A/N: Thank you for the reviews and a thank you to all the people who put this story as their favorite and on their alerts, I'm very glad that some of you liked the first two chapters.
Anyway here's the next chapter! Merry Christmas to all of you;-)
It was four in the morning when Gibbs got up. After he started the coffee he hopped in the shower. Then he stood in front of his dresser thinking about what he wanted to wear. He decided not to wear the usual white undershirt today; instead he took his favorite blue button-down shirt off the hangar along with some grey slacks and of course his black boots.
What are you doing, he suddenly said to himself. He was dressing up for this and already trying too hard. Plus, was it really worth getting comments about the shirt later at work? Well he could always head-slap DiNozzo, some day that boy would learn to shut his mouth.
In the end he decided he couldn't care less, he wanted to look good for Elisabeth. And with that decision he started his morning routine drinking coffee while reading the morning paper. He even had time to finish a load of laundry.
He left the house with his badge and gun, hoping this would be the start of a wonderful day.
Gibbs entered the diner, this was his favorite time of the day. Not only because of the coffee, he just loved the smell of fresh coffee, bacon, eggs, toast and bagels. Joe, the owner of the diner, did everything from scratch, even the toast and bagels were homemade.
The best part was though that he knew Joe. He was an old marine buddy of his they had both been in Desert Storm.
"Ah Gunny, the usual I presume?" Joe always greeted him like that.
"Yes, but not to go." He said when he saw Joe reach for a paper cup.
"Sure thing. The lovely lady isn't here yet though."
"What?"
"Well you and Albert are my only customers right now." Gibbs looked around and sure enough it was just him and Albert, who had breakfast here every morning. "So, I'm guessing you're meeting someone here and you're not wearing your usual polo shirt." Gibbs rolled his eyes, great already he was getting comments about his clothes.
He took a seat in a booth where he could watch the street and watch the people passing by. Then suddenly he saw her. She was riding a bicycle towards the diner. Some people on the sidewalk stopped and stared at her, not because she was riding a bike, but because she was wearing a neon colored helmet with a matching vest. Some people were even laughing, he found it amusing as well, but he was sure she had a reason for wearing the safety gear.
She parked her bike at the window where Gibbs sat. So he knocked on the glass, she smiled when she saw him and hurried to the door.
Suddenly Joe stood right next to him and put a cup of coffee on the table. "Should've told me you were waiting for Beth." He said.
By now she was standing right behind Joe. "Thanks for the coffee Joe. Now get back to work." She said and pushed Joe out of the way so she could take a seat.
"Hi," she said to Gibbs. "sorry I'm a bit late, there was an accident and they closed the whole road." She took off her jacket and Gibbs was surprised wearing an oversized sweater and baggy jeans. Surprisingly though she could pull it off.
"That's okay. Do you always ride your bike to work?"
"Yeah. It can get dangerous in the snow, but I'll bet you I'm still faster at work than you."
"I'm sure you are. Cars probably part like the Red Sea seeing you in your yellow safety-vest." He chuckled.
"Hey! That baby has saved my life a few times."
"Don't you own a car?"
"No I never have."
"Wow…" Was all he could say, he had never met someone who hadn't at one point in their life owned a car. He owns two cars right now. "Well if you ever need a ride in the morning, give me a call."
"I don't have your number. How did you get mine by the way?"
"Well that was easy…" Gibbs told her a little about his job and how Abby had found her number. She was leaning forward the whole time listening intently to what he was saying and she laughed when he described Abby and the rest of the team. "They're the closet thing I have to a family." He admitted.
"The closest thing to a family I have is like a million miles away. My son Charlie still lives in London…" She told him a bit about herself. She had moved to DC 7 years ago and had worked her ass off to get the job as chief of the oncology department at the Children's Hospital. The only other steady thing in her life was her car Buster. "I've really wanted a dog, but with my crazy work hours a cat just seemed the better choice."
