Leroy Jethro Gibbs: Vampire Hunter

Written for the NFA Supernatural Challenge, Death Fic Challenge, and Vengeance Challenge

Chapter 3 of 6

Disclaimer: Don't own, just playing, yadda, yadda; see previous chapter.

Part II - Marine

Well, I survived Boot Camp. Yep, surprised the hell out of me, too. It was worth it though, and much more than I expected when I got to "Paradise Island" as they call it. Who knew these people had a sense of humor?

Thirteen weeks of hell. That's what I thought it would be after the first two weeks. No one seemed to know how to talk in a normal voice. The DIs yell, the recruits yell back. Yes, Sir. No Sir. This recruit thought he would lose his voice. That's another thing. There's no "I" or "we" during training. Recruits, not individuals. Almost felt like brainwashing, but I guess in a way it was. This recruit was part of a group, a unit, a force against the enemies. That's what was taught. It's what makes the recruits what we are. Marines.

It was weird at first. I was so used to being alone and suddenly I was stuck with a group of guys who did everything together. Every guy in the platoon had one goal: to make it through. A couple didn't. They couldn't pass the physical fitness tests and got sent back for fitness training. I was damn glad I wasn't one of them. Crunches, pull-ups, 3 mile runs, marches; seems like we were always on the move. Good thing my "hobby" (as Mike calls it) kept me in pretty good shape, a fact I never shared with my platoon. I didn't have much chance to even think about hunting anyway: too much to learn, too much to do, and too busy keeping my instructors from kicking my ass on a regular basis.

I valued what I learned, though. Not just because it would help with the hunt, but because I found out I was good at something else. I can shoot. My range instructor said I'm a natural, something he rarely sees, he said. I'm not sure how I'd feel if I had to kill a human up close, like I do those black-eyed bastards that I usually hunt, but the rifle makes it less personal. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, or if I really have what it takes to become a sniper. I guess I'll find out when I go to Advanced Training tomorrow.

This is my last day of leave after boot camp. Most people take the time to make the trip back home. I didn't. Nothing for me there, really. I suppose I'll go back some time. See how the old hometown celebrates the Bicentennial. But that's not important right now. A lot can happen between now and then.

I spent my leave time hunting, testing out what I'd learned. I was almost happy then, for the first time in years. I'd earned my Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. I was a real Marine.

Mike wasn't that impressed, which he was quick to tell me.

"That little emblem don't mean nothing to a vamp, kid."

Yeah, bite me, Mike. Of course, I wasn't dumb enough to tell him that. He might have obliged, being in the mood he was in when he showed up the night after the ceremony with a hunt planned.

We worked together and took out a small nest of vamps that was holed up in an old plantation house about 30 miles inland. There were four of them in that house. It was the first time I'd seen more than two living together. Vampires, at least in my experience, aren't social creatures. More than two in an area tends to raise suspicions, and while the older ones don't really fear humans, this group was young and apparently decided there was safety in numbers.

We hit the house just before dark, and I took out the first one before he could raise the alarm. Mike didn't say much after that and we quickly cleared out the rest. As we were getting rid of the corpses, he turned to me and said, "Good work, kid. Looks like you learned something useful after all. It almost makes that haircut you have worth it."

I couldn't help it. I started to laugh, something I hadn't done much in the last few years. When I looked back at him, though, I stopped. Something was definitely wrong.

"What is it, Mike?"

"I'm heading to the West Coast, Jethro. I won't be around to help, but it looks like you're gonna do fine on your own."

"I might wind up out there at some point."

"I know, but I'm not going to be in a position to work with you. I'm going under cover, you might say."

"Why?"

"There's a bigger problem out there than just vampires, kid. They're up to something besides just getting a meal. They have been for awhile, now, but it's getting worse."

"What are they up to?"

"Securing their future."

"How?"

"I'll tell you more when I can. Now let's get out of here before someone gets nosy."

I wanted to ask more, but one thing I knew was that Mike wouldn't tell me anything unless he was damn good and ready.

XXX

Tim read into the wee hours of the night. This journal was giving him a glimpse of how Gibbs had grown from a raw recruit into an experienced sniper. He read about Gibbs' first meeting with Shannon and had to smile at the mention of her 'rules'. It was weird to see Gibbs' thoughts on her, sounding like a lovestruck teenager at first and eventually maturing into something much deeper. Tim felt like an intruder at times as he learned things he knew Gibbs would never have mentioned during his life, but he also gained a greater understanding of what Gibbs' wife, and eventually his daughter, had meant to him.

XXX

Every time I go out on a hunt I think of Kelly, and what it would be like for her if I never came back. I think it keeps me sharp, most of the time, but sometimes I think it might be better if I didn't risk it. She needs her father. Maybe I should find a new "hobby". Unfortunately Mike doesn't seem to agree. Even though he's "undercover", I still hear from him. Just a short note, no return address, with an address listed. When I get the chance, if I'm in the area with a detachment, I check it out. Sometimes I find out the vamps have moved on. Sometimes not.

