A/N: Here's another chapter people! To my latest followers/favourites, welcome! So glad to have you with us! To my reviewers, thank you so much!
This story was only supposed to be a short one as a sidebar to my main MTHDOverse, but as its grown its taken a life of its own & grown to be followed by more people that i'd thought would happen, much more! And i thank everyone for it! As such, i've decided to tackle the storyline that i'm doing in my second story of the MTHDOverse, so there is definitely more coming! Whether i continue it within this one or split it into a second one, i haven't decided yet, but there's definitely more coming!
Now, I know a number a people are possibly going to be upset with me & I am sorry about that, but i've decided to take the Kelly/Tim relationship in a different direction. Given my decision to keep this story going I want to take their relationship in a different way, this is for a few different reasons, and some of them will become apparent in due course, and some sooner rather than later. They will grow to become great friends but that's it (if you want Kelly/Tim relationship, that is still definitely a pairing in my MTHDOverse!) I have though got plans for both of them to have relationships, i've got some interesting things ahead for our Timmy! So please don't feel like i'm letting him suffer.. he will have a few feelings to go through but he will get some great loving! I assure you all! I hope you stick with this story even if your a devoted Tim/Kelly fan, as i really think i've got some interesting and worthwhile things ahead, especially for Tim! And i am going to give attention to their friendship, they've got the whole tech thing to share :)
I also want put a request out to those who are reading both stories, this & my MTHDOverse story Discovering Kin - please do not spoil anything through the reviews! There will be some obvious things going to happen for you in the next few chapters & i really don't want to spoil it for everyone else. If you've got a remark/question about it (& you'll know what 'it' is very soon) please don't hesitate to PM me!
Guest Reviewers: Guest: thanks for the review! The issue with the hugs will be tricky for Gibbs, because Shannon agreed to join her kids in only hugging those close to them as a family (as in her, Kelly & Nix) so it be a sticky one for Gibbs, he is close to Abby but his family isn't, so he'll have to make some decisions about it all.
Momcat: thank you! The Barnes's are definitely understandable which is very nice in this world! I think the above answers your Tim & Kelly question, but you'll still get some scenes between them in friendship & together with each of their 'other halves' in future, i'm quite excited about writing it all..
Now, let's get into it & see who Kelly's visitor is..
Gibbs had to admit, once the initial conversation was over he was a lot more comfortable with both Michael & Viviane Barnes, they both just listened to what had happened, well what happened in the last 3 days that is. He knew that they'd have to delve into great detail about everything else, but they were starting with the current problem & working their way through everything else.
Gibbs headed back into the conference room expecting to find not only Martha, but both of his kids, but there was only one present, where was his girl? "Hey bud"
Nix looked up from the laptop "hi" he smiled
Gibbs sat down next to his boy "what are you doing?"
"Phoenix was showing me his presentation for the Science Fair that they had a few weeks ago, its quite well…" Martha hesitated "it's an interesting topic" she finished.
Gibbs wondered what the topic was when he saw his wife walk in, he smiled as she sat herself down on his lap "so bud, what was the topic for your science fair project?" if only he'd been able to have been there to see it, this was going to be hard! He had so many missed years to catch up on.
Nix grinned but he looked at his mum "Do Left-Handed People Have Similar Personalities?"
Shannon looked at her son's grin, it took her a moment "Phoenix!" she couldn't help but laugh.
Martha noted that his grin had grown to double in size.
"I was right!" Nix grinned "I found that 70% of them are extroverted! Seems about right to me"
Shannon leaned forward and put her hand on her son's chin to maintain eye contact "be very careful my boy with who you mention this project to, yes?"
"He knows already" Nix replied "well… knows I was doing it, doesn't know the results" he finished with that grin still plastered on his face.
"And I can only imagine his reaction to it" Shannon replied
"Who we talking about?" Gibbs asked, he couldn't help but be curious, his son's grin was ever present, whilst his wife had a smile on her face too.
