Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A.N.: Thank you to Huddly who told me Ducky should tell Gibbs off, so that bit is for you :) Thanks also to Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, Huddly (again :p), black widow mistress, KSBP, MissJayne, HesMines, alix33 and babyred1995 for reviewing!
Gibbs paced in the hospital waiting room, annoyed that it was taking so long to hear any news on the people he had brought in, but his consolation was he wasn't the only one waiting. Hollis had stayed, guilt over team five's attack keeping her from going home or sleeping. Team Gibbs had stayed for a while, but then they had gone back to the house, processed the scene and taken the evidence back to NCIS with them.
They had found a rather large pile of beer bottles, all open and unwashed, so they had bagged each individual bottle and they were taking them to Abby in the hopes she could match the DNA to the men that had been at the house, so they could arrest them. These particular perv's had been very cautious, going so far as to not touch their victims directly in some cases, but now they might have caught them out.
Ziva had gone with Tony and McGee with explicit instructions to come back, so Emily could travel with women on the way back to NCIS, where he would ask Jenny if she was willing to take Emily in. He would have asked Ziva, if she had ever displayed any maternal instinct, but she hadn't and her self-confessed irritation with people who cried around her decided the vote against her. Emily was bound to cry; a lot.
Hollis could have taken her, except she isn't part of NCIS and Tobias doesn't know or like her, though that might change when he isn't so stressed and cranky, she hadn't exactly done anything to warrant his dislike except try to get more control of the investigation that had involved more of her people than anyone else's combined. She hadn't really spoken to Jethro yet in the entire time they had been at the hospital and he wasn't yet willing to make the first move, even though he knew he probably should.
He was, after all, the one who had snuck out of her house after sleeping with her and only called her because he needed help on a case. He hadn't said anything about striking up a relationship with her, but then he hadn't said anything about not. She looked up at him, catching him watching her and she sighed. She may as well clear the air between them, she had been acting a little cold to him, but then his actions towards her didn't exactly endear him to her. She took a deep breath and decided to strike while the iron was hot, or at least while they were alone.
"Well, looks like we got to Emily in time." She said, trying to strike up a conversation with him.
"Yeah." He said, not adding anything more.
"My involvement in this case has come to an end." She said, trying again to get him talking.
"Yeah." He replied once more, not making any attempt to keep the conversation going. Hollis rolled her eyes and sighed. He turned towards the door when someone walked past, but they didn't come in, so he turned back to her. She stood up and walked towards him a little, hoping to clear the air with him.
"Look… I know I have been a little frosty to you, but you haven't even asked me what's wrong. That tells me more than you probably know." she said, gently at first, but her voice got stronger towards the end and she had to concentrate to keep the accusation out of her tone.
"I didn't know you needed me to ask." He replied simply and she shook her head at him.
"That's the problem; you should know. This thing between us isn't going to go any further than it already has; I know that, you know that." She said quietly, watching his gaze harden a little in preparation for what he obviously knew was coming.
"Only if you don't want it to, Hol." He replied, a smirk on his face and she could almost fool herself into thinking he believed it, but she wasn't that gullible.
"When I first met you, I would have bet that you've heard many different excuses as to why a woman wants to break up with you, but now I know you a little better and I'm betting every reason was the same." She whispered to him, but the room was so quiet he could hear her very clearly. "You're hung up on someone else." The moment the words left her he stiffened and then relaxed, slumping down on a seat behind him.
"Yeah, it usually is." He said, thinking of his first wife and daughter, and how every wife or girlfriend always felt their relationship was some sort of triangle, with an invisible woman taking all of the love and affection that was meant for them. His only confusion lay in how Hollis had found out about them; surely no one at NCIS had betrayed him like that?
"The sad thing is the only person you have to blame is yourself." She said and he looked up sharply, a sudden anger filling him. If she knew they had died then she knew how, how could she blame him for that? "I can see the way you look at each other, the way you both seem to come alive when you're in the same room, hell even blind Bats living in caves in Romania can see the energy between you two!" she exclaimed and Gibbs found he had no idea what she was talking about. Shannon was dead, how could he look at her?
"Hollis, I have no idea who you're talking about." he said, his confusion showing in his tone, but Hollis didn't believe him.
"Don't Gibbs. Lie to me but don't lie to yourself. It was obvious from the moment I stepped into her office with you that there was history between you two, and every moment since then has proved that it's unresolved." She said quietly, and Gibbs sighed, the woman she was talking about suddenly obvious: Jenny. He probably should have known who she was talking about right away, but talking about his other relationships had confused him. They had left because of Shannon's ghost, but after Jenny his love life had slowed down.
