Abby franticly raced around her lab completing various tasks. She was trying to keep her mind off of Tony and Ziva. It had only been two weeks since they had departed and she had confessed to McGee about going through “Hebrew” withdrawals and being behind on the latest movie craze. Gibbs had promised her a surprise that morning and she assumed it would be a new Caf-Pow! Card for the year seeing as the one she had was about to expire.
“McGee, have you seen that forensics report I finished just this morning? I swear I came back down here with it after I saw you and The Boss Man.”
“No, Abbs I haven’t are you sure you didn’t leave it somewhere?”
“Timmy…I never misplace things.”
“Never?”
“Well there was Sister Anna’s Habit. But that’s not the point THIS is evidence.”
“Calm down Abbs…we’ll find it.”
“If we don’t I’ll fire myself…”
“Can you do that? Isn’t that called quitting?”
“I never quit…it isn‘t in the Sciuto blood.”
“Ah…well keep looking.”
“You know me…I will”
McGee had just hung up the phone and stood from his seat as his silver-haired boss entered the bullpen. His eyes grew into big orbs… there was the delinquent file in Gibbs’ hands.
“Uh Boss….I think Abby’s looking for that. I’ll take it too her.”
He was stopped by a small stare and smirk.
“She’s…kind of beside herself”
“She’ll forgive me…”
He placed a small thinly wrapped package on top of the file, the bowed skulls smiling out from it.
*** Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
The day had been beautiful and quiet…it was Arlington where many of the nation’s most beloved heroes now lay at peaceful rest. At one marker sat a young man in his early thirties his shaved head adorned in an American flag bandana before it was removed in silent reflection.
The Marker Read:
PFC James Jarvis Strait
September, 17th 1947 - November, 8th 1965
173rd Airborne Brig.
Navy Cross
Soldier's Medal
Purple Heart x2
Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam
Now visiting the marker was a grateful nephew.
“Hey uncle J.J. …daddy said I should come here and say hi to you…” His voice broke.
He had never met his uncle….as he was born almost 14 years after he died…but his father Harlen always told him stories of what growing up with him was like….and he had been 33 when Dwight was born the last of his nine children in Louisiana.
He was the baby of the family but as they all did they enlisted in the Army, Navy, Marines or Air Force.
“Dad said you were one helluva soldier….”
He smiled as he choked back tears.
“I think that’s why he had so many of us when he came back in ‘69. He always smiles and says “I dunno why I had nine of you kids…..you might wanna ask your mama she never complained when she hauled each of you around for nine months sometimes two at a time…”
He laughed as he recounted the memory.
“I asked Mama and she said that she always had planned to have a big bunch of kids.”
“You’d be proud of us….” He smiled as he stood.
He then leaned over and placed a small American flag at the base of the marker. Then gently kissed the top of the stone
“Ooh-Rah…Uncle J. J.”
He saluted then walked over to his bike and slowly, quietly headed toward the Arlington Bridge before putting on his helmet and putting his foot to the gas and letting out a grateful Rebel Yell as he sped across the bridge.
Several hours later he found himself looking at the Navy Yard, he smiled as he remembered his earliest days as a grunt in The Corps. He rounded the corner into the parking structure and parked next to a nice Mercedes.
He took off his helmet and dismounted his bike and smirked at the perplexed stares he was receiving. He smiled he walked and saw the receptionist blush as he leaned in and unleashed his baritone bayou accent
“Heya darlin’ do you know where I can find Leroy Jethro Gibbs?”
She smiled and wrote down the requested info and he nodded as he headed for the elevator, Seconds later the elevator chimed and the doors opened he smiled as he walked slowly towards the bullpen.
McGee looked at the taller man coming toward him he swallowed hard.
“It’s okay Tim” Gibbs reassured the former probie.
The two men saluted each other and shook hands.
“Tim this is Master Gunnery Sergeant Dwight Jarvis Strait.”
