Chapter 6
Jethro Gibbs’s life changed when he went to Air Force One. And it is almost perfect when the woman he loves is in his arms. Sure, they are not living together, yet. But having her in his home is great.
He loves finding her things in his home. Her companionship is a blessing and waking up next to her every morning brings him peace and happiness he never thought existed.
His home is cozy and well kept when Kate is there. He is not a dirty or messy person by nature, but a woman’s touch is definitely different. His bed sheets are always crispy clean and it smells nice too.
His co workers and subordinates notice the not too subtle changes in his behavior. Their boss is less grumpy. They notice that he hardly stays overnight at the headquarter reading cold cases or doing paperwork. Now, Tony gloats at the fact that his boss brings home his work.
“Go home, guys,” Gibbs said as he heads to the elevator.
Tony and Abby, who are having a heated discussion about the recently closed case, just gawk in disbelief at their boss. “Did Gibbs just ask us to…go home?” Abby whispers.
“Yep!” Tony is not wasting precious time. He jumps out of his chair, switches off his desk lamp, grabs his jacket and scrams for his life, leaving Abby bewildered, unable to say anything else until Tony exits the bullpen and Ducky arrives in the bullpen looking for Jethro.
“Ducky! Gibbs asked us to go home!!!” Abby sort of complains to Ducky.
“He did? Good…good…good. You should go home, Abigail.” The ME replies nonchalantly to the confused girl who has never been told to go home before by her beloved, grumpy, inconsiderate boss.
“But…” Abby tries to explain the oddity but got cut off.
“Go home, Abigail.” Ducky said to her again and returns to his autopsy.
“This is weird.” Abby talks to herself " and she goes home, to her coffin bed.
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They are on the bed. Gibbs is reading his report and Kate is just back from her HQ, she has taken her shower and she is now plopped on their bed. She is teasing her man, by trying to grab his report and pulling off his glasses. He is so easy to distract.
“Kate, move in with me.” Gibbs speaks out. He looks directly at her, eyes boring through hers, undisturbed by her teasing. He has been pondering about the issue for weeks.
Kate freezes. She is not prepared for the offer (or more like statement) from him. She withdraws herself from him, releasing herself from his grip, looking at him with surprise and slight uncertainty " not knowing what to say.
The moment is disturbed by her mobile’s ring. Still in shock, glad about the intrusion, she answers her phone, “Todd,” she answers.
“Oh…hi Jeremy,” It is Kate’s brother, “yes…yes…no, no, no,” Gibbs can see her smiling to herself.
“I am with my boyfriend…nope! Not that jerk!” Kate shakes her head. She is expressive when she is on the phone, Gibbs observed.
“Oh…OK, OK. I’ll see you at the airport?” she pauses. “No? OK then, Miss you. Love you. Hate you. See you soon,” and she hangs up.
“My brother…,” Kate explains the obvious to Gibbs, trying to elude their previous conversation of moving in together. She is about to give details that her brother is coming to visit DC when Gibbs cuts her off.
“Kate. Move in with me,” the man hasn’t lost his focus from his girlfriend's babbling.
“Are you sure, Jethro?” she voices her concern, “Don’t you think it is way…too fast?” finding the right words for the situation.
He smirks softly at her, “Kate…you can’t,” he shakes his head, trying the find the words, communication is not his forte. “You can’t measure what’s right or wrong…by time, Katie.”
He pulls off his reading glasses, “…too fast or too slow by time…I’ve been waiting for you for my entire life. Now that I’ve found you…what the hell are we waiting for?” he is rather uncomfortable in his speech, but the woman has to know.
Kate is stunned. She is rather shocked by the sudden declaration from her boyfriend of nine months. She loves him and she knows that he loves her too, but she never figured out that he is that certain about their relationship. The usually talkative, full of opinions Kate is speechless " just staring in surprise at him for a long minute.
Gibbs starts to worry. Did he bloody scare her away? He shouldn’t have said anything. Damn him and his rushing thing, “Kate…Kate.” He calls her from her daze. “I didn’t mean to scare you or…” he tries to explain as he is cursing himself.
