"The In-Between Years, Part One"

************"Oh Mama Mia!"************

Chapter One (I Felt The Baby Kick) ---

By all appearances it was just another day at NCIS for Gibbs and his team--well at least for those who were not in the 'know'. The case that the team was currently working on had been somewhat stressful up to this point, and Gibbs just happened to be in one of his moods today.

Gibbs walked into the squad room, coffee cup in one hand and file folder in the other, and headed for his desk. As he walked by he could see Tony sitting back in his chair talking on the telephone. "That phone call better be work related DiNozzo." Gibbs said coldly.

Tony sat straight up at his desk, startled by his boss' statement. "Thank you Agent Vandalay, you are *Still* the man." Tony chuckled nervously into the phone. He hung up his phone quickly, and cleared his throat.

Gibbs set his coffee cup and the file folder down on his desk as he sat down in his own chair. He turned to his computer and began punching keys on the keyboard. "Don't let it happen again." Gibbs said plainly from his desk.

"No Boss." Tony quipped nervously, as he returned to his own computer screen.

"Reach Seaman Rayford's CO yet?" Gibbs asked, turning away from his computer to look at the file folder he'd brought up with him. They needed to find their dead seaman's Commanding Officer, who it was believed might be a witness to the seaman's tragic death, or their case probably would not go any further than it already had.

"Uh not yet Boss," Tony replied. "Still working on it though." he added, nervously, as he caught Gibbs glaring at him from across the bullpen.

Gibbs took a sip of his coffee as he slipped on his reading glasses.

Around the corner the elevator pinged audibly, and as soon as the door(s) opened two voices could be heard bickering almost from the get go.

"I told you before McGee I don't need any help." Kate blew once again. McGee was really starting to get on her nerves. Ever since she and Gibbs had announced her pregnancy to the rest of the team McGee had been annoying to say the very least. She knew that the young special agent meant well, and that his heart was in the right place--he just did not know how to take no for an answer.

"I-I know. Those bags just look really heavy, and I know the boss doesn't want you too strain yourself." McGee stammered over his words, nervously, as he walked really close to Kate's side.

Kate and McGee rounded the corner into the bullpen still bickering between themselves. Kate stopped in front of her desk, and even though her eight months pregnant belly had a habit of getting in the way, she attempted to set the two grocery bags down on top of her desk.

"H-Here let me help you with those," McGee said, reaching out to grab one of the bags from Kate's arms.

"No no I've got it McGee!" Kate snapped, as she struggled to keep both grocery bags balanced as she lowered them down onto the desktop.

"But Kate just let me-" McGee started to say, still reaching for one of the bags.

"McGee!" Gibbs snapped from his desk.

McGee immediately turned to face his boss who was now standing up. "Y-yeah boss?" McGee answered nervously.

"What did I tell you?" Gibbs asked, plainly, slowly removing his reading glasses from his face.

"If someone says stop, I should stop." McGee replied quietly, with a sigh.

"Good." Gibbs said, extending his arm towards McGee's desk. "Now sit." he snapped at the young special agent.

McGee did as he was told, like a good little puppy dog usually does when his masters tone shows animosity and anger, and headed straight for his desk where he quietly took his seat.

Gibbs set his glasses down on his desk next to the file folder, and then moved around to assisst his wife with the task that she was currently engaged in.

As he neared her desk she gave a startled cry as one of the grocery bags toppled backwards off of the desktop, and spilled its contents all over the floor around her.

"Damnit!" she swore out loud, as she started to bend over to pick the things up off of the floor.

"It's okay. I've got it." Gibbs said with a smile, as he squatted down and began to gather the bag and its spilled contents from the floor. He carefully replaced each item back into the bag.

Gibbs stood up and handed the bag back to his wife. "Lunch?" Gibbs asked, as he planted a kiss on his wife's cheek.

"Yep." Kate replied, pulling a small chinese take out box from the first bag and handing it to her husband. "I'd have been here sooner if McGee hadn't been pestering me the whole time." she vented quietly.

Gibbs gave a small sigh as he set his lunch down on her desktop. "You really shouldn't be here Kate," Gibbs said quietly. "Not in your condition."

"We've already had this discussion Gibbs." Kate replied plainly, without looking up from her task. "Not havin' it again." she added, as she pulled another box from the first bag. "Tony. Lunch!' she called over her shoulder.

Tony jumped up from his chair, and skipped delightedly over to his partner's desk where he accepted the take-out box from her. "Thanks Kate. I owe ya one." he said with that *DiNozzo Grin* of his.

"Yeah, that's what you said last time, Tony. And I'm still waiting." she replied smartly.

"Any day now." Tony replied, as he retook his seat behind his desk.

"You should be in bed taking it easy right now." Gibbs continued, as he wrapped his arms around Kate's mid-section.

"I'm of more use to you here, than I would be if I were at home." she pointed out to her husband, unwilling to give up her position so easily.

"Don't make me turn it into an order Kate." Gibbs pressed.

Kate pulled forward, and spun around to face her husband. Her eyes met his and for a minute or so it seemed as though they might be having a staring contest. After a minute or so she jabbed her husband in the ribs causing him to retreat backwards a minute, blinking wildly for a few seconds as he tried to catch his breath.

"I win." she jeered happily, with a small chuckle.

"Yeah we'll see." Gibbs said finally, as he righted himself up. He reached out, grabbed his wife, and started to tickle her.

"Gibbs--Gibbs please." she cried out through her uncontrollable laughter. "Gibbs--please stop--please stop."

"You go boss!" Tony cheered from the safety of his desk. He had had to put his lunch down to avoid any mishaps that he might encounter while enjoying the spectacle taking place before him.

"Not until you apologize, my dear Katie." he whispered in her ear.

She clawed at her husbands hands and arms trying desperately to break his grip on her. She finally succeeded, and he let go of her. She fell forwards bracing herself against the edge of her desk for support.

"You alright?" Gibbs asked, grinning smugly, as he stepped up beside her.

She nodded at her husband, as she tried to slow her breathing and heart rate back to normal. "Yeah I'm-" she started to say with a half-grin. But suddenly, before she could get anymore words out her face screwed up tightly as she let out an audible gasp. She clutched at her pregnant belly, as her knees suddenly began to give way beneath her.

Gibbs was rather quick on the draw catching her in his arms as she crumpled towards the floor. "Kate. What's wrong?" he asked quickly.

She was unable to speak at that particular moment.

Tony and McGee immediately jumped from their seat and raced to where Gibbs and Kate were. "Here boss, let me help ya." Tony offered.

Together the two men helped Kate around the desk, and into her chair.

From around the corner, coincidentally enough, appeared Ducky and Abby-- the two of them apparently having decided to come up together to retrieve their own lunchs.

"Afternoon all," Ducky greeted everyone happily as he rounded the corner with Abby.

"Kate!" Abby cried when she saw everyone huddled around her friend.

"Good Heavens. What happened?" Ducky exclaimed as he pushed passed McGee, and pushed Tony aside to get to Kate's side.

"Don't know." Gibbs admitted to the aging M.E. "She just fell out."

Kate reached out a hand to stop Ducky from touching her, as she regained control of her body once again, and her breathing returned to normal. "I-Its's definitely a boy." she stammered aloud.

"Hunh?" Gibbs gave a slightly confused look, as he was unsure of what his wife meant by her last statement. His heart was still racing from the sudden scare of his wife's reaction to being tickled as hard as she was that time.

"The baby kicked," she explained to her husband as she planted a gentle kiss on his nose. "I'm fine sweetheart." she told him. "I've just never felt the baby kick quite that hard before." she said with a grin.

Ducky gave a small chuckle at Gibbs and Kate. "He must take after his father." Ducky said with a chuckle.

Everyone else around laughed at the joke as well.

"So how about lunch?" Abby chimed in.



Chapter Two (That Evening) ---

Kate stood in the doorway of the nearly complete nursery at the home that she and Gibbs owned together. The way he was moving around and working in the room suggested to her that Gibbs had something on his mind. She shifted her body weight into a more comfortable position as she stood watching her husband work. "What's on your mind?" she asked quietly.

Gibbs did not say anything, not at first, just continued what he was doing without looking up.

"You can't shut me out everytime there's something bothering you." she said, taking a step inside the room. "You have to talk to me sometime."

After a minute or two Gibbs set the paint brush that he was using back down inside the paint pan on the floor. He stepped back to survey what progress he had made in just the two hours or so that he'd been working since he and Kate had gotten home from work.

Kate shook her head, and turned to leave when she heard her husband let out a long sigh.

"You scared me today Kate." he said plainly. All day long worse case scenarios had played themselves out in his head--and it had taken everything that he had in him not to go straight for the bottle of Jack that he kept hidden down in the basement. Kate definitely would not like that.

Kate turned around and stared at her husband, silently, for a moment before she finally spoke up. "It was nothing Gibbs." she said.

"But what if it had been something serious?" Gibbs asked, finally turning to face his wife. "What if the baby had been hurt?"

"That's the point Gibbs, the baby is fine." Kate insisted. "You're making a moutain out of a mole hill." She hated when Gibbs got like this. It always made her insides churn.

"Yeah now." Gibbs said, stepping closer to Kate. "You should stay home from now own," Gibbs began. "At this stage you don't need to be taking any unnecessary chances."

"I feel safer at NCIS." Kate said without hesitation, challenging her husband. "Here I would just be alone, and all by myself."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't be as tempted to do any kind of physical work." Gibbs pointed out, his voice rising a bit.

"Know that for a fact do ya?" Kate snapped back. "How would you know what I'd be doing while you're off at work. Hmm?" She really was not in the mood for a fight with Gibbs, but at least he was actually talking to her about how he felt about--Something.

Gibbs knew that he had been beaten at his own game, but tried not to show it. He just gave a long sigh as he ran a hand through his silvery hair.

"And another thing," Kate said, pressing own as she took another step closer to her husband. "I'm tired of being treated like I'm flying solo here." she continued angrily. "Just a little support would be nice ya know. Just to know that you're behind me for once--in MY corner."

Gibbs stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his wife--pulling her close. There were tears in her eyes as he bent his head down to kiss her on the lips. "I'm always in your corner Katie," he whispered softly. "But I worry about you, and our unborn child." he added, as he laid a hand against her swollen belly.

"I know you do." she said, as she used his shirt to wipe a few tears from her eyes.



Chapter Three (Just Another Day) ---

The next day at NCIS Tony and Kate had gone out to bring their prime suspect who they finally had enough evidence on to make the official arrest.

Kate and Tony stood inside the interrogation room with their suspect as they waited for Gibbs to arrive. The man tried to stand up several times, and each time Tony and Kate had to make him sit back down.

"Hey!" the man shouted. "Keep your filthy hands off me ya dirty whore!" he snapped at Kate, as he pulled free of her grip.

"Kate you really shouldn't-" Tony started to say.

The room's single door opened up and Gibbs stepped inside nodding to Tony and Kate that they could leave. He dropped a file folder down onto the tiny table in the center of the room.

"You might as well talk," Gibbs said, staring at the man intently. "We've got you dead to rights." he informed the man.

"You ain't got nuthin'!" the man spat back.

Gibbs gave a small chuckle as he nodded at the folder on the table. "If you only knew what was in that folder--I promise you would think differently."

The man eyed the folder for a moment or two before reaching for it. As soon as the man's hand landed on the file folder Gibbs pounced.

Gibbs slammed his hand down over the man's hand, and gripped it tightly in his own. The man tried to fight back with his free hand, but Gibbs grabbed it in mid-air and twisted it backwards.

"Yowwwwww!" the man screamed in agony, as Gibbs drug him to his feet, and then shoved him backwards into the far wall.

Gibbs moved around the table with lightning fast speed almost immediately pinning the guy back to the wall. "Call my wife a whore again, and they'll carry you out of here on a stretcher." Gibbs whispered in the man's ear.

The man sputtered in Gibbs grasp or a moment before he finally found the strength and air to speak up again. "I want a lawyer." he choked out.

"You better find a damn good one." Gibbs replied, just before he loosened his grip on the man.



Gibbs walked out of interrogation, file folder in hand, and closed the door with his free hand. He walked down a few feet, and then poked his hea inside the observation room. "DiNozzo. Get Agent Lee down here." Gibbs instructed.

"On it boss." Tony said, with a nod, as he headed off out of the room.

Gibbs nodded to Kate with a small grin, motioning for her to follow him. The couple walked together down the long hallway back to the squad room.

"How you feelin'?" Gibbs asked, as he and Kate walked side by side down the hall.

"Fine," Kate replied, rubbing her swollen belly gently. "My feet are killing me, but other than that--fine." she said, giving a small chuckle.

"You should sit the rest of this one out, I think." Gibbs told her quietly.

"Gibbs, we've already had this discussion." Kate said blatantly.

"Look I'm not saying go home. I'm just saying take it easy." Gibbs explained.

"Gibbs-" she started to say in protest.

"Kate. Don't make me get Abby on you." Gibbs warned jokingly.



Two hours later Gibbs sat at his desk filling out paper work, and writing up last-minute reports on the case that he and his had just wrapped up. Across the bullpen McGee and Tony were doing much the same as he was accept that Tony had been given the task of using Kate's notes to write up both his report and his partner's.

Gibbs had managed to convince Kate, two hours previous to this moment, to spend the rest of the day down in the lab with Abby just taking it easy. He had told her that they would go home early just as soon as he finished the necessary paper work.

"How's the report coming DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked across the bullpen without looking up from his own work. He knew that Tony hated doing paper work of any kind, and so this was just him having a little bit of fun with his senior field agent.

"Um, it's--it's coming boss. I just have one question though," Tony said looking up from his own work. "Why, exactly, do I have to do Kate's paperwork too?" he knew asking a stupid question like this one was just about enough to get himself killed, but he was curious after all--and somewhat tired and ready to go home.

"Cause I told you too." Gibbs replied, very plainly, as he glanced across the bullpen at Tony, very seriously in appearance.

Tony flashed Gibbs a nervous 'thumbs up' sign and a grin, as he shrunk back into his work once again. "Just pretend I never asked."

Gibbs had to stifle his amusement to keep from laughing his butt off right then and there.



Down in the lab Abby was having a hard time keeps her hands off of Kate's swollen, pregnant belly. The Goth Forensic Specialist was just so excited about Gibbs and Kate having a little one of their own finally. At the same time though she was a little nervous, and constantly asked Kate if there was anything that she could do or get for her while she was down in the lab with her.

"Thirsty?" Abby asked, as she strolled quickly back into the lab carrying two Caf-Pows.

"No thanks." Kate said, holding a hand up in indication of that fact. "I am kind of hungry though." she admitted, more to herself than to Abby.

"Really." Abby replied, setting the two drinks down on her work table. "I can run to the vending machine upstairs if you'd like. Just tell me what sounds good."

Kate laughed at her best friend. "That's quite alright Abby, but I'm sure that Gibbs will be along to take me home soon, and besides i don't know yet what were gonna do for supper so--probably better to wait I think." Kate informed her.

"Are you sure?" Abby asked nervously, standing ready to rush upstairs if she needed to. "Cause I mean its no problem really--I-I don't mind."

"Abby calm down. Its okay--I'm okay." Kate said with a chuckle. "This chairs' not the most comfortable thing in the world though," Kate said shifting her position in the chair that Abby had wheeled out of her own office for Kate to use.

"Oh well, I could go see what I can find out in storage if you'd like me to."

Kate could not help but laugh again at Abby. "I'm just playing with ya Abby." Kate said with a chuckle.

Abby plopped down the stool that sat in front of her workstation. She had gotten it to use whenever she had to spend long hours in the lab with nothing to do, but wait on the results from the numerous tests that she usually ran on evidence received from the cases that the team worked. She picked up one of the Caf-Pows and drew in a large gulp of the carbonated beverage, and set it down and the same to the second Caf-Pow she had brought down from upstairs.

