Notes: For the NFA "Dogs have Owners/Cats Have Staff" Challenge
It was the first Saturday the team had not been on call in ages. Gibbs stepped out onto his front porch and took in the beautiful summer morning as he descended the steps to get his newspaper. The paperboy never could make it all the way to the porch.
He heard the animal as soon as he put his foot on the bottom step of his front porch. It was so sudden, it startled him, and he pulled his foot back from the step and back to the concrete walk.
"What the heck?"
He listened to the animal's cries and deduced that it was coming from under the porch. He ran to the truck and grabbed a flashlight, and back to the porch. He got down on his knees and pried the trellace away from the porch. He leaned down and turned on the light, flashing it around under his porch. He stopped the flashlight in the far left corner.
A pair of eyes stared back at him. The animal cried again, and Gibbs felt his heart skip a beat. The cries he heard were that of a cat.
He gently tried calling the cat, to see if it would come to him on its own. The cat didn't move. He noticed in the beam of his flashlight that the cat was shaking, and looked very small. Knowing he had no other choice, he slid onto his belly underneath the porch, and slowly moved toward the scared animal. The cat moved backward until its body was pressed against the trellace on the other side of the porch, scared of the large figure coming toward it.
Gibbs slowed as he came to the cat.
"It's okay," he said soothingly. "Come on, I'm not going to hurt you."
Gibbs reached out slowly with his hands, and the cat hissed and swiped at him. He pulled his hand back.
"It's all right, baby. I'm not going ot hurt you."
He held out a hand, to allow the cat to sniff him. The cat slowly moved toward his outstretched hand, sniffed it for a few seconds, and started rubbing its face on his hand. Taking it as a sign the cat didn't see him as a threat, he reached out and scooped up the animal. He wiggled out from under the porch and slowly got to his feet, holding the cat gently in his arms.
"Jethro, what's going on?"
Gibbs looked up to find Joanie, his neighbor, staring at him from her side of the fence with a pair of gardening gloves on.
"Found this little guy under the porch," he said, petting the cat softly to calm him down.
"He looks scared," Joanie said as she rounded the fence to join her neighbor. "I wonder how long he's been under your porch?"
"He looks like he hasn't eaten in a long time," Gibbs observed. "Let's get him inside and get him cleaned up."
"I've got some cat food over at my house. I'll go get some for him."
Joanie hurried home, and Gibbs took the cat inside. He carried him straight to the laundry room. He kept a wash basin there to soak his good shirts. He filled it with a little bit of water, and found a bottle of baby shampoo in his downstairs bathroom. He gently wet the cat's fur and washed him with the baby shampoo. The cat was content with the bath, until it came time to rinse. Gibbs used a cup to rinse the shampoo away. The cat didn't like the idea of water being dumped on him, and tried to wiggle from Gibbs' grip. Gibbs held him in the tub and finished his bath.
Joanie arrived as Gibbs was drying the cat with a hand towel. She smiled upon hearing the cat purring in her neighbor's gentle hands. The cat had beautiful black and white fur, which couldn't be seen before his bath.
Joanie set down a cardboard box on top of the dryer.
"I brought some food, and an extra set of cat dishes I had lying around, from when I had Buster," she said. "I also brought over Buster's old bed. It's been washed thoroughly."
"Thanks, Joanie. You didn't have to do that."
"He'll need a place to sleep, won't he?'
Gibbs didn't say anything for a moment, and Joanie practically burst into tears.
"Don't you even thinkabout taking him to a shelter, Jethro," she said.
"I'm not home enough to be able to take care of him. You know that, Joanie."
"He loves you! He's cuddling up in your arms!"
Gibbs looked down. The cat was indeed comfortable in his arms, and nearly asleep. Maybe he could stay here for onenight.
"Okay, Joanie, he can stay."
"What's his name?"
Gibbs thought for a moment.
"How about Jack, after my father?"
"Sounds good."
Joanie smiled and rushed over to her box of goodies. She had lots of things to teach her neighbor about cat ownership.
After Jack had been fed and given water, Joanie pulled out a few cat toys she'd found. Jack enjoyed them, and played for a long time. Joanie and Gibbs found themselves sitting on the laundry room floor, playing with the cat, and laughing at his antics. Jack soon tired himself out, and Joanie showed him his new bed.
Gibbs watched Joanie as she accustomed the cat to the bed. Joanie had moved next door years ago with her husband, Harry. He'd shipped out to Afghanistan five years ago, and never returned. She has been alone for a long time, as had Gibbs. She was only a few years younger than him, and he'd always been attracted to her, but asking her out was never an option to him.
He watched a stray piece of her honey blonde hair fall in her face as she smiled at the cat, who was finally curling up in his bed.
God, she looks so beautiful right now.
"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Gibbs found himself asking before he even realized it.
"Dinner?" Joanie flushed. "Sure, that would be nice."
Gibbs got to his feet and helped her up.
"Let me go clean up and I'll start dinner. Do you like steak?"
"I love it."
"Perfect."
Gibbs turned and grinned as he made his way to his bedroom to change. Who would have guessed that finding a cat under his porch would bring him close to someone he never thought he'd have the courage to be with. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Jethro, Joanie and Jack.
END