Chapter 20?
Forgive my earlier mistaked, I realized it was Paul not Patrick (that's my brother-in-law, he's not a creepy bad guy). I couldn't go back and make the changes yet so I'm starting it back at Paul again. I feel horrible, I'm so sorry folks. Things are heating up in this chapter. Between our hero and heroine and in a totally different sense. Enjoy!
GIBBS POV
He circled around the outside of his house checking everything before getting ready to have a little nap again. He had been having 20 minute catnaps all night. When he wasn't napping he was checking the house for security, checking on Natalie who was sleeping on the couch in the living room (despite him urging her to sleep upstairs in the bed), and carving some small toys for the kids this winter.
He walked back inside and grabbed the toy train he had been working on. He sat on a chair across from the sleeping beauty. She was curled into herself on the couch and looked so small. It took a few sips of whiskey to get her to calm down enough to sleep. It was also after midnight when they got to his place. He had 2 NCIS agents staking out the hotel on the look out for Paul. Tony let them know that it was confirmed the man in the baseball hat tampered with the car, but they couldn't get a clear shot of his face to confirm it was Paul. Abby was diligently working on enhancing reflective surfaces trying to confirm for them. Gibbs made sure to call her an hour ago to tell her to get some sleep too.
Natalie shifted in her sleep and let out a slight whimper. Her breathing started to change, getting faster and shorter. Gibbs figured she was having a nightmare and went to wake her. She startled awake and pushed him away, quickly blinking her eyes. It took her a second to realize it was him and not the thing in her dreams. "Jethro," she breathed before pulling him to her and crawling into his lap. "He had me…" she started to cry, "he was going to hurt me. But you were there, he killed you. It was horrible."
"Shhhh" he told her, "It's okay, just a dream. And I'm too stubborn to be killed." He held her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head again. Only this time she looked up into his eyes and he felt himself drawn into her. He slowly brought his face closer to hers watching her lips. He looked into her eyes and found her watching him back. He gave her a chance to turn away. When she didn't he closed the distance and kissed her lightly at first.
NAT POV
His lips were soft but firm. He tasted like coffee. He gently held her head in his hands and started to deepen the kiss. Natalie accepted this kiss and even opened her mouth further taste him. She pulled back realizing she wasn't as close as she wanted to be.
"Sorry," he said to her but she shook her head.
"Don't be," she crawled to straddle his lap and initiated the next kiss, taking his head in her hands. She had never been so bold before but her body was on fire. She craved him unlike anyone she's ever felt attracted to before.
His hands stroked down her back and held her hips close to him. She felt him harden beneath her. She felt her body respond in kind. She rocked her hips forward without even realizing and Gibbs grabbed her hard and pulled back from the kiss.
"We need to slow this down," he told her, "You're vulnerable."
She tried to catch her breath and nodded knowing he was right. But part of her didn't care. Part of her knew this was right. She rationalized that if it was right, and would happen, that it didn't matter when. And wouldn't it be better when they could take their time anyway?
Gibbs helped her off of him and adjusted himself, "I don't want you to think I don't want you, I do." He sighed, "Very much." He turned to face her, and she couldn't help feeling self-concious. "I'm not sure if I'm the right fit for you. You'd be better off with someone your own age."
She snorted, "Hardly, I've never fit in. Never been the one to do things normally." She took his hand in hers, "Can I be honest with you Jethro?"
He nodded, "Always."
She gulped and braced herself, "I've never felt like this about anyone. I've been attracted to guys before but never like this. I admire you, respect you and…" she paused. He squeezed her hand in reassurance and she took a deep breath, "I like you Jethro, more than I should. I know this makes no sense, my brain tells me you are old enough to be my father, but I don't see you that way."
"Me too," he said kissing her lightly, "You're young enough to be my daughter but all I see is a beautiful, intelligent, brave young woman."
"Geez Gibbs, I think you've just shared more personal information there than ever," she joked. She knew it wasn't true but she couldn't help teasing him. She didn't take compliments well and struggled to tell him he was wrong. She wasn't brave, she wasn't beautiful. She was arguably intelligent, book smart at least.
