Chapter 6 The return of Kate Todd
After the talk with Ducky, Kate returns to her empty room.
She decides to work on her laptop, Gibbs is in the middle of his course, she is just going a last minute check that all his assignments are forwarded.
After his five minute long round of locking all doors and windows, it is almost midnight when he returns to their room. "Katie, it's late" he said to his wife as he enters the room.
Kate's eyes are still glued to the screen, "a few more minutes" she replies.
Assuming that she is still annoyed with him, he doesn't know what to say to her, instead he stood by her side, looking down at her working at her laptop for quite some time.
The old Gibbs would have slammed the laptop down and taken her to bed, no questions asked. This time, he gazes at her for quite some time, then his gaze goes down to her still flat tummy. All of a sudden, he kisses the top of her head, "Katie…please…don't punish our child because you hate me" he murmurs in regret.
Kate is shocked at his comment.
"God! How could you think of me that way? And I don't hate you! I am just angry with you" she stands up from the chair, and pulls him to their bed.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, they talked. "I was thinking that I wanted to take Robert to Jeremy's…just for a week or two" she noticed his tense face, then she quickly continues, "It's been a year since Robert saw Jaclyn and Joshua"
"Kate" he cuts her off - he is not going to let her go in the middle of their fight.
"I was planning the trip before I found out that I am pregnant again, so don't worry, I am not leaving."
He looks so relieved that she smiles. "And I am not punishing the baby because I am angry at you Jethro, I am not heartless," she sighs, weary with the fight, wishing that it is over soon.
"I'll go to Strebel with you tomorrow, all right?" He insists and she nods.
"C'mon Kate, you should sleep, let's go to bed" he pulls her hand.
"Oh no…we are not done talking Jethro!" Kate holds his hand, looks him in the eyes. the questions. "Do you still have a problem with my ex? And what about me helping DiNozzo with the Cobalt case?" Gibbs really wishes he doesn't have to answer
"I don't know Kate." He looks away from her.
"Yes you know! You always know Jethro! Do you trust me?"
"Yes" plain and simple
"One hundred percent?"
"Yes" he is sure of that.
That night, they come to a conclusion that he wound not oppose her helping Lt. Cobalt case as long as she is never alone with him. Kate rolls her eyes at him but she agrees with his condition. That night, or shall they say morning, they sleep in peace, the anger between them has been put behind them.
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FBI
He groans when he hears his mobile waking him up from the deep slumber. He notices the woman in his arms, snuggling on his chest, she stirs slightly from the noise. He blindly reaches over for the blasted thing.
Blurry, he reads the ID Caller ‘Fornell_FBI'. "Gibbs" he answers as he glances at the time, five in the morning.
"Gibbs, I have bad news" He hears Fornell's voice filled with terror and anger. He already knows who the hell he is talking about.
"Where are you?"
"I am at NCIS's back lot"
"Be right there" Gibbs says and hangs up on the FBI agent.
Kate has been listening to the call and feels him stiffen by the second. She looks up at him, questioning him with her eyes when he hangs up his mobile and confirms her fear.
Fifteen minutes later, the Director is by his door, ready to leave for the HQ, he had roused his senior agents to meet him at the HQ, A.S.A.P. Kate runs to him from the kitchen with his huge cup of coffee.
"Kate, please…don't run. And I am so sorry, I can't go with you" He can't believe the bad timing.
Kate interrupts him with a kiss. "I know, it's OK…It's OK Jethro, and I will see you at the HQ, OK. Be careful please".
He kisses her goodbye.
"I love you, Kate," he says before he hurriedly leaves for work.
After her husband drives off, Kate stays frozen on the spot, staring at the empty lot, lost in her turbulent thoughts, until Ducky calls her, "Caitlin"
She snaps to the present, closes the door and walks inside her house.
The ME is standing in front of Robert's room, looking down at her from the 2nd floor. "Ducky, it's still early, go back to bed" she looks up at the ME in his robe.
"Jethro left for the HQ?" He heard his car.
Kate nods and answers, "Haswari" and Ducky's face changes.
"I had better go too" he decides.
"Ducky, you have no reason to go, it is still early, we don't know what really happen and…"
The ME shakes his head. "They need me there" and walks inside the room.
Half an hour later the old man left the house for the HQ.
Ducky cursed the day Haswari ended up in his Autopsy.
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After Ducky left the house, leaving Kate alone with her kid, for the first time since she lived there, she feels unsafe. Hastily, she locks the main door and then she runs to the back of the house to lock the back door.
