Gibbs called Tony as soon as he got in his car. "DiNozzo," Tony answered promptly.
"Meet me at the office," Gibbs snapped. "We’ve got a case."
"Already? Jesus. Okay, let me get changed; I’ll be there in half an hour."
"Don’t bother to change," Gibbs told him. "Just show up."
"Fifteen minutes, then," Tony replied, hanging up.
Gibbs dialed McGee next, and the exchange went about the same way. He arrived back at NCIS Headquarters at about the same time as his team, and they went into the elevator together.
"What’s the case, boss?" Tony asked as the doors closed and the elevator started to rise.
"Rape case," Gibbs answered. His fingers clenched reflexively as he spoke the words. "McGee, the first thing I need from you is a search authorization. The two of you are going to Georgetown Hospital and D.C. Metro to pick up all the physical evidence."
"Metro’s got it already?" McGee inquired as they exited into their darkened bullpen. "When did the attack occur?"
"Four months ago," Gibbs replied. "Hang on and I’ll get you the exact date." He moved around his desk, re-opening Kate’s personnel file and pulling up the first date she’d missed - a Wednesday. He rattled off the date, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Tony look up from his own computer, an expression of consternation on the younger man’s face.
"Who’s our vic, Boss? Navy or Marine?"
Gibbs’s fists clenched on the armrests of his chair. He hadn’t expected Tony to put the pieces together quite so quickly. He should have known better; he certainly hadn’t hired DiNozzo away from Baltimore for his good looks. "Federal agent," Gibbs ground out, his voice sounding harsh even to his own ears.
McGee looked up from his computer screen. His hands stopped working at the keyboard as he looked from Gibbs to Tony, who was now looking decidedly ill, to Kate’s empty desk. He swallowed hard. "There’s a reason Kate isn’t here, isn’t there, Boss?" the probie asked quietly. "Other than she just hasn’t gotten here yet, I mean."
"Yeah, McGee," Gibbs replied just as quietly, "there is."
There was a very long silence in the bullpen, and then McGee looked back down at his computer screen. "When we find the son of a bitch," the young man announced in a cold voice his co-workers had never heard him use before, "I’m pretty sure he’ll be resisting arrest."
"I’m pretty sure you’re right, Probie," DiNozzo replied, and his voice was as cold as McGee’s. "In fact, I bet he’ll resist pretty hard."
There was silence again, broken only by the sound of McGee clicking at his keyboard. Then the printer sounded, and Tony jumped up to grab the papers it spit out. "Let’s go, Probie," he snapped. "We’ll be back pretty soon, Boss."
They left, and Gibbs sat back in his chair, his eyes glued to the empty chair at Kate’s desk. "I’ll get the bastard, Kate," he swore into the silence. "I’ll get him, and I’ll make him pay."
McGee and DiNozzo arrived back at the office two hours later, carrying all the physical evidence taken at the hospital as well as the statement Kate had given Metro P.D. Both of them were boiling mad when they got back to their desks, falling over one another to report to Gibbs that not only had Metro only done a cursory investigation before allowing the case to go cold, but that upon learning that the victim was a federal officer, the detective in charge of the case had made several sarcastic remarks about federal cops, female cops, and female federal cops. McGee had stopped Tony from attacking the man, but had given the detective a very strongly-worded piece of his mind before they left.
They split up the files between the three of them and began to work. Around 2200, Tony called out for dinner. At 2245, Gibbs called Abby to check on Kate.
"She’s asleep," Abby reported. "I think she’s gonna be okay. Leave everything you have for me down in the lab in a box; make sure there’s a lid on it and no labels. I think this is gonna have to be an after-hours investigation."
"Figured that, Abs," Gibbs replied. "Thanks for taking care of her."
"You don’t have to thank me," Abby replied softly. "This is what family’s for."
When Kate and Abby arrived at work the next morning, there were no signs of the nascent investigation. The three men had discussed the matter in detail and felt that the best thing to do for the situation would be to behave normally toward Kate. "If she’d wanted special treatment," McGee had reasoned, "she’d have told us about it when it happened." Gibbs and Tony had agreed, and spent the day focused on paperwork since the only active case they had was Kate’s.
