Heal thyself 6
Gibbs woke with a start, first he wondered why he wasn't in his bed at home in Alexandria. Then he remembered, he was in Kelly and Tim's new home in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Looking at the bedside clock, it illuminated up the time of 0215.
'What woke me?!' He thought, knowing it was before his wake up time. Having slept lightly his whole life, he was surprised he had to think what it was that actually woke him up. He ventured out into the hallway, his sig cocked, safety off, gun in hand, meeting Ducky in the hallway with an umbrella. "Oh Jethro, did you hear that?!" He whispered.
"I heard a car door slam. It was close by." Gibbs whispered, barely making a sound. The duo silently made their way down the hall to the front door, Tim was making his way downstairs armed with his own sig in his left hand, with Kelly tucked behind him tightly, who was armed with his sharpest and most beloved knife. The one Ziva gifted him. Gibbs signed to Kelly to hand Ducky the knife and go to the attic and lock the door and hide. Ducky was to go with Tim and take the right corridor and he'd circle back and come in from the back door. They heard a door creak. Now It sounded like the noise was coming from the mud room. They met at the door leading to the mud room and back door. Gibbs signalled Ducky to wait off to the side, that he'd go high and Tim was to go low.
They burst open the open door preparing to start shooting and they'd fully expected to find an intruder. What they didn't expect was to find was Ziva and Tony letting themselves into the house.
"Damn it DiNozzo," Gibbs growled. "Ziva, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Let me go upstairs and let Kel know that everything is ok." Tim offered immediately.
"No, don't!" Tony snapped, grabbing Tim's arm, holding him back. "Go guard Kelly, Ducky. Don't come out until we come get you." Practically ordering Ducky to leave immediately.
"What the hell is going on?" Gibbs demanded, physically releasing Tim's arm from Tony's grasp, as he stood there, arms crossed.
"Gibbs, there's no easy way to say this." Ziva began delicately. "Someone set fire to your house tonight."
"What the hell?!" Tim exclaimed, before he could censor himself. Gibbs was silent, he was shocked.
"Ziva and I were on assignment directly from SECNAV and by extension SECDEF. We were meeting in your basement to discuss the assignment and exchange some information. While the four of us were down there, someone stealthily broke in and set it on fire."
"Gibbs, it had to be a pro job. We were in the basement, the six of us heard nothing." Ziva added
"You're ok, right?!" Tim asked taking in their appearances. They smelt of smoke, but were void of any physical injuries, soot or ash.
"We're fine. I mean our hearts are racing from facing you three awake and armed, but we're ok." Tony said, in a fully serious tone that struck a nerve with Gibbs.
"SECNAV flew us here immediately, he wants us tailing you, Gibbs." Ziva added.
"I need coffee." Gibbs muttered as Tim lead the trio into the kitchen to brew some.
"No time, we have orders." Tony said firmly. "We've been ordered to bring you all into NCIS at Camp Lejeune immediately. SECDEF and SECNAV will brief everyone. Sorry for breaking in Probie!"
"Let's go!" Ziva added.
Tim ran upstairs, taking two at a time and explained there's been a security breech, they all need to go to NCIS immediately. Ducky must have suspected something big was up because he had Kelly already dressed warmly in her new soft waisted jeans, black tee, black hoodie, joggers and hair tied back in a simple ponytail. Ducky quickly darted down the stairs and dressed the fastest he'd ever dressed before in his life.
By the time Ducky made his way into the living room, everyone was ready to leave. He noted that Ziva, Tony, Tim and Gibbs were dressed similarly in all black and he was thankful that after almost forty years working with field agents, his instincts were finely honed.
Ducky, Ziva and Kelly made their way in an NCIS agency fleet car taking a different route than the other trio, entering the base through the service base entrance. Ziva had even drove sensibly and slow-ish, mostly to not draw attention to them from passing motorists.
Gibbs, Tony and Tim were in Tim's SUV and took an indirect route, coming in from the south entrance on the opposite side of the base. Both teams met in Building seven, which twisted Gibbs' gut and churned Tim's. Building seven was a warehouse, over by the hanger near McCutcheon Field. SECNAV's plane was in the hanger. When the two groups reunited, they were taken upstairs to the meeting room. The meeting room was a small office that contained a single desk and two chairs opposite it. There they were met by Leon Vance, SECNAV Jarvis, SECDEF Davenport and FBI agent Fornell.
