Viva Mexico
Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!
Summary: Post-Hiatus. Gibbs moves to Mexico after resigning from duty. The team is ambushed and soon news are out that an old enemy is back. Will Gibbs come back to save them or does it need a little more to convince him that the team needs him?
9- Backup
When Kate shot up again, Gibbs was still sleeping peacefully. The sun had just come up and a look at her watch confirmed that it was shortly after 7 am. She smiled a bit and stretched. Her muscles were screaming in pain when she moved, but it got better rather quickly. She found some coffee in the kitchen and returned with two full cups a few minutes later. She put them onto the table and sat down on the edge of the couch. "Gibbs?" Kate smiled when she carefully shook him and his eyes fluttered open.
He smiled sleepily and rubbed his eyes. "I had the best dream..." He mumbled, but suddenly shot up straight. He stared at her for a few moments and blinked a couple of times. "But...I´m still dreaming, right?" He said, but at the same moment reached out for her. When his fingertips touched her face, she felt her heart beating like mad. A single tear rolled down her face.
"It´s not a dream. It wasn´t me on that rooftop, Gibbs. Fornell hid me to bust Ari´s cell. They thought without him as a leader those people wouldn´t make it for long, but obviously, Ari is still alive." She said and watched his eyes. It was clear that he didn´t quite believe what he was hearing -or what he was seeing.
"Why here?" He asked after a moment and tried to sort his thoughts. Kate was alive -she was sitting here with him, drinking coffee. He would have given his arm and leg for this only a few weeks ago and now it seemed to be reality. It seemed almost too perfect to be true and somewhere deep inside him, there was still doubt.
"I don´t know, I really don´t. We have to go back, Gibbs. Both of us do." She said and saw the doubt shining in his eyes. "It´s really me. See? You gave me this after I shot that boy by accident." She held a small silver cross up to him. At this, she noticed a tear sliding down his face and hugged him tight. He allowed the hug and she felt his arms closing around her body.
After a moment he let go of her again and sat up straight. "I´m glad you´re back, Kate." He said and put on his professional manner again. "Now, what is the matter in DC that makes them get you out of protection?" She had to surpress a smile when she noticed how businesslike he suddenly behaved, but she knew it was a sign that he was back to his own self.
Kate sighed. "Tony and Tim were taken hostage by Ari´s group. Ziva was shot, but as far as I know she´s okay. They don´t have a clue as to where he´s holding them and Director Shepard fears that time is running out quickly. Ari isn´t out for ransom or anything like that. He wants to take the team apart -trying to kill me was the first step. It was him who planted the bomb that hurt you so badly too." She said and saw how the fire returned to his eyes.
"Get whatever you need, we´re leaving within an hour." He told her and she happily complied. That was how she remembered him and it felt good. He was back in boss-mode, as Tony used to call it and Kate wasn´t really sad about leaving Mexico. Eventhough she had grown used to life around here, her thoughts had drifted back to DC a lot, especially after she had found out who Mike Franks really was and even more since Gibbs had turned up.
Washington
No more than seven hours later, they walked into the NCIS headquarters, startling the guard at the door quite a bit. Kate followed her boss quietly. She wasn´t sure how to think about all this. She wasn´t supposed to be here -she wasn´t even supposed to be alive, at least in the minds of everyone who had worked with her. Eventhough it was only 4 pm, the office building seemed deserted, but on a sunday, it was normal.
Jenny Shepard waited for them in the bullpen. She was smiling when she saw them coming in. "Jethro, Agent Todd. I guess I should say welcome back. I just wish the circumstances were a bit brighter." She said and got a questioning look from Gibbs. "We were able to plot them within an area of about 25 square miles, somewhere in the area they were taken hostage, but we´re not getting any closer." She told them and smiled a bit wider. "I asked Dr. Mallard and Miss Sciuto to come in today. I suppose they are downstairs at the moment." She added.
Gibbs looked at Kate. "I take it you want to go and see Abby for a moment. I will be there in a moment." He said and watched her walk over to the elevator with a smile. When the doors closed behind her, he turned to Jenny for more information on what had happened.
Kate felt her heart beating like mad when she walked into the lab. Everything was so familiar, just as if she had only left a day ago, but it had been more than a year since she had last passed those doors. Abby was concentrating on something on her spectrometer and didn´t hear her coming in. There was loud music playing from the stereo that sat on a shelf next to the door. Kate turned the music off and waited for her friend to turn around, but she didn´t. "Abby?" At the sound of her name, the goth almost jumped off the chair and turned around. The look on her face was hilarious.
"Kate? But...KATE!" Abby flung herself at Kate and hugged her. "Oh my god...but you were dead, weren´t you? I mean, how..." She stared at her friend in disbelief.
"Abbs, where are the fingerprints from the truck?" Another voice cut in and Abby squealed happily.
"Gibbs!!! I missed you so much!" She hugged him too and handed him a piece of paper. "That´s almost like Christmas, Easter, my birthday and New Year´s all together! Are you going to tell me what happened?" She asked and it seemed like the shock had disappeared completely already.
"As soon as Tony and Tim are back safely." Kate said and looked at the door that had just opened again. "Good to see you, Ducky!" She greeted the doctor, who looked dumbfounded. His jaw dropped right through the floor when he saw them.
Mallard stared at the three people who had assembled in the lab and took a deep breath, still wondering if he was dreaming. "My, Caitlin. I do believe you have to explain this miracle to me, Jethro." He said and looked at Gibbs, who was looking at a printout.
Gibbs put the paper down and shrugged. "You should ask her. She turned up in Mexico out of nothing." He said with a smile playing on his lips. "We can do some story telling when Dinozzo and McGee are back here. Where´s Ziva?"
Abby grinned and took the paper back from him while Mallard noticed the bandage on his hand. "She´s still on leave. What happened to your hand?" He asked and only now Gibbs seemed to realize that there was something on his hand.
Kate answered in his place, for which he was grateful. "He helped me pick up some pieces of a broken jar and cut himself. I hope I cleaned the cut well enough, but maybe you should take a look at it, Ducky." She said and noticed the look in Gibbs´ eyes. He seemed glad that she lied for him. It almost felt like nothing had ever happened, but just almost.