She couldn't touch him, not like she wanted to; she couldn't wrap her arms around him and hold him as his eyes moistened, staring at Colonel Ryan staring out the barred window and at the same time staring at nothing. Still, she brushed her fingers down his arm, and he didn't look at her, and she stayed there, silent, until he finally turned away.
She followed him home, and he held the door open for her behind him, so she followed him down to the basement and stayed there, too.
"He was here." Gibbs' voice was quiet, and when he finally looked at her, she dared descend the steps to join him in the half-dark.
"Colonel Ryan?"
He nodded as he turned to sift through the array of tools on his workbench. "Found my gun, took the bullets out. Otherwise I would've brought him in at gunpoint last night. When I realized he was seeing Lieutenant Cameron."
"I'm so sorry."
"He wasn't wrong. He was still pretty sharp."
"At least they're optimistic about his recovery." She spoke softly, a little hesitantly.
He nodded, once, and silence fell once again. She tried not to hover, but she knew she was lingering, unsure whether to stay or to go, reaching out to rest a few fingers lightly on his upper arm. She didn't dare do more, didn't think he'd want more.
"You ever worked with wood before, Kate?"
"I had one shop class in high school." He removed his blazer, and she did the same, taking his to drape them both over the railing.
"Remember anything?"
"Not much, I'm afraid."
He handed her the plane, closed her fingers over it, and gently led her to the boat frame, his fingers splayed over the small of her back.
"We only ever used power tools, and that's been ages. I have no clue how to do this. I don't want to damage it." She was here for him. If this was what he wanted, she'd do it, be more than ecstatic to share this with him—but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid.
"Don't worry so much. Lean into it. Use your weight." He set the tool on one of the ribs, adjusted her posture. "Scrape up and forward."
Thin wood shavings slowly curled above the scraper and tumbled down to the floor, and he rested his hands lightly on her hips and watched.