Disclaimer: Not mine. They belong to CBS, which at the moment I hate with all my heart.
A/N: I have never written a 'light' fic before because I don't know how to write a less serious story, so this is my first story that doesn't include sappiness or angst. This is also a semi-AU fic: I mention Ziva in this story. Don't worry; I don't write catfight, either. :D
I wrote this to lighten my mood a bit because I'm currently writing a very dark-themed story. This is unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine and mine only. Pardon all typos and grammatical errors; English is not my first language. I try my best to minimize the errors and I hope I don't make you frown with my mistakes.
Thank you for all your reviews and favourites on my last Kibbs story. I really appreciate them.
Anyway, Auraya-of-the-White, this is my 'welcome home' present for you. I know I should've written something with the characters you love, but you know that I can be very selfish sometimes. I hope you still enjoy it, darling. *hugs*
Shutting up now, and on to the fics...
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"Do you want to sleep with me, Gibbs?"
Everyone turned their heads at the brunette woman sitting at a long table in the middle of the room upon hearing the straightforward question. They were all working on a murder case and that kind of questions was not exactly the type of questions people would ask at work – Not that it was expected to come from someone like Kate Todd, either.
Kate fixed her gaze at the older man in front of her, completely oblivious to the fact that her other co-workers were looking at her in total shock. They glanced at their boss and waited for the gruff agent to respond. Tony elbowed Abby and Ziva, who elbowed him back, and they signalled McGee to have this recorded.
Gibbs stopped scribbling immediately; his hand holding the pencil stopped midair. He glanced upwards without lifting his head and he frowned at the question. There was an awkward moment of silence as he and Kate gazed at each other as if there was no other person around. Tilting his head to the side, Gibbs finally spoke up, "Where did that come from?" His voice was calm; there was no sign of irritation of being asked such an absurd – and not to mention rather inappropriate – question. On the other hand, and to everyone's surprise, Gibbs looked slightly amused with Kate's question. The blue-eyed man didn't even have to look around to know that every pair of eyes in the lab was on them.
"Well, do you want to?" Kate repeated her question and posed another, "Do you think I'm attractive?"
This time, Abby and Ziva could no longer suppress a huge grin. Tony's jaw dropped at the question; even McGee had neglected his work – he was concentrating on getting the angle of the camera and the microphone right. This was going to be too fun to miss.
"I don't think the questions are case-related," Gibbs pointed out coolly. He didn't break the eye contact with the younger woman when he addressed his other subordinates, "Turn that camera off and get back to work, four of you!"
There were mumbles of 'yes, Boss' and 'yes, Gibbs' and noisy sound of paper being turned right after Gibbs barked his order. McGee, though, made sure that the camera kept rolling.
"Are you going to answer them?" Kate pressed, not backing down even though, judging from the clenching of Gibbs' jaw, she knew that Gibbs began to feel annoyed at the pointless questions.
Yes, Gibbs started to feel upset. He cursed inwardly. He didn't want to talk about this – not here while they were working on a case, and definitely not ever. He never thought of Kate – as well as all his subordinates – as something else other than a good agent. To be honest, he never allowed himself to think of Kate as a woman.
"I don't know, Agent Todd. Are you going to answer my question?" he retorted.
"I'm just curious," she answered truthfully. "Now, can you please answer my question?"
"Are you going anywhere with this?" His voice was a pitch higher now. Gibbs slammed the pencil he had been holding the whole time – he didn't remember he had had it in his hand. "Need I remind you that we are on a case?"
Kate bit back a snappy answer when she saw the first glint of anger in Gibbs' eyes. She lowered her gaze and started to collect her paper and files. She smiled apologetically at Gibbs, not willing to hear him preach him about his 'no apology' rule, and left the lab to find another place to work.
.
Just as she entered the elevator, she heard footsteps behind her. She reached for the close button and pressed it multiple times, as if by doing so the door would close faster. Kate swore under her breaths when the door didn't close fast enough to create a barricade between her and the person following her.
Gibbs slid into the elevator right before it completely closed. Kate groaned. She should have known better than to expect a man like Gibbs to let her go easily after asking those questions. Now she wished she had kept her wretched mouth shut.
The man gave Kate his usual smirk and pressed the stop button. The elevator stopped in a sudden jerk; Kate was grateful she didn't lose her balance – it would be downright embarrassing. She bowed her head down, letting some strands of her hair fell and made a curtain around her face. She glanced sideways to where Gibbs was standing with his hands folded in front of his chest. The man was looking at her with the same lopsided smirk he had been wearing on his face.
"Are you running from me, Kate?" he asked her mockingly.
Kate raised her head and glared at her boss. She said nothing at first but then she realized that keeping her silence would be foolish, and trying to beat Gibbs in a silent contest would be a futile attempt.
