Brynn takes a personal day and doesn't tell anyone why. Team Gibbs jumps to conclusions. Takes place in between "Everybody Plots" and "Bad News Good News."
NCIS
Brynn tapped her foot and waited for the elevator doors to open. She had her work bag slung over her shoulder and a frozen coffee in one hand. It was close to 2p.m. but she was just coming into work for the day. Vance had been surprised when she called earlier that week and requested the day off, but he didn't ask why. Seeing as how Brynn never requested time off, he knew it must be something important.
Her relationship with Gibbs was no secret. Especially now that it was in the middle of it's third month. Vance was never one for playing favorites, but he had to admit, if Brynn had never begun dating Gibbs, she may have never blipped Vance's radar. Since he had started paying attention to her, Vance found her to be a very hard-working and capable agent.
The whole mess with her brother was just two weeks ago, but to everyone at NCIS, it was a lifetime. Brynn was handling it better than anyone expected. Vance had an idea that Gibbs had a lot to do with that. NCIS agents tended to have screwed up personal lives and Brynn Sutter was definitely no exception. But her presence seemed to have a calming affect on people around her. Vance knew that while Gibbs helped Brynn feel safe… Brynn also helped mellow Gibbs out. No one dared say this out loud, except Ducky and Abby, but everyone could see it.
Finally, Brynn heard a ding and the doors opened. As soon as she stepped into the squad room of NCIS, she was greeted by snippets of conversations, phones ringing, and the unmistakable sound of someone getting mad at their computer keyboard. She smiled. This was her home away from home.
"Agent Sutter." Brynn had made it half-way to the elevator that would take her down to the sub-basement when Vance stopped her. She turned and could see Tony and Ziva watching her from the bullpen.
"Yes, Director?" She focused on Vance.
"I thought you were taking some personal time." Vance looked her up and down. Her hair was pulled into a rather careless ponytail. Her outfit: kaki pants, sneakers, and a long-sleeved blue blouse, was more casual than usual for work. But Vance figured it had something to do with her 'personal day.'
"I was. I mean, I did." She stammered under his careful gaze.
"You weren't even gone a whole day."
"Oh, I didn't need a whole day. I thought I'd come in and get back to work on the Paris case."
"Well, alright then." Vance knew when someone was hiding something. But before he could question her further, she smiled and walked away… Quickly.
"This does not bode well for the space baby." Tony said as he watched Brynn walk away from the director.
"What space baby?" Ziva asked.
"Not a literal baby. It just means there is something rotten in Denmark."
"Do we have a case in Denmark?" Now Ziva was really confused.
"No!" Tony turned to her and shook his head. "Something's up with Brynnie!"
"Why could you not just say that the first time?"
"He's annoying like that." McGee came up from under his desk. He had been rewiring his new computer tower.
"You like it." Tony teased.
"What do you think is 'up' with Brynnie?" Ziva directed her question at McGee. "You know her the best."
"I have no idea. I didn't even know she took the morning off."
"She didn't tell you?" Tony stood in the middle of the bullpen scratching his head. "She tells you everything. Maybe she's sick… Maybe she has some weird virus. Maybe she gave it to Gibbs!"
"Maybe Gibbs gave it to her." Ziva added.
"What did I give to who?" Everyone froze as Gibbs came swooping into the bullpen, coffee in hand.
"Brynnie, a virus." Tony blurted out before thinking. Gibbs stopped just short of rounding his desk. He straightened up and looked at Tony.
"Excuse me?" His eyes narrowed.
"Uh." Tony's mouth opened and closed several times.
"Boss," McGee came to the rescue. "Brynnie took the morning off but didn't tell anyone why or that she was even taking time off." The look on Gibbs' face told them all that he had no idea what they were talking about. "She didn't tell you either?"
"I'm not her parole officer, McGee." Gibbs sat in his chair. "She doesn't need to check in with me all the time."
"But, why would she not tell you if something was wrong?"
"How do you know something's wrong, Ziva?" Gibbs was frustrated. His team was being nosy and his girlfriend was keeping something from him.
NCIS
Brynn's serious lack of an attention span was the only thing that let Tony sneak up on her. It had only taken him fifteen minutes before the itch for information had overpowered him. Brynn was at her desk cycling through encrypted web chatter when she saw a shadow loom over her. She jerked in her chair and spun around.
