Kate turned to him, halfway through buttoning up her shirt. "So what's the plan, LJ?"

"Well, Todd," he turned to her with a smirk on his lips, "We're goin' over to the main lodge and meetin' Teddy for dinner. His treat, he insisted." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Might wanna do something with your hair, though."

"What's wrong with my hair?"

"I'm the wrong person to ask," he grinned, "Ya know I'll say it's beautiful-looking, but it might leave room for… questions."

She took a look in the mirror and shrieked. "Gibbs it looks like-,"

"Well like ya stuck a fork in an outlet."

She glared, "You are so not helping."

"Sorry sweet pea. We don't got a lotta time, and have to meet Teddy soon. You gonna be okay?"

She ran a hand over her hair, "Might as well own it."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "Ya know, Katie, if you're worried, he already likes ya."

"How do you know?"

"Because when I was carrying in the bags, he came up and told me that any woman with as much balls as you is worth keeping and you decide you're too good for my sorry ass, then he's available, and more talkative, and willin' to replace me."

"He said all that?"

"There were a lot of bags to carry. He does like ya, Kate. Especially when ya made that comment about… ah… chafing." He was barely managing to keep the smile off his face, but it was clearly a struggle. She loved seeing the smile on his face, and was so thrilled that she was the one who'd put it there.

"If he asks," Kate replied, trying to flatten her hair, and failing, "It's the humidity."

"It's winter," Gibbs pointed out.

"It's the static." She said.

"He's not gonna comment, he's got more tact than that."

She fixed him with a look, and sighing, he draped a scarf around her neck, opening the door, "Let's go. And wear that, it's chilly out."

"Yes mother- oh my god, Gibbs, it's beautiful." He'd draped a blue plaid scarf that she'd never seen before around her neck, and it was almost identical to a scarf she knew he owned- she stole it frequently.

"Since you never seem to have your own." He grinned.

"Thank you Gibbs," she smiled down at it, and then frowned at his back, "You're spoiling me."

"Why are ya complaining about it?"

She frowned, frustrated, "Do you ever spend money on yourself?"

"Why should I when I've got you?"

"I don't need spoiling," she rolled her eyes, but took his arm anyway, as they set off to the main lodge.

"Now see, I disagree. C'mon, Kate, let's grab some food. You must be hungry."

"Oh yes," she smiled innocently up at him, "I worked up quite the appetite."

"Ya worked something," he said, and it was his turn to roll his eyes. She punched him in the shoulder, and he grabbed her hand neatly, intercepting a second blow.

"Tsk tsk, not nice."

"Bite me."

His eyes darkened, "Ordinarily I'd say yes but-,"

"Gibbs!"

They got into the elevator, and she leaned against the wall, smirking. "You know Gibbs, someday this flippant attitude is going to come back and bite you in the ass."

He smirked down at her, taking her face in his hands, "If I'm really lucky."

"Pervert."

"Does it bother you?"

"No, what bothers me is that it doesn't bother me!"

"Not like I never warned you," he grinned. "Boss, bastard. I did warn ya."

"Well, ask my mother, I'm a rebel."

"If ya didn't notice, I like that about ya." He leaned in and kissed her, pulling away with a smile as the doors opened into the lobby. He stepped away, and they walked out, heading into the chilly wind and blowing snow to walk over to the main lodge.

There was some snow on the walkways, but no ice, and as they walked, bent into the swirling snow, Gibbs took Kate's hand in his, and squeezed it. Kate concealed a smile, awed at the fact that here they were, in a very public setting, and Gibbs was willing to hold her hand.

Gibbs hurried ahead, finally breaking the contact, and opened the door for her. She followed him in, and then stopped dead when she saw the goofy smile spreading across his face. "Gibbs, what's gotten into you?"

The laugh lines around his eyes deepened, as he smiled down at her, "You have snowflakes in your hair, Katie," he brushed a few away, and smiled, "Lookin' like a goddess of some kind."

"Flatterer."

"I take it as a compliment," Gibbs strutted ahead, before pausing, just to make sure she actually was still with him.

"I must've said it wrong," she replied shortly, catching up to him. He opened the door to the restaurant, and grinned down at her.

"You're cute when you're mad."