His comment is nicely interrupted, stopped by her as she leans forward and kisses him. He throws his files to the floor as he captures her lips. Kate is straddling him, but he topples her so instead of her on top of him, he is straddling her. It was intense, and carnal. He can hear their rapid breathing, her fingers tangled in his hair.
Out of the blue, he pulls away from the passionate lock, cupping her face. Kate moans her protest at the sudden interruption, looking at him in a lustful daze, questioning his behavior with her eyes.
And, “move in with Kate…and marry me.”
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Three months later
“Bye baby. I’ll see you soon. I love you.” She kisses his lips and cheeks over and over again, trying to somehow appease him.
“I hate your job, Kate,” he complains. Gibbs is not distracted by the kisses he received. He knows what she is doing.
“I hate your job too, Jethro,” knowing that she can’t distract him as she keeps planting several kisses on him, “So…we…are…equal,” and she winks at her fiancée. Three months ago, he asked her to move in with him and before she had the chance to say yes, he already asked her to marry him, proposing to her " and she said yes.
It is six in the morning. He stops a few meters away from the Secret Service agents’ entrance to drop Kate at work, she is about to leave on an assignment. She refused persistently when he said he’ll drive her to work in the morning, told him that it is not necessary. She is used to taking a cab to work.
“Kate…” Gibbs refused to listen to her, “…I am here…at home. No fiancée of mine is taking a cab while I am available, OK?!” end of discussion.
So, here they are, still in the car, saying goodbye and hating every second of it. She is leaving for a week or so, she is not even sure and it is not like she can tell him her whereabouts.
He sees her engagement ring flashing as she cups his worried face and kisses him gently, “ I love you, baby. I’ll see you very soon. I’ll call you whenever I can. I promise, OK?”
Dejectedly, he nods. Three months ago, he slipped the ring onto her finger, at least other men will stay clear of her so he hopes.
“Call me the second you arrive home, OK, Katie?! You hear me?” He looks her in the eyes, insisting.
Before Kate manages to answer ‘yes’, he goes on. “I don’t want you to wait until you reach home to call me, no more excuses, Kate. OK?!” He sorts of begs her, the woman has a mind of her own and she can be quite stubborn. The last time she went home, she almost got hit by a bike.
“OK, OK. I promise. I have to go now, bye Jethro,” she exits the car with her duffel bag.
Gibbs waits until she enters the security point, waves good bye and enters the compound. Satisfied that she’ll be fine and doesn’t need him anymore, he starts the engine and leaves.
He is going straight to work. His house is empty now. He has no errands or grocery to do. Before she left, Kate made sure that that he is taken care of. Last night they did their grocery, and guess what? They met Ducky.
The sweet old ME asked why on earth they are buying so much. And Kate said that she is leaving for a week or possibly longer. Then Ducky said something that Gibbs is sure that Ducky regretted after opening his ‘British mouth’.
“Wow, Caitlyn. Secret Service…I am always curious about and amazed by the title and the job hazard. I mean…” he kept going, not realizing that Gibbs’ face has changed.
“…I mean, protecting the number one man of the country…the president from danger…practically being a bullet shield…and to further…” THANK GOD Ducky saw Gibbs’s face and Kate was shaking her head, signaling him to stop talking and changed the subject.
That was the night before she has to be a bullet shield. Without fail, Gibbs spends the night, tossing and turning.
All night, he is worried for her safety. He thinks, never in his previous marriages did he tell his wives to change their job. He is damn fussy with his Kate, but the idea of his baby getting hurt on the job is terrifying.
Then Kate looked at him and stated the obvious that they are both federal agents. Case closed! Before she occupied his mind with something else that leaves the both of them breathless.
Thinking about last night, he remembers that he has to go to her ‘puny’ apartment (that’s what he calls her apartment now) for her mail. It is a beautiful morning, the sun is just peeking from the horizon, shining at him in his contented life, and finally it is not mocking him anymore. After all these years, he can finally embrace his day.
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A few minutes later, he arrives at Kate’s apartment block and he grabs her mail and quickly goes inside the one bedroom apartment with ease. He already knows the place like the back of his hand.