XXX

Tim absorbed the details of the hunts as Gibbs described them, anxious to find something that would help him understand what Gibbs expected him to do, but eventually something started to bother him. Gibbs never mentioned the mission that kept Mike out of sight, and Tim wondered why Gibbs hadn't pushed.

"Guess he really was different back then," mused Tim as he tried to read faster.

He sped through the entries on sniper training, Gibbs' missions overseas, and the various "detachments" that kept Gibbs occupied as he moved up the ranks towards his final title of Gunnery Sergeant. Suddenly, one sentence caught his attention and caused him to slow his pace.

XXX

Last night was the first time I had to reveal myself to a survivor of a vampire attack, and in the process I gained a friend. I was with a detachment at the Alameda Naval Air Station, doing advanced rifle training for some of the squids. I had gotten a note from Mike that something was up in the area, so I decided to check it out.

I was near one of the docks, next to one of the big cruisers that had been moored there for repairs, when I caught sight of my target. Vamps are pretty distinctive in the way they move, so it was easy to tell what it was. Unfortunately, it was also hunting. Some dumb squid was apparently out for a walk and didn't realize he was being shadowed. He was lucky that night, though, because just as the vamp closed in, I was ready for it. It knocked the guy to the ground and was about to rip his throat out when I got behind it and staked the bastard. I kicked the corpse into the harbor and tried to get out of there as quick as I could, but the guy I had just saved tried to block my path. I stopped and glared at him, but he wasn't about to be intimidated.

"What the hell was that?"

"What did it look like?"

"It looks like I'm losing my mind, to be honest, but was that…no, it couldn't be…"

"A vampire."

He laughed in obvious disbelief. "You…you're kidding, right?"

"Nope." He stared at me, trying to decide which of us was crazier, I guess. Finally he asked, "How did you know…?"

"How to kill it? Been doing it a while."

"How long?"

"Since I was a kid."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

He just stared at me and I started to walk away.

"Wait. Will you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"How to kill them?"

"Why?"

"Why not?"

This time I had to laugh. This guy had no clue.

"You want to be a vampire hunter?"

"No…maybe. I want to know. Just in case."

"In case what?"

"There are more out there. I want to know how to protect my family."

I could see he wasn't going to back down.

"Know some place where we can talk?"

"Yeah, there's a place just off base. Nobody will bother us."

"Fine. Lead the way."

"By the way, what's your name? I kind of want to know to whom I owe my life."

"Jethro Gibbs."

He offered his hand and I shook it. "Mark McGee."

XXX

"No way. No way in hell," breathed Tim as he read the rest of the conversation. "My father? He…he knew…he knew Gibbs? He knew about vampires?"

"'Fraid so, kid."

Tim spun around to see Mike standing in the doorway. He caught his breath and groaned.

"Please don't do that again."

"Sorry, habit. But to answer your next question, he never told you because: one, you wouldn't have believed him, and two, he really didn't want you to know how close you came to losing him, quite a few times. Not Gibbs' fault for that last part, by the way. He tried to keep your dad out of the hunt, but Mark was stubborn. I understand that runs in the family."

Tim glared at Mike and he chuckled. "Mark used to give me that same look when I told him he shouldn't be hunting. He had a family and he didn't have the experience like Jethro did. He proved me wrong, though. He was a pretty good hunter."

"So did Gibbs expect me to follow in my father's footsteps? Is that why he gave these books to me?"

"Not exactly. Keep reading. Now I just stopped in to check on you, but I have a few more errands to run. I'll be back before sun-up."

"Wait. What made you go undercover?"

Mike turned and gave McGee an appraising look. "You're asking the question Jethro should have asked earlier than he did. Just keep reading, you'll find out."

Tim looked at the clock. "I…I can't. I have to go to work in a few hours and-."

"Check your email. You've been given another day off. Vance decided to turn the case over to another team."

"What? Why?"

"I think you know why. You and the rest of Gibbs' team can't be objective, or at least that's what the Big Boss will say."

"Damn it. But how-?"

"Working on that one. You just get back to those books."

"Right." Tim looked down at the open journal for a moment and when he looked up to ask Mike another question, he was gone.

"Great…"

Tim checked his email to confirm that he did indeed have a day off and started to read again. He didn't learn much from the next dozen pages. It was mostly more of the same, but he did get some more insight on what it was like for Gibbs as he tried to balance his life between his job, his family, and the hunt. The love he had for his family and how much it hurt to leave them was so obvious that it made Tim's heart sink in his chest when he reached the part he had known would be there: the loss of Gibbs' family.

XXX

I still can't believe they're gone.

