"Pull up the address of Croft's ex-wife and call Sergeant Connelly, then check Petty Officer Brown's financials. Do you understand? McGee? DiNozzo? Now go and –" The orders died on Gibbs' lips when Kate entered the bullpen, hand raised in a voiceless, innocent salute. He was certain she did not know what that sign meant by the looks of it – to her it was perhaps another hello, the sign for hello even – but to him, well, he knew. Never expected to hear that from her, did you? his mind supplied, chuckling darkly. An I love you, albeit signed by accident, was enough to rob him of his words. And to leave him slack-jawed, apparently.

"What?"

Kate's voice head-slapped him into the present and he closed his mouth. To his side McGee suppressed a chuckle while Tony straight out laughed.

"Was I not clear, DiNozzo? Do I need to say that again?"

"HD clear, boss. We're on it, boss. Right, Probie?"

Gibbs did not wait another minute, did not need to see Tim's vigorous nod, nor hear the tapping of fingers on keyboard, spewing out enchanted symphonies, as he made his exit. No. He had to clear his head, that's what he had to do.

But the sound of heels spoke of danger – when had it not? – and he turned just in time to see Kate standing beside him.

"Gibbs? We got a new lead?"

"Nope."

She did not ask any more questions, but she walked into the elevator with him, which was hardly the purpose of his escape. It was clear she did not want to push him, did not know what had pushed his buttons.

"Abby teach you that sign?" he asked at long last, a small smile on his face.

Kate frowned, but then understanding lit her features and she grinned with what appeared to be nothing short of pride. "No, I've just seen you two use it. It's like a greeting, I figured – "

Gibbs nodded, barely holding back a smirk. "Sure." He tapped his fingers against the wall, drum roll, everyone, before he murmured, "—among other things."

"Gibbs."

The ding of the elevator announced their arrival and as the two of them stepped out, a warm, summer breeze brushed a flushed face, and a beaming one.

"Gibbs! What does it mean?"

"I love you, Kate."

The shock in her eyes he expected, but the hardly veiled delight, the tiny smile that tugged at her mouth blew his mind a little. God, he needed to clarify that. "—that's what it means, Kate, the sign. I love you." He should stop saying that. There, he had rendered Kate speechless.

As they crossed the street, their strides were surprisingly in sync, long and steady. Kate was biting her lip and he wondered if she was going to say what was on her mind. "Where are we going, Gibbs?" she asked at last, and he sighed, feeling mostly relieved she'd decided not to delve into dangerous territory.

"You mean, where I was going before you started following me?"

"That's right, Gibbs." Kate rolled her eyes and he couldn't help but smile, the damned little grin slipped.

By the time they were standing in front of DC Beans, Kate had gotten her answer.

Gibbs opened the door, ready to go inside and order a cup of coffee, blacker than black. He hesitated, but when he didn't hear steps behind him, he looked over his shoulder.

"You coming, Kate?"

Gibbs could see it in her eyes; she was thinking of Ari and he didn't want his Kate to be thinking of that bastard (even if it's not his Kate and he only added it for euphony). As he sat opposite her, he thought, maybe it would have been better, if all he needed to tell her that day was that she was going undercover as DiNozzo's wife. He watched her wandering gaze come into focus when he placed her cup of coffee in front of her. Kate nodded her thanksand smiled after taking a sip.

"You did better this time," she said, taking her cheek in her hand.

"Doesn't mean I approve. Strong's better." It had pained him, really, it had, asking for milk and sweetener. "I don't know how you call this –"

"Thank you, Gibbs," she murmured, biting her lip and what he was sure would have been another smile.

He took a sip of his own coffee and looked at her, really looked at her. A year ago she would have – well, she did – called him out on that, said he was making her nervous, but she had grown and now she was pinning him down with her own stare. Gibbs didn't mind having coffee with Kate, he realized; he rather enjoyed the companionable silence.

Still, when Kate's brow furrowed and she pouted her lips in thought, Gibbs knew something was coming. A question, a comment, anything. Ah, the inevitable truth came to light: all silences were created equal (i.e. meant to be broken). In one big gulp, he finished his coffee and straightened up, then leaned forward, his face inches from Kate's. "Shoot."

"Pardon?" Her eyes grew wide, confused and Gibbs bit the inside of his cheek not to laugh.

