Hey. I recently saw the amazing BBC mini series "Single Father" with David Tennant and this idea popped into my head. I wondered what would happen if when Jenny died, Gibbs as left to look after Kelly, Jenny's son, and his daughter with Jenny. This is the result. It will be pretty dark because obviously, Jenny's dead. Everything should be explained as the story progresses. Obviously it's AU because Kelly's alive, Jenny has a son, and Jenny and Gibbs end up living together with a daughter.
Pairings: JIBBS, mentions of Tony/Kelly, hints at TIVA. If that changes you'll be the first to know.
Disclaimer: I own nothing... Damn that sucks.
Christina x
PS: if you get the chance to see Single Father, I advise you to watch it.
NCISNCISNCIS
Gibbs moved from the kitchen to the living room silently. The house was in darkness simply because over the last few hours none of its occupants had felt like moving to put on a light. He stopped in the door way and watched the scene before him with a lump in his throat. His daughter Sacha had fallen asleep with her head on her elder sister, Kelly's, lap. Alex, the boy he considered his son, had fallen asleep on the other end of the couch. Kelly was the only one awake, gently running her hand through Sacha's strawberry blonde hair as she stared into the fire, the only light in the room. They were all aching for the one member of their family who wouldn't be coming home again.
Jenny, lover, mom, friend.
He blamed himself. He should've gone to LA in her place. He should've gone with her. He should've made sure Tony and Ziva stuck to her like glue. But it made sense at the time for Jenny to go, she was director. He would stay here for Alex and Sacha. And he had Kelly to help him. His twenty five year old daughter was always willing to spend time with her brother and sister. She loved having them around her and was happy for them to hang out at her studio while she worked.
But then he'd realised Jenny hadn't called. Sacha had had the chicken pox the week before and Jenny was worried and had been calling regularly. Then the calls stopped. He assumed she'd started calling Kelly. But she hadn't. In the end he'd called her. Except it wasn't Jenny who answered. It was Tony. His voice spoke volumes. She was gone.
Gibbs finally moved and crossed the room to hand Kelly a mug of coffee. She took it wordlessly, tearing her eyes from the flames of the fire. The blue eyes so like his own were filled with a sadness Gibbs hadn't seen in them since Shannon died. For the second time in his life, he had become a single father. And he was damned if he was going to let any of the kids down.
XOXOXOX
Kelly lay in bed late that night but she wasn't asleep. Her face was streaked with silent tears. She ran a hand through her red hair, pushing it back off her face. Unlike her younger half sister, Kelly's hair was dark red, thanks to her dad's brown hair. Since she'd finally climbed into bed three hours ago, she'd simply lain there and cried. Cried for her friend, for the only woman who'd she'd come close to loving as much as her mom, for the only woman her dad had truly loved since her mom had died. Their relationship had never been easy, but Kelly and Jenny had eventually managed to come to a close, respectful friendship, both realising how much Gibbs loved both of them. The fact that Jenny had never married her dad had helped, it didn't feel like she was trying to replace her mom like Diane et al. Kelly had been less than happy when Jenny had come back into their lives, and even angrier when she'd started seeing her dad again. In Kelly's mind Jenny was totally to blame for the relationship ending the first time and for hurting her dad. But she'd finally managed to forgive her soon after Sacha was born.
Kelly finally fell asleep a little after three thirty. It felt like only seconds later that she woke again, although the angry red of her alarm clock told her it was six thirty. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Kelly rarely stayed at home any more, since Jenny and Alex moved in and Sacha had been born it felt crowded for a house that had always seemed to have an empty rattle ever since her mom died. It had felt good to hear laughter once again, but Kelly still felt uncomfortable on occasions. She wasn't Jenny's daughter. She was aware Alex wasn't her dad's son and that he was no relation to her, but he'd never known his father, or even met him so it was different. Kelly was too afraid of betraying her mom. But since she'd been in college, she'd owned a small apartment downtown, only five minutes from her studio which meant she had little use for a car and hadn't owned one until her twenty fourth birthday when her dad had bought her one.
