Chapter 14

Gibbs POV

He had just came back from talking with Abby and noticed Natalie was on the phone upstairs. He couldn't help checking her out again as he had never seen her in a dress before. She looked beautiful. He was admiring her when he noticed her body went stiff and she turned white. He made his way to the rear elevator and went upstairs to investigate. He didn't want to intrude but couldn't help being worried. He heard her asking for a number to be blocked. He felt a surge of protectiveness.

"Everything okay?" he asked her. It apparently startled her as she had jumped.

"Gibbs, you scared me!" she said. "Yes, everything is fine. Or will be." She gave him a sweet smile, yet he could tell she was still bothered by the call. She walked back downstairs answering her phone again. When she smiled and seemed to relax Gibbs let himself refocus on Pachi's murder investigation.

They had a lead they were following and it was time everyone went home to get some sleep. They couldn't do anymore tonight.

"Go home guys." He explained, "Get some rest. We'll pick this up again in the morning."

"-Well if you need anything or just wanna talk you let me know. And again I am very sorry for your loss" said Natalie as Gibbs walked over.

"Need a ride?" he asked her. She nodded and gathered her things.

She smirked, "On one condition, you have to open up a bit more about yourself. I know you are private Gibbs but your lack of opening up is starting to effect my ability to complete my paper. If you don't open up I may have to drop you."

Gibbs nodded. He hated talking about himself. He hated bringing up the past. It was too painful and really what was the point. It happened and nothing anyone said or did would change that. He led her out of the building to his car and they got in.

"I'm not sure what to say…" he said as he started the car.

"Lets start simply, I know you said you like carpentry and are working on a boat. You live alone then?" she asked him.

"Yep" he answered.

She chuckled and Gibbs loved the sound. "I heard from around the office you've been married before. I'm going to take a wild guess that you're more married to the job than you ever were to them?"

He chuckled, "I'm sure my ex-wives would say that."

"Why marry then?" she asked earnestly.

"I don't know anymore." He was honest with her. He usually made a back handed comment about marriage or that he thought he was in love, they were pressuring for more etc.

"That's okay. Lots of people don't know why they do what they do." They sat in silence for a bit before she asked, "You said you were a marine. Any good stories?"

He shook his head and smiled, "Maybe, but the best stuff from that time of my life was because of the people I was with or knew, not necessarily story worthy."

She nodded her head, "Have you stayed in touch with many of your company?"

"Some."

"What were you like back then? Monosyllabic like today?" she teased.

"No, I worked hard, had morals." He sighed before mumbling out the one thing he could never really mention to anyone, "married."

Natalie got very quiet. "The first I'd say by your demeanor." Gibbs could only nod in response. His chest hurt thinking of Kelly and Shannon. Natalie laid a hand on his right arm, "You don't have to say anything else and I won't ask. Gibbs you obviously have a troubled background and I would never push someone to talk about their struggles. I won't bring it up again." She turned then with her hands back in her lap and stared out into the night.

Gibbs reached over and held her hand, "Thanks" he said. Soon enough they were at her building and with the lateness of the hour Gibbs parked and walked her in. "I know it's a secure building, but I'd feel better knowing you were safe."

Natalie smiled at him and lead him upstairs to her place. "Did you wanna come in? I know its late, but I'm not going to be able to sleep and some company would not be turned away."

"It was that call." Gibbs said as she unlocked her door, "You've been anxious and rubbernecking since we left the car."

Natalie bit her lip and nodded. "Please come in, I don't know who I can turn to. I mean Tom knows a bit but I just can't-" She stopped with her door open standing in the opening. She took a deep breath, "You make me feel safe" she rushed out.

Gibbs nodded his head and said, "Got any coffee?" before gently guiding her into her place.

While Natalie went to make coffee Gibbs sat on the couch. He took in the surroundings. It was a small apartment but it suited her. Parts of it were modernly furnished and others had a homey hippy vibe. He surveyed the sheer amount of books displayed and was impressed.

"Have you read all of these?" he asked gesturing to the wall.

She nodded, "Pretty much. A lot of them are textbooks or academic journals." Gesturing to the mug in her hand she asked, "Black right?"

He murmured his ascent and took the cup. He noted hers had some kind of tea in it. After taking a tentative sip, not sure what kind of coffee she kept he was surprised at how good it was. "I know you like tea more than coffee, surprised… this is good."