"Picked out any baby names yet?" she asked Kate, after her nerves had finallys settled back down.

"Some." Kate replied, scratching an itchy spot behind her right ear.

"Like what?" Abby asked, taking another gulp of Caf-Pow.

"Well, Gibbs and I have agreed on Kristen Kylie (Gibbs) if its a girl, and Anthony Jackson (Gibbs) if its a boy." Kate said, with a smile.

"I like those names," Abby said with a smile at her friend.

"And in light of yesterdays' happenings I can honestly say I think we're dealing with an 'Anthony' here." Kate said, with a chuckle, as she gently patted her stomach.

"Gosh," Abby sighed. "I think you guys are gonna be great parents."

The two women laughed with each other at that remark, and Kate thanked her friend for the vote of confidence.

"What did I miss?" Gibbs asked, poking his head inside the lab at hearing the two women laughing.

"Gibbs," Kate said, doing the best she could to pull herself out of the chair (by herself).

"Here let me help you." Abby said, taking Kate's hand and giving her a slight tug upwards.

"Thanks Abby," Kate said, as she finally landed on her feet again.

"Ready to go?" Gibbs asked, from the doorway of the lab. Standing there, watching his pregnant wife gather up her purse and what not from off of the floor nearby, he could not help but think how beautiful she was, and how lucky he was to have her in his life.

"Okay," Kate said finally, as she stepped up beside her hsuband. "All set." she smiled.

Abby waved goodbye to the happy couple as they headed out of the lab, and made their way down the hallway towards the elevator that would take them to the parking garage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three and A Half Weeks Later...

****************"An Anonymous Tip"****************

Chapter Four (Just A Walk In The Forest) ---

This was to be Kate's last case before she took off on her maternity leave to have her and Gibbs' baby. At this moment she and the team were trodding through a forest in the middle of a state park.

They had come out to investigate an anonymous tip received from someone who worked at the park--who the 'tipper' was they still did not know.

Their guide led them deeper and deeper into the forest supposedly on the trail to where the body they'd been told about was located.

"If your anonymous 'tipper' was telling the truth then your body should be just past the next few trees here." Park Ranger Ellis McRay informed Gibbs and the team as they continued to walk.

"Please Gerald, do try and keep up!" Ducky called out to his assisstant from the back of the group.

True, Gerald was experiencing some difficulty in carrying the good doctor's bags through/over the rugged wilderness terrain.

Tony, who was walking just behind Gibbs, felt somewhat at home when engaged in this type of field work--though he had to admit that he was not a huge fan of the heat. He jogged a few steps to bring himself up to Gibbs' side as they continued to walk onward. "Hey Boss, just out of curiosity," Tony started to say, once he reached Gibbs' side. "Why is it that McGee gets to sit in on this one?"

"Because, DiNozzo, I need someone near the phone in case our 'anonymous tipper' calls in again." Gibbs replied, without stopping.

"Works for me." Tony remarked as he began to fall back into his place behind Gibbs once again.

After a while they came to a rather high-setting log, and had to very carefully cross over it. Gibbs stood patiently, on the other side of the log with his arms outstretched, helping Kate over the log as well. He really wished that she would have gone ahead and taken that maternity leave one week earlier than she had originally planned too.

"Alright?" he asked, once she was finally on the other side of the log, and solidly on her feet once again.

"I'm good." she replied with a glowing smile. She winced slightly and rubbed a hand over her swollen belly. "Except for these sharp pains," she added.

"Not anything serious is it?" Gibbs asked, placing his own hand over hers (which rested on her swollen belly).

Kate smiled up at her husband, reassuringly. "No, I think its just a little indigestion."

"Assuming that your 'anonymous tipper' wasn't fibbing, your body should be just through this next thicket." Park Ranger McRay informed everyone.

A few minutes later they emerged from the thin and relatively loose thicket, and found themselves in a small clearing.

The body was right were their anonymous tipper had said it would be. It was the body of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy Flight Suit. Ducky knelt down beside the man's body, and cut a slot in his trousers so that he could take a temperature reading with his liver probe. Kate walked around the edge of their crime scene/clearing with her camera taking crime scene photographs. Tony started his 'bag & tag' routine as he usually did.

Gibbs strolled over, after having a crime scene-related conversation with Park Ranger McRay, and stooped over at Ducky's side. "Whatcha got Duck?" Gibbs asked, as he gave the body a once over with his eyes.

Ducky pulled out the liver probe, and held it up into the light so that he could read it accurately. "Well Jethro, I'd say this man's been dead approximately 12 hours or so." Ducky informed Gibbs, as he stowed his liver probe away in his medical bag.

"Any ID?" was Gibbs' next question.

"None that I have found." Ducky replied.

"There's four sets of shoe prints here," Kate informed Gibbs from the edge of the crime scene. "Two sets on this side, and two on the opposite side."

Gibbs stood up, patted Ducky on the shoulder, and then walked over to his wife's side.

Kate pointed to the two sets of shoe prints on the ground in front of her. "See, these two sets are the same person--he/she came and then went." Kate informed her husband (and boss). "Same thing on the other side, except I think THEY were made by a completely different person altogether."

Gibbs looked at the set of shoe prints before him for a brief second before speaking up. "I'll get DiNozzo to make a mold for each set."

Gibbs started to walk away, but then stopped when he noticed that Kate was having another little spell. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." she said, with a wave of her hand at him.

Gibbs nodded, and then walked away. "DiNozzo, make a mold for each set of shoe tracks there are two on this side, and two over there." Gibbs instructed, pointing out both sets to his senior field agent.

"On it boss." Tony replied, from across the clearing.

Gibbs strolled over to where Ducky and Gerald were busily working. "Almost done there Duck?" he asked, placing his hands at his hips.

"Nearly there Jethro." Ducky said with a grin. "Nearly ther-"

"Aah!" Kate yelped from across the clearing. "Gibbs!" she cried out for her husband.

Gibbs immediately spun on his heel in her direction. "Kate!?"

Kate was bent over clutching at her belly with her free hand bracing the rest of her against a nearby tree trunk.

Gibbs raced to his wife's side as quickly as his feet would carry him. "I don't think this is indigestion," Gibbs said, as he helped hold Kate up so that she wouldn't fall.

"G-Gibbs," Kate panted, sucking in as deep a breath as she could manage. "I-I-I think my water just broke." she whimpered, as another sharp pain seized her entire body. "Oooh!"

"Damn." Gibbs swore under his breath.

Ducky quickly made his way over to Kate and Gibbs to offer his medical expertise. "We need to get her to a hospital."

"I know Duck." Gibbs replied, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"How far from here is the nearest hospital?" Gibbs asked Park Ranger McRay as they made their way over to her.

"About fifty miles--give or take," McRay replied, turning to lead the way out of the forest/wooded area that they were currently in.

"Careful now, slow and easy." Ducky said, helping to coach Kate forward step by step.

"Damn," Gibbs swore under his breath once again.

"But I can call the Ranger Station, and have'em send in the chopper." McRay offered.

"Do it." Gibbs said fiercly.

"Alright. We'll need to get back to my truck," McRay informed them, as they headed out of the clearing.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs called over his shoulder. "You and Gerald stay with our body--we'll send someone back with the Van to get you!"

"But Boss I-" Tony started to protest.

"Just do it DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled back angrily.

"Got it...Boss." DiNozzo replied, rather defeatedly. He turned to Gerald and shrugged his shoulders at the M.E.'s assisstant.

"Of course we'll have to find a location that can accomodate our chopper for landing." McRay added, over her shoulder.

"Know of any place?" Gibbs asked. He knew that it was imperative that they get Kate to a hospital as soon as possible--for her sake and for the baby's.

"Zeb Rogers is a local. He rents a cabin out here during the summer." McRay informed them as they made their way through yet another thicket of the underbrush. "Got about six acres out behind his place."

"How far?" Ducky asked, before Gibbs could get a word in edgewise.

"Not too far, Doctor. Just over a hill or two." McRay replied.



After walking back through the forest area for a few more minutes the four of them finally reached the spot where Park Ranger McRay had parked her truck. Gibbs and Ducky helped Kate up into the truck bed, while Ranger McRay got inside the cabin, and radioed ahead to the station.

"Station this is Ranger McRay. Do you copy?" she said into the CB radio. "I repeat, station do you copy?"

"This is station. Go ahead." a man's voice came back over the air waves.

"Uh Station we have a medical emergency. Requesting Air-Evac ASAP. Over."

With her free hand McRay started up the truck, and quickly put it in drive.

"What's your current location?" the man asked.

"Currently we are about 2 1/2 miles from Zeb Rogers' place." McRay informed the man on the other end of the line. "The chopper can land in the stretch behind his place."

"This is Station, McRay, we read you loud and clear." the man said, after coming back over the air waves a minute or two later. "Chopper is en route."

"Roger that Station. McRay out."

Outside, in the truck bed, Ducky and Gibbs did their best to make Kate comfortable. By Kate was experiencing contractions more often than when they had originally started occuring.

"That's it." Ducky said, patting Kate on the back gently. "In and out. In and out." he continued in a very calm and soothing voice.

Gibbs could tell when Kate was having a contraction. She would screw up her face, and almost forget to breath. She would often forget to squeeze his hand, like he'd told her she could, and he would have to remind her. He knew that right now his wife was experiencing a great deal of pain, and he would do anything if he could take that pain away from her.

Another contraction seized Kate's body, and she squeezed Gibbs' hand really hard per his insistance. "Oooh," she moaned, as the contraction seemed as though it would never end.

"Squeeze," Gibbs reminded her, whispering it in her ear, as he held close to her side.

"I-I think the-they're getting closer." Kate informed Ducky, panting heavily.

"Yes, I noticed." the aging medical examiner replied. "But you're doing splendidly my dear." he added, with a reassuring grin.



A short while later, after bouncing mildly over a couple of hills and various bumps, the truck pulled up in front of a medium-sized log cabin (of sorts). As they pulled up Gibbs could see part of the clearing out behind the cabin, as well as a relatively small, clean patch out in the front of the cabin.

A man was standing outside the door when Park Ranger Mcray jumped out of the truck's driver side.

"Afternoon Ranger." the man greeted her. "What can I do ya for?"

The man was dressed in a pair of blue jeans, boots, and a long-sleeve, flannel shirt. He had brown eyes, dark hair, and he also sported a beard (of sorts).

"We've got a medical emergency Zeb," Ranger McRay informed him, as she stepped up to where he stood. "Chopper's gonna land out back of your place. If ya don't mind that is."

"Oh no no," the man replied with a somewhat concerned and sincere expression plastered across his bearded face. "Go right ahead ma'am."

"Excuse me," Ducky called out from the back of the truck. "We need to get her out of the heat while we wait for transport." Ducky informed Ranger McRay.

McRay looked down at her feet, at first apparently in deep thought, but then she looked up at Zeb.

"Can we use your sofa Zeb?" McRay asked, with a hint of urgency in her voice.

"Oh sure sure." Zeb replied, stepping back away and opening his door up for them. "Go right on ahead." he added.

Gibbs and Ducky slowly and carefully helped Kate down out of the truck bed, and down onto the solid ground. Afterwards they helped her towards the cabin's open front door.

"My couch, is your couch ma'am." Zeb said, with a smile, as the three of them entered the cabin. "Its not the most comfortable couch around, but I guess it'll do."

As they walked into the dimly-lit cabin, most of the light coming in from the outside through the living room area's two windows, Gibbs' famous gut began to churn. He had a bad feeling about this all of a sudden.

Gibbs and Ducky helped Kate onto the sofa, which sat against the wall right up under one of the room's two windows.

"Now just try and relax," Ducky said, sitting down next to Kate on the edge of the sofa.

"This is too soon Ducky," Kate whimpered, through another contraction. "I'm not due for at least another two weeks."

"Its alright," Ducky reassured her. "This type of early delivery is more common than you might think." he added. "Although, I will admit your little one seems to be in quite the hurry to get out." Ducky said with a warm grin.

Kate grinned back, momentarily, but then another contraction seized her entire body at once.

McRay finally entered the cabin a few minutes later, removing her cap as she walked through the door. Zeb closed the door behind her. "Chopper should be here before too long." Ranger McRay informed everyone, as she stood nearby.

Gibbs scanned the living room area with his eyes, giving it a once over, as he sat there beside his wife.

The room was decorated with a little camoflauge here and there. The 'Zeb' guy had a few dear heads hanging up around the walls of the cabin. On the far wall from where they sat on/near the sofa Gibbs saw that the man had mounted three or four different shotguns, as well as a hunting rifle with a very nice, powerful scope--with each of the guns being a different brand and caliber.

Gibbs' gut churned, just as it had before when they had first entered the cabin, but now it was churning even louder than before. Something just did not feel right about being here, in this place--in this particular cabin. Even something about its current owner did not sit right with Gibbs' gut.



Chapter Five (The Monster In The Man) ---

"Do you have a restroom?" Gibbs asked, as he stood up.

"Yep, sure do." Zeb replied, pointing towards the back of the cabin. "One of the few luxuries we do have up here."

Gibbs nodded and headed off in the indicated direction. He entered the tiny bathroom, and washed his hands in the sink. Then he checked his cellphone, and found that he had just enought bars to send out a text message, so he dialed in Abby's cellphone number and then typed and sent this message: "Kate in labor. Going to Hosp. Call you There."

As he turned to leave the bathroom something on the floor caught his eye. He turned and stooped over to examine it more closely. It was a reddish color, probably used to be a liquid form, and it was pretty dry at this point. He rubbed his finger in it a little bit, and then held his finger up close in front of his face. Quite certainly it was blood.

Images of the crime scene that they had left several several minutes earlier flashed through his mind, as well as images of the guns mounted on the wall in the cabin's main living room area.

After he had risen back up to his feet he turned his attention to the waste basket setting over in the far corner. Upon examination Gibbs found a U.S. Navy Aviator's Patch.

Gibbs finally exited the restroom and made his way back towards the living room area of the cabin.

"How she's doin' Duck?" Gibbs asked, as he re-entered the living room. He quickly checked his watch for the time so that he could compare it to how long they had been waiting for the chopper to arrive.

"OOoohAah," Kate whimpered loudly, as another contraction sent shockwaves of pain through her entire body.

"Well Jethro, at this rate I'd estimate that we're at least an hour-hour and a half away from delivering this baby." Ducky replied, patting Kate's brow, gently, with a moist towel (or wash cloth provided of course by Mr. Zeb Rogers himself).

"I wish that chopper would hurry up and get here," Kate panted heavily, whimpering through the labor pains that continuously wracked her body. "Oh God." Kate cried through another painful contraction.

Gibbs gave a sympathetic look to his wife as he strolled over to her side. Once there he bent down and kissed her on the forehead gently. "You're doing great sweetheart." he whispered to her softly.

Gibbs turned to Ducky with a serious expression on his face, and motioned very inconspicuously towards Zeb Rogers. "I have something to take care of real quick."

Gibbs then turned to face Mr. Zeb Rogers, and with a smile nodded towards the kitchen area as he motioned for Zeb to follow him.



In the kitchen Gibbs turned around to face Zeb Rogers face to face. "It was you--wasn't it?" Gibbs asked, very plainly. "You killed that man in the forest."

"Sir, I have to say that I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about." Zeb replied, with a slight chuckle, as he stuck his hands inside the pockets of his jeans.

There was blood on the floor in your bathroom, and I found this in the waste basket as well." Gibbs said, as he held up the aviator's patch that he had found just a few minutes earlier.

Zeb looked down at his feet, and shook his head disappointedly at Gibbs. "Oh, I'm mighty sorry," Zeb said slowly, a trace of amusement in his voice. "Mighty sorry you had to find that sir." Zeb continued, finally looking up at Gibbs.

