Good Intelligence (10/?, R, NCIS/The Closer, Jenny/Brenda)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jenny Shepard/Brenda Leigh Johnson
Genre: f/f, m/f, trying to think of a good m/m pairing
Warning: unintentional dub-con later
Spoilers: NCIS through season 5. Whole run of The Closer, which will have aired by the time I'm done :-)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author Notes: Timelines totally skewed in the quest for quality femslash and because Gibbs likes redheads.
Summary: The danger from Brenda's past may not have nearly the impact on her life as the old friend who shows up to protect her.
Word Count: 809
Jenny finally called a break an hour later. The local officers seemed in shock, and her own people couldn't tell her anything else until they had their equipment in place. Abby, McGee and Lieutenant Tao were turning Brenda Leigh's dining room into an impromptu command center. Ducky was setting up a first aid station in the spare bedroom, and DiNozzo and Gabriel were doing a perimeter check. Provenza and Flynn sat across from one another at the kitchen table, working up a timeline on a yellow legal pad. Brenda wasn't saying anything, which was a bad sign in Jenny's experience. Detective Sanchez came and sat on the footstool in front of Brenda's chair.
"You got a minute, Chief?" he said, "I get the feeling...."
"Yes, Detective?"
"Look, I don't know, and I don't want to know... but I was a Marine. I don't know how many times we had to move in a hurry, and all they told us was we had good intelligence. I don't know where that intelligence came from, but a lot of Marines are alive now who wouldn't have been if we hadn't... heard. I guess what I'm saying is... for all I know, you maybe saved my life before I ever met you, and if it wasn't me, it was somebody else. So.... so thank you."
Brenda Leigh smiled at him. Her fugue wasn't totally dispelled, but the clouds were definitely lifting. Jenny gave the detective a surreptitious thumbs up and mouthed "Thank you." He smiled and excused himself, and Ziva wandered in their direction.
Jenny had been dreading this encounter since she saw Brenda's name in the initial report. Ziva did not react well to intensive debriefing, even today. As a girl she had come to hate Brenda Leigh Johnson. For months after the incident the worst rejoinder she'd had when she disagreed with Jenny had been "You're just like her!" If Jenny could have done, she would have left Ziva in Washington, but what that would have done to the cohesion of the team might be irreparable. Jenny would just have to referee. She touched Brenda's glossy hair, and was rewarded with a smile. Then Ziva was there.
"Shalom," she said to Brenda. "Zichri oti?"
"I do," Brenda replied. "I remember you well, but you surely speak English?"
"I knew English before, but we always spoke in Hebrew."
"Seemed like a good idea," the Chief said, "but it didn't seem to make much difference."
"It would have done, had I had the sense to trust you as Director Shepard did."
"I have a niece the age you were then," the chief said. "She doesn't trust me, and she's not...."
"I can imagine," said Ziva. "I only wished to say that I also have reason to thank you. You certainly saved my life."
"No, sweetie," said the chief. "Your career, maybe, but...."
"You know very little of Mossad," the girl said, "which is perhaps a good thing. At any rate, I wished you to know that I realize that you served with honor, and that I am proud to help to protect you."
"Thank you, Ziva," Jenny said, and the girl excused herself to join the timeline committee. There was a beat of silence before cacophony erupted in the back of the room, with Tao calling for his chief and the two NCIS agents babbling at Jenny.
"We need to kill the broadband connection," Abby said.
"This," Jenny told Brenda, "is Abby Sciuto...."
"You're Abigail Sciuto?" Tao interrupted. "The Persistence of Toxic...?"
"You've read it?" Abby said.
"I heard you speak...."
"Okay!" said Jenny, holding up both hands. "Brenda, where is your modem and your router? Abby and Agent McGee are going to need to make some adaptations."
"It's interfering," said Agent McGee, "with our secure connection to... our secure connection."
"Am I going to be able to get to my email?" Brenda asked.
"Brenda," the director said, "I think you know better than that, don't you?"
"I know this whole thing is silly," Brenda said. "Ali was never involved in mass terrorism. He wasn't the sort to go claiming responsibility for random public violence. Assassination, carefully targeted accidents, or poisonings, yes, but nothing that would call for this level of protection."
In Jenny's opinion, a stinging insect in Brenda's vicinity called for more protection than this, but saying anything like that would probably make Brenda kick the NCIS team back to Washington. Instead she patted her old friend's shoulder.
"I'm glad you remember a little. It'll make things easier."