"I have a goldfish." They looked at each other and they both started to laugh at the same time.
They ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence. He was pleasantly surprised when she finished her breakfast leaving her plate squeaky clean. She had a healthy appetite, it was very refreshing seeing a woman eat so much and not caring if it was basically just fat.
After Joe had taken their plates away, Gibbs just sat there staring at his cup. His gut was telling him there was something she wanted to say, but was afraid of.
"So why did you leave London?" Beth took a sip of her coffee looking everywhere but him. She was nervous about something. "It's okay you don't have to tell me." She really didn't have to, they had only met 30 minutes ago.
"No I want to tell you, it's just hard to talk about even though it happened seven years ago."
"I understand. Why don't we talk about this when we're alone, because right now Albert and Joe are probably listening too." They both looked towards Joe and Albert and sure enough both men looked suspiciously away from them.
Just as Gibbs was about to say something to Joe they were interrupted by the beeping of Beth's pager. She took it out of her pocket with a sigh.
"That's the downside of being the boss, everybody needs my approval or opinion." She muttered while looking at the display.
"Tell me about it. I guess you have to go then?" He asked and he didn't even hide the disappointment in his voice.
"Yeah I'm sorry." She was already sliding out of the booth, this was important.
"That's okay. Hey Joe! Two cups of coffee to go." Joe nodded and got to work.
Gibbs helped her into her jacket and the vest, he stood quite close to her and could smell her hair. He couldn't stop inhaling the lovely scent of peach, vanilla and something he couldn't place.
He paid for the breakfast and coffee. Together they walked, it had started to snow.
"Are you alright on the bike in the snow?" He asked as they walked to the bike.
"Yeah don't worry about me. I've been riding my bike in the Washington winter for 7 years." Then she did something he found amusing. She poured the coffee inside a steel travel-mug with a lit, so that she wouldn't spill her precious coffee inside her bag.
There was an awkward silence between them, she was putting on her gloves while he fiddled with his car keys.
"So you have my number maybe you could call me again?" her eyes were full of hope, but Gibbs was also sure he could see a little fear in them.
"Yeah I could do that. Although I could also come around to your apartment and visit."
"I see Abby got my address as well." The fear was replaced with happiness and he was happy too. They got interrupted by her pager again. "I really have to go." With a kiss on his cheek she hopped on her bike and paddled away. He watched her until she disappeared around the corner. He hoped he could see her again soon.
"Have you seen Gibbs? He hasn't brought me my morning Caf-Pow yet." Abby asked as she walked into the bullpen.
"No he isn't here. We've tried calling him, but he doesn't answer." McGee said.
"What do you mean he isn't here? It's 10 in the morning, he should be sitting at his desk with his fourth cup of coffee." Abby was nervous in all her time at NCIS Gibbs was never late. Something was wrong. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…" Her body started shaking all over as she hurried over to DiNozzo's desk, she pushed him and his chair out of the way so she could get to his computer.
"Abby, calm down." DiNozzo said while rolling back to his desk.
She stopped what she doing and glared at him. "No, I will not calm down, what if something has happened to him? What if he was involved in an accident while he was getting his coffee? He could be in the hospital right now!" She finished off with a yell.
"Actually Abby he is right behind you." McGee said putting DiNozzo out of his misery and could breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Abby spun around and sure enough Gibbs was just about to step into the bullpen area. She ran towards him nearly breaking out in tears when she was in her arms, smelling that comforting scent of sawdust and coffee. He was okay.
"Abbs can't breathe…" He whispered.
"Sorry…" She released him. She stared at him for a while. Abby had noticed the different shirt he was wearing. Then she suddenly remembered what the reason could be. "You had breakfast with the doctor, didn't you?" Her worried frown turned into a smile.
All Gibbs did was nod and walk to his desk and took a seat in his chair, just like every morning, but he couldn't stop the tiny grin that broke free.
