Kate sighed, she really needed to finish this report, it was already 10 p.m. and everybody had left the office a while ago.
But she had too much in her mind and couldn't actually concentrate on the file in front of her.
She took a sip of her cold coffee and tried to focus on her report.
" Caitlin ?"
She jumped in her chair, startled by this sudden interruption.
" Ducky, oh god, you freaked me out, I didn't hear you coming !"
" I'm sorry, my dear. What are you still doing here ? It's pretty late. Shouldn't you be at home with young agent Andrews ?"
" Well, actually, Mark is in New York, he should be back tomorrow and I still have this report to finish."
" It's Saturday night, Caitlin, I'm sure you can do that tomorrow."
" Yeah but I'd rather finish it tonight and I've got some problem with it !"
" Working is always harder when you've got other things on your mind."
" What do you mean ?" she nervously asked, blinking a few times.
As he sat on the edge of her desk, she recognized the fatherly look she'd already seen an amount of times in this man's eyes. The look that always reminded her how much she trusted him.
" There are things you can't keep from an old man like me, Caitlin. I saw you quite disturbed lately and I do believe this have to do with Jethro, right ?"
She let out a deep breath. " Is it that obvious ?" The only answer she received was a tender smile encouraging her to talk to him.
" It's just… Ducky, I don't know where I stand anymore… with Gibbs, I mean, it's very frustrating. You know, since Mark is back, things are… tense to say the least. I tried to confront him about that, you know and…"
She stopped, hesitant, Gibbs wouldn't probably be glad if she told Ducky what had happened between the two of them.
" Go on Caitlin."
" I'm sorry I shouldn't bother you with this." She shook her head, trying to dismiss to both Ducky and herself how important this, actually, was for her.
" Caitlin I can see it disturbs you and you need to talk about it, you know you can trust me, don't you ?"
" Of course, Ducky ! It's just… Gibbs… Gibbs kissed me and then he just… denied it and well… I don't know what to do. Things are getting really complicated."
" Oh my ! Well, you know, Jethro is not an easy man…"
She smirked at that.
" That's an understatement !" And they softly chuckled.
" Well, yes my dear. Jethro has the strange habit of making things really difficult with people he cares about. It seems that the man can't have a simple relationship. But it doesn't mean that it's not worth it."
" That's exactly my problem, Ducky !" she retorted with a sad smile.
" Don't get me wrong I don't want to influence you because Jethro is my friend, but do you think it's wise to plan to marry a man when you're not sure about your feelings towards another one ?"
" No, of course not ! It's just… Mark is really a great guy and if I had married him six years ago we probably would be a happy couple with lovely children by now but I don't know if it's what I want today."
She groaned and took her head in her hands as Ducky gently patted her shoulder.
" You know I'm thinking of instituting my own rules and the first one would be ‘when it comes to feelings, use your heart and stop torturing yourself'" he told her with a chuckle " and you wouldn't be the only one who would need it." He finished in a mutter " Just think about it, I don't like to see you like that."
Suddenly, startling Ducky, Kate jumped out of her chair, quickly grabbed her things and kissed him on the cheek.
" Thanks Ducky !" she whispered to him before running toward the elevator.
" What are you doing… Caitlin ?" he asked quite confused by the sudden turn of events.
" Using my heart and stopping torturing myself !" she shouted before the elevator's door shut on her.
Left alone in the middle of the bullpen, Ducky smiled to himself.
" Good luck my dear, good luck !"
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