Jethro makes it back to Head-Quarters
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Jethro sighs in relief as he spots the entrance to their underground bunker, as he found out by accident that the Lizard creatures are wary about dark underground places and so decided to move the small troop here.
He looks first left and then right before running across the open ground to dash inside, only just escaping the ambush that was waiting for him. He smirks at them as they direct hisses in his direction before jogging the rest of the way "Hey Guys...I'm back!" with that he passes the bag to Gerald "Where's Duck?"
Gerald frowns as he notes Abby appears to be sleeping and points in the direction of the small kitchen "Making Tea"
Jethro nods and heads off "Duck? You need to check Abs"
Ducky appears at the doorway and quickly gestures to one of the rumpled sofas "Put her down on here while I get Jackson to fetch some water"
He nods in answer as he carefully puts the young Girl down, turning her head to one side to give the older man a good view of the black, growing mark along her neck
"Oh My! What happened?"
Jethro goes to answer but gets interrupted by a scream and turns in time to watch a devastated Kate running towards them "What happened!? Ducky please fix her!? I can't lose her aswell!" she wipes the tears away as he looks down at her Daughter "What happened?"
Ducky glances at Jethro who shifts from one foot to the other "Well?"
Jethro sighs "It was my fault, I-" his head snaps to one side as she delivers a hard, stinging slap
"You couldn't just leave it! Could you!? First you cause Chris's Death!...Now you tried to kill my Daughter!?"
He flinches away from her anger and takes a step out of range "I...she followed me and...and got caught" he turns to look into the worried grey eyes "One of them scratched her, Duck...it caught her where that black mark is"
Kate sniffs and wipes at her face "You killed it this time?"
He nods "Yeah...caved its head in" at that his Dad enters from the kitchen with a bowl of water and he gives him a small smile "Hey Dad"
Jack looks at him in relief "Thank God you're back Leroy!"
He gives him his trademark half smile "Killed one more of them today" he frowns and looks around "Where's Ziva, with young Tim and Palmer?"
Kate growls "Shes taken them Patrolling...something you was meant to do!"
He holds back his stinging reply as he knows her sharp tongue is due to the worry she is feeling. He runs a hand through his hair, only to cringe at the feeling of the creatures dried blood "Heading for a clean up" and with that he storms out of the room.
Jack watches him go with a sigh before turning back to the distraught Mother "Kate...you know Chris's Death isn't Leroys fault"
She sighs and runs a hand through her hair "I know Jack...but I can't forgive him for taunting Chris to go with him"
He sighs "He didn't know that was going to happen...you know that if given the chance, my Son would have switched places with him in a heart-beat"
She nods "Yeah...I'll try not to throw it in his face again...but when Abby follows him out there...I fear that she'll end up like her Dad"
They all go quiet and then Jack gets up "I'll help Gerald with the goods Leroy brought back while you give Duck a hand"
She nods as she takes the rag to continue dampening her Daughters head but before she does, she leans forward to kiss the older mans cheek "Thank-You Jack"
He shakes her off with a smile as he pats her shoulder and turns to Gerald "Lets have a look at what Leroy brought"
Jethro bangs his fists against the walls of the small room as tears run down his chest while shouting "It wasn't my fault!" and continues until his energy deserts him.
He leans against the wall and slowly sinks down onto the floor "Why did they kill Chris?...It was me who thought I had killed the creature!...Why did it kill him instead of me!?"
He looks down at his bloodied knuckles and sighs as he stands (Dad and Duck are not going to like this) with that thought he shakes his head as he picks up the rag and soap as he starts to clean away the dirt and guilt from his body along the the blood streaks across the walls "Please say she'll live...Please"
He looks up as the feeling of someone watching him reappears and frowns as his mind gets filled with images of peace, he shakes his head as he locks the feelings of anger and guilt deep within himself as he leaves the small Bathroom to get changed.
Jack looks up with sad eyes as he watches his Son enter the room with bandaged hands "Leroy, I..."
Jethro shakes his head and looks around "Have they come back yet?"
As everyone glances towards the door while shaking their heads he nods
"I'll head out to find them..." he turns to face the sick form of Abby "...Duck, you want me to see if I can find anything?"
Ducky sighs at the sight of the bandaged hands and looks into the closed-off blue eyes "Yes...we need some more bandages along with painkillers and creams to try and get the toxic out of her, also I could really do with a sample of the creatures poison"
Jethro nods "First I'll find Ziva and the kids, to return them here, before setting out to find what you need" with that he turns and heads for the exit...but stops as Kate moves to block his path.
She looks at his hands before looking him in the eyes "I'm Sorry Jethro...I shouldn't have thrown Chris's Death into your face and for that I apologise"
He nods "I am to blame...if it wasn't for me, he'll still have been alive here with us or as a Slave to one of them"
Kate looks at him with watery eyes and tugs him into a tight hug "You tried to save him...and I know Abby adores you, albeit a bit too much"
A small smile crosses his face and he squeezes her in return before removing himself from her hold "Take care of Abby and watch over the group as I head out to find the rest"
She nods and pecks his cheek before letting go "Watch your Six"
Jethro chuckles and nods as he heads out once more.