Satisfied with the essential security in her house, she heads to the boy's room to check on Robert who is still asleep, oblivious to his parents' despair.
"I won't let that man hurt you in any way "she whispers to him, she remembers the few days she was in Haswari's hands, the man abused and hurt her.
"Your dad will make sure of that too"
That morning, ex NCIS Special Agent Todd does not do her daily chores; instead she goes to her room and takes out a silver box which she hasn't touched since the day she quit the agency.
Carefully, she opens the box, regretting the reason it has to be open; there she sees her Sig Sauer, undisturbed for two years; she has had no reason to use her gun.
Since she married Gibbs, she doesn't sleep with her gun under her pillow, the last time she slept with her gun under her pillow her husband accidentally knocked it off as he slipped his arm under her pillow to hug her closer…and he looked at her incredulously, and said that as long as he was still breathing she had no reason to sleep with her gun under her pillow in their own bed.
The day she quit her job because Gibbs was appointed as the Director, she almost cried when she put it away. It seems unreal to Kate now that she is looking at her trusted Sig Sauer, because the Mossad Psycho is on the loose again.
She stations herself at Gibb's desk and swiftly cleans her gun thoroughly, reloading the bullets.
It has been too long, but she still hasn't forgotten how powerful and destructive it can be; she holds her Sig in her grip, remembering its feel.
She is so engrossed in her task, she doesn't realize that her toddler is already awake and walking towards his parents' room, still sleepy and tugging his small blanket with him.
Kate notices her son is the room when he is few feet away from where she is sitting, with her gun and ammunition on the table…too late to hide the gun from his sight.
"WOW…mommy has gun???" he exclaims, suddenly awake from his sleepiness, his eyes enlarged in excitement; he recognized everybody's gun in his dad's office.
Some kids love cars and airplanes, but not Robert! Guns are his passion, even though he only touches them with his fingertips.
His Uncle Tony loves to make fun of him, making him guess which one is his dad's and the knuckle head agent's gun…and he knows the difference. He has touched everybody's gun in NCIS, even the securities' at the HQ's entrance.
And until that moment, he never knew his mother with a gun, a black shining beautiful gun! Before Kate manages to answer her son, he runs to her legs and climbs up to her leg, and she hoists him up.
"Bobby!!! Don't touch the gun! Remember your talk with your dad?" she reminds him.
"What talk mommy?" he pretends
"Robert!" Kate warns him again as she sees his hands inching towards the ammunition and gun on the table while Kate is busy cleaning the nozzle.
"Mommy's gun?" he asks again, but since his mother hasn't answered his question, his hands are off the table.
Kate nods, "Yes, it's mommy's when mommy was still working" and she looks at him fondly, she remembers how Gibbs and she struggled, meeting their needs, juggling between their hectic work and family…it was crazy.
"Mommy go back work???" he concludes positively, his hands are inching towards the gun again. He thought if his mom goes back to work…that means he is coming to work too!
"No Robert, I am just cleaning the old gun" she replies and again, she swiftly grabs Robert's hands away from the weapon, "No Robert! Please, don't play with it, it is not a toy"
"Bobby likes gun, mommy" the kid insists, still eyeing his mother's beautiful gun, he continues, "Bobby has lots of gunsssss"
"You know what Robert, why don't you tidy your basement, get ready and you can bring one of your guns and we'll go out…" she said to her son.
"Two mommy, two" he wants to bring more; Kate sighs, this is what has been happening since her son learnt how to count.
"OK" she agrees; Robert is so happy, he says OK and slips down to the floor and dashes to his room to "tidy" up his bed, which means to put away his toys and to pull his blanket swiftly over his bed, he doesn't know how to make his bed yet! Then, he opens his big wooden box and chooses TWO out of his gun collection.
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Toast
Three FBI agents in their black suits crowd the NCIS's morgue. Special Agent DiNozzo is not pleased with the fact that FBI is all over his morgue! They are looking at what seems to be…a badly burnt corpse.
"Damn…he is TOAST!!!" DiNozzo couldn't help himself, the corpse is charcoal black, and it looks fragile too. He yawns and continues, "Are you sure, this is…yours?" he asks the morose looking FBI agents.
"We believe so, he is Agent Steve Goldsmith" one of the men in black speaks up.
"And…you guys find him in our compound?" DiNozzo tries to understand how an FBI agent can be found burned dead in his HQ's complex.
"We received a distress call from Agent Goldsmith, about half an hour before we found him…" the man is looking at his dead friend.
