Chapter 2

First fight

Gibbs truly wishes that he doesn't have to tell her what he did. While she is lost in his gaze, he is mesmerized by her eyes. He wishes he can just taste her sweet flushed lips.

She is so tempting with her bed head, she looks small, vulnerable and all woman. Sweet, very different from how he used to describe women in the past, especially his gorgeous cold ex wives.

He tries to concentrate, he is not used in seeing her in her PJs, instead of her tailored suit. What the hell is the matter with him? Why can't he rein himself? And she is not a redhead - and the little thing is fierce!

-------------------------
"I switched the body, Kate," he states clearly, noticing her soft warm chocolate eyes turning colder and harsher by the second.

"You what?" she couldn't believe her ears.

"And whose body was taken back?" she couldn't finish her sentence; it doesn't make sense to her.

"Special Agent Dinozzo, my agent." Gibbs wishes he is the one in the body bag.
"Why…?" she whispers to him, trying to understand his reasons.

"I believe he was poisoned. It was not an accidental death. Ducky is performing the autopsy as we speak." he explains.

"You can have his body, once we completed the autopsy…" but she cuts him off
"You selfish bastard! Do you have any idea what your action will do to my job, my career? My boss has already chewed my ass and he will definitely LIGHT A FIRE ON MY ASS NOW!" she is pissed, mad, beyond reason.

"I trusted you, I defended you…with your bloody NCIS integrity!" she hisses at him, jabbing her index finger at his chest. But what he said next, only makes things worse.

"Finding out what really happened to the dead man is my job, not your career, Kate," he answers, as if he has no regret.

Kate stops inher tracks and stays very quiet for a minute, processing what she just heard. "You are right, Special Agent Gibbs, it's a job. You do what you have to do, and I'll do what I have to do, I am not some idiotic bimbo! You are going to be sorry you crossed my path on Air Force One. Now GET OUT!" she left the jerk and goes to her bathroom, slamming the door. She needs to be in her headquarters to explain the mess.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First kiss

She is in the bathroom, blaming herself. It's her fault…mea culpa. She wants to cry and crawl to a corner like she used to do when she was a kid and she waited until one of her brother come look for her and fix whatever was bothering her.

But Kate refused to surrender to her emotion. She is not a child, she is a professional, she has to be strong and fix her mistake, not just cry about it like a little girl.

Why did she trust the old fox?

I should have known, shame on you, Kate! She said to herself in anger.
She is walking out of her bathroom in her undergarments. She was so pissed she forgot her clothes. She sighs, she needs to do her laundry soon.

Her mobile rings and she rummages blindly on her bed looking for it. "Todd." She surrenders to the yelling she is about to receive from her boss. She answers calmly with lots of "yes sir" while trying to cover her cough, she feels like hell but she decided to go through hell with dignity.

--------------------------
Kate freezes in her tracks as she sees Gibbs leaning against her door frame, the bastard is still in her place! AND, he has the audacity to be looking at her…and bloody hell, she is not dressed.

Again, her pride and experience, living with three brothers saved her face. But she recognized the lust in his eyes, he can't hide it or he doesn't bother to hide it; she doesn't care.

Nonchalantly, Kate walks toward him. She is still damp from her shower, just with her matching black undergarment. "I have my Sig Sauer" she tells the man she has a gun.

"I noticed." Gibbs replies, locking their eyes.

Kate reached him. She is standing very close to him, trying to intimidate the man and to show him that she is not afraid of him or NCIS.

He can see the black bluish bruise on her chest and temple. He is mad as hell. "I am sorry, Katie…" he whispers.

Kate jumps slightly from shock that he said sorry.
"I thought you said 'never say sorry?' "She asks him smugly, happy that she can intimidate the man. She perched both her hands on her hips.

Kate lets out a surprise yelp. Without warning he grabs her face swiftly and kisses her cut lips. Both of her hands are bracing his chest, trying to break free from his kiss, but within a few seconds she is lulled by his soft kiss and relaxes her brace.

His tongue grazes her teeth for her consent. She let him in, it feels like heaven.
Her palms on his hard chest are roaming slightly, feeling his masculinity. He smells nice, she likes what she is feeling. His rough thumb is stroking her cheek softly.

