Title: The Seven Year Itch

Author: Mindy

Chapter: 10

Rating: T, adult themes.

Spoilers: "Yankee White" "Sub Rosa".

Disclaimer: Characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: KIBBS AU.

She was lying in Gibbs' arms, in Gibbs' basement, in Gibbs' boat. And Kate couldn't have been happier if they'd been sailing on an emerald bay, gazing at a starlit sky.

They had kissed for an eternity, her slight frame feeling overpowered wedged between Gibbs' strong body and the hard, smooth surface of his creation. She'd felt his hair in her fingers and his chest beneath his shirt just the way she'd always wanted to, while Gibbs' large paws stroked and clutched at her body through the thin, sleek material covering her.

The passion that exploded between them after so many years of waiting and wanting, denial and separation threatened to overcome them very quickly, and they clawed at each other's clothes without thought.

But Gibbs, whispering her name against her heated skin, had stopped and suggested they take a time out. He had helped her climb into the boat, which now sat upright and imposing, on two supportive rails, complete except for mast and sails.

They had eaten their dinner, sitting close in the deep curve of the vessel, talking softly and kissing each other at every opportunity. And now, they'd settled back, with Kate's head on Gibbs' shoulder, as she lay on her side, snuggled into his body, one arm slung over his chest which he stroked lightly with the tips of his fingers. It was not the most comfortable place she'd ever rested, but she had no inclination to move.

It was all a little surreal, and very over-whelming. And yet, so totally and completely natural. She felt so comfortable in his arms, so at ease in his presence. She was entirely secure in his feelings for her and so grateful to be given this second chance.

After all these years, she mused bittersweetly, all it took was a red dress and one bottle of bubbly to break down Gibbs and make him her man. Well, that – and a seven year absence, a night of drunken honesty and a psychopath with a knife and a gun.

Still, they somehow made it here – to where they'd always meant to be.

"What's she called?" she asked softly, breaking the long, comfortable silence.

She felt Gibbs look down at her and tilted her head up to meet his gaze.

"Take a look," he murmured, and nodded towards the crest of the boat.

He watched her move out of his grasp to the opposite end of the craft, leaning over the edge and reading upside down:

"The Philadelpia…?"

She righted herself, turning back to him with a questioning look. She knew it could have a dozen different meanings, but she wondered whether the moniker had anything to do with the cruise they had taken on a sub called The Philadelphia, when she'd first began to work for him.

It had been the first time since she'd joined NCIS that they had run an investigation together and she was, at once, pleased, confused and worried to discover that the tension that she had felt developing between them during their association on board Air Force One was still there and still strong. It had been a very significant case for her, their forced isolation and obvious compatibility making a deep impression on her.

Since they'd been working together, she and Gibbs had deliberately been trying to deny and defeat any and all possibility or attraction that existed between them. But when that submarine had surfaced, throwing her into her boss' arms, she'd realized that it didn't matter what either of them did or did not do. There was something between them that they simply could not help or refute or overcome or even ignore.

And looking up into his face right up close, she could see without a single doubt, that he knew it too. She'd glimpsed the reluctant admission of the truth in the depths of his blue eyes.

It was then that she had realized that what was growing between them was more than just a superficial and transitory attraction. It was a deep and abiding connection which came to mean increasingly more to her as time passed.

It had made her nights restless for years afterwards, thinking about what they were both missing out on by adhering to the pattern of fear and denial and dishonesty. He never knew how the years of expectation and disappointment, desire and jealousy, anguish and unrequited yearning had worn on her, until she simply could not take his rejection anymore and walked away.

Or maybe, she reconsidered, looking into his eyes now – maybe, he really did know, after all.

She sunk into a seat at the end of the boat, her head tipped to one side in reflection: "You know, Gibbs," she began gently: "I never got to tell you your best feature."

Gibbs looked up at the ceiling and rubbed his chin: "Ah, well… I know it's not my hair," he joked lightly.

She smiled quietly: "Your hair is nice," she nodded: "but that's not what I meant."

He sat up a little and looked at her cagily, commenting: "I'm almost afraid to ask, Kate."

She rose, stepping over to him carefully, and lowered herself so that she sat beside him with her legs curled to one side. His hand immediately went to her knee, smoothing over the red satin. She watched his face for a moment, then picked up his hand and kissed it, just like she had in the hospital, when he lay unconscious with a gunshot wound he earned by protecting her.

"You never give up," she told him in an almost whisper: "That's your best feature."

One corner of his mouth turned up: "Many would say that's a failing," he remarked cynically. He could think of half a dozen women off the top of his head that had told him that he had no idea when to call it quits, when to let go.

But he had never, not in seven long years, given up entirely on the dream of Kate Todd. He had never, even when she had, given up on the truth of who she was. And she knew it too.

"Not me," she shook her head decisively, reaching out to caress his jaw: "I love that about you."

"You do?" he murmured, after a short pause, as he watched her face absorbedly.

One eyebrow quirked gently at him as she met his gaze: "Hm," she smiled, then raised her hand to comb through his hair. She bit her lip and added playfully: "And of course, your hair comes a very close second."

Gibbs studied her for a moment then reached up to cup her face with one hand.

"C'mere…" he urged, softly, drawing her face down to his. "I want to make you say 'wow' again," he mused wryly, his eyes holding hers as she moved closer.

"You sure you're up for it, Gibbs?" she teased, gently, stretching out beside him in the deep wooden concave.

His hand slid over her hip, pulling her closer, as his eyes drifted up and down her reclining frame: "I'm up for everything," he told her calmly: "that you can dish out, Katie."

Kate smiled, her eyes glowing eagerly in anticipation: "Then give me your best shot," she murmured softly, gradually lying back as he moved over her. "Go ahead, Gibbs," she whispered readily, her arms winding around his body as he covered her completely: "'Wow' me."

"With pleasure…" he mumbled hazily, his mouth sealing over hers once more in an infinite, irrepressible kiss.

END.

A/N: Thank you toALL who read and pariticularly reveiwed. I really appreciate it. Long live KIBBS.