Hey there! Here is the next update. It's a little longer but I thought it will be better to bring this part this way. Enjoy and please be nice.


Gibbs found his voice first. "What about a more comfortable ambiance. We can go to the living room and there you can tell me, why you didn't want to stay at Dinozzo's!" Kate nodded and went out of his kitchen with a mischievous grinning Gibbs right behind her.

'This will get interesting!' he thought.

He knew exactly why Kate wouldn't want to stay at Dinozzo's. 'Too much blond bimbos!' To find the way in his living area wasn't difficult. A warm glow shone through a doorway and the crackling of a fire could be heard. As Kate entered the room, she stopped and looked for her surroundings. It was homey. In front of the fireplace stood an old, dark leather sofa, to her left a wooden desk with a lot of old ornaments and in the other corner of the room were a lot of bookshelves. There was so much of it that it seemed like an old library. "I never expected you to be a bookworm!" she told him very impressed. "I'm not." He replied. "My dad was. He read every book existing on earth. After he died I couldn't part with it." Kate nodded, a little surprised by his spontaneous openness.

She walked in front of the fireplace where a lot of photos were placed. As she reached them she turned to Gibbs, who silently followed every move of her with his eyes. "Do you mind?" she asked always trying to respect his privacy. After all she felt a little bit like an intruder in his always so secretive life. Gibbs shook his head.

There were photos of him as a teenager with his mum and dad, Kate guessed. "You already had that piercing gaze of yours, when you were a young boy." Then she found one of him in uniform and another marine. "This is Jason, my best friend in Iraque. He saved my life twice." Gibbs told her, knowing that she was curious. Near that picture stood one, someone had taken one year ago on a crime scene. It showed Ducky, Gerald and her laughing about a clowning Tony. Beside the crime, it had been a funny day. "Didn't know, you got that!"

But it was the next photo that already caught her eye. The picture showed a beautiful, redheaded woman and a girl about six years old. She had wonderful long hair and Gibbs's azure blue eyes, but then Kate noticed the black little ribbon on the frame. "My wife Shannon and Kelly… my daughter!" Gibbs whispered into Kate's ear, what startled her a bit though she hadn't noticed him, standing right behind her. "She looks just like you." Kate's voice was barely hearable. "I didn't know, Gibbs. I'm sorry…" But in a soft voice he interrupted her. "Don't be." And with that he turned around, walked over to his couch and sat, taking a sip of his coffee.

Kate only looked at him, now understanding why he'd become the man he now was, at least a part of it. She didn't ask any further. She knew how secretive he was about personal matters and respected that. If he would want her to know, he would speak about it on his own. With a soft smile of understanding, she remained silent, glad that he shared that little bit of his past with her. Kate went to the couch and sat beside him.

Gibbs appreciated that she hadn't asked him about them. But that was one of the reasons he was so at ease with her being here in his house. She would never ask him something that he wasn't ready to tell her on his own. She was just sensitive enough to know that if he was ready to tell, he would tell. He watched her a moment as she tried to relaxed on the couch.

"So tell me, is there anything left of your apartment?" Gibbs asked and saw her tensing up in an instant. Kate sighed and put her mug down on the couch table. "Really… I don't know. As I arrived there after work, my neighbor held little Toni on her arm and cried. The fire brigade was already there. Out of all the windows on my floor came dark smoke and flames. A fireman told me that even when the fire is extinguished, there wouldn't be much left. Maybe tomorrow I can go inside and save what deserves to be saved." Kate's voice had become quit again and Gibbs knew how lost she must feel right now. Without hesitation he laid his arm over the backrest behind Kate and placed his palm assuringly over her shoulder. With his thumb he subconsciously traced little circles on it and felt her relaxing again.

Kate felt safe. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his warmth. So she leaned into him and settled her head on the base of his neck. Some moments passed without a word. "Tomorrow, we'll go and look what's left of your life. I'll help you, Katie. Don't worry. Okay?" Gibbs whispered and looked down at her. He found her asleep. 'She must've been totally exhausted.' Carefully he freed himself from her sleeping form and put down his mug next to Kate's. "So Katie-girl! You can't sleep down here. This will be my place for the night." He spoke in a low voice. With one hand he reached under her knees and placed the other under her back. Then Gibbs lifted her up and carried her upstairs.

In his bedroom he placed her in the middle of his bed and tucked the sheets around her, but just as he wanted to turn and leave, he heard her whispering. "Can you stay with me some minutes? Only till I sleep, Gibbs?" Again he turned to her. She hadn't opened her eyes and to him she looked so lost and so fragile. He nodded. "Alright Katie, but you need to give me a little room in there." Kate slid over to the other side of the bed. "How can someone this small take so much space in a bed?" she heard him whisper and knew that he had that smile on his lips, she so rarely saw on him.

Gibbs sat down on his bedside and took of his shoes. He placed himself on top of the sheets and leaned against the headboard of his bed. 'Only some minutes' he told himself and closed his eyes. He felt her fingers entwining with his and gave her a little squeeze to let her know that it was okay. 'Now she needs a friend, not her old grumpy boss with all his rules. But only some minutes!' he told himself. But it wasn't only Kate who found peace that night. They both fell asleep within seconds in the wonderful proximity of each other.

