Chapter 13: Different Story
Gibbs didn't get a call from her until the next evening. She sounded exhausted, and more like she felt she needed to make the call, not that she wanted to. "Hey Jethro." He smiled anyways, which made the man he was looking at cringe. They were at a crime scene, but he wouldn't tell her that.
"Hey babe." He answered back. He moved away from the scene. "What's up?"
"Just thought to call. Spent all night and day in the hospital." She sounded sleepy. "And was about to go to bed when I remembered I should call you." She added. He heard the springs of her mattress as she sat down.
"Want me to c-" he didn't finish before she answered.
"Only when you get off work." She yawned.
"How'd you know?" He couldn't help but grin again.
"I can hear Tony in the background. Say hi to them for me." He could hear the smile in her voice.
"Mkay. See you later." He almost clicked the phone shut when he heard the sleepy answer.
"Night, Leroy." He eyed the phone as he clicked it shut. Leroy. The only person who'd ever called him Leroy was his mother. Even Shannon had called him Jethro. He found it… interesting. He turned back, heading into the case again. It was a simple murder, and they had the suspect in custody, just finishing things up. Tony looked over at him.
"What's up boss?" he asked, looking almost eager.
"Victoria. Say's hi." He eyed Ziva, as she manhandled the perp into one of the cars. "Be leaving early." Tony nodded, a half smile. He glanced at McGee and grinned. "Finish Case." He half snapped at Tony, who just barely managed to dodge the head slap. Ziva got the man in the car, saw Gibbs going away and hurried towards him.
"Gibbs!" He stopped and turned, eyeing her. "Tell her I said hi." She smirked at him, as he actually looked fully annoyed at her for reading him. "You've never left late Gibbs." She could feel Tony watching her. "And Tony needs me." She smiled a little and turned away. He eyed his team. All of them were watching him, though trying to not act like it.
"Get back to work." He snapped, before getting into one of the blue sedans.
She was asleep when he entered her house. The cat wasn't though, and he padded his way over to Gibbs. He mrowed at him. Jethro crouched down to pet the cat, who sneezed and padded away. Jethro smiled a little. The house was dark, and quiet. He liked it personally. He found his way to her room, and stopped. She was stretched out across the bed, the blankets were around her, but her legs were poking out of the planet, and her face was away from him, her hair covering most of her pillow. He moved quietly to the bed. She murmured and turned around, eyes starting to open. "Hey." He murmured softly as he crouched down. She woke a bit more and smiled at him.
"Leroy. Hi. Didn't think you'd be here…" she looked at the clock and frowned. "Stop driving so fast. I don't want you to get hurt." She reached out and touched his arm, still sleepy. He smiled. "No you won't, but I can ask can't I?" she moved over a bit, but not much. She was tired. He started to stand up. "Don't go!" there was half panic in her voice.
"Not leaving." He murmured, slipping his shoes and coat off. He sat down on the other side of the bed, and smiled as she turned towards him. But it was sad. "What's wrong?" He reached out and touched her cheek. She grabbed his hand and pulled it closer. He settled down next to her, wrapping his other arm around her.
"I'm gonna loose my pilot rating." She answered, the sadness easy to hear. He kissed her forehead. "I know that it was about time, but still. I love flying…" she was pouting. He just watched her. She wiggled closer. "Tony was right about the man of few words…"
"What? Want me to tell you it'll all be alright?" He murmured into her hair. "I can."
"No… 'm just tired." She put her head against his chest. "I don't wanna… talk." She murmured. He chuckled. She lifted her head back and looked up at him. "what?"
"Nothing." He reached up and brushed hair out of her face. "Sleep."
"Okay." She murmured, pressing her face against his chest again. Jethro smiled as he cradled her closer, and stroked her hair. Victoria fell asleep quickly. Her breathing soft, and easy. Jethro drifted off as well, not caring that he was fully dressed.
He woke up to brown eyes and a sleepy smile. "Morning." He shifted as he realized where he was. Blue eyes flicking past her for only a moment.
