Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Spoilers: "Call of Silence"

A/N: I lied only 4 chapters. It's totally done now. Don't ask for anymore. I'm done,

All The Elevators In Between

Chapter 29

Kate returned to her desk. She'd been feeling off all morning. To her surprise there was an elderly gentleman sitting at Tony's desk. Gibbs is already barking orders. He has Tony looking after them man, and McGee looking for 911 call logs. He asks Kate to pull his service record. He has a question in his eyes, asking if she's ok, knowing that he can't voice it out loud. She nods.

"He's a former Marine, probably WWII. Corporal Ernest Yost. Dig up his SRB." Gibbs orders.

"Got his Social Security number?"

"They didn't use them for serial numbers when he served."

"So how am I supposed to get his SRB without his serial number?"

"Well, Kate, you could ask him."

"Gibbs, I doubt that he could remember his shoe size..." She answered giving the man across from her a sad look.

"Corporal Yost!" Gibbs barks.

"Yo!" The man stands at attention suddenly.

"Serial number!"

"3-3-0-0-9-0, sir!"

"Or, you could just look him up under Medal of Honor recipients." Gibbs looks amused. He loves her, but Kate was not from a military background. He waits until Tony has taken the man to get a drink of water before he reviews McGee's findings and the file that Kate pulled. He can tell already that the man has some form of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. He takes Yost's gun down to Abby for her to test. He needs to know all the facts so that he can put this man's mind to rest.

Ducky matches the weapon to the mark on Kean's head. It would appear the Yost had killed his friend. Tony discovered that Kean had been seeing Yost's late wife before she married Yost. It gave the man motive. Gibbs didn't believe that Yost killed the man maliciously. It just didn't fit. Ducky pointed out that Kean had his legs blown off by a landmine, and that it was possible he had been hit to keep him quiet. Gibbs felt almost relieved, but knew there was more to it. When he came back up to the bullpen, Yost was dancing with Kate. Kate had tears in her eyes. He wondered about her. She had been more emotional lately and the other morning. He hoped she was ok. Yost appeared to be whispering something in her ear. It caused the tears to fall a little faster but she nodded, and then shook her head. He really hoped she was ok then.

It took ages for them to track down the truth, but in the end, Yost was proven innocent, and it was ruled that Kean was killed in action. After taking Yost to dinner, Gibbs finally made it home. Kate was waiting for him. She was sitting at the kitchen table. He knew something had been bothering her after her dance with Yost. She had been distracted and mostly useless at work. He asked her to move in with him when they got back from the wedding 6 months before. Things had been perfect between them since then. He hoped that she wasn't leaving him.

"Hey. What's going on?" He asked sitting next to her.

"I need to tell you something." She answered. He motioned for her to continue. "Well, remember when we talked about kids? And you said maybe later?" He nodded. "Well later is going to be sooner than we thought. I'm pregnant." Gibbs looked shell shocked for a moment. A baby. They were going to have a baby. It finally hit him, like a bat between the eyes.

"We're having a baby."

"Yes." His smile was so big he felt like his face might break.

"Marry me Katie?" She looked shocked.

"Um, yes." He pulled a ring out of his pocket. He'd been carrying it around for a month trying to find the right time to ask her.

"I love you, Kate. I can't wait to be a family."

"I love you too Gibbs." He pulled her up into a hug before kissing her soundly then just holding her close. She sighed in reveling in his embrace and the fact that they had created a new life. Then another thought hit her.

"Ah hell. Tony is going to have a field day with his." Gibbs just laughed in her ear.