The door of her bedroom opened a crack and Sacha's strawberry blonde head peeked round it.
"Kelly?" she whispered.
"Yeah kiddo?" Kelly said, sitting up. She saw Sacha's bottom lip trembling. "Come here." Sacha ran over and jumped onto the bed next to her sister. Kelly pulled the duvet covers over her and hugged her.
"I miss mommy," Sacha said.
"I know baby girl, I know," Kelly replied softly. At least she'd been eight when her mom died and had a vague concept about death. Sacha was only two and a half. In her mind her mommy had just gone away and wasn't coming back. She couldn't understand that Jenny couldn't come back.
"She's not coming back, is she?" Sacha asked, voicing the thoughts that had been in Kelly's head moments before.
"No," her sister said.
"Doesn't she love us anymore?"
"Of course she does Sach. She just can't come back, even if she wanted to," Kelly explained.
"Is daddy going to leave us too? Like mommy?"
"No. Daddy's not going anywhere, and neither am I."
"And Alex?"
"Alex is staying too. We're not leaving," Kelly said firmly. Sacha fell silent, content that her sister wasn't lying to her. Kelly always told her the truth, no matter what. Kelly didn't lie. Kelly was her sister who would laugh with her and play horsies with her and brush all the knots out her dolls' hair.
Kelly ran her hand up and down Sacha's arm slowly and soothingly, and eventually the little girl fell asleep again. Kelly wished she could be as lucky. But this was the second time death had suddenly and violently touched her life.
"Sacha. Sacha!" Her dad's voice broke the silence of the house.
"She's in here," Kelly called quickly.
Gibbs hurried into his daughter's room and saw Sacha asleep next to Kelly. He relaxed. When he'd went into her room and found Sacha gone, he'd panicked and all sorts of possibilities had ran through his head. He couldn't loose his daughter. He would do anything and everything it took to protect his family.
XOXOXOX
Alex stared blindly out of the window of Kelly's Audi. Gibbs had been called into the office early by one of his new agents, Langer, who reported there was a dead marine at Quantico. Alex had learnt the hard way that life didn't stop just because your mom died. Of course, Kelly's mom was dead too, but she still had her father. Gibbs was his dad, but he would never be his father, the mystery man who'd had a relationship with his mother in 1995 then left before Jenny knew she was pregnant. Dad still had to go to work, Kelly would still go to her studio and paint or carve, Sacha would still go to kindergarten and he would still go to school. In fact, as if life hadn't thrown them enough curve balls lately, it had also taken away two of the people he knew best in the world, Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David. Alex liked Tony, he taught him how to play football and basketball and endless move quotes, and even the occasional slightly inappropriate joke if neither of his parents or Kelly were anywhere in sight. Ziva was his mom's best friend. Even if he wasn't that close to her, he didn't want her in Israel. He didn't like the new agents on his dad's team. Langer was alright, he was a bit like Tony, Lee was irritating, and Keating was... Well, Alex hadn't paid much attention to him. He sort of just blended into the background. He was a bit like McGee, but Alex preferred McGee, he'd taught him how to hack into MySpace. Keating had looked horrified when Alex suggested showing him how to hack into Facebook. It wasn't the same. Nothing was the same. In the past week the world had been tilted on its axis, or so it felt to Alex Shepard.
"There you go Alex," Kelly said, pulling up outside his school. Alex hesitated for a moment, looking at the school.
"Thanks," he said, gathering his stuff and breaking his reverie.
"No problemo bro. Be good, work hard, don't do anything I wouldn't do. I love you," she called.
"Love you too Kels," he replied, shutting the door behind him.
In homeroom, Alex's heart sank. Parents day was next week. Just what he needed. No doubt the teacher, who had been informed of his mom's death, would make some sort of comment designed to make him feel better but would only result in making him feel worse. She did.
