Unearthed Secrets
AN: Thankyou to everybody who reviewed!
Thankyou also to Kate, who has been fantastic and has been a gigantic help and inspiration
Kate sat down on the bed and Tony flopped down next to her, both glad that the day was finally over. Tony rolled over and put his arm around Kate's waits. Kate turned her body and molded herself into his arms. She tilted her head up and kissed him softly, "I'm worried about Gibbs," she whispered
"We all are, honey" Tony whispered back, closing his eyes
"You don't think he'll do anything stupid, do you?" Kate asked
"Like what, Kate? This is Gibbs we're talking about" Tony replied
"Like… I don't know" Kate huffed into his shoulder, "Like hurting himself?"
Tony frowned, "Nah. He wouldn't do something like that. At least, not physically"
"Good. I hope not. I'd hate to have to break in another boss" Kate replied, aiming to keep it light
Tony gave a small smile, "Yeah, he's not bad for a grumpy old ex-marine"
"Mmm" she murmured, and started kissing him softly on his neck, "But I prefer the juvenile, chauvinistic pig"
Tony chuckled, "You'd want to have me as your boss?"
"The power would go straight to your head" Kate replied, with a smile
"Not with you there to keep me in line" Tony responded, hugging her more deeply, "Although, I can think of some very interesting scenarios we could try, if you're game" he added seductively
Kate rolled her eyes, "One of them doesn't happen to include a desk and nobody else in the office, does it?"
"Who said anything about the office being deserted?" Tony asked mischievously
"Tony!" Kate exclaimed
Tony laughed, "What? I was talking about working, don't know what you were thinking of"" he asked, then feigned only just catching on, "Oh, Kate, you have a dirty mind."
Kate playfully hit Tony, then asked, "Tony, what would I do without you?"
"Probably find someone else" Tony answered
"Yeah, probably" Kate responded
They lay in silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts.
"I love you," Tony murmured, pressing a kiss into Kate's hair. "Let's get some sleep"
"Blackadder, you got anything on Dean yet?" Gibbs asked, walking into the bullpen and taking a long drink of his coffee
"Yeah," she said, without looking up
Gibbs stopped in front of her desk, spreading his arms out, "Well?"
She looked up, "He had difficulty throughout school, he was suspended multiple times and was in a special care program. He quit when he was fifteen and ran away from home…" she searched through her notes, trying to find the other papers
"Sounds like me, what else?" Gibbs commented, then held up some papers, "Looking for these?"
"Yes, I am" she replied and grabbed them, "He had trouble with drugs and was arrested a few times, but was never charged…"
"We think that's because his parents paid for the charges to be dropped" Brooks interrupted. Brooks, also an ex-marine, had been working with him for a year and had learned the ropes well.
"Why was he arrested?" Gibbs asked as his phone rang
"You name it. Drugs, indecent exposure, theft, grand auto theft…" Blackadder listed, "You gonna get that?" she asked, gesturing to his phone
"I wanna know how he got into the navy with a history like that. I also want his financials, phone records, everything, you know the drill" Gibbs told them before answering his phone, "Gibbs"
"Jethro, honey, I think my water just broke" he heard Kathy's voice on the end of his phone
"Really? When? Where are you?" Gibbs asked, getting strange looks from his collegues
"In the park just off Key Street. I decided to go for a walk" she replied
"Okay, hang on, I'll be right there. You just hang on, you hear me?" Gibbs tried to calm her down, but didn't know who was more panicked
"Okay. I'll be here" Kathy responded, hanging up
Gibbs hung up and ran out of the office to his car. Thankfully there weren't many people on the roads, already at work or school. Finally reaching the park, he found her and helped her into the car. The drive to the hospital was crazy; they got stopped by everything and anything, trains, roadworks, car accidents. Gibbs parked in front of the entrance to the ER and helped Kathy in, getting yelled at by the security guard who told him he couldn't park there. Throwing the guard his keys, he told him to move it and he'd pay for it later. Kathy was rushed into a theatre and Gibbs was left to wait the time out.
It took forever. Time seemed to stop, maybe even go backwards. Gibbs paced around the room, still trying to get his head around the fact that his baby was about to be delivered. But why weren't they letting him in to witness it? He sat down and tried not to stress, surely that was normal? No. He knew it wasn't, plenty of his friends had said that they'd been allowed in. Putting his head in his hands, he couldn't shake the feeling of dread, something bad had happened, or was going to happen.