"Good morning." She murmured moving closer to him. He eyed her as she reached up to pull his head down for a kiss. She contoured her body to him. One of his hands cradled her head, the other slipped down to her waist to pull her closer. She giggled as he slipped his fingers under her shirt. He smiled down at her as he slipped off the tanktop, showing bare skin. Only the left arm was not bare, and it would stay that way for a good six weeks. He pulled that arm up closer and kissed her fingertips. She giggled and tried to pull away. He stopped her, and crouched over her. She slipped her hand down and pulled up his shirt, trailing her nails up through his chest, before she busied herself unbuttoning it. He just watched her as she finished.
He shifted to get the shirt off, and then kissed her, hard. She wrapped herself around him. It didn't take long before both sets of pants were off. He toyed with her, which she enjoyed. Though they had to be a bit more careful of her broken arm. The lovemaking lasted a while, and afterwards she was falling asleep against him again, warm under the blankets. He was just watching her, stroking her hair.
The door bell rang and she moned. "No. Not getting up." He chuckled, kissing her forhead. But the door bell kept ringing. She muttered as she wiggled out from under him, and grabbed her robe. It wasn't long, but just long enough, and a deep ruby red. She managed to get it tied before she got to the door, and get her slippers on. She opened the door, glancing at the clock. It was ten in the morning. On her week off. Who was here?
She nearly saluted when she realized who was on the other side. "General Cortez!" She managed to stop herself. She wasn't in unifnorm. "Good Morning Sir!" The dark skinned man eyed her, then the tall man behind her with a half smile.
"Good morning Colonel Crane. Long night?" He asked. She stepped back quickly as he stepped inside. She closed the door. "Good morning Agent Gibbs. I am Crane's Commanding Officer. Or I was. You've been given this assignment." He handed her a file. She eyed the Top Secret file on it and nodded. She opened the file and stopped.
"Wait… This says straight from the president." She said eyeing the General. He nodded.
"Not my choice. You need to be reassigned. You've turned down two promotions, you're fully qualified for that. Sorry Agent Gibbs. Only she and the President have the leisure of talking about what's in that file. Something about mentioning it to him once…" He gave the brunett a grin. He was doing quite well at ignoring her short slip of a robe. Didn't matter much to Jethro. He had a much longer one and wrapped it around her. She chuckled slightly, pulling it close.
"Alright. Well, can I give you an answer later?" she smiled at the latino man.
"No. If you say yes, your off to Las Vegas for two weeks, talk to those at Nellis, get the info you need, and take a break." She sighed, glaring at him. "There's tickets for two in there, if your to take Agent Gibbs with you." Cortez grinned at Gibbs, who just stared at him. "And if you don't take the vaycation I'll force you to go. You fly out of Andrews, land in Nellis, go to the Encore, then the next day to Nellis again. It's all planned out. Now yes or no." He gave the woman a half glare. She sighed.
"Yes sir." She sighed as she eyed the uniformed man. "Go into the livingroom. I'll be in there in Fifteen minutes or so." He opened his mouth. "I'm off duty, Jim, Let me not be on time." She said before he nodded. "Plus your in my house. Go. Leroy. Kitchen." She quickly dodged past Gibbs and into the kitchen. She didn't care what the General did, she just needed to think. She moved to the island and started to pull the file apart, looking over everything.
"What are you doing?" she stopped and looked at him. "And what actually happened?" She sighed.
"I met the president two years ago, he asked me what I thought could be done for the military. I said a single base where all five branches of the military work together, something like Topgun, but on a grander scale, and with the whole ground unit thing added in. The president's ordered me to go ahead with the plans. I need to talk to Nellis and see how they do things." She pointed out the letter, and a few other things. "We corresponded over this for a while. He's set a place for the new base. Darling Base. That's it. Interesting. I take command in six weeks. There's no way in hell I'm not there." She said with a slight smile. "As for what happened with this… I flew a C-17 into a dangerous area, no I can't tell you were. No one at the base realized that having a female pilot in control was a bad idea. I didn't exactly know the ROE's there so I was completely surprised when a group of seven men in turbans tried to attack me. One of them grabbed me." She stopped, her eyes closing. He could see her closing down.
"It's alright. I get it." He murmured moving forward and wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into the embrace and took a deep breath.
