Dead Man walking - NCIS
Introduction
Harri looked at her watch again and shuffled her feet nervously on the tiled floor. Harri's fair-haired solicitor was sitting to her left and gave her a reassuring smile, Harri gave her a weak smile in return, the jury seemed to be taking an age to come to a decision.
After three hours the court usher appeared and called them back into the court room. Slowly, Harri and her solicitor got up, Harri took a deep breath and then they made their way back in to listen to the jury's verdict.
Harri sank down onto the bed, she felt like all the stuffing had been knocked out of her. She couldn't believe the jury had been so stupid, all the evidence had been there in front of them and yet they'd ruled that Nicolas Johnson was not guilty on all cases and was free. As he'd stepped out of the dock, Nicholas had fixed Harri with his steely gaze, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He'd lifted his left hand, pointed to his eyes and then pointed to her and then turned and walked away. Harri's blood had run cold in her veins, and no matter how much her solicitor had tried to reassure her, Harri knew that Nicholas would be out for revenge and that meant she wasn't safe.
Grabbing her laptop from the bedside table, Harri logged on to the British Airways website and booked herself onto the next available flight to Washington DC, she then dragged her back-pack from where she stored it at the back of her wardrobe and packed it with some essentials. She frantically searched through her drawers until she found her passport and put it, along with her credit card in her jeans pocket and then walked out of the flat which she'd called home for the last five years without looking back.
Chapter one
Donald 'Ducky' Mallard was relaxing in an armchair with a cup of English tea, it had been busy in the mortuary and although he loved his job, there was nothing he enjoyed more than a nice cup of tea whilst reading his medical books. Ducky was irritated when a knock on the door disturbed him.
"Whatever you're selling, I'm really not interested." He said as he pulled the front door open.
"Then it's a good job I'm only here for a visit."
Ducky was rendered speechless when he saw who was standing there.
"surprise."
"Well my dear, you'd better come in." Ducky stepped to one side so that his visitor could enter the house.
"Would you like to join me in a cup of tea?"
"D'you have anything stronger?"
"Coffee."
"Oh Ducky, you haven't changed a bit. Tea will be fine thanks."
Whilst Ducky fetched another cup and saucer from the kitchen, his guest re-familiarised herself with his lounge. She ran her fingers over the leather spines of the books on the shelf and glanced at the pictures on the walls. A picture placed on top of the tv caught her eye and she picked it up, five smiling people looked back at her.
"Does he know you're here?" Ducky was stood in the lounge doorway holding the Dalton cup and saucer.
She jumped as Ducky spoke, she hadn't heard him return.
"No." She quickly replaced the photo where she'd found it. "Ducky, can I stay with you for little while please, just until I know what I'm doing?"
"Harriet you know you are always welcome here. You know you really should tell him you're back."
"I will when I'm ready. Anyway, he won't want to see me."
"You'd be surprised."
"Ducky, I've had a long trip, do you mind if I take my tea upstairs, grab a shower and then go to bed?"
"Of course not my dear, you know where to go."
Harriet kissed Ducky on the cheek and picked up her bag; as she walked out of the lounge, Harriet looked back at Ducky "Please can I ask that you don't tell him either" she requested, before climbing the stairs and going into the bedroom which she knew was always made up ready for unexpected guests.
Ducky sat back in his armchair and sipped his cup of tea, deep in thought. He knew what Harriet had asked him to do but he also knew what he really should do, "oh my" he thought, decisions, decisions.
Harri had been staying with Ducky for a week, she didn't really see much of him as he worked unpredictable hours and she was often left alone which suited her fine, it gave her time to think. Every time Harri went into the lounge the first thing she noticed was the photo on the tv and today was no exception. She tried to ignore it but in the end she picked it up then sat on the sofa looking at it. Harri sighed as she looked at the five faces, three of them she knew really well but the other two she didn't recognise at all. Slowly she stretched out her index finger and traced the outline of the face of the oldest man in the picture, tears welling in her eyes. It took Harri another hour of starring at the picture for her to realise Ducky was right, it was time he knew she was back in town. She dropped the photo on the sofa and left the house.
