A/N: Here's another chapter folks, what can I say, RL has been crazy! To my latest followers/favourites, welcome aboard! So glad to have you with us on this journey! To my reviewers thank you so much for your comments, they keep me inspired!
To my guest reviewers:
Sue Dooley: Thanks! yea, there would be some awkwardness there.
Momcat: That's where my comes from "Oz" I'm Aussie! I've said it before & i will say it again, I am not planning on breaking Tim's heart! He will just have to go through some strange feelings & besides, a lot of the hurt he felt in the show was after Season 3, which is where this story is placed. Gibbs will have some feelings to work through with his girl the age she is, that's for sure.
Ladyaloysius: Thanks, yea, uni is very busy! I'm sure you're likewise. Gosh, I love to hear how much you & everyone are loving this story so much! And yea, keeping Gibbs out of there is probably a good thing!
Let's get into it, and see just how Mike's arrival goes.
Mike's eyes widened as he saw her "Kell!" he breathed out as he scooped her into his hold & pushed himself backwards to be flush against the wall. He wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could, he was boiling from everything he'd heard, he just didn't want to let her go!
"Mikey" Kelly breathed as she wrapped herself around him, she had no idea how he'd gotten here so fast, but she couldn't care less! He was here & that's all that mattered.
Tony watched as Kelly threw herself into the young man, and he stepped back until he was basically back against the wall, he saw the pair were now being watched by both Ziva & Tim, as well as a few others.
"I'm here babe" Mike whispered into her ear, she was shaking so he rubbed her back in constant comfort "Mikey's here Kell, Mikey's here babe" he soothed
Kelly just kept herself buried into him for a few minutes before she felt his hand caress her head, so she pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, she had a few tears coming down her cheek as their gazes met.
Mike had brought them apart only enough so he could look her in the eye & he swallowed the tears that tried to escape his own eyes as he wiped hers away "hey babe" he whispered before going into a quick kiss.
Ziva had taken the marine in, who she now knew was Lt Michael Bond, he was just over 6ft tall with brown hair, though it was extremely short, even for a marine it was short! His build was very solid, and from what she could see he had bluish grey eyes.
She watched as Kelly kissed him & it wasn't exactly on the cheek, it was well, a very quick but none the less passionate kiss, she gave a look to her teammates. She saw Tony was trying not to stare & give them some space, but he did keep looking their way every few moments. Tim though was trying to bury himself in his computer, but she knew for a fact that he'd seen the pair lock in an embrace & kiss, his body language and facial expression were clear giveaways!
Kelly came out of the kiss and gave him a small smile "hey monkey" she smiled as they joined foreheads.
Mike smiled at his nickname as he pressed another kiss to her forehead & wrapped his arms around her again before burying his head back into her. Gosh he missed her, her smell was just the same, fruity thanks to her shampoo of choice, with hints of coffee, thanks to her obsession with the drink, which both added to the unique smell he always attributed to her, not that he could describe it but it was just divine!
Kelly was loving being back in his arms, she smelt him in & loved it, it was a musky woody yet fresh smell that was uniquely his, she'd missed it & him so much! She took a few calming breaths before pulling back a little "how'd you get here so fast? And why didn't you tell me!"
"My C.O. gave me immediate clearance for some emergency leave & I managed to get on the first transport out, at one of my plane hop stops my phone sort of.. well" Mike took a breath & pulled a small bag out of his pocket "broke"
Kelly's eyes widened, his phone looked completely shattered! What did he do to it?
"Asked for a message to be sent via the communications unit, but I'm gathering that never happened?" Mike guessed
"No, I got no message, I was worried about" Kelly replied looking at him.
"I'm fine Kell, sorry to worry you babe, here now" Mike finished putting an arm around her again.
"Good" Kelly smiled leaning into him "come on" she whispered as she started walking with him back towards the hall.
Mike walked with her but as they got into a narrow corridor he stopped them "where we going?"
"In there" Kelly pointed to the conference room door, she looked back to him "you don't want to see mum & Phoenix?" she asked curiously but cautiously.