"Kelly, are you ok?" Vance asked suddenly, he'd notice she was a little green around the face. Tim was beside her offering comfort immediately. He'd grabbed her water bottle as they'd left the house. "Take a seat, sweetheart. Just breathe, that's it, in and out. Keep breathing." He encouraged. His voice was calm and he used low tones.
"Ducky?" Tim asked and gave him a look. Ducky didn't seem to understand the silent question, but Gibbs did immediately. He remembered Shannon looking green more times than not during her pregnancy with Kelly.
"Here baby," Gibbs said, softly handing Tim the empty waste bin that was by the office door. "Just breathe through it." He advised. "Leon, she needs crackers or an apple, preferably both."
Gibbs looked over just in time to see Tim quickly thrust the basket into her lap as she promptly began to dry heave into the trash can. Wisely, Gibbs, Fornell, Phil Davenport, Clayton Jarvis, Tony and Ziva left the room. Leon had already left in search of crackers and apples. Ducky was hovering by, waiting to assess his niece, but he had a fairly good idea why she was nauseated and vomiting, for once Ziva's driving wasn't to blame.
Leon returned to find a crowd outside the small office on the catwalk above looking down into the hanger. He handed Gibbs a couple of packets of crackers, the kind that they give you in the hospital, an apple and a peppermint tea. Gibbs looked at the peppermint tea and hooked his eyebrow. Somehow between when Gibbs requested the items and Leon sourcing them, Leon had managed to piece together the clues, combined with a memory of her and Jackie together.
Gibbs handed the items off to Tim, while Ducky assessed her and returned. "How far along?" Leon guessed, his voice almost an inaudible whisper. Fornell's ears perked up, he had suspected it was David's driving originally, however Gibbs request for the said crackers and apples sealed it for him. Fornell had never forgotten the advice his friend had given him when Diane was pregnant with Emily. Crackers and Apples. His niece was pregnant and he'd take the sucker bet and guess that the father was Agent McGee.
"Eight, maybe nine." Gibbs replied softly enough for Fornell to hear too. "Not exactly sure. Honestly, I zoned a little."
"Congratulations Grandpa." Leon joked and patted him on the back quietly. Leon had suspected that Kelly might be pregnant, he'd known that Kelly and his wife Jackie had struck up a friendship. Kelly had been at their kitchen table with a cup of tea in hand and Jackie had been telling her about her pregnancy with Jared and Kelly was unconsciously stroking her belly. He'd meant to privately ask Tim, but hadn't had the chance before he'd had to return to DC. Now, he had confirmation.
"Poppy." Gibbs corrected Vance in a softened tone, with a smile. "I'm going to be called Poppy. Dad's got the rights to Grandpa."
"We'll discuss this later, Gibbs." Fornell promised. "But I am very happy to hear this." Giving his friend a huge shit-eating grin, knowing that this must be killing his friend.
"Kelly is beginning to feel better, you may all come back inside." Ducky advised as they all squeezed back in the small room.
Tim was now seated behind the desk, with Kelly on his lap and the now trusty trash can off to one side where she could grab it again. Gibbs was standing beside Kelly. Leon was on the other side of the couple, Tony was perched on the small filing cabinet against the wall closet to Gibbs, with Ducky standing beside him SECNAV and SECDEF faced the group. Fornell and Ziva were hovering by the door, their weapons drawn. Tim noticed that Leon, Gibbs and Tony's holsters were unclipped and he'd bet his last dollar the safety was off, ready to draw and fire at a nanosecond's notice.
"It seems DC just became too dangerous for Tim, Kelly and Gibbs to return to. Probably for Ducky, David and DiNozzo too." Phil Davenport began. "Gibbs, I reference our conversation regarding …." He tilted his head subtly towards Tim. "The one between the death and funeral. Our worst fears have come to fruition." Gibbs closed his eyes and his heart ached for Tim.
"I see," Gibbs confirmed. "How sure are we?"
