Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! This chapter is for everyone who correctly worked out what was happening in the room.
Chapter 25: John Smith
They stood in the hotel room, surrounding John Smith. Everyone was furious.
Ziva David could hardly believe what she had seen a mere thirty minutes ago. She had not had time to process the images in her head.
The Brit and another woman, who was clearly not his wife. In bed together.
Gibbs had taken one look and walked out, claiming that he needed more coffee. Lily had made it back to the hotel before pouring herself a rather generous amount of bourbon. McGee had turned bright red and covered his eyes, while Tony had smirked. Charlie had muttered something about the British not being as reserved as they used to be. Jenny had missed the whole thing due to being in the kitchen.
Ziva had resisted the urge to shoot him. But only just.
What on earth was he thinking? They were supposed to be on a mission, not consorting with locals. John's behavior had hidden the real mole.
How he thought he could get away with it was unreal. Everyone had been on edge and alert, and had spotted the recent changes in his behavior. He had stopped vigilantly hunting for a leak and become withdrawn and secretive. Surely he could have restrained himself!
"Please," he whispered, the first word he had spoken since Lily had literally dragged him from the apartment. "Please don't tell my wife."
"The last thing we're concerned about right now is your wife!" Gibbs roared.
The boss had definitely taken it badly. Ziva was not sure why, and only Lily seemed to be unsurprised at his fury. She made a mental note to ask her about it later, before remembering that she had stopped talking to the CIA agent.
"She doesn't know," John muttered, looking petrified. "I love her. I don't know what I'd do if she found out."
"You love her but you're sleeping with another woman?!" Gibbs clearly did not believe a word.
"I love them both. I only see Sveta when I'm in Moscow. I can't leave my wife and she can't leave her husband."
If it were possible, Gibbs seemed to become even more irate.
Jenny stepped in. "We don't care about your arrangements. Why didn't you tell us? We've been looking in the wrong direction for the mole."
"I couldn't tell you," John whimpered. "I can't risk my wife finding out."
Ziva was fed up of no one questioning the obvious. "Did you tell Sveta anything about the mission? Even something small?"
"I haven't spoken to her since we left London," he told her. "Not a word."
"What are you thinking, Ziva?" Jenny asked.
"If he told her anything, she could have passed it on to Jasper Shepard. Even if he did not realize it, he could have been the mole."
"I didn't tell her anything!" John protested. "I swear. I've never told her anything about my job."
"Are you certain?" Ziva checked.
"Yes!"
"So you have been lying to her for years?"
"No! I just… we never discussed work."
"Work? So what does she do?"
"She's a professor at the local college. She's not in the intelligence business."
Ziva considered. "She could have a deep cover."
"She's not! I had a friend quietly check her out and I've never given her information. You have to believe me!"
Lily sipped her bourbon again. She'd already had to refill the glass once, and she had a funny feeling she was going to have to repeat it before this discussion was over.
She knew exactly why LJ had taken the mess of John's affair badly; he'd found his first ex-wife in bed with another man. She doubted that he'd actually loved her, but it was the betrayal that counted.
She had no intention of telling the others, but Jenny had picked up on her concern and dealt with the problem, leaving LJ to fume on his own. To be honest, Lily didn't care right then how infuriated he was.
She was more upset that the other surveillance had been broken.
As far as she was concerned, John had not been the pressing concern when they had abandoned their posts. Orders were orders, even if she didn't always obey them herself. She had to know that if she told them to do something, they would actually do it, not allow themselves to become distracted by something else.
Being disturbed earlier had definitely not helped her mood. In one sense, it had been extremely good, but she was also aware that she could have talked herself out of the situation if need be. Instead, her good day had been ruined so she could walk in on an affair.
She wasn't entirely sure how she had not shot something yet.
She took another few sips of her bourbon before speaking up.
"Exactly why did you break surveillance on The Lone Wolf?" she asked Tony.
"Because we saw John," he answered, looking confused at the change in topics.
