Chapter IV – Explanations
“You want a coffee or something?”, Caitlin offered and leaded Gibbs into the living room with the four-year-old boy in tow.
“Yes, a coffee please.”, the investigator replied and recognized that he said please again. The brunette nodded and went into the kitchen. He was confused the name tag outside read D. & C. Nathan but in front of him stood Caitlin Todd.
“What an agent are you?”, Fynn asked and looked up at the silver haired man.
“I´m working at the NCIS.”, the older man said and smiled back at the curious child.
“I´ve never heard of the NCIS… Just FBI and CIA. What means NCIS?”, the little redhead asked Jethro again and in the same moment Kate returned with two mugs of coffee.
“Oh Fynn don´t be that curious.”, the woman jumped into the conversation and was about to send the boy into his room when Gibbs stopped her.
“It´s okay… NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service me and many other agents are working on crimes which happen for example in the Navy.”, the agent explained easily and Fynn looked satisfied with the answer. The brunette wondered how different the older agent behaved right now. On Air Force One he had been grumpy and stern, now he was patiently answering Fynn´s questions.
“Can I call Benji and ask if he comes back tomorrow to kindergarten again?”
“Sure…”, Caitlin answered and gave her son the phone. He took it and went into his room.
“So why are you actually here agent Gibbs?”
“I´m here to talk to you about the job.”, the silver haired fox answered and his voice changed from the voice which was obviously reserved for children. This wasn´t the real reason why he was here and Jethro shoved the calling card deeper into his pocket. “Well, the director didn´t tell me that you have a son. He just told me that you got the job.”
“Fynn isn´t a problem. My parents take him whenever it´s necessary. At Secret Service I just had an one and a half hour lunchbreak so I could pick him up from kindergarten.”, the woman explained and waited for a reaction.
“That´s something I can´t guarantee you. As long as we´re at the office it isn´t a problem. It´s just that you can´t leave a scene at a particular time.”, Jethro explained and she nodded.
The agent wasn´t sure whether asking about Fynn´s dad or not. Right now it looked more for him like she was raising the boy alone and knew from his own experience that talking about divorce wasn´t exactly fun.
“I know but the job is important for me and I did such a job since I quit doing law school.”
“Sorry if the questions seem to be inappropiate but why is your son never mentioned in your file and why reads the name tag Nathan?”, the investigator asked and drank his coffee. The brunette looked into her mug and hesitated for a moment.
“I didn´t change the tag yet but I´m going by my maiden name Todd again. When Fynn was born my husband and me decided not to mention him because it could make Fynn a target and it would make it harder for me to advance my status.”, she explained and shook her head. “God that sounds like I´m just looking for career chances…”
“You were married?”, Jethro asked and looked slightly confused. He couldn´t see a wedding band but this didn’t have to mean anything.
“Yeah, well I was… My husband Daniel, Fynn´s dad, died three years ago in an accident.”, Kate said curtly and the agent didn´t ask further questions. In this moment she knew that the silver haired man was special to her but also off-limits being her boss. He knew about Fynn from the beginning and that she was a widow.
“I´m sorry about that…”, Jethro replied and inevitably memories about Shannon and Kelly came back to his mind. “Well, when you´ve no questions left I should go.”
“When can I start?”, the brunette asked and smiled at the older man.
“Next Monday on 0800 don´t be late. Normal workhours end on 1700 but sometimes we´ll work longer than that, lunchbreak usually starts on 1230 and ends on 1400.”, the silver haired fox explained and couldn´t help but smile back at her.
“Alright see you then.”, Kate replied and led the older man back to the door.
She closed the door after him and Jethro wondered what that have been. In fact he had been here because of the calling card Caitlin left at his car but this intention was blown when the former Secret Service agent opened the door who would work for him now.
Usually he should have gotten the connection to the agent Caitlin Todd and the card from her behind his wiper but somehow her appearance made that an impossible task.
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Chapter V – Brave
The months passed and Kate got used to working at NCIS and everything what came along with the job. She found a close friend in Abby and the black haired forensic was the only who knew about Fynn except for Gibbs.
Also the Italian casanova Tony became a good friend of her even though not as close as Abigail. McGee was still the newbie but slowly increasing his status in the team. Just Gibbs seemed to be as untouchable as he had always been.
Nevertheless the four learned to trust each other more and more with the result that they solved their cases without major problems.
Just the incident with Ari Haswari in the autopsy changed at least Caitlin´s relationship to Gibbs. At work he acted even more protective towards her than before and sometimes she found him staring at the screen with Ari´s photo lost in thoughts.
Once he showed up at her doorstep in the evening just wanting to know that she was alright. Fynn immediately invited the older man to join dinner and so Jethro came over every now and then. Gibbs knew he enjoyed those dinners a bit too much to stick to rule number 12.
“Sorry Fynn I can´t come over for dinner tonight but thanks for the invitation.”, the silver haired man repeated the answer about the fourth time in a row now.
“Oh okay… Bye Jethro…”, the boy answered disappointed and hung up.
Caitlin tried to catch her boss alone and ask him what was wrong but got him in the elevator not until two weeks passed. Ever so grumpy and with his always present coffe cup in his hand, the agents waited that they reached the bullpen.
“Gibbs why are you saying always no when Fynn asks you to join dinner?”, the brunette asked finally and watched the man closely.
Against every better judgement she started to enjoy Jethro´s presence at their dinners more than she probably should. Before answering the investigator switched the emergency stop on.
“What I´ve learned in all these years is that you shouldn´t be too close to your co-workers, Kate.”, Gibbs replied in his usual gruff manner and didn’t even look at her when he switched the emergency stop off again.
The two rode back to the bullpen in tense silence and Caitlin was quite disappointed that he gave up this easy. Jethro had been the first man since Daniel´s death she could imagine a serious relationship with although he was her boss and now he chickened out.
In the office they went back to their paperwork. The day had been boring, they stayed in the bullpen doing nothing else than paperwork. The only good thing was that Caitlin could pick up Fynn and leave on 1700 duly.
The director even gave Gibbs´ overworked team a week off after the case on the submarine. The only distraction today was the rain pouring down the large windows and the sky was turning darker with every passing minute.
When the first thunder rumbled Kate cringed and the Italian agent looked up at her.
“Afraid of thunderstorms, Katie?”, he asked and smiled at the brunette.
“Not at all and don´t call me Katie, Anthony.”, the female agent replied harsh and went on looking through older reports.
“Guess you had a bad day…?”, DiNozzo said and the tow male agents exchanged meaningful glance when the brunette shot daggers at the Italian man.
Jethro had been called to video conference about fifteen minutes ago and was still not back when Caitlin´s cell phone started ringing.
“Todd… Yeah, already thought it would be that way… Well, I´m coming then… See you…”, Kate said into the phone and was already grabbing her purse when she hung up. “Tell Gibbs I needed to go. He´ll understand why…”
“Wow… That´s brave, isn´t it McGee…”, Tony muttered and Timothy only nodded. Their boss wouldn´t be pleased when one of his agents left the office without a reason.
Caitlin reached the kindergarten in record time and went in not caring about her work right now. In the night when Daniel died it had been storming and every doc she asked said Fynn´s fear would faint in some time. Three years later the four-year-old boy was still trembling and crying everytime there was a storm.
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In case you wonder why I´m writing this much: I´m not, this story is completed and I´m posting it bit by bit...
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