"I remember it all," Brenda told her. "I remember every minute of every day. I just wish... I wish I could forget."
Genre: f/f, m/f, trying to think of a good m/m pairing
Warning: unintentional dub-con later
Spoilers: NCIS through season 5. Whole run of The Closer, which will have aired by the time I'm done :-)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author Notes: Timelines totally skewed in the quest for quality femslash and because Gibbs likes redheads.
Summary: The danger from Brenda's past may not have nearly the impact on her life as the old friend who shows up to protect her.
Word Count: 809
Jenny finally called a break an hour later. The local officers seemed in shock, and her own people couldn't tell her anything else until they had their equipment in place. Abby, McGee and Lieutenant Tao were turning Brenda Leigh's dining room into an impromptu command center. Ducky was setting up a first aid station in the spare bedroom, and DiNozzo and Gabriel were doing a perimeter check. Provenza and Flynn sat across from one another at the kitchen table, working up a timeline on a yellow legal pad. Brenda wasn't saying anything, which was a bad sign in Jenny's experience. Detective Sanchez came and sat on the footstool in front of Brenda's chair.
"You got a minute, Chief?" he said, "I get the feeling...."
"Yes, Detective?"
"Look, I don't know, and I don't want to know... but I was a Marine. I don't know how many times we had to move in a hurry, and all they told us was we had good intelligence. I don't know where that intelligence came from, but a lot of Marines are alive now who wouldn't have been if we hadn't... heard. I guess what I'm saying is... for all I know, you maybe saved my life before I ever met you, and if it wasn't me, it was somebody else. So.... so thank you."
Brenda Leigh smiled at him. Her fugue wasn't totally dispelled, but the clouds were definitely lifting. Jenny gave the detective a surreptitious thumbs up and mouthed "Thank you." He smiled and excused himself, and Ziva wandered in their direction.
Jenny had been dreading this encounter since she saw Brenda's name in the initial report. Ziva did not react well to intensive debriefing, even today. As a girl she had come to hate Brenda Leigh Johnson. For months after the incident the worst rejoinder she'd had when she disagreed with Jenny had been "You're just like her!" If Jenny could have done, she would have left Ziva in Washington, but what that would have done to the cohesion of the team might be irreparable. Jenny would just have to referee. She touched Brenda's glossy hair, and was rewarded with a smile. Then Ziva was there.
"Shalom," she said to Brenda. "Zichri oti?"
"I do," Brenda replied. "I remember you well, but you surely speak English?"
"I knew English before, but we always spoke in Hebrew."
"Seemed like a good idea," the Chief said, "but it didn't seem to make much difference."
"It would have done, had I had the sense to trust you as Director Shepard did."
"I have a niece the age you were then," the chief said. "She doesn't trust me, and she's not...."
"I can imagine," said Ziva. "I only wished to say that I also have reason to thank you. You certainly saved my life."
"No, sweetie," said the chief. "Your career, maybe, but...."
"You know very little of Mossad," the girl said, "which is perhaps a good thing. At any rate, I wished you to know that I realize that you served with honor, and that I am proud to help to protect you."
"Thank you, Ziva," Jenny said, and the girl excused herself to join the timeline committee. There was a beat of silence before cacophony erupted in the back of the room, with Tao calling for his chief and the two NCIS agents babbling at Jenny.
"We need to kill the broadband connection," Abby said.
"This," Jenny told Brenda, "is Abby Sciuto...."
"You're Abigail Sciuto?" Tao interrupted. "The Persistence of Toxic...?"
"You've read it?" Abby said.
"I heard you speak...."
"Okay!" said Jenny, holding up both hands. "Brenda, where is your modem and your router? Abby and Agent McGee are going to need to make some adaptations."
"It's interfering," said Agent McGee, "with our secure connection to... our secure connection."
"Am I going to be able to get to my email?" Brenda asked.
"Brenda," the director said, "I think you know better than that, don't you?"
"I know this whole thing is silly," Brenda said. "Ali was never involved in mass terrorism. He wasn't the sort to go claiming responsibility for random public violence. Assassination, carefully targeted accidents, or poisonings, yes, but nothing that would call for this level of protection."
In Jenny's opinion, a stinging insect in Brenda's vicinity called for more protection than this, but saying anything like that would probably make Brenda kick the NCIS team back to Washington. Instead she patted her old friend's shoulder.
"I'm glad you remember a little. It'll make things easier."
"I remember it all," Brenda told her. "I remember every minute of every day. I just wish... I wish I could forget."