AN: Thank-you to everyone for the warm reception the first one shot in this series. To everyone who reviewed, alerted, faved or PMed me I'm most grateful. I posted in a hurry and therefore was remiss in giving credit where it was due. Several people have commented on the brilliance of the title and I admit it is awesome but I can't take credit for it. My beta Arress came up with it and quite a number of of the tag titles too - she is amazing. I neglected to thank her for her beta'ing and for Frakkin Toasters for her overall input into these tags too as I'm in the middle of a work project atm and time is at a premium. Just finally I need to give a special shout out to two people for this tag - icprncss2 for all your procedural information and for Frakkin Toasters for a comment she made about the closing scene of this episode that gave me my ending. As always, any faux pas are my bad so I hope that covers everything.

Episode: Hung Out to Dry

Title: Fallout

Characters: L.J. Gibbs, Tom Morrow, Commandant May, Judge Advocate General Admiral Chegwidden, Rosemarie and Billy Fuentes

Disclosure: Don't own them, don't profit from them.

Fallout

Director Morrow sighed as he took in the stony countenances of the two men in the room with him, slowly sipping on their single malt whiskeys. He was here in the Base Commandant's office, trying his best to put out fires caused by his most abrasive agent but he had to admit that he didn't feel like he was making a lot of headway. Mind, it wasn't as if he had a lot to work with given the situation. Perhaps he should have brought Special Agent DiNozzo with him since a significant portion of his job was soothing the ruffled feathers of people having to deal with his boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Face it, Tom. The man's a genuine, god-damned menace. All because he wasn't prepared to wait twenty four hours for a DNA test to come back, he has single-handedly thrown my base into disarray." Commandant May scowled at the unfortunate NCIS director as if he was to blame and Tom supposed as the director of NCIS that the buck must stop with him.

"Not just the Marines, Tom. My judge advocates are in it up to their necks with all the work he's caused us – prosecuting or defending Marine paratroopers for a situation that was totally unnecessary and all because of that lame-ass stunt he pulled. The only one that should have ended up been charged at the close of the case was Corporal Dafelmair for murdering Sergeant Fuentes, yet all of Fuentes' stick plus several others are now facing charges - thanks to Gibbs. And I just know Defelmair is going to cry foul and plead entrapment over that confession or that it was obtained under duress. Chances are it's gonna be thrown out!" The Admiral growled, glaring at Tom furiously.

"As if it wasn't bad enough to have lost a damned fine Marine like Sergeant Fuentes, now I'm faced with losing a good portion of the troop. Thanks to Special Agent Gibbs." Commandant May also speared Tom with a look that could curdle milk, even if it was fresh from the cow's udder.

"Corporal Brinkman's quite possibly looking at the big chicken dinner for reckless endangerment, conduct unbecoming and if that wasn't enough, assaulting a federal agent by pushing Special Agent DiNozzo out of the plane. Luckily Special Agent DiNozzo wasn't seriously injured or he'd be facing a raft of even more serious charges and facing serious prison time, not just dishonourable discharge. The others who took part in the all-out brawl - for expressing their anger at Dafelmair murdering Fuentes are probably looking at loss of rank, privileges and brig time for reckless endangerment of a civilian and conduct unbecoming.

"Then there's Captain Faul who's is a shit load of trouble for letting a civilian who's not qualified to jump, take part in a night time training exercise - against every regulation, just because he and Gibbs got caught up in a pissing competition. JAGs still working out what charges to lay and Captain Faul and the squad's jumpmaster, * who kitted DiNozzo and Gibbs out with their chutes and allowed a civilian with absolutely no training to go up in the plane, are in so much damned trouble it ain't funny. As well they should be!

"It's a miracle that Special Agent DiNozzo didn't break his freakin neck. The fact is Tom, the whole damn troop has been decimated by Gibbs ill-conceived stunt."

Tom was stricken at the litany of careers that Gibbs' obsession and impetuousness has destroyed. Morrow wasn't a Marine but he knew that even in the best case scenario, which was if the men managed to escape with minor penalties such as loss of rank, it likely wouldn't save them from losing their position on such a highly coveted squadron as the paratroopers.

