Shattered
Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything
Summary: Twilight left them shattered. When Ari is killed 6 months later, the team learns surprising news, but will those news come soon enough to keep one of them from breaking?
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8- Disappointment
"Kate?" He asked, not quite sure what to make of this. This couldn´t be. It was impossible. For a brief moment he really questioned his sanity until he realized that she had entered the room and now stood in front of him. His heart fell immediately when he saw the small name tag on her shirt.
"Commander Witten would like to talk to you." The woman said and left again. Her black hair looked almost like Kate´s, but her face wasn´t even close to those soft features of his agent. All his hopes, all his relief were gone again and he put his head into his hands, not even trying to hold back his tears.
"Damn you." He muttered under his breath as he felt an icy knot in his stomach. Ducky´s words had given him so much hope and he had been so close to believe that Kate was still alive. Yet all those hopes were shattered again when he realized that it had indeed just been a nurse coming to take him to Witten again. He hated the man –he would always try to get him to talk, but Gibbs had refused to even look at him. They had dealt with Witten a while back when a young woman had been killed in 7 West. He had hated him back then already.
A few minutes later the door opened again and Mallard walked in, his face clearly puzzled. "I was told that you were supposed to see Commander Witten now, Jethro. Why don´t you come with me and we go see what he wants?" The older man offered and noted the pained look in Gibbs´ eyes. "What is wrong, Jethro? You didn´t seem so troubled when I left you." He put two cups of coffee onto the table and looked at his friend.
Gibbs wasn´t sure what to say, not even sure if he wanted to say anything. "I...I thought Kate was here." He finally said and sighed. It would have been a dream come true, but he started to realize that it was not going to happen. "It was just some nurse, but for a second I really thought it was Kate, Duck. I...I miss her." Admitting that he cared so deeply for her was unusual for Jethro Gibbs, but when he met his friend´s kind eyes, he couldn´t help talking about it.
Ducky smiled a bit. "Commander Witten is waiting for us, Jethro. I think you should talk to him about this. Maybe, if he thinks you are dealing with it, he may even let you go home." He said and got up again. The coffee sat untouched on the table, slowly becoming too cold to drink.
After a few seconds, Gibbs got up from his bed and straightened his shirt. "Okay, but just because you asked me to." He said and walked towards the office. The door was open and he just walked straight in, dropping onto an empty chair. "All right, what do you want, Commander?" He asked and met a smiling, yet surprised face.
Witten got up and closed the door, giving a small nod to Ducky, who was waiting for this signal at the other door. Once the door had closed, Mallard started to pack everything from the closet. He had talked to Witten before, making sure that they could take Gibbs home after this last session. He was smiling to himself at the thought of what was going to happen then. Of course, it had hurt him a bit to see that pain in Gibbs´ eyes again, but Tony had not returned yet as Kate´s apartment was a bit away from Bethesda.
When his phone rang, Mallard put the packed bag onto the bag and took it out. "Yes?" He answered and smiled slightly.
"Hey, Ducky. It´s Tony. I´m at Kate´s place now, so should we come back to Bethesda?" Dinozzo asked, sounding rather cheerful.
"I believe it would be better if you met us at his house. He is talking to Commander Witten at the moment and will be released right afterwards. Since he´s been more his old self again, he won´t need to stay at 7 West. I believe he will heal more quickly once he´s back at his house. And once he sees Caitlin, of course. We should arrive within the hour, maybe you want to fix some lunch for us." The doctor said and put the phone back into his pocket when he heard steps approaching.
Gibbs was a bit surprised by the fact that Witten would let him go home. He had hoped for it somehow, but not dared to really think it might happen. He wasn´t sure how he would cope once he was on his own again. Before all this had happened, he had prefered being along, but now he could hardly stand the thought of it. "Looks like you already know, Duck." He said when he saw his friend standing next to the packed bag.
"Well, of course, Jethro. It was me who recommended this to Commander Witten. I do know how much you like being at your house. It was clear when Anthony and I took you there this morning. Would you like to change into different clothes before we leave?" Mallard asked and picked up the bag.
Gibbs shook his head and smiled a bit. "Let´s get out of here." He said and walked to the door, taking his belonging from Ducky as he moved. He looked around once they left the hospital and headed straight for the silver sedan that was parked out front. As he got into the passenger seat, he looked at Ducky. "I don´t know if I´m ready for this, Duck."
The older man smiled as he started the car. "We´re going to take it slow, Jethro. Let´s get you home first and then think about the next step." He pulled onto the road and continued to smile at himself. He could hardly wait for Gibbs´ reaction once they arrived at the house.