Shannon suddenly realised who they were talking about & realised it might not be the best thing right now "A friend of Kelly's, and speaking of which, where is she?" she asked trying her best to change the topic.
Gibbs knew it was topic change, but he too was curious.
"She hasn't come back since she went out for some air just before you went into see the Barnes's" Martha answered "I was about to go for a walk to look for her" she added
Gibbs wasn't sure he liked that, checking his watch, it had been about 3 hours "maybe we should go find her"
Shannon nodded "let's go" but she looked towards Martha "thank you so much for today" having Martha there as an extra pair of eyes taking care of the kids whilst they were busy had been a g-dsent.
"No problem at all" Martha replied "and I'm happy to come again tomorrow, happy to be here or anywhere, honestly, just let me know"
"Thanks, that would be great" Gibbs smiled
"Are you going to the hospital soon? What's the latest?" Martha asked, she knew the operation had taken longer than expected.
"Soon" Shannon nodded "spoke with Dr Denson, she's recovered as well as possible from the operation, and the pacemaker seems to be working & has steadied her heartbeat, but she's still in the induced coma, they're going to ween her off the medication for it & hopefully she'll come out of it in the next 48 hours"
Martha nodded in understanding "I'm sure they know what they're doing, and they'll make sure she's ok" she stood and collected her bag "I will be back tomorrow morning, glad to help with whatever we need"
"Could you maybe bring some more danishes?" Nix asked with a smile.
"I think I can manage that Phoenix, those chocolate & cheese ones again?" Martha asked "or maybe you'd like to try the raspberry cheesecake or chocolate & vanilla swirl ones?" she smiled
Nix's eyes glazed over "yes please, but the raspberry cheesecake ones are for mum" he knew she loved cheesecakes.
Shannon smiled "that sounds wonderful"
Gibbs smiled at the interaction as he led the group out to the bullpen, he saw his friend was packing up, it was still a little early though at only 16:00 "headed home?"
"I'm going to run Martha & Harry home, need to head over to my HQ for a short while" Ted answered.
Gibbs nodded "We'll walk you out, we're going to go find Kelly…"
"She's down by the Anacostia, near that coffee cart sir" Officer Lyons said interrupting him, he saw both Gibbs & Shannon now looking at him "just got back from a coffee run, saw her down there speaking with someone"
"Who?" Gibbs immediately asked, who could she possibly know on the navy yard?
Shannon had to admit curiosity too.
"A Marine Officer sir, a First Lieutenant" Lyons answered.
Shannon's eyes widened, a First Lieutenant Marine Officer, could it be? "Can you describe him Daniel?"
"Very tall, African American, solid build" Lyons answered
Shannon let out a breath, not who she thought at first, she would have said something but got beaten to the punch.
"Keeps!" Nix smiled
Shannon smiled & looked at her son "is he stationed here at the Navy Yard?" she knew Keeps was stationed in DC, somewhere.
"Yea, think so" Nix replied
"Who?" Gibbs asked.
"Samuel Atkins, a friend of Kelly's from college" Shannon answered her husband, things were definitely going to get interesting.
Gibbs considered that was now 2 of Kelly's friends who were in the military, he found it interesting and add that to the picture of the Michael boy, hmmm… interesting indeed, but "should we not go…" it was getting on, and she'd been gone a while, he thought maybe they should go & find her, he also wanted to get a look at this boy, marine or not.
"No Jethro, if Kelly is with Samuel I assure you she is fine, she'll come back when she's ready, we're not going just yet, give her some more time" Shannon said interrupting him, she knew her daughter was well looked after in the company of Samuel, she turned back to her son "when did you see Keeps last?"
"About a week ago, he took me to soccer practice, we then met up with Kelly for a movie" Nix answered, Keeps was awesome!