"It's a dark Italian roast. It's for the rare occasions I want a real jolt of coffee." She sat beside him on the couch.

Gibbs sat his coffee on the table and asked, "So, the call?"

Nat nodded and looked so scared that Gibbs put an arm around her to make her feel safer. She snuggled in to him, "Promise you won't judge me?" she asked with tears in her eyes. She looked back down so Gibbs tilted her chin up with his other hand.

"Never. Nothing you could ever say would ever make me think less of you" he told her looking into her eyes.

"I mentioned my mom died in a car accident right?" she asked and he nodded. "Well I was in the car as well, but someone else was driving. He…" She choked back some tears and cleared her throat, "He became possessive. He was just a friend but he thought he was in love with me. That we were meant to be and got aggressive. He took us hostage. The police never found his body but assumed he was in the Hudson River somewhere and would wash up at some point. They even had me come in to identify him once but it wasn't him."

Gibbs was angry, he wanted to keep this woman safe at all costs. It made no sense to him. She was too young. She was younger than Abby. He never saw Abby as anything other than a daughter but something about Natalie drew him in.

"He's alive. He found my number, he called. I'm scared, if he knows my number, what else does he know?" She looked to him, "I have to contact NYPD and DC Metro."

"What's his name?" Gibbs asked going into investigative mode, "Does the director know who he is?"

Natalie shook her head no, "I never said names. He assumes like I assumed that he was gone…dead."

"Who Natalie?" Gibbs asked, "We can keep you safe."

"Paul Brown. He's 26…no 27 now."

"Don't worry about contacting NYPD or Metro, with your working with NCIS we can take jurisdiction and do a protective detail." He took a moment to try and think of how they were going to manage this with their current investigation. "Can you take time off work?" he asked.

She nodded, "I'm already taking tomorrow off to be available for NCIS personnel as per Grandpa's request. I think I can get someone to cover classes for a week. My boss and academic supervisor are pretty understanding people."

"Good, I'd say tomorrow make that call. I'll stay tonight and take you in with me tomorrow and talk with the director. You'll have to stay with an agent when off NCIS property and when we get Pachi's case solved I'll have my team work on keeping you safe and get this guy off the streets."

"Right." Natalie looked stunned and said, "Sorry, it's just, this is a lot. I'm usually good at managing strong emotions and stress but this… I don't know. Something about Paul has me completely useless."

Gibbs hugged her, "You're not useless, it's personal. Everything personal makes it harder for people to do their jobs. There's a reason cops can't investigate family and what not." She snuggled into him.

"Thanks Jethro" she whispered and sniffled.

"Why don't you have a shower and get ready for bed." He helped her stand and watched her wipe away a few tears.

"I'm not sure if I could sleep."

"Got any movies? DiNozzo is always saying I should get out more" he chuckled.

She nodded and pointed to a small book shelf around the corner in her living room. "Help yourself."

While Gibbs perused her selection Natalie grabbed her things and slid the door shut to her bedroom before going into the bathroom. Gibbs saw an older movie he remembered seeing once. Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It was a comedy if he remembered and figured that would be best. He heard the shower kick on and had a brief flash of what Natalie must look like naked. He shook his head and focused on what all he was going to need to do tomorrow.

He walked over to her door and locked it, but also checked out the windows to ensure there was no one lingering in the converted mall. He set the movie on the coffee table and finished his coffee. The shower shut off when he was rinsing his mug in her sink and he could hear Nat moving in her bedroom. She appeared a few minutes later in boxer shorts and a big t-shirt. It had the I HEART NYC on the front.

"My mom bought this when we first moved to NYC. It's comforting," she said with a shrug. "What movie?" she asked while they walked into the living room.

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" he asked sitting down.

She nodded her head and started shutting off some of the brighter lights leaving a small light from the bedroom and a floor lamp in the living room on before setting up the movie. She came back and settled beside Gibbs for the movie.

Sure enough half way through Gibbs felt her slump into him, asleep. He adjusted slightly and let her sleep. She needed it. After the movie was over he used the remotes to shut everything off and was afraid if he woke her she might not get back to sleep so he got comfy and slept with her on the couch in her arms. If he was honest with himself, it was the most restful sleep he had in ages.