A/N: So here it is, not much to say. I actually wrote two different versions of this: this one and one where everyone left them alone during dinner, but this lent itself better to the flirtatous thing I was going for.

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Dinner had turned out to be a much more trying affair than either of them would have guessed possible. Upon arriving back in the ballroom, they had made the mistake of being among the first people to sit down at a table. This had the unfortunate, and unforeseen, consequence of allowing the other party goers to choose whether or not to sit with the NCIS pair.

Much to Kate's endless chagrin, Diane and three of her friends had decided, with their husbands in tow, to take up the remaining chairs for the meal. After asking a number of personal questions of both Gibbs and Kate, to which they received generally short or non-existent answers, the women settled down to recounting the memories of parties Kate had not been invited to and dances she had not bothered to attend.

Their unspoken goal seemed to be to embarrass Kate about her lack of social life, and the more uncaring Kate seemed to be, the nastier the comments became. Gibbs had shut out their conversation almost immediately, preferring to eat in silence, and he noticed that while Kate still seemed to be listening politely, he had known her long enough to know that she wasn't actually catching any of the conversation.

Tuning back in just slightly, he caught yet another of Diane's remarks to Kate.

"…at Jeremy's post-prom bash. He had gotten so drunk and jumped into the pool in his tux. You remember that don't you Kate?" Not even pausing to let Kate respond she continued. "Oh, wait, you didn't go to that, did you?" She didn't even attempt to mask the apparent condescension in her tone and once again Gibbs felt the desire to step in and shout about how much better than them Kate was. He was sure that he had more than enough ammunition. Being hand-picked to protect the President would probably have done just fine, but he held himself back. Kate hadn't brought anything about that up and he had made up his mind to follow her lead in the matter.

Kate shook her head mildly at the earlier comment before turning to Gibbs with an unhappy sigh and a roll of the eyes. He could tell that this was exactly the sort of conversation she had hoped to avoid and that it was quickly wearing very thin on, what he suspected, was her last nerve.

Setting his fork down on his nearly empty plate, he gave her a reassuring smile before running his hand lightly up her arm giving her shoulder a light squeeze in passing and resting his arm across the back of her chair. Gibbs could hear Diane's voice stop as she watched the gentle gesture, but was too engrossed in the silent conversation that he and Kate were having.

Watching her visibly relax as her eyes caught and held his, his smile widened to a grin as he once again realized just how comfortable he was in Kate's presence.

Giving him a small smile and head nod in response to his concerned expression, she took a deep breath and allowed herself to relax into the arm behind her. In hindsight she would later be surprised that it didn't startle her when his thumb started to trace small circles on her shoulder. Glancing quickly over to him, she realized that his attention had gone back to his meal and their tablemates. She doubted that he even realized his hand was moving so easily against her skin, and grinned widely at the subconscious intimacy that that seemed to imply.

Her grin turned to a smirk as she abruptly remembered that in all the chaos of his appearance she had forgotten to tell him something. Something that, given their present situation, suddenly seemed very important to pass onto him.

Leaning over to cover the small distance between them, she took in his confused eyebrow raise before moving to whisper in his ear.

"You clean up pretty well, Agent Gibbs." She hadn't meant for his name to come out quite so much like a purr, and flushed slightly at his sharp intake of breath. Shifting back so she could see his face she was gratified by the gentle smile that graced his usually stern features. Noticing that her motion had attracted all of the attention of the table she continued the thought at a more normal volume. "But your tie isn't straight."

Frowning he glanced down at the offending garment, than looked back up at her with a small shrug. Removing his arm from behind her - a move she silently cursed - he turned his chair towards her, a 'help-me-out-here' expression on his face.

She allowed herself the luxury of a light chuckle at his behavior and, still very much aware of the stares of Diane and the other women (the men having gone back to a discussion on cars), she reached over to fix his slightly askew tie.

When she had finished she looked back up into his eyes and allowed herself the pleasure of just looking at him. Their eyes locked and it was several moments later and a sharp cough from Head Cheerleader Megan before either looked away. Kate turned back to her wine, giving the table a pleasant smile and taking a sip. Setting the glass down, her eyes slid closed at the feel of his warm breath on her neck and cheek.

"You look beautiful, Katie." His words were low and smooth, rippling quickly through her mind and sending a shiver up her spine.

She kept her eyes forward as both her smile and blush grew, knowing that if she looked at him now she wouldn't be able to control the impulse to kiss him senseless. That desire was heightened exponentially by the feel of his lips laying a feather light kiss on her shoulder. Closing her eyes against the warmth that rushed through her, she felt him push his chair out from the table.

"I need to use the restroom, excuse me." His hand trailed momentarily over the back of her neck and than he was gone, and she immediately felt the emptiness that his disappearance caused in her.

She waited several seconds after his departure, calming her thoughts, before smiling fakely to the table, also making her excuses and heading to the bar to refill her glass. She sincerely hoped Gibbs wouldn't be gone too long as she stepped onto the balcony for some fresh air, quite confident that he would be able to find her upon his return.

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A/N: I actually started writing this idea out with a scene in Chapter 6 so hopefully it won't atke as long to update as the last couple of chaps have. Though an evil part of me wants to say that I won't update until Sossity updates the two fics she's in the middle of, but I won't do that to you all. So...we'll just see.