SUMMARY: Sequel to "The SecDef Cheats." Lt. Col Cassidy moves in to NCIS and this will mean for Abby in the long run. McAbby, Drama/Romance/Angst
RATING: T - Adult subject matter, rare mild language, killer smooching.
A/N: Had a little trouble with the surgery and getting caught up in some real life drama, so this one took a little longer than anticipated. Should be some pretty frequent posting coming up from now until the end.
REVIEWS: I am always trying to improve my writing, so all constructive criticism is welcome. I would also like to thank you in advance for any reviews you might wish to leave. They really are a great boon to a writer's ego and gives you a huge incentive to live up to your expectations.
Chapter 16
When she came blazing through her outer office, she never even heard Cynthia trying to talk to her, because Director Jennifer Shepard was pissed. In fact, she was beyond pissed, she was completely filled with rage and fury after being dismissed by the newly appointed Director of Forensic Science at NCIS. Someone was crowding her turf, and she was not happy.
When the SecNav and the SecDef first came to her with their plans, she thought it would be a fantastic way to increase the power of her own office. What they had not told her in their dealings was that she was going to be cut off at the knees by this new division. She could have sworn that they had purposely misled her to believe she would be placed in charge of both divisions, but in fact, the Senate had voted to leave the control of NCIS to the SecNav. By then, the damage had been done and the Colonel dropped onto her doorstep with a boatload of military and political clout.
Jen had not realized just how connected the Marine officer was throughout the halls of Washington's marbled palaces of power. For starters, her husband had delivered the children of half the families in the Pentagon, and attended to at least one cabinet member. On top of that, her husband's family had connections to the Joint Chiefs, including the SecNav, who had once served under the man's grandfather (a Naval Captain of some acclaim). Some of her family's dearest friends were the former head of the Judge Advocate General's office, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the head of computer sciences at Langley where her father has a security clearance higher than she would ever hope to have as the programmer for many of their most classified systems of surveillance. But it was when she learned the woman's brother also developed the communications systems currently being deployed throughout the armed services for intelligence purposes that she realized the woman was well out of her reach when it came to any kind of serious fight for dominance. All she had left was bluster and attitude.
She took the photograph of herself with the deceptive duo of the SecNav and the SecDef as well as the Colonel on the day of the big announcement, and her anger took control as she reared back to send it sailing across the room when a voice stopped her, mid-throw.
"Do you really want to explain why you're breaking the place up in the requisitions?" Gibbs was sitting on the couch at the back of her office.
"Jethro! What are you doing here?!"
"Heard the report was finally released, figured you'd be on a rampage and thought I would try to lessen the shrapnel for the rest of the building." His tilted head and usually endearing smirk fell flat against her wall of raging fury.
"YOU knew about THAT report!" Her eyes were now as burning red as her hair.
"Had lunch with the COM this week… He gave me the heads up. I think he figured I'd be at the top of the list and wanted it to come from him. Said it's been kicking around for a while now, they were just waiting on the final analysis from Col. Cassidy." She stood there with her mouth hanging agape, not saying a word. "Have to admit, it wasn't a welcome surprise, but…you gotta agree, the statistics are pretty damn compelling, Jen."
She turned and stalked towards her desk when he added one more thing, "And I've seen the effects firsthand. So, I'm willing to do what's necessary to change things around here."
She spun on her heel and shot at him, "YOU'D go to counseling?"
Gibbs stood up and walked toward the door. He stopped just short of opening it, his hand resting on the handle, smirked and then said, "Had my first session this morning before work."
And with that, he left the room and Jen dropped into her chair with a thud. "Well… I'll be damned."