The Morning After
By that belle

Ending up in Anthony DiNozzo's bed was not at the top of Caitlin Todd's 'to do' list… ..Tony & Kate..

A/N: Next chapter is here, and earlier than I anticipated. Please enjoy!

Kate was waiting outside the 24-hour Starbucks at 3am, just like Gibbs had asked her to. It was cold, and it looked like it might have started snowing then and there. Kate had her red coat on and a black scarf wrapped around her neck. It was nearing 3:05am before Gibbs' car pulled up in front of her. The window rolled down, and Gibbs looked at her.

"Morning, Kate."

She got into the car, and he drove off. Two coffees were sitting in the cup holders, Kate was surprised to see.

"Gibbs… I had that nightmare again. The one about Ari."

Gibbs gave Kate a small smile. "That explains the hysterical phone call."

"Gibbs," Kate said firmly. "I'm Catholic. I don't believe in abortion, and I don't believe in having a baby out of wedlock. I need to know that the baby isn't Ari's."

"I thought you said he didn't rape you." Gibbs turned to her, his eyebrow raised.

"I said I didn't know." Kate corrected him. She took one of the coffee cups from the cup holders and took a sip. "I told you everything that happened. You are the only other person in the world that knows." She looked down. "Gibbs, I need a paternity test. I'm not raising a terrorist's baby. I just won't do it."

Gibbs went around a corner, and Kate held a hand over her mouth. She had never been able to get used to Gibbs' driving.

"How about an amnio?" He suggested casually as he passed through a red light.

Kate gaped at him, mainly because of the fact that he had just run a red light. She hoped that the intersections weren't monitored by security cameras. "What's an amnio?"

"It's a test. It's called an amniocentesis." Gibbs explained, speeding up to make it through another set of lights. "It's actually a test that you take to determine whether the baby has any genetic or hereditary problems, but it can also determine paternity."

Kate took a deep breath. "How does it go?"

Gibbs shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know much about it. It involves a needle."

Kate shuddered, and took another sip of her coffee. "Great. I hate needles."

Gibbs grinned. "I heard it's a big one."

Gibbs was surprised when Kate came in to work the following morning, coming in slowly behind Tony and McGee. She looked tired. Gibbs had dropped her at her house at 4am, telling her that she didn't need to come in to work if she didn't feel like it.

Kate sat down at her desk, and McGee came over. "You don't look too well, Kate."

Kate smirked up at McGee. "Morning sickness."

His eyes widened considerably, and he walked away. Tony just laughed. He sat at the edge of Kate's desk, and stroked her hair. "How are you this morning, Katie?"

"Tired, and sick." She laughed. "I didn't think morning sickness lasted up to two months… but I'm going to go and see my doctor this afternoon. Did… you want to come with me?" She asked, looking up at him hopefully.

He took her hand, and nodded. "Of course I do."

She smiled, and returned to the file that was sitting on her desk. "What do you say to dinner tonight? I'd like to cook you something."

Tony grinned. "I'd like that. I'll bring over a bottle of… sparkling grape juice."

Kate giggled, and Tony went over to his desk. Less than an hour later, Director Morrow came down from his office and went straight to Gibbs' desk. Kate, McGee and Tony watched with interest, and tried to pick up pieces of their conversation, but they didn't hear anything. The Director went away again, and Gibbs called them over.

"What's going on boss?" Tony asked.

"Director Morrow has been offered a new position." Gibbs said. "He's actually resigning from NCIS today. We'll be meeting the new Director, he says, this afternoon. You three need to be here."

"No field work today, then?" Kate asked, returning to her desk. "At least I'll have someone to talk to."

As the afternoon went on, it became more obvious to Kate that she should have stayed home today. She was extremely tired, and was fighting to stay awake. She fell asleep on one occasion, and her timing couldn't have been worse. She was asleep at her desk when the new Director was brought in. Tony and McGee looked up as the woman came out of the elevator with Morrow. She had fiery red hair that was pulled into a bun, and she wore a light coloured suit. Director Morrow cleared his throat, and said to Gibbs, "Special Agents Gibbs, DiNozzo, McGee, meet Jenny Shepherd, the new Director of NCIS."

Gibbs, who had previously been looking at the screen by his desk, turned around. "Jen?"

Jenny smiled and held out her hand. "Hello again, Jethro."

McGee and Tony exchanged glances at the awkward exchange. Morrow looked around, and asked, "Where is Agent Todd?"

Tony cleared his throat nervously, and pointed to Kate's desk. Morrow and Jenny looked down at Kate, then at Gibbs.

"I can explain that." He said. "If you would follow me, Director."

