Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend.

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7 -So Simple, So Complicated

Kate simply stared at him for a moment, unaware that a third person entered the room. Only when another chair was pulled over and a pair of black pigtails bounced into view, she blinked and forced herself to focus her thoughts on the here and now. "Why should I do that, Gibbs?" She asked and tried to read his eyes.

He simply shrugged and continued to pick through his food. Abby grabbed herself a plate and started to join their breakfast. "Hey, that´s the best bacon I´ve ever had. Did you sleep at all, Kate? You look tired." She added and put the fork down again. Her gaze drifted over to Gibbs, who didn´t look much better. "Hangover or interesting night, uncle J?" She asked and ducked when he tried to slap the back of her head.

"Abby..." He growled, but didn´t say anything else as the pain in his head got worse from the sudden movement. "Why don´t you two make yourselves a nice day in the mall and let an old man sleep?" He said then and tossed his fork onto the plate.

Kate looked at Abby, who just nodded. "All right, if you insist. There is a pack of painkillers on your nightstand. See you on Monday." She told him and put her plate into the sink before heading towards the front door. She searched her coat for her cellphone and checked if there were any messages. Actually she wanted to give Abby a moment to talk to Gibbs -it seemed like they had something to talk about after all.

Abby picked her own plate up as well, but hesitated for a moment. "Did you tell her?" She asked, but he just shook his head. Obviously, Kate hadn´t talked to him about this specific topic yet. Maybe that was good, maybe not. Abby had seen him falling in love with different women over the years, but none of them had been quite like Kate. She was still hoping for a happy end -after all the changes in his behavior were obvious when Kate was around. "You should, you know? I know you love her, uncle J. It´s so simple to see, you know?"

Gibbs groaned and put his head into his hands. "Abbs, just go and have a nice day, okay? We can talk about it when my head doesn´t feel like Dinozzo hit me with the MCRT truck. And it´s not that simple -it´s more like so complicated because she´s working for me -no matter if I love her, which I do." He said and decided that he would never touch any scotch ever again. He looked up when he heard the front door closing and sighed. A part of him really wanted to talk to Kate about how he felt, another part warned him that he had tried this three times before and always had failed. He walked back upstairs and slumped onto his bed, welcoming the peaceful slumber that took him away from his headache for a while.

Kate and Abby made their way to a mall that lay just a few miles from the house. "Now, spill it. What did you talk about?" Kate asked and looked at her friend as they walked through the main entrance. She smelled fresh coffee as they passed a cafe and scolded herself for having breakfast that morning as she didn´t feel like having a second breakfast at all.

"Nothing really." The goth replied and stopped in front of a fashion store. She looked at a black skirt that had silver metal rings all over it. "Wow, that looks great." She said after a moment and literally stormed into the store even before Kate could ask her again. She grabbed a skirt and dove into a changing booth.

With a sigh, Kate followed and leaned against the wall. "Why are you trying to get around an answer? C´mon, tell. I told you how I feel about him already -can´t be much worse." She said and waited for an answer. For a moment, there was no sound from inside the booth, but then Abby´s head appeared above the wooden door. She looked a bit nervous somehow.

"Uhm, well...I asked him if he talked to you about...well, about how he feels -I guess he didn´t, so I didn´t want to bug him about it." She said, but something in her eyes gave away that she wasn´t telling everything. Kate didn´t need to say anything, but simply gave her a look that would have Dinozzo seeking cover. "Yeah, okay, all right. He´s in love with you but doesn´t know how to deal with it. You´re working for him -and he´s tried 3 times to find someone to share his life with -and failed each time." The goth reappeared from the booth, not even looking at the skirt again. "He´s afraid to lose you, Kate. He really is."

Both women walked out of the store and sat down in a small cafe. "I need some coffee." Kate muttered after listening to what her friend had just told her. It took a few minutes for all the information to sink in. "I´m screwed, Abby. I´m in love with my boss, who is an ex-marine, has been divorced three times and who has those stupid marine rules about carrying a knife and most of all dating someone you work with. It´s so complicated." She said after a moment and looked up to the ceiling.

"Just what is it with the two of you -it´s not complicated at all. You love him, he loves you -it´s so simple, Kate. And for the rules -he made those up when you joined the team. He wanted to protect himself -and maybe you too. It´s up to you, I know, but I really want him to be happy. He gave so much to raise me. He deserves someone who knows that he´s not just that bastard he always tries to portray at work." With that, Abby took a sip of her coffee and sent a silent prayer to heaven that those who were closest to her would finally manage to break down those walls they had built up to protect themselves from their true feelings. It was so simple, how could they say it was complicated at all? In the back of her mind, an idea slowly took shape and she had to hide the smile that was trying to creep over her face.