They had some time before they actually had to leave in order to catch their transport and, missing the time slot for chow hall given the situation, downed some MREs for a very quick bite to eat. Jethro, Ziva, and Flores then said their goodbyes to both Kinah and Lala, cleaned up their respective quarters, and finally left to catch their plane.
Jethro had also made a short call home, letting both Kelly and Shannon know that he'd be heading back stateside in short order.
The flight from Bost Airfield back to MCAF Quantico was looking to be quite a long one, everyone still reeling from what had happened earlier.
There was a flag-draped coffin in the middle of the plane and Jethro sat just a few feet away, strapped safely into one of the distinctive canvas seats that were part and parcel of flying on military transport. Jethro was keeping vigil; it had been a hell of a day.
It took longer than Jethro had expected before someone finally broke the silence.
The first lieutenant was evidently still dealing with a small bout of survivor's guilt. "You know, I… I was just trying to save them."
"And you did," Ziva stated.
"Should've been me in that box," Flores said.
Ziva shook her head in the negative. "No, Lieutenant." She then gave Flores a pointed yet compassionate look. "And it should not have been Captain Quincy either."
If First Lieutenant Flores replied, Jethro missed it. His mind was in another place as he sat there going over everything that had happened.
A bunch of Marines were standing around looking at a bulletin board with rather grim expressions all around. Jethro ran up to the group to ascertain what the problem was "What's going on? What's it say?"
Private First Class Oscar Cunningham spoke up. He was a skinny kid with glasses that had a similar build to Jethro himself. Jethro had started to bulk up some but was still on the scrawnier side. "Helo went down. Lost six Marines."
"Where?" he demanded, immediately concerned.
"Okinawa, Japan." PFC Cunningham turned to Jethro, oblivious to the look of horror on Jethro's face as he spoke. "Poor bastards just got there. I think that Matteson girl was one of them." Not wanting to believe his friend was gone, Jethro immediately started to scan the list for the brunette girl's name. "I never actually talked to her, but she beat three of my course times. She was good. Hell of an athlete."
One of the other guys chimed in. "Gibbs, you remember Matteson."
Jethro was forced back to the present courtesy of some turbulence and grimaced. Ziva caught Jethro's attention. She was not a stranger to death or sorrow either and shared a look with him, the pair nodding at each other.
Jethro sat there in silence for a while, feeling less chatty than usual, before eventually dozing off. Jethro had his fair share of experience with racking wherever and whenever he could so falling asleep hadn't remotely been a challenge.
Jethro woke up and noted that both Ziva and Flores were asleep. The combat veteran smiled slightly though as Jethro called how hard racking on a plane had been for Ziva's predecessor Kate. When the young woman had started working at NCIS, there'd been slight growing pains. She didn't exactly handle the priority flight they took to Colombia well. Hell, DiNozzo had faired little better.
"Morning," Jethro said happily as he woke up. He'd been rather exhausted so ended up sleeping like a rock. Even with all of the turbulence. "Sleep well?"
Kate eyed him incredulously. "If by 'well' you mean violently throwing up all night and bouncing around like rag dolls..."
"Then, yeah, Boss!" DiNozzo chimed in. "We slept very well. Thanks for asking."
"Oh," he replied cheekily, "you get used to it."
Kate groaned. "That's what I'm afraid of."
He raised an eyebrow in amusement.
Jethro felt a bit better now that he'd had some rest and pulled out a recent edition of the magazine Sniper Monthly to read. Eventually, the plane landed for what was their second layover. He'd apparently slept through the first one.
When the C-130 finally landed stateside at 0835 local time, several Marines marched Captain Quincy's body down the plank. General Ellison had, unsurprisingly. shown up and saluted. Two people who Jethro had quickly deduced were the captain's parents were holding each other. First Lieutenant Flores, her father standing beside her, was also saluting. Jethro, not being active duty and being in civvies, placed his right hand over his heart during the salute.
The Marines loaded Captain Quincy into the waiting vehicle and all the salutes lowered, the captain's body now being transferred to the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations centre at Dover while he and Ziva hopped into his pickup and made the trip back to D.C. Two of the MPs that were currently stationed at MCB Quantico escorted Soraya Zoranj back to NCIS in a separate vehicle.
Jethro and Ziva needed to head home to quickly shower and drop of their bags before they made their way to the Navy Yard for another day of work, so he dropped Ziva off at her apartment and then made his way to Arlington.
Walking through the front door of his home, he found himself immediately engulfed in a bear hug. Jethro relaxed into the hug, honestly needing the contact as much as his lovely wife seemed to. "I'm so glad you're back."
Apparently, his wife and daughter had both decided to play hooky after finding out that Jethro was intending to arrive home that day.
Shannon pulled back slightly, only to pull him in for a kiss.
Their daughter eyed them both, amused. "That's some scary kissing."
He rolled his eyes good-naturedly at Kelly's joke. "Cover up, Sergeant Reckless." With a grin, he turned back towards his wife. "I missed you." Jethro then pulled Shannon in for another deep kiss.
Once the pair separated, Shannon replied to the last remark of his. "I missed you too," she said, looking up at Jethro with a soft smile.
Kelly then pulled him in for her own bear hug. "I don't care if you're dirty or sweaty or tired or you smell like the inside of a cargo plane, Dad."
He chuckled softly. "Kellz, yeah, but I do. I seriously need a shower." He tightened the hug. "But that can wait a minute." Father and daughter both stood there, hugging, for a good long moment.
Finally, Jethro broke off the hug, chatted with his wife and daughter for a minute, and then headed upstairs to take a much-needed shower.
Jethro then gave them both a kiss goodbye again and headed to the Navy Yard to start what was likely to be another long workday. With any luck, though, he'd get home at a decent time and get to have dinner with his family.