"Of course I do Kells" Mike assured her, he did want to see them, he wanted to make sure they were ok, but, but "your dad in there too?" while he really wanted to see Phoenix & Shannon, and he was still coming to terms with her being alive! He was damn nervous about meeting her dad! Actually, he was shitting himself!
"He was a few minutes ago" Kelly replied, the reaction her words received was for him to pull away from her & start to check his uniform "what are you doing?"
"Making sure I'm presentable" Mike answered as he ran his hands down his pants. He'd decided to wear his full service uniform, meeting her dad in his utility uniform just would not do! He had to be as polished as possible, within regulation of course, if he could have worn his dress blues he would have! He'd made sure to fit his uniform perfectly on the plane when he changed before landing, but he had to make sure he was still perfectly presentable. It had to be perfect, not a single wrinkle could show! He rubbed the tips of shoes again to make sure not a single smudge showed or any dirt was present from the ride over from the airport.
Kelly suddenly realised what & more to the point, why he was doing it "turn around" she remarked. She ran her hands over the back of his jacket & down towards his pants, she smoothed it against his back and pulled it down tightly to make sure it was completely straight, just like she knew it had to be. She knew he was trying to make himself presentable for her dad & now that she thought about it, she wanted him to look perfect too! She'd always wondered what her dad would think of Mike, think of the fact that she was going out with a marine, and she was about to introduce them! Oh boy! She tried swallowing her nerves at the impending meeting, but they were slowly bubbling to the surface.
Mike made sure his tie was perfectly straight before he too pulled his jacket down as tightly as he could & centred it. He followed that by adjusting his belt and making sure that too was centred to perfection. His fingers then moved to his badges & ribbons, making sure they were straight & double, no triple, no quadruple checking that they were in the right order. He took a deep breath trying to prepare himself.
"Ready?" Kelly asked as she bit her bottom lip, this was happening way too fast! While she was super glad he was here, she'd had no time to prepare herself for him to meet her dad!
"No, but let's do it anyway" Mike replied with a small smile, he couldn't just stand here all day, he'd be a complete nervous wreck if he did that & besides, marines didn't run from danger!
Kelly nodded taking another deep breath herself, she knocked on the door wanting to alert her parents that someone was at the door, when she heard a 'yea' acknowledgement she poked her head into the room. She saw her mum was now sitting on her dad's lap, hmm… they'd both probably want to shift from that position "ah, someone's come to visit" she remarked looking at her mum & motioning her to come closer.
Shannon looked at her girl, all she could see of her was her head & she looked nervous "whose here angel?" she asked as she rose, who could possibly be here to see them, that knew them?
Mike swallowed another lump as he heard Shannon's voice, he couldn't believe she was alive, he couldn't believe that bastard had done what he'd done!
"Ahh, well…" Kelly stuttered, she wasn't sure how either of them would take it "someone familiar" she said opening the door wider & taking a step in, she hoped Mike would follow.
Shannon had taken a step towards her girl when she saw someone step in behind her "Michael!" what on earth?! When? How? What was he doing here? How? She was surprised to say the least!
Gibbs had risen as well & his eyes widened at seeing him step into the room behind his girl. What on earth was he doing here in DC? He was supposed to be in Frankfurt! He was so not ready for this introduction! Not in the slightest! Guess he'd have to deal with it now, and he couldn't help but do an instant stocktake of the boy & his uniform, he was clean cut, the uniform seemed in order & his hair was cut to proper standards, and he while he looked nervous, he was standing marine straight. He'd give him a better look in a few moments, he was sure there was something he could find!
"Mrs G" Mike greeted through a swallow, this was weird, way weird! He couldn't believe she was standing here in front of him, in the flesh! He was trying to concentrate solely on her, he didn't want to look at Kelly's dad, not yet, those nerves would come to the fore, he was certain of it!