"That's the last we heard from him and where we tracked him…" he manages to answer DiNozzo.
"What was he doing?" DiNozzo is curious.
"I believe it is confidential Special Agent DiNozzo" the FBI man is back to his usual ass!
"Well! Confidential or not, NCIS got the body guys, so why don't you…" DiNozzo is getting angry by the second until he is cut of by his ME barging into his domain. Thirty minutes ago, he received an order from his boss to come to the HQ, pronto. Now that he is here, looking at a toasted corpse and the FBI is being an ass, as usual.
"What's the hold up? What do we have here?" Ducky brusquely enters "his" morgue, he seems to be wide awake and on the edge.
"Oh my…he is toast, charcoal" he says as he straightens his specs and analyzes the corpse more closely.
"I assume you have his dental record at hand?" he asks without looking at the FBI agents…and they nod, still disturbed by the death of their colleague.
"We'll soon find out how you died, my friend! I hope you were not burned alive, for your sake" Ducky speaks calmly to the corpse, as he always does.
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In the Director's office, 1300 hours.
Gibbs and Fornell had just finished their shouting match.
Half an hour ago they heard from Dinozzo that Ducky was able to ID the burned victim and their fear is confirmed. The victim is FBI Agent Matt Angus, Haswari's partner, actually more his controller than partner, which the FBI forced on Haswari. So the hunt has started, Haswari killed the FBI agent; he is uncontrollable and on the loose.
The FBI and NCIS are in trouble because a psychopath is free to do or destroy whatever he wishes. And even though they managed to apprehend the terrorist, they are officially unable to terminate the vermin, because of his double agent position.
That is one of the reasons why Gibbs has been in shouting matches for the past three months with the FBI Directors and other agencies.
After DiNozzo's report on Ducky's finding, both Fornell and Gibbs are still inside the office, vainly strategizing their plan B. They have no other choice; both men are in the midst of their talk when Kate enters the office, her son is asleep in her arms, head perched on her shoulder.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know. Mrs. Adam said to go right in" Kate sees Fornell rising from the chair, the guys are not shouting, which seldom happens.
"It's all right Kate" Gibbs looks exhausted.
"Todd…he is asleep?" Fornell walks to her and he gently lifts the sleeping boy from his mother into his arms and he laughs as he notices the toy guns stuck to the kid's shorts and Kate slips them off.
Fornell smiles, looking at the cherubic face in his arms, unaware of the dangers around him; he doesn't have any children from his two marriages; he loves childrens' unspoiled minds, especially since he met his friends' son.
Kate notices the distress and tension in the room, "How is it? How bad is it? What happened?" she bombards Gibbs with questions, all day long, she's been thinking about all the bleak possibilities.
Gibbs could have slapped his own stupid head after telling his wife what really happened.
"It's bad Kate, his partner is dead, we found him in the back lot. Now, he is free to do whatever he wishes and he has the connections and money to do so, we don't know…" he stops in the middle of his sentence.
Kate looks worried, her face paled considerably, she thought they would have news on Haswari's activities, NOT Haswari as a free man; without realizing, she covers her mouth and cries.
"Katie, don't worry, it's not too late, it's going to be all right" Gibbs says, but in his mind, he slaps his own head.
"What are we going to do?" Kate asks him, but before Gibbs answers her question, Fornell intervenes.
"We are going to get the son of a bitch, and when we have him, he'll wish that he was dead, Todd" Fornell interrupts the couple.
He is sitting on the side sofa, Robert is sleeping on his chest. Looking at the child's serene face has somehow given him some hope.
Gibbs changes the subject, "How was the appointment?"
"Nothing special, just blood tests and the usual, I'll see him again in a week or so" she replies.
"Oh…and Robert almost destroyed his office!" Kate shakes her head at the boy; she is reminded of the child's antics with her old OB-GYN who is Ducky's friend.
She tells him what happened at the OB-GYN: their son touched every foreign tool he saw, he was quite nosy too, asking "What can they do?" and comparing them to his guns. He also said that his Ducky has the same or better tools than what the OB-GYN has. He even had the audacity to invite Strebel to his bullpen and saying he'll take the man to Ducky's cold room.
They are disturbed by a knock:
DiNozzo enters the office and starts complaining. "Boss, the FBI is being an ass!"
"Nothing new DiNozzo…nothing new" Gibbs comments.
"Result?" he snaps at DiNozzo.
"Positive ID Boss and Ducky is sure that the man was "toasted" alive…soot in his lungs and throat, traces of Gaso…" he shuts up as he sees Kate's face.
