They were working on this case for two weeks now. A petty officer had been murdered in his house in Alexandria and they'd found a suspect who seemed to have a strange bond with him.
Gibbs suspected a drug trafficking but they hadn't found any proof yet.

So here they were, at 3 o'clock in the morning, in a car, in the middle of a residential area, keeping their suspect's house into surveillance.

This guy didn't seem to have a life ! It was the third night they were watching him and everyday, it was the same scenario : he would come back from work at 7 p.m. to only go out again the next morning to pick up his newspaper and go to work.

No visitor. Apparently no friends or family.

Kate would have felt sorry for him if his lack of private life wasn't dangerously encroaching upon her own.

It was not that she disliked going on a stake-out. Actually, she almost enjoyed it when she was with Gibbs like today.
Contrary to Tony, he was never the one who dozed off and being close to him for a few hours was always a pleasure, especially for a few months, their relation seemed to be stronger, more enjoyable and easier than ever.

He didn't seem to have a problem with her personal questions anymore, he still rarely answered them but easily tolerated her curiosity and smiled to her own sharing of stories and memories.

For her part, she now always let him finish her coffee and without any protesting groan or disgusted look anymore !
She felt comfortable with him and enjoyed every moment they shared.

But still, staying awake, watching a desperately quiet house, wasn't her favorite way of spending a night.

" Remember me why we're here. Nothing's ever gonna happen, Gibbs ! This place is hopelessly dead after 8 p.m." she sighed and blinked, trying to suppress a yawn.

" I know Kate ! But something's wrong with this guy, he's involved in strange business and we're definitely gonna find out…" he stopped, his stare suddenly focusing on their suspect's neighbour's house.

" What ?" Kate asked, turning her head, wondering what had drawn his attention away.

" What's this ? On the rooftop ?"

She finally found the spot that had obviously bothered Gibbs and smiled at his suspicious streak.

" This, Gibbs, is a teenage boy." She stated, matter-of-factly.

He turned to look at her in disbelief.

" And why would a teenage boy be on a roof at 3 a.m. ?"

" Don't tell me you never did that when you were young…er !"

He cocked an eyebrow at her and she wasn't sure if it was because of the situation or the slip of her tongue.
He stared at her, obviously waiting for an explanation as she smiled sweetly, a rush of memories popping in her head.

" I… used to do that a lot as a teenager."

" Really ?"

" Well" she continued ignoring the ‘do I have to worry about your mental health ?' look that appeared in his eyes. " you know, when you grow up with four siblings, especially three older brothers, it's not always easy to find a place to be alone ! And, okay I know it's seems weird… but a rooftop can be actually a good place to… be alone and… think."

The corner of his mouth lifted up and she recognized the familiar twinkling in his eyes, he was mocking her !

" Stop that !" she whined, indignantly.

" Stop what ?" he asked with mock incredulity.

" This… thing ! You're laughing at me !"

" Did you see me laughing ?" daring her to acquiesce with raised eyebrows and wide opened-eyes.

" Yeah, inwardly !" she replied smartly, narrowing her own brown eyes.

He chuckled softly at her indignation. It was way too easy !

" I told you to stop that !"

" Okay, okay." He shook his head, progressively regaining his seriousness.

Suddenly both their attention were drawn to a black BMW which parked in front of their suspect's house.
A stocky man slipped out of the car and was met by their suspect on the threshold.

" See I knew something was finally going to happen !" he smiled triumphantly, his attention focused on the mysterious visitor as she stuck her tongue out at him.

" Get that back in your mouth, Todd, and take photos !" he mumbled humorously still not looking at her.

She rolled her eyes and complied.

Gibbs just couldn't believe it !

He couldn't believe the man Kate and him had seen with their suspect, during the stake-out, was a well-known drug trafficker kept under surveillance by the FBI.

He couldn't believe how Director Morrow had ordered him to peacefully – he had strangely insisted on the word – share his investigation with the FBI.

And he couldn't believe he was here waiting for one of the FBI's drug unit's agent who apparently didn't value punctuality as he did.

Sometimes life really didn't like him !


Kate was down in Abby's lab and his two male agents were suspiciously quiet.

McGee had probably finally understood that his babbling could be really infuriating and it was the last thing Gibbs wanted to deal with when he was in such a bad mood.

And it seemed that Tony had finally learnt to simply shut up.
He knew how much Gibbs hated to share an investigation and it was worse when it was with the FBI so, for the time being, he just kept his mouth closed as much as possible.

