Percy tried to keep her eyes off the blood. It never bothered her before, but she was still suffering from a rather delicate constitution and it made her nauseous. She felt Jethro looking at her.
"Percy, do a sweep of the bedroom and see if our Captain left us any clues," he said. Percy nodded.
"Yes, boss," she said, smiling to herself as she headed down the hall. She walked into the master bedroom and took a quick look around. There was a desk in the back corner. She walked up to it and pulled open the top drawer. She grabbed the stack of papers on top and started going through them. Cable bill, post card signed 'from Mom & Dad', old shopping list… All of the sudden, Percy felt a sweaty hand clamp her mouth shut, and a steel barrel pressed into the side of her head. Time seemed to stop.
"Say anything, and you're dead," a voice whispered into her ear. The hand left her mouth and traveled quickly down the side of her body, finding her gun and removing it from the holster. Percy took deep, slow breaths. Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm, she repeated to herself. The man held tightly onto Percy's upper arm and turned her around, keeping her body close to his own. They moved down the hallway slowly. Percy could feel the man's breathing on her neck, causing the small hairs there to stand on end. Finally, they reached the living room. It took only a split second for the entire team to have their guns aimed on Percy and her captor. Percy locked eyes with Jethro.
"Put down your weapons," the man said. He pushed against Percy's head with the gun. Percy felt numbness in her toes and fingers, creeping up her arms and legs.
"Let her go," Jethro's voice was calm and steady. The man laughed cruelly.
"Why should I? What good is that going to do me?" he asked, his voice was snide, "What's so important about this one?" He pushed her head again with the gun. Percy closed her eyes and tried to breathe. She felt her legs shake. She began to feel like she was spinning. Then, everything went black.
"Where are you? Baby, where are you?" Percy cried. She ran through the park, looking back and forth, nearly running into an old man. He was wearing a long gray coat, and a hat.
"Have you seen my baby?" Percy asked the man tearfully. The man looked at her strangely.
"Baby? You don't have a baby!" the man said, chuckling.
"Yes I do. I do have a baby! I just can't find her," Percy exclaimed. She began to move past the man but he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.
"You listen to me, you silly girl! There is no baby!" the man said, sounding angry. Percy struggled to get away, but the old man was surprisingly strong. He moved a hand to Percy's face. "Percy, can you hear me? Percy!" he said.
Percy's eyes flew open with a start. The old man was gone. Instead it was Jethro who was leaning over her, his hand on her face. Percy could see pain in his eyes. Real tears began to flood down her face.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You fainted," Ziva's voice came from behind Jethro, "And Gibbs shot him."
"You mean he emptied an entire magazine into him?" Tony's voice came from somewhere to the side. Percy realized that she was covered in blood splatters. Jethro ignored Tony's remark.
"The ambulance is on its way. I want you to go get checked out," Jethro said, looking at Percy. She sat up slowly.
"I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital," Percy said.
"You're going to the hospital," he said.
"No, I'm not," Percy said, feeling a combined rush of exhaustion and anger. She wanted to go home, take a shower, and get into bed. Most of all, she wanted him to come with her. She wanted him to take care of her. But, it's still a big fucking secret. Percy pushed to her feet, Jethro rising with her. She glanced at the body that lay in the hall. The man's chest was torn open with bullet holes. Percy looked away, taking a deep breath to fight the nausea. She turned toward the front door; Jethro was hot on her heels.
"Where are you going?" He asked, grabbing her arm.
"Home, to wash someone else's blood off of me!" Percy said angrily, shaking off his grip. Jethro sighed, and looked back into the house.
"DiNozzo!" he called. Tony looked up.
"Yeah, boss?" he asked.
"Take over here. I'll call for an update," Jethro said, "Come on," he said, motioning at Percy. She followed him down the sidewalk to the car. He opened the passenger side door and Percy got in. A moment later, he got in on the driver's side and started up the car. They drove in silence for a few moments.
"I think you should go to the hospital, just to be safe," Jethro said, softly. Percy looked at him.
"Outside of the fact I had a gun to my head, I feel fine, Jethro," she said. Percy could see him take a deep breath of his own. The stress was clearly written on his face.
"I don't want you going out in the field anymore," he said.
"Well, that won't be suspicious, will it?" Percy asked, sarcastically.
"Percy, what should I have done? Tell them then? I think the eight bullets in the dead guy's chest may have been a little suspicious as well," Jethro exclaimed. He hit the steering wheel with the side of his fist, before pulling into a gas station parking lot with a screech. Percy's eyes were wide. Jethro leaned over and pulled her close to him. He leaned his face on hers. Percy could feel wetness on her cheek.
