Revenge Is Sweet
- Chapter 10: Water Water Everywhere -
Gibbs, Ziva, Tony and McGee were frozen in shock for a split second before they sprang into action, Gibbs directed Tony and Ziva to take the left and for McGee to follow him to the right. 'The second we have them surrounded and disarmed I want you in the water, our first priority has to be our safety, and containing the suspects. Then we can retrieve the bodies.' McGee couldn't believe how calm his boss was right now, his daughter had just been shot and he was as cool as a cucumber. He was pretending to be calm on the outside but inside was crumbling to pieces, he had just witnessed the cold blooded murder of an eight year old girl and her mother, his boss.
He nodded and followed Gibbs down the side of the building and spotted Ziva and Tony slip behind a crate opposite them, he covered Gibbs back and took his position beside the boat. Gibbs held up three fingers and slowly brought them down, two, one, and 'NCIS freeze!' 'Federal agents drop your weapons,' 'hands in the air, drop your weapons.' 'NCIS, hands in the air,' their voices merged as they raced on deck and surprised the two assailants on board. McGee looked down at the face of the woman Ziva had wrestled to the floor and was handcuffing, 'Jeanne Benoit,' he nodded to himself, they had been right. He looked to his left and glared at the man Gibbs was stood beside with his hands cuffed behind his back, the man from security footage, Daniel Philips.
Gibbs looked around the deck and sensed something was wrong, he heard footsteps and spun around. A man was pointing a gun towards him, 'drop your gun or I'll shoot,' Gibbs glared at him, 'I would seriously reconsider that threat if I were you,' he spoke softly but with a deep menace that usually sent a shiver down McGee's spine. McGee, Tony and Ziva all pointed their weapons at the man they knew to be Andrew Philips, they heard the gun click and Gibbs dived as the trigger was pulled, five guns went off and two men fell to the ground.
Andrew Philips lay unmoving on the wet deck, his mouth wide with shock and his eyes dull and staring into nothingness. Daniel groaned and put his hand to his side; he felt warm liquid oozing from his body and tried to put pressure on his wound. Tony knelt by his side and put pressure on the wound, 'call 911,' he shouted at McGee. 'We need to keep the sob alive so we can send him down for kidnap and double homicide,' McGee nodded and removed his cell from his pocket, 'ambulance, the marina, gunshot the abdomen,' he continued to give the operator the relevant information and slowly walked to the edge of the deck, he looked down into the turquoise waters and what he saw nearly made him drop his phone.
Jenny and Leanna both very much alive struggling to tread water in the marina, Leanna was sinking and Jenny was frantically trying to keep her head above water but was sinking herself. Their heads slipped beneath the water before shooting up in a splash and gasp and sinking suddenly once more, he could hear the coughing and spluttering and the frightened cries of the little girl as she sank after her mother.
He ran from the boat and down to the walk way, he stripped off his jacket and jumped into the water, he swam out to the tangled mass of red hair and limbs and took the struggling, choking girl in his arms, 'I got you,' he held her head above the water and swam strongly back to the edge. He lifted her onto the wooden boards and calmed the shivering girl. 'Mommy!' she screamed. McGee turned to see the red hair slip beneath the surface and two hands flail around feebly before disappearing too. 'Director!' he called leaping from the walkway, before he could surface a second figure dived in before him and swam strongly downwards.
Gibbs scanned the dark water around him for a flicker of red and began to dive deeper, his young probie appeared beside him and he pointed to the right as he swam deeper to the left. He felt his lungs start to scream as he desperately scoured the water for her, his body reacted before he could help it, he surfaced quickly and gulped in the air before diving back downwards immediately. McGee surfaced around the same time and headed back down into the water to help his boss.
Gibbs dived deeper this time, straight down, he wasn't going to leave her down here, he couldn't see a thing, it was pitch black, he spun around waving his arms desperately. He dived deeper still and reached out as far as he could, his fingers brushed something soft, he swam towards it and caught handfuls of red hair, he gripped it tightly and pulled, a head followed and his lungs began to scream for air. He held onto the hair with all his might and kicked towards the surface.
