Kate is humming softly. The song she is humming, is “Love is in the air” by Air Supply. She must have listened to it as she fell asleep with her Ipod still on. Warm water is running through her shampooed hair and over her body. Oh yeah, the quarters were very quiet last night, for once DiNozzo didn't snore or maybe she slept too soundly.
Despite of a hard day ahead of them she refuses to think about it. Last night, Gibbs scheduled them to have the earliest breakfast of their lives. It would be just coffee and more coffee.
The cafeteria is closed still and fortunately she has a couple of cereal bars and an apple in her backpack. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, she is not skipping it,having learnt from experience they might miss lunch.
So, as she hums along in the shower, she vaguely notices another hum which is getting louder and clearer by the seconds. ”Impossible,” she tells herself. She stops humming and she can still hear the additional hum " definitely not hers! She opens the shower curtain, then:
“Kate, you sound awful.” It's DiNozzo’s voice!
Kate's shrill scream can be heard from the outside halls of their quarters.
“What the hell are you doing here, Tony???!!!!!”
“Brushing my teeth!” He answers her, incredulously.
“But…but…I am showering here!” she covers herself pathetically with the milky white shower curtain.
“You take too long, Kate. Gibbs is going to kick our asses if we are late,” he protests.
“Tony! Get out!!!” she screams again.
“Oh, come on, Kate. Its not that I’ve never seen a woman’s body before,” Tony teases her, looking at her face which is getting redder by the second, it must be because of the hot steam or because she is annoyed.
Then Tony does the unthinkable, he threatens to pull the shower curtain from Kate's strong grip, just like he used to tease one of his older sisters.
Meanwhile, in the next room at the end of the hallway, Gibbs is just returning from his run, all sweaty and breathing deeply. He grabs a bottle of water and drinks eagerly still focused in what he has been thinking during his run. He used to think of the cases during physical training, and this method always gave great results to him.
As his breathing and heartbeat reach the equilibrium point his brain works actively and what seemed to be isolated pieces before, starts to come together as a perfectly built puzzle. Oh yes, his three mile run really helped him today, not just about the case but to make his body get tired enough to forget Kate’s body…Kate’s eyes… Kate’s…
”Damn!!! Just forget her, Jethro!” and he gulps from his bottle and drops the remnants of water over his head and face, feeling the bliss of the cold liquid refreshing his heated skin. “Good," he sighs contentedly.
He finally got a good night's sleep last night. He accepted the offer and moved to the “Dolphin Siren”. The cabin was small but comfortable and the little creaks of the wood hull sound that he loves so much and the slight pitching of the boat cradled him to sleep.
He woke up when the horizon started to turn pale and the sky still showed its star tapestry. He didn't have to cope with DiNozzo’s snoring or Kate’s closeness and the coffee pot had been waiting to bless him. Oh yeah, definitely good. Better than his normal sleeping under the skeleton of his boat in his sawdust smelling basement.
He hadn’t seen Sedna last night, he kept working with the evidence and Abby’s primary results at their “quarters” very late and came back to the boat when all was silent and peaceful.
He recalls briefly the moment he passed by the door of the Captain's (why is Captain with a capital C? If there is a good enough reason, it can stay that way) cabin and smirks. The door was open to let the oceanic breeze in.
He was surprised by a whiny sound. His curiosity won and he stepped back and peered inside carefully. Sedna was sleeping peacefully, spread on her weird round bed. Her copper hair shone against the pillow in the limited light. She was wearing an old shirt that just covered her butt, leaving her tanned legs completely exposed. But it wasn't THIS had attracted his sight.
From over her shoulder a small triangular head with darker tall ears and dark fur “glasses” around the amazing blue eyesrose - following the head a long and slender body appeared as the Siamese cat stood up and then sat and stayed there, looking at him. Two pairs of blue eyes locked and the cat gave another “meow” sound.
