Hi! thanks for all the great reviews! Sorry about the delay.. you know school...friends...but here is the next chapter! ENJOY! and please dont forget to review...disclaimer in the first chapter.

Chapter 4

'I'm going to kill them… then I'll resurrect them and kill them all over again' Kate had just gotten of the phone with her cousin. Her date finders had lifted her cell, gotten Alex's number, called her and told her that Kate would be at the wedding with a date…a tall silver haired gentleman to be exact.

"This is not happening!" she groaned to herself. 'Could things get any worse?'

"Something on your mind Kate?" Kate cringed, 'too late, it just did'.

"Abby said you had something to talk to me about."

Kate snapped her head to see Gibbs twinkling blue eyes, Kate almost died right there, those eyes, they were so… enrapturing, 'I could get lost in those for the rest of my life.'

"Kate?"

"Oh! Um yeah, no I just uh… my cousin rang me to tell me that my friends had called to say that I was going to the wedding, and that they'd found me a date." She blurted out, carefully watching Gibbs' face for any kind of reaction; her heart skipped a beat when she saw the disappointment quickly flicker across his face before he masked it again.

"Oh," he covered.

Maybe Grace was right, maybe he does care more than he says, deciding to take a chance she went on, "But you see, the thing is, I don't really have a date," was it just her or did she see a flicker of hope flit across his eyes? "I was uh, wondering whether you'd uh… like to be my date." Gibbs looked at Kate with wide eyes 'did she just ask me out on a date?' Kate quickly stumbled on as she realized what she had just said "Uh… I mean, it wouldn't really be a date, just uh a friend helping out a friend, yeah. But you don't have to if you don't want to, I mean I know it's not appropriate for me to be asking you, but I thought that it would be nice if-" Kate mentally slapped herself, 'God, could you be more of an idiot 'it would be nice?'

"Why not take DiNozzo?"

Kate blinked, "What?"

"I'm sure he'd be willing-"

Kate scoffed, "Yeah I'm sure he would be, but he's not going anywhere near my family. I will never forgive myself if he manages to corrupt one of my cousins." Gibbs snorted, closing the files on his computer, signaling that she grab her service piece. "So I was thinking… that maybe you'd could come along, and well, help me out," Kate trailed off as Gibbs stared at her from his desk, the same look on his face that he had when she said she wanted to use him as the bride, while she observed during the "Good wives club" case. Kate gave him a hopeful smile, thinking to herself, 'Oh God what am I doing? I'm going to need therapy after this'

"So uh, what do you say? All that you'd have to do is just be… nice. And um, yeah I'd really, really appreciate it if you could help me out, you know colleague helping colleague, friend helping friend." By this time Kate was wringing her hands biting her lip in apprehension, it was kind of cute thought Gibbs.

As Kate started rambling again, Gibbs cut her off "Kate! If you quit your rambling, and get to work I'll go, just quit with the rambling ok!"

His response not clicking, she quickly babbled, "No, no, you're right, I shouldn't have asked… what did you just say?" 'Did he just say yes?' Gibbs smirked as he left the bullpen and looked back to her corner where she stood biting her lip.

"I said yes, now let's go"

Kate's jaw dropped, he just said 'yes'! "Uh, you're sure?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"YES."

"Uh, ok, I'll um get the uh flight details to you then and um…stuff."

As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Gibbs asked, "Uh, how long is this gonna take?"

Kate blushed and averted her eyes, "About a week." Gibbs eyes widened in realization, 'A week with Kate…alone, with her family…God I'm doomed'.

From the balcony over looking the office space, Grace and Director Morrow stood discussing her newly acquired internship when they looked down towards NCIS' best two agents, Grace grinned as the director looked on shaking his head amusedly at his two agents, "Ah, it looks like I owe Dr. Mallard some money."

Grace gasped "Director Morrow, sir! I didn't know you had it in you to bet on the love lives of your subordinates!"

Tom Morrow just chuckled, leading her back towards his office, "Now Miss Grace, what are the dates for this wedding? It looks like I'm going to have to be filing some leave papers."

TBC

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