"He did or said something to you, and you killed him." Gibbs pointed out. "His body was posed as though his clothes had been changed. We found where you shot him in the chest, but only after we removed the top part of his suit." Gibbs continued, scratching his chin. "My guess is that you killed him, and then changed him into his flight suit before dumping his body out there in the forest--possibly to avoid leaving evidence behind that could be traced back to you."

Zeb Rogers chuckled at Gibbs, but then before Gibbs knew what was happening the burly man had him by the throat and pinned him up against the far wall of the kitchen area.

"The thing I haven't figured out is--why?" Gibbs choked out, as he tried to pull himself out of the burly man's grip.

"Hunting," Zeb snarled. "Bear huntin' is illegal in these here parts." Zeb pointed out to Gibbs. "That Navy guy found out that I was hunting bears in the park, so I killed him-" he started to explain.

"And then you redressed him in the naval uniform that you probably found with him." Gibbs finished the sentence for him.

"And now you know that I can't very well let you all go," Zeb said, making a clicking sound with his tongue. "You might blab--what with that big mouth of yours and all--and I can't have that." Zeb added. The burly man spun around, heaving Gibbs up into the air, and slamming him down against the wooden dining table there in the center of the kitchen. The table broke under the stress making a loud crashing sound that echoed through the entire cabin.

Gibbs was momentarily dazed from the force of the impact--his body coming down hard against that dining table. He tried to move to get out of the burly man's path, but he was just too disoriented to be successful at this endeavor.

Suddenly he felt something sharp and jagged plunge deep into his body somewhere around his mid-section or maybe slightly higher up than that. A searing pain shot outwards from the middle towards all parts of his body all at once. he gasped, and felt blood rush over his lips. Once everything started to focus in his head he could see the big burly man standing over him--smiling down at him.

"Gibbs," the burly man sneered.

Gibbs cringed as he stared up at the burly man helpless as he'd probably ever felt in his entire life.

"Gibbs." the burly man repeated his name once again. But this time Gibbs could swear that the burly man was now talking with a woman's voice--a familiar woman's voice at that. "Gibbs. Hello--Gibbs." the female voice continued.

"Gibbs!" this time it was shouted at him, and he blinked as a reflex to the suddenness of the loud sound/noise.




Chapter Six (It's Time) ---

"Hello--Earth to Gibbs!" a familiar female voice cut through the cloudy, murkiness of his mind.

Gibbs opened his eyes with a start, and saw his wife, who by now was nine months pregnant, staring back at him. His eyes darted around the room quickly surveying his current surroundings. He was no longer in the cabin, but in the basement of his own home. "It must have all just been a dream." he thought to himself.

She had previously searched the entire house looking for her husband before realizing that he was in the basement. "You didn't come up to bed last night--at least not that I can remember." Kate pointed out, as she stood beside her husband. "I figured you'd come up sooner or later, so I didn't think anything of it unil this morning when I woke up."

"Gibbs, this is the third time this week that you've fallen asleep down here." Kate said quietly. "Are you alright?" she asked, but as usual he did not answer her question. So she shook it off knowing that if it were important enough that he would eventually tell her when he was good and ready.

Gibbs sat up straight, apparently he'd fallen asleep using his arms as a pillow against the workbench, and stretched his arms out high over his head. "What time is it?" he asked, with a yawn.

"Its 0830 sir." Kate replied playfully with a small chuckle at her husband.

"I think I had the weirdest dream," Gibbs said as he turned to face his wife. She was dressed up as if she was ready to go somewhere, and she was smiling the biggest smile he'd ever seen her smile before. "And why are you smiling like that?" he asked, deviating suddenlt from his previous thought pattern.

Kate leaned forward and kissed her husband on the cheek. "It's time." she whispered in his ear softly before she pulled away.

"Time for what?" Gibbs asked, stupidly, as he rubbed sleep from the night before from his eyes.

Kate placed her hand gently against her swollen belly, and looked straight into Gibbs' eyes, her previous smile not budging a single inch.

Gibbs eyes shot wide open with realization as what his wife meant quickly sank in. "The baby!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his stool and bumping his head on the low-hanging ceiling lamp nearby. "Ow, damnit!" he swore aloud, as he rubbed the newly acquired sore spot on his head.

Kate tried as best as she could but she just could not keep her laughter from escaping her throat.

"Funny." Gibbs snorted, as he shot a sideways glance at his wife. "Haha, go ahead. Laugh it up." he said, daring her to keep on.

"Please tell me you're not gonna talk like a sailor in front of the baby?" Kate asked, with a chuckle that was both humorous and serious at the same time.

"Nope." Gibbs said finally, stepping to one side and motioning for his wife to head up the stairs first. "After you."

"Thank you." Kate obliged with a nod picking up her small suitcase, which she'd left sitting at the bottom of the basement stairs earlier, as she headed up the stairs.

"Gonna talk like a Marine." Gibbs added, as he fell in behind his wife heading up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs Kate turned and gave him a smack against the back of his head. "There, now you have two head injuries." Kate said.

Gibbs grabbed his wife's arm as she went to retreat her hand away, and he pulled her close to him. "Around here," he said quietly, as he stared into her eyes. "If there's any 'head-smacking to be done. I'll be the one doing it." he said, and then planted a passionate kiss against Kate's luscious lips.

.........To Be Continued in "Part Two"............

"Special Delivery"

Chapter One ("What Do You Mean...No Epidural?") ---

******10:00 In The Morning******

Abby raced full speed down the long hospital hallway, right past the reception desk on that particular floor, and almost collided with several nurses and patients.

"Where is she! Where is she!" Abby called out as she ran down the hall.

She turned a corner and headed down a second hall before long, and it wasn't long before a familiar face stopped her half-way down the hall.

"Abby." Gibbs said, grabbing the Goth forensic specialist before she could go any further. "Calm down. Here drink this." Gibbs added, handing her a big Caf-Pow cup.

"How sweet. Thank you Gibbs." Abby accepted the big cup happily, and took a big gulp of the carbonated beverage.

Gibbs gave a tiny grin at the young goth woman standing before him there in the middle of the hallway.

"Wait. You knew I was coming--how did you know I was coming?" Abby asked, quickly.

"Gibbs," Kate called out from the room that they were standing next to. "Is that Abby!?"

"Yeah." Gibbs called back.

Abby darted into the hospital room, with Gibbs following close behind, and raced right to Kate's side. "Kate." Abby nearly screamed excitedly. "How are you--H-how are you feeling?" Abby was so nervous/excited that she stammered over her words.

In the hospital room Kate was laying up in a bed with the covers pulled at least half way up over her. From all appearances Kate looked relaxed and very comfortable where she was.

"Abby I'm fine." Kate informed her friend. "The contractions only started about half an hour ago, and they're very minor pains--I barely feel them." Kate added with a chuckle.

Gibbs stood in the back corner just looking on as Abby and Kate talked with one another.

"I called Tony, Ducky, and McGee and they should be here--soon." Abby said, double checking her watch.

"Wait, you called TONY!?" Kate exclaimed, in shock. She gave an irritated sigh at her best friend.

"Well, Kate, he is your friend and I'm sure that he would want to be here." Abby pointed out. After all she was only trying to help, and be a good friend.

"Yeah, but now I'm gonna have to listen to his movie scenarios while trying to give birth." Kate whined, as she shook her head at Abby.

Gibbs chuckled to himself, hoping that Kate would not hear it.

"Gibbs," Kate said sternly from across the room. "If Tony even says the word 'movie'...promise me you'll shoot him." Kate pleaded with her husband.



About half an hour later Ducky strolled into the hospital room carrying two ballons in one hand and a brand new stuffed teady bear in the other. He wore a big smile on his face as he entered the room.

"Where shall I put these?" he asked, motioning to the items he carried in his arms.

Gibbs pointd to the small love seat/mini sofa that was set up against the wall underneath the room's single window. "Over there's good I guess." Gibbs said quietly.

"Ducky." Kate said with a smile, after the older man had laid his gifts down.

Ducky turned and walked towards Kate. "Good morning my dear caitlin." Ducky greeted the expectant mother and wife of his best friend. Ducky leaned in and he and Kate hugged for a moment. "And how are we feeling this morning?" he asked.

"A little anxious I guess." Kate replied, with a small chuckle. "Oh, I'm so glad that you could come." she added. The truth was that she was anxious and excited and nervous, and maybe even a little scared all at the same time.

"Well that is to be expected." Ducky said, with a grin. "I trust that your nursery is ready for the arrival of this little one."

"Yeah, its ready." Gibbs replied quietly. "I had DiNozzo come over last weekend and help me put on the last few touches."

"Speaking of Anthony DiNozzo," Ducky said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I feel I should warn you, when I was in the parking garage, I thought I saw him and-"

"Careful with that McGee!" Tony's voice carried into the room from down the hallway. "That is very sensitive equipment you've got there."

"They're here." Ducky said, with a sigh.

Within a few seconds after that Tony and McGee entered the room. McGee came in behind Tony carrying what looked like it could very easily be camera equipment.

"Hiya Boss." Tony said cheerfully, holding out a coffee shop carry-out tray with four coffee cups on it. "Morning Kate." he added, with a grin as he looked over his shoulder at his partner. "Coffee. Strong?" Tony asked, offering Gibbs a cup of freshly brewed coffee that was just the way he liked it.

"Thanks DiNozzo." Gibbs thanked his senior field agent.

"Sorry we're late." McGee mumbled. "Tony wanted to stop by the office and pick up all this stuff before we came over." he explained as he set the bags he had been carrying down on the floor.

"What is all this stuff?" Kate asked, knowing full well that she would probably regret asking the question.

Tony finished passing around the coffee cups, and then set the holder down on the chair in the corner of the room. "McGee and I are going to film the birth of your child," Tony explained, turning to face Kate. "Just think of it as my gift to you the both of you." he added, with that 'DiNozzo grin' as was his custom.

Kate screwed up her face at her partner at his suggestion/offer. "Eeww. Gross--Tony, no." Kate sputtered. "No way I'm gonna let you film my v-"

"Morning all." the doctor said as he steeped into the room effectively interrupting the currently ongoing conversation. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?" he asked, stopping short of the inside of the room's doorway.

"No, no not at all." Kate said with a smile at the doctor, and a scowl at her partner. For once she did not mind being interrupted in the middle of a conversation.

"Good." the doctor replied with a smile. "I'm Dr. Jacob Kratz, and I will be your attending physician for this little endeavor." he explained, with a lopsided grin. "I know that you were originally scheduled to be with Dr. Markus, but he had an unfortunate accident a few days ago--sprained his ankle while skiing up in the mountains."

Doctor Jacob Kratz was quite tall and from all appearances well-built--phtysically of course. He looked to be somewhere in his late thirties to early forties--at the most--and certainly appeared to have quite the spring to his step.

"Are you by chance related to a 'William' Kratz?" Ducky asked, cautiously. He knew that something about the younger doctor seemed somewhat familiar to him, but he just was not sure as to what that was--yet.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact I am." Dr. Kratz replied with a surprised grin. "William Kratz is my father."

"I thought so," Ducky replied with a smile. "I served with your father many many years ago." Ducky informed him. "Regrettably I have not had the opportunity to speak with William in quite some time."

Doctor Kratz thought for a moment and then spoke up finally. "I do seem to recall my farther saying something about serving with a Scotsman back in the day." "Yes, yes I remember now," he said finally. "Donald Mallard."

"Ahem." Kate said rather loudly, hating to break up the facinating conversation going on between the two doctors, but they had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

"Oh sorry." Dr. Kratz apologized, blushing a little as he ran a hand through his light-colored hair, and turning back to face Kate. "I have reviewed the test charts from this morning when you came in, and everything looks normal from what I can see." he began to explain.

Kate gave a relieved sigh, looking up at her husband who still stood in place on the other side of the room. "That's good."

"However," Dr. Kratz began once again. "I noticed that the nurse who was in here earlier documented your request for an 'Epidural'. I'm afraid that's not going to be possible." he informed her, slowly.

"WHAT!?" Kate exclaimed, the smile on her face fading to a look of 'you had better be joking Mr.'.

Dr. Kratz flipped up a few pages of the chart that he was holding in his hands. "Well, I noticed that your chart says you've been taking 'Benzate' for the last four weeks--correct?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Well yeah, for headaches," she pointed out. "I had been having some bad headaches, and couldn't sleep at night--so my doctor prescribed them. he said they were totally safe."

"Oh they are. They are." Dr. Kratz replied, reassuringly. "But Benzate has not been known, in the time that its been out on the market, to be--well--lets just say it doesn't really get along, in most cases, with the epidural." he said finally.

"Doctor, please, you don't understand." Kate said, almost pleading with the doctor standing in front of her. "I don't do pain very well. I need that epidural." she informed him, almost threateningly.

"I-I'm sorry Mrs. Gibbs. I really am." Dr. Kratz said, shaking his head at Kate. "But its just not a risk I think we should take."

Gibbs strolled towards the side of Kate's bed with the side table and set his coffee cup down, and stood there beside there.

"Ow!" Kate cried out. A sharp pain shot through her body causing her to clench up reflexively, panting through the pain until it finally subsided. Once the pain of the contraction subsided she flopped backwards against her pillow. The realization of what the next few hours were going to be like beginning to set in. "Oh boy." she whispered, just loud enough to be heard by the others.




Chapter Two (Just Give Me The Damn Shot!) ---

********Four Hours Later********

"Aaahhh!" Kate cried through the latest contraction. Four hours had passed since she'd been told that she was not going to be able to have an epidural as she had originally planned, and now she was just plain miserable. She panted heavily per Ducky's guidance and instruction through the breathing techniques that she would have learned had she actually attended the Lamaze classes that her Obstetrician had recommended many months ago.

"You're performing quite splendidly Caitlin," Ducky said softly, gently patting away the sweat that was building up across her forehead with a small wash cloth. "Just remember to breathe. That's it."

Gibbs leaned over from the opposite side of his wife and planted a gentle kiss against her temple. That was his way of encouraging her and telling her how proud he was of her and how she was doing.

"Make it stop!" she whined, as the pain finally subsided and she was able to relax--at least for the moment. She was already ready for the whole painful process to be over with and done--and who wouldn't be.

Abby and McGee were nearby, as well, offering moral support and encouragement in their own way. Kate was okay with this as she knew that they were only trying to help even though she had often (in the last four hours or so) said some 'not-so-nice' things to everyone, and she truly was sorry for that.

Tony on the other hand was being more annoying than a fly on the wall. He was constantly bobbing and weaving his way in and out and around the group determined to catch every minute on film. Several times he had been literally pushed out of the way by more than one person.

"This is pure gold." Tony exclaimed excitedly. "You should count yourself lucky Kate. Not many women can say they had their children's birth made into a full-length movie."

"Tony I swear if you don't put that damn thing away I will kill yo-" she started to threaten her annoying partner, but then another contraction seized her entire body without warning.

Gibbs looked over at Abby, who was stabding nearby, with a look that he knew the Goth forensic specialist knew all too well. "Abby." Gibbs said plainly, nodding at Tony who was just a few feet away from where she and McGee stood.

Abby understood Gibbs' command, and without hesitation she reached around McGee and whacked Tony against the back of the head hard--but not too hard.

"Ow!" Tony cried out, as he lowered the camera. "What was that for!?" he demanded, glancing over at McGee.

"I swear it wasn't me Tony." McGee insisted, motioning with his eyes to Abby. "She did it."

Tony switched his focus to Abby almost at once.

Aby motioned with her head towards Gibbs, trying desperately to hide the smile and laughter that was trying to escape from within her.

Tony looked over at Gibbs next, and found his boss glaring at him. "Oh, uh sorry boss." Tony said, realizing rather quickly what Gibbs was trying to say. "I'll just put it up for now. No sense in wasting film before the 'Big Moment' arrives."

"How much longer is this gonna take, Ducky?" Kate asked, finally relaxing once more against her pillow once the painful contraction had subsided.