The three agents were drawn away from their work when a tall, black-haired man in his early thirties went and stood in front of Gibbs' desk.
He was wearing the typical FBI's suit and tie and a totally untypical FBI's smile.

He extended his hand and offered it to Gibbs who just glared at it in response.

" You must be special agent Gibbs. Agent Mark Andrews, FBI. It's nice to meet you."

" You're late agent Andrews." was the only answer he received from the grouchy NCIS agent.

" Yeah, sorry agent Gibbs but I've been delayed at FBI headquarter by agent Fornell."

A smirk appeared on Gibbs' face at the mention of his ‘old friend's' name.

" For what ? A warning ?" he asked, cocking his head in a fake innocent expression.

" Hum… well…" the young man babbled, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

Taking pity on the FBI agent, Tony got up from his desk and extended his hand with a bright smile. He introduced himself to the newcomer as well as ‘Probie' who got up from his desk, giving Tony a look and shook agent Andrews' hand.

" Nice to meet you, agent Andrews !"

" Call me Mark, please !" he asked the three agents.

" Fine ! Now that the introductions are made maybe we could go back to work." Gibbs grunted, losing the little patience he still had.

" Actually, Mark hasn't met Kate yet, Boss" Tony added insolently as the female agent appeared behind agent Andrews.

Seeing her approached, Gibbs got up in an attempt to quickly introduce agent Andrews to her and eventually go back to their investigation.

" Agent Andrews, agent Ka…"

" Katie !" the young man blurted out, interrupting Gibbs when he finally turned to her.

Gibbs, Tony and McGee, surprised, looked at each other at the mention of Kate's nickname.
And Gibbs frowned at the mention of HIS nickname.
They quickly turned toward their colleague, expecting a hint of an answer to their obvious but unspoken questions.

Kate, for her part, didn't pay any attention to her co-workers. She couldn't believe Mark Andrews was actually in front of her. She hadn't seen the man for six years.
At that time, they were in love and engaged, ready to start a family. And, one day, he had received a job offer in the FBI's drug unit of Los Angeles, which was a great career move for him. Kate had been in the beginning of her career with the secret service and so had had to stay in Washington. It'd been, at this moment, they'd realized none of them was ready to give up their job for the other and most of all, none of them was ready to ask the other to give up his job.
He had take the job and so it'd been the end of both the engagement and the relationship.

And now, here he was, in front of her, in the middle of the bullpen ! She certainly hadn't expecting that when she'd waken up this morning !

" Mark… oh my god ! I can't believe it's you" she exclaimed softly, a smile crossing her features " What are you doing here ?" she asked as he took her in his arms.

" Well, working with you, apparently." He gently pulled back to look at her properly " You're absolutely stunning, you know !"

She blushed unaware of the three other agents still silent, amazed by the scene playing in front of them.

" Thank you. But I thought you were in California ?"

" And I thought you were with the secret service !" he replied, sharing an understanding smile with her.

They were interrupted by a sudden cough behind them and turned to see Gibbs with an expectant and impatient look as Tony walked toward them, a wide smile playing across his lips.

" So, hum… you two know each other !"

Gibbs wasn't in a good mood today and it was getting on everyone's nerves.
Actually, if he was honest with himself, he wasn't in a good mood for about a month, since FBI agent Mark Andrews came into his life and it was even worse since the same agent came back into Caitlin Todd's love life.

Their collaboration had been quite brief, with the FBI's information and his team's work, the case had been closed within a week during which he had taken time to thoroughly study Andrews' interaction with his female agent.

He'd heard all of their ‘Do you remember… ?' stories, noticed his deep knowledge of her family and inwardly grimaced at the thought of how her mother used to call him ‘her perfect son-in-law'. He had pretended not to listen or care but he'd heard all of that.

And everything had been worse the day they'd closed the case.

Tony and Abby had decided to celebrate the end of the investigation with a few drinks in a bar. They had invited agent Andrews and also asked Gibbs to join them. He'd surprised everyone including himself by agreeing to go with them.

Afterwards, he'd told himself, it wasn't to see what was going to happen between Kate and Andrews that he'd accepted.

That evening, they'd drank, talked and laughed. And after a fair amount of alcohol and a few dances, the ‘perfect couple' had been re-formed, his Kate and her cute FBI agent were getting back together in front of Tony, Ducky, Abby, McGee and himself !

And since that day, he had been unbearable.

He actually didn't know why exactly, but today was worse than usually.
This morning, Kate had appeared with a bright smile on her face and homemade cookies in hands and that was it !

