--- 3 ---
The four days leading up to Gibbs' release went by without much incident. Kate began sneaking in coffee from the outside once Gibbs had tasted the hospital's version of the caffeinated stuff— he didn't know it was possible for coffee to taste so horrible, and not be served in an NCIS mug. He illustrated a seamless transition from asking, to begging, to threatening, and then bargaining with Kate— within a polished span of 30 seconds. She couldn't help but chuckle and briefly break apart at his unhealthy attachment to coffee, but she couldn't deny him either. If he could eat whole, solid meals and drink tea and ginger ale, she couldn't imagine a few cups of coffee flummoxing his system. She did make him beg a few times…
After a long and excruciating argument between Gibbs and the discharge nurse (Gibbs refusing any part of sitting his ass in a wheelchair, the nurse proclaiming it was absolute discharge policy), the nurse and attendant finally gave in as Gibbs walked (hobbled) out of the hospital on his own two feet… with crutches and a cautionary, guiding hand from Kate.
The drive to Kate's apartment was a silent one. She tried her best to engage him several times, but he was running on his grunt-and-single-syllable-response system. Kate gave up trying to talk to him for the rest of the ride, but snuck in her secret glances every now and then. He continued on in this way up until dinnertime— Kate was used to his generally quiet and brooding demeanor, but this was ridiculous.
When she had asked him what he wanted to drink with dinner, he responded with a low "Mmm." Kate pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek and raised her eyebrows in a fair amount of annoyance. Her patience wearing thin, she dropped the spoon she was using to dish out their Chinese food into the sink with a dull clatter. Kate stalked into the den where Gibbs sat on her couch, vaguely watching the news, but really just staring vacantly at the moving pictures.
She walked briskly over to the television and heatedly slapped at the power button, hearing the gentle click of the set powering down. Gibbs looked to her with a slight flicker of uncertainty gracing across his peaked eyebrows as she sat down on the coffee table in front of him. Kate, facing him, set herself in between his slightly opened legs, her knees brushing against the insides of his. She paid close attention to the bad leg that rested up on the coffee table beside her. She cocked her head to one side.
"Are you going to say more than one word to me at a time?" she asked calmly; her voice drifted gently in between them, steadily softening his confusion and maybe even his lines of communication. But he could clearly see the sparks of frustration in her eyes that her voice effortlessly belied.
Gibbs held onto her stare with ease. "Maybe.." he replied with a soft, sardonic emphasis; his voice took on the gravelly tone that marked the end of Kate's angry resolve.
She sighed during their brief staring match, her mouth vaguely spasming with an upturned frown of consideration; she set her elbow on one knee as her cheek fell defeated into her open palm. Her eyes gently roved over his quiet features with a subtle, undeniable interest while she tried to silently extract a multi-syllabic reply from his firm and stubborn mouth.
"Well," she interrupted their silence, raising her eyebrows and gently turning her eyes downcast, "I suppose an actual word is better than a guttural noise." She pursed her lips and looked back up to his face. "I'll take it. For now." Her eyes shone gently as she reflexively, lightly ran her hand across his uninjured knee. She pretended not to notice his slight twitch of surprise.
"Now, what did you want to drink..?" She cast a look over her shoulder as she slowly retreated from the den.
He quietly cleared his throat of the bewilderment and unnerving, welcome reception of her proximity: "Just coffee, Kate."
She smiled at him. "Coffee with dinner... You know, I'm not even sure why I asked in the first place, Gibbs." He was brief witness to her smile becoming a fierce grin before she fully turned her back to him while disappearing into the kitchen. He let out an inaudible exhale as he sunk back into the couch, closing his eyes, and silently beating into his brain to not be such a complete bastard.
---
With the coffee table littered with plates of half eaten Chinese food and empty take-out containers, they settled down in the neutral safety of watching the news together on the couch. As the 11 o'clock news drew to a close, Gibbs looked over to his unusually quiet companion and the corner of his mouth drew up softly.
Kate sat a leg's width away; her legs tucked underneath her with arms folded neatly across her chest; her head lying back against the couch cushion with her face tilted slightly towards him. He took a moment to fully appreciate her gentle, unconscious candidness. And he smiled.
Gibbs reached over a hand and softly pushed against her thigh. "Kate…" he whispered sleepily. When she stirred slightly, but didn't respond other than turning her head away from him and folding her arms tighter against her chest, he shook her leg with a bit more force; leaning over to her and slightly squeezing her thigh, "Kate."
