Gibbs POV

I held her hand, standing above her and looking down at her sleeping figure. She's asleep, she'll wake up soon, that's what I had been telling myself for the past two weeks. Her face was paler then usual, but otherwise, you would think that she was just sleeping.

My heart wrenched every time I visited her after work, and I would suddenly break down in front of her, crying my tears, willing her to wake up to speak to me; but each time, she just lay there, a peaceful look on her face.

The ring box that I had kept with me in my pants pocket for over two weeks now seemed to weight heavier each day, it's presence growing greater and greater as if it sensed that the wearer didn't know about it yet.

I let my finger trace her cheek, sighing at her beautifully soft skin. The doctors had told me that everything was healing up nicely, and he didn't know why she wasn't waking up. She seemed fine physically, but emotionally . . . he wasn't sure.

I heard a knock on the door and looked up, my eyes dead.

"Hello, Mr. Gibbs, I have some interesting news for you," the doctor entered and walked towards her bed, and sighed.

"What?" I mumbled, unable to take my eyes off her.

"We did a few tests this morning and it seems that Caitlin is pregnant."

I was floored. I looked up at him sharply, my eyes narrowed. Pregnant? How could she be pregnant! Who could she have possibly . . . The realization hit me hard, as if it were a truck ramming into my stomach.

I suddenly flashbacked to the night at the hotel, just hours before our escape. I wanted to tear my heart out, but at the same time, I wanted to leap for joy. It was my baby, no doubt about it, but the baby had been conceived the wrong way; forced.

"Did you hear me?" The doctor prompted, looking at me with curious eyes.

I nodded and gave him a soft smile, "Yeah, doc, I heard ya. Any chance she'll be waking up soon so I can tell her myself?"

I asked him that question every day, working it gingerly into our conversation after the first few days had passed. But the meaning and desperation was still the same: When was she going to wake up? And so far each day, the doctor had told me that he didn't know; and each day, it seemed harder and harder for both him to say it, and me to listen to it.

"Soon," he told me, not giving me the date I had hoped for.

I just nodded, soon, it was craftier then the "I don't know" answer he usually had.

He laid his hand on my shoulder n a comforting way and squeezed, and left the room, leaving us alone.

"Did you hear him, Katie? We're going to have a baby," I told her, laying a kiss on her forehead.

Kate POV

"Did you hear him, Katie? We're going to have a baby."

It was that voice, the voice I had been hearing for what seemed like weeks, the voice that I had looked forward to, because his voice brought back the light, keeping the darkness at bay. I concentrated on his voice, only his voice, and was able to make out his outline.

His outline had been growing even fader each day, as if he too were burning out. It pained me to see him this way, because I knew that all I had to do was open my eyes, and everything would be fine again. The problem was, I couldn't.

"A baby?" I wanted to yell and scream with joy, I was going to have a baby! His baby . . . our baby.

The darkness seemed to recede a little more and I was able to find his blue eyes, somehow duller then what I was normally used to. He looked emotionally and physically drained. I remembered him coming here every day for what seemed like forever, sitting by my bedside, holding my hand, encouraging me to break away from this place and come home.

Home, god, how much I wanted to be home, with him, with the team. I looked down at myself, and laid a hand over my stomach. Another being was growing inside of me, I thought, and smiled to myself.

I had to wake up, if not to make the darkness go away, then to come back to him and tell him just how excited and happy I was about our baby.

I pushed against the darkness harder than ever, and felt myself rising towards the surface, the light growing closer and closer, until, finally, after what seemed like years, my head broke above the dark waters and I opened my eyes, gasping for air.

Gibbs POV

I let my head fall onto my lap, and sighed, a baby. Our baby. It was great news, terrific, but, at the same time, I wasn't sure if we could handle it. She wasn't waking up, I realized, how long were we suppose to wait? I would wait forever, I realized, hell, I'd rather die then leave her bedside if she didn't wake up.

Suddenly, I heard a gasp and my head shot up, hope flaring in my gut before I could push it down, my eyes opened wide.

I gaped in shock. Those creamy lids covering her chocolate mocha brown eyes were now open and fully alert, her pale pink lips were now regaining it's usual cherry pink color, and her face was regaining her usual light tan as well.

"Kate," I breathed, unable to say anything else, unable to think of anything else. Just her, her name, four little letters that made my heart flutter and skip a beat.