He had barked, all day long, at everyone who'd crossed his path and especially at Kate who was still trying to figure out what she'd done wrong in the past weeks for him to be so pissed at her.


They were now the only ones left in the bullpen. McGee had quickly finished his case report and Tony had left early for a date, mouthing a sympathetic ‘Good luck' to Kate.

They were working in silence but the tension that had desperately drifted between them the whole day was still present.
Kate was the first to break the quietness and the seeming peace that reigned in the bullpen.

" Do you have Abby's note on the Truman's case ?" she simply asked.
As soon as she opened the mouth though, she heard a long sigh coming from her left, something that had happened an awful lot of times for a few weeks and that was already too much for her.

" Now that's enough !" she heard herself blurting out.

" Do you have a problem, agent Todd ?" Gibbs asked in a calm and controlled tone that only unnerved her more.

" A problem ? Do I have a problem ?" she couldn't help it but she couldn't stop herself now, it was about time to sort this thing out. " You're kidding me ! I'm not the one with a problem here, agent Gibbs !" she was almost yelling at him now and he was looking at her with a deadly glare.

" And what the hell make you think I have a problem !" he asked his voice turning sharp as his eyes narrowed slightly.

She moved around to stand in front of his desk and crossed her arms in a defensive posture.

" Oh, I don't know maybe the fact that you've been an unbearable bastard for a few weeks now or the fact that you don't even tolerate any word coming from my mouth anymore. I'd say that's pretty obvious that you've got a problem with me so I wanna know what the hell is the matter with you ?"

" I do not have a problem. Do I have to remember you who the boss here is, agent Todd ? If you still want to have a job when you'll leave this building, you'd better watch your tone with me. Do I make myself clear ?"

Ignoring his question, she quickly went back to her desk and gathered her stuff.

" I asked you a question agent Todd !" she heard him exclaimed from his desk as she turned her back on him. She then slowly turned around to look him in the eye.

" You know what ? Go to hell !" And with that she promptly stormed off, letting him no chance to stop her or reply.


****************************


When he'd called her she was on her way back to home, he'd asked her to come his apartment and she'd hesitated.
She was so angry with Gibbs, she was still fuming and she didn't want to see Mark in this mood and risk to have an argument with him as well.

But, right now, she really needed to see a friendly face.

She didn't understand Gibbs, she suffered his bad mood for about a month now. It seemed that it all began when Mark had come to work with them and Gibbs had been everything but friendly with him.
She'd first thought it was because he was a FBI agent but as days passed she'd started to wonder if the reason wasn't a little more… personal.

The elevator's door opened and Kate shook her head trying to get her boss out of her mind as she knocked at Mark's door.

" Hey honey ! Come in." he welcomed her, delivering a sweet kiss to her lips.

As she came into the apartment, she saw candles everywhere and a bottle of champagne on the table. She turned to face him, wanting to understand.

" This is beautiful, Mark… what's the occasion ?" she asked curious.

" I needed to talk to you, come on, have a seat." He took her cold hand in his warmer ones, gently kissed it and led her to the table.

" I've been thinking a lot recently. In fact, I've been thinking a lot since that day I finally saw you again, a month ago. I've realized how badly I screwed up six years ago. The most stupid thing I've ever done in my life was leaving you and I don't want something like that to ever happen again."

Kate was amazed and speechless, she had a feeling she knew exactly where he wanted to go, this was pretty obvious but she'd never thought he would do this so… soon.

" Katie, we've already wasted too much time, I want to go back to where we'd stopped six years ago."

He knelt in front of her and took a small red box out of his pocket, opening it to let her see a beautiful diamond ring.

" Kate, would you marry me ?"

Ducky had been the first to notice her engagement ring and he had immediately acted like the proud father.

He'd told her how he thought Mark was a good man and how truly happy he was for her. But yet, she had seen something behind his pleased gaze. She couldn't really put her finger on it but it seemed like something held him back to completely give in to pure joy about her decision.
She'd tried to ignore the question in his eyes though, there was no reason this wasn't the good choice.

Abby was really excited about the whole thing and had already begun to plan the wedding ceremonial, it seemed like the Goth had a romantic streak after all.

Tony, for his part, had acted exactly like her over-protective brothers had six years ago. Trying to know more about Mark, to make sure he was good enough for his ‘little sister'.

And she hadn't seen Gibbs, the whole day, she knew though that her not-so subtle co-workers had let the news slipped. Still, she didn't know what had been his reaction.