If their legal counsel performed a minor miracle, which was pretty damned unlikely, and got them off without penalties it would still go in their jacket and follow them for their entire military career. They could effectively kiss goodbye to any future promotions, so even if they won, they had already lost. And if the worst happened and they received a dishonourable discharge – finding employment in the civilian sphere would be seriously impeded too.

So much collateral damage! His agents were supposed to be protecting Marines, Sailors and their families, not decimating careers because of blinding obsessions and becoming overly involved in a case. It was a luxury they couldn't afford, that their stakeholders couldn't afford. He knew that Gibbs had vowed to Sergeant Fuentes' widow and his young son to catch their husband and father's killer. He suspected…no he knew that it was at the root of Gibbs' dumb-ass decision to force a confession out of Corporal Dafelmair when they already had sufficient evidence to charge him with murder. He'd refused to wait until the evidence was processed, insisting they get a confession from the killer immediately.

Yet his lack of foresight, his failure to act in his team member's best interests or the Marines he was supposed to be supporting, amounted to negligence. Not to mention his high-handed refusal to follow rules and regulations or his penchant to consider himself above the law couldn't just be explained away by his identification with the dead Marine's family. Nor could it ever justify it - whatever happened to his much quoted Rule# 10?

The damned hypocrite couldn't even follow his own damned rules. After all, he'd already butted heads with Captain. Faul in the paraloft before he'd even encountered Mrs Fuentes and little Billy Fuentes. They'd been two alpha males butting heads with like a pair of cranky old billy goats gruff.

There really wasn't any excuse for Gibbs to bludgeon his way onto the night training jump against every military regulation, let alone drag a totally unqualified subordinate along for the ride – no pun intended. As a former Marine who'd completed jump school back in the day, Jethro knew damned well that DiNozzo had absolutely no business being aboard the training flight that night. There's no way Jethro didn't know how dangerous it was for someone unqualified like his senior field agent to be up there, especially in such a volatile situation. Bottom line - he either didn't care or he was too focused on getting a result to be able to do his job as team leader effectively.

If Tom didn't know better, he'd think Jethro was deliberately putting DiNozzo in danger. After all, it was only last week that Gibbs had deliberately endangered DiNozzo when he had him hide in a body bag and swap it out for the poisoned body of the POTUS' 'football carrier' snatching it out from under the FBI's nose. Apart from the dubious ethics of the act, he then compounded his transgression by calling up DiNozzo on his cell phone while he was inside the body bag en route to the morgue. It resulted in a freaked out and extremely pissed off FBI agent slinging DiNozzo out on the beltway still inside the body bag at night, and from the moving vehicle. DiNozzo was just damned lucky he didn't end up as road kill and Gibbs thought it was a huge joke, which was hardly a sign of good CO.

Tom sighed. "I'm so sorry Commandant. I had no idea just how much damage Gibbs had really caused with his damned dog and pony show. I've placed an official reprimand in his jacket and handed him a two week suspension. I know that seems pretty lame when you compare that with the destruction he's brought down on the platoon and it is but we're not bound by the UCMJ, as you know."

Admiral Chegwidden nodded emphatically. "You're right director, on both counts. It's pitiful by comparison to what the paratroopers face. But I happen to know that he's going to be called on by the defence to testify for every single paratrooper who is brought up on charges. So you can factor in him not being available to work cases for a few extra weeks, since he'll be too busy appearing as a witness at all the courts martial he's caused," the Admiral smirked.

"Of course that's in addition to Corporal Dafelmair's court martial. Think you might need to organise a TAD senior supervisory agent for a lot longer than the two week suspension." He looked meaningfully at Commandant May.

The Marine took over. "Indeed, Director Morrow. And while you were right, NCIS agents aren't bound by the UCMJ - Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is not just a federal agent. He is a Marine Reservist - and I've decided to reactive his commission. As of this moment I'm unsure if we're going to charge him like the other Marines or if we might just find more creative ways to make him suffer for this debacle. If we do decide to go this more creative route, before anything else, we'll be making him requalify for jump school since there's some pretty serious gaps in his training which urgently need to be addressed, and that's just for starters. Like the Admiral said, you probably should prepare yourself that it might be a good long while before Gunny Gibbs is available to solve any more crimes." He smiled ruthlessly.