"Very sure." Tobias snapped, adding what the FBI knew. "Your Forensic Scientist, your Director, Admiral McGee and an unknown party were exchanging encrypted text messages and emails. For almost two years now."
"Right around the time, I told Abby we could never be." Tim said sadly. "I don't understand though, she seemed relieved when I told her. She wasn't exactly committed to me, anyway."
"Or faithful." Tony said softly, sending him a small, sad smile. "Sorry Probie."
"Whoa!" Leon Vance exclaimed. "Hold up" he gestured the 'time out' sign. "Let's pretend everyone here knows nothing. SECDEF, you start."
"We, Clayton and I video conferenced Director Shepard in MTAC the morning Admiral McGee's body was found. We were extremely surprised Tim wasn't available to speak with us, that he was on scene." Phil explained. Both Tobias and Ziva looked back at the group.
"For those of you who don't know, Tim is our nephew." Clayton explained. "There was not and will not be any nepotism, he started as a grunt, just like everyone else. He's earned his position and title at NCIS."
"When we had the face to face meeting the following day, I decided to seek Gibbs out that night." Turning to look at Tim, he spoke low. "Sorry Tim, we had too many concerns and we told Gibbs everything about the Admiral, about your relationship with him, Penny and your relationship with the Admiral's latest wife."
"It's ok Uncle Phil, I'd touched on one of them with Gibbs that morning too." Tim supplied.
"How is Jethro's house being set alight with two agents, SECDEF and SECNAV inside it connected to Timothy?" Ducky asked, he was generally pretty good at following an outline but this one was full of half told stories, twists and turns.
"Ziva noticed she had a tail when she did a lunch run yesterday. Vance, I'm sorry we wanted to bring you, but you were an unknown factor at the time." Tony began. "When it was declared to us, by Jarvis, you could be trusted and we had you go to Gibbs and empty the memory chests in the attic and in Kelly's old room with all the photos and all the other sentimental things, as well as his precious hand tools from the basement."
"They're safe Gibbs, I promise." Vance swore.
"Next up, we had my guy McFarland come in and dig us a discrete escape hatch out of the basement. We didn't want the meeting place to be like shooting fish in a barrel." Fornell said. "Our CCU then intercepted an encrypted message from an unknown person instructing Abby and Jenny to burn your house down. Sorry Jethro."
"We have the statements, evidence and signed affidavits from Balboa and his team, Santiago, Patterson, Jacobi's crew, Jackson's team from CCU, plus Ziva and Tony's." Leon began. "Not to mention a copy of the memo to Metro PD from the desk of Shepard, basically handing McGee to them on a silver platter and the transcripts from Abby's inquest yesterday. The one where she threatened DiNozzo in open proceedings."
"Ducky, I believe now is the time to tell Tim what you found in the autopsy." Gibbs finally said sadly, he had wanted to protect the young agent as long as possible from finding out the truth. But it was officially too late now.
"Admiral McGee had an inoperable brain tumour in the frontal lobe." Ducky clinically said. "Jethro and I surmised that perhaps he was on the east coast because of an irrationality that he believed that you may have been in trouble. We also found tumours in his Limbic system, that perhaps caused him to conspire and consort with the other three parties to take you down, perceiving you to be a threat."
"The man who was charged with his murder has been acquitted." Leon added. "It was found out by the FBI lab that Abby manufactured the evidence against him."
"I had Sacks run him and his financials. Abby owed him a considerable amount of money, she definitely didn't have the means to be borrowing that. We don't know what she borrowed the money for either." Fornell added. "I guess she figured that with him in prison she wouldn't have to pay him back." The agents and two SEC's discussed the complexities well into the morning.
"We need a plan, it's almost dawn." Kelly said softly. "We're going around in circles here and we're all tired."
"Let's start with the Admiral." The FBI agent said. "We know he's dead, sorry McGee. We know the man charged isn't his killer. Our lab has the evidence but because Abby tested the evidence, our lab had deemed it as contaminated. She's officially a suspect now."
"Boil it down Uncle Toby, the nausea is back and I'm afraid those crackers will be coming back up." Kelly warned, as she rested her hand over her stomach and Tim moved the wastebasket within reach.
