Disclaimer on first chapter.
A/N: Here is Chapter Nine y'all. Another quick chapter. Hope you enjoy. dark rolling sea. And thanks a bunch for the reviews!

Chapter Nine

In Flight

Kate didn't know where she was, just that she was thirty thousand feet above the ground. The flight seemed to take forever. She was distracted and couldn't get her attention on the on board movie. Her mind was wandering. She kept running the past year through her head trying to figure out why he would hide something like this from her. She didn't know what he was thinking.

It scared Kate that something like this could make him shut down. Something that could make him turn away from her. She didn't like the hurt she felt, she didn't like where this could lead. She struggled to suppress the urge to scream.

The flight attendant continued to ask her if there was something wrong. Kate smiled politely and told her everything was fine. Hmm, maybe it wasn't so hard to turn you back on people she thought. But there was a difference, Kate did it to a complete stranger, Gibbs did it to her.

She continually glanced at her watch. Couldn't this plane go any faster? It seemed like each minute was an hour as she crossed the country high in the air. She managed to eat a little trail mix that the flight attendant had brought her and she sipped slowly at the drink they had asked if she wanted. She had a window seat and there was someone in the aisle seat but the seat between them was vacant.

Kate was glad. She wasn't in the mood for someone who needed to fill the air with conversation. The young man sitting in the aisle seat had a Discman with headphones and appeared to be asleep. Kate stared absently out the window.

California

Gibbs stood on the balcony of his hotel again. He didn't know what else to do. He couldn't be around anyone right now he needed time to think, time to hide, time to smash and bury the emotions.

He spent the morning and part of the afternoon pulling each thought and emotion apart and hiding them deep inside of him where it could not hurt him. He would void his body of pain. He would feel nothing and he would survive.

Airport

When Kate's plane finally landed she let out a sigh. She was finally on the ground in California. She was almost to him. She was almost there. She thought about how his reaction would be.

She de-boarded as quickly as she could, luckily her seat was toward the front of the airplane and she didn't have to wait very long for people in the aisles. She checked the board for her luggage claim station and headed towards it following the overhead signs. She finally grabbed her bag off the carousel and then made her way out to he curb. She managed to flag down a cab rather easily and gave the driver the name of Gibbs' hotel.

The driver made his way though the mid afternoon traffic with little effort. Shortly she was out front. She paid the driver and smiled. Then she turned and went into the lobby. She didn't hesitate; she knew his room number. She found the signs marking which rooms were where and she followed them to his room: 205.

She hesitated at the door, her exhaustion from lack of sleep the night before and the long day of travel made her falter in her attempt to reach him. She pushed past the feeling and knocked quietly on his door. He didn't answer. Maybe she should have called first. She knocked again. Still no answer.

In the Hotel Room

Gibbs heard someone knocking on his door but he ignored it. Who would be coming to see him here? It didn't matter he decided he wasn't up to seeing anyone; even it was his family. He needed this time to pull the emotions out and tuck them away, to seal off the pain and the anguish.

The knocker didn't quit. Gibbs grew irritated and glared at the door. The persistent knocking was disturbing his effort to calm his inner being, to displace his feelings. But as he ignored them they didn't give in. Finally he gave in and nearly ripped the door from its hinges as he tore it from the jamb.

Shock engulfed his face for a split second as he saw Kate in the hallway staring back at him. She was a little taken aback by his manner in opening the door. She couldn't read his eyes like she normally could. They were cold, calculated, and empty. They were dull, emotionless pits. It made her afraid.

Gibbs quickly recovered from his initial shock and built stonewalls around his heart and his eyes. No one would see the emotions inside him, because he would not feel those emotions. They stood for a full minute staring at each other.

Kate was worried that he hadn't said anything at all to her showing up. He showed nothing, not happiness, not grief, not even anger. His eyes were blank slates that let nothing escape.

