Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Spoilers: "Weak Link"

All The Elevators In Between

Chapter 16

When he woke, it was to the sunlight just beginning to filter through the trees. It was also to the warm weight of Kate, shifting next to him. They had started out sleeping with her on his chest, but somewhere in the middle of the night they'd turned into spoons. He found he liked waking up next to her. She wasn't clingy, but she was pressed fully into him, like she had to be touching as much of him as she could reach, without crowding him. His arm was across her stomach cradling her, but not holding her in. It was different waking up with her. She didn't move much that he could tell anyway. His three ex-wives had slept as far away from as they could get without getting out of the bed. Shannon had clung to him for dear life. Kate was the happy medium.

He smiled down at her sleeping form. The sun peeked through the curtains and made her skin glow in the golden light. He brushed soft kisses over her shoulder to wake her up. They had spent the weekend together, but it was Monday morning and they had work to do.

They arrived separately at NCIS. She'd gone home to drop off her clothes from the weekend and pick up a few other things she needed. He came in a few minutes after her, already on the phone. They had just enough time to grab their field gear before they were on their way to a crime scene.

Gibbs took the lead when they reached the crime scene. Tony and Kate were stopped after Gibbs was let through. They photographed and sketched the scene, and gathered the evidence, before returning to NCIS. There wasn't much to collect so it went quickly and was looking like an accident.

After they dropped off the evidence, Kate stayed behind to talk with Abby. The young woman was quieter than usual. She didn't have her music going and she seemed upset. Kate followed her into her office. They chatted for a few minutes over how dumb guys were and how they had to push the issue of where a relationship was going. Abby gave her a steady look before she asked the question that had been plaguing her.

"So, is Gibbs like that?" Kate raised an eyebrow, unsure if she should answer the question. It was Abby, her closest and best girlfriend. Who else was she going to tell?

"No. He doesn't push anything." It was Abby's turn to raise an eyebrow after she didn't elaborate. "He doesn't. We just kind of fall into place with each other. He tells me things when he's ready to tell me, and we both know that our relationship is going to go where it will go. Hopefully it goes to forever, but we're taking it day by day."

"Sounds perfect. But then, this is Gibbs we're talking about."

"True." They had a chuckle over the favorite man in their lives.

"So have you guys…"Abby trailed off, unsure if she should pursue that particular question with Kate.

"Slept together? Had Sex?" Kate could tell she was curious, but wanted to make her work for it a little more.

"I know you slept together. You told me when he spent the night at your house. Have you had sex yet?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And, what?" Kate said, standing up to leave.

"You just can't leave a girl hanging!" Abby exclaimed.

"Sure I can. But he doesn't." She called over her shoulder as she went out to catch the elevator. Abby smiled at her back.

"He must be really good." She mumbled to herself, feeling better after talking to Kate. Figuring that it was time to get back to work, she wandered back into her lab to start running tests on the failed D-link.

Abby called them back down about an hour later with the prints and the fact that the D-link was made of a weaker metal. She declared their case murder instead of an accident as they'd previously thought.

They headed out to the widow's house. Gibbs sent Kate to look around the house, while he and Tony checked out the garage. Tony started to tell him about the car, he shut him down. They didn't find much, and he hoped that Kate had better luck.

Kate talked with some of the Lieutenant's friends and observed the house. She noticed the pillow and blanket by the couch indicating he had problems with his wife. She thought for a few minutes that the priest, the Lieutenant's best friend, was flirting with her, but brushed it off as imagination.

They headed back to talk with the commanding officer. He pointed them in the direction of Petty Officer Vengal, who seemingly had a grudge against the Lieutenant. They talked with a few of the Lieutenant's team, specifically Vengal before heading back to NCIS to go over the evidence they'd collected at the scene. A CIA agent joined them, giving them some generic information about the mission that the Lieutenant was supposed to participate in. Abby came in a few minutes later with the results of the fingerprint analysis from the D-link. It came up as the Lieutenant's wife. All three of them rolled out to talk to the wife. Kate hated to upset the her over the questions they had to ask. The widow didn't like their questioning and guessed that Kate was unmarried, as she didn't know what it meant to pick up after a man who left a trail through the house.