He gulped as his head broke through the water and tugged Jenny's head up; McGee appeared beside him and supported some of Jenny's weight as they took her back to shore. Ziva was stood beside Leanna, trying to comfort her as McGee and Gibbs dragged Jenny's unmoving body onto the wooden plans beside them. Gibbs began CPR and McGee ran to hail the ambulance whose sirens could be heard in the distance. Leanna held onto Ziva tightly as Gibbs desperately tried to revive Jenny, tears were running down the child's cheeks as she begged her mother to breathe. 'One, two, three, four, five,' Gibbs counted before listening for breath and then breathing into Jenny's mouth. 'One, two, three, four, five,' he began to blow into Jenny's mouth again and was pushed back by Tony, 'let me take over for a round boss,' 'Mom!' Leanna cried crawling to her mother's side, 'mommy,' she began to cry as she squeezed her mother's hand tightly.
Gibbs allowed Tony to take over and he looked Leanna and Jenny up and down, 'he didn't shoot you,' he stated incredulously, Leanna shook her head as tears poured down her cheeks. 'He pretended to shoot us so we could swim away and be safe, then you could get the bad guys,' she sniffed and looked at her mother's limp body, 'but I couldn't swim and mommy couldn't keep me up,' she cried. 'Mommy pushed me up as she went down, then she couldn't get back up again, it's my fault.' Gibbs slipped his arms around his daughter and held her tightly, 'no it's not, it's not,' he looked down at Tony, the sweat was beading on his forehead as he continued the CPR, behind him two paramedics came rushing down and took over.
He stood up as the paramedics lifted Jenny onto a stretcher and continued with the CPR as they headed back to the ambulance. McGee rushed down to them and spoke quickly, 'Daniel Philips is dead,' he stated simply. Gibbs sighed, and closed his eyes, 'he pretended to shoot them in order for them to escape,' McGee swallowed and Ziva stared at the ground. 'He tried to save them, his brother knew what he did, that's why he shot him.' She stated in reply, she looked up to see the forlorn expressions of the paramedics as they put Jenny into the ambulance. 'You better go with her Gibbs, you should get Leanna checked out too, we can take care of things here.'
…
Gibbs sat with Leanna on his lap in the waiting room, all around his medical personnel were running around between the trauma rooms, he barely saw or heard anything save for the sobs of his little girl. He lifted his head at the sound of a woman rambling hysterically about Jenny and Leanna and shootings and drowning, he spotted the familiar form of Abby as she shot through the double doors between him and the emergency department. 'Gibbs!' she called rushing towards him and engulfing him in a whirl of black and red leather. 'How is she? What did they say?' She asked, her black lips trembling as he shook his head, 'nothing, she's been in there for the past forty minutes.'
Minutes later a doctor emerged form the trauma room, 'Agent Gibbs,' all three looked up at him, 'she's alive, she's unconscious and on a ventilator,' he looked down at Leanna before continuing, 'her brain was deprived of oxygen for a long period of time, until we get the results of the brain scans we won't know the full extent of the damage.' Gibbs nodded, 'can we see her,' the doctor nodded, 'I wouldn't advise allowing her daughter to see her, the whole experience could be very upsetting,' Gibbs held Leanna tightly, 'she needs to see her mother, Leanna, mommy is very poorly, she has machines to help her breathe, and lots of wires to check her heart and other organs are working, okay?' Leanna nodded, 'I wanna see mommy,' he nodded, 'okay sweetie.'
Gibbs walked into the room with Leanna in his arms, even though he knew what to expect, he was not prepared for the sight that met his eyes. Jenny, usually so full of life and passion was lying motionless on the bed. He felt Leanna's grip tighten on his shoulders, 'mommy,' she called, reaching out to touch the ghostly pale hand, 'mommy wake up,' Gibbs held her tighter, 'she can't sweetheart, she can't.' Leanna buried her face in Gibbs shoulder as he buried his in her hair, he held her tightly and cried with her.