"We don't really know what to do." Jarvis admitted. "Shepard will need to be legally advised of any mission we mount. There in which lies the bulk of our problem."
"Question." Tim finally spoke, he'd been absorbing all the information like a sponge. Gibbs had been watching him for a while now and a few minutes ago, he'd watched as the cogs in his brain had began to turn. "Jackson? He in danger?" He asked and felt Kelly tense up.
"We don't know." Leon admitted.
"Ok plan." Tim said and everyone closed in to listen to Tim's plan.
Before anyone could protest, Tim and Kelly were packed up for an unexpected trip. The three of them - Gibbs, Kelly and Tim would leave for Stillwater, PA under the guise that Jackson is unwell.
Meanwhile Ducky, Tony and Ziva were headed to Mexico to keep Franks company while NCIS took control of the situation to 'catch' the Director, Abby and their miscellaneous contact in the act.
Making their way to PA on SECNAV's plane was fun, not! They flew through two thunderstorms and a heavy rain band which caused some turbulence, causing Kelly's nausea to return. Ducky had to give Kelly something to settle the nausea, as they progressed further into the storm and the turbulence increased.
"We need a plan." Gibbs said when the three of them were disembarking from the plane, having said goodbye to the team, who would now fly on to San Diego International Airport before catching a commercial flight into Tijuana where Franks would be meeting their flight. "Before we get the hire car."
"Agreed." Tim said. "If things go south, I'll face Abby and Jenny myself, you take your family and run. It's me they're after anyway, not you."
"No Tim, no." Kelly said, shaking her head vehemently.
"No!" Gibbs agreed with Kelly vehemently. "They set fire to my house Tim. That makes it personal, to me." Gibbs took a deep breath and stopped walking, taking Tim by the shoulders. "You're the father of my grandchild and it was my house they burnt down. We stay and fight, I've got your six, Tim. Kelly, honey, do you remember how to get into Grandpa's storm cellar?" Gibbs asked, remembering the drills he'd had as a child and passed onto Kelly. He had made a game out of it for her.
"Yeah Dad." and she nodded. "Guess we better tell Grandpa about the baby too."
"Ya think?" Gibbs smirked, uttering his trademark catchphrase. "I'll give Tim a rundown of the storm cellar as soon as we arrive."
Jackson's storm cellar was more like one of the old underground concrete bunkers they used as fallout shelters in the sixties during the Cuban missile crisis. There were two entrances to the underground shelter. One in the basement of his store and the other in his tool shed by the back door. It was completely underground and if you didn't know it was there, you'd never have guessed. Jethro knew his dad had plenty of things stored down there and it was very secure. He also knew that unless you specifically knew what you were looking for, you'd never find the entrances. Jackson and LJ Moore, his namesake had done an excellent job of disguising it. They didn't want anyone of the other towns folk to know they had one. The town hadn't been buying into the hype and thought it would never eventuate, they mercifully teased anyone who believed the hype, but Jackson Gibbs wasn't deterred. He wanted to be prepared. They'd have to bypass the fishing cabin on their way to Stillwater from Harrisburg and stock up on some supplies, weapons and ammunition too. Worst case scenario, they'd return it to the cabin on their way back to the airport.
The plan was set, if trouble found them in Stillwater, Kelly and Jackson would be safe.
Mike and his friend Carmella begrudgingly left his coastal retreat to meet the flight at Tijuana. "Probie's gonna owe me big for this." He kept muttering every couple miles as they drove his beat up car down highway to meet their flight.
When he'd originally heard of the plan he had hoped that it would be Kelly, Probie and Probie's Probie. At least Gibbs and Kelly were quiet. From what he'd heard from his Probie's Probie, the man that had captured his niece's heart was a quiet, placid, somewhat timid man.
Gibbs hadn't said much about the man who'd his niece began a relationship with, but he'd met the man a time or two before. Gibbs had been pretty firm that the work McGee and home McGee were different people.
"Leroy, what's going on?" Jackson asked as soon as they entered the house. They'd taken a slight detour and got all of the supplies, weapons and ammo from the fishing cabin up in Huntington Mills. They packed the things from the fishing cabin in brown paper bags like the kind you get from a grocery chain store. "I put a sign on the door and closed the store like you asked. I closed the curtains and stayed away from the windows too."
