Title: When I'm Gone
AN: Thank you guys yet again for all the reviews…I cant believe how many I have with only 5 chapters posted! YAY! Keep it up. Pretty please?
AN1: Last chapters song was "I Don't Want To Be" by Gavin DeGraw.
Chapter 6: Think Twice
6 AM
Right on time, Gibbs woke up and stood, stretching to get the crick out of his neck. That accomplished, he went to the restroom and headed downstairs to start coffee. The sun had started to rise so he didn't need to use lights that might wake up the others.
Entering the kitchen he quickly put a pot of coffee on, sure that Kate would drink some also. Going back through the cabinets, he looked for something edible; the marshals had stocked the pantry pretty well by his taste. Finding nothing there for breakfast, he moved on to the fridge and promptly pulled out bagels, tossing one in the toaster. He was putting the bag back in the fridge when he heard Kate enter the room, her bare feet making slapping noises on the tile.
"Morning," she muttered and started the same search as he had.
"Want a bagel?" he asked.
She seemed to contemplate that a moment. "Sure, thanks."
He repeated the motion, putting hers in the toaster as well. When he turned back around, she was pouring two cups of coffee, and handed Gibbs his black. Even at 6 am, she was stunning, her hair flung in every direction, though it looked almost a deeper red than yesterday. Gibbs would admit that Kate was an attractive woman -- how could he not -- but there was something about her standing in front of him in her PJs, messy hair, and no makeup that drew him in. Maybe it was the level of comfort she was showing with him .
Moving around him, she added milk and sugar to her mug and look a long drink.
They stood a moment, leaning against the counter, waiting for the bagels, just staring at each other. It was weird and yet comfortable to have each other around in the morning. It wasn't like they had never done it before while out investigating. But this was different.
"Gibbs, I think in the interest of peace, we need a few house rules," she said and watched him slather his bagel with butter.
He arched an eyebrow at her. "What kind of house rules?" And took a bite.
"Well for one, the toilet seat." She gave him a pointed look.
He flinched slightly. "Sorry."
"I realize it's been a while since you've lived with a female, Gibbs, but it's been a while since I've had to remember to check."
"Point taken. What else?"
Kate was surprised her boss was taking this so well. "Second. Laundry….don't think cause I'm here all day that I'm doing yours. I'll take care of Jake's, but you are on your own."
He nodded. "Agreed."
"Here is the one point I'll concede for Jake. Contrary to Tony's thoughts on the matter, I actually can cook. If you want anything, just tell me. I'd rather do that than have to clean up after two dinners. Which brings up point four, cleaning. I'll do it to an extent, but you have to help."
He rocked his head back and forth a second before nodding. "Fine by me, Kate."
"Good…" she said and took a bite of her plain bagel.
He watched her with an odd expression. "Don't you want something on that?"
She arched an eyebrow at him. "What? Like a gallon of butter? No thanks."
He laughed slightly at that, remembering that Kate was always careful with what she ate. Turning to the door, he was stopped by her voice.
"One more thing."
He turned back and looked at her. "What?"
"Sleeping arrangements." She came around the counter. "You are not sleeping on that couch forever; you'll end up miserable, and with a screwed up back. We rotate: one week on, one week off."
"Kate…" he started, but was swiftly cut off.
"Non-negotiable, Gibbs."
"Fine," he agreed, but internally Gibbs knew in a week's time he would refuse to give up the couch. No reason for them both to be miserable. "Are we done now?"
She nodded and he disappeared out the door. Kate watched him go and turned back, intending to finish her bagel and found Gibbs coffee mug sitting abandoned on the counter.
By the time Gibbs got out of the shower, Kate had gotten Jake up and fed him cereal she'd found in the cabinets. The little boy was sitting in the living room watching a cartoon when Gibbs came down the stairs, freshly dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt.
He gave Jake a quick greeting and looked around the lower level for Kate.
"Jake, where's Kate?"
"Upstairs," he said and just then Gibbs heard the water in the shower turn on. They must have just missed each other.
Gibbs looked around a moment, a little confused what to do with himself while he waited. Jake solved the problem for him, however.
"Wanna watch Bugs Bunny?"
"Um, sure." He sat on the couch next to Jake, noting the cartoon that was on. "Kids still watch Bugs Bunny?"
"Sure, he's the best."
That was the last word on the matter, for the next 30 minutes they sat in silence, watching Bugs avoid Elmer Fudd and Wylie Coyote attempt to catch the Road Runner. Gibbs found it a little disconcerting that Jake didn't laugh once, not even when the coyote blew himself up for the third time.
Kate came down the stairs another ten minutes later in a pair of low riding jeans and a long sleeved shirt that clung in all the right places. The top of her new shorter hairstyle was pulled back at the crown of her head.