Stephanie had been his only real relationship since Paris and she had left because of Jenny. Calling out for her once had been forgiven, calling out for her twenty six times couldn't be. His guilt at how he had treated Stephanie was strong, she had been such an innocent, loving woman who just wanted to settle down with a man who loved her, and he had taken advantage of her willingness to overlook small problems in the hopes the bigger picture would be worth it, and that had made trusting men again hard for her. She had wanted a child, but he could never even think of having another after Kelly.
"What do you want me to say?" he whispered, his irritation giving way to a bone deep weariness that just thinking of his convoluted relationships, if you could call them that, instilled in him.
"Nothing. I want you to do something, even if it's only to stop you from leading on some poor woman in the future, making them believe they can make a life with you, when you just want a warm body for nocturnal exercise while you pine away for the woman you really want." She hissed at him, annoyed that he was being so obtuse when she was trying to help him. She didn't need to, but the thought of how he had used her made her want to spare any other woman who might not be as strong or independent as her. She had made up her mind; she was leaving and she wasn't looking back, she wasn't some lovesick teenager who believed the world would end if she didn't try harder to make it work. Gibbs winced, he did deserve that being thrown in his face, it was how he had treated her that night.
"It's not as simple as that, Hol." He whispered, scrubbing a hand over his face tiredly.
"Nothing worth doing ever is. What are you afraid of?" she asked him gently, sitting down next to him.
"She's changed; she's not the woman I used to know. She's colder, harder somehow."
"People change Gibbs, they adapt to new roles and new situations, but they are still essentially the same person. No one can change their nature. She is the same woman you knew; she's just added a few extra layers for protection." She told him, hoping he would listen and realise the truth of her words.
"I'm sorry Hollis, for-" he gestured between him and her, and she cut him off.
"I thought you had a rule against apologies." She said, letting him off the hook. He smiled a little.
"I do, but it's warranted and an apology between… friends… isn't weak." He said, carefully emphasising the word 'friends' while watching her carefully for a reaction. She simply smiled back to him.
"You know its strange Gibbs, but I always thought it took strength to apologise." She replied, letting the friends comment stay undisputed. She might not want him anymore, but she didn't want to walk away from him while he was thinking badly of her. Parting ways as friends would make everything easier and less stressful.
"I guess that's another way of looking at it." he said and she shook her head, smiling at him.
"Well apology accepted." She whispered to him conspiratorially and they sat smiling, a good feeling making the silence comfortable. Finally after a few more minutes, the door opened and Ducky walked in. He had been waiting outside to waylay the doctors and get news before they could talk to Gibbs. It was so much easier for him to explain the medical stuff to Jethro than it was to allow the doctors to prattle on about treatments without telling him what he wanted to know, thus getting him angry and making him demand to see the patient for himself.
"Duck? What's going on?" Gibbs asked, standing up to greet the old M.E.
"The children are fine; Emily was in shock from witnessing the things that man had done to the young boy, who she told us is called Neil." He put a hand up to forestall Gibbs' questions. "The boy's family has already been notified of his condition and they are on their way in. Thankfully he wasn't sexually assaulted, just beaten, suffering from strangulation and starved, like Emily. They ran a rape kit on her too, it was negative." Those words seemed to dispel the strain that was keeping him on tenterhooks and he slumped back in relief.
"Does Tobias know?" Gibbs asked warily, knowing if he found out before the girl's father, Fornell would have his head on a platter.
"Yes, I told him before I came to tell you. He was a little groggy from the pain medication but he took it all in." then Ducky turned to Hollis and his expression softened, showing he was the bearer of bad news. "I'm afraid neither of your team is awake. The male-" she cut him off.
"Jake, Jake Travis." Hollis supplied for him, and he nodded.
"Yes, he is in a deep coma. He isn't expected to wake up. The blood loss may have affected his brain; they have no way of knowing. They will want to speak with you about contacting his family. The young lady Cecelia isn't expected to survive. The bullet nicked an artery, which they had a lot of trouble closing up. She also suffered massive blood loss which may have affected her brain. They are both on life support. I'm sorry my dear." He said gently and she sighed heavily.
"Thank you Dr. Mallard, I need… I need to make a few calls. Excuse me." She walked out, looking for the exit so she could call her base and send the right information to the right people. She would call the families herself though; they deserved to hear straight from her why their loved ones may not survive. Ducky watched her go and then turned back to Jethro, a suddenly serious look on his face.
"Our Anthony asked me to tell you they were currently looking through the pictures they found on the camera and in the house. There are more boys than Agent Fornell knows about." he said significantly. They would need to let Fornell take the results of the case back to the FBI now so they could wrap up the investigation. They would more than likely be ordered to hand over all of the evidence they were currently collecting too, now that Emily had been rescued, but that wouldn't be a bad thing. Army CID now had more right to continue the investigation since they were about to lose two of their people. Maybe Hollis would keep him informed.
"Yeah. At least Emily is ok now though." Gibbs said, sighing and leaning his head back against the wall.