"Now, of course, parents day is not simply for parents, it is for whoever is there for you in your life, whether it is one parent or both or guardians." Alex could've killed her. He would've too, except his dad had stopped Ziva from showing him how to kill someone with a paperclip and he kept the sniper rifle in a locked drawer. He'd thought it humiliating at his last parents evening when his mom, his dad and his mom's security detail turned up. But now he wouldn't have minded if the whole of NCIS turned up so long as they were there to protect his mom.
XOXOXOX
Kelly entered her studio on autopilot, switching on the lights and throwing her keys onto the desk beside her battered old Mac she'd bought off a classmate at college. She switched it on to check her e-mails. There was one from a gallery, having a fit because she hadn't gotten back to them about the exhibition she was supposed to be having there next month, a couple of requests for her to do paintings, and a couple wanting to buy some of her work. Kelly ignored them. She wasn't a business person and had to be in the right mood to deal with that sort of thing, which she definitely wasn't today. Scraping her hair back into a loose ponytail she walked slowly through to the main room of the studio, where she actually worked. She had a couple of paintings in process and two carvings that were due last week, but today she ignored them too. She pulled out a large blank canvass and stood staring at it. Time passed and she didn't move. It was there that McGee found her three hours later.
"Kelly?"
"In here," she replied.
"Hey," McGee said entering the room.
"Hi," Kelly smiled. "How's geekland?"
"I expected that from Tony, not you," he said.
"Well come on, we did date for like two years," she reminded him.
"How you put up with him that long I'll never know," McGee shook his head.
"You miss him too."
"Yeah," he agreed. "And Ziva."
"Me too."
"Feel like getting some lunch?" McGee asked.
"Isn't that more Abby's thing?"
"Your dad has a case so she's busy."
"Oh, so I'm your second choice?" Kelly teased.
"Actually, Ducky was my second choice..."
"Sure, I'll have lunch," she smiled. "It's not like I'm getting anything done here."
They sat at one of the tables outside the cafe, on the street. After ordering their food they fell into silence.
"This sucks," Kelly said, breaking the silence.
"Any specific part or just all of it?"
"Both."
"I agree," McGee said, taking a sip of his water. Kelly followed his example by picking up her soda.
"Tony and Ziva should be here," she said.
"Yeah, but Tony's on the Ronald Regan, and Ziva's in Israel."
"And Jenny's dead," Kelly added.
"Yeah..."
Silence fell again.
"Least we're still here," Kelly said quietly.
"Yeah," McGee agreed.
"We can survive just the two of us, right?" she said.
"Course we can."
"No problem.'
"None at all."
"I really miss them," she admitted.
"Me too."
XOXOXOX
In front of him, Langer was having a go at Keating for being too much of a geek. Every time Lee tried to intervene, he had a go at her too. Langer was in too cocky a mood today. But Gibbs was oblivious to it all. His eyes had fallen on the picture of his family on his desk and stayed there. It was taken last summer, when Sacha was one, Alex twelve and Kelly twenty four. They'd gone to Rock Creek Park for the day with a picnic. Kelly had Alex in a playful headlock, Jenny was holding Sacha, who giggled at her brother and sister, and he had his arm round Jenny's waist. The funny thing was, they'd stopped some tourist to take the picture yet none of them were looking at the camera.
"Excuse me, could you take a picture of us please?" Jenny asked the unsuspecting tourist in a Hawaiian shirt and long shorts. She sat down again next to Gibbs, taking Sacha from him. He put his arm around Jenny's waist, and pulled her close. "Smile," Jenny told them.
"You have a spider in your hair," Alex whispered to Kelly. She flicked her hands through her hair.
"Lier! Is not!" she replied. Suddenly she grabbed him in a headlock, ruffling his hair.
"Let me go!" Alex cried, grinning.
"Say your sorry!" Kelly said.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he laughed.
The tourist chose that moment to snap the picture.
