A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I know the last two weren´t to kibbsy, but I hope this one makes up for it. :)

Recover

(03x24 Hiatus Part II)

"I'm not Agent Gibbs! I don't know Agent Gibbs! I don't want to know Agent Gibbs! I want my family. I want Shannon. I want…Kelly. I miss them. I miss them so much. Oh, no… "

Shepard had told her the next day what had happened during the evening when Ducky could finally convince her to go home and get some rest. She was still glad her sister had immediately offered to look after Liam whenever it was needed, when Kate had called her to tell her everything, all in tears. Earlier she had been briefly at the NCIS headquarters, but the whole team was busy, though they had all spared a few moments to talk to her. The profiler had been downstairs in Abby´s lab, when Gelfand had called her and finally allowed her to visit her husband for the first time after the bombing. The past days, while the silver-haired man was unconscious, had of course been taking their toll on her as well as on the team. Ducky had tried his best to keep the worst things from her, but he could not withhold the part with the amnesia. Of course Kate had been really shocked, though the ME immediately told her that it was only temporary, nevertheless it made her nervous and anxious when she drove to the hospital. The brunette hesitantly entered the room and found her husband still sleeping, so she silently sat down on the chair next to his bed. Both Gelfand and Donald had assured her that the burns in his face would heal completely, but this was not what she was primarily worrying about. The older man told her that Jethro did not recognize him and she did not know how she would react, if Gibbs did not remember her.

She tensed when the silver-haired agent stirred, finally opening his blue eyes and looking at her drowsily. "Did Jenny send you?"

"No..." The brunette shook her head and looked down, trying to disguise how much it hurt her that he did not remember her, since it was not his fault but because of his injury. Jethro on the other hand experienced once again a flash of memories.

In the first scene everyone was cheering for them dressed in their best suits and beautiful dresses, while they were quickly exiting the small church. Her small hand resting on his lower arm and she was giving him a delighted smile. The next scene was a sharp contrast to the first and definitely not as happy, they were standing on a rooftop, in full gear, when a shoot rang out, barely missing the brunette´s head before the scene changed again. The investigator was startled by the memory and his breathing quickened. He found the brunette sleeping under the ribs of an unfinished boat, but when she woke up she smiled at him, though he could see that she was completely exhausted. After the next change he found himself in a hospital room holding a newborn baby with dark brown hair and striking blue eyes. The scene brought a warm and fuzzy feeling to his churning gut and something in the far back of his head came to life again, telling him that he was holding their baby. His dream-self turned his head and found the brunette sitting in a hospital bed, smiling happily back at him.

He finally came back into the harsh reality and found the same woman, but now their roles were reversed and she was sitting next to his bed The older man studied her for a moment and her whole posture was showing him that she was just as exhausted as when she had been under the boat. "Katie…"

The dark head snapped up and he could see that her eyes were shining with tears. Carefully he cupped her cheek with his hand and she smiled at him, but a few tears escaped her brown eyes nevertheless. "Are you alright?"

"I´m now. I was worried about you, we all were." Caitlin replied slowly and he closed his eyes for a moment, nodding slightly.

"When this is over I promise I´ll take some time off, to be with you and…" He trailed off, obviously searching for his son´s name.

"Liam." The brunette stated and the older man nodded.

"There´s still so much missing..." The former Marine said and took the brunette´s hand. He ran his other hand through his silver hair, carefully not to touch the still irritated and reddened skin of his forehead. Kate just nodded and smiled sympathetically, while she squeezed his hand.

"I´m sure it´ll come back. Don´t worry about that now, Jethro." She replied, gathering some of her strength and confidence again. By now she was quite sure that everything would be fine again at some point, after all the blast did not cause any more serious brain damage than the amnesia. Even if his memories were not coming back completely, they could always create new ones and he still had some things like photos and tapes left to remember Shannon and Kelly.