--- 3 ---

Kate felt a sharp chill drift over her, burning her cheeks and sending a shiver through her insides. She fuzzily opened her eyes to find Gibbs: stooping down and leaning over her into the car, his arm over her waist with an innocently wandering hand in search of her belt buckle. Close and face to face, Gibbs noticed her open eyes and held her stare.

"Morning." He murmured before he looked back down to her waist, grunting in satisfaction as he finally released her seat belt.

Kate sighed and looked away, peering over his shoulder. She was immediately confused with the realization that she didn't recognize where they were at all. "Gibbs..." her voice was uncertain and scolding; her breath spread over his cheek before he ducked back out of the car.

"Don't start." He stood upright and held his hand to her, offering a helpful lift from the car— which she reluctantly accepted.

Her voice cracked slightly under his gaze, "Gibbs, I just wanted to go home..." she exhaled soft and shaky as she slipped her hand from his and wrapped her arms tighter around her middle. Kate watched as Gibbs closed the car door and dug in his pockets for his house keys. She slowly followed him up the front walk towards his house.

"I don't know where you live, Kate... and, this was just easier." He looked over to her as they walked.

Kate kept her eyes on the ground and lightly shook her head. "You know all our files cover to cover, and you don't know where I live?" her soft and skeptical voice made the corner of his mouth lift.

As they reached the front porch, Gibbs raised his key to the lock, smirking slightly, "Just because I happen to know your address.. doesn't mean I know how to get there." He spoke soft and calm before taking a glance in her direction.

Kate gave a reluctant nod, not looking towards him as she tiredly rubbed her eye with two finely manicured fingers. She slid her hand to the back of her neck, absently rubbing her stiff muscles as she waited for him to open the door.

As they stepped inside, Gibbs dropped his keys onto a small foyer table while taking off his coat and easily stealing hers, quietly walking away from her to deposit them in some undisclosed location. As soon as he left, her logical, professional mind kicked in; what was she even doing here? Her head swam in her own rational rants and commands of going home, calling a cab, asking her oddly receptive boss to take her home. As she began slowly walking through his house without him, taking in the warm smells and homey sights that intuitively made her want to hang around, her emotional mind begged and cried for her to stay.

Kate found herself in front of a stone fireplace in the living room, the mantle covered in picture frames and a small clear crystal vase of flowers. With her arms hugged tightly around herself, she scanned the faces that looked back at her from their glass encasements; most she didn't recognize, but her eyes squinted before growing warmer when she spotted a photograph of the team from last year's holiday party. They were all squeezed in, tightly-knit and family-like, and she and Gibbs were in the center of the chaos. She smiled at the memory of having finally convinced him to come.

Her eyes then fell to a small picture off to the side of the team's photo: a photograph that was older than the rest and torn at the edges. The woman had Gibbs' warm stare, the slight crinkle that painted the corners of her eyes, and the faint smirk that Kate would just simply recognize anywhere.

She hadn't realized that she had taken the photograph down from the mantle until she felt the hardwood floorboards creak beside her. Quickly turning her head to find Gibbs slightly behind her but close at her side, she went to put the small frame back in its place on the mantle.

"Sorry, I didn't—" she began to backtrack and apologize for touching his things— she was well aware of the high value he placed on privacy, and the secret life that she often felt he had. He gently brushed his fingers against her hand, grazing her wrist softly with his thumb as he took the frame in both of his hands, gazing down affectionately. Instead of joining him in some far-off reminisce that she couldn't truthfully be a part of, she watched his face.

He gingerly put the picture back in its place and smiled sadly. "My mother," he explained before looking to Kate, "a long time ago."

She nodded and looked away to the careful stonework of the fireplace, "You look like her," she commented quietly.

Gibbs was silent for a few moments before nodding in agreement, keeping his voice soft and low, "I do." His hands nervously dove into the comfort of his pockets. "She passed away a few years ago." Gibbs nodded, as if in an attempt to convince himself.

There was a small change in her posture, a subtle shift of her stance and a fidget of fingers as she was suddenly unsure of what to do with her hands. She swallowed and bowed her head slightly, "I'm so sorry, Gibbs…" Her voice was gentle and quiet, and he knew that she meant it. Kate turned her head towards him and then back to the fireplace.

He allowed a subtle glance towards her and nodded again, "She was pretty sick," he exhaled, "for long while."

Kate did the simple math in her head and spoke again:

"I knew you a few years ago.. you didn't tell anyone..." The question was there, but she already knew the answer. "I never would've known." Her voice was thick with honest sympathy and a peculiar sense of wonder— she turned her face to him once again, her arms crossed safely against her chest and her eyes slightly widened.

Gibbs cleared his throat and nodded, looking down, "Yeah.. well. You do what you have to do."

He slid his hands from his pockets and matched her stance, folding his arms over his chest and tilting his head slightly, murmuring to himself. "I guess I made my peace with it a long time ago."

She turned her entire body to face him. "And how'd you do that?"

Gibbs slowly snapped out of a painful reverie and looked up to her, his eyes tenderly smiling while his mouth drew up into a sad, lighthearted smirk.

"The boat," he nodded, "and a lot of time.. and a..." he paused and chuckled weakly, "lot of drinking." He watched her with a sad smile that passed across his lips.

She couldn't look at him— couldn't yet bring herself to look into the face that she found so captivatingly reassuring, so comforting. Kate visibly swallowed before quirking her eyebrows and tilting her head to one side. Her mouth formed a wavering mix, some place between a smirk and a frown; a saddened expression that allowed her to smile feebly. She brought her arms closer to her chest as she began faintly nodding, swallowing the lump in her throat that threatened to overwhelm her. Finally daring a glance to his eyes, the corners of her mouth tugged again, unsure of whether she wanted to laugh or cry. Her eyes began to quiver under the threat of more tears while her sad smile fought and stood firm.

"Well..." she drawled slowly, looking down to his chest and then back up to his eyes, "I don't know about you, but…"

Gibbs easily made out the slight break in her voice, the wetness that began to leak and stain the corners of her eyes; she held his gaze, but could no longer keep the hushed tremor from her voice as she nodded a determined confirmation, whispering, ".. but I think I need a drink."