McGee stood and shook his hand.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost…hope I didn’t scare ya too badly” He winked
“Oh no….not at all” He shook his head rapidly.
Dwight laughed
“Your alright…I tell you most secret squirrels act like such shit bricks. Too many regulations and crap that keep us from doin’ our jobs. You know like a trunk monkey.”
McGee nodded and smiled he had been barraged with a bunch Corps-specific terms that were over his head.
“Master Guns…” Gibbs called as Dwight reached for the elevator down to Abby’s lab and Autopsy.
“Sir..?” Dwight turned.
Gibbs motioned with two fingers.
“Oh…yeah” Dwight tossed him a bottle, as Gibbs tossed him the small gift and file bringing a grin from the Gunny.
“He’s a Master Gunnery Sergeant? Wow…. He’s how old?” McGee asked stunned.
Gibbs smiled.
“Tim he’s in his early thirties….a few years older then Abbs…a sniper, former Louisiana state trooper.”
“You trust him around Abby?”
Gibbs eyebrows rose.
“He grew up with her he used to help her parents.”
“Oh….wow so she’s not expecting him?”
Gibbs leaned back in his chair, putting the bottle in his jacket.
“Nope.”
“So what did he give you?”
“Wild Turkey”
McGee smiled.
“Boss…you know he out-ranks you.”
Gibbs just stared back at the now silent agent.
***
Dwight breathed deeply…. it had been several years since he had seen Abby she had just lost her father and mother and was taking it very hard.
He loved it when she’d smile brightly and nearly tackle him with a hug.
She also called him “D. J.” which second only to his own mother just made him smile and remember the days so many people forget.
The elevator doors opened and Dwight stepped out and saw the sugar powered Goth looking rather distraught thinking she had lost a file, her back was too him and she was on the floor looking through boxes of reports.
He shook his head and remembered back to one Halloween Abby and her mother spent hours on the floor looking through pattern and design books for the perfect costume until she found the perfect one which brought a warm smile to her mother’s face.
Dwight walked through the glass doors quietly and just watched as she automatically began a conversation.
“I’m sorry Gibbs….I’m looking.”
“Yes.. I know what your going to say….how could I your perfect forensic mastermind….Caf-Pow consuming…pigtailed prodigy screw up so bad?”
“Don’t worry…I’ll fire myself….I don’t want you to feel guilty…Oh if only Tony was here or Ziva….I knew something was off with my juju when they left.”
He then walked up behind her and held the file in front of her face.
“GIBBS! You found it! I can‘t believe it!”
She turned and looked up at the lean man in front of her utterly stunned.
“D-- D- D. J.?”
He smiled.
“Hey Little Spider…”
She smiled and embraced him tightly suddenly over come with emotion. When she looked back up at him her eyes were swollen with tears.
“I….I thought I’d never see you again.” she sobbed
He placed two fingers under her chin and shook his head.
“Remember what I told you…”
“Well no….right now my brain is kinda water logged right now..” She sniffled.
He smiled and wiped her tears with his fingers.
“No matter where I am….if you needed me I would come running… and help you any way I could.”
She looked up at him.
“I just thought you were being poetic….in a “League of Their Own” sorta way…”
He laughed and hugged her back remembering the movie.
“No….I made a promise to your folks that I would look out for you.”
She smiled.
“I’m not a little girl anymore I braid my own hair now…and I even go to raves past midnight.”
He looked at her and just patted her head.
“Yeah but your still hopelessly addicted to Caf-Pow I see.”
Abby looked at him.
“How did you know…?”
He handed the small wrapped gift from her boss.
“Better then Christmas….well not really….I mean Hanukkah….wait I like presents.”
He smiled.
“You always did…”
Abby finally smiled fully.
“How did you know I…was in trouble?”