After their ‘little disagreement' the day before, she hadn't been able to get him out of her thoughts. Of course, since she'd met him, he'd always been in her mind, one way or another, but even when Mark had proposed to her, their argument had been in the back of her mind and she'd angrily wondered why she should care about a man so narrow-minded and unpleasant when she had, by her side, a nice man who wanted nothing more than to make her happy.

When she'd fallen asleep in her fiancé's arms, her thoughts were still for her stubborn boss and she'd begun to find this hold he could have over her, even when he wasn't actually with her, very frustrating.


She was looking for her keys in her purse when she heard a low voice behind her.

" I heard about the good news."

She turned around to be faced by the infuriating subject of her thoughts, just a few inches from her. She shrugged then slowly nodded.

" Hmm… yes."

He stared at her for a few seconds then took another step towards her and slowly raised his big right hand to take her small left one and examined the sparkling jewel.

" Nice !"

" Yes.. it is, thanks." She softly replied looking at their joined hands. " Gibbs… about yesterday…"

He sharply raised his head, looking at her angrily, memories of their previous discussion coming into his head.

" Yeah, Kate ? What do you have to say ?" his sharp tone cutting her apologies and she suddenly remembered all the reasons why she had been so angry at him the day before.

" Nothing, forget it !" she then turned toward her car, cursing him under her breath.

" Wait we haven't done with it !" his furious tone ringing out in the air.

Before she could reply, she felt a strong hand on her arm and her back hit her car's door, Gibbs' two powerful hands firmly held her face while he violently took her upper lip between his and sucked on it hungrily.

Kate, completely taken aback by his action, uncontrollably whimpered and opened her mouth, offering him more access. He immediately responded by taking possession of her mouth, entirely, his tongue unashamedly caressing hers as her hands lightly stroked his firm chest through his clothes.

They were caught up in the exploration of each other's mouth as their panting breathing filled the air around them. Kate forgot herself and the world apart from them as she tasted the most amazing kiss she'd ever received until she didn't feel his tongue in her mouth and his hands on her face anymore.

Her eyes, which had been closed as soon as she'd felt his lips against hers, progressively opened. For a few seconds she thought she could perceive some uncertainty in Gibbs' eyes until he quickly covered it with his traditional unreadable stare.

" It's late, go home !"

The order was given in a breathless voice as Gibbs was still feeling the aftermath of the kiss but the insensitivity of it let Kate shuddering and astonished.
What exactly had just happened here ?

Before she could even reply, he turned around and she was let alone in the middle of the parking lot with only the vision of his solid back disappearing toward the place where his own car might have been.

She finally opened her car's door, heavily fell on the seat, her head against the headrest, a hundred of questions filling her mind.


************************


The next morning, Kate left her apartment earlier than usually. She hadn't slept at all.
When she'd come back, yesterday, Mark was there waiting for her, she'd feigned an awful headache and gone to bed early.

But she hadn't slept. During the whole night, she'd been torn by contradictory emotions. The guilt for lying to Mark, the anger against Gibbs and most of all his attitude after the kiss but also an other feeling she couldn't really describe, the shiver that travelled her body every time she thought about the kiss and how truly and totally she'd responded to it.

These thoughts had kept her awake all night long and now she needed answers and only one person could give them to her.

That was the reason why she came to work an hour earlier than she usually would. She needed to see him alone to understand.
Had it been just an insignificant kiss ? Or did it really mean something to him ? Was Gibbs the kind of men who realized what they had when they lost it ?

The elevator's doors opened and she made her way to the bullpen, he was already (or still ?) there, sitting on his desk. As he heard footstep, he slowly raised his head making eye contact with her then returned to his work without a word for her.

But she wouldn't let him ignore her so easily, she went and stood in front of his desk, silently waiting.

" What ? he sharply asked, still concentrating on his report.

" Can we talk ?"

" About what ?"

She sighed loudly, he obviously wouldn't make it easy.

" Well, I don't know, what about… yesterday ?"

He put both his hands on his desk and slowly raised his eyes, speaking in a strong yet low voice.

" There's nothing to say."

" There's nothing to say ! That's your answer ?" she couldn't believe he'd actually said that.

" Listen, what happened yesterday was a mistake, okay, it was stupid, just forget it !" his tone, totally controlled, made her understand that his decision wasn't up for a debate.

Kate swallowed with difficulty and unwillingly acquiesced.

" Fine !" she sharply replied before heading back to the elevator, after all she still an hour and today she would need coffee, a lot of coffee.