"Not too much longer I should think." Ducky replied reassuringly.

********One Hour Later********

Dr. Kratz walked into the room again and began checking things, fairly quickly, and scribbling notes on his that chart that he still held in his hands. After a while he looked up at a red-faced Kate. "Good news Mrs. Gibbs." he said with a grin. "You're at 8 1/2 centimeters. Almost there."

"ooh, I'd better make sure the camera's ready." Tony said, crossing the room to the camera gear.

"Please Doc. Can't you just give me the damn shot!?" Kate pleaded with Dr. Kratz.

"Sorry Mrs. Gibbs wish I could." Dr. Kratz replied sympathetically.

Kate let go of an irritated sigh as she fell backwards against her pillow, but it wasn't long before another contraction came and then dissipated.

Tony finally stood back up after checking and double checking the camera gear. "Well camera looks good and ready for the 'Big Moment'. Anyone else hungry--no--okay then." Tony said, heading for the door.

Gibbs rolled his eyes at his senior field agent. Inviting him to be here for the birth of their child may not have been the best idea after all.

"Oh hey Doc," Tony said turning around at the door. "Which way's the cafeteria?" Tony asked.

"Oh uh, 3rd floor--5th door on the right as soon as you step off of the west elevator." Kratz replied.

"Thanks." Tony said, before leaving.

"I don't know if I can take this much longer." Kate whined, as she settled back against her pillow once again.

"But you're doing so wonderfully," Abby said sweetly. "And just think soon you'll get to hold your new baby for the first time--E-ever." Abby said just getting excited thinking about it.

"Yeah," Kate said, just as another contraction seized her. "Too bad it won't be soon enough." she added, as the pain once again subsided.

********Two And A Half Hours Later********

Everything was setup and in motion. Tony was back behind the camera, after having finished the two doughnuts he'd retrieved from the hospital cafeteria. They had placed Kate's leg up in the stirrups, and nearly the final stretch in the race. Dr. Kratz sat at the foot of the hospital bed coaching Kate every step of the way.

"Okay," Dr. Kratz said, looking up at Kate. "Take a breather."

Kate did just that trying desperately to catch her breath enough so that she could get this horrible, painful process finally over with.

"Okay, one more time. Push." Dr. Kratz instructed her.

Kate did as she was told once more, and nearly let out a deafening scream towards the end of it.

Tony was continuously bobbing and weaving between the group trying to get the best shots possible for the video. He got pushed out of the way several times by several different people.

"Almost there Mrs. Gibbs." Dr. Kratz informed her. "I can see your baby's head. I just need you to give me one more real good push, can you do that?"

Kate nodded quickly, sweat pouring off of her brow, sucked in a really deep breath, and upon Dr. Kratz's command began to push with everything that she could muster up from deep within herself and much more.

"Keep going. Keep going. You're almost--" Dr. Kratz said, still coaching Kate through the process.

EEEHhhAAAAhhhh!" Kate cried out once the last of her strength was finally gone.

"THERE!" Dr. Kratz cried out, as the little baby finally slid out and into his waiting hands/arms. After a brief moment or so Dr. Kratz looked up with a big smile across his face. "Congratulations you two," he said to Gibbs and Kate. "Its a girl."

The sound of a newborn baby crying filled the entire room. There wasn't a dry eye in the entire room at that particular moment in time.

"A girl," Kate gasped, almost in disbelief. "We have a girl." she repeated, nearly breathless at this point.

"You did it Kate," Abby squealed with excitement, her eyes glistening with emotion, as she stared down at the tiny baby that the doctor was holding up.

Dr. Kratz laid the little newborn up onto Kate's chest while he tended to cutting the umbilical cord.

"Hey there baby," Kate said sweetly through her tears as she touched the little infants tiny hand(s) and fingers. "We made a little girl Jethro." Kate said, looking up at her husband through her tears of relief and joy.

"Yes!" Tony jeered loudly, hoisting the big camera up over his head triumphantly. "And I got it all on tape." he said excitedly. Suddenly his stomach began to churn wildly.

"McGee hold on to this for me." Tony said shoving the camera into the younger agents hands without warning. "I'll b-be right back!" he added, as he quickly darted from the room, a touch of green in his face as he ran away.

Abby and McGee both laughed at Tony as he ran away from the scene.

"Well done my dear Caitlin," Ducky whispered from just a few feet away from the happy couple. "Well done indeed."

The couple, Gibbs and Kate, kissed as the nurses finally carried the baby away to be cleaned up and dressed.

"I'm proud of you Katie," Gibbs whispered in his wife's ear, still holding her hand, as he gently kissed her temple.



Chapter Three (Welcome Home Baby Kristen) ---

It was about three days later when mother and daughter were allowed to finally come home from the hospital. Ducky held the door open for Gibbs and Kate as they entered the Gibbs household. Their 'hospital party' had thought enough to follow them home from the hospital. Ducky said it was just to make sure that they got their safely and to make sure that the house was baby proof and what not.

Gibbs and Kate had only laughed at their friends.

"Easy does it now." Ducky said, as he watched Gibbs carry the sleeping infant, slowly and carefully, into the house.

Kate stood just out of the way of the door in the living room area of their home, and watched her husband, who now sat on the sofa, holding their sleeping infant daughter so carefully and gently. "He's gonna be a great father." she thought to herself with a sigh.

Tony and McGee finished bringing in the rest of the stuff from out in the car. "Where do you want this stuff?" Tony whispered, quite loudly, as he stood in the doorway holding three medium-sized bags.

"Those are the baby's things right?" she askedm peering over into one of the bags. "They can go in the baby's room--but make sure they're out of the way for now."

Tony rolled his eyes at Kate as he stalked off towards the nursery.

McGee came in behind Tony carrying only one bag and the baby's car seat which he had been instructed to bring inside.

"Oh thanks McGee," Kate said quietly with a smile. "My suitcase can go in the master bedroom, and the car seat can just go down in the basement I guess--for now anyway."

McGee nodded with a smile at Kate. "Sure thing." he replied, before heading off to put the things that he was carrying away.

Abby came inside last, closing the door carefully and quietly behind her. "Aaw," she said upon seeing father and daughter together on the sofa. "They are so cute together." she said sweetly.

"They are aren't they." Kate said in agreement with Abby.

"Oh just so you guys know," Abby said, turnig to face Kate. "If you ever need a babysitter-"

"Don't worry Abby," Kate said with a quiet chuckle. "You'll be the first person we call."

"Good." Abby replied with a smile.

Tony and McGee returned to the front of the house after a few minutes had passed by. "Everything's been put away." McGee informed Kate and Gibbs. "I even went ahead and hooked up your baby monitors for you." he added, as he handed Kate the monitor that she and Gibbs would have to keep with them.

"Thanks Tim." Kate replied quietly, with a smile, accepting the monitor from McGee.

"Well McGoogle," Tony said laying his arm over McGee's shoulder. "We, meaning you and I, have some 'work' to do."

"Like what Tony?" McGee demanded.

"Editing, Special Effects--ya know movie magic stuff." Tony said, a sparkle appearing in his eyes.

"Sorry Tony, I saw the birth once already--I don't need to see it again." McGee said, waving Tony off.

"Alright then," Tony said. "I'll do it myself--or maybe I can get Abby to help me. She's good with computers and technology stuff."

"Okay you guys," Kate said, motioning towards the door. "I think its time for you to leave."

Ducky reassured Kate and Gibbs before he left behind the others. "Everything seems to be in good shape." he said, as he approached Kate. "If you need anything--anything at all. You know how to reach me." he added.

"I look forward to our next meeting, little angel." Ducky whispered over his shoulder (meant for the baby) as he left.



Kate crossed the room and sat down on the sofa next to her husband. "Whatcha thinking about?" Kate asked softly. Something about the whole scene just seemed oh so very right. yet she got no answer from her husband. "I am her mother ya know," Kate pointed out. "I do get to hold her at some point--right?"

"She's beautiful Kate." Gibbs said quietly, as he gazed upon the sleeping infant resting in his arms. "Beautiful like her mother." he added.

Kate blushed, but then shook it off. "Yeah well, we know she got daddy's eyes." Kate pointed out, remembering the scene from the hospital.

Gibbs was so taken by the beautiful little girl that he was holding. It had been such a long time since he had felt these feelings that he was feeling now. "I can't believe she's ours." he said in a whisper.

Kate leaned over and kissed her husband on the cheek.

As they watched the little baby gave a tiny yawn right there in her father's arm.

"I think we should lay her down in her crib." Kate suggested in a low whisper. Kate held out her hands as Gibbs slowly and carefully handed over the slumbering child.

Kate stood slowly, and then the two of them made their way into the nursery. Kate gently laid their daughter in her crib, and the two of the stood silently looking over her for a few moments before they decided it was time to retreat.

"I think I could probably use a little nap myself." Kate commented, in a low voice, as they exited the nursery. She gave a little yawn as Gibbs leaned in for a kiss.

"Why don't you go lay down in our bed for awhile." Gibbs suggested quietly. "I mean what you went through to bring our child into this world was-" he started to say, as they re-entered the living room a few brief moments later.

"-Hell." Kate finished his sentence, with a grin.

"Well, yeah for lack of a better term." he agreed.

They stopped in the center of the living room and face each other exchanging a few kisses here and there. "Sure you'll be okay by yourself--if I take a nap?" Kate asked, quietly.

"Yeah. Sure." Gibbs replied, between kisses. "Go on." he prodded her.

It wasn't long at all before he was in the basement working on various unfinished projects (quietly of course), and Kate was fast asleep beneath the covers of the large bed that she and Gibbs shared (after taking a quick shower of course).

And all was right with the world.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Just Another Day..."

Chapter One (Not In Front of The Baby) ---

"Got that address yet McGee?" Gibbs asked as he strolled around the corner of the bullpen, coffee cup in hand as usual, and headed straight for his desk.

"Not yet boss, but I'm working on it as we speak." McGee informed his boss from across the bullpen.

"Well work faster." Gibbs snapped.

"Hey boss, where's Kate?" Tony asked from his desk across the bullpen. He was curious after all. He had seen Kate get up and leave the room with the baby in her arms (yeah that's right they brought baby Kristen to work with them), and he had not seen her since then--that was almost half an hour ago.

"Feeding the baby." Gibbs replied very plainly, without looking up from his computer screen.

"Ooh," Tony said, standing up with (surprise) the camera from before in his hands. "Sounds like another good 'home movie' opportunity." he said, fixing to make his way out from around the desk. "Where is she at?" Tony asked.

"Gibbs glanced across the room at his senior field agent. "DiNozzo." Gibbs bellowed.

"Yeah boss?" Tony replied, frozen to the spot where he stood. He had caught his boss' cold stare from across the room and somehow he just knew he was in trouble, but then again...

"Sit." Gibbs commanded, very authoritatively.

Tony obliged almost as soon as the order was given, stowing the camera away back inside its carrying case.

"Good boy." Gibbs added, with a hidden grin.

Behind his own computer McGee couldn't help but grin secretly.

Around the corner the elevator pinged announcing, as it always did, someone else's arrival on that floor. When the elevator door(s) opened Kate stepped off carrying baby Kristen (or Krissy as she was affectionately nicknamed) in her arms.

"Hi Kate." Tony greeted his partner with a grin as she strolled into the squad room.

"Hi. Tony." Kate replied, nervously.

"So. How'd it go?" Gibbs asked, as he watched Kate gently place their daughter back into her carrier, which she had setting behind her desk, and cover her up.

"Your daughter now has a full tummy which, I'm hoping, means that she'll sleep for awhile so I can get some work done." Kate informed Gibbs, as she strolled slowly towards his desk.

"Hmm. Maybe." Gibbs replied, glancing up at his beautiful wife as she sat down on the edge of his desk.

"I see you've got these two working hard." Kate said, looking around at Tony and McGee sitting at their desks quietly.

"Hmm." Gibbs scoffed. "More like 'hardly working'." he said with a grin.

"By the way our babysitter canceled on us." Kate informed Gibbs in a low voice. "Guess we're gonna have to cancel our plans for tonight--Again."

She and Gibbs HAD planned to go out to dinner after work, and maybe, possibly even see a movie or do something else; but as usual they just couldn't seem to keep a babysitter for very long.

It had been almost two months since they' brought their precious little angel home from the hospital. Two weeks since Kate had started back to work, and even then Kate was having trouble staying away from her daughter or more than just a few minutes at any given time. This fact gave Gibbs considerable reason to believe that Kate was the one doing all the canceling, and not the babysitters themselves.

"Well, sounds like you, me, Krissy, and chinese takeout." Gibbs replied, in a low voice--and you're really good I'll pick up a movie from the rental place on my way home." he added.

"Really, that sounds swell-" she started to say as she leaned in to kiss her husband on the lips.

"Got it boss!" McGee called out, suddenly jumping up from his chair behind his desk. "I found that address you were looking for."

Gibbs grinned sheepishly at Kate, as he kissed her back quickly. "Sorry." he said quietly, as he stood up. "Duty calls." Gibbs reached down and retrieved his badge and Sig from the top, right drawer of his desk.

"Yeah, I know." she replied, turning and walking back to her own desk.

"McGee. You stay here and help Kate." Gibbs commanded loudly, as he walked over and took the piece of paper that McGee was holding out in his hand.

"Right boss." McGee replied, with a nod.

"DiNozzo. With me." Gibbs called over his shoulder as he headed towards the elevator.

"On your six Boss!" Tony called out, as he grabbed up his things and gave chase as quickly as he could.



Kate entered the living room of their home later that night. She had just put baby Krissy down in her crib to sleep. She strolled casually towards her husband who sat waiting for her on the sofa.

Kate had changed out of the restraints of her work clothes and into something much more comfortable. She wore a tight red tank top shirt and a pair of black pajama bottoms (along with a pair of white socks). She had also pulled her hair back into a pony tail.

She plopped down onto the sofa beside Gibbs, and watched him flip through the TV channels a few times before speaking up. "Krissy's fed, and in bed." she informed Gibbs, quietly. After a minute or two of only silence and no answer from the 'functional mute' that was her husband she spoke again. "I could make us some popcorn--ya know to go with our movie." she suggested.

Gibbs switched the television off, via the off button on the remote control, and the screen went dark cutting the overall light in the room by a little more than half. He was silent for a brief moment before he turned to her and locked his eyes with hers. "Its you. Isn't it?" he asked calmly and quietly, not breaking his eye contact with the beautiful brunette.

Kate wasn't sure how to best answer Gibbs' question so she chose, instead, to remain silent.

No answer from Kate. Gibbs sighed, as he searched for more words. "The babysitter's haven't been cancelling have they?" he asked, almost as if he were making a statement more than asking a question. "You're the one whose been cancelling." he added.

Kate knew she was caught, but she tried her best to appear as if she was offended in some way. "What are you saying, Gibbs?" Kate countered, defensively. "Are you accusing me of something?"

Gibbs smirked at his wife. "Only of not being honest with me." he replied, in a low voice. He knew he was right about his wife's intentions, and he wasn't angry with or at her. He just wanted her to be honest with him about it--that was all.

"I don't believe you." Kate said, as she stood up where she was. "We have a little bad luck with babysitters, and you want to blame me." she said aloud, in a tone of almost utter disbelief. She crossed her arms defiantely across her chest and turned away from him.

Gibbs stood up, with a really stupid, smug look plastered across his own face as he reached out for his beautiful brunette wife. "Honey, if you're not ready to be away from the baby yet--then you could've said something the first time." he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her close.

Kate's eyes sparkled with emotion as she accepted her husband's embrace. "I-I wanted to," she started to say. "But you had gone through all the trouble of making plans and everything--that I just--I just didn't want to hurt your feelings." she told him quietly, reaching back and rubbing his arm gently.

