A/N – This story is a sequel to The Summer After Disaster. This picks up three weeks after the end of the story and uses the same story line as the other one. It is about what faces them in the fall from the previous year and from the summer of a mission. There will be some consequences for their actions and I can't wait to think them up and share them with you. I already have some ideas playing out in my head.
I had a huge response to The Summer After Disaster, and I wish to thank those followers and reviewers, since they were huge supporters of that story. I had a wonderful time writing it and am glad to know that someone enjoyed reading it. I hope you all like this one as well.
Disclaimer – I don't own NCIS or the characters.
Chapter 1
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Director Vance's office was rather crowded now. Jen Gibbs had just walked in with her father, who she was staying with for now, while Isaac was away on a mission. She had just turned down her promotion. Jen and Gibbs sat down. They were the earliest of many to walk into the empty office and wait for Vance to arrive, who they knew would be last on purpose.
They sat in silence and waited for a few minutes. Tony and Ziva were next. Jen noticed that they dropped each other's hands immediately after they got into the office. Their wedding had taken place just two weeks ago in Gibbs' backyard. They were now both DiNozzos.
"How was the honeymoon?" Jen asked them.
"Pleasant," Ziva said, giving nothing away to her boss, who just looked sideways at her, knowing that they had probably spent the entire thing in the bedroom. "Did you find out the gender of the baby?"
"One boy, one girl," she said with a smile on her face. "Guess that's what I get for waiting so long to see a real doctor." She shrugged. "Elijah Ari David and Shannon Kelly David."
Everyone in the room smiled. The twins incorporated both sides of their family and a grandparent and aunt or uncle that they would never know. It made them all happy. Gibbs kissed Jen on the head.
The door opened again and Abby and McGee walked in nervously and sat down in the silence of the room. They glanced at Tony and Ziva and then they glanced at Jen. They didn't say anything. Then Ducky walked in, closely followed by Kort. Jenny was last.
When everyone was situation the silence was profound and it almost hurt to hear how silent it was. Finally the door opened and Director Vance walked in with the Commandant of the Marine Corps and SECNAV.
"Good morning everyone," Vance said right away. "Let's get started."
He sat down and the Commandant stood up. "I wanted to thank each of you personally for helping Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs. You did an excellent job in Haifa three weeks ago. Next, Jennifer, I wanted to offer you a promotion to Master Sergeant if you are willing?"
"I'm going to decline, sir," Jen said gracefully, without any hesitation.
"That's what you said last time," he said. "I understand that you will need some time to heal. Perhaps you will reconsider?"
"No, sir," Jen said certainly. "I will not reconsider this time. First, I am unhappy with all of the undercover and secret missions. I am unhappy with being away from home all the time. I want to go home and be with my family. And I now have another two people to take into consideration. I am pregnant with twins, sir. I respectfully decline your offer."
"You could always be a training officer?" he asked.
"No, I think I am done with the marines for good this time," Jen said shaking her head. "I think I want to find a job that doesn't involve going over seas or dealing with more marines to send over seas. I have served this country for six years and I think it is high time to retire from that duty."
"You were on track to becoming the next Commandant," he said.
"And that is not what I want," Jen said. "I want to be away from the politics of it. I have been too wrapped up in politics for a long time. I want to work in a more stable environment than I was in before."
"All right, well then, my job here is done. I will get to work on your Honorable Discharge as soon as I get back to the office," he said with a smile on his face and extended his hand. "And congratulations on the twins."
"Thank you, sir," Jen said and shook his hand.
He left the room.
"Okay, now it is my turn," Vance said standing up. "I want to thank each and every one of you for the wonderful job you did on the mission. I know that there will be repercussions of this event and we will deal with them as they come. First, Ducky, will you take back your place as our chief medical examiner at NCIS? Young Mr. Palmer is struggling and not fully certified for the job."
"Gladly, Director," Ducky said. "My involvement was slim, but will there be any paperwork that I need to fill out?"
"Of course there will," he said with a smile. "Here it is, take it and go. Miss Sciuto, I assume you would still like to go and talk to your machines everyday?"
"Hell yes!" she said. "Hand me the paperwork and let's get rolling!"
"All right. There is also paperwork in there that will allow you to file for a gun license since I see that you are carrying and I know that you were involved in the field work of it. You will be able to go into the field with the team when you wish if you can complete this."