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was sitting at his desk completing paperwork from his team's latest case. Special Agent Antony DiNozzo and Special Agent Timothy McGee were also sat at their desks opposite Gibbs, none of them enjoyed completing paperwork but it was a necessity of the job. Timothy and Tony were acting like two teenagers bored in a class at school and thought Gibbs wasn't paying any attention to them. Tony had shrunk to juvenile activities and was flicking small, screwed up pieces of paper at Timothy whilst Timothy was trying his hardest not to retaliate.
"DiNozzo, I'd think again if I was you." Warned Gibbs, without looking up from what he was doing.
Caught red handed, Tony resumed to doing his paperwork, McGee gave him a smug smile but became aware of Gibbs' glare and also went back to what he should be doing. Across from them both, Eleanor Bishop smiled, she loved these three people, they were her family.
The team were so used to people coming and going from the elevator near their desks that at first they didn't notice the girl with long, auburn hair watching them from the gallery, it was only when Tony glanced up that he saw her. It was a moment before he recognised her but when he did, surprise followed by delight crossed his face and he immediately jumped to his feet and rushed to greet her.
"Hello stranger." He said, throwing his arms around her and hugging her close to him.
"Hi Tony, good to see you." Harri hugged him tightly back.
Gibbs recognised the voice as soon as he heard it and he immediately stopped what he was doing. An expert at poker, no expression crossed his face as he looked up and saw Harri.
"Honey, you haven't changed one little bit, still as beautiful as ever." Gushed Tony.
"Why thank you Tony, you look pretty good yourself." She laughed.
"Boss, you didn't mention Harri was in town." Tony looked at Gibbs. "That's because he didn't know." Replied Harri, a serious edge to her voice. "Hello uncle Jethro."
Jethro didn't reply, his steely eyes held Harri's gaze for a minute and then he got up from his desk and turned and walked away.
Eleanor and Tim watched what was going on confused; who was this girl that had made the colour drain from the face of their rock-solid boss? They looked at each other and Tim shrugged his shoulders, it was obvious there wasn't a lot of love lost between Gibbs and this girl.
"McGee, Bishop, let me introduce you to Harriet Gibbs." Said Tony, remembering Bishop and McGee didn't know Harri and trying his best to cover up what had just happened. Harri blinked back the tears which had begun to sting the back of her eyes, as she looked at the space where Gibbs had been stood, nothing had changed, he still hated her; she wasn't surprised though, when she'd left five years ago they'd hardly been on speaking terms.
Ducky was in the mortuary with his assistant Jimmy Palmer, discussing probable cause of death of the latest victim to find himself on the mortuary table. The sound of the sliding doors from the elevator signalled a visitor to their work space. Ducky didn't even have to look up to know that it was Gibbs.
"How long!" Gibbs demanded in a tone he never used with his closest friend.
Jimmy was surprised, he'd only ever heard Gibbs speak like that to suspects he was interrogating.
"Mr. Palmer, perhaps you could go and find something else to do."
Jimmy didn't need asking twice, he virtually ran out of the mortuary, his first stop would be to find Tony and the rest of the team to see what was going on.
"How long?" Gibbs demanded again, this time slightly softer but the anger in his voice was still evident.
"Just over a week." Ducky moved away from the body on the table, walked across the room and sat in the chair next to his desk.
"And you didn't think to tell me?"
"She asked me not to."
"Why's she here?"
"I don't know; she turned up on my doorstep with very little luggage. Jethro, I think there's more to her visit than meets the eye."
Gibbs perched on the desk next to Ducky, his shoulders slumped and for the first time in a long time, Ducky could see Gibbs' vulnerable side, the side he never showed anyone other than those closest to him.
"Ducky, what would you do?"