Ted realised this guy was obviously good friends with not just Kelly, but Nix too, he could see the smile on Nix's face, and the guy had clearly been helping the pair out, but "where does 'Keeps' come from?" he saw curiosity about the kid all over Gibbs's face.
"Samuel is a goalkeeper, and was VC for the college soccer team" Shannon answered, she was going to have to have a word with her girl, if things kept going the conversation could soon detour & approach a topic of some stickiness she thought.
Tony had an ear on the conversation, he couldn't help but admit curiosity at this 'Keeps' mainly because he'd seen Tim start to pay great attention to the conversation around the same time, clearly wondering who this guy was. Tony had risen from his chair & was making his way to his probie when he heard the familiar ding of the lift & shifted focus, it was Kelly with her friend and geez that guy wasn't tall, he was a giant!
Gibbs had been about to ask another question when he heard the lift ding & saw his girl emerge, and his eyes shifted, her friend was with her & Lyons was right, he was very tall, he looked to be at least 6"5! He could see though that his girl had been crying, her eyes were pretty puffy & that upset him, he hadn't been there to comfort her.
Kelly was a little nervous about what was about to happen, but bumping into her friend had been just the tonic she needed. She knew he was nervous too, no matter how much he protested that he wasn't someone that got nervous, marine & all that crap.
Shannon saw her girl get off the lift, along with Samuel, she looked like she'd been crying, obviously releasing some emotions. She sucked in a breath as she shifted her gaze he was clearly nervous, and now she was too, that poor boy had been the one to help Kelly settle into DC. He knew about all the troubles, well, all the troubles that they'd dealt with in Houston, and he'd been around the last few months helping the pair, believing that she had died!
Nix saw his sister and "Keeps!" he smiled, as he moved towards the pair instantly.
Samuel had been grabbing a coffee when he spotted his friend, he was extremely surprised to see her on the yard & when he approached her he instantly knew something was wrong. Once he'd finally gotten it out of her he was totally gobsmacked, not to mentioned angry as hell towards MacDonald, Quinn & the rest of the bastards! He'd quickly called his CO & gotten leave for the afternoon, he wasn't going to not go back & check on Phoenix, and see Shannon, whom he couldn't believe was actually alive!
Samuel was also a little nervous about meeting her father, it wasn't like he'd dated Kelly, but she was such a close friend, and given what he knew of the man, and the whole fact he was a marine himself, yea he was a little nervous! He took a final deep breath as he stepped off the lift & was about to start panning the room, when he heard a familiar voice & he zoned into him. He was relieved to see that he looked fine, crouching down he greeted him "hey shrimp"
Nix smiled & went right into a hug.
Samuel smiled & took hold of him, giving him a quick hug, he was glad the kid was ok! He released him & put a hand on his shoulder "you ok?"
Gibbs was watching this interaction with keen interest, and had to admit surprise at seeing his son fall so easily into a hug with the young marine. Clearly this guy was close to his kids, and from the look of him, he looked clean cut & squared away.
"Yeap" Nix nodded "really good"
Samuel smiled at him but as he stood back up he saw Shannon approach & he tried to swallow the emotions that was bubbling to the surface.
Shannon could see the emotions that Samuel was fighting with, she understood all of it "Don't want to hear it right now Keeps, I just want to say that its wonderful to see you" she said quietly to him as she placed her hands on his arms.
Samuel swallowed again, and gave a small nod "wonderful to see you too Mrs G" he replied just as quietly giving a small smile.
Abby had only come up to the bullpen a few minutes ago, and was right near Tim's desk when she'd realised all eyes were glued towards the lift area & her eyes widened too, she saw a mega tall marine come off the lift with Kelly & greet Nix, she was a little surprised that he hugged the marine, but when she saw Shannon hug him a few moments later she was completely surprised! Who was this marine that seemed to be so close to the family that they hugged him?!
