Title: Gibbs' Sundays
Author: Tara Pathirana
Summary: They just need a little more time...
Tag: 3x13 Deception
Genre: tragedy, Episode Tag
Rating: PG
Notes: I always wondered about Gibbs coming in to work in his Sunday Best – Heres my take on why. I wrote this a long time ago but never posted it.
Sunday's, he remembers, were usually spent like any other day off. In his basement. Working on his boat. Alone.
It had been like that for almost 13 years {give or take a few months}. He hadn't been looking to change that….each of his ex-wives had and failed. He still didn't understand what it was about *her* that made him change now.
They had argued at first. About god and life…faith and love. A heated conversation usually stopped by his own fears, she knowing the limits but each time getting a little further until one day she convinced him to go with her. He doesn't remember the exact date or what possessed her to turn up that Sunday morning, boldly demanding that he come with her no questions asked, not taking no for an answer.
At first he'd been bored, taking the time to study the building, the people and eventually her. The smell of her perfume, the glint in her eyes, the curl of her lips when she knew he was watching her, the slap of her hand when he fiddle a little too loudly with the newsletter or the whisper of his name in admonishment. He wondered sometimes why he hadn't just stopped, part of him knowing that it was right, that he had needed a push and she was the one to give it to him. Another part took joy in the thought of spending an entire Sunday with her even if he had to go to mass first.
It became a routine. They usually met at the church, sometimes she'd pick him up but not often. She had trusted that he would be there, and he felt he had to… not just for her, but for himself too. They'd go for coffee afterwards, sometimes talking about the sermon, a recent case, about Tony's antics or Abby's caffeine addiction. Sometimes they just sat in silence, enjoying each other's company…..reflecting. The rest was fair game from that point….dinner... a movie on the rare occasion….he'd go to hers or she to his. Nothing ever happened but it became….comfortable.
He doesn't know why he still goes now. A year later…after...after her death. He hadn't intended to the first time. He had been so angry, unable to focus on anything that didn't bring her to mind. He had gone for a run and found himself outside the doors of the church. It calmed him. He wasn't going to say that he had suddenly found God. He sat at the back of the church, almost hidden, still watching and fiddling with the newsletter. But it felt right. Maybe...He felt it was something he could still share with her. That it would make her happy to know that he still came even now and if he closed his eyes for just a moment, he could still smell her presume and the heat of her body against his right side. And the whisper of his name.