Tom nodded. He really couldn't blame JAG or Commandant May for wanting their pound of flesh – especially since his hands were effectively tied when you took into account the amount of carnage Gibbs had caused, acting, without considering all the consequences. Maybe this might make him think twice the next time he was too impatient to let the members of his team do their job and decided it was a good idea to go off half-cocked. He thought as a Marine he would have learnt to look before he leapt, but obviously not!

He'd probably appoint Chris Pacci as temporary lead of the MCRT til Gibbs was out of the doghouse with the Marines. Although Tony had acted as the lead on various investigations before when Gibbs had been unavailable, that was when Blackadder and Dobbs had been on the team.

He'd successfully handled the conclusion of the murder of the JAG officer, Lieutenant Singer in Gibbs absence and then investigated the murder of Major Kerry, the regular football carrier solo just last week. Now with the brand new probie, Caitlyn Todd to assist him, her inexperience and lack of investigative skills would be more of a hindrance than a help. Plus she struck him as an individual who'd have trouble taking orders from someone as youthful as the former cop, so it wouldn't be fair to expect him to cope with only Agent Todd on the team.

While Gibbs and DiNozzo had worked as a two man team, they were also both experienced investigators, which made the comparison one of apples and oranges. Therefore bringing in another experienced agent seem a prudent thing to do and Chris was the obvious choice. Especially since Commandant May had hinted it might be some time before they got Gibbs back.

Chris had been working cold cases recently but cold cases by their very definition could wait. Pacci certainly didn't have Gibbs' flair, charisma or his gut but he was a steady performer, a team player who'd do a great job. Jethro could certainly take a leaf out of his book, plus he'd take good care of DiNozzo and Todd too. Tom wouldn't have to worry about Tony getting thrown out of a moving vehicle or breaking his neck because he was tossed out of a plane at night, while Chris was his acting supervisor.

He also resolved to have an intimate little chat with DiNozzo to give him a heads up on what was about to happen. He would also order the young agent to immediately report to him the next time Gibbs got some dumb-ass scheme that threatened him or any other team members' safety. They were a small agency and he could ill afford to lose an agent of DiNozzo's calibre because of Gibbs bloody-mindedness. Maybe it was a good time to have another talk to SECNAV about giving Gibbs a lot less leeway within the agency. Given his current level of disruption and destruction within the Corps he might just agree.

~o0O0o~

At the same time as Morrow was meeting with Commandant May and the Judge Advocate General:

Gibbs decided to stop by Sergeant Fuentes home since the Marine's young son, Billy would be home from school by now and he wanted to give him something he'd made for him for his tree house. Since being read the riot act and suspended for two weeks by a pissed off Tom Morrow, he'd had time on his hands and it hadn't taken more than a couple of days to knock up a sign for the poor kid's tree house. He pictured Billy's face when he saw it.

Maybe he should have gone over earlier and installed it so Billy would get a surprise when he came home. Well it was too late now. He figured the kid could do with having some attention from a male role model and he vowed to keep an eye on the little kid. To lose your father when he was off deployed, serving his country was one thing. Tragic to be sure, but at least it was an honourable death. To have him murdered on US soil by a drug dealer who was also one of his own men was unpardonable and a terrible, terrible waste.

Gibbs climbed the stairs of the gracious old home and knocked. Rosemarie Fuentes opened the door and her sad expression shifted to one that looked a helluva lot like anger when she saw him. But obviously that couldn't be right!

"Special Agent Gibbs, what can I do for you?" She asked politely although her tone was far from welcoming. Actually it was positively arctic. Curious!

"I just stopped by to see Billy for a few minutes, Mrs Fuentes. I have something for him." He smiled his infamous half grin that usually had women who he hadn't divorced, swooning as their oestrogen levels spiked and ready to let him get away with murder. Jethro was willing to cut her some slack since he knew how just hard it was to bury a spouse, after all. Perhaps she was having a bad day.

"I'm sorry but I don't think that's such a good idea. I appreciate you finishing off the tree house for him but I think it's better if you don't call round again."