"How is she, Jethro?" a familiar voice asked
"Ducky!" he exclaimed, standing up, "They won't let me in! They told me that I'd better wait out here. They've been five hours, Duck, and they won't tell me what's going on. I don't know what's happening. I want to be in there. But they won't let me…" he said in a rush
Ducky placed his hands on Gibbs' shoulders and sat him down, "It's normal for it to take a long time, Jethro. I've known people who have been in labor for around twenty-four hours, even longer."
"But why aren't they letting me in? Is that normal?" Gibbs asked
Ducky frowned, "Yes, that is a bit out of the ordinary, isn't it?" he said more to himself, "I'll go check it out, ok? Now try to calm yourself down a bit otherwise you'll end up in hospital as well"
Ducky got up and went through the double doors. After ten minutes, Gibbs got up and started pacing around the room again. Another ten minutes passed and then another. Leaning against the wall, he tried not to think of all the possible things that could have gone wrong. One of the perks about having such an active imagination is that he could think of everything that could happen, and more, and he could picture it in vivid detail. Shaking his head, he cursed being at so many crime scenes.
The double doors opened and Ducky walked out wearing a set of navy scrubs. Ducky looked at Gibbs with a sad expression, "Coffee?"
Gibbs frowned, not taking the bait, "What happened, Duck? Is she ok? Are they ok? What's going on?"
Ducky sighed and moved closer to Gibbs, "There have been some complications. The surgeons are working on them both at the moment"
"Kat gave birth?" Gibbs asked, not knowing whether to feel happy or anxious
"Not yet. They are working to save them both, Jethro" Ducky sighed again, starting to feel his age, "Should we have a coffee? It would be better if you were sitting down to hear this"
"Just tell me here, Ducky. I don't want to leave here in case something happens"
"I doubt anything will happen too soon. The surgeons will be busy for some time yet" Ducky replied, coaxing Gibbs towards the exit
In the cafeteria, over coffee, Ducky told Gibbs what was going on. "Kathy has a blood disorder, Jethro. Have you heard of haemophilia?"
Gibbs slowly nodded his head, remembering a case a few years ago where the victim had had the disorder. Thinking of the body on the table and the crime scene, Gibbs felt sick. Quietly, he said, "It's when somebody's blood doesn't form a blood clot very fast when they injure themselves. They get bruised easily and a small injury can turn into a large one. Something like pregnancy can be fatal". Looking at the ceiling, a single tear ran down his cheek
"I'm sorry, Jethro" Ducky said. Gibbs nodded in response and avoided his eyes, as he drank deeply from the coffee cup.
Six hours later, Ducky and Gibbs were back in the waiting room. Gibbs had spread himself over several chairs and was dozing. Ducky looked up at his companion from the magazine he'd been reading. Over the course of the six hours, he'd managed to read the majority of magazines in the waiting room. He watched as Gibbs' chest rose and fell, quietly congratulating himself for making the right decision and managing to sneak a mild sedative into Gibbs' coffee.
Eventually the double doors opened again and two men in navy scrubs, like the one Ducky was wearing, came out. Ducky got up and gently shook Gibbs' shoulder. Gibbs sat bolt upright, then realised where he was and quickly got up, walking to the surgeons.
"Mr. Gibbs?" one of them asked
"That's me" Gibbs asked, his voice cracking from the lack of use
"I'm Dr Phillips, this is Dr Cole, we were working on your wife's case" the man said. Gibbs nodded, encouraging him to go on. Phillips paused, then said, "We did a cesarean and were able to deliver your son without too many complications"
"My son?" Gibbs asked
"Yes, you're a father, congratulations" Phillips told him.
Gibbs gave him a small smile, then asked, "Kathy?"
The two doctors exchanged glances, "There's too much blood loss, there's nothing else we can do. She's still with us if you want to see her, though" Cole replied
Gibbs stayed with Kathy for an hour before she passed. He was sitting with his head on the sheets, holding her hand when Ducky walked in.
