"I got the video surveillance from the restaurant, and the killer is seen pushing Stevens into the car and driving away. The problem is, the license plate is never in view. The car, however, is clearly a 2006 Mustang. None of our suspects have a Mustang. So, I checked car rentals and a Michael Leasmith rented one the day before the kidnapping, and returned two days later, when we found the body. I pulled up the photo copy of the license of Leasmith, and it" she handed her boss a photo, "is Petty Officer McCoy."
Kate had worked all night and day calling from place to place, working hard and never once complaining. When no one could find anything, she was throwing out new information at handfuls. It had only been two days and this case was literally finished after one final interrogation.
With no response from Gibbs, he simply stood up and headed for the car. "Tony, you're with me."
Kate stood motionless in front of his desk, utterly confused and quite pissed. 'You're welcome Agent Gibbs. Oh, it was nothing, Agent Gibbs. I didn't work my ass off on this case, please, ignore me and let me stay here.' She thought to herself. She turned around to go sit in her desk, and then hesitated in thought. She grabbed her coat and purse and took off to the already closed elevators.
McGee stood astonished at how Gibbs was treating Kate. Sometimes he would see Gibbs stare at her in the most loving way, but when she did her job, and did it better than all of them usually, he never acknowledged it. Both him and Tony noticed this, and it was obvious Kate was aware. He watched Kate as she entered the lonely elevator.
Kate was tired of it all. She has been working for NCIS now for two and a half years and she never seemed to get the respect she deserved. She loves her job, but she doesn't know how much stress she can take from it anymore. She had been thinking for a while about quitting, but tried not to let her mind linger on it too much. She thought she was just overreacting and would be fine, but she knew this would never stop. She got into her car and took off for the first place she could think of…the park. There, countless times, she sat and thought. She could clear her head there without any interruptions and now she needed that more than anything.
Tony sat next to Gibbs as they took Petty Officer McCoy back to headquarters. It had been about 30 minutes since they left, but Tony still couldn't wrap his mind around why Gibbs never seemed to appreciate Kate. She did a hell of a job, especially on this case, but he seemed to never care. Tony was quite aware that Gibbs had complimented not only him, but McGee, but when it came to Kate, he'd occasionally give her a smile and then ignore her.
He kept glancing over at his boss, trying to read any emotion he might have about what he had done, but like always, he was blank…almost cold.
They returned to the bullpen after finally arresting McCoy and having him sent off when Gibbs noticed Kate's desk still empty from when he had first returned. He had just been in Abby's lab, so he knew she wasn't there.
"McGee, where is Kate?"
"Uh, boss, she left right after you two did. When, uh, you went to get McCoy." Gibbs looked at his watch; it had been almost two hours since then. "Do you want me to find out where she is?"
"No McGee."
Gibbs sat at his desk, waiting for when Kate finally came in. Her computer was still on, and her desk still covered with work from today. She always put her files and papers away before she left, so he knew she had not left for the night already. He kept waiting, and with each ding of the elevator, he became more frustrated as no Kate appeared. Tony, who had watched his quiet behavior, finally couldn't contain himself. He jumped up.
"Gibbs. Why do you treat Kate like that!?"
Gibbs turned to Tony, his eyes wide with confusion and annoyance.
"Like how Agent DiNozzo?"
"Like no matter what she does, it's not important. She solved this case basically on her own, and you looked past her like she's not even here. She's good at what she does, and you never acknowledge that. Honestly Gibbs, you treat her like shit and I know both McGee and I are tired of watching you do that to her. How much longer do you really think she'll put up with it? How long do you think it'll be before she throws her resignation on your desk?"
Finally, Tony stopped yelling, turned without waiting for a reply, and sat back down at his desk, his eyes nonchalantly going back to his computer screen. Gibbs, on the other hand, was far from nonchalance. He was about to yell back, when he finally noticed Kate standing just behind the short partition that squares her desk.
"Where have you been Agent Todd?" She finally took her eyes away from Tony and narrowed them at Gibbs.
"I forgot something in my desk Agent Gibbs." She went behind her desk, grabbed her PDA and walked in front of Gibbs' desk, and as if DiNozzo's words had been a premonition, she pulled out of her purse a few sheets of paper and slammed them on his desk. "Two guesses to what these are Agent Gibbs." She turned to McGee and smiled and mouthed 'see you later'. She began walking back out when she stopped at Tony's desk. "Tony, would you like to have dinner with me when you get off work? If, that is, your boss allows you?"
Tony smiled his most charming smile and shook his head in understanding. "I'd love to Kate." His voice was kind and sincere and he could never have been more proud of her as he was today. Though, he didn't truly want Kate to not be his partner, he knew she was doing what was best for her.
She smiled warmly and began to walk. "Just call me Tony." And once again, she entered the silver elevator with what she hoped would be her last time.
