Dolphin hero Ch 6
" Lobster and chocolate"
After having permission from her boss she went to the boat, again. It was not difficult to convince Gibbs that she could obtain more information from her.
"Women talk to each other, Gibbs," Kate had argued. There were no reasons for him to refuse her request. She had finished all that he had asked her to do, while DiNozzo is immersed still in files and deciphering his own hieroglyphic notes.
Despite Kate thinking that her boss would object to her suggestion, he had accepted with a slow nod, while studying her with slightly distant eyes. Kate noticed he had been lost somewhere and his mind seems to be "distracted", if that was possible with him.
Anyway, he hadn't denied her the round and she had not had the courage of asking him why he had accepted so fast. She needs to run out of his sight for a while or she would not have been able to look him in the eyes again, after the towel incident, without blushing.
She could never have imagined that Gibbs's thoughts were running in the same direction and that he had given her the chance at the same time that he was giving himself the time he was needing to clarify his mind again and focus on the case.
Kate is having fun with Sedna, her new friend. Special agent Todd has plenty of acquaintances, but real friends are rare, and she knows that Sedna Dunn is special.
The evening started with a friendly chat,despite the incident where her sexy boss was submerged in salt water and Dunn had a ball with it.
Kate is a naturally sensitive person and she can see the deep pain in Sedna's eyes, even though they were covered slightly by laughter.
The two women's short talk becomes a friendly conversation, which then leads to a recipe exchange, then finally - a cooking and baking session in the not precisely big but surprisingly well-equipped kitchen.
Dunn teaches Kate how to make her famous lobster salad and Kate shows Dunn how to make her "Chocolate cereal cookies." It is a blast! After a short visit to the local grocery store, they dash back to the boat and start the session.
The funny thing is: alcohol is involved in the cooking session. And as an impromptu act, Kate adds a generous amount of Bourbon and rum to her cookie dough, Dunn dips her finger in the dough and slips it into her mouth. She makes yummy noises and gives Kate her thumbs up!
They both drink chilled white wine, while munching on the scrumptious lobster salad, which Kate learns to make on the spot, under Dunn's instruction.
The girls go crazy! They make enough cookies to serves a dozen of people and a generous amount of lobster salad.
Alas by the end of the night, Dunn sends Kate home on her bike – equipped with a huge tin of cookies and a container of lobster salad. Dunn guesses that the fellow agents will stay up late and they'll be hungry – having experienced it with her late husband, men will eat even though they claim to be full. The girls promise each other another night of cooking extravaganza before Kate leaves for DC.
Kate hums cheerfully - just slightly tipsy from the wine - walking through the already empty hallways. She struggles to look at her watch because of the loads of cookies and salad. It is almost ten pm.
It was a fun three hours session; she loves Sedna Dunn! The woman is fun, she bets that Abby would love her too, Kate declares to herself. Wine was consumed in their ‘fun meeting' but the amount of food they ate neutralized its after effect – but Kate's face is flushed, she feels happy, warm and slightly giddy. Special agent Todd almost skips to her quarters.
Kate sings her greeting as she opens the door and peek inside with her big dopey grin - "Hiiiiiiiii" she greets them – apparently too gaily and loudly for her teammates. The three men look at her in unison.
Kate thinks that she sees Gibbs about to smile before he manages to cover his expression.
"Hiii McGeeeee." Kate greets McGee who must have arrived after she left to see Dunn. Without realizing she pats his head playfully like with a child. She is quite fond of him, the man never disturbs her, unlike bloody DiNozzo.
Tony gawks at her.
Gibbs pretends to ignore his slightly tipsy agent: "Any results, Katie?" The slipped utilization of the sweet nickname disguised by his usually strict voice.
Caitlin Todd nod sexcitedly. "Oh yeah, Gibbs! Here!"
Happily Kate places her load on the cramped table, displaying a big silver tin and a huge plastic container – the three men look at the items with great interest!
Gibbs isabout to ask his very special agent why the hell the evidence is not bagged as usual, when Kate opens the tin, followed by the plastic container.
Mild chocolate aroma spreads the instance the tin is opened! Tony swallows his saliva. McGee stares hungrily at the fabulous looking chocolate cookies! He knows that Kate's cookies are MEAN – they are damn good!
Gibbs almost chokes on his coffee, unprepared to see the food out of the containment which he thought were evidence.
Innocently his very special female agent opens the container which contains the scrumptious lobster salad from Dunn's recipe.
