A/N: Here's a backstory based off on that image of Kate that was shown in "Bikini Wax" (2.18), and which Tony used to blackmail her in "Conspiracy Theory" (2.19). Reviews are welcomed and appreciated.
By the way, Kate is 21 years old in this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.
Chapter One:
From Panama with Love
By GallaudetLurker
March 1994
Panama City Beach, Florida
Junior Field Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs wondered to himself for the umpteenth time why he had chosen to come here, out of all the possible bars and nightclubs in Panama City Beach.
Perhaps it was the name, Blue Tavern, which had appealed to the Marine inside him and gave the impression that it would somehow be quiet and secluded compared to the others.
How wrong he had been.
Trying to tune out the loud, boisterous gloating of some drunken frat boy to his equally drunk friends nearby about his "conquests" at some university named after some fish – yeah, it was that loud, given that Jethro could somehow hear him over the blaring music – Jethro took a large gulp of his beer, savoring the cold, bitter substance that slithered down his throat.
He wondered what the hell his superior, Mike Franks, was smoking when he'd ordered him to go to Panama City for a task, and it had to fall on a week, out of all the possible weeks in the year, where college students drank, smoked, partied, and copulated their mind and souls away. Nevermind that Panama City was a very popular Spring Break destination, and Jethro's patience had about reached its absolute limit (and that wasn't a lot, given that he was never renowned for patience).
As he scanned over the rows of assorted bottles of beer and wine – organized in alphabetical order, it seemed – arrayed in the shelves of the bar he was sitting at, Jethro surmised that he was partly to blame for putting himself in this situation. He'd finished his work earlier than usual and decided to go out and check the city out in the evening instead of wasting time away in some hotel room.
And not to mention, he kinda felt out of place. He was a thirty-six year-old retired Gunnery Sergeant sitting in a place teeming full of men and women – wait, no, boys and girls – who were barely in their early twenties. He'd thought he could hang out with someone his age, but they were far and between. That did not stop pretty, busty barmaids from flirting with him, however.
He guessed he still got it, even although he was nearly twice the age of the people here.
When the nearby PA loudspeaker blared out over the loud music that a wet T-shirt contest was about to begin, Jethro rolled his eyes as he sipped his beer. Had he been at least fifteen years younger, he would be all over that shit, yelling and whooping in drunken glee like these idiots who were assembled in front of the area where the contest was to be held.
Ignoring the blaring music and the cacophony of gleeful yelling – yes, it was pretty damn loud – Jethro slowly and steadily drank his beer, smiling politely at the flirtatious barmaid who kept batting her eyes at him.
As he slowly rotated his half-empty bottle in his hands, watching the liquid swish around inside it, Jethro decided that he would leave when he finished. The silent solitude of his air-conditioned hotel room was becoming more attractive compared to this blaring cauldron that he was in.
As Jethro casually scanned his surroundings, his eyes widened slightly, his breath caught in his throat, his heart began to constrict, his guts began churning, and his jeans grew tighter.
In the distance, visible through the drunken crowds that had slightly dispersed, was the most beautiful girl – no, young woman – he had ever laid eyes on in his life (Jethro would have to remind himself to head-slap himself for this sentimentality).
She had wavy brown hair that went down to her shoulders, accentuating her heart-shaped face. Her soft lips were curled up in a wide, carefree grin that revealed dimples on her cheeks – and which seemed to light up the crowded bar. He could not see the color of her eyes, but he was sure that they would be the same color as her hair.
That was not the only thing that caught his attention, however. The mysterious brunette was wearing a tight white tank top and panties, which was completely drenched...and she wasn't wearing a bra at all. The two peaks that protruded out in her tank top were quite prominent, even from a distance.
Jethro found that no matter what, he could not look away, his eyes glued to the brunette, his mouth watering. For a moment, he really envied these drunken guys who poured pitcherfuls of water over her body, and the photographer who snapped away in front of her. A rational part of his brain loudly berated him for being so juvenile, for openly ogling at a girl who was nearly half his age, but Jethro ignored it, keeping his eyes on her.
