Chapter 11

"And this has nothing to do with the fact you attacked a restrained prisoner, with the fact you attacked a man without being provoked or having a reason, and have yet to charge the man? Do you assume just because you found out who the man really is, and I'm going to assume that it was actually a member of your team who made the discovery, that I will overlook your actions?" Morrow was furious; furious at Franks for putting him in a tenuous situation; furious at the FBI for letting their ops cross; even a bit furious at the connection even he could feel pouring from Brooks and Abby.

Mike shrugged, hating being dressed down in front of Fornell and the others. "Not here, Tom," he said, knowing it was more of a plea than anything else. An uncharacteristic plea on his part.

"But we will, Mike. Before the day is done I want to see you in my office for a full debriefing on what transpired here today." His tone allowed for no arguments, called for no debate and instead only the complete truth.

Mike nodded jerkily. Morrow was gonna hand him his ass over this.

Jet blinked a few times and gave Tobias a look, not sure how to play this.

Martin Fletcher had his driver race him over to NCIS headquarters and he barely nodded at the two agents at their computers and Sacks and Blumenthal standing nearby. When he strode inside the interrogation room, he faltered slightly at the sight of Jethro's bruised face, giving Tobias an angry glare.

"Morrow," he said more formally than he spoke in their phone conversation. "NCIS personnel, Special Agent Fornell." He paused for a long moment, then gave Jet a small smile. "Special Agent Gibbs. Morrow, think we can get my man out of cuffs and handle this a little more civilized?"

"Special Agent?" Mike growled. "He's a fed?" When the FBI agent nodded, Mike stalked out of the room to get DiNozzo and McGee. They could all stand charges for assaulting a federal agent and they needed to know this new development.

"Well put, Fletcher. Officer David. Would you please release Mr. Brooks so that we can get this straightened out?" Nodding her agreement, she moved to free the suspect.

As Ziva went to uncuff him, Abby stood up and moved by the door, knowing her time inside the interrogation room was short. It was becoming overly crowded and there were too many people of too high a rank for her to be needed much longer. Once they were done questioning her, she'd have to leave. And then, more than likely, she'd never see Jet again.

Why would he come find her? She used a stun gun on him, got him arrested, beat up. Really great first impression. In the little time she had left, she just watched him, memorizing his face, before she had to go to her lab with only a few memories.

He removed the cuffs himself, it was faster. Abby was trying to escape and she was most important right now. Soon as the cuffs clattered to the table, he took her arm and pulled her to the corner where the cameras didn't have the direct line, the area where she'd kissed him.

"FBI," he said quietly, sadly. "Deep undercover. Couldn't break cover unless I was given orders. Wasn't what I wanted to do, lying to you. Tell me this is still real ... because it is for me."

Now that Jet Brooks and Leroy Jethro Gibbs had collided so violently, he was reeling, not sure which one he needed to be. He'd been Jet Brooks for months and months now and coming back to earth as an agent was disorienting at best. For some reason, she was his lifeline right now.

"Tell me this is real, Abby."

"You don't need to explain yourself, Je ... Lero ... What do you go by? What do I call you?" she asked, still stunned by his admission. Looking up at him, her eyes wide and dark from shock and a bit of sadness, she said, "You don't need to explain yourself. You didn't do anything wrong."

When he made his declaration, she whispered, "This is real to me. About the only real thing right now. When you're done, when it's all over, and if you still think this is real, come and find me. I'll be in my lab, just a few floors below us. It's pretty easy and everyone knows where I am ... and if you still want me, if it's still real..." she let that hang in the air, not wanting to pressure him.

"Not Leroy," he said, shaking his head firmly. "Jet is fine. I'm used to answering to that." And it seemed a bit more modern than Jethro. He nodded at what she said, wanting to go further but knowing he couldn't yet. Not now when all the eyes in the room were on them.

He angled his body so that he was blocking their view and he signed a few of the words she had earlier. Longing. Bond. Connection. He wouldn't turn away until he had some sort of a response from her.

"Jet," she whispered, smiling. Watching his hands, her smile softened even more, remembering their time together before all hell had broken loose. Signing back, she tried to let him know she understood. Real. Together. Find me.

He nodded, hoping she knew that he wasn't looking at her as only an assignment. She was so much more than that. "Until later," he whispered, knowing things were going to get intense. "Feisty princess."

"Secret agent," she shot back. With his body still shielding them from prying eyes, Abby put her hand over one of his. Caressing the knuckles, she let him know she'd be waiting. As he turned to leave, she gave him one last smile in goodbye. Abby could only hope that when things got settled, he'd be able to come and find her.

Calling out, she said, "Director Morrow? If you're done with me, can I go back to the lab? I still need to run facial recognitions on the captures from tonight, in case I can match one of them up to the drug case."

"Go ahead, Sciuto. Just don't get lost on the way to your lab, missy," he teased. No matter how much trouble she got in, or how much trouble she was, Abby would always be a favorite of his. Her vivaciousness and joy of life were the opposite of most of his daily dealings as the director of a major investigative agency.

"I won't, Director. And thank you," she said, before she left, looking at Jet one last time before disappearing through the interrogation room door.

It was almost like a physical blow when she left the room. He felt like a teenager again, and it was a distraction he didn't need. He let his eyes drift over the knowing smiles of Ziva and the doctor, the sternness of both directors, the enigmatic kind of half smile of Tobias and he drifted over to stand next to him.

"Hell of a handler, letting me get beat up," he said, teasing slightly, nudging Tobias' shoulder with his arm.

"You're the one who made 'contact' with their undercover agent," Fornell teased back. Teasing wasn't always natural for Tobias, but he had a good rapport with the man and was comfortable with the interaction. "You sure chose a good one. Yeah, she's gorgeous, but she happens to be the darling of NCIS. You couldn't have picked a quicker way to get the shit beat out of you."