"And I still know the right way to castrate you with just the right amount of force, so try and take me seriously, hmmm dear?" She patted him on the face as she walked past.

"Sure thing sweet pea." He followed her in.

"Gibbs!"

Kate and Gibbs both turned to see Teddy waving at them from a corner table. He grinned as they approached.

"Evenin' Ted." Gibbs pulled out Kate's chair, and sat down beside her.

"How's the weather out?" Teddy asked, as Kate pulled off the new scarf.

"Snowy, windy, you name it."

"I'd say, your lady looks pretty windswept."

Kate flushed a bright red, and grinned sheepishly at Gibbs.

"Well y'know, we're both outta practice at this skiin' thing. I went down a few times, and so did she."

"Ah, went down hard did you?" Teddy asked, a slight smile on his lips. "Well we'd better get you full of food so you have energy for more."

"Ah," Gibbs passed Kate a menu, "She's got quite the appetite, Ted."

"Good thing it's my treat."

A server came by, interrupting the conversation, and Teddy took hold, "This gentleman and I will have bourbon… and the lady?"

"Bourbon for me too," Kate smiled.

"Excellent. And then we're gonna get mozzarella sticks and calamari, to start."

"Whatever you say, Teddy," the server took off.

"Calamari?" Gibbs asked, unimpressed. "Whatever happened to burgers?"

"Oh, my dear sweet Leroy, you need to get out of that basement more. Culture, my dear, is a wonderful thing. And you, Miss Caitlin, it's your job to educate the man."

"Oh trust me, bein' with her has been a real eye-opener," Gibbs mumbled as their drinks arrived.

Kate snorted into her bourbon. Gibbs wordlessly handed her a napkin, and as she set it back down, she looked between Teddy and Gibbs, "How the hell-."

"Well as you know, Gibbs is an inner romantic who loves nothing more than long walks on the beach-,"

"Only if there's a body on the beach," Gibbs interjected.

"And reading-,"

"Only if the reading materials are case files," Gibbs cut him off again.

"We trained together." Teddy finished.

"That's it?" Kate asked, somewhat let down. "You trained together, and somehow that was enough for you to get us the nicest room possible, and buy us dinner? I'm sensing there's more it than that."

"Patience, my dear." Gibbs said, clearly in an attempt to mock Teddy. Kate grinned to herself, as Teddy flipped him off.

"Honestly," Teddy said, shaking his head mournfully, "I don't know how this old junker ever landed a bright young thing like you."

"This old junker could always kick your ass," Gibbs said through gritted teeth.

"And save it." Teddy held up his bourbon.

"Now things are getting interesting," Kate shook her head.

"It was a training mission gone wrong. Gibbs and I- you know he wasn't born with grey hair- were paired up, and I was more intimidated than anything, because this guy- I'm telling you, he was one of the best guys in the Corps. He could-,"

"Oh get on with it, Teddy." Gibbs was rolling his eyes.

"So this guy could squash my balls into oblivion," his eyes lit up with the joke, "And somehow I get paired up with him on a training mission. But some joker thought it would be funny to mess with our supplies."

"Okay…" Kate was watching Gibbs as Teddy talked.

"They dropped us in the middle of the bush, with just the supplies and the clothes on our backs. And someone had messed with our supplies. And by messed with, I mean they took most of our supplies. Left us alone in the bush, three days' walk from our meeting point."

"Coulda been worse," Gibbs shrugged.

"No, I'm not at the best part. I got hurt, went down the wrong way and twisted my knee. There was no way that I was gonna be walking on it, y'know? It was bad. And whatever asshole took our stuff- they took our first aid kit. No painkillers or anything. Just me, and Gibbs and three days of walking that I couldn't do."

"So what happened?" Kate asked, grinning at them.

"Well one of the goals of the mission was make it back within three days. Good old Leroy told me he wasn't going anywhere. And he carried me back to the checkpoint. We made it in two and a half days. Barely slept. He just kept going. He'd never leave a team mate behind."

Kate smiled at Gibbs, and he reached over under the table, taking her hand, their interlinked hands resting on her thigh. "I know he wouldn't."

"And that was when I knew he was cut out to be a Marine. Me? Not so much."

"And ya still stayed in the Corps. I was sure you were gonna quit after that."

