*I'm happy you're still following, Thanks for the reviews.
Sorry, about all tears in the beginning of the story.
Now, lets have another ride on this roller coaster shall we?* - TGE
Letting Go
McGee walked into the lab to find Abby on her cell phone pacing nervously and didn't seem to notice him standing there with a cup of her Caf-Pow!.
Nibbling on her bottom lip the look of worry was undoubtedly splashed across her face. For a moment she stopped and took a breath. "Okay, and I can you give you that list this afternoon right?" She asked whom ever she was speaking with.
Tim watched her nod and continued her pacing as he stood next to her work station patiently waiting for her to end her conversation.
"When would he… really?" She bit her bottom lip. "That's really soon, um… okay… I'll see you Monday." She finished her call.
Putting her phone away she looked at Tim. "McGee, hold me." She begged as she walked over to her friend.
Without hesitation he took her in his arms. "What's going on?" He asked.
Taking a deep breath she gripped him tighter. "Jacky… Jacky starts daycare or pre-school… ahh, I forgot what I signed him up for McGee."
McGee couldn't help but laugh.
Pulling back from him she looked at him with tears in her eyes that made him stop laughing. "It no funny Tim, my son is leaving and…" She took a breath as she wiped her tears before they fell.
Biting back a chuckled he pulled her into his arms once again. "Its okay Abby, it's not like he's leaving for college or starting high school." He assured her.
Gasping she pulled away from him with an even more worried look. "Oh my god… high school then college, sports and girlfriends." She nervously shook her head. "McGee I can't do this." She said as she walked away toward her office.
Smiling Tim followed her. "Abby"
"No, don't try and tell me it's going to be okay." She replied taking a seat to her desk.
"Abby" He said softly.
"My baby is growing up and there's nothing I can do about it." She said looking at a form on her desk.
"Abby, it really is going to be okay, okay? He's going to be fine and knowing him… he's gonna have a blast doing something new and meeting kids his age." He assured her kneeling down next to her.
Taking her eyes away from the piece of paper she looked at her friend. "It's just he's my baby, McGee. He means the world to me. When I'm at work I call Carol to see if he's fine and when I'm not working I'm never without him and this weekend when Tony took him I felt incomplete."
Tim smiled at her. "It's normal okay. Jacky is growing up and you have this job that you love and Carol's work schedule is changing so we all knew this day would eventually come."
"I did some investigating on this school slash daycare and they seemed really good and the people that work there all check out." She told him.
Raising an eyebrow he looked at her. "Don't' tell me you did a background check on everyone there."
She gave him smile that made him chuckle.
"If they check out, why are you so worried, they're good people right?" He asked.
"Yeah, they're good people. McGee I hate being alone." She admitted quietly.
Reaching out he gripped her hand. "You're not alone Abby."
"I know I always have you guys and Jacky and I are very lucky to have you all in our lives but… even when I'm with my baby I still feel alone. It felt worse when I dropped off his application." She said as she pulled her hand away from his.
Unable to say a word he watched her silently.
"McGee… there were mom's and dad's there together enrolling their kids and I – I…" Taking a deep breath she looked back him. "This isn't the only thing I'll be doing alone. There's school, school events, parent teacher things, high school and not to mention sports. Everything he should have his mom and dad there for and he won't…"
"He'll have you, Abby. He'll always have you." He assured her.
"I'm happy for what you and Tony do for him, but McGee I know once he starts, he's going to question what happened to his dad. He knows his dad is gone but I'm not sure if he really understands what that means." She said quietly looking at him. "That question I've been dreading is coming I know it and I still don't have a clue how to answer him."
"Abby, you've told him about his dad for the past few years and so did we. He's a smart boy I'm sure he knows and if not, you're not in it alone okay? Like I said, you have us and even though we're not the one you need during times like this, we're still here so don't think your truly alone… because you're not." McGee said placing his hand on her shoulder.
Silently she nodded.
"Now, before you freak out again can you tell me about what you found?" He said softly.
"Yeah," She replied with an assuring smile that for the moment she was fine.
Later that afternoon…
Tony hung up the phone with a huge grin. "Well, that's metro police's case now." He told McGee who was lost in his monitor.
"Good." Tim mumbled as he continued to type.
Curious about what Tim was doing Tony got up and joined his partner. "What are you doing?"
"Abby has Jacky starting school slash daycare on Monday so I'm just checking the place out." He replied.
Tony chuckled. "Jacky starting school? Say it isn't so."
"Yup, seems more like a pre-school from the looks of it." McGee said as he scrolled the website.
"Wow, so how is Abby about all this?" DiNozzo asked.
McGee chuckled. "Let's just say the less caffeine she takes in the better off she'll be for the next-"
"Eighteen years." Tony laughed.
Smiling Tim looked at Tony. "You really want to see Abby without Caf-Pow! again?"
Tony shook his head. "Oh, don't remind me of those scary nine months that Abby was caffeine free she was scary." He said as he walked back to his desk.
