Jan 14
"When an archer misses the mark, he turns and looks for the fault within himself. Failure to hit the bull's eye is never the fault of the target. To improve yourself - improve your aim." - Gilbert Arland
Leroy Jethro Gibbs enjoyed observing Abby outside the confines of her lab.
She relaxed a lot more considering she had no work or samples to run. In all honesty, so did he without the pressures of solving a case.
Today, he'd called Abby early, told her to dress comfortably and that he was taking her out. Her version of comfortable was the same as her 'Habitat for Humanity' clothes; black dungarees, white t-shirt and hiking boots. At first, she'd been excited but a little nervous and hadn't stopped talking. Jethro didn't mind though. Not today.
The range only held a few other people, mostly men on their lunch break or women in training Jethro presumed.
Taking the booth at the very end, he smiled at her. She'd fallen silent.
"You can shoot a gun to run a test, but I want to make sure you can fire a gun properly when it matters."
"I know every single component, mechanism and the exact time it takes a bullet to travel through the barrel of a gun."
Jethro smiled. "Double tap it then. Dead center."
Taking a step back, he gave her space. She stood straight; confident. Shooting twice, he let her bring the target forward. "Damn it," she pouted, fingering the marks on the paper. "I should be able to do this."
Again, he smiled. "Relax." Placing his hands on her shoulders, he altered her stance slightly, working his way down to her hips. "Concentrate on your breathing and keep your body loose but steady."
His breath tickled her neck, giving her goosebumps. "Is this the same way you taught Mommy to shoot?"
Popping the ear protectors back in place, Gibbs signed to her. "Relax. Breathe. Concentrate."
He watched her body change; could almost follow her muscles as they unwound. Her breathing leveled and her posture was absolutely perfect.
If she made this shot, he'd buy her dinner. Saying that, he'd happily buy her dinner either way.