"Since when has anyone ever been able to hurt my feelings?" he quipped, rather smugly, as he hugged his wife tight.

Kate's eyes glistened with moist emotion as she remembered how they almost didn't get married--about the fights they had, about the surgeries that Gibbs had gone through just so that he could walk again--everything that had happened back then had just been so overwhelming for both of them. "When I left you," she whispered. "I hurt you then."

Gibbs chuckled sweetly, and spun Kate around in his arms. He looked into her eyes for a brief moment and then kissed her square on the lips. The kiss was deep and passionate and threatened to envelope the both of them in sheer ecstasy right on the spot where they stood. When he pulled back he gently wiped away a tear that had begun to roll down her cheek. "That was then, Kate." he said softly. "And besides...I won't let that happen again."

They stood their staring into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever until neither one of them could hold a straight face any longer, and they both started to laugh. "Alright," Gibbs said finally. "Now, how about that popcorn and movie?" he asked with a grin.

Kate laughed at her husband's sense of humor. "I'll get the popcorn." she offered, as she turned in the direction of the kitchen.

Gibbs held her back for a moment longer, and swatted her on the behind, (not too hard though).

Kate jumped slightly, away from him, with a devilish grin on her face. "What was that for!?"

"THAT," Gibbs replied, with a smug grin spread across his own face. "Was just a little taste of what'll happen if you ever do anything like that again."

"Really," she retorted, arching her brow, and her smile getting bigger by the second. "Is that so 'Mr. Gibbs?"

"HmHmm." was his only reply.

"Well then I guess maybe I'll only be a 'bad girl' every once in a while." she said, in a low, seductive voice that she knew would stir him up on the inside (because it usually did). Then, with a lop-sided grin, she headed off towards the kitchen to make some popcorn.

............To Be Continued in "Part Three"............

"The In-Between Years, Part Three"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

******Four And A Half Months Later******

"The Decoy"

Chapter One (Shots Fired) ---

"I'm pulling into the parking garage as we speak." Kate said into her cell phone. "Yeah, I'm gonna park on the bottom level so I can get out more easily--ya know so I can get Krissy to her Doctor's appointment this afternoon." Kate told her husband over the cell phone.

Kate pulled her car around the first level, in a circle, once more still looking for an empty parking spot that she hoped she might have missed the first time around. So far she hadn't been able to find a parking spot on the bottom level. She may as well just park outside the garage in the NCIS Headquarters buildings' side parking lot she figured after another minute or so of looking.

"I take that back," she said into her cell phone. "Looks like I'm parking out in the side lot today." she informed Gibbs over the phone. "Yes sir," she said suddenly, jokingly mimicking a soldier replying to his CO. "I'll be VERY careful, sir." then she gave a small chuckle at her husband who was sitting inside NCIS on the other end of the phone line.

"Alright," she said finally, as she began to pull her car back out of the parking garage at last. "We'll see you in a few minutes. Okay, love you too. Bye." Kate hung up her cell phone and stuffed it back into her purse, which was sitting nearby in the front passenger's side seat, and then began to carefully manuever her vehicle out towards the side lot.

Finally, a few minutes later she pulled her car into a vacant parking space in the side lot, and then proceeded to put the car into park and then she shut it off and removed her seat belt.

Kate walked around to the passenger side of her car, setting her purse down near the trunk of the car so that it would be out of the way while she worked to free her daughter from the vehicle, and opened up the back door to reveal her daughter strapped safely into her car seat. The happy tot was wide awake at this point. Kate set to work at unhooking the car seat from its binds that held it fast to the actual back seat of the car.

"Hey there," she said sweetly to her daughter as she worked on unhooking the car seat. "You're awake--yes you are." she cooed.

The little tot cracked what appeared to be a tiny smile at the sound of her mother's voice. She craned her little neck to look around a little bit.

"You ready to see daddy?" Kate cooed sweetly to her daughter as she finally managed to get the first strap loose. "Yes you are--yes you are." she cooed with a big smile, as she rubbed her nose against her daughters' little tiny nose. She then went to work on the second and final strap.

Suddenly the sound of a gun shot rang through the air, and startled Kate a little bit so she looked up from what she was doing trying ascertain where the sound had come from and the circumstances that surrounded them. After a brief minute or so of looking around and not finding anything she started to turn back to what she had been doing previously.

As she started to work, once again, on the second and final strap another gun shot rang out; but this time the bullet hit her car and made a loud noise that caused Kate to jump again. This time when she went to lift her head up to look around, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, a third shot whizzed right by her head and through the window of the open car door shattering the glass.

Now she knew she was being shot at--or at least that's how she felt--she quickly scrambled forward and yanked loose the one strap that held her baby in her car seat and pulled her crying infant out of it as fast as she could. She and the tiny baby ducked down beside the car on the other side of the open car door. Kate hugged her baby daughter tight against her as a fourth shot rang out.

She reached for her pocket, which is where she sometimes carried her cell phone when she did not have her purse, but then she remembered that it was in her purse, and that her purse was on the other side of the car.

She tried desperately to calm her intensely crying baby in her arms as another shot whizzed over their heads.



Inside NCIS HQ Tony and McGee sat at their desks in the squad room conversing between one another about the previous night (and what they each had done after leaving work).

Gibbs came around the corner carrying his traditional coffee cup in his hand, and headed towards his desk.

"Morning boss," Tony greeted Gibbs from his own desk. "Where ya been?" He asked the question knowing full well two very important things: 1.) It really wasn't any of his business where Gibbs had been; and 2.) Stupid questions can sometimes involve very painful answers.

"With the Director." Gibbs replied very plainly as he took his seat behind his desk. He turned to face his computer, after taking a sip of coffee and then setting his cup down on his desk, and started to pull up his e-mail account page to check for anything important in his inbox.

"Tony and I were just discussing-" McGee started to explain.

From across the squad room, and up the small flight of stairs, the doors to MTAC opened up and Director Tom Morrow stepped out and walked up to and leaned against the railing. "Everyone. Listen up!" Morrow shouted over the noise of the busy squad room. "Just got a call from downstairs," he informed everyone in a loud and urgent voice. "Shots have been fired in the parking lot. No one is to leave this building until further notice. Is that understood?"

The first thought(s) that ran through Gibbs' mind were that Kate and Krissy were outside in the parking lot. He had just finished talking with her on his cell phone not more than 5 or 10 minutes ago at the very least. They could still be out there in the line of fire, or worse they could already be hurt.

Gibbs stood up quickly and retrieved his Sig from the top, right-hand drawer of his desk, and primed it for use as he quickly walked out from around his desk.

"An FBI SWAT team is en route as we speak." Morrow continued from up above everyone else.

"DiNozzo. With me." Gibbs barked across the bullpen as he headed for the elevator. "McGee get Ducky, and have him meet us downstairs. Now."

"On your six Boss." Tony called out, as he retrieved his own side arm and then followed after Gibbs.

"On it Boss." McGee replied, jumping up and heading in the opposite direction which lead to the second stairwell that would take him downstairs to Autopsy and Ducky.

Gibbs and Tony stepped onto the elevator, and then a few seconds later the door(s) closed on them.

Across the squad room Director Morrow pointed in Gibbs and Tony's direction with a slightly confused and bewildered expression on his face. "Where are they going?" Morrow asked a guy standing beside him. The shrugged his shoulders at the Director and mumbled.

"Beats me." the agent replied to the Director's question.



Gibbs and Tony pushed their way out a side door that opened up/out to the side parking lot. They slowly and carefully moved forward, guns drawn and eyes sweeping over every square inch of the parking lot with each new step that they took.

Gibbs' eyes finally landed on his wife's car, a White Prius with a license plate that read 'PRDMMY', and it was actually parked not too far away from where they stood. He could see that the back door on the passenger's side was standing open, but he could not see his wife. Gibbs quickly and quietly motioned for Tony to go around from the other side and carefully make his way towards Kate's car, and then afterwards he himself started moving off in that very same direction.

"Kate!" Gibbs called out, somewhat cautiously, in the direction of her car. As he moved even closer towards the car he now could hear the sound of his baby daughter crying, and it stirred up something in his gut.

"Gibbs!" Kate cried out to her husband, still clutching her daughter close to her chest as she pressed herself up against the side of the car. "We're over her!"

Gibbs could sense the fear in her voice even from his current distance away from her. It scared him as well, and he repeated her name in a low voice as he took off running towards the car.

"Kate," he said, panting lightly, as he reached the car and saw his wife and daughter crouched over on the back side of the opened car door. Tony joined them a few seconds later from the other side.

"No sign of our shooter." Tony informed Gibbs.

Gibbs moved quickly around the opened car door, stepping over shards of broken glass that now littered the ground around the car. "Katie," Gibbs said as he stooped down next to them. "Are you alright?" he asked, as he leaned her head slightly to one side to inspect a spot where she was bleeding with his free hand.

"I'm fine. The bullet only grazed it." she told him, without hesitation, her heart still beating very rapidly in her chest as she sat there before her silver-haired husband.

Tony still stood on his feet, gun still in his hand, keeping watch for Gibbs and Kate until it was determined that it was safe for them to move away from where they currently were at the moment.

"Still need to let Ducky look at it thought." he said quietly. "How's Krissy?" he asked, motioning for his daughter after he had stowed his Sig away in(to) the small of his back held in place by his belt.

Kate handed the baby over to her father, and watched as he gave her a quick once over right there on the spot. "I think she's just a little shook up more than anything." Kate said, still trying to catch her breath.

"Shhh, Its okay," Gibbs whispered, as he began to rock the little baby in his arms to try to calm her down. "It's okay. Daddy's he-"

Suddenly another shot rang out through the air. This shot, however, hit the car just to the right of Kate's car. Gibbs, reflexively and very quickly, reached out, grabbed Kate and pulled her and the baby down beneath him (and against the car of course) and kept them covered up with his own body as a semi-protective barrier.

Tony instantaneously dove down out of the way pulling himself up against the lower side of the front end of the car for a little bit of protection. "Everyone okay!" Tony called out, right after another shot hit the car next to Kate's.

"We're fine DiNozzo!" Gibbs called back, somewhat angrily. "Can you see where its coming from?" he asked, looking up slightly but then ducking his head back down as another shot rang out over their heads.

Tony peeked up over his hiding spot, and looked around in the distance quickly, and then ducked back down out of sight. "Nope. Nothing Boss!" Tony replied.

Gibbs thought for a moment, and then an idea finally came to him. He quickly pulled out his cell phone from its side holster and looked at it briefly. "DiNozzo, get ready to run!" Gibbs called out to his Senior Field Agent.

Gibbs sat up a little bit and handed the baby back to Kate. "Get ready," he told her quickly. "When I say go--we run." he explained. "Stay as close as you can to me Kate." he added, with a very serious look at his wife.

After explaining his plan he proceeded to count down to 3, and then he threw his cell phone out over his head and listened for it to hit the ground. Once it did he gave the signal for them to run towards the door of the building just as soon as he heard another gun shot hit what he hoped (and thought and prayed) was his cell phone which he had used as a decoy.

They all jumped up and ran as fast as they could towards the door. Gibbs stayed right with Kate the entire time, using his body as a shield for his wife and daughter until they were safely back inside the building.



Once they were back inside they were greeted very hastily by McGee and Ducky. Ducky wanted to take them all down to autopsy so that he could conduct a private examination on each of them--just to be on the safe side.

It was long after that that the FBI SWAT team finally arrived and began to comb the area in search of the mysterious shooter--by this point the shooting(s) had stopped all together but nonetheless.




Chapter Two (Aftershock) ---

The group sat in autopsy, a few minutes later, as Ducky gave each of them a quick once over for any serious injuries and such. Kate stood looking over Ducky's shoulder as he examined baby Krissy for any injuries or wounds of any kind.

"So she'll be alright?" Kate asked once again.

Ducky turned the concerned parent and friend and smiled at her as he handed the baby over to her. "Indeed she will my dear Caitlin." Ducky said with a grin. "Maybe a little shook up, but after all she did have herself quite a fright out there." he added.

Kate cradled the little baby girl in her arms and cooed softly to her as she rocked her back and forth gently, slowly, and carefully.

The autopsy doors opened up and Gibbs stepped inside heading straight for his wife and child. "You alright?" he asked quietly, as she handed the baby over to her father.

"We're both fine Jethro," she told him, planting a kiss against his lips. "What about you?" Her husband had straight-forwardly declined the doctor's examination, choosing instead to have a quick word with the SWAT team's leader.

"Not important." he said plainly, shaking his head at her, as he held Krissy close to his chest and rocked her a little bit.

"It is to me Gibbs." she snapped back in a low voice. She absoluetly hated it when he treated her that way, as if his own life was not the least bit important (to anyone).

"I'm alright Kate." Tony said, with a lop-sided grin, as he tried to inject himself into the conversation. He stepped towards the couple slowly.

"Not now Tony." Kate snapped, shooting her partner a dirty look.

Tony put his hands up in defeat and started to back away once more.

"Has the SWAT team found anything yet?" she asked, turning back to face her husband.

"Not yet." Gibbs replied. "Their squad leader believes the shots came from relatively nearby--" Gibbs explained, trailing off and not finishing his sentence right away.

"But you think otherwise." Kate said, finishing her husband's sentence for him.

"But they could have come from anywhere--ANYWHERE." Gibbs told her. "They were 308s." Gibbs added, quietly.

"How could you possibly know that?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"I used to be a Marine Sniper, remember." Gibbs said, arching his brow at his wife.

"So what now?" she asked, concern in her voice. "I mean what if this psycho tries again?"

"Dunno." Gibbs replied quietly. "But we will catch this bastard--that's a promise." he added.




Chapter Three (The Getaway) ---

Three more months passed after the incident/shootings outside the NCIS HQ building in the side parking lot, and even though they had been forced to let it go and focus on other cases--that shooting still haunted Gibbs and still remained a top priority in his mind.

Krissy was getting bigger and bigger with each passing month, and everyone was having a blast with her. Because of this fact Abby was more than happy to agree to watch/take care of the little tot while mommy and daddy went away for a few days for their honeymoon.

Kate hoped that the trip would get the whole shooting thing off of Gibbs' mind for awhile. She would admit that the whole thing scared her too, but she did not obsess over it like her husband had been doing. Although she could say that she understood why he was the way that he was.

"Please try to enjoy yourself Jethro." Kate pleaded as they finally boarded their flight out of Washington D.C. that morning.

Gibbs rolled his eyes at his wife, as he took his seat beside her(s).

"You've been talking about that stupid shooting for three whole months now, and I just think its time to let it go for awhile--like Director Morrow said." she explained, as she slid her purse up under her seat, and then buckled her seatbelt.

"That psycho tried to kill you Kate." Gibbs pointed out quietly.

"I know Gibbs--I was there, remember?" she countered. "But I'm asking nicely just drop it okay, for me."

Gibbs thought about her request for a few minutes, but the look on his wife's face finally won him over and he conceded to her wishes. "Fine."

"Thanks." she said with a little giggle, as she planted a kiss on his cheek.




Eight hours later their plane landed in the Bahamas. They made their way through the airport terminal, collected their bags, and then made their way to the hotel at which they had made reservations two days before.

Kate dropped her bags onto the floor as soon as they walked into the room. Gibbs dropped his soon thereafter, and then closed and locked the door behind them.

Kate walked across the room to the little sofa in the center of the (big) room, and began to remove her tennis shoes. "Nice place." she said, as she looked around the room from the sofa.

"Uhunh." Gibbs agreed, as strolled slowly around the room, into the kitchen area, and then around to where Kate was sitting on the sofa. "Nice."

"Maybe I should call Abby and check in on Krissy." Kate suggested, standing up from the sofa, now in her socks, and looking around for a telephone to use.

Kate found the telephone sitting on a side table on the left hand side of one of the two beds in the bedroom area of their hotel room. She sat down and began to dial out.