He gave her a look for the teasing and she smiled. "Why don't we try and get a little more sleep before heading into the office?" he said. This time he pulled her into him and she settled the blanket around them both. It wasn't long before they were both drifting off to sleep.
It was a couple hours later when Gibbs phone went off. He answered it as Natalie sat up. She could only hear his side of the conversation and heard him say Abby and McGee in the same sentence. She figured Tim stayed the night at the office to help Abby. She got up and went to the kitchen to make coffee. It was a little after 5 am. They were only asleep for about an hour but she felt more rested sleeping in Gibbs' arms than she did alone. She started humming a song to herself as she made the coffee. She grabbed Gibbs' Jamaican blend and made it extra strong. She pulled down two mugs. In hers she added two spoons of sugar but kept his empty.
He lightly touched her hips and kissed the top of her head. "They got confirmation it was Paul." She froze, "The agents last night confirmed a man in a black ball cap had loitered for about 20 minutes but left when he realized the hotel had security."
"Okay, so whats the next step?" she asked while she poured the coffee. She handed Gibbs his mug and took a tentative sip of her own.
He sipped approvingly, "I think we set him up, if you're ready to play bait?"
"I think so," she took a deep breath, "Are you sure, you look worried about that?"
He shook his head, "No just thinking. I don't want you put in any more danger than is necessary."
She nodded in return. They sipped coffee in quiet. It was something Natalie loved about Gibbs, he didn't feel the need to fill the silences at all times. "Do we have time for me to shower before we head in?" she asked, patting the unruly hairs on her head. When he nodded she took her coffee upstairs to the bathroom. She was so excited for a hot shower she forgot to grab her change of clothes.
GIBBS POV
He heard the water stop and looked over to the couch and saw Nat's bag. She forgot her clothes. He grabbed it and was heading upstairs when he ran into something wet. He must have startled her and she startled him on the stairs. Her towel had dropped as her hands came up defensively. He dropped her bag upon hitting her and went to grab her so she wouldn't fall. Gibbs had a very naked, very wet, very enticing Natalie in his arms. He pulled her to him and was kissing her before he even knew what his body was doing.
Her arms curled around his neck. Her face as almost at the same height as his, meaning she was on the step above him. His hands traced the water dripping down her back and couldn't help himself grabbing her ass. It was firm, but juicy. She let out a little moan and that was like a shock of ice to his system. What was he doing molesting her in his stairwell!
"I'm sorry," he said pulling her back from him and closing his eyes in modesty. "I don't know what came over me." He blindly reached down for the towel at his feet and handed it to her. "I was bringing your bag."
She was breathing heavily and lightly touched his arm so he opened his eyes looking down. He saw that she had the towel back on. "Yeah, I forgot it," was all she could say. She was flushed, one hand over her heart and trying to get her breathing back in order. He handed her the bag and she turned around going back upstairs. Gibbs followed shortly after the bathroom door shut. He was wet and needed to change. And maybe needed to do something about the raging hard on he kept getting around her. He didn't have time to do anything this morning but he was sure he would be remembering the feel of her under his hands and the feel of her breasts pressed to his chest all day.
NAT POV
They were just heading out when Gibb's phone rang again, "Gibbs", he answered. "Okay meet you there." He did a quick u-turn and headed towards to hotel. "An explosion happened at the hotel this morning. No one was hurt but a couple of rooms are demolished on the ground floor."
Natalie gasped, "Oh my God."
"We're going to make sure everyone has their duties and then head into the office. DiNozzo and Kate are on scene." He was driving well over the speed limit and Natalie could see the stress he was feeling in how hard he was gripping the steering wheel.
Natalie walked with Gibbs towards his team. It looked like Tony was taking pictured and Kate was bagging evidence. Gibbs had her wait near them and went to talk to the manager. Natalie was just standing around watching everyone when she was grabbed from behind.