"Geez, Tony, scare the hell outta me!"
"Sorry." He broke into his 'I'm desperately trying to be adorable' grin.
"What?" She asked, immediately knowing he wanted something.
"Uh, you came in late."
"I'm glad you noticed." Her eyebrows went up.
"I was just wondering why."
"I took some personal time." Her guard was still up. Tony tried to ease the situation by pulling a chair to sit in front of her.
"Anything wrong?" He asked, plopping down in the chair.
"No." She sounded annoyed.
"Are you sick?"
"No." She sounded more annoyed.
"Is someone else sick?"
"No!" Now, she was getting pissed.
"Well, then where were you?" Tony demanded.
"Not here!" She swiftly turned her chair back around.
Tony gave in and left.
NCIS
An hour later, Ziva caught Brynn in the break room when she had gone in there for a snack. Brynn was at the vending machine pushing quarters in for a soda. Ziva stayed quiet until Brynn turned around to leave. Ziva expertly blocked her path.
"Hello, Brynnie."
"Hi, Ziva." Brynn arched her brow at Ziva's over-excited tone.
"I noticed you came in late today."
"Yeah. You and everyone else."
"Is something the matter?"
"No." She was having more patience with Ziva than Tony. Must be a woman thing…
"Oh. I was just worried." Brynn nodded and tried to pass Ziva. "We are all worried." Ziva side-stepped, blocking her again.
"Don't be. Everything is fine." She moved to leave again.
"Even Gibbs is worried." This made Brynn stop on her own. "You did not tell him you would be late today."
"It wasn't important. If it had been, Gibbs would know." Her curt answer told Ziva there was more there. But she let Brynn pass her.
NCIS
"She's hiding something." Tony paced the bullpen. Ziva and McGee watched from their desks. "She takes the morning off… Doesn't tell us why… Doesn't tell Gibbs why… And now she refuses to talk about it… What could possibly be so bad that she refuses to tell us?" He stopped pacing and faced McGee. "It's your turn to go down there and get answers. You're her best friend. You can weasel it out of her." McGee didn't bother arguing. He just got up and left.
Down in the sub-basement, Brynn was trying to get the crick out of her neck that had been bothering her all day. Her shoulders were sore and her neck ached on the left side. She grunted as she tilted her head side to side, trying to work her neck muscles.
"Fall asleep in the recliner again?" McGee's voice made her turn.
"No, I spent the night at…" She stopped herself before she said too much.
"Gibbs' house?" McGee smirked.
"That is none of your…" She stopped herself again. "Do you need something? Or were you just next on the list to interrogate me?"
"We're worried."
"No! You're nosy!" She took a breath. "I'm not talking about it!"
"Look, if it's something I can help with."
"It's not!" She turned back to her computer.
"Well, fine!" McGee turned and left.
NCIS
The elevator doors opened and Brynn stepped out. Her head was down, reading the file in her hands. She had just turned to pass Abby's lab and make her way down the hall to the Cyber Crimes office, when she heard Abby shout her name. She sighed but stopped anyways.
"Hey, Abbs." Brynn looked around the lab.
"Don't worry. It's just us." Abby smirked.
"You wouldn't believe the day I've had." Brynn shook her head, causing the crick in her neck to pinch. "I really appreciate you not saying anything. And thanks for everything." Abby smiled sympathetically.
"Hey, you'd do it for me."
"In a second! I can't believe I've managed to dodge Gibbs all day though."
"He's probably waiting to get you away from work."
"Thanks. You have a great way of slapping people in the face with reality."
"Sorry." Abby laughed. "You should tell Gibbs though."
"There's nothing to tell. The test came back negative. It's nothing."
"He's gonna find out eventually."
"I know…" She sighed. "I gotta get back to work. I'll see ya."
NCIS
Brynn was on her way up the stairs to deliver her latest report to Vance. She was under strict instructions not to send anything by email. The chance of having something intercepted was too great. She had made it to the top of the stairs when she heard her name, just below her.
"Brynn stayed somewhere last night."
Brynn looked down when she heard McGee talking about her. Tony and Ziva were in a huddle with McGee in the bullpen.