"Thank you," she said and got up and left.
"Gibbs, you back?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Gibbs said.
"Get your paperwork done. Dot your I's and cross your T's. Got it?"
Gibbs nodded and kissed his daughter on the forehead before leaving the room. Vance turned on the remaining agents.
"Now is where we run into a few snags. Kort you are CIA and your cooperation has been wonderful in this. The FBI needs an NCIS and CIA report from you. So your set of paperwork is here. That is the easy part. You can go use the conference room to fill it out."
"Thank you," Kort said and gracefully left the room.
Vance turned further looking at the others. He placed three badges on the desk then dug through his drawer to pull out a brand new one and a very old one. He held them up and then placed them on the desk.
"They are up for grabs but I will understand if you don't want them," he said.
McGee was the first to move to grab his. He took it and smiled. Vance handed him a file with the paperwork that needed signing and he left the room. The others sat there staring at the badges.
"Jenny?" he asked her first because that was the easy conversation.
She looked up at him.
"You were never official relieved of your duties, but you may choose to not take back your badge. Either way, we both have a lot of paperwork to fill out. What will it be?"
"I'll take it," Jenny said and smiled at him.
"Your desk is across from Gibbs."
"Thank you, Director," she said and smiled and walked out of the room. "You three are something else. Tony, Ziva, you two are married now, which causes a lot of paperwork for me. But, I can get it done. You are also under investigation still, which also causes a lot of paperwork for me, but we can get it done. I want you both back, but I will understand if only one of you wants to come back or if neither of you wants to come back. There are some that don't want Ziva back and some that don't want Tony back. It is entirely up to you. If you need some time, take it, just fill out the paperwork."
"I'll take some time to think," Tony said.
"Me also," Ziva added in.
"Here is your paperwork, Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo," Vance said. "Jen, I am offering you a job, officially. It is yours for the taking. You can go straight onto the MCRT working for your father, or you can choose another location. That is entirely up to you. What do you think?"
"I think I will take it, Director Vance," Jen said with a smile on her face. "New job, new challenges. I'm up for anything."
"You've also already proven yourself to your father. I'm sure he will enjoy working with you, since you know his rules and when to shut up around him," Vance said with a smile. "I have heard you are a capable investigator."
"Thank you, sir," she said.
"You are across from McGee," he said.
He pulled out three more stacks of files. He handed one to each of them and then dismissed them from the office. Tony and Ziva went to the conference room, giving one last look toward the orange walls of NCIS.
They sat down and noticed that Kort was already gone from the office. They wondered how he had finished all the paperwork that fast and how he had managed to escape without them noticing. But, they didn't question it.
They sat down and began to write in silence.
"Zi," Tony said quietly. "I'm not sure I want to come back. This past year has been… difficult. I don't want to go through too many more like that. I mean, an explosion, a couple deaths, a bout of revenge, a travelling trip… now this long mission. That is quite a lot to deal with."
"I know, Tony," Ziva said. "I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm not sure I want to be involved in this anymore. There is too much death. I have been surrounded by death my whole life. Jen's pregnancy is the first time that I have felt the sign that everyone is still living and breathing in a long time. I used to think this job was easy in comparison to Mossad, and it still is. But, it is still very challenging in its own ways."
Tony smiled at her. "We have all the time you want to take, sweet cheeks," he said with a smirk on his face. "All the time in the world if you want it. We did get paid a big sum of money for this mission. Paid from the Marines. Paid from CIA. Paid from the FBI. Paid from NCIS. We did good."
"We did make out well, but so did everyone else, Tony," Ziva said. "Gibbs will not be happy with us for taking time to consider."
"He would be less happy if we showed up for work and weren't sure of ourselves and what we wanted. Besides, Ziva, this isn't Mossad. He isn't going to manipulate you into coming back. He will just be disappointed at losing a team member, but he won't say that. We'll make it through. Let's enjoy some time together and then we can figure it out as we go."
"That sounds fantastic," Ziva said with a smile on her face. "You are truly amazing, Tony."
A/N – Thank you for reading. I needed to start somewhere and getting their jobs back (or not) was a great place to do it. I had the two names in mind for Jen's kid and I couldn't pick, so she is having twins, because it makes me not have to pick. Please, let me know what you think!