Disclaimer: Still in Chapter 1

Spoilers: UnSEALed

All The Elevators In Between

Chapter 8

0800 rolled around and found Gibbs waiting for her in the elevator. She appeared next to him with a quick smile. He handed her a cup of coffee. She sipped and was pleasantly surprised to find it just the way she liked it.

"Good morning, Gibbs."

"Morning, Kate." The ride up to their floor was short, and she was half surprised that he didn't stop them at any point. They sat at their desks and Gibbs started up the search program on his computer. While Kate had killed the terrorist, no one had stepped up to claim his body and they still needed to figure out who he was. Kate started on her own paperwork, as Gibbs did the same. When he went out for another cup of coffee, she made a quick trip to the bathroom. Tony was there when she came back. They started a conversation, which somehow led to a discussion of horror movies, and which character Kate would be. Then, in the round about way conversations wander, the topic turned to guns.

"Do you really sleep with a gun under your pillow every night?" Tony asked incredulously.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On who I sleep with." She suddenly turned around and Gibbs was there, looking at her expectantly. "Oh, uh, I didn't mean that they way it sounded. Tony just asked me what I would do if a man came into my bedroom and I said it depends. I mean it doesn't depend on the man….Tony, could you help me out here, please?" She was so flustered that he cheeks flushed a bright pink.

"She sleeps with a gun, Boss." Tony answered, being uncharacteristically helpful.

"That true?" Gibbs asked. She couldn't tell if he was mad, or being playful. He had such a good poker face.

"Sorta…sometimes…yes."

"Good girl." He gave her a lopsided grin and she breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled back and started to comment back, but his phone ringing distracted them. They were on the road to notify the family of a prisoner that had escaped ten minutes later.

Gibbs posted her to stay with the family. She played solitaire while her mind thought about Gibbs. A noise in the kitchen brought her attention back to her current assignment. She radioed McGee and checked up on it. She found the boy, Kevin Curtain standing over a glass of spilled milk. She radioed McGee again, that it was a false alarm and tried to send the boy back to bed, but Jack Curtain crept up behind her and took her gun. He tied her to a chair in the living room and took his son upstairs. She cursed herself six ways from Sunday for allowing him to get the jump on her.

When she didn't check in through her radio, McGee came looking for her and found her in her current predicament. They scrambled to catch Curtain before her got away, but all she managed to do was shoot out some windows on the car he stole and possibly wound him. She sighed in frustration. Gibbs was going to kill her. McGee called it in.

Gibbs arrived with Tony in tow. The younger agent was looking a little green, which meant Gibbs had been driving and probably almost killed him at least twice. Kate recognized that look on Gibbs face; the one that said someone was going to get their ass chewed. She had the distinct impression that it would be her since she'd been inside. He strode over to her, eyes like lasers, pinning her to where she was standing. He didn't say a word, and that was worse than him yelling at her.

"I heard a noise in the kitchen and went to check. Kevin was up and had spilled a glass of milk. I was trying to get him to go to bed, when Curtain came up behind me. He tied me to a chair and put a cloth in my mouth and took my radio." Gibbs nodded and started to turn away. "He ahs my weapon." His attention slammed back to her so quickly it was almost physical. She flinched. He still didn't say a word, but went into the house, to talk to the boy.

Kate helped gather the evidence but she was kicking herself the entire time. She was both dreading and looking forward to being back at the office. She was suddenly very afraid of being in an elevator with Gibbs though.

When they returned to NCIS, Kate took the evidence to Abby and tried to avoid her boss. Whatever good feelings they'd been developing were surely erased in light of the current events. What she didn't expect was Gibbs to be waiting for her in the elevator when she was returning to her desk. She stepped back and mumbled something about stairs. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in. Once the doors closed and they started moving, he let go. They were almost to their floor when he stopped the elevator. She'd thought she was home free, and sighed in defeat, closing her eyes in resignation.

"Lay it on me." She mumbled.