This time, showing the pink gums and white teeth. He doesn’t like cats. So he quickly leads his way up - as he hears Sedna’s voice murmuring: “Blaise, stay still!”
He smirks and wonders what the CO Smithers would think of “Blaise”.
Suddenly his perfect paradise is broken. By a sharp little scream coming from the near bathroom. It’s Kate’s voice. No doubts at all. “What the hell is…” swiping the excess water from his face he directed his steps to where the scream came from, and the scene he sees there makes his recently reconstructed balance give up and fail miserably.
Kate just screamed again - shrilly - and the sound of it is stopped by the slam of the bathroom door. They could have sworn that the small mirror that hangs on the wall rattled badly from the impact of the slammed door.
DiNozzo’s mouth is still foamy with the toothpaste. His toothbrush is still hanging from his mouth.
“DiNozzo! Get out from here now! Or…you’ll be sorry!” Gibbs growls at him in rage.
Kate looks like she is about to cry, hiding behind the feeble shower curtain.
Sure - her naked wet body is covered by the flimsy plastic material, BUT Gibbs can see the silhouette of her naked body, he witnesses the curves ofher breasts and the scene fuels his anger, even more towards his Italian imp agent. For once, his anger is stronger than his desire for her.
Thank God, DiNozzo is NOT stupid enough to argue with his boss.
He doesn’t argue with Gibbs, he doesn’t give any excuse for his behavior. He just proves thathis boss is rather possessive and overtly protective towards his female agent. But he thinks that is something more, something that has been growing silently under his nose and that he didn’t perceive before, something weird. Is it possible that his boss was attracted to their young, pretty partner? And what about her?
Tony looks at his colleague, who is more and more disturbed by the second, trying to roll the thin curtain around her body. “Ok,” thinks DiNozzo: “Isn't it her, who has prejudices against relationships with coworkers, as she was involved with Major Kerry the first moment they met her at the Air Force One?
So what? If nothing had happened it is only because of Gibbs' crap “rule number12”
If the old boy is fighting himself to break or not to break the infamous rule, it is not his problem. Oh right, it is not HIS problem.
And DiNozzo for once, understands that life is not so easy and free for everyone as it is for him. He promises himself to be careful in the future. And to stop teasing her - at least in front of him.
Then:
McGee’s head pops into the scene, from the opened, actually slammeddoor. “What’s going…” he stops talking, he is looking at:
Kate " naked in the shower, just covered by the curtain. What a sight!
Tony " with white foam in his mouth, like a dog with rabies.
Gibbs " enraged!
All inside the very cramped 5x5 bathroom.
And Kate screams again; frustrated, embarrassed!
“GET OUT!!! All of you!!!!" As Gibbs shoves Tony out of the bathroom, he places his hand on McGee’s face and pushes the geek agent who just arrived on the scene, out of the bathroom too.
Fifteen minutes later:
Kate comes out of the bathroom, looking madder than ever " storming out of the head, with just her short towel wrapped around her wet body. “This is madness!!!” and she enters her room, slamming the door closed.
This was the way the day started and things seem to get more and more complicated by second. Gibbs was in a meeting with Smithers, the CO, and the meeting ran longer than they thought it would be. The CO requested to talk with Gibbs alone. That‘s why the rest of the team is waiting outside his office and there are not exactly kind faces around there.
The entire thing began with Gibbs ordering them to confiscate all the personal computers, notebooks, palmtops, iPods and mobiles belonging to the NMMP staff and all who had been involved withdolphin training, transport and management. The table in Dunn’s office was obviously insufficient and a set of shelves had been installed.
Sedna hadn’t had anything to say about the extra space they required in her room or the extra security guard behind her door. Oh yeah, thinks DiNozzo. The boss man couldn’t handle most of this gear, except for a mobile phone but he is very, very good at guessing what they would be used for.
