"I became an agent because of you." - Gibbs to Mike, Hiatus
It was a familiar pain.
He hated it then. And he hated it now.
The sting.
The heaviness.
The loss.
Someone who was there….but isn't anymore.
He blinks back tears as he cheers his glass to a ghost. But with Mike there was no piano recital to play, or picture frame to don his work bench. No. For him there was a bullet. The one that had stared him down, on a cold beach over a decade ago; when he faced a loss that was sure to defeat him.
Only it didn't.
After the revenge didn't dull the pain, he was desperate for purpose. And Mike gave him an answer.
An answer that proved to be his saving grace. An answer that gave him hope.
So he gripped the bullet tight in his fist as he remembered.
A man who loved him...
Who saved him.
"Thanks boss…"