Gibbs woke up the next morning with Kate in his arms. He inhaled the sweet smell of her that filled the air. He reached for the alarm and turned it off. He gently moved himself out of bed, so that he doesn't wake her. He went directly do his kitchen and made coffee and breakfast.
He brought the tray of food in his room and the sight of her sleeping in his bed made him smile. He put the tray down on his little table and walked over to the bed to wake her up.
"Katie, wake up, it's time for breakfast."
"Hmmm."
"It's morning Katie. I brought you breakfast in bed."
Slowly, Kate opened her eyes and smelled the coffee, bacon and eggs. She smiled at the sight of Gibbs in his boxers carrying a tray of food to his bed.
"Good morning Gibbs. What time did you get up this morning?"
"Oh, about half an hour ago."
"You made me breakfast this morning, that's really sweet of you."
"Hey, what can I say, I've gone soft."
"Yeah and you better not let Tony know or else he'll be complaining all day about it. He said he likes you better when you are a bastard. Let me go to the bathroom first and brush my teeth before I eat."
After breakfast, which Kate described as delicious, she had a hard time convincing Gibbs that they were going to be late if they didn't hurry up. But when Gibbs started to kiss her neck, all thoughts of going to the office early abandoned her. After they made love again that morning, Gibbs suggested they share the shower to conserve water and to save time. Kate had learned quickly that when both are in the presence of each other when they are not at work, keeping their hands off each other is not possible. So she shut the bathroom door on him quickly and took a shower by herself.
Kate decided to wear her natural curls this morning. While she was in Italy, about a month ago, she had her hair highlighted and according to Abby, it brought her beautiful face and her hazel/green eyes more.
They got to the NCIS headquarters in record time. Today, she's quite thankful that Gibbs drives the way he does, because they would have been late and would not hear the end of it from Tony and Abby. Before getting out of the car, Gibbs leaned into her and kissed her on the lips.
"I know that we are going to be both busy today and I'm not going to see you much since we are working on different cases. And not being able to kiss you or hold you will be torture, Katie. And by the way, I love your hair like this."
"Gibbs, you better not wear that grin on your face when we walk in to the bullpen or else everyone will know you got laid." Kate teased and this time, she kissed Gibbs.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Yes, it is Gibbs."
"Good, I want everyone to know."
"If we keep this up, we are definitely going to be late, Gibbs. Let's go!"
As soon as they got off the elevator, they felt three pairs of eyes watching them.
"Don't you people have any work to do? Look at Caroline, she's working." Gibbs shouted hoping to scare the other members of his team.
"Hello Kate, you've got some storytelling to do. And Gibbs, stop grinning." Abby teased.
"Am I missing something, here Kate? I've never seen you wear your hair curly like that. It's sexy. But I wonder why you didn't leave it straight the way you usually do."
"Caitlin, I need you in Autopsy please." Ducky sensed that both Jethro and Caitlin needed rescuing from their very nosy colleagues.
"I'll just check my messages then McGee and I will join you in Autopsy." Kate then whispered a "thank you" to Ducky.
"Abby, back to your lab and Tony, gas the truck. Caroline, get your gear. Let's go, people!" Gibbs ordered.
"Kate, if anything comes up regarding this case, call me." Gibbs said.
"I will."
After checking her messages, Kate and McGee headed down to see Ducky.
"Caitlin, Timothy, come over here."
"Well, your M.E. did a very thorough and precise job with the autopsies and there's nothing here that I can add."
"So could we release the bodies to the families?"
"Yes, you may Caitlin."
"Thanks Ducky."
"McGee, you and I need to see the families today. Get their addresses and let's go."
Kate always hated having to tell the families that their loved ones are dead. She remembers crying when she got home, the very first time she ever had to do this and not being able to sleep that night. She learned that if she wanted to stay on the job, she had to separate herself emotionally. Coming from a close-knit family and a Catholic at that, her emotions often times got the better of her, in the first year.
When they left the office, Kate called Gibbs to inform him where he and McGee are going.
"Gibbs, Tim and I are driving to see the families. Ducky didn't find anything that wasn't already on the report. It looks like we are going to be on the road, so I may not see you back at the office. So later tonight, go ahead and get dinner with them, Tim and I will go get something to eat on our way back. Private First Class Diane Blake lives four hours away and Jessica Smith is on the way back. So we will go talk to her family first and then Jessica Smith's. If you're really tired, there's no need to wait for me."
