Disclaimer: 'Fraid I still don't own it.
A/N: As I said... Kibbs!

Golden Moments.

-

Coffee and Sandpaper.

Kate knew the rules. She knew every single rule he ever told them, from Rule One to Rule Twelve and all the repeats in between. She held onto every word he spoke, every breath he took near her; she noticed every move he made, every slight shake or twitch, every rise and fall of his chest. She tensed up every time he touched her, whether their fingers brushed when handing something over or if he was trying to protect her from something or he was trying to get by her. She tensed up because if she didn't, she was pretty sure she would melt in front of him.

There were times her breath hitched in her throat when he said her name. There were times her heart skipped a beat when he chose her to help him over Tony or McGee. There were times her hands started to shake when they were alone together. There were times she thought that she had died and gone to heaven when they were anywhere within three feet of each other.

It was against his rules - the infamous Rule Twelve he had given them over and over again. It was probably the one rule he truly remembered, given how many times he drilled it into their minds. But Kate would tell herself it wasn't breaking the rules if nothing happened - and nothing would happen, because he was the one who came up with the rules. It was like she was thinking about stealing something from a store, but the camera's right behind her and the store manager's right beside her so she can't. But people can't read minds, so any thoughts were safe. At least for as long as she managed to keep them purely thoughts.

Every once in a while, she would wonder what pushed him to create Rule Twelve in the first place. There had to be some underlying reason, some motivation, some past experience that sparked the necessity -

Then he would walk by, and Kate would smell that mixture of stale coffee and sandpaper that was so him and she would forget anything and everything she was thinking about. Her mind would be filled with only thoughts of him, her head battling itself to get a grip.

And even after she gained control she would be craving coffee. Black.