Author's Note: Thanks for all the kind reviews! I don't own anything!
I steadied myself mentally and took a deep breath. I had been Director for just about a year now, but the big lunches and fancy parties still left me awestruck. Being introduced as the Director of NCIS still left me awestruck too. To hear my name accompanied by such an esteemed title was an honor.
"Please help me welcome NCIS Director Kaitlin Todd!" My very dear friend Sarah Cole from the State Department announced me as I made my way into the crowded banquet hall. Jethro escorted me to my seat and then headed off to the corner to spend time with all of the other guys who were working protection details.
A few more women were introduced and we all clapped for one another and took our seats.
"It's nice to see everybody. It's a lovely day in Washington DC. Now let's get this luncheon rolling!" Sarah announced proudly as she sat down at her seat.
Everybody enjoyed lunch, and it was nice to catch up on my gossip. That was the true purpose of these things. Sarah had let me in on that dirty little secret shortly after I had been invited into the group. The fourth Tuesday of every month us girls all met for lunch. Just over a hundred of us. The top power players of politics, law enforcement and commerce, all together in one room, doing what women did best...talking.
After our dessert plates were cleared Sarah stood up and introduced the guest speaker for the afternoon. Once again, it felt weird to hear my name. As I approached the podium I felt a sense of triumph. After years of hard work, and wondering if I actually had accomplished anything I knew I had. People listened when I talked. I could make things happen, I could indeed change the world.
I spoke about just that, getting people to listen, getting things done, somewhere in all this bureaucracy actual work had to be accomplished. My speech was short, but the entire time I focused only one person. Jethro was in the back of the banquet hall, in a dark suit and tie, standing with other people assigned to protection details from various agencies. I could see him smiling, and that put me at ease. The applause filtered through my ears as I stepped down and hugged Sarah.
"Very nice." She murmured as we headed towards the bar to grab a cocktail.
All along the way women stopped to shake my hand, and thank me for my encouraging speech.
It was fifteen minutes later when I felt a light tap on the shoulder, and Jethro handed me a drink.
I thanked him and moved on, unable to kiss him in public, he was on the clock so to speak just as I was, which also meant no romance.
"Kate, I'd like you to meet Ayala Cohen she is the Israeli Ambassador." Sarah said as she walked away and headed towards the bar.
"So nice to finally meet you Director Todd." Ayala said as we politely shook hands.
"It is nice to meet you also. Officer David has spoken of you often." I added as I sipped my drink.
"And how is Officer David?" Ayala asked with a slight smile and knowing laugh.
"Just as feisty as ever." I replied.
"Good. I am glad not much has changed. I don't speak with her as often as I should. Work keeps the both of us busy, but I have helped her with much of the paperwork involved in relocating to a new country. I must admit that it is nice to have somebody from home close by." Ayala explained.
"It is." I said knowingly, remembering when I had first come to DC for work. It had been thrilling to move from the sleepy town in Indiana where I had grown up. It was exciting, but as the luster of my new life faded I spent long nights crying myself to sleep just wishing I could hug my mom, or hang out with my sister.
I had been working at the Secret Service for just over four months when I discovered one of the secretaries was originally from Indiana. We bonded instantly, and we had been good friends ever since.
"I fear that Ziva has more trouble adjusting than she lets on. I can't say I blame her though, after what happened last year." Ayala said sympathetically.
"What?" I asked, unsure of where the conversation was headed.
"The poor girl, arrives here in a strange place, eager to meet up with her brother, but one day later he is shot while helping NCIS thwart a terrorist attack. It was a shocking loss." Ayala said as a look of pain crossed her face.
I swallowed hard and gulped my drink. I had almost forgotten the official story that Homeland Security had helped us fabricate. Eli David didn't want anybody to know the truth about his son, and I can't say that I blamed him.
"It was horrifying." I said. It was the nicest thing I could say considering the circumstances.
"Certainly." Ayala commented.
My mind instantly flashed back. I was still an Agent then. It was my last day in the field. I didn't know it at the time, but as I was standing on the rooftop of an abandoned warehouse with Gibbs and DiNozzo Director Morrow was recommending that I fill his space when he left.
"Shooter!" I shouted as an assailant appeared in a doorway. I could see him aiming for Gibbs, and I flew in front of him, hoping that I'd save him. It worked. In the time I flew Gibbs shot him, but not before a bullet had lodged into my vest.
"Oww!" I mumbled as I lay crumpled on the rooftop.
"You okay?" Tony asked.
"I just got shot at point blank range! What the hell do you think?" I asked as I got up and stood next to Jethro and Tony.
"You're not going to Pilates class tomorrow." Tony teased.
"Protection detail is over." Gibbs said with a smirk as he looked at me.
"You did good Kate." Tony commented, looking at Gibbs and I.
"For once Tony's right." Jethro said with a laugh.
"I thought I'd die before I'd hear you say that Jethro." I replied with a small smile.