Above all, she is surprised that a man of his gruff exterior and rudeness can be so gentle with his kiss and touch. Kate feels safe in his grip.

She hears groans, is it hers? Or his? Who cares?

His palms are on her back now, she faintly leaps when she feels his callous gaze burning her bare skin. His finger slips into her bottoms and caresses her ass. He pulls her closer and she is very aware of his hardening groin.

He wantsmore. She is too short for him to devour her lips comfortably, she is straining her neck to match his height. He switches his attack from her lips to her jaw line, to her soft milky neck and he hears her moan louder and starts twisting her head. The bed, he sees the bed, he could just walk and persuade her onto her bed.

Caitlin Todd is astonished but she loves the sensation.
One of his hands is now holding her face, deepening his crazed kiss, he can not have enough of her. This time Kate definitely hears him groan.

Kate feels the carnal desperation from both of them, she loves it but caution starts to pop out of her head and she feels his hardened body push her back. One of his legs is between her thighs, his hand roams her thigh. It burns, she feels moisture in her womanhood, God, it feels so good.

Then his mouth is on her: carnal, hot, wet, passionate, wild and they are moving backwards. She hears him groan, calling her name and God, they are moving towards her bed.

She is hypnotized by his touch that burns to her core. The backs of her knees graze her bed. She is shocked. They are making out beside the bed and she is still in her underwear. He leans forward to topple her.

Out of the blue, she has a flashback of how Tim treated and attacked her violently. She is afraid, she pushes him away from her - afraid, breaking their fervent kiss, she doesn't know the man.

Abruptly awakened from his bliss, he looks into her eyes. Gibbs senses fear in her eyes and berates himself for going too far. He made a promise to himself that he will fix her fear - he'll make her feel safe again.

----------------------------
"You should go, Gibbs," she speaks softly and moves away from his magnetic field of attraction. Her back is facing him as she puts on her clothes.

"I'll call you when we are done with the autopsy so you can collect the body," he murmurs. "And it won't be long, I promise."

Kate just nods, not looking at him. She ignores him and she hears her door close when he finally leaves. She is mortified that she is so easy, damn! She needs to get a life.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Face the music

She arrived at her headquarters within half an hour. She tried covering her bruised face with thick foundation and powder, but it looks so weird she decides to leave it alone and be done with it.

Her colleagues are surprised to see her broken face. Bauer was shocked, then furious.
"How on earth are you supposed to work with that face, Agent Todd?" he shouts, saliva flying out of his mouth.

"And what the hell happened to you?" Bauer can not believe his eyes when his female Agent said that she hit her door on her way out.

After reprimanding her about the switched body, preaching about their embarrassment in front of the FBI, Bauer pulls her off active duty for a week.

"What? Why?" she is doomed.

"YOU must be joking, Agent Todd, do you expect me to let you protect the president with…that…that face?" Bauer shakes his bold head at his agent.

"Do you understand what public figure means? Do you REALIZE that you are protecting the President of the United States of America???"

He goes on: "I do not want our citizens and the whole world to think that the Secret Service is going down the drain and that we cannot afford to hire a decent agent anymore." He is not looking at her.

"But sir…" Kate tries to defend her case.

"Enough! Nodiscussion! I'd fire your ass if the President and the first Lady weren't so fond of you, do you understand, Agent Todd? You are on a very thin line here!" his tone is dangerous.

"You'll be pushing papers" he decides. "Now, go retrieve the body, make the switch back" as Bauer points to a man, sitting in the corner of his office.

Kate sees the man that Gibbs was talking about. He must be his agent, she has a clearer picture of the situation now.

The NCIS agent is sitting in the corner, smiling, not a care in the world. Oh God, he is eying Bauer's blond secretary and she smiles back at him. Kate can't believe her bad luck! She needs to starts going back to church.

"These arehis." Bauer throws a mobile and an ID wallet at her. She looks at his mobile: no missed calls, poor guy, Kate thought.

-------------------------------------------
"Special Agent Dinozzo, let's go!" She calls him as she leaves the office and sees from the corner of her eye that the man scrambles to his feet, waving goodbye to her boss's secretary and running out after blowing a kiss to the secretary.