Morrow took his leave, and Jenny followed Gibbs away from the team. They went to Jenny's new office, and Gibbs closed the door behind him. He sat down in the chair opposite the Director's chair, the one Jenny was currently sitting in.

"It's been a while." Jenny said, smiling. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you." Gibbs said. "I didn't think you'd be the one to take on an office role. You were always the… hands on type." He said, choosing his last words carefully.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Well…" She trailed off. "Anyway, you had something to say about Agent Todd?"

"She's two months pregnant." Gibbs said. Jenny's mouth fell open. "She's not working the field, before you say anything. It's… been quite a rough ride around here, to say the least."

"She needs to be replaced." Jenny said quietly. When she saw the look on Gibbs' face, she said, "I'm not going to fire her, Jethro. From what I understand, she is unable to work properly for the next seven months, and will require an extra six months maternity leave. So you will be one agent short on the field for 13 months."

Gibbs saw her point, but he didn't like the fact that Kate would not be around. Considering Kate's past with Ari, he wanted to make sure that she was always safe. He had a strong suspicion that Ari was the one behind the bugging of Kate's house last month, and he didn't know if Kate thought that too, but he wasn't about to worry her more than she needed to be.

"Will her job be returned to her after she returns from maternity leave?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, I can guarantee that Agent Todd will be able to have her job back as soon as she wants it back." Jenny replied. "Her leave will begin tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Gibbs exclaimed. "How can she live on no income for the next 13 months?"

"I'm sorry, Jethro, but I can't do anything about it. I'm sure her husband or boyfriend will be willing to help her."

Gibbs sighed. Jenny filled in Kate's leave form and gave it to Gibbs. He practically snatched it from her hands, and stalked out of her office.

Kate was awake by the time Gibbs returned from Jenny's office. She was actually getting a glass of water from the water cooler. She looked confused when he walked straight over to her desk and put a folder on it. She hurried over and grabbed it. She read over the piece of paper in it, and groaned rather loudly.

"Gibbs, what the hell is this?" Kate said, throwing the folder on his desk. "You can't legally do this!"

"I'm sorry, Kate." Gibbs said. "But Jen… Director Shepherd, has insisted that you take the next 13 months off."

"You can't legally do that!" She exclaimed. "It's just because I'm pregnant, isn't it?"

Gibbs nodded. He felt sorry for her; but Jenny's reason to ask Kate to stay home for a while was justified. While Director Shepherd couldn't legally prevent Kate from coming into work, Kate had already been doing paperwork and it was pretty much all done, so Kate would have had nothing to do.

"I'm sorry Kate," Gibbs repeated. "My hands are tied."

She sighed. "I'll pack up my desk, then."

Kate returned to her desk, not giving Gibbs a chance to say anything. She was in the middle of packing her things into a box when Tony and McGee returned from the lab. Tony's mouth fell open when he saw what she was doing.

"What's going on?" He asked immediately.

"The new Director has insisted that I remain at home for the remainder of my pregnancy." Kate said bitterly. "So, including the six months maternity leave I'll have after the baby is born, I won't be working for the next 13 months."

"That's illegal." Tony said, looking in the direction of the Director's office. "She could resign you to doing office work, but she can't stop you from coming into work. You're under Gibbs' employ, not hers."

"But Gibbs is under her employ." Kate retorted. "Don't worry about it, Tony. Just make sure you visit often."

She snapped the lid down on her box, and was about to leave, when she heard her name being called. Standing at the steps to MTAC and the Director's office was Gibbs and Director Shepherd.

"Agent Todd, I would like a word, please."

Kate walked away from Tony towards the Director, her expression unreadable. Gibbs returned to his desk, and Tony returned to his.

In the Director's office, Jenny turned to Kate. "Agent Gibbs and I have had a discussion, and he has mentioned certain events involving you and Ari Haswari."

"What did he say?" Kate asked. Originally, she had been irritated at the aspect of losing her job, and then Gibbs' betraying her trust and telling Director Shepherd about the situation with Ari, but now her hormones had swung in a completely different direction. She felt like she had no fight left in her, and would resign herself to whatever fate Director Shepherd was going to give her.

"He told me everything. And before you say anything, Kate, I am thankful that he told me. You need to be protected. I've reconsidered what I said before, and I think it would be better for you to be here."

"How kind of you." Kate said irritably.

"How would you like to act as a temporary assistant for me?" Director Shepherd asked, ignoring Kate's comment. "I need one, and I currently don't have one, so I was thinking that you could act as a temporary assistant instead of doing paperwork downstairs. How does that sound to you?"

Kate smiled. "It does sound better than paperwork."

Jenny smiled too. "Good. You can start tomorrow."