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A.N.: Thank you to Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, hermosagirl3, Huddly, telainoflorien, Twilight Trekky, MissJayne and alix33 for reviewing!
Gibbs dialled Hollis' number and waited patiently for her to pick it up. He was distracted, the knowledge he had acquired not long ago had thrown a spanner in his day and he could only hope that Hollis would be up for getting the evidence before the FBI could barge in and confiscate it.
"Hello?" Hollis' tired voice answered the phone, and he wondered where she was. Had she gotten any sleep today or gone straight back to work like he had?
"Hollis, its Gibbs. Just wanted to let you know that NCIS is done with the case evidence and if you want it, you'll need to get here before the FBI does." He said and she blew out a breath, possibly in irritation.
"Thanks Gibbs. I'll send someone over now." she conversed with someone on the other end of the phone and then spoke to him again. "Team five didn't survive the night. They died in the early hours, just after we left with Emily. The families didn't even have time to get there." She said desolately and he felt a little sympathy for her. It was always hard to lose people.
"How are you doing?" he asked hesitantly, he wasn't one to talk about feelings very often, but in certain circumstances he would make an exception.
"As well as can be expected. It was a risk and they knew that. The families understood at least, and they were proud that their loved ones died saving children." She said, knowing that it was only a small comfort.
"Yeah. Well don't be a stranger Hollis." He ended the call and put his phone away, took a deep breath and then he thought about what he should do now. Should he go and see Jenny? Ask her to tell him exactly what she was thinking by keeping his daughter a secret from him? Should he avoid her? After all, there was nothing he could do about Rosie now, she was long dead. Perhaps he should just wait until she came into work next, ask her in a casual meeting, maybe in the elevator where she couldn't hide from him.
He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. There was no way he would be able to stay away from Jenny now, he needed to know about his little girl, he needed answers from Jenny and he needed to see her. He opened his eyes and nodded to himself before walking towards the nearest lift. He would go to her house and get the answers he wanted.
Jenny pulled into the driveway of her house and parked her car, looking over at Emily once the vehicle was stationary. Emily had been very quiet during the drive home, not staring vacantly in the same way she had before, but rather just looking sadly at her hands. Separating her from her father had been difficult, and if she could have brought Fornell home so Emily could be happy, she would have. The thought seemed a little extreme now, but back at the hospital she had given it some serious thought, and that worried her. She wanted Emily to smile again, like she had while they were at the hospital, but taking Tobias home? That was too much.
She was too emotionally attached to Emily, she must be. Even though the young girl had only been with her a day her heart had latched on to her and was unwilling to let go. She didn't want to lose Emily; she was almost like her second chance to be a mother and the young girl looked so similar to how she had imagined Rosie would be. She had just lost her mother, and she had lost her daughter, it was nearly a sign that she should take Emily in. How would she feel when Emily had to go home with Fornell, though? She suddenly found herself wishing she had decided to stay away from Bethesda.
She closed her eyes and swallowed at the sudden tightening in her chest that the thought of how happy Emily had been to see her father instilled in her. Jenny shook her head and unfastened her seatbelt, Emily was not her Rosie and she had another parent to look after her. She would just have to try and put a little distance between herself and Emily, to make it easier to say goodbye when the time came. And it would come; she knew that, so she would need to shield herself from the longing to mother Emily.
Jenny took a deep steadying breath and then got out of the car. She rounded it to Emily's side and unfastened her belt and took her hand, locking the car and walking with her to her front door. Emily looked up at her and smiled and Jenny found herself automatically smiling back. Emily could make her feel as though everything was alright with just one innocent smile, which made it harder to stick to her decision to let her go.
Jenny pulled out her key and unlocked her door, which she had locked for Noemi's protection. She couldn't always hear the door and Jenny's status as head of an armed federal agency was enough of a reason for someone to try and break in. Emily let go of Jenny's hand and ran into the kitchen, presumably to look for Noemi, so Jenny locked the door and used the time she had alone to get an update on the case. She pulled out her phone and dialled Cynthia's personal number, so she would know who was calling her. Her ever punctual assistant picked up on the first ring.
"Hello Director, what can I do for you?" she asked politely, her voice not giving away if she had just been working hard or lounging around. That was the sound of a great assistant, Jenny thought proudly.
"Hello Cynthia, I'm just calling for an update on the case that Agent Gibbs was working on. How are things?" she asked, nasty thoughts of huge roadblocks from other Agencies filling her head.
"Well, according to Abby, who rang me a while ago, all of the fingerprints and DNA samples have been matched to seven guys, though without CID team five, we won't know if they were all the guys that they saw, or if we are missing some. The FBI is chomping at the bit to get the evidence from us and I've had several calls from the Directors of both the FBI and Army CID demanding immediate transfer of the case to them." Cynthia reported apologetically, knowing that Jenny was being put in a difficult situation. Two Director's fighting over one of her cases was sure to give her a headache, and NCIS couldn't possibly win in a situation like that. If she gave the case to the FBI, CID would hate NCIS and vice-versa if she gave it to CID.
"Ugh, I'm not in the mood for their turf wars, can't they fight it out between themselves?" Jenny griped annoyed at the childish behaviour of the two grown men, who couldn't come to any understanding without her supervision.