"So, Todd, what's going to happen to me?" he eyed her expectantly.

"Easy," she snaps. "I'll shoot you, put you in a body bag and get you back to NCIS." She is not trying to be funny, it has been a long, strenuous day for her.

Her mobile rings. "Todd." she starts coughing again, her nose is getting stuffy too. "Todd." she repeats stiffly, rubbing her nose.

"Kate, come to NCIS to get the body. Are you all right, Kate?" he asks, she is still coughing.
Special Agent Todd hangs up with a terrible grin on her face. The ass doesn't even ask about his agent. She has a very bad idea and Kate looks at the good-looking knucklehead in front of her and makes a call to her colleague.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NCIS HQ

Special Agent Todd arrives alone in hercar and a truck is following her. As they park in the NCIS lot, she signals her friend to wait for her and she walks to the entrance as stiffly as possible. She doesn't want to be perceived as weak. Her head is killing her.

She stops when someone catches her elbow and calls her name, not Todd but Kate. She doesn't recall letting him call her by her given name.

--------------------------------------------
Gibbs was waiting the HQ lobby, hovering near the entrance. A couple of other agents who are aware of his disposition clear the area. Then he sees his beaten angel lost a battle, as he saw her walking towards his HQ.

He wants to take her in his arms and take her home with him, take care of her, make her…stop! Yeah, Jethro, you old fool, wishful thinking.

"Where's the body?" she asks him.

"Follow me." he pulls her elbow. Kate is too tired to argue.

They enter an elevator. She presses her back against the sturdy cold steel, her eyes closed. It's been more than two days that she hasn't had a wink of sleep. It feels so good against the cold steel. She hears him call her name a couple of times. She opens her heavy eyes and clears her throat.

To her amazement the man dares to stroke her back. She slaps his hand away. "Don't touch me" she snaps in between coughing.

Gibbs is impressed: She is a hardass, like him, bloody stubborn too, like him, and he leads her to the autopsy room.

Kate is greeted by a welcoming voice. "Good morning, Caitlin, how are you feeling, sweetheart?" The sweet ME is in his scrubs, he looks like her father - kind, caring, a sweet old man.

Gibbs thought she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life when she gives Ducky her sincere smile despite her bruised pale face. Gibbs wonders when she will give him such a sweet smile, not his ME!

--------------------------
Ducky starts talking and Kate pays attention to him and the corpse on top of the slab. Ducky has just finished his autopsy on the man. Looking down at the Y incision rocks her stomach, then seeing his dead eyes, his cloudy cold lifeless gaze rocks her core.

She knew the man, worked with him on some occasions. He was very kind to her; without realizing Kate reaches out her hand and strokes his hair without hesitation.

Then she runs, she gags and covers her mouth with her hand. She moves blindly and feels Gibbs guiding her to the nearest sink.

Kate empties her 'empty' stomach. She hasn't eaten in a while, it is just some yellow liquid, her throat stings. Ducky and Gibbs are at her side. She is so ashamed, it's been a long time since her last autopsy experience with the FBI.

"Sorry" she apologizes. "I knew him, he was a friend, and we sometimes worked together". What an excuse, she thought.

"I am so sorry, dear, the old man forgets that you are not used to it." Ducky apologizes. A peach like her shouldn't see such horror in her life, he is quite taken with the young Secret Service lady, she is kind and sincere - a rare feature in women these days. If she was his daughter he would definitely keep her at home: safe, well taken care of. Not running around as bullet shield, as her current occupation.

-----------------------
Ducky is worried, he is looking at poor Caitlin. "Caitlin, you haven't eaten, have you, dear?" The ME is looking at her discharge.

Kate covers her mouth again. "Please, don't mention food," she begs as a single tear falls from her eye.

"I'm OK, when can I have him back?" she looks at them, what did you find, Ducky? What's the cause of death? Oh God, he is married with a kid, what do I tell them?" she wipes her face.

"In a few hours," Gibbs answers, looking at Ducky.

Ducky isconfused, looking at the daft man, but he goes along anyway. "I haven't found anything conclusive. I'll let you know when I do, Caitlin," looking at Jethro, annoyed: in a few hours? He can sew him up in 10 minutes.