"No… I have to continue…" Her voice moved towards that point that was dead, with no emotion. "Riley reacted badly, he was there to give intel, while I was there as a pilot only. He managed to get shot while I just got knocked around. A marine had let them through. They had all the papers. He and those with him haven't quite figured out how they got the gun inside the building." She took a deep breath and continued. He wasn't sure why she was, but it seemed she needed to talk to someone. "I managed to pull away from the man, but Riley was down. The marine who'd let the gun through was there, along with half of the base. I have not been told what happened to the men… but the marine is back here in the US. I didn't want him in trouble. It wasn't his fault. They were in the list, and it wasn't obvious where the gun came from." The last part was in response to the obvious anger on his face. "Don't go find him Leroy!" Her snap brought him back.
"Why do you call me that?" She gave him an odd look. "Leroy. Why that name?"
"It's your first name. Plus everyone else calls you Jethro, I have this annoying habit of having to be different." She said, glad to focus on anything else but what had happened less than a week before. She'd dealt with it. "Anyways... What?"
"You call me Leroy because you want to be different?" He seemed incredulous.
"If you really need me to I can call you Jethro, or Gibbs. Just thought Leroy sounded better… a little more… American, less English and stuffy." She said with smile, before she pulled away and moved back to the island. "So… If I do this, I'm going to have to co-ordinate with NCIS, and a half a dozen other agencies. You coming to Las Vegas or must I grab someone else?" She asked as she found the Las Vegas part. She was going. This was a dream she needed. She was trembling, but it was going away. She really needed to stop getting in dangerous situations. Gibbs stared at her. She'd just blown past him easily.
"Why not?" He decided to let the name thing drop. It wasn't that he hated the name, just only his mother and father had ever called him that. It actually sounded nice to be called that, but he wasn't used to it. She nodded, and grabbed the papers, signing something, and then walked out, leaving the longer robe on a chair. He heard her chatting to the General, who Gibbs felt a bit threatened by, and then the man left. She stopped for a second. He had his back to the door, looking over the LV information.
She stepped up beside him, surprise causing him to jump slightly as she spoke. "You do want to go right?" She sounded worried. He turned and just looked at her. Trying to find out what about her made her so damn important to him. It only made her fidget more.
"Why'd you go?" He asked softly. She frowned. "Three weeks ago. You ran. Why?"
"I had a job to do. And yes, It started three weeks ago. We had a major build up. I didn't realize It would be my last mission, but still. I had to go." She said carefully. "You of all people should know that when you get a call you go. No questions asked. The wedding was over, I got the call during it. I had to go." She added. She was turning defensive, and he knew what most women did at that point.
"I never said I didn't. I just wanted to know if there was more to it than that." She shook her head.
"Sorry." He eyed her. "Oh don't go there." He stepped forward, and she took a step back. "I'm aloud to say Sorry. I mean it to." He rolled his eyes and moved a great deal quicker than she expected, wrapping his arms back around her.
"I'm going." She frowned. "To Las Vegas." She arched an eyebrow. "Your as bad as Shannon." He didn't realize until a moment later as her face flickered through many emtions that this was the first time he'd mentioned Shannon to her, ever. He let go of her as she moved to pick up the rest of the files.
"What was she like?" Gibbs went blank for a moment. "Tony, Tim and Ziva filled me in on the basics… Red head, pretty. At least that's what both boys said." She watched his eyes darkened a bit. "I tricked them into telling me Leroy. Don't blame them. I'm experienced in getting information out of anyone. And before you ask, Tony took the longest to break. Ziva was the easiest, but then again, I know her really well. McGee wouldn't have broken if Ziva hadn't. He did not want to talk about it. They are an amazing team. Had to break them up to get the information… Rule one is it?" She said, managing to get a smile from him.
"She was like you, but more timid. Less willing to get in the middle of things. Your more brazen, honest, dangerous." He sat down in one of the bar stools next to the island. She leaned across it, her elboes holding her up. "And she was a redhead." She smiled just a little.
"I thought about dyeing my hair red once. My mother convinced me not to." She said with a smirk, before she turned and went to her fridge. "Food." She muttered. She didn't hear him move, but she sure felt him push her aside.
"I'll make something. Go get dressed." She chuckled.
