He saves the reprimand up for after the case is closed. They don't need any distractions before Ricky Naps is safely behind bars, and so he ignores his worries and suspicions and concentrates on helping out his friend. (He and Fornell are friends? Well, Gibbs supposes it's as good a word as any. It's been a long time since he's had someone call him a friend; he's out of practice.)
There doesn't appear to be any undercurrent between her and McGee, so far as he can tell, but then, he's out of practice at this, too. Wondering if he missed something. Wondering if she was disappointed Tony so easily and readily took over being her undercover babydaddy. Or suppose it turned out to be DiNozzo she had the hots for? Would that be any better?
And then he's kicking himself because he shouldn't care - doesn't care.
Honest. He's just worried for the team dynamics. Really.
He puts the whole thing out of his mind (as best he can) till everything is tied up in a neat little bow, and then goes back to the gym.
It's not that he followed her here or anything (he hasn't yet stooped that low), he just had a feeling. His gut may not be great at figuring out who, if anyone, Kate has her eye on in their team - or, on the other hand, if she has it in for one of them. It is, however, finely tuned to point him in the right direction to check on a teammate, and when he finds her in there viciously pummelling a punchbag, he's not remotely surprised.
He considers starting a workout of his own while he's here, just in case he's veering into 'creepy stalker boss' territory or something, but he's not in the mood to pussyfoot around or pretend. He has a legitimate concern (alongside his illegitimate jealousy), so he doesn't bother with any preamble or even to let her know he's there.
"McGee's scared shitless of you now, Katie."
She spins round, fists raised, and he's pleased he's ingrained in her the necessity to be always on her guard. It's kind of twisted, but he feels a degree of pride in making sure all his agents are suitably paranoid.
"Gibbs! Are you trying to get punched in the head?"
He shrugs. "Just testin'."
She gives him one of her patented glares, and he narrowly suppresses the urge to laugh. It's so delightfully familiar, so completely Kate.
"Well... don't."
"Should'na kicked him like that." Might as well get on with it.
For a second she looks confused and then as comprehension dawns she pulls a face. "I know."
"Why did ya, then?"
She scowls, prettily. Because apparently even scowling is pretty on Caitlin Todd. "He wasn't taking me seriously."
He resists the temptation to grin. Poor McGee. Between her and DiNozzo, the kid is screwed. "He takes you plenty seriously, Kate."
"Hmmm." She looks unconvinced and mildly mutinous.
He's caught between a certain degree of empathy and more laughter. She has absolutely no idea how cute she is when she's all pissy this way. He supposes he, Tony and Tim might feel a little too much like a throwback to growing up with three older brothers, even though she's senior to McGee in all practical matters (not to mention she can kick his ass into next week) and she holds her own against DiNozzo nine times out of ten. She's used to fighting for her place in the old boys' club, and it's not something she can easily turn off.
Clearly, Kate having a thing for McGee is the least of his problems here. Persuading her not to brain the newest member of Team Gibbs any time soon is what he needs to worry about.
"McGee's just a good guy, Kate. Hitting a woman isn't in his wheelhouse."
She growls. Her Gibbs impression is frighteningly accurate sometimes. "The bad guys don't have his scruples. How am I supposed to train if my teammates treat me like fine china?" She aims a fist at the punchbag, and he winces. At least she hasn't hit him. Yet. "The dirtbags don't play nice, Gibbs, and I need practice playing dirty."
For a second he's distracted by the various images conjured in his head by the combination of Kate and 'playing dirty', and swallows back the many, many rejoinders he'd like to make at this point.
Though in the end, what he actually says isn't much better. "You want dirty? I'll play dirty with you, Kate." Huh. Kinda came out wrong there.
By the wide-eyed look she shoots him, she has a similar moment of 'What did you just say?' Then her expression clears a little. "Do you mean...?
He cocks an eyebrow. "You wanna grapple?"
It's a blatant challenge, and she reacts exactly how he'd expect, her spine straightening as she looks him right in the eye. Kate has never been one to back down from a challenge the entire time he's known her.
A grin appears - she's pleased he's taking her seriously. And he's tempted to kick himself for the smile he can't help giving her back, because he really likes putting that expression on her face.
"Sure."
Ten minutes later, he's wondering about the wisdom of this. It's good training, no doubt - for him as well as her. She's pretty damn effective as a fighter, especially considering how slight she is.
He's doing his best to hit a balance between not risking injury to either of them but giving her the work out she wants, and at the same time not touching her anywhere too... tempting. It's a fine line.
