Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize I do not own. They are all owned by Donald Bellisario.
A/N: I wanted to do a tribute to Ralph Waite who played the wonderful Jackson Gibbs. It will not be tied into Accidentally in Love or In Your Arms.
****NCIS****
Jenny was sitting almost impatiently in her office, waiting for Cynthia to let her know that Gibbs and the team were back. She had received a call almost an hour before from a young man that worked with Jackson Gibbs, to tell her that Jackson had passed away. He had suffered a stroke at the store and by the time the EMT's arrived, he had passed. She didn't want to call Gibbs on the phone while he was in the field and tell him the news. She knew it had to be done in person-she also knew that they would have to drive to Kelly's house in Norfolk and let her know.
Getting up from her desk she walked over to the small liquor cabinet and poured herself a tumbler of scotch, hoping it would give her the nerve she needed to deliver this news. No sooner had she taken the first sip, her office door flew open. "Got a message that you wanted to see me Jen," Gibbs said, strolling over in front of her desk. "What'd you need?"
Taking a deep breath, she walked to where he was and grabbed a hold of his hand. "Sit down Jethro."
"I'm fine," he replied, trying to read the look in her eyes. "What's going on?"
Lacing her fingers through his, she let herself get fascinated with them for a moment, before she felt his finger under her chin and raising her head back up to face him. "Jethro, Cal called from up in Stillwater," she started, as she let go of the directors mask she wore in that office and let the wife mask replace it. "Jackson had a stroke early this morning. They did everything they could, but by the time the medics got to the store he was already gone."
Feeling a numbness come over him, he just nodded his head lightly. "Can you leave now?" he asked, taking the tumbler from her and taking a swig of the Scotch. "I want to tell Kelly in person. She should be getting home from work soon."
"Yeah," she replied with a faint nod. "Are you leaving Tony in charge of the team?"
Nodding again, he waited for her to get her things together before they headed out of her office and down to the bull pen.
"Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed, bouncing up to him. She had just come up to inform the team that she had found gun residue on the clothes of the man they had brought in, into interrogation after their sting operation.
"Hang on a second Abs," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He knew that she would take the loss of Jackson especially hard, as the team had come to consider him like a grandfather as well. "Tell Tony anything you find. The director and I are heading up to Stillwater. Jackson had a stroke and died this morning."
The silence that befell the team then was almost stifling. Ziva and Abby both had tears falling down their faces, Abby's was more like a river. Tony and McGee were both too stunned to say anything. Finally shaking his head clear, Tony looked up at Gibbs. "Anything you need boss, I can handle it here."
Nodding his thanks, Gibbs and Jenny made a quick trip down to autopsy to let Ducky and Jimmy know. Taking Jenny's hand in his again, Gibbs led her out to the truck. "Did you get Leon to cover you here?" He asked going and opening her door for her.
"Yeah, he said to send you his condolences," she replied, still a little stunned that the two men had seemed to reach a mutual understanding with each other. Of course they both know what it is like to lose a wife and be left to raise a child. "Do you think Kelly will be home yet?"
"If not, we'll just go in and wait for her," he said, not wanting to go to her school and have to tell her there.
"Okay," she replied, as they rode in silence the rest of the way to Kelly's home.
****NCIS****
Kelly Gibbs was a third grade teacher at Little Creek Elementary School. Her day ended at three pm and she would usually get home around three forty-five. So when she got home that day and saw her dad's truck in the driveway of her condo, it confused her a bit. Knowing he wouldn't leave work just to drive three and a half hours just to talk to her; it sent her own Gibbs gut into overdrive. Getting out of her car, she walked up to her front door and let herself inside. Seeing him and Jenny sitting on the couch, allowed her to let out a small sigh of relief. There was still a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that something bad had happened.
"Dad, Jenny what are you guys doing here?" She asked, setting her purse and keys down by the door.
"Come here Kelly," Gibbs said, waving her over to the couch. "I got something I need to tell you."
Walking almost hesitantly over to the couch, she said down in between her dad and step-mom. "What happened? Are you guys getting a divorce?" She asked, as she hoped it wasn't the case. Of all the women her dad had married after her mom died, Jenny was by far the best one for him.
"No, we're not getting a divorce," Gibbs replied, shooting Jenny a look when she started to chuckle.
"If it's not that, then what is it?"
Letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, Gibbs looked her straight in the eye. "Kel, your grandpa had a stroke early this morning at the store and passed away."
Looking away from Gibbs, she tried to blink back the tears that were threatening to fall. She couldn't believe it. She had just talked to Jackson that weekend and he had sounded fine. Looking down at her hands, she clasped them together hoping to stop the shaking. "Are you on your way to Stillwater now?" She asked, pretending to mess with some imaginary spot on her pants.
"We wanted to stop here first," Jenny spoke up, knowing that this was hard on her step-daughter. Even though Gibbs and Jackson hadn't spoken in many years, until their reconciliation during a case that took them to his hometown, Kelly had always spent summers with her grandfather at his store and would go visit him on occasion during college breaks. "If you want to pack a bag we'll take you with us."
Nodding her head lightly, she reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Give me a little bit. I need to call the school and set up a substitute," she replied. "Dad, do you want to drive my car to Grandpa's? I'm sure it will be more comfortable than the truck."
"Yeah, I'll go move the bags into your trunk," he replied, getting up from the couch before either woman could say anything.
