The Man With Blue Eyes
- Chapter 3 -
It had taken Abby all of about thirty-seconds to find out who Julia Winston was and this mysterious Horatio. After the initial discovery she printed out photos and addresses while McGee stood beside her booking hotel reservations and plane tickets. Tony was entertaining Ziva with the wonders of Miami Beach and Gibbs had disappeared somewhere. Privately they both assumed he'd gone home to retrieve the flag he had been given during the funeral service. When the team called with details on Julia Winston and her Horatio he had said nothing and hung up the phone as soon as they were done speaking.
He wasn't surprised that Jenny's sister was still alive. Jenny had mentioned her a total of three times and although he had tried to look for her before the funeral he was a little to caught up in trying to cover up the shooting. He didn't want to lie to Jenny's only remaining family but he knew risking the truth would be risking Jenny's reputation and he couldn't have that. Regardless of how she'd died, she'd served her country and was damn good at what she did, there's was no reason to call into question whether or not the shooting had been a suicide mission. When he turned back up at his desk the team said nothing but McGee made a quick phone call that soon had Ducky coming up the stairs.
"Jethro, I hear you had a visitor this morning."
"Julia Winston, she was Jenny's younger sister," Gibbs informed cooly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"And you're going to Miami..."
"She has information regarding her sister that could be sensitive," Gibbs replied leaving out the bit about the possibility that the woman in the grave wasn't Jenny. He hadn't quite accepted that yet because if it wasn't Jenny, who was it and where the hell was Jenny?
"Jethro you can't..."
"Jenny is dead end of discussion. Grab your gear!" The team and Abby jumped following Gibbs, surprised when Ducky joined them.
"I took the liberty of filing leave papers for everyone," Ducky informed. No one said anything beyond thank you all starring at Gibbs who looked to be a ticking bomb.
Five hours from being taken into custody Hayley Wilson was still sitting at the interrogation table starring into the bright blue eyes of Horatio Cane. His team had come and gone much the same as they had been five years ago but Horatio remained.
"Is this really necessary?"
"Ms. Wilson what are you doing with Julia?"
"Julia and I are friends we go way back."
"Did you know about Kyle?"
"Not until after the accident. I searched for my...for him, the foster system wasn't very helpful."
"Do you have children of your own?"
"No, no I don't," she sighed.
"Then could you explain your presence at the Miami Dade child services."
"I was looking for someone else's child."
"Who?"
"My lovers."
"You're lover has a child who is not yours?"
"I was hoping to find the child alive, that was not the case."
"Did your lover have a name?"
"He does."
"And it is?"
"I'm afraid I can't share that information."
"You were seen in the company of a drug runner...care to explain that?" Cane asked pushing some surveillance photos across the desk.
"The child and her mother were killed by a drug lord, I was hoping they hadn't killed the child."
"Your lover certainly gets into things."
"It wasn't his fault, he wasn't even in the country," she defended. Eric Delco and Calleigh DuCaine entered the room again.
"H," Eric began. "There are feds here, say there..."
"Naval CIS, otherwise known as..."
"NCIS," Hayley answered. "Looks like Julia told the truth after all."
"Julia?" Calleigh echoed. "What's she got to do with this?"
"Julia met the fine agents from NCIS, she was related to their former director," Cane explained. "Ms. Wilson excuse me a moment."
"Sure interrogate NCIS, you'll find you won't have much success," She taunted. "I never did." Horatio glanced at her again before walking into the main lobby to find six people waiting patiently for him.
"Lt. Cane," the silver hair man greeted.
"May I help you gentlemen, ladies?"
"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS, this my team. We're looking for Julia Winston."
"May I ask what this is about?"
"She's a suspect in the death of Director Jennifer Shepard," Gibbs informed.
"Your Director was killed last May, Julia was here with me as was our son."
"Kyle, right?" Tony piped up before backing away at a Gibbs glare.
"Shall we at least do this civilized," the elder man inquired. "Dr. Mallard, NCIS' ME."
"Of course, Dr. Mallard, conference room."
"Guess they don't believe in Gibbs' conference room," the young woman dressed all in black remarked.
"Abby...shush," the foreign woman remarked.
"We'll need all your names," Cane informed.
"Jethro Gibbs, that's Tony DiNozzo, Abby Scuito our forensic examiner, Tim McGee, Ducky you've met, and Ziva David, Mossad."
"What does Mossad want with Miami Dade?" Cane asked.
"It's what I want with Julia Winston that matters," Ziva answered. Glaring.
"Very well, follow me." He stopped in front of another door where two other people stood. "Eric, Calleigh, escort Ms. Wilson home, Ms. Wilson don't go far." They heard a muffled response and Tony looked back over his shoulder as he spotted a bare well toned leg. He did a double take and stopped in the hallway, It can't be.
"Boss!" Tony called trying to get Gibbs attention. Nothing. "Hey BOSS!"
"What DiNozzo?"
"How tall was the Director?"
"DiNozzo..."
"No serious question Boss, how tall was she without the heels obviously."
"Tony," Ziva scolded seeing that the questioning would not end well. The man addressed as Eric stepped out with his phone to his ear.
"H, that was the front desk Julia and Kyle are here."