McGee is now working on the pile of tech instruments with Abby's help from headquarters and the rest of the team left them immersed in Geek world. Tony and Kate are waiting for their boss to finish the conference with the CO.
Tony tries to eavesdrop, but just a few words are coming trough the thick walls, and all belong to the CO. Bad thing, he guesses. A pissed off Gibbs talking in a loud voice is not good, but Gibbs talking slow and low is even worse.
Kate says nothing. She is reviewing her notes and sending erratic glances to the closed door in front of her. Her boss is in a really bad mood today, he woke up very early and seems to be evading any conversation with them except the concise orders he had given with the type of voice that doesn’t tolerate any replies or disagreement.
Suddenly the main door opens and the big body of Capt. Stolzer strides into the hall, shutting the door a bit too hard for military decorum. He salutes the CO's assistant who announces him by the intercom and goes into the CO's, ignoring Tony but giving Kate an almost imperceptible but kind smile that she returns more than imperceptibly, notes Tony.
He waits for the bear to enter the CO's office and to shut the door behind him, before starting to tease her: “Would you smile at him if Gibbs was here, Kate?”
She looks annoyed; after giving a quick look at the assistant who is answering the phone, she darts to Tony: “It’s none of your business and it’s my right to smile or not at whom I decide to, Tony!”
His laugh is more than imperceptible: "Ha!!! I want to see you doing it in front of Gibbs, sweetie.”
“What, Tony? Are you jealous, too?” she replies sharply and Tony’s eyes shines scornfully at her. Kate wishes she had just bitten her tongue before she said that. Tony could come to a conclusion very fast regarding her and Gibbs and did.
She is waiting for his reply and searching for an accurate answer when the door of the CO's office is opened again and everybody that were in the office, exits it. Gibbs' face is unreadable but Capt. Stolzer's attitude is more stuck up than ever and the CO calls his assistant and gives him a series of orders. Kate keeps looking at her boss. Apparently, he convinced the CO to permit them to visit the Crime Scene.
---------------------------------------------------
The permission included some restrictions, though. Dr Dunn was authorized to go there with them, on board the “Dolphin Siren”, but she was not authorized to dive there. In order to make their task easier, Capt. Stolzer will escort them, even underwater, with his best diver, one of his beloved SEALs.
Gibbs was sure than the addition of the Captain, was not to ensure their safety and give support to the investigation of the area so much as to control them and then report to the CO what the hell they pretended to find down there.
Tony’s eyes follow his Boss going outside, slamming the door open, as he barks at them over his shoulder: “Grab your gear and come on board! Get McGee!” then he disappears on his way to Sedna’s boat.
Kate keeps looking at the opened door and then risks a glance at Tony, saying: "Wow!”
“Boss is really pissed off, Kate,” Tony mutters as he rolls his eyes to where Stolzer is on the phone calling his men. “I wonder why he hates Capt Stolzer. What do you think, Kate?”
Kate perceives no mocking tone in his voice, nor in his shining eyes as he peers at her, arching his brow. She looks at him seriously. If he can act, so does she. “Don’t know, Tony. Maybe his gut is telling him something?”
There is much activity on board the Dolphin siren. The two members of Dunn’s crew are folding the sails. They are going to use the engines, Kate guesses. And she is right, the bass vibration of the power motor had replaced the nice noises of wood and sails.
Kate is already used to being on board. Sedna is there. If she feels any anticipation about what they are going to find there, is not readable on her face. As a good profiler, Kate knows that the whole thing must be shocking for the doctor, but even so, Sedna is calm and professional, following the rigging with attentive eyes as she drinks a bottle of water.
Capt Stolzer is fitting out a small rubber boat at the deck board, his face is almost unidentifiable with the complete diving suit, but his bulk is unmistakable, Kate thinks. As if he felt her glance, he looks up and sends a quick smile to the petite brunette.
“Damn she is hot,” he thinks: the white pants and blue shirt fits her SO WELL.