"I see you got a question, Kate. Better ask now before we get back to work –"

If she blushed, she hid it pretty well, murmured a low it's hot in here, before nodding her assent. "Alright. I was just wondering how you learned sign language is all." She sipped her coffee and shifted back in her seat, her eyes drifting up to his face.

It was sudden, the onslaught of memories. His lips twitched and Gibbs tried to speak up, but couldn't find the right words. Truth was, Kelly had been six months old when he and Shannon had started teaching her certain signs; it had taken some time – a few months perhaps - before she'd signed back, clenching and releasing her tiny fist. Milk, she'd wanted milk. Gibbs sighed shakily, blinked a few times, then offered a bit of the truth. "Got a friend who taught me most of what I know – "

"Abby?" Kate grinned, but Gibbs shook his head.

"A guy from the Corps," he said, rubbing at his temples, "His little brother was Deaf. We found silent communication came in handy most days –"

Kate nodded, her lips quirking up into a soft smile. If she suspected there was more to the story, she didn't give it away, didn't ask any more questions. Instead, she whispered, "Teach me, Gibbs."

Her voice was quiet, but this wasn't a plea, Gibbs figured. "What do you want to know?" he asked, taking his cheek in his hand, his gaze moving from her eyes to her lips and back up, a quiet exploration meant to give him some clues to what she was thinking.

She didn't even flinch under his candid stare. "Well, I know how to tell you I love you. How about I learn how to say my name?"

Gibbs felt the rumble in his chest before he heard himself laugh. "Okay." He moved back a little, allowing some space between them so she could see the signs better. My name Kate, he signed, quickly fingerspelling her name.

"Whoa, Gibbs, slow down. Beginner here, okay?"

He smirked, taking it step by step this time. When he got to her name, he was careful to pause after each letter he signed. K-A-T-I-E.

Kate repeated after him, and it wasn't until she was raising her eyebrows and giving him a puzzled look that Gibbs realized something was wrong. "What?"

She licked her lips. "Gibbs? My name's Kate. Four letters. Are you sure that was it? I thought that was five letters –"

Oh. "You're right, Kate. That's four. Katie has five, though, right?" He mentally scolded himself for the sudden lapse of judgment, but the blush that crept up Kate's cheeks left no further room for regret. By that point he was grinning.

"You sure can count, Gibbs," Kate said on an exhale, normal color returning to her face. "Didn't know we were that close, though."

It was a challenge that Gibbs gladly accepted, grinning even wider when he said, "You did tell me you love me, Katie."

"Fine," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "You can have this one, boss."

Gibbs bit his lip. Kate almost never called him boss, so that, coming from her felt – strange. He looked at his watch; they were running a bit late, but hey, if anyone needed them, they could always call. "Anything else you'd like to know, Agent Todd?"

She smiled. "Just about everything."

Here's to hoping his phone wasn't on silent. Or that it was.

After teaching her the alphabet and a few helpful signs, Gibbs let Kate practice and went to get another cup of coffee. Might as well.

When he returned, Kate was holding out his phone to him. "Who's Tiny?" she asked over the sound of the Mission Impossible ringtone.

Gibbs just took his phone and barked, "DiNozzo!" He nodded a few times, took a sip of coffee and motioned for Kate to get up. "You now think it's the wife?" Gibbs turned to see if Kate was following him.

Coffee, she signed, and nodded.

Gibbs smirked; he'd told her that was his favorite sign. Beautiful, he signed back with a grin. It must have been the lighting, but it almost looked like Kate was blushing.

"We're on our way," he said, placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her through the crowd.

Good, she signed. Potato.

Gibbs chuckled. If he didn't know she was practicing the signs she'd just learned, that would have been a very weird conversation. One for the books – Ducky's books.

Outside the café Gibbs hung up and glanced at Kate, who had suddenly stopped in her tracks. She was worrying her bottom lip and if Gibbs knew anything about women – he did! A little something... – he knew something was up. "What is it, Kate?" he asked, downing that second cup of coffee and throwing it in the trash.

She hesitated, it seemed, before she murmured, low and honest, "I do love you, you know."

Gibbs could feel his eyebrows go up, reaching close to his hairline."You do?"

"Of course," she said. We family, she signed.