I woke up and tried to run my hands through my hair and sit up. I felt someone gently pushing me back so that I laid back down.
"Shawn, lay down. You just woke up from surgery!"
I looked up and there he was! It wasn't a dream, he really was Tony's boss!
"What's up, Jet? Long time, no talk." He sat down next to the bed after he helped me get the bed to bend so that I could sit up.
"So, want to tell me how you screwed your knee up, so bad?" I leaned back again and slid my hands through my hair nervously. I looked at him, he was still so handsome and more. He had aged so well.
I leaned back and he handed me some water, making sure I had a good hold of it before letting go. There was a straw in it. God, if I didn't feel like I was five again and my mom was helping me drink from a straw.
"A store was getting robbed and I was buying some soda and a candy bar. They went to shoot a kid, so I shoved him out of the way and we both shot at the same time. I got him in chest and he got me in the knee. So, in a fucking second, my life as a damn detective was over." I took another sip of the water. "But a friend offered me a job here in D.C. at a security company, doing a bit of a bounty hunter work for them. When my knee is better, I can start doing more work but for now, it's better then answering the phones in the damn police department."
Gibbs nodded at me.
"I moved you into my downstairs bedroom. It has its own bathroom. The master bedroom is upstairs, there two more rooms up there, that share a bedroom. The house is plenty big enough and I needed a roommate. It's better then Tony's place, which is small and you don't need to be going up those stairs with your knee. Ducky says that you don't need to work your knee too much, right now." I looked at him, questioningly. I took a deep breath before I raised my head to look at him.
"Jet, thanks for the offer, but no thanks." I leaned back. I wasn't sure what to do, right now, damn it! We have not talked in twenty damn years but Jet was as determined now as he'd ever been when we were friends.
"Like hell you're not. Yeah, we've gone about twenty years without talking. No-one is around, so I can say that I missed you and I want my best friend back." I looked at him. He was doing something he doesn't do very often. Then he carried on talking. "Just live with me until you are totally healed. You can pay half the bills if you want and we can be roommates. I remember, when we were junior's in high school, that we swore we would be roommates and start our own business or something stupid. But we always wanted to live together, remember?" I laughed quietly.
"Fine, I missed you too, Jet! And I want to be friends again. We'll see how it goes." He just smirked and he pushed back some of my wild hair from my face. He leaned back so he could look at me.
"I had Tony call Tim and they got all your boxes moved to my place, to the bottom bedroom. So, once they let you out of here, I'll get you home and get you used to the place. Tony's worried about you. He told me that you were a good influence, and that you helped him train his instincts and become a better detective." I shrugged.
"The kid was a natural, but he did need a few more lessons. Otherwise, he was good at the job. You got a good one on your side." Jet nods to me.
"That's why I made him my senior agent." I nodded, and yawned softly.
"Jet, go home! Come get me in the morning." He stood up, and reached to push some hair out of my face again. He spun round and headed out without another word.
He was harder then he used to be, but at the same time, he also was the same old Jet; worried about me and taking care of me when I need someone to take care of me. Maybe this would work out. Maybe I would have my best friend back. That was true but could I handle living with the man that still had my heart in his hand? Even if he didn't know about it. I slid my hands over my hair and looked around, thinking: I hope our friendship is as strong as it was back then 'cause I don't want to lose the one thing that had held up when my old man beat me and abused me so bad. I had Jet, he'd kept me strong. If he had known about my old man, I think he would have beaten the shit out of him.
I fell asleep quickly. I was still tired from the surgery. When he I woke up Jet was there again. He stayed with me while I signed out. He got me to his place. I used the crutches because the doctor said I was not allowed to over do it and to rest for month. Jet looked at me and he put me in a recliner so I could put my legs up.
"So, I took month of vacation time off. I thought I could take care of you and also we could catch up." I looked at him and laughed.
"Sounds good to me, but you shouldn't use your vacation on my account, Jet." He shrugged, he had already done it and I don't really think I could have talked him out of it.
Jet looked at me as he took a drink of his coffee.
"So, I was thinking, either the last two weeks or just the last week, we would go stay with my dad and hang out in the small town." I nodded back at him.
"Yeah, I liked your dad. He was cool and your mom was sweet to me. I wouldn't mind hanging out with your dad some, maybe we could fish, sitting on the edge of the lake." He looked at me.
"I have a question," he said. I looked right back at him.
"Go ahead, I still won't lie to you! I still trust you more then anyone, and Tony is a close second." He looked at me and smirked.
"Same here." He looked back at me.
"Your dad killed your mother. There was more going on at home than you would tell me wasn't there? Those bruises, where you would tell me that you fell or something. Was your old man beating you, Shawn?" I looked at him and grunted. The one question he has to ask but its over now.
"Yeah, at first it was just because to him, I was stupid and always doing stuff wrong. Then he heard me telling my mother that I was gay. I was about twelve and then it got worse. I knew if I told you that I was getting beaten by my old man, he would tell you that I was gay and you would hate me too."
I took a deep breath, he was letting me talk. "When you went to boot camp and after we had that fight. My mom decided to finally protect me from my dad. He had come home and found me, he was drunk. He started with his fist, hard. He slammed a bat into my back once, then my mother tried to stop him and he pushed her down. He was so mad that he went over and just started slamming the bat into her head. I tried to stop him and I was so mad that he did that to mom, I slugged him and knocked him out after the second punch."
I took a drink of my coffee. "When it all happened and my mother was dead. My old man was going to jail and was going to be tried for murder. All I could think was that I needed you. Jackson came to my rescue and moved me in with him. Your mom pampered me and your dad let me talk to him. But the one person I needed wasn't there. I needed you but I knew that you were doing what was important to you, and I was proud of you. No matter what I said in that fight. Jet, you did the right thing, you served your country for the right reason."
He nodded and sighed, "My mom sent me a letter with the article about what happened and she kept sending them, so I knew all about the trial. I kept trying to figure out what to write in a letter to make you feel better but I couldn't come up with shit, so I just didn't. I figured my mom and dad were doing what was needed to help you." I looked up at him, sighing.
"Nothing would have helped, I guess. But, no worries, we were both stupid after the fight." He nodded and stood up. He walked to the kitchen to make lunch. He left the door open so we could still talk.
"Roast beef or turkey sub?"
I was hungry, I thought about it before answering. "Roast beef works for me, thanks."
Things seemed to be settling down nicely. We were back to being friends. We talked some more about the abuse and he didn't react badly to me being gay, that was a relief to me. We were friends again!
me. We were friends again.
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