Disclaimer: Still in Chapter 1
Spoiler: The Truth Is Out There
All The Elevators In Between
Chapter 7
It took Kate a few days before she was comfortable in her own skin and another week before she couldn't stand the way Tony, Ducky, Abby, and Gerald were walking on eggshells around her. The only person who treated her normally, was Gibbs.
They were all in Autopsy together on afternoon, discussing their current case with Ducky when she finally blew up at all of them. Ducky was eyeing her every few seconds and choosing his words carefully. Tony and Gerald were outright watching her. And Abby was being extra polite and on topic. It was like they expected her to turn into a quivering mass simply because she was back in Autopsy.
"Tony! Is there something you and Gerald need to tell me, or are you just staring because there's a three-headed dog behind me? All of you are eyeing me like I'm going to crack. I hate to break it to you, but I'm not made of glass. When you're ready to treat me like a normal member of the team, come find me, I'll be at my desk working." With that, she stomped out of Autopsy and to the elevator. She tapped her foot, impatiently waiting for the doors to open. As they did, she also heard Gibbs come up behind her at a jog. She walked in and put a hand on the door, waiting for him to enter as well. As soon as the doors were closed, he flipped the switch, just like she expected.
"What the hell was that about?" He ordered, two inches from her face.
"That was a wake up call for them to go back to normal. I'm not going to fall apart."
"Fine, but you take it up with them on your own time. No one orders my team but me, and we weren't done in Autopsy. Whatever issues you have with the team, they don't interfere with the case."
"Fine. Are we done?" She was feeling better about herself in the face of his anger. Things were on an even keel for her.
"Yeah, we're done."
"Good." She turned the elevator back on and smirked at him, "Did you see the look on Dinozzo's face? I thought he was going to duck for cover at any moment." He nodded and favored her with a cheeky lopsided grin and a soft chuckle as the doors opened. "Shall we?" She gestured for him to exit.
"Get to work, Kate." He ordered.
"Sure, boss."
A few hours passed in silence while they gathered their information. Gibbs sent Tony out to find the bouncer from the club. When he was gone, he turned to Kate. She was on the phone for something. She saw him watching and held up a finger. She extracted herself from the phone and faced him.
"Whatcha need, Gibbs?"
"You've been around Dinozzo too long. You're starting to sound like him."
"Ugh! You're right. Gibbs, what can I do for you?"
"Much better." He held up a PDA just like hers. "Explain this thing to me."
"Ok." She rose and joined him at his desk. They spent the next hour going over everything until he had it down. Tony came back to find them still at it. They ignored or didn't notice him, so he went out for lunch. Later when they had all their suspects in interrogation rooms, Gibbs proved how good a teacher she was.
That night as they were heading home, Kate ducked into the elevator with him.
"Thanks." He grumbled at her.
"Anytime. Are you going to keep using it?"
"Maybe. What's the range?"
"300 feet. You can email from it. It has built in internet."
"Good." They exited the elevator and made their way to their cars.
That night, Kate sat on her couch, some soft music in the background and a book across her lap. Her PDA chimed from its place on her desk. She snatched it up and opened the new message waiting for her.
Kate,
Meet me in the elevator, 0800.
Gibbs
She sighed and wondered why all their conversations occurred in elevators.