Abby was a different story. Alone in her lab, with Marilyn Manson screaming fury from her speakers, she put her machines through their paces, analyzing every fluid, every hair, and every fiber taken in the rape kit Georgetown had done. She could not believe that Metro P.D. had done absolutely nothing with any of it - to the point that they had not even done a DNA profile on the semen. She had half a mind to call up their forensic lab and curse out their technician, but she did not; she focused instead on doing everything she could do to help Kate.
Kate was surprised and gratified by how normal her co-workers were behaving toward her. She knew that Tony and McGee knew - there had been a few awkward moments throughout the day, but they had been easily navigated, and things had been mostly ordinary. She’d spent the day working on the paperwork for the case they’d closed the previous day, pleased to be able to simply bury herself in the minutiae for once and not have to worry about anything else.
At 1530, though, a call came through to Gibbs, and after he took it, he stood and spoke Kate’s name. "With me," he said quietly.
Confused, she stood and followed him up the stairs, past MTAC and into the director’s office. She stared at Gibbs as they waited outside the door. "What’s going on, Gibbs?" she asked him sotto voce.
He did not answer, staring instead at the big silver doors and waiting until the director’s assistant came out to fetch them. They entered the room, Kate nervous and Gibbs stoic. The director - the new one, who had replaced Director Morrow - was standing behind her desk, waiting for them.
"You wanted to see us." Gibbs’s flat tone caused Kate to glance in his direction, surprised. Whatever was going on, Gibbs didn’t like it, and that meant Kate wasn’t going to like it, either.
"Special Agent Todd," Director Shepard began, "I received notification today of the change in your status."
Kate raised an eyebrow, and when she spoke, her voice was cold. "Status, Director?"
"I’m sure you are aware of the regulations concerning fitness requirements for field agents," the director said, her tone slightly condescending.
"Why, no, Director," Kate replied innocently. "Please enlighten me."
Shepard’s eyes narrowed. Gibbs couldn’t help but smirk. Kate knew damn good and well what was coming, and he knew it. She wasn’t happy about it - in point of fact, neither was he - but regs were regs and safety was safety.
"A pregnant field agent is a liability to the team," Shepard snapped.
"Oh!" Kate exclaimed in a little-girl voice Gibbs had only heard her use before when sparring with Tony. "Is that what this is about? Gosh, Director, I thought with you talking about statuses that maybe I’d been promoted and nobody told me about it."
Gibbs’s lips twitched.
The Director sat down, her face a thundercloud. "You are restricted to desk duty until further notice," she said sharply. "That is all."
With a slight flourish, Kate turned and left the room, feeling victorious. Gibbs followed, waiting until they were back on the loft in front of MTAC to squeeze Kate’s shoulder. "Did good in there," he said softly.
"Did I?"
"Yeah." Gibbs gave her his trademark half-smile. "She was expecting you to stomp around and make a scene about coming out of the field. It would have given her an excuse to flex her muscles."
Kate looked up at him speculatively. "You seem to know her well."
Gibbs stared out at the bullpen for a long moment, and Kate could practically see the wheels turning behind his eyes as he debated whether or not to respond and, if he did, how much to say. "We were partners in Paris," he finally explained, "back in the late nineties. She hasn’t changed much."
"Ah." That one syllable carried a wealth of meaning that Gibbs wasn’t sure he wanted an explanation of. "How did she find out, anyway?"
Gibbs sighed. "I told her."
Kate nodded. "I figured you did. Why?"
"She needed to know." Gibbs’s jaw clenched. "She’s right about you going on desk duty. Not safe for you in the field. Can’t stop to be morning sick if you’re getting shot at."
He was grateful when Kate changed the subject. "So, what’s a girl do on desk duty?"
He grinned. "Thought you’d never ask. You still get to do truck inventory, and you still get to do a lot of the slog work on cases. Only instead of getting to do the fun part, you have to stay here while we go out and play."
"Phooey." Kate stuck her lip out in a mock pout. "Do I get to go down and play with Abby in the lab?"