"Let them down here," Horatio ordered. "This way please Agent Gibbs," Horatio continued walking down the hall. Tony kept looking behind him and watched as a woman stepped out from the door and he froze glancing her up and down. The proportions were in the right areas, and he watched as she walked up and met the Julia and a teenage boy.
"You're grounded," the woman said loud enough to be heard.
"Hayley do calm down, nothing happened."
"Boss," Tony hissed again this time succeeding in getting him to turn.
"DiNozzo I don't want to..." he froze looking past Tony and Tony exhaled if Gibbs saw it than he couldn't be insane. Ziva turned as well with the others and it was Abby who stepped out of the mold of frozen people and darted down the hall. "Abby!" Gibbs snapped but the Goth was already standing between the Hayley woman and Julia.
"Stay the hell away from her," Abby barked.
"Abby..." came the soft voice that comforted. A hand rested on the Goth's shoulder. "It's okay Abby, Julia won't hurt me, it's okay." It was Abby who turned and flung her arms around the other woman and sobbed into her shoulder. The rest of the team watched as ‘Hayley' comforted their littlest sister the way their mother always had. Tony was surprised when he felt movement beside him and Ziva running down the hallway to join the hug, a tear slipping through her hold.
"Boss...this isn't..." Tony and McGee looked from Ducky and Gibbs back to the embracing women. Julia had stepped around them Kyle in tow. She wandered over to Horatio's side.
"I told you, you buried the wrong woman," Julia reminded. That was all the reassurance Tony and McGee apparently needed. They took off down the hall, to stand just outside the hugging females. After all they were big boys, and boys didn't cry. Ever. The woman before them was easily more identified as the green eyes looked up to meet theirs.
"Guess Gemcity's new book is going to need an epilogue," Tony joked.
"Yea...just as well, Genie Shipford was a popular character," McGee replied.
"Timothy..." came the light scolding of a voice they knew so well. The one that seemed to make the nightmare of the last six months vanish. Tony simply noticed one thing wrong with this when Ducky approached, Gibbs wasn't with him. Tony looked up and down the hallway, Gibbs wasn't anywhere. "He left," the warm voice said.
"But..."
"Not everyone can simply accept things, Tony, I think the words it's not fair are probably echoing around his brain."
"But...he should just be happy..."
"He will be, after the anger leaves," she replied. "Okay Abbs, you're choking me." The Goth and Assassin quickly let go of their mother and stepped only a fraction away.
"Sorry Direc..Jenn...Hayley?"
"Jenny is fine, Hayley was just an alias for the time being."
"Ima..." Ziva whispered softly.
"I'm here Ziva, promise," she assured stroking the younger woman's cheek.
"I'm a little surprised to see you Jennifer," came Ducky's voice.
"Hi Ducky...I'm sorry you had to go through that," she replied gently.
"It is past, all is forgiven."
"Not quite all," she sighed looking around. "So who's bright idea was it to burn the house down?"
"Gibbs." Came the solid answer. She laughed.
"Figures."
"Ms. Wilson," came Cane's voice.
"Lt. Cane," she returned.
"I see you are not all you claimed to be."
"I was undercover, had to fulfill the mission first, that's why I was so hard to find afterwards. Funny how are paths crossed, Julia never mentioned it until recently. I suppose we all learn to lie."
"Yes," Cane agreed.
"Julia..." Jenny sighed dramatically.
"Sister dear?"
"You had to dig."
"That's my job as the little sister I'm afraid," she remarked sounding rather innocent. "You weren't kidding about the blue eyes though."
"Julia," Jenny laughed lightly.
"He stepped out for some air," Julia informed as Cane pointed in the direction. Jenny walked the team following slightly until she glanced back at them giving her own version of the Gibbs' glare.
"You know we'll stay here," Tony pipped up.
"Wouldn't want to get caught in the cross fire," Ziva remarked. Jenny turned back to the two of them.
"I'm sorry you two had to be the ones, in all honesty I was not expecting to live through it. I didn't want you two being hurt as well."
"He called...right when we..."
"I know," she sighed. "I was there." She turned on her heels and continued on the path.
"What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall," McGee said suddenly.
"Twenty bucks says he kisses first and asks questions later," Abby challenged. There was a sudden vivacity in the team that surprised Horatio, Julia, Eric and Calleigh, but Ducky just laughed.
"Lt. Cane, I do believe we'll need a viewing room."
"And popcorn, World Wars are always best with popcorn," Tony stated. "McGeek you should make the McBooks into McMovies."
"You'd enjoy that wouldn't you?"
"Be my favorite film ever," Tony assured as they went up the second floor catwalk with the glass windows. They could see the outside balcony and found Gibbs leaning against over the railing near the door. They saw they door opening...
---
The door opened to the outside balcony as Jenny stepped outside. She paused a moment just looking at him. He looked his age of fifty and a few, having aged more in the last six months then he had in six years. There was more silver in his hair and he looked weary to her. She wondered if there were new injuries that she hadn't heard about, and couldn't help the guilt that rose at the thought that perhaps she was responsible for this.
"Hello Jethro," she greeted quietly. He said nothing. She stepped closer cautiously knowing that to startle the lion might be to face the consequences. "Jeth..." She never got to finish his name. Her lips were stopped and she was trapped within his arms.