"I'll make sure you get a copy of the Autopsy report dear," he adds.

Kate nods at him and she wants to walk back to the Autopsy slab, but Gibbs pulls her away and out of the room. "Let's go!" he insists.

"Where?" she is bewildered, he doesn't answer her.

Ducky is angry with his inconsiderate friend. He forgets that Gibbs can be an ass sometimes and he wonders how he got three women to marry him.

"Gibbs, I am not done yet!" Her head is hurting from the tug of war.

"Where is my agent?" he asks

"Oh, so you worry about him…" she said smugly.

Ducky is listening and he is very happy for her. You go, Caitlin, he said to himself.

"No." Gibbs smirks as he looks at her.

"He is in a body bag, Gibbs, the same way the major is coming out," she stares him down, waiting for the look of horror on his face. Bloody hell, she starts coughing again.

NOPE! He laughs at her face, shakes his head, they are standing between the autopsy room and the elevator.

"What the hell are you laughing about?" Kate looks mad and embarrassed.
Ducky wants to kick his friend's ass, poor Caitlin facing the old fox.

Gibbs pulls her into the elevator.

"I am not invalid," she hisses at him. He doesn't answer her until they reach the HQ entrance. Kate can't help herself: "Gibbs, where are we going?" Kate thought he wants to kick her out. She resists his tugging, trying to stop him dragging her out. They make quite a scene, but he doesn't give a damn and keeps on going.

They are walking towards the back lot. "It's Jethro. I am hungry, are you hungry, Kate?" He speaks without looking at her, but out of the corner of his eyes he can see how confused she is.

He pushes her into his passenger seat, he enters, switches on the engine and drives out the lot.
They stop in Georgetown. He leads the baffled Secret Service chick to a small restaurant at a street corner. Gibbs is so happy he could sing. He notices that the woman is not pushing him away anymore, in fact, she is holding his upper arm, following him. He loves the feeling of her needing him.

-------------------------
As Kate enters the restaurant and smells the delicious oregano aroma. She realized how hungry she is and she hasn't eat for the past 12 hours. She is starving and she just eats whatever he ordered, pizza never tasted this good!

"Wow!" she says as she devours her food and Kate notices that he is looking at her.
She smiles in shame, she excuses her manner. "Sorry, Gibbs, I lived with three brothers and if I didn't eat fast, I didn't eat"

He laughs and she keeps talking while enjoying her food.

In case he wonders, she explains: "I am not a girly girl, Gibbs." He cuts her off, this time he looks straight into her eyes.

"Jethro, you can call me Jethro."

"Ahh, I see, sorry, Jethro. OK, it's a bit weird, sorry, I mean unconventional," she corrects herself.

"You were saying Kate…" he wants her to continue. She is the opposite of him, she expresses herself through her body language, her face, her eyes. Her arms are active, she is fun to look at, this woman can't fake herself - even when her life is depending on it.

He starts profiling her, he feels a surge of hope and joy - she is very easy to read, which is great for him and she is polite and considerate, NOT like him who couldn't care less.

"Oh yeah, I am a tomboy, my brothers made sure of that, I even shaved my hair when I was three, they helped me, though," and they both laugh.

She told him, because of that, her father punished the four of them while her mother cried in the kitchen. But she thought she saw her father's shoulders shake as he turned his back on them, holding his laughter.

Then her brothers were mad at her, they blamed her for being a girl and they said her name should be Caleb, not Caitlin, and since then they call her Caleb.

---------------------------
A few minutes later.

"I am not mad at you anymore, Jethro, you fed me well," she goes on. For the first time she uses his given name and he wants to kiss her right there, right now.

Her mobile rings. "Todd." She answers with lot of "Yes, sir" and "I understand, sir."
After she hangs up she said: "My boss" as she walks to the cashier but Gibbs beats her to it.

"Thanks, Gibbs, I owe you one."

"Jethro, Kate, and you don't owe me anything," he insists.

"Sorry, thanks, Jethro, no, I still owe you one," she corrects herself. The man has paid for her lunch, and the least she can do, is say his name correctly…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Tbc-nova2007-BETA (MV)