Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea behind this

A/N: Okay so this is set some time in Season 5. That being said, certain parts of Twilight never happened (ie Kate's Death - everything else is the same) Also Judgement Day never happened either which means Director Sheppard is still alive (as much as I like Vance - I just think Sheppard would be a better fit for this fic). What we also have to remember is that as the seasons progress Gibbs becomes more of a grouch and more grumpy and he definitely smiles less now than he used to in the first few seasons.

Where We Belong

It was supposed to be a quick drop-off, though something in his gut told him it was going to be anything but that. His gut had been working in overdrive for the last few weeks although he had no idea why. Special Agent Jethro Gibbs knew it was impossible for the feeling he had about this to be true. He had made a decision and even though it was one he hated, there was nothing he could do to change it now. He pushed the feeling aside and applied more pressure to the accelerator, the car surging forward with the increase in power. Gibbs finally saw the building he was looking for and turned into the parking lot before finding a vacant spot and parked the Charger.

Grabbing the package from the backseat, Gibbs pressed the key fob and locked the car as he headed into the building. His ears were assaulted by the sound of screaming, shrieking kids running around as fast as their little legs would carry them. To say that Special Agent Gibbs was taken by surprise was an understatement and it took him a few minutes to adjust to the noise and sheer number of kids in the enclosed space. Agent Axelrod had asked him to deliver the gift for him since Axelrod was working a case and he couldn't do so himself. Not exactly sure which kid he was supposed to give the gift to, Gibbs looked around but didn't see anyone familiar.

He was partially relieved when an attendant, a young woman named Skye, walked up to him and asked him which group he was joining to which Gibbs gave her a confused look.

"We have the Ryan party in The Pirate Room, Ethan in the Cars Room, Daniel in the Imagination Movers Room, and Matthew in the Space Room, and then we have MacKenzie in the Princess Room and Rachel in the Fairies Room. Who are you looking for?" she asked him and Gibbs found that he could not answer seeing as he hadn't really asked Axelrod what the kid's name was. He had assumed there would be just one birthday kid, he was clearly mistaken. He had remembered that Axelrod's team had mentioned a birthday girl so it had to be one of those. He told the attendant he was looking for either MacKenzie or Rachel – he wasn't sure since he had to just drop off the gift.

Skye smiled, allowed him to enter the huge play centre then directed him to where the girls' party rooms would be and it was only then that Gibbs saw how big the place really was. In the centre of the room there was a huge jungle gym made of plastic, complete with rope bridges and tall slides, along with small plastic balls at the bottom of the slides. These were all secured with nets on all sides, should any of the kids lose their footing. It was difficult for the kids to actually get hurt, unless they were playing roughly, but as far as the Special Agent could see, the kids were quite well behaved, save for the constant screaming and excited shrieking. There was another smaller jungle gym next to the bigger one this one obviously for the younger kids, as well as a plastic swing set, a slide, a see-saw and a plastic house. He saw the two rooms he was looking for on the other side of the play area and started walking toward the Fairy Room first.

It seemed luck was on his side when he bumped into one of his fellow agents from HQ. Granted he didn't know the man personally but he was definitely relieved when Special Agent Walters directed him to where Axelrod's gift needed to be delivered. After greeting his fellow workmates and delivering the gift to one extremely excited birthday girl, Gibbs was on his way out of the play centre when he heard her laugh.

It was just his imagination, and he shook his head in an attempt to rid his mind of her, something that was becoming more difficult to do as the days wore on. In the beginning when she had left he had found it difficult to even come into work, knowing he would not see her there, ever, but the work needed to get done and he had a job to do, so it was with reluctance that he went in. Over time he had trained himself to stop thinking about her. It had been torture for the first year and then slowly it had become less painful. This was four years later though, and he rarely allowed his mind to venture into that forbidden territory so the sound of her lilting laugh was something of concern to him.

Then he heard it again, and this time he looked around to make sure it was not a figment of his imagination. When he didn't see her, Gibbs decided it was just his mind playing tricks and started to make his way of the building, but he was stopped when a small body came crashing into his legs. He looked down to see a brown eyed, dark haired, dimple cheeked little girl holding into his leg and smiling back up at him.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry…" he heard someone say "she didn't see…" the woman continued but Gibbs stopped her midsentence.

"It's okay, no one was hurt," he turned his face to look at the woman and all the air was expelled from his lungs. He could not believe it. This was something he didn't allow himself to think about ever since she had left almost four years ago.

He drank in the sight of her, not blinking just in case she would disappear and he would find this was all a dream. She still looked the same, only more attractive. She had grown her hair longer than she kept it when she was still working with them and Gibbs had to admit he liked it better longer.

"Gibbs…" it came out in a whisper and he liked to hope she was just as breathless as he was.

"Katie," the name only he was allowed to use, fell from his lips but it felt extremely foreign.

I am currently writing the second chapter so it shouldn't be too long between posts.
Thanks to Alix who beta read for me.
Hope you guys enjoy,
Leave a review on your way out