In less than a second Jethro's ears perked up. His hands grabbed me and Tony by the back of the neck and we fell to the rooftop. Jethro whispering that we weren't supposed to move. Right where I had been standing fell the round from a sniper rifle.
"How did you know?" I whispered.
"Calm before the storm. Snipers move in and out in the middle of big firefights if they can. Anything to buy some time." Jethro whispered.
To this day I still can't say how long we waited on that rooftop. We waited for what seemed like an eternity. Gibbs had radioed McGee instructing that every rooftop and abandoned building within a mile be cleared before we moved. It was twilight by the time the SWAT team cleared us, and I was shivering in the cold, unable to process how close we had all been to dying.
"That round was meant for her." Jethro said as he pointed at me. It was almost midnight, and we were in Abby's lab, waiting for her to analyze the evidence.
"I know." Abby said as she concealed a yawn.
"So did anybody see that new girl?" Tony asked.
"Nope, we've been a bit distracted." I said letting out a fierce yawn.
"She's Israeli or something. She's Jenny's souvenir." Abby said as she looked at her computer monitor.
"Jenny who?" McGee asked.
"You know, Jenny Shepard. Well that's right you wouldn't know. You haven't been here long enough, but she's a great field agent. She's been living the nomad lifestyle for a few years now. In fact she even worked a case in London with Kate and Gibbs." Abby explained.
Jethro gripped my hand tighter, and we exchanged wary glances.
"Go home, get some sleep." Morrow said as he made a rare appearance in the lab.
"Yes sir." Everybody had chorused. We were all too tired to put up a fight.
"Kate...don't even think about it." Jethro whispered as we got into the elevator.
"Wasn't planning on it." I said with a smile as I reached for his hand and held it tightly. Usually after a long day I'd head back to my place and collapse in my own bed. Tonight I knew better. Ari Haswari was determined to end my life, but Jethro would keep me safe.
We showered and enjoyed a quiet dinner.
"Boat?" Jethro asked as we both gave up on fitful sleep.
I nodded.
We made our way down the basement steps, and I recoiled in horror when I realized that Ari was crouched next to the workbench holding Jethro's rifle.
"Bastard." I whispered curtly.
"Hello Kaitlin, hello Jethro. I hope you both enjoy the afterlife." Ari said with a snarled grin as he raised the rifle towards me.
I dug my nails into Jethro's arm, and braced for the inevitable. This was it. We were both going to die. In the basement there was nowhere to go, nothing that could save us.
I gasped when the rifle fell out of Ari's hands, and he slouched down, a pool of blood forming on the basement floor.
Jethro and I glanced at one another and then up towards the stairs.
A dark-haired woman was re-holstering her weapon, and chanting in Hebrew as she made her way down the stairs. She slipped right past Jethro and I and made her way over to Ari. She continued chanting and then stopped abruptly.
"I am Ziva David." She said extending her hand, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"I am Jethro Gibbs." Jethro replied, shaking Ziva's hand.
"I am Kate." I said in a soft voice, still shocked by the day's events.
"I know. I have known for a long time." Ziva explained as she hugged me quickly.
The sound of soft footsteps descending to the basement alarmed me, but I spun around to see Jenny standing there.
"I just called your father." Jenny said as she eyed Ziva.
"It is best we get you out of here." Ziva said as she looked at me.
"Why?" I asked.
"Too many questions, not enough answers." Jenny explained.
Whatever feelings I had harbored towards Jenny in the past several years vanished in an instant. I didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle, but I knew that she was responsible for saving our lives.
I obeyed as I was ushered out of the house, accompanied by Jethro, and driven back to NCIS headquarters. It was explained to me there that Ari had betrayed his country and Mossad. Ziva had been sent to America to kill him. That was the truth. The official story would be that Ari had died helping NCIS. It sickened me to think that some would laud him as a hero in death, but I realized that God knew the truth and that was all that mattered.
"Don't you agree Kate?" Sarah said joining the conversation.
"I'm sorry, I faded off for a second." I admitted with an embarrassing blush settling over my face.
"Ayala's shoes? Aren't they marvelous?" Sarah elaborated.
I nodded.
"Director Todd...I hate to interrupt, but there is a situation. Agent Kelly just called, we need to get you into MTAC." Jethro said as he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"Ladies if you'll excuse me, duty calls." I said politely as I followed Jethro out the door.
I smirked at him, he had used our old distress code. There was no Agent Kelly, and sadly enough there never would be an Agent Kelly.
"What was that all about? I could see you go pale from across the room." Jethro asked once we were in the silence of my car, Stan driving us back to NCIS.
"She was the Israeli Ambassador." I said quickly as I gripped Jethro's hand firmly and kissed him on the cheek.
It was all I needed to say. He understood completely without explanation. The conversation had focused on Ari, and it had turned my stomach.
"We owe Ziva big time." I reminded Jethro.
"And one day she will collect." Jethro said as he kissed my forehead lightly.