Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs stepped out of his car and onto his driveway. He walked along the walkway toward the front door, and bent down to pick up the paper bag in front of it before walking inside.
For the past two months there had been a bag of takeout sitting on his front porch when he arrived home from work. At first he had been sure it was Abby sending him the food, as she was undoubtedly worried about how he was coping with Jenny's death, but knew better than to directly confront him about taking care of himself. It wasn't for another week that he discovered that the food had not been sent by Abby.
Gibbs walked through the automatic doors into Abby's lab, where he found her deep in conversation with McGee, who had been visiting her very often since the team was split up. They didn't hear him enter, so he was able to catch part of their conversation.
"I know Abbs, but what can we do?"
"I don't know! That's why I'm asking you!"
"Well, he can't be doing too bad, right? I mean, he seems okay…"
"McGee! Are you blind!? Our fearless leader, the one and only Silver-Haired Fox has clearly been hit hard by the Director's death! I bet he eats regular meals even less than he used to! Come to think of it, I haven't even seen him eat a snack! He must-"
"Abby!" McGee interrupted, "I'm pretty sure Gibbs is eating; he is alive, after all."
"But he's Gibbs! He runs on coffee and psychic power! But he'll eventually run out! Well, maybe not of coffee, but-"
"Abby!"
"Sorry," she leaned into his chest and sighed, "I'm just worried about him."
"Me too, Abby," he put his arms around her, "Me too."
Gibbs turned around and went back to the bullpen, leaving Abby and McGee to each other. He had realized that Abby couldn't have been the one sending the food, because she obviously didn't know about it at all. But now, he had to find out who had actually sent it. He was able to eliminate Tony and Ziva because of location and access, and McGee obviously didn't know about it either. Ducky would have just told him outright to eat and handed him some food, so who could it be? He sent his team home, then left the office himself. He was going to figure out who would take such an effort to make sure he was well.
When he arrived home, there was yet another bag in front of his door. This one he picked up with a pair of latex gloves and set down carefully on the table in his kitchen. He removed the contents, six small containers of Chinese food, and searched the bottom of the bag for a receipt. He couldn't find one, but when inspecting the containers, noticed the words 'Red Dragon' printed on the bottom of each, along with an address.
He grabbed his keys and drove to the restaurant where the food had come from. The manager was hesitant until Gibbs flashed his NCIS badge. She then told him that the person sending the food was a woman who always ordered over the phone, but that was all she knew.
The next day, Gibbs gave Agent Keating the Red Dragon's phone number and told him to pull up the phone records. Keating commented that one number had been calling the restaurant every day for the past couple of months. He gave Gibbs the address of the place where the number was registered, which consisted of a building number and apartment number. He then asked him why he needed it, but Gibbs was already gone.
He arrived at a ritzy-looking apartment complex about two hours later and walked into the lobby. The man at the front desk greeted him with 'welcome' and a statement about the apartments being the most exclusive in the region. Gibbs pulled out his badge and asked where apartment 1067 was, and the man immediately started advocating for the innocence of its resident in whatever matter NCIS could be investigating.
"I insist, sir, you must have the wrong person. Ms. Jeffreys is incapable of anything criminal!"
"Relax. She's not in any trouble; I just need to talk to her."
The man gave in and handed Gibbs a map of the building, pointing at the location of number 1067.
Gibbs knocked on the door of the tenth floor apartment and waited for this 'Ms. Jeffreys' to open the door, thinking he was fairly certain that he did not know anyone by that name.
The doorknob turned, and the door was opened by a tall woman with long grey hair.
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs? Well I'll be darned!"
"Shirley?"
Shirley Taryll was a former NCIS agent who had worked with Gibbs and his team quite a few times in Europe. She was close to the same age as Ducky, and hailed from the south, as was apparent by her accent.
"Oh, it's been so long! Come in, come in!"
Gibbs followed her, slightly confused, into the apartment. She directed him to sit down as she brought him some coffee from the kitchen.
"Well, it certainly has been a long time, hasn't it? How are you doing?"
"You live here?"
Unfazed by his ignorance of her question, she answered, "Yes. Well, no. I live next door."
This just added to Gibbs' confusion. "Well whoever lives here has been sending me takeout every night for over two months."
Shirley set down her coffee cup and sighed, then smiled.
"I should have known you'd figure it out…she said you would, but I assured her you wouldn't. Shows what I know, huh?"
"Who?"
"I come over here every day to help her out while she rests. Stubborn thing fights me about it; I told her that I'll take care of the cleaning and all that, but she feels that she has to do everything by herself."
"Who!?"
She sighed again. "Come on. She'll be angry with me for this, but I'm sure she'll get over it quickly."
She got up and motioned for Gibbs to follow her. He complied, grumbling about her being so cryptic. Not much had changed in a decade.
They stopped at a closed door, and Shirley signaled for him to be quiet before slowly and quietly opening it. They stepped in, and Gibbs saw the shape of a sleeping woman under the covers of the bed. It wasn't until he went closer that he noticed the locks of red hair sticking out.
He instantly recognized the color, the shade. It was her.
It was Jenny.
