She'd left it, just left it behind in his hands and gone. Granted she'd gone to follow his orders, but still he wouldn't have expected her to be so easily careless with something she treasured so dearly. Though, since DiNozzo had snooped through it and taken it so many times he doubted she kept private drawings in this one.

Attempting to be a gentleman for once, if only to see her shock when he told her honestly that he hadn't looked through it, he moved back to the bullpen and placed it on her desk. Then he sat down at his own and stared at it. He was never one for sticking his nose in where it didn't belong, no matter what his exes said. But it was like the book was calling to him, screaming at him to pick it back up and flick through the pages.

He looked around, McGee was stuck down in the garage with Abby; he knew they'd be down there for several more hours yet. DiNozzo was with Kate interviewing a suspect; they'd only left about twenty minutes ago and wouldn't be back for at least an hour.

He could look; he could look and still tell her he hadn't. He could take a quick look, tell her he hadn't and still get the look of disbelief before the shock set in. Kate was good like that and only in this room around these desks did she really open up and show what she was feeling and say what she was really thinking. There was no denying that he found her more beautiful and womanly when she was here and it made him wish he could get her like that alone - preferably in his bedroom, or hers if she wanted.

Giving in Gibbs got up and moved around his desk and dropped down in Kate's chair. He placed his hands on either side of the sketch book and looked at it. He'd seen a very accurate picture of Tony, a cute picture of Vampire Abby and he'd seen all the profile sketches she'd done over the last two years. He wondered how she drew him. When DiNozzo had started flicking through the pages and he'd seen him drool over a woman, he had started coming up with possible scenarios that she could draw him in. He wondered if any of them were accurate.

He flicked the cover open and took in the first picture. It was Abby, standing next to Kate, their arms around each other's shoulders and the lab in the background. On the inside of the cover was a photograph that looked exactly the same. He spent a moment seeing if there was anything out of place. Nothing.

He turned the pages passing pictures of Tony, McGee, Abby and Ducky before he found a blank page. A little disappointed he picked up the rest of the pad and flicked it over a page at a time to close it. As the back page flicked out of his fingers he caught sight of another drawing and quickly opened the book again.

His brow raised, his eyes fixed on the hand drawn picture on the very last page. It was more detailed than any other picture he'd seen her draw, the shadows and lines of his face and hair were finely done and he had to wonder if she'd spent just hours or days working on it.

Either way it was the image itself that gave him more of a shock.

He stood in the middle of a beautiful garden; his suit came with top hat and tails. Behind him, drawn into the garden sitting on chairs were the rest of the team. Abby in her best Goth dress, DiNozzo in a loose suit, McGee and Ducky dressed sharply and Palmer and the director closer to the back of the faceless crowd.

At his side, smooth skinned, hair done just so and her dress of the most beautiful of designs, was his bride. Kate Todd. His heart went wild with the idea. He'd only dreamed of this and here she was drawing her dream wedding - a marriage to him.

"Gibbs!'' Her voice was filled with horror and shock and she snatched the book up, flipped it closed and shoved it into her bag. He looked up at her face, red with embarrassment and a touch of shame. He stood, moving from her chair to stand beside her and leaned in closely to whisper in her ear.

"Maybe one day we can look at the photo,'' he said before moving back to his desk and returning to his work.