"She was filling out a form when I left so that you, I, Jimmy, Ducky and even Director Vance can pick him up if we have to." McGee informed Tony.
Smiling Tony took a seat. "So all of NCIS I see."
"Just about." Tim smiled.
"DiNozzo, McGee!" Vance called out from the top of the stairs that caused the men to get to their feet in an instant.
The agents looked at their boss.
"MTAC" Leon said as he turned and headed for the most secure room in the building.
Sharing glances Tony and McGee quickly made their way up stairs.
MTAC
Entering the dark room they saw Director Vance alone in the room.
"Found something or nothing depending on what you think about it." Vance said as he typed something into the computer on the side of the room.
"What is it?" McGee asked.
"Take a look." Vance said as he backed up from the computer.
The dark room suddenly was lit green from the night vision video streaming and for a moment they all watched the feed until they saw two dots approach the building.
"That's Gibbs and-"
"Lt. Phillips, the guy that was with him." Tony finished for Vance.
Vance looked at the screen as he nodded. "They infiltrated from the west side of the compound, took out seven armed bogeys and here…" Leon said as he speed the video up. "This is about a minute before we lost visual. From the looks of this there was only eight bogeys in the building Gibbs and Phillips took out seven which left-"
"The target" McGee said as he looked at the screen.
"Yeah, and from the communication that I had with Gibbs he only saw him so it's safe to say what we see here is what Gibbs saw. Then we lose the feed." Vance said as the screen went black.
"That's it?" Tony asked.
"Keep watching." The Director replied.
The screen lit up again.
"When was this?" Tim asked as he watched a different feed.
"When we got visual back a few hours later and about the same time I received the call about Gibbs." Taking a breath Vance shook his head. "This shows nothing but the aftermath of what happened and honestly there's nothing on these feeds that show that there was anything 'hinky' going on."
"Why did you lose visual?" Tony asked as he watched the screen.
"Signal was too weak and we lost it… before things went from bad to worse my tech tried his hardest to get visual back but there was nothing. Given the fact this wasn't a top priority for our country the feed wasn't as good as we had liked compared to lets say more infamous ops in the past. Then hours later it came back on and that's the feed we are now watching." Leon informed his agents.
"How convenient..." Tony mumbled.
Vance looked at him. "Tony, there's nothing in these videos."
McGee cleared his throat. "Director, do you mind if I look at something?" He asked as he walked over to the computer.
"Sure, but there's nothing there." He reminded his young agent while he and Tony followed.
McGee said nothing as he accessed the computer.
"I am beginning to think that this conspiracy theory of yours isn't what we're hoping for." Director Vance told Tony.
"Conspiracy Theory? I'm not suggesting if our government is holding aliens. I'm wondering if there is something real to this bullshit that we are forced to believe." Tony snapped back his boss.
Facing his agent Leon glared at Tony. "No one is forcing anyone to do anything here, DiNozzo. I accepted what happened, why can't you?"
"Accept this?" Tony said pointing at the computer. "A video feed that mysteriously losses feed on the most important moment of this operation. Files that don't match, a mention of the CIA and then that also mysteriously is fixed. Forgive me director but my 'conspiracy theory' just got a little stronger after seeing this. Something crashed and this is the wreckage, what are you going to call it?"
"I'm gonna call this a weather balloon, because I'm the Director of NCIS." Vance replied.
"Really, after seeing all this? Leon I understand what position you're in but-"
"I don't think you do." The Director interrupted. "I'm the Director of a federal agency do you know what could happen if I dig any deeper or if someone gets wind that I'm focusing on an incident from years ago while I have other pressing matters like an entire building that works for me. I have teams out there investigating crimes for the military and their families, not to mention the political games I have to play. I'm in a very difficult position, yes, Gibbs was my friend and yes, it bothers me that he's not here." Vance stepped closer to DiNozzo. "I made him go, Not you, I did. I was the one who hand picked him… out everyone I picked him you know how that feels? To be the one who put him in that position and then hate yourself, when everything that could go wrong does. Yes, you were there for Abby when her world came crashing down… but you don't know how it feels to be the one who destroyed that world?" His voice shuddered.
Tony looked at his boss who was boiling with emotion in front of him.
"Leon… I-"
"I think I found an alien." McGee said stopping Tony from speaking. "Or a man in black."
Vance and Tony turned away from each other and turned their attention on what McGee was working on.
"What do ya got?" Tony asked.
A grin tugged on Tim's lips realizing just how Tony sounded like Gibbs. "This conspiracy theory is starting to look more and more like we're onto something."
Leaning in Vance examined the computer monitor. "I'd call that a man in black."
"The video feed looks like it just lost signal, it did but it's not what I was expecting." Tim informed them. "Looking at everything it clearly looks like the signal was just lost but when I dug a little deeper it was made lost."
"What?" Tony asked.
"Someone intentionally stopped the feed from coming into MTAC." Tim replied looking over his shoulder at Director Vance.
