The next three weeks were a bit rough, Kelly spending much of it at their house rather than at her Georgetown apartment with Maddie, much to both Jethro and Shannon's relief. Neither parent wanted Kelly out of their sight at the moment.
Halloween had come and gone, the Gibbs family handing out candy while munching on some of their own and watching some horror movies.
The detectives working Kelly's case had conclusively confirmed that the car accident wasn't much of an accident. The other car hadn't left any skid marks, hadn't tried to slow down, nothing. Unfortunately, those same detectives brought in the twenty-three-year-old who'd been behind the wheel, Iván Fernández, but hadn't been able to get anywhere. The kid claimed to have been drunk, the entire thing just some really bad accident. On the other hand, the toxicology reports showed no alcohol in his system.
Jethro was extremely frustrated, to say the least, and everyone was well aware that the combat veteran was even more on edge than usual.
He'd snapped at DiNozzo at one point and actually broke Rule #6: Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness. That particular rule had always came with a stipulation that it wasn't so between friends or family and DiNozzo definitely deserved one.
Jethro's father had also stayed in town for a week before returning back to Stillwater, which he greatly appreciated even if he didn't readily say it.
"Give me a call when you get home," he requested.
"Will do," his father replied. "Keep me posted on that stubborn daughter of yours."
He gave his father a small smile. "Of course, Dad."
Jethro was also glad to see Michael making every effort to be with Kelly and give her a hand whenever his job allowed. If the young man hadn't, the combat veteran would've had words with the boy about his priorities.
The first week, he and Shannon alternated taking days off so that one of them was at home with Kelly as well, and Tobias had his team take over Kelly's case, placing one of his agents outside their house. When Shannon had to go back to work, Director Vance had placed Jethro on administrative leave.
As for the Bick case, something had gone wrong and the CIA ended up out $3 million.
Malloy apparently hadn't been who he said he was but was rather an MI-6 officer - the British Secret Intelligent Service. Officer Malloy had apparently proceeded to show up at DiNozzo's apartment and throw a stack of traced bills on the coffee table and tell his Senior Field Agent that he'd been set up.
By using the aforementioned money and Abby's helpful discovery of traces of pollen in the victim linked to a remote island that housed a CIA station, their victim was finally linked to Tennison, who stole the money and killed Bick for getting in the way.
So that was one case closed, at least, Jethro supposed.
Vance raised an eyebrow at Jethro as the pair chatted outside on his driveway. "Gibbs, you do know that leave is supposed to be a break from work?"
He shrugged. "Unanswered questions; I don't like 'em."
His boss chuckled. "Fair enough. I get it."
As for the other cases, Jethro had been kept out of the loop and he really hadn't cared enough to argue the point with the director. Jethro finally returned to duty that coming Monday which he was happy about.
His first day back, it quickly became obvious that it was going to be an interesting day. He received a call at 0500 that morning as the night shift was already working a case and there were security concerns. As a result, Jethro's team got a rather early start.
A young Marine, Lance Corporal Jack Houghton, had been shot and killed just outside his barracks at Quantico in the wee hours of that Autumn morning.
It hadn't taken long for Ducky to determine that the wound was not self-inflicted, but they hadn't gotten much in the way of evidence from the scene. He'd also gave them a Time of Death of 5 o'clock in the morning. The young Marine was on duty at the time of the shooting, which just left them with even more questions.
The Lance Corporal was quickly hospitalized, but he, unfortunately, passed away just a few short hours later at Walter Reed in Bethesda.
They didn't manage to get anything solid in the way of evidence that day.
"There has to be something here," DiNozzo commented. "Just gotta look harder."
Jethro's gaze flickered between his three visibly exhausted field agents. "Tomorrow." The multi-tour combat veteran then turned around and started walking back towards his desk. "Go home. Get some sleep."
McGee glanced up from his computer. "You sure, Boss?"
"Yeah," he said. "Go home."
"You staying, Gibbs?" Ziva asked without missing a beat.
Jethro shook his head at her in the negative. The case was admittedly bugging him but he also really needed to get home to his wife. He always preached 'Family First' to his team and for good reason. "We can all use the rest... distance. Might help us think." It was almost 2000 that evening and they'd had an early start.
Ziva dipped her head slightly in agreement.
"Tired, Boss?" DiNozzo asked. "Need a ride?"
Ziva had picked Jethro on the way to the crime scene that morning, so he was glad for the offer from his Senior Field Agent. "That'd be appreciated, Tony."
His Senior Field Agent nodded, giving Jethro a small smile as the younger man started grabbing his own things from his own desk.
Pulling into the driveway in Arlington a short while later, he got out of the car, thanked the younger agent, and headed inside.
"Hey you," Shannon said happily, pulling him in for a kiss almost immediately.
"Hey you," he replied cheekily. "How was your day?"
"Good," his wife replied happily. "Kids are liking our latest science project."
"Great," he said, moving in for another kiss. Once the pair broke apart, he turned and walked over to his daughter who was currently seated on the couch, her right arm still in a cast for at least another week or two. She had stopped in to visit over dinner that evening. "And how are you doing, Kellz?"
"Doing a lot better than I was," his daughter informed him, moving to give him a hug. "Still trying not to overdo it though."
He gave Kelly a peck on the cheek. "Good. You listen to the doctors." His wife went to speak and he put a hand up to gently silence her. "And yes, I'm aware of the irony of me telling ya that." He gave his daughter a little cheeky smile. "Your mom's always been the smarter one of us."
Shannon smirked. "And don't ya forget it."
Shaking his head in amusement, Jethro took a seat on the couch beside his daughter, his wife doing the same mere seconds later. "How's Maddie?"
"She's doing really well." Kelly's grin widened slightly. "Oh, talked to Tobias and Agent Overman earlier." Maya Overman was a female agent who'd been a member of Tobias' team under the Criminal Investigations Division for several years now.
"About?" Shannon inquired. Stealing the words right out of my mouth, wife of mine.
She adopted a more serious look. "About Fernández."
He eyed his daughter. "And?" Sometimes it's like pulling teeth, Kid. Did they manage to break Iván Fernández? What's going on?
"Well," the twent-eight-year-old said, "it would appear Fernández doesn't like the idea of no light at the end of his tunnel."
A smirk formed on his lips. "He talked."
Kelly nodded her head. "Admitted he was hired."
"Thank God!" Shannon said, a little stunned. He knew that she had been worried they weren't ever going to get anywhere with this investigation.
"It's not over," his daughter said, "but they got a lead and should know more soon."
Jethro nodded. That was something he could live with.
He just hoped that those responsible went away this time before things got worse.
