Thanks to Arress for proofing another monster chapter. She's awesome. Thanks also to Frakkin Toaster for feedback and Acrowdof1 for his help in writing the legal aspects of this chapter and the previous one. Thank-you to everyone reviewing and faving. I've been fussing over a couple of paragraphs I can't get completely to my satisfaction but I've finally thrown my hands up in horror and going to put it out there. I hope you enjoy the chapter :)
An Eye for An Eye Leaves Everybody Blind
The Day of Reckoning
Jimmy Palmer:
I rose earlier than I usually do because I couldn't sleep, and if I didn't stop with the tossing and turning, then I was going to be black and blue. I tried meditating to try to calm down, but I just couldn't seem to empty my mind of the thoughts that keep rushing in at a frenetic pace, and so I went onto my Pilates routine instead, with slightly more success. Once it was over, I made breakfast – the curse of being diabetic means that even when food is the furthest thing from your mind, you have to make sure to keep your blood sugar in the normal range so you don't lapse into a diabetic coma. Sorry, guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself right now.
Stupid since in terms of impact, I wasn't nearly as affected as some of the others by the latest events but, given my personal feelings on the matter, I couldn't help feeling betrayed.
Today was the day that the judge was going to deliver Gibbs' sentence and given that he'd been charged with premeditated murder and he was potentially facing a death sentence, there was a fair degree of angst within our dysfunctional little family. Even though we were all shell shocked by the revelations about Gibbs' crime prior to him being recruited by NCIS... no, it was NIS back then, our group, our former team, had rallied round. Feelings ranging from disbelief and denial on Abby's part, insisting that it was some huge conspiracy to destroy her Silver Fox, to a huge serving of guilt from Dr. Mallard, and anger and betrayal and sorrow from the rest of us, were running rampant.
Then there was Gibbs' father, Jackson, and I can't imagine what that sweet guy is going through right now. Waiting to find out if his son is going to be given a lethal injection had to be the cruelest of fates, and he so does not deserve this. It makes me feel ashamed of how I've been indulging myself and my feeling of betrayal about Gibbs lying to us... okay to me. Like just because I have such strong feelings against people taking the law into their own hands meant that his duplicity was somehow worse for me to cope with. Dumb because this has to be horrendous for Jackson, even if he's maintained a quiet stoicism through the whole ordeal, even being a tower of strength to Abby who has fallen apart. But it's got to be killing him.
I know that I vacillate between anger at what Gibbs did, which is anathema to everything I believe in, and fear that he will be given the death penalty. While I'm not sure that I'd go so far as to say that Gibbs was a father figure to me, back in the day, it is fair to say that he was definitely a role model. Growing up without a father and losing my uncle, I was fairly short on males to model myself on and he did loom large in my life for five years, so it hurts to know how badly I misjudged him, although if I stop feeling sorry for myself for a moment, I have to admit I wasn't the only one taken in. He fooled a lot of others too.
Okay, so I may have begun to questioning why he let Leon Vance drag Tony to Tel Aviv without a whimper and never took Ziva to task for lying to us and causing the whole mess in the first place. Still, when I found out about his confession, nonetheless it was a crushing blow to think I'd once looked up to Gibbs, thinking that he believed in justice and the legal system like I do. And maybe he still does, but not when it comes to himself or those close to him. Yet for all the anger I feel towards him, for all that I believe fervently that even if he had killed the 'right' Pedro Hernandez and not some loser cousin with the same name, that he was absolutely wrong to kill him for revenge, I definitely didn't want to see him put to death.
Not just because if Commander Roberts was correct about Gibbs suffering the effects of a TBI for the last 20 years, although granted that was a sobering argument. Not just because as much as I despised what he did, I still care about the guy after working with him for five years, either. I'm a doctor – sworn to do no harm, and the idea of taking life is abhorrent to me, regardless of the reason, but especially for the purpose of 'justice', and it isn't just my delicate sensibilities speaking either. I guess the only exception I can see is for those rare individuals who are truly evil, men like Kyle Boone who cannot ever be rehabilitated and, even when behind bars, pose a real risk to society.
When it comes to the death penalty acting to deter criminals or individuals committing a crime of passion, there is plenty of evidence that putting people to death isn't an effective deterrent. There are certainly other approaches that would have a much greater impact on crime, but are unlikely to adopted, at least in our country, anyway, while people carrying out crimes of passion aren't likely to stop and think about consequences. Anyway, suffice to say that while I definitely do not like Gibbs very much at the moment, I like that prick Mike Franks a whole lot less for taking advantage of him or, at the very least, facilitating a murder and I hope he's suffering mightily down in one of the lowest levels of Hell right now for what he's done.
See the thing is, I've also been where Gibbs was. My whole family has been where Gibbs was when he lost his family. I know exactly what it feels like to want to make those bikers who so casually took away my Uncle Liam's life and the other innocent bystanders who got caught up in their on-going vendetta pay for what they did. To know that they were going to keep on killing each other and not worry if others got caught in the crossfire and, honestly, if some cop had come along when we were vulnerable and offered information about who and where we could locate Uncle Liam's killers, who knows? Members of my family might have taken the law into their own hands too, and maybe the other families too, whose loved ones were gunned down along with Liam that fateful Saturday, as well. But if cops and federal agents went around preying upon people's grief and letting victims' families avenge their dead, then sooner or later innocent people would inevitably die too, just as Hernandez had.
After all, even with all the checks and balances that there are in place in our justice system, it isn't perfect and innocent people still are convicted and yes, even executed, for crimes they didn't commit, but if vigilantism was to take hold, then there was nothing to stop everyday people from being wrongly accused and ending up dead. Innocent people who might be my friends or family or even you or me if we should be in the wrong place at the wrong time and not be given a chance to defend ourselves adequately. Sure, our system of justice isn't perfect, far from it, but if officers of the court, if cops white ant it by circumventing it and are allowed to get away with doing so, then it weakens the system and everyone suffers because of it.
For our system to continue to exist for everyone's benefit, the needs of the many must be put before the needs of the one – to paraphrase Mr. Spock. And just because it was a line in a movie doesn't negate the fact that if we permit one set of rules for those who uphold the law and another for everyone else, then our justice system will not survive.
An Eye for an Eye
Tony sat with his feet propped up on the balcony, a cup of coffee in his hands as he stared out at the uninterrupted ocean views. They'd arrived here last night so they hadn't appreciated the view, but he'd risen early to watch the sunrise, unable to sleep with so many thoughts racing through his head. He'd noticed several surfboards as he'd wandered round the house in the early hours of the morning and thought he might go for a surf later today. He noticed that someone had joined him and he turned to find Steve sinking into the chair beside him.
"Nice place."
"Hmm. Bit of a drive from the city center, but as a holiday home, it's pretty cool. Mike says his parents are going to retire here in a few years."
"You think he's going to be okay?" Steve wanted to know.
"Mike?"
"No, dumbass. Gus."
Tony shrugged. "I sure hope so, Stevie. Not just for Gus' sake, but for Mike, Amelia, Richard, and Caroline, too."
Steve looked pessimistic. When they found Gus AKA Robert Craig wrongly incarcerated in the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, he was in bad shape. He didn't recognize Mike or the Assistant Superintendent of the Australian Federal Police who'd flown in once Mike had verified that it really was Gus, right down to the butterfly shaped scar on his brother's right calf. Mike explained he'd gotten it falling off a see-saw at a playground when he was six years old. Jono demanded to know what the hell was a see-saw and Mike rolled his eyes in exasperation, slipping into his Croc persona.
"Bloody oath! What's wrong with you guys? Taking something normal people call a see-saw and give it a lame ass name like a teeter-totter? Sounds like a drunken transvestite sailor walking the plank wearing his stilettos." He appealed to the other Aussies who were also in their hotel room in Cebu Province as they strategized on how to secure his brother's release. The Australian consular official and the AFP Assistant Superintendent sniggered in agreement.
When he flew in from Canberra - the Aussie capital - to help free him, Gus' boss had brought his jacket, complete with his fingerprints and DNA to help them dynamite him out of the prison. Plus, he called in their other partners in the joint operation that Gus had been trying to infiltrate when he disappeared. Although, as Tony had observed, he must have succeeded in penetrating it fairly comprehensively for the drug cartel to have disappeared him like they had. Plus, it was fairly obvious that his false imprisonment could not have happened without some serious corruption within the country's law enforcement structure.
Not only was Gus suffering from amnesia, but someone had gotten him hooked on drugs and they were suspicious that these may have caused his amnesia, or at least exacerbated it. It did explain why Gus had never contacted the Australian Embassy to request assistance when he landed in prison. He was so addled that he completely believed what he'd been told about his identity.
He thought he was an ex-pat Aussie who'd lived on Cebu Island for seven years before landing in jail and that he had no living relatives in Oz. And it seemed that the prisons in Cebu Province were rife with drugs, so it was easy enough for Gus' 'habit' to be fed. They managed to extract him with a lot of help of the AFP, the Australian Embassy, and an Aussie department that Tony figured was the equivalent of the State Department called Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or DFAT, all of whom turned up the political pressure.
Once they successfully had him released into the AFP's custody, there'd been a debate about getting him checked out in a hospital back in the capital, Manilla, or to head straight back to Sydney, Australia, to Mike and Gus' parents, Richard and Caroline. When the beleaguered cop began having seizures and revealed to them that they were a chronic problem, Mike immediately decided to get him back to Australia where there were top notch neurologists and hospitals. He offered Gus' boss a ride back to Australia in the company jet, and he'd leapt at the opportunity to avoid having to fly back to Manilla and take a commercial flight home. Tony couldn't blame him, cops, even assistant superintendents, flew economy class (coach), and a private jet was a hell of a lot more luxurious and comfortable. It had sure simplified matters too when they'd been able to fly direct from LA to Cebu Island without having to fly into the Filipino capital and then transfer to a region flight on what Mike claimed was probably shonky planes.