He promised Kate to grab some of her stuff and as he is about to leave, the phone starts ringing. Gibbs picks up the phone and before he has the chance to talk:
“Hi Caleb!!!” a cheery voice greets him. The man continues, “It’s me! Your favorite brother!
Gibbs clears his throat to suppress his laughter and amusement. It must be Jeremy, Kate’s oldest brother “Caleb is not here. She is away for an assignment,” he manages to talk.
“Oh” The man is surprised, “I am Caleb’s brother…I mean…I mean Caitlyn…Kate’s brother”. Seconds later, “So…you are her fiancée,” a statement rather than question.
“Yes, I am Jethro Gibbs.”
“I almost had a heart attack when my baby sister told me that she is engaged…my Caleb??? Engaged? I thought she got engaged to the guy she’s been seeing for a couple of month…erghh, he is bad news. By the way, I am Jeremy…”
“Yes. Kate talked a lot about you,” Gibbs finally speaks up.
“Look…I am in DC for less than 48 hours. So, are you staying with Caleb?”
“No actually. She’s been living with me,” Gibbs thought that he is engaged to a Caleb.
“Let’s meet up. I want to see what kind of man my baby sister chose to get engaged to, I am curious.”
Gibbs already knows what is in “Caleb’s eldest brother’s” mind, he wants to check him out, protecting his little sister from a jackass, “OK, I am off to work now. I am free at five in the afternoon. Let’s say George Town at 1900?”
“Hoo-ah” the man agreed. Right away Gibbs knows that he is a military man.
Minutes later, the time and venue are set.
“Oh Katie, where are you when I need you?” Gibbs mocks his luck. His fiancée’s brother is going to check him out, and the woman has three of them.
Jethro Gibbs is not a coward. He is an ex-Marine with an attitude, his presence intimidates people. His communication skills suck. Bloody hell, he cursed. He is not a hormonal teenager who is afraid to meet his girlfriend’s brother or family, but deep down, he is worried.
Worried about everything, his rap sheet is not very impressive. Let see, where can he start:
- Married and divorced, three times. Two of them to psychologically unstable women, and one of them bashed his head.
- He is fifteen years older than Kate, who’s managed to keep her slate clear, she’s never been married.
- He is an ex- Marine, now a federal agent, mortality rate is not great.
- He is paying alimonies to his exes.
Hell, he wouldn’t marry himself.
Lost in thought, he drives all the way to the HQ. Trying to figure things out. He is about to be appraised by Caleb’s brother. No, Caitlyn’s, his Katie’s brother. What is he going to say? What’s her brother going to say? Things are going great but what if…
“Boss…boss…Gibbs…boss…Gibbs”
He is standing in front of his table, looking at his empty chair. DiNozzo, Abby and McGee are circling him, ogling him.
“What!!!?” he snaps and looks at them, irritated.
“Gibbs, you have been staring at your chair for more than three minutes,” Abby comments. She is looking at her grumpy boss worriedly. She knew that Kate left town that morning and Gibbs is definitely not OK.
“Get me coffee please, McGee,” Gibbs sits and rubs his eyes. And McGee just stares at him in horror. Did he just hear his boss said ‘please’?
“WHAT???!!! My coffee!!! NOW!!!” He shouts and McGee dashes out of the bullpen to get coffee for his boss who just said please.
Then the scene is disturbed by a telephone call. Gibbs picks up his phone. Minutes later he throws the key to DiNozzo, “Let’s go.”
Tony knows better, he is not asking any questions, in times like these, just following the instructions.
But Abby manages to grab his elbow and pulls him aside, “are you OK Gibbs?”
“Yeah, I am OK,” he states the obvious to the goth in the pony tails.
“She’ll be back soon, you know…your fiancée, she’ll be back…soon.” She thought that he is bothered by Kate leaving.
Gibbs smiles at her, “I know, Abby” and he left the bullpen.
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The ‘bomb’
Abby walks slowly, back to her lab, talking to herself mostly. The goth recalls the surprise that her boss man pulled on the gang about three months ago, when he announced that he is engaged.