She looked at me, her eyes bright with tears now; of fear and something else, I realized. Before I could stop myself, I hugged her tight pulling her as close to me as the IVs would allow, letting her cry into my chest.

"Oh God, Gibbs, I didn't think I could come out, it was so dark and everything would just close in on me," she sobbed, her head buried deep into my shoulder blade.

I stroked her hair and whispered, "It's ok, Kate, what matters is that you came back, you beat it."

She pulled away slightly to look me in the eye, "Because of you. You came every day, Jethro, to remind me that I had to come home, I couldn't just stay there and let it eat me away. I couldn't stand to see you hurting and so lifeless."

I gave her a smile, and kissed her, soft at first, and she deepened it immediately, her tongue swirling around mine. She kissed me as if she had been in the desert (which wasn't totally off) for over a year and I was her first glass of water. I let her drink me in and felt her arms wrap around my neck as mine fastened tightly around her waist.

When she pulled away, I realized that I had to tell her.

"Kate," I began, "You're pregnant."

I kept it short, simple. I couldn't even meet her eyes. How would she react? Would she realize that she was pregnant because of that one night I had lost control and hurt her?

She laid a hand against my cheek and smiled, a bright, gleaming smile that seemed to fill the room with sunshine, "I heard you and the doctor talking. I was so happy when I found out, I tried to tell you, but no words seemed to come out."

"You're happy?" I ventured, unsure, "You know how this came to be, right?"

She nodded, "It wasn't under the best circumstances, but it was with you, and that's all that I care about. I want to have a child with you, Jethro, I want to be with you forever."

I took a deep breath, and smiled back, the little velvet box now seemed to weigh over twenty tons in my pocket.

Before she could protest, I sat her on the edge of her bed, and took her hand in mine, my heart thudding loudly in my chest, threatening to burst.

"Caitlin," I hesitated, "Katie," she laughed at my obvious discomfort, still oblivious to what I was going to say.

I slowly sank down on to one knee and she gasped, her eyes going wide, the hand that I wasn't holding trembling slightly.

"Katie, when I first met you on air force one, I admired you. You were just as stubborn as me and you had the courage to tell me what I could and could not do. You taught me that there was an equal out there for me, one that fight together with me perfectly. I didn't know that we were made for each other until a month after you had been working for me. We were both working late, typing up reports, and I couldn't help but notice just how beautiful you were sitting at your desk, your hair framing your face.

"I realized later on that night what I loved about you, and decided that I really did love you. I tried to hide it, tried to follow my rules, but after our car crash, I just couldn't hide it anymore. I'm in love with you, Caitlin Todd, I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our baby, I want to protect you, be with you, and love you till the day that I die. Will you do me the greatest honor and marry this selfish bastard?"

I looked at her, and pulled out the navy blue velvet box, and opened it, revealing a gold and silver ring, the metals twisted elegantly together, and a heart in the very center, surrounded by a crown of smaller diamonds, each twinkling and shinning just as bright.

"Kate, it's kinda hard to stay bent up like this," I joked, waiting for her response, trying to hide my nervousness with a joke.

"Yes," she whispered, "Oh God, YES!"

She flung herself into my arms, wrapping them tightly around my neck. I laughed, and slid the ring onto her left hand, and held her close to me, cradling her against my chest. I brought my lips down to hers and kissed her with all the love that I felt for her.

I felt as if fireworks were going off in our mouths, and the earth was shaking to the beat of our hearts, now finally intertwined after months of fighting the love we had locked up so tightly within ourselves.

"I love you, Kate, nothing will change that," I told her, pulling away ever so slightly so that our forehead still touched.

"I love you too, Jethro," she whispered, and our lips met again.

"Hey boss, I was just -."

We pulled apart, a smile on both of our faces.

"B-boss?"

We laughed, "Yeah, DiNozzo, make it quick, I'm busy with my fiancé."

We laughed again at his bewildered expression, and for once, he was absolutely speechless, and then, a smile broke over his face and he shouted over his shoulder, "Probie! You owe me twenty bucks! I told you he was going to propose!"

THE END! SEQUEL SHALL BE CALLED "Forever, My Life With You" will be published say….tomorrow? THANK YOU ALL FOR READING AND REVIEWING!