If he went all out, she'd struggle to pin him. Well, probably. And he's damn well making sure it's not obvious he's not going all out, because he doesn't want to be the lucky recipient of Kate's knee in his groin. (There are much more interesting parts of Kate he'd like to introduce his groin to.)
As it is, with him at around 80%, they're fairly equally matched.
Okay, so maybe it's closer to 90%.
He has a hundred or so pounds on her, he'd guess, but Kate is well trained and has absolutely no hesitation hitting below the belt, versus his semi-conscious chivalry (he's sure she would use a different term).
It's never going to come naturally to him to risk hurting a woman who isn't posing an immediate threat to life or limb, especially a woman he cares for. He has that in common with McGee - he's just better at hiding it.
He also enjoys her pinning him to the floor a little more than he should. It's... distracting. Her face is pink with exertion, her hair is a little wild, and it doesn't help his concentration any to discover she's at least as attractive when she's sweaty and panting as when she's all primped and pretty on a regular workday.
He manages to get her on her face, one arm up behind her back, and it's almost a well earned breather. He's straddling her legs, trying very hard to ignore how her pert little backside is right there, just beggin' to be touched. Grappling an attractive woman is an exercise in restraint, and it's one he's going to fail if he isn't very, very careful. One hand still firmly grasping her wrist, he reaches up with the other to rub his face and push his hair back from his sticky forehead. He honestly didn't expect her to be able to work him quite so hard, and between that and her being all, well, gorgeous...
Kate relaxes slightly, and without thinking he takes it at face value, grateful for the respite and not realising his mistake.
Apparently she has his number, and the moment he eases off she's flipping him. Suddenly he's on his back, all of her weight landing on his thighs, her body slamming none too gently into his, and he hisses at the much too intimate contact. Good God, was she aiming for his junk?
Deliberate or not, her groin is pressed hard into his and all he wants to do is grab her and keep her there. Well... it's not all he wants to do, but it'd be a good start. It's a lot better than a knee would be - oh, so much better, in fact - but no less dangerous. Probably more dangerous, actually.
Kate's eyebrows shoot up, her eyes wide and her face showing surprise for a second, but then she gives him a wicked grin and grinds...
"Jesus, Kate." He's... totally fucked, frankly.
She laughs. "Yes, Gibbs?"
Her voice is positively angelic, but her expression is... not.
Oh, sweet mother of all that's good and holy. He screws his eyes shut. She isn't moving - well, not moving away, anyway - and he's pretty sure all the blood in his body has migrated to his crotch, which leaves him entirely at her mercy.
"Guh."
She laughs again, evil woman that she is. "Didn't realise you were having quite so much fun here."
"Guh," he manages again.
Her weight shifts. He succeeds, with some difficulty, in levering his eyes back open a notch, and he's not at all relieved to see she's now leaning over him, her face much too close to his, her eyes way, way too interested.
"What?" he snaps. Except he has Kate Todd sprawled over his body, so he doesn't really achieve snappiness, or even the T at the end of the word. 'Whaaaa'?' really isn't what he planned to have come out of his mouth.
He can see her wheels turning, can almost see her make the decision, and he'd stop her but suddenly he doesn't have any breath, or the will to do anything but watch as her lips lower inevitably to his.
He should protest - he's her boss, he's older, more experienced (not all in particularly good ways), he knows the kind of trouble this can lead to - but when she kisses him, he kisses back enthusiastically, when her hands touch his neck and shoulders, he allows his to slide into her hair, and when she pushes down with her hips, he pushes right back up against her.
Ohshitohshit, she's kissing him, and it's good, and she is downright damn delicious and oh God. The sensible, responsible part of his mind, which has kept him from doing this for over a year now, is being drowned out by the part which was fascinated by her from the beginning. Not to mention his body, which is wholly on board with this rebellion, the traitor.
He's so damn screwed. He's trying to feel badly about it. He's failing.
All the times he's imagined this possibility haven't come close to reality. Her body is soft and supple, her lips warm and giving, and if she showed any sign this wasn't what she wanted then his willpower might get a word in, but everything about her is inviting him to continue. He can do a lot of things, but turning down an invitation of this kind is not one of them.
A clonk to his left startles him, and though he doesn't, can't make himself, actually disengage from her lips, he glances over. It's just a couple of pieces of equipment falling over, but it's enough for a (slight) reality check.
He's really not gonna make out with her on the floor of the NCIS gym.
