Somehow, it was always the four of them that ended up in Abby's lab after they'd been let off early for the night. Sometimes they stood around and talked, sometimes he and Ziva watched Abby and McGee battle it out on one of their video games, sometimes Abby just held Bert and they would all sit on the floor playing some game no one except grade schoolers indulged in anymore. But no matter what the day had held or how bad the case was, it was always still the team that ended up together at the end of the day.
There had been no case today, no hard memories for any of them to try to forget in a group, because going home to face an empty house had no appeal. No one had died, there had been no arguments or tempers flaring, no one had even gotten severely headslapped. But still there was a feeling of solemnity in their gathering. Mostly, Tony guessed, due to Abby's mood. The music had been off when they got there, and Abby was sitting at her desk, barely greeting any of them with more than a sad 'hello'.
So here they all stood, in Abby's office, waiting to see what was wrong with the little sister of the family. McGee was perched on the desk beside her, holding one of her hands in his. Ziva stood to the side, arms crossed, in a soldier at rest stance. And Tony? Well, Tony was wracking his brain trying to come up with a joke to crack that would make everyone laugh and ease the tension. But nothing appropriate or even inappropriate seemed right, so he kept quiet too.
At last Ziva could not take anymore silent waiting. She walked over and knelt in front of Abby's chair. It had been a long time for them, getting to the point of friendship, but now they had a good one and that is what Ziva was hoping to draw on.
"What is wrong, Abby?" she asked softly.
Abby sniffed and Tony hoped to goodness that she wasn't going to cry. He did not do well with girls and tears.
Ziva did not think Abby was going to answer her question. But Abby surprised her by saying quietly. "We're supposed to be a family." She looked up at them with watery eyes. "Right? We're still a family, aren't we guys?"
Both of the 'boys' hastened to assure her that they were, very much so.
"But it's not helping," she said sadly.
"Not helping who, Abby?" Ziva continued questioning her.
Abby avoided their eyes and gave Bert a good squeeze. "Jenny."
It was like someone had tossed a blanket over the room, thick and suffocating. Ziva looked up at Tony, at a loss for what to say now. It seemed like McGee should be the one to say something, he was her boyfriend after all, but he looked just as much without words as Ziva did. Tony sighed, knowing that as Senior Field Agent and the unofficial big brother of the team, it was his job to try to help Abby.
"We are a family Abs," he said slowly, "but that doesn't mean we always get it right or know what to do. I mean, what do you say to someone who has been..." he struggled with the wording, "hurt and damaged the way Jenny was? Gibbs knows her best, so we've let him take the lead on how to help her." Tony didn't feel like his explanation was doing any good. Perhaps they really had all failed, dropped the ball, so to speak, with Jenny.
"We could've asked how she was doing! We could've done...something!" Abby cried, angry that there was no way to help.
McGee finally stepped up to take a stab at the situation. "What if she just said fine, Abby? What if she didn't want anyone else to know how much it was bothering her? You can't force someone to let you care. The Director, she's...like Gibbs."
"But if she won't ask for help, couldn't we just give it anyways?" There had to be another answer.
"She may not want our help, Abby," Ziva tried again. "Jenny knows that we are a family. She knows that we all care for her. And she may just want us to all stay the same, to assure herself that something in her life could still be normal."
Tony raised his eyebrows. Sometimes his partner made a lot of sense. "She was not comfortable with all of our attention the first day she came back to work. I do not think that would have changed as more days were added to that number."
Abby rubbed her eyes. "I just feel like we've failed, y'know? I mean, she and Gibbs, they'd do anything for us. But when something awful happens to her, no one knows what to do."
"You can never know what to do when tragedy strikes Abby," Ziva knew this from personal experience. "Sometimes you can just love people from a distance, and you have to hope that is enough."
Abby squeezed McGee's hand. "Do you think it will be enough, Tim? Do you think the Director knows that we love her, even if we never tell her?"
McGee leaned over and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. "I think she can't help but know Abby. And if you feel like telling her once in awhile," he smiled then, "well, you'd probably get away with it better than the rest of us."
Some of the sparkle was coming back into Abby's eyes. "Benefit of being the youngest, I guess," she smiled. "I don't get headslapped or yelled at."
"No Abs," Tony tugged one of her braids, "Gibbs just grounds you from Caf-Pows instead."
"Almost as bad!" she argued. She looked back and forth between them all. "So, 'family', what are we doing this weekend?"
As soon as Abby uttered those words, the other three knew that whatever plans they had previously had, were now going to be replaced by whatever would make Abby feel like everything was going to be okay.
Tony shrugged and Ziva stood up again. "What do you suggest Abby?"
Her face lit up, she loved getting to choose. "Well, we could do pizza tonight. Maybe...take over Tony's livingroom for a James Bond marathon?"
They all looked at Tony. "Hey, who am I to protest an evening with the best secret agent ever...and my best friends?" He didn't get emotional or touchy-feely very often, but sometimes people just needed to know what was already obvious.
Ziva smiled. "I could cook for us tomorrow night, a dinner party maybe? We could invite Ducky and Jimmy. Gibbs and Jenny too, if they don't have other plans."
Abby squirmed in her chair. "Will you all come to church with me on Sunday?" It had been awhile since anyone but Gibbs had taken her up on the standing offer.
McGee checked silently with the others first. "I think that can definitely be arranged Abbs."
She grinned. "It's a family weekend then. So..." she looked excited, "think we can find some ice cream to go with that pizza later?" Abby gave Tim a look that only he understood, remembering the last time they shared dessert. Tony and Ziva now looked very curious.