He quickly changes the subject, "the toast belongs to him" he points at Fornell who is glaring at the obnoxious NCIS jerk, but unable to do anything because he is holding a child.
Kate scolds DiNozzo for being an insensitive knucklehead as usual, but the knucklehead grins at his ex-partner.
Suddenly, Kate stops talking and turn around, facing Gibbs:
"I can help! I can profile! I know him the best!!!" She realizes her strengths and she should have offered her services a long time ago, before it got worse.
"She has a point, Boss" DiNozzo looks at his director.
DiNozzo and Fornell dare not take sides; they realize that for NCIS's sake, the Director should hire her back, but as her husband…hell no! Gibbs is in a very precarious position.
"I don't think so Kate" he starts to distance himself from her.
Kate moves closer to him, "NCIS does not currently have a profiler, I am a profiler!" she spells out the deal to him.
"Kate, I will not allow you to return to NCIS, especially for Haswari…" Gibbs refuses.
"Jethro, listen to me…" Kate tries.
"No Kate…I said NO!" He is about to bellow his decision when Kate thought of another way.
"Guys, can we talk in private, please…" Kate is still looking at him but he is refusing to look at her in the eyes.
DiNozzo and Fornell leave the couple.
Fornell still has the sleeping toddler in his arms, unwilling to put him down yet. ;DiNozzo tries to take Robert from the FBI Agent, but Fornell slaps his hand away.
"Hey! He is NCIS's baby!" DiNozzo is annoyed, how dare he touch Robert, who belongs to NCIS.
Fornell walks away with the toddler still perched on his chest, leaving the knucklehead Agent behind him, but DiNozzo pesters the man; he tries to take Robert again…and receives another brusque slap to his hand.
They are outside Gibbs's office now, standing near Mrs. Adams's desk. If not because of Fornell, she would have shood DiNozzo away for making too much noise.
DiNozzo complains, "His mom and dad are ‘pure' NCIS"
"Special Agent Todd was Secret Service DiNozzo" Fornell answers his complaints calmly.
"EX! EX-SECRET SERVICE! She was NCIS when she quit!!!" Dinozzo reminds Fornell angrily and quite loudly, receiving a hawk like glare from the secretary.
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In the Director's office.
"Jethro, please listen to me, hear me out. You have to make the best decision for the department and you are not a field Agent anymore, you are a Director sweetie…" She reasons with him.
Gibbs walks away from her, heading towards his chair, behind the huge table, barricading himself physically and hopefully emotionally from her pleas. "Kate, you are my wife, you are carrying MY child, I would be a fool if I let you in the circle again Kate," he tries to make her understand the dilemma.
"But, NCIS needs me. You guys need me. We do not want more bloodshed Jethro!" Kate replies.
"No Kate" Gibbs realizes that his back is literally against the wall.
"And I swear that I will be office bound. I promise! I will help from the Headquarters, not the field!" she bargains and continues her speech before he answers her, "…you have to admit, the bastard has got me twice, and I know him better than Ducky does!"
"And you thought he had kind eyes Kate" Gibbs replies with a pang of jealousy.
"He was not born that way Jethro! Life made him a monster…and are you jealous???" Kate couldn't believe her ears.
Half an hour later, after many arguments, deals, threats and much begging…and finally one sweet kiss between the two of them, the Director reinstates Special Agent Todd ‘temporarily' to NCIS.
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They walk out from the office.
Kate is excited with the new deal but Gibbs is looking grim despite the sweet kiss he got from his Kate. They stop in their track and witness DiNozzo still bickering with Fornell about their son, with Mrs. Adams looking aggravated.
Without a word, Gibbs strides to them and takes what belongs to him…his son... from Fornell. Problem solved.
"DiNozzo, Kate will help you profile Haswari…" Gibbs announces
DiNozzo's cheers of happiness and jumps stop Gibbs's speech.
DiNozzo hugs his ex partner, he misses her terribly.
"Kate, don't you miss our truck???" DiNozzo eyes gleam with happy memories.
"Do you remember when…" he shuts up when he sees Kate's eyes changes by the mention of their beloved truck.
"She is office bound, DiNozzo!" Gibbs snaps, but he couldn't continue because the boy in his arms stirs from his loud voice.
"C'mon Tony!" Kate shoves DiNozzo away from her husband who can't shout because of her sleeping son, but before she goes down the stairs, she returns and kisses them both, "You have my mobile" she whispers to Gibbs.
