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Gibbs sighed and pulled out his gun, placing it in front of him on Jenny's desk, then shuffled the papers around, looking for something to pass the time until Svetlana found him, while trying not to mess up the order that she had them in. If there even was an order to the pile, which he began to doubt as he skim read some of the pages. He had just about given up when he pulled out an almost blank piece of fancy paper with just Dear Jethro on it in her familiar, elegant script. He stared at the paper thoughtfully, wondering what she was going to say and why? He remembered the last letter she had written to him, the dread he had felt when he found it in her coat pocket, knowing that she wasn't going to be waiting for him to return with her coat, that she was already gone and the pain when his suspicions were confirmed. Had she been meaning to tell him she wasn't coming back from LA? Alarmed at his train of thought, it suddenly hit him, leaving him almost winded; if she had died, all she would have left him was an unfinished letter, well, a not-even-started letter really, that said nothing. Had she already known that Svetlana was after her before the funeral? Was she trying to say goodbye? Why had she even begun a letter to him? She saw him every day; she could have just spoken to him. He carefully folded the paper, swallowing past the lump in his throat and put it in his pocket, promising himself he'd ask her about it later, and this time he wouldn't take no for an answer. Standing up, he moved over to the liquor cabinet and lifted one of Jen's decanters of Bourbon from a shelf, taking off the stopper and pouring himself a generous amount. As he did so he felt a presence in the room with him and smiled.
"Hello Svetlana. You made good time from LA." He turned around, Bourbon in hand and his smile faltered a little.
"Mr. Oshimaida… Agent Gibbs… Did you expect me to come alone?" The smile on her face was predatory and hungry for blood and something more. Something he recognised from his own face long ago: revenge. She gestured to the two men at her side, her smile widening. "I am not foolish enough to come to the house of my executioner unaided." Gibbs mentally winced. His great idea suddenly didn't look so great anymore.
----
Assistant Director Leon Vance drove through the Georgetown roads as fast as the speed limit allowed him, wondering just how he had managed to get mixed up in Gibbs' personal, therefore dangerous, business so quickly. Gibbs must've turned off Abram's phone after putting him on hold so he couldn't be disturbed. More like accused of dereliction of duty, after all, his phone was off so he couldn't know that Vance was calling him. He chuckled to himself, thinking about how ridiculous he was being. Gibbs could handle himself; he was over reacting. Just because Gibbs put him on hold didn't mean he was about to get assassinated or even that Svetlana was in DC, he just wanted to make sure he was handling the situation with Jenny's impending death. He'd get to Jenny's house and find Gibbs drowning himself in her Bourbon, like he used to when a case got too close to him, though he had usually found him in his basement.
Especially after Stephanie left him, he had been there for that. He had been on team Gibbs for a few months when the divorce had happened and then been transferred a few months after that. The case for Boone had been a nasty one and Gibbs had focussed solely on it, not even acknowledging Leon for at least a week until he realised he had a new probie following him around. He hadn't even had the chance to prove himself as Gibbs had found the guy and got a confession from him soon after he arrived. It had been the last straw for Stephanie though and the first anyone, even Gibbs, knew about the divorce was when the papers were delivered to him at work. Apparently, she had realised that he wasn't coming home to her, not really, just resting in the house until the next breakthrough came along.
Leon felt bad for him, he really did. None of his marriages worked out, he wasn't going anywhere in his career and so far he had no children either, whereas Vance had a long, successful and happy marriage under his belt and two beautiful children and he was the Assistant Director. Soon to be Director, if what he heard about Jenny's injuries was any indication. He swelled a little with pride and pushed the speed a little more. He'd rescue Gibbs from the bottom of his Bourbon and then get the team chasing down Svetlana. He tried to ignore the really bad feeling that was festering in his gut. Damn you Gibbs!
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"I have waited so long for this!" Svetlana whispered viciously, circling around Jethro, gun raised and pointed in his direction and tears in her eyes. This was it. She would finally be able to kill the man responsible for destroying her life. She was almost giddy with relief, but seeing him now reminded her of the night she had realised she had nothing left, and the young woman who was supposed to kill her couldn't even offer her that relief from the pain.
"Why now?" He asked slowly.
"It has taken until now to find you, and I needed to be prepared." She gestured to the men she had brought with her, all that was left of the small force she had hired.
"Why bother?" He shrugged a little as he said it, as if it didn't really matter to him. Maybe it didn't, he probably made his career devastating innocent people. She saw his eyes flicker to the desk and followed his gaze. His gun lay on the desk, too far for him to reach if they fired at him. Bolstered by the knowledge he was unarmed, she lowered her gun a little, hoping he would make a move for it so she could enjoy the moment just that little bit more.
"You killed Anatoly!" she hissed at him, the tears finally escaping her eyes, running down her cheeks.
