Shannon woke up snuggled against Jethro, the sound of birds chirping waking her. She smiled and kissed his cheek before sitting up and stretching, only to contently fall back onto the bed and smile at the warm beams of sunlight coming in through the bedroom window. "The sun… it's so pretty."
He smiled softly at the redhead. "Yeah, it is."
Shannon snuggled up to him again. "And you make a good pillow."
He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "But, can a pillow make you food?"
"I don't know," she quipped. "Maybe I should ask it."
"What d'ya want for breakfast?" he asked with a soft chuckle.
She gave a little shrug of the shoulders. "I don't know. Food?"
He rolled his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. "That's not an answer, Shan."
"Says you," she said teasingly. Shannon then sat back up in their bed and leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "How about an omelette and toast?"
Jethro nodded and got out of bed, throwing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt on before he headed out of the bedroom and down the stairs. About ten minutes later, Shannon was pulled out of bed by the smells coming from the kitchen.
She came up behind Jethro, wrapping her arms around him. "Smells good."
He gave a little hum. "And it's pretty much done."
Shannon grinned. "Perfect."
A second later, as promised, Jethro was dishing up two plates of food and pouring two cups of coffee to go with it. The pair ate, reading the newspaper, and once they'd both eaten their fill headed upstairs to get ready for work.
Stopping at Elaine's Diner for another coffee on the way to the Navy Yard, he met with the director about a threat assessment that had just come in and made his way to an impromptu meeting in MTAC with SSA Pride.
Apparently, King and his team down in New Orleans were dealing with some criminal that Jethro had crossed paths with a few years back and was hoping that he would be able to give them some background information that hadn't made it into the reports.
After that, he made his way down to the squad room to meet up with his team.
As it so happened, they'd been able to make some significant progress on tracking just where the pendant Ruby had brought in came from.
"The design's a symbol, alright!" McGee said as he pulled several images up onto their plasma screen. "It's the Junagha family crest."
"Royalty of some kind?" he asked.
"No, just wealthy by Afghan standards, Boss." That'd put the family right in the middle of an extremely volatile situation if they weren't pro-Taliban. The Taliban would love to get their hands on that money. "Ran a successful jewelry shop in Kabul before fleeing the Taliban in 2003. Now living in Pakistan."
"So they Pakistaned up in a hurry and forgot this baby?" DiNozzo quipped.
"Or they used it as barter to assure their safe passage to Pakistan," Ziva countered.
"I have a theory," Abby said as she walked in.
He smiled at his favourite forensic scientist "Hey, morning. What d'ya got?"
"So," Abby said, gesturing with her hands as she talked, "what if Dex and the sergeant were sniffing around the Junaghas' house for IEDs and they fell into a cave that was full of jewels and-and precious metals and chalices...?"
"Abbs," DiNozzo said, "If you're going Aladdin on us, just keep in mind that was set in Baghdad, not Afghanistan."
"I feel certain that there is more than one genie in the world," Abby countered. "And I'm not that far off, either, 'cause a lot of families that were fleeing Afghanistan, they would bury all their valuables, rather than risk losing them to the Taliban."
"Did ya get anything from that shirt sleeve I dropped off?" he inquired.
"Yes," Abby said as she pulled her results up onto the plasma. "It's a cotton-poly blend and I found traces of dog saliva and both dog and human hair."
"DNA?" he asked.
"I'll put a rush on it," the forensic scientist replied.
"So what's this thing worth again?" DiNozzo asked.
"Well," McGee said, "the gold alone is just over $4, 000. Emeralds are another five."
"Alright," the Italian-American said. "Nine grand, that's a lot of dough, but is it enough to make someone break into Ruby's place to get it?"
"And how did that someone even know it was there?" Ziva finally chimed in. "He has to have a contact in Afghanistan."
He shook his head slightly. "No, there's got to be more."
McGee eyed him. "No, Boss. I based my numbers on current market value."
Jethro eyed the younger agent. "No, McGee. I meant, where the pendant came from. There's got to be more." He started logging out of his computer while addressing his SFA and JFA. "You two, start digging. The pendant, the sleeve, there's gotta be an answer in here somewhere."
DiNozzo tilted his head slightly. "What about McGee, Boss?"
"McGee is coming with me," he matter-of-factly.
"Sure, Boss!" McGee chirped. "Where to?"
He gestured for McGee to follow him. "Come on. You'll see."
The pair headed up to the director's office, Jethro knowing that he was making the right call but still not feeling ecstatic about it.
Getting straight down to business, he explained the situation to the director and what exactly he was wanting to do. Well, wanting was the wrong word for it. He didn't really see much of a choice at this point.
"Afghanistan?" Vance asked incredulously.