Kate is smiling back at Stolzer, when her words, if she could have replied, are interrupted rudely in the instant that her eyes are blinded by the brim of her NCIS cap, that her Boss crams onto her head as he passes by her side, planting her NCIS jacket and a life vest over her chest.
“Put them on, Kate!” he warns crudely, and then with a slightly smoother voice: “Captain Dunn's orders" and he goes over the Captain's station with not even a glance at her.
She sighs in resignation. “What’s with him?” and looks to where Gibbs is talking with Sedna cordially:
“Damn him,is he just pissed with me or what?” The single thought that her former Marine, hard ass, grumpy and self-confident boss could be jealous never crosses her mind.
Not even looking at her, he walked to the skipper's station. Sedna is steering in a focused and calm manner. If she has any worry about what are they going to find, it is not reflected on her face. Gibbs stands at her side, and looks down at her hands resting on the steer. They don’t need to look each other to know.
After a moment she can’t help it and gives him a subtle look. She lets her eyes go up to his face and meet his now deep blue ones. And she thinks that their color is intensely blue, as if they could mirror the sapphire ocean.
Her eyes are hidden behind the sunglasses but he reads the smirk that accompanies her teasing glance easily. Sedna speaks to him looking in front of them, directly to the blue horizon. But her voice is clearly amused with a lightly touch of… he doesn’t know what.
“Not bad Gibbs…not bad at all…for a man your age,” and she took her glasses off, giving him a very brief, very intense glance.
And he notices just now, that she had been studying him and how the diving suit fits him. He never feels comfortable under feminine scrutiny. No way, the doctor is really good at saying anything to anyone - anytime. And she has no inhibitions to say it in front of anyone, but this time, he notices too. Sedna speaks in a low voice, so as to avoid being heard by others, not being him and he laughs inside.
He smirks down at her, meeting her shining eyes.
“How old do you think I am, doc?”
“Exactly? Well…eight or nine years older than me…depending of your date of birth, Gibbs.”
He nods, slightly amused. "That was surprisingly exact, Doc, and it means you had the opportunity to snoop into my record or what?”
“Well…Gibbs, what would be wrong about doing that? Evidently…to know how old I am… you have been snooping in mine!”
Man, she never stops surprising him. And Gibbs can’t help but smirk, this time with a touch of childishness, like a little boy caught red handed.
Damn it. How does she manage to get inside his mind? Maybe their brains process information in a similar way?
He laughs more openly now, tapping her shoulder in a friendly manner and before leaving, he says: “You’d be a very good cop, Doc”.
--------------------------------------------
He sits alone, as he needs to think. He needs to focus on the case again and put some pieces together, not like he tried to do when he was distracted before. Maybe he is tired, he has not had too much sleep these last few days and his brunette special agent has something to do with that.
To tell the truth,she has nothing to do with it…nope!!!
The distraction is entirely his own doing, his own responsibility. You shouldn’t have hired her if you knew that you’ll not be able to handle the whole thing, Jethro.” But, it was very clear from the beginning. She has potential, she can be a very good agent and hiring her was the only way to keep her close. That’s it.
He peeks briefly at the site where Kate is elbowed against the board, giving him her back. Even under her NCIS jacket and life vest, she looks beautiful, her hair shinning with touches of red under the sun, under the hat which he rudely crammed on her head as she was about to speak to the bastard SEAL Captain.
And Gibbs recalls her early conversation with Sedna. He had come back to her office while the team was still having breakfast. He had the intention to be alone there and have a talk with Ducky, but unfortunately, Dunn was there. Well these are her quarters after all. He was just closing the door when her desk phone rang.
Gibbs sat back unto his chair while Dunn quickly answered the phone.
“Dunn,” Gibbs hears her snap.
“Captain,” Dunn greets the caller stiffly, but she looks surprised, Gibbs notices.
