Mentors Part III - A Good Place to Be
Gibbs sat back at his desk in the squad room. His team had worked hard, even on a gimme like this one. They had no current cases that couldn't wait until tomorrow, so he'd given them the rest of the day off.
They all had somewhere they needed to be.
He sighed with contentment, and tipped back his coffee cup to drain the last of the cooled brew. He clicked his mouse a few times, shutting down his computer, and headed out the doors.
When he arrived at Tim and Abby's place, he headed to the back yard via the kitchen, where he made a pit stop at the cupboard and the coffee maker. They still made the best coffee outside of his usual place, he thought to himself. His toes curled slightly as he took a long drag from the cup, and headed for the back patio doors.
When he reached the crowd gathered outside, he found a spot at the picnic table where Ducky was seated.
"Better late than never, huh Duck?" he observed. They watched Jasmine and Jimmy mingling amongst their family and friends, a belated post-wedding celebration, while Tony and Tim took turns manning the grill. Abby, Ziva, and Faith sat at the small table on the patio, drinks in hand, watching Caitlin and JT running around on the grass, playing hide and seek amongst the forest of grown-up legs and feet.
Gibbs heard the doorbell ring, and saw as Abby got up and went into the house to answer it. Momentarily, she returned, with Jaime Sutherland in tow. "No better chance than this to get to know everyone," Abby had told her earlier, at HQ. Jaime had readily accepted. Anyway, after her first case at NCIS, even she felt like she deserved a little celebration.
Jaime looked around, observing. She saw one of her bosses - Dr. Mallard, sitting with Agent Gibbs, and smiled. The older man had been a mentor to many before her, and she knew he had much to teach her. She had heard stories about his stories, as well. She smiled to herself. She knew he'd be passing on far more than technical knowledge, and she couldn't wait to start learning.
She looked around and spotted her other boss - her Junior Boss, as it were - Dr. Palmer, standing at the grill, engaged in an animated conversation with McGee. She watched him thoughtfully, thinking to herself that while he didn't have as much to teach her as Dr. Mallard did, Dr. Palmer was of her own generation, and still young enough that she had in him a mentor she could relate to.
She watched McGee, turning to say something to DiNozzo. For being like night and day, for as different as they clearly were, those two were definitely friends, whether they wanted to admit to it or not. She chuckled softly as Ziva approached them, and saw the obvious camaraderie that the three shared. Jaime decided that she was really looking forward to working with all of them.
She turned and spotted Gibbs, walking into the house for a refill on his coffee. Now, there was a leader, she thought. The fact that he did not suffer fools gladly, paired with his experience, and topped off with just enough humanity and heart to keep himself on track - Jaime thought that probably, that was why he did what he did so well.
She sighed and took a sip of her soda, as she saw Abby chasing Caitlin around. Abby. Now she was something else, altogether. She was a goth, but she was probably the happiest, perkiest goth Jaime had ever met. Abby was unique. And very, very skilled. She knew she'd enjoy working with Abby. And if nothing else, maybe she'd have someone she could go clubbing with. Abby seemed the type to enjoy that sort of thing.
Jaime turned and smiled warmly as Abby returned, and smiled back atthe small groupas she sat down at the table, rejoining the small group of women.
Yeah, this was definitely a good place to be.