"I'm not running from you, Gibbs. You didn't want to answer my question so I left," she replied lightly. "Why are you following me?"
"Why did you leave the lab?" Gibbs pushed.
"Why didn't you answer my question?"
"That's irrelevant to the case!"
"You following me here is irrelevant to the case!" Kate said.
Gibbs sighed. "You tell me why you asked me those questions and I tell you why I followed you here," he offered.
Kate blinked in disbelief. Special Agent Gibbs bargained with her? That was unusual. But Kate was willing to press her luck. "You tell me, and I will tell you."
"Katie!" Gibbs growled in aggravation.
The brunette blushed on hearing Gibbs called her with her pet name. Her shoulder sagged with defeat and she cussed inside as her mind wandered to the fateful night before...
"Truth or dare?" Ziva asked her brunette friend. They were having another girls' night out with McGee as a plus one. Both Kate and Ziva had stopped trying to understand why Abby always included McGee on their girls' night out.
Kate put down her wine glass and shook her head. "No, nu-uh, I'm not playing," she refused, earning groans from Abby and McGee. "What? I'm not playing!"
"Don't be such a killjoy, Kate," Abby said. "You are in it. You suggested the last 'truth' question for Tim!"
"Well I didn't actually ask the question myself," the brunette remarked defensively. "There's a difference between 'suggesting' and 'actually posing' a question."
"Oh, don't give me that political answer stuff," Abby grumbled.
McGee asserted, "Kate, it was your idea to get Ziva to be more acquainted to American culture. Playing American games is going to help her understand the culture." Kate gave him a look. "Of course, there are several other things that will be able to help her fathom it."
"No thank you for your help, Tim!" Abby said sulkily, pushing his shoulder with her fist."Come on, Kate, just this once," the raven-haired woman pleaded and looked at Kate with her best sad-puppy expression.
"No. Do you think I have forgotten the stunt you guys had me pull on 'Simon Says'?"
The three friends grinned at the mention of the game. They had played the game at the office a couple of days before. Everything was fun and game until Abby decided to 'spike' the game by adding Spin the Bottle to it. She spun and the tip of the pen – they didn't have bottles – landed on Kate. 'Simon' told Kate to go to Gibbs' desk, took his coffee out of his hand, winked at the boss, and drank the coffee. It didn't go well for Kate.
Ziva raised her right hand. "I promised there will be no more stunts on Gibbs' coffee," she vowed. McGee and Abby repeated the vow solemnly. "Are you playing now?"
"Oh, okay! Dare." Kate finally gave in. And that... was her mistake.
...
"It was a dare," she finally admitted, although her colleagues had made it specific in the dare that she weren't allowed to say anything about it. Kate stole a glance and saw Gibbs' puzzled look. She elaborated, "The dare was to ask the question either to you or Tony."
Gibbs' eyes twinkled with glee but the older man managed to keep a straight face. "A dare?" He repeated disbelievingly. He never thought Kate as a woman who would do something silly, but he was proven wrong. "And drinking my coffee was a dare, too, I presume?"
A blush crept to Kate's cheeks. "No, it was Simon Says," she mumbled embarrassedly.
"Exactly what do you ladies do on your free time?" Gibbs posed rhetorically. "So why didn't you ask Tony?" Kate's head whipped upwards and she looked at Gibbs with a do-you-really-have-to-ask look. He grinned at her but somehow he was relieved that Kate had chosen him over the younger agent. They stood in silence for some time and after a while he could sense that Kate began to fidget. As he opened his mouth to call her name, Kate broke the silence.
"I answered your question. Can... -can we go back to work now?" she asked in a teeny tiny voice. She made a mental note never to participate in any games her peers would play in the future.
Gibbs nodded. "Sure," he said. He pressed the emergency button and the metal box started moving up. When they reached their floor, Gibbs pushed the open button. The door slid open with a gentle swish. He kept his hand on the button as Kate exited the elevator.
"Kate?" he called out softly.
The brunette turned her head towards him; her expression was a mixture between confusion and discomfiture.
"You haven't gotten your answers yet," he reminded the woman. Kate's mouth formed a silent 'o'. Gibbs pushed the close button, and as the door closed, he said to her very tenderly, "Yes. Yes, I do, and yes, you are." And the door was back in place.
Gibbs didn't see Kate's jaw dropped as his words sank in. He didn't know how Kate's face turned bright red when she dizzily made her way back to her cubicle. He didn't witness Kate covering her mouth to stop herself from giggling. The senior agent was too busy grinning and chuckling by himself inside the moving cart. He looked up and glared at the security camera installed in the elevator just right before the door opened as it reached the right level. "If this goes to the internet, McGee, you're fired," he warned casually and left.
A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy the ride