After a couple of minutes of yeses and an acknowledgement, Dunn looks uncomfortable. Gibbs wonders whether the conversation is personal.
The ‘captain’ he assumes is Stoltzer, the SEALs' captain. He thinks kindly of Dunn and respects her privacy. He was about to stand up and let her alone for a while, when he hears Dunn saying:
“You mean the female agent? Special Agent Todd.”
“Yes…yes, I know her. I understand Captain, yes yes,” Dunn is extremely uncomfortable now, as she sees Gibbs place his ass back on the chair.
His face is stiff - as stiff as a board. He crosses his hands in front of his chest, and keeps looking at Sedna talking on the phone.
“It is Special Agent Todd…no, sorry Captain I didn’t quite…catch her given name, sorry,” Dunn lies. Oh no, she is a terrible liar. Nobody buys it.
“Yes Captain. I will let you know.” Dunn excuses herself from the conversation.
“What does he wants from Katie?” the leader of the pack asks. Damn it, does he think of her as “Katie” now?
Bloody hell, he needs coffee. He goes over the coffee pot and refills his cup, not paying attention to Sedna who is studying him and searching for the words to say.
“Nothing, Gibbs! Don’t worry, he just asked for her name, that’s all” Dunn quickly replies.
“I am not worried,” Gibbs lies.
“Eeeee…OK…You are not worried…OK,” Dunn rolls her eyes " Men!
“What’s so amusing, Dunn?” He approaches slowly, invading her personal space deliberately, getting as close as possible to make her feel his physical dominance, taking psychological advantage from the closeness, the method of intimidation he uses with suspects or his own agents.
She can’t step back, having the desk behind her. Gibbs worries that she guesses how he feels about his female agent and obviously his behavior is directed to distract her. But Dunn knows just how to push his buttons.
“So, you don’t mind if I had told him her name?
“Why do you think I should be worried about this…insignificant detail…doc?”
Oh yes, his voice is dangerously smooth and low. Sedna knows what this kind of voice means…. And she decides to open the game:
“Because, I can bet that he’ll ask her out. He is single, never married. A bit older than Todd, but you know? Many women find older men…sexy,” Dunn decides to rocks the boat.
And she picks up the phone, about to call the SEAL Capt, when suddenly SLAM.
Gibbs holds her hand and slams her phone down " looking at her eyes which shine at him mischievously. Sedna Dunn looks at him, her golden eyes twinkling now, a big smile etched on her oval face - she knows.
“Don’t waste your time, Gibbs,” Dunn advises her new friend, the NCIS agent who is glaring at her, his face unreadable, his heartbeat going up.
“Life is short, Gibbs…I am a widow, twice. You are divorced, thrice, and we both know what I am talking about.” She nods slightly, signaling him that his secret is safe with her and he lets go of her hand and her phone.
He is still immersed in the early morning incident when a loud scream coming from DiNozzo attracts his attention.
-------------------------------------------
The “Dolphin Siren” goes forward almost lazily, the bow tossing under the deep blue sky. The sun is warming up and there are not many shadow spots on deck. Sedna is steering silently while giving occasional looks at the GPS system in her wrist watch. Charles (The CO Smithers) has been so uncommonly kind as to give her the coordinates
He thanked her for her cooperation using her boat to bring the NCIS team to the crime scene, and added some- never asked- advice and warnings. And murmured at the end: “Follow Capt. Stolzer's orders and watch yourself, Sedna”.
She had given him a half smile, arching a brow: “I can’t see why I should take care of that, since you have banned me to dive with them.”
He sighed impatiently: “As I always say….I have,”
“My orders!” their two voices sounded at unison. “Easy … Charles, I’m not going to do anything that costs you your position”.
She was distracted from recalling the earlier meeting when Stolzer approaches her. He has finished messing around with the boat ten minutes ago and doesn’t know what to do to keep himself away from the pretty Special Agent Todd, who looks at the blue horizon, elbowed on the board.