"Relax Dad, you're safe now." Gibbs said trying to calm his father down. "Tim and I are here, you and Kelly are under our protection. You're safe." Gibbs added. "The storm cellar will be our base. We may need to seal ourselves inside. Take the paper bags down there. Can you still access the cellar from the tool shed by the back door?"
"No I sealed it off. The tool shed was damaged last winter, in the snowstorm, haven't had a chance to re-build it. I built an access point in the laundry over the summer. It was too hot in the house and we had that huge power outage that lasted over a week. I lived down there that week." Jackson said proudly. That pleased Gibbs, he never liked the fact the access point had been in the tool shed, he always thought it made no sense whatsoever to have an outside access point at the house, but not in the store. Especially since it was originally built to be a fallout shelter.
"That's better. Dad, go show Tim around the cellar and show Kelly how the new access point is found and run through the seal in/break open procedures. Then I want you and Kelly to take all our bedding down there and prepare them. We will be sleeping down there too." Gibbs was firm and Jackson was able to read between the lines, Jethro was scared. For the first time in a long time, he was scared and he wasn't really sure how he felt about that. his son was always brave, a pillar of strength.
"Kelly will need a rest before we settle in. She's been on the go since 0200." Tim reminded Gibbs, looking pointedly at her stomach area.
"Trust me Tim, I didn't forget that." Jethro laughed and it made Tim feel good that Gibbs had laughed. "Dad make sure we take plenty of apples and crackers down there, too." He instructed.
"Apples and crackers?" He repeated as if his son had grown a second head. "Motion sickness is going to wear off soon, if it hasn't already." He laughed, he'd been the one that had taught Leroy the apples and crackers were good for nausea.
"No Grandpa," Kelly corrected him. "They're for me, how would you like to be a Great-Grandpa?" She asked. Jackson took in Tim's stance behind her and the way his hands casually splayed across her abdomen, lovingly caressing it, gently.
"A Great-grandbaby?" He asked astonished. "You're not married?!" He concluded.
"Don't need to be married to make a baby these days, Dad. Just ask these two knuckleheads." Gibbs chastised playfully as he carded his hand through Tim's hair and gently patted Kelly's stomach.
"I'm well aware of that Leroy." He sassed his son back. "I am shocked, is all. I wasn't expecting that."
"We'll yeah, we weren't exactly expecting that either." Kelly retorted in jest.
"Total surprise!" Tim added. "But I promise you Jackson, I am going to be the best father and the best partner I can be, despite the shitty example I had growing up."
"Well I don't doubt that for one minute. Congratulations, when can we expect the little bundle of joy?" Jackson asked, taking them both in his arms. Keeping one arm around Kelly and the other around Tim he eagerly awaited the response.
"Mid may." Kelly answered. "You can not tell a soul until after Halloween. Hopefully we're back in Jacksonville in time for my next scan. I really like my new doctor there."
"Well this has made my day." Jackson gushed. "I hope Leroy doesn't expect me to share the title Grandpa with him." He said winking at his son.
"I'm going to be Poppy." Jethro announced proudly, joining them briefly in a four way hug. "Or Pop. Probably Poppy, though."
Kelly headed off for a nap, leaving Tim, Jackson and Jethro to stock the cellar/fallout shelter with their supplies. Jethro went outside to make a big show of letting anyone who was watching the house know, that he was around. Also reassuring Jackson's neighbours who might worry about him, that he was here and taking care of things. Once they got settled down there, they'd seal off the house and leave the store entrance open, both for supplies and to allow them to open the store up so it didn't look too suspicious that Jethro was there and both him and Jackson weren't running the store.
Vance was at the North Carolina office working with SECNAV and SECDEF. Tim's cover story was a family emergency had occurred, giving him ample time away if the threat didn't eventuate. Vance had began working with Agent Gibbs' insurance company to get the repairs rolling. The initial claim got rejected, however a call from SECNAV with the threat to take the issue to the president saw the insurance company change their tune quickly and they happily agree to pay out.
