Knights of the NCIS Table—Gibbs Chapter 19

Once the fire department has given the okay for the agents to return inside, Gibbs makes sure that the building is once again secure before sending everyone home. Abby runs down to her lab and surprisingly nothing was damaged when the fire system went off. Somehow she knows that Laurie and Dawes had protected the equipment from the foam and water. She doesn't know how they did it, but her precious computers and mass spectrometer are safe and none of it needs replacing.

Gibbs knows that the team wants filled in on what happened while he was in Japan, so he invites them all over to his place for supper. He looks over at Laurie who gives a subtle nod in agreement. Donny secure in his mother's arms looks from Gibbs to Laurie and back again. His grandfather is at peace and a smile is lurking even now at the corner of his mouth. Tim lets everyone know that he's going to meet them at Gibbs house. He's going to stop first and pick up Holly. He asks Donny if he wants to go with him but this time Donny refuses. The little boy asks Gibbs to take him home instead and Tim tells his boss that he'll transfer the car seat over to Gibbs car.

Considering how they arrived, Gibbs is about to refuse when he remembers that he can always take one of the Dodge's that are part of the NCIS fleet of cars. Tim nods his understanding and leaves the room. Tony and Sarah head out after offering Ziva and Abby a lift. Both women refuse, for different reasons. Ziva prefers to drive by herself and Abby's not sure she's going to be welcome there.

Seeing the doubt in Abby's face, Laurie takes Ziva aside and asks Ziva if she minds watching Donny for a few minutes while she and Gibbs talk to Abby. The dark haired woman smiles and nods, knowing that if Abby's ever going to accept the new woman in Gibbs life, they need this conversation. Ziva extends her hand to Donny and asks him to demonstrate his throwing skills for her.

"Are they going to fight, Aunt Ziva?"

"I do not think so Donny. I think that your grandfather and Laurie want to talk to Abby, so that they can all be friends."

Donny nods, clearly thinking about the presence of Laurie in his grandfather's life. Ziva lifts him up, bringing him to her eyelevel.

"What is on your mind, young Donny? You may tell me, I will not tell anyone else."

"I was watching Granpa Jefro earlier, and he was smiling Aunt Ziva. He never smiled that much before he and Miss Laurie took their trip."

"Maybe he was able to resolve the differences between them, making him like and trust her yes?"

That's when it occurs to the child that his Aunt Ziva has always trusted Laurie. He gives her a look that is pure Gibbs. "You've always known who she is, haven't you? You didn't tell Granpa either."

Ziva stands him on the bench so that they are of almost equal height. "When your grandfather first met my friend, she had to bring him sad news, yes? I was not there that night, it was not until later that I found out she was there and by then your grandfather had already started to form an opinion about her."

"Still, you coulda said something to Granpa." He sticks out his chin, just as stubborn as Tony does when he knows he's right about something.

"Yes, I could have, however I did not and now they are friends. That is all that matters, yes?"

Donny nods his agreement and they start his lesson in knife throwing.

***

Upstairs Abby is pacing as she tries to figure out just what Gibbs and Laurie want to tell her. Gibbs finally sits her down at Tony's desk. He draws in a deep breath, still not sure what he wants to say. Laurie sits down at Abby's feet; she knows what she's going to say.

"Abby, look at me, and understand what I'm telling you." Laurie waits until those dark eyes raise enough to look into her own lavender colored ones before she continues.

"I know why you are concerned, I feel the same way about my own team; both of them are of major concern to me. I will admit that I conducted my own investigations into the MCRT after we were introduced. How-ev-er…" she deliberately draws out the last word, "I never conducted a DNA search. I do know that Jethro was involved in several missions that he will never talk about and I will never ask him about."

"Abbs, as a special forces unit there are things we can never know about, you should know that by now. The fact that you ran her DNA, even after we found out that her team was black ops, I admit to being disappointed."

"But Gibbs, her clearance level shouldn't be above yours. She's not old enough to have that high of a level. She's as old as Tony is for cryin' out loud."

"Older, but only by a couple of years. The fact is Abby, I know who she is, I trust her, and now you need to trust her too."