"I'd talk to her Jethro. She came here for a reason and I think that reason is now here talking to me."
"Looks like there's been lots of changes here." Harri said as she walked with her arm looped through Tony's. They were on their way to the basement to surprise Abbie in her lab.
"Certainly has hunni, certainly has." Tony agreed. "I just can't believe you're here after all these years."
As they walked through the corridors, Harri gazed around her; these were the same corridors she walked through most of her life when she'd visited her uncle and his team before she moved to England. Nothing had changed, they looked the same and they smelled the same; Harri suddenly had a real feeling of coming home.
As usual, Abbie was moving between her computer screen and her lab desk, analysing some sort of data. She worked alone and only got visitors to her lab when they needed her to do something or she needed to tell them something. The sound of the automatic doors made her jump and she looked up to see who was there.
"Hey Abs" Harri gave her friend a small wave from the doorway.
Abbie shrieked, stopped what she was doing ran across her lab; when she reached Harri, Abbie threw her arms around her and gave Harri the tightest hug she'd ever had.
"Looks like someone is happy to see you." Laughed Tony.
"What are you doing here? How long are you staying for?" Abbie bombarded her friend with questions.
"Oh you know, sometimes there's just no place like home." Harri smiled, there was no way she was telling them the real reason she was home, not yet.
"Gibbs must be rapped to see you." Abbie gushed.
"I wouldn't quite put it like that." Answered Harri.
"What happened?" Abbie was puzzled.
"He walked away."
"Without saying anything?"
"Without saying anything. I guess he still hasn't forgiven me for leaving." The trio sat in silence for a few minutes before Harri spoke again. "So, Tony, pizza and movies at your house tonight?" She gave him her biggest smile.
Tony could never resist Harri and although the thought of everyone converging at his immaculately spotless home made his heart race, he reluctantly agreed.
"Fab, I'll see you around 7, make sure you invite the others." Harri started to leave the lab.
"Wait, aren't you going to go and find Gibbs?" Asked Abbie
"What, and give him the satisfaction of ignoring me again? Not bloody lightly" snorted Harri and was gone.
Tony hated having people round, he liked everything spotless and didn't like people touching anything; Harri could always get around him though, he could never say no to her.
Music was playing in the background and everyone was laughing, eating pizza and drinking wine. Harri looked at the scene around her and inwardly smiled, these people were her family and where she was meant to be; this was where she felt safe and my goodness did she need to feel safe at the moment, who knew where Nicholas Jackson was or whether he was looking for her.
Tony sat on the large, brown leather sofa and watched Harri laughing with everyone, sharing tales of her time in England. FBI training meant Tony noticed every detail and he was well aware that every time someone asked her how long she was staying, Harri quickly changed the subject and never actually answered the question.
When the evening was over and the last guest had gone, Harri flopped down on the sofa next to Tony; she pulled his arm around her shoulder and rested her head against his chest.
"Tony, you're the best friend a girl can ask for." Harri's speech was slightly slurred and she smelt faintly of red wine and pizza.
"Really?"
"Of course." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, not noticing the edge to Tony's voice.
"If that's so, then why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you leave without saying goodbye? Why haven't I heard from you for five years? Why are you back now – the real reason?"
Harri pushed herself up and looked him squarely in the face, Tony's serious expression met hers.
"I, I don't know what you mean."
"Five years ago you walked out of here one Friday night and without telling anyone, caught a taxi to the airport and hopped on plane to England. No one, not even the boss had any idea where you were for 36 hours, we were freaking out. After that, you sent a Christmas card the first Christmas you were away and then nothing since; you haven't even been on social media. Then suddenly, you swan back in and expect to be able to pick up exactly where you left off."
"You know how it was Tony, things weren't good between me and Gibbs so I thought it would be best if I had a fresh start, somewhere no-one knew me or expected anything from me."
"You know full well that things were bad because you had turned into the original wild child; he never knew what you were doing or who you were doing it with. He was worried about you, hell hunni we were all worried about you!"