Gibbs' hand came down and took the phone from his wife, and set it back down on the base. "We talked about this Kate." Gibbs said quietly.

"Gibbs-" Kate started to protest, but Gibbs laid his finger against her lips, and then pushed her backwards onto the bed straddling her body as he did so.

Gibbs lowered his head down and took her with his own lips deep and passionately. It didn't take long for Kate to return the invite--turning up the heat a little bit more. Before long he had her shirt off revealing her bra, and then within a few minutes of that her bra came off as well.

She pushed him away, momentarily, breathing quite heavily as she looked up at him from her position below him. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, arching her brow at her husband.

"What can I say," he replied with a smug smile. "I'm only human."

As they continued on the path they had chosen to take Kate's mind began to drift back in time to the last time Gibbs had been this straight-forward with her (in this way of course).

~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK SEQUENCE~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the NCIS squad room things had been a little more tense than usual this week because of the case that they were currently working on. Things had been especially tense between Gibbs and Kate.

The couple had been at each other's throat the entire week since they'd been given the case.

"You undermined me Gibbs!" Kate nearly shouted in his face. She couldn't believe the things that her husband had done to her this last week. "How could you!?"

"Okay, first of all Kate, I didn't undermine you," Gibbs pointed out. "I simply engaged in an alternative means of investigation--I think is how Abby put it." he told her, with that smug grin of his.

At that point Tony and McGee came strolling around the corner, and almost walked right into the line of fire between the couple.

"UUhh!" Kate growled angrily. "You are such a--BASTARD!" Kate shouted at her husband, as she spun around so that she would not have to look at him.

"Yeah." Gibbs said, in agreement (well sort of) as he plopped down into his chair behind his desk. "All three of my ex-wives said the same thing." he added.

Kate turned back around, anger renewed in her face, and confronted him once more. "You can't do this to me!" she growled. "I'm not just some woman that you work with, Gibbs, I'm your damn wife!" she shouted in his face.

Gibbs watched as his beautiful brunette wife exploded with all of the anger that she had kept pent up inside of her for almost an entire week. "God," he thought to himself, as a little bit of amusement played across his face. "She is so hot when she's angry."

He could feel the want and the longing building up inside of himself, and started to wonder if he would be able to contain it until they got home that afternoon. The more she chewed him out and yelled and spat at him, the more he was turned on by it. Soon enough though it became increasingly clear that even all the will power he could possibly muster in one single day would not be enough to contain what was bubbling up from deep within him(self).

"Kate." Gibbs said fiercely, as he stood up behind his desk. He stood up so suddenly that it startled everyone standing nearby (somewhat anyway), and they were not sure what to expect as they looked on.

"What!?" she shot back, anger still burning deep in her voice.

Gibbs looked around at the rest of his team, weighing in his mind the consequences of what he was about to do. "Oh screw it." he thought to himself finally. "Conference room. Now." he said urgently, motioning to the elevator with his head as he headed in that direction.

The two of them stepped onto the elevator a few brief moments later. Kate still had her arms crossed over her chest as Gibbs pushed the button for a lower-level floor.

"Whatdya want to talk about?" she asked pointedly.

Gibbs waited until just the right moment, and then slapped the stop switch bringing the elevator to a sudden halt right where it was. He crossed the space between them and pushed Kate up against the wall, and held her there as he stared into her fierce eyes for a brief moment. Then he attacked her lips with his own.

"Gibbs, what are you doing!?" Kate demanded as she tried to pull away from Gibbs.

"I need you Kate," Gibbs whispered into his wife's ear as he nibbled at her earlobe.

"What? Here?" she protested, and tried even harder to escape her husband's strong grip.

Gibbs moved his lips down to the side of her neck, which he knew full well was one of Kate's weak spots. As soon as his lips began to play at her neckline she instantly started to melt away in his arms.

"Gibbs," she gasped. "We shouldn't. Not here." she tried to point out to her husband.

"I can't wait Katie." he whispered her nickname that he had so graciously given her back when they were still dating.

That was it now she wanted it too, and she turned her head around with a jerk and seized her husbands lips with her own. It wasn't long before the clothes started to come off--one article at a time.

"I'm still mad at you." she pointed out as they continued kissing and clawing at each other like wild animals.

"Good." he retorted, pressing a smug grin into her lips. "Its better that way." he added.

Finally, she grabbed onto the tiny handrail that was mounted on the far wall of the elevator as Gibbs pushed himself into her--slowly and carefully--waiting for her signal before going any further.

She gasped at the waves of pleasure she felt as his massive erection filled her completely. "Gibbs." she gasped.

"Kate?" he asked, unsure of how long he would be able to maintain control of himself.

She nodded quickly, and then he began to move--slowly at first but then steadily he increased their tempo one level at a time--the sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoing off of/around the elevator's walls.




Tony and McGee had just received a call from their resident Goth Forensic Specialist and were headed down to see her--since they could not find Gibbs or Kate anywhere they had decided to go down alone.

"I really think that we should wait until we find Gibbs and Kate," McGee pointed out as they stood waiting for the elevator to arrive on their floor. "I mean they'd want to know what Abby found."

"Yeah well, we can't seem to find them can we McGee?" Tony quipped, as he pushed the button on the wall once more. "Besides, I'm sure they'll probably meet us down there anyway." he added.

"What's taking this thing so damn long!?" Tony said angrily, as he slapped the button on the wall to call the elevator once more, but to no avail.

"Tony. Wait." McGee said, stopping Tony from hitting it again (which is exactly what he was about to do).

"What!?" Tony snapped at the younger special agent standing next to him.

"Listen. You hear that?" McGee asked, turning slightly to one side to try to hear the sound(s) a little bit better.

Tony followed suit, quietly, and listened for whatever it was that McGee had heard.

"Oh God Yes." Kate's voice echoed up through the elevator shaft. "Yeah. I want it all." she moaned.

Together they heard a sound, coming up from within the elevator shaft, that neither of them had particularly WANTED to hear--ever. They exchanged nervous glances with each other at that moment.

"I didn't hear anything, if you didn't?" McGee suggested, swallowing a nervous lump, looking at Tony nervously.

"Oh, um yeah. Agreed." Tony said a slight nod, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing.

"Stairs?" McGee suggested pointing towards the stairwell that lead downstairs.

"Stairs." Tony repeated in agreement and they both set off for/down the stairs headed for Abby's lab.




Gibbs now had Kate's back pinned against the wall of the elevator. She held tight to his neck and shoulders as he began to drive them homeward with a final series of strokes that were hard and fast.

"OH, Gibbs." Kate moaned, as she sank her nails into the flesh of his back/shoulder. "Take me." she pleaded with him.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him in deeper with each stroke savoring the feel of his warmth inside her. "Don't hold back." she begged her husband, between moans of pleasure.

"Kate." he groaned in her ear as he gave one final thrust into her. They came together in what could only be described as a series of blindingly powerful fireworks and explosions that threatened to send them both sprawling out across the floor of the elevator. But by sheer force of will Gibbs managed to keep them both from falling over.

"Uhh, uh, oh. G-Gibbs." Kate groaned quietly against his shoulder as she rode out the shockwaves of their orgasms. Never before had Gibbs been this passionate with her--it was a very rare occurrence indeed.

"I love you so much Katie." Gibbs whispered into his wife's ear finally.

Kate nibbled gently at Gibbs' ear as they aited for their bodies (vital signs) to return to normal. "I love you too, Jethro Gibbs." she whispered back softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~END OF FLASHBACK SEQUENCE~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was a date that would always stand out in Kate's mind. The reason this was so was because just three and a half weeks later (well almost that long) she found out that she was pregnant with Kristen.

Gibbs and Kate now laid underneath the covers on the bed holding each other and talking in hushed whispers.

"That was--amazing, Gibbs." Kate mused, as she planted another kiss against his usually silent lips.

"You didn't expect anything less did you?" he asked, with a lazily smug grin spread across his face.

Kate laughed at her husband's somewhat arrogant sense of humor, and gave him a slight love tap against his cheek.

"So what do you want to do now?" he asked quietly.

Kate checked her watch, and then looked up at her husband. "It is past lunch time," she pointed out. "Wanna grab a bite to eat?" she asked.

"Sure do." Gibbs replied with a grin. "I'm gonna need proper nurishment if we plan to keep this up."

Kate laughed at her husband once again, and stole another deep kiss from him before pushing away so that she could go and get dressed up to go out.



Thirty-Five minutes later the happy couple found themselves in a burger joint not too far from their hotel. They had already ordered and were now waiting on their meals to arrive at their table.

"Seems like every place on this island is crowded--too crowded." Kate pointed out, between sips of her Diet Coke. So far things were going pretty good she thought. She knew that Gibbs wasn't all that much of a vacation kind of person, but this was their anniversary and she wanted it to be special.

"Yep." Gibbs replied plainly, between sips of his own glass of sweet tea.

"Listen Gibbs. I read in one of the brochures that we picked up that there's supposed to be a big party down at the beach tonight," she told him. "Its open to the public--anyone can come--and there's supposed to be a meal, music, 'dancing'."

Gibbs thought about it for a moment, silently, he knew what she was getting at--it was the dancing that caught her eye. He knew that she enjoyed dancing, he himself was not very fond of it, but he knew that it was something that made Kate happy, so he figured why not. "Would you be my date?" he asked, with a lop-sided grin.

"Why Mr. Gibbs, I'd be delighted." she replied, with a chuckle, pleased that her ploy had worked so well.

After another minute or so had passed the waitor approached their table carrying their plates. "Cheeseburger and spicy fries for the gentleman, and for the lovely lady--a club sandwhich and side salad." the waitor recited their orders as he passed them out.

"Thanks." Kate and Gibbs said at the same time.

Once the waitor was gone the couple finally began to eat their long-awaited meal enjoying every bite of it.



Chapter Four (A Romantic Evening For Two) ---

Kate had the hardest time deciding what she wanted to wear to the big party that night, but she eventually settled on a simple red evening gown, while Gibbs decided to wear no more than a pair of khaki shorts, a gray t-shirt, flip flops (he figured he could just dance in his bare feat without much of a problem), and a ball cap.

The couple arrived just as the shindig was getting started. The first thing that everyone did was, of course, eat. A lot of people alternated between eating a little bit here and then dancing a little there, and back and forth as such.

Gibbs and Kate figured they would eat first and that is what they did. Afterwards they sat around and digested their meal at their table while they watched other couples and what not dance around--half on concrete flooring and half just out on the sand of the beach.

Half-way through the evening, though, Kate and Gibbs still had not danced (yet). In Kate's mind a lot of the music that they were playing just did not seem like Gibbs' style and she knew he would not feel comfortable out on the dance floor with all of the younger, hipper folks.

"Go." Gibbs said, completely out of no where.

Kate looked at her husband somewhat confused by his statement. "Sorry?" she replied, nervously.

"Go dance." he said, nodding towards the 'dance floor'/area. "Have fun." he added with a knowing smile.

Kate bit down on her lip, nervously, trying to decide whether she should leave him there at the table, and just get up and go dancing alone-or maybe she should stay with him. In the end the 'dancing' won out.

Gibbs was careful to keep his eyes on his wife the whole time that she was up dancing. "She's actually pretty good at this 'dancing' thing." Gibbs thought to himself. The next, almost, two hours were strange for Gibbs. Kate's wild-n-let-loose style of dancing was, oddly enough, erotic in a way. Never had dancing in any form ever been a turn on for him--but then again he'd never really seen Kate dance like this before.

He finally got up from where he sat and walked out onto/into the dance area, and headed straight for Kate.

After awhile longer though, a soft and slow song began to play, and everyone on/in the dance area was moving slowly to the rhythm of the song that was now playing. Kate could not dance to this type of music/song by herself so she turned to head back to the table and ran, literally, into her husband.

"Gibbs!?" Kate cried out, in shock.

"Shhh." Gibbs whispered, as he pulled her close to him.

"But what are you-?" she started to ask, but was silenced by his finger being pressed gently to her lips.

"Just dance." he commanded softly.

The two of them quickly fell into their slow-dance positions (like the ones they had used to dance at their wedding). Kate felt so comfortable there with her head resting against her husband's chest--just moving along slowly and calmly to the soft and slow rhythm of the music. To Kate it was almost like a dream--a wonderful, wonderful dream.



After a while their soft-and-slow music/dance finally came to an end, and the two of them hurried from the dance area, and back to their table. It was beginning to get pretty late in the evening (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of being close to 11:00ish or 12:00ish).

Kate was still laughing as she plopped down into her seat at the table. "Oh that was sooo much fun," she said, with a sigh, as she looked up at her husband who was still standing. "Thank you so much." she added sweetly.

"It was alright." Gibbs replied. "What next?" he asked, as he stood behind her (seat).

Kate checked her watch briefly. "I think its getting pretty late, Gibbs, and I am getting tired." she told him, with a slight yawn.

"Really?" Gibbs asked, arching his brow at his wife. "Gee, that's too bad." he added, a fiendish smirk playing at the corners' of his mouth.

"What?" Why?" Kate demanded, all at once, looking somewhat confused and curious. "Did you have something in mind?" she asked, curiously.

Gibbs leaned over and whispered something very quietly into Kate's ear, and almost immediately her eyes lit up with newfound energy and desire. She jumped up, rather quickly, and grabbed her husband's arm and started to drag him away from the party. "What are we waiting for?" she said, with a devilish smile.



Outside their hotel room the sounds of two lovers could be heard quite clearly by anyone who might be inside--good thing the room was empty. They swapped kiss after kiss as Gibbs fumbled with the room key/keycard.

"Let me open the damn door first Kate." Gibbs swore, in a hushed and yet amused voice.

"Fine. Just hurry." she replied, rather forcefully.

There was the sound of jingling and scratching, and then the door to their hotel room finally swung open, and the couple stepped inside, pausing only so that Gibbs could close and lock the door back behind them. Neither of them even bothered to turn the (any of the) lights on. The dim light emanating from the living room area's single window would be sufficient here.

As soon as he turned back around to Kate she was all over him again. She tugged, fiercely at his gray t-shirt, and did not stop until he finally yanked it off himself and tossed it to the floor.

They kissed nonstop stumbling over the sofa and other odds and ends as they made their way further into the room. The next article of clothing to go was Kate's gown (the whole darn thing), and she let it fall, unhindered, to the floor exposing bra, panties, and bare flesh all at once.

He pushed her up against the end of the sofa and held her there as he made short work of her bra, tossing it also to the floor. He cupped her right breast with his hand as they continued their seemingly endless bout of kissing. He nibbled a little at her ear, and then worked his way down the nape of her neck, gently planting kiss after kiss in his wake. He continued to work his way down her top until his lips closed over one of her already taut nipples where he began to suckle one and then the other (gently of course).

"Oh God Gibbs," she moaned aloud, running a hand through his silvery hair. "That feels soo good. Hmmm."

From there he gradually made his way down over her stomach tracing kisses all along the way, and even further downwards until he reached her silk panties. They would have to go. He quickly helped her step out of them and then tossed them aside.

"Gibbs-" she started to say his name.

Then without warning Gibbs plunged two fingers deep into her warm folds, pushing them in as deep as they would go.

"OH, oh." Kate moaned, as she felt him begin to move his fingers around inside of her. "G-God. Oh."

After another minute or so of teasing her he finally withdrew his fingers from inside her, and stood upright once again, so that she could see him lick his fingers clean.

He leand forward again and resumed kissing her attacking her lips with his own. Almost at the same time Kate's hand began to scramble frantically pulling at the buckle of his belt--trying to free the rest of his body from its prison.

He knew what she wanted, but he wasn't ready to let her have it just yet. Playfully, he pressed the hardness of his erection, ever present through the material/fabric of his shorts and undies, against the bare flesh of her tender sex.

