A New Chance
She had to calm herself down for the fifth time. She knew driving through the city with high speed was crazy. Right now she didn't care. She had to get to her destination before her sight disappeared because of tears. In the back of her mind she knew she should have waited to drive, but she knew her tears wouldn't disappear before she arrived. It all started half an hour ago. She had woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep. When something like that happened she always turned on the TV to see the news. And today was the same. She had been so tired after arriving home from work that she went straight to bed. When she turned on the TV she got comfortable on the couch and found the news channel. The big news tonight was an explosion on a ship. An NCIS agent was taken to the hospital. When she heard this she couldn't get out of her house fast enough. An NCIS agent, who? Why can't they never tell who it is on the news? Because the family have to be contacted first her mind said. Her thoughts of why she was in her car was interrupted when she got to her destination, the hospital.
Gibbs was lying in a coma and the whole team had come to see how he was doing. Tony, McGee, and Ziva had to go back to HQ and get in with the investigation. Ziva had been in the background because she didn't know Gibbs as good as the others. And she felt left out. Abby had been at Gibbs' side a little longer, but had to go back to her lab. She knew that if Gibbs wasn't in a coma he would tell them to go back to work. When Abby left she saw Jenny, their director, go into Gibbs' room. It hadn't been a long time since Gibbs came out of surgery so they couldn't stay for long. Jenny had hoped that her presences would make Gibbs come out of his coma, but that didn't happen. She knew she had to go soon. It was in the middle of the night and the doctor had said that Gibbs wouldn't wake up soon. So Jenny decided to head back to HQ and see how the investigation was going.
Ducky showed up later that night after giving all the evidence from autopsy to Abby. He sat by Gibbs' bed and talked to him about everything. He told Gibbs stories about his childhood and some memories about their friendship. He stopped when he heard yelling from down the hall. He decided to check it out.
After she had parked the car she went to the front desk to find out who the agent, that was in the explosion, was.
"Can I help you, miss?" the nurse at the front desk asked.
"Yeah, can you tell me anything about the NCIS agent that were brought in?" she asked. She knew she probably didn't get any information because she wasn't family.
"I'm sorry are you family, because I can't tell anyone except the family" the nurse said
"I'm not family. I just want to know who it is, can't you tell me?" she asked the nurse. She hated the rules about not telling anyone except the family. All she wants to know is if it's Jethro Gibbs, the love of her life.
"I can't tell you if you ain't family" the nurse was getting a little annoyed that the woman didn't understand.
"I know I'm not family, but can't you just tell me who it is?"
"No I can't, I'm sorry" the nurse said
"Okay I know, but can you tell me if it isn't Special agent Gibbs?" she asked. She just wants to know if it's her love that got hurt. She could see the nurse change expression and knew that the agent was Gibbs.
"You don't have to answer" she said to the nurse and wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her cheeks.
"I know you can't tell me anything, but can I see him? I just want to know that he is all right" she asks the nurse, but are sure she gets a no.
"I'm sorry there ain't anything I can do if you ain't family" the nurse said.
"Come on I just want to know that he is al right" she looked around and something finally hit her.
"Oh My God, please tell me he isn't dead, No that can't be true... DAMN PLEASE TELL ME HE IS ALIVE" she yelled at the nurse who took a step back at the sudden yelling.
"Take it easy miss. Please calm down. It's in the middle of the night and the patients should not be waking up yet. So calm down"
"PLEASE CALM DOWN? HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO FIND OUT THAT AN AGENT IS INJURED AND THAT IT MIGHT BE THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE" she yelled at the nurse, but turned around when her name was called.
"Caitlin is that you?" Ducky asked when he came up to the front desk. Ducky was shocked when he saw Caitlin turn around to face him.
"Caitlin what are you doing here?" Ducky asked.
"Sir. Do you know this woman?" the nurse asked
4
"Yes, it's okay to let her through. She's part of our family" Ducky told the nurse. He turned to face Kate again and saw the worry on her face. He had heard what she had said about Jethro and he couldn't be more happy for her.
"Caitlin dear, why don't you come with me and I will show you were he is" Ducky said and began to walk back to Gibbs' room. Kate was shocked to see Ducky there and afraid he had heard her secret.
"How much did you hear Ducky?" Kate finally asked after finding her voice again.
"You don't have to worry my dear. I'm not going to tell anyone. But please tell Jethro. He hasn't been the same since you left" Ducky said and turned around to stop Kate just outside Jethro's door.
"Thank you Ducky... how is he? The nurse wouldn't tell me anything" Kate said and looked from Ducky to the door and back to Ducky.
