NCIS Fanfiction Story: "A Whole New Outlook"

Chapter 1: Unspoken

Gibbs had been down in the basement since he had left Torres and Bishop with the baby in the living room upstairs. No way in hell was he going to admit it, but seeing and touching Kelly's old bassinet for the first time in decades had stirred up some old emotions. He could hear each time the baby began to fuss and the seemingly natural response of new parents in his agents upstairs. He hated to admit that the connection between the two of them was very real and apparent.

After around two hours of complete silence upstairs, Gibbs decided to go up and check on the three of them and make sure everything was still okay. He rounded the corner into the living room to find Ellie and Nick both knocked out on the couch and the baby awake in the cradle on the floor. He was beginning to stir just a little. Gibbs bent down to pick up the little guy; he didn't want to wake Ellie or Nick because they had had just as demanding of a day as he had. He couldn't help but smile as he looked down at the baby in his arms who was smiling back at him. It stirred up memories of Kelly when she was this age. In order to continue to let his agents rest, he made his way up stairs with the baby. As much as he exhibited the disinterest in the baby itself all day, he truly did care about the little guy, and he wanted to make sure he was safe and comfortable for the rest of the night.

Gibbs placed the baby in his bed building a pillow barrier around him so he was not able to roll off during the night. Suddenly, he felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket.

"Who on earth would be texting me this late at night?" He thought to himself. Anyone who knows Gibbs at all would know to just call him if they needed him this late. After all, he was usually still up this late and was always down working in the basement. It was usually no use to try and reach him thought text. He never cared for texting, and so he usually just ignored anyone who tried to reach him that way. He only decided to check what it said when he saw the name that popped up on his phone. Her name was the only name in his phone that he didn't use the last name for. Jack.

"Couldn't find it in me to go to Vermont with that baby still being without his mother. How is everything going at home base?" she always had a way of getting around her true emotions when messaging him.

He didn't realize that he had been sitting on the edge of his bed staring at the message from her for twenty minutes straight until he then was awoken by another buzz of his phone.

"Didn't realize how late it was. Hope I didn't wake you. I'm sure Ellie and Nick have everything under control. Sleep good Gibbs. I will talk to you tomorrow," she knew full-well that he wasn't asleep. That man was half robot and his blood ran on coffee. It was very likely that he was still down in his basement working away on that damned boat. She only wished that he was up working on her instead of the boat.

"Snap out of it Jack," she thought to herself. She couldn't keep him off of her mind.

"Nope. Didn't wake me. Got distracted by the baby. Torres and Bishop were sleeping on the job, so I brought him upstairs with me. Going to be a hell of a night. Haven't done this is thirty years," he didn't know that she had been sitting in her office waiting for an excuse to come to his place. She heard her phone buzz on her desk. All she had to see was his name pop up on the screen and the beginning of the message. She was out the door and pulling up in front of his house before she knew it. She walked up to the front door and didn't even consider knocking or ringing the doorbell. He always had the door unlocked. It was an aspect of him that she always found intriguing. He had had so many horrible things happen to him in his life, even in his home, but he never let it keep him from feeling comfortable at home. He always wanted to stay him, strong and confident, but the other characteristic that played off of him keeping his door unlocked was his desire to always be accessible to those he cared for. There was many a night that one of his agents, or Ducky, or even she herself would come to spend with him in his basement hoping he could provide them answers to their woes. Tonight was honestly no different. Although it appeared different to any outsider, she knew that it would be clear to him that she hadn't really stuck around because of the baby. There was honestly no reason to even pretend at this point.

So, she went in with the full intention to be honest with him for once. Sure enough, as he had said, there was Ellie and Nick asleep on the couch. Next to them on the floor was an empty hand-crafted bassinet. "Man, how does this man keep getting better and better?" she thought to herself knowing that it must have been one that he had made for Kelly when she was a baby. To know that he had kept it all this time broke her heart. She could never imagine the pain he must feel every day since he lost his little girl. Her heart fluttered a little knowing that with the cradle being empty and both the agents still being asleep, it must have meant that Gibbs had the baby with him.