Kate sighed, she really needed to finish this report, it was already 10 p.m. and everybody had left the office a while ago.
But she had too much in her mind and couldn't actually concentrate on the file in front of her.

She took a sip of her cold coffee and tried to focus on her report.

" Caitlin ?"

She jumped in her chair, startled by this sudden interruption.

" Ducky, oh god, you freaked me out, I didn't hear you coming !"

" I'm sorry, my dear. What are you still doing here ? It's pretty late. Shouldn't you be at home with young agent Andrews ?"

" Well, actually, Mark is in New York, he should be back tomorrow and I still have this report to finish."

" It's Saturday night, Caitlin, I'm sure you can do that tomorrow."

" Yeah but I'd rather finish it tonight and I've got some problem with it !"

" Working is always harder when you've got other things on your mind."

" What do you mean ?" she nervously asked, blinking a few times.
As he sat on the edge of her desk, she recognized the fatherly look she'd already seen an amount of times in this man's eyes. The look that always reminded her how much she trusted him.

" There are things you can't keep from an old man like me, Caitlin. I saw you quite disturbed lately and I do believe this have to do with Jethro, right ?"

She let out a deep breath. " Is it that obvious ?" The only answer she received was a tender smile encouraging her to talk to him.

" It's just… Ducky, I don't know where I stand anymore… with Gibbs, I mean, it's very frustrating. You know, since Mark is back, things are… tense to say the least. I tried to confront him about that, you know and…"

She stopped, hesitant, Gibbs wouldn't probably be glad if she told Ducky what had happened between the two of them.

" Go on Caitlin."

" I'm sorry I shouldn't bother you with this." She shook her head, trying to dismiss to both Ducky and herself how important this, actually, was for her.

" Caitlin I can see it disturbs you and you need to talk about it, you know you can trust me, don't you ?"

" Of course, Ducky ! It's just… Gibbs… Gibbs kissed me and then he just… denied it and well… I don't know what to do. Things are getting really complicated."

" Oh my ! Well, you know, Jethro is not an easy man…"

She smirked at that.

" That's an understatement !" And they softly chuckled.

" Well, yes my dear. Jethro has the strange habit of making things really difficult with people he cares about. It seems that the man can't have a simple relationship. But it doesn't mean that it's not worth it."

" That's exactly my problem, Ducky !" she retorted with a sad smile.

" Don't get me wrong I don't want to influence you because Jethro is my friend, but do you think it's wise to plan to marry a man when you're not sure about your feelings towards another one ?"

" No, of course not ! It's just… Mark is really a great guy and if I had married him six years ago we probably would be a happy couple with lovely children by now but I don't know if it's what I want today."

She groaned and took her head in her hands as Ducky gently patted her shoulder.

" You know I'm thinking of instituting my own rules and the first one would be ‘when it comes to feelings, use your heart and stop torturing yourself'" he told her with a chuckle " and you wouldn't be the only one who would need it." He finished in a mutter " Just think about it, I don't like to see you like that."

Suddenly, startling Ducky, Kate jumped out of her chair, quickly grabbed her things and kissed him on the cheek.

" Thanks Ducky !" she whispered to him before running toward the elevator.

" What are you doing… Caitlin ?" he asked quite confused by the sudden turn of events.

" Using my heart and stopping torturing myself !" she shouted before the elevator's door shut on her.

Left alone in the middle of the bullpen, Ducky smiled to himself.

" Good luck my dear, good luck !"

Gibbs heard an uncertain knock at his door.
Whoever it was, they would come back later, he wasn't in the mood for anyone, tonight.

But the knock was becoming more and more insistent, apparently, they wouldn't give up easily. He put the sander down and, sighing, climbed up the stairs.
He opened his front door and faced the last person he expected tonight.

" What are you doing here ?" his anger and confusion melting with a slight hint of hope in a strange feeling as he laid his eyes on her face.

Her own emotions were like a giant roller coaster. She couldn't find the words to answer to him properly so she did the only thing she was sure she really wanted.

As she linked her hands behind his head, stroking his silver hair, her lips took possession of his and her tongue started probing his mouth as a reminder of the first kiss he had instigated and that they'd shared just a day before.

He responded to her ‘attack' with equal passion, desire and force until he remembered that her left hand wore an object which, as small as it could be, meant that she belonged to another man, that she soon would become Mrs. Mark Andrews and that she really shouldn't be here, kissing her so-much older boss.

He suddenly put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back.

" Kate…"

She put a finger on his lips.

" Make love to me." he heard her murmured desperately.

