DESTRUCTION
By
Ashleigh Anpilova
Set after Pyramid (which at the time of writing had not been aired).
Gibbs tries to assess what happened.
An established relationship story.
Written: April 2011. Word count: 500.
He stands; staring; not seeing; not noticing. He has blood on his hands; on his cheek; on his clothes; but he doesn't care. He's just trying to make sense of what's happened; trying to figure out what went wrong; trying to work out if he went wrong.
He'd been wrong; wrong about the profile of the port to port killer; wrong about EJ. And now she is dead; Mike is dead; Tim, Ziva, Kort, Levin have all been injured and are being worked on. And him? His badge and gun have been taken away; 'an official investigation' Vance and the SecNav called it.
"You bastard!"
He turns and stares into the eyes of the man he's worked with for ten years. The eyes that normally look at him with respect are now full of pure hatred. "Di-"
"You're to blame, Gibbs. You as good as killed her. You: Leroy Jethro Gibbs; 'the second B's for bastard. Well you were right there."
"Di-"
"No, don't say anything. You have no right. You couldn't stop me sleeping with her, so you -"
"DiNozzo!"
"Forget it. And I'm gone. I asked Vance for Rota; he gave it to me. I'm going to see if my team are okay." And with those words, DiNozzo turns on his heel and stalks away.
Gibbs just stands. Is DiNozzo right? Had he gotten EJ killed? Was he responsible for her death; for Mike's; for the injuries? Was he? His gut had let him down; had his skills done so too. He no longer knows. He no longer cares. What is the point anyway? An NCIS agent, a family member, turned mass murder for vengeance. Family killing family. For what? Gibbs doesn't know and no matter what Ducky says, the dead don't speak.
As if by some kind of magic, Ducky appears by his side and slips his arm around him. "Come along, Jethro," he says, "we're going home."
He shakes his head. "Can't. Got to wait and see if Tim, Ziva -"
"They are all fine, Jethro. Timothy's injury is severe, but he will be all right; Abigail is with him; she'll stay with him. They will all be fine. Now come along."
"DiNozzo -"
Gently Ducky interrupts him. "I know."
"Oh." Of course Ducky knows; sometimes he thinks Ducky knows everything; even more than he does.
Ducky turns him around and begins to guide him along the corridor. He goes; why wouldn't he? He's with the one person who'll never let him down; the one person he can always depend on; the one person who loves him unconditionally. "Duck?"
"My dear?"
"DiNozzo said I was to blame for EJ's death. Was I?"
Ducky sighs and gently cups Gibbs's cheek, the gesture intimate without being thus. "No." A single word. He again puts his arm around Gibbs and together they walk out of the hospital.
Gibbs doesn't know if Ducky is right, but for now he'll believe him. After all, Ducky's never lied to him - why would he start now?
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