She headed upstairs towards his bedroom expecting to find him up reading case files or something along those lines. I mean honestly, this man never slept. Or so she thought, as she walked into his room she found the most beautiful sight she had seen in years. There, propped up on his bed was one Leroy Jethro Gibbs asleep with a peaceful baby sprawled out on his chest also sleeping. She was not prepared for this sight to move her so much, but there was honestly nothing like a sexy man with an adorable baby, especially this man. She couldn't help but just stand in the doorway and stare at the sight. This was an image that when she was a young woman she had always dreamed of experiencing with her husband and own child, but sadly never got. This was a close as she would ever get to that, but it was pretty damn close to a dream come true for her.

Not wanting to disturb the both of them, she went over to the reading chair Gibbs had in his room to find her own rest. Not feeling a bit tired, she decided to put herself to good use and began reading up on the case further, every now and then peering up at the two resting boys. After a while she noticed the baby beginning to stir. She got up from her chair to get him; it must have been time for him to eat again. Just as she had gotten the baby into her arms her eyes locked with a sea of steely blue.

"Jack, what are you doing here? When did you get here?" he asked in a groggily and confused tone.

"Didn't think it was fair for all of you to do this alone. You need rest so you can have your complete focus on the case, not on taking care of an infant. If you have you focus in two places it will take that much longer to get this little man home for the holidays."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of a baby and doing my job. Did it decades ago, and you know that I never get much sleep anyways. Why are you really here?"

"I told you already Gibbs. I didn't want to go before we found out who his mother is or where she is. I wouldn't be able to enjoy my trip until I knew he was going to be okay and why no one seems to be missing him."

"Ah, that it?" he could tell she was sitting on another thought. Sure, she did care about the baby, but he could sense that there was more to her story that she wasn't telling.

Of course, she could sense that he knew that she wasn't telling the whole truth. It was taking everything in her power not to blurt out to him that he was her reason for staying. She couldn't stand the thought of spending this Christmas without him. She had only agreed to go on the trip to Vermont in the first place to try and escape that feeling. How could she tell him that though? There was no way in hell that he could possibly feel the same way. But, why not take the shot. It would be better to finally know then to keep dragging it on. Just as she was about to tell him the truth, the baby began to fuss.

"Saved by the bell," she thought to herself.

"Guess we better get this dude a bit to eat. I can go down and get a bottle ready for him."

"No, you stay up here with him. He seems to really like you. I'll be back up in a bit," he responded admiring how sweet she seemed with a baby in her arms. It was a sight he truly missed. Seeing a woman he adored caring for an infant.

"You, little man, just saved my ass," she whispered to the baby in her arms with a grin on her face. He just looked back up at her and even seemed to grin back at her as if he understood what she had said.

Gibbs made his way back up to the room with the bottle in hand.

"You got it, or do you want me to feed him?"

"I've got it. That's why I came here remember? You may pretend like you don't need rest, but you are human Gibbs. Get some rest."

He begrudgingly handed her the bottle and placed his hand on the chest of the baby in the arms of the woman he secretly loved and was falling in love more and more with each moment that passed. How could he tell her without messing everything up though?

He made his way towards the bathroom so he could shower and get ready for bed. While he was in the shower thoughts kept creeping through his mind. How could he let himself get to this point? He had told himself that he would never be allowed to feel this way ever again. He constantly fought off any feelings he had developed for all of the women since Shannon, but this one got to him. There was no way to get rid of what he was feeling. He was going to have to face it head on and face his certain heartbreak. He was just going to have to get up the guts to face it, and he had decided there was no reason to wait. He would just have to face it after his shower. That was all stifled when he walked back into his room to find Jack sitting in his bed rocking the baby while singing a gentle melody to get him to finally sleep again. He couldn't disturb this moment, and so he decided to leave them be and just climb in bed next to them. He could face this tomorrow.

"Night you two," he said in a gentle whisper.

"Goodnight Jethro," she responded while grabbing his hand between them and gently squeezing. She had never called him by his first name before, but this moment it just seemed right.

The three of them nodded off peacefully for the next few hours, the two adults still with their hands interlocked between them. It would be morning soon, and then it was back to the real world. The two of them simply thought about these moments and what they meant for the future. Neither of them realized that their thoughts were going to all of the same places.