"Apparently they both think they won." Cynthia laughed and Jenny responded in kind. It was just like the FBI and CID to not accept defeat under any circumstances, and though it gave her more to do by trying to smooth over their ruffled feathers so NCIS could work with them both without stigma, it was still entertaining how pigheaded they could be. "How is Emily? I heard from Abby that Gibbs thought you were doing a great job with her." Cynthia asked, and Jenny smiled as she thought of Jethro. She hadn't exactly been nice to him when he had been over last, so hearing that he was praising her was a pleasant surprise. A warm feeling of contentment settled in her stomach and a big joyful smile broke out on her face.
"That was kind of him, considering our last conversation ended in an argument." she admitted to her assistant and friend softly. It was difficult to hide her feelings from Cynthia when she was right there, a witness to whatever state Jethro left her in after a meeting together, or argument. She hadn't confirmed to Cynthia that she had feelings for Jethro, and Cynthia had never asked, but she didn't pretend anymore that she didn't feel anything for him. Cynthia could be counted on to keep her feelings secret, and for that she was very grateful.
"Yes, but its Gibbs, I think that's how all of his conversations end." Cynthia said in a conspiratorial tone of voice, laughter bubbling just below the surface.
"Yes, well Emily is fine, I took her to see her father at Bethesda and she really enjoyed it. She did beat up a doctor though." Jenny remarked playfully.
"She did?" Cynthia asked, not really believing what she was being told.
"Yep, she stood up for herself and her father. You can tell doctor Mallard that if you like, or I'll bring it up when I see him again." She said smiling, as she wandered from the hall into the kitchen. Emily was up to her eyeballs in flour as Noemi once again attempted to teach her to bake something. Cupcakes most likely, though knowing Noemi it could be anything; she was a very good cook.
"I'll tell him. Can I assume that conversation ended in an argument, too?"Cynthia asked, although she could recognise that it was a foregone conclusion. She only called him Doctor Mallard when she was being official, or when she was annoyed with him.
"You are far too observant Cynthia." Jenny conceded.
"Yes Director." She replied, her smile evident in her voice.
"If he calls again in the next few minutes, tell the Director of the FBI that I'll call him very soon. Goodbye Cynthia." She said and Cynthia responded in kind.
"Goodbye Director." Jenny ended the call and stood watching Emily's antics as she abandoned the mixing spoon and used her hands instead. She laughed when Emily lifted up a blob of mix and then dropped it back in the bowl, some of the mix splashing onto her clothes.
Jenny heard the front door open and close, though no one made their presence known like they normally would. Neither Emily nor Noemi had heard anything, so Jenny slipped out of the kitchen and looked around for the intruder. She had locked the door after she had brought Emily in hadn't she? That meant that someone had picked the lock. Well that narrowed down the list of welcome intruders to just three; Ziva, Jethro and Ducky, yes Ducky. He knew his way around lock picks, something she had been surprised to find out during their time in Europe.
She looked up the stairs and then down the hall towards the study and decided that if anyone broke in, they would be drawn to the homely room, regardless of whether they were thieves or just friends looking for her. She stalked down the corridor and pushed the door open fully, letting out a breath when she saw Jethro in the middle of the room, his back turned to her. She dropped her stealthy façade and walked into the room, watching him carefully. Was he here to start another argument, or to see Emily? Maybe he's just here to see you, her mind said hopefully, and she ruthlessly squashed the voice in self preservation.
He seemed to know she was there; his stance was unusually rigid though, like he was debating with himself whether he should turn around and risk being shot or not. She watched him curiously for a few minutes, wondering what could have made him act so wary around her, when he finally seemed to come to a decision. He turned slowly on the spot and angled his body so he was facing her, though his eyes remained studiously avoiding her. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Why was he acting this way? Had one of the suspects left the country?
Then blue met green as he caught her gaze, and his eyes conveyed a myriad of emotions to her; remorse, confusion, despair, agony, sympathy and a flash of… love. She sucked in a breath as the only possible reason for these emotions penetrated her mind, and tears sprung to her eyes. How could he know? How did he find out? Only she and Ziva knew, surely Ziva wouldn't have betrayed her like that? Agony ripped through her heart and her lungs seemed to freeze, making breathing difficult if not impossible. She shook her head feebly at him, unwilling to accept that he knew, that he had found out about her baby girl's death, but the expression on his face was unmistakeable.
He hadn't said anything to her yet, and she found that she had expected him to shout at her, accuse her of many horrible things and call her names, but he didn't, he just stood there watching her. She should have known better than to expect him to explode in anger at her, this was Jethro, he didn't do that, but she wished he would. His quiet acceptance was more devastating to her than his shouting voice, and though only a few seconds had passed since he had looked into her eyes, she felt like hours of suffering had torn through her.
Her whole body shook as she tried valiantly to suppress her tears, but she was fighting a losing battle. Jethro moved then, he walked right up to her and then stopped, reaching out with a hand to stroke through her hair. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch which she had no right to enjoy. She didn't deserve his kindness when she had kept Rosie from him, but she hadn't been able to tell him, it was too painful.
Tears spilled down her cheeks and he finally pulled her into his embrace, the closest they had been to each other since Paris, since Rosie was conceived, and she felt the moment her control snapped. She threw her arms around him and sobbed, feeling his own tears fall from his eyes onto her. He squeezed her tighter and ran his hands up and down her back soothingly. Through it all, neither of them had spoken a word, because no words were necessary in grief.