Sorry for the lack of update. My muse keeps running away. I finally got her back after she ran off to do my finals papers for school last semester. She has been revived and is breathing. She took a while to write this chapter. It has been a while, but not nearly 6 months (just 2 and a half). On a person note, I ask that all of you who believe in the power of prayer like I do, to please pray for me. 2 weeks ago my doctor told me I may have to have hip surgery again. *No offense to those who don't believe in a god.*
Thanks to all readers, reviewers, and alerters. Big thanks to all those who have continually read and reviewed. You keep me writing. And thanks Jen Crocker for pointing out how long it's been since I updated. It made my muse work harder.
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. I own all the DVDs, soundtracks, a Bert the Farting hippo, a cap, and some t-shirts. The show itself, not so much. Because I would be making a few changes. Like Jenny would be alive. Jibbs, Tiva, and McAbby would all be realities.
The Real World
As Gibbs looks around, his mind still has not gotten fully back to the real world. He asks, "Where's Jenny? She should be here."
Everybody just looks at each other. Nobody knows what to say. Abby is the first to say anything. "Gibb, do you have amnesia again? Do you remember all of us?" She chokes back tears of fear that he has forgotten her again. Ducky lightly pats Abby's shoulder to calm her growing hysterics.
"Come here, Abbs," Gibbs says while motioning her over. She approaches the bed fighting back her sniffles. He reaches his arm up to pull Abby down to hug him. "Abby, I don't plan on ever forgetting you again." Then he kisses her on the cheek.
"We are in the year 2010, right? Wait, how long was I out for?" Gibbs asks realizing he has no way of tracking how long he was unconscious.
Tony decides he will step forward no and give Abby a break from talking to him. "Boss, so far so good. We are in 2010, and you've been out for about a week."
At the statement from Tony, Gibbs stops to think of them all being there. "Tell me you haven't all been here since I went into a coma? This wouldn't be a very good way for the team to remain operational," Gibbs booms in his 'boss-voice'.
"Oh no, Gibbs. We've been working in shifts. Two of us are always here in case if you woke up and then the rest were at work and then at lunch we all stop by and see you which happened to be a lucky thing today since we all got to be here when you woke up McGee and Palmer were the two here before lunch and then we were going to switch shifts but now we can all just stay for a little while and we don't have to worry anymore!"
"Abby, take a breath. My mind is not completely back up to paying attention that fast. Anybody want to repeat and tell me what she just said?" Gibbs laughs while looking around at his dysfunctional family.
"I think what Abby was trying to say is that we have all been continuing to work. We have taken shifts to ensure you would not wake up alone. Palmer and McGee had been here before lunch, when we all stopped by to check on you. That is when you awoke and were calling out for Jenny. Which you did not explain," is Ziva's interpretation of what Abby has said.
Now is Tony's turn to look at Gibbs with confusion for he has forgotten about Gibbs asking for Jenny. "Boss, why did you ask after Jenny? She's been gone for two years. What went on in that head of yours while you were out?" Tony chuckles while fearing Gibbs injuring him.
There is a swift moment of eye contact exchanged between Ziva and Gibbs that goes unseen by Tony. The next thing everyone notices is a loud smacking sound through the room. Tony rubs the back of his head, turns to Ziva, and asks, "What was that for?"
"Do not look at me. Gibbs is the one who told me to do it," Ziva retaliates while glaring at Tony.
"Gibbs didn't even say anything. How did he tell you to smack my head?" Tony protests while giving Ziva an equally heated stare.
"Tony, shut up. Ducky, why don't you go find my doctor or a nurse or something so they can know that I'm awake. I'm actually surprised they haven't already come in here because of all the noise," Gibbs tells the entire team in a sense of finality.
The team stands in quiet around his bed afraid of him getting out the bed and head-slapping them all. Ducky returns a few minutes later with a nurse in tow. "I see you have scared them all into silence, Jethro. Quite an impressing feat. This reminds of a time when-"
"Duck, I'm sure it is a great story, but let's just save it for another time," Gibbs butts in to save them all from hearing another rambling story. The team all laugh at Gibbs way of stopping Ducky.
The nurse decides that she needs to do tests. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need you all to step out into the hall so I can check everything." Abby begins to protest, but before she can say anything the nurse holds her hand up to stop her and continues, "You will be allowed back in here as soon as I finish."
They all resign themselves to their fate and walk out of the door. They all make it out except for Ducky who turns around to stay, but Gibbs shoos him on out the door. Ducky softly closes the door behind him. The team agrees they will all trek down to the snack room for Abby needs a Caf-Pow! and Tony is complaining about wanting something to eat. Ducky informs them that he will stay next to the room and come to retrieve them when the nurse is finished.
After nearly a half hour in the snack room, Abby is starting to get antsy and worried about the exam taking too long. "Guys, I'm going back. I can't stand this waiting."
They all get up and proceed to Gibbs' room. Upon return they see Ducky talking to a doctor. Ducky motions for them to go on into the room. A few moments later after they have all gotten settled including Ducky, Gibbs clears his throat to start talking.
"Alright guys, I'm finally going to answer your previous question. In order for me to tell it I don't want any interruptions. If you have questions, just hold them until I ask. Got it?" The team all nod to Gibbs' instructions as if they have a choice.
"Okay good. While I was in my coma, I believe I had an out of body experience. Not like I was hovering over my body, but more ethereal. When I got there, I first saw Shannon. Any questions yet?" He pauses in his talking; not honestly expecting questions, but Abby slightly elevates her hand.
