Judgement Day
Connected to this.
Gibbs was antsy. Tony and Ziva’s phone calls and Jenny ditching them distracted him from the paperwork he’d been ignoring. Vance’s disappearing only added to the gnawing in his stomach. Gibbs didn’t believe in coincidences.
Since he learned of Will’s death, his mind has been stuck in Paris, going over each and every moment, including every step and mis-step with Jenny in France. He regretted nothing and everything. Jenny had made the first move in Marseilles but he’d acted on it. While he’d never faked his feelings for her, yet he’d also in many ways, led her on. Especially when she’d resurfaced in DC. His flirting had been symptomatic of the problems they’d had in Paris - sex, fun, cases. Friendship build into their lives in NCIS but with little history.
Reality didn’t change how he felt about her. They were complicated, passionate, and unfair to everyone - especially each other. Rehashing was easy, mistakes made, regrets existed, but he and Heather were where they should have been a long, long ago and the past didn’t change the present. But, all the contemplation in the world didn’t change that he was antsy. His gut told him something was wrong. When his phone rang, he knew he was right.
The next 30 minutes were a blur. His team geared up and headed out, he dispactched another team from the Air Force Base, gave assignments to Tony and Ziva, called Ducky, and called the SecNav. The director was shot. The AD was dead. He was senior agent in charge. This was what they trained for. But there was one call he’d never expected to make; after giving SecNav a sitrep, he called Heather.
She was waiting in the driveway when he pulled up. Her eyes flashed as she climbed in, blaming something - him included - for the stress of her life even as she filled him in that James was with Caroline. Her posture was coiled, cat like, and she was spoiling for an argument. They were going to be stuck together for hours and if she needed to yell, he was going to be her sounding board. Her emotions would be a good channel for him; he was operating on auto-pilot. It took five minutes of nervous silence before she lost it.
“Leroy -“ He didn’t say anything, just let her explode into tears and anger. She was terrified, and rightly so. “How do you live like this?” He let her scream. “God! I have lived in fear for ages - waiting for Jenny to get hurt, waiting for some terrible headline that I’d lost you because no one would know they needed to tell me.” Still, he let her yell. “First you … now her …” A breath and her emotional outburst was fading. “It’s actually better now,” she said, wiping frightened tears away. Gibbs reached over and took her hand and she squeezed tightly. Her touch calmed him. “It’s better because I know if you get hurt I get that damned call. But it’s just … why, Leroy? Why this damned job? Why are you and Jenny so drawn to it?”
“It’s a mission, Heaths. You know that.”
A long, aggrivated sigh. “I know.” She clung to his hand. “Just …”
“Jenny’s a fighter,” he said, as much for her as for himself, “She’s going to be fine.”
But they both held their breath for a minute. The words were only cautious hope. It was going to be a long, long trip. Heather clung to his hand. Gibbs held tight to hers. Neither let go the entire, almost silent drive to Lompoc, the silence interrupted only by phone calls to Gibbs by people involved in the investigation and Heather’s emotional call to her mother.
He dropped her at the hospital, walking in and flashing his badge to get her access to the very protected wing where they were working on Jenny. Heather clung and he held on tight for as long as he could get away with.
“Keep me updated.” He tried to breathe, not wanting to let go of her. He needed both the Shepard women in his life. “I’m going to go figure things out. I’ll get us a hotel room, too.”
She nodded and kissed him. He held her a moment. “I love you, Leroy.”
“I love you, Heather.”
The words had never been more important.
Gibbs was antsy. Tony and Ziva’s phone calls and Jenny ditching them distracted him from the paperwork he’d been ignoring. Vance’s disappearing only added to the gnawing in his stomach. Gibbs didn’t believe in coincidences.
Since he learned of Will’s death, his mind has been stuck in Paris, going over each and every moment, including every step and mis-step with Jenny in France. He regretted nothing and everything. Jenny had made the first move in Marseilles but he’d acted on it. While he’d never faked his feelings for her, yet he’d also in many ways, led her on. Especially when she’d resurfaced in DC. His flirting had been symptomatic of the problems they’d had in Paris - sex, fun, cases. Friendship build into their lives in NCIS but with little history.
Reality didn’t change how he felt about her. They were complicated, passionate, and unfair to everyone - especially each other. Rehashing was easy, mistakes made, regrets existed, but he and Heather were where they should have been a long, long ago and the past didn’t change the present. But, all the contemplation in the world didn’t change that he was antsy. His gut told him something was wrong. When his phone rang, he knew he was right.
The next 30 minutes were a blur. His team geared up and headed out, he dispactched another team from the Air Force Base, gave assignments to Tony and Ziva, called Ducky, and called the SecNav. The director was shot. The AD was dead. He was senior agent in charge. This was what they trained for. But there was one call he’d never expected to make; after giving SecNav a sitrep, he called Heather.
She was waiting in the driveway when he pulled up. Her eyes flashed as she climbed in, blaming something - him included - for the stress of her life even as she filled him in that James was with Caroline. Her posture was coiled, cat like, and she was spoiling for an argument. They were going to be stuck together for hours and if she needed to yell, he was going to be her sounding board. Her emotions would be a good channel for him; he was operating on auto-pilot. It took five minutes of nervous silence before she lost it.
“Leroy -“ He didn’t say anything, just let her explode into tears and anger. She was terrified, and rightly so. “How do you live like this?” He let her scream. “God! I have lived in fear for ages - waiting for Jenny to get hurt, waiting for some terrible headline that I’d lost you because no one would know they needed to tell me.” Still, he let her yell. “First you … now her …” A breath and her emotional outburst was fading. “It’s actually better now,” she said, wiping frightened tears away. Gibbs reached over and took her hand and she squeezed tightly. Her touch calmed him. “It’s better because I know if you get hurt I get that damned call. But it’s just … why, Leroy? Why this damned job? Why are you and Jenny so drawn to it?”
“It’s a mission, Heaths. You know that.”
A long, aggrivated sigh. “I know.” She clung to his hand. “Just …”
“Jenny’s a fighter,” he said, as much for her as for himself, “She’s going to be fine.”
But they both held their breath for a minute. The words were only cautious hope. It was going to be a long, long trip. Heather clung to his hand. Gibbs held tight to hers. Neither let go the entire, almost silent drive to Lompoc, the silence interrupted only by phone calls to Gibbs by people involved in the investigation and Heather’s emotional call to her mother.
He dropped her at the hospital, walking in and flashing his badge to get her access to the very protected wing where they were working on Jenny. Heather clung and he held on tight for as long as he could get away with.
“Keep me updated.” He tried to breathe, not wanting to let go of her. He needed both the Shepard women in his life. “I’m going to go figure things out. I’ll get us a hotel room, too.”
She nodded and kissed him. He held her a moment. “I love you, Leroy.”
“I love you, Heather.”
The words had never been more important.