Arriving in Sydney, there'd been an emotional reunion for the Kaderson family, bittersweet since Gus didn't recognize his parents or his sister, her husband, and his nephew Jamie and niece Rebecca. While they were all relieved to have him safely back home again after four years of thinking the worst when he'd disappeared while working undercover, they were shocked by his condition and worried sick. The family organized for him to be admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital to diagnose the cause of his amnesia and seizures and figure out what drugs had been given to him, what damage they might have caused, and how to help him detoxify safely.
When they'd first landed, everyone had crashed out at Mike's childhood home, sleeping on the couch, Gus' room, and the floor, but with nine adults and two kids, it was pandemonium as they all tried hard not to trip over each other. Mike's family home was a comfortable five bedroom, three bathrooms, split level house in the Sydney suburb of Seaforth near Manly, across the harbor by ferry from the CBD, but it was a bit too cozy for comfort. So the ERS guys had decided to move to a hotel and give the family some space – both physically and emotionally. While bringing Gus home had been a wonderful outcome, there was a lot of stress surrounding his amnesia and continuing seizures.
When Caroline heard that Tony and Mike's team were going to stay in a hotel, she immediately objected, suggesting instead that they could stay at the family's holiday house on the Central Coast, one hour north of Sydney up the M1 freeway. Although it was a bit of a drive, Steve and Tony decided that they didn't need to be camping out at the hospital each day with the Kadersons, who'd probably appreciate some space, so a commute to Sydney wasn't that big of a deal and, anyway, they could always avoid peak hour traffic which was supposedly on par with anything back home. Gus didn't remember either Tony or Steve at this point either, but he had plenty of support with his parents and siblings, and too many stranger faces were probably only making an already stressful situation even more so.
While he was having a raft of diagnostic tests and they figured out the cocktail of chemicals the scumbags pumped into him after they abducted him, the ERS guys reckoned they'd lay low. Do the whole sight-seeing touristy stuff. Plus, they didn't want Richard and Caroline feeling like they needed to play host when they were so worried about their son.
So, last night with the benefits of GPS which made finding your way around in a totally strange country easy as pie and made maps and street directories redundant, Jack, Jono, Steve, and Tony headed up the coast. They arrived at the colorfully named Copacabana location easily enough, their main worry was staying on the left hand side of the road since Aussies drove on the wrong side, which made the trip a bit fraught. Of course, Mike and his family all insisted it was Americans that drove on the wrong side of the road, but the others ignored them. Luckily, once they were on the freeway, Tony didn't feel quite so anxious about driving on the opposite side of the road or operating right hand driving controls since the road was divided.
Steve sighed sleepily, looking out across the road to the beach and a few surfers who were out enjoying the early morning waves with bemusement. Tony had noted that even back home, Steve never went surfing with him and Mike. Croc claimed that Wonder couldn't swim, which was patently untrue since Steve was a SEAL. Deciding it was a mystery for another day, he returned his attention to their conversation about Gus' future.
"Hopefully, the docs will have some definitive answers soon."
"Unless they can get to the bottom of the seizures he won't be able to drive and they'll probably force him to retire from the AFP," Steve observed pessimistically.
"True," Tony agreed. "But it's pretty clear that he was betrayed by other cops in the taskforce. That kinda makes you gun shy about trusting anyone after that happens. He might not want to go back to working for them."
"Ever happen to you when you were working undercover?" Steve asked curiously.
"Not exactly. I took down a king pin in Philly when I got loaned out to a drug task force. His minions grabbed me before the court case and tried to get me hooked on oxytocin and a few minor drugs to discredit me as a witness. That was fun! Then there was the time at NCIS when the CIA had outed me to their tame arms dealer because they were pissed off with the director for carrying out an unauthorized op that threatened their own long term operation."
"What happened?
"Jeanne's father – the arms dealer – he was fine. I think the CIA was hoping he'd take me out, but Benoit saw me as his salvation. He wanted to get out of the game and the CIA refused to let him. So, when he didn't kill me, the CIA decided to do it instead as a warning to my boss to back off – for all the good it did them. That woman had the worst case of target fixation," he mused broodingly.
"Jeanne and I were supposed to be in my Mustang when it blew up, but luckily her father turned up and dragged us off to breakfast in his stretch limo and insisted his assistant drive my car, after letting me know he knew my real identity."
"And the car bomb?"
"Took out the assistant and obliterated my car – had a birds' eye view from the limo. It outed me in spectacular fashion with his daughter." Tony closed his eyes remembering the scene where he confessed to Jeanne he'd lied to her about his identity, but not his feelings for her. Oh, yeah, that had worked out great!
"And you went back? What are you - a friggin' masochist, Dino?" Steve shook his head horrified.
"Yeah maybe, Steve. It would certainly explain a lot."
They were both quiet for a while, contemplating the state of affairs.
The ex-SEAL finally broke the silence. "Pretty thankless job."
"What's that, Stevie?"
"Being a cop and having to worry about dirty cops or greedy, ambitious cops selling you out on an undercover op. At least with the military if our missions end up FUBAR, it's because of stupidity for the most part. Traitors aren't usually something we need to be concerned about all that often – just admirals and generals whose brains seemed to have taken up residence in their asses," he explained wryly."
"I guess." Tony agreed thinking about Danny. About all the cops Mike Macaluso and the other Mafioso had in their back pockets... not to forget the judges and ADAs over the decades. Steve was right – in lots of ways it was a thankless job and, more to the point, it often felt like you were the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke.
His buddy seemed to realize he'd done a good job of making him feel blue because Steve forcibly pulled him out of the lounger and dragged him inside to help fix breakfast from the staples they'd brought with them last night.
Several days later, the first of the diagnostic tests were back and they had a more complete picture of Gus' amnesia. Brain imaging had revealed that he'd suffered a fractured skull at some time since his disappearance – probably from a blunt force object either to subdue him, obstruct his investigation, or to prevent him from talking if he discovered anything damaging. There was no way of knowing if it had been an attempt to kill him that failed or it was a clumsy attempt to incapacitate him but, according to the docs, there was a significant area of scar tissue adjacent to the old fracture. They were certain that it was playing a role in Gus' seizures, but they also felt that the drugs he'd been addicted to were probably contributing since they were a frightening cocktail and indubitably were of questionable purity. There was talk of them lowering the threshold of the seizures.
Gus' liver was also showing signs of distress – possibly contributing to seizures and making it problematic to prescribe anticonvulsant meds since many of them did a number on the liver – even when it was in good shape. They were still waiting on the hepatitis and HIV tests since it's likely whoever hooked him on the drug cocktail wasn't exactly concerned about hygienic disposal of needles. The doctors discovered the federal cop had a number of old fractures of ribs, scapula, humorous, his cheekbone and eye socket, and a number of cracked and chipped teeth indicating that he'd probably been severely beaten at some point after he disappeared. His injuries taken together, painted a picture of him receiving a brutal beating and Tony expressed the opinion that Gus Kaderson was probably lucky he survived it.
While the medicos were still waiting on some results, including the toxicology tests, they were debating the possibility of brain surgery to remove scar tissue to reduce seizures, but wanted to try medical approaches first. Their first priority, though, was to get Gus off the drugs ASAP, although it wasn't likely to be as easy since he'd been addicted for a number of years, which had made Tony furious. Gus was trying to prevent drug money being funneled into extremist terrorist groups, and the bastards had done their best to destroy him. He remembered how difficult it had been when he was working an undercover case on loan to the vice squad and his cover had been blown. The perps had hit him up with a couple syringes of LSD and that had been a nightmare to recuperate from, but at least he'd managed to get away. Gus had no idea that he'd been set up and was a cop.
Ironic how a few days ago they were so euphoric at finally having found him after more than four years missing, but the truth was that August Kaderson wasn't home yet. He faced an uphill struggle to reclaim his life, memory, and his health. One thing was certain, there was no chance that he'd be going back to his job any time soon, if ever, and Tony felt a sense of kinship with Gus, apart from their friendship all those years ago at RIMA. Both were born to be cops, excelled at their job, and yet people they worked with had betrayed their trust.
Tony was thinking about when they should head back to the States, maybe leave Mike here with his family and take the rest of the team back home and hold down the fort until he returned. Jon and Jack felt like they were more a hindrance than a help since they didn't know Gus and there was not really anything they could do to help Mike and his family now that Gus was located. Tony understood how they were feeling because he was experiencing some of the same emotions too. While he and Steve had been at school with Gus, he still didn't recognize them, although he was having a few glimmers about situations in his childhood – just unconnected flashes, but it had given everyone hope.
Although he'd spent a few years' worth of holidays with the Kadersons and he'd loved catching up with Amelia and meeting her husband and kids, he didn't feel very helpful either. At least if they went home they could be useful to Mike by keeping the business going and an eye on Molly and Jannali. She'd wanted to fly over when it was clear they'd really found Gus this time, but Mike had vetoed the plan since a 25-hour flight with the Princess was a nightmare on a commercial flight and Gus was already getting overwhelmed with all the unfamiliar faces. Tony thought they should all remember that until a few days ago he thought he was a murderer who was going to be spending a long time in prison and he had no surviving family. It must be a lot for him to take in.
