The next morning, Jethro woke up quite early and went out for a bit of a run, trying to get some of the tension out. Back at the house, he then had a quick shower and threw on his pair of woodland camouflage trousers, a tan webbed rigger's belt, an olive drab skivvy shirt, as well as a green long-sleeve collared shirt. Jethro also grabbed his tan NCIS cap and his favourite, dark green, desert scarf. He then threw on his pair of tan combat boots and both his hip and thigh holsters.
Jethro had tossed several days' worth of clothes into his USMC pack as well as a couple of other things the night before and left it along with his protective gear downstairs by the front door. As a result, he just needed to pack up the rest of his toiletries and then he was all set and ready to go.
That didn't take very long, so Jethro, pleased to note that he still had a good chunk of time before he had to leave, made his way downstairs to have some breakfast, pack a bit of chow for the road, as well as spend some time with his wife.
His wife swallowed a forkful of hash browns and then looked over at Jethro. "So, I was thinking… after you get back we should go to the batting cage."
"We should," he agreed, smiling. He took a sip of his coffee and then spoke again. "It's been a while since we've gone."
"I know," she agreed. "The weather's been nicer lately. though."
"I was also thinking about taking some lost time when I get back," he informed her. "I know I've got a fair amount saved up."
Shannon smiled softly. "That'd be lovely." She took a sip of her double-double. "Let me know when you're flying back so I can see about getting the day."
He nodded, giving his wife a warm smile. "Will do." He tilted his head slightly. "Did you have a chance to tell your parents we're doin' Easter in Stillwater?"
"Yep," she replied. "Mom and Dad both said they'd be there."
He gave a curt nod. "You still wanting to head down after work that Friday?"
"Yeah," she confirmed. "Should see if the Dobsons'll let us take their horses out on the Saturday." She started cutting a piece of sausage. "I think I'll give 'em a call later."
Jethro nodded, smiling. "Let me know what they say. I wouldn't mind going for a ride. There are some really nice trails in the area."
They continued chatting, doing their best to keep things light until 0645 rolled around. At that point, Jethro really had to hit the road if he was going to make his flight. Several emotions washed over him as he tossed his old USMC pack, his modular tactical vest, and his lightweight Marine helmet into the back seat of his truck.
Closing the passenger door, Jethro turned back to his wife. No matter how many times they'd been here before it never really got any easier.
Shannon looked pointedly at him, placing her hands on his waist. "I want to hear it."
"I will take care," he reassured her. "I will come back safe."
Her lips turned upwards slightly. "Not those words."
He locked eyes with her, cupping her face with his hands. "I love you."
She smiled up at him with misty eyes. "I love you too."
Jethro inclined his face toward his wife's and then put his mouth to hers. Their bodies were pressed together heatedly against the old pickup truck, breathing heavily as their lips pressed together. Jethro could feel the soft tickle of Shannon's breath beneath his nose, fingers carding through her hair as they breathed each other in and the scent of his wife's Strawberry and Sweet Mint shampoo flooded his nostrils. A smell that meant only one thing to him; home.
Pulling back from the kiss, he made a corny joke to cut the tension, causing his wife to laugh before pulling him in for a bear hug, resting her head against his chest.
Letting go a short moment later, he gave Shannon one last reassuring smile before he finally hopped into the driver's seat of his pickup and put the keys into the ignition. He really had to go or he was going to be late. He still had to pick up Dex.
His wife, the watery smile still on her face, was standing where Jethro left her, waving goodbye as he finally drove off. Glancing out of one of the truck windows, he dolefully watched Shannon recede as the distance between them increased, hoping that things would go smoother than they had last time and he'd make it home to her.
Putting on some country music to break the tense silence, Jethro made the short drive to Woodbridge to pick up Dex before heading to MCAF Quantico and boarding the C-17 cargo plane to Kabul with McGee and their canine companion.
They finally landed at the airfield in Kabul, Afghanistan at 0920 local time, having had a short layover en route to refuel, and then hurried to get settled into a Humvee. They then followed two other U.S Humvees out of the area, driving towards Camp Eggers.
They did get shot at while en route, but, thankfully, nobody had been hit and by 0945 their small convoy was pulling into Camp Eggers.
Getting Dex out of the Humvee could hear an officer calling out. "Fire!"
Focusing on the task at hand, Jethro ignored the action going on a couple of meters away and headed towards the officer who was actively approaching the convoy.
Dex barked, wagging his tail as he saw the man.
"What's up, Dex?" the officer asked, giving the dog a small smile. The man then eyed both NCIS agents. "Agents, welcome to Kabul. Captain Dale Martens."
"I'm Special Agent McGee," the younger agent said. McGee then indicated Jethro with a tilt of the head. "This is Special Agent Gibbs, and obviously, you know Dex."
"Yep," the captain replied, looking intently down at Dex. "It's weird seeing him without Sergeant LeMere. They were inseparable."
The officer made the earlier call yet again. "Fire!"
McGee visibly flinched when a loud bang went off immediately following the command, but Jethro had managed to mostly ignore it. "You LeMere's C.O?"
"Yes," the captain confirmed, "but let's talk inside." Jethro and McGee started following Captain Martens towards one of the tents. "Nowhere's ever safe around here." Oh, I'm well aware. "Natives have been a little restless lately."
Walking into the tent, McGee closed the door to the tent behind them. He and McGee then both tossed their bags by the door and walked past a Lance Corporal.
"You realize we'll be reassigning Dex as long as he's here," the captain said. "There's a real need since we lost Teddy. He was a good guy, great Marine."
Jethro grabbed a coffee mug on the desk and dumped it out onto the sand so he could use it for Dex. "Still no lead on the sniper?"
He started pouring the contents of his water bottle into the mug for Dex who instantly started licking the clear liquid up.
The captain seemed a bit surprised by Jethro's actions but didn't comment on it. "Oh, no, we got him. Just last night."
"Can we talk to him?" McGee asked.
"He won't give you much," the captain replied. "We did a sweep of suspected Taliban in the area where the shot came from. Rounded up eight known hostiles. That is, until this guy -" Martens started typing on his computer. "- tried to escape." Martens turned the laptop around to show both NCIS agents a photo of the suspect. "Khalid Al-Hatan. He's been ducking us for a while now, but not anymore."
Jethro looked up from the photo. "He dead?"
Captain Martens gave him a curt nod in response. "Affirmative. Civilian contractors we work with... I believe you spoke with Virgil, their supervisor?"
McGee nodded. "Yeah, I did."
"One of his members took the shot," the captain commented. "Little trigger-happy for my taste, but understandable."
He eyed the captain. "So, you don't actually know if this is your sniper or not."
"The other suspects indicated this is our guy," Captain Martens countered. "And in this environment, Agent Gibbs, that's good enough for me."
"Right," he said, deciding not to push it. "Something to do with restless natives?"
"Kind of a perfect storm," Martens explained quite matter-of-factly. "Pro-Taliban don't want us killing one of their own, while the locals are just fine with us killing whoever might have killed Teddy."
He nodded, taking off his desert scarf. "Where do we find these contractors?"
"Currently working in the city," Martens said.
He and McGee talked with the captain for another minute or so before they both went and grabbed their bags and headed to their temporary quarters while at camp.
They were definitely in for an interesting next couple of days.
