Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Spoilers: Reveille

A/N: A third chapter! This is almost unprecedented. :D Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

All The Elevators In Between

Chapter 20

It was nice to walk with each other in the early morning sunshine. Kate could almost pretend that they weren't going to catch murderers, that they were a normal couple taking a stroll. She wondered what it would be like to just walk with Gibbs, or get away somewhere, just the two of them, no destination, and no threat of a case popping up. She figured it would be something akin to heaven. Sadly her phone rang just as they arrived at his car, breaking the easy silence between them. Kate glanced at the caller ID and sighed. It was her mother.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Caitlyn." Her mother already sounded exasperated about something or someone.

"I'm on my way to work, Mom. What do you need?"

"Will you be coming to Deborah's wedding?"

"I haven't decided yet. And without an invitation, I don't know what dates to set aside."

"Your invitation went out yesterday. I mailed it myself."

"Does Deb even want me there? Have you asked her?"

"I shouldn't have to, you are her sister. I wish the two of you would stop fighting."

"We haven't fought in years, Mom. You can't fight with someone you don't speak to."

"I know. That's the problem."

"I can't get into this right now. I just got to work."

"Ok. Please call me later Caitlyn. I never get to speak to you. I miss you."

"I miss you too, Mom."

"I love you Caitlyn, even when you can't be civil with your siblings."

"I love you too, Mom." Kate hung up the phone and looked at Gibbs, who had taken one hand off the wheel and was caressing her thigh in comfort.

"You ok?" He asked.

"I was. Today started out so nice. Waking up with you, a wonderful run, coffee and a short walk in the sunshine. And then that!" She gestured with the phone in her hand.

"Will you go to the wedding?"

"Probably. If only to be a buffer between George and the rest of my family." She eyed him speculatively as they made their way into the elevator.

"What?"

"Would you go with me if I did go?" The look he gave her said everything from 'hell no' to 'I wish I could' to 'I wouldn't miss it for the world' before finally settling on 'we can't'.

"You know we can't." He said softly, switching the elevator off. She sighed.

"I know. That would be letting the cat out of the bag, wouldn't it?" He nodded in agreement.

"We've been fairly discrete until now. But that would be like erecting a neon sign above our heads."

"I know." She thought for a moment. "I could transfer to another team."

"No." His tone was emphatic and there was something a little wild in his eyes.

"We could be together openly then."

"I'm not ready to lose you from my team yet. I don't want to lose you at all." He sighed, obviously conflicted. "Let's take it one day at a time. Ok?"

"Yeah." She gave him an easy smile and switched on the elevator. She could accept that for the moment, but things would have to change eventually. She loved him too much to hide it forever.

They each started their own set of work. Gibbs was still running the facial recognition software to find the terrorist that Kate had killed. He stared at the screen blankly, lost in thought. He wondered if it would be so bad to be open about his relationship with Kate. He knew Abby and Ducky knew, which meant it was possible that Tony knew. He wasn't sure about Ducky's new assistant, Palmer, or McGee for that matter, but they were least likely to know or care. He wondered what the Director would think. His thoughts were interrupted by his search program. True to McGee form, the programming he and Abby had added to the facial recognition software had sped up the process and they now had a name to work with. Tony and Kate both looked to him, curiosity and surprise showing in their eyes and faces.

"His name was Ari Haswari. He was a Hamas agent." Tony and Gibbs turned to look at Kate with a little bit of pride in their eyes. Not only had she taken down a terrorist, but she had surprised one of the better trained ones. But then she had been trained to protect the President. Gibbs smiled at her and nodded, before ordering them back to work. He looked over the information provided. Most of it was classified by the FBI, so he put in a call to Fornell.

Less than an hour later, Fornell stepped off the elevator. Despite the animosity that they displayed with each other, they were actually good friends. Neither man had all that many, so both coveted the few that they could keep. He trusted Fornell for the most part, which was more than he could say for anyone beyond his team and a few select others. He knew the man could be trusted to watch his back, just as he would do the same for him if he needed it. Hell, they even shared an ex-wife, Stephanie, who had married Fornell after she divorced Gibbs. They had a beautiful daughter. He felt a twinge over that, since their own had broken up over the loss of their baby. Gibbs took Fornell down to Autopsy and showed him the body of Haswari.

"Jethro, you said you found the man, not that he was dead. What happened?"

"He took over Autopsy, trying to get back evidence from a crime scene. He had Ducky, his assistant Gerald, and Agent Todd in here. He shot Gerald in the shoulder. Kate waited until his back was turned and palmed a scalpel. She went to stab him in the chest, but he blocked her and pulled her close. He was wearing body armor, so she tried again, and stabbed him in the neck. He bled out."

"You know he was Hamas? And she did that?" Gibbs nodded affirmative to both questions. "She was Secret Service, wasn't she? That's where we both met her, on Air Force One. Damn, now I wish I had snagged her. Lucky bastard." They slid the drawer shut and headed back to the elevator.

"Will you notify his family, next of kin? Does he have next of kin?" Fornell nodded.

"We have some information on who to notify. Someone will probably be by to collect his body in a week or so." Gibbs nodded. Fornell stayed on the elevator when he stepped off on his floor.

"Good to see you Tobias."

"You too Jethro."

He headed to his desk. Tony was out. Kate looked up at him with a smile.

"How do you know Agent Fornell?"

"I've worked a few cases with him over the years. Stephanie married him after we divorced. I warned him, but he didn't listen. They divorced a few years ago. They have a daughter. Now we commiserate over being married to her. He's a good man. But if you tell him I said that, I will deny everything." She nodded with a laugh.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. It was kind of nice to be able to just work in the office. Gibbs was a little restless, but she knew he thrived on the energy needed for a case, even though he hated the reasons for having a case.

That night they went home to separate houses. Kate needed to call her mother, and he needed more time to think about where they were taking their relationship.