"You're late."

"I know. I'm sorry," Kate apologized, setting her things down quickly.

Gibbs waited a moment before pressing. "Care to explain?"

Not really, Kate thought. She couldn't say that, though. Instead, she sighed slightly before coming out with, "We were out of cereal."

Again, Gibbs paused as if waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, he pressed again. "And?"

"I had to go get some from the store." Kate saw the look of disbelief creeping over her boss' face and launched into a nervous explanation. "We didn't have anything else to eat except oatmeal and some leftover pizza. Grace is allergic to oatmeal, I had to go out and buy some more cereal."

"What's wrong with cold pizza?" Gibbs asked, the smallest of twinkles in his eye suggesting that he was done grilling her and was now just kidding around. As much as Gibbs ever kidded, that is.

Kate either missed the twinkle or chose to ignore it. "Gibbs, she's a growing girl. She needs a bit more nutrition in the morning than cold pizza."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at this maternal vehemence from his subordinate. She sounded like a mother. Shaking his head slightly in wonderment, he moved on.

"Tony's talking to Abby about the semen. McGee's working on the computer. You're with me; we're going to talk to the victim." Gibbs watched Kate carefully, scrutinizing her every move.

Kate could feel his eyes on her and determined not to react. She knew, objectively, that he wasn't going to fire her for being late, but it still always felt like he was judging her, constantly weighing whether or not she was fit to continue working with him.

The victim lived in a modest brownstone just outside the base. The drive there was silent, though Kate could swear she saw Gibbs watching her out of the corner of his eye. She just focused on the road. When they arrived at the house, Gibbs did his usual visual sweep of the area before turning to Kate.

"Let me do the talking, okay?"

Kate was surprised but wasn't about to argue with Gibbs. "Yeah, sure. You're the boss."

Gibbs squinted at her as if to make sure she really agreed, then knocked briskly. After a couple of moments, they heard hurried footsteps and an exasperated, "Just a minute!"

"Mrs. Schroeder," Gibbs greeted when the door finally opened. "We just have a few more questions for you."

The harried woman looked from Kate to Gibbs in confusion. Reddened eyes suggested she'd been crying recently. "Agent Gibbs? What more could you ask?"

"Just a few more questions, Mrs. Schroeder," Gibbs repeated. "It won't take long."

"Okay," Mrs. Schroeder replied, still looking unsure of the situation. "Come in, I guess."

As they settled on the couch, Kate found herself instinctively observing the area. The walls were covered in photos of Lieutenant and Mrs. Schroeder, the living room comfortably disheveled, the kitchen invitingly bright. Mrs. Schroeder herself looked less than her best; she had obviously been crying and appeared not to have slept for several days. The woman reminded Kate disconcertingly of herself in appearance and attitude.

"Mrs. Schroeder, do you know Kevin Underhill?" Gibbs began, his tone gentle but unyielding.

"No," she shook her head, frowning, "why?"

Gibbs ignored her question. "Could you tell us again what happened that night?"

A fleeting, pained look crossed her face and she took a deep, shuddering breath before nodding. "I went to a bar. I was lonely; I wanted to be around people. A man approached me and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He seemed harmless, though, so I let him dance with me. Then he started toward the door, dragging me along. I was starting to get a little worried, but his grip was so tight…"

"Why didn't you leave as soon as you realized he was drunk?" Kate burst out vehemently, surprising herself as much as Mrs. Schroeder and Gibbs.

"I…I thought he was harmless, like I said. He seemed like a friendly drunk." Mrs. Schroeder looked frightened, Kate's outburst having shocked her into uncertainty.

"It's all right, Mrs. Schroeder," Gibbs assured her. "Please continue."

"He had me by the wrist and he pulled me out the door and started into a back alley. I tried to twist away but his grip was like iron. He got me into the alley and I begged him not to hurt me but he was getting angry. He slapped me and –"

"Why didn't you scream for help?" Kate blurted angrily. "Why didn't you fight harder? Why did you let him take you out of the bar?"

"Kate!" Gibbs barked, eyes blazing. Kate slowly realized that she was standing over Mrs. Schroeder, yelling at the woman, tears streaming from her eyes. Gibbs, too, was standing, apparently ready to restrain her. Poor Mrs. Schroeder looked more frightened than ever, eyes wide and mouth quivering.

"Go wait in the truck, Agent Todd," Gibbs ordered quietly, watching her carefully. Kate silently obeyed, unable to apologize to Mrs. Schroeder or acknowledge her unprofessional behavior.

She hoisted herself into the passenger side of the truck and shut the door numbly, still not quite understanding what had happened. Suddenly, the emotions caught up to her and she started crying. Unable to stop the great heaving sobs, she buried her head in her hands and let the tears come. She hadn't cried like this since she was little.

Before long she had exhausted both her lungs and her tear ducts and leaned against the window, squeezing her eyes shut and breathing deeply. She tried to contain the emotions that had broken out after their fourteen-year captivity, unsuccessfully. She hadn't allowed herself to feel this deeply for a long time.

By the time Gibbs came out to the car Kate was dozing fitfully in her seat, completely worn out by her emotional outburst. She woke up when he slammed his door but kept her eyes closed and her breathing deep; she didn't want to talk to Gibbs right now. She was a terrible actress and she knew it, but if Gibbs noticed anything amiss he didn't mention it. Maybe he didn't want to talk, either. More likely he was too angry at her unprofessional behavior to speak.

The drive back was almost unbelievably quiet. Even when Kate dared to sit up, Gibbs maintained the stony silence and refused to look at her. Kate certainly wasn't about to start the conversation, so they both continued to pretend the other wasn't in the car. The three-hour trip seemed like an eternity.

When they finally arrived back at headquarters, there were only three cars in the parking lot. Kate recognized hers, Gibbs', and (she was fairly certain) Director Morrow's.

"I didn't realize it was so late," Kate commented. She hadn't really meant to say anything but the stillness begged to be filled.

Gibbs still wouldn't look at her and acknowledged her comment only with a small grunt. Kate tried to discern his expression – futilely, as always. She really didn't want to ask, but she had to know…

"Should I come in tomorrow?" she whispered, staring at the ground.

Gibbs glared at her; there was no other word for it. She could feel his penetrating gaze burning through the top of her head. Finally, after what felt like hours, he responded.

"Yeah," he nodded, squinting unhappily. "And bring Grace."

Kate knew the surprise was apparent on her face but Gibbs apparently didn't feel she needed to know more. She wasn't about to argue.

Gibbs walked briskly to his car and squealed out of the parking lot, leaving Kate alone by her vehicle. She cursed her inability to control herself and wondered, seriously, if she would have a job by this time tomorrow.