"Tony I'm sorry, I just thought it was for the best." Harri turned away so that Tony couldn't see the tears beginning to well in her eyes; if only she could tell Tony, her uncle and the rest of the team the truth.
"Harri if you were in trouble we would've helped."
"Tony I didn't and don't need any help; like I said, I was just looking for a fresh start. Look, I'm really tired, you ok if I crash in your spare room?"
"Yeah hunni, that's totally fine" said Tony, his voice softening; "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
"It's ok. Night Tony." Harri kissed Tony on the cheek once more and then retreated to his spare room for the night.
Harri closed the bedroom and then leaned her back against it, she hated lying to Tony, he had been one of her closest friends and she'd confided in him about everything; everything other than Nicholas Jackson.
Harri had been 16 when she had first meet Nicholas Jackson; he was a couple of years older than her and went to the same school. Nicholas was cool; he drove a cool car, had the coolest friends and was popular with everyone who knew him. All of Harri's friends fancied him and would give anything to be part of his group, but it was Harri who had caught his eye; not only was she a pretty, but she also had an air of naivety about her that Nicholas thought he could use to his advantage. Despite his popular appearance, Nicholas wasn't a nice person; at the age of 18 years, he was already dabbling in drug dealing and carried a handgun everywhere with him. Nicholas wasn't afraid of violence and had arranged the beating of several people who had got on the wrong side of him. Nicholas wasn't stupid though, he never got his own hands dirty, he relied on naïve people like Harri who he could reel in and then control hook, line and sinker.
Harri was flattered the first time Nicholas had asked her on a date, they'd gone out for a fancy meal and then on to see a movie. Nicholas had made Harri feel special and when he wanted to take things further, even though she wasn't sure, Harri slept with him; it was at this point Nicholas knew Harri would do anything he wanted her to. Nicholas told Harri not to tell her family about their relationship, he convinced her they wouldn't approve of the age gap or the fact they were sleeping together and Harri believed him.
Harri and Nicholas had been together a couple of months when he first asked her to run drugs for him. He asked her to take a parcel across town to his cousin, he said it was a birthday present for him. Harri didn't question him and did exactly as he asked, none the wiser at the risk she was taking. It was another month before he hit her for the first time; Harri wanted to go and see a movie but Nicholas wanted to stay in and take her to bed; he'd done a big drugs deal and was totally pumped. Harri had made the mistake of arguing with him and that's when he punched her in the stomach. Harri had crumpled to the floor in pain and because Nicholas had punched the breath out of her; Nicholas calmly stepped over her and left the house, slamming the door behind him.
After that, Nicholas regularly beat Harri, but never on the face, always where any marks couldn't be seen. Harri took to wearing long sleeved tops and jeans, no matter what the weather was. With lack of sleep and her school work suffering, Gibbs had tackled his niece about it on several occasions but it always ended in a huge row and their relationship began to fracture. Harri had always been good friends with Tony, Kate and Abbie who her uncle worked with, but she couldn't even reach out to them as she was frightened of the repercussions. By now, Harri had realised she was running drugs for Nicholas but she was in so deep she didn't know what to do, that's when she had the idea to run away as far as she could go.
On the flight from USA to England, Harri had cried the entire journey, she didn't want to be leaving her friends and family but she had no other choice.
Nicholas had followed Harri to England and it wasn't long before she was in his clutches again, this time Harri just accepted it though as Nicholas had ensured she had a roof over her head and just enough money in her pocket. It was after a house raid though that things changed; the Police had been watching Harri for about six months when they raided the house where she was living with Nicholas. The Police knew that Nicholas was away on 'business' but they wanted to get closer to the girl who was always by his side. They could tell that she was controlled by Jackson and thought there was probably domestic abuse as well; if they could reassure her that they could keep her safe, they might be able to get her to work with them to bring him down.