Stopping at the bottom of the stairs she gave Gibbs a smile, then turned to Jake, who was now concentrating on Marvin the Martian and his plans to destroy earth because it blocked his view of Venus.
"Jake, your turn. Your stuff's in the bathroom, clothing choices are on the bed."
He looked at her and slowly got up, walking past her and up the stairs without a word. Kate watched him go before turning back and heading the rest of the way down. Without even looking at Gibbs, she went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge -- startled when she turned and he was standing at the island watching her.
"I think it's finally hit him," she said and unscrewed the top, taking a long swig.
"Yeah, he was pretty quiet while watching Bugs this morning."
"I want to find a bookstore today. Since we can't exactly take him to a counselor I want to do some reading."
He nodded. "I think I saw a kid's bike in the garage when we got in last night."
"Any idea where exactly we are in the city?" she asked.
"Not really. Upper West Side, that's about it."
"Hang on," she said and went upstairs into the office, with Gibbs on her heels. The good people at the government were kind enough to provide a laptop for them. In short order she had pulled up a map of the city and Gibbs pointed to their current location. Close to Central Park. He leaned in closer to the monitor, one hand on the back of her chair, putting himself in very close proximity to her, so she could smell his aftershave.
"Ok, it looks like most of the commercial stuff is south of us, so let's head that way. Make sure you have on your comfy shoes," he said and pointed to a spot on the map.
"Kate," a small voice called from the hallway and they both turned to find Jake standing there watching them.
Kate gave him a large smile. "Good, we are going to check everything out. You ready?"
He nodded enthusiastically, the first time he had shown interest in anything that morning.
She got up and crouched in front of him. "Remember the rules, buddy. I know it's hard, but you have to remember to call me…Mom, or whatever you want as long as it's not Kate. Even in the house, ok?"
He nodded somewhat solemnly, as if remembering why he was even there. Kate hated to do this to him, forcing him to call her Mom when his real one had died only days before; it didn't seem fair. But it was necessary to keep them all alive. She leaned into him a little closer, giving him a conspiratorial smile.
"I think there might be a bike in the garage you can use."
"Really?" he asked, perking up some.
"Go check it out." In an instant he was running down the hall. "Go through the kitchen!" she called out to his retreating back.
She stood slowly and didn't even have to look at Gibbs to know he was staring at her; she could feel his eyes on her back.
"It's just not fair, Gibbs." She spoke into the hallway.
"I know." She felt him take a step toward her. "Same rules apply to us -- you have to call me John."
"We're adults, Gibbs. We can remember."
"Yeah, but the one time you don't could be the end of us."
Now she turned to him. "Damn you."
He just shrugged, stepping past her into the hall and heading downstairs.
The rest of the day passed quickly and with little fanfare. They easily found the local branch of their bank, grocery store, dry cleaners and other assorted places. Most were within walking distance, which meant they could make do with one car; if Kate needed it, she could drive Gibbs into work and pick him up.
They even found the local park, which was where they were now -- the adults seated on a bench with other parents, watching. But they watched Jake a little closer than the other parents did their children and Kate was willing to bet that none of the other parents had a sig sauer at their back.
She squinted in the sunny fall day and watched, as Jake played alone. He didn't seem to want to interact with the other kids at all – even when they showed interest. He was simply using the playground equipment by himself.
Kate was at a loss for the solution to this particular problem: would it be wise to force the issue or let him be until the trauma of the last few days passed?
"He'll be fine eventually, Katie," Gibbs said in a low tone. Not that it was really necessary, since all the noise from the children drowned out the conversations of the people around them.
She looked at Gibbs, who was seated closer to her than was probably really necessary -- a little confused by his use of Katie. "I know that, I just….I still feel at a loss G-John."
He gave her a look of praise that she caught herself. "You are doing all you can, you can't expect more than that from yourself."
"I don't think I'm doing right by him though." She stole a glance at Jake who was hanging upside down on the monkey bars.
Gibbs leaned into her ear. "Trust me, you are doing better than anyone else could."
She gave him a faint smile and went back to watching Jake, still feeling the lingering effects of his hot breath on her neck. It wasn't unpleasant.
It wasn't too much longer afterwards that Jake returned to them, an exhausted expression on his face.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Yeah…"
She gave him a smile and she and Gibbs stood, Kate instantly pulling down her light sweatshirt, making sure her weapon was covered.
Ten minutes later they were back home and Kate had managed to wrangle out that neither of them cared what they ate. She wasn't much in the mood for cooking after spending an entire day walking, so, making an executive decision, she ordered pizza from the place up the block.
Coming out of the kitchen into the living room, Kate stopped in her tracks at the sight in front of her. Slouched into the couch was a now very asleep Gibbs, and an equally out Jake curled next to him, his feet touching Gibbs' thighs.