"Kate I have to tell you this, to prepare you. He's in a coma and they don't know if he's going to come out of it" Ducky could see the tears that rolled down Kate's face and could see that she was breaking down fast. He led her to a chair for her to sit in.
As they sat there Kate couldn't hold her breakdown in any longer. Ducky put an arm around Kate and hold her tight until she had settled down.
"Caitlin please tell me why you left. We were all sad. Gibbs was angry for weeks. He wouldn't let Ziva, the new agent, sit at your desk for a long time. It was like he was waiting for you to come back" Ducky said. He wanted to know what happened to make Gibbs that angry.
"Ducky you said he haven't been the same since I left. What changed?" Kate asked, she wasn't ready to tell Ducky why she left yet.
"Please tell me everything" Kate said.
"After the shooting on the rooftop he went back to HQ. I found him at his desk. He was looking at your desk, but wasn't present. I think he was playing the day out in his head. What would have happened if anything went wrong. I told him to go home, Ari was dead. There was nothing he could do" Ducky explained while looking at Kate. He wanted to see her reaction to what Gibbs had been like.
"The next day I was in the bullpen talking to Anthony and Timothy when Gibbs came out of the directors office. We could all see he was angry, sad and confused. He had slammed the directors door shot and same walking down to his desk. I asked him what had happened, but the only thing he said was that he needed coffee. We didn't see you again and thought that you needed a little time to yourself. Gibbs got more and more grumpy everyday and every time I asked about what happened in the directors office he would close off. We figured out that you weren't coming back when Ziva joined the team. Gibbs distant himself from the team more and more. He would come to work earlier then before and go home late at night. One time I followed him home and saw that after work he still went strait to his basement. When he came to work the next day he looked like hell. This happened a lot. At some point Abby or myself sent him home, because he looked like hell, he was tired, and he was to grumpy to work with" ducky said and could see Kate crying again. Ducky didn't know what to do. He knew why Jethro had acted as he did, well almost. He knew the man had strong feelings towards Kate and part of the reason why he acted as he did was because Kate had lest them.
"I did all that?" Kate asked with tears running down her cheeks.
"My dear, you didn't know he would act like that. But I must tell you I have never seen Jethro as angry as he was after coming out of the directors office" Ducky told Kate.
"I left because I couldn't take being a target any more" Kate explained to ducky who nodded in return. He understood why Kate wanted to leave. He would too if he has been Kate. Ari had taken her hostage two times and tried to kill her the third time, if it hadn't been for the snipers she would have been dead.
"Ducky I did this to him" Kate said. Now she knew why Gibbs had acted the way he had.
"I know why he was mad after his meeting with the director. I should have told him myself. Why didn't I tell him myself? He had the right to know it from me. I.. I should have.. told him myself... why didn't I?" Kate said. Kate eyes filled with tears again she couldn't stop them. It was her fault that Gibbs acted the way he did. Ducky just looked at her. He didn't know what she was talking about.
"Caitlin, what should you have told him?"
"Ducky it was my fault that he acted the way he did. I didn't tell him I quite. I told the director. I was too scared to tell Gibbs. I was afraid he would think less of me" Kate said in tears.
"Oh Caitlin dear. Jethro wouldn't have thought less of you. He cares about you."Kate looked at Ducky before he continued.
"The way he always looked at you, when he thought nobody was looking. The was he always lighten up when you came into a room. And the gentle hand on your lower back when he led you out of a room. I noticed all that. Caitlin he care about you. Like I said before he wouldn't let Ziva sit at your desk for quite a while. I can't tell you why, he never said, but I think he was hoping you would come back" Kate looked shocked, she hadn't thought her leaving would do that to Gibbs.
"I'm so sorry Ducky, I didn't know he would be like that" Kate said
"Caitlin, it doesn't mater any more. Just go in to him and be there when he wakes up. I think he would like that" ducky said and squeezed Kate's shoulder. Ducky stood and helped Kate up too. He left Kate in front of the door before he took his leave.
Kate looked at the door for a minute before entering the room. Gibbs was lying in the bad with monitors around him and gauze wrapped around his head. There was small amount of blood indicating where his injuries were.. ducky had warned her, but she was still shocked. She sat down in the chair closest to the bed. She must have falling asleep because the next thing she knows is a nurse in the room.
"Sorry didn't mean to wake you up" the nurse said while looking at the monitors attached to Gibbs.
