A/N: Thanks for reviews! Glad you all liked it. Here's chapter two.
Chp. 2
Terry sat at the bar in The Ugly Mug, a D.C. bar and Grill not far from the navy yard, having drinks with Gerald Jackson. Jackson had been Jimmy Palmers' replacement, on Terry recommendation. Prior to joining the agency, Gerald had been a corpsman with navy seal team 6, and his team had run joint ops with Delta, specifically Terry's team. On at least two of those occasions, Gerald had managed to keep Terry from bleeding to death and the two formed a life long friendship. So, when the former seal called him and explained that his fiancée wanted him to leave the navy, could he get him a government job, pretty please? Terry spoke to his mother and vouched for Gerald and he was hired without so much as an interview.
"So, how're Julia and Marcus?" Terry asked. Marcus was Gerald and Julia's 14-month-old son.
Gerald grinned broadly at the mention of his son. "Man, I thought crawling was bad." He said, laughing and shaking his head. "Little man just started walking and he wears me out! I haven't been this tired since hell week."
Terry smiled in agreement. "We're gettin' old, bro."
"What about you and Ziva?" Gerald asked.
"We're good. Collin's in first grade and Kelly started pre-K. I found Ziva looking at baby pictures the other day, bawling her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong and she got all blubbery and started going on about how they're growing up too fast."
"Just wait till you have to walk her down the isle."
"Don't remind me." Terry said, taking another pull from his beer. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He retrieved the phone and saw his mother's number on the caller i.d. "sorry dude, work." He said, holding up the phone.
Gerald nodded. "It's cool."
"Gibbs. Speak."
"I need you back here. Now." Jenny said.
"Where is here?" he asked.
"Headquarters." She said, and the line went dead.
Terry flipped his phone shut and stood up. "Sorry, bro, duty calls."
Gerald nodded and stood. "Understand. See you later." He said and the two men shook hands.
Terry left the bar and wondered what important person had died, as that was the only reason he could think of for his mother to call him back to the office. But if he knew the truth, he never would have answered the phone.
000
Terry rubbed his goatee in thought and stared at the lights of the Navy Yard. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't that he didn't believe it. It was that he didn't want to believe it. Oh, he knew why it had happened. He'd heard the story. Knew about Ari and Kate. Knew about Tony and Kate. But that didn't justify what Tony had done. "Terry, say something." Ziva said.
"What do you want me to say, Zee? That we owe him, after what he did to us? We don't owe him…" He started, but Gibbs shot him a look.
"He's still Tony!" Abby said, sharply. "And Kate..." She bit back a sob. "They need us, and I don't care if you can see that or not. You didn't go after the man who shot Tony. You went after him for you." And with that she turned and left. McGee simply looked at him, and followed his wife out.
Ducky looked at him next. "Whatever choice you make, Terry, I know it'll be the right one."
Gibbs spoke last. "Tony and Kate need us; and we're going, with or without you." Gibbs said. He left, and mother and son were faced with uncomfortable silence.
She finally said it. "Tony's not the only reason you don't want to go, is he?"
Terry stood motionless for a long minute, then shook his head. "No, but I'm not going for him or for Jack. I'm going for the kid." Terry said, and with those words, he left the office; determined to face the unknown and the past, come what may.
000
Kate sat in the police station, surrounded by her husbands fellow officers and wondered if they'd made the right decision. She wondered what the team would say, after everything they'd been through, with her death and Tony's. She knew about Ziva and Terry, and she didn't know if she wanted face the team. "Hi, kate." A voice said, bringing her back to the present.
"Hey, Jack. Good to see you. Thanks for coming."
The older Gibbs smiled. "Any friend of Leroy's is a friend of mine. How're you doing?"
Kate bit her lip and looked away. "I just want him home. And…and I don't think we made the right decision to call them."
Jackson Gibbs squeezed her hand. "Kate, whatever your past with them, I know they'll put that on the back burner and help you find Timothy."
She reached over and hugged him. "Thanks, Jack. For everything."
"Anytime, Kate."
000
Three hours into the trip, Terry and Gibbs were the only ones awake. Neither man spoke. There wasn't anything to say really. But finally Gibbs broke the silence.
"You good?"
Terry turned away from the window and looked at him father. "I'll get the job done, just don't expect me to like the working conditions."
And the two lapsed into silence, like so many other warriors before battle. Because that's what this was, in the end. It was a battle, in more ways than one.