She went to close the door when Gibbs stopped her, flabbergasted by her cold response. She'd been so grateful when he told her that he'd nailed her husband's killer. Why the change?

"I don't understand, Mrs Fuentes. As I told, you we got the man that murdered your husband. He's going to be damned sorry for taking Sergeant Fuentes from you and Billy and I know it doesn't make up for his death but he will be paying dearly for what he did."

"And so are a lot of other people." Rosemarie snapped at him.

"Excuse me? I don't understand."

"I thought you were a real Marine, like Larry. But he wouldn't have wanted so many of his fellow Marines to get into trouble just so you could obtain a confession and one that was coerced, at that. I've been told that Dafelmair's counsel will fight to get your admission thrown out, arguing entrapment and or it was obtained by strong-arming tactics.

"Even if it's not successful, a lot of damn fine Marines were sacrificed to get a somewhat dubious admission of guilt. Mary Brinkman said the men are all facing charges of reckless endangerment and conduct unbecoming. Not to mention Captain Faul and the jumpmaster are facing even more serious charges. Larry believed in Sempre Fi and he'd be devastated to know that his death caused the obliteration of his squadron, simply to obtain a questionable confession."

Gibbs scowled. "I did what I had to do to catch the son of a bitch. I made a promise to you and Billy to find your husband's killer and now he won't hurt anyone else," he insisted.

"Yes and I'm grateful really, but I also understand that you had conclusive evidence that included DNA results that would have been enough to charge him without inflicting the human carnage you caused by not being prepared to wait a few more hours. Because of your grandstanding, a lot of good men have been adversely affected and so have their families. Knowing my husband, I'm sure Larry would say the cost of that damned confession was much too high, Special Agent."

Gibbs had heard the same diatribe from Morrow but it wasn't his fault if the Marines' reacted badly and pushed DiNozzo out of the plane. He figured it was worth it to nail Dafelmair and he wasn't gonna apologise for doing his job. But he was disappointed that Fuentes widow felt that way.

"Fine, I won't call round again but if you could just give this to Billy?" He asked her, holding out the sign he'd made proclaimed it was 'Billy's Treehouse.'

Before the sergeant's widow could respond to Gibb's request, Billy Fuentes sidled round the door. It was evident he'd been listening to the conversation though. His expression was no longer one of hero-worshipping, it was quite hostile and Gibbs recoiled, shocked since he thought he had made a real connection with the boy.

"Hey Bud, I made this for ya." He said holding out the sign to the fatherless child.

"I don't want it, Special Agent Gibbs. My friend Janie Faul says because you broke the rules and a man on your team got hurt, her dad might have to leave the Marines or they might even lock him up. She's probably gonna hafta move away and I won't get to see her anymore." His dark soulful eyes glared accusingly at the NCIS agent.

"I thought you said you were a Marine – like my father. He said Marines always have peoples' six but a whole lot of my friend's fathers are in big trouble because you weren't watching your team mate's six and you broke the rules. Janie says he fell out of the plane and he got hurt cause he wasn't supposed to be there. He could have got killed. I don't think you're a real Marine at all; you're just a big fat liar!"

Billy gulped and his eyes suddenly filled with tears before he took off and went running around the side of the house to get away.

Taking in Gibbs shocked expression Rosemarie heaved a sigh. "His friends at school are facing an uncertain future as their fathers wait for courts martial or to find out if they'll be charged. The base is a pretty insular place and the wives are all doing it tough too. Plus losing his father; Billy's not getting much support from the other kids who are all too stressed about their own fathers and worrying about if they'll be moving out of their base housing. Frankly the whole base is in turmoil."

Gibbs left the sign he'd made in case Billy changed his mind later on. As he drove off he couldn't get Billy's words out of his head. "…you weren't watching your team mate's six and you broke the rules. Janie says he fell out of the plane and he got hurt cause he wasn't supposed to be there. He could have got killed. I don't think you're a real Marine at all; you're just a big fat liar!

Somehow, even though other people had said the same thing to him on numerous occasions, hearing it again through the lips of an innocent and fatherless child had had a hell of a lot more impact to shock him to his bootstraps and have him second guess his actions. Out of the mouths of babes!

End Notes:

*We don't actually find out who is the jumpmaster during the episode.