"The men in black." Leon smiled.
"What?" Tony asked again but now a bit annoyed.
"Tony, look." Tim said pointing at the screen.
DiNozzo's eyes widen and turned to Director Vance. "The FBI?"
That evening…
Sitting in the middle of her bed Abby looked at the Yoshi she was holding. A smile on her lips the memory of how she got this stuffed toy was still fresh in her mind and she hoped that years from now that it still would be.
Taking a breath she looked at it. "It's Friday and on Monday he starts." She said quietly.
The room was quiet.
Looking around her room she looked at the scribbles and finger painting artworks that she had collected over these past years from her son. Her smile fading she looked on her night stand where those dog tags lay.
"I don't think I'm ready to let him go, but… I can't hang onto him forever." She said half to herself and half to the person she still wished was here.
Over these years she wished a million times he was there with her and a million times her wish never came true. She was happy that she made it this far and believed that she could make it for many more years to come. She was a single parent but her friends barely filled that void that was always there even when she told herself it was filled by her son.
Life was happening and time was passing by that made her past further and further away from her, it was that thought that scared her. Would there be a day when she would meet someone again, would she love again and would her memories of her and that marine would fade until she forgot him? He would have wanted her to move on and live again but since he was gone her time and attention was always with her son.
Setting the Yoshi down she looked at the ring on her finger. She would always be his and no matter how long she would live she would never love another ever again. This simple ring brought a phrase to her mind.
'Til death do us part'
She was never married to him but if that was true she should move on and love again, but that's not what her heart wanted. Til' death… didn't apply to them at all and right now she was sure of it because even after all this time she still loved him. He was never going to hold her again, never kiss her and never whisper those three little words again but… even in death she was his.
Swallowing the lump in her throat she turned her attention back to the Yoshi sure of one thing. That she would never let go of the memories or the love she had with her marine even though she had to let her son go on Monday even if it was just for a little while. Taking a breath she laid down next to the tiny figure sleeping next to her unaware that across town Tony wasn't letting go of something too.
Tony's Apartment...
Fornell stood in Tony's living room shaking his head.
"You can't be serious?" He said searching the eyes of the agent.
"I am" Tony breathed.
Chuckling Fornell walked over to the scotch sitting on the counter in the kitchen.
"I need a drink." He mumbled as he picked up the glass.
Following Fornell Tony sat down at the table. "So are you in?"
Holding up a finger Fornell downed the scotch quickly hoping it would take effect.
"So…?" Tony asked again.
Taking a seat at the table Tobias cleared his throat. "Let me get this straight. You're all in this together including Director Vance?"
"Yeah, so are you in?"
"It's been four years, why now?" The FBI agent asked.
"For three of those years we were all distracted by helping Abby with Jack and making sure that they're fine and now that they are… I think it's time we find out what really happened." Tony replied.
"Right… and what do you think really happened?" Fornell asked with a hint of a smile on lips because he still couldn't believe this.
"That's what we're trying to find out and we need your help." Tony said smiling back at him.
"Are you suggesting that Jethro is alive?"
Tony took a breath. "I'm just sa-"
"Because you do know there was service right?"
"Right but I'm-"
"They wouldn't do that, if there wasn't someone to bur-"
Tony groaned. "Fornell, I'm not saying that at all."
"Just so we're clear we're not chasing the possibility that Jethro is alive, right?" Fornell asked as the need for another glass of scotch filled him.
"I know he's gone… if he wasn't he would have done everything to come back to Abby. I'm at peace with that but I'm not at peace with being lied to." Tony told Fornell.
Taking a breath Fornell looked at the agent across him. "I'm not saying I'm in but besides files not matching, a mention of the CIA that was or wasn't there and a video feed that was lost what else do you have?" Tobias asked still unsure of whether this op was worth joining or not.
Tony smiled. "Today, when we were looking at the video feed McGee did his thing and he found something."
"Which would be?"
"The video feed that was coming into MTAC that day someone made sure that the feed was lost." Tony replied with smirk on his face.
"Let me guess CIA?" Fornell smiled back.
"FBI" Tony happily replied.
Fornell frowned. "What?"
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation… The F. B. I." DiNozzo said seeing the look on the senior agent go from shock to confusion.
"Can't be." Tobias breathed.
"Oh but it is. Now, we can't go digging into what you do at The Hoover building without someone noticing but you can. So, I'm going to ask again… are you in?" Tony smiled.
Tobias took a deep breath as he realized that maybe this was an op he wanted and needed to be apart of. "You're not going to let this go are you?" He asked.
Tony shook his head. "The last thing I'm going to do about all this … is letting go."
"Well…" Fornell smiled at Tony. "…operation Sierra 3 has a new member."
Tony smiled. "Now, let's find out what really happened… shall we?"
TBC…
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Next Chapter: "The Men In Black"
"I hope you enjoyed this chapter and forgive me my inner geek
just had to toss a few hints about Roswell in there."
- The Gabby Effect -