“Gibbs called me….said he noticed I had applied for the Secret Service. He said you were missing your co-workers and asked if I wouldn‘t mind coming down to see you. ”
“He’s been reading my file again.. “ Abby mumbled then blushed.
Dwight smirked.
“Common around her?”
“Well no…but ever since Michael….” Abby rubbed her arm.
He looked at her.
“We met in a graveyard and he kind of went Hannibal Lector on me or was it Freddy Kruger.”
“Ah..”
He crossed his arms and smirked much like a big brother.
“I didn’t want you to feed him to the Gators….”
He laughed.
“…and what did Gibbs want to do?”
Abby half smiled and bit her lower lip.
“Wanted to beat him to death with a baseball bat.”
“Metal or wood?”
“Dwiiight.”
He laughed.
Later that night Gibbs walked into the lab and noticed that it was silent and Abby was working at her desk.
He smiled as he walked into her office and just watched her.
“Hey Abbs…”
She looked up and smiled she began to stand up until he motioned her to remain seated.
He noticed the new addition in her office a beautifully framed picture of Abby, her parents and the rest of The Sciuto clan with Abby sitting on her father’s lap and smiling brightly Gibb’s looked back at her and the picture several times.
“Yes Gibbs… I was cute wasn’t I?”
He smirked.
“Dwight….brought it all the way from Louisiana.”
“He really means a lot to you hmm?”
“Yeah…he’s like a big brother to me.”
Gibbs nodded.
“He’s a good man… don’t have any doubt about it.”
Gibbs handed her a piece of paper.
“I thought you’d want to see that before he got the news.”
She looked at it…they had denied him a position.
“Oh no….he worked so hard…”
She looked at her silver haired boss
“Gibbs…can you do me a BIG favor?”
“Abby….” He sighed.
“I know…I know it’s a hassle the extra desk and all…think of it as a security deposit.”
“Your saying you want me to put in a good word for him so he can work here?”
She smiled.
“Bingo Gibbs…”
“You know I have to get an application from him to Vance right?”
“Yes” She handed it too him.
He smirked.
“…and how did you get him to sign it?”
“I… promised him not to date anymore creeps.”
“What about stalkers?”
“One step at a time Gibbs.”
She smiled.
“McGee, have you seen that forensics report I finished just this morning? I swear I came back down here with it after I saw you and The Boss Man.”
“No, Abbs I haven’t are you sure you didn’t leave it somewhere?”
“Timmy…I never misplace things.”
“Never?”
“Well there was Sister Anna’s Habit. But that’s not the point THIS is evidence.”
“Calm down Abbs…we’ll find it.”
“If we don’t I’ll fire myself…”
“Can you do that? Isn’t that called quitting?”
“I never quit…it isn‘t in the Sciuto blood.”
“Ah…well keep looking.”
“You know me…I will”
McGee had just hung up the phone and stood from his seat as his silver-haired boss entered the bullpen. His eyes grew into big orbs… there was the delinquent file in Gibbs’ hands.
“Uh Boss….I think Abby’s looking for that. I’ll take it too her.”
He was stopped by a small stare and smirk.
“She’s…kind of beside herself”
“She’ll forgive me…”
He placed a small thinly wrapped package on top of the file, the bowed skulls smiling out from it.
*** Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
The day had been beautiful and quiet…it was Arlington where many of the nation’s most beloved heroes now lay at peaceful rest. At one marker sat a young man in his early thirties his shaved head adorned in an American flag bandana before it was removed in silent reflection.
The Marker Read:
PFC James Jarvis Strait
September, 17th 1947 - November, 8th 1965
173rd Airborne Brig.
Navy Cross
Soldier's Medal
Purple Heart x2
Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam
Now visiting the marker was a grateful nephew.
“Hey uncle J.J. …daddy said I should come here and say hi to you…” His voice broke.
He had never met his uncle….as he was born almost 14 years after he died…but his father Harlen always told him stories of what growing up with him was like….and he had been 33 when Dwight was born the last of his nine children in Louisiana.
