Chapter 11
Gibbs returns to NCIS Headquarters. He goes up to the bullpen where the team is, including Jamie. The team stands off little to the side so Gibbs can talk to her.
"Jamie…" Gibbs tries to get her attention as he approaches.
"Yes Jethro?"
"Are you ready to go home? Your mom is there waiting for you."
"She is!" Jamie exclaimed in excitement because she had no idea if her mom was alive or not. "I'm so glad she was visiting a friend at the time all this happened."
"Yeah it's a good thing."
"Thank you so much, Jethro."
Jamie smiles at Gibbs. She turns to the rest of the team to say her goodbyes.
"It was nice to meet you all. And thank you so much for your help and hospitality."
"It was nice to meet you too, Jamie." McGee said.
"Glad to have helped." Tony said.
"Good luck, Jamie." Ziva said.
"Hope your arm gets better soon." Ducky said.
"Thank you all."
Jamie now turns to Abby.
"Abs…"
"Jamie…"
The two of them smile and give each other a great big hug. After a minute they back away from each other.
"Now you…" Jamie begins to say. "You must give me a call sometime so we can hang out."
"Most definitely…" Abby replied cheerfully.
"Are you ready to go home now, Jamie?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes I am."
Gibbs and Jamie walk to the elevator. Jamie stops. She looks back at the team, smiles and quickly waves. Then she turns toward the elevator. Jamie and Gibbs get onto the elevator together. They take the elevator to the ground floor and leave the building. They get into the car and Gibbs drives her home.
Through the entire car ride back to Jamie's house, neither of them says anything. Both of them, though they may want to say something, can't figure out what to say to each other. So they remain silent. The entire car ride is pure silence, not even a peep.
Gibbs pulls the car up in front of Jamie's house where Betty is on the porch waiting for her daughter's return.
"Well… Here we are." Gibbs said.
"Jethro…" Jamie paused.
"Yes?"
"Thank you." Jamie said instead of what she would rather have said.
"You're welcome, Jamie."
Jamie gets out of the car and closes the door. She runs to her mother Betty and hugs her. Gibbs watches as he wishes to have what Betty has right now. He cracks a slight smile as he drives away. Betty walks inside the house in order to make Jamie something to eat. Jamie remains outside and watches as the car goes down the road.
"Goodbye, Dad." Jamie said softly to herself. She walks into the house and closes the door.
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Before going back to NCIS Headquarters, Gibbs goes to the store and also his local coffee supplier.
Once at NCIS Headquarters he steps off the elevator and walks to the bullpen. Gibbs is carrying a bag. He immediately walks over to his desk, places his coffee down and the bag as well. Gibbs notices Tony is looking at the bag.
"Is there some reason you're staring at my bag, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"Does that bag happen to have a badge for me?" Tony asked. "Cause I still don't have one. Or maybe some food cause I'm hungry."
Gibbs opens the bag and tosses Tony a box of Fruit Loops.
"You'll find a glow-in-the-dark badge at the bottom of the box." Gibbs said.
"Ha-ha!" Ziva begins laughing.
"Ziva..." Gibbs tries to get her attention.
"Yes?"
Gibbs tosses Ziva a box of Fruit Loops to her as well. Ziva is perplexed as to why she gets a box of Fruit Loops too.
"Until DiNozzo gets his new badge, your badge is also at the bottom of the box."
"Ha-ha!" Tony starts laughing.
"Oh come on!" Ziva protested. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Gibbs holds out his hand in Ziva's direction.
Ziva walks over to Gibbs and hands him her badge.
"When he gets a badge, you'll get yours back."
"What about McGee's badge?" Ziva said.
"Don't get me into this?!" McGee exclaimed.
McGee walks toward Gibbs in order to hand him his badge.
"Here you go, Boss." McGee said.
"Put your badge away, McGee."
McGee, who is halfway between his desk and Gibbs', just stands there wondering why he gets to keep his badge. Gibbs reaches into his bag and grabs an item. Gibbs tosses McGee a bottle of Febreze.
"Ha-ha!" Tony laughs. "No underwear is fully clean until it smells like Febreze, eh McGee."
"How is that fair?! I get my badge taken away and McGee just gets a bottle of Febreze." Ziva protested again.
Gibbs glares at Ziva.
"And I have absolutely no problem with having to wait until Tony receives his new badge." Ziva said with a smile. She sits down in her chair.
Gibbs' phone rings. He answers it. The team looks over, wondering what the phone-call is about. After a minute, Gibbs puts the phone down and stands up.
"Grab your gear… McGee, call Ducky. Tony, gas the truck." Gibbs tosses the keys to Tony. He walks out of the bullpen in order to go to the elevator.
"Can McGee gas the truck this time?" Tony wondered.
"An order isn't debatable, DiNozzo." Gibbs stated. "Let's go."
"Okay… What do we got, Boss?" Tony asked in the excitement of working on a new case.
"A dead Petty Officer on a beach."
"Do I really have to go with a glow-in-the-dark badge?" Ziva asked.
"Yes." Gibbs answered.
"Just wondering…" Ziva said.
The team is finally on the elevator. Gibbs smirks as he's happy to be back. The elevator door closes.
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Sometime later in the night, Jamie is at home in her bedroom. She's getting ready for bed. She pulls out her diary from behind the night-stand. She sits on the bed and opens the diary. Jamie flips through to find the next blank page. She begins writing. After a couple minutes she's done and puts the diary back behind the night-stand. Jamie turns the light off, lies down, pulls the covers over herself and goes to sleep.
The diary entry
The passed couple days have been rather intense and emotional in various ways. I can't even begin to describe the way I feel about it. It was confusing. I had a rush of feelings just swarming my every thought. I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw a fit. I honestly don't know what I wanted exactly. A few words were and still are tossed around in my mind like balls in a bingo machine; Hope, loss, fear, forgiveness and memories, just to name a few. Hope: The one thing that probably got me through these days, the hope of staying alive. Loss: Loosing two of the people who I hold dear to my heart has made me sad, and I'll never get them back. Fear: I've never been so scared in my life with the overwhelming feeling that I might die. Forgiveness: The church preaches forgiveness, but how do you forgive certain things that happen in life. Memories: The memories of the people I love will forever remain in my mind, along with others that I may wish to forget. I may never find the closure I need until forgiveness sets itself upon my heart. But how do I find forgiveness through so much pain and so much hurt? Is my heart even capable of finding such a divine state of bliss as forgiveness? Life takes some odd turns. Things happen without warning. Lives can be forever changed by particular events. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Agent Jethro Gibbs… In more ways than one. What can I say about him? The only thing I can think of. Agent Jethro Gibbs… The man who saved me… The man who helped create me… The man who abandoned me… The man who I feel so hurt by… The man who it took eleven years to finally remember… The man who I pretended to not know…
Do I dare try to find it in my heart to forgive him for abandoning me?
End diary entry
THE END…
…yet TO BE CONTINUED
This concludes part 1 of the story "A Link to the Past". I do hope you enjoyed this story. And feel free to send me a message if you like.