Whistling winds
"MR. GWWWWIBBBS" shouts Priscilla as soon as she sees Gibbs coming into her house, running from the living room to the corridor and latching onto his legs. Gibbs smiles at the little girl, who immediately lifts her arms, silently demanding to be carried.
"Priscilla, where are your manners?" says Lisa, horrified.
"No, it's ok," says Gibbs, while Priscilla is just repeating, "up, up, up, UP!" until he takes her into his arms. As soon as she is in his arms, she latches on his neck and leans her head on his shoulders, and for the first time in many years, Gibbs' arms are filled with a sweet smelling little girl. He feels his heart constrict, as he remembers long forgotten nights and days with Kelly, who would hug him in the same fierce hug as Priscilla.
McGee and Joy watch Gibbs with the little girl, smiling at the bittersweet scene, "hey Boss, come on in, we'll have dinner before we leave to DC," Joy approaches them, but the little girl refuses to leave his arms.
Tony smiles, "I think you have a fan, Boss."
"Let her be with me for a while," says Gibbs softly, and he walks to the living room and sits with the little girl, who immediately starts telling him all of her day with auntie Sarah and auntie Matt and the big bad doggie Jethro.
Tony and Ziva sit down in the living room, greeting Sarah, who was collecting some toys from the floor and the cushions, so they may sit.
"How are you Sarah?" asks Ziva, examining the youngest McGee and she is happy with what she sees: Sarah seems much calmer and aware than the last time they had seen her, just at a glance in the bullpen.
"I'm better," she looks at Gibbs and smiles at Priscilla, who is now showing him one of her dolls, "it was good to leave DC for a while, I was feeling trapped, and the thing with my father…" Sarah shudders and Gibbs frowns and tenses as he sees her reaction, but thankfully Priscilla doesn't notice that, and keeps chattering away.
"He won't bother you or your brother again, we guarantee you this," says Gibbs, dead serious.
Sarah, who is not aware of what exactly happened in DC, knows that her brother received a phone call last night that made both him and Joy rush to their bedroom and stay there talking for a long time.
"You haven't hurt him or killed him, have you?" says Sarah, looking at Gibbs, concerned not about her father, but about the repercussions for the agents.
Ziva and Tony start laughing, knowing that would be the first logical conclusion, and Gibbs smirks, shaking his head.
"No, we didn't kill him," says Gibbs.
"We…" Ziva looks at Tony, then at Sarah, "kind of castrated him for a while. He won't be bothering you soon. And if he does, he will regret it."
"Ah, he will," growls Gibbs, and Priscilla glances up to him, and smiles innocently, "wanna play with my ponies?"
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Dinner had a bittersweet air to it, as Jake was basking in the attention his battle wounds were getting from Sarah, to Matt's chagrin, who was growling every time Sarah would run her hand over Jake's head and hair. Joy, Lisa and Ziva ruled over the kitchen, preparing a delicious meal - Cajun chicken and Israeli style rice with roasted nuts - for the agents before their trip to DC.
Timothy and Tony were talking shop, and Tony was giving him an update on how they put a lid on his father's attempts to harass him. Tim laughs wholeheartedly at Tony, who is mimicking Hope's femme fatale performance.
Jethro, the dog, was sitting faithfully beside Priscilla's high chair, from where she would still smuggle tiny bits of fried chicken for him, despite several complaints from her mother.
The agents laughed and relaxed, for the first time in days, and were very sad to take their suitcases to their cars and bid the family goodbye. Jethro barked happily, running around Jake, who was trying to guide him to McGee's car. Priscilla had again demanded to be picked up in Gibbs' arms, and was whimpering because she didn't want her playmate to leave. After some poking and blackmail, - "yes, we can keep Jethro next time McGee travels, no, you can't take him to your nursery school." – she finally let go of Gibbs' neck and went to her mother's arms.
They said goodbye to Jake, Lisa and Priscilla, and Matt and Joy entered Joy's car, while the McGees were travelling in the Porsche with Jethro. Gibbs would drop Ziva and Tony at their respective houses, and collect them the following morning so they could go to the Yard to work and get their own cars. They wave and leave the sleepy city of Norfolk around eight for the three hour drive back to DC.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
They enter the city limits five minutes past eleven, and each car blinks their lights to the other and turns on their own exits. Joy let Matt drive back to DC, and they head towards Georgetown, while Gibbs takes first Ziva, then Tony, to their own places. They are all exhausted, and they wanted their well deserved rest.
McGee, after blinking his lights as he sees Joy taking the exit towards Georgetown, keeps driving towards Silver Springs. He glances to the passenger seat, and he has to smile at his sister sleeping, exhausted, with her head on a heart cushion that Priscilla insisted on giving her. He was happy that he had apparently settled his disagreement with Matthew and, if the lingering looks between his sister and the youngest Buchanan were any indication, they also had had the chance to talk.
Some minutes later, he stops the Porsche in his designated parking spot in his building, and tries to wake his sister, "Sarah, we're here."
She blinks, owlishly, "Uhm? Where?"
"My place, come on, you bring Jethro and I'll bring the bags," says Tim, opening the door. She stretches for a whole minute, under the careful eye of her brother, then leaves the car and calls the dog, who is also moving slowly.
"Come on, big baby, we're home," she says to Jethro, and guides the dog into the building, followed by her brother, who is carrying their things.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Matt and Joy arrive at the townhouse, and Matt immediately goes to the sofa, jumping on the comfortable leather and hugging a pillow. He's tired, after driving for three hours, but he's feeling energized, and he knows he won't be able to fall asleep unless he burns some nervous energy.
Joy, however, goes to the kitchen and starts to boil some water, to prepare some aromatic tea to relax and help her sleep. She goes through her cupboards, finds some wild berry tea that her brother sent from Germany, and leans against the fridge, just waiting for the water to be ready.
She blinks, sleepily, as finally her body is shouting at the maniac rhythm she had imposed on herself these last few days. The order of her commitments tonight was: first, a cup of tea, then a long hot shower and, finally, a dive in her fluffy bed surrounded by pillows.
She yawns as sleep is attacking her, and she sighs as she remembers she won't have her human full body bed heater to hug her tonight. Later, she promises herself.
The water boils, and she had just started to prepare her tea when Matt comes into the kitchen, "Hey sis, I'm going for a drive, I'm too wired to sleep."
She gets her tea cup, and sips the hot tea smiling, and says without looking up from her cup, "say hi to Sarah for me."
He smiles, self-consciously, as he was indeed very predictable. He grabs the car keys of the rental he had left in the garage when he went to Norfolk, and closes the front door with a bang, locking after himself.
Joy simply smiles, blows at the hot tea, and slowly climbs the stairs to the upper floor, to take a shower and prepare for bedtime.
a/n: Guys, get ready for the final confront...