Kate POV
I sat back down at my desk and felt two pairs of eyes on me and sighed, "You know, it would be less obvious if you just stood in front of me and glared," I told them, my tone light.
You're hurting, that sick little voice in the back of my head whispered in my ear, and I felt myself stiffen at the logic and the gross understatement; I wasn't hurting, the pain had already gone past the hurt, it was now throbbing and pumping, making me cringe whenever I saw him.
"Kate, you're alright, right?" McGee asked cautiously, as if afraid that I would go off on him like his boss.
I nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine, McGee."
I turned back to the computer screen, my eyes drooping slightly as I looked at the little clock on my dashboard; 23:36. I shook off the wave of exhaustion and began to search through the picture that I had painstakingly took.
I still felt Tony's eyes boring into mine and looked up to see the young Italian with his clenched fist in his left hand.
"Did he hurt you?" He asked quietly, unsure, and yet furious.
I shook my head, "Nothing I didn't deserve, Tony."
I deserved the harsh slap or reality Gibbs had given me; I deserved to know that the past few months spent with him were truly all a dream, a dream that I never wanted to wake up from.
It was ironic, I thought, tapping quickly on my keyboard, how the man that I had trusted so completely and loved so irrevocably would be the one to hurt me and push me away so roughly.
As if on cue, said man walked into the bullpen and I felt an involuntary shiver creep up my spine. I continued typing, not daring to look at anything but the monitor, watching as photo after photo flirted across the small screen.
I pushed away the thoughts of our previous argument, I pushed away the pain and began, slowly, building up my walls, closing my heart in ice once again.
It truly was dangerous to let someone in, I thought, as I took the key and locked my heart away, throwing the key mentally at the one man that could possibly open it again; the self arrogant, annoying bastard that I had fallen so deeply in love with.
Gibbs POV
I walked back into the bullpen in a daze, trying to look calm, but failing quite miserably. At least the pain hadn't hit me full on yet, as of now, it just felt like a small pin prick, but I knew that as soon as I got home and saw that she really was gone, it was start pounding through me like a never ending sword, digging at my heart until it was just gone leaving me hollow.
I passed her desk and had half a mind to come up to her and tell her that I was sorry, but I brushed away the thought.
I have to find him first, I thought, and felt the anger that I had felt this morning rise up suddenly, as if it had only been hiding, waiting to be noticed. I felt the familiar stony cold grip on my heart tighten, and push all thoughts of her away.
I sat down at my desk, my jaw set and my mouth pressed into a hard line of pure hatred and anger.
Suddenly, the phone at my desk rang, making my eyes turn sharply towards the shrill sound.
I looked up at McGee and gave him a nod; immediately he started typing away, trying to find the signal.
I picked up the phone and put it on speaker, waiting for a voice, someone's voice, to come through.
"Hello Special Agent Gibbs," the voice crowed, clearly distorted.
I looked towards McGee who gave a quick shake of his head, still typing, his fingers moving like lightning over the keys.
"Hey," I began, sounding casual, "It seems that we are at a disadvantage."
There was a short pause, then the voice sounded again, sounding neither male nor female, young, or old, "And what is that?"
"You know my name, I don't know yours," I told him, giving a low chuckle.
He laughed, again sounding like neither gender, and impossible to guess his age or where he was from, "You can call me Alex. Don't bother tracing this call, it's from a secure line."
"Alright, Alex, what do you want?" I asked, leaning back in my chair, closing my eyes momentarily.
"It's more of the kind of situation where I have what you want , and I want something in return, you know, like a some sort of deal."
I looked towards McGee to see that he still didn't have anything and was looking more and more frustrated.
I looked towards Tony, who was listening intently, his arms folded across his chest.
"What do you have that I want?"
There was no hesitation in the mystery person's voice now.
"You're son."
I nodded, I knew he had him, it was pretty obvious, "Alright, and what do you want?"
He laughed again, that cruel, mysterious laugh that made any sane man's skin crawl.
"I am proposing a trade; you're son, for a lovely, female Agent of yours that you, may I add, haven't been the . . . kindest to."
I was floored; he wanted Kate? There was no way in hell he would be getting Kate! He could give me a million - But he's got your son, Kate is an agent, she can take care of herself.
I quickly thought of an argument; she was pregnant, for God's sake! She can't just go in there without back up. But it seemed to be the only choice I had.