Deciding to head down to the beach even though it was still winter downunder, Tony felt himself relax as he walked along the shoreline. He loved the ocean – well, not when he was agent afloat on an aircraft carrier with over 5000 personnel, obviously. Yet the beach was his sanctuary. He was even a pretty competent surfer these days, thanks to Mike and hiding out borrowing Gus' identity for three years. He'd been out a few times in the water since their arrival in Oz, as the locals referred to Australia affectionately, but been told to avoid surfing at dawn and dusk because of the potential of shark attacks, which was when the predators were out feeding. Aussies seemed much more laidback about swimming with sharks, shrugging with a 'she'll be right mate' attitude. When he asked Mike about it, he chuckled, saying that rips and undertows were more of a threat to the uninitiated and rock fishing was a hell of a lot more dangerous and killed more victims than a rare shark chomping down on a swimmer.
Tony wasn't sure whether to take him seriously – Aussies seemed to make a pastime out of warning clueless Americans about all manner of dangers that the Australian wildlife posed to the unwary, ignorant, and naïve. Venomous spiders, snakes, millipedes, the highly deadly blue ringed octopus hiding out in rock pools, deadly platypus, boxing kangaroos, and peeing koalas all sounded a bit over the top. But he was extremely dubious about the drop bears that supposedly dropped out of trees onto unsuspecting tourists. He suspected that as Mike would say, the locals were taking the piss out of them at least about drop bears. He did know that some of the most venomous snakes in the world were Australian, so he guessed that being blasé about swimming with deadly sharks wasn't so surprising.
Tony had also been watching the coast from the balcony of the Kadersons' holiday home because during May to November humpback and southern right whales were migrating along the eastern coast of Australia. They even stopped off in Sydney to sightsee every year, occasionally coming into the harbor to play and socialize or hanging round the iconic beaches playing close to surfers. Watchers had even begun recognizing and naming the whales on their annual migration, including an incredibly rare white humpback that had been christened Mingaloo that was tracked every year. All the tour boats were going out whale watching and the guys had taken a cruise one day and been fortunate enough to see a mother humpback with her calf, which was amazing. She'd hung around the boat for almost 30 minutes and they'd taken a score of photos.
Pulling out his phone to scroll through the photos he'd taken, he noticed Mike had sent a text telling him to check his emails. Heading back to the cottage, Tony hurried to his laptop and signed into his email account, which he hadn't checked for several days. There were a slew of emails from Molly and Ruby and others yesterday from Ducky, Jimmy, and Abby too.
Something had happened and Tony felt a cold chill run down his spine. Staring at the emails trying to figure out which one to open, he decided to check Ducky's first. Even though he might be verbose, when necessary he could be succinct. If there was bad news to hear, he decided he'd rather have it from the medical examiner. Jimmy's tongue could trip over his feet when he got flustered and Abby? Well, suffice to say that if it was bad news, she would be inconsolable, and incomprehensible. When it came to bad news, he wanted it straight and quick, not sugar coating it. Clicking on Ducky's email, he bit the bullet to see what was wrong.
My Dear Anthony (Ducky had written.)
I hope that this missive sees you well. I understand that your mission was a success, although August's condition is rather complicated, according to Molly. I believe that you are currently all staying in Sydney while his situation is investigated?
I am sorry for disturbing you, but I thought that you would want to know, and I especially didn't want you to hear it in the media. Also, I expect that Todd Gelfand and Commander Roberts will be hoping to speak to you as soon as possible, too.
Well, knowing that you probably prefer if I just rip the bandage off, I'll do so, shall I?
Jethro was visited by someone from the State Department and the Mexican Embassy to inform him the head of the Reynosa drug cartel, Pedro Hernandez, had made a death bed confession to a shameful number of unsolved murders over the years, including Shannon and Kelly Gibbs – Jethro's family, and the NIS agent protecting them when they died. When I learnt about the loss of his family, I'd always assumed that the killer died by Jethro's hand... and it seems that Jethro did too.
Mike Franks apparently furnished him with the name 'Pedro Hernandez' and the gunnery sergeant headed down to Mexico City to avenge his family. Unfortunately, though, there were two cousins and they were both named Pedro Hernandez. Tragically, Jethro took out the wrong man and, when he discovered the mistake just after your unexpected departure, he came forward and confessed to his error. I'm afraid that he is now facing a court martial and may well be sentenced to death by lethal injection if his lawyer, Commander Roberts, can't argue mitigation successfully at his hearing.
As you can no doubt imagine, this has created quite an upheaval here in DC amongst the politicians and witch hunts abound over the role played by NIS, and specifically Michael Franks, who you probably are not aware, died eighteen months ago from lung cancer.
Anyway, old friend, I'm sorry to be the bearer of such bad tidings, but as I said, I wanted you to know before seeing it when it hits the media. The Reynosa cartel are unlikely to be happy with the decision not to extradite Jethro and to try him as a Marine but, since the killing took place while he was still in the Corps, they don't really have a leg to stand on.
Hoping you are looking after yourself, Anthony. I'll keep in touch and let you know any developments.
Regards,
Ducky.
Tony stared at the email in disbelief, reading it a second time to make sure he hadn't imagined the contents. Unfortunately, it was real enough and he felt like someone had just sent him word that Santa Claus was a serial killer. He'd always put Gibbs up on a pedestal and, although his hero status had become a little tarnished over the years when he'd turned a blind eye to those closest to him like Director Shepard and Mike Franks, Tony couldn't believe he'd stepped so far over the line then had turned around and hunted down other people for committing the same crime as he had. Somehow, it seemed even more calculated and hypocritical that he'd committed murder in cold blood BEFORE he took an oath to uphold the law.
He understood that Gibbs had been shattered by the death of his family but, when you took an oath as a cop or an officer of the law, you were also recognizing that your behavior had to be beyond exemplary and that you were prepared to be held to a higher stander of conduct than a civilian. He was pretty damned sure that it was the same when you became a Marine. Was that why Gibbs had made excuses for Damon Werth because he identified with his failure to live up to the standards that the Corps demanded of its men and women.
All these years, Gibbs had been keeping this MOAS from them... kinda made his enormous hissy fit about Tony not telling him he was working undercover on the La Grenouille affair seem fucking hypocritical by comparison. Actually, it didn't even come close... nope, maxims abound about glass houses and stones, kettles and pots, or even he who is without sin and casting stones, and still didn't even come close to expressing how much that sucked.
He hadn't even gotten to the fact that Gibbs had ended up killing the wrong guy or that Franks basically had orchestrated the murder by betraying his oath in giving Gibbs the name of the person he believed to be the killer. Tony was too raw to deal with either of those facts at the moment. He supposed he should read Abby and Jimmy's emails, but his brain was too overloaded.
Jack strolled in, took one look at Tony and stopped short. "Dino?" He and Jon had started using the nickname that Mike, Gus, and Steve had given him at RIMA. "You okay, man? Looking a bit green."
Tony stared at Jack in surprise. "I just found out that my old boss, who I used to trust with my life, who I thought was principled, confessed to killing someone more than twenty years ago. He thought the guy killed his wife and daughter – turns out someone else did it. Then after hunting him down and killing him with his sniper rifle, he then turned around and became a fed, busting other people for doing exactly what he'd done. Oh, and he's facing court martial and, because it was premeditated, the most likely outcome is the death penalty. So, I guess I do look a bit green. I can't believe this is happening."
Jack looked at him speechless. Damn, how do you respond to that sort of conversational gambit? DiNozzo looked shattered, he cared about Gibbs and, even though he knew that his boss wasn't as perfect as he'd thought, Jack reckoned that this was something that he would have never seen coming. He was probably really pissed off and disappointed, but Jack also figured that he was feeling a whole heap of conflict too. Gibbs might be a SOB but, from what Mike had said, he was like a mentor or father figure to him. He doubted if Tony would want him to face the death penalty, even if he deserved it.
Shit, couldn't Tony ever cop a break?
An Eye for an Eye
Commander Bud Roberts stood beside his client, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, as the judge prepared to deliver his sentence. The court martial had skipped straight to the penalty phase of Gibbs' court martial with the defence (him) presenting mitigating factors with the aim of influencing sentencing recommendations since Gibbs had already pleaded guilty to the killing of Pedro Hernandez. Bud was desperately hoping he had done enough to keep Gibbs from facing the death penalty, since there were a lot of people who didn't want to see that outcome, especially for a Silver Star recipient and his family and friends. Although there were a lot less of those people who were publically identifying themselves as such since word had gotten out about his confession. Realistically, Roberts knew that the best that could be hoped for was for them to dodge the death penalty and maybe a reduction in the life sentence if they got really lucky. Gibbs wasn't just going to walk away free.
Bud still hadn't decided if it was a good or bad thing that the judge, Colonel Myers, was a Marine. Would he be sympathetic to a fellow Marine who'd lost his family during Desert Storm where he'd been injured? Would the judge have higher expectations of Marines because he was one himself? If he was disposed to be lenient under normal circumstances, would the current political brouhaha force him to be tougher? If so, would he then swing too far to the other extreme of gung-ho because he was concerned about appearing to favor a fellow Marine, even if the reality was that he was judging the case purely on its merits? The judge advocate wondered for probably the hundredth time if a judge from the Navy would have had less problematic to getting a fair trial for his client.
Whatever the answers to those multiple and imponderable 'what ifs', it was too late now – the dye had been cast. He was sick with anticipation as he waited and he glanced over at Gibbs, wondering how he was doing, since it was obviously much harder on him. The gunnery sergeant was stony faced and felt rock steady, but then he'd been stoic and unreadable for pretty much of the case. Not that Gibbs had ever exactly been the life of the party type of guy in all the time Bud had worked with him, but in the past he did show emotion. A lot of emotion actually – albeit mostly anger, aggravation, and antagonism and, while the JAG lawyer was glad he kept those less than attractive emotions well under control during the court martial, he'd feel a bit more comfortable around him if Gibbs had at least shown more of an emotional reaction in private than a robot.