At first Harri had resisted but finally she had agreed and that was how she'd found herself in the courtroom testifying against him.
Chapter two
Harri had been back in state for almost four months and during that time she managed to get herself a job at the local pool teaching children to swim. Her and Tony had never mentioned their conversation again, they acted as if it had never happened and Harri was pleased about that. Harri was manging to re-establish some of her friendships, especially with some of her old school friends and of course Abbie and Tony. Harri had also got to know Nick Torres, Eleanor, Tim and Tim's wife Delilah. The only person she wasn't really managing to rebuild a relationship with was Gibbs; her uncle had barely even looked at her since Harri had returned. If Harri was meeting up with any of the team, Gibbs would ensure he wasn't available, if he walked into the coffee shop and she was there he would walk out again. Every time it happened Harri felt herself die a little inside, he was her only real family and the person she most wanted to make amends with. As soon as she was able to, Harri had moved out of Ducky's and into her own apartment; she loved going around thrift stores to see what she could find to make the place homely.
Most weekends Harri had most, if not all of the team back to her apartment for a movie night, games night or general music night; everyone took some food and drink and generally they ended up staying for the night. As her apartment was on the ground floor, Timothy's wife Delilah was also able to go along as it was accessible for her wheelchair. It was during these evenings that Harri and Torres started to get friendly; they would spend most of the evening chatting, Harri found him easy to speak to, although she could never confide in him with her biggest secret.
Harri arrived home from work one Friday evening and sank down on the sofa. She'd had a really hard day with back to back lessons and dealing with pushy parents who thought their little darlings would be the next Olympic champion if she could get them over their fear of the water. Tonight was the same as any other Friday night, her friends would be coming over in a couple of hours to spend the evening eating pizza, laughing and relaxing. The theme of tonight was 80s and they were going to spend the evening watching 80s movies and listening to 80s music. Secretly Harri hoped Gibbs might turn up but in reality she knew he probably wouldn't.
There was time for Harri to have a shower before anyone stated to arrive; she went into the bathroom and turned to the shower on the warm up whilst she went back into the bedroom to get undressed.
Torres was the first to arrive at Harri's, when he got there the front door was slightly ajar; he could hear the shower running so presumed she'd left it open so whoever got there first could get in.
"Harri, it's Nick." Nick called as he pushed the front door open and stepped inside. Something didn't feel right to Nick, other than the sound of running water the house was in silence, it was unlike Harri not to have music playing. Instinctively, Nick put his hand up to where his gun was holstered on his right hip, ready to grab it should it be required.
"Harri." He called again, again no answer.
Nick unholstered his gun and cautiously walked around each room of the apartment; everything was as it should be until he came to the bedroom. As Nick pushed open the bedroom door he was meet with the sight of chaos; furniture had been pushed over, a mirror was broken and there was fresh blood on the wall. Nick held his gun in front of him and slowly entered the room, his body tense and ready to react. At first he thought that room was also empty but then Nick suddenly noticed a body on the floor the far side of the bed. Nick rushed forward and then knelt next to the lifeless body, he gently rolled Harri onto her back and checked for a pulse; he breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it there, it was weak but it was there. Nick grabbed his mobile phone out of his pocket and phoned for an ambulance, after that he made one more phone call.
When the Ambulance arrived at the hospital, the paramedics rushed Harri through to the ER; Torres was following behind, his brain still trying to compute what was happening. During the journey to the hospital Harri's pulse had remained weak but she hadn't deteriorated; her body was a mass of bruises and it looked as though her arm was probably broken.
Torres was pacing the waiting area when Gibbs rushed in.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
"In there." Torres pointed towards the resus room where the doctors were working on Harri. "The doctor said he'd be out as soon as he had any news."
"What the hell happened?!"
"I don't know boss; I went around and found the front door open. Something didn't feel right so I searched the place and found Harri on the floor in the bedroom. Boss, the lock on the door wasn't broken so whoever did this was either in the apartment waiting for her or she let them in."