Kate grins at her boys, showing off the results of the baking session! Her creation!
Sedna taught her, she guided Kate and Sedna said that she has a talent! And she is now grinning proudly – just like she showed off her first caught fish to her brothers.
"That??? Results???" Gibbs couldn't help himself.
"Yeah! We ate some of it, but we made so much. So we decided to share with you …men." She is cut off by a very loud noise – the thunderous sounds of her sexy boss's laughter and the three of them gawk at their beloved boss Gibbs; and Gibbs leaves the table, heading to the head, to control himself.
The three of them gape at Gibbs – surprised by his laughter, the grumpy man seldom laughs, and Gibbs left the table hastily – to the head, to calm himself down, he was unprepared for the food in the tin and container.
" Women! They are easy to predict!!! Yeah right!"
Fortunately, DiNozzo is fully distracted by the food - but even in her tipsy state, Kate notices that Mc Gee is glancing at her, frowning and turning around to follow his boss. What the hell was going on there?
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"Tony! Stop it! No!" Kate yell sat the greedy DiNozzo.
"Auw, Kate! It looks so good," Tony praises her while salivating - in front of the food.
‘No Tony!" Kate is slapping his hand away from her creation, in the middle of the cramped table. "You'll finish the entire thing!" Kate refuses to let him snatch the cookies.
Instead, she gives him five cookies and says that the rest are for the days to come. And she puts aside cookies for Gibbs and gives McGee his portion.
Tony notices that Kate gives him a bigger amount of cookies than his, damn her. "Hey!!!" Tony complains with his full mouth - munching his cookies.
"Gibbs is theboss! McGee is not greedy like you!" Kate smiles wildly to the "Italian lover" - that's what Sedna has called him - between laughs.
"Thanks Kate! They are reallygood." As usual, McGee thanks her politely, while eating his share properly, unlike DiNozzo who is wolfing his portion. And Kate beams at him and pats his head again.
DiNozzo looks at McGee with jealousy, Kate has been meaner to him since McGee arrived…Abby too!
"I'll take a shower," she decides, she feels hot and icky, the weather is warm and the wine is affecting her.
"Take care of the food for me, McGee," she assigns him
"No problem, Kate," he agrees, glaring at Tony with suspicion.
"Just smack his head if he tries," she adds as she leaves for the head. She threatens DiNozzo, she knows from experience that the man can wolf down her cookies/lunch/dinner or snack in a matter of minutes – in one sitting!
So, while Kate takes her shower, McGee guards the food. "Don't even try, Tony!"
"Probie!!!"
"No, Tony! I'll smack anybody's head or hand for touching Kate's food!"
"You are going to pay, probie!" he threatens.
"Tony, these are Kate's and the boss's cookies not mine, so please…" McGee tries explaining, but his sentence is cut short by the appearance of the boss.
"Mine?" he asks for his share.
"These are yours, boss," McGee shows him the eight cookies that Tony dare NOT touch.
Gibbssits in front of the cramped table, grabs the cookies and starts eating them. "Hmmm," he is surprised, there is a tinge of Bourbon and Rum in the cookie, as a base taste, apart from the chocolate. They are very good, he admits.
Damn! They are good! He continues eating his share, along with his coffee – it is heavenly.
Within two minute Gibbs finishes his portion and he is now hungry!
He stands up, walks up to the sink to grab a fork – opens the plastic container beside the tin of cookies and digs in.
McGee just gapes at his boss. How is he supposed to ‘smack' his head? That's impossible! Just imagining it is bad enough for the probie. Oh, Kate would understand, McGee tells himself – and he lets boss Gibbs gulp down what seems to look like some sort of seafood salad.
Special agent Antony DiNozzo practically wipes his salivating mouth with his arm, looking at his boss eating Kate's cooking, "err…boss, can I have some?"
"When I am done,DiNozzo," the leader of the pack replies curtly as he eats.
Gibbs can't help himself, he manages to finish half of the lobster salad in the container – definitely great food, he comments in his heart. Then he lets out a very small burp, as a sign that he is content.
Then he raises himself – yawn – and leaves the sitting area, leaving one empty seat right in front of the half empty container with a fork still sticking in it.
The seat is up for grabs – Tony and McGee dash to fight for the seat. Tony wins and he quickly digs in, leaving McGee high and dry.
