"Good evening, Caitlin."
Kate’s hands tightened on the dish in her hands. "Ari." She wasn’t surprised; they’d been expecting him for over half an hour. It was still a shock to hear his voice, though, and the sound still turned her stomach.
"I’ve missed you."
"Forgive my skepticism."
The low laugh she remembered so well reached out across Gibbs’s kitchen to wrap her in its noxious caress. "But I have. Why, it’s been nearly eight months since I saw you last. And here you stand before me again, looking… quite radiant."
"No thanks to you." She finished rinsing the bowl, shut off the water, and placed it in the drain board. "What do you want, Ari? Here to gloat?"
"Not at all." His voice was coming from closer behind her now. "I’ve come for you, and for my son."
"You’re never going to take him." Her voice was firm and ice cold. "I’ll kill you before I give him to you."
His finger touched her between her shoulder blades and trailed down her back, following the same path that his knife had taken eight months earlier when he slit her nightshirt off before blindfolding her with it. "You cannot stop me."
"Wanna bet?"
He chucked again and she fought to keep from vomiting. "You could not stop me from creating him. You will not stop me from taking him. And you will not stop me from making another. And another." His hand reached her waist and flattened, sliding around her body to lie gently on top of her swollen belly. "You will give me many fine sons, Caitlin. And many beautiful daughters."
"I would strangle him myself and cut my own throat before I allowed that to happen." She turned, pulling away from his touch, backing up against the stove. "And if you ever touch me again, I swear to God I will tear your face off with my bare hands and eat it raw."
He was smiling. "I rather suspected you might feel that way," he commented casually. "So I took the liberty of some insurance. I wonder how your friend Abby would enjoy life in a Saudi harem. It should be interesting to see what she looks like under her veil once the black dye grows out of her hair and she no longer wears the death mask makeup."
Kate smirked. "You don’t have Abby."
"Are you quite certain?" he raised an eyebrow. "I could have her. Or I could have someone poised to take her."
Kate shrugged. "You could. But you don’t."
"And how exactly do you know that?" He stepped toward her. "She is not here. Neither is Gibbs. In fact, they left together, did they not? Foolish of them, leaving you here alone when you are supposed to be in protective custody."
There was a soft click. "For a guy who’s been a sleeper all his life, you sure are stupid."
Ari’s eyes never left Kate’s. "Agent Gibbs. What a surprise. I was almost certain you would be too busy with Faisal to come back so soon."
"Well, Faisal made a little bit of a miscalculation," Gibbs replied easily. "Never expected a lab rat to be carrying a six-inch shank up her sleeve. He didn’t get very far with her."
"Ah. Poor Faisal." Ari shook his head. "He was good at what he did."
"Still is, I imagine," Gibbs said, tossing Kate a slight grin. "Only now he sings soprano when he does it."
Ari winced slightly in sympathy. Kate would have done the same, if she hadn’t been contemplating performing the same action on Ari. Instead, she reached up and pulled the concealed nine millimeter out of the ventilation hood over the stove, training it on Ari. "Get on your knees," she said flatly. "Hands behind your head."
He obeyed slowly, his eyes glued to hers the entire time. "Do you honestly think arresting me will do any good?" he said softly. "Your CIA will not care. I will be released and hustled quietly out of the country. And then, as soon as I can slip free, I will return, and I will take you then."
Kate smirked. "Did you really think I didn’t take that into account?" She walked toward him, reversed her grip on her gun, and whacked him hard across the face with it. The momentum sent him to the floor, and he spat out a tooth. "You’re never taking my son, and you’re never taking me."
"You won’t be able to stop me," he hissed. "I will have you!"
"Oh," Gibbs said softly, coming to stand beside her, "I can think of one way to stop you."
Kate pulled her foot back and kicked the prone man hard in the groin. "So can I."
"You won’t kill me in cold blood, Caitlin," Ari wheezed, still smirking despite the pain he was in. "It’s against your Catholic religion, is it not? Murder is a mortal sin."
"Except that this isn’t cold blood, Ari," Kate replied softly. "Killing is permitted by the church in defense of one’s self, one’s family or one’s country. Do you think I’ve never killed in self-defense or in the line of duty?"
Gibbs knelt down, looking the other man directly in the eyes. "And I don’t mind killing in cold blood. I’ve done it before." He gave a slight, cold smile. "As a matter of fact, the man who killed my first wife and my daughter is probably gonna meet you when you get to Hell."
Ari sprang on Gibbs, snarling, his hands reaching for Gibbs’s neck and squeezing hard on his windpipe. "I’ll take you there with me," he snarled, squeezing as hard as he could, trying to crush the older man’s throat.
A shot rang out.