Gibbs watched as his wife & the young marine exchanged a brief conversation, he could see the emotions between the pair, he was a little caught by the reference the kid had used for her, Mrs G? That seemed pretty.. well, pretty casual, no pretty familiar, given what he'd heard so far, this kid, kid? Young marine, had clearly spent a lot of time with his family.
Shannon was glad that he agreed to not say anything & simply go into a hug, rubbing his back she pulled back & looked up at him "still very handsome mister"
Samuel couldn't help but give her a blushed smile.
Shannon knew there was one introduction that needed to be done more than most, she turned and saw her husband was not too far away, she motioned him closer "Jethro, this young man is Samuel Atkins, a very good friend. Samuel, this is Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Kelly & Phoenix's father"
"Honoured to meet you sir" Samuel said, standing as straight as possible & extending his hand. The man looked liked he'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, but he definitely looked like the marine his friend had told them about.
Gibbs saw that he'd brought himself to be basically standing at attention "Samuel" he nodded as he shook his hand, he was impressed with the firm shake he received.
Kelly released a breath that it went well, well as well could be, she now wondered what would happen when… she shook her head, that wouldn't be for a while, best not to think about it.
Shannon could see that her girl watched the exchange with nerves, and she had hunch as to why, yes, she'd definitely needed a moment to speak with her daughter.
Kelly felt a little better & saw someone she wanted to introduce him to, she looked to him & motioned him forward "Harry, this is Samuel. Keeps this is Harry" she knew the pair would get on well.
"Hey" Harry greeted, this guy was mega tall!
"Hey" Samuel greeted.
Nix was happy that Keeps was here but he was a little hungry so not really caring that his mum & sister were introducing Keeps to everyone he turned to Martha "do you have any danishes left?"
Shannon had been introducing Samuel to Tony when she heard her son "how can you possibly be hungry? And no more danishes, there's some fruit in the conference room if you are"
Samuel had to smirk, in the last couple of months his appetite had grown quite a bit "got this if you want?" he offered him pulling out a muesli bar from his pocket "but…"
Nix knew what the but was, he looked to his mum "can I have it?" without even waiting for Keeps to finish his sentence.
"Sugar free Mrs G" Samuel remarked, trying to help out.
Shannon had to smile "ok, but thank Keeps" she turned to him "you're still carrying around food in your pockets?" this boy always had food on him, always!
"Still growing" Samuel grinned
Shannon's smile dropped from her face "I'm sorry?"
"Six foot five & a half inches at that last measure" Samuel answered "my tailor's not really appreciative" he added with a chuckle towards his friend.
Kelly let a chuckle out too "you're right, and she's gone on strike!" she saw her mum give her an odd look "I've taken down his pants twice! Twice in 4 months!"
Shannon finally let out smile "I see, well then perhaps you need to requisition some new pairs of pants?"
"They're on special order, should be getting them this week sometime" Samuel answered
Tim just watched this interaction like all the others with keen interest, this Samuel was obviously pretty good friends with Kelly, he wondered if there'd been more to it? They seemed so at ease with each other & he was definitely at ease with both Nix & Shannon.
'Thanks Keeps" Nix grinned as he took his first bite.
Samuel crouched down "no problem shrimp, but the next one, you're going to have to a pay for" he finished with a knowing grin.
Nix grinned "I can pay that fee"
Gibbs watched this latest exchange, he wasn't sure he liked the 'shrimp' nickname Samuel was using towards his son, but his son seemed fine with it. He wondered though what 'fee' the pair were talking about, because it clearly wasn't money.
"Good luck" Samuel remarked "oh, and no using Buster to help!" he added, closing that loophole.
Shannon smiled at the pout on her son's face "fair's fair Phoenix" she turned her attention, back to the introductions "Samuel, this is Agent Timothy McGee, he's the final member of Jethro's team. Timothy, this is Samuel Atkins"
"Hi" Samuel nodded extending his hand
"Hi" Tim replied, he had to admit he was a little intimidated, the guy's size & shake were both very tough.
