Work Text:
Learning Curves
by Starbucks Sue
Gibbs sighed as he looked back at where Kate was being treated in the back of the ambulance; despite his words to Tony he knew that as her team leader he ought to say something, although nothing was going to make it better and Kate had really dug herself in deep. Bonding with the victim was a big mistake, a rookie mistake, someone with Kate's training should know that too.
He looked back over to find Tony; the younger man had walked back towards where they'd parked the sedan but had stopped to talk to one of the officers covering the scene. As it had turned out, the Navy wasn't really involved in this incident so Gibbs had handed it over to Metro. They still needed to give their statements but the officer in charge had agreed they could do it in the morning, right now Gibbs just needed to get his exhausted and injured agents home. He'd actually come off best, Marine instincts driving him to the ground a fraction before the bomb blew, Tony and Kate hadn't reacted quite as quickly and the force of the blast had knocked them to the floor, in addition Kate had been caught by flying debris which had caused the worst of her injuries, although fortunately all were superficial. Like Tony she was bruised and battered and needed to be at home resting, or in Tony's case Gibbs' guest room.
He walked over to meet her as she climbed down off the back of the ambulance and thanked the paramedics before walking away. She looked up and saw him coming towards her, her face a picture of shame.
"I know Gibbs, I screwed up. I trusted her right up until the end; her fear and confusion were so realistic, it was such a good act. I made such a mess of this."
Gibbs cocked his head as he studied his agent before replying.
"Maybe it wasn't all an act, it could be that she was telling the truth at first, then as memories returned and she remembered killing Walter she just continued with the charade in the hope that we would still believe her to be the innocent victim." He stopped and looked hard at her. "They were both guilty Kate and at the end of the day they were the only ones that died in this. Yes there are injuries but no-one else has been seriously hurt, it could have been a lot worse. You did screw up Kate, you got too close and you lost perspective, but you'll learn from it and you won't make the same mistake again."
Kate looked at him, the first signs of relief on her features as she realized that her team leader still believed in her, still had confidence that she would learn her lesson and move on. She stood a little straighter, nodding. "Thanks Gibbs."
"Now get yourself home, reports and statements can wait 'til the morning. You okay to drive?"
"Yeah, it looks a lot worse than it is. Most of these are just superficial scratches and I have a feeling that I'm going to have some colorful bruises come the morning though. How's Tony?" She asked, not seeing her partner anywhere around.
"He's fine, a little bruised like you are but without too many scratches and he missed out on the wounded pride." Gibbs replied with a chuckle, pleased to see Kate's wry grin in response. "Go on Kate, get yourself home."
"Goodnight Gibbs." Kate turned and went back to her car with a yawn, it was still early but she was exhausted, as she drove away she was already thinking of the long soak in the tub that she was going to have as soon as she got in.
Gibbs watched her go with a smile. She was going to be okay; in fact she was bouncing back already. He turned and frowned when he realized that his youngest agent had also disappeared. Where the hell had DiNozzo gone now? It suddenly occurred to him that the younger man might have thought he was returning to the Navy Yard with Kate. 'Damn it DiNozzo, if you've gone without me I'll shoot you!' He muttered to himself before realizing he had the keys to the sedan in his own pocket. Tony couldn't have gone far and Gibbs knew the younger man wouldn't want to annoy him after he'd just offered him a roof over his head.
Gibbs chuckled to himself as he remembered the previous occasion six months previously when Tony had stayed with him. It was only supposed to have been for a week whilst his apartment block was fumigated but had turned into three when the men doing the work had issues with some of the wall cavities. During the first week he'd walked in on Tony and his then girlfriend making out on the couch at around 1:00am when they thought he was asleep in the basement. Tony had been unusually flustered and the young nursing student had taken Gibbs to be Tony's father. Gibbs had pretended to be annoyed but had roared with laughter as soon as they retreated out of the door so that Tony could take her back to her accommodation.
As if that wasn't embarrassing enough the following week Tony had started sleepwalking and had ended up climbing into Gibbs' bed and cuddling up to the older man for comfort.
Fortunately for Tony, Gibbs had woken up when he'd heard him moving around. Familiar with the younger man's nightmares and realizing that the murder of the ten year old who'd been killed by his father in a drunken rage after years of abuse was just a little too close to home, he'd been listening out for him and had realized he was sleepwalking when he'd wandered silently into Gibbs' bedroom. He remembered Kelly sleepwalking on a couple of occasions when she'd been distressed and recognizing the signs had allowed Tony to curl up and stay, seeing that he'd settled straight back into a deep sleep. Tony had been mortified the following morning but Gibbs had just shrugged it off as nothing, it wasn't as if they hadn't had to share sleeping quarters before.
Gibbs wandered over in the direction he had parked the sedan, sure enough Tony was approaching through the swirling snow from the opposite direction, large cups with the familiar Starbucks logo in each hand making Gibbs smile. His young protégé knew him well, maybe this time having the young man staying with him wouldn't be so bad, it was only for a month after all.
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