The past few weeks have been a blur (and not just because I spent nineteen of those days in a coma, so I'm told). Nothing feels real, not even after I went to the cemetery where they are buried. I couldn't stay at the house in DC any longer. It's too empty, and it doesn't really feel like mine now.

When I got back from overseas, I stayed in DC until I was cleared at Bethesda, and then I went out to the coast, to Camp Pendleton. They had come out there to wait for my return and to stay with some friends, and that's when Shannon saw something she shouldn't have. She tried to do the right thing and she wound up dead. I had almost started to think there was justice in this world, but I've been proven wrong.

I hit rock bottom, I admit it. I went out to the beach where we all used to go, and I could almost hear Shannon's voice and Kelly's laughter. I brought my handgun with me, and I sat on a piece of driftwood, staring down the barrel of it, wondering if I would have the guts to pull the trigger and end it all. I never got the chance to find out.

"You don't want to be doing that, kid. Suicides go straight to Hell, or at least I've been told."

I looked up and saw Mike standing there.

"Fine." I handed him the gun. "Do it for me. No skin off your back."

Mike just stared at me for a few moments before he replied. "No, sorry, you're still too interesting to kill. However, if it is revenge you want, and I'm pretty sure you do, I can make it easier for you to carry it out."

"What do you mean?"

"I could make you one of us. You'd stand a better chance."

I was shocked. "I told you never to offer that to me again."

"Yep, you did. Now that I have your attention, maybe you'll listen to reason. Go to the NIS office tomorrow and I'll promise you'll get all the 'facts'."

"Why can't you just tell me now?"

"You'll see."

I went the next morning and got the shock of my life. When I asked to see the lead agent, they directed me to his office and there was Mike the vampire.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Special Agent Mike Franks, at your service."

"This is your undercover job? And why the hell couldn't you tell me this yesterday?"

"Because you had to see for yourself."

He then told me why he was working for NIS. Law enforcement, especially federal law enforcement, had access to resources we didn't. NIS was mostly under the radar, so the vamps didn't pay too much attention to the work they could do. Mike could keep better track of their activities which the vamps are getting better at hiding their behind criminal enterprises, and one in particular.

"Drugs? Why would they care about that?" I asked Mike.

"Lots of money to be made, and with money there's power. They want to take over, you know, and they can't do that with the limited numbers we've always maintained. Besides, think of what happens with people associated with the trade: violent deaths, disappearances, all good ways to cover up when they take victims. A bunch of humans working towards their own demise and they don't even know it. I've helped take down the human factor through this job, and used it to find groups of vamps that I take care of on my own time. Or yours, as the case may be. I've also gotten hints of some bigger things in the works."

"What does this have to do with Shannon and Kelly?"

Mike sighed and I could tell he didn't want to admit what happened, but I pushed him.

"Wrong place, wrong time. They witnessed one of the humans involved in the trade making a deal. Shannon went to the local cops and they contacted us. She agreed to testify and we promised to keep them safe. One of our people was transporting them to a safe house when a sniper took him out and their vehicle crashed. We had no idea how they even knew about her."

I was furious. "After all I've done, working for you, and you couldn't even protect my family? Where is the bastard that caused the crash? I'll kill him with my bare hands."

"You can't do that, Jethro."

"Why not?"

"He's human."

"So? He killed my family, he's fair game."

"No. He's not the one you want. You want his boss. A vampire named Vasquez. He hired the guy, Pedro Hernandez, to kill your family. The police know about Hernandez and that he fled to Mexico, but they can't bring him back."

"Then I'll go get him."

"No, let us take care of him. You take care of Vasquez. He's one of those that doesn't see humans as a threat and he'll never see you coming."

So I went to Mexico. I tracked down Vasquez, who had his own little cartel in place, run by humans who had no idea what they were working for. I figured they deserved whatever they got.

I took out Vasquez, and then I went after his human lackey. I had him in my sights. I couldn't do it. I just hoped that Mike would make good on his promise.

After I got back, the MPs paid me a visit, wanting to know what I knew about the shooting of Pedro Hernandez. Someone took him out as he was driving home from the cantina. I guess Mike's friends took care of it after all.

The MP in charge of the case wanted to prove herself, I think. She knew I had motive, means, and opportunity. Eventually she backed down, though. I still wonder why.

After that the Corps and I parted company. I needed a civilian job, and Mike saved my ass once again. He got me into FLETC with the goal of eventually getting me into NIS. He said someone who knew the truth would have to take over when it was his time to move on. In the meantime, I have a lot to learn.

XXX

Tim closed the book and set it on his desk before picking up the last volume. He still had questions that needed to be answered. Hopefully the final book would provide them.

XXX

A/N: While it may seem that Gibbs is getting a free pass with the Hernandez issue, he's not, and it will come into play in the next chapter.