"Afghanistan?" McGee reiterated, looking a little horrified at the thought.
In hindsight, he maybe should've given the younger agent a bit of a heads up. Still, he had to focus. He eyed the director. "Scene of the crime, Leon."
"Is this really necessary?" Vance asked.
"It is after last night's break-in," he explained, confident in his decision even if he was not exactly a fan. "There's more goin' on here than we thought."
The director eyed him. "You sure about this?"
"Yeah, Boss, you sure about this?" McGee asked.
Jethro gave a curt nod. Like it or not, it was likely their best shot at getting some real answers regarding recent events.
"Fine," Vance conceded while picking up his desk phone to make the call. "You can get the next transport. Maybe tonight if you're that eager."
"First thing in the morning will be fine," he replied. He wanted to be able to give his wife a bit of a heads up and not just take off on her. Plus, it's not like they'd be able to get much done in the middle of the night. "And we'll need three seats."
"Three?" McGee asked, visibly confused. "Who's coming with us?"
His lips turned upwards into a small smile. "Dex."
The rest of their shift seemed to pass without much fanfare. They bought some hoagies for lunch and that was about as interesting as things got. The field agents didn't find any more leads for their case and Abby was still waiting for the DNA results to come back. Unfortunately, that wasn't a process that could be sped up.
It did give Jethro a chance to deal with his paperwork, though. If he was leaving for a few days, he wanted to at least be caught up on what he currently had. So, not having much else to do, he started in on the perpetual stack of paperwork crowding his desk.
Closing a report he'd just finished, he sighed. God, I hate paperwork. Thankfully, he'd made a large dent in the stack. Unfortunately, McGee had just finished one of his own reports meaning Jethro had yet another one to go over.
Jethro glanced down at his watch. It was a little after 1500. Needing a break from all the paperwork, he got up, deciding to go grab himself a coffee from the stand outside and maybe a snack from the vending machine.
Walking out of the elevator and back into the squad room about fifteen minutes later, the director got his attention. "Agent Gibbs." He turned to see Director Vance standing up on the balcony outside the man's office. "I need a minute."
With a curt nod, Jethro made his way up the staircase. Coming to a stop in front of his boss, he gave the man an inquisitive look. "What is it, Director?"
"It's about the trip to Afghanistan," Vance replied. "I was able to arrange transport for you. Tomorrow morning out of Quantico. 0800."
He dipped his head slightly. "Thank you, Director."
Vance gave him a small smile. "I could've put you on a flight out tonight at 2300, but it wasn't hard to figure out why you found tomorrow morning preferable."
He tilted his head slightly. "That obvious?"
The director smirked. "Only to those who know what makes you tick."
He rolled his eyes. "I'll go let McGee know when we fly out."
Vance nodded. "You do that. And Gibbs… watch your six."
He gave his boss a curt nod. "Always do, Leon."
Heading back down to the squad room, he filled McGee in on the conversation with the director and touched base with DiNozzo and Ziva to see if they'd made any progress in regards to tracking down just how Sergeant LeMere had got the pendant.
They hadn't and the DNA results from Abby still hadn't come back, so Jethro resigned himself to doing more of the paperwork stacked on his desk.
At 1700, Jethro dismissed his team, going home to pack and spend some time with his wife before he had to leave for his 'desert vacation' as Tobias liked to call it.
Walking into the house, he quickly spotted Shannon on the couch, reading a book. She was wearing a denim shirt, a grey, wool cardigan, and a pair of black pants.
As he started taking off his boots, Shannon put the book that she'd been reading down on the coffee table and started walking over to him. She then pulled him in for a kiss.
When they finally parted, he smiled affectionately down at her. "How was your day?"
"My day was good," she replied, smiling warmly back up at Jethro. "What about yours? You put out any flames today?"
Jethro's expression shifted slightly as he considered his response. "Been trying to, but it's gotten more complicated."
Shannon's expression visibly shifted as she realized what he was about to tell her. She then schooled her expression, nodding. "You're shipping out, aren't you?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. "Flight leaves for Kabul at 0800 tomorrow morning."
She took a breath and nodded. "Alright then." Shannon then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Then let's take it easy tonight." She smiled softly up at him, not thrilled but used to him leaving for work. "Pizza and a movie?"
"Sure," he agreed. "What movie?"
"The Gambler?" she suggested. "The Big Country?"
He pulled his wife into a one-armed huge, gently placing a kiss on the top of her head. "That sounds perfect, Shan."
And it was. He enjoyed the time with his wife. But even as they ate dinner and relaxed on the couch there was a sense of agitation that he just couldn't shake. He didn't want to think about how crazy it got over in Kabul, didn't want to think about having to say goodbye. He just wanted the night to move slower.
