You can all thank Aserene for this update. I'm not sure how long this story is going to be. It could end soon, it all depends how many reviews I still get ;-)
I hope you like it!
Chapter 11: Making Things Right
Together, Jenny and Jethro had interviewed the neighbors. But as expected, no one had heard or seen a thing. Or they thoughtthey'd seen something and that turned out to be nothing after all. They had no real leads, not until Abby had some results.
Even after all this time, working together felt just as natural as it had been the first time. But they were still not talking to each other. The only conversation between them was work related.
The kidnapper had contacted Allan, James' brother-in-law again. To give him, and in a way NCIS a deadline to release Ryan. Gibbs' team had monitored the call but by the time they got to the location, there was no one to be found. The team had returned to NCIS headquarters, Gibbs immediately went to Abby's lab. Carrying a Caff-Pow! and a coffee with him.
He winced a little when he heard her speakers blasting some kind of metal song. He raised his voice to get her attention.
"Abby! What did you find?" She turned the music down and took the Caff-Pow from his hand.
"Gibbs, I don't know how you do it? I just got a hit from the partial fingerprint I found on the pen. Someone had wiped it clean but forgot to wipe the clicking thingey. Pretty stupid huh?"
He just gave her a look.
"Right, the print belongs to Ryan's sister Ann. My theory is, they forced her to write the note. Or she made it up herself. I think it's probably the last one, if she wrote this under force her handwriting probably wouldn't have been this steady."
Ziva entered the lab, "Gibbs, Ryan just confessed. His sister was just a diversion."
While she said it, there was a secret smile on her face. She liked 'interrogating this way. It had been a while since she'd been able to do that. And it was a big plus that James Ryan had been a bastard while dating Jenny. No one should hurt her friend like that.
"Did he tell you where his sister went?"
"Yes, she's in a motel somewhere in the city." From the look Gibbs gave her, she suspected he was a bit worried about the way she left Ryan. "And don't worry, I didn't touch him."
"Pick her up, we'll be able to charge her with something."
"Yes, Gibbs." Ziva walked out again. He kissed Abby's cheek. "Good work Abbs."
"Gibbs, I got something else. The Director found a remaining of the bomb that was used to blow the car up. It was stolen from a naval base about a month ago."
"Did you tell her about this already?"
Abby immediately knew who he was talking about, and the reason why he asked that question. "I called her, she'll be here any minute.
"Make that any second." Jenny walked in and stood between Abby and Gibbs, nodded her head to him in greeting before she turned to Abby.
"Madam Director."
"What did you find Abby?"
"Like I told the Bossman, Ryan's sister wrote the note herself."
"Not that part Abby, Ziva already informed me about that one."
She threw Jethro a glare that clearly told him to stay silent. He decided to follow it's demand but he did smirk at her, rubbing in the fact that he'd been right all along.
"What did you find out about that thing I found near the car?"
"It belonged to a bomb, stolen from a naval base a month ago. Rumour is, it was stolen by.."
Jen finished her sentance "La Grenouille." Abby nodded. Not saying another word, the couple walked out of her lab, neither saying a word and as far from each other as possible. Watching them walking away Abby grabbed Bert and hugged him close. He farted. And with a determined look on her face she told him "I've got to fix this, I don't like it when Gibbs is sad."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"It looks like someone took control over La Grenouille's buisiness. Any ideas who it could be?"
Jenny looked at Gibbs and Tony, the three of them were in her office, she had decided it would be better if only a few people knew about this recent discovery.
McGee and Ziva were off finishing the case aganst James Ryan and the three of them would take care of this, and keep rule number four very close in mind.
Gibbs was the first to speak
"I'd say his daughter."
"Jeanne? Boss, you've got to be kidding, there's no way she'd be able to do something like this, right Director?" Tony looked at Jenny, a mixture of fear and worry in his eyes. "What abuot his right hand, Karl Lagermann, wouldn't he be the obvious choice?"