"Oh, yeah," Gibbs replied. "Ducky’ll probably let you come down and help him, too. Probably be constantly giving you checkups and suggesting baby names, too."
Kate went quiet at that, stepping away from Gibbs to go and lean against the railing. She looked down into the bullpen at Tony and McGee, industriously working away at something, and did not look at Gibbs when he came to stand beside her. "Does it make me a horrible person that I’m not sure I want it?" she asked him quietly. "With all the people in the world who wish they had kids, what does it say about me that I wish I didn’t?"
"It does not make you a bad person." His tone, though low, was definite. "The way you feel right now is completely understandable. Especially under the circumstances."
She put her head in her hands. "I wish I understood it. I wish I understood any of this."
He patted her shoulder. "Come on," he said quietly. "Let’s get this case off our desks so we can try to get out of here at a decent hour."
Abby came upstairs around 1730 to lean against Kate’s desk. "Wanna go get Italian?" she asked.
"I don’t know, Abby," Kate began, but was quickly overridden by her friend.
"We’ll have fun. Tony, McGee, Gibbs, you guys come, too."
"Sure thing, Abs," Tony replied, grabbing his coat. "Boss? Probie?"
McGee glanced across at Gibbs, who nodded and collected his own coat, then stood. "Sure."
Kate sighed, standing up and grabbing her coat and purse. "Looks like I’m outnumbered," she muttered with a mutinous expression.
"Yep," Abby said cheerfully. "Ducky’s gonna meet us there."
They trooped down to the car park together, and Tony grabbed Kate’s hand. "Come ride with me," he offered, pulling her toward his new Mustang. Like his previous cars, this one was a classic - a black 1966 Fastback. He ushered her into the passenger seat with infinite care. She rolled her eyes at him as he rounded the car and climbed in behind the wheel.
"I don’t need babysitting, Tony," Kate said as he started the car.
Tony did not reply, concentrating on slipping between McGee’s car and Gibbs’s truck as they pulled out of the parking area. He remained silent as they left the Navy Yard, seeming to concentrate on his driving. They were heading for Georgetown, to a little Italian café they all knew well, where they had eaten before. It wasn’t until they were a few streets away that he finally spoke. "We know you don’t need babysitting, Kate," he said softly, and there was no humor or teasing in his voice. He was deadly serious. "We know, intellectually, that you’ve survived the last four months with no help from us. Hell, we didn’t even know anything had happened to you."
He closed his mouth for a moment, turning into the parking lot of the café and putting the car in park. He did not move to shut off the engine, and Kate waited, knowing he had more to say. In a moment, having collected his thoughts, he spoke again. "Here’s the thing, Kate. We’re family. We may not be related by blood, but we’re family just the same, and family sticks by each other and helps each other no matter what. We trust each other with our lives in the field, and when something happens…" He trailed off for a second, clearing his throat, and then continued. "When something happens outside of the job that affects one of us this much… we expect you to trust us with that, too. And I’ll admit, it hurts a little bit to think that you couldn’t. To know that if you hadn’t turned up pregnant, none of us would have ever known that this had happened to you, and we never would have had the chance to get the fucker that hurt you."
Kate stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. "Tony, I didn’t realize -"
"I know you didn’t!" he exclaimed. "But damnit, Kate, that’s what we’re here for. That’s why we’re teammates, partners. Because we have each other’s backs. You wouldn’t let us have your back four months ago, and I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ll be damned if you’re gonna shut me out now."
They were both silent for a moment, and then Kate leaned across the seat and wrapped her arms around Tony’s shoulders. He responded immediately, clutching her to him fiercely. "Don’t shut me out any more, Kate," he whispered. "You have to let us help you now."
"I will, Tony," she whispered back. "I’m sorry."
He pulled back, grinning at her now. "Don’t apologize. Sign -"
"Sign of weakness," she finished in unison with him. They laughed together as a tap came on the back window of the car.
It was Gibbs. "If you two are done playing grab-ass, we’d like to eat."
They broke apart, still grinning, and exited Tony’s car.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.