It was an hour before the doctor came out to give an update on Harri, in that time Tim, Eleanor, Tony, Abbie and Ducky had arrived and were waiting with Gibbs and Nick. Gibbs paced, his face devoid of all emotion but inside his heart was racing, who had done this to his niece and why?
"Who is Miss. Gibbs' next of kin?" The doctor asked.
"I am." Gibbs stepped forward.
"Is she gonna be ok?" Asked Abbie.
"Miss. Gibbs was in a very bad way when she came in here, she was barely alive."
"But is she going to be ok?" Gibbs echoed Abbie's words.
"Miss. Gibbs has two broken ribs, a punctured lung, her left arm is broken, her right eye socket is fractured and she has a severe concussion. She also has contusions all over her body. We are moving her to ICU for the next 48 hours so that we can just keep an eye on her condition, mainly because of the concussion."
"Can we see her?" Asked Tony.
"I'm afraid only her next of kin at this stage. Mr. Gibbs would you like to follow me."
Gibbs hesitated and his jaw tensed, for a moment Tony thought he was going to decline but then Gibbs' poker face resumed and he followed the doctor through to resus.
Gibbs was shocked to see the state of his niece; her skin looked pale but big, purple bruises covered her face and arms. Harri's eyes were closed, and if Gibbs hadn't been told otherwise, he would've thought she was dead.
"Oh Harriet, what have you got yourself into?" Gibbs whispered.
At that moment, Harri's eyes fluttered open, she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Instinctively Gibbs reached forward and took her hand in his, he squeezed it tightly and Harri was able to lightly squeeze his back.
"it's gonna be ok." He reassured her; "I'm here now."
Harri smiled and a tear slid from the corner of her eye; tenderly Gibbs wiped it away and gave her a smile. Harri felt her whole body relax, perhaps things were going to be ok.
Harri stayed in ICU for two days and was then moved; and during that time Gibbs never left her side. Although there were strict visiting times for ICU, the nurses never asked Gibbs to leave. When she moved out of ICU, Gibbs ensured Harri had a private room and instructed for a guard to be outside her door at all times. At first Harri was very quiet, she wouldn't speak to anyone, just lay in her bed and gazed out the window. Her friends all tried to visit but she refused to see any of them, even Tony; Gibbs was there every day but she couldn't even bring herself to speak to him. Gibbs understood though, he knew that one day, when she was ready she would speak, so he just sat and held her hand.
Two weeks after Harri was moved out of ICU, Tony decided he was going to visit her, no matter what she said, she was his friend and it was killing him staying away from her. Gibbs and Tony agreed that he would actually take Gibbs' place at visiting time that evening.
As usual, Harri was laying in bed, her head turned towards the window but not really looking at anything. When she heard the door open, Harri thought it was probably her uncle and made no effort to move. Tony was shocked at Harri's appearance, she'd lost weight and her hair was lank on the pillow. Tony took a deep breath and fixed a grin on his face.
"Hey hunni, how we feeling tonight?"
Harri's head snapped round when she heard Tony's voice, her eyes were full of confusion.
"Well, I thought it was time you saw someone other than the boss; you must be so bored of his face." Tony laughed.
Harri just scowled at him and turned back to the window. Not to be defeated, Tony grabbed the chair and moved it around to the other side of the bed so that he was once again in her eyeline. Harri frowned at him and turned her head again. Once again Tony picked up the chair and carried it to the other side of the bed, back in her eyeline.
"Hunni we can continue this all night if you like, but by the time visiting is finished you will've spoken to me!"
Harri shut her eyes and kept them shut for a good 15 minutes, hoping that Tony would get the message but Tony just began to whistle; it was a shrill, irritating noise and felt like an alarm piercing through her brain. In the end she could stand it no more; Harri opened her eyes and glared at Tony.
"Will you bloody well shut up!" She croaked with as much anger as she could muster in her weak body.