"Langer! Rule 15," he said suddenly, causing his three agents to jump.
"Uh... Always carry a knife?" Langer guessed.
"Always work as a team. When I come back, I want you to have something. All of you," he added.
XOXOXOX
Tony DiNozzo stabbed his keyboard angrily. He hated the Navy, he hated the Ronald Regan, he hated being an agent afloat, but mostly he hated himself. If he'd only listened to Ziva, there was a chance he might not have to live with the guilt that was currently crushing down on him. The guilt for Jenny's death. He stabbed another key. Kate had once asked how he became a cop when he couldn't type. Maybe he shouldn't have become a cop. If he hadn't Jenny might be alive right now.
His computer dinged and a window popped up.
KellyG :) :) :) says:
hey dinozzo!
Tony smiled and clicked on it, opening a messenger window. He didn't often keep in touch with old girlfriends, but it was a bit hard not to when they were your boss's daughter. Ex-boss's daughter he reminded himself. Kelly was fun though, and held no grudge towards him. He still enjoyed her company, knowing she would always stick by him.
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
hey kels
KellyG :) :) :):
hows life on the high seas?
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
do you want the truth?
KellyG :) :) :):
no dinozzo, women like it when you lie to them. Duh!
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
haha. not.
i hate it. Almost as much as i hate myself right now.
KellyG:) :) :):
?
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
kels, i got jenny killed
KellyG :) :) :):
no you didnt. she got herself killed. dinozzo, when she wanted to, jenny could be a pain in the ass. i should know! and she always did exactly what she wanted. she got herself killed.
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
you say all the right things. marry me?
KellyG :) :) :):
you really want my dad as a father in law?
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
i take back! i take it back!
KellyG :) :) :):
thought you might. besides ziva would get jealous.
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
whats that supposed to mean?
KellyG :) :) :):
nothing
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
you meant something!
KellyG :) :) :):
god men can be thick sometimes! never mind. mcgee misses you. so does alex. i think dad does too. he doesnt like his new team very much. i miss you too. hey, gtg, one of my buyers keeps trying to phone me coz i'm a week late with his piece. he needs to learn art cannot be rushed!
VerySpecialAgentDiNozzo:
you sound like abby when you say that. okay kels, see you. and thanks. bye!
KellyG :) :) :):
no problemo dinozzo. adios amigo!
Tony smiled. He thought about what Kelly had said about Ziva, then clicked on his e-mail account, then new message. He typed: Hi Ziva. Then he stopped and stared at it for five minutes.
"Agent DiNozzo, Petty Officer Frazer just OD'd," a breathless petty officer said, bursting into the cabin. Tony sighed, pressed delete, then followed the petty officer.
XOXOXOX
Gibbs closed the door behind him, then leant his back against it for a moment, eyes closed. It was late, he was tired, it had been a hell of a case and a hell off a day and he missed his kids.
"Hey," Kelly said quietly when he came into the living room. The fire was on, warming the room, and his daughter was wearing her pyjammas, feet resting on the coffee table and eating from a tub of ice cream. "Coffee's in the machine if you want. Should still be hot." He poured himself a mug, grabbed a spoon, then sat down on the couch next to her.
"Alex and Sacha?" he asked.
"In bed, asleep last time I checked," she replied, offering him the ice cream. He took a spoonful. "Sacha was disappointed you were't home but reading The Hungry Caterpillar helped." Kelly took another spoonful of ice cream. "Alex has a parents day coming up which is getting to him I think."
"And you?"
"I'm comfort eating," she smiled. "Put it this way, this tub was three quarters full when I started. There's only about a third left."
"I'm going to work on the boat for a while," Gibbs said. "You going to bed?"
"In a bit. I'm going to finish this ice cream first," Kelly replied. Gibbs smiled and left her to go to the basement.
NCISNCISNCIS
Wow, I am so proud of myself! This is the longest chapter I've ever written! Nine pages on openoffice.
So what do you think?
Christina x