Santiago was suspicious, as was Tina. They'd both heard whispers of a threat against certain NCIS agents, including the fire that ripped through Gibbs' home and were worried for their friends. Tina was especially concerned as she'd heard more to the story, she knew of the possible involvement of Director Shepard and she suspected that the disgraced, suspended Forensic Lab Tech Abby Scuito was involved too. She was worried about the Director's involvement because she knew the intimate details of Jethro's dealings with her and the knowledge of what had gone down in the infamous Russia op. She was aware of Jethro's feelings towards the woman, and she knew Jethro's thoughts on how she viewed Tim too.
Life in the bunker was pretty fun for about the first three days. Tim had played more board games, than he'd ever played before in his life. He'd started reading some of Jackson's old books. But he was restless and beginning to get frustrated. He and Gibbs were supposed to be alternating the guard duty between them, but Gibbs refused to share the duty with him. He had a plethora of excuses all ready to go including "If something happens to me, I need you to be able to take care of Kelly and Dad. You're their future." , "I'll be fine, enjoy the rest now, before the baby comes." And his personal favourite one was "I'm sure Vance is just overreacting."
On the fourth night, Kelly had gone to bed and the men were enjoying a hot coffee before turning in when a loud crash could be heard, before the screeching of tyres. Jethro silently handed his father he's back up weapon. Jackson shook his head 'No' and pulled out his twelve gauge shot gun off the shelf, Tim and Jethro grabbed their service weapons, sliding the cartridge in place, taking the safety off their sigs. "Stay here Dad." The younger Gibbs man ordered Jackson in a whisper. "You're our last line of defence. Protect Kell."
Gibbs signed to the young man that they'd go up through the store, Tim would scan the street for anything or anyone out of ordinary, whilst Gibbs would head to the main house. Before Tim would back him up in the house. Silently they went on their way, Tim quickly fulfilling his duties, before catching Gibbs at the woodshed. He gestured 'two' people inside. They apprehended the two people without incident, before searching the rest of the house and finding no one. Turning on a light revealed they'd apprehended Abby and Jenny. "Damn it, Jethro." The red head screeched. "Let me go." Both men had the women face down on the floorboards of the home. Jethro and Tim had made light work of apprehending them. "Now's not the time for one of your kinky games."
"It's not Gibbs." Tim whispered in her ear, resting his knee on her back firmly. "It's me, Agent McGee." He felt her body gulp, she seemed surprised that McGee was here. That he was the one apprehending her.
"Here ya go Tim, two for the price of one." Gibbs said dragging Abby into the room, handcuffed and gagged with Duct tape. He tossed a piece of rope to Tim, keeping one piece for himself "Tie her to the dining room chairs and we'll call Vance and SECNAV. Ask them to send someone for these two." Silently, Tim asked if he wanted to do it and Gibbs answered. "Make sure you tie up the Director nice and tight, tighter the better and use that knot you taught me. She won't be able to escape from that."
On the plane, on the way to Pennsylvania, Tim and Gibbs had been trying knots and discussing rope. Gibbs had been surprised to find out that his daughter's boyfriend actually was more knowledgeable than him. Which took his mind to a scary place for a moment, then he remembered that Tim was a scout, he had been a scout leader and still sometimes volunteered. That Tim loved camping and rock climbing, a hobby in which he and Kelly both loved.
"Which one?" Tim retorted, laughing, making a joke at Gibbs' expense. Which irked Abby in particular. He could tell by the look in her eyes.
"Brat!" Gibbs teased, carding his hair for good measure. The fact it seemed to needle Jenny and Abby, was icing on the cake. "Not the monkey's fist, the other one."
Tim started patting Jenny's body down, in search of anymore weapons, he'd already confiscated her service weapon and her back up. In the small of her back, he found a knife and on her sock he found a dagger. Adding them both to the growing pile. Finding no other weapons, he set to work, getting the Director tied to the chair. Once he had her settled and tied up tight, he turned to catch Gibbs' unasked question with his raised eyebrow. "Wasn't she once your Probie? She was friends with Ziva too. Rule nine!" Tim explained and both women were shocked. Neither were expecting Tim to be able to read Gibbs like that.
