Returning (Chapter 10)
Title: Returning (Chapter 10)
Author: Purerose
Fandom: NCIS
Prompt: 007 Muse
Character/Pairing: Kate/Gibbs
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1009
Summary: Kate reflects.
Authors Notes/Disclaimer: You've probably figured out by now that I don't own NCIS... would be nice if I did, but I don't. Also, thanks for posting comments, it's so good to know what you guys think. I'm really glad that people are still reading it :D
[ Chapter 1] [ Chapter 2] [ Chapter 3] [ Chapter 4] [ Chapter 5] [ Chapter 6] [ Chapter 7] [ Chapter 8] [ Chapter 9]
When you sit down and think about it, Gibbs isn’t terribly difficult to live with. A week soon turns into a fortnight, which then turns into a month and still there is no sign of a suitable apartment. You do visit serveral, but one of you always seems to find some fault with the place; it doesn’t allow pets, it’s too far away, or there’s no space for the girls’ swing set (which Gibbs insisted on buying for them).
You take the girls to visit your parents and family with Larry. The reunion is tearful and over far too soon. Before you ‘died’ your visits were infrequent, now your father talks about coming down once a month and your mom wants to redecorate the guest bedroom for Bridget and Elizabeth.
Your Mom quizzes you about Gibbs. She wants to know who he is, why you’re not married, why he let you disappear. You explain how you and he were close for a while but he’s moved on. You tell her that Gibbs is a good father to his daughters, that he is helping you financially, and that everything is good between you. Not of word of it is a lie.
When you return from your family reunion you discover that you aren’t the only one who has returned from a trip. Your heart sinks when Gibbs introduces you to his girlfriend. The woman who is seeing him. You don’t have to be a detective to know that she stayed at the house while you were away, but the most you see of her after that introduction is a face at the door or a car in the driveway. Gibbs builds his relationships in the same way he builds his boat; only bringing the pieces together when they ready, not a moment beforehand.
Together you develop a simple but natural routine. You are a couple and yet you aren’t. Most mornings begin with Gibbs bringing piping hot coffee to you. In bed. In your own bedroom down the hall from his. He stays just long enough to set it on the bedside table and maybe brush your arm, then he goes. Neither of you have any qualms about wandering around the house in your night things when you are getting the girls up in the morning. Other mornings you wake to hear the front door closing, when Gibbs has spent a night away - at work or elsewhere. Those mornings are more rushed, he showers, changes, kisses the girls and then runs off to NCIS.
Your days pass easily. You take Elizabeth, Bridget and Rebel to the park, pick up groceries, occasionally meet Ducky or Abby for lunch if they can get away. Twice you are invited back to NCIS to speak to Director Shepherd, she is keen for you to come back as a profiler. The proposal appeals to you and you promise to think about it, though you can’t help but feel a little disappointed, the desk job has none of the thrill of field agent. All the same, you know that when she asks for your decision you will accept the job, if only to regain a small piece of your old life.
The evenings vary greatly depending on Gibbs’ day. Some days he returns in time for dinner, which you often cook together, performing an odd little dance around the kitchen as you try not to trip over Rebel who follows you hoping for scraps. Other days, when it’s been a tough case, he disappears into the basement to sand or saw or whatever else it is that he does to his skeletal boat. On these nights you take him mugs of coffee until he’s cooled down. Then he resurfaces to play with the girls, bathe them and help you put them to bed.
You notice that you are gradually picking up on his little quirks, like the fact that he never discusses work in front of Bridget and Elizabeth. It’s as though he doesn’t want them to know how scary the world outside can be. He’s protecting them in the best way that he knows. Once the girls are in bed it’s a different story. He feeds you little snippets of information, the things that went well that day, the things that didn’t. He doesn’t open up to you heart and soul - that’s not his style - but he does share a little. It leads to conversations of past cases you worked together. One night you stay up until one in the morning laughing as you remember how it was that you came to join NCIS. At times like those you catch yourself looking at him that way, and wondering if he looks at you like that too.
The bond that he forms with his daughters is incredible. No matter how bad a day he’s had he is always has time to spare for them. One night you are woken with a start, your automatic assumption is that one of the girls is crying for you but when you listen you don’t hear calling or crying, you hear a different sound, one which is unfamiliar. You find the source in the living room, Gibbs is reclining in a comfy leather chair, Elizabeth curled against his chest, both of them fast asleep while the History Channel plays a documentary about Iwo Jima. You bring a blanket and turn down the volume but otherwise leave them undisturbed, not wanting to intrude upon their ‘father-daughter’ moment.
At moments like that you think that maybe you could become a proper family. That you can buy paint and decorate the girls room because it won’t just be temporary. That you can move out of your lonely single bed into the large warm double down the corridor with Gibbs. Then you catch a glimspe of Gibbs outside, leaning through a car window to say goodbye to his girlfriend, and your heart sinks, until that moment when he walks through the door, smiles and asks how your day has been. And you think “maybe…”
Author: Purerose
Fandom: NCIS
Prompt: 007 Muse
Character/Pairing: Kate/Gibbs
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1009
Summary: Kate reflects.
