A Favor For A Sister
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I wish they were mine, but they aren't.
Summary: Kate's sister comes to stay with Kate because she wants a favor. The 'favor' will not only tear Kate apart, but it looks set to cause irreparable damage to her relationship with Gibbs. Kibbs, established relationship
I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter. They blew me away. I'm still really hesitant about this fic because I'm not sure if I'm capturing the Kibbs relationship very well.
A huge thank you also to Loz and Annie for their wonderful input!
Chapter 2
The next few days passed quickly for all of them; too quickly, however, for Kate and Gibbs. Kate's sister was arriving in less than four hours and Kate was frantically running around her apartment trying to make it 'lived in'. She probably slept in her own bed once a week, if that. Gibbs had given her the day off work, too, which not only surprised her, but also her co-workers.
Kate surveyed her apartment. It was clean, probably a little too clean, but at least her sister wouldn't be able to 'go home to mum' and say that Kate wasn't living like a slob. Kate made sure that her apartment was spotless and she also tried to make it look 'lived-in'. To do that, she had to re-fill her wardrobe with clothes; it was now pretty much empty because all the clothes she wore were at Gibbs' house.
She remembered what had happened when she put her clothes at his house in a box. He had looked at her sadly the day before when she carried the box out to her car. Kate saw the sad expression on his face and knew what he was thinking.
"Relax, Jethro. I'll bring it all back on Monday!" He chuckled lightly at her. "But I can still sleep here tonight, can't I?" She asked timidly. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.
"I wouldn't let you sleep anywhere else, Katie," Gibbs replied. Eventually, Kate pulled out of the embrace and left for her apartment so she could finish tidying it up.
Kate was brought back to reality by the ringing of her cell phone. She ran to the kitchen where it lay on the bench. "Todd,"
"Is your apartment all clean?" Kate smiled to herself. Gibbs was never one for greetings.
"All done," Kate replied. "I'm going to take a shower and then go to the airport."
"You need a hand with anything?" Gibbs asked cheekily.
"Jethro!" Kate exclaimed. "Where are you?"
"Getting coffee." Kate rolled her eyes at his response. 'Typical', she thought.
"Have you got a new case?"
"No, but I needed to get out of the office!" Kate laughed. Gibbs was lucky in that respect. Whenever he needed to get away from the office, he went to get coffee.
"So, what time are you coming over for dinner tonight meet Julia and Michael?"
"I'll leave the office early. I'll be there around six thirty with the food."
"Ok, I'll see you then," replied Kate. They closed off the call and put her cell phone back down on the bench.
Kate stood nervously at the airport waiting for her sister and brother-in-law's flight to land. She wasn't sure why she was nervous; it was her sister coming to stay for a weekend, but something about the situation made her feel uneasy. 'What does she want?' Kate thought to herself. 'She's never done anything like this before. It has to be something big. She usually just asks me over the phone.'
"Attention ladies and gentlemen. Flight AA122 from Indiana has landed." The announcement came across the loudspeakers. Kate moved towards the arrivals gate and looked out for her sister. They didn't look anything alike. Kate's sister was several inches taller and had light blonde hair. Julia was easy to spot in the sea of people walking through the gates. Julia soon spotted her sister and ran towards Kate. They threw themselves into each other's arms and held on tightly. After a few moments, they pulled away.
"Katie, it's so good to see you," Julia said.
"It's been four years, Jules," Kate replied, smiling broadly at her older sister. Kate looked over at Michael and moved to hug him briefly. "Hi Michael." Julia and Michael had been married for six years and he was like another brother to her.
They chatted animatedly between themselves as they removed Julia and Michael's luggage from the carousel and walked out to the car. The drive home took longer than expected because it was peak hour traffic, but Kate was happy they had made it home before five thirty. That gave her an hour to basically tell her sister that she was in a steady relationship.
She showed Julia and Michael through her apartment and they were pretty impressed with it. As they walked back into the lounge room to sit down after their 'grand tour', Julia asked the question Kate was waiting for her to ask since she'd arrived. "So, Kate, when are you going to settle down and have a steady relationship and find yourself a decent job?"
Kate rolled her eyes. She knew it was coming. "I have a decent job, Jules, and I am in a steady relationship," she smirked slightly at her sister and held back a grin. Her sister looked shocked.
"Since when? Who is he? Why haven't you told me about him? How serious is it?" Kate and Michael both laughed at the questions Julia fired at Kate.
"We've been together almost a year."
"Almost a year and you never told me?" her sister shrieked. Julia was always the one who wanted to know everything about everyone.
"I don't know," Kate said, sitting back in the sofa. "But you'll get to meet him soon. He's bringing dinner."
"Sounds great. So where did you meet him?"
Kate thought for a moment before giving her answer. If she told Julia that he was her boss, then she'd never hear the end of it. She'd try and keep that tiny detail concealed from her for as long as possible. Kate knew that once her sister found out, she'd be on the phone tell their mother.
"I met him on Air Force One," Kate stated simply. It was the truth, but not the whole truth.
"You've known him since you were in the Secret Service?" Kate nodded, smiling at her sister. 'If only you knew,' Kate thought to herself.
"Yeah," Kate replied, not giving anything away. There was no doubt that Julia would find out soon enough. Kate glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost a quarter past six. "He'll be here in about fifteen minutes. Why don't you two go and freshen up and I'll get everything ready for dinner," Kate suggested as she stood up and moved toward the kitchen. She saw her sister take hold of Michael's hand as they made their way to Kate's guest room.