Ducky and she already knew that Gibbs has been going out with: “Caitlyn, the young lady from secret service” or in her version “The sexy secret service chick with a tattoo”. But one early morning, Jethro Gibbs came in with his usual cups of coffee. While sipping his coffee nonchalantly he dropped the bomb, “Oh yeah guys…I am engaged to be married by the way…”
The bullpen was quiet for a few seconds before her shrieks could be heard from a few floors up. The others wondered whether special agent Jethro Gibbs murdered one of his agents.
DiNozzo was struck. “Boss! You are engaged?!?”
“Why DiNozzo?”
“To whom, boss? “ Not answering Gibbs’s question. Tony was totally lost in thought, consumed by the news.
“You’ll find out soon enough, DiNozzo.” as he made his way to exit the bullpen.
Tony rushed to Abby, but she quickly followed Gibbs to the elevator. Too late, he couldn’t talk to Abby while she is with Gibbs. Then he quickly pestered Ducky for some information. How could he not know about his boss’s relationship? But…unfortunately, the ME refused to answer anything. It’s very annoying how the usually extremely chatty Ducky just refused to talk and just smiled.
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For the entire day Tony couldn’t concentrate. Any chance he got, he ogled at Gibbs. Roughly around six in the evening, things escalated. They are back at the HQ, when:
“Gibbs” the boss answers his mobile. Tony’s head snaps up from his computer screen when he hears the call.
“OK, I’ll be right down” and Gibbs hangs up. Tony’s ears ticked when he hears Gibbs’ tone while answering the call. Gibbs doesn’t use forms of address such as darling, love, pumpkin or sweetie, but his voice is definitely different - softer, with affection.
The curious Italian witnesses his boss grabs his gun and coat and leaves his desk and heads to the elevator. This is his chance, Tony slyly thought.
The very second the elevator’s doors close, Tony dashes to the stairs by the fire exit. In the heat of the chase, he almost knocks Palmer, his ME’s weird geeky looking apprentice, off his feet.
“Wow wow wow, Tony!” Palmer loses his balance as he is carrying bags of grocery in his hand.
“Make way Palmer!” Tony grabs his arms to stabilize him and at the same time, shoving him away.
“What’s going on, Tony?” Palmer questions him.
“Gibbs!...Boss!...Fiancée” Tony manages to spit out his words as he continues running down the stair.
It takes Palmer a couple of seconds, before: “Gibbs? Engaged? Fiancée?” then it click in his mind. “Wait up, Tony!!!” as he drops his grocery and follows suit.
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Meanwhile:
Abby manages to catch up with Gibbs, she would like to congratulate Kate. They are both walking toward the blue sedan parked about ten meters from the HQ’s entrance. Gibbs is grinning from ear to ear, very pleased to see her.
Kate is in the car, waving to him and Abby. The black haired technician can see that the woman is glowing with happiness. Gibbs reaches her first and kisses her sweetly, whispering “hi” to her. Then as Abby expresses her congratulation to the couple, Kate gets distracted as she sees sudden movement at the background.
She cocks her head slightly, as Tony and Palmer brusquely slam open the fire exit door. She decides to disregard the men. She recognizes Tony but not the other man. Gibbs enters the car while she is still in deep conversation with Abby.
Suddenly, the two women heard a deafening shout! From their beloved Gibbs, of course, “DINOZZO!!!”
And the person named DiNozzo flinched and quickly rushed back inside the fire exit. “Damn it” Tony cursed. He didn’t get a good look at the lady who is sitting beside his boss, Abby was blocking his view. Tony cursed furiously, his plan failed, he has no idea who is his boss getting married to.
A few minutes later:
“Abby…Abby…Abby…Abby!” Tony chases Abby all the way to the lab. “So, that is her?”
“Yep!” Abby answers nonchalantly.
“Who is she?”
Abby just shakes her head, quite happy that Tony is bothered, not knowing the identity of Gibbs’s fiancée, and she knows.
“Do you know her? She is not a redhead!”
“Good bye Tony,” as Abby enters her lab and locks herself in. A big smile etched on her face as she sees Tony scowling at her.
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-Tbc-nova- BETA (MV)
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs drops the bomb...