A.N.: Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Thanks also to everyone who put me or this story on alert or favourites. You keep me writing! I know I went in to great detail about the contents of her drawers but I thought a man would take more notice of it, lol. I hope I haven't offended any male readers! Since the opinions on Vance were pretty much tied (one for good, one for bad and two for neither) I decided that I would just see how his character turned out. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Gibbs stormed out of the hospital and into his car angrily. He hadn't meant to shout at her as soon as she woke up but really she should have told him earlier, not when the people around him where being killed and injured. He sighed; Jenny was no longer his primary concern, she was awake and protected. Svetlana however was still at large. He didn't know what lengths she might go to, to kill her now, but he had to believe that if she realised Jenny was still alive, she would try again. He couldn't allow that. So he needed to make sure that she didn't find out. He fingered the phone in his pocket, wondering if he was going about this the right way. Lack of options said yes, but what he was doing could cost him his job, especially with Vance in charge, or his life, but if he did nothing would he be able to live with the outcome? She would find him, of that he had no doubt and possibly Jenny too. He had to pretend her last attempt on Jenny had been successful, to divert her attention to him and only him so he could end this once and for all.
He started the car and drove to Jenny's Georgetown house. The trip was quick; his 'normally risky' speed being upped to 'insanely risky'. He thanked his familiarity with the police patrols for letting him get all the way from the hospital to Jenny's house without being stopped. He parked in the drive and then walked to the front door. He reached for the handle, then realised he hadn't asked her for a key. He sighed and then picked the lock, hoping none of the nosy neighbours would call the police on him. The door swung open and he stepped in to the darkened house, gently closing the door behind him. He reached over to the light switch, flicking the light on so he could see. He looked around, the shadows looked oppressive, it was almost like the house knew he'd had an argument with Jenny and was trying it's best to make him feel unwelcome. It worked. He walked quickly up the stairs and along the hallway to Jen's bedroom, flicking on lights as he went, hoping she kept a large enough bag for stuff like overnight visits. He didn't want to have to shove it all in a black bag.
He opened her bedroom door and walked in, taking in his surroundings. The room was very feminine, the only one in the house that was. She really only personalised this room, the rest of the house holding memories too precious to risk ruining by redecorating. He certainly understood that. The large double bed dominated the space, with a large walk in wardrobe taking up the wall facing it. Expensive satin sheets in a soft wine-red colour covered the bed invitingly. He walked to the wardrobe and looked through it, finding a travel bag in the back and a few short nightgowns but so far he couldn't see any pyjamas. He gave up and just grabbed some slacks and a few strap tops and tank tops, knowing she'd choose which she wanted later. He closed it gently and went to search the chest of drawers by the bed.
In the top drawer he found bras in lots of different styles and colours. He lifted up an emerald green silk one he remembered vividly from Paris. He had decided to buy her something one day and had got her this, she had been only too happy to model for him later. He smiled; the colour had brought out her eyes beautifully. He reluctantly put it back in the drawer; she was going to be in bed for most of her stay so she wouldn't need any bras. The second drawer held underwear, most were the second half of a bra and panty set, the former half in the drawer above, some were just solitary buys. There was a large mix of lace, satin, silk, cotton, and polyester. He stared in amazement at the tiny thongs and briefs. She even had some cute little shorts. He spotted the second half of the green Paris underwear, his cheeks burned as he lifted the silk green thong. Good times, lots of good times. Stop it! You're supposed to be angry with her! He put it back in the drawer and sat back trying to think sensibly. If I was a woman, what would I be comfortable wearing in hospital? After much deliberation he picked the shorts and some of the briefs, stuffing them in the bag. The bottom drawer held fluffy socks, knee-highs, hold ups and some still wrapped stockings. He grabbed some of the socks and put them in the bag. No need to give Mike a coronary, he thought laughing quietly.
He wandered over to her vanity and grabbed her hair brush and tipped her makeup in a small zip bag he found in one of the vanity drawers. He'd never hear the end of it if he forgot her makeup. He tossed the bag on the bed and wandered in to the bathroom. Toiletries, she'd need some of those. He grabbed a handful of those little tampons, just in case, I'm not coming back for these things later, and picked up her tooth brush and toothpaste and his favourite of all her shampoo and body wash. He shoved it all on the bed, looking over it all to make sure she had everything she would need, then shoved everything in the travel bag and sighed in relief that the ordeal was over.
"If she wants anything else she can call Noemi." He grumbled to himself, tossing the bag over his shoulder and walking out of her room. He wandered down the stairs, flicking the lights back off and then stopped at the bottom of the stairs when he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate. He dropped the bag on the floor and brought the phone out so he could see the caller ID. It wasn't recognised but he had a sneaking suspicion he knew who was calling him.
"Yeah?"
"Agent Gibbs, you have some explaining to do." Assistant Director Leon Vance spoke on the other end of the cell. "Just what do you think you are doing taking evidence away from NCIS?"
"Ending it."
"You know who the woman is?"
"Svetlana Chernitskaya." He heard his team repeating the name he gave them in the background and smiled. No matter how much they said they hated desk work, they were still excellent at it. He picked up the travel bag and walked in to the dark study.