Her eyes snapped open as she took a moment to focus on her surroundings. Realizing she was still on the couch, she looked over to Gibbs and exhaled, nodding and acknowledging him.
"Sorry.." she chuckled softly.
He nodded, "You should get some sleep…"
Kate gave him a lopsided smile. "You're sitting on my bed."
He furrowed his brow before making the connection; he shook his head: "You're not sleeping on the couch."
She lifted her eyebrows in quiet amusement. "And you are? I don't think so." She got up slowly and stretched her arms over her head. He pretended not to notice the soft skin that peeked beneath the slight rise of her shirt. He pretended not to notice that he noticed.
"C'mon." she said with a sigh, "Your things are in my room."
"You packed me a bag?" his voice lined with a color of incredulous appreciation.
She smiled. "You were planning on wearing some of my clothes?" Her smile suddenly dropped to a smirk accompanied by a raised eyebrow, "And don't even think about it… not in my bed."
Gibbs chuckled lightly and gently knit his brow with confusion. "Think about what?"
"Oh, I know men..." she declared as she reached out her hand to help him off the couch, grabbing his crutches with the other hand, "..You all have this fascination with sleeping in the buff." She looked to him with a point of her index finger, "Not.. In my bed."
His eyes widened before he let out a deep chuckle, he took her hand and hoisted himself to stand on his good leg, briefly balancing with Kate's help as he guided the crutches underneath his arms.
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about..!" She roared quietly with a little laugh. She slowly led him down the hall to her bedroom.
"You've been naked in your bed, haven't you?" He asked simply. Kate turned to look at him; seeing that impish glimmer in his eye, her mouth quirked.
"Yes." She murmured.
His smile broadened slightly, "Well then what's the difference?"
She opened her mouth as she smiled in disbelief, chuckling through her words: "It's my bed!" She turned back to resume their slow trek to the bedroom when he clasped his fingers around her forearm.
"You have a problem with me being in your bed, Agent Todd?" he gruffed lightly; she turned to look at him, somewhat taken aback. His tone was filled with stern authority, but his eyes shone with quiet mirth; even in the middle of their playful banter, he caught her off-guard. Kate wet her lips reflexively, noticing how much closer to him she actually stood, and faintly tilted her head.
Her eyebrows perked vaguely with her reply once she was capable of forming words: "No…" She carefully slid her arm from his fingers and continued on down the hall. He smirked and paused before following as closely as his crutches would allow.
She stopped him before he hobbled into the bedroom, her index finger poked to his chest. "That doesn't give you nude permission of any kind." She poked her finger into his chest with emphasis, "Got it?"
Gibbs tried to hide his growing grin as he nodded. She huffed, letting him enter the inner sanctuary of her bedroom.
"Do you, uh… need… you know, help?" Kate asked hesitantly, standing by the dresser as he went through the bag of clothes on the bed that she randomly packed for him. He was impressed at her unbeknowst knowledge of his most comfortable clothes. Gibbs looked over to her.
"Help?" he questioned.
"With…" she made several abstract hand motions. "Clothes… getting dressed or anything."
His smile returned as the corners of his eyes crinkled softly, "Was that a proposition?"
"No..! I just. Don't know your limitations or—"
He hung his head with a chuckle as he held out a hand to stop her nervous rant. "I think I can handle it, Kate."
She nodded slowly and clasped her hands in front of her. "Ok… Well," she grabbed a few articles of her own clothing before turning back to him, "there's a bathroom right through there," she motioned towards the door next to the closet. She stood motionless for a minute before he nodded.
"Okay…" he said slowly. He smirked faintly, "I can take it from here, Kate."
She nodded quickly and walked over to him. "Just call.. if you need anything," she paused for a second and looked up to him, "Anything, Gibbs." She exhaled as if she really wanted to say something more, before heading towards the door.
Kate faced him again once she reached the hallway, "Gibbs?"
"Yeah, Kate.." he spoke gruffly, not immediately picking up his head to look at her.
Her mouth quirked in consideration before speaking: "I'm glad you're okay.." She nodded and looked down, away from him, then heading back down the hall before he had a chance to respond. He sighed to no one as he unpacked a grey t-shirt and a pair of boxers.
"Me, too, Katie…" he murmured quietly, "..me too."
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