Gibbs House

Saturday morning

The rising sun threw her warmth into the bedroom and her light played with the two close lying figures on the big bed. Gibbs woke first and glanced at his bedfellow. Carefully he stretched and tried to place his feet over the bed's edge, but the small person on his side threw one arm right over his abdomen. 'Caught!'

Gibbs tried to free himself from the uncooperative arm without waking the sleeping woman who belonged to this arm. Without any success. With every try the arm only tightened its grip on him. "You're not going anywhere!" a sleepy voice murmured. Gibbs grinned. 'If you'd only knew how much I would like to stay!' "A wonderful morning to you, Kate." Gibbs said. "But… I need to get up." In her sleepy condition Kate wasn't aware who she held hostage or perhaps she was, but she felt so damn great in her current position. "Hmmpf!"

From her unchanged posture, Gibbs reasoned that this meant "No!" 'Great!' he tried again. "Okay Kate, let me say it in another way. If I don't get up now, there will possibly be a little accident."

'Accident?' One brown eye opened and examined the situation. 'Oh god!' Like a flash she retreated from him. Gibbs smiled at her turning pink. "I'm sorry, Gibbs. I didn't know…" 'Oh dear god! This is so embarrassing.' Kate thought. "…know what, Kate?" Gibbs was now standing in front of the bed, the teasing smile still apparent on his face. "Oh please!" She burrowed her head under the pillows and Gibbs was laughing wholeheartedly now, but left her alone in her misery that definitely wasn't one. 'This was the best morning in years.' He thought. As he walked down the stairs he called out to her. "Ten minutes till breakfast, Agent Todd. So, move!"

"Move! Yeah Gibbs! Good idea." Kate rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling. 'This is not going to happen again. You've had that under control a long time now. You'll not fall for him again. You're not some kind of high school girl anymore.' Kate told herself, but knew this was an already lost fight.

As Gibbs arrived in his kitchen, he was greeted by a very happy Toni. "Hey little one! Come on, I let you out." The little dog didn't need a second invitation and ran around Gibbs who went to his backdoor. Little Toni raced outside in Gibbs backyard. The air was warm and so he left the door ajar and the dog could explore the backyard on its own. He returned to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast. He didn't hear any noise from upstairs and knew that Kate was still lying in bed, embarrassed over the little interaction between them. 'She needs a little motivation.' In a marine recruiting voice he called again. "Kate, get up!" That brought Kate out of her reverie and she went into the bathroom.

Right on time she arrived at the kitchen to discover that Gibbs seemed to be a great cook. On the counter were two plates with pancakes and eggs, two mugs of steaming coffee and currently Gibbs roasted bacon. "I didn't know what you like, so I made everything I found in the fridge." He said without looking up. "You needn't to do that much, Gibbs." Kate answered, affected by his thoughtfulness. "I know, but I wanted to. It's not often that I have guests." The bacon was ready and Gibbs placed it on the two plates. It was the first time he looked at her till she had entered the kitchen. He surveyed her from head to toe. He couldn't take his eyes from her. The hair hung loose around her shoulders. She'd taken a new one of his tee-shirts and wore the pants he gave her yesterday. Her bare feet were just as delicate as he ever imagined them to be.

"I hope you don't mind that I took a new shirt." Her shy voice asked, but Gibbs only stood there, drinking in her beauty. 'She is just perfect.' Her eyes searched his, but all what she saw in them, she'd never seen before. Kate became unsure, if she'd done right to take the shirt before asking for his permission. "Gibbs?" He cleared his throat from the big lump that had built there. "Of course, Kate. Take what you need." His tone was low and it sounded not like the usually grumpy boss-Gibbs. His gaze never left hers and Kate wasn't sure why he kept looking at her the way he did. It was going so deep beneath her skin that she knew, if she looked him in the eyes he would be able to read her like an open book and would know how she felt for him. So Kate looked at her feet and just like last night it was Toni who saved her as she came into the kitchen and jumped at Kate's legs.

"Hey Sweetie!" She took Toni in her arms and the little dog licked her face enthusiastically. Kate giggled at that. "It's okay. I know you love me, but that doesn't mean that you have to go that far." Gibbs laughed about how Kate tried to avert Toni's love bites. Kate sat her down again after the intensive greeting and took her plate and mug and went to his dining table, closely followed by a still laughing Gibbs. "What? Why are you laughing at me?" Gibbs shrugged and grinned at her. "It's a good thing that I know that you talked to that little dog." was the answer she got and Kate smiled at him. 'Definitely the best morning since years.' Gibbs thought and enjoyed the rest of their breakfast.

While they ate, they talked about a lot of things never running out of conversation material. It was just like the most ordinary thing in the world that they had breakfast together and as the plates were empty, Gibbs stood and brought them to the sink. He turned around, now a serious expression on his face. "So agent Todd, I think it's time to look what's left of your apartment." Kate nodded. She had pushed that thought behind successfully, because of his comfortable companionship.

Silently both went to his front door where Kate found the pair of shoes that possibly was the only one she owned now. Gibbs stood already outside and held the car door open for her as she came out with little Toni on her heels. Kate sat in and Gibbs saw how emotionally affected she was. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Everything will turn out fine. You'll see." She nodded without looking up. So he closed her door and went over to the driver's side.

TBC


Okay, what do you think. I promise the next chapter will be filled with more romance and lot more humor. Thanks for reading!