Gibbs didn't know what to do. His words all fell to his feet and his mind was spinning at dangerous speeds and his thoughts were tangling together.
Tony then turned to him.
"I told you." He shrugged and went back to the computer screen.
Gibbs didn't speak a word after that. Once Tony and Tim turned in their reports, they left. Gibbs shut down his computer, rushed to his car, and prayed he'd get to Kate's apartment before Tony could.
He parked the car and walked to her front door, taking the small set of stairs while worry entered his heart. Was he ready to tell her why he was how he was with her? Was he ready to say that he was only hard on her because he didn't want her to see how much he cared for her, to show her that every time he looked at her, all he wanted was to smile and pull her into his arms and kiss her? No, he wasn't ready, but he had no choice. He couldn't let Kate resign. He couldn't let her go before he had a chance to have her.
He knocked on the door softy and before she could fully open it, she began to speak.
"Tony, I thought you were going to shower and then come over." She then saw the silver haired man standing before her in his brown overcoat. "Gibbs, what do you want?" Her face grew stern and her eyes cold.
"I-I can't let you quit." She couldn't help but laugh.
"Gibbs, you may be able to control a lot of things at work, but my decision to actually work for you…see, that's under my control."
"No, Katie, I can't let you quit without me begging you first." He took one more step forward and wrapped his arm around her waste to bring her closer, his free hand cupping her cheek and tilting her towards him as he took her lips with his showing her just how desperate he was for her; just how much he needed her.
When the need for breathe was too strong, he pulled back to see her eyes still closed.
"Katie. You can't quit. Please."
Her eyes jolted open.
"Gibbs, you can't do this. You can't treat me like shit all this time, come here and confuse me like this. Of course I like you. Of course that kiss was everything I have ever asked for, but no. I'm not returning to NCIS because I know that whatever may happen with us will simply disappear. If I return to work I return to you never respecting me as an agent and trying your best to ignore me as a woman. Gibbs, I just can't do this anymore."
He slapped his hand against the doorframe and looked past Kate. "I'm sorry Caitlin. How am I supposed to say it so you'll change your mind? I never tell you how good you are because when I look at you, I have to keep myself from pulling you into my arms and kissing the life out of you. You are my greatest agent Kate. I…you deserve to know that." His last sentence almost a whisper. His face became softer as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Good bye Katie."
He turned to walk away, hoping and praying that he would hear his name, but all he heard behind him was the sound of the door violently slamming shut. He wanted to fall to the ground at that sound. The sound of pure hatred she had for him. He felt he would never be able to see her again, never be able to have her beautiful eyes look at him with all the care in the world that he didn't deserve.
He jumped from his thoughts as a firm hand grabbed his wrist and nudged him to turn around. Those beautiful eyes were filled with tears and sadness.
"I can't work with you because the way you deal with how you feel for me only hurts me more than you can understand. You would rather push me away than risk getting your heart broken, as well as mine, but what you don't understand is that not being able to have a chance hurts more then never knowing what it would feel like to be in your arms at night, or to kiss you at any given moment. I can't work for you anymore. I can't even look at you anymore."
He took her hands in his. "What if I told you that you would never be pushed away again? That I will never break your heart because seeing you hurt breaks mine. What if I told you that you will never sleep alone again and you will never get a chance to kiss me because I will never take my lips off of yours? If you don't want to work for me, I can't stop you, that is true, but I never want to be out of your sight." He reached his hand up to cup her cheek again, his other hand on the small of her back pulling him to her. His lips stopped just a breath away from hers and he spoke. "Katie, I love you so much." Before she could reply, his lips met hers and the warmth grew between them so hot that the chilled wind that blew around them could no longer be felt, and the chill bumps that had risen on Kate's arms vanished.
Their lips broke apart, their eyes closed and their embrace tighter.
"I love you, too, Jethro."
Tony pulled up a few minutes later to see Gibbs' truck parked in front of Kate's apartment and he was filled with worry. He jumped out of his car and ran to Kate's front door, knocking with loud impatience. Kate answered quickly.
"I'm sorry, Tony. I meant to call. I uh…I-"
"You won't be joining me for dinner I take it?"
He smiled slightly disappointed, but yet again, understanding and pulled Kate into his arms.
"Just because you won't be my partner anymore, doesn't mean you can get away from the DiNozzo." He kissed her temple and walked back to his car.
She smiled and walked back into her living room to sit next to Gibbs on the couch.
"I think I just broke DiNozzo's heart."
"So you are a heartbreaker?" He laughed as he pulled her closer.
"Mmm. You better be careful." She purred against his lips.
DiNozzo got in his car and smiled.
"Finally." He said as he pulled back into traffic, heading to his favorite club. "It took long enough."