Disclaimer: Its in Chapter 1

Spoilers: None really. After the events of Good Samaritan but before My Other Left Foot. In my universe, they're swapped.

All The Elevators In Between

Chapter 2

He watched her leave, unable to move beyond his current position. The ding of the elevator brought him out of it and he slipped out the doors before they closed. He walked to his car, his thoughts whirling over his confrontation with Kate. Abby had let her name drop for emphasis when dealing with the Sheriff, but it had been unintentional, and he thought it was just for the emphasis. However something in him had pushed him to corner Kate in the elevator. He expected her to brush him off, like she did with Tony, but she'd gone a different route entirely and it confused him.

"Don't toy with me. Don't tease me about what I can't have." Her words echoed in his head the entire drive home. They followed him to his bedroom, lingered as he changed clothes, and trailed him down to the basement where his boat was waiting to be worked on. He tried to push them away, but they were still echoing in his ears. They just wouldn't leave him. He slept under his boat that night.

When he woke the next morning, it was to sunlight pouring through the single window of his basement. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He knew the slight shuffle very well.

"Morning, Duck." He called as the M.E. reached the halfway point and paused.

"How did you know it was me, Jethro?"

"Footsteps." He stated simply, as he scrubbed a hand over his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Your team was concerned as you weren't at work and didn't answer your phone. I figured you just over slept, so when Tony called me, I offered to stop by on my way in. What happened?"

"Nothing. My phone is upstairs." The doctor gave him a sharp look that said he didn't believe him at all.

"Jethro, I really do wish you wouldn't lie to me. I don't appreciate it. Besides which, you only sleep under your boat when something is bothering you."

"Nothing happened to me Duck, but I upset Kate and I don't know why."

"This has to do with what Abby pulled on Sheriff Dupre." Gibbs nodded. "And I'm guessing you said something to Caitlin." Again he nodded. Ducky sighed.

"What?"

"The poor girl." The doctor sighed again.

"Duck, what?"

"She's in love with you, Jethro, or falling in love with you, and knowing you, you probably cornered her in the elevator and teased her a bit, which is why she was upset." Gibbs stared at him in shock as his words sank in. He'd been surprised twice in the last twenty-four hours and that was twice too many. He thought back to all the ways she'd said she was attracted to him, without saying a word to him.

On Air Force One, she'd returned his appreciative looks with her own even after she'd threatened to shoot him. Her quiet but teasing comments over the boots and cap he'd picked out for her for joining his team. The appraising look she gave him when he'd told her the bikini bottom wouldn't fit. The way she watched him on the ship when they'd investigated the drug OD's. Their entire time aboard the submarine was memorable, especially holding her to his chest during the emergency blow. The comment about finding a decent barber being the only thing he couldn't do. The adoring way she looked at him when he was adjusting her uniform during their last case. He looked up at Ducky, realization in his eyes.

"Didn't take her long, did it, Jethro." The M.E. teased him slightly. "I've never understood how quickly they love you, or how quickly they hate you, but I've never seen a woman like Caitlin fall for you, especially since she's seen all sides of your personality."

"Not all sides, Duck, but most. I don't get it either, but we should get to work."

"Jethro, you need to talk to her, if only to tell her you don't feel they same way." He said to the man's back as he dashed up the stairs.

"Oh dear, what have I stepped into the middle of?" The M.E. said to himself as he slowly climbed the stairs to head in as well.