A Marines Return
2
The next three days went by slowly and finally Friday arrived. It was almost time for Jen and Jethro to tell the team the news and give Tony the lead spot on the team. About an hour after lunch Jen got a call from him saying it was time. Slowly she walked out of my office asking Cynthia to hold her calls until her return. Then she made my way down the stairs and into the Bullpen to see the team at their desks with Ducky by Jethro's desk and Abby near McGee's. Jethro caught her gaze and she moved to stand next to his desk grabbing everyone's attention. She turned and saw that all eyes were on her.
"Listen up! As of today control of this team has shifted from Gibbs to Tony." She paused there to let those words sink in. Everyone except Gibbs looked shocked.
"Why?" everyone asked after a minute; thinking that Gibbs had done something to really piss Director Shepard off. Jen looked to Gibbs to answer that and he stood up.
"Because today is my last day at NCIS. I am returning to active duty for at least a year and if I return after that it is most likely that I will not return to duty at NCIS. However I will notify the Director of my station so you can keep in contact with me. Thank you; now finish up your paperwork and have it on the director's desk before you leave. Abby walk with me please?"
He moved off towards the elevators; Abby following behind looking devastated. They both entered the elevator and the doors closed. After a few seconds Gibbs hit the stop button. He turned to Abby and drew her into a hug holding her tight. Abby after a few seconds wrapped her own arms around him hugging him tightly.
"Do you have to go Gibbs?" Abby's voice was muffled by his shirt; she had buried her face in his shoulder.
"Yeah Abs, I do. I need to do something, I feel like my life is standing still while yours and everyone else's moves forward."
"But you will come back right? Because I don't think that I can work here if you die."
"I will try to come back to the states alive, but I don't know if I can work here anymore. Too many demons here."
"But what will we do without you Gibbs? What will you do when you come back?"
"You mean if I come back."
"No I meant what I said Gibbs: when you come back."
"Alright. I don't know what I will do. I might try to get a job training cadets like in boot camp or try to get a job doing carpentry."
"You call me if you need a reference ok? I will miss you Gibbs, but if you need to do this then I support you. When do you ship off?"
"Thank you Abs. I leave for Iraq at the end of the month. Feel free to visit before then if you need a hug okay? I won't just stop contact with everyone."
"Thanks for the permission Bossman; I'll take any chance to see you. I'll bring coffee when I visit. And why would you lose contact with us Gibbs; we're family, never forget that. Now I have to go Bossman. Make sure to talk to everyone today ok? They need to see that this is what you need to go and they need to say their peace."
Gibbs flicked the stop switch letting the elevator take them to Abby's lab. He watched her get out and made her way to the lab's door; before she entered she turned around and signed to him: I will miss you.
He signed back to her: I will miss you to. He let the elevator doors shut and made his way back up to the bull pen. He silently passed by the rest of his team, heading to the back elevator to take him down to Autopsy to speak to Ducky.
Ducky had no bodies visiting his cold metal slabs and the room was very quiet and the good doc himself sat at his desk; case files neatly strewn across the surface. The good doc sat with his head in his hands.
"You alright Duck?"
"No Jethro, I am not 'alright'; in fact I am a little worried about your sudden desire to re-join active service, especially because you don't believe in the war."
"Duck, nothing about this is sudden; the letter that's in the file I gave to Jen was went to me a year ago and I decided to go about three weeks ago and spent all that time getting everything ready and filling out all the paperwork to give to Jen. I did not take this assignment lightly Duck. You're right: I don't 'believe' in the war, but I do support the troops that are over there fighting right now." Jethro made sure to look his old friend in the eyes to try and convey his meaning through his eyes, he thought that he succeeded when he heard Ducky sigh.
"Okay Jethro. I guess that I am more upset with the fact that you didn't talk to me about it before making your decision. What will you do when you come back, return to NCIS?"
"No, Duck; I don't think that I can work here anymore. Too many ghosts and missed opportunities. Plus I think that it would be better for a new relationship to actually last if I wasn't constantly at work like I would be if I returned to NCIS. I want this to work out; I need this second chance." He dropped his gaze but Ducky had seen enough in his old friend's eyes to guess who this person was.
"Alright Jethro, keep in touch with us. We like to think of each other as family and we don't need one of us to fall off the map. This can't be like your 'Margarita Safari'."
"It won't Duck. Keep an eye on Abby for me will you?"
"Of course Jethro. I will keep an eye on everyone including Miss Abbigail; you just work on coming back to us in one piece, ok?"
Jethro nodded then turned around and left Autopsy; heading back up to the bullpen to talk to the rest of the team. He thought about what he needed or wanted to say to each member of his team; his family. He knew that these conversations would have to include more words then he usually spoke to anyone. He wanted what he said to carry some meaning. As the elevator continued its journey he decided to talk to Ziva then McGee and lastly Dinozzo. Then he would ask the director to come back with him so he didn't have to hear Tony creating whatever betting pool he wanted to.