Abby had to admit she was a little upset that Shannon introduced Tim as the final member of Gibbs's team, ok sure she wasn't technically on 'the team' but she considered herself to be on it.
"And this lady Samuel is Abigail Scutio, the NCIS forensic scientist" Shannon said introducing them.
Samuel nodded "hello" she looked well, goth and weird!
"Hi There" Abby smiled, wanting to try to get friendly "you're like one of the tallest people I've met!"
Samuel smiled "thanks, but in my family, I'm pretty average"
"That's for sure" Kelly chuckled "back in a minute" she said heading for the ladies room.
Samuel watched as his friend headed away, her dad was now talking with Harry's dad and the agents all started getting back to work, there was something he needed to do, he moved towards Shannon "Mrs G, could I have private word?"
"Of course Keeps" Shannon nodded, she looked towards her son "stay with dad, we'll be back soon darling"
Gibbs watched as his wife headed back down the hall with Samuel, clearly the pair wanted a private chat. My gosh the amount that he had to catch up on was monumental!
Samuel followed Shannon into a meeting room, he really didn't know what to say, he was still pretty speechless.
"Samuel?" Shannon asked, she got not reply "Keeps?" she tried again coming closer "your feelings are understandable"
"Ok" Samuel nodded finally "the thing is… Kelly asked if I could…"
"Call Mike for her" Shannon guessed
"Yea, I said I'd call him tonight, once he'd be off shift" Samuel confirmed
"Was he alone in being stationed to Frankfurt Samuel?" Shannon asked, hoping there'd be at least one other person there to be with him when getting the news.
"Yea he was, and about that…" Samuel really didn't know how to say this.
"What?" Shannon asked.
"It's just I was thinking.. " Samuel really didn't know how to say it or even what he wanted to say was right "not sure its anything but it may be"
Shannon could see he was stuck "just say whatever it is that's rolling around that head of yours, and we can decide if its anything together, and why don't we sit down"
Samuel sat down, he took a breath "do you remember what Mike's major project was at college?"
Shannon thought for a moment "How to use post disaster materials for reconstruction of townships" she remembered seeing the model & it had been quite impressive.
Samuel nodded "yea, you see the thing is.. it's something.. that well, I'm working on it now"
Shannon wasn't really sure what was so odd about that "and?"
"That alone wouldn't be strange, but well, and I know Mike didn't mention this to Kells but" Samuel paused, if he was right, there'd be numerous angry people "we got given temporary assignment details one month prior to our final deployment orders and well…"
Shannon waited just wondering what this was all leading to, but she started to get a very bad feeling.
"My initial details had me going to Frankfurt & Mike well, he was supposed to come here" Samuel said hesitantly "those deployments make much more sense to me, I mean the detail I'm on, its right up Mike's alley & what he's doing is much more akin to what I did for my major assignment"
Shannon leaned closer "what are you suggesting Samuel?" was she about to have another nightmare on her hands?
"Well after Kells told me everything, I'm wondering if someone had a hand in switching our deployments, as far I know we are the only 2 that didn't get their initial assignment locations" Samuel confessed
Shannon sat back & widened her eyes, somewhere deep down she knew he was right, if they were the only 2 to have their orders changed, she closed her eyes & sighed, ohh crap! Michael was going to be beside himself with anger & heartache, and as for her daughter, she definitely wouldn't take this well, at all! Even Phoenix was going to take this hard. This was going to require numerous conversations that were not going to be easy, including one with her husband about Michael, oh my, this wasn't going to be easy to deal with!
A/N: Well Samuel certainly turned a few heads! And not just up! lol Gibbs seems to be finding it interesting that his daughter had numerous friends in the service, but could Samuel be right? Could Mac have switched his deployment details along with that Michael boy? Just who is he? And will Shannon go with it all...
You know i love to hear your thoughts, so please, review away! More up soon!