"Worried someone else might see me in this?" She asked, twirling, before she walked off. He was left smiling. Somehow she managed to make things less… problematic. She was a mediator. A natural one. He found all the components for a pancake mix while he heard her bump into things. He wasn't sure if she was intentionally making a lot of noise or just being clumsy. She wasn't a clumsy woman, though he knew she could be absent minded, as the file on the island, and the long robe on the chair showed. He heard the shower and smiled a little. It was easy to fall into a morning routine with her. She came out a little later, dark hair wet and plastered to her head. A shirt with a Flogging Molly logo on it, he wasn't sure what that was, jeans, and cowboy boots. She smiled a little as he stopped and eyed her. "Cowgirl remember?" she moved past him, to get plates.
"I remember." With an added inch she looked… taller, longer. Sexier. The pants were a perfect fit on her, and she seemed to know that as she streatched up to grab the plates. She glanced at him, an eyebrow arched. "You done with those? You should change. I do love your chest, but I believe you need to be dressed when the team arrives. They will you know." He smiled, and nodded, leaving her to finish the pancakes as he moved back to the bedroom and grabbed his pollo, and pants. He came out to her singing country with the radio on, and half dancing across the floor. Her boots were tossed through the door and haphazardly placed in the hall, in the middle. She was sucking on her thumb as she finished something. He arched an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. She continued to sing around the thumb, before she flipped the last pancake, which looked like mickey mouse, and continued to sing. She didn't even seem to notice him as she turned off the stove, put the pancake on a plate, moved the pan into the sink, and promptly cleaned it.
Gibbs marveled at her ability to go from serious to playful, as was obvious from her bobing head, and off key singing. Which was slightly annoying but it was heartfelt, which made up for the odd sound. She kept hitting sharps, but it was her kitchen. He slipped into a chair and watched her, as she continued to dance, then she noticed him, grinned, sheepishly, and stopped moving. She moved to the radio and turned down the music. "You didn't need to stop." She shook her head.
"I got bored. Good ol' country usually is fun to sing to." She grinned. "And Mickey mouse was hard to resist." She said easily, motioning to the food. "I'm eating." She said with a smirk, before she grabbed the food and walked past him into the living room. He smiled, grabbing his own and following her. She was sitting, watching TV. The news to be exact. ZNN. She sighed. "Wrong, wrong, wrong. That's not what happened. And how the hell did my mission get on the news?" she eyed the reporter. They were talking about the female air force officer who overseas had gotten attacked. She sighed, as they showed the hospital that both she and Riley has been in. A groan escaped her lips. "They made me a lieutenant. I haven't been a Lieutenant in years." She sighed and took a bite. "And I'm not a blonde. Who's spinning this tale?" She asked, eyeing the report. "They have everything else right."
He sat down beside her and ate a few bites of food. He was watching her, as she glared at the TV. "Why don't you call in?"
"Can't. I am not at liberty to speak. Obviously someone is spinning this to protect me and Riley. Mainly me. It's a big thing, and with a female officer, and air force at that. Media would love to be out my door, trying to get me to talk. Probably why Cortez is sending me to Las Vegas for two weeks. And asked me to not turn on the TV. Did he forget that when not in uniform I don't listen?" Gibbs laughed. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. She turned her head a bit to look up at him. He smirked. "You should go to work, deal with Tony, I have packing to do." She said with a smirk, before she got up. She watched him eat the rest of the pancake. "Ok, I've been working with men for years, and that's still disgusting." She said as she walked off. She had other things to do as well, but still. She grinned as he laughed.
"So why do you keep hanging out with us?" She actually glared at him. He just grinned more, as he caught up.
"Because I have no choice. Air Force is twenty present female. It sucks, I do my best to ignore those kind of habits, but it is a little difficult." Accompanied exasperated sigh just kept him grinning. "Which you were trying to see. You are as annoying as Cortez!" She slipped into her room, closing the door on him.
"My shoes are in there." She opened the door holding them out. He reached out and kept the door open as he took the shoes.
"Leroy! You have work to do, and I have things to get in order. Go, other wise you'll never leave." He leaned forward and kissed her, before he pulled away, got his shoes on and left, her laughter in his ears.