He could read all the want, the need and the certainty of her request, in her deep brown eyes and he really wanted nothing more than to give her what she asked but there was still an obstacle to his surrender.

" What about Andrews ?" he asked in a low, deep whisper.

She slowly shook her head. " He's not the one I'm kissing tonight and he's not the one I want."

And he knew he shouldn't do this, he knew he shouldn't grant to her demand, he knew it couldn't lead him anywhere but he couldn't help it, not after tasting her sinful lips and staring deep into her eyes.

So he pushed her more violently this time and as her back hit the wall, he attacked her throat with eager tongue and teeth, his hands lowered on her sides to squeeze her hips while she lifted her legs, wrapped them around his waist and pulled him closer to feel the desire obviously growing with each second.

And as he groaned against her white neck when he felt her body closer to his, he knew he wouldn't stop.

He definitely wouldn't stop now that she was here, in his house, in his arms, offering herself to him.
So, he let Kate's sweet whimpers and his panting breath invade the usual quiet air of his house.

Kate stirred and turned, a strong pair of arms around her waist.

The previous night had been the most furious, full of wanton desire and fulfilled dreams, night she'd ever experienced.

She'd never, in her whole life, come so many times and felt so complete.

It was as if they'd never had enough of each other. They had needed more and more and more… . So they'd taken everything and more until they'd collapsed exhausted but satiated.

Looking at the man peacefully asleep now next to her, she couldn't help but let her mind wandered back to each moment of the previous night.

His rough and powerful hands travelling every inch of her body, his words echoing in her ears and her, losing herself in his loving, protective and possessive blue eyes.

Satisfied by the vision of Gibbs lying close to her and still tired by their night activities, her left cheek and right hand on his bare chest as one of his hands was pressing against the small of her back, she calmly went back to sleep.


***************************


When she woke up again, she felt a caring hand stroking her hair.

" Good morning !" she heard a low and gentle voice telling her and opened her eyes which fell on Gibbs' intense stare. A smile instantly appeared on her face.

" Hmmm morning !"

Gibbs was sitting, fully clothed, at the edge of the bed and as he leaned down to meet her lips, her nose captured a strong smell of sawdust. He'd already found time to work on his boat !

" What time is it ?" she asked in a hoarse voice and he smirked at her.
God she loved that smirk. God, she wanted him so much right now.

" Already 10 o'clock, you're damn lucky it's Sunday ‘cause you would have need a hell of an excuse to come to work this late !"

" Well I have the best one, you wore me out !" trying to sound reproachful but miserably failing.

" Yep, can I help it if I'm that good ?" he replied, his smirk still firmly in place.

She grabbed his collar with both hands and led him toward her so he could feel every inch of her naked body through his clothes and as his lips brushed hers she murmured a languorous "shut up" before closing the gap and tasting his coffee-breathed mouth, feeling his smile against her lips.

They were so caught up in the moment and in each other's skin that they nearly missed the ringing of a phone which suddenly broke the peace of this sweet Sunday morning in Gibbs's bedroom.

" It's mine." Kate whispered as Gibbs' mouth was dangerously close to her left nipple.

He sighed loudly the pulled back and sat up in the bed as Kate reached the clothes they'd carelessly discarded at the foot of the bed last night.

She finally found the damn object and opened it to find out who decided to disturb their perfect morning.

A ray of light entered the room and Gibbs' eyes suddenly fell on the twinkling ring on Kate's left hand.

He had succeeded in avoiding it during the whole night but in the morning light it seemed bigger and more sparkling than ever and his attention was uncontrollably drawn to it.

And all of a sudden he knew who was calling Kate, why she wore that guilty look on her face and why she still hadn't answered her phone.

As the person at the other end of the phone finally gave up, an awkward silence fell in the room.

Gibbs felt his jealousy progressively growing and Kate couldn't even look him in the eye. He knew that actually asking the question would lead in suffering, again, but he needed to hear it from her lips.

" Who was it ?"

She instantly knew, at this instant, that their magic little morning was over. Why did he have to ask ?

" It was… it was Mark." She murmured, slowly raising her head to look in two icy and piercing eyes.

" Well you should probably call him back, you don't want him to worry too much, huh ?" his tone becoming more bitter with every words.

" Gibbs…"

" What Kate ? We both had what we wanted, now we can go back to our lives. You can use the shower if you want and close the door when you leave."

And with that he left the room and a few seconds later she heard his basement's door being violently slammed.
She passed a nervous hand in her hair.