Ari’s body collapsed on top of Gibbs, who pushed it off himself and stood, rubbing at his throat. He glanced over at Kate, who laid her weapon on the kitchen counter and came to check on him. "Took you long enough," he griped.
"You’d have preferred I shot you, too?" she asked gently, moving to the freezer to get him an ice pack. "You’re fine."
He sat down at the kitchen table, looking down at the body currently leaking blood and brain matter onto his previously clean linoleum. "I am," he said, pulling her into his lap when she got close enough to him. "And so are you."
They wrapped their arms around one another and waited for Tony and McGee, who had been monitoring the house remotely and would be on their way. She didn’t start to shake until she was firmly held in his arms. He stroked her hair back, murmuring soothing nonsense into her ear, until he realized that she was staring at the body on the floor.
With a soft grunt, he stood, holding her in his arms, and carried her out of the kitchen, into the living room where she could no longer see the corpse of the man who had violated her.
The front door opened then, Tony leading the way, followed immediately by McGee and Fornell. "You got him?" Fornell asked.
Gibbs gestured to the kitchen door, and the three men trooped over to assess the damage.
Gibbs sat down on the couch, still cradling Kate to him, still speaking softly, and stroked her back with his palm until she finally began to calm down again.
When she was still but for a few random tremors, he stroked her hair back from her face. "You gonna be okay?"
She nodded. "I think so." She laid a hand on her stomach, pressing down gently, and smiled when the occupant kicked back indignantly. "Punkin’s okay, too."
He laid his hand over hers. "Good." He pulled her back down to rest her head on his shoulder. "It’s over," he whispered into her hair. "It’s over now."
"Nice shot," Fornell complimented Gibbs on returned to the living room.
Kate stood up, turning to face Fornell. Her face was hard. "Thanks, Fornell," she replied acidly. "Now if you don’t mind getting that thing out of here." With that, she turned and headed upstairs.
Gibbs raised an eyebrow at Fornell, who stared at Kate’s back until she vanished into her room, slamming the door behind her.
"She gonna be okay?" Tony asked from the doorway.
Gibbs nodded. "I think so. It’ll be awhile, but she’ll be all right. Eventually."
Tony nodded, then turned back to where McGee still stood, staring at the corpse on the kitchen floor. "Come on, Probie. We’ve got some cleaning to do."
A few minutes after the body had been carted out, while Tony and McGee were still cleaning up the stains on the floor and Gibbs was talking to Fornell and an agent from the CIA, Abby came flying through the door, trailed closely by Ducky. "Where is she?" Abby demanded, after hugging Gibbs tightly. "Is she okay?"
"She’s upstairs in her room," Gibbs replied. He glanced over at Ducky. "Can you check on her?"
"Of course, Jethro." The older man headed up the stairs immediately, Abby dogging his heels. He tapped on Kate’s door and entered when she called out a welcome, and Abby closed the door behind them.
The CIA agent sighed and closed his PDA, clipping it to his belt. "Well, Agent Gibbs, I can’t say we’re pleased by this turn of events, but it’s clear that you were right all along and we owe you an apology. Obviously this can’t become public knowledge, but…" He trailed off, shrugging slightly. "For what it’s worth, we know you did the right thing. And… please convey my personal apologies to Agent Todd." With a nod to Gibbs and another to Fornell, he took himself out and away.
Fornell watched the man go, then turned to Gibbs and shrugged slightly. "That’s the CIA for you. God, I hate dealing with spooks." He ran a hand across his head, then sighed. "I’m done here."
Half an hour later, Abby and Ducky came back down. "She’s just fine, Jethro," Ducky assured Gibbs. "A bit in shock, of course. You’ll want to keep an eye on her for the next couple of days. But otherwise she’s fine."
Abby looked up at him. "I don’t want to seem like I haven’t enjoyed your hospitality," she said hesitantly, "but can I got home now?"
Gibbs hugged her. "Yes. Get DiNozzo to take you."
She hugged him back tightly, then hurried upstairs to gather her things.
Gibbs shook Ducky’s hand. "Thanks, Duck."
"Not a problem, Jethro." He patted Gibbs’s shoulder. "Take care of her."
"I will."
Ducky left, followed shortly by McGee and then Abby and Tony. Once everyone was gone, Gibbs took a look at the kitchen to make sure there were no traces left of the events of the evening. Satisfied, he went upstairs and tapped on Kate’s door.
"C’mon in," she said softly.
He entered and found her curled up in her bed, at least as much as possible considering the obstruction that was the Punkin. He sat down next to her and she snuggled up against him. "I’m glad it’s over," she said softly.
"Me, too." He took a deep breath. "I will always keep you safe, Kate," he whispered. "No matter what."
"I know you will," she replied. A moment later, she was asleep.
He wrapped an arm around her and did not sleep much that night.
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.