"And that's the end of the story?"

"Not even close." Teddy grinned at him, "My daughter's middle name is technically after him. Without him I wouldn't have lived long enough to meet my wife-,"

"Bullshit, you weren't gonna die from a twisted knee."

"I would've died if you'd just left me to go find help."

"Don't leave a brother behind. Never have, never will."

"You have a daughter?" Kate asked, smiling across the table at Teddy.

"Yeah, my daughter Jamie, she's in her first year at Harvard."

Gibbs emitted a low whistle, "Harvard?"

"She wanted to go into the Corps, but I told her if she wanted that, she was going to school first. Especially since she got into Harvard."

"And how's Marcy?" Gibbs asked, taking a sip of his bourbon.

Teddy's hand shook a bit as he picked up his bourbon. "Ah, you know, Gibbs, how sometimes shit happens."

"What happened, Teddy?"

"My neighbor." He said sarcastically. "Or more specifically my neighbor's dick."

Gibbs winced, "Sorry to hear it, Ted. Really."

"Divorce is a bitch ain't it?"

"Alimony's no fun," he agreed. "So how's Jamie handling everything?"

"Insisted she wanted to live with me. So she does when she's not at school."

"Always was a daddy's girl," Gibbs agreed. "God, I haven't seen her in forever."

"She asks about her Uncle Leroy sometimes. I'm sure she'd love to see you sometime. I'll invite you on her school break."

"Sounds good to me."

"The Missus is invited too," Teddy held up his glass of bourbon, toasting Kate with a smile. "So how'd he talk you into dating him, Kate?"

"He smiled."

"Ah yeah, probably batted those big ol' baby blues at you, and won you over completely."

"Not quite. More like she threatened to shoot me, and told me she grew her own balls." Gibbs cut in with a wink at Kate.

Teddy started chuckling, "How exactly did the two of you meet?"

"Well, Kate here," Gibbs smiled, "Used to protect the President."

"Until this bastard worked his way into my investigation."

"It was my investigation." Gibbs held a hand to his chest, mock-offended. "I let you stick around even when you nearly puked all over my evidence." He put on a falsetto, and batted his eyes at her, "You gonna lecture me about sleeping with my coworkers?"

"No," she snarked back, sticking her tongue out at him. "And it was only your investigation because you threatened to hijack Air Force One."

"Actually I threatened to hijack Alpha Foxtrot 29000."

Teddy was grinning between the two of them, "Are you always like this?"

Gibbs turned to him, "Always like what?"

"God, Gibbs, you're the luckiest bastard I know, with a firecracker like this one," Teddy gestured with his bourbon.

Gibbs turned to Kate and kissed her forehead gently, before smiling at Teddy, his voice full of feeling, "I know."

XNCISX

The moonlight was coming through the window, and casting light on the bed. Not enough to be disruptive, but just enough light to see by. Kate was lying next to Gibbs, and she knew he was awake, even though they weren't talking. But she was watching him, smiling to herself.

"You got somethin' to say, Kate?" he asked, turning his head.

She reached for his hand, as she moved in closer, "It was really nice to meet Teddy."

"He does really like you," Gibbs agreed.

"If I can ask-,"

"You can, but I don't think it woulda stopped you if I'd said no."

"What did he say to you, when I was getting ready to leave? It looked serious."

She felt, rather than saw him laugh, a sharp intake of breath, as he pulled her into his arms. Slowly she relaxed into the warmth of his embrace.

"Well, Katie, it's a little embarrassing."

"Nothing can be more embarrassing than him calling me Tater Todd."

He laughed, "Ya gotta admit, that was kinda funny."

"Only a little," she ran a hand over his chest, feeling the rise and fall as he breathed.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. But stop, that tickles."

She smiled to herself, "I've got you whipped."

"Uh huh. Now shush, I was gonna tell you what Teddy said."

"I'm all ears."

"He said if I was dumb enough to let ya go, then I wasn't smart enough to deserve ya in the first place."

"And?"

"I agreed of course. Because if I've got this to look forward to from now on- if I have this, and you, then he's right. I would be a fool to let you go."

She reached up and kissed him, before leaning her head on his chest, "You better not let me go."

"Not a chance," he kissed her forehead, "Get some sleep, Katie."