"Lay what on you, Kate?" He asked. She opened her eyes to find him looking at her curiously.

"Whatever tirade I deserve for not catching Curtain, and for losing my weapon."

"Seems like you're beating yourself up enough. You don't need me to add to it. We'll get Curtain and I know you used quick thinking to try and recover the situation. You can't be perfect all the time."

"You are." She hadn't meant to say that. He looked away, a lopsided smile tugging at his lips.

"No, I'm not." He mumbled. "Any of my wives could tell you that." He looked back at her. She didn't say anything, just leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, her heart suddenly bursting with love for him. He turned the elevator back on and she schooled her face into a blank mask. He raised an eyebrow.

"If Tony asks, I want to look like you put the fear of god in me." He laughed at that, then adopted his own neutral mask, and stormed out of the elevator. Kate followed as meekly as possible despite the lightness in her heart.

Kate checked the hospitals and Tony was checking with vets, to see if Curtain had stopped to get himself checked over. Abby had called up to tell them that there was blood on the inside of the glass meaning Kate had wounded him.

"Nothing on the hospitals." She announced

"What about vets?" Gibbs asked.

"Tony's marking that territory."

"Ha ha, cute." Tony shot her a dirty look.

"I thought so."

"I didn't." Gibbs answered over Tony's shoulder. He was getting frustrated over their lack of progress. "Do we have the evidence from Curtain's cell?"

"Twenty minutes, but I do have a list of what's coming." She proceeded to postulate that his reason for escaping would be in those boxes. McGee piped up over the previous investigators case files. Soon enough they were in the evidence garage, along with the attorneys from Curtains case, trying to find out what he's found out while trying to appeal his case.

When they figured out it was Commander Foley's wife having an affair with Margaret Curtain. They staged the scene with Kate in the wife's place. Curtain took the bait.

Curtain entered the bedroom and came up behind Kate. She knew he was there. She'd seen his reflection in the window. She reached for her backup weapon, lying on the bed between her legs. When he reached for his weapon, she turned and aimed at him.

"I believe you have something of mine." She said. Tony came out and cuffed him. Gibbs appeared at his shoulder.

"Is this they way you wanted your son to remember you?"

When they returned to NCIS. She and Tony were discussing affairs.

"So you wouldn't mind, at all? It wouldn't bother you?" She asked in disbelief.

"Well with another guy, I would wonder what he had that I didn't, but with another woman, no…" She waved him off. She really didn't want to know. Suddenly Gibbs stepped off the elevator with the redhead who drove the silver sports car. She handed him something and he kissed her cheek. Kate's blood ran cold. McGee broke into her thoughts when he asked the obvious question.

"Who is that?" Kate couldn't respond. Tony told him to ask Gibbs. IN her head she knew she should start to make a break for it, but was still frozen in her thoughts. McGee was talking to Gibbs and then was gone, and he was suddenly staring at her and Tony intensely. Tony looked like he was trying to back pedal, but she was in too much of a haze to even care. She walked around to Tony and to her desk, holstered her weapon and snatched up her purse and coat. She wanted out of there and had no qualms about leaving Tony in the path of Gibbs anger or irritation.

When the elevator doors opened, she moved slowly inside and pressed the button for the ground floor. Gibbs darted in at the last second, almost catching his coat in the process. He took one look at her face and stopped the elevator.

"What wrong, Kate?" He asked softly, and she looked up at him, hurt shining in her eyes. She could fee the anger building in the small space of the elevator.

"I thought you preferred brunettes." She finally spat out, reaching past him to turn the elevator back on. He turned it off again.

"I do prefer brunettes."

"Then what the hell was that?"

"She's been out of town and finally had a moment to return my glasses. I haven't seen her in several months." He paused, hating to have to ask his next question. "What do you want from me, Kate?"

"More than I can have, apparently." She turned the elevator back on and stepped off before the doors were fully open, leaving him dumbfounded, much like she had before.