Demons of the past
Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything
Summary: Just why is Gibbs never called Leroy? On a boring day, some people start to wonder about it and start to dig. What they find is more than they were ready to get...
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7- Demons unleashed
Mallard usually arrived quite early as well, so chances to meet him down there were good. Kate found him in the morgue, putting some tools onto a table."Ducky? Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked and he looked up in surprise.
"Well, certainly, Caitlin. I take it you are feeling better this morning?" He said and leaned against an autopsy table.
"Well...this gotta stay between us, okay? Gibbs gave me a ride last night, because you told me not to drive. Well, he asked me if I wanted tojoin him fordinner at his place, since you two had to cancel that. And I fell asleep somehow and was there all night." She told him and noticed a grin on his face, but he didn´t say anything. "This morning I was in the bathroom, trying to get my hair fixed and there was this picture... Ducky, does Gibbs have son?" She askedstraight away and noticed how his face darkened a bit. Her feeling had been correct, there was something about that picture, something he was hiding.
"Caitlin, please do not ask me this. Do not make me break my promise."Mallard pleaded and she was surprised by this reaction. Usually, he had a wonderful talent to distract from uncomfortable questions with a little story, but he didn´t even try.
"Ducky, I won´t tell anyone, I promise. It´s just...He looked so happy on that picture and when I was there last night, he was so completely different from what he´s like around here. It´s strange and I just want to understand." She said and gave him a look that would have had Tony backing up. She didn´t like to force it out of him like this, but she just had to know.
Ducky sighed. "Promise me that this will not leave this room?" She nodded. "Yes, Jethro had a son. And yes, that is the reason why he goes by his second given name. It was his first marriage. Actually, back in those times, Jethro was a lot like our Anthony is today, only a bit more mature, of course. They were very happy together and had a son. That was 17 years ago. They called him Leroy Jonas." Kate smirked a bit at the ambiguity of the initials L.J."He was a bright kid,very curious and always friendly. I was his godfather, that´s how I know about all this. It happened shortly after Leroy´s 5th birthday. That picture was taken on that birthday, you know? They were watching an Air Show at the base out in Norfolk that day. Leroy got separated fromhis parentsand turned to a marine for help. It turned out that the man had killed two children in the area in the weeks before that..." He said and his voice trailed off.
Kate put her hand over her mouth and recoiled. Tears rose into her eyes when she realized how this story was going to end. "Oh my god...you mean...?"
He nodded and she noted that it was difficult for him to talk about it. "Leroy was found two weeks later in a small forest only a few miles from the base. Needless to say that Jethro was heartbroken. He has never been the same person ever since. That was what destroyed that marriage -and the ones to follow this one as well. As soon as he had found someone again, he feared to lose them andwithdrew completely. His first name would always remind him of what happened, that´s why nobody uses it. Caitlin, please do never tell anyone about this." He said and she nodded.
"Never, Ducky. Thank you for telling me." She said and walked back upstairs. Her heart was beating like mad and her insides felt like ice. She couldn´t imagine how someone could carry on after such a terrible incident. Walking into the bullpen, she tried to hide her tears and smile, but it was difficult. She couldn´t look into Gibbs´ eyes at all for therest of theday.
She went for lunch on her own, but didn´t eat anything. Instead she walked through the park for half an hour, trying to get her emotions under control again. The rest of the day passed without incident, as did the rest of the week. She still couldn´t stand looking into his eyes for more than a second, but hoped that nobody would notice.
On the following Tuesday, she had another report to finish after hours. Coming back from the printer, she noticed a person standing next to her desk. "I thought you went home." She said as she approached him.
"I...uhm...I was wondering if you would care to keep me company tonight." He said and she was surprised by that. After more or less trying to dodge him, she wouldn´t have expected this. "It´s just pizza tonight though, I didn´t have time to cook." Something in his voice told her that she should just accept without asking any questions.
"If it´s okay for you, sure." She said, put the file away and packed up. They walked to the garage. "I´ll just follow you then." She got into her car and drove behind him until they reached his house.
After ordering their food, they sat down in the livingroom. For some reason, he wasvery subdued tonight and she realized he had been like this for most of the day. "What´s wrong?" She asked after a while.
"Nothing." Unusual answer, very unusual answer and the fact that he kept staring down at the floor added to her suspicion that something was wrong. Had he found out that she knew about his secret?
She kept her eyes on him. "You can´t lie to me. Something is bothering you... it´s not my business, never mind, sorry." She said as she realized he was uncomfortable abou tit, but then he shook his head and looked at her.
"It´s just...It´s just I don´t like to be alone today, that´s all." He said and she quickly put two and two together, leading to a dreadful result. "Something happened many years back, but somehow it´s still haunting me." He said and she felt that he was slowly opening up. The next second, the doorbell sounded and he withdrew again.
About half an hour later Kate grabbed her third piece of pizza and continued to watch the movie he had put in. She suddenly smiled and he gave her a puzzled look. "I´m just trying to imagine Tony´s face if I ever told him that we had pizza and beer at your house." She said and he smiled briefly.
When the movie was finished, it was rather late and she planned to leave soon, but somehow, she didn´t want to leave him alone just yet. She put their plates into the sink while he turned off the TV. When she sat down again, she looked at him. "I´ve never seen you like this." She told him and saw something in his eyes she had indeed never seen before.