"Is she the one sending hired men after Director Shepard? What does she want?"
"Yes and me." He answered both questions simply, seating himself at Jenny's desk and flicking on the desk lamp.
"Gibbs, come back to NCIS-" Just then the phone vibrated again and Jethro looked at the ID. Natasha.
"I'm going to have to put you on hold Leon, got another call."
"No, Gibbs-" Leon's exasperated voice was cut off and Gibbs readied himself to answer the other call.
"Hello?"
"Who is this?" A cold female voice asked impatiently.
"Does it matter? I have what you want."
"Where is Abram?" Her voice became suspicious.
"Dead." He answered her casually, secretly very happy to tell her this.
"Who are you?" Her voice was colder, the tone telling him he wouldn't get anywhere else without answering her question. He smiled.
"Mr. Oshimaida."
----
Leon Vance paced irately. Gibbs just couldn't go about anything the right way; he had to just disappear with evidence and expect to have no repercussions. He fiddled with the tooth pick in his mouth nervously. Chain of evidence was blasted to hell the moment Gibbs had taken the cell phone out of the evidence bag. It wouldn't stand up in court and if the owner of the cell had any family, they would be well within their rights to sue NCIS for mistreating or even stealing their relatives' possessions. He stopped pacing and glared at Gibbs' team. They were no help to him; they seemed to think he was their enemy. He shook his head, wondering how Jenny had stayed Director so long in the face of such hostility. It wasn't good for the agency if they reacted this way whenever Gibbs was challenged. They needed to learn that they were part of a larger team then just them. The whole agency ran on cooperation and they were holding back that cooperation out of a misguided sense of loyalty. Gibbs wasn't doing them any favours by encouraging them to react this way. He smiled a little as he thought about how to solve this problem. They were all great at their jobs, but they could be better serving the agency in different departments. They would thank him later when their experiences under different leaderships helped them further their careers. He briefly looked at the two assigned as the Directors' protection during her stay in LA. He scowled, thinking how royally they had failed at that. Punishment was the only way to deal with them, unfortunately.
"Agent McGee, where is the cell phone located exactly?"
"The Director's house, boss- sir-" McGee stuttered uncomfortably.
"Right." He cut off the young Agents' stumbling voice, slightly peeved that he had such trouble answering him and then dialled the number of the dead man's cell, waiting for Gibbs to pick up the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Agent Gibbs, you have some explaining to do. Just what do you think you are doing taking evidence away from NCIS?"
"Ending it." Leon suppressed the urge to sigh dramatically.
Of course, Gibbs would be running off on some sort of personal mission. "You know who the woman is?"
"Svetlana Chernitskaya."
"Svetlana Chernitskaya." Tony spoke up suddenly, repeating the name as he typed it in his computer, bringing up the information in the database about this Svetlana. "She was the handler of international spy Anatoly Zukov, both of whom disappeared in 1999."
"Is she the one sending hired men after Director Shepard? What does she want?"
"Yes and me."
"Gibbs, come back to NCIS-"
"I'm going to have to put you on hold Leon, got another call."
"No, Gibbs-" Leon exasperatedly nearly shouted down the phone at him then stopped in amused shock. He put me on hold! He gave the phone a dirty look as it started playing music at him, putting it on speaker when the team asked what he was hearing.
"A waltz. Hungarian dance no.5 by Johannes Brahms." He saw them try not to laugh and his anger came back full force. They found Gibbs' behaviour amusing! They didn't see how inexcusable this was! That was it, the straw that broke the camel's back. They wouldn't cause or exacerbate this much trouble separately. He shook his head to clear it. He would think about this later, right now Gibbs might be in trouble. He'd said he had another call coming in. The only other person likely to call that cell was Natasha/Svetlana or whoever she really was. Unforgivable behaviour or not, he couldn't stand by and let one of his agents get themselves injured or worse, killed. And if he was really honest with himself, he was worried about Gibbs. He'd been part of his team too, back in the day. He had looked up to and respected him, lived by his rules and looked out for the team above everything else. Then he had transferred and realised that while what Gibbs was teaching was ok during a case, it bordered on insubordination at any other time. That was when he had lost his admiration for him, turning it in to a professional respect that couldn't interfere with his job. He had purposely forgotten most of his rules and kept distance between himself and his colleagues and he had soared up the ranks.
He galvanised himself in to action, walking purposely to the elevator and choosing the garage. He fiddled with his toothpick as he waited for the elevator to open, then practically sprinted to his car as soon as they opened. He unlocked his car and sped away from the navy yard, stopping for the gate guard to let him out, and then speeding through the streets, hoping he wouldn't be too late. He had a bad feeling about this. As he was driving to Jenny Shepard's house, he thought back to that day when he had been acting Director to investigate the death of Rene Benoit. He had confined Gibbs' team to the evidence garage and had gone down to lay the law. He thought about what he had said to Gibbs and his reply.
"I've never been comfortable with intimacy between management and staff myself."
"Me either."
Well, Gibbs might not be intimate with her but he had an obvious weakness for his Director that could just be the death of him.
I decided that since Abram had a different phone to Viggo, he would have a different 'hold' tune. :)