"What was he to you?"
"Everything." She cocked her gun and aimed it at his heart. Her intention of drawing it out vanishing as the agony of Anatoly's death washed over her once more. "Now you should know how I feel, losing someone that means so much… did you get to her room before Abram killed her? Or were you too late to watch?" She smiled again and brushed away her tears, dropping her gaze for a moment and then she froze. At the side of the desk was a stuffed feminine travel bag. The shock she felt went straight through her and she lifted her gaze to him, hatred filling her. "She survived?! Abram… Abram failed…" She watched him look down at the bag and close his eyes briefly at his stupidity. She put both hands on her gun to steady it, watching as her hired guns also raised theirs, and squeezed the trigger.
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Vance finally turned on to the street where Jenny's house was and he sighed in relief. Best get this over with. He drove along the quiet road up to her house and parked behind another car, a silver one. Strange, Gibbs' car is on the driveway, who does this belong to? He gazed out across the street at the house, noticing lights on in the back of the house, causing a dull glow to emanate from the door windows. He got out of his car slowly and checked his weapon, unlocking the safety. He bent low and ran over to the door. It was slightly ajar. Hoping against hope that the door didn't squeak, he gently pushed it open a little and slipped inside the house in to the entranceway. As soon as he entered he heard voices coming from the room at the end of the hall and thanked god for his cautious approach. He pushed the door back ajar behind him and crept slowly along the hallway. The scene that met his eyes was far from what he was expecting. Gibbs was standing by a liquor cabinet, in what looked like a study, with a drink in his hand. At least one of my expectations was spot on, Leon thought wryly. In the room with Gibbs were two big, mean looking men and a woman, who he recognised from the airport footage and Tony's search: Svetlana Chernitskaya. He leaned closer to the doorway to listen to what they were saying.
"She survived?! Abram… Abram failed…" Leon watched as she lifted her weapon to fire and the men with her followed her lead. This was it; he had one shot to distract them. He stepped out slightly to get a better shot and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"NCIS! Drop your weapons!"
Sometimes Leon cursed his training. This was one of those times as all three armed assailants turned to him and opened fire.
----
Gibbs saw Leon peek around the doorway of the Study and take stock of the situation, then disappear again. He was careful not to look towards Leon's position in case one of the men realised someone else was there. He stoically stared in to Svetlana's eyes, waiting to see what happened. She was wavering, unsure whether to kill him, or maybe she couldn't. Her men wouldn't shoot unless she did, but if he moved for his weapon, she would not hesitate to take him out. Come on Leon!
"NCIS! Drop your weapons!" Vance's voice rang out and all three turned on the spot towards the sound. Gibbs flung himself towards Jenny's desk and snatched up his gun. He turned and shot the man closest to him, putting three bullets in him, two in the heart and one in the head, making sure he wouldn't get up. Vance took cover further down the hall, diving through the doorway leading to the kitchen as Svetlana and the last mercenary opened fire at him, the bullets hitting the walls and the side table, shattering the vases and splintering the wood. The other man grabbed Svetlana and pushed her down the hall as he turned to shoot Gibbs, who took cover behind the desk. So, they were her protection, not her assassins. Jethro peeked over the desk to get a shot just a he saw Svetlana being pushed out the door by her protector, who let off another few rounds in Gibbs' direction. Jethro dived out from behind the desk and circled around the room towards the door and looked around it. The man shot at him again but this time his bullet went wide as he let out a howl of pain and slumped to the ground. Leon emerged from the kitchen area, gun out and blood trickling down his leg as he finished off the last hireling. He turned to Gibbs and gave him a once over.
"You hit?"
"No. You?"
"Bullet grazed my leg, nothing I can't handle." Gibbs almost grinned as he retrieved the travel bag and thought about how far Leon had really come, from the computer geek probie who couldn't shoot at someone without having a mini panic attack, to the battle hardened Assistant Director who did what he needed to do and never asked questions. The sound of screeching tires met their ears and they raced out of the door to see Svetlana driving away in the silver car. They ran to Gibbs' car only to see one of the tires had been punctured by a stray bullet.
"We'll take my car, and I'm driving." Leon grinned. Gibbs shrugged and pushed past him to the car and got in the driver's side, tossing the bag on to the back seat. He watched Leon, amused as he shook his head and demanded he move over. Jethro started the engine and looked up smugly as Leon began frantically searching his pockets finding nothing. He looked up at Gibbs in disbelief before sprinting to the passenger side. "You picked my pocket?" he shook his head again as he buckled up. "Any idea where she's headed?"
"Oh yeah." Jethro replied, anxiety filling him up as he remembered the look on her face when she realised Abram had failed. He sped along the roads, hoping to get to Bethesda before Svetlana did.
