A JOB DONE WELL
Leroy Jethro Gibbs smiled to himself as he received McGee and Bishop's reports for the McGraw case. Good, once DiNozzo finished his, he could collate the information into his final report and get it to Vance. Although from the way his SFA was goofing off, he would probably be burning the midnight oil tonight. That was ok, just this once, that was ok.
Today had been a good day, justice had been served and an innocent young woman had been saved. They'd busted a stone cold killer, had enough evidence to send him away for the rest of his contemptible life, and saved his intended next victim, a young Petty Officer just getting started on her life. He'd kept her unconscious while he prepared for the kill; they'd found her trussed up but except for the knock-out drugs, physically unharmed. And they'd found his playbook which detailed the burial sites of his previous victims. That wasn't as good as finding them alive, but it would give their families and friends some rest. And the icing on the cake of their success was that they'd solved the case in a matter of days while the FBI had chased their tails, as usual, for months on end. Regardless of the other agency's failure, this was the kind of case that made the job worthwhile, taking evil off the street and saving a life.
He looked at his team as they relaxed a bit at their desks, feeling as good about the case as he did. He should tell them how proud he was of them. Surprising himself, he made a noise and said the words. "We did good today, this week, this case. You did your jobs well and we got the bad guy and saved our Petty Office from becoming his next victim. Proud of you!"
Then he did another amazing thing when he saw their wide eyes and open mouths. Tim's jaw was open so wide it looked painful while Ellie's eyes were threatening to pop right out of her head. And DiNozzo, ah, that was classic, he actually looked worried. He loved that he could still shock them and he let loose with a sound no one in the squad room had ever heard before.
He laughed, a real genuine laugh, coming from deep within him, a belly laugh.
And when he wound down, he found he wasn't quite done yet. He was having a good time, couldn't believe he could still surprise his boys, both of them with him all these years and he could still cause this kind of reaction - that was something!
"Tell you what, we should celebrate. DiNozzo, call Ducky and Palmer; Tim, get Abby. We're going for drinks and dinner tonight, my treat!"
He chuckled some more as the guys, now looking outright worried, grabbed their phones and made the calls.
"Boss, Ducky says what time?"
Gibbs shrugged, "What's wrong with now?"
The boys nodded and repeated that into their phones. When the good doctors and Abby entered the bullpen a few minutes later, they looked cautiously happy, reacting to Tim and Tony's …concern.
Ducky finally decided to brave the lion as the group walked together to the elevator.
"Jethro, this is a splendid idea, but what brought it on?"
Gibbs put one arm around his shoulder and with his other hand affectionately squeezed the back of Tim's neck and then reached over and did the same to DiNozzo.
"It's about time, don't you think Duck?" They entered the open elevator car and as the elevator doors slid closed…
Finis