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?
-----------------------------------------------------
9- Miracles do happen
Ducky parked his car in front of the house and got out. He noticed Dinozzo´s car up in the driveway behind the black sedan that belonged to Gibbs. He waited for his friend to get his bag from the trunk and walked to the front door. Tony opened the door and smiled. "You really got him out then?" He asked and walked back into the front room. Mallard could sense the excitement in the younger man´s voice. The last months had been hard for everyone around the team as they were struggling hard to keep going, inspite of their boss and one of their agents gone.
Ducky smiled too and put his coat aside. "Yes, indeed." He looked back outside where Gibbs was still on the way to the front porch. "Where is Caitlin?" He asked and then noticed the light burning in the basement. "Oh, I see. I hope he doesn´t take her to be an illusion." The doctor said and sat down on the large armchair that stood in the livingroom. He helped himself to a magazine that lay on the coffee table and started to read. He sensed that his assistance would not be required for a while, if at all.
Tony grinned and dropped onto the couch, taking a sip from a can of soda. He watched how Gibbs came in and dropped his bag right in the hallway. "Hey, boss. Good to see you." He said and gave him his best smile. Somehow it felt good to see the old Gibbs coming out more and more. He had not dared to hope for this day to come so soon, especially not since all doctors at 7 West had told them that Gibbs would most likely stay there for a long time, if not forever.
With a feeling of relief Gibbs looked around, noticing the light in the basement. "You better not messed with my boat, Dinozzo." He growled and threw his jacket into a corner before heading down the stairs. From the top of the stairs he noticed a figure standing in the shadows behind the wooden skeleton that was supposed to become a boat. For a moment, he half suspected Abby to be there, but yet the shadow did certainly not have pigtails. So unless she had changed her appearance drastically, it was not Abby.
Kate felt her heart beating faster as she watched him walk down the stairs. She couldn´t see his eyes yet, but from the way he moved she knew that he was still hurting. She had seen him getting shot, stabbed or injured in many other ways, but yet she had never seen him like this. When he reached the basement, she walked out of the shadows and looked at him, seeing disbelief creeping onto his face.
For a split second, Gibbs was sure that he was dreaming, asleep from some medication at Bethesda. His mind told him that this was not possible and yet, he was ready to believe in miracles. Maybe they really did happen, eventhough he had never thought about it much. He closed the gap between them and stopped when they were only a few inches apart. He could smell her hair and that light perfume she had always worn at work before that fateful day on the rooftop.
Kate smiled at him and he noted tears rolling down her face. When he raised his hand to wipe those tears away, she simply took it and didn´t let go again. Without thinking about it for long, he pulled her into an embrace. Tears started to rise into his eyes as well now as the walls around his heart started to crumble. Those scars on his soul were deep, too deep for any doctor or shrink to heal, but the smell of her hair and the feeling of her arms around him made all the pain disappear in a matter of seconds.
He ran his hand through her hair and slowly let go of her again. "But you..." He started, but she put her finger over his lips to stop him from talking. Gibbs felt his knees softening, but he didn´t move. His mind was still racing and he silently prayed that this was not just some dream.
"Ari was set up. They placed me in WITSEC afterwards. I didn´t know what was going on here. I didn´t want to hurt you, Jethro." She told him and he noted the explicit use of his first name. She had never used it before and it seemed to be really special somehow.
He smiled back at her. "You didn´t hurt me, Kate. I hurt myself because I never managed to tell you how I felt for you. I was scared to lose you and when you were gone, I beat myself for not telling you when I had the chance." The look in her eyes told him that she was surprised by this, really surprised, but she wasn´t about to object. Gibbs traced her face with his finger and hoped that this moment would never pass.