What the hell was wrong with that man ?
She knew he didn't want just a one night stand. If the way he had touched her, kissed her, looked at her and marked her during their night was any indication he wanted her for a long time, a very long time.

So what ? Hadn't she made it clear last night ? Hadn't he understood what he meant to her ?

Sure men were obtuse, thick and blind about this kind of things but how could a man like Gibbs, with his experience and his investigative skills, be just like other men and not see what she'd given to him by coming last night ?

As she parked her car close to her building, Kate couldn't help but think about Gibbs and his reaction to the phone call.
He was obviously jealous and, actually, he had every right to be.

But she decided she wouldn't see him again before she had a real conversation with Mark. She'd already gone too far, it wasn't like her to betray people's trust and he deserved a better treatment. Actually, they both deserved a better treatment and she had to clarify the situation.

As she saw her fiancé's car parked next to hers, she realized she would have to confront him earlier than expected. But maybe it was better like that.

She took a deep breath and climbed up the stairs.

As she arrived on the third floor, she slowly opened her door and noticed his tall figure sat on her couch, nervously travelling through the numerous channels on her TV.

" Good morning." She called softly.

He slowly got up and walked toward her to deliver her a very chaste kiss. She barely felt it but the smaller gesture of affection felt now like the worst sin and the biggest lie she'd ever told.

" Morning… honey." He replied sceptically.

He knew, right ? He seemed to question her with his eyes, he obviously wanted an answer from her and she didn't even know the question.
She gradually felt more and more uncomfortable in her own apartment. Damn, did he know ?

" Where were you Kate ? I came back earlier than I expected from New York, I was here at 2 a.m. and you weren't there. Now, you're here and you barely look me in the eye ! What's up Kate ?"

" Mark… we need to talk."


***********************

" Hey Kate, where's your ring ?"

Abby's sudden question was quickly replaced by an awkward silence in the Goth's lab and four pairs of eyes fell on the female agent.

Her conversation with Mark had been long and painful, he had obviously been really hurt and she'd felt like the most horrible person in the world.

She hadn't wanted to reveal to him who the mysterious man was but he had seemed to already know.

He had seen the tension between Gibbs and Kate during the time he worked with them and quickly understood that there was more.

Maybe it was the why reason he proposed so quickly to her, afraid he would lose her again.

He'd left at the end of the afternoon, her ring in his pocket, bitterly wishing her a happy life and she had spent the rest of the day crying on her couch after having make another man suffer.


When she'd arrived this morning, Gibbs had simply avoided her as much as possible, making sure he was always far from his desk and hers the whole morning and had drunk his daily amount of caffeine in two hours.

Apparently he didn't want to deal with her at all and had done quite a good job at that until Abby had called them all in her lab for a lead on the case they were working on and he hadn't had a choice.

But as he's entered the elevator with Tony, McGee and her, he'd made sure she was as far as possible from him.

She was hurt, of course, by his attitude, or lack of, toward her but could she really blame him for that ?

Coming back to the present, she realized that everyone was still watching her, patiently waiting for an answer.

" Well… Mark and I… we… broke up, yesterday." She nervously announced, raising her head towards Gibbs and staring at him in an attempt to gauge his reaction.

His expression was softer than his usual one, with a hint of hope but most of all, she could perceive a complete incredulity and a real surprise.

It seemed that he hadn't expected that and didn't know what to do with the news.

" I'm sorry Kate, you okay ?"

Locking eyes with Gibbs, she replied to Tony's compassionate question.

" I'm fine, don't worry about that."

Abby's arm snaking around her shoulders and her wet kiss on her left cheek suddenly subconsciously broke the spell between Gibbs and her and a small smile on her face she slowly turned her head toward her friend.

" Thanks Abbs !"

" Abbs, the prints ?"

" Ummm… ? Oh sure Gibbs."

He climbed up the stairs of the quiet building for the first time in a while.

He remembered in the past when they were going on a stake-out, he was happily coming here, enjoying witnessing a little part of her private life, her looking for her keys, turning off the lights of her apartment, patting Toni, her dog, on the head and adorably speaking to her with her baby-voice.

But since Andrews had come back in her life, he hadn't been in her apartment.

He just hadn't wanted to have to watch the two of them kissing goodbye, to witness his promise to be there when she'd be back and hers to be careful so she could be soon in his arms again.

His imagination already did a pretty good job, he really hadn't needed to see the real deal.

But today was different. He was there, in front of her apartment's door to talk to her about their relationship and Andrews was no longer an obstacle between them.

He knocked at the door and heard no sound on the other side. He tried again with a stronger knock and still got nothing.