"I was so," his voice was strained, "scared." Percy took his face in her hands. She wiped his cheek softly with her thumb.
"I'm okay," she whispered, "We are okay."
A shower had never felt as good as it did right then. The water was so hot, it almost burned. Percy watched trails of blood mix with the water and run down the drain. Jethro stood behind her. He ran his hands over her shoulders, and slowly down her arms. Percy leaned against his body and closed her eyes. His touch was soft but purposeful, as he traveled over her body, washing the day the away. He washed each arm; each finger, rubbing the palms of her hands. He brought his hands to her hips and moved them up the side of her body, over her waist and rib cage. He cupped her breasts in his hands; making them slippery with soap. His hands traveled down to her slightly swollen belly. He caressed it softly and kissed her neck. Percy turned around and put her arms around his neck, laying her head on his chest. Jethro wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. We're okay.
Percy stared at the table as everybody filed into the conference room. Her heart was in her throat. For as long as she had wanted the secret to end, she wasn't quite so sure now.
"Where's McGee?" Jethro sounded annoyed.
"Here I am, Boss!" Tim called, quickly entering the room and closing the door behind him. Jethro motioned for Tim to sit down with everyone else, but he remained standing. Percy wished he would sit down too.
"What's up, Boss?" Tony asked. Percy could hear Jethro take a deep breath. Here it comes; the end of a very long secret.
"Percy is no longer going to be going on any field assignments," he began. Percy felt she could almost hear nervousness in his voice. "She's pregnant, and it's too dangerous," he continued. Percy looked up from the table at the faces across from her. Everybody was looking at her with a look of surprise, except Abby, who was looking at Jethro with utter shock on her face.
"Well, congratulations, Percy!" Ducky finally broke the silence. There were follow up congratulations from the rest of the team, excluding Abby, who was still looking at Jethro. Tony was the first to notice Abby's strange behavior.
"Uh, Abs, you okay there?" he asked with an amused tone. Abby shifted her gaze to Percy.
"Who's the father?" she asked, staring hard.
"Now, Abby, that's none of…" Ducky began to speak.
"I am," Jethro said. A deathly silence encompassed the room. The shocked look Abby wore moments ago was now shared by everybody else. Tony's mouth opened and closed several times, as he looked back and forth between Percy and Jethro.
"There will be no questions, and no discussions about this subject," Jethro spoke again, "Is that understood?" Everybody nodded. Ducky stood up from his chair.
"Well, congratulations to the both of you," he said, walking around the table. He stuck his hand out for Jethro, who shook it with a slight smile. Ducky placed a warm hand on Percy's shoulder, and she gave him a small appreciative smile.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an autopsy to finish," Ducky said. Jethro waved him out.
"We're done here," Jethro said, turning back to the rest of the team. Percy stood up with the rest of them. They filed out slowly, giving Percy and Jethro awkward looks as they passed by. Jethro reached for the door handle as Abby exited, and shut the door. He turned around to face Percy.
"Was it everything you hoped it would be?" he asked, a slight smile on his face.
"It was possibly the most awkward moment of my life," she said.
"You knew it wouldn't be easy," he said, stepping closer to her.
"I know," Percy said, "I'm just glad it's over now." He kissed her forehead.
"Me too," he said.
Percy could see Tony, Ziva, Tim and Abby huddled together in the middle of the aisle. They were talking in hushed voices, but stopped as soon as they saw Percy approaching. Tony, Ziva and Tim all headed to their desks, but Abby stood with her arms crossed, giving Percy the evil eye.
"You lied to me," she said, as Percy approached. Percy sighed.
"I didn't lie, Abby. What I told you then was the truth. The situation just changed," she said, moving past Abby to sit at her desk. Abby gave Percy another annoyed look, before turning around and walking off. Tony appeared in front of Percy's desk.
"So…how long have you and the boss, been, uh, you know…" he trailed off, his eyebrow raised. Percy gave him a dirty look as a response. Percy could see Jethro walking up behind Tony. He leaned over Tony's shoulder.
"When I said, no questions, I meant no questions, DiNozzo," he said. Tony jumped slightly, and gave Jethro a sheepish look.
"Yes, Boss!" he said, returning quickly to his desk. Jethro shook his head as he sat down at his own desk. Percy tried to focus on her computer screen, but felt as if everybody was staring at her. She could hear Tony and Ziva typing in random intervals. She could just imagine what their emails said. She felt the heat of embarrassment in her face. What did you think would happen? Just ignore it. They'll get over it…eventually. Percy sighed to herself. Eventually.
