Chapter 6: Return
Gibbs was grieving. He didn't remember most of the things that had happened after Kelly's death and Shannon's coma. He knew the people and that was enough for the time being. How had he come to terms with the horrific deaths of his family before, he didn't know. Revenge was his driving force. Night and day, he thought about it. He didn't know anything about the case so he turned to Mike Franks.
"You don't remember?" Franks asked in his gruff voice.
Gibbs shook his head.
"Probie, Hernandez went missing in Mexico. Probably killed", Franks said, but he let the 'probably' hang in there, hoping Gibbs would remember. "No witnesses".
Sure enough, he did. He remembered the shooting. And sighed. At least he'd settled that score.
A week later, most of the memories had come back. But some bits and pieces had yet to fall back into place. Then there were the dreams. Of Jenny. Making love, sunshine pouring through her fiery hair, the sound of her ragged breathing in his ear. His erection throbbing, when he woke from those dreams. He and Jenny had been lovers. But he couldn't seem to remember if they had become lovers again after Jenny had become director. Deep down inside, he knew they had made love, only a few weeks ago. He could even remember some of it now.
Gibbs broke out in cold sweat when another memory resurfaced. It was Jenny's voice.
'We're having a baby'. It echoed through Gibbs mind.
He had asked Jenny at the hospital if he had children. She hadn't answered that. But then, he knew he had a son. RJs face was clear in his mind's eye. But he couldn't find a memory of him as a baby, nor any of his many firsts. He tried harder and it all came rushing back. Jenny had left him when she discovered he was married, but not alone, she had taken his baby with her. And Gibbs had found out that he had a son, a few weeks ago. But he hadn't met his son.
Gibbs wanted to rush back to D.C right away, but he knew he was an emotional wreck. Going through the deaths of his wife and daughter again was a horrendous experience. He needed time to recover from it, all over again. Jenny and his son would have to wait a while for him to recover from his emotional scars.
Gibbs spent his days fixing Franks lame excuse of a house. They would drink beer together. Local women flirted with him. It amused him immensely. But his heart beat for a red headed, green eyed witch back in D.C. There were times when he wanted to storm back to his life, to Jenny their son, back to NCIS. But, he didn't think it was fair to them all. He wanted to go to them without feeling any burden or guilt. When he went back, he'd be a new man.
Ziva was on the run. She figured that the only one who could help her was Gibbs. If only he was here now. She called Abby and swore her to secrecy. Ziva got Gibbs' number from her and dialed. She was glad when Gibbs answered the call. The trouble was, even she wasn't sure how Gibbs would help her out considering he was more than a thousand miles away. It had been a bit more than five months since they had last seen him or heard his voice. But the way his voice was enough to soothe their fears was not surprising.
Ziva sat there in the sanctuary of Gibbs' basement. She knew it was the only safe place she could find at the moment. Eventually, she fell asleep on the old couch in the basement. Ziva didn't know what woke her up. She was greeted by blue fire. She blinked to clear her vision. Intense blue eyes studied her. Ziva jumped and hugged Gibbs really tight. Gibbs looked very different. He had let his hair grow – it was no longer neat and freshly cut, it was shaggy. And he was even sporting a beard. It was definitely not the Gibbs she remembered. Despite that his presence was enough to provide her relief.
Gibbs was dying to see Jenny and his son. But that would have to wait. Ziva needed him at the moment, and he would be damned before he gave up on family. The rest of the team was worried too, but their hands were tied. There wasn't much that they could do. It was up to Gibbs now to stand by Ziva as she had stood by him. Together, Ziva and Gibbs put all the pieces together. They figured out that it was a VEVAK agent trying to frame Ziva with the intent of creating discord between their two governments. Gibbs had to give it to them, the plan was quite sinister but it would have been effective.
Things wrapped up. Gibbs checked his watch, it was afternoon. It would be hours before Jenny would get home. He didn't want to waste another minute. Gibbs headed to the Navy Yard along with Ziva. When he walked into the squad-room, the team saw him, then did a double-take. They could hardly believe their eyes.
"Boss, I mean Gibbs, you're back!" Tony exclaimed.
"Not for long, DiNozzo", Gibbs replied.
"You look…", Tim didn't know what to say to Gibbs without offending him.
Gibbs smiled and nodded.
"McGee, you look good. Hope you haven't been letting DiNozzo run you down" he told him.
Gibbs was getting impatient. He headed up the stairs with the intention of seeing Jenny. In all the excitement, Gibbs missed the look that passed between Tony, Ziva and Tim. Each step took him closer to Jenny's office. His heart pounded with all the excitement as he approached the door. For, perhaps, the first time, he raised his hand and knocked on the door, but as usual, totally ignored the PA trying to stop him. He didn't wait for an answer and opened the door that lead to Jenny's office.
Gibbs opened his mouth to greet Jenny. But his jaw dropped to the floor. It was as if he'd been pushed into a pond with ice cold water.