"For you Abs, anything," Tony grinned, pulling her to her feet for a hug that nearly crushed the breath out of him. He looked around the room at his teammates. No partying for him this weekend, but Tony also knew that he wouldn't have it any other way.
NCIS
Jenny and Gibbs stepped out of the elevator on Basement Level 4, where the indoor shooting range was housed, still holding hands, although Jenny was starting to drag her feet a little.
"Jethro," she began. "I'm not sure..."
He turned around and gave her a look. "You can do this Jenny. I think you need to do this."
They stashed their things in the cubbies provided, and Gibbs picked up their weapons at the counter, leading her to an empty station. It was relatively quiet tonight, there were only two other shooters besides them. Jenny felt her hands start to tremble. The last time she'd been this close to a gun, it had been held to her head. Gibbs looked at her sharply and took her hands in his, rubbing away the shakes.
"Look at me Jenny," he commanded, wanting and needing her full attention. "You have done this hundreds of time. I've seen you out shoot me. You can do this," he reminded her, before placing the gun in her hands. "Now show me what you can do Jen."
Jenny didn't even have time to think. As soon as the cool, sleek, metal weapon was in her hands, she picked up a clip, loaded it, knocked the first bullet into the chamber and pointed it at the target, lining it up dead center. It was so natural, all in one swift movement. She allowed herself a small smile before training her concentration on the small, black target at the other end of the range. Without a pause, she squeezed off six rounds, embedding them in center of mass. Gibbs stood beside her with the earmuffs on, looking very proud.
A bell rang to signal the end of that shoot and the targets zipped up to meet them. Gibbs pulled hers down. "Nice shooting Jen!" he complimented her. "That bad guy was going nowhere with you around." He held her eyes. "How did it feel?"
Jenny sighed. "Right. Like it's what I was supposed to do."
"It's in your training and in your blood Jen. I'd want you watching my back any day."
She grinned at him. "Are you going to start taking me in the field with you again Jethro?"
As much as Gibbs loved remembering when they were partners at work, always covering each other's six, some days he really liked that she was safely in an office instead of facing shoot outs with drugged up dirtbags.
"You were, are, a fine agent Jen. But I guess I'll let you keep your day job." His eyes twinkled. "But when we're off duty, my back is all yours."
The teasing was straying slightly into dangerous and heretofore uncharted waters, so Gibbs left it at that. Jenny put her gun down and stepped back from the open window.
"My turn?" he asked.
"It's all yours. Knock 'em dead."
"I'll do my best." He faced the target, sighing his gun. While it was a far cry from the sniper rifle that used to be an extension of his arm, this Sig was a good companion when facing down those who wanted him shot, and preferably dead.
The bell rang to signal the beginning of the next round. Without even a blink, Gibbs aimed for center of mass and repeatedly squeezed the trigger. When his target came up, Jenny laid hers beside his.
"Looks like we're both pretty good at this game," she said with a smile, then frowned when she realized his cluster of shots was tighter than hers. She wrinkled her nose. "I want a rematch."
"Feeling a little competitive, Director?" he asked.
"Just need to prove my superiority in every aspect of duty, Special Agent Gibbs," she said, flaunting an over the top air of authority.
His eyes narrowed. "You're on lady. Four rounds each?"
"Tightest cluster wins," she agreed.
"Is there a prize for winning?" Gibbs asked, curious to see how far this would go.
"For that, you'll have to wait until we get home," she replied saucily, stepping up to the window.
They took turns this time and shot at the same target, just on different sides. All the nervousness that Jenny had felt when she stepped foot on this floor melted away and she was Agent Shepard again, going up against the bad guys and trying to prove she was good enough to be on Gibbs' team. When the targets came back, it was clearly a tie.
"No winners, no losers, best way to play," Gibbs remarked philosophically, draping his arms around Jenny's shoulders as they turned in their weapons and headed back to the elevator.
"I could've beat you, you know," she grinned.
"Next time Jen, I'll hold you to that."
Their drive home that night was peaceful, and simply the fact that they were making it together made tonight different from the rest of the week. It was dark and quiet when they made it to Jenny's house. A note on the door from Noemi said that dinner was being kept warm in the oven, but she had to leave early to take Marisol somewhere. Secretly, Jenny was glad it was just she and Gibbs that night. There had been too many people and things between them this week.
"I'm going to change," Jenny announced as soon as her coat was on the hook.
"I'll get a fire on, it's chilly tonight. I think I'm going to want a shower before dinner though," Gibbs responded, walking into the livingroom.
As normal as that statement was, Jenny couldn't help feeling a little frustrated as she climbed the stairs to their bedroom. If things were like they had been between the couple, Jenny would've volunteered to share the shower with her husband, and perhaps they wouldn't even have made it as far as dinner. But tonight she would know that he was up there without her, and Jenny wasn't sure when it would be like before.
Once she was clothed in much more comfortable attire than what she wore to work, Jenny came downstairs in socked feet, pleased to hear the crackling of flames from the livingroom. She sank down on the couch as her body drank in the warmth of the fire.
"Mmm," she smiled, closing her eyes. "That feels really nice. Thank you Jethro."
Once again treating kisses as if they were his new favourite candy, Gibbs leaned down to touch his lips to hers. "Anytime Jen. I'm going to go grab that shower. See you in a few."
Jenny nodded. "Take your time, I've got a phone call to make."
As soon as she heard the water start running, Jenny leaned forward and reached for the phone sitting on the coffee table. Curling up on the couch, she dialed what she knew was going to become a very familiar number.