---------------
Abby was working at her bench, manipulating images and trying to find evidence hidden to the naked eye. The music in the lab was its normal obnoxious decibel level and Gibbs flinched when he strode into the lab, coffee and Caf-pow in hand. But he had to smile at the sight of Abby be-bopping to the music as her fingers flew on her keyboard. She had been a little down in the dumps since Stan left and it was nice to see her back to her old self.
Without turning around she said, “Good morning, Gibbs.”
“Hey, Abs. You got anything for me?”
“DNA won't be done for two hours. I just can't speed that up, sorry. And I just started working on the stills from the damaged security tape footage. It's a mess but I should be able to salvage something. It's just going to take me a little while.”
He turned to go, “Let me know as soon as you have something.” He paused at the door and walked back to her bench. “Can I ask you something?”
Abby bit back a snicker, it had to be a Kelly question. He always started Kelly questions that way. He was a man who could stare down the barrel of a suspect's gun without a flicker of fear, yet his little red-headed seventeen year old daughter could tie him in knots and almost send him in a panic with the most innocent of things. He wanted to be the perfect parent, actually he wanted to be the perfect parents, and make up for Kelly not having a mother. But the gruff and tough Marine just wasn't equipped for some of the more feminine issues of raising a daughter by himself. And he came to Abby often for advice.
“Sure.” She said with grin as she sipped her Caf-pow.
He tugged his earlobe absently, “This whole senior prom thing. It's a big deal right? What do I need to know?
---------------
Kelly wanted to die, simply die. Her pizza was sitting on the plate in front of her getting cold, but she just couldn't eat. Her father and Jimmy were sitting opposite each other at the dining room table and her father was interrogating poor Jimmy.
In reality, Gibbs was just trying to get a response out of the young man that was more than a “yes, sir” or “no, sir”. He was a pleasant enough looking kid, a little skinny, but then again, so was he at Jimmy's age.
Jimmy had paled at first when Jethro had opened the door and he saw the father that all the boys at school feared more than anyone. But once he was in the living room and saw Kelly, Jethro saw the enormous genuine smile take up residence on Jimmy's face and her presence seemed to give Jimmy a little courage, emphasis on a little. Gibbs just couldn't get him to string together an entire sentence. How was he supposed to get to know the boy if he wouldn't talk?
He took a sip of soda and tried again, “So Kelly tells me you wanna be doctor. Any specific kind of doctor?”
Jimmy pushed his glasses up nervously, not knowing exactly how to tell Gibbs that he wanted to be a medical examiner without making himself sound like a creepy, morbid freak. He took a breath and tried, “Actually sir, I, ah, I've sort of been thinking about, um, pathology and forensic science. I'd like to help solve crimes and stuff.”
Gibbs tried not to let his surprise show on his face, but Jimmy's choice of careers surprised him a little, and pleased him too. “Good choice.”
Jimmy was shocked, “Really?”
“Well, yeah, Jimmy. I can't tell you how many times our M.E. has made a case for us. It's important work.”
Jimmy was still confused, he knew Kelly's dad was a Marine, but he didn't know what he did for a living, it had just never come up in conversation and now he was curious. Was he a cop? “Um, Mr. Gibbs, what is it that you do?”
Before he could answer, Kelly finally piped up, “He works for NCIS. He's a Federal Agent.”
The smile spread across Jimmy's face, “Really? That is so cool.”
That finally managed to break the ice, and Gibbs found himself liking Jimmy, he certainly had some, well, odd, personality traits, but overall he seemed to be a kid with a sensible head on his shoulders and a good nature. And later on, when the two of them were sitting and working on their science club project together, Gibbs had come up from the basement for a beer and he paused in the doorway, watching the two of them bent close. There had been a lot of giggling filtering down stairs, and now he could see it first hand, the two of them just laughing good-naturedly as they worked. He felt a stab of grief that Shannon wasn't there to share it, to see what an amazing young woman their daughter had turned out to be, and to see that she had good taste in boyfriends. Because as he stood there watching them unaware, he knew that young Mr. Palmer was going to become a permanent fixture in their lives.
---------------
tbc...
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.