The Mending of a Broken Woman
Chapter 1.
It had been one very long week and finally the case was over and everyone in the bullpen was just getting the paperwork completed. As Gibbs looked out at them all and after Liz had just put hers on his desk, he decided to relent and send them all home. It had been a very difficult case for them all, but for Liz it had been the hardest of all.
Originally Liz had joined them on just a temporary assignment while Ziva had been away on an extended break in Israel. Because of the way Liz had fitted in so well with them all and so very quickly, it also stayed that way when Ziva returned. So Gibbs managed to persuade Vance that he wanted to keep her and they went on to become a four person team. When she first joined Tony did of course flirt with her like crazy, but she soon shot him down and instead the two of them became really close friends instead.
Right from the off Gibbs had really liked Liz and she was also a really great agent, she'd also got degrees in criminal psychology and also computer forensics. Unlike McGee though she chose not to advertise the fact that she'd got some brains, even if if Gibbs did slightly test her on her first case with them with her criminal psychology. He also hated to admit it but she was even better than Kate was at profiling, which was saying something. He also couldn't believe how at ease she made him feel with their working relationship and somehow it reminded him of the relationship he and Tony had had when they first started working together. Especially as like Tony did, it felt very like she put a mask up and hid her true self deep down. After she and Tony had got over all the flirting business it soon became clear that the two of them became friends with a shared misery. As on more than a couple of occasions as he'd seen the two of them talking, he could visibly see the masks coming down on the both of them. As soon as someone spoke to them though the masks would instantly be back up once again. Yes from her file he did know some of what she'd been through, but that was just what was on paper.
After a couple of months of Liz being an official member of team Gibbs, Gibbs started to realize that he'd got feelings for Liz, but he was trying so very hard to fight them. Not just because of rule 12 of course! But also because of the age gap between them, it wasn't exactly like she was old enough too be her father, but it was still quite a gap. In the end though things just had to come to a head!
It had happened because they'd been chasing an arms dealer, so Tony had gone in undercover as someone looking for a deal on behalf of his boss a major arms dealer, who was of course Gibbs. As they were doing the case set up they soon realized thanks to Liz's profile of the dealer, they knew that he preferred to deal with younger dealers so that he could kill off the competition, especially if they were also single and had no family around them. So they then decided that Tony would be the single younger dealer and then Gibbs being the one with a partner, all be it a clueless partner which of course was Liz's role. The idea was that when she put in her first appearance with them, she had to be all over Gibbs, not only that none of them had seen the undercover clothes she'd been given to wear; but when she did walk in with a short skirt and a low cut top on, Gibbs eyes nearly popped out of his head! Not only that as she sat down next to him and cuddling into him as well as flirting, he was really hoping and praying that she wouldn't notice that the blood had all traveled south and he could feel himself growing hard. As the dealer and Tony were talking to seal the deal they were going to take, she initiated a kiss with him and boy did he feel the fireworks go off between them! Not only that he also found that he surprised himself slightly, as he bought his hand up to the back of her head to deepen the kiss. He also soon found himself exploring her mouth with his tongue, and he found himself imagining the possibility of it happening really between them. When they eventually broke apart he could see with the way there was just a small halo of green left in her eyes, that she had feelings for him too.
In the end it was Liz who had ended up being the hero of the hour, because the idea to catch the dealer Carl other NCIS agents were going too do a raid on the club once the deal was done, in which Liz, Gibbs and Tony were also going too be falsely arrested. During the raid Carl managed to take Liz hostage, not knowing of course that she was a big self defense and martial arts expert. Even though Gibbs knew she'd done all the self defense and martial arts stuff because of what had happened to her sister and hadn't told anyone other than Tony about what had happened. Because of her being such an expert they'd had to give up going to train in the gym because with the way she and Ziva were matched as well as with Gibbs, she had beaten them both a few times, so when word got round the building they were in the gym they'd get a big audience watching them. So when Carl took her she went limp in his arms giving him a false sense of security. Then at the right moment she kicked him where it hurt before then throwing him to the ground. As he hit the ground he also hit his head and lost consciousness. Because of that the false arrest didn't happen, but the team doing the raid took Carl into custody. Before all that happened though as they went over the final details of their deal in the club, she and Gibbs were being very flirty again. She'd also been given a little black dress to wear which once again had a very short skirt to it and low cut top. It was also quite tight so when she'd walked past Gibbs he'd found it very hard not to lick his lips and swallow hard. Just before the hostage situation happened, he'd been standing against a post and she'd gone over to kiss him. When they broke apart he got more of an eye full down her top than he'd expected to, but he found that he loved it. As he then pulled her in for another kiss he also let his hands wander all over her perfect curves, when he reached her ass he pulled her into him. He knew that once again all the blood had gone south and that she'd felt him starting to go hard again with the way she tried to keep her moan as quiet as possible, but as they broke apart once again he could see that her pupils had blown.
