Rifiuto: Non Miriena
The little boy rushed to his mother, throwing his arms around her when he got close enough. Sarah Werth laughed, scooping her son into her embrace. In the nearly three years that had passed since her brother and his family had moved to Ireland, Sarah's small family had expanded- her and Damon's son, Rónán Beau, who's name meant "beautiful little seal"- had been born when Maura was two, and Sarah found that her second pregnancy and birth had been easier, like Ziva had said.
She turned at voices, to see Tali step out onto the back porch, Esther with her, telling her some story about school. Since their siblings had moved to Ireland, Sarah and Tali had grown closer, turning to each other when they needed the comfort, or just when they wanted to talk. They shared the same fears, the same worries, regarding their loved ones in Ireland. "Sarit! Gibbs is here!"
She quickly settled her son on her hip and hurried to join Tali. Afternoons at the Delacroix home had been a regular occurrence for the families since Tim and Ziva had fled the country, and often times, the team would join them for lunch or dinner. But when Sarah stepped into the house today, she found not only Gibbs and the team there, but a man she didn't recognize and a woman who looked suspiciously like she could be Ziva's twin. "Um... Tali, what's going on?"
"Sarah." She turned as Gibbs spoke up. "This is Agent Pride from the New Orleans office and Agent O'Reilly, from the Seattle office." Sarah furrowed her brow.
"Okay... but..." Gibbs reached out, and the little boy launched himself into the older man's arms, as his mother put her hands on her hips. "What's this about, Gibbs?" The older man sighed.
"They've been helping us on the weapons smuggling case we're working on-"
"The one in Ireland?" He nodded. "We just... we need to know if you've talked to Tim and Ziver lately." Sarah shook her head.
"No, sorry-" But suddenly Tali's laptop pinged and the doctor rushed to it. She quickly pulled up Skype, finding Asher on the other end. The boy was sitting on his bed, and he looked like he'd been crying.
"Asher, sweetheart, what's wrong?" He gave her a small smile.
"Zippa joined the IUFI, Tali Doda. Abba isn't speaking to her, and Ima's given up on her, the whole family is falling apart-"
"Whoa, slow down, sweetheart." She quickly beckoned Gibbs over; he'd set the little boy down by then, and rushed over, with the others. The boy either didn't notice them or didn't care at that moment, as he told them everything- from confronting his siblings after school to Ziva's severe reaction, to Tim's losing his temper. When he was done, he sniffled, swiping at his eyes.
"What do I do?" Gibbs closed his eyes briefly; he felt for the kid, and all he wanted at that moment was to be there, calming the boy's fears.
"Asher, look at me." Gibbs said finally, gently moving Tali out of the way. He waited until he had the boy's attention. "Keep a close eye on your parents and your sister, okay?" He nodded. "If anything else comes up, you call one of us- either Agent Pride in New Orleans, Agent O'Reilly in Seattle, or Tony and Bishop in London, if you can't get me, okay?" Asher nodded. "You keep close watch on your sister too. She may have gotten herself into this mess, but she still needs you; just like your parents do. And if you ever want to talk, we're all here, we'll listen." The boy nodded. "You're doin' good, kid. Hang in there, okay? You hang in there."
Once the boy hung up, Gibbs turned to the others. He glanced at O'Reilly. "Call Tony and Bishop. Tell them the new developments, and start working out a rough plan with the FBI and CIA." The woman nodded.
"Um, Agent Gibbs, wha' about the-"
"You don't tell any of the other agencies until you, Tony and Bishop have a rough plan, we clear?" She nodded, rushing off. Once she and Pride were gone- cause he'd gone with her to help- Gibbs turned back to the two women. Sarah sniffled, tears racing down her cheeks.
"What do we do now, Gibbs?" She asked, choking on a sob. "What if something happens to my brother?" He pulled Sarah into a hug, before turning to Tali and letting the other girl curl into his other side.
"They'll be okay, Sarah. And we'll figure this out. We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise." He whispered, pressing a kiss to each woman's head.
Asher lay back on his bed when Gibbs ended the call. He covered his eyes with his arm, choking on a sob. He didn't hear the bedroom door open, and didn't look up when he felt someone sit on the bed beside him. "I'm sorry you had to see Ima like that today, sweetheart." Tim gently laid a hand on his son's knee. The boy swallowed thickly, before sitting up and looking at his father.
"She's destroyed our family, Abba. She's hurt Ima and you and... and she doesn't even care." Tim sighed.
"She does care, sweetheart, she's just... just gotten caught up in... in fancy promises and the thrill of adventure. It's alluring, believe me, I've been there, but... she'll learn. When she's staring down the barrel of a gun that isn't hers, and she can't think of a way out of it, then she'll realize how wrong she is. It'll take time, but she'll learn, and if she has to, she'll learn the hard way." Asher swallowed, scooting towards his father.
"Abba?" There... there's this... march that's... that's going to be taking place in... in Dublin, but it... it starts in the Southside, and... and works its way up to... to Dublin. It's a... a peace march... to... to hopefully... stop the... the violence. You know, like... like Dr. King did in... in America... I... I was wondering if... if I could go with Devin..."
"When is it?" Asher swallowed.
"Two months." Tim studied his son for a moment, before getting up and leaving his room. "So... can I go?"
"Ken, you may go."
