2300 hours – Bethesda Hospital, D.C.

Kate woke up in a dimly lit hospital room, attached to multiple machines. After adjusting her focus, she turned her neck to look around the room, only to see Gibbs snoring, propped up in a chair by her bed. She wanted to sit up, but as soon as she began to lean forward, her abdomen sent pain throughout her entire body. She felt a large bandage wrapped around her left leg and her ribcage as she leaned back against the bed. A small, low cry of pain escaped her lips, and it was more than enough to wake Gibbs out of his sleep.

"Kate," Gibbs whispered, "What are you trying to do?"

"Nothing Gibbs, What time is it, and why are you still here?" she replied.

"Uhm," he coughed, "it's a little after eleven, and I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"What happened? Was everyone ok?" she asked him, concerned.

"Yeah, you saved them," He said angrily, "What the hell were you thinking in there? You could have got yourself or one of us killed!"

"Gibbs, I am trained to protect, and I was NOT about to let those people die," she said as she made her second attempt to sit up, but failed again and leaned back in pain.

"What if the SWAT team or the other agents weren't there, and didn't get him in time? How many other agents or innocent people do you think he would have taken out besides you? You weren't the only one involved in this," he growled at her.

"Don't you DARE try and kid yourself Gibbs. You and I both know that our number one priority was protecting that family, whatever the cost," she yelled back.

"Is everything ok in here?" a tall man with dark brown hair peeked into the entrance to Kate's room.

"Mike! Yeah, everything's fine," Kate said to him as she continued to glare at Gibbs.

Michael was Kate's current man. Like the many others Kate had gone through, he was a good man, genuinely kind and hard working, and very sweet. But unlike the other cases, this was the first time Kate had a really good feeling. She felt like there was some semblance of a chance that this relationship might last. Mike had been fairly supportive about her job, since he was very committed to his own, working on Capital Hill and all.

Following his entrance was the Doctor. Michael moved to the corner of the room, behind Gibbs, and waited to hear the Doctor's report.

"Ok, well, you seem to have taken some hard hits, but you're going to be fine. You bruised your ribcage pretty badly and fractured a lower rib, but miraculously you didn't break any bones. We removed the bullet from your left calf, so it will be tender for a couple days, and you'll have to come back to get the stitches out, but you will be fine," he reported, "We'll have to keep you here for observation overnight, but you'll probably be released tomorrow morning. As for you two," he said as he turned towards Gibbs and Michael, "I suggest you go home and rest, since she'll be fine. But she won't be running around for quite sometime."

"Thank you doctor," Kate said as he left the room.

"Gibbs, this is Michael Thomas, Mike this is my Boss Gibbs," Kate introduced the two.

"Very nice to meet you sir, Kate's told me so much about you," Mike replied as he shook Gibbs hand.

"Great, well it was nice to meet you," he said to Mike as he stood up from his chair and started towards the door, "Kate, take tomorrow off and get better"

He walked out of the room without another word.

Kate was thoroughly confused, angry, and saddened by Gibbs. She wanted to rip him apart and ask him why. But right now, she was in too much pain, and way too exhausted for all of that. And besides, she was confined to a hospital bed until morning with Mike at her side.

"What was going on with him?" Mike asked Kate as he replaced Gibbs in the chair beside her bed.

"Nothing, I'm not worried about it. But how did you find out where I was? I am glad you're here but I was surprised to see you!" she responded.

"Tony picked up your cell phone when I called. He was laughing about something…"

"Yeah, don't worry about it, I'll be thanking him for that…" Kate interrupted in a sarcastic tone.

They both started laughing and Kate was really glad that Mike had found his way to her. She wasn't sure she wanted tomorrow to come.