Authors Notes/Disclaimer: You've probably figured out by now that I don't own NCIS... would be nice if I did, but I don't. Also, thanks for posting comments, it's so good to know what you guys think. I'm really glad that people are still reading it :D
[ Chapter 1] [ Chapter 2] [ Chapter 3] [ Chapter 4] [ Chapter 5] [ Chapter 6] [ Chapter 7] [ Chapter 8] [ Chapter 9]
When you sit down and think about it, Gibbs isn’t terribly difficult to live with. A week soon turns into a fortnight, which then turns into a month and still there is no sign of a suitable apartment. You do visit serveral, but one of you always seems to find some fault with the place; it doesn’t allow pets, it’s too far away, or there’s no space for the girls’ swing set (which Gibbs insisted on buying for them).
You take the girls to visit your parents and family with Larry. The reunion is tearful and over far too soon. Before you ‘died’ your visits were infrequent, now your father talks about coming down once a month and your mom wants to redecorate the guest bedroom for Bridget and Elizabeth.
Your Mom quizzes you about Gibbs. She wants to know who he is, why you’re not married, why he let you disappear. You explain how you and he were close for a while but he’s moved on. You tell her that Gibbs is a good father to his daughters, that he is helping you financially, and that everything is good between you. Not of word of it is a lie.
When you return from your family reunion you discover that you aren’t the only one who has returned from a trip. Your heart sinks when Gibbs introduces you to his girlfriend. The woman who is seeing him. You don’t have to be a detective to know that she stayed at the house while you were away, but the most you see of her after that introduction is a face at the door or a car in the driveway. Gibbs builds his relationships in the same way he builds his boat; only bringing the pieces together when they ready, not a moment beforehand.
Together you develop a simple but natural routine. You are a couple and yet you aren’t. Most mornings begin with Gibbs bringing piping hot coffee to you. In bed. In your own bedroom down the hall from his. He stays just long enough to set it on the bedside table and maybe brush your arm, then he goes. Neither of you have any qualms about wandering around the house in your night things when you are getting the girls up in the morning. Other mornings you wake to hear the front door closing, when Gibbs has spent a night away - at work or elsewhere. Those mornings are more rushed, he showers, changes, kisses the girls and then runs off to NCIS.
Your days pass easily. You take Elizabeth, Bridget and Rebel to the park, pick up groceries, occasionally meet Ducky or Abby for lunch if they can get away. Twice you are invited back to NCIS to speak to Director Shepherd, she is keen for you to come back as a profiler. The proposal appeals to you and you promise to think about it, though you can’t help but feel a little disappointed, the desk job has none of the thrill of field agent. All the same, you know that when she asks for your decision you will accept the job, if only to regain a small piece of your old life.
The evenings vary greatly depending on Gibbs’ day. Some days he returns in time for dinner, which you often cook together, performing an odd little dance around the kitchen as you try not to trip over Rebel who follows you hoping for scraps. Other days, when it’s been a tough case, he disappears into the basement to sand or saw or whatever else it is that he does to his skeletal boat. On these nights you take him mugs of coffee until he’s cooled down. Then he resurfaces to play with the girls, bathe them and help you put them to bed.
You notice that you are gradually picking up on his little quirks, like the fact that he never discusses work in front of Bridget and Elizabeth. It’s as though he doesn’t want them to know how scary the world outside can be. He’s protecting them in the best way that he knows. Once the girls are in bed it’s a different story. He feeds you little snippets of information, the things that went well that day, the things that didn’t. He doesn’t open up to you heart and soul - that’s not his style - but he does share a little. It leads to conversations of past cases you worked together. One night you stay up until one in the morning laughing as you remember how it was that you came to join NCIS. At times like those you catch yourself looking at him that way, and wondering if he looks at you like that too.
The bond that he forms with his daughters is incredible. No matter how bad a day he’s had he is always has time to spare for them. One night you are woken with a start, your automatic assumption is that one of the girls is crying for you but when you listen you don’t hear calling or crying, you hear a different sound, one which is unfamiliar. You find the source in the living room, Gibbs is reclining in a comfy leather chair, Elizabeth curled against his chest, both of them fast asleep while the History Channel plays a documentary about Iwo Jima. You bring a blanket and turn down the volume but otherwise leave them undisturbed, not wanting to intrude upon their ‘father-daughter’ moment.
At moments like that you think that maybe you could become a proper family. That you can buy paint and decorate the girls room because it won’t just be temporary. That you can move out of your lonely single bed into the large warm double down the corridor with Gibbs. Then you catch a glimspe of Gibbs outside, leaning through a car window to say goodbye to his girlfriend, and your heart sinks, until that moment when he walks through the door, smiles and asks how your day has been. And you think “maybe…”