“Hey Caap!” If she heard a little irony in the “Caap”, she just ignores it and looks up at him from under her cap, her eyes hidden behind the dark sunglasses.
”Couldn’t we speed up? You are going too much slow. “
“I’m sorry, Caap”, and she gives her voice the same modulation she had perceived in his, seconds before. “I had trouble with the engine, waiting for a part to come. We are going at the most power I can get. She pauses a moment and looks up and around, “but we have a very good wind. Unfortunately we do not have enough men to sail the boat, if you and your man would help me sail, we could make a very good speed, what do you say?”
Stolzer keeps his mouth shut. The bare ideathat he would be sailing under her orders sounds ridiculous to him. And she knew exactly what he would think about the suggestion.
“Witch”- he thinks- “A real witch in widest sense… ” It was told around the base she was the only person who can get the CO. Smithers to shut up”.
“OK”, he gives up.
“Please, do the best you can.” And he returns to his place or, to put it better, he stops halfway to exchange some words with Kate, now that her “bodyguard” is occupied, getting the diving suit on.
Conceding a little, Sedna speeds the boat up a bit. Ok, if the engine stops, they could return by sailing and Stolzer can’t say that she had not warned about it.
The sun is really warming. Sedna takes her cap off and unzips the front of her diving suit a few inches, that’s better. The wind refreshes her neck and collarbone. She doesn’t know why she is wearing it if she is not allowed to dive.
DiNozzo and MGee are talking together,as they are preparing evidence bags, rather, DiNozzo is talking and McGee just answers yes or no, checking the equipment.
With no permission Tony steals the camera from McGee and starts to set it up. He brings the camera to his eye, because the light is too strong to see properly the screen.
Using the zoom he takes a look around the vessel and Oh!! What a view he got there!!!
He has an impressive zoom of Sedna: her front zipper had slid down almost to her waist, the shirt she was wearing underneath was wonderfully small and the neoprene was pulled to the sides a little: enough to expose the inner half of her roundness to his eager eyes.
Oh Yes!!! He has to capture this divine sight for posterity!! With an evil smile hidden towards the dark body of the camera, he shoots two very good sequences under the incredulous look of McGee. Still laughing with satisfaction he puts the camera down in the angle that allows McGee to see his artistic work.
“Look at this, probie!” says Tony wildly. “What d’ya think, boy??? We could sell it to Playboy“
McGee can’t believe his eyes. “Tony, please. Delete it before the Gibbs is here or he will blame me as much as you…..”
“You are a jerk, probie. There is not a single man on earth that could dislike this picture!!! Including Gii…..”
McGee is not a good sailor, that’s why he is always holding onto something when on board, but DiNozzo did not have this luck. Both of his hands are now on the camera. He is precariously standing over a rope roll to get a better view of Sedna, a few inches from the edge of the boat.
All of a sudden the Dolphin Siren gives a sharp twist, causing him to lose his balance, under the astonished look of McGee, who couldn’t have done anything to help him. DiNozzo screams and pitches and shakes his arms trying to recover his balance, but is too late.
Suddenly, someone dressed in a neoprene suit is over there. Gibbs reached them jumping from wherever he had been hidden. He is just in time to catch the camera strap, holding it safety while DiNozzo, with a bit of a desperate short scream, falls overboard...
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-Tbc-Dolphinsiren-novasupernova-BETA (MV)
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR BETA, for her speedy work and patience !
Author's Chapter Notes:
Is the infamous rule 12 really useful? ....Are Kate and Gibbs being distracted from work due to all the time they spend thinking on each other? read to find the answer !!!!
Chapter End Notes:
Special thanks to our Beta!!!!
Please, all you lurkers !!! remember !!! Your feed back feeds our imagination... Be our muses and you have more soon......
Please, all you lurkers !!! remember !!! Your feed back feeds our imagination... Be our muses and you have more soon......