Instinct took over at first and she tried to pull away before remembering her training. A hand covered her mouth before she could scream so she stepped back into the person knocking them both off balance and falling to the ground. She placed a few good hits before rolling off the individual and standing up ready to fight. She was breathing heavy and was very confused when she saw a groaning McGee holding his private area. Clapping ensued.
"Good, you can handle the unexpected outside of the classroom," Gibbs said walking over, "Good job McGee."
Natalie helped McGee up, "I'm sorry, what just happened?"
"Gibbs told McGee to try to take you down, he wanted to make sure you could handle yourself," Kate explained. "He's got various agents prepared to try to take you to keep you on your toes and prepared to fight Paul if needed." Kate patted her on the back, "We needed to make sure your abilities could extend beyond prepared fighting."
"Right." Nat was still shook but also grateful to know that her body knew what to do even if she was scared. It took her a moment to override the fear response but when she did she had to admit it went well. "Sorry Tim, are you okay?" she asked as he was still holding his groin.
"I'm fine, you hit hard," he said before walking back over to his kit to keep working.
Gibbs nodded at everyone and closed his notebook. He steared her out of the hotel back to the car. "I'm not exactly happy you didn't tell me about this but I understand why. Part of me appreciates that I get to practice in a safe environment"
They drove to HQ in mostly silence until he said, "I know you will be on alert with Paul loose, and the best practice is not knowing who might attack so you won't know which agents I've asked to simulate if Paul grabs you. They've been told to do everything in their power to take you, and warned that you know how to fight." They pulled up to the front gate and were quickly admitted. Soon enough they were walking into the elevator when Gibbs was called back by security. "Head on up, I'll be right there."
Natalie got in and pressed the number for their floor. It stopped at the next floor to let someone on. They were unassuming and texting. Next she knew the elevator had stopped and she was fighting the male in the elevator. They were trying to subdue her and were preparing the elevator to go to the basement at the same time. Natalie was grabbed and slammed into the elevator hard enough to see stars. They got her to the ground before she could react. She rolled as they tried to hit her and struck out at them in response. The hit was rushed and barely hit. She wrapped her legs around the assailant as they went to stand and started hitting their temple with a fist and jabbed her fingers in their throat choking them. They dropped her and she just barely got her feet under her. The elevator dinged and she immediately ran out seeing the evidence garage. She stood to the side waiting for her attacker to exit and struck a kick at their knee knocking them off balance. She then grabbed an arm twisting to hold them in a position Eph had shown her. By then the attacker went limp and let her take him to the floor. They knew she had them.
"Damn, Gibbs wasn't lying when he said it would be hard" the agent said. By now Nat figured out they were NCIS and let them go. Behind her the elevator opened showing Gibbs and her grandfather as they exited.
"I watched on security, I'm impressed," said Director Morrow. "When Gibbs presented his idea to me I was worried but you're even better than when I saw you at your class."
Natalie was grinning. She was also a little out of breath. Whoever this agent was had her working harder than McGee. She also enjoyed trying closed quarter combat. "That was actually kinda fun. Once the immediate fear went away," she told them. She shook the hand of the agent who was now sporting a couple spots that would bruise later, "Thanks for making me really work for it. You were great" she told him.
"Agent David Reynolds, Gibbs asked for me because he knew I wasn't in your study so you wouldn't immediately recognize me." He shook her hand in return. Gibbs clapped her on the back in recognition of her good job. "I'm sorry if I hurt you but I was told to make it real. I thought close combat would be good. Had security hold Gibbs up for me and let me know when you got here to make sure I was in position."
"Nah, I'll be fine. Little headache maybe, but it was good practice, thanks again Agent Reynolds."
Reynolds went back to work and Natalie went back upstairs with Gibbs and the Director. If today kept up like this she was going to be in for a long ass day. "So do I have more of this to look forward to," she jokingly asked.
"Yep." Ever monosylablic our Gibbs, she thought. "I'm putting a plan in place for tomorrow, we want to end this before he escalates and hurts someone, especially you."
"I trust Gibbs, and I trust that you can keep yourself safe, I wouldn't have authorized this if I didn't believe it," her grandfather said.