A/N: This is a sequel to my Hollis-centered story Right Choice. That means you can anticipate it being centered on Hollis and Jethro yet again. I know that will shock my regular readers seeing as I am generally an avid Tim fan, and he only shows up occasionally in this story. But I have discovered that, even though romance is far from my favorite genre, I really like writing Gibbs/Mann. So if you don't like it, I suggest you don't read this story because that's what this is and I make no apologies for my preference. =D This is not a casefile. It's just a nice relationship between two people with real life throwing in occasional difficulties.
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor the characters. I am not making money off this story.
Right Time
by Enthusiastic Fish
Chapter 1
The phone started ringing at 3 a.m., bringing Hollis out of a sound sleep. She sat up, yawning.
"You want me to get it?" Jethro mumbled from beside her.
"And give everyone at work an excuse to gossip about me? Dream on," she replied and reached over him to grab the phone. She grinned as Jethro trailed his hand across her torso. "Hello. Mann."
"Holly?"
Instantly, Hollis was wide awake.
"Jason, what is it? What's going on?"
"I just...got a call."
"Diana?" Hollis felt a chill at the thought of Jason's oldest daughter...who had decided to emulate her aunt and join the Army.
"No, Diana's fine. It's...about Dad."
"Dad?" Hollis repeated in shock. "What about him?"
"He's dead."
"What?"
Jethro sat up and looked at her, noting the change in her voice.
"I got a call from Metro PD in Washington DC. Dad apparently listed me as his next of kin. He's dead."
"He...was in...DC?"
"For the last twenty years."
"You knew?"
"Yeah. I did."
"How...did he die?"
Jethro took her hand. Hollis looked at him briefly but kept her attention on the voice on the line.
"Some brave soul decided to mug an 88-year-old man. The police just got a hold of his information and called me."
"So...why call me?" Hollis asked, trying to find an equilibrium even Jethro's close proximity couldn't bring.
"Because I called Mason first and you know what he said."
"The same thing I want to say. Good riddance. So why me next? Why not Marty or Joey? Neither of them ever resented Dad as much as the rest of us."
"Because...Hollis...according to the police, the last thing he said was your name."
Another cold chill, this one completely different from the one she'd felt before.
"My name? Why my name?"
"I don't know, Holly. They only asked if I knew who Hollis was. They thought it might be the name of a family member...maybe a wife."
"For all I know, it could be."
"Holly."
"What do you want me to say, Jason?" Hollis asked. "It's four in the morning my time...and you're calling me to tell me that Dad is dead. I don't know what you're expecting. Regret? Grief? I'm not feeling either of those."
"I wanted to ask a favor."
Hollis sat quietly for a moment.
"You want me to go to DC ...and deal with all this, don't you."
"Holly, I would. Honest. You know I would be the one to deal with this if I could, but Jill has her surgery tomorrow and I don't want to leave her right now."
"Mason told you to shove it, didn't he."
"Pretty much."
"How did Dad know your contact information?" Hollis asked, stalling to buy time.
"I didn't search for him, if that's what you're wondering. I wouldn't have dreamed of it. ...not after he left for the last time."
"Then, what happened? He called you?"
"Holly, I swear I never would have bothered with him, but I've never written him off like you and Mason did. I'm more like Joey, I think."
"So when?" Hollis asked.
"Ten years ago, more or less. I got a call at work. It was Dad. He said he'd seen my name in a random search and finally got the courage to call me. He figured I'd be the least likely to hang up on him."
"I guess he was right."
"Yeah. Maybe. He said that he didn't want much, just to know how everyone was doing. He'd been Googling everyone's names but there's only so much you can get that way. So I sent him updates about twice a year."
"You satisfied his curiosity?"
"Look, Holly," Jason said, sounding a little irritated, "he's our father, whether you like it or not. And don't even say it because I'm not claiming some sort of redemption. I never even saw him and only talked to him once or twice in the last ten years."
Hollis sighed...and Jason knew her well enough to know that signaled her capitulation.
"Thanks, Holly," he said softly. "I know this isn't what you wanted to hear."
"What is it that you need me to do?"
"Go to DC, talk to the police..."
"Transfer the body to a mortuary, etc, etc?"
"Yeah. Holly, can you do it? Not do you want to, but can you?"
Hollis sighed again. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with on her vacation, but she knew that she'd have to. Jason couldn't. Mason would sooner spit on their father's grave, Marty would fall apart if he knew and Marjorie would throw a fit if Joey left. That meant Hollis...who had been the last person her father had thought of, apparently.
"Yeah, Jason. I can do it. I'll make the arrangements and let you know. Tell me how Jill's surgery goes."
"I will. Hollis?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"Bye, Jason."
"Bye, Holly."
Hollis hung up and took a deep breath. She looked at Jethro who, typically, didn't say a word, instead choosing to look at her and wait. When she didn't speak instantly, he raised an eyebrow in question.
"My dad is dead and I have to go back to DC, where he's apparently been living for the last twenty years, and deal with it. Sorry...our vacation's over. Can I stay at your place?"
Hollis was sitting stiffly in bed but when Jethro put his arms around her, she relaxed against him.
"At the risk of sounding melodramatic, Jethro, I don't want to talk about it right now. Could you just hold me?"
Jethro smiled and eased Hollis back down onto the bed. She cuddled up beside him and was glad that he was generally taciturn. They didn't speak but, although they were quite relaxed and comfortable, Hollis didn't sleep. While she couldn't see his face, she was pretty sure that Jethro didn't either. He just respected her need for silence.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"Yes, Hettie, I'm fine," Hollis said. "No, it's not a happy occasion but I'm fine. You're sure you don't mind taking over for a few days?" She paused and listened and then laughed. "You sure that Sam can tolerate you taking over for a few days? Okay, okay. Thank you, Hettie."
Jethro looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Hollis smiled. They hadn't really talked about it other than to schedule the flight from LA to DC. He didn't push her to talk. She would when she was ready. He knew that. Hollis hadn't ever talked about her father except to say that he'd not been in the picture since she was a teenager.
"Hettie's fine with being in charge for a few days. She probably will love it. Everyone's under her thumb essentially anyway."
"Including you?"
"When she wants me to be, yes, including me."
"You packed?"
"Uh-huh. One carry-on. One checked. You?"
"Everything I came with."
Hollis sighed. "Jethro?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Hollis sat down on the couch. Jethro joined her.
"You ready now?"
She smiled and nodded. "So...Dad and Mom weren't ever married. Dad came around when he wanted and when he didn't, he was gone. He left for the last time when I was fifteen. So I haven't seen him in more than forty years...and I haven't really even thought of him in probably thirty years. Mom gave me enough trouble and I loved her. But now, Dad's dead. He got mugged...and I don't know how I feel about the fact that a man I looked for...for twenty years and then hated and then ignored is now dead."
Hollis shrugged.
"I guess I have a chance to find out."
Jethro put an arm around her. It was a testament to how unsettled Hollis was that she leaned her head on his shoulder. She didn't cry...but then she had told him once that only two men had ever been able to make her cry...and he was one of them. Her father was the other...but that was the crying of a teenager not an adult.
"Well...time to go," Hollis said, back in control.
"And I'm with you no matter what," he said softly.
Hollis was surprised, he could tell. He didn't often speak so demonstratively, but then she smiled.
"I'm glad, Jethro."
