The Bracelet

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: What is the meaning of the bracelet Gibbs is wearing? Ducky knows, but is not telling.

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7- Recovery

Steps behind him made him turn around and he felt a sharp pain erupting in his sides. He bit his lip and heard Ducky chuckle. "Abigail is in the lab, sound asleep beneath her desk." He said and then looked around. "Oh...She doesn´t seem to be the only one who has decided on a sleep over at the office. I believe you should wake them and send them home, Jethro. They will get seriously ill if they don´t get a full night of rest in a decent bed. As well as you should go home."

"I will. You should go home, too. Go wake Abby and take her home. I´ll wake the rest." Gibbs said and watched his friend walk back into the elevator. Kneeling down next to Kate, he shifted into a position that didn´t hurt his ribs and put his hand onto her shoulder. "Kate? Hey, wake up." He whispered and watched her eyelids flutter. Her face looked ashen and he could only imagine how long she hadn´t slept. "Kate? Open your eyes." He tried again and she finally opened her eyes. There was something like surprise in her eyes, but she didn´t move. A smile played on her lips and her eyes started to close again. "Hey, no more sleeping. You need to go home." He said, but she was asleep again. He got up again with a sigh. If it wasn´t for his ribs, he would have carried her into his car and driven her home, but he could hardly turn around without crying out in pain.

Waiting a few moments, he tried waking one of his other agents, but they too were out cold, not even reacting when he slapped their shoulders rather hard. Tony merely mumbled something about chocolate and turned his head to the other side. Returning to Kate´s desk, he looked into her brown eyes. She pulled herself up, but the circles under her eyes and the missing coordination in her movements told him that she could hardly keep herself up right now. "I´ll take you home." He told her and put an arm around her, biting back the pain that rose in his side at this.

Kate felt like she was drugged or in some kind of trance. She felt herself moving towards the parking lot and getting into a car, but her dazed brain didn´t really take anything in until the car stopped again. "Come on, Kate. Let´s get you home." A voice said and she knew it was familiar, but everything seemed like a giant blur. A few minutes later, she dropped onto her bed and fell asleep immediately. She didn´t notice when Gibbs pulled the cover over her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

As he walked back towards the front door, he noticed that his cell phone was ringing. "Gibbs." He answered it, wondering who would call him.

"Ah, Jethro. I just wanted to tell you that I have managed to send both Anthony and Timothy home. Abigail is going with Timothy for today and I shall retire as well now. Did you get Caitlin home safely?" Ducky asked and there was kind of a smile in his voice.

"Sure did." Gibbs said, sitting down on the couch for a moment to give his aching ribs a break. "See you tomorrow, Duck." He put the phone down and drifted to sleep a moment later, not even realizing that he was still at Kate´s place. Finally, all of them were getting their much needed rest. Gibbs woke up the following morning, feeling lots better. He was a bit confused at first and it took him a moment to remember where he was, but then he remembered and smiled. Making sure that Kate was still sleeping, he left her apartment and drove to the office. He had a report to write and some absences to explain to the director, but he was glad to do so. The pain in his ribs reminded him that he should be at home, but being Gibbs, he didn´t really care for the time being.

The recent events had made him realize how much this team meant to him. When he put his pen down, he noticed the sound of his bracelet colliding with his watch, but this time, the sound didn´t make a chill run down his back. This time, it reminded him of the wonderful people he had around him. It was a good feeling and for the first time in 20 years, he didn´t mind wearing the small silver bracelet on his left arm. He would never mind again because it made him realize just how close all of them really were.

END