Yeah… no comment on the amount of time between updates… Enjoy.
"Where is Agent Gibbs?" an irate Vance growled, storming into Abby's lab. His face was like thunder and all four of them looked like little children whose hands had been caught in the cookie jar. He stood in front of them glowering.
"Uh… we don't know," Tony offered feebly.
"I find it hard to believe," Vance said, rolling his eyes, "That Agent Gibbs took off suddenly and hasn't contacted any of you since."
"Gibbs doesn't really go by the whole keeping your team informed philosophy," Tony said. Vance shot him a look.
"This is important," he said, "If you're withholding information from me pertaining to his whereabouts there will be serious consequences." McGee gulped audibly.
"Why is it so important, Director?" Ziva asked, pointedly.
The question had an underlying meaning that was palpable to all present in the lab. It was a loaded question and Vance knew it. She had intended it to be. He couldn't really answer without giving something away about Jenny or the possibly incriminating activities he was somehow connected to.
"If he contacts you," he ground out, "I want to be the first to know."
He left the room after his demand, leaving the four of them in silence until they heard the 'ding' of the elevator. McGee and Abby exhaled and all four of them exchanged worried glances.
"He knows," Tony said, "He knows Gibbs has been in contact with us."
"Of course he does," Ziva said, "He just can't prove it…yet."
"If that's true," McGee pointed out, "We don't have much time before he finds some way of preventing us from helping Gibbs."
"He's also getting desperate," Ziva added, "He knows Gibbs has found Jenny."
"That must be screwing up his plans nicely," Tony smirked.
"We don't know that he's behind any of this," Ziva pointed out.
"Come on, Zee-vah," Tony said, "The evidence against him is pretty damning."
"We had better hope so," Ziva said.
**
Gibbs was sitting on the beach staring out at the ocean. The sun was just rising above the blue horizon casting a spectacular array of oranges, yellows and reds in its wake. He briefly remembered sitting with Jenny watching the sun rise from the balcony of their hotel room what now seemed like a lifetime ago. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the memories. Reminiscing about their past wasn't going to help him get to the bottom of this mess.
"Good morning," her voice cut through his thoughts, as she sat down beside him in the sand. Her voice sounded surprisingly cheerful.
He looked over at her as she sat observing him quietly. Her legs were drawn up in front of her, her arms wrapped around them, and her head was resting on her knees. Her red hair was blowing haphazardly around her face in those curls that felt so good running through his finger. Her green eyes sparkled in amusement as he continued to watch her.
She had no makeup on and was dressed in an oversized shirt that he assumed she had borrowed from Mike and the jeans she had been wearing yesterday; her feet were bare in the sand, no stilettos… she had never looked so beautiful.
"Are you going to speak?" she asked, amused, "Or are you just going to stare at me all day?"
"Morning," he said roughly, clearing his throat. She giggled. "You seem to be in a good mood." He added.
"I am," she announced, thoughtfully, "I suppose. It's this place, it's so peaceful."
"We should probably get you some proper clothes," he said, after noticing the shirt.
"So we're planning on staying here for a substantial amount of time?" she asked, hopefully trying to coax some information out of him.
"You are," he said, smirking at her adorable little frown. He stood up and headed towards the cabin, knowing she would follow.
"What does that mean?" she asked, getting up and trailing after him as he had predicted.
"I need to go back to DC," he informed her.
"And I don't get to go with you?" she asked, annoyed, "This involves me, Jethro. I deserve to be apart of it."
"It's too dangerous for you to come back just yet," he said. "You need to lay low until we've figured out exactly what is going on."
"But you get to go off?" she said, accusingly. Her good mood had vanished now.
"I need to get there to figure this out," he said, "There's only so much I can do over the phone."
"So while you're gone," she said, "I just get to stay here with your – whatever he is – and twiddle my thumbs idly?"
"You don't need to twiddle your thumbs if you don't want to," he said with a smirk.
"You're so infuriating," she said, before storming off in a huff.
He should have predicated her reaction. He knew she wouldn't want to be left out while he went off pursuing leads. He just didn't think it was safe for her to go playing agent now in the current situation, considering she was supposed to be dead and the current Director may have been involved in it, not to mention the fact that she had amnesia.
She subsequently ignored him for the rest of the morning, sparking up a conversation with Mike whenever he did try to talk to her. He found it frustrating she was taking such a childish stance against his decision. Didn't she understand how much danger she was in? Someone had already attempted to kill her twice. He was only trying to protect her.