"What do you say, Agent Gibbs? We both know who I am talking about, might as well tell me your answer."
I didn't need to look up to know that McGee had stopped tapping on his keyboard and his mouth was now hung open, his jaw slack, and Tony's face was turning a deep red, and his knuckled strained white as his fists clutched tighter and tighter against his sides.
"You have a deal, just tell me when and where."
There was a longer, more drawn out pause this time, as if he or she were surprised at my answer.
"Tomorrow, midnight, at the Bordeaux hotel in the underground parking lot," there was another slight pause, "If you try anything, Special Agent Gibbs, your son will be dead sooner than you can say 'Semper Fi."
With that, the line clicked shut and I was met with a suffocating silence, anger and shock hanging over my head like a thick cloud, heavy with rain.
How could you just offer her up as bait? She could be killed, right in front of you! My mind screamed out inside of me. I quickly shook it off.
I had to get Hutcherson back, I had to make sure that he was safe, Kate would last longer than him; she was fully trained.
"What the mother fuckin' hell!" Tony cried, leaping to his feet, he stormed up to my desk, slamming his palms down on the smooth surface, his grey green eyes stormy with rage and furry.
"How the hell could you just offer her up as . . . as bait, Gibbs? Just because you guys had a little argument doesn't mean that you could just put her life in danger like that! You can't just jeopardize the life of my partner, what were you thinking, agreeing to something as-
I roughly cut him off, springing to my feet, and shoving the chair aside and glared down at the Italian; to his credit, his eyes didn't falter in their furry and he continued to drill me with those eyes as I spoke.
"You better watch your tone, DiNozzo, I could get your ass out of this building in less than two seconds flat."
I continued, in a slightly softer tone, "I know what I'm doing, Tony, I don't want her to get hurt, and I'm not going to just hand her over, we'll have agents, I'll keep her safe-
"That's what you said when you brought her with you to Arizona! You promised the Director that you would keep her safe and what the hell happens? Both of you get stranded in the damn desert! You can't guarantee that she won't get hurt! But then again, why the hell would you care, you've been pissed off at all of us when it wasn't our damn fault that you son got kidnapped!"
I felt my furry rising up and boiling over. I clenched my fist at my side and was about to strike out at him against my better judgment when I felt a soft hand catch my fist and forcefully bring it to my side.
"Don't," she whispered in my ear.
She turned towards Tony and looked at him, her hand wiping away the tears that I had never seen before in all the years that I've worked with him.
"I'll be fine, Tony, alright? Everything will be fine," she whispered and walked away from us both.
I felt a surge of jealousy as she reached up to touch his face but I restrained myself; she isn't yours, I reminded myself.
Kate POV
He just put you up as bait, I felt my breath catch in my throat, he agreed to send you away in exchange for his son. I felt numb, the pain finally dimming into the background as I sat there, my body slack against my chair, the only thing keeping me from crying was the shock of it all.
How could he just . . . hand you over without even asking for a different option? How could he just agree in a few seconds and look so indifferent? Didn't he know that she could die? Didn't he care?
But the answer was plain and simple, which was why it probably hurt even worse; he didn't care, not anymore.
I saw the anger rise in Tony's face, his brows furrowed together, shock, anger, and genuine hatred seemed to over whelm him. I watched as he leaped from his chair and stormed up to his desk.
I couldn't seem to hear them talking, just their lips moving, each man getting more and more angrier as the conversation drew on.
I recognized the signs of fear on Tony's face and felt my heart, or what was left of it, constrict. He was genuinely afraid for my life. I saw the betraying tears in his eyes that screamed out that he didn't agree with what Gibbs wanted, that he wanted me not to be involved with any of this.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gibbs's fist clench tighter and tighter as Tony went on. But before he could raise it higher than a few centimeters, I quickly got up from my chair, shaking away the numbness, I caught his fist in my hand and uncurled his calloused fingers, making them lie flat on the desk.
"Don't," I whispered warningly in his ear, and he turned his glare on me. I shook it off and turned towards Tony to see that a single tear had escaped from the corner of his eye.
I wiped it away gently and whispered softly, "I'll be fine, Tony, alright? Everything will be fine.
I turned away from them both after giving Tony one more last reassuring nod and walked back towards my desk, feeling the numbness take over my body again.