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There is only one toilet in Dunn's quarters to be shared by the four of them. Gibbs is about to leave the quarters, wanting to use the head located by the end of the left wing when Kate exits the head. Apple-fragranced steam escapes the small bathroom, accompanying Kate exiting the head almost hitting him.
Dear God – she is in her terry robe, her hair damp, she must have slathered lotion of over her body, as he is quite familiar with the smell of her lotion. The woman smells divine, Gibbs thinks. Someone that could never be his to own, he shakes his head, as if trying to sober up but failing.
If he could just touch and kiss her neck. Despite all his self continence he finds himself focusing on those tender and smooth spots at the sides of her neck just between it and the graceful curve of her shoulders …Oh, damn it.
All the cold and professional behavior he regained during her absence has vanished. His heartbeat is increasing as another part of him is rising: "I'm too old for this shit…." His wet steamy day dream is cut short by:
"Gibbs, you can use the bathroom, I am done," Kate informs her boss, as she towels dry her hair and walks out of Dunn's bedroom towards the living area.
Gibbs just nods, there is nothing much he can do, nothing much, only a cold shower can help him now, as he witnesses his protégée walk around in her terry robe - in front of him. He knows that their clothing supply is thinning, by tomorrow they should arrive from the laundry.
As he is about to enter the head, he hears a very displeased scream from his Katie and he grins mischievously.
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"Tony!!!" as she grabs Tony's left ear and pulls it.
"Ouch ouch ouch, Kate! Not me, not me! It's Gibbs! It's boss, Kate!!!" he says in pain.
"Liar! I saw you eating from the container," she is really mad, then she notices as she looks at her container which is supposed to be full of the salad.
"Oh…my…God! It's empty! You finished the salad in one sitting???" she can't believe her eyes.
"No, Kate, no! It was boss! I swear!" DiNozzo yelps in pain. Kate lets go of his red ear.
"Gibbs didn't finish it, though, but he did eat it, Kate," McGee explains.
"It's good, Kate," DiNozzo is rubbing his pinched ear.
Kate suddenly realizes that she's been mean, she bets that McGeemustn't have had a bite since he arrived, and the food is all right, but they stay up late every night – and boys are always hungry.
Kate feels guilty. She then opens the tin of cookies and places it in the middle of the cramped table, she's been meaning to share with them anyway, just not in one night, but who cares, Kate thinks, what matters is that her friends are happy and they love the food. She would never guess what a different matter her boss is thinking about while showering.
Tony and McGee look at each other, and then back and forth between Kate and the tin of cookies, before------BAM------they both grab the opened tin and try to tug it in their direction.
Not letting go of the tin, with their other hand, they eat the chocolate cookies - very suspicious of each other.
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"I'm going to sleep, guys," Kate stretches and yawns, it is past midnight. All their analyzing and filing had been done.
"Good…" Kate is about to say goodnight to them when she realizes, she stops talking as she sees three men - about to share a bedroom with two beds? Perhaps it is the after effect of the alcohol, perhaps she is just getting bolder – hmm, she rather blames the alcohol.
As the two younger guys argue over who is going to sleep on the floor, Kate opens her mouth: "Gibbs is sleeping with me. You and McGee are sharing a bedroom."
And the three of them look at her like she has lost her mind. She would swear that Gibbs face is getting pale, but it would be just her imagination.
"What??? You snore. You grind your teeth. I don't snore, Gibbs doesn't snore and I smell good. You didn't shower today, DiNozzo!" she grins and leaves them befuddled.
As soon as Kate is out of hearing range: "Watch out, boss, she sleeps with a gun under her pillow," Tony tries to be funny, "in case you…" but he stops babbling as Gibbs hits him really really hard at the back of his head.
Half an hour later, Kate is in a deep sleep when Gibbs enters the room. He stands - motionless - for a few seconds by the door, just gazing at her, sprawled on "their" bed.
Before Kate fell asleep, she told herself to be ‘civil' when she sleeps, but she has failed miserably, she is now sprawled in the middle of the bed.
Gibbs closes his eyes. He kneads his temple with his thumb and middle finger. He sighs, he is way too old for this, and he is not a hormonal teenager.
But Kate looks more ‘delicious' than the tender and white rosy flesh of the lobster he has just eaten - well, no no no,she is neither food for him to eat, nor woman for him to love. She is Caitlin Todd, his female agent who is asleep on the bed.
It is going to be a long night or worse, as he imagines the nights to come until they are done with the case.
