The first thing Kate was aware of when she awoke was the cold pressing against her nose. Discomforted she tried to push it away only to feel Ari's laughter as he shifted until her back touched his chest, "Perhaps a few minutes rest will not harm you" he considered, moving the towel wrapped ice away. Kate sighed with relief and rolled onto her stomach, turning her face towards him,
"You didn't seriously keep that thing against my nose all night did you?"
He grinned, "But of course Caitlin, remember I am the one who has to look at you"
Kate made a face at the banter but couldn't be bothered responding in kind,
"Can't have been comfortable to sleep like that"
He shrugged, "A lifetime of sleeping with a gun in your hand has its benefits, my wrists are used to the strain and your nose appreciates my efforts"
Dreading the task ahead, yet knowing that she couldn't avoid it forever. Kate rolled back over to face her bedside table, opening the top drawer she fumbled around for a long forgotten hand mirror. When she found it, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at the small square glass, gasping in stunned disbelief.
Her nose wasn't overly swollen, maybe a tad around the nostrils, it was the bruising that shocked her. The left side of her nose, where Gibbs had swung was a deep purple, almost black and it spotted across to the right side with a red and slightly yellow tinge. Raising her fingers she press the flesh slightly, wincing at the reactionary tenderness,
"Are you in pain?" Ari asked quickly, reaching over to caress her back. His hand rubbing small soothing circles as his eyes watched her with concern.
She shook her head, "A little but nothing to worry about"
Setting the mirror aside she lay back down and held her hand out for him to link with his, her eyes gazing in wonder at the contrast of his dark skin with her ivory tone. Ari's fingers gripped hers gently and he mirrored her position, lying on his stomach and facing her,
"You are awake early" he commented quietly, and she realised how early it was. She could hear Tony's still snoring away on the rug beside the bed. Outside in her living room she heard a musical clock Ducky had bought her strike three. Grumbling, she buried her face into the pillow momentarily forgetting about her nose, the impact caused her to yelp and quickly lift her head. Haswari chuckled,
"Let me get you some painkillers Caitlin, they will help"
She shook her head again, determined not to take painkillers until they were absolutely necessary. Painkillers mixed with emotions often resulted in nausea, something which she certainly didn't need today.
Sighing when she realised that she was almost completely awake, she faced her boyfriend,
"Why are you so awake?" she asked curiously and he shrugged casually, "Hyper-vigilance, I only sleep soundly when I am in Israel or locked up tight in an Israeli Embassy somewhere. Also I don't require that much sleep" he threw her a lazy grin, "A habit I developed during my days at Edinburgh Medical School"
Kate glared playfully at him, "Well in that case you can take care of Tony when she wakes up"
He laughed, "Of course Caitlin, whatever you desire"
He caught a strand of hair and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly,
"What do you want to do today?"
She had been asked that question a million times by a million different men, but almost every time that question had been asking her where she wanted to go, or what she wanted to do for a date. This time the man was asking her how she wanted to handle the chaos that would be NCIS and the MCRT.
"Honestly" Kate announced, deliberately misinterpreting the question, "I would like to go out for breakfast, maybe take a stroll in a nice park somewhere..."
Ari chuckled, "You may have to go alone Caitlin, if I am seen anywhere near your bruised face, every man and woman on the street will want to cause me bodily harm"
She shrugged, "I could wear make-up"
Truthfully she didn't want to go outside with a bruised nose, she didn't want everyone to look at her and think she was a battered wife too weak to leave an abusive husband. She hated Gibbs easily in that moment, for submitting her to such personal humiliation. She did however, want to have breakfast with Ari at a nice restaurant, or go for a walk with him- any activity really that they could do outside without fear of being recognised by an NCIS, FBI or CIA agent and word getting back to her boss.
"I wish we could run away together" Kate mused out loud, thinking dreamily, "Somewhere warm this time of year, like Australia, I've always wanted to see a koala"
Beside her she felt Ari tense ever so slightly and she wondered if she was moving too fast for him. Since he had first reappeared in her life six months back, shortly after his agents had kidnapped her- an incident he had apologised profusely for- they had only seen each other a handful of times. Their connection was deep, both of them knew that much, they had discovered it that fateful day in the NCIS autopsy and it had been so instantaneous and yet so profound that Ari had gone to great lengths to see her again just to assure himself that he hadn't been imagining things. However it was difficult for them, Ari came to America only irregularly so as not to attract suspicion and Kate still even went on the occasional date to do the same, although she found herself fighting the urge to fall asleep from boredom on every one of those dates. When they were together though...Kate remembered one night, the third time he had come to see her. It had been a stormy night and they had turned off the lights and curled up on her couch watching the thunder and lightning while they shared stories of their childhood, teenage and college years. She shared secrets with him that she had never told anyone else and he did the same.
They hadn't spoken of love yet, nor had they had sex even though they'd shared a bed- but when she was with him, it felt so right.
"Israel is lovely this time of year Caitlin" he suggested softly, and she grinned with relief,
"I've always wanted to see the Dead Sea" she murmured whimsically, imagining also the numerous religious sights. Bethlehem, Jerusalem...
"Then come back to Israel with me" Ari suggested, snapping Caitlin right out of her reverie,
"Hang on- what?"
He shrugged, feigning casualness although Kate was sure he was feeling anything but that,
"You want to go away- Israel is beautiful, parts of it are very safe and we wouldn't have to worry about being seen by NCIS agents in the streets of Tel Aviv. I could show you the country and we could have fun and be a normal couple" he gave a depreciating smirk, "Well at least on a scale relative to us"
"But...I can't just run away"
"Why not?"
Those two words seem to be his favourite. When she sees his mouth form the words and hears his deep warm voice execute the sounds she shivers in delight and anticipation. To her those words appear to be both a personal challenge and a war cry. A reminder that something is impossible only if they want it to be.
"Because" she searches her mind for reasons, desperately gripping for them even as they fade away "...well Tony for starters, someone will have to take care of her..."
"Bring her with us, she'll be fine"
"Okay...um...my job at NCIS, Gibbs would kill me if I just-..."
Kate stopped, the words dying on her lips as she realised the major flaw in her argument. Last night Gibbs had caught her in the arms of the man he hated most in the world- CIA aside- and been so angry that he had hit her. Did she even have a job to go to this morning? And even if by some miracle she wasn't fired, did she want to face Abby, Ducky, Tony and McGee after Gibbs was through explaining her treachery to them? They worshipped the Marine like she had once done, if he told them that she had betrayed him, they would hate her.
And hadn't she often dreamed of escaping? Of one day waking up, getting on a plane to some exotic destination and just disappearing, leaving her life with all its troubles and stresses and obligations behind for a little while? She had always imagined it but had always been too much of a coward to actually go through with the idea.
What was there to hold her back? Family- she wasn't close to any of them. Friends- same trouble and her best friend was Abby. Career- doubtful she still had one. Partner- he was the one suggesting they run away.
With a wide smile gracing her face, Kate wiggled over until she was inches away from Ari and gave him a quick kiss, "How soon do you think we can leave?"
