Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. But if I did, Kate would definitely still be alive…
A/N: This idea popped into my head when I saw my aunt lying down on the couch at our Christmas lunch, then the Fic just evolved!!
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"Alright already. Hang on!!" Kate yelled from the couch. She slowly got up and moved across to the door where someone was banging loudly.
"What?" she screamed swinging the door open.
"Gibbs?!" Kate whispered pulling her dressing gown tighter around herself.
"What are you doing here?" she asked
"I came to see how you are going" he said leaning slightly against the door frame.
"Excuse me…" Kate yelled running for a tissue and blew her nose.
"Come in" she called from the kitchen. Gibbs stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind him. Gibbs looked around the opened and walked over to the living room
"So… how are you feeling?" he mumbled watching Kate move back across to the couch. She sniffled and flopped down onto the couch,
"Alright I guess. The Doctor said I should take a week off work so I don't infect others" Kate said
"That is fine." Gibbs said shrugging
"Is it just a cold?" he asked moving closer.
"Yeah, a chest cold and I also got…" but stopped as she nearly coughed up a lung.
"Maybe you should take two weeks off" Gibbs said staring at her.
"I'll make you a deal…" she stopped as she blew her nose again.
"I'll come back to work once I have gotten ridden of the cold" she said
"Deal" Gibbs said contemplating if he should shake on it but decided against it.
Kate smiled up at Gibbs as she leaned against the back of the couch. Gibbs returned the smile and stared down at her. Even though she would never admit it, she looked like hell. Her nose was red from blowing too many times, her eyes were all puffy and she kept touching her throat indicating it was sore from coughing.
"Why don't I make you some tea?" Gibbs suggested waiting a moment before heading over to the kitchen.
"That would be nice thanks" she muttered. A few minutes later Gibbs came back over to Kate.
"I didn't know if you wanted anything fancy, so I just used Early Grey" he said handing over the mug.
"How do you think you caught it?" Gibbs asked sitting next to her.
"A couple of weeks ago I went out with some friends, one of them sick and passed it onto me. Plus being in air conditioning all the time probably doesn't help" Kate shrugged.
"What are you doing here?" Kate asked again.
"Checking how you are feeling. You already asked me that" Gibbs frowned.
"I did?! I'm a little tired" Kate said
"Maybe I should go" Gibbs said half getting up
"No, stay" Kate whispered grabbing his arm and pulled him down. Realising she was still onto his arm, Kate immediately let go
"Shouldn't you be at work?" she asked changing the subject.
"Tony and McGee have been bickering with each other, it's driving everyone crazy" Gibbs grumbled looking across at Kate.
"What are they doing?" she wheezed.
"Playing pranks on each other. DiNozzo put super glue on McGee's keyboard. The keyboard was stuck to McGee's hands and we had to get Abby to pull off the keys" Gibbs said chuckling remembering back to what happened yesterday afternoon.
"Here…" Gibbs said taking the mug from Kate.
"…if you are tired, you should lie down" he continued putting pillows at one end of the couch. Kate mumbled her thanks and lay against the mountain of pillows and cushions. Gibbs stood in front of Kate and watched as she closed her. Gibbs could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. He fished it out and answer, he waited whilst the person was speaking before saying.
"Sure, I'll be there in five" he whispered and hung up. He bent over and lightly kissed her on the head
"Get better soon Kate" he said softly and quickly let himself out of the apartment. 'Calm down Kate. He only came over here because he was sick of DiNozzo and McGee fighting' she told herself, but secretly hoped she was wrong.
x-x-x
Gibbs slowly walked to his car, whilst on his way he thought back running back to Kate and telling her how he felt. He only ran out of her apartment because if he stayed there a moment longer he would not be responsible for his actions. He opened his car door and got in. He placed his hands on the wheel and rested his head against them. 'You are an idiot Jethro' he thought to himself. 'What is so terrifying about explaining how I feel to the one I love?' he questioned. 'Maybe's it the fact that you are afraid she will reject you because of your three ex-wives or the fact you are a lot older than her' he told himself. Shaking the thoughts away he started the car and headed back to work.
He stepped out of the lift and headed for the bullpen. He stopped by Kate's desk and looked down, imagining her sitting there doing work. He blinked a couple of times to see someone sitting there.
"Yes?" she asked staring back up at him.
"What are you doing up here Abs?" he asked
"There was nothing to do downstairs" she replied smiling.
"I can find you something" Gibbs grinned
"Oh no, I'm fine thanks. Plus…" Abby said pointing at McGee and DiNozzo. Gibbs turned around to see McGee and DiNozzo inches from each other's faces. He also noticed that McGee had red marks up his arm, turning back around to Abby he asked
"What are they from?"
"This" she replied picking up the spoon that she confiscated from Tony. Grumbled to himself he walked and smacked them both on the back of the head.
"Behave or you'll find yourself unemployed." He threatened and they both sat down at their desk.
"Gibbs, where have you been?" Abby asked appearing in front of his desk.
"To see Kate" he replied
"What? And you didn't ask me if I wanted to go?" she shouted
"I…I didn't think" he muttered. Abby turned around in a huff and stormed back to her lab.
"Abby?!" he shouted after her but she did not stop. 'What is with everyone today?' he shouted to himself. Frowning he looked around the bullpen and realised why everyone was so grumpy. Smiling to himself he grabbed his jacket and stood up and rushed off to the lift.