The next day, after they were done with boat cleaning, Gibbs took Erin to his house. Erin was

confused. Didn't he live on the 'Morning Glory'?"

Gibbs asked her to sit in the living room and when each of them had a fresh brewed cup of

coffee he told her why he stayed on the boat momentarily, about his work, that he'd have to

move back to the house once he went to the office again and that she of course could move

with him and stay in the spare bedroom.

Erin listened without any visible reaction. And yet Gibbs knew that she was not sure what to

think about it.

"Let me show you something."

He got up and Erin followed him to the basement.

Erin saw the unfinished boat and looked at Gibbs who ran his hand almost tenderly over the

soft wooden surface.

For a moment she could feel his hands on her own back, those strong, gentle hands.

Gibbs looked at her.

"What do you think?"

Erin stepped closer, viewing the hull from all angles.

"She'll be beautiful", she said, "strong and fast."

"How about helping me?"

Erin knew this would imply the answer to whether she would stay with him. And she was

surprised that he wanted her to help. This had to be pretty special to him.

She dared a look at him.

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't."

After a few more moments of inner fight, she gave in to her longing for a safe place to stay, to

leaving her self ordered reclusion.

"I'd love to help you."

Gibbs was relieved. He had sensed her inner struggle. He gave her his brightest smile.

"Great!"

He patted the boat.

"So, you got the chance to get finished before I'm too old to sail you."

On their way back to the marina Gibbs turned to Erin when they had to wait at a red light.

"Time for your check-up at Susan's tomorrow. That ok for you?"

Erin nodded her head.

"Yes, no problem."

And it really wasn't. Susan had already seen everything and she was female and friendly.

The next morning, after they were done with their chores on boat maintaining, Gibbs went for

his work-out again. On his way back, he stopped at the police station, to see if there was any

news about Erin's identity. There wasn't, and although the officer wanted to send out the

picture to every police station to see if someone would recognize her, Gibbs made a few calls

to find out what was needed to get an ID for her.

Gibbs suddenly felt the urge to talk to someone. "Strange things happen with me these days",

he thought. He didn't exactly have a reputation for being talkative. The first person that came

to his mind was Ducky. He called him and they met at Starbuck's not too far away from the

office.

"Jethro good to see you. And you look like the time off really did you well. I was a little

worried about whether you would be able to keep your mind off business and relax. But

obviously you did."

"Ducky, it's so good to see you again. Feels like it's been a year. How is everything going at

the office?"

"Fine. Nothing dramatic happened since you left. The bad guys seem to wait for you to come

back. This gave us the chance to catch up with paperwork at least. And you should see the

new pieces of art Abby created…"

"What is it? Crushed sculls, intestines, deadly viruses…?"

"A little of all of those, I suppose. So, Jethro, why exactly did you call? You didn't just want

to chat, did you?"

"No, although it's a pleasure."

Ducky started to look concerned now. This wasn't the grumpy old Gibbs he'd expected to

meet.

"I need your advice on something – or better said: someone."

"You got my full attention."

Gibbs told him everything that happened since he met Erin at the scene of the accident. Well,

not everything – he didn't mention his feelings for her. When he described the scars on Erin's

back, Ducky interrupted him.

"Describe the burn again, please."

Gibbs did, wondering, what Duck had stumbled over. He gave him a questioning look.

Ducky took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Putting them back on again, he said:

"I'm not sure. This rings a bell in me. Just don't know where to put it right now. But I'm sure

I heard something like that before."

Ducky still seemed to be thinking about it, so Gibbs stayed silent.

"Well, I can't remember now. If it comes back, I'll tell you. You weren't finished yet."

Gibbs went on with his report. When he was finished, they sat without talking for a moment.

"Duck, I just don't know how to approach her. She has to talk about it. Somebody has to be

made responsible for all that. I mean, I know I could easily make her talk, but she would take

the first chance to leave if I did."

"And you don't want her to leave?"

"She has to stay until she got proper ID."

"You didn't answer my question, my friend. Which as far as I am concerned is enough of an

answer already."

Gibbs chose to leave that uncommented.

