"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"............
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is part one of the follow-up series to the previous KIbbs series "A Broken Man". These are the in between years...