The Moon Also Rises
Pohog
Syn: Somebody from Gibbs's past catches up with him.
Disc: I don't own NCIS.
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
Oh I won't be afraid
For as long as you'll stand
Stand by me.
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountain should
Crumble into the sea
I won't cry
I won't cry
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you'll stand by me.
Stand By Me, Ben E. King
"Hello, Jethro."
That silky voice slithered up my back to make my skin tingle in a very familiar way. Just gravelly enough to resemble Abby in one of her technical explanations, this voice's owner had a lilting Irish undertone that made my stomach take a dive to my ankles. It was familiar enough bring a sharp jab of pain to my chest, the remembrance of what I lost. I took a steadying breath and started to turn toward her, but she put her hand on my back.
"It's been a while," she whispered, her breath hot on my neck. I stepped out of her reach and turned to face her.
Only a few seconds had passed since her greeting, but a million thoughts had flown through my head. The thousands of echoing questions cut off with a strangled gasp as I set eyes upon a face that I haven't seen outside my dreams for 16 years. My life before NCIS had consisted of training Marine snipers and my marriage to her. When I was deployed to the Gulf in 1991, I had expected to see her within a year. Then there was the explosion, her car accident, and the empty blankness that follows the unexpected death of one's entire family. The unaccustomed introversion. The drinking. The revenge.
There're always ghosts, when you look for them. They follow behind me, the people I've loved and killed. Those who died because of me. Corporal Ambers. Caitlin Todd. Kelly and Shannon Gibbs. They walk where I walk and watch over my shoulder, waiting patiently for another screw-up so they can add to their number.
She was wearing what she would always wear when she wasn't working. Jeans and black boots and my old camo jacket that she had commandeered because she liked how it smelled. It was exactly what she was wearing the day I was shipped out.
I had been walking toward NCIS from the parking lot when she stopped me. Now we were standing on the sidewalk, but it was so early in the morning that there were very few people around. I was relieved about that, because I knew I had tears in my eyes.
"Shannon …" I couldn't think of anything to say. My brain was reeling with shock; it can't be true, she can't be alive. But it looks like her. Down to the way her eyebrow twitched when I didn't finish my sentence. So where was she for a decade and a half? Where's Kelly? Did I murder an innocent man? My brain was coming up with questions I didn't want answered because it would bring doubt on what I wanted so badly.
I pushed the thoughts away and grabbed her waist and kissed her like I was planning to when I got back from Iraq so many years ago. I felt her arms wrap around me and I went back to 1991 for the millionth time, but finally with an ending I wanted.
"Who is that?"
As Anthony DiNozzo exited his Corvette -- parked across two spaces to prevent accidental nicks in the cherry-apple red paint -- Ziva David stealthily snuck up behind him and spoke close to his ear. Tony jumped, barely perceptibly (at least to him), and covered it up with a cocky snicker aimed in the Mussad Agent's direction.
The truth was, Tony hadn't expected Ziva to have arrived at such a late hour (late for her, anyway). He had had to set his alarm for the butt-crack of dawn because of a report that had been due on Gibbs' desk by last night. Tony figured his showing up at such an unholy hour would impress the team leader enough to allow him a few more hours' work on it.
Now, however, it seemed that Tony's report was the last thing on Gibbs' mind. He was lip-locked with a woman Tony had never seen before, in front of the back entrance to NCIS. Tony's stomach filled with the glee that a student gets when a professor cancels class at the last second. He bounced on his toes. Whenever the boss kisses a woman like that, he's guaranteed to be in a generous mood.
"Another redhead." He looked over at Ziva, who was watching Tony under slightly lowered eyelids and a small smile on her face. It reminded Tony that he was grinning like an idiot. He began walking toward the building when Ziva grabbed his arm in a vice-like death grip.
He followed her gaze. She was staring at Gibbs and the woman, who had resumed a conversation. "What?" Tony squirmed out of her grasp and tried to imagine what she was thinking.
"I've seen her picture somewhere," Ziva frowned, then her eyes got big as she remembered. "She was --" She cut off abruptly, physically shook herself and started off ahead of Tony.
"She was what?" Tony caught up with her but knew they were approaching Gibbs too quickly for him not to notice. Rule 37: never interrupt Gibbs when he's talking to a redhead.
Too late. A set of steel grey eyes honed in on them like they were a meal for an angry tiger. Gibbs turned back to the redhead, who was already departing. For the first time since Tony had known him, Gibbs looked at a loss.
"Shannon," Ziva whispered so softly that it took Tony a minute to figure out what she said.
Gibbs just nodded, his eyes following the redhead with an expression that was as close to fear as Tony had ever seen from him.
R&R, TBC