"Where's the rest of your team, Gibbs? What? I'm not threatening enough to require the whole team." Jenny taunted. "Just for that, I won't tell you where we planted the bomb."
"You mean this bomb?" Gibbs asked as he returned, holding up a disarmed and disabled bomb. He had caught Abby placing it and as soon as he'd apprehended her, he disabled it immediately. "Yeah, Abby hadn't placed it yet when I caught her. Sloppy work, Abs"
Gibbs quickly called Vance and updated him. There was no need to call SECNAV, he was in Vance's office and updated at the same time via speaker phone. He was advised that the extraction team was on route and they should sit tight. Gibbs sent Tim to check the store over again and tell Jackson to be vigilant still, that until the extraction team arrived they weren't safe.
Jenny felt like she'd hit her lowest point, she'd never thought that pudgy little Agent McGee would have been the one to apprehend her. She honestly thought it'd be Gibbs. If she was going to get caught, she was praying it would be Gibbs, giving her a thrill and sending a jolt of electricity through her body in excitement. 'How did they know I was the threat?' She asked herself. 'I always thought Jethro would assume I was his ally, his friend. We were lovers at one time. He should always have a soft spot for me. I was his Probie, damn it!'
The truth of the matter was that the Russian op was a mess from the start and it was all the Director's fault. Jenny was undercover, deep cover as a Russian call girl for a Russian mob boss. She'd had a very specific skill set and Jethro had played her 'John' where they'd exchange information, his cover being that he craved her particular skill set as his sexual preference. Towards the end of the op, Jenny had been under more scrutiny than usual, messing up and playing loose with the rules of being a call girl for the Russian mob boss. The mob boss had become suspicious of her, having her watched more closely, so instead of imitating sex, they'd actually had to follow through, to maintain her cover.
She'd become obsessed with Jethro and his body. She'd have him back more frequently, fabricating evidence and facts just to get her hands on his body. He was like a drug to her and she was addicted. She'd even tried a lowball act, of removing the condom two or three times in the middle of intercourse. A condom that Gibbs had absolutely insisted upon, every time, regardless and that extended that stipulation into oral sex and hand jobs too. After that stunt, he didn't trust her with his DNA material any longer and he decided to confess to her that he had a daughter at home waiting for him and he'd never have unprotected sex with anyone again because he had no desire for anymore children.
"When you've got the perfect kid, you don't need anymore kids." He'd told her and they'd never been intimate again. (Not for her lack of trying once the op was finally over) She was angry and hurt, she'd already fabricated evidence and facts, she set out to destroy what was left of the mission. But leaving Jenny that night, Gibbs had met his mark and thus the real op, the one Jenny hadn't been privy to, began.
Gibbs had read Jenny well that night, he'd known she was dirty, he just couldn't prove it. Mike Franks was involved on the op and once he'd returned, he sought the older man's advice "Leave it alone, move on, but watch and wait, that one day she'd slip up again." The cowboy had told him.
Tim was thankful that Gibbs had decided to duct tape the Director's mouth too. He had silently made a pot of coffee and handed Tim a cup as soon as it was done. Jenny's eyes widened a bit, when she realised Gibbs had handed Tim a coffee, she'd worked with him in the office, in the field and undercover and he'd never made her a cup of coffee. Sure, he'd bought her the odd cup, over the years but that was it. She was pretty sure that Jethro was doing it to rile her up and she deliberately set her face into stone. "What do ya say, when we get back, we leave Ducky and Kelly behind and go out fishing on the boat? Just the two of us" He asked catching Jenny and Abby's surprised eyes. "After all, one day you'll be my son in law. We should get to know each other better." Tim was sure, Gibbs was just rattling the girls cage's.
"Sure, I know a good spot for some deep sea fishing. King Mackerel, Striped Bass or even Blue Marlin, you name it? Maybe even shark, but purely from a clean up stand point I suggest we get a charter, rather than Kel's boat." Tim answered, laughing at that. It was true, he knew that off the coast of North Carolina there was some good deep sea fishing to be had. He didn't think Gibbs was actually too keen on fishing, just the two of them, but he could dream that Gibbs might be genuine.
