Katya Chapter 5: Facing reality

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

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The smell of fresh coffee woke Gibbs the following morning. At first, he wasn´t sure where he was and jumped up. He looked around and his eyes found Kate, who sat in the armchair with a cup in her hands. She smiled and handed him another cup that had been sitting on the table. "Morning, boss." She said and he noticed that she sounded a lot better now.

"Morning. Feeling better?" He asked and took a sip of coffee. She just nodded, then looked at him.

"Gibbs...what you told me yesterday...is it true? I mean, you said they adopted me and... and that someone found me as a young child or something." Kate felt a cold chill running down her spine as she remembered bits of their talk the day before.

Jethro put the cup down and tried to sort his thoughts before he told her again what was in this letter. He decided to leave out his name though, as he felt it might be too much at once. When he finished, she just looked at him. "So that´s why I have those scars on my legs...it wasn´t from falling down some stairs. But... I mean, this marine who found me...do you know who he was?" Kate asked and kept watching his eyes. She could tell that he was hiding something from her. For a second, she remembered that it had been him to had taught her to read in other people´s eyes. Now she was using it against him. "Who was he, Gibbs? I just want to know who saved my life. Even if he´s dead or something..."

He took her hands and sighed. "The name of the marine was Gibbs." He said and saw a puzzled look on her face. "I was in Croatia with my group to secure the area when they attacked the village. We tried to help, but almost everyone was dead. That´s when I found you beneath the debris of a house."

She closed her eyes for a moment and her hands started to tremble. "You found me?" She asked and he nodded. "Why didn´t you tell me?"

"I didn´t know. I just knew that you were adopted by someone from the hospital. I moved on and ended up at NCIS, but I never found out anything. Not until yesterday." He hesitated for a moment and then got up. "I need to get back to work. I don´t want Fornell to get on my back for rooming in with you. Will you be okay or shall I send Tony over?" He said and started to put his shoes on, which stood beneath the couch..

Kate still sat on the couch and tried to make sense of what he had just told her. After a few seconds she made a decision. "I want to come along -just give me a minute, okay?" She hurried into her bedroom and grabbed some fresh clothes. Only a few minutes later she was ready and walked up to Gibbs. Kate knew he was her boss and a part of her told her that she was making a mistake, but she ignored this feeling and just hugged him. She felt safe for some reason and just stood there for a few seconds before she finally pulled back. She didn´t dare looking at him and walked to the door, but he caught her arm and forced her to turn around.

Jethro felt the blood rushing through his body and tried to make sense of what was happening. He looked at Kate, who tried to get away, but he didn´t let her. "Kate..." He said, but she looked to the ground.

"I´m sorry, Gibbs. I don´t know what made me do that..." Kate felt herself blush and opened the front door. "Uhm...we should get going, right?"

Gibbs just nodded and walked out to the car. When both sat inside, he looked at her again. "Well, you´re much faster getting ready than Dinozzo... Oh, speaking of him: Tony called last night when you were asleep. The hospital called on your cell phone. They got a donor for your dad. Forgot to tell you, sorry." He added and suddenly, there was a huge smile on her face. "If you need someone to talk, just let me know. I believe, you got my number." He told her as they were walking into NCIS headquarters half an hour later.

Kate walked into the bullpen where Tony was talking to McGee. Both men turned around. "Hey, Kate. Feeling better?" Dinozzo asked and cracked a smile. "Sleep depriviation and flu don´t mix, huh? Ducky told us after Gibbs took you home. Where´s our boss-man at anyway?"

"Uhm...don´t know. Did you check the coffee bar next door?" Kate replied and felt relieved that no one seemed to know the true reason for the events of the day before. "If he comes by, I´m at the lab for a second. Gotta check something with Ducky." She walked to the elevator and leaned against the cool wall when the doors closed. For some reason, she just wanted to roll up in a corner and cry, but she knew she couldn´t afford this right now. The doors opened again and she walked into the morgue.

Ducky was standing at the section table and looked up when he heard steps behind him. His face lightened up and he put his gloves away. "Good morning, Caitlin. I take it, you are feeling better today?" He said and led her into his office.

"Yes, I do. Thanks for keeping quiet about yesterday, Ducky. I really appreciate it." She told him and he smiled.

"I figured that you wouldn´t like Anthony bragging about this story." He took a good look at her and frowned a bit. "Still, I do think you are looking a bit under the weather. Are you really feeling all right?" Mallard took an educated guess and estimated that she was still suffering from shock, but knowing her quite well, he knew she wouldn´t admit it.

"I´m fine, Ducky, really. Just a bit tired. I´ve got to go, thanks again." Kate headed for the elevator and tried to keep her back straight. She had to deal with this herself, but she finally realized how hard it was to face reality. A part of herself knew that she would always belong to the family who raised her, but another part of herself was curious about her croatian heritage.