Taking a deep breath and wiping the remaining tears from her eyes, Kelly gave Jenny a quick hug before going upstairs to pack a bag and make a quick phone call to the principal and let her know she would be out for the remainder of the week.
****NCIS****
Once they had arrived in Stillwater, Gibbs had dropped Jenny and Kelly off at Jackson's house, before heading over to the store. Going inside he saw Cal standing behind the counter taking care of a random customer.
"I am so sorry Agent Gibbs," he said, once the customer had left. Seeing his mentor's son in the store brought up the lingering feelings of guilt he had at not being able to revive Jackson.
"It's not your fault," Gibbs replied, shaking his head. "Listen, would you want to help me get the store ready to sell?"
"Yeah, sure"
Nodding his head, Gibbs went behind the counter and started taking down things. The first being the Winchester and emptying the bullets from it; after he finished with that, he saw a picture that someone had taken of Jackson and Kelly when she had to only been maybe eight years old. She was sitting on the counter and Jackson was leaning against the front. Setting it off to the side, he knew that when she and Jenny wandered down to the store later, that she would want to see it.
****NCIS****
A couple hours later, Jenny and Kelly had made their way down to the store. They had been stopped by a few of the townsfolk that wanted to express their condolences to Kelly, as well as Jenny. Once they had finally opened the door, the familiar sounds of the bell ringing brought tears to Kelly's eyes again. Reaching up, she tried to reach where the bell was and tried to take it down wanting to take it with her. Feeling her dad's hand brush up against hers, she let him reach the bell down for her.
"I thought I'd hang it up at home somewhere," she said quietly, as he handed her the bell and kissed the side of her head. "How is the packing and cleaning going?"
"We're almost done here," he replied, as Jenny came over to give him a hug. "We'll stop at Maggie's restaurant for dinner. Then tomorrow I'll go take care of the funeral arrangements."
Nodding her head lightly, Jenny leaned up and kissed him before replying. "That's fine Jethro. What do you need Kelly and me to do?"
"You're all ready doing it," he replied. "Just you guys being here."
****NCIS****
The next few days were hectic at best. Gibbs had planned out the military honors funeral and had gotten a hold of LJ to let him know of the arrangements. Abby had been in constant contact with Kelly, so he knew the team would have knowledge of the arrangements. He would be taking a substantial amount of time off after the funeral to get Jackson's affairs in order as well as cleaning out his childhood home. He knew Jenny would have to go back to work, but had a feeling that she would manage to get Vance to take over a lot of the duties so she could be with him. Once school let out for the summer and Kelly finished up the final in service days, she would return back and no doubt want to take back a lot of his things that she felt were sentimental.
****NCIS****
The day of the funeral, Kelly walked down the stairs and was about to put her blazer on, when a knock came on the door. Answering it, she was immediately engulfed in an Abby hug.
"Thanks for coming up here guys," she said, or tried to say as Abby was squeezing the air out of her. "Abs."
"Sorry Kelly," she replied, releasing her from the hug. "Where are Gibbs and Jenny?"
Moving out of the doorway, she let the team inside. "They're in the kitchen I think, getting coffee."
"We don't want to keep you dear, we just thought we'd stop on our way to the cemetery," Ducky said, taking his turn to hug Kelly.
Nodding her head lightly, she moved on to hug Tony. Lingering in that hug, she knew he could understand the loss. With Gibbs having pretty much adopted the whole team, and even though they were just as sad, Tony had been with the team much longer and knew how Kelly felt about Jackson. "I'm so tired," she mumbled, as they walked into the kitchen, she and Tony hanging back a bit. "It's so weird being here and not hearing his laugh, or all the stories he used to tell."
"You know, I remember the first time I really got to meet him, he gave me the sweater off his back. The weather had gotten cooler, so he let me take it," he replied, as they were at the back of the group piled into the kitchen. "You'd always talked too highly of him, that when that case brought your dad, Ziva and McGee to Stillwater-I was insanely jealous having to stay back in DC."
"You and Abs drove up like a day later," she laughed, shaking her head.
"Yeah but still, that was a whole day," he replied goofily, giving her another hug. Turning serious, he whispered in her ear. "You know aside from your grandma, you were his favorite girl."
"Thanks Tony," she whispered back, feeling the tears pricking her eyes. Before she could say anything else, she heard Gibbs announcing that they had to leave and get to the cemetery.
****NCIS****
Getting to the cemetery, Gibbs, Jenny and Kelly walked over to where Jackson was being laid to rest, and seeing a few of his World War II buddies there brought tears to both Kelly and Jenny's eyes. There were a few others from town that showed up, along with LJ. Seeing that he was having a conversation with her dad, Kelly waited a few minutes before going to stand beside him, not wanting to interrupt. Grabbing a couple roses from the bin, she handed one to Jenny who accepted it with a small smile. Taking her place beside Gibbs, they waited as a few more mourners arrived along with Cal; before the minister started the service. Watching as the Bugler played Taps while they folded the flag to present to Gibbs, the tears were running down Kelly and Abby's cheeks. When they started the twenty-one gun salute, both Kelly and Jenny stepped forward to place the single roses onto the top of the coffin. Walking back over to Gibbs, he wrapped both his arms around his girls. Looking up to the sky, he silently whispered.
"Goodbye dad,"