When everything was all over and because of her being slightly shaken up, even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone; Gibbs took his jacket off and put it round her shoulders, then he made sure that they got a car to themselves when they were driven back to the Navy Yard again. He also ensures that he sits in the middle so they could cuddle up as best they could. As she laid her head on his chest drinking in his scent he lightly stroked her shoulder and back, which eventually lulled her into sleep. So with that he made a quiet call to Vance saying that he was taking her home because she was exhausted and needed a rest. After that he gave the driver instructions to take them back to his house. When they got there he somehow got her out of the car and into his arms without waking her and laid her gently on the sofa before covering her in a blanket. He then made another quiet call to Ziva asking her to bring over Liz's go bag from her desk so that she'd got a change of clothes. Liz was still so out of it that she never even heard Ziva arrive with her bag and leave again.
Things between the two of them got bought to a head when she woke up and he told her that she could have a shower and freshen up if she wanted too. As she went to go she asked him if he could undo the dress for her, when he did so and she moved her hair out of the way exposing some of the skin at her neck, he couldn't help but take a chance that he started to kiss and nibble at the spot. As she shivered when the zip reached its end he whispered into her ear that they would talk when she came back down again.
They then talked as they sat at the table having something to eat and coffees. As they admitted to feeling the same way about each other she also admits that she is slightly scared because yes she had had relationships in the past, but not for years because in the last few years when men had found out about her sister and what had happened to her they had dropped her. Plus she also knew that some of what had happened with her sister scared her too. As he then takes her hand as reassurance as he asks her what happened to her sister. After a few minutes of struggling with how to get her words out, she finally says "She was raped twice. The first time she was just dragged off the street, thrown into a car and taken somewhere secluded. He also beat her up and dumped her on the doorstep of the hospital. The second time she was drugged by her so called partner and the attack went on for days because he kept her drugged up. In the days that followed he also bought in his so called friends to also do what they wanted to her." As she then shudders Gibbs gets out of his chair and comes to kneel in front of her still holding her hand. She then carries on saying "As well as doing what they wanted to her they also beat her up, burnt her with cigarettes and kept her tied up. When mom and dad found out they disowned her, forbade her from ever entering the house again and to stay away from me. She ended up as a homeless alcoholic and drug addict before she committed suicide." She then dissolves into tears and he gets up off the floor to hug her as he asks "How did you find out what had happened?"
She answers "When I made detective that boyfriend crossed our path when he did the same thing to another woman and she reported it. Despite what mom and dad had done to her before the suicide she had found the strength to also report him, so I saw her case file when we did the background check."
He then asks "Is that when you disowned them?"
She answers with a wry smile "It was. Because it made me realize that their religious philosophy was a joke and that they basically then treated me the same as the boyfriend had treated her. All be it without being drugged and abused sexually of course, but I mean the being locked up and beaten way. That's why I have the scars on my back because of the belt that he used on me. As while he did it both he and mom would be in my ear telling me that it was for my own good, because I wouldn't be able to lie on my back for a man. As well as constantly reading passages of the bible out to me. Plus of course when I did the psychology degree that also helped me to see through it all."
Gibbs then says "And since then you have become one strong and independent woman, who I have fallen in love with." As he then pulls her to her feet and once again hugs her, before he even says anything else she knows that she will always be safe in his arms. He then says as he keeps her in his arms but does move so he can look her in the eye as he then says "I promise that I will never ever hurt you. Call me old fashioned, unless it's for ulterior motives of course, I've never ever jumped into bed with someone. So I don't care how long it takes, it will only happen when you're ready. I will never ever push you into something you don't want to happen." As he then tilts her chin up they kiss for the first time. When they break apart she breathlessly says "I love you too Jethro."
A/N: I know it's another new one from me! With this one it's going too be slightly different from my usual because for easier reading it's going to be a series of more shorter stories. I know that this first chapter is also slightly darker than usual but I promise it does get better from here as well! Plus it's also a bit different for me with being a Gibbs story! So I hope that you enjoy it! Xxx. :-)