May 17
Let the soul be assured that somewhere in the universe it should rejoin its friend, and it would be content and cheerful alone for a thousand years. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Friendship"
The first night he saw her again since Paris, Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat in his basement and mused on the enigma that was Jennifer Shepard.
He had always known that she would reappear in his life; after all, NCIS was a small agency. It had also been clear to him that she would go far; her desire to learn had been one of the first things he had noticed about her.
Seeing her again had raised conflicting emotions within him. He hated her for having walked out on him, yet he was filled with pride at her achievement. He was upset that she appeared to have moved on so easily without him, yet he was pleased that there was no ring on her finger. He was bitter about her now being his boss, yet happy that she was alive and had not been killed on a subsequent operation.
He had always clung to the hope that they would be reunited in some way at some point in the future, but had never expected it to be like this. Still, it felt like the culmination of all his hopes and had raised his spirits. It was as though her leaving him had flicked a switch and plunged him into darkness, and her reappearance in MTAC had flicked the switch again to bring light back into his life.
He smiled softly as he sipped his bourbon. Now that she was back, he could start building bridges. He wasn't going to let her walk all over him, but they could definitely have something.