Abby nods slowly and extends her hand to Laurie who smiles as she shakes hands with the Goth. Laurie looks up at Gibbs to make sure he approves as she invites the Goth to dinner with the rest of the team. Abby shakes her head no. she needs some time to accept all that's happened in the past few hours. They don't pressure her into accepting; instead Gibbs lowers his head to kiss Abby on the cheek, as Laurie stands up. The couple heads for the elevator and Gibbs dials Ziva's cell so that she knows they're on their way to get Donny.

***

Dinner is an easy affair, as Tim and Holly pick up the meal from the newly opened Knotted C. Tony and Sarah pick up extra soft drinks for everyone and Gibbs stops off for his favorite coffee. During the meal, Gibbs and Laurie lightly touch upon the fact that Laurie had buried yet another friend and that is why Gibbs had accompanied Laurie to Japan. Holly looks shocked at the news and knows instinctively that Laurie had kept the news from her.

After the meal, Donny talks Gibbs into finishing the story he'd started. Tim looks up startled as he's usually Donny's story teller. Tony tells him not to worry, he's sure that Tim will be back on the best teller list before the week is out. Both Gibbs and Laurie head slap him for that remark as they head into the family room.

Tony rubs the back of his head, grumbling good-naturedly about the head slaps. Sarah tells Tim that she has a taping of the last time Gibbs was the story teller if he wants to listen to it.

As they head into the family room, Tim and Ziva are surprised to see Gibbs and Laurie sitting side by side on the couch, (as they hadn't been present the last time Gibbs told his story). Donny is sitting on Laurie's lap, showing her his bunny Plot. Once everyone is sitting down Gibbs asks Donny where they'd left off in the story.

"Umm...King Jed is wrapping Tandel's eyes so that they can fly back to his castle."

***

Jed asks Tandel if she will let him bind her eyes.

"Thym flies pretty fast, and we don't need your eyes to get worse."

Tandel nods at his logic and sits passively while he wraps a cloth around her eyes. He'd found the cloth in her backpack. It has many things that Jed himself uses or had used prior to his marriage to Shannon. Rope, candles, extra rations, and to his surprise some herbs are in there too. When he finishes, he looks for Crystal and asks her if she'll find Thym so that they can take Tandel back to Senrinca and his home.

When Thym enters the cave, King Jed looks at the blue dragon and offers an apology to the beast. "I realize that you were just trying to look out for my best interests. Thank you."

The dragon gives him a bashful smile before heading towards the cave entrance where he transforms into his dragon form. Crystal hovers near Tandel, not sure if she wants to go with the others back to Senrinca. Jed looks at the little pseudo-dragon, and says one word, "Please." The little dragon nods and wraps herself around Jed's proffered arm.

The flight from the dragon's cave to Jed's castle takes less than ten minutes. As they land in the courtyard, Jed starts yelling for Abdiel and Zavad, as well as Jamie to help him with his guest.

***

Tim looks at his boss in awe. He hasn't realized until now just how much attention Gibbs has paid to the stories he's been telling Donny. His green eyes reflect his pleasure that the older man thought enough of the stories to remember even the minor characters.

***

Thym waits until the others have dismounted to change form and follows King Jed into the throne room. Abdiel and Jamie are waiting for Jed as he strides into the room, carrying the still form of Tandel. Jamie quickly examines the elf, noting the bandage around her eyes and looks up at Jed for clarification.

Jed repeats what information he knows and Jamie gently cuts the bandages off so that he can inspect the elf's eyes. The wizard's medical skills are almost as great as his magical ones and he quickly ascertains what needs to be done to cure Tandel's eyesight. He has Zavad bring him some water and Tandel herself tells him of the herbs that are in her pack.

Jamie crushes the herbs and mixes them with the water, then gently sprinkles the mixture into Tandel's eyes. Tandel says nothing as the herbs touch her eyes, and Jamie has King Jed help him replace the bandages.

"Leave them on until the next sunset. I'll inspect them again at that time. Crystal, if you're here, I'd like your assistance tomorrow too. We might need to create a stronger potion if these herbs don't work."

"They'll work." The tone of Jed's voice doesn't leave anyone in doubt. They know that the king has the power of suggestion or something equally powerful. Tandel smiles under her bandages at the king's arrogance. She knows that it's up to Corellon if the herb mixture works, not King Jed, but likes the idea that he thinks he can influence a god.

***

"Wow, he really is like you isn't he Gibbs?" Tony cringes as everyone else in the room, except Laurie, turns to glare at him. Laurie just smirks and dodges the hand that pretends to smack her.