Shannon could see just how caught up with emotion he was, she certainly understood it "it's so lovely to see you Mikey" she smiled as she approached him, she placed her hands on his arms "wonderful to see you my boy" she repeated as she drew him into a hug. It felt so good to see him, she gave herself a smile at that familiarity of the boy in her arms, she knew her daughter would be happy, likewise her son, but so was she.
Gibbs stared wide eyed as his wife hugged the boy, Mike seemed to almost melt into her hug & she was more than comfortable giving him a hug, guess this was the 2 year relationship coming into play. He flashed a look over to his girl & saw that she was looking nervous, she was chewing her bottom lip, was she as nervous about this as he was?
Mike came out of the hug & gave Shannon a small smile "really good to see you too" and it was, it was great to see her in the flesh. He could see though that he was already getting stared at by the man he knew was Kelly's dad, he swallowed the nerves as they boiled to the fore, this was going be fun! Fun? No, terrifying! The man looked just like he did from the few images Kelly had of him, hard-ass marine to the core. He was looking a little worse for wear though, and imagined the injuries were from what Keeps had told him about, it just added to the hard-ass impression!
Shannon smiled, she had questions for the young boy but she could feel the tension in the room rising, best to do the introduction. Turning she took a step back towards her husband, yes, while he was clearly trying to size the boy up, he was nervous "Jethro, this is Michael Bond" she turned back to Mike, but over his shoulder she saw her girl's nerves were mounting "Mike, this is Kelly's father, Leroy Jethro Gibbs"
Mike swallowed, but stepped forward, he made sure to be as straight as possible as he extended his hand "honoured to meet you sir" he greeted formally looking into the man's eyes. He wanted to give the man the respect of meeting his obvious challenge as well as showing that he didn't back down from challenges, he was a marine after all! He just tried to keep as still as possible, the nerves at meeting him were almost making him shake.
Gibbs took a step forward to meet the boy, he too was standing marine straight as he extended his hand "good to meet you Michael" he figured it wouldn't be welcome to address him with his marine title given the manner in which his wife had introduced them. He was however, not going to make this easy for the boy, not for a moment, he wouldn't give the impression of being 'easy' to please, he would demand the best, because that's what his girl deserved! He stared right into the boy's eyes trying to make him flinch & see if he'd meet his challenge.
Kelly watched as her dad held Mike's hand, this shake was taking way too long to finish, she looked at her mum for help! The nerves were almost impossible to bare!
Shannon saw that her husband was trying to extend this shake to perhaps see what Mike was made of, she knew though that Mike wouldn't back down, and she could see her girl wanted this to desperately stop. She stepped up to her husband's side & rubbed his back "so Mikey tell us, how did you get here so fast?"
Gibbs knew what the back rub was trying to do & he had to admit, the young man holding his gaze for that time, he was impressed with his stance, he withdrew his hand & took a step backwards.
Kelly breathed a massive sign of relief as they finished their handshake, that went, well, as best as it could possibly go? She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself back down.
Mike took a step backwards & closer to Kelly, closer to a safety net as he let out a breath, that had been the most terrifying introduction he'd done in a very long time, 100 times worse than meeting his new C.O.! He turned his attention though to Shannon "C.O. gave me approval for some immediate emergency leave, managed to hop a transport almost instantly" he explained.
Shannon smiled "how lovely, how long are you with us?" she knew he'd go for leave, she was surprised at how fast he got it though! Though under the circumstances maybe it was understandable.
Mike smiled "21 days" he said his eyes resting on Kelly.
Kelly smiled, loving the sound of that "great"
Shannon could see how happy that was making her girl "and you didn't tell us you were coming because?"
"Ahh, well, my phone kind of broke" Mike began, showing the bag that contained the remains of his phone "I did ask for a message to be sent here from the Manchester comms unit, but I'm gathering that message didn't eventuate"
Shannon looked at the bag & the phone was well, broke wasn't the word for it, smashed was more like it but "what happened to your hand?"
Kelly had noticed the same thing this time, his hand looked liked it had a run it with a brick wall "what happened?" she asked as she took hold of it, there were cuts & bruises aplenty.