"Uuhhh, ohhh." she moaned at the feel of his erection against her bare flesh. "Gibbs. Please." she begged, her eyes already pleading with his for release.

After a few more kisses against her lips, neck, and ear, Gibbs finally obliged shrugging out of his shorts, shoes, and undies with almost no effort at all.

He lifted her up, carried her around, and laid her down on the sofa--flat on her back. She tried to reach out and grab his erection, her eyes on fire with desire.

With a small grunt he lifted her bottom up to his level, and plunged into her (gently and carefully) relishing every teeny tiny sensation along the way as pushed himself in as deep as he could possibly go.

Kate wrapped her legs around Gibbs' waist and tried to iniate a little more movement between the two of them before she completely lost her mind.

"Kate. You feel so good around me." Gibbs whispered into the darkness of the room.

Then he began, going slowly at first, but then rapidly picking up the pace driving into her with everything that he knew she wanted. "Oh, yeah." he moaned. And needed.

"Oh, Oh, Oh. God. Keep going. Keep going." she moaned out loud, grabbing onto the edges/sides of the sofa for further support.

He paused a couple of times throughout the process, and leaned forard to kiss her--on the lips, on the neck, top of her chest, and her nipples once more, before continuing onward.

Finally, after awhile, he had her up on all fours facing away from him. She grasped the end of the sofa firmly, with her hands, as Gibbs pounded into her from behind.

"Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh. OOOOOh, God Yes. Harder." she moaned out loud, once again, as she buried her face in the soft material/fabric/upholstery of the arm of the sofa.

"Kate." he groaned out her name in a low, husky, voice, as he put everything he had in himself and then some into the last few strokes--pushing them even closer to the finish line in the epic race that he and his beautiful wife were running together.

"Don't Stop." she cried out in sheer pleasure as he pumped into her hard and fast with everything he had.

"Uh. Oh. K-Kate." he groaned out once more, and then it happened.

"OOHHH. OOoh. oohhh." Kate moaned as she felt her climax approaching very rapidly.

"Aah." Gibbs groaned out, as he plunged into her with one hard, finishing stroke.

The two of them came together in a fiery explosion of fireworks and sheer ecstasy. He held on for dear life as he rode out his climax, and she did the same until finally they both collapsed forward--tired and spent from their late night's work.

"Oh Gibbs. That was the best." Kate said with a sigh, as she finally rested her weary head against the softness of the sofa.

Gibbs smiled in spite of himself--pleased, very much so, with his work in the end.

There was a throw blanket hanging over one side of the couch. Gibbs grabbed it and pulled over their bare bodies covering them both up so that they would not catch cold. "I love you Kate." Gibbs whispered into her ear. But she was already fast asleep, and soon he would be too.



Chapter Five (A New Day) ---

Kate awoke first, at first wishing she hadn't, but then shaking it off. The sleep that she had gotten the previous night had been wonderful (as had other things that had taken place at that time). She had slept like a baby.

She smiled when she realized that Gibbs was still fast asleep, and had to stifle a small chuckle for fear that she would wake her husband too soon.

As she surveyed the room--finally able to see the mess that they had made the night before--she had to stifle yet another chuckle/laugh. There were articles of clothing scattered all across the room--her bra and panties, his undies, and various other clothing items hanging off/over the different pieces of furniture around where they had fallen asleep. "We are so naughty." Kate whispered, with a tiny giggle. The giggle escaped rather unexpectedly, and she quickly clamped her hand over her mouth hoping that it hadn't been too loud of a sound/noise.

"That we are." Gibbs whispered.

"You're awake!?" Kate exclaimed in a hushed voice. "I didn't mean to-" she started to explain.

Gibbs chuckled. "That's alright." he whispered as he bent his head down for a kiss. "What time is it?" he asked afterwards.

"Dunno," she replied. "Can't seem to find my watch."

"Uh," Gibbs mumbled, as his eyes scanned the scene before him. "There. Under the coffee table." he pointed out to her, once his eyes landed upon it.

"Oh, there it is." she said, with a small chuckle. "Wonder how it got there?"

"Dunno." Gibbs replied, with a chuckle at seeing his wife's facial expression--apparently she wasn't all that amused at his 'stealing' of her words.

Kate rolled over onto her back as Gibbs propped himself up on his hands/elbows. "I'll get it later." she told him.

"What I do know, Mrs. Caitlin Gibbs, is that you are one naughty little girl." Gibbs said, as he lowered his head for another kiss.

"Naughty am I?" Kate said, arching her brow at her husband. "That mean you're gonna punish me?" she asked, with a devilish grin. She and Gibbs weren't usually like this, at least not at home anyway, but it was rather refreshing however.

"We'll I don't know that depends," Gibbs replied, with a devilish grin of his own.

"On what?" Kate asked curiously, as she accepted another kiss from her silver-haired lover.

"Hmm, well a lot of things actually." he said with a small chuckle as he kissed his wife once again--this time though the kiss was much more passionate than the previous two or three.

............To Be Continued in "Part Four"............

"The In-Between Years, Part Four"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Step By Step"

Chapter One (Words) ---

All was going well in the NCIS squad room. It was a beautiful Friday morning, and the team was still piecing together a puzzle that they had been handed two days prior.

Tony was at his desk busily making phone calls to several people on a list that he held in front of him--as per his boss' instructions. "Yeah. Well thanks anyway. Bye." Tony said, as he hung up his desk phone once again (for the 7th time since he'd started).

McGee was at his desk, as well, running a partial license plate number through a computer program that he had written especially for this task. The program was supposed to run the license plate numbers that they had against a list of names that he and Kate had previously compiled--his hope was that they would be able to get a match this way.

Ducky had brought up the autopsy report(s) on their latest victim (there were three so far). He handed the file folder to Gibbs, who sat behind his own desk reading over some other materials that had been gathered up for him to look over. "Here you are Jethro," Ducky said with a grin. "I think you'll find this report to be considerably more interesting than the last two."

"Hope so Duck." Gibbs replied, as he accepted the file folder from the aging M.E. standing in front of his desk.

Kate was at her desk holding her 16 month old daughter in her lap. She had been occasionally stopping what she was doing to bounce the little girl on her knee. The little girl seemed to really enjoy that, but her favorite game/thing to do, as everybody had come to find out, was play the 'Helicopter' Game with her daddy.

For the last two or three weeks, and even this morning, Kate (and Gibbs) had been trying so hard to get their daughter to say Da-Da or Ma-Ma; but to no avail as of yet. "Come on sweetie," Kate prodded the little girl in her lap. "Say 'Ma-Ma'." but the little girl still remained silent (well as far as actual words are concerned). "Okay, how about Da-Da?" Kate tried again, but still got nothing out of the little blue-eyed girl.

"Got it Boss!" McGee cried out, as he jumped up from his desk waving a piece of paper in the air.

Around the corner the elevator pinged, and when the door(s) opened up NCIS' resident Goth Forensic Specialist Abby Scuito stepped off and headed around towards the bullpen where she knew the team would be waiting.

"Gibbs!" Abby called out to the silver-haired special agent who was taking a piece of paper from McGee. "I got your results--from the ballistics test I ran earlier."

Gibbs finished strapping his sidearm holster to his belt as he approached the young Goth woman. "And?" he asked, somewhat impatiently.

"I know who your killer is." she told him with a big smile spread across her face.

"Who Abs!?" Gibbs said impatiently.

The rest of the team was already gathering up nearby with their gear in hand.

"Drum Roll, Please." Abby said, shooting a sideways glance at Tony (who was standing nearby).

"Oh uh right." he said quickly. He turned around and beat out as close to a drum roll as he could with his fingers on his desk top.

"Abby!" Gibbs barked, angrily.

"Your killer is one Petty Officer Donald Forman." Abby finally announced cheerfully.

"Thank you." Gibbs replied, as he started to push past her to head towards the elevator with Tony and McGee walking closely behind him.

"Da-Da." the little girl said suddenly and audibly from where she sat, held by her mother at her mother's desk.

Everyone halted where they were.

"Was that-" Tony started to ask.

Gibbs turned around and headed back towards Kate's desk.

Kate sat her daughter up onto the desk top in front of her and looked into her face/eyes. "Da-Da." Kate repeated softly to the blue-eyed little girl.

Gibbs turned the corner and stood right in front of Kate's desk.

"Da-Da!" the little girl squealed happily banging her hands together as she did so.

Kate smiled and hugged her daughter happily. "Yay, your first word. I'm so proud of you."

Gibbs reached out and picked up the little girl from her mother afterwards, and smiled proudly as he held her in his arms. "Da-Da?" he whispered in her ear.

"Da-Da!" she squealed out again happily.

"That's my girl." Gibbs said with a chuckle as he rubbed his nose against her cheek. "That's my girl."

"Uh Boss-" McGee said from behind them.

Gibbs tossed the car keys, with his free hand, over his head. Tony caught them in mid-air. "DiNozzo. Take McGee and pick up our petty officer." Gibbs instructed.

"On it Boss." Tony replied, turning back towards the elevator, with McGee on his tail.

"That's my girl!" Gibbs jeered a little more excitedly as he held Krissy up over his head and spun around in a circle.

The little girl giggled excitedly as her father bounced around and played with her there in the squad room.



Later that evening Gibbs and Kate arrived at their home from work with little Krissy in tow. The happy couple were extremely overjoyed at knowing that they had both been able to witness their daughter's first spoken word.

Gibbs handed the little girl off to her mother almost as soon as they walked through the door. "Someone needs a change." Gibbs said, with a funny-looking grin spread across his face.

"She needs a bath too anyway," Kate said with a soft smile. "So we'll just do both--won't we?" she said, softly to her daughter as she carried her off towards the downstairs bathroom.

All the way down the hallway Gibbs could hear his wife cooing playfully with Krissy, which was usually followed by the little girl's laughter. He could not help but smile. He had never been this happy--at least not in a very long time anyway.



In the bathroom Kate had gotten the bath water warmed up and running into the tub. She had slipped out of her blouse, and hung it up on the hook on the back of the bathroom door. She'd already undressed Krissy (except for her diaper) and now it was her turn to finish undressing so she slid out of her skirt next, and then pulled off Krissy's wet diaper and tossed it into the waste basket nearby. Then she slipped off her bra and panties and tossed them into a neat little pile with her other articles of clothing on the floor in the far corner of the room.

"Ready sweetheart?" Kate asked softly, not expecting any kind of snwer from the little baby girl who laid on her back on the sink/counter top. "Yes you are." Kate cooed gently to the little baby as she rubbed her nose against her daughter's nose.

Kate picked the little girl up and carried her over towards the tub, remembering to turn the water off before stepping into the tub and sitting down.

"There we go," Kate cooed to her daughter as they both slipped into the warm bath water.

The little girl playfully slapped the top of the water with both hands sending water splashing back upwards at her mother's face. Kate just laughed at the little girl, and then planted a gentle kiss against her little forehead.



Gibbs rattled down the steps descending into the dimly-lit basement. For the last two or three weeks he had been working on a 'top-secret' project down here/there. The project he was currently engaged in was simple enough in its own right--building a 'Rocking-Horse' for his precious daughter.

He stepped up next to the work-bench removing his coat and hanging it up on a nearby rack (which he himself had built from scratch). He turned around and faced the half-finished 'Rocking Horse', and studied it silently for a moment.

He turned back to the workbench after a few brief moments had passed, and reached for a chisel that he had left laying out the night before. As he picked the tool up something setting on the workbench just several inches away from it caught his attention.

He set the chisel down and reached out and picked up the object. It was something that he had not seen down here on his workbench before tonight. A small parcel/bundle wrapped up in plain brown wrapping paper and tied up with plain white twine/string. He undid the little package after he had rolled it over in his hands several times, and gave it a little shake to make whatever was inside fall out into his hands.

The first item that fell out of the small package was a spent shell casing, which his best guess told him came from a small hand gun such as a Sig Sauer. He studied the shell casing in his hand, briefly, before shaking the little package once more. Nothing else came out, but he did notice something sort of sticking out of it a little bit. He pulled it out and found that it was a small polaroid snapshot. Upon closer inspection he discovered that it was a snapshot of the Autopsy 'room' from NCIS HQ. Written at the bottom of the photo in/on the small white space there were these words: "Nice Demonstration. How's The Shoulder?"

Images, horrible images flashed through Gibbs' head after having read the words written at the bottom of the snapshot/photograph. Almost without thinking he reached back into/onto a nearby cubby-hole up on the shelf and pulled out his 'personal-use' side-arm.

Then, suddenly, a loud crashing noise was heard coming from upstairs. It sounded like glass shattering, and it scared him. Faster than lightning, Gibbs rushed up the stairs with his gun in hand. "Kate!"



Kate was laying on the floor in the nursery clutching at her side when Gibbs finally found her. She still had her towel wrapped around her waist, and the baby was semi-clothed and laying in the crib. Shards of glass from the nursery's single window were scattered all over the nursery floor.

"Kate!" Gibbs said, as he dropped down to his wife's side.

"I-I don't know what happened," Kate stammered, in pain from her newly acquired wound. "We were j-just getting dressed when-"

"Sshhh." Gibbs whispered as he placed his hand over her hand over the wound, and held it there tightly. "Its okay...don't talk." Gibbs said, as he fished his cell phone out of his trouser pocket. "You're losing blood fast."

In the background, from within the crib, the baby could be heard crying.



Meanwhile...

The phone rang in the middle of an almost pitch black room. A pair of hands fumbled in the darkness reaching for the lamp on the side table, and after a few brief moments finally managed to flip the light(s) on revealing the main bedroom of the Mallard house.

Ducky slipped his glasses on over his nose and then picked up the phone and answered it. "Hello, Mallard residence." Ducky said, groggily, into the receiver.

"Oh. Hello Jethro--What?" Ducky asked, looking and sounding more alert now--surprised, and hoping and praying that he had not heard his best friend correctly. "Stay calm." Ducky instructed as he sat up and threw back the covers on his bed. "Keep pressure on the wound--I'll be right there." Ducky said, as he jumped up, hung up the phone, and then began reaching for the clothes that he had laid out for the next day over the back of a nearby chair.

He pulled his trousers on and then, while fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt, he picked up the phone and dialed 911.

"Yes, this is Dr. Mallard, and-" Ducky began to say to the dispatch officer on the other end.

"Oh Dr. Mallard," the voice on the other end replied in a happy tone. "Its me--Gretchen Kindlen." the female voice told him. "I haven't heard from you in so long-"

"Yes, yes Gretchen--I'm sure it has been." Ducky said, not meaning to sound rude, but this was an emergency. "Look...I need a favor."



Chapter Two (Face In The Dark) ---

Almost An Hour Later...

The doctors at Bethesda Naval Hospital were quick to rush Kate in to surgery. By the time they had arrived there (by chopper) she had already lost a good bit of blood.

Gibbs stood outside the operating room doors gently rocking his daughter back and forth in his arms (and patting her gently on the back). Ducky stood out in the hall area with him.

"I assure you Jethro," Ducky said in a soft reassuring tone. "Caitlin will be just fine--these doctors are the best."

Gibbs nodded at his older friend.

"I owe ya one Duck." Gibbs said quietly.

"Well actually Jethro--if we're being completely honest--you owe me a great deal more than you know." the aging M.E. replied with a little chuckle.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" came the familiar, emotional wail from far off down the hallway.

Gibbs looked up to see his favorite Goth Forensic Specialist nearly sprinting towards him. He couldn't say he was not glad to see her.

"You're gonna wake the baby Abs." Gibbs said quietly, once Abby was close enough to hear him.

"Oh sorry," she apologized quickly, biting down hard on her lower lip as she stood before her silver-haired boss. "Ducky called me...Where is she?" she asked next. "Is-is she okay?" she asked nervously.

"Don't know yet." Gibbs replied quietly. "They just took her in to surgery."

"I hope you don't mind," Abby said, shyly. "But I called Tim and Tony, and told them what happened." she explained quietly.