Still, Bud figured that he must be experiencing some emotions even if it was just remorse that he screwed up so badly. At least he hoped that the former gunny was feeling some remorse, because otherwise, that would make him essentially a sociopath. But then he would surely never have come forward to confess when he killed the wrong target, would he?
~oO0Oo~
Colonel Myers picked up his notes, shuffling a couple to make sure that they were all neatly aligned before he started. The man was well known as being anal retentive – even going so far as to measure that his desk was situated equidistant from both the window and door in his office. When he had things to his liking, he cleared his throat before beginning to speak, addressing his remarks to the defendant, USMC Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The gunny had been reactivated as a Marine in order for the Marine Corps to be able to be court martialled rather than deal with it in a civilian trial, which would have been vastly more complicated all round. The powers that be had all agreed that since he committed the crime while he was still enlisted in the Corps and he had remained a reservist for many years, that he should face a military court.
"Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you have pled guilty to the premeditated murder of a Mexican National, a Pedro Hernandez in June 1991 in Mexico City. That is not in dispute. What I'm required to rule upon are those issues presented by your defence that may have impacted upon why you carried out those actions which may cause the court to grant you leniency for your crime, as reflected in the sentence which I impose upon you. As I see a large number of civilians seated in the court today, I'd like to take a few minutes to read aloud the relevant article of the Uniform Military Code of Justice under which you are being prosecuted before I proceed to deliver your sentence."
Picking up a piece of paper, Cranston began to read.
"918. ARTICLE. 118. MURDER
Any person subject to this chapter whom without justification or excuse, unlawfully kills a human being, when he- -
(1) has a premeditated design to kill;
(2) intends to kill or inflict great bodily harm;
(3) is engaged in an act which is inherently dangerous to others and evinces a wanton disregard of human life; or
(4) is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of burglary, sodomy, rape, robbery, or aggravated arson;
is guilty of murder, and shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial may direct, except that if found guilty under clause (1) or (4), he shall suffer death or imprisonment for life as a court-martial may direct."
Looking out over the crowded room at the tense mix of interested parties, Gibbs' supporters and detractors, media types, people who'd testified, representatives of the Mexican government, Hernandez' children, and inevitably the bureaucrats, the colonel breathed deeply before continuing.
"Since it was already established that clause (1) applies in relation to this crime and that the killing was, in fact, unlawful, then in order to sentence you to anything but the death penalty or life imprisonment, there needs to be sufficient evidence that you had justification or a good reason for taking a life.
"I'm not a medical expert, however, I find the preponderance of evidence presented by your defence team to be a very compelling and for the most part convincing. I find there to be mitigating factors and, while I can understand that you were understandably distraught over the deaths of your wife and daughter, grief of itself cannot ever be a valid excuse to take the law into your own hands and become judge, jury, and executioner. That said, however, when taking into consideration being out of your mind with grief, combined with an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury, and manipulated into avenging your family's death by a federal agent who had no such excuses, I feel there is scope for considering mitigating factors in my sentencing of you for this terrible crime.
"Not that it negates the seriousness of the crime for a moment, but it does mean that there are others who should also be held responsible for their actions, individuals who, unlike yourself, have no such extenuation to fall back on. Indeed, as law enforcement officers at the time of the crime, if anything, they should be held to a higher standard of conduct and it is most unfortunate that the man who perhaps has the most serious case to answer is no longer alive so cannot be held to account for his actions."
Myers paused and looked around the courtroom again as everyone hung off his every word, except the defendant, who looked about as animated as a lump of rough-hewed granite. Taking a deep breath, he resumed.
"The fact that while serving in Kuwait you suffered an injury leading to a 19-day coma and a potentially undiagnosed traumatic brain injury seems to be incontrovertible, based upon the weight of evidence I have heard. I am persuaded that while it was not serious enough to be easily diagnosable, it was nevertheless significant enough to radically alter your behavior and cognitive functioning. I may not be a doctor with expertise in closed head injuries or neurology, but I do know Marines, Gunnery Sergeant, and I know that the Marine that you were, based on your service records and listening to the testimony of your fellow Marines, would never have placed the people you are responsible for into mortal danger without very good cause. The fact that you have done just that as a federal agent on far too many occasions is perhaps the most compelling evidence to my mind that you have a significant cognitive impairment.
"A Marine would never allow someone serving under them to go up in a plane who wasn't properly qualified to jump, let alone dragging them on a night training exercise unless he was in tandem with a qualified jumper, except under the direst of circumstance. Having to wait 24 hours for evidence to be processed doesn't come anywhere near justification to do so. Or let's talk about you putting a civilian in jeopardy because you refused to follow procedure and went off half cocked, willfully withholding information from NCIS which could have saved the civilian's life without her ending up drowning in a submerged car. The fact she ultimately survived was no thanks to you or your precipitous actions and frankly," he observed looking at the woman in question who'd come to support Gibbs, "it's not the actions of good Marine. Nor are they the actions of a good federal agent either. You let her down, you let yourself down, and you let down the Marine Corps and NCIS.
"While it isn't within the scope of this hearing, I still feel impelled to comment on the fact that this impetuous and self-indulgent behavior was not the actions of a well-trained Marine, they definitely weren't NCIS SOP either, and yet no one at the agency ever took you to task in any way for your outrageous conduct. At least as far as I can see. In fact, literally within weeks of nearly killing the civilian, Ms. Madeleine Tyler, you were awarded with the Navy's prestigious award for excellence - the Meritorious Civilian Service Award. The conferring of which I have to say after your endangering of a civilian surely begs the question 'who is really running the asylum'. Maybe it goes some way to explaining why no one ever noticed your obvious cognitive impairment and personality changes, which are blatantly incompatible with your previous military record.
"Having gotten that off my chest," Colonel Myers declared sententiously, "on an associated topic, although not directly related to the issues of mitigation or sentences imposed on the defendant, I have also been asked by SecNav to submit a report along with my recommendations about how to try to prevent this happening again. Considering the amount of interest and concern that this case has generated, as reflected by the cross section of people who are here in the courtroom, I feel that although somewhat unorthodox, it is nonetheless appropriate to address a few remarks to this situation, here and now.
"There would seem to be systemic failures to observe procedures, rules, and regulations by the agency's personnel, perhaps an indication how NIS Special Agent Michael Franks felt it was acceptable behavior to recruit a fellow Marine - a victim of a heinous crime who had suffered a terrible loss. Someone who was prostrate with grief - to carry out an assassination because he was unable to arrest the man who killed a witness to the murder of a Marine, the witness's young daughter, and his agent. It seems there are endemic and systemic failures within the very organization supposed to protect Navy and Marine personnel and their families, not incite victims to commit capital crimes when they are not in control of their faculties."
The Marine colonel looked out sternly across the room, knowing that certain groups would prefer that this be dealt with behind closed doors but, knowing if that happened, it might well get swept under the rug, and that would be a travesty.
"As a proud member of the USMC, I find it shameful that the three people who are responsible for this terrible crime are Marines as well. The fact that the man guilty of orchestrating the assassination is dead is very cold comfort – for me and I'm sure for Pedro Hernandez' children too. Nor is the fact that a Marine lieutenant in the Military Police was pressured into covering up the crime because of your terrible loss, who endured great mental and emotional anguish in opting to become an accessory, albeit after the fact, to murder, goes any way towards making up for her own misconduct. While I accept the testimony of Dr. Nathaniel Getz, NCIS operational psychologist, that Special Agent Macy was terribly conflicted over her actions, the fact remains that she had credible evidence of Gibbs' guilt and chose to bury it and close the investigation. That three Marines, three federal agents of the one agency seem to think that it is acceptable for them to flout the law for personal reasons is deeply concerning to me.
"My recommendation to SecNav regarding NCIS in light of these matters will be that there needs to be a comprehensive investigation into the whole agency, it governance, culture, procedures, rules and regulations, and investigative oversight and review processes. The organization needs a huge spotlight shined on it so that everything that is rotten can be rooted out and dealt with. Stakeholders and the public alike need to have confidence in NCIS and the revelations from this case, including its failure to rein in its agents who are cowboys that refuse to play by the rules, make that extremely problematic."
The Marine eyeballed several bureaucrats in his court room. "Specific recommendations arising from this include that charges should be filed against individuals who didn't exercise due diligence in vetting Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs prior to hiring him or ignoring the fact that he was obviously compromised. Questions need to be asked about how former special agent Gibbs was able to avoid taking a polygraph test not jest when he was hired but somehow escaped a mandatory annual test for the entire time he was employed by them.
Failures which have now led to a perception of impropriety that is going to be costly for everyone involved. It has potential to call into question every single case and conviction that was obtained by Gibbs during his tenure, since it is clear that there were no checks upon his behavior by his superiors in the agency when he failed to act appropriately. In fact, I think that particular attention should also be paid to cases that involved Special Agent Michael Franks and Special Agent Gibbs, as my fear is that we may uncover evidence of a Star Chamber functioning when they were both working together."
Colonel Myers put down his file on his recommendations for SecNav and tidied up his notes on his sentencing decision. Seeing the closed off features of the accused, he resolved to hurry the proceedings along.