"Can I come in?" she asked slowly. Gibbs contemplated her request for a moment. He studied her face, her eyes, with his own cold blue ones. She felt an inner shudder as the stare penetrated her to the core. He didn't say anything he just stepped back from the opening and turned towards the doors to the balcony. He left her standing in the hallway to make her own decision.

Kate was deflated. He had never acted like this around her. He had never treated her like this. She felt the pain in her heart knowing that he was shutting her out in his time of great need. She felt the anger well inside her that he didn't trust her enough to let her see his pain.

He left the room taking up his spot on the balcony. She stood in his room holding back the tears threatening to fall. She would not lose this battle before she even began to fight it. She would be strong she told herself. She walked towards the open doorway and stood looking out at him. He had his back to her. He was stiff from head to toe. He stood unmoving staring off at the vastness of nothing. Lost in the memories of his life with his son.

Kate pushed herself onward. She came out onto the balcony and strode confidently up next to him. She stood silently waiting. She didn't have the right words. She didn't know what to say to him, she didn't know how to comfort him. She had never seen him this way before. Finally she broke the silence.

"Why didn't you tell me last night?" she asked softly trying desperately to keep the hurt from her voice. She was looking down at her feet. He glanced at her for a moment then returned his hardened gaze back to the sight in front of him.

"Not your business," Gibbs replied sternly. Kate was floored. She felt like he had pulled back and punched her in the stomach. Her chest tightened and her heart shattered. She didn't know how to react to that. They had been together for a year and now he says his life isn't her business. She wanted to beat him senseless, she wanted to make him feel pain, she wanted to run away.

She held fast to her spot and stared at the wooden floor beneath her, as she fought to clear her brain, and come up with coherent thought. She was failing, as her brain wanted to do nothing more than shut down and wail. He was not going to make this easy, but she should have expected that.

"I love Jeb too, Jethro," Kate whispered. She wasn't sure what else to say. "He's part of my family."

"This doesn't concern you, Kate. You should go back to DC," Gibbs said gruffly and then turned and walked back into the room. Kate held her spot on the balcony as the tears escaped. Gibbs slid the door shut behind him and pulled the blinds closed over the glass. He didn't have the energy to deal with a second issue.

Kate was devastated. She didn't know what to feel. She was crushed, this was the moment he had been afraid of that first night in her apartment after Jeb was shot. This was the moment he had spoken of that scared him would come. It was the moment that would drive her from his side.

She was determined; it wouldn't be that easy for him. She would not leave that easily; she would fight for him. She wiped the tears from her face then she spun around, and pulled the door open. The noise of the door in the slide shattered the quiet of the room. Gibbs turned slightly to watch her come in, his eyes still cold and emotionless.

"This may be how you deal with a situation, Jethro, but I will not run," she said sternly with fire in her voice. He just nodded but gave no other indication of emotion. He stood motionless staring at her. She didn't understand what had come over him. She nodded and then decided it was finally time to meet Ann.

She left Gibbs' hotel room. He was still there. She went down to the lobby again and out the front. She dialed Ann's number, explained what had happened and then got directions to her house. She flagged another taxi and told the driver where to go. It was a short ride and again Kate paid the driver and then slowly walked up to the front door of the house. Ann came onto the porch to great her.

She wasn't very tall, maybe five feet four inches and very slim. Kate saw where Jeb got his build from now. She walked up the front steps and smiled. Ann was leaning in the doorway now waiting.

"You must be Kate," Ann said with a smile.

"Yes, and you must be Ann," she replied. The other woman nodded and smiled.

"Come on in," Ann said stepping to the side to allow Kate to pass by her. Kate walked into the living room and dropped her bags on the floor in the corner of the room. She then made her way over to the couch where she saw the stacks of pictures and the photo album sitting on the coffee table. Ann smiled and walked around her and sat on the couch. Kate took a seat next to her.

TBC...

A/N: ok ok, so don't be mad at me (I did warn you in the summery!) but you can be mad at Gibbs! But this is just how I feel someone with his character would deal with such a stressful situation. All right there you have it :-) dark rolling sea.