"Its okay." he replied.



Some Time Later...

The head doctor exited the operating room and stood in the hallway before Gibbs and the others.

By now McGee and Tony had joined up with the rest of them. Abby sat in a chair on one side of Gibbs with the sleeping Krissy resting against her comfortably. Gibbs stood up as the doctor came out of the operating room anxious to hear about how his wife was doing.

"We were able to remove the bullet, and patch her up pretty good." the doctor explained calmly. "She's stable, and they'll be moving her to recovery."

"So she'll be okay?" Tony asked, as he stood up from his seat.

"Well as far as we can see there's no serious damage, but we won't know for sure until she wakes up." the doctor explained.

"Can we see her then?" Ducky chimed in, from his seat on the other side of where Gibbs had been sitting.

"I'll allow one of you to sit with her--but only one--for now." the doctor told them.

"Thanks doctor." Gibbs said quietly, as he shook the man's hand.

The doctor smiled, appreciatively, and then walked away to resume his duties.

"You go Jethro." Ducky pushed his friend. "She's your wife--we'll wait out here."

Gibbs smiled slightly and then nodded, before turning around and heading off down the hallway to catch up with the team of nurses who were carting Kate off to a recovery room.



It was early the next morning when Kate finally came around, and opened her eyes. She looked around the room that she was in, and it wasn't long before her eyes fell upon her husband. From all appearances he had fallen asleep sitting in a chair at her bed side. She couldn't help but crack a weak smile.

"Gibbs," she croaked weakily.

Gibbs stirred, blinking a few times, before he fully acknowledged her as he stretched on the spot.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"I've been better." she sighed a weak sigh, and gave a tiny smile.

Gibbs returned the tiny grin, as he placed a gentle kiss against her forehead.

"How's Kris?" she asked next.

"Good." Gibbs replied. "Last I saw--she was using Abby as her own personal pillow." Gibbs said jokingly. But then his face grew serious. "I never should have let this happen." he said quietly as he shook his head slightly.

"It's not you fault." Kate whispered to her husband weakly.

"I let that bastard into our home, Kate, you could have died last night." Gibbs fumed, angry with himself.

"But I didn't Gibbs--I'm fine--well I will be, and soon I hope, but other than that-" she started to say.

"Good morning Mrs. Gibbs." came a husky yet cheerful voice. "And you must be her husband." the doctor added, noticing Gibbs standing by her bed side.

Gibbs nodded towards the doctor standing just in the doorway.

"Well, I'm Dr. Moore," he informed them. "I will be your attending physician during your stay here with us at Bethesda." he added with a lopsided grin, as he strolled in closer to the foot of the bed.

The doctor looked over the charts in his hand(s) as he stood at the foot of the hospital bed. After a moment or so he looked up, laid the chart(s) down on the bed, and then made his way around to Kate's side. "Tell me. How do you feel?" he asked, as he pulled a small pen light from his coat pocket.

"I've been better." she replied weakly.

Dr. Moore pointed the tiny light into each of Kate's eyes, and after a few seconds or so he put the small pen light back into his coat pocket. "Pupils are normal." he mumbled as he backed up a bit. "Mind if I take a look at the wound?" he asked, as he pulled a pair of rubber gloves from his other coat pocket.

"Sure. Go ahead." Kate replied, her voice still a little hoarse.

Gibbs bent his head down and kissed Kate on the forehead, and then whispered something into her ear before turning and heading for the door. He nodded his appreciation to Dr. Moore, who was already turning back the sheets so that he could check her wound, as he (Gibbs) left the room.



Gibbs strolled out to the waiting area where the rest of the team was waiting for him. The only thoughts on Gibbs' mind at present pertained to the identity of the mysterious shooter and what he would do to the guy once he got his hands on him. "DiNozzo." Gibbs snapped.

The sound of his boss' voice immediately snapped Tony out of his dream-world. "Hunh wha-Boss?" Tony mumbled as he sat up and stretched his upper body.

"Get up." Gibbs commanded.

Tony obeyed and stood up from where he had been sitting/sleeping. "Yeah boss?"

"Get over to my place. Treat it like a crime scene." Gibbs instructed, as he watched the rest of the gang stir where they sat/slumbered nearby.

"McGee. Go with him." Gibbs said, as he lightly kicked Tim's feet as he walked by.

"On it." the two agents responded almost simultaneously, as they began to move around a little quicker than before.

Ducky looked up at his (best) friend, after having rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stretched a wee bit where he sat. "What shall I do?" the aging M.E. asked.

"Stay with her." Gibbs replied quietly. "And keep me posted." he added, with a sort of forced grin at the older man as he patted Ducky's shoulder.

"Abby. Come with me." Gibbs said as he gently lifted his daughter from the Goth Forensic Specialists' arms. "I need you to process any evidence that 'those two' bring back from my house." he explained, as he balanced the little girl against him.

"Yes sir." Abby replied, jokingly, in a mock-military salute fashion. She tried to hide her smile/grin, but found it nearly utterly impossible to do so.

Gibbs shook his head, slightly, with an amused grin as he motioned with his head for her to follow him. "I also need a babysitter." he added. "Just tell me how much."

"How much what, Gibbs?" Abby asked, sincerely and innocently as she followed right behind her silver-haired boss down the hallway.

"-To pay you Abs." Gibbs said, stopping and looking over his shoulder at her.

"Oh." Abby replied, slightly embarassed at not having caught his meaning the first time around. "Um, nothing." she replied. "I'm good. Besides, your money's no good here." she added with a tiny grin.



An hour or so later Tony and McGee pulled up outside Gibbs and Kate's house. Tony stepped out from the driver side as McGee did the same from the passenger's side of the car. The two of them took a quick look around before grabbing their gear, leaving the safety of the car, and heading towards the house.

"What room did he say Kate was shot in?" Tony asked, over his shouler as he pushed open the front door.

"Uh, the nursery--I think." McGee replied, following Tony inside.

"Right. The nursery." Tony repeated to himself. "By the way McGoo, just in case our 'mysterious shooter' is still lurking around, its your responsibilty as the the team 'probie' to take one for the team." Tony explained, jokingly.

"Yeah. Take one for the-Hey wait a minute--you-you're not serious...are you?" McGee asked, stopping right where he was.

Tony gave a small laugh as he continued ahead towards the nursery. "Tell ya what Probie. Why don't you start setting up the yellow tape." Tony suggested as he turned a corner and headed down a short hallway and then made his way upstairs.



Abby set little Krissy down in the playpen that they had set up down in her lab for just such an emergency(s). "And how about Bert to keep you company." Abby said with a smile as she placed her stuffed Hippo in the playpen next to the, now wide-awake, little girl.

As soon as she was in the playpen Krissy immediately pulled herself up onto her hands and knees--making a bee-line for the stuffed animal setting nearby.

Abby let out a small chuckle at the little tot crawling around in the playpen. "You're such a cutie."

"Abs." Gibbs said as he strolled into the lab carrying a coffee cup in one hand and a Caf-Pow in the other.

"Here." the young Goth woman answered as she stood up, and headed back out through the sliding glass door(s) of her office area, and around to her workstation where Gibbs was waiting for her.

He extended his arm as soon as she was close enough offering her the large caffeinated beverage. It was her favorite drink after all, and he knew that she worked better when she had one of her huge drinks by her side.

"Thanks Gibbs." Abby said, as she accepted the large cup and took a big gulp of the red liquid within. "Krissy's in the playpen--with Bert for company--I just hope you have a bottle hidden somewhere," Abby began to explain to her silver-haired boss. "Cause she's gonna be wantin' it soon." she added, with a grin.

Gibbs motioned over his shoulder with his head towards the refrigeration unit against the wall nearby.

"Oh." Abby said, once her eyes landed on the bottle sitting just inside the refrigeration unit. "And there it is."

Abby gave a light chuckle at her boss. "You're good you know that." she said with a grin.

Gibbs shrugged slightly at the young Goth woman. "Well I don't know about that but-" he started to say, with a lop-sided grin spread part ways across his face/lips.

"So what can I do for you?" she asked suddenly, as she set her Caf-Pow cup down on the nearby table. "I mean, you know, other than wait for Tony and McGee to bring me back some evidence to look at." she added.

Gibbs reached down into his pocket and pulled out the shell casing, having been especially careful not to touch it wrong, from the night before. He set it down on the table in front of her. "Run every test you can think of." he instructed her. "He left it in my basement for me to find."

Abby reached into a small box on the side of her workstation and pulled out a pair of rubber gloves and slipped her hands into them, somewhat quickly, before picking up the shell casing off of the table. "Will do sir."

"He also left this with it." Gibbs said, as he handed her the photograph that had come with it. "Think you can get any prints off of it?" he asked.

Abby took the photograph from her boss and looked over it quickly before setting it down next to the shell casing--which she had placed back on the table after examining it quickly. "Have I ever let you down?" she asked, with a grin.

"Not yet." Gibbs replied quietly, with a slight shake of his head. He planted a quick kiss against the young Goth woman's cheek just before he turned and walked out of the lab. "Don't forget to keep an eye on my girl Abs." Gibbs called over his shoulder as he exited the lab.

"I won't." Abby called back, with a grin, as she turned back to her work.


~~~~~~~~~36 Hours Later~~~~~~~~~


"This better be important DiNozzo." Gibbs barked angrily as he stepped off of the elevator and headed towards the bullpen where Tony and McGee were waiting.

"Sounds important." Tony remarked as he passed his desk phone off to his boss.

Gibbs held the receiver up to his ear. "What!?" he nearly shouted into the phone. Immediately afterwards he sort of wished that he hadn't. He heard a sniffle on the other end of the line--a very very familiar sniffle. "Oh. Kate, I'm s-" he tried to apologize, his voice softening.

"You-you're obviously very busy." Kate said quietly (through the phone), with a sniffle. "I-I won't--" there was a brief moment of silence on both ends, and then Kate spoke again. "Sorry I bothered you Jethro. Bye." she said quietly, in a voice that revealed to him sadness and pain--so much so that it tore him up inside.

"Kate. Wait." he tried, but it was too late. Even as the words escaped his mouth he could hear the sound of the phone on the other end hanging up.

Gibbs just stood there, phone in hand, silently with his eyes closed. He felt so horrible about what he'd just done. He felt as though he had turned against her, unintentionally of course, but nonetheless so.

"That Bastard's winning." Gibbs thought to himself. "He probably wants/wanted me to react to his having shot Kate (twice) like this." For the next few minutes, it seemed, Gibbs kicked himself for what he had done.

After a few minutes had passed, with Tony and McGee standing nearby trying not to eavesdrop on their boss, Gibbs opened his eyes and hung Tony's (desk) phone back up on the base.

"DiNozzo, call Abby and tell her to meet me at the car." Gibbs instructed his senior field agent, in a quiet voice, as he turned to walk away. "And tell her to bring Krissy with her."

"Will do Boss." Tony replied, as he picked up his phone and dialed in the lab's extension number.


Gibbs strolled into the hospital room where Kate was staying a little while later carrying Krissy in his arms. "Hey." he said quietly, as he stood in the doorway.

Kate looked up at her husband and daughter, and Gibbs could instantly make out the deep sorrow hidden behind those beautiful eyes of hers.

"Kate I-" he tried, but the words just would not come. He closed his mouth, and walked towards her. He handed Krissy to her mother as soon as he got close enough.

Kate held her daughter close in her lap while the little girl played with 'mommy's fingers' all the while.

"Kate I'm sorry." Gibbs said quietly, as he sat down beside her. "I've been so busy trying to catch the guy who shot you, and-"

"The doctors say that the bullet that hit me did a lot of damage." Kate interrupted, quietly. "When they found it, it was lodged somewhere in my abdomen." she explained, her voice beginning to crack a little bit.

"Sweetheart I-" Gibbs started to say, quietly.

"I can't remember all of the 'technical' things that they talked about, but they said that there's a chance that I may not be able to get pregnant again." she said, her voice suddenly cracking to the point of tears.

Gibbs' heart ached for his wife, immensely, in that moment. He knew how much she wanted to have kids, and how she had talked about wanting to have at least two or three; and then to be told that that might not even possible anymore was like receiving the death penalty for her.

He reached out and pulled his wife close and held her against him, as she sobbed quietly into his shoulder. At this point he wasn't sure what to/he should say, or even if anything he could or should say would even really make a difference right now.

************To Be Continued************

The In-Between Years, The Final Chapter

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Chapter One (Reminiscent) ---

Gibbs sat all alone down in the basement of his house wishing that he had the strength to pick up the bottle in front of him sitting on the workbench, and just drink himself into a complete stupor, at which point he would no longer be able to feel any pain whatsoever. But he felt too much love, respect, and loyalty for his wife (and his daughter) to sink to that level again.

He and Kate had not been together (married) quite five years, yet, when it happened. They had started to get ready to celebrate Krissy's fifth birthday just last week (even though technically Krissy's birthday wouldn't arrive for another two weeks) but still Kate insisted on getting an early start on things. So he had gone along with it.

Kate had been in an unusually great/cheerful mood ever since she had started thinking about her daughter's upcoming fifth birthday, and he knew that it was a combination of the fact that it was distracting her mind from thinking about never actually 'having' another child of their own, and that their daughter's birthday was, indeed, a joyous occassion. Als he knew that she had been happy when Gibbs had suggested that they adopt a second child--since they had not been able to get pregnant, on their own, after many many many failed attempts.

But then it happened. In just the blink of an eye she (Kate) was gone. Only two weeks ago he had watched his wife die on that rooftop. And for two days straight he played, and then re-played the events from that day over and over and over and over and over in his mind.

He had had a hard enough time explaining to their daughter why someone would 'take mommy away', to which he always responded with the same response: "I love you...and you know Mommy loved you soo much." he would tell her, his voice cracking the entire time every time. "And we will always love you no matter what." And then both father and daughter would hug each other and cry together.

"You down here Gibbs!?" Abby called down the basement steps as she made her down them.

"Yeah." Gibbs replied, without looking up.

Abby stepped down off of the bottom step and stood there on the floor staring at her silver-haired boss and friend sitting at his workbench.

"Krissy's asleep." she informed him. "She's quite the little trooper. She's actually taking this whole thing much better than expected." Abby added, as she took a few steps towards Gibbs.

"She's just like her mother." Gibbs replied, looking up at the young Goth woman. "But I don't know that 'I' am that strong." he admitted, in a plain, quiet voice.

"What do you mean?" Abby asked, sincerely and quietly, as she moved closer to Gibbs.

"When I saw Kate go down...on that rooftop...I felt--I felt so helpless, so weak." Gibbs explained, his voice cracking a bit. "And now when I look at Krissy I can't help but feel that same feeling--again." he added.

"Gibbs..." Abby started, quietly. "You got him. You got Ari...he's dead now."

"It doesn't matter Abs-" Gibbs started to protest angrily, tears stinging his eyes.

"It does matter Gibbs." Abby shot back blatantly. "It does matter. Krissy's just starting to get over the nightmares...she's sleeping longer and longer each night. For once, since her mother's death, she feels safe again."

Gibbs and Abby stared at each other for a long moment in silence before she spoke up again.

"Don't take that from her." Abby was almost pleading with the silver-haired man in front of her. "I know its hard not to feel the pain and just want to crawl up under a rock and die; but your daughter needs you."

There was another long moment of silence between them, and as Gibbs watched the tears that were gently staining the young goth's cheeks he knew that there was deeper meaning in the words that she was saying...and he understood.

He stood up slowly and held out his arms, and she immediately stepped forward towards him. He closed his arms around her and pulled her close to him, and held her there as she cried into his shoulder in the dimly lit basement. There they cried together for what seemed like an eternity--She, for the best friend whom she would miss very much; and He, for the wife whom he had come to love and admire in every way imaginable.

............This Chapter Is Not Yet Finished............