"Don't worry. It wasn't my intentions to fall asleep" Kate replied. Kate rubbed her eyes and looked at Gibbs who were still out. Kate gently took his hand and waited for him to wake up.
"You can talk to him. That might help wake him. If they hear a familiar voice they something come out of there coma" the nurse told Kate right before she left the room.
"Hey Gibbs. I know it's been awhile since I left, but there was one thing I didn't tell you. When I heard the news about a NCIS agent was involved in a bomb explosion I couldn't get out of my home fast enough all I could think about was 'please don't let it be Gibbs'. You know why I thought that? Because if it was you I didn't know if you would make it and if you didn't I would never have the chance to tell you how I feel. Something I should have told you when I left. Gibbs you have to wake up. I don't know if I can live by myself any more. I have tried not to think of you, but it' hard when I left my heart with you. Please wake up soon... I love you Gibbs" Kate had tears in her eyes when she told Gibbs she loved him. She had hoped her confession would make Gibbs wake up, like in the movies. But reality is something else. When Gibbs didn't wake up Kate found herself getting tired. She took hold of Gibbs' hand and squeezed it and went to pull away, but Gibbs' hand hold on to hers.
"Gibbs? Can you open your eyes?" Kate asked, but got no respond. The only thing that told her Gibbs was waking up was his firm hold on her hand. She decided to sleep in the chair next to Gibbs because she couldn't go anywhere else.
Someone was squeezing her hand to get her attention. She began to open her eyes slowly and when they were completely open she turned then in the direction of her hand. When she saw that it was Gibbs' hand that had squeezed hers, her eyes went immediately up to see Gibbs with open eyes and awake.
"Gibbs... you're awake. I'm going to call the doctor" Kate said and went to stand up when Gibbs stopped her.
"The doctor can wait a minute, Katie" Gibbs said and saw Kate's expression change. Kate froze when she heard her nickname, the one Gibbs was allowed to call her and no one else, come out of his mouth.
"What you said last night is that true?" Gibbs asked after a minute of silence.
"Uhmm... I... I.." Kate didn't know what to say. Of cause it was all true, but what if he didn't feel the same. No matter what Ducky said, she want to hear it from Gibbs.
"Katie, was it true? I hope it was because I feel the same Katie. I live you" Gibbs said when he saw that Kate didn't know what to say.
"I was mad at you when you left, but it was because of the way you did. And I couldn't stay mad forever. You took my heart with you and I didn't know how to function without you" Gibbs told Kate who were in tears again. She had broken down the minute Gibbs explained how he felt when she left.
"I didn't mean to cause you pain" Kate said with tears in her eyes. Gibbs took her hand in his and pull her closer to him.
"I know you didn't. And I wasn't really mad at you. I was kind of mad at myself for never giving you a reason to stay" Gibbs told Kate while he wiped the tears away from her face.
"I'm so sorry I don't tell you I was leaving, but I was afraid you would make me stay. And at that time I just had to get away. I couldn't stand being the victim any more. And I couldn't stay because I had falling in love with you and you told me when you hired me that if I ever pulled a stunt like that I didn't have the chance to quite. And I knew you didn't feel the same. I just had to get away" Kate explained as more tears rolled down her face. Gibbs wiped them away and brought her face closer to his.
"You could have told me Katie. I loved you from the minute we started arguing about who should lead the investigation on Air Force One. I could tell you were different than all the others and I felt in love right away" Gibbs leaned closer and their lips let in a sweet kiss. Gibbs pulled away and looked into Kate's eyes, but didn't have the chance to read them before he was met by Kate's lips again. This time the kiss turned passionate and Gibbs brought a hand up to the back of Kate's neck to deepened the kiss.
They were interrupted by the doctor who came in to see if Gibbs was awake.
"I can see you're awake Mr. Gibbs" both Gibbs and Kate broke the kiss. They looked at the doctor embarrassed. Kate got up form the bed where she was sitting while kissing Gibbs.
"I'm going to call Ducky and tell him you're awake" Kate said and left the room. After five minutes she returned.
"He's going to tell the team and come over here after" Kate told Gibbs.
"I'm going to go so you can be alone with them" Kate said and took her leave.
"Katie do you think that I could let you go now that I finally have you here?" Gibbs asked, but didn't wait for Kate to answer.
"You're not going to wake out on me one more time Katie. Come here" Gibbs said and made room for her beside him on the bed. After Kate got comfortable she fell asleep. Not lone after Gibbs did too.
That was the was then found Gibbs and Kate. Tony, McGee, and Abby was glad to see Kate again, but decided to leave them alone and come back when they ere both awake.