Chapter 37-A Brief Elevator Interlude
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Dr. Samantha Ryan and Director Leon Vance finished their powwow in the office. Dr. Ryan's advice was to keep an eye on Molly's mental state as she warned a break down was inevitable. Dr. Ryan's opinion was that her trauma, whatever it may be, had stunted her growth in some areas and accelerated others, leaving her a scarred frightened girl who was running blind.
When Dr. Ryan finally left Vance's office she was satisfied to see Gibbs working at his desk. She marched down the stairs and went straight to him. "We need to talk," she demanded of the former gunnery sergeant.
"I'm busy with a case," came out the gruff reply.
"You usually are. This will only take a moment of your time," she insisted.
He gave her one of his patented stares. "Can't it wait?" He was aware of his agents' eyes on the bickering couple knowing they could not resist witnessing the show that he and his ex were putting on.
Samantha was aware of the same thing so she smiled insincerely as she bent over his desk and spoke in a tone only Gibbs could hear. "You can either talk to me or I can have the director call you in and the three of us can discuss why you lied for the cute little redhead who is sitting up there." Her smile turned smug as she straightened up and turned to leave.
Gibbs rolled his eyes and sauntered after her. When he reached her he grabbed her by the elbow and led her to the elevator. Once they were boarded with the doors closed both of them reached for the button that would allow them to freeze the contraption in place.
Samantha gave a cocky lift of her eyebrow having reached it before Gibbs. She crossed her arms, "Okay, spill. What was that about?"
"What exactly? You need to be a bit more specific," Gibbs countered.
"Why did you lie to protect her?"
"Why do you think? You love to deduce do you not?" Gibbs stared into her eyes.
"Oh Jethro, I really don't think you want my deductions at the moment." When Gibbs was unyielding she gave out a huff. "Fine. I think she reminds you of Shannon or even your daughter. She is in a position of weakness and you want to protect her or save her or even fix her. But you can't do that by lying for her. You lied to Vance to protect a mentally unstable woman who could potentially be hiding something dangerous. In hopes of what? That she'll trust you? That she'll tell you what's going on?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah? Is that all you have to say? You're risking a job, which is practically what you live for, in the hopes that she'll trust you?"
"Yes." He looked deeply into her eyes. "Now what does that tell you?"
"It tells me that you know something that you're not telling me."
Gibbs looked to the side and gave a nod.
"Well what is it?" She asked impatiently.
"You'll have to figure it out on your own, I can't tell ya what it is." He opened his eyes wide, "The truth is you've alienated that girl too much by playing your games that I'm not sure you can help her anymore. I trusted you to see that she needed help and instead you tried to tear her apart looking for a leak. That's no way to get what you want and you know better than that."
"I needed to know how she knew. I can't risk-"
"The safety of your son. I know. You told me that when you left. You couldn't trust me then but I need you to trust me now. She poses no threat to you." While he was speaking he pushed the button for the elevator to resume and pushed the button for the floor to the garage.
"I'm not going to let anything happen...to either of you." He moved to give Samantha a kiss on her cheek before giving her a gentle push of the elevator. "See you next week I suppose."
"Gibbs, she's not Shannon," Samantha managed to say before the doors shut again.
"No. No she's not," a resigned Gibbs said aloud to an empty elevator.
The rest of the day and week went without incident much to everyone's relief. During the weekend they were not so lucky.