She stifled a laugh and headed upstairs to take a quick shower and change into something that wasn't slightly sweaty from walking all over the city. She went into her room and grabbed a pair of comfy track pants and a USC t-shirt before heading back down the hall to the bathroom across from the office.
"A practically brand new townhouse and we only get one and a half bath," she muttered and shut the door behind her.
Gibbs woke with a start, surprised he had actually fallen asleep so easily; it wasn't like him. The sun had started to set, the room was washed in yellows and oranges and with no lights on -- it was quite the sight. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Gibbs finally noticed Jake had curled up next to him, his legs splayed across the older man's thighs.
Moving slowly not to wake him, Gibbs lifted Jake's legs and got off the couch, placing the legs back on the couch. Jake didn't even make a sound.
Gibbs started up the stairs, planning on heading to his room to grab a change of clothes when the call of nature pressed upon him at the top of the stairs….loudly. Without even acknowledging that the bathroom door was now closed, Gibbs turned the handle, opened the door wide and stopped in his tracks.
In front of him was Kate. Standing in her underwear. Wet.
For a moment he was frozen, by surprise or admiration he wasn't sure.
It was a sight that he never expected, and she was so much more than he expected. Her skin looked smoother and tanner unobstructed by clothes; her abdomen was flat but had a little bit of definition at the sides; she had the perfect indent at her waist causing a true hourglass figure when added to the swell of her breasts. He could feel his body starting to react to the sight of hers.
Oh…her breasts. They were the perfect size and round and covered in black satin, the tops just pressing against the fabric-
"GIBBS!"
It had seemed like an eternity since he opened that door, but in reality, it was just seconds, and his name being shouted broke the spell.
Instantly he looked at the tile floor, inspecting the grout work, and for once in his life, Gibbs was at a loss for words. "I-I'm sorry Kate. I didn't…I'll go."
Quickly he retreated from the room and shut the door, a flush running through his body as he got a last quick glance at her pulling a t-shirt on as the door snicked shut.
Kate saw him get that last look in, but said nothing. In the two seconds he had been openly checking out her body, Gibbs' face had held an expression of awe and something she had seen plenty of times from plenty of men. Want.
He had wanted her. Jethro Gibbs. Her. She wanted to say it seemed impossible, that she had misread his look, but she knew better. There had been nearly two years now of shared looks, light touches and seemingly innocent comments, each moment building onto the last until it was unavoidable.
She pulled her pants on and readjusted her underwear, which had just barely covered her pubic hair (Gibbs had gotten quite the show), so that it was at its proper level on her hips.
One more moment.
Kate had a feeling that they would come face to face with this sooner than later. She brushed her damp hair back and pulled it into a loose ponytail. She was afraid of the sooner.
Because she wanted him also.
Walking downstairs, she found the boys in the kitchen at the island, already eating the pizza she ordered.
"You leave any for me?"
Jake looked up at her and smiled. "Of course, momma."
It sounded strange coming from him without prompting and Kate stopped in her tracks for a second. "Thanks."
She glanced at Gibbs with a small smile on her face. Kate actually found their little incident humorous at this point; it wasn't like she was completely naked. He was giving her a tight smile, as if he was waiting for her to just explode.
Instead she sat next to him quietly and grabbed a piece of the pizza, chewing it slowly. They ate in silence and before long the entire large was history.
"Can I go watch TV?" Jake asked quietly.
Kate ventured a glance at the clock. "Yeah, for about an hour then it's off to bed with you."
He jumped down off the stool and disappeared out of the room, and Kate picked up the empty box, disposing of it. She was turning back to clean off the counter when Gibbs' voice stopped her.
"Kate….about earlier."
She wiped one section. "Don't worry about it, really. But now I think we need an opening the bathroom door rule."
"I just….I wasn't thinking."
"Its ok." She shrugged. "Not like you saw me completely naked, right?"
He took a long pause and she stopped her movements to glance at him. There was that expression on his face, like he was contemplating something.
"Right," he finally parroted. "You need help?"
"Nope." She finished her sweep of the counter and threw the rag in the sink. "Tomorrow is Sunday, and on Monday you start work. You have clothes?"
"Yeah, some."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "By clothes I mean suits, Gibbs, not polos and suit jackets. You are a consultant, and you need to dress the part if we are going to fool anyone."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I have some."
"OK, put that on the list for tomorrow, and a haircut." She smiled at the last part of that sentence.
"You've been wanting to do something about my hair since I met you, haven't you?"
Her expression changed to one of well-meaning mischief. "Well…yeah."
"Fine…fine."
She smiled and leaned into him slightly. "I'm going to find someplace that will hopefully be open tomorrow."
He just sighed and watched her walk out of the kitchen, a little bit of saunter in her step.
tbc……………………………..