"I'll wait for you in the office then we'll drive home together. Just make sure you eat lunch and dinner, all right?"
"Ok, I'll see you back at the office then. Bye."
"What did boss say, Kate?"
"He said, they might be working late on this case, so he wants me to meet him at the office."
"I'm glad that you and the boss are getting along again, Kate. It's nice to see him happy again."
"Was he a real pain in ass while I was gone?"
"You meant, more than usual right?"
"Oh Tim, you are so lucky that I like you because I could have used that to blackmail you."
"But you wouldn't, would you?
"No, but if you were Tony, it's a different story then." Kate said jokingly.
Kate and McGee decided to stop to get lunch. They were still about an hour away and both were getting hungry. They exited and ate at Chili's. After an hour, they left the restaurant and drove for another hour so to Diane Blake's family.
Kate knocked lightly on the door. A woman, who looked to be in her 40's opened the door and there was no doubt that this is Diane Blake's mom.
"Hello, Ma'am is this where Diane Blake's family lives?"
"Yes, I'm her mother, Katherine Blake, what can I do for you?"
"I'm Special Agent Kate Todd and this is Special Agent Timothy McGee, we're with NCIS. May we come in, Ma'am?"
"Of course, come please. Would you like some water or juice or soda?"
"No, we're fine Mrs. Blake. But thanks for asking."
"You said you are with the NCIS. What does NCIS stand for Agent Todd?"
"It's stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Services."
"Criminal investigation, did Diane do anything? Is she in trouble?"
"Actually, Ma'am, we are here to inform you that your daughter was murdered in Italy. We're really sorry for your loss."
"Oh my God, my baby is dead? When did this happen? How was she murdered? Where is her body now?"
"Ma'am, I was in Italy when her body was found. She died of strangulation. We are investigation her murder as well as another female officer. She died more than two weeks ago. Her body arrived last night."
"Are you done processing her body? Can we get her body so that we can give her the proper burial?"
"Yes, Ma'am. Her body is with us in NCIS. Here's my card, please call me and I'll assist you in any way I can."
"The murder happened in Italy, what are you doing here?"
"We have a suspect and we believe that he flew back to the US. We are following leads right now, Ma'am."
They stayed and talked to the Mom for another hour. It seemed rather inappropriate to ask so many questions about the daughter she had just lost. But this is their job and the only thing they can do is give them comfort by promising them that they would do everything possible to catch whoever did this to their daughter.
After leaving the house, Tim and Kate drove to Jessica Smith's family's house. It was two hours away and it gave them time to collect themselves after that heartbreaking talk with Jessica's Mom.
Breaking the news to Jessica Smith's family was as equally hard. Although, both her parents were there, it didn't make it any less painful. Her Mom had gone hysterical because she had just lost her only child. It was one thing to lose a child for something she is fighting for but to lose her in such a violent way and senseless act, is another. As she did earlier with Diane Blake's Mom, Kate left her card with them and told that if she can, she will keep the family informed about the case.
By the time they left the house, it was already 7 o'clock. She and McGee decided to have dinner before heading back to the office.
Sensing how physically exhausted and emotionally spent Kate looked, McGee offered to drive back. Kate gave his the keys and sat silently in the passenger seat.
When they go back to the office, Kate was sleeping soundly. Not wanting to disturb Kate, McGee decided to call Gibbs.
"Hey boss, it's McGee. We're here in front of the building but Kate is asleep and I didn't want to wake her. So I was wondering if you could just come to the front? Not unless, you're still doing some paperwork, boss."
"Thanks for calling McGee. I'll be down in five minutes. Make sure she doesn't wake up, okay?"
"Yes, boss I will be really quiet. I won't even move."
Gibbs hung up and hurriedly picked up his cell phone and his jacket.
Gibbs offered to drive McGee home but he insisted on driving and said that his place is out of the way.
Gibbs closed the door as quietly as he could when he got in the car. He didn't want to disturb Kate's sleep.
When they got home, Gibbs came around to the passenger seat and picked up Kate gently. He slowly carried her to his bedroom and placed her on his bed. He removed her shoes, her necklace and then tucked her in bed. He kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "I love you Katie. Goodnight."