Chapter 2/12--Trials and Suffering

Pairing: Kate/Gibbs (as a request from anna5545)

Character Focus: Jethro Gibbs, Caitlin Todd

Season: 2

Author's Note: Gibbs and Kate might be a little OOC…I've never tried anything with Kate before.


The second thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Rigging up the lights

Christmas preparations at the Gibbs household were proving to be quite trying this year. Nothing seemed to be going according to plan. Of course, Jethro chalked that up to his current girlfriend wanting lights outside the house. Kate, on the other hand, decided that the whole problem was that Jethro didn't like Christmas.

"Kate, if you want lights on the outside of the house, why don't you put them up?" Jethro thought that it was a simple enough question. Apparently, it wasn't. The former Secret Service agent looked up sharply from the recipe book laid out on the under-used table.

"Because, dear, I have to do the baking, send out the invitations, do last minute Christmas shopping, wrap the presents, and put the tree up…all within the next week and a half." She had stood up and moved away from the table as she had been speaking, the glint in her eyes telling the older man that she would have her way.

Deciding it would be wise not to argue with his girlfriend of the past eight months, Jethro took the length of multicolored lights from by the door and the ladder from the basement outside. Once he had the ladder set up, he looked from the house to the coil of lights lying in the snow and back to the house. Doubtful that he'd manage to get the lights up, Jethro set to work.

Twenty minutes later, he was on his last nerve and walking back into the house. Ignoring the confused look from Kate for now, Gibbs moved down to the basement. Hearing boxes being moved and random objects being thrown around, Kate started down the stairs, only to meet her boss halfway holding a long cord. "What--"

"Where. Are. The. Other. Extension. Cords?" [1] Jethro ground out, cutting the her off.

"Tony's borrowing them." Kate braced herself for what she was sure was going to come. Surprisingly enough, Jethro merely sighed and made his way back outside. Now more than a little confused, Caitlin walked out to see what was wrong. Gibbs was attempting to connect the string of lights to the cord. Finally, the lights were on.

"Uh, Kate?" Jethro called. "They supposed to blink?" [2] She looked about to say something. Before she could say anything, however, there was a snap, and then nothing.

"Looks like one of the bulbs burned out…." she commented. Next thing they knew, the rest of the lights went dark. [3]

"Perfect….just perfect…" Jethro mumbled, climbing down again. Stalking around Kate, he walked back into the house.

"What are you doing now?" she asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. Kate stood there, waiting for an answer as he shuffled through the cabinets.

"Getting a flashlight," [4] he responded. "Where are the replacement bulbs?"

"They should be in the box." With that, she handed him the box and watched him leave the house for a third time. A few minutes later, he walked back in looking quite relived.

"You do it next year." [5]


[1] Actual line from song: "What, we have no extension cords?!?"

[2] Actual line: "Now why the hell are they blinking?!?!?"

[3] Actual line: "One light goes out, they ALL go out!!!"

[4] Actual line: "Get a flashlight...I blew a fuse!!"

[5] Actual line: "FINE! YOU'RE SO SMART, YOU RIG UP THE LIGHTS!!!"

So, yeah....I had to summarize the actual lines in order to meet my 500-word-per-chapter mandate. If you have pairing requests, leave them in a review....or just review anyways :) I love you all!!!!