He was the baby of the family but as they all did they enlisted in the Army, Navy, Marines or Air Force.
“Dad said you were one helluva soldier….”
He smiled as he choked back tears.
“I think that’s why he had so many of us when he came back in ‘69. He always smiles and says “I dunno why I had nine of you kids…..you might wanna ask your mama she never complained when she hauled each of you around for nine months sometimes two at a time…”
He laughed as he recounted the memory.
“I asked Mama and she said that she always had planned to have a big bunch of kids.”
“You’d be proud of us….” He smiled as he stood.
He then leaned over and placed a small American flag at the base of the marker. Then gently kissed the top of the stone
“Ooh-Rah…Uncle J. J.”
He saluted then walked over to his bike and slowly, quietly headed toward the Arlington Bridge before putting on his helmet and putting his foot to the gas and letting out a grateful Rebel Yell as he sped across the bridge.
Several hours later he found himself looking at the Navy Yard, he smiled as he remembered his earliest days as a grunt in The Corps. He rounded the corner into the parking structure and parked next to a nice Mercedes.
He took off his helmet and dismounted his bike and smirked at the perplexed stares he was receiving. He smiled he walked and saw the receptionist blush as he leaned in and unleashed his baritone bayou accent
“Heya darlin’ do you know where I can find Leroy Jethro Gibbs?”
She smiled and wrote down the requested info and he nodded as he headed for the elevator, Seconds later the elevator chimed and the doors opened he smiled as he walked slowly towards the bullpen.
McGee looked at the taller man coming toward him he swallowed hard.
“It’s okay Tim” Gibbs reassured the former probie.
The two men saluted each other and shook hands.
“Tim this is Master Gunnery Sergeant Dwight Jarvis Strait.”
McGee stood and shook his hand.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost…hope I didn’t scare ya too badly” He winked
“Oh no….not at all” He shook his head rapidly.
Dwight laughed
“Your alright…I tell you most secret squirrels act like such shit bricks. Too many regulations and crap that keep us from doin’ our jobs. You know like a trunk monkey.”
McGee nodded and smiled he had been barraged with a bunch Corps-specific terms that were over his head.
“Master Guns…” Gibbs called as Dwight reached for the elevator down to Abby’s lab and Autopsy.
“Sir..?” Dwight turned.
Gibbs motioned with two fingers.
“Oh…yeah” Dwight tossed him a bottle, as Gibbs tossed him the small gift and file bringing a grin from the Gunny.
“He’s a Master Gunnery Sergeant? Wow…. He’s how old?” McGee asked stunned.
Gibbs smiled.
“Tim he’s in his early thirties….a few years older then Abbs…a sniper, former Louisiana state trooper.”
“You trust him around Abby?”
Gibbs eyebrows rose.
“He grew up with her he used to help her parents.”
“Oh….wow so she’s not expecting him?”
Gibbs leaned back in his chair, putting the bottle in his jacket.
“Nope.”
“So what did he give you?”
“Wild Turkey”
McGee smiled.
“Boss…you know he out-ranks you.”
Gibbs just stared back at the now silent agent.
***
Dwight breathed deeply…. it had been several years since he had seen Abby she had just lost her father and mother and was taking it very hard.
He loved it when she’d smile brightly and nearly tackle him with a hug.
She also called him “D. J.” which second only to his own mother just made him smile and remember the days so many people forget.
The elevator doors opened and Dwight stepped out and saw the sugar powered Goth looking rather distraught thinking she had lost a file, her back was too him and she was on the floor looking through boxes of reports.
He shook his head and remembered back to one Halloween Abby and her mother spent hours on the floor looking through pattern and design books for the perfect costume until she found the perfect one which brought a warm smile to her mother’s face.
Dwight walked through the glass doors quietly and just watched as she automatically began a conversation.
“I’m sorry Gibbs….I’m looking.”