Kate did not expect his hand. He manages to grab her elbow quickly.
"Kate, I will NOT be needing your mobile, I'll be calling your desk phone, all right?!" he warns her…and she winks at him.
Fornell and Gibbs can hear DiNozzo starting his fun; he is telling Kate that she should call him ‘Boss' and Kate is saying ‘no way' and messing his finely combed hair.
"I never thought that you'll hire her back Gibbs" Fornell is looking at the man standing beside him.
"I am NOT hiring her back! I am just reinstating her! There is a difference Fornell" Gibbs is denying the truth.
"I think you made the right decision" Fornell enters the office.
"I don't think so…and I might change my decision at any time" Gibbs seems confused.
"We'll get the traitor once and for all, Haswari won't see Todd, we'll make sure of that."
Fornell calms Gibbs down.
"Like hell Fornell."
Gibbs is angry with himself for the situation.
"I am taking the body back Gibbs."
Fornell sighs wearily.
He has had enough shit from Haswari, who has been killing his men, four bodies thus far.
"I want to see the body, then I'll come over to your HQ once I am done here."
He quickly placed the boy on the couch, then from his personal cupboard he pulls out a small pillow and blanket, making the boy as comfortable as possible: Robert has spent countless times sleeping in his dad's office and bullpen.
Fornell is gazing at the hard ass bastard that used to give him shit, taking care of his son, "You love him, don't you Gibbs"
"More than my life…"
"For the first time in my life, I am jealous of you Gibbs" Fornell laughs bitterly and they both left the office to the morgue.
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Bullpen
"You all right Kate?" DiNozzo looks at her with concern; they just spent half an hour in the autopsy with Ducky dissecting a ‘black' burned corpse and Ducky was not pleased with DiNozzo for bringing Kate there.
Even though she was mostly asking the FBI Agents questions, she blanched considerably as she heard the cracking sound of ribs being cut open, and couldn't help it but to look.
But DiNozzo knows Kate quite well, having worked with her for more than two years, he knows that her pride won't let her admit that the autopsy is bothering her.
"I am fine Tony, but I am glad that I haven't had my lunch though" she admits, drinking her water from the bottle like she always does.
"Here Kate" McGee offers her crackers and milk, he is glad that she is joining the team again, she used to save his ass when Gibbs was still their boss.
"Thanks McGee" Kate beams at the man whom Abby called ‘one sweet geek'
"Glad to have you back Kate" McGee nods to her.
"Suck up…" DiNozzo whispers to McGee and shoves the man purposely, jealous that Kate is beaming at him.
He has known Kate longer.
McGee pulls a face at him.
DiNozzo decides to tease his ex-partner. "Hey Kate I didn't know that Lt. Cobalt is your ex!"
"Yeah, we dated for a while," she replies innocently
"So…you are going to help you EX, Katie girl" DiNozzo flashes his kinky grin
Kate still doesn't realize what Tony is doing.
"I've thought about that Tony, but I decided not to, I think the Mossad case with the FBI is…"
DiNozzo interrupts her. "Boss is jealous!!! Isn't he? That's why you are not going to do the case".
He is standing very close to her, annoying her. McGee just exhales, realizing what his knucklehead boss is doing.
"NO!" Kate answers the man in disbelief, but somehow angry because he guessed right!
"Tony…" McGee tries to stops his ‘new' boss from making a mistake, he just saw Gibbs coming down the stairs.
"SHHHH! Probie! Shut it!" DiNozzo shush him.
"Admit it Kate! Your husband is jealous! Big Boss ORDERED you NOT to take the case." He looks at her slyly; her face is flushed, but she is controlling her anger.
DiNozzo is not done yet, it's been too long since he pissed her off, the last time was when she was pregnant and he commented that she waddled like a penguin and made her cry.
"AW KATE! You've lost your touch! Where is the sassy Kate I used to know?
Kate is fuming mad by now and still unable to answer DiNozzo.
She has forgotten how annoying and what a pain in the ass he can be.
DiNozzo doesn't know just when to stop. "You've become a docile housewife, poor Katie! You are…"
____TWACK____TWACK______
DiNozzo flinches and covers his head.
Gibbs heard everything! His wife is almost in tears, but after the slaps, she is grinning in satisfaction, swiftly wiping her tears in embarrassment. She is extremely sensitive when she is pregnant, and McGee is enjoying the slaps.
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-Tbc-nova2007-Beta(MV)
Author's Chapter Notes:
You'll find out what happen to Little Robert Gibbs when his mother returns to work.