"However, when all is said and done, my task today is to rule on any possible mitigating factors before I sentence the defendant. After studying the evidence that has been presented, I find that there are mitigating factors, namely that Special Agent Michael Franks abused his position as a federal agent, that he ignored his oath to uphold the law and recruited Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs, who was not in his right mind due to grief and concurrently suffering from an undiagnosed closed head injury. The combination of grief and TBI created a vulnerability which caused you to act impulsively and unlawfully, Gunnery Sergeant, at a time when you should have been able to trust the NIS agent to protect your interests. I extend to you my condolences for your terrible loss. The loss you had suffered made you a victim and, the fact is that NIS/NCIS is supposed to support Navy and Marines personnel and their families, not exploit them for their own base needs.
"Unfortunately, while they are mitigating factors, it does not absolve Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs of responsibility for his actions which were premeditated to take a life – a purely innocent life as it turns out, because Pedro Hernandez was deprived of the most basic of rights – to defend himself and prove his innocence, unlike yourself, Gunnery Sergeant. I am, however, convinced that your defence has submitted evidence of sufficient quality and quantity to fulfill the requirement that allows me to commute the death penalty. I'm also going to commute the mandatory life sentence to one that will incarcerate you for a period of no less than 14 years for the murder of Pedro Hernandez... "
An Eye for an Eye
…Commander Roberts knew there'd be supplementary penalties imposed, possibly loss of his client's military and NCIS pensions, stripping of medals, and dishonorable discharge but, right at this moment, all he could think about was that his mitigation strategy had prevented Gibbs from facing death by lethal injection. Not only that, but he'd managed to cut the life sentence effectively in half and, considering the amount of political fallout from this case, that was no mean feat. Bud could hardly contain the surge of adrenaline that coursed through his body at his relief in dodging the death penalty and he had to fight not to fall back into his seat in relief.
Although looking at Dr. Sciuto's expression of horror at the announcement of Gibbs' 14 years' imprisonment, she didn't seem to share his sense of unadulterated relief. Surely, she must have realized that he was never going to walk out of here a free man. He confessed to cold blooded murder and was always going to be sent to prison, but at least now he had a chance to get out one day and still have some quality years after serving his time. It was a helluva lot more than Hernandez and his family had to look forward to either. His kids had become embittered and entrenched within the cartel – perhaps if they'd grown up with a father, they might have gone on to become doctors or engineers or social workers instead of hardened criminals. There was no way to know for sure, but they sure looked pissed off by the sentence, and Bud could understand that.
So, Bud was going to celebrate the victory they'd worked so hard to achieve and head home to his beautiful wife and children and hug them tight. He intended to make sure that they knew how fortunate they were to have each other and, if he took nothing else away from this case, it would be - not to take that for granted.
~o0O0o~
Jethro listened to the verdict, feeling detached from the whole drama that had played out in the courtroom. Celestial Dave sure had nailed it on his last visit to the basement when he told him that there were worse things than having people think he was weak just because he apologized in public. Like having his life dissected and every action and thought laid bare for judgment by a bunch of strangers. For someone who was as obsessively private as Gibbs, the whole court martial, especially the mitigation plea, had been nothing short of sheer unadulterated torture. And not just with revealing all his most personal of details either, but the analysis of what seemed like every damned single professional decision he'd made, calling into question his judgment. That was agony.
He really didn't feel any particular emotion now the sentence had been handed down. Initially, when he'd discovered he'd killed the wrong Pedro Hernandez, he'd been full of rage to think that that monster had been alive these past two decades and probably living the high life, but a tiny part of him not consumed with hatred and rage was horrified that he'd killed an innocent man with children. Not an honest man, maybe not even a good man since he was still a part of the Reynosa Cartel, albeit a minor player, but he hadn't killed Jethro's family and he didn't deserve to die for it. And that was why he'd decided to come forward and confess to killing him, knowing full well that there was no statute of limitations on murder and that he would most likely be charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to the death penalty.
Gibbs was so consumed with his anger, his guilt, that he'd failed to avenge his girls and that he'd kept them bound to him all these years with his grief and overpowering love only to discover he'd been unworthy of them all these years. When Celestial Dave had informed him that he'd stopped Kelly and Shannon moving on, a part of him had been horrified, but there had been a voice inside him that told him it was because the love they had for each other was purer and stronger than everyone else. That no one else could possibly understand how it felt to lose such a perfect love. Surely, such a sublime love as his for his girls should be nurtured and protected, not destroyed as Celestial Dave had wanted. Aside from which, he didn't want his family to move on without him – at least this way they were still apart of each other's lives.
When he first realized he killed the wrong Pedro Hernandez, he felt as if he wasn't worthy enough for a love that was so special, so sacred. It was then he finally realized that he'd never had any intention of working through his grief and setting Shannon and Kelly free, despite what he declared. Searching for DiNozzo had always been an excuse, amply proven by his woeful failure to apologize like he maintained he needed to at the earliest opportunity. But then he decided to confess to killing the wrong man, because something told him that unless he made good on his mistake, that he wasn't likely to be welcomed through the pearly gates. Which meant that unless he could earn forgiveness and redemption, the reunion that had been his ultimate goal was never going to be.
Gibbs had at various points in his life come close to ending it – most memorably after he'd killed Pedro Hernandez – it was like once he had avenged his family, he had no purpose, no reason to fight through the unbearable pain. To this day, he wasn't sure why that day at the beach he didn't pull the trigger, except that his gut told him that Kelly and Shannon had stopped him. In the privacy of his basement on the major anniversaries and birthdays, chock full of bourbon and melancholia, no one knew how close he came or how often he contemplated eating his gun. God knows his attempts to drink himself to death had never amounted to much, despite his best efforts.
Then there were the times that he was just rather casual with his safety, especially when he went off on his own. DiNozzo called it his lone wolf stunts, and it had driven his second to distraction as he often had to pull his ass out of the fire. Then there had been that near death experience where he'd drowned and so had Kelly's best friend, Maddie, but he'd tried very hard to put that detail out of his mind. While he was dead, he felt overwhelming happiness that his struggles to subsist without his girls were finally over and done with and he'd be reunited with them, until his little princess came to him. She stopped him, telling him he had to go back – at the time he thought she was telling him that he still had people to help, and that pissed him off. Hadn't he already suffered enough? Hadn't he already helped enough people as a Marine and then as a special agent?
Having her turn up and turn him back had been such a shock; he expected her to fly into his arms. It had been enough to stop him in his tracks and let DiNozzo's resuscitation efforts pull him back into his body. He'd always held somewhat of a grudge against him for saving his life, but if Celestial Dave, his former XO, was to be believed, not only had he saved Gibbs' life and Maddie Tyler's, too, but prevented Shan and Kelly from spending eternity in a netherworld that his anger, pain, and loss had created, trapped and unable to move on. Normally, he would have scoffed at such woo-who, touchy feely new age shit, but that was before his very own celestial pain in the butt started dropping by unannounced and unwelcome. Plus, there was his experience with his daughter, and he was no longer willing to brush it aside as superstitious mumbo-jumbo.
Having been warned already by Dave that topping himself wouldn't free his girls from the dimension he'd created for them had been enough to halt him in his tracks when DiNozzo killed Ziva. Especially after he'd learnt that the whole killing Ari had been a cynical ploy by Eli fucking David to make him care about her and let her on his team. The maelstrom of emotions unleashed after that revelation had nearly pushed him over the edge, and it was only that his gut telling him that what Dave had told him was true that prevented him eating his gun. After all, he was aware of the strength of his emotions – having used them to bludgeon his way through life since his return from Kuwait in 1991. It was rare that anyone was prepared to risk invoking his formidable anger, usually submitting to his wants or simply getting out of his way, so he could at some level accept that his emotions could have created an impenetrable sanctuary for his girls.
So, while on one hand he'd welcomed the fact that he was facing the death penalty after his confession, he doubted that he would have time to let go of his family and knock down the prison his pain had created. .He was pretty sure that it was damned near impenetrable after twenty years of shoring it up night after night alone in his basement and like his boat he didn't do anything by halves. The fear that he might condemn them to an eternity spent in a prison of his making was why he agreed, albeit grudgingly, that Roberts could argue mitigating factors to try to save him from the death penalty.
Saving his girls was the only thing that could induce him to toss Mike Franks under the bus - even if he was dead - but he figured that Mike would understand. After all, he'd screwed up, not knowing that there were two Pedro Hernandezes which, as Roberts had pointed out, was bad investigating. Especially since Pedro was an extremely common name in Mexico as was Hernandez. And finally, while he owed Mike Franks, his obligation to him paled in comparison to what he owed his wife and child - they would always come first - it was a no brainer.
So, when he heard the verdict read out, he'd been mostly numb. He would really prefer to die than spend years in prison, but he'd failed his family when he wasn't there to protect them, and again when he killed the wrong man and let their murders go unavenged, and finally when he prevented them from moving on with their lives because he couldn't let go of them and move on with his. It was time to put them first and make amends for all he'd put them through. So, he felt relieved that he would have a chance to make things right and he was also grateful that he wouldn't have to spend his sentence in a civilian prison.
But aside from that, all he felt was numb. He hadn't even registered that the life sentence had been commuted to fourteen years.
~o0OO0o~
Ducky sighed, both saddened that Gibbs was going to be going to prison for such a long time, but relieved that his old friend had at least escaped a lethal injection for his sins. Commander Roberts had done an upstanding job arguing mitigation, which had certainly saved Jethro's backside. He'd argued eloquently and persuasively on his behalf, and Ducky was shocked to his medico's core by the argument that Gibbs had suffered a TBI during Desert Storm. He reluctantly admitted to himself that the case had been utterly compelling and very, very persuasive.