"Just banged it up is all, it's fine" Mike said, trying to brush it off as he pulled his sleeve further down.
Kelly shared a look with her mum, neither were pleased with the response "banged up? Your hand looks like it went through a meat grinder!"
Gibbs got a look at his hand & it looked, well to him, it looked like it'd had a run in with well, it looked similar to when he'd gotten his hand stuck in some barb wire fencing, what had the boy done to his hand?
"Its fine, couple of days be good as new" Mike replied
Shannon shook her head gently, she flashed a look to her husband & then looked to Mike, could no marine actually admit when they were injured? "Kelly why don't you take him downstairs & introduce him to Ducky, let him look at that hand"
"Who's Ducky?" Mike asked, he didn't want a fuss being made about it, nor did he want them to ask more questions about how he did it. And besides, he wasn't going to show that a simple banged up hand would bring him to seek medical attention, no marine did that!
"A doctor" Shannon answered, she saw a reply coming "don't want to hear it mister, that hand needs looking at, so get going" she felt like she was speaking to her husband! In the past these conversations tugged at her heart, but now, it was oddly nice.
"but.." Mike tried, he saw her raise an eyebrow, just like his mum! "right, the doctor, yes Mrs G" it was so weird that she could level the same look at him that his mum did, and it never ended well when the look wasn't answered with a 'yes'. He also noticed the stare he was getting from Kelly's dad, he was still getting really unnerved by the man!
"Too right we're going to see Ducky" Kelly added taking hold of his other hand & heading out of the room.
Shannon watched the pair exit the room before turning to her husband, she wasn't quite sure what his reaction would be. She certainly wasn't expecting Mike to show up so she knew he wouldn't have been prepared for it one little bit! "Jethro darling? Are you ok?"
Gibbs exhaled a breath, he didn't even realise he was holding as he looked to his wife "he seems…"
Shannon waited a moment to see if he would continue but there was nothing "seems?"
"Ok" Gibbs finally let out, quietly, very quietly, but then he thought of something "he called you Mrs G, isn't that a little casual?" he thought it was very casual, and it definitely didn't show enough respect as far as he was concerned!
"A little casual? Casual in what way?" Shannon asked curiously, but then she thought she understood what he was meaning "you think it doesn't show enough respect?"
Gibbs nodded in agreement as their eyes locked on each other "it's too casual"
"Jethro, I assure you Michael is nothing if not respectful. He was raised to be nothing but respectful" Shannon remarked, she saw though he didn't like whole heartedly her response & she thought she knew why "I assure you though, he will still be petrified of you & your mannerisms towards him"
Gibbs pulled her into his hold around her waist "suits me just fine" he said with a smirk.
Shannon eyed him "you do remember the promise you made to me when we had our daughter don't you?"
Gibbs licked his lips before replying "I will never use a loaded weapon against the boy" he had plenty of other things he could & would use!
Shannon wasn't sure she liked that answer, while it was the promise he made to her, the way he said it made her think he had some other ideas. She was well aware that he would exercise a high level of, what would she even call it, overbearing father of the girl? No.. imposing father of the girl? Not quite, imposing, overbearing, domineering, bossy, hard-ass father of the girl, maybe that would be a good word, or words for what his behaviour would be towards Michael. She knew it would be amplified by the simple fact that he'd missed on the years of Kelly growing up and this was his first chance to do this, something she knew was probably ingrained into being. His protectiveness of Kelly was always so extreme that she knew he would have acted very protective when she started dating & not in the way Mac had. She would give him some leeway with this, but she would have to keep a close watch on him just to be safe.
A/N: hmm.. me thinks Mike was slightly nervous in his meeting with Gibbs? And something gives me the impression that Gibbs plans on having some fun? Or rather, well.. I'm sure you can just guess.. but what happened to Mike's hand and why is he hesitant to tell them? Nix will be excited to see him, but what will Jack of make of him? And could they run into someone they weren't expecting to?
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