"Jethro, do you want to see your son?" Ducky asked
Gibbs raised his tear-stained face to Ducky, before eventually nodding. Ducky led him to an adjoining room, where he could see a tiny baby in an incubator. As he got closer though, he realised something was wrong with it. The inside was stained red. Gibbs turned back to Ducky, who was still smiling. Gibbs looked back to the incubator and watched as the blood inside of it began to rise, pooling around the young child. Starting to panic, he looked back at Ducky, who gestured for him to keep moving. Looking back, it had risen to a point where it was beginning to drown the young boy, his son! Running forward, he tried to open it up and pull him out, but it wouldn't budge. He began screaming at the figure inside, who was obviously sleeping peacefully. Shaking the box now, he continued shouting, not wanting to loose somebody else.
"Jake!" Gibbs shouted, waking up and sitting bolt upright.
Breathing frantically, he looked around the room, trying to find his son. He got up swiftly and picked up his gun from the table, where he placed it last night. Scanning the room again, he realised he wasn't in his bedroom. Where the hell was he?
Suddenly he heard footsteps and moved to the wall to flatten himself against it. The footsteps got closer, making the floorboards squeak. When the door opened, he raised his gun to the strangers head, "Don't move" he croaked
"Jethro?" he heard Ducky ask hesitantly
"Ducky? What are you doing here? Where are we?" Gibbs asked, thoroughly confused
"We are at your house, in your lounge room. Jethro, would you please lower your gun?" Ducky replied sternly
Gibbs slowly lowered the gun, holding it loosely. Ducky turned around and turned on the light to get a better look at his friend. Squinting against the sudden unwelcome light, Gibbs raised his arm to cover his eyes whilst they adjusted.
"What happened?" Ducky asked softly, "Are you okay?"
Scratching his head and scanning the room again, he asked, "Jake? Where is he?"
Ducky studied his friend again and realised that he must be still in the remnants of his dream, putting his hand on Gibbs' arm, he led him to the couch and sat them down. "Jethro, are you with us?"
Then he seemed to snap out of it, as it all came back to him. Gibbs looked around the room again and let out a small sob, "I thought…I thought…we were…the hospital…his cot was filling with blood…I tried…and you just smiled…he looked so happy and content" Gibbs tried to explain what had happened, but his thoughts were too disjointed to make a proper sentence.
Ducky rubbed Gibbs' arm, "It was just a bad dream, Jethro"
"I know, I just," Gibbs paused as his eyes filled up, "It seemed so real" he gave a small choked laugh, "I'm sure Abs could tell me what it meant"
"Maybe" Ducky murmured
Gibbs sat back and gave another small laugh, remarking "I feel so stupid"
"Why?" Ducky asked softly
Gibbs shrugged, "Because of how I'm acting. Feel like a damn baby. Normally, if I was confronted with a situation like this, I would be out there trying to find Jake and shoot anyone who would've gotten in my way."
"Yes, but under normal circumstances, you would be far removed from the situation and you would be running the investigation. As it is, you're…" Ducky replied
"A coward" Gibbs interrupted, "I should be helping to catch the bastard and helping the investigation"
"Jethro, you're not a coward. I don't know what makes you think that…" Ducky responded
"I should have had my father arrested when I was fifteen. I should have reported him to the police. Instead I ran away, and it seems, he's finally caught up to me" Gibbs explained
"That doesn't make you a coward. You were only young and…" Ducky replied
"But you agree that I should have dealt with this a long time ago?" Gibbs asked
"Quite the contrary, Jethro," Ducky began. "You can only deal with a situation only when you are ready to do so"
Gibbs looked Ducky in the eyes, "But I'll still be responsible if anything happens to Jake. And what about if he's abused other kids? When I could've put him away, 30 years is a long time, Duck"
"You couldn't have known that, Jethro" Ducky replied
"Yeah, but I should have expected it" Gibbs replied, lowering his eyes, "Gotta anticipate those kinds of things"
"You can't anticipate everything. It doesn't matter how good you are at reading people's behaviors, you can't always predict what their next move will be. Take young Caitlin for example," Ducky responded
Gibbs recalled the situation with Ari. He sighed and nodded, "I just…feel responsible"
"You shouldn't" Ducky replied, rubbing Gibbs' arm, trying to soothe him
Gibbs put his head back on the couch, "I just want him back"
"Me too, Jethro, me too" Ducky replied
TBC... Hope you liked it! Please review! Tell me what you think!