"Dammit."
Kate muttered to herself when she heard the beeping again. She is staring at her beeper that lay on the table in front of her. It is going off for the second time since she woke up, as she rolls her eyes she picks it up and reads the number that is flashing on the screen. Gibbs persistence is hard to handle and he is actually starting to get on her nerves, the beeping started when she was in the bathroom savoring the hot tub again. Kate has the urge to throw the thing against the wall, but she can't afford to have to buy a new one. She sets it down on the table again and smiles at the thought of Gibbs calling it again.
Kate had woken up in a cold sweat that morning, although the phone was ringing that wasn't what had woken her up. Her thoughts had started wandering again and as she fell asleep they started to take over. The nightmare she had woken up to was the reason she didn't fall back asleep. A quick glance at her watch tells her it is six thirty.
Now she walks out the hotel door heading for the great diner she had eaten at yesterday.
His first stop that morning was a donut shop. He was hungry and he didn't want a 'boring' bagel, plus Kate wasn't there to bug him about his eating habits. Tony had called Kate's house when he got up and got her answering machine, he figured she wouldn't be back but he wanted to make sure. As he walks into the bullpen with a donut stuffed in his mouth he sees Gibbs on the phone again.
"Want one?"
Tony asks as he holds out the bag to Gibbs, Gibbs answers with a shake of his head. When Tony sits down at his desk he is hidden behind a pile of folders. He picks up the top one and starts with his long day.
"Of course, I can. Have I ever let you down?"
Abby is on her phone. Gibbs walks in and starts to talk, he is silenced by Abby's stare.
"Yeah, call tomorrow." She pauses.
"I'm working... of course not."
Abby hangs up and folds her hands on her lap as though she's going to get a 'talk' from her parents. Gibbs stares for a second at her seemingly innocent face.
"Who was that?"
"A friend."
Abby knew she had a great poker face and Gibbs couldn't make out a lie from her if she told him in advance.
"Heard from Kate?"
Abby was worried by Kate's call, his obvious question took her longer to answer than it should have.
"No."
If he asked again, she might not be so hard to read, Gibbs looks at her for a second and then nods.
"Oh."
Gibbs turns around and walks back out of Abby's lab, dialing his cell phone as he does so.
"Close."
Abby looks down at the scrape of paper she had written the information Kate had given her on and a worried look sprouts on her face. Kate had called, about ten-thirty, and she seemed a little scared. Kate asked her to look up a couple people on the database; she seemed to want it as soon as possible but didn't say so. As she starts her search her lab doors once again open and she turns around to see who it is.
"Abby."
"Ducky."
He carried a 'big gulp' in his hands and a smile on his face. As he hands her the cup he looks over at her screen.
"Busy?"
Ducky only came in her lab when he was finished his work, ready for a breather, or it was lunchtime.
"Yeah, sort of a favor."
The knowing look on his face told her he wouldn't 'spill'.
"Anybody I know?"
Abby starts to tell him than stops, she stared at the computer screen and finally continues.
"Well... she didn't say not to tell you..."
She pauses.
"Kate."
Just then Tony walks in carrying a bag marked 'Dunkin Dounts' and his mouth is full.
"Whatcha doing?"
Ducky continues to look at Abby, she puts her finger to her mouth, and he nods in response.
"Nothing Tony."
Ducky seems a little tense but the look soon disappears.
"Oh."
Tony pauses and squints, like he is trying to see something that wasn't quite there.
"You seen Gibbs?"
Both of them shake their heads.
"Mmm... Donut?"
"Sure."
Tony walks over to the nearest table and sets the bag down, he looks back at the odd couple one more time than walks out the door.
"She better hurry."
Kate mumbles to herself as she walks down the beach. Kate had just finished her lunch; the taste of lobster still lingered on her tongue.
She jumps at the feeling, although she had felt it many times that day. Her hand automatically reaches over and she glances at the flashing screen, she didn't have to, she already knew who it was. Kate rolls her eyes and sits down on the warm sand. She closes her eyes and lets her memories take over.
"I didn't do it."
"Don't you dare lie to me young lady!"
Her parents stood over her as she sat on the couch.
"I'm not."
Her voice remained calm, seemingly unaffected by her parents screams.
"We know what you did. If you admit it your punishment may not be as great."
As she sat there, being punished by her parents, the guilty party was roaming around the house freely. She got off the couch, and started to walk towards her room, where she would end up anyway, her parents screaming behind her.
"Don't walk away!"
"You better stop!"
"Caitlin, get back here right now!"
She continued up the stairs, by the expression on her face it seemed as if she hadn't heard them.
"No TV! No Computer! No going out! You're grounded!"
The door slams shut, the music is blasted and the last cry from her father was smothered.
As she opens her eyes her beeper once again starts to shake, Kate ignores it and just closes her eyes again. She focuses on the present, the crashing of the waves as well as the sound of the seagulls and slowly lies down on the sand and falls asleep.
TBC
AN: Okay so it's a little short, but it's better than nothing, right?