Kate began getting out plates and cutlery when her phone rang. It was Gibbs calling again. "Todd."
"I'm leaving now, I won't be long."
"Okay."
"How is your sister?"
"Good, she knows about you, but I didn't tell her how I knew you. I just said I met you on Air Force One."
"No you didn't."
"Didn't what?"
"Meet me on Air Force One."
"Yes, I did!" Gibbs chuckled at her response.
"You met me on Alpha Foxtrot 29000," he said smugly. Kate groaned. He was right. Again!
"If you want to be specific, then yes, I met you on Alpha Foxtrot 29000! See you soon!"
"I love you, Kate," he said before he closed the call.
Half an hour, he pulled into Kate's apartment complex and went up. He hesitated a moment before he knocked. He had a key, but he thought it was best if he knocked. Gibbs hated to admit it, but he was slightly nervous. He was meeting Kate's sister and brother-in-law and from what Kate had told him, her sister was a hard woman to please. He held the Chinese take-out boxes in his left hand and knocked lightly on her door with his right. He took a step back and waited.
His breath caught in his throat when Kate opened the door. She stood in front of him, grinning broadly. "Hey Jethro," she said as she stepped aside to let him in. He stepped inside her apartment and leant down to kiss her lightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.
"Hey there, Katie-girl," he whispered as the broke apart. She took his hand in hers and walked down to the kitchen where Julia and Michael were waiting to meet him.
Gibbs entered the kitchen a step behind Kate. "Julia, Michael," Kate said as they came into the room. "This is Jethro." Gibbs stepped forward and shook hands with both of them. He could feel Kate's sister looking him up and down and he knew what she was thinking. 'This man is too old for my little sister. He's old enough to be our father.'
An awkward silence filled the room. Kate looked over at Gibbs and smiled at him. "Shall we eat?" Gibbs lifted up the Chinese food and placed it on the table. Julia and Michael settled themselves down next to each other on one side of the table and Kate sat next to Gibbs on the other. They opened up the takeout boxes and began eating.
Conversation was light over dinner. Gibbs spoke little of himself, instead, he preferred listening to Julia and Michael talk with Kate. Michael talked about his accountancy firm and Julia spoke happily of the students at the high school she taught at.
They moved the conversation into the lounge room once they had finished dinner. This time, Gibbs was less reserved, and he spoke briefly about his time in the marines. Kate was amazed that he was talking about his life, but then she realized how he was doing it. He was using the present tense, indicating that he still was a marine. Deep down, of course, he still was a marine, but he was using the present tense intentionally. He was respecting her wishes that they kept their 'professional' relationship hidden from her sister.
It was just past midnight when Gibbs noticed Kate stifle a yawn. When Julia yawned a few moments later, Gibbs took that as his cue to leave. He kissed Kate on her temple and whispered in her ear, "I'll head home now, Kate. I'll let you get some sleep." He stood up from his position on the couch. "It was a pleasure meeting you both," he said, "but I better get going. I'll let you all get some rest." He extended his hand to Michael and shook it in the same he had done when he had first arrived.
They moved out of the lounge room and walked down to the front door. Gibbs put on his coat and turned to Kate. "Call me tomorrow," Gibbs said. He placed his hand on Kate's cheeks and looked directly in her eyes. Gibbs leant down and kissed her lightly; it was the first display of intimacy that they had shown in front of Kate's family. "I love you," Gibbs whispered when he pulled out of the kiss.
"Bye Jethro," called Julia and Michael in unison. Kate didn't say anything. Instead, she pulled him down for another kiss, this one more passionate than the last. Gibbs was surprised, but returned the kiss with equal passion.
Michael and Julia looked at each other with raised eyebrows before Julia tugged Michael on the sleeve and pulled him back to the lounge room to give her sister the privacy she knew she wanted.
This time, it was Kate who pulled out of the kiss. "Thanks for coming, Jethro."
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Your sister and brother-in-law seem nice."
"They liked you," Kate replied as she ran her fingers over his strong jaw line. They stood there, totally absorbed in each other. It was several moments before Kate spoke again. "I wish you could stay tonight. I hate being apart from you."
"So do I, Katie, but you'll be back in my arms on Monday." He leant down and kissed her lips again before he walked out the house and into the cool night air.
Kate walked back into the lounge room and was met by twin smirks from Michael and Julia. She dipped her head in embarrassment. "So, ah, what did you think of Jethro?" Kate asked tentatively as she sat down on the couch.
"He seems like a very intriguing man, Katie," Julia replied. Kate could feel a 'but' coming on, and sure enough, there was. "But, isn't he a little old for you?" Kate rolled her eyes.
"I love him, Jules." Her sister was silenced by Kate's answer.
As a child, Kate had always been straight to the point, and now in her adult life, she wasn't any different. "Now what was it that you wanted to ask me?" Kate asked. She couldn't hold the question back any longer. It had been playing on her lips since she picked them up from the airport. Julia looked over to Michael before turning back to Kate.
"Can we talk about this tomorrow morning? It's too late to discuss it now." Kate nodded in defeat. It was going to be a long, sleepless night.
This is all I have written for now. I'll start writing the next chapter when I am sure I can write more- at the moment, I'm not very confident about this one. Ultimately, it will be your reviews that are the deciding factor! If you want to read more, then you have to review and tell me so!