Chapter Five
Shannon listened to the doctor say that the people in the room would move mountains for her.“They have no reason to feel that way, and I wouldn’t ask it of them. No one seems to understand I’m not a safe person to be around.” Why no one was taking her concerns into consideration was beyond her, but it was unsettling. “I’ll be a good girl, I won’t antagonize Tony or do anything that Jethro doesn’t authorize. I don’t have a death wish; I’m just realistic.”
“And what you don’t understand, Shannon, is that we work with unsafe people every day. We’re quite used to danger. Or at least the team is, though I’ve seen my share of close calls and scrapes. There was this time, when I in the Regiment and…” Ducky trailed off, so used to Jethro and the others rolling their eyes and shushing him. “Well, anyway. You don’t want to hear about my salad days, my dear.”
"You were in the military too?" That was surprising, being married to a Marine, she'd seen many rough and tumble men come through her home. This man was as gentle as they came. "I'd like to hear about it someday. Your military service must have been considerably different. You're so soft spoken, I wouldn't have guessed."
“Yes, indeed, Shannon. I was a doctor in the military, but I am well aware of what it takes to be a warrior if events warrant.” Ducky gave her a genuine smile, impressed that she seemed to want to know about his life. “When this is all over, we’ll go out for a lovely meal, just the two of us, and I’ll regale you with all my favorite tales of the past.”
“I’d like that, Doctor. I would enjoy getting to know you better. You’ve been so kind, and if you weren’t someone who could be trusted, Jethro wouldn’t have had you here.” She could tell how much Ducky Mallard liked her husband, and that he genuinely liked her as well. “We’ll compare war stories. I may not have been on the front lines, but I can tell you that I have seen plenty of action.”
“Jethro and I have known each other quite a number of years. I’m proud to count him as a very good friend, the best, Shannon. And I would enjoy comparing, as you call them, war stories. I have no doubt that you too have some adventures to share and stories to tell.”
“You’ll have to tell me some Jethro stories as well. I was allowed small tidbits about his life, usually involving a marriage or divorce. Beyond that, no one wanted to share with me.” She’d be willing to swap stories; she knew a lot of young Jethro stories that Ducky might enjoy. “I can tell you about nineteen-year-old Jethro and the opera, and a couple other stories I think he’d rather no one else know. And a handful of exciting stories from life on the run, who can resist?”
“Oh, I can share a great deal with you, my dear. Nineteen-year-old Jethro and the opera? I can’t imagine contemporary Jethro and the opera. I’ve tried to get him to accompany me but he’s having none of it. He’d rather be in the basement creating yet another not-quite-seaworthy vessel.”
Ducky leaned in close. “We’re going to be great friends, Shannon. Neither of us will take his bull.”
"I can assure you, he didn't enjoy the trip, but I was dating someone else when we met, and he wanted to impress me by showing up. There wasn't a woman in the theatre that would have said no to a young Jethro Gibbs in his dress uniform that night. My date dropped me off, and Jethro arrived ten minutes later, complaining about the music but he was so charming, I couldn't resist inviting him in for coffee." Jethro never left that night, and very few nights after that.”
"He still plays with wood? I had hoped he would have found another hobby. I guess he could be better at it now then he was when we were married. He and Kelly started a boat, before he left. I wasn't sure it would ever float, but they had fun doing it."
“He still builds boats, my dear. Names them after the disasters he married after he lost you. He was never able to put you out of his mind or to get beyond the memory of you, dear Shannon. Having met you, I understand why.”
"You're going to make me blush, Dr. Mallard." Shannon was enjoying her time getting to know Jethro's friend. That he had so many stories didn't hurt matters. "I don't think it had anything to do with me. I believe it had more to do with not being able to save us. Jethro is a knight in tarnished armor. He mourned us and missed us I'm sure, but what hurt him the most was that he couldn't do anything to help us."
“Such a pretty blush it is too,” Ducky said, blushing himself. He hadn’t meant to flirt with her. It was just so easy to do.
~*~
Jenny absorbed the words rushing through her mind, going into immediate director mode.Fbi? This came back to Fornell. Jenny walked out into the hall purposefully. “Jethro? I don’t mean to interrupt, but something has come up that you need to hear. This was an FBI operation, not the Marshals. Could Fornell be responsible?”