Reluctant because with post graduate training in forensic psychology as well as his medical and forensic training, he really should have made the connection himself. Granted, he didn't know Jethro when he was in the Marine Corps. Still there were enough anomalies between what he knew were truisms when it came to highly trained Marines and Special Agent Gibbs' lack of accountability and impetuosity, issues the Commander - a lawyer with no medical training, had identified and laid out for the court that he should have noticed. He really should.
Then there was the whole question of Jethro's second coma in May 2006 and subsequent retrograde amnesia, his four months in retirement and 'his storm the barricades' return. Yes officially he'd been on leave, although Gibbs didn't know it or anyone else, apart from Jenny Shepard. Questions should be asked about his return since he'd been allowed to come back return without a medical exam or psych evals, although he always shirked them, and didn't requalify with his gun, either. In hindsight, there'd been cases in the next couple of years that showed a decided lack of judgment that might have been picked up during requalification but he was allowed to circumvent the system. Mike Franks revenge spree, of which Anthony had been collateral damage was one such case, as was Jethro lying for Jenny Shepard when she executed Rene Benoit. How many others?
Missing out on the traumatic brain injury wasn't the only thing that the medical examiner felt uncomfortable about though. Listening to the commander's impassioned plea regarding Michael Frank's less than ethical behavior had triggered his own conscience. He remembered a conversation he'd shared with Director Shepard when they had first discovered the tragic demise of Jethro's family and his utter certainty that Gibbs would have extracted his own 'justice'. To his chagrin, he'd never seen Jethro or Franks' conduct as hypocritical or wrong, just a fait accompli and in keeping with the implacability of the man he considered a friend. He never stopped to think that he'd broken the law or that the man he killed had deserved a fair trial or that he had a right to the presumption of innocence.
In his own way, he was as guilty as Jethro and Franks were, except that he couldn't be tried for his attitude, even if he was supposed to uphold the law too. When did he start believing that someone should get a free pass to kill with impunity just because they happened to be a federal agent or a Marine? Ducky decided it was just as well he was retiring. He had betrayed his sworn oath as a medical examiner and his duty - even if it was only turning a blind eye to what he knew must have taken place. He feared it meant he wasn't worthy of the trust inherent in holding the office of NCIS Medical Examiner.
Glancing at the man on his left with the frozen, stoic expression on his weathered face that was so familiar to him, Ducky watched as Jethro's father offered comfort to a distraught woman next to him. Abigail Sciuto looked as if she was on the point of collapse as she cried on Jackson Gibbs' shoulder, and Ducky felt great sympathy for Jackson, who must be dying a thousand deaths for his child, his only living relative. While he must be relieved that Jethro dodged the death penalty, he surely would be crushed at the 14-year sentence that almost guaranteed that they had spent their last days together. So many years lost when they were estranged, and now it was too late to make up for lost time. Ducky knew Jethro and he'd already begun walling himself off from them all, and he was pretty sure that he would rebuff Jackson Gibbs' attempts to visit with him at the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he would serve out his sentence. Such a tragic waste!
He watched the man who reminded him so much of his son, with his stubborn stoicism although he was certainly no functional mute, even if the tenacity and doggedness was just like Jethro, trying to keep it together. They were too much alike so no wonder the pair clashed so much when Jethro was a lad, but one thing was clear to Ducky. Jackson certainly had Jethro's knack for wrangling Abigail since she had responded to him in a way that she hadn't reacted to anyone else. The girl had been beside herself, insisting it was a terrible mistake initially and then later, demanding to all and sundry that the charges should be dropped because of all the good Gibbs had done as a Marine and a special agent.
Ducky sighed. He could see many dark days ahead for their little family as the reality of Gibbs' actions two decades ago came home to roost. It would either tear them asunder or bond them together even more strongly, and only time would tell which of those alternatives came to pass. Vowing to be there for them all, even the stubborn son of a gun himself, no matter what, he slowly rose to his feet, feeling much older than his years as he made his way out of the courtroom.
~o0O0o~
McGee watched as Gibbs was led away after the sentencing. He still was having difficulty wrapping his head around the fact that the man he'd worked with for seven years, looked up to, respected more than his own father, had been living a lie the whole time he'd been on the MCRT. How could Gibbs deal with locking up other people like himself for murdering someone in revenge for killing a loved one? How. Could. He!
Then he remembered the case that they worked on back in early in 2008 - the murder of Corporal Abdul Bakr by Steiger AKA The Recruiter. It had been a difficult case, not the least because of Corporal Bakr's father, Sunni Imam, Khalid Mohammad Bakr pleaded with them not to desecrate his son's body by conducting an autopsy. There'd been one hell of a bunfight between Director Shepard and Gibbs who had ordered Ducky carry it out regardless of his father's entreaty and the ME's downright refusal to perform it. Then to complicate matters further, it turned out that Corporal Bakr had been poisoned by The Recruiter and shot by another would-be killer after he'd expired due to the poisoning.
When they went to arrest Steiger, they were too late, he was already dead, and some Muslim prayer beads were found beside him. Ziva expressed the opinion that they belonged to Corporal Bakr and had been returned to his father. Gibbs had basically closed down the investigation at that point, obviously sympathizing with the grieving father, or perhaps he thought that Steiger, who was working for Al Qaeda, didn't deserve any justice. Tim wondered how many other times had the MCRT let killers go, and would any of it come back and bite them on the ass now?
McGee also brooded over the remarks about Mike Franks and Gibbs operating a Star Chamber during their partnership, and he thought guiltily about that case where the El Salvadorian gang LVM involved world-wide in drugs, gun running, and killers for hire had killed the two Marines, one of them turning up in a frozen pond with two of the LVM gang members. The Marines were caught up in a turf war between two rivals wanting to be head of the DC chapter. McGee recalled how Gibbs threatened Caesar Bernal saying he could send them to Gitmo, boasting that Ziva could manufacture evidence within 24 hours, linking them to Al Qaeda. How on leaving their HQ, Gibbs had then demanded that the gang members have intercepts placed on all their cell phones and other forms of communications so they could find Miguel Sosa, who disappeared about the same time as their missing Marine. He also ordered visible surveillance on the LVM and to pick up anyone sporting LVM tattoos.
When Tim objected that they didn't have probable cause to do so and wouldn't get warrants, Ziva and Gibbs had responded smugly that LVM had links to Al Qaeda. An accusation which was patently unfounded - just Ziva's empty threat to manufacture evidence, but his objection had been rapidly shut down by Gibbs on a tear, desperate to make someone pay for killing two Marines. When they hadn't been able to charge anyone despite their very questionable methods of investigating the LVM, which had determined that Caesar Bernal had killed the Marines, Miguel Sosa, and his henchman and was running the show by pretending to receive texts from Sosa, Gibbs was pissed that they couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Maybe because of their questionable methods and Gibbs insistence they find an immediate result.
So, Gibbs shared their findings about Miguel Sosa's murder with the other LVM gangbangers, knowing full well that they'd extract their own retribution for the death of their leader. Within hours of releasing Bernal due to lack of evidence, he turned up dead in a dumpster. Director Shepard had turned a blind eye to all the illegalities that went on during that investigation, let Gibbs do whatever the hell he wanted on that case and, Tim had to admit, that the judge's comments about Star Chambers was uncomfortably close to home.
Tim also remembered the advice that Gibbs had given him at the end of that traumatic case when he was a probie, involving a witness to the murder of a sailor. Erin Kendall was a MIT graduate... like he was, and he'd gotten emotionally involved with the pretty female who worked at the Department of Defence and had seen a sailor being strangled in the window of the apartment block across the road. She was killed while he was on the phone with her during a stakeout of the murder scene and, despite being practically on the spot, he hadn't been able to save her. So, when he realized that her murderer was the building supervisor of the building where the dead sailor lived, he'd chased him out into the road. The killer got hit by a car and after Tim got there and restrained him pinning him to the ground with his knee and he pointed his gun in the guy's face - he was so angry in that instant he wanted to kill the bastard. Gibbs had yelled at him that if he wanted to kill the dirt bag, he should have done it while he was still running.
At the time he thought Gibbs had been joking, a really politically incorrect and clumsy joke, like the time he'd told Tony he was irreplaceable then told him that he couldn't have Tony's desk because he was still alive. He'd figured he was trying to diffuse his fury, but now... McGee wasn't so sure. Maybe he had really been offering advice that was based upon personal experience, and wasn't that the kicker about all of this crap... he'd always wondered about things that he'd assumed had been innocent or coincidental - seeing them in a totally different light, sinister, but never knew for sure. Not like he'd ever dare to ask Gibbs about it either and well... the truth was he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the truth.
He was glad that Gibbs wasn't going to die by lethal injection, but his estimation of the man who he'd based his main character - his L.J. Tibbs books upon, had definitely slipped badly since the revelations about Pedro Hernandez had surfaced. He wasn't sure what he'd say to the man that he credited with making him the agent he was today – the man he was today if he had the opportunity. In fact, now that it was all over, he felt like he might lose his lunch so he hurried outside, hoping to avoid everyone else since he didn't know what to say to them either - especially Abby. He needed to process all this information in solitude, at least for a while.
Fourteen years!
~o0O0o~
Abby Sciuto couldn't believe it. Fourteen years! How could the judge do that to the bossman? Commander Roberts had explained it to the judge - Gibbs wasn't thinking clearly, he'd been injured and overwhelmed with grief for Kelly and Shannon. Why didn't the judge get it? He was a highly decorated Marine and federal agent. How could they lock him up like he was some sort of criminal?