"If it isn't the immortal Leroy Jethro Gibbs! Thought I wouldn't be seeing you this soon" exclaimed Leon Vance.
Gibbs recovered somewhat from his shock.
"Leon", Gibbs said greeting him.
"Where's Director Shepard? Conference abroad?" Gibbs wanted to know how soon he could catch Jenny.
"Director Shepard has taken an extended leave of absence as of last month, I'm acting Director till her return" Vance explained.
"Extended leave? What for?" Gibbs demanded. He didn't know why he was so annoyed.
Vance thought for a moment.
"It's personal", he told Gibbs, giving him a look that meant the end to this conversation.
Something told Gibbs that Leon Vance was full aware of his and Jenny's past liaison. But it didn't bother him a lot. Gibbs stayed for a few more minutes out of politeness.
When he left the Director's office, he made up his mind to drop in on Abby and Ducky before paying a long overdue visit to Jenny's house. And he might have a word or two to say to his team for not giving him the heads up. As he came down the stairs, he saw Abby run towards him arms open wide, no doubt to hug him.
"Oh Gibbs! You're back! You're back! You're back!" Abby shrieked in delight, throwing her arms around him, as he stepped off the bottom stair. "I missed you so much. They did too!" she pointed at the team, "I'm not letting you go back to Mexico, ever again, 'cause things haven't been the same without you. Director Shep–
"Abby, let the man breathe", Tony broke her off, shaking his head a little, telling her not to say anything else.
Abby stepped back a little.
"Director Shepard?" Gibbs inquired about Jenny.
"I think I heard Major Mass-Spec ding", Abby made an excuse and left.
Gibbs glared at the remainder of the people, his eyes demanding an explanation. Tony took a step closer to Gibbs.
"Boss – uh – Gibbs", Tony thought of what to say to Gibbs, "You'll find her at home, I think".
Gibbs could tell that Tony was nervous.
"Why?" Gibbs asked.
Tony looked the other two for support.
"Health issues?" Tim supplied.
Gibbs was taken aback, he certainly wasn't expecting that. Perhaps Ducky could tell him more. As he headed towards the elevator, Gibbs was sure he heard Tony mention Doctor Gelfand, the doctor who had attended him during his brief stint at the hospital. He had a bad feeling about it.
The doors to autopsy slid open with a hiss. Ducky turned to see who his visitor was.
"I though you would leave without coming down here", Ducky said, returning to his work.
Gibbs flashed a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes.
"How've you been, Duck?" Gibbs asked.
"Never better", Ducky said.
Both of them lapsed into silence.
Ducky broke the silence.
"Why didn't you tell me, Jethro?" he asked.
Gibbs didn't feign ignorance. He shrugged.
"I couldn't. It hurt too much in here", he put a fist over his chest. "I couldn't bear the looks of sympathy. Not from you guys", he told him honestly.
Ducky seemed to accept that.
"You could do with a shave and a visit to the barber", Ducky pointed out.
"That bad?" Gibbs asked pleasantly and Ducky chuckled.
"Ducky, what's wrong with Jenny?" Gibbs suddenly asked.
Ducky's laughter faded.
"I don't know what you've been told, but last time I saw her, she was doing well", Ducky said.
Gibbs didn't look satisfied.
"It would be best if you went to see her for yourself", Ducky said.
Gibbs nodded. They said their good-byes and then Gibbs departed.
Gibbs looked towards the door leading into the brownstone. He sat in his car and tried to muster courage to go inside and find out for himself what no one would tell him. He hated that everyone was being cryptic. For the last time, he told himself to move his body and walk into the door. The housekeeper answered when he knocked and let him in. When he asked about Jenny, she told him that Jenny had come home only a short while ago and had went to her room to rest. Despite her protests, Gibbs went up to see her. He knew where Jenny's room was. When he arrived at the destination, Gibbs gently pushed the door open, as if afraid of what he might find.
Jenny stood in front of the dresser, her back towards him. She turned when he walked a few steps into the room. For a second, Gibbs felt immense relief and in surmountable pleasure at the sight of her. Her hair had grown slightly longer than the last time he'd seen her. But she looked like a mess, if he was honest. There were shadows under her eyes, here skin was pale. She looked weak.
"Jethro", Jenny breathed. Her heart began racing. Not even in her wildest dreams had she imagined their reunion to be this way. The baby kicked. Hard. Her hand went to rub the spot where the baby had kicked.
Gibbs didn't miss the gesture. His eyes followed the movement. Jenny could pinpoint the exact moment when her pregnancy became obvious to Gibbs. His eyes went wide with shock. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. Gibbs had just been sucker punched.
"I didn't… you're…", Gibbs shook his head and tried again. "They wouldn't tell me why you had taken a time off work".
She didn't have to figure out who 'they' were.
Gibbs was dying inside. He was unable to articulate what he felt. But he had to know. He moved closer to her and placed his hand on her pregnant abdomen.
"Jen, is she mine?"
Thank you for sticking with the story and bearing with me.
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