“I don’t know Jen. He’s the one that gave me the file with the information in it. If he had something to do with this, would he give himself up that way?”
She looked from Jethro to Tony. “Tony, you’re point man on guard duty for now. Jethro, spend a little time with them. I’ll have Tim and Ziva add Fornell to their list to investigate.” As Tony disappeared back into the room, Jen touched Jethro’s arm.
“How are you? Shannon is patched up and she’ll be okay, but you two need to get to know each other. How is Tony doing with all of this? I assume from that embrace that you talked him out of sacrificing himself for you.”
“Yeah, he’s not going to take off or quit. I told him I need time, and I do. I never thought they could still be alive. If I even suspected, I wouldn’t have given up until I found them.” Jen would understand, she always seemed to know him just a little better than he knew himself. “Now, as glad as I am that they’re here, I’ve moved on to a point. I don’t know that I can be the same guy I was when we were all together.”
Jen pulled her ex into her arms. “Jethro, don’t analyze or overthink this. Get to know her again. Let her get to know you again. Tony is shocked and reeling but he’s also as in love with you as anyone can be. Abby and Ducky will be there for him; you don’t have to take that burden on your shoulders.”
She just held him for a couple of minutes. “I like her. Shannon. I like her a lot, and Kelly is wonderful. And I’m so happy for you. I know this complicates your life, and that you’re going to second guess and wonder what you did wrong, but don’t get lost in that bull, Jethro. Live for these moments instead of the what-should-have-beens and what-might-bes. We’re going to find out who did this and deal with them.”
She paused, looking at him now. “I have a couple of places that are untraceable. Under the cover of darkness, I’m moving everyone to my townhome. We’ll have McGee strip the GPS chips out of the cell phones; we’ll get some disposables. I trust everyone in there with my life, and I know you do as well. We limit our flow of information to those we trust with our lives.”
“Is the townhouse big enough for us all? I want someone on Kelly and Shannon at all times, maybe even Ziva staying in their room with them. Her inside and someone outside the door. I think both of them would feel better having a female on the inside, I know I would. But this isn’t just Kelly and Shan, it’s all of us. I want my whole team moved off site.”
“Four bedrooms, only two entrances, one of which can be secured and sealed from the inside, bulletproof glass, sun filters that make seeing inside impossible, panic room. It could sleep ten to twelve. Let me take logistics here, Jethro. Back off, and that is an order.” Her hand went into his hair and she stroked it lightly. “I can’t put into words how happy I am that you and Shannon have the choice to decide your own futures.”
“I’ll try, but you know how I am about giving up control. It’s not something I’m comfortable with. I need to focus on my family now. Shannon and Tony, but especially Kelly. She needs reassurance that this is all real and I won’t just disappear if she’s not looking at me for a few minutes.”
“You’re not giving up control, Jethro. We’re a team. You’re allowing me to take the logistical lead while you focus on your family’s needs. If this were any other agent, you and I both know that they wouldn’t be allowed to be any part of this. Because I trust you, I’m letting you be involved. Let’s not make this a power play, okay?”
“I’m not interested in a power play. I appreciate you letting me stay involved in this any way I can. I trust you to keep my family safe, Jen. If I didn’t, I never would have brought them back to the Navy Yard. I could have had them half way across the country without much problem. But you and the team, I knew you’d find out what happened so they can find a place to be once and for all.”
She kissed his temple. “Okay, now that we’re squared away, go in there and spend some time with them. I’ll stay out here for now.”
"I don't know that I can. I'm pretty sure I scare Kelly, and Shannon's pissed off at me. It's been seventeen years. Was I supposed to live like a monk?" Leaning against Jen, it was nice to have someone to understand, or at least an ex who didn't hate him. "She's not mad about the women. Just Tony. It might be best if I hide out here. I don't want them any more upset then they already are."
“Then stay here and chat with an old friend for a little. She wants to bolt. We need to convince her to stay.” Jen always gave as good and she got and instead of just leaning against him, she wrapped an arm around Jethro, holding him tight.
“You lived your life under the realization that your wife was gone. You didn’t do a thing wrong. If Shannon is upset and she knew, that is her burden to bear, Jethro. Not yours. You may not have done such a wonderful job with your marriages, but you lived the best way you could. And that brought you and Tony together.”
