HE’S NOT ROLLING WITH IT. yeah, so she caved; jethro’s not too surprised. as TEAM LEADER, these agents are his family responsibility, and he can’t keep ‘em safe when they’re keeping secrets. so maybe he’s tough on them, maybe he can be a bastard: he’s been called worse, usually by his exes. but when kate’s head is up in the clouds (stuck on some guy from the coffee shop, or the next damn spa weekend she’ll be taking with abby – hell, he doesn’t know) it’s his job to bring her focus back to today. to their current case.
and his team using his rules against him just makes that job a whole lot harder.
“ it’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission? RULE EIGHTEEN. ” his tone hardens, so does his stare – there’s a tension wired through his frame that wasn’t there a moment ago. jethro’s mind races, trying to piece together what in the hell special agent todd could’ve done to warrant pulling such a card. god, if she’s kept something SERIOUS from him, too skittish to give him a head’s up for some potential snag or other complication – his expression sours as he flips through countless scenarios.
and now, he stands – palms braced on the desk as he leans across, not giving a damn about any preconceived notions of personal space. she doesn’t deserve that imaginary bubble of safety if she’s done something stupid to jeopardize the case. jethro doesn’t want to spend all night here, staring her down, but they’re not leaving until they get this figured out.
right, yeah, RULE EIGHTEEN. halfheartedly noted, the majority of her attention devoted to him. if ‘s gonna he’s pissed now, she’s gonna hate to see him in about twenty seconds. the way she reads him, there’s a couple different ways this conversation could go ; though she can’t decide which reaction she would most prefer, she’s praying to evade his signature SILENCE. .
“ it’s not about the case, ” she begins, and now that she thinks about it, she’s almost insulted by the thought that he might think it so. almost because it’s happened before, she’s messed up before, but the fact that he’s so willing to use it against her at a time like this ---- well, it’s damn insulting. and she’s going to let him know as such.
...at a later date. when she’s not about to admit to prying into his personal life.
“ it’s --- not about anything to do with work, actually. ” and now she’s just stalling and she knows it, knows he knows it, too, and knows he needs to know that she knows what she now knows.
he leans in and she straightens, shifting her weight from one foot to both feet and squaring her shoulders. she lifts her chin like the type of woman who is CONFIDENT in her decision, like the type of woman she is ---- was more so before she was being stared down, but is still. he shakes her, but she does not crumble. to prove it, she meets his eyes, stares into the man she now views with so much more depth, just in time to tell him how.
“ i read your file, gibbs. ”