Or at least, he's not gonna make out with her here any more than he admittedly already has.
"Kate." It's kind of muffled, because hello, she's still got her tongue in his mouth. He pushes at her shoulders, and he'd swear there's an audible 'pop' when their lips part. He takes in a couple big lungfuls of air, in the hope the extra oxygen will kick start his brain after the experience of finally discovering what she tastes like. "Kate, we shouldn't-"
It takes a moment for his words to penetrate, then her face falls. "Oh."
He'd take a second to feel triumphant - Kate is disappointed he's no longer kissing her? He wants to punch the air - except he needs to correct her obvious misunderstanding before she runs away or hits him or otherwise loses the mindset that has her kissing him and letting him touch her. "I din't mean... Was thinkin' more change of venue than change of activity, Katie." His mental nickname for her pops out unbidden.
One eyebrow raises slowly and she grins. "What venue did you have in mind, Gibbs?"
Nearest vaguely private flat surface. Horizontal orientation optional. Yeah, maybe not. Kate likes her creature comforts as well as her privacy, and he's getting a little long in the tooth for lovemaking in unorthodox positions. And he knows, with dreadful certainty, that he wants to make love to her, not just fuck her brains out.
(Though he's up for fucking her brains out afterwards, too.)
"Your place. My place." Your bed. My bed. "Anywhere." Anywhere there's a bed. "Don't care." Just please let's go somewhere and get naked, please Kate, I need you, need you to be naked with me, need to touch you all over and taste you and be inside you and-
Her gulp is audible. "Oh. That sounds... good."
It's only when he notices her flushed cheeks growing even redder that he realises he said more out loud than he'd meant to. A lot more.
At least it didn't freak her out. She's looking at him with her mouth open, her breathing slightly ragged, but as well as surprise, he can see desire on her face, a mirror of his own.
He studies the expression, wonders at it. He'd never thought... sometimes he's seen something in her look he almost thought was attraction, but he's always ended up deciding he was fooling himself. To see it written all over her face makes him grin, and when she grins back down at him he smiles even harder.
He sits up, pushing them both vertical. For a few moments they sit like that, just looking at each other, her legs around his hips, his erection near impossible to ignore between them.
She leans in to kiss him again and he moans. "God, Katie." The words are murmured into her mouth, and she laughs. He kisses her back soundly before shaking his head. "Really need to stop doing that."
"Aren't you enjoying it, Gibbs?" Her faux-innocence is painfully and adorably mischievous.
"Way too much. Lemme get you home and I'll show you exactly how enjoyable it is."
She giggles, edging back off of him a little then standing up. Her feet are still either side of his thighs, and while she's no longer torturing his groin, hers is now almost level with his face.
The groan he lets out is entirely involuntary, and when she laughs he can't help but retaliate, grabbing her ass in both hands and pulling her in close so he can bury his face between her legs and nuzzle in against her. It's her turn to groan and shudder, and he grins against the fabric. Even through her clothing, he can smell her, and it's gratifying, not to mention absolutely appetising. He's often wondered - more often than he'll ever confess - what it would be like to taste her, make her fall apart in his mouth. Judging by her reaction, he's gonna get the chance to find out.
She whimpers a little when he lets a rumbling noise vibrate intimately into her, and he grins even wider, then looks up. "Not the only one who knows how to tease, Agent Todd." Her eyes are dark, her breathing shallow and rapid. He hauls himself up her body till he's upright and looking down at her again. "So. My place or yours? Bet you prefer your own bed, huh?"
He's teasing her, and by her expression she knows it, but the thwack of her hand against his chest is not calculated to put him off. "Your place is closer," she points out, her voice breathy.
"Wish I'da known you were so eager to get me in bed."
"Wish I'd known it was going to be this easy."
He slaps her butt for that. "Cheeky."
"What're you gonna do, Gibbs, spank me?"
"Don't tempt me."
Her grin brightens a notch further as her eyes darken even more, till they're practically black. "If you ask real nice, I might even let you."
He groans again. "God, Kate. We really, really need to leave, right now."
"Or what?"
"Or I'm gonna do you here on the floor, and I kinda wanna have a little more privacy so I can make you scream."
Her smile is wicked, though she takes a step back, giving him just enough space so he can think again. "Oh yeah?"
"You wanted dirty, Katie."
The smirk she shoots over her shoulder as she saunters away from him would be enough to stop a lesser man's heart. "Promises, promises."
He shakes his head as he follows. Playing dirty with Kate is going to be a lot of fun.
~ fin ~