"I knew you could still speak; that's $10 Torres owes me!" Tony leaned forward and snapped his fingers in victory.
"Tony, why are you here?" She asked, her voice weak.
"Because I care for you hunni, we all care for you. Since you were attacked everyone has wanted to come and see you, they're just waiting for the nod."
"You didn't wait for 'the nod'" Harri sneered.
"You know me, impatient as hell!" Tony leaned forward and gently took her hand in his, his body language softened; "We have been and we still are so worried about you Harri, we need to know what happened and why, whoever did this needs putting away."
Harri put her free hand over her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks, she still couldn't tell Tony what had happened; if Tony knew, he, her uncle and the rest of the team would be disgusted and hate her forever and she wasn't ready for that, not when she'd just welcomed them back into her life.
"I can't tell you Tony, I can't tell any of you, you'd all hate me for the rest of my life." Harri gasped through the tears.
"Harri, nothing could make us hate you, we love and care for you." Tony held her hand tightly in both of his.
Harri shook her head, she couldn't and wouldn't tell them today, she just couldn't find the words.
"Ok hunni, don't worry, you don't need to do it today, just know that everyone is here for you when you are ready." Tony stroked the hair back from her face and gently wiped her eyes with a tissue from the bedside table.
"Tony, please will you call my uncle, I really want him to take me home."
"No problem hunni, I'll be back in two minutes."
Gibbs was ecstatic when he heard Harri wanted to go home, it certainly was a step forward. It was another three weeks though before the doctors were satisfied that she was well enough to leave their care. Harri didn't want to move back into her flat initially, even so, she didn't want to give up the lease. Harri would be moving in with Gibbs until such a time when she would feel comfortable living on her own again. Abbie and Eleanor went round to Harri's flat to collect clothes and some of her precious items, working from a list that Harri had given them when they last went to visit her in hospital. As they looked around the flat for the things which Harri wanted, both Abbie and Eleanor felt chilled when they walked into the bedroom. Tony had been around the week before and straightened it up but the room still filled them with unease.
The day Harri was released from hospital, all the team gathered at Gibbs' house to welcome her home. Since she'd begun speaking again, everyone had been to the hospital to visit her and try to lift her spirits, every one that is except Nick Torres. Nick had really struggled with being the person that had found Harri, although he had been dealing with victims for a long time, never had it been someone he knew or was friends with. Torres had woken in the night in cold sweats from nightmares where Harri had died in his arms. Nick had agreed to be at Gibbs' that night but he really wasn't sure whether he should go or not. Eleanor had sensed his apprehension though and had cajoled him into giving her a lift as that way once he got there he'd have to stay.
The first thing Harri saw was the 'welcome home' banner taped to the front door.
"You ready for this?" Gibbs asked her.
Harri nodded, this is where she wanted to be.
Gibbs never locked his front door so Harri was able to just turn the handle and walk straight in. She was met by shouts of 'welcome home' and party poppers going off. There were multicoloured balloons everywhere and Harri's favourite CD playing in the background. Harri went around each of her friends and hugged them all, how she loved them. When it came to Nick, he and Harri stood and looked at each other for what seemed like an age and then Harri suddenly threw her arms around him and hugged him tight and Nick hugged her back.
"Thank you." Harri whispered in his ear.
When they released each other, both Harri and Nick's eyes were wet with tears; tonight, they had made an unbreakable connection.
Everyone sat around until the small hours, eating pizza, drinking beer (except Harri who was on medication) and chatting and laughing. Even Gibbs had relaxed and was able to join in the fun, he finally had his niece back with him and he would protect her with his life if he had to. Gibbs caught sight of Nick across the room and the way he was watching Harri, then suddenly Nick moved his gaze and him and his boss locked eyes. At that moment the boss and his team member made an unspoken pact, both knew what the other was thinking, both were thinking that whoever had done that to Harri was a dead man walking. Nick nodded to Gibbs and Gibbs nodded back.