“Yes.. I know what your going to say….how could I your perfect forensic mastermind….Caf-Pow consuming…pigtailed prodigy screw up so bad?”
“Don’t worry…I’ll fire myself….I don’t want you to feel guilty…Oh if only Tony was here or Ziva….I knew something was off with my juju when they left.”
He then walked up behind her and held the file in front of her face.
“GIBBS! You found it! I can‘t believe it!”
She turned and looked up at the lean man in front of her utterly stunned.
“D-- D- D. J.?”
He smiled.
“Hey Little Spider…”
She smiled and embraced him tightly suddenly over come with emotion. When she looked back up at him her eyes were swollen with tears.
“I….I thought I’d never see you again.” she sobbed
He placed two fingers under her chin and shook his head.
“Remember what I told you…”
“Well no….right now my brain is kinda water logged right now..” She sniffled.
He smiled and wiped her tears with his fingers.
“No matter where I am….if you needed me I would come running… and help you any way I could.”
She looked up at him.
“I just thought you were being poetic….in a “League of Their Own” sorta way…”
He laughed and hugged her back remembering the movie.
“No….I made a promise to your folks that I would look out for you.”
She smiled.
“I’m not a little girl anymore I braid my own hair now…and I even go to raves past midnight.”
He looked at her and just patted her head.
“Yeah but your still hopelessly addicted to Caf-Pow I see.”
Abby looked at him.
“How did you know…?”
He handed the small wrapped gift from her boss.
“Better then Christmas….well not really….I mean Hanukkah….wait I like presents.”
He smiled.
“You always did…”
Abby finally smiled fully.
“How did you know I…was in trouble?”
“Gibbs called me….said he noticed I had applied for the Secret Service. He said you were missing your co-workers and asked if I wouldn‘t mind coming down to see you. ”
“He’s been reading my file again.. “ Abby mumbled then blushed.
Dwight smirked.
“Common around her?”
“Well no…but ever since Michael….” Abby rubbed her arm.
He looked at her.
“We met in a graveyard and he kind of went Hannibal Lector on me or was it Freddy Kruger.”
“Ah..”
He crossed his arms and smirked much like a big brother.
“I didn’t want you to feed him to the Gators….”
He laughed.
“…and what did Gibbs want to do?”
Abby half smiled and bit her lower lip.
“Wanted to beat him to death with a baseball bat.”
“Metal or wood?”
“Dwiiight.”
He laughed.
Later that night Gibbs walked into the lab and noticed that it was silent and Abby was working at her desk.
He smiled as he walked into her office and just watched her.
“Hey Abbs…”
She looked up and smiled she began to stand up until he motioned her to remain seated.
He noticed the new addition in her office a beautifully framed picture of Abby, her parents and the rest of The Sciuto clan with Abby sitting on her father’s lap and smiling brightly Gibb’s looked back at her and the picture several times.
“Yes Gibbs… I was cute wasn’t I?”
He smirked.
“Dwight….brought it all the way from Louisiana.”
“He really means a lot to you hmm?”
“Yeah…he’s like a big brother to me.”
Gibbs nodded.
“He’s a good man… don’t have any doubt about it.”
Gibbs handed her a piece of paper.
“I thought you’d want to see that before he got the news.”
She looked at it…they had denied him a position.
“Oh no….he worked so hard…”
She looked at her silver haired boss
“Gibbs…can you do me a BIG favor?”
“Abby….” He sighed.
“I know…I know it’s a hassle the extra desk and all…think of it as a security deposit.”
“Your saying you want me to put in a good word for him so he can work here?”
She smiled.
“Bingo Gibbs…”
“You know I have to get an application from him to Vance right?”
“Yes” She handed it too him.
He smirked.
“…and how did you get him to sign it?”
“I… promised him not to date anymore creeps.”
“What about stalkers?”
“One step at a time Gibbs.”
She smiled.