***

As night becomes day, Tandel asks King Jed if he will "show" her around his castle. The king is slightly surprised but agrees. The elf places a hand on his elbow and he takes her through the separate rooms, describing the kitchens, and the dining areas. He leads her up the stairs to the many guest rooms and even his den.

They go back downstairs and he takes her out into the gardens and she smiles as she recognizes some of the herbs that are growing by their scent. She frowns at some and when he asks her what the matter is she tells him that some of the herbs are deadly and poisonous if used incorrectly. Among them are elderberries, wolfsbane and belladonna/nightshade.

***

Gibbs looks around not sure if the herbs he's mentioned really are toxic or if he's just repeating something from Harry Potter. Laurie catches his eye and gives a slight nod, indicating that he's on target with the herbs and their toxicity.

***

Jed thanks Tandel for the information as he escorts her back inside and makes a mental note to ask Jamie and Abdiel about the herbs. He knows that some of them are used to make poison for the arrows that they use, but he wants confirmation now as to what the exact use is for all of the herbs.

On their way back inside, Tandel trips over one of the stepping stones. When Jed steadies her, he notices the small heart shaped scar she has on her shoulder. He asks her about it and she tells him about her brother who'd been taken in by evil clerics and how he'd branded her when she'd tried to save him.

***

Laurie knows immediately where that reference came from and Gibbs silently takes her left hand in his. Donny follows their linked hands and sees the scar on Laurie's palm. He reaches out and caresses the scar as his Granpa continues the story.

***

Jed says nothing as he touches the scar on Tandel's shoulder. The price of loving someone, of caring enough to try to save them. He thinks of his own scars, ones he obtained when trying to rescue his wife and daughter. He has much in common with this elf. He wonders again why Thym would have brought her to his kingdom and realizes that Thym might not have been the only factor in Tandel coming to Senrinca.

Leaving Tandel in the capable hands of his squire Zavad, King Jed heads towards his chapel and a confrontation with a god. He implores Corellon to communicate with him and explain why he brought Tandel to this land.

Surprisingly, Corellon descends and grants him an audience. He tells Jed that the cleric called Tandel is as precious to him as Jed's daughter had been to the king. She'd lost a lot of good friends and he wanted one last chance for his cleric to be happy. "Give her a chance, you can both be happy."

"I will if you will." Jed's tone is brooking no refusal. He's seen the cleric's unhappiness at losing not her eyesight but the skills that had made her a cleric/magic–user. Corellon blinks at the king's perception and nods in agreement. He'd hoped that Tandel would find someone worthy to be her soul mate and he has a feeling that King Jed is that man.

Corellon tells King Jed that when Jamie takes the bandages off Tandel will not only have her sight back; her cleric and magic-user abilities will be restored as well. Jed refrains from telling him that he'll believe it when he sees it.

After the evening meal, King Jed waits for the arrival of Thym and Crystal before allowing Jamie to remove Tandel's bandages. He knows the dragons are concerned for the elf and want to be there if anything goes wrong. The bandages come off and Jamie carefully washes the herbs away from Tandel's eyes.

The elf blinks against the slight sting as the water washes the last of the herbs away. She takes in the muted blue form of Thym the dragon/man and his companion Crystal the purple pseudo-dragon. Beside the two dragons are Jamie, the gentle wizard, his hands full of the water bowl and Abdiel his black locks hanging straight down his back. Zavad is sitting beside her, looking up at her with hope in his youthful eyes and face. Finally her eyes light on King Jed.

The silver-blue gaze meets with her lavender one and she knows that she's found her home, her heart and her soul. Their hands meet and Tandel feels not only her healing powers revive, but her magic-user ones too. As for Jed, he feels complete for the first time since his Queen and Princess had been killed. When Tandel winds her arms around Jed's neck and they exchange their first kiss they both know they have found their soul mate.

***

Gibbs looks at Donny who nods his approval. He'd asked for King Jed to meet his Queen and Granpa had done just what he'd said he would. Best of all, in Donny's eyes, Granpa was giving Donny a new Granma, even if Granpa didn't know it yet.

***

A/n: The end???? For now at any rate. Thank you to all who read, and a special thank you to those who reviewed you know who you are. If anyone has a story idea they would like me to attempt, please feel free to comment and I'll see what I can do. After all we have to keep those plot bunnies working don't we ;)