"Not with Gibbs?" Tony asked.
"She didn't say yes or no. She said it wasn't my business."
"Well, that means she wasn't with Gibbs. If she had been, she would've just said so."
"Perhaps she was working on something?" Ziva jumped in. "She would not be the first one to fall asleep at her desk. That could be why her neck is sore."
"I could think of a few other reason's for someone's neck to be sore." Tony shot a smirk at McGee.
"Like what?" Ziva cocked her head, not catching the insinuation Tony just threw out.
"Maybe she has some secret life we don't know about." McGee meant it to be sarcastic. But the remark set Brynn off the wrong way.
"Hey!" Brynn yelled down at them. They all jumped in surprise and looked up at her. "Do the words 'personal' or 'private' mean nothing to you people?"
"Not really." Tony shrugged.
"How about the words, 'homicide' and 'no evidence?' Cause I can get Abby to help me." Brynn turned her back when she saw Gibbs headed towards his team.
NCIS
Brynn was back at her desk, once again trying to work the crick in her neck. She was never sleeping on Abby's couch again. The thing felt like it was made of concrete. Suddenly a pair of familiar, rough hands were on her. She moaned as the strong hands rubbed her shoulders and around her neck.
"Not sleeping well?" Gibbs asked, digging his hands into the knots in her shoulders.
"Just last night." Her head fell forward and she sighed.
"Wanna tell me bout it?" Brynn rolled her eyes but gave in.
"I spent the night on Abby's couch. I didn't want to be alone and you were working late."
"Why didn't you wanna be alone?"
"I wasn't going to say anything till I knew for sure if something was wrong. I didn't want you, or anyone, worrying about me."
"You mean, you didn't want anyone to think you couldn't take care of yourself."
"Jethro…" She let out a frustrated breath. "I am perfectly capable of handling some things by myself."
"Is there anything wrong?" His voice was low.
"No." She heard him let out a breath. "I thought there was something… I thought I felt something weird on my breast." She felt so embarrassed saying it out loud. "It turned out to be nothing." He stopped massaging her and turned her chair to face him.
"When did you feel this… Weird thing?" His eyes narrowed at her.
"Four days ago." His eyes widened. "Today was the earliest the hospital could see me."
"Four days! You kept this from me for four days?"
"I told you." She came up out of the chair. "I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure what it was." Her hands went to her hips. "And I shouldn't have to defend that decision."
"What if something had happened… What if something really was wrong?"
"Then you would've been my first phone call!"
"But why stay at Abby's? If you would've called me, I would've taken the night off to be with you."
"Why? So you could freak out all night and drive me nuts? I needed to take my mind off of things. And I knew Abby would keep her mouth shut about this and not scare the hell out of everyone. There wasn't even anything wrong and you're still freaking out! Imagine if I had told you that I felt a bump, four days ago. What would you have done?"
He opened his mouth to yell out his rebuttal. Then he snapped his mouth closed.
"Exactly!" She exclaimed waving her finger at him. "There was no point in getting anyone all worked up over something that might be nothing. I stayed with Abby because she was the only one who would keep me calm. Ziva and Tony would have played all nice and tried to cheer me up, but would've ended up pissing me off. Tim would have driven me nuts by doing a bunch of research and then throwing statistics at me. And we both know what you would have done."
"What?" He demanded.
"You would've spent the whole night worrying and making me feel like an ass for making you worry." She lost her angry tone. "You have enough going on already. The last thing you need is to have to go rushing to my rescue every time something bad happens."
"I like rushing to your rescue." He cocked his head and grinned.
"You shouldn't have to." He moved until he was right in front of her.
"But you're okay? You're really okay?" He put his hands on her shoulders.
"Yes. If I wasn't, I would tell you."
"Next time, please give me some kind of warning. You had the whole office thinking the worst." He kissed her forehead.
"Tony had the audacity to imply something I didn't really like."
"I heard." Gibbs grinned again. "Don't worry. He paid for it."
"Head-slap?"
"Paperwork."
"You can be so cruel."
"You gonna tell them everything is okay?"
"I think they can suffer for a day or two. They need a lesson in minding their own business. And I'm gonna get Tony back for that 'sore neck' comment."
"Let me know if I can help." His smile grew.