"You saw a teammate, so you followed him."
It took him a moment to follow her line of thought. "We have a leak somewhere, and John's behavior had changed. He was wandering around on his own so we tailed him."
"Breaking off the more important surveillance in the process."
"If he was the mole, we wouldn't be having this conversation!" Tony argued.
"You could have called for backup."
"We'd have lost one of them. We made a judgment call."
"We? Or you?"
"Does it matter?"
"What matters," Lily told him, fighting the urge to throw her glass at the nearest wall and storm out, "Is that you broke off what was clearly the more important job to satisfy your curiosity."
"My curiosity has nothing to do with this! How was sitting on an apartment block more important?"
"If it had led us to Jasper Shepard, it would have done wonders! My primary concern here is not the leak; it's finding him. If I can get my hands on him, I don't care if all of you are leaking."
Tony stared at her. From the corner of her eye, she could see Charlie's face, clearly warning her that she was spiraling into obsession.
She bought the glass up to her lips and swallowed the last of the amber liquid, before slamming it onto the table. Lily stormed out of the door, trying not to lose her temper.
Jenny sat in the unfamiliar waiting room, her head resting on Gibbs' shoulder.
A few days ago, before the whole John fiasco, Gibbs had cornered Lily and told her to arrange another ultrasound. Jenny had found Lily's actions amusing; at first, she had shrugged her shoulders and acted as though she hadn't heard a word. Shortly after Lily had stormed off, Jenny had found a short note on her pillow, giving the time and location of her appointment.
Lily, being Lily, had neglected to give her two hours notice.
Jenny had learnt to take most of this in her stride. Lily had mastered the art of procrastination at a young age. When they were at high school, Jenny had been the one to make sure that they arrived everywhere on time, while Lily had dealt with practically everything else.
It had clearly shaped their routes in later life. Lily had gone into a job where thinking on your feet kept you alive, while Jenny had chosen a path involving patience and planning. And yet they could swap over so easily.
Gibbs shifted slightly in the uncomfortable seat next to her, and she took his hand in hers.
She was so nervous about becoming a mother. Lily had proved that she couldn't cope, and they were so alike that she could almost guarantee that she would experience the same problems. Unlike Lily though, she had people to support her. Gibbs, having been through this before, was helping her out in ways that she didn't expect. Ziva had been using her world-class massage skills to help ease her back. McGee, ever the gentleman, had been opening doors for her and handing her things that she could easily have picked up herself.
Even Tony had been carrying files for her without any prompting.
Gibbs' team were all helping out in their own ways, and she could see Abby and Ducky helping out when she finally got back to the States as well.
Lily had been in a dark place, and had been dealing with everything on her own.
Jenny smiled to herself. She could do this.
"Ms Shepard?" came a voice. She looked up.
A very pale man stood in the doorway, with jet-black hair.
Jenny nodded her head.
"If you could come with me please." His Russian accent was almost completely hidden.
Still holding onto Gibbs' hand, she followed him into a small exam room. She clambered onto the chair in the middle and lay back. Gibbs stayed with her.
"I've seen your records from Italy," the doctor told her. "As a first-time mother, you really should be having scans more often, and more regularly."
Jenny nodded in agreement. She knew that Gibbs would be bringing this up with Lily later on.
"Let's have a look then," the Russian smiled.
She tensed at the cold gel being put on her abdomen and grinned when the image appeared on the screen. The familiar heartbeats filled the room.
"Both twins look good," the doctor muttered, shifting the probe around.
She glanced over at Gibbs, who had a similar smile to hers on his face.
The doctor started to make notes on a clipboard. "I can safely say that you are 21 weeks pregnant," he offered. "At this stage, they should be able to both hear and recognize your voice."
Jenny made a mental note to start talking to her bump.
"They may respond to some types of music as well."
She hadn't known that. She wondered if she could persuade Lily to find some CDs somewhere.
"Congratulations. Everything looks good."