"Yes." Ducky agreed, but then he sighed himself, wondering how to broach what was bothering him. In the end he just decided the straight forward approach would be best. "Jethro, this is probably a bad time to say this, but what you did was wrong."
"I've already apologised to Hollis for stringing her along, Duck, what more do you want?" Gibbs asked, annoyed that Ducky was passing judgement on him. Ducky raised an eyebrow in surprise, but then waved his words away.
"I'm not talking about that Jethro; I'm referring to what you did to Jennifer." He said. Gibbs looked up at him in confusion and not a little anger. What he did to her? What about what she did to him? Like when she had ripped his heart out and stamped on it.
"What?" he asked, the edge in his voice evident, but Ducky wasn't worried. He took a step forward and clarified what he was talking about.
"Blackmail, Jethro, is wrong no matter how desperate you are to get your own way." He replied, an edge in his own voice.
"Blackmail?"
"Yes. I volunteered to help her Jethro, in a mission she has been working on for days, trying to catch a man she has been chasing for the better part of ten years." He emphasised, trying to get through to him just what he had messed up. He wasn't angry to have helped Jethro; he was just annoyed at how he had gone about getting his help.
"Why did she need you?" Jethro asked, curious as to how Ducky was involved in Jenny's investigation.
"Agent Taylor's team accidentally chased the man trying to sell Ares into a coronary, thus the mission came to a standstill. I offered to take his place."
"Why?"
"He was an Englishman, about my age. I was the only person who could do it." Ducky replied sadly, remembering the defeated look in Jennifer's eyes when she had told Agent Taylor's team the mission was over. He had been her one hope, and he had let her down. He should have thrown in his own opinion rather than letting Jethro blackmail her into agreeing, by telling her Emily would die if she didn't agree with him.
"You're Scottish." Gibbs said simply, and Ducky chuckled a little.
"Yes, but my accent isn't." he replied, just as simply.
"I needed you Duck, you were invaluable today. Whatever she was doing wasn't as important as this." Jethro said, trying to justify himself, and it was a good reason to be happy he had come along, but really, anyone else could have done the same job he had done. Jenny hadn't had anyone else.
"She is after an arms dealer, Jethro. His weapons kill more people a day than NCIS as a whole has lost in the last eight years. Just because you don't know them doesn't mean they don't deserve to be saved." He said as gently as he could, but Gibbs' eyes flashed.
"I can't save everyone Duck." He whispered angrily, making Ducky shake his head in annoyance.
"I'm not asking you to; I'm just asking that you stop pretending your missions are the only ones that matter."
Gibbs looked away from him. He didn't pretend his missions were the only ones that mattered, he knew that every life was worth fighting for, but he had fought harder than Jenny had for Ducky, and he had thought that that had shown he needed him more, and that she knew it. She had after all, agreed after only a short argument whereas she would normally have fought tooth and nail to prove she was right. That wasn't his fault, was it? What had he said to make her give up?
"I think the two of you need to have a long talk about this and that perhaps, apologies need to be exchanged." Ducky said softly, giving him a nudge in the right direction. Gibbs merely grunted, and even though it wasn't a specific grunt, Ducky decided it meant he would try. "Alright, well Emily is ready to go now."
"I'm waiting on Ziva, was planning on letting her ride back to NCIS with Ziva and Hollis, then I'll ask Jenny to take Emily home." He said, wondering where Ziva was.
"Ziva is with Emily, she escorted her to her father's room just moments before I came to tell you the news…" Ducky said, trailing off at Jethro's words. "Do you think its wise leaving her with Jennifer?" he asked hesitantly.
"You don't think she could handle a child?" Gibbs asked seriously and Ducky realised he meant psychologically.
"On the contrary, I think she would have made a wonderful mother, I'm more concerned with the effect it could have on her emotionally. She has no children of her own; this could hurt when they are finally separated." He said cautiously, but Gibbs just shrugged.
"Jenny will be fine; children aren't part of her five point plan." Jethro said a little bitterly making Ducky file away their conversation for later consideration. Plan? Hmmm…
"Very well." Ducky he conceded and then walked to the door. "I suppose you and I will be in the front of the car, so Ziva and Hollis can sandwich her between them?"
"That was the plan." Gibbs confirmed, nodding and then standing to follow Ducky out. He needed to find Hollis so they could set off.
"Then we may as well start the journey now, I have already requested Agent Fornell's transfer to Bethesda, he will be loaded into an ambulance soon." Ducky said, looking at the clock on the wall. It was early in the morning, so early it was still dark outside, but he doubted Emily would sleep until the car started moving. They really needed to get her to a NCIS and sort out her arrangements soon, or the shock would wear off and she would refuse to leave her father's side. That would make settling her in with Jennifer difficult, and the last thing they needed was a screaming and crying child in the squad room.