Okay, so he'd made a terrible mistake, but he wasn't a criminal. He dedicated his career to fighting for victims and put countless criminals behind bars during his tenure as the lead agent of the major case response team. It wasn't fair!
Everyone has warned her that Gibbs was facing the death penalty for premeditated murder, but she'd scoffed. This was Gibbs and everyone knew he was superhuman. He had super sensory perceptions and she was convinced that when the judge heard about how special he was, he'd understand that he made a mistaken, albeit a very tragic one, and let him off. There was no way he could sentence him to prison, let alone kill him for killing who he thought was responsible for murdering his family.
As her Silver Fox was led away from them for the next 14 years, Abby let out a howl of anguish, trying to ignore Alejandro and Paloma, Pedro Hernadez' children, who had come to DC hear the sentence imposed on Gibbs. She was sorry they grew up without their father, but he was working for the drug cartel, even if he hadn't killed Kelly and Shannon - he was still scum. Abby had also investigated his children after she learnt of their existence. Alejandro Rivera had taken his mother's maiden name and was a bureaucrat in the government, although there were vague rumors - unconfirmed - that he was still had links to the cartel. Paloma was up to her neck in the family business, though, working her way up the ladder, and was said to be a sociopath, pure and simple.
They couldn't hold a candle to the bossman. It was just so unfair! And that idiot judge - was going to take back the medals Gibbs had been awarded and give him a dishonorable discharge too - it wasn't right. She clung desperately to Jackson Gibbs as she broke down, shedding copious heartfelt tears at the thought that Gibbs was going to spend the next fourteen years locked away in Kansas. That was a lifetime and universe away.
~o0O0o~
Jimmy Palmer considered Ducky sitting on one side of him, looking world weary, old, and well... just plain defeated, and on his right hand side, DiNozzo, his face a mask. Then again, Tony was a heck of an undercover operative, so he wasn't surprised he wasn't revealing his thoughts and feelings. Hell, Jimmy didn't even know if he could identify his own emotions, so why should he expect Tony to wear his own emotions on his sleeve for the whole world to see?
As Gibbs had been led away after the judge delivered his sentence, he'd turned and surveyed the people who attended, searching for his supporters, but Jimmy couldn't make eye contact with the man. Boy, what a schmuck little Jimmy Palmer, autopsy assistant to Dr. Mallard, had been. He'd believed in Gibbs and Ziva and the rest of the team. Believed they were fighting for justice for victims and their families. Justice - not someone delivering their own style of vengeance based on eye for an eye type of righteousness. More fool him!
Apart from feeling oh so foolish to have placed such naïve trust in the people he worked with for five years, he was just so disappointed in Gibbs for pretending all these years to believe in the judicial and law enforcement systems. He'd taken an oath to uphold the law that he obviously hadn't believed in. Jimmy wasn't sure what bothered him the most - killing in cold blood for revenge or then cynically swearing an oath to uphold the laws he clearly had no respect for. Was that the real reason why he developed his own rules to use as a special agent? Because he didn't believe in the system - although maybe not since he was also guilty of breaking his own rules too, whenever it was expedient or just too damned difficult to keep them all.
Jimmy knew that when he reached his twilight years, when he looked back at the occasions that shaped his future, it would consist of life changing events such as the absence of his father, the cowardly slaying of Uncle Liam when he was a teen, and the breakdown of his veterinarian mentor, Dr. Sutton, which had all shaped what sort of idealistic young man he became. But what had driven away his wide-eyed innocence and shaken his belief in altruism to the core would be all down to Ziva David's psychotic desire for revenge and finding out that Gibbs had betrayed everything that Jimmy thought the man stood for. How could he have kept up such a huge façade for so long?
Jimmy wasn't sure yet exactly how deeply it would affect him in years to come, but he already knew that it had shaken his trust in people who were supposed to be stand between the bag guys and the innocent, the guileless, and the helpless. He doubted he would ever take anyone on faith anymore, especially those people in positions of trust and authority and he wondered, looking over at Tony, if it was how he felt too.
Palmer knew DiNozzo didn't give his trust to people very easily, always expecting that they would let him down. So, he wondered about how badly this situation was going to impact on his friend, who seemed to be closed off and unreachable. He noticed that the blonde beside him, Ruby James, had slipped her hand inside his and was offering him silent support. He wondered if Ruby was finally going to be the one to get Tony to the altar, since they seemed to genuinely care for one another.
He hoped that his friend would find happiness, although he still wished he'd reconsider his decision to move halfway across the country. Perhaps it was Ruby that was the attraction in LA; Jimmy had to admit that the curvaceous blonde was very attractive and she was certainly giving him a lot a support, which he knew Tony appreciated, even if he couldn't verbally express it right now.
Gibbs had been more than just Tony's boss for the eight years that the two had worked together. He'd been Tony's mentor, they'd been partners early on in their history, teammates, friends, and he was pretty sure that Tony had considered him family, which was why his betrayals, jibes, and various put downs had hurt DiNozzo so badly over the years. Jimmy knew he was really struggling to cope with the court martial and the revelations about Gibbs' revenge two decades ago, even if he didn't discuss it - choosing to hold it all in, like he always did. It was DiNozzo's way - not a healthy way to deal but, then again, he hadn't exactly had good role models in his father and Gibbs.
Jimmy was more of a nervous blabber. When something was troubling him, he was incapable of bottling it up, but he also had a really bad habit of blurting stuff out at really inopportune moments. Of course, as a doctor dealing with real life patients, he'd learnt to control that tendency professionally, but this was different. This hit him way below the belt, setting off all his hot buttons, and he doubted if he could repress everything the way Tony did. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to, quite frankly. As an ER doc, he didn't have a lot in common with the prima donnas of the medical world - the surgeons, but their maxim 'better out than in', was something that Jimmy agreed had some merit in this situation. He suppressed the irreverent DiNozzo-esque notion that it was probably also the motto of the local chapter of Flashers Anonymous, and turned his attention to his own mentor.
Ducky was looking as if he was a prime candidate for a cardiac infarct - his color was bad, almost gray. Dr. Palmer really didn't think he should be alone tonight and wondered if he'd agree to stay with him - at least overnight until the initial shock had worn off. Even though they all knew that Gibbs wasn't going to just be walking away from the court martial a free man and they'd all feared the worst - that he might be sentenced to death - somehow the reality and, yes, the finality of it all was only now hitting home.
Ducky had been Gibbs' friend for a lot of years and he knew he was distressed by these revelations, probably blaming himself for never picking up on the TBI. Then again, no one else had either, and now there was going to be plenty of time for recriminations, second guessing, and guilt trips as it sunk in that Gibbs had been sentenced to 14 years to be served at the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.
Gibbs was now a convicted murderer - a cold blooded killer - had been when Jimmy had worked with him. Everything about him had been based on a lie and there was no getting away from that now.
~o0O0o~
Ruby James reach out and slipped her hand into Tony's much larger one, squeezing it supportively as the judge delivered his decision. Even though he was presenting a mask to the world, she seemed to know that he was holding onto his emotions by the merest of threads and he was glad that she was the one to be here offering up support during Gibbs' court martial. Truth to tell, Tony felt so confused - he was angry with Gibbs, disappointed and disgusted. He was also terrified that he was going to be giving a lethal injection even if on some level his crime warranted it.
Still, at the end of the day, he was Gibbs - the man had been the most important person in Tony's life for a significant period of time. He'd spent as many years with him as he had with his mother - no, probably a lot longer because his mother was 'indisposed' for much of those eight years of his childhood, and for the years he worked with Gibbs, they didn't exactly work nine to five Monday to Friday. There were days he didn't get home to his apartment because they had a hot case or a stakeout.
He had spent twice as long with Gibbs as he had at OSU and, even if he'd made some great friends, had some good frat brothers who he still kept in touch with, they all had their own lives - had for a long time. And his football and basketball coaches had only been interested in him for as long as he could win games for him. Once Pitt broke his leg in the Buckeyes vs. Wolverines game, they'd soon lost interest in a has-been team member. While his sojourns at various police departments and squads had been so numerous that he never really put down any roots, he'd thought that he'd found a real friend when he scored Detective Danny Price as his partner on the homicide squad, but that was before he found out he was a dirty cop, which was also when he ran into Gibbs - literally- for the first time.
So, while a part of him felt like he didn't really know Gibbs at all and their whole time together had been nothing but an enormous lie, another part of the former cop was incandescent with anger with that poor apology for a federal agent and Marine – Mike fucking Franks! Guess that explained why when Franks attacked him, there was no comeback. Or why Arkady Kobach's highly suspicious death was written off as self-defence. Not to mention why Gibbs turned a blind eye to the illegal trafficking of Mike's Iraqi granddaughter and her mother, smuggled across two borders.
Did Franks also kill his son's killers and Gibbs cover up the crime for him? At the time, it looked as if it was a case of dishonor amongst thieves, but Gibbs had the forensic wherewithal to set up the crime scene to cover for Mike. After all, he was off on his own quite a bit during that case so he had means, motive, and opportunity and even if in that instance, Franks wasn't guilty - now that Tony knew how far the two men were prepared to go to get revenge, he couldn't help doubting them.
And not just Gibbs and Franks but Jen Shepard too. She was director, she had access to his file – had to suspect, even if she didn't know for certain about Gibbs. After all, how had he managed to avoid ever having a polygraph test in all his years with NCIS unless he had someone pulling strings? Then there was the whole business of her allowing him to come back from his 'sabbatical' without having to requalify. Had she waived it because she knew he wasn't fit for duty and thought he was less likely to interfere with her private war if he was operating below par. After all the old Gibbs pre getting blown up wouldn't have let him run around doing stuff for the director without finding out what he was up to? And then when she shot Benoit, the boss gave her a false alibi concerning her gun.