Gibbs walks closer to the bed, he nudges her: "Kate…Kate, Katie." And the woman snuggles deeper into her pillows and blanket, getting herself more comfortable.
He tries rousing her again: "Katie…" he speaks as sternly as possible, but fails miserably. Thank God, she starts moving, and flips – she is now asleep on her tummy.
Gibbs arranges her on ‘her side', every time he touches her skin, he feels…damn it! He is getting harder by the second. The sight, smell and touch are too much for him. So, instead of joining her on the bed, he jumps into the shower, for a very cold shower again. And finds himself remembering the hard routine of his training as a Marine. Oh!!! Yeah… THIS would be very useful now.
After his cold shower, he gets fully dressed. No way is he going to sleep as he is used to, just in his boxers, and he jumps into the bed, trying to ignore the woman that ignites his fire breathing peacefully at his back. Bloody hell, again - he can already smell her lotion and apples.
He steals a glance at her and he notices her Sig Sauer peeking out from under her pillow. He murmurs under his breath: "You don't need that when I'm next to you, Kate," as he slips it away from her.
Jethro Gibbs forces himself to ignore the intoxicating effect of his Katie.
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Just about the second he is about to fall asleep, he feels her hand right on his chest. He breathes deep and hard, this is insanity; how he wishes he could take her in his arms, hold her close, kiss her and make love to her.
STOP! STOP IT! You old fool! You are twenty years her senior, and what's worse, you are her boss! He scolds himself furiously. But fate is cruel to him. By this time, Kate is pressing her face to his side – just under his armpit.
OH SWELL! He feels himself getting hard again. "Oh, sorry Gibbs," Kate yawns as she apologizes. "I am a messy sleeper" and she turns to the other side – innocently.
He freezes. For one minute or so - although it seems an eternity. He stays still, arms under his head, trying not to watch her at all, not to smell her, not to hear her breathing peacefully. Totally oblivious to his torture, seconds go by. No way - he can't sleep - and Gibbs sighs, trying to decide what to do.
Suddenly he sits up, carefully and silently, takes his pillow, and more carefully, even more silently, installs himself on the floor,by the side of the bed, with a sigh of relief. At least there is now some distance between them. He still hears her breathing, but neither she nor he is within each other's reach. Good.
Caitlin Todd has the best sleep of her life and Jethro Gibbs has the worse night of his
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Early in the morning in the cafeteria:
"WOW! Wake up at the wrong side of the bed, Gibbs?" Dunn questions the awful looking man, sipping his coffee in the cafeteria.
Dr. Sedna Dunn is drinking her coffee, and then she witnesses the NCIS agent entering the cafeteria, he looks grumpy; usually his gang would have taken their breakfast before him and then the senior agent would arrive a few minutes before they finish.
Gibbs just gives her his curt ‘hmm' and a nod as he keeps gulping his liquid drug.
Dunn is exiting the cafeteria when she sees three agents, not two, but three agents walking toward her, leading to the cafeteria.
This is what she sees: The Italian Lancelot is grinning his champion smile at her.
Kate looks beautiful; her face is shinning, bright and fresh. She must have slept well, Dunn smiles at her. The other agent looks sleepy, the man is boyish, geeky but sweet in his own way. They greet her politely, DiNozzo tries to woo her but Kate pulls him by the ear and drags him along with the group.
Sedna Dunn walks several steps away from the cafeteria towards her office. Then she freezes in her track, she almost chokes on her coffee.
Three agents + one boss four people!
She has just summed up the obvious, the reason her new friend "Kate" looks so fresh and radiant early in the morning and the big boss is that grumpy!!!
They shared a room or a bed last night and she is willing to bet her beloved ‘Dolphin Siren' on it!
She feels sorry for him. He is "the boss", he is a former marine, and he is made of flesh and bones and ¨hot¨ blood, not of steel and stone. She traces her steps back and cocks her head in, through the open window of the cafeteria, just over the table that the NCIS team is occupying.
"May I offer a vacant cabin in the Dolphin siren for anyone "
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-Tbc-dolphinsirennovasupernova-BETA (MV)
Special thanks to our BETA, for her hard work.
Author's Chapter Notes:
They are more and more attracted to each other... and lost into a mutual deny....
OH!!! THIS DAMN (AND BLISS) CLOSENESS......
OH!!! THIS DAMN (AND BLISS) CLOSENESS......
Chapter End Notes:
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