Jenny switched her gaze between the two of them. Jethro had a point, but so did Tony. She was about to say that it was both worth looking in to but then she thought of something.
"Tony, was Jeanne with you when her father blew your car up?"
Hesitatingly he answered. "Yes, she was."
"It could be a connection, a way for us to recognize who did it. Try to find something about Jeanne first. If it doesn't work out, start on Lagermann."
Tony walked out of her office. Not really happy with the assignment. Gibbs was about to follow him but her question stopped him.
"Jethro, could you wait for a second?"
She got up from behind her desk, gathering all her courage for the confrontation that was about to follow.
"You were right. Are you happy now?" Gibbs just looked at her,
" Actually, I am." She let out a short sarcastic laugh.
"To be honest, I'm not even surprised. There was always something about him that I wasn't sure about. The next part slipped out before she even noticed.
"The only reason I went out with him in the first place was to get over you."
Gibbs looked at her in surprise. Did she really mean that?
"Why?"
"Do I have to tell you? Since you were clearly over me I tried to get over you too. Ava, an old friend from college set me up with James. What a success that was." The sarcasm dripped from her voice as she said that last part.
" After going on a few dates with him I knew I couldn't do it anymore. Somewhere about that time they approached me for this job and, well you know the rest."
" What do you mean, since I was clearly over you? I didn't go on a single date the time we were apart. Even though Tobias tried to set me up with someone."
"And what about the night I saw you in Eden with a new red head?" During that last question, Jen's voice had gotten louder and louder.
" Eden? The restaurant? The only time I've been there was with Shannon's brother and his wife. We always go out to dinner to celebrate Shannon's birthday."
"How the hell was I supposed to know that? You never even told me about Shannon!"
It looked like his last statement only added fuel to the fire. He couldn't take it anymore. She was accusing and blaming him for all kinds of things but it wasn't like she was completely innocent herself, and she knew it.
"I would have told you Jen!"
" Right, and when would that be? After ten years of marriage? Maybe on our tenth anniversary. You know what.."
"Of course not! I would've told you sooner. And probably before you would've told me about your father."
She rolled her eyes, and replied in a sarcastic tone "What was I supposed to tell you. Hi honey, my dad killed himself but I think someone else did it and I'm trying to catch that bastard."
"Yes, why didn't you?"
"Because you would've tried to stop me!"
"Damn straight I would've. What the hell were you thinking anyways. Going after him on your own."
"I was following your stupid rule, number four remember."
"Did you forget the other one? Rule 17, Always have back up. You could've gotten hurt Jen!"
"So? It's not like that hasn't happened before, and it's not like you'd care anyway.
He couldn't believe what she just said "Of course I care, I love you dammit!"
They were face to face by now, both breathing heavily from all the shouting. There was something storming in their eyes. A floodgate of emotions had been opened, there was no holding back now.
Right now, right there. This was the time to finally sort things out. Everything that had been bothering them was out in the open. Now was the time to resolve all their issues and work on their marriage.
She lowered her eyes and fidgeted with her hands. "I.., I.., I can't." And stepped back. To put the distance back between them.
"Jen," he reached out to her, but she turned her back to him.
"Could you please leave?" When she didn't hear him leave she turned around. He could see that she was holding her tears back.
"Please, Jethro." Her voice was soft, and sounded so fragile. He wanted to hold her in his arms, stop her from hurting and to tell her that everything would be okay but he couldn't. He was the reason she was hurting this bad. And he had to gain her trust back first. To find a way to reassure her that he would never keep anything from her ever again. Slowly he walked out the door.
She was packing her bags, getting ready to move to her new home. Or hideout, whatever you want to call it. The time had come. NCIS was closing in on her. It was time to prepare herself for the last showdown. This was it, the moment she had been working for. After this she would disappear, and live her life hidden in the French Alps.
She walked over to her fathers collection and chose his favourite wine. She poured herself a glass and toasted to the sky.
"To our family. May we finally get our revenge." And with a devilish smile on her face she drowned the glass entirely.
