Authors Note: Yes, yes, I know. I'm a horrible, horrible person. I'm so very sorry that I haven't updated since 5/27/11 exactly three months…I'm so so so sorry! But in that time, I got hired at a new job, a better job. So I've been working literally 40hr weeks 8.5 hr days and have been trying to get things ready to go for a trip that I'm taking to Colorado to visit family. If I'm worthy, I would love to see some reviews for this chapter. This is the last of Bella for a while, but she may make an appearance here and there.
Song: Arms by Christina Perri
Reviews are love, leave some….
-Krystle
Two weeks. Jethro had been with Bella, settling her in to her new life without Connor for two weeks. While she understands that Bella is all the family that Jethro has left, she can't shake the feeling of wanting to be with them. She's gotten so used to being with Jethro nearly every hour of every day for the last six months, and now she's home alone. There are phone calls every night before bed, and one every morning before work, but still she misses him.
Needless to say, Tony was driving her bonkers. With him being the Senior Field Agent, she and McGee have to follow his orders. Kate wants to grab Tony by the collar and slap him silly. Lord, she wishes Jethro were here. She looks up from her desk in time to see Tony walking into the bullpen from the elevators.
"Good morning, Kate," he greats, taking his seat at his desk.
"Morning, DiNozzo," Kate returns, trying desperately not to roll her eyes. "My report is almost done."
Tony raises his eyebrows, "How long have you been here?"
"0600," she answers automatically. "Why?"
Tony looks at his watch, "Its 0730 now. You're bored without the Boss here, aren't you Kate?"
Kate blinks, "No, Tony. I'm doing my job, something you should think about doing once in a while."
Tony puts his hands up and hisses like a cat, "Touch, touchy."
"I'm sorry," she says, giving him a sigh and a soft and an apologetic smile. "I haven't been sleeping well the last couple weeks."
As Tony lowers himself into his chair, he whispers to himself, "Someone needs to get laid."
Kate sighs an annoyed sigh, and rolls her eyes,' Yeah, tell that to my boyfriend who has been gone for the last two weeks...'. Kate's attention is brought back to Tony as he snaps his fingers.
"I know!" he exclaims. "A buddy of mine is coming into town tonight, you guys should go to dinner, maybe have a little fun afterwards."
Kate shakes her head, "Tony, no. I don't do blind dates." and I'm dating the boss...
"It'll be fun!"
Kate sighs and rises from her desk, pulling her cell out when she is far enough away from Tony, meaning the bathrooms.
"Yeah, Gibbs."
"You have to come home!"
"Kate?"
"Yes, Kate. You have to come home. Soon."
He chuckles, "Why?"
"Tony is setting me up on a blind date. Apparently I need to get laid."
"Blind date?"
"Yes! With one of his 'buddies'," Kate takes a moment to calm herself, and asks, "How's Bella?"
"She's doing a little bit better," he answers. "She keeps telling me to 'quit hovering'."
"Well that's a good thing, right?" Kate asks, "She's speaking again. I wish you would have let me come with you."
"You're needed there, Katie," Gibbs says.
"I know," she concedes. "Tony is getting used to being the boss; you might have some competition when you get back."
Before Gibbs can say anything about Tony, he looks up to see Bella walking down the stairs with a suitcase, "Kate, I'll have to call you back."
"Okay," she says, and frowns as she closes her phone. If she wasn't at work she would have said she loved him, but anyone can pop up, and the only people who know about her and Gibbs are Paula, Abby and Ducky; he pieced everything together when Bella was here.
-KIBBS—
Gibbs slips his phone in his pocket and meets Bella in the kitchen, "What's with the bag?"
This isn't going to be easy, Woods, just tell him. She looks up to meet her Uncles blues eyes, and can't help but see her father in them. She takes a breath and then she tells him in one long breath, "'mbeingreassignedtoRome."
"What?" he asks in confusion, "and slower please?"
"You have to go back to NCIS, and to Kate cause I'm being reassigned to Rome."
"Being reassigned to Rome? How could you possibly be reassigned?" The fury in Gibbs quickly on the rise as he thinks of her being pushed to step up and get over this. Her nightmares were better but still there every night. How dare they do this to her?
Bella looks down, she knows that when he finds out it was her doing, he'd be more pissed, "I called my CO. I asked to be." She looks up at him, "I can't stay here anymore, Uncle Jay. It hurts too much. Everything reminds me of Connor. I'm giving up the house. I only ask that before you leave you box up everything of Connors and put the pictures of us somewhere in your house; just not where I can see them. Please?"
Stunned, his mind is going a thousand times a minute as her words sink in to him. "You asked to be reassigned?" The look of guilt that flashes behind her eyes settles some of his anger, but not all. "Bella, you can't sleep through the night. How do you expect to survive over there? Not sleep at all?"
Bella shrugs, "Who knows, maybe I'll start building a boat in my basement?" She shakes her head and says, "I honestly don't know, Uncle Jay, but I can't stay here and feel sorry for myself either. I made a promise to my country, and I'm going to keep that promise. I'll just have to learn to deal with it on my own. It shouldn't be hard-after all I did it when Aunt Shannon and Kelly were killed, and again with my parents. I'm tired of hurting. I'm tired of being left alone. I'm tired of people leaving me. So instead of someone else leaving me, I'm leaving them."
"Oh Bug," standing up from his current seat at the counter, he pulls her in to a tight hug. "You'll have to build something else. No place over there big enough to store a boat," he replies with a small smile before kissing her temple. "I expect a phone call when you land," he pauses for a moment, "and at least once a week."
She wraps him in a hug, and chuckles, "Of course." Resting her head on his chest; she closes her eyes as a tear falls, "thank you for not fighting me on this."