"Well, from what you told me, you're doing fine. She didn't run. And she agreed to move to

your house with you. I guess it just needs time. She might have a lifelong record of violence

and pain. I don't think there's anything you can do to make her trust you. And that's what it

comes down to. She needs to trust you. I'm afraid you might need a vast amount of patience

here, my friend. But then – maybe talking to a counsellor about it could be helpful."

"I'll think about that. Thanks for reassuring me, Ducky. I have to do this right, you know?"

"I guess I do. And I whish you and the lady luck. Am I going to meet her?"

"Yeah. If this works out the way I want it to, you will."

They talked about this and that for a while and then Gibbs said good bye. He went to pick up

Erin for her check-up at Susan's.

Susan confirmed that her arm was healing well. She was glad to see that Erin seemed to be in

a much more stable mental condition.

"You're doing fine, Jethro," she told him in a low voice when they were ready to leave.

Gibbs gave her a short hug.

"Tanks, Susan."

Over the next days, they settled into a routine of cleaning and maintaining the boat in the

mornings. Then Gibbs would go for his work-out and Erin took a nap or simply relaxed. She

frequently caught herself daydreaming about Gibbs. In these dreams, she was able to live out

all she didn't in reality. She could tell Gibbs everything that Ben did to her; she could trust

him to help her and she could find comfort in his arms. And of course in her dreams Gibbs

reacted just the way, she wanted him to. He believed her; he didn't condemn her, and he

offered and gave shelter and comfort.

"The good thing about day-dreams is, they always end the way you want them to," she

thought.

But even in real life, she felt better in his presence than she'd ever thought she would. He was

easy to be around. Of course she was careful not to let him catch her off guard. It was one

thing to dream about trusting him; doing so in real life was something completely different.

She knew this was kind of a time-out. And it would end. As soon as she'd got her new ID, or

Ben would demand to see her, it would be her on her own again anyway.

One day when Gibbs came back in the afternoon, he saw her standing at the end of the pier.

He walked up to her and stood beside her at the rail. She didn't look at him, nor did she talk.

After a while he gently asked her what she was thinking about.

Her eyes still on the scenery of the bay she started to answer.

"I…, I thought….."

She couldn't. He could sense she was troubled and gave her time to sort it out.

Erin knew he was waiting for an answer. He deserved an answer.

Barely above a whisper, she tried again.

"I just thought about how things would be…" her voice died off again.

He slowly put his hand on her shoulder and deliberately turned her around to face him.

"Erin…, Erin, look at me please."

She did, and the next thing she noticed were his arms wrapped around her, holding her.

"This can't be real," she thought. But leaning against his chest she could feel him breathing,

she could hear his heart beat.

Gibbs gently held her, all his senses tuned in to her, ready to release her the second she would

want to pull away.

"I can't change your past, Erin," he whispered close to her ear. "But I'm here for you now."

He raised one hand and caressed her hair.

"You don't have to go alone any more, if you don't want to."

Erin had barely heard him and it took a while for his words to sink in.

She felt like she'd lost control over her thoughts. Because otherwise she'd never be here in his

arms.

This had to be a day-dream. And if it was, then why not enjoy it as long as it lasted?

Gibbs wondered about her not reacting at all. He was glad she didn't pull back but he had no

clue to how she felt about this new situation. He had to look in her eyes. He took a step back

and held her at arms length. She looked confused; he could tell she didn't know what to think

at all.

"Erin, relax. You don't have to make decisions for life right now. I just want you to know,

that there'll always be a place in my arms for you," he said. "And in my heart," he thought.

Erin was in shock. This…was…no…dream! She had really been in Gibbs' arms and it had

felt so good, so safe. Not being able to look away she noticed the expression in Gibbs' eyes

change.

"Erin, are you ok?"

"Yeah…I guess…"

"Give her time to adjust," he reminded himself. He took his hands off her shoulders and

motioned to the marina.

"Let's walk a few steps," he suggested.

Turning around he reached out a hand for her and she took it without thinking.

Next day, when he was running, his cell phone rang. He hurried to answer, because he

thought it might be Erin needing him back on the boat. The display told him it was Abby

calling.