…
Four days he sat beside her bed refusing to leave her, Leanna visited every day but couldn't understand why her mother wouldn't wake up. It broke Gibbs heart every time he saw the little face fall as she saw her mother still asleep each morning, 'mommy wake up soon, please wake up soon,' she would whisper into her ear before kissing her forehead gently. Gibbs stared out of the window remembering the good times they had together, the long walks around endless twisting roads and the candle lit dinners for two, her beautiful smile as she laughed in his arms and the way she stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled as he pictured her holding a straw hat to her head, the wind blowing around her and whipping her hair into a swirling red mass around her on the beach. He had almost lost himself in the memories when he was alerted by a gagging sound behind him.
He whipped around and saw her eyes were wide open in shock; she stared at him as she tried to lift herself up and grabbed the breathing tube down her throat. He shot the to the door and called for a doctor, he rushed to her side and calmed her before the doctors came flooding into the room, 'Jenny can you blink for me,' she did so, 'lift your thumbs for me,' she lifted both thumbs, her face red with the effort not to gag on the breathing tube, 'do you want the tube out,' she nodded vigorously and the doctor pulled on the tube. She relaxed instantly as it was removed, and an oxygen mask was placed over her nose and mouth.
She breathed deeply and relaxed back onto the bed, 'Jenny, do you know where you are?' she nodded and pulled the mask away, 'hospital,' 'do you know what year it is?' '2007,' Gibbs stared at her, 'do you remember what happened?' 'No,' 'do you know a Daniel Carson?' 'no, should I?' 'no, don't worry, just rest,' 'I, I have to call someone,' 'Leanna is okay, she's with Abby,' 'Leanna? You know about Leanna?' Gibbs nodded, 'yeah I know about our daughter.' Jenny looked away from him and stared at the curtains in her room, 'I'm sorry for not telling you,' he took his hand in hers, and squeezed it gently.
Jenny looked back at Gibbs, 'what happened to me?' 'Short version? You were kidnapped and thrown off a boat, you nearly drowned,' 'sugar coated as ever Jethro,' 'no good at sugar coating Jen, you know that, oh its also 2008.' 'What?' 'Don't panic, losing one year can't be nearly as scary as losing 15, seeing a beautiful woman at your bedside and having a very vivid memory of making love to her come floating into your mind and you have no idea who she is.' Jenny smiled, and laughed a little; 'I guess not,' Gibbs squeezed her hand tightly and stared into her eyes.
He knew how close he had come to losing her forever, life was too short for fears and regrets, he took a deep breath and began to speak, 'Jen, when you left, you broke my heart, I wanted to come after you but I didn't think you would appreciate me following you,' he stopped as she opened her mouth, 'I wanted you to follow me, I wanted to know you wouldn't give up on us so easily, I wanted you to show me I was wrong about my decision to leave, you didn't.' Gibbs shook his head, 'no I didn't, but I truly meant what I said to you in MTAC on your first day as director, I've missed you so much Jen. I nearly lost you this week, I thought I lost you three times but you came back, I, I,' 'I missed you too Jethro,' she squeezed his hand back and looked into his eyes, she saw what she had longed to see for the past two, no if it was 2008 then it was the last three years, that familiar glow, 'I love you too Jethro.'
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, he smiled at her, she had always been good at reading him, it meant he didn't have to get soppy or sentimental, she knew what he meant without saying anything at all. They stared deeply into each others eyes, lost in the moment, both had found what they thought they had lost forever; the blissful silence was broken by the doors flying open. 'Mommy!' a small figure flew across the room and threw her arms around Jenny, 'you're awake, they said you might not wake up,' Leanna lay her head beside Jenny's carefully, and Jenny wrapped her arm around her daughter, 'hey sweetheart,' 'be careful with you mom, she's delicate at the moment,' Jenny shot Gibbs a glance around Leanna, 'what? I've seen the way she runs at people; she nearly knocked Abby over the other day when she went to hug her.' Jenny laughed and rubbed Leanna's back tenderly.