"Was that the reason why you called her name when we first got here? Because I thought I was just hallucinating at first. But you really did say her name?" Abby says in a manner of she has been vindicated.
"Quite possibly. I did see and talk to her first."
Abby nods her head in acknowledgment of his words. Tony, however, interrupts to say, "You saw her first? You saw more than one person?"
Gibbs just glares at Tony, before he can tell someone to head-slap Tony; Abby hits Tony on the back of his head. "DiNozzo, do not interrupt. Shannon was the first of five people that I saw. I was in some sort of limb and had the choice whether to come back to earth or go on to heaven with Shannon. Before she would let me though, she said I had to go and talk to all five people."
Gibbs looks around to see if everyone understands him so far. By the looks on their faces, he feels it is safe to continue. "Shannon tells me I still need to come back because my team needs me. Next, I saw Kate. She told to relax some of my rules, accenting on Rule #12 which I am considering. Ziva, she also told me that she has forgiven Ari."
Ziva looks at him in disbelief. "How could she forgive Ari? He shot and killed her in cold blood."
Gibbs reaches out and places his hand lightly on Ziva's. "That leads me to the next person. Next, I talked to Ari. Ziva, you should forgive him. Everything he did was for you. It may seem impossible, but it was the truth. He only wanted to make sure you would be somewhere safe away from Eli. He said Jenny had talked about me, and he wanted you with my team so you could experience love of a family. He didn't want you to die at the hands of Eli for not fulfilling your mission."
Ziva has begun to cry. "I do not know if I can believe that. It is truly touching and I hope that it was true. I hated to believe my big brother was a complete bastard."
Gibbs comforts her for a few minutes and looks around at them to see if any were confused. "Any questions?"
"Boss, how did the people get decided for you to talk to? It seems really random for the order," McGee speaks up. He makes eye contact with Gibbs for just a moment before he feels he should lower his gaze.
"I was told that everyone I saw would be someone from my life that needed to tell me something. The people were arranged in the importance of what they needed to tell me. Shannon was to tell me the ground rules. Kate was to set me up for the rest. Ari was a way of me to forgive. The next one was Kelly." McGee just nods his head cautiously for he was worried about Gibbs' next train of thought on his story.
"Kelly was there to tell me to come back. She refused to let me stay. Over and over again she kept telling me that there was one person in particular that I needed to come back for. She told me that she was never supposed to be an only child, and that I was the only one who could make her a big sister. She said Abby should see the Gibblets she wants to see, and Kelly has already seen them in the future. Any questions now?" he looks around and sees Abby smirking. Palmer is completely perplexed. "What's got you confused Palmer?"
"Um, what exactly is a Gibblet? I'm not familiar with that," Palmer slowly stammers out. Everybody around him laughs for they are remembering when Abby had told Gibbs and Jenny that they make cute Gibblets. "Okay, now I know I'm missing something."
"Gibblets is the term that Abby coined for my kids should I have any. And apparently Kelly had been eavesdropping and has adopted the term as well." All that is heard from Palmer is a very quiet mumble of 'oh'.
"Kelly then started to insult my dating record. Hell, she even brought up Hollis. The last person she mentioned to me was Jenny and she told me maybe I should try for a second chance."
Tony yet again interrupts, "Not insulting Kelly here, but she does realize Jenny is dead right?" Even though he has spoken the words, Tony still flinches from the memory of that day in his head.
"I'm getting to that DiNozzo. The next person I saw was Jenny. Who argued with me for quite a while on whether she was actually dead. She even accused me of doing something stupid and getting myself killed and she had been waiting for a while for me to show up. I found out she has been in a coma for the past two years instead of actually dead," Gibbs then looks at Tony waiting for Tony's upcoming comment.
"How did we think she was dead? I checked for a pulse and didn't find one. Gibbs, this doesn't make sense," Tony exclaims and begins to shake his head.
"Tony, she had lost a lot of blood from the shoot-out. It is possible that he heart rate was extremely faint which our theory is. We think that Vance has known this whole time, but wasn't at liberty to disclose her status. Our one question was how did Ducky not know if she was dead?" Gibbs says while shooting a look towards Ducky.
"I never got her body. I opened up the bag that was to contain her body, but it was someone else. Mr. Palmer searched all the bags, but none were her. I informed Director Vance, but he said this would be better. He said someone else could perform the autopsy so I would not be emotionally upset about having to look into such a dear friend. I should have questioned that. If I would have just questioned him more, we might have known sooner. I am so sorry Jethro. Do we know where Jennifer is?" Ducky finishes with a flourish.
"I don't know Duck. All I can say for sure is that she is still out there, and I need your help. All of your help to find her. Now that I have faith that she is out there, I can't just let her stay out of my life," he responds while glancing around at his team to let them know he is serious.
This is finished by a chorus of "You've got it, Boss" and "On it, Boss." Abby gets up and hugs Gibbs again and whispers "Don't worry. We'll find her. This is something we won't give up on."
"One thing guys, we can't let Vance know about this project. Wherever Jen is, I hope she's going to be waking up and coming back. This is to be a completely silent mission. Is that understood?"
There is a chorus of "Yes" and several nodded heads. Gibbs looks at their intent faces and knows he will get Jenny back. Now the search begins.
Thanks for reading. I hope it wasn't as bad as I felt it was. Review and tell me what you thought. :) Even if you want to tell me it sucked.
P.S.- is anybody else excited about this week's episode? I'm thinking that mandatory psych evaluations is going to be great. It makes my inner Psychologist very happy.