Jen snuggled in even closer, relaxing against the comforting warmth of a good friend. “Do you really want to waste any more time with Kelly? She’s a grown woman who just wants to get reacquainted with her father. She might be scared and overwhelmed but she’s a Gibbs. She has your spirit. And I bet she has your stubbornness. You’ve never been a guy who didn’t face a problem head on, so are you going to start now?”
“She’s not a problem to face head on. She’s a scared little girl in a woman’s body. A body who just heard her father’s male lover try to break up with him. Come on Jen, you know as well as I do even the strongest of kids wouldn’t handle that knowledge well. My girl, she’s afraid of her shadow. She’s terrified of me and now she has the whole Tony issue to deal with.” Maybe Kelly was more understanding of things because she was older, but her lifestyle up until now wouldn’t let him believe it. “I screwed up, I threw too much at her. Now I’m not sure how to face her.”
“But she is a Gibbs and she is a survivor. We’re all overwhelmed. Tony especially, but he’ll come around, though I think he might have already. Kelly has had a lot to deal with, but she’s your daughter and Shannon’s daughter. Don’t you think she’s had her share of stresses? I know her stress level must be off the charts right now but you can’t blame yourself for that, Jethro. Someone shot her mother. You had absolutely nothing to do with that, even if your hero complex and super-ego would have you believing otherwise.”
“She’s mine, but she’s Shannon’s girl. I had little to do with the actual parenting even before they went away. I was the dad who came in and woke up the baby after spending four days on base, just to turn her back over to her mother when she cried and I couldn’t make her stop.”
Jethro was feeling sorry for himself and he needed to quit that. Jen was right; he couldn’t blame himself for this. If he was going to gain his daughter’s trust, he had to face her. “Thanks, Jen. You’re a great friend. Kind of makes me glad we blew it before. I’d hate to have divorced you and been on your bad side. Respect you too much now to have let what we had get between us.”
Jen shrugged elegantly. “You were the one who I allowed to get away, Jethro. I’m just glad we were able to take a torrid love affair and transform that into a strong friendship. Be glad it didn’t work out, since it brought you and Tony together.” She had made peace with the breakup of their relationship and knew that Jethro had as well. The mistakes in the relationship had been hers and not his.
“You’re just thrilled that it’s not you dealing with my back from the dead wife. Not that I’m dealing with it all that well. Hiding in the hallway, hoping that everything will just work itself out while I’m out here.”
Jen laughed and gave him a gentle hug. “Would have made it harder. I like her, Jethro.”
“I do too. Big part of my problem, although Tony is being rather calm about it at least now that we’ve talked.” Jenny and Shannon together could be a deadly combination given the chance. “She’s going to need a friend. Doesn’t know anyone anymore, majority of her friends were military wives, who have all moved on. She could do worse than having you in her corner.”
“She already has one. We’re redheads, roughly the same age, and both managed to live with and love you. Wouldn’t you say that is the making of a great friendship.” Jen sighed heavily. Sometimes Jethro could be so frustrating. “You’re allowed to like the woman you married, Jethro. You’re not a Catholic schoolboy and this guilt has to go.”
“We aren’t married, at least not legally, Jen. She was declared dead. And you never met any of my other wives, if you had, you’d know how silly that statement is. There just isn’t much to like about my ex-wives, it has nothing to do with Catholic schoolboy guilt.”
“So how did Shannon and I break the mold then. Because we were way too good for you, Jethro.” He continued to look serious, deathly so. “You have to find a way to get through this without driving yourself to a heart attack. Or a stroke. Or anything equally as unpleasant. Do you really want to be Ducky’s patient?”
"I loved you two. The others seemed like a good idea, but I just never loved them the way I should have. I have several scars to prove it, and all of my paycheck pretty much goes into their bank accounts. Does that count?” Why everyone was concerned about his health all of a sudden, he wasn’t sure. The pain earlier was just an inopportune muscle spasm, nothing more. “My health is fine, Jen. Sore muscles won’t kill me!”
“But stress could! I’ve never seen you look quite so distressed, Jethro. It shook all of us up a bit, I think.” Jen’s heart and expression were melting. “I loved you too, a little part of me still does, Jethro.”
She sighed, unwilling to go there emotionally.
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