Then she looked right at him. Jethro felt a jolt course through his body, and something twitch inside his pants, as his bluish-gray eyes connected with her dark ones.
His brain screamed for him to look away, yet Jethro continued to fearlessly stare at her. The girl's carefree grin had slowly faded away to a shy smile, and her face seemed to become slightly flushed. Jethro felt the ends of his lips curl up in a half-smile.
She could not stop staring.
Caitlin Todd, known as Kate to her friends, was dimly aware of the flashing lights, the raucous cheering of the drunken jocks and frat boys surrounding her, of the cold water that was being poured over her, of the voice of the judge proclaiming her the winner, as she locked eyes with that handsome man sitting at a bar nearby.
Feeling her face grow warm, her heart flutter, and her stomach churn, Kate felt oddly self-conscious by the intense, scrutinizing gaze of the mysterious man. She had no problem 'exposing' herself in front of possibly hundreds of all these drunken idiots in the first place, so why was she feeling like this now?
She bit her lower lip, her chest heaving slightly, as she took in the man's thick brown hair, his relatively thin yet strong face, his five o' clock shadow, his penetrating eyes, and lips that she suddenly felt the urge to kiss. He seemed to be wearing a casual beige shirt that showed off his masculine chest and chiseled arms.
Arms that she suddenly wished were protectively wrapped around her body...
Kate felt her face grow even warmer, despite the cold water. Her peaks began to get hard – and not only from the water! – and a certain part of her anatomy tingle.
She didn't know why she was feeling, even reacting, this way to this man who she had never met. She had always been attracted to older men, but none had ever made her feel this way like he did, and it didn't particularly help that he was really handsome!
When his lips curled up into a lopsided smile, Kate felt herself get short of breath. Swallowing, she mentally willed herself to take deep breaths as she continued to gaze into the mysterious man's eyes.
"Kate?"
She could imagine that man speaking her name, sounding it out with his tongue. Preferably with butterfly kisses that would leave her wanting for more...
"Kate!"
Kate blinked, the spellbinding gaze shattering as she reluctantly tore her eyes away from him to focus on their concerned friends' – one a brunette and one a blonde – faces.
"Are you ok, Kate? You kinda zoned out there," the brunette Sasha said, with blonde Emily nodding in agreement.
Willing her heart to slow down, and her face to cool down, Kate took a shaky breath and nodded as she stepped away from the stage, shivering slightly from the water – and something else – that were dripping across her soaked body.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, guys," she said a bit absentmindedly as she inadvertently looked around the crowded bar in the general direction where the man with the piercing gaze had been in. For some reason, her heart sank when he was nowhere to be seen. Before she could delve into this, Emily's voice snapped her back to reality.
"Who are you looking for?"
Kate blinked again, and shook her head. "Oh nothing, just enjoying the view of drunken horny idiots making a fool out of themselves," She lied as she pasted on a grin, still trying to calm down her pounding heart.
Sasha smirked knowingly, her brown eyes twinkling. "Liar, you were totally looking for someone. Who is he? Do we know him?"
"And more importantly, is he hot?" Emily piped in.
"No, I'm not—" Kate began to protest, but Sasha interrupted her.
"Omigod, she's blushing! She totally likes someone!"
"Tell us who it is!" Emily prodded with an impish grin.
Kate glared at her friends, her face burning. "Shut up! I gotta go change, I'm freezing my ass off," She huffed as she grabbed her clothes and stormed off, her giggling friends following her through the crowds.
As much as she huffed and cursed her friends, Kate knew they were right – although she would rather shoot herself in the head than admit it aloud. She had indeed fallen for the man with the intense gaze, and hard. The words 'love at first sight' rose unheeded in her mind, and as much as she would like to scoff at its corniness, she could not deny that it was true.
Weaving through the crowds toward the nearest restroom, Kate wondered if she would see the man again, unaware of a certain, ex-Marine heading her way.