So why did he do it? Was it quid quo pro because she let him come back, no questions asked and without requalifying, Tony asked himself cynically? Everything he knew had been tainted.
Even how he'd come to be working for Gibbs was suddenly suspect because everything that he thought he knew he was doubting now. He remembered his meeting with Gibbs when they ended up working together and that he'd hired him after they discovered Danny's corruption. Feeling suddenly ill, Tony recalled that the offer to join Gibbs team hadn't come until after Tony had confessed to Gibbs that he'd decided to leave the Baltimore PD instead of reporting his partner to IA.
Was it this particular quality what attracted Gibbs to him and wanted him on the MCRT? Not his investigative skills or undercover abilities, but that Gibbs thought he'd look the other way when he decided to break the law. And let's face it, he hadn't ever reported Gibbs for all the times he skirted the law or smashed on through it. Hell, he didn't even report Gibbs to HR for his head slaps that were against DoD guidelines, and he'd told him off for the first time he'd done it when he was still a cop.
Maybe he wasn't the only one, either. Gibbs didn't seem to be all that interested in Cate when they worked with her, not until after he discovered that she had broken the Secret Service's fraternization rules and had an illicit affair with the President's football carrier on Air Force One. She only resigned once the affair had been made public in the course of the investigation and her superiors became aware of her transgression, so maybe Gibbs figured she wasn't a stickler for rules and regulations.
Then there was Probie - while he was incapable of lying if his life depended upon it, give McGee a keyboard and a case and he merrily hacked into even the DMV when an orthodox police license check would suffice. When it came to cyber-crimes, the man had no scruples – he couldn't help himself. He didn't even think Tim considered he was breaking the law. Which left Ziva who a) hadn't really known US law and rules and regs and b) wouldn't have been bothered about following them even if she did.
A tremor ran through him as he tried not to breakdown from the turbulent emotions rampaging around inside him. He didn't need all these doubts, not when he was already feeling so brittle he felt that even the slightest extra pressure could result in him cracking up. So much had happened in the last six months – him killing Samuel Rivkin, Jannali's illness, both of which were catalysts for the whole fiasco in Israel. The guilt associated with Leon and Eli's assassination, and then there was Ducky and Abby's abduction. His resumption of his own identity again and finding Gus were obviously positive occurrences, but they were also fraught with emotional landmines too.
He was all tapped out and running on empty, even before this crap with Gibbs hit the radar, and he was so damned grateful for Ruby's presence beside him. All the guys had wanted to come back to DC with him for Gibbs' court martial but, after their extended trip to the Philippines and Australia, there was a backlog of dirt bags needing to be rounded up. So, he'd refused their offers to accompany him back to DC.
None of them had been happy at the thought of him coming back here alone and, when Ruby suggested she could go with him, he'd accepted her offer gratefully. Mike, Steve, Jack, and Jon had reluctantly agreed that Ruby could be spared more easily than they were and, although several other of the skip tracers employed by Mike offered to accompany him too, Ruby had been his first... actually his only choice. While he got on well with J.J. Jessop and Susanna Crawley, he never considered letting them support him at the court martial, not even for a second. J.J. was still looking at him with lovelorn eyes, even more since she learnt who he really was.
He recognized that look from other women over the years who'd figured out that he was wounded - and honestly, he couldn't argue with that assessment - and decided they could fix him. The problem was that they had no idea how messed up he actually was or that he couldn't be fix, not after all the shit that had occurred over the years. He had no intention of dumping his shit on some naïve female the way Senior had over the years, creating even more suffering.
Susanna wasn't the nurturing type, she was an adrenaline junkie who abseiled and went paragliding and scuba diving, and she suggested they could use the trip to fool around. He didn't want to encourage Jessop since she was too nice and he didn't want to lead her on and, although he'd gone out a couple of dates with Susanna when he first assumed Gus' identity several years ago, he wasn't in the mood for casual sex - especially now. But he felt comfortable with Rubes, as Mike had nicknamed the blonde skip tracer.
Ruby had been a good friend to him for a while now. When he helped out Mike's bail bond business, he often partnered up with Ruby - a former cop herself who'd worked for over a decade as a vice cop before having one close call too many. She'd been beaten while working undercover because a dirty cop she'd trusted implicitly sold her out, so she'd decided it was time to get out while she was still alive. Tony didn't feel like he had to pretend with her since she already understood the relationship between partners. If anyone really knew what it meant for him to find out about Gibbs murdering someone and being charged with capital murder with all the conflicting feelings it stirred up, it was going to be a fellow career cop like Ruby James.
After her resignation from the LAPD, Mike had recruited her almost immediately because of her intimate knowledge of many of the people who were his clients out of the Los Angeles office, and because her undercover skills often came in handy when moving around the streets tracking down clients who bailed on them. While Croc had an office manager to run the business and admin side of things, Ruby quickly became indispensable and was placed in charge of the operational side of the LA office. She often filled in at the San Diego and Las Vegas offices too when the need arose.
So, Tony had no qualms working with her or letting her be his support in DC, trusting her to have his back like he had hers. And as two ex-cops they got each other, spoke the same language. In Mike's vernacular, Ruby and him were mates, so he was glad that she was here with him. If anyone got what it meant for him to find out about Gibbs and have him facing a capital murder charge and all the conflicting feelings that stirred up, it was a fellow cop. Plus, call him a chauvinist (and Cate had all the time), but it just felt easier to accept her mother-henning him than when it was one the guys nagging him and watching him like a hawk. He got that he'd scared them badly when he took off to Israel, but he just hadn't see any other option. And it wasn't like he was going to go out and harm himself or anything.
To his surprise, he really didn't mind having Ruby sitting beside him during the court martial even when a lot of dirty linen got aired in public. Tony was glad she was there. She'd been nothing but understanding when the deception over his real identity came to light, moreover she'd already been to DC and already knew most of the players from last time. The former cop had the tick of approval of the ERS guys, who had barely let him out of their sight since they picked him up in Israel. They'd sent her off with a to-do list a mile long that they insisted she needed to watch, to have his back including a bunch of foods he needed to eat every day but, like a great partner, she didn't nag, just handed him food and told him to, "eat it, DiNozzo. No whining!"
He was just so freakin' confused about how to feel. Confused about Gibbs, about himself, about what he done with his life, what he should do in the future. He was just so tired!
As Ruby nudged him gently onto his feet, he realized the courtroom had emptied of most of the gawkers. Wrapping her arm around his waist, she guided him over to the others except for McGee who'd bolted for the exit earlier. Ruby march over to Abby and whispered something in her ear that resulted in the forensic scientist pulling herself together and Jackson looked mighty grateful. Ruby winked at him and he smiled weakly at her, glad that she was on his side.
End Notes:
So that marks the end of the main part of this story. The last two chapters of An Eye for an Eye Leaves Everyone Blind picks up eight years after Gibbs' court martial in a rather lengthy epilogue which are parts 1 & 2 since it is over 20 000 words in length. And yes that is one reason I split it in two but not the only one. I mentioned a few chapters ago that there would be more deaths occurring in the last part of this story and although that was before Eli and Leon died, it still applies until the end. Obviously, over the passage of so many years, it's unrealistic to expect that there wouldn't be death as it is an inevitable part of life.
The only person who I guaranteed didn't die was Tony. That still holds true but all other characters are fair game at this stage lol. All I'll say, spoiler wise, is that Tony gets a happy ending and he also gets some resolution, even if it isn't perfect. Life rarely is and if you've made it this far then you know I don't write fluffy, happily ever after endings just for the sake of keeping people happy. And to do it for this story that would be a total cop-out and after two years of working on it I would never do that.
A reviewer wondered where I was going with Gibbs confessing to murder so late in the piece while someone speculated that Tony was going to come riding to the rescue to save Gibbs' bacon like he always does. Apart from the fact that the story is about revenge and the misuse of power by law enforcement professionals, I have my reasons. I like to think that I always have my reasons but to find out you'll need to be prepared to take the sad with the happily ever after.
I've tried to tie up as many of the loose ends of the story as possible to this point without giving away the ending. That way people who don't want to read any further can stop right now, knowing that Tony is safe, that he is going back to the west coast with Mike and the guys. Eli David is dead and Tony won't have to keep looking over his shoulder all the time. Plus Jackie Vance didn't die.
So why am I telling you all this, I hear you ask? Well… because in the epilogue, a minor death and a fairly major one occurs. The minor one is alluded to as having taken place during the intervening years with the major one, the actual death, not taking place until part 2 of the epilogue but it is foreshadowed in part 1. So this end note is giving readers information so you can decide how to proceed.
Basically you have three options, 1) you can opt out now and know that Tony gets a happy ending in LA. 2) You can choose to read part 1 of the epilogue and find out what happens to many of the characters in the story eight years later. Plus you'll know who is going to die and can choose to stop reading at that point or 3) you can stick with the story right to the end and in that case you will need tissues, I'm not going to lie. The pay off is that most of the resolution and redemption occurs in part 2 of the epilogue. And yes, it takes place alongside some pretty powerful angst.
So I leave it up to you to decide where to stop reading, although I hope that you'll take the rest of the trek with me having made it this far. I think the destination will be worth it.
If you've decide to stop reading at this point then thank-you for taking this journey with me. I never envisaged it would be such a long one and yet I am proud of this story. I would also like to thank people who have supported me along the way, especially Arress who has been my beta and sounding board and Frakkin Toasters who has read the latter half of the story and given valuable feedback along with the readers who wave left me reviews and assistance.