"The In-Between Years, Part Four"
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"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************
Author's Chapter Notes:
The story continues...