"Her explanation made sense." Kate said as they were walking to the car.

"That doesn't mean she isn't guilty." Gibbs answered.

"You honestly think she had anything to do with it?"

"I've seen a single mother drown her children because her new boyfriend didn't like them. Nothing surprises me."

"Interesting how she pegged you for unmarried." Tony interjected into their conversation as he got into the car. Gibbs smirked at her. She only raised an eyebrow and got in as well.

Tony started to research PO Vengal as soon as they got back to NCIS. Gibbs sent him to bring Vengal in. Abby suddenly appeared and handed her and evidence bag containing the Lieutenant's cell phone. She said something about it going off while she was in the evidence locker and how it freaked her out. Kate pulled on some gloves and investigated. It was a text message from an e-mail account, which she had to explain to Gibbs.

"What if I wanted to get into that account?" Gibbs asked.

"Get a search warrant for the servers."

"We don't have time for a warrant. What's a quicker way?"

"Hack into the servers." He gave her that slightly devious little smirk, like the on he used on Tony after he was kidnapped. "I can't believe I said that. I never have suggested that before I started working here." He just continued to smile at her.

"You're welcome. Get McGee over here. Have him work with Abby…"

"Are you sure we need to do that?"

"You have a problem with McGee?"

"Not me." He raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"Abby and McGee have been dating, sort of, and he started pushing their relationship. Abby was not happy with him."

"Oh. Call McGee anyway. They'll get over it." She shook her head and called McGee. As soon as she was done the headed to the church to talk with Father Clannan.

The talked with the priest and as soon as his back was turned, Gibbs gave him a decidedly evil glare. He didn't like the way the priest had looked at Kate. It didn't matter that he was sworn to celibacy, he was flirting with her and that was unacceptable in his book. Kate had smiled at the priest, and in his heart he knew that he shouldn't be jealous, but he couldn't help it from blooming in his chest for a moment. He spotted the candles and walked over. He lit two before he rejoined Kate. She gave him a soft smile. She didn't have to ask whom they were for.

They regrouped on the evidence garage to go over the evidence again. They tried to figure out where it was leading them. Ducky brought them ice cream and tried to help as best he could. When he gave up and headed home, Kate had to let the fateful words drop out of her mouth.

"I wish I had a better idea of how this repelling worked."

"I have, kind of a crazy idea." Tony answered as Gibbs looked on.

"Those are never comforting words coming from you." Kate gave him an anxious look. Gibbs just smiled as they started to set her up to try repelling from the crane. She didn't want to try it, she just wanted to understand and she told them both so multiple times. She didn't like heights. She told them that too, closing her eyes multiple times and taking deep breaths to avoid panicking about where she was. Gibbs just made sure her harness was secure. Tony made comments about her guarding the President, but not being able to repel such a short distance. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. Gibbs leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"You're fine, Katie. We have you, and even if you don't trust Tony, trust me." He brushed his lips across her ear before he pushed her off the crane. When she reached the bottom she glared up at him. But as soon as she unhooked herself from the harness, it hit her what was wrong with the D-link. The Lieutenant should have noticed that it was lighter than the one that was usually used. That combined with the rest of their evidence solved the case. He hadn't been murdered, and it wasn't an accident. He had committed suicide. Gibbs sighed in sadness that it had to come to that for the young man.

They packed up the evidence and stowed it back in the locker. Kate followed them up to the bullpen a few minutes later, after she had changed back into her clothes and out of the jumpsuit she'd been wearing to repel. They did some paperwork until Gibbs told them to call it a night. She waited until Tony was gone before she approached him.

"Want to come home with me tonight?" She asked softly so as not to draw attention to them.

"I'll meet you there in a little while." He said equally soft. She nodded and headed out. He sat back in his chair and thought about the Lieutenant and sighed. It was such a waste. He turned his attention back to the papers littering his desk. He straightened them up a bit before he headed out himself.