He couldn't believe that, he came here and she just… wasn't there !
He'd had to swallow back his pride to take his car and come here, damn it ! She couldn't just don't be there !

When he'd heard, in the lab, that she'd broken up with her FBI agent, it'd really been a shock to him. His jealous and possessive streak really, really loved the news but he wasn't actually sure what to think about this information.

What did it really mean ? Had agent Andrews found out what happened between them and decided he couldn't forgive her betrayal ? Or had it been her who had rejected him after the night they had shared ?

He didn't know and it slowly drove him crazy.

He needed an answer, he needed to know where they were and most of all, he needed to see her, far from the office.

He was still waiting on the doorway when he heard a sound behind him. He turned around in time to see a teenager coming out of an apartment.

" Hey, you're looking for Kate ? She's on the…"

" Rooftop ?"

" Yep ! She's doing this a lot lately !" he exclaimed before disappearing down the stairs.


***********************


He gently opened the door which, to his relief, creaked with the movement, letting her know she had some company.
The last thing he wanted was to startle her while she was perched on a five storied building.

He found her sitting on the edge of the roof, a cigarette burning out between her fingers, her hair flying in the wind.

He'd never seen a prettier sight.

When she'd heard the door opening he'd seen her shoulders tensed but immediately relaxed when she'd heard his footstep toward her.

Had she recognized his footstep and immediately felt safe ?

He slowly moved forward to found himself standing right next to her. She still hadn't acknowledged his presence but instead she quietly drew on her cigarette, little circles of smoke coming out of the same mouth he had felt on his, the one which had tenderly tasted every inches of his skin and successfully found every sensitive spots of his body only two nights before.

" You don't plan on jumping, do you ?" he asked humorously.

She smiled to herself, slowly shaking her head.

" No, but you could accidentally fall !" she threatened him in the same tone, still staring into space.

" I take the risk."

" It's your life !" she replied, stubbing her cigarette against the concrete.

He chuckled quietly, she probably would do it if she was really angry at him, he would thank God later that she wasn't.

" It's pretty high ! I suppose your parents' house wasn't that… tall, right ?"

" No… but tell me, is it possible that big bad agent Gibbs suffers from vertigo ?" smirking at him.

" Nope, it was just a statement."

" Sure !"

" Kate," he continued and she detected a sudden seriousness that wasn't there just five seconds before " you okay ? I mean after what happened with Mark…"

" Yeah," she replied softly without looking at him " I just realized, I can't marry a man when I'm obviously in love with another one."

Taken aback by her revelation, Gibbs slowly nodded. He hadn't thought she would be this direct but, after all, it seemed that this woman lived to daily surprise him and she always did quite a good job. When he could speak again, he realized he couldn't be just that… frank with her, at least not yet.

" You know, about yesterday… the way I've reacted… it was…"

" legitimate ?" she turned her head to finally look him in the eyes.

" What ? Really ?"

" Yeah, Gibbs. The way I acted, it was not fair to you."

" Do you regret…"

" No !" she interrupted him loudly then resumed softer " No, I should have clarified the situation with Mark before but I do – not – regret."

A smile appeared on Gibbs' feature.

" Neither do I."

A comfortable silence fell between Kate and Gibbs as they quietly studied each other, their eyes filled with deep affection and the same desire they had released two days before, until Gibbs gently offered his hand to Kate who looked at him quizzically.

He didn't answer to her unspoken question and just extended his hand a little more. She grabbed it, feeling the sensation of his skin against hers for the first time since he had made love to her and a sudden heat rose from her hand directly to her cheeks.

They were now standing only a few inches from each other, their eyes still locked.

Gibbs took a step towards her, his hands cupping her face, his mouth moving forward until their lips touched. Soon Kate felt his tongue against her lips silently asking permission and she happily complied. What had meant to be a sweet and quick kiss grew in a much more passionate one, letting each other felt the feelings, the want and the need they shared, memories of their night crossing both their minds.

When the need for air became too strong to be ignored, they reluctantly tore away from each other.

Kate had her arms around Gibbs's neck as he stroked the small of her back in small and slow motions.

" I love you too, Kate." He whispered, his eyes never leaving hers.

" It's about time Gibbs !"

He pursed his lips and disapprovingly shook his head.

" What ?" she wondered, frowning.

He tilted his head and moved his lips forward until they brushed her right ear and answered in a murmur.

" Jethro."

She smiled against his neck and delicately kissed it.

" It's about time, Jethro."

THE END.