Chapter 25. I'm sorry…I know I told you this would be posted a month an a half ago but I underestimated just how much school work I was going to get slammed with in those first few weeks. I'll continue to do my best with it, but no promises.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or the song
Spoilers: None
Tony, Paula, Ziva, and McGee were sitting on the bed in Gibbs and Jenny's room when they returned in the late morning, and though they four all struggled to look as if they had just arrived, Jenny had the sneaking suspicion that they had been sitting there since she and Gibbs had departed.
"Anything?" Paula asked anxiously.
Jenny did not respond. Instead she just held up the white envelope for the team to see. She could not explain why, but she felt as if she had somehow failed this time, as if she should have been able to get more than just the envelope.
"Great," Tony said sarcastically, "A white envelope. We've never seen one of those before."
"Sarcasm is not useful," Ziva snapped at him, before turning to Jenny, "Have you opened it?"
"Not yet," she replied with a shake of her head, "we wanted to wait until we were all together before we did that." Ziva nodded her appreciation and for a moment no one said or did anything. They just stared at the envelope in Jenny's hand.
After a minute or so, Jenny began to work the flap on the envelope open. She knew that the other five were watching her every move, and so she went a little slower so they would not see her hands shaking as she worked. Finally the envelope opened and she slipped out the folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and was not at all shocked to find that, like the three before it, the only writing on the page was a few lines, of what she presumed were lyrics to a song, in the middle.
Our funny little lives
We show up here with stardust in our eyes
To get here on the train
It takes about a week but that's OK
"Sound familiar to anyone?" Jenny asked after reading the lines aloud to the group. Unlike the first three, she had absolutely no idea what this letter was getting at. However based on the looks the rest of the group were exchanging, no one else had any clue either.
"The Girl from Vladivostok," Paula said suddenly, "by David Arthur Brown."
They all stared at her slightly shocked. "How do you know that?" Tony asked her.
"My sister likes it," she replied with a shrug. Then she turned to Gibbs and Jenny. "Does that mean we're going to Vladivostok?" she asked in attempt to stop everybody from staring at her.
"I don't think so," Jenny said with a shake of her head, "Whoever is doing this wants to make us retrace our steps across Europe—"
"We went to Rostov," Tony cut in.
"I know that," Jenny continued resisting the urge to glare at him, "but 1. Rostov is this side of the Ural Mountains and Vladivostok is on the Pacific coast, and 2. we never went to Vladivostok."
"Why else would they use that song?" Ziva questioned.
"I don't know," Jenny admitted, running her fingers though her hair as she sat down in the desk chair, "Any idea Jethro?"
"It's not just about the place this time," he said looking straight into Jenny's eyes, "It's about the whole title."
"The girl from Vladivostok?" Jenny asked still clearly not following.
"Do you remember Kira?" he asked her hesitantly. Wishing he never had to say the name again, but knowing that did.
Jenny grimaced at the sound of the name but nodded. "Yea," she replied, "I remember that little Russian…" her sentence trail off as she realized what Gibbs was getting at. "She was from Vladivostok?" she asked, "Wasn't she?"
"Yea," he replied with a nod, "She was."
"Serbia it is then," Jenny announced sounding slightly disgruntled, "McGee you want to see if you can find us some tickets?" McGee nodded, and disappeared into the adjoining room. Seeming to recognize that it was time for them to make their exit, the rest of the team disappeared into the other room as well, and Ziva pulled the door closed behind them. Jenny and Gibbs were completely alone.
"Are you going to be okay with this?" Gibbs asked her gently, "I know you don't like Serbia."
"I don't mind Serbia," she corrected him with a shake of her head, "I just never liked Kira."
"I understand that," he told her taking one of her hands in his.
"But my personal feelings about it don't matter," she said, not entirely sure whether she was reminding him or herself, "We are going to be one the first flight to Serbia whether I want to or not."
"Your feelings matter to me," he told her, and she smiled at him.
"Thanks," she said squeezing his hand. There were a few seconds silence before she spoke again. "Do you remember what were like when we first went to Serbia?" she asked him, and he just nodded. "We were young and excited both still thought that we could save the world."
"'Stardust in our eyes' might not have been a bad description," he said, and she almost laughed.
"No it probably wasn't," Jenny agreed, "We were young. We were in love. We had completed several successful missions. We were on top of the world. We still thought that we were invincible, and that would could beat every bad guy we came up against."
"A lot has happen since then," Gibbs mused though neither one of them needed reminding, "we're certainly not as young, and we've had many failed missions."
"We're still in love," Jenny offered with a smile.
"That we are," Gibbs agreed pulling her to her feet so they were standing with their facing just inches a part, "We're not always on top of the world though."
"Some days it feels like it's on top of us," she joked, even though there was a certain amount of truth in that statement, "and we certainly aren't invincible."
"No," he agreed as his hand moved to her waist caressing an area of skin that had been scarred by a bullet many years back, "we aren't."
"And then there are the bad guys," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"And then there are the bad guys," he repeated with a nod, "We don't always catch them."
"No," she said quietly as she laid her head on his shoulder, "but this time we don't have a choice."
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