"I know better than to fight you once you've made up your mind. Stubbornness does run on both sides of your family," he says with a faint laugh. Eying her bags warily, he gives her a soft look though hiding his emotions well. "Want a ride to the airport?"
Bella chuckles, "Good point." Picking up her carry-on, she nods, "I'd like that, thank you."
An hour later, standing at the gate, Bella hugs her Uncle, "Thank you for everything you've done for me. I love you, I don't know how I would have gotten through this without you."
Gibbs squeezes his niece, "I'm always a phone call away, Bells. You're not alone in this world, little girl, you've always got me." And Kate.
Bella nods against him, "I know, but sometimes I take that for granted. I'll be fine Uncle Jay. I'll call you as soon as I land. Give Kate my love, tell her that I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye, but that I will call her whenever I can."
"I will," he says, then raises an eyebrow at her smile. "What?"
Bella shrugs, and smiles, "I love her, Uncle Jay. Don't let her go. I don't think we're destined to be alone; Aunt Shannon would want you to be happy, so would Kelly."
"You better get on the plane, Bug."
Always avoiding the commitment talk. "You know I'm right, Gunny."
"Get moving, Squid."
Bella laughs, kisses Gibbs one last time, and turns towards the gate as the final boarding call is announced. Gibbs stays long enough to watch the plane leave the ground and heads out of the air port. He's still not sure she's ready for this, but if she's half as stubborn as her parents, then she had her mind made up before she requested the transfer.
-KIBBS—
When he makes it back to Bella's house on base, he looks around the once happy life she once lead. He sighs, and begins packing her pictures of Connor into a box, labeling it accordingly. He takes the pictures of her parents and their family photos and puts them in a separate box. In no time at all, Bella's living room walls are bare, and he's disassembling the book cases and other things so he can transfer them to a storage site he's rented.
It's another two days before Bella's house is completely empty. As Gibbs loads the last of Bella's life into the storage shed, he wants nothing more than for Kate to be with him. He can't help but hang onto Bella's parting words: 'Aunt Shannon would want you to be happy, so would Kelly.' He is happy, but is he ready for marriage again?
When he thinks about life without Kate, his heart aches; even if they hadn't taken the risk and stayed friends, he's not sure he'd be able to be himself if something ever happened to her. No one can replace Kate. Not as a woman, a co-worker, a friend or a lover. If she left there would be a huge void in his life, and he doesn't want to take that risk. He smiles and gets back in his car, making the long drive back to DC-and back to Kate.
-KIBBS—
Looking out of her kitchen window, she sighs, usually she hears from Jethro by now. It's been two days since she's talked to him. She is trying to remain calm, knowing that he's helping Bella through Connor's death, but she still gets this sinking feeling that something isn't right.
She jumps when a pair of arms wraps around her from behind, and she lets out a small scream, turning in the persons arms. She takes a calming breath and sighs, smacking him lightly on the chest. "God, Jethro, you scared the hell out of me!"
He chuckles lightly, "Sorry, Katie."
"Mm-hmm," she says, then leans in and kisses him lovingly, "How'd you get in anyways? The door was locked."
He shrugs innocently, "Picked the lock."
"Of course you did," she says, bringing her arms up and around his neck. "How's Bella?"
"She's fine," he says, "Landed in Rome this morning."
"What?"
"She asked for a transfer," he explains.
"But-I thought she was still having night terrors?"
"She is. But her mind was made up, and once it's made up that's it, you can't change it."
"Sounds like someone else I know," Kate comments.
"It's part of my charm, Katie," he says, causing her to laugh. Gibbs is trying to muster up the courage to do what he's about to. As Kate's laughing subsides, he gazes into her soft brown eyes, and smiles at her.
"What?" she asks.
I tried my best to never let you in to see the truth
And I've never opened up
I've never truly loved 'til you put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
"I love you, Kate," he says, smiling. "I don't think I can ever tell you that enough, or show you enough. I don't know why you chose me, of all people to be with."
"Jet, what-?"
"Move in with me?"
Kate blinks a couple of times and shakes her head, "What?"
"Move in with me, Kate," he says firmly. "I want you with me. Always."
"Jethro, this is crazy," Kate says, smiling a little.
I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let our love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home
"So what? Kate, I love you and I hate only seeing you at work and after. I want all the moments in between."
"I want that too," Kate says, then her face falls. "Its just-"
"What?"
"I don't think its fair that we get to be happy, and Bella doesn't. Her fiancé is dead, Jet," Kate points out, her emotions popping into over drive. "It's not fair that we get to be happy and she doesn't."
Gibbs pulls Kate to him and kisses her head, "If I've learned anything from my past and Bella's, it's that although Bella did lose her fiancé it doesn't mean that she will never find love again." Looking down at Kate, he smiles softly, "After all, I lost Shannon and Kelly and then I found you."
"But, Jet-"
"Do you know what Bella told me before she left?" at the negative shake of Kate's head he tells her, "She told me: 'I love her, Uncle Jay. Don't let her go. I don't think we're destined to be alone; Aunt Shannon would want you to be happy, so would Kelly.' My niece is a smart young woman, Kate." As Kate's eyes soften, Gibbs smiles lovingly at her, "So, I'll ask you again. Caitlyn Todd, will you move in with me?"
Kate places her hand on Gibbs' cheek, gently rubbing her thumb across his skin. "Only on one condition," her brown eyes search into his. "You are in bed every night. No more sleeping in the basement."
He nods and gives her a sideways smile, "Okay."
Kate giggles and leans in and kisses him, pulling him as close to her as she can. Her day has turned out better than she thought it would. She has to remember to call Bella at some point and thank her for giving Jethro a push in the direction she was hoping he'd turn.