brought her thoughts back to the ship when she's told him he should wear it. His comment about it being too small brought a smile to her lips at the image of him, someone who was so distinctly male, in a pink bikini. It of course gave her a great idea. She wandered back into his house to investigate his rooms. She found the button down shirt he'd so recently shucked off, still laying on the bed. She picked it up and breathed in his scent. She looked between the bikini bottoms in her hand and the shirt and laughed.
She padded softly down the stairs watching the steps carefully as she walked. Gibbs didn't look up at her entrance. He didn't need to, to know she was there. He could hear her, and smell her soft perfume.
"It's easier to hide, isn't it?" She said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Hmmm." He answered noncommittally.
"It's easier to be broken." She said next to his ear. He finally looked at her when she wedged herself between his body and the skeleton of the boat.
"Yes it is."
"I'm scared too, you know?" At this he raised an eyebrow in consideration of her attire. "But that doesn't mean I'm not completely sure."
"Yeah." She looked slightly exasperated, but his smirk kept her from showing it too much. There was something about him that drove her crazy and made her feel so alive. It was like being in love. Her heart leapt in her chest and before she could control her mouth, the words streamed out of her.
"I love you." She said simply. His startled expression caused a short chuckle to burst from her lips. "Maybe it's wrong, but it feels very right to be with you." He looked like a feather could knock him over. His mouth opened and closed a few times, before he gave up and pulled her flush against his chest.
"I'm feeling right where I belong. You're right, it does feel like being love, like the first time only better because you're going to be the last love of my life."
"And you're the last one of mine. I think we found what we were looking for."
"I think we did." He leaned down to his her as his hand strayed under the shirt she had borrowed from him, to untie the strings at her hips, letting the bikini bottoms fall away.
"Pig." She whispered at his lips, and his covered his brilliant grin, by burying his face in her neck, eliciting a gasp from her.
"I like you better in just my shirt."
"I like me better in just your shirt too." He backed a step away and led her up the stairs to his bedroom. There was more to find and he was up to the task.
I'm feeling alive all over again
As deep as the sky that's under my skin
Like being in love, she says, for the first time
Maybe I'm wrong but I'm feeling right
Where I belong with you tonight
Like being in love to feel for the first time.