Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or Michael Weatherly…because if I did then Jeanne and Tony would have never broken up and Kate would have never died.
Hey, Guys!! Thank you *so* much for the awesome reviews, 21 is a first for my first chapter. I am so happy you guys like it and hope you keep liking it.
By the way, the John Wayne character is the detective from metro that Jeanne used to go out with, who Tony started to become friends with, and who died, although I am pretty sure Wayne is not his last name. Anyway, I like the character.
Oh yeah, I am starting a poll for this story. Do you want:
Tony/Jeanne
Tony/Kelly (where she is not Gibbs' daughter)
No Tony pairing, more family centric
Please vote. Thank you once more and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Love, Brownie.
Finding Family
Chapter 2: Surprises I
Gibbs had been surprised when Cynthia, Jenny's secretary, had called him to report a possible missing person's case – usually they were called in by dispatch and LEOs – and then she hadn't elaborated, just told him that it was important and that he should get there as fast as possible. And, so, that was exactly what Gibbs and his team: Ziva David, the holder of the Mossad Liaison position at NCIS and a trained assassin, Timothy McGee, geek extraordinaire and a pretty good field agent, and last, but not least, John Wayne, the newest member of the team and a great investigator to boot, raced to the house that was fifteen miles away from the station.
They made it there in about five minutes breaking only five or six traffic regulations, which was less than the usual for Gibbs, but then again they usually had a greater distance to travel. Once there, they quickly got out and went to get their gear, but not before they caught a glimpse of the house; it was perfect, there was no other way to describe it. It was a single-story brick house with a beautiful, well taken-care- of garden, a built-in underground pool, a basketball hoop installed on the driveway, and last, but not least, two soccer nets in the backyard. All in all it was a child's dream-house.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of their minds, they grabbed their gear and headed for the house, talking the whole way, which was probably why Gibb's didn't notice the boy running their way until he felt something hit his stomach and then saw a boy fall on the ground, landing on his butt with a grunt and keeping himself from falling the rest of the way with his hands. The boy, based on his height: about five foot flat, looked to be about ten years old. His skin was a healthy tan color and his long hair was light brown with some blonde tips, both evidence of many days spent in the sun.
He was wearing dark blue jeans, those damned black and white flat shoes that were all the rage these days, and a black t-shirt which read Nirvana and had demented smiley faces painted on the front. Gibbs completely lost his train of thought when the tilted his head to the side curiously, looked up at him through the aforementioned mop of brown hair and looked up at him with bright blue eyes that seemed awfully familiar. Apparently the boy was in the same frame of mind because the first words out of his mouth were not 'Hi' or 'Who are you', but "Do I know you?"
Upon hearing the question, Gibbs thought about it hard, but he couldn't recall ever meeting the kid. More importantly, however, he couldn't, for the life of him, place where he'd seen those eyes. And seen them he had, he'd bet his life on it.
Gibbs was so busy trying to remember where he'd seen the very memorable eyes that he forgot there was a little boy waiting for his answer, a fact that he was reminded of when John, who was still learning the ropes at NCIS after transferring from Metro, coughed and pulled him out of his thoughts.
Now concentrating on their new case and putting the blue eyes mystery in the back of his mind for a rainy day, Gibbs held his right hand out to the boy and felt something, something he couldn't identify, an action that was taking place a lot lately, when the boy slid his much smaller, but no less calloused hand into his much larger one and allowed him to pull him up. If he had to describe the feeling, Gibbs would describe it as pride, love, and unequivocal joy, but he couldn't understand how he could feel love for the kid; hell, he didn't even know his name. 'Wait', thought Gibbs as the last thought ran through his head, 'now that is something I can change.'
"I don't think so," he said, finally replying to the boy's question more than five minutes after he'd asked. He prepared himself for more questions or for the tears that came when someone realized that a crime had taken place at their house, a crime that involved their loved ones. He was, therefore, surprised when all the boy did was shrug and then say, "Oh, okay." Not for the first time in his life, Gibbs had to marvel at kids, especially this one. This one was special because not only did his brain work in a mysterious way, but he also handled what was probably the most traumatic experience of his small life with more finesse than adults and even weathered marines that Gibbs had seen in the same circumstances.
The little boy had used the few seconds that Gibbs had been thinking to wipe his hands off on his t-shirt, leaving behind two symmetrical streaks of white on his t-shirt, and then hold his hand out for a proper introduction, "Hi, I'm Tony…Tony Sheppard."
Gibbs, who had been moving his hand up to shake Tony's, looked up when he heard the last name and his eyes widened in surprise before he quickly covered it up, 'it couldn't be, could it?' Then thinking 'Naw, I would have realized it if Jenny had kids,' Gibbs finally shook the ki….Tony's hand and said, "Hi, Tony. My name is Gibbs…Special Agent Gibbs. Can you tell me what happened?"
He watched closely for the kid's reaction, somehow knowing that this kid would try to repress his emotions, but he hadn't thought he'd be this good at it. Tony was so good that if he, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, hadn't perfected the same art years ago, he would have gotten away with no one knowing. But since he was experienced in the same art, Gibbs did catch the way he subtly swallowed and his eyes widened when he asked the question, the way he furrowed his brow, making it look like he was concentrating, while in reality he was trying to hold in the tears that threatened to pour out, and last, but not least, Gibbs noticed the way his bottom lip quivered before he bit down on it: giving the feeling that he was thinking about it before he said, "Yeah."
He then pivoted on his right foot so that he was facing the house and, then, started walking up the driveway with Gibbs immediately falling in step with him and the team falling in step behind them.
…TBC…
(If you want me to)
So what do you think? Good, bad, iffy? Should I continue?
Reviews and Constructive Criticism are always appreciated and you can always vote in your review.
Next chapter: Tony talks about what he saw and what he was doing before he got home. We may even see Kate and Jenny and people might start putting the pieces together.
Thanks, hope you like it, love Brownie.