Jet grinned. "Should have seen the emerald necklace she had on. Every man's eyes were on her. I was sure she'd be marked and wanted to spend a little time with her first then observe her from a distance." He shrugged.

"Then her bulldogs stormed in. At least they got me out of there with nobody noticing. Cover should be completely intact." He felt his expression softening. "She looked spectacular in that dress. You wouldn't even picture her in that after seeing her in what she was just wearing."

Gibbs wasn't a man who fell in love—or lust—easily. He didn't let anyone in. Jet Brooks was even more distant in his personal relationships. So why was this woman getting so thoroughly under his skin?

"Yeah, I'm sure it was her necklace that made you want to spend some time with her. And not the body in the dress, or the emerald eyes, right?" Tobias laughed. The look on Jet's face was priceless for a man living his life as a confirmed bachelor for the last dozen or so years. If Abby was half the girl he knew her to be, she'd have the hardened FBI agent wrapped around her finger before too long.

Tobias continued speaking. "And the Director'll probably want to put you back undercover as soon as possible. So, if you're cover is intact, it'll be less of a headache for us in the long run. They may be cowboys, but NCIS does know how to run an op successfully."

"She isn't a redhead," Gibbs pointed out. Toby knew all about his penchant for redheads. Toby had married one who had broken Gibbs' heart first. They'd barely known each other and Toby hadn't taken his warning advice that she would break his heart, but at least the other man had a beautiful little girl who had come out of his disastrous marriage.

Jet was trying to deflect. He knew this girl meant a great deal to him already and he wasn't going to let Toby use that knowledge. But he knew what his expression read and from his friend's reaction, it wasn't a secret.

"My cover better be intact," Jet growled. "Worked too damn hard to get inside and accepted, Toby."

"So, maybe you can break through past habits after all, Jet." But he let the matter drop. He knew how much the past had ripped his friend apart. In fact, they shared some of that past. So if he could somehow find some happiness with the strange Goth girl from NCIS, Tobias wasn't going to force the point.

"We'll have to hammer out some points on our op versus theirs. But I think the way they handled it, you'll be covered."

"Hope so. They were subtle when they led me out. Has to be worth something, Toby." He ran a hand over his jaw and face, sighing. "Gonna bruise up pretty badly. Gonna have to cancel going to Sunday's benefit at the art gallery. Couldn't explain this away as airbag damage from a car accident, could I?"

Jet felt a little more comfortable now that he had someone he knew nearby. A couple of someones. Fletcher had been a friend of his CO who had offered him a job if he had some training after the Marines. He'd taken some classes, gotten his degree in criminal justice in just over twenty months, and started at the FBI right afterward. Fletcher was a good man, a close friend.

And Tobias had become a good friend in time as well.

Looking over the marks on Gibbs' face, Fornell shook his head at the damage Mike Franks had done him. Laughing, Tobias offered, "You can always say that you hooked up with a girl whose boyfriend took offense. That he decked you for stealing his woman."

Considering the explanation, he said, "In fact, that might make a really good excuse for your leaving the party. Were you seen with Abby? Could anyone make an ID if they saw her again or say they saw you leave with her?"

"That isn't done in those circles, Tobias," he said, affecting a cultured accent and lessening his words with a wink. "I didn't leave with her exactly. We drifted away into a corridor. Then she left alone and two of her friends led me out. Don't know if we were seen. Don't know what her cover ID is. Someone would have background-checked her. We need to coordinate and see how screwed I am, Toby."

Tobias grunted in amusement, saying, "You do that too well sometimes." Hitting Jet good naturedly on the shoulder, Fornell looked over at their bosses. "I think that's the idea behind our Directors. See them conspiring over there?" He said, gesturing to the two older men. "I think once we sit down and get this out, we'll figure out a way to unscrew you."

"I'm a chameleon, Toby. But sometimes I forget who I am." It was a rare moment of vulnerability. Jethro often needed a few weeks to come down from an undercover op and this was the equivalent of having cold water splashed on him. He was jittery and anxious, a state that was rare to him.

He pulled in a deep breath. "Need some coffee, Tobias. And my own bed for a change would be nice, but that can't happen."

He was out of sorts in a lot of ways, and it wasn't just meeting Abby that had knocked him off his game.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we can find you a cup of coffee, and hopefully a good one. As for your own bed, can't help you with that. Unless Fletcher gives you the night off to regroup and even then, you know the old saying. You can never go home again. Not 'til the op is over, anyway." He almost said something crass about staying in Abby's bed, but Tobias knew that Jet already had a rough enough day as it was. If he gave Jet even more crap about Abby, his colleague might be pushed beyond his limits.

"Penthouse is great, better than a humble civil servant like me can afford." But it was sterile. No woodworking projects around, no nosy but well meaning neighbors, no pictures of his family. He had some books around, but just like the clothes, they were things his persona should enjoy. Not him. The Lexus he drove was great but it wasn't his. He much preferred his Jeep Cherokee, which was a little long in the tooth but drove fine.

"Getting sick of being someone else, Toby. Miss the range, miss a lot of things."

"Hopefully, if we can work this out, we'll be able to close this op sooner rather than later, even with NCIS' help. The Director will give you some time to come down, Gibbs. He generally does. Then you can have your own bed. And maybe you'll be able to explore that odd chemistry you have with that even stranger girl."

He arched a brow at Toby. "Think I lost my mind, don't ya? There's something about her, though. Something between us..." Jet ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Gonna need some time off after this one."

This op had come shortly after a very long term one, over two years in duration. They'd broken a domestic slavery ring wide open but he'd had to go in real deep and he hadn't been given more than a week to recover. He needed that down time, especially now.