"Cool, never caught a shark before. If we get a charter we may as well, invite everyone else too. Make a day of it, Dad would definitely love it. Going after shark is supposed to be a once in a lifetime experience." Gibbs explained, watching Abby grimace, she'd always been such a big animal advocate and he knew this had to be irking her a little more than usual.
The extraction team took two hours to arrive and were currently waiting on the bomb squad from Bloomsburg to arrive. The extraction team, wanted them to do a full sweep for any other devices, not believing that their own Director and the suspended lab tech would be stupid enough to only have one device.
Vance, Jarvis and Davenport arrived as the bomb squad from Bloomsburg were finishing up and Vance found the two agents, deep in a discussion, about fishing. The current subtopic of fishing was stream versus lake fishing and the pros and cons. "Glad you two finally found something you can agree on." Vance teased the men. "I'm partial to deep sea fishing, but the family love fishing at Emerald Isle from the shoreline."
"Ducky will love that," Gibbs agreed. "Let's add that to our list too. Looks like, I'll be taking an extended vacation over the summer. Hope you can stand to have me underfoot."
"Go get your family, Jethro. I want the women to see that they're unharmed." Jarvis interjected and Gibbs immediately obeyed.
Jarvis and Davenport were looking Tim over, relieved to see him unharmed and the bulk of the dog bites, fully healed. "I'm almost cleared for duty." Tim said to his Uncle Phil. "But I do have some news." He turned and called Kelly over as Gibbs was bringing her and Jackson up into view. "Uncle Phil, Uncle Clay, we're having a baby." He said as Kelly curled into him and he splayed his hand over her abdomen proudly.
"Ten weeks today." Kelly beamed, the huge smiles on the men's faces "we will have the twelve week scan soon and then we can officially tell people. But Tim has been itching to tell you for weeks, but he wanted to do it face to face, not over the phone."
"Congratulations." Clay said first, gathering them both in a hug, kissing Kelly's both of her cheeks.
"I'm going to be a Great-Uncle? Awww, this is fantastic!" Phil gushed, excited for them and for the family. "This is the best news. Your Aunt Claire is going to be beside herself with happiness."
"You can tell her Uncle Phil, I know you can't keep a secret like this from her to save your skin." He winked, laughing at his Uncle Phil. "When I got into Johns Hopkins and planned to go early, I confided Uncle Phil, by dinner time the whole family knew." He teased his uncle, telling Kelly the story.
"I'm always happy for you. I'm damn proud of you too, you know that?" Phil bragged. "The best Nephew a man could ask for."
"I've always been proud of you too, Tim. Besides Claire will kill us, if she thinks we kept it from her." Clay added with a wink, knowing his sister.
"I guess that's Tim's family." Jackson said, as he sidled up to his son.
"His Uncles. Mother's brother and brother in law. The brother" he pointed to Clayton. "Is the Secretary of the navy, which NCIS answers to and the other one is the Secretary"
"Of defence. I recognise him from the news." Jackson interrupted his son. "Wow, that's some big politics," he teased his son. "they seem to love Kelly."
"They do." Gibbs said proudly. "I guess they're telling them about the baby. This'll hit them all hard, especially Tim."
"He lost his Dad recently, right?" Jackson asked, recalling Kelly telling him when she'd called to ask about something.
"He did and his mother died when he was six." Jethro explained. "His grandmother 'cared' for him and I use that term loosely. From what I can gather Phil and his wife Claire, his mother's sister did the lion's share of raising him."
"He would have done a lot of the work, himself. It wouldn't have been easy going off to college at fifteen. Especially to a college like Johns Hopkins." Jackson added, proudly, now knowing more of the piece's of the puzzle that is Timothy McGee. Gibbs and his father moved over to Tim and Kelly. Handshakes were shared all round as Tim introduced Jackson and they all began discussing Tim and Kelly and the exciting future the men would now share together.
It was safe to say, everyone was excited for the baby.
Soon enough, it was midday the following day and they were all back in Jacksonville, Gibbs in his guest room, Ducky in his, Ziva on the sofa in the basement, Tony on the sofa in the living room Jackson on the daybed in Tim's office, all sound asleep.