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Days in the Lives of Jethro Gibbs and Family

(This episode references the escape scene from Chapter 4 of the story titled, When Past Meets Present an NCIS story)

Chapter 6    Plan and Execute

“Breathe!” Margie said to herself.  You can do this.  You’ve survived scenarios like this a hundred times. Ok Margie don’t panic.  You know this area. You know people here.  Plan and execute.

Getting my bearings I knew that I needed to seek cover. Although dressed in fatigues I will stick out like a bull in a china shop.  You don’t find too many black females roaming this area so it will prove quite beneficial for me not to draw attention to myself.  I cover my face with the scarf from around my neck and put on my gloves.  My bandana and hat cover my hair so I look less conspicuous.  Making my way down the road I stay on alert for anyone following me.  Trying to look behind me and in front of me without appearing that I am doing that helps me to keep my mind on reaching safety and not on Robert’s betrayal.  That is the only way anyone could know what we were doing.  

Just as I turn the corner to head down another street I notice movement on right of me in a doorway.  Continuing down the road I don’t notice anyone else there.  I continue for a distance and then stop near a tall tree.  I wait and listen until it is evident to me that this person is following me.  Based upon the sound of his foot impact on the ground I estimate his height and weight.  Not moving too soon I want him directly behind me so that my strike will have the greatest impact.  Taking a deep breath I count off the number of steps it will take him to reach me.   When he is just a few inches from me I bend down and with my knife in my hand I thrust back and plunge my knife between his legs.  Quickly I remove my knife and stand and not noticing anyone else I leave him there on the ground while he’s moaning and holding his jewels.  He’ll be singing falsetto for the rest of his life.

From that point I take off running.  I stay in the shadows and constantly look for any other assailants but do not see any.  Within twenty minutes I arrive at my destination and give the signal, the blue jay’s call.  He knows that it is my favorite bird and there are no blue jays in this area so he has no doubt as to the source of the sound.  The back door of the house opens and a canary whistle echoes out and I know he heard me.  Quickly moving to enter the door and close it behind me I find myself enveloped in the arms of my good friend and comrade, Stefan.  

Explaining all that happened he quickly makes calls and all is arranged.  We head for the airstrip but on the way we find a body on the side of the road and stop to investigate.  The person is still alive and I comment that he is a kidnap victim and evidently his captors left him for dead after not receiving the ransom.  We load him onto our Jeep and make it to the airstrip and prepare to take off.  Just as I prepare to close the plane doors shots ring out.  A group of men advance on the plane and Stefan and I return fire. To my surprise I see that Robert leads the group of our attackers.  During the course of the battle we eliminate all of the attackers, including Robert, but we do not escape with suffering wounds.  I take a bullet to my side and shoulder.  Stefan pulls me into the plane and the pilot flies us out of danger.  

The medic on board tends to my wounds and we make it to the nearest military hospital.  The hospital staff treats both the young man whom we gathered from the side of the road and me.  Strangely enough I remain conscious and aware of all that is happening to me. Stefan stays with me and I look at him and he bends his head to me and I whisper, “Protect”.  He knows then that I have a keen sense that something is still off in all of this and he will not leave my side for anything.  The doctors try to get him to leave but he does not.  They do convince him to dress in protective garb and he does but he refuses to leave the room.  They stabilize me and the lead doctor receives word do prepare me for transport.  My superiors have demanded my return to the States and a plane is now ready to transport me.  Just as they finish up I look up and see something a bit off.  A nurse near the stand that holds my meds bag quickly puts her hand in her pocket.  Not knowing what prompted that I file it away in my mind for later processing. 

The flight home felt like forever but the medical crew on board manages to keep me stable and upon landing they move me to a medical helicopter and carry me to Bethesda.  Stefan remains by my side through it all.  Upon arrival at Bethesda my bleeding starts again and they take me into surgery. At that time I pass out.  

Some time later the doctors cleared me to have visitors.  First I meet with my superiors and brief them on the mission.  Stefan is still there and confirms everything about the shoot out at the airfield. Knowing about the poisoning I relate to them the action of the nurse at the intermediary hospital.  They inform me that upon learning of my poisoning they detained all of the staff at the hospital and now with my information they can deal with that nurse. Upon the termination of my debriefing Stefan leaves with my superiors for his own debriefing.  Next I talk with my parents and reassure them that I am on the mend. They hug me so tight that I think they may break my sutures.  I love them so much and this is one of the few times that they have had to visit me in a hospital because of my job.  Working for the CIA you can’t tell anyone what you do exactly so they only know that I travel a lot and work hard at what I do.  Being attorneys they know sometimes one cannot divulge certain information and so through the years they simply accept what I tell them and pray for my safe return.  My mother plans to stay with me while I recover so she can make sure that I regain my strength quickly.  That’s a mother for you.

Finally I get to talk with Jethro.  Before that Lydia pops her head in to tell me how grateful she is that I survived and then she heads home.  Jethro walks in and sits on the chair next to my bed.

“Hi. I know that I look terrible but I really feel better.  How are you?”  I ask.

“I love you,” Jethro responds.

“You do? I love you too.  You’re not saying that because you thought that I was going to die are you?”  I ask with a trembling voice.

“I am saying it because it is true and because that is how I feel.  I won’t deny that you almost dying did have an influence on my saying it because it did, but not in the way that you think.  You almost dying made me realize that tomorrow is not promised and we must make every day count.  I don’t want another moment to pass without you knowing how deeply I love you,” Jethro states emphatically.

Jethro takes my face in his hands and kisses my forehead, my eyes, my cheeks, and finally my lips.  I gasp and he deepens the kiss until we both have to stop to take a breath. 

“Oh my, we need to stop or I will definitely need to take a cold, cold shower to cool off,” I whisper.  “You don’t know what you do to me when we kiss, when we touch, when I’m just with you,” I say as I put my hands over his hands as he holds my face.  “What happens now?  We love each.  Where does our relationship go from here? You don’t want marriage and I can’t give myself fully to you without marriage.  Do we just remain friends?  I don’t know if I can do that knowing how we feel about each other.  But on the other hand I don’t want to lose you from my life.  I definitely don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do…” I mumble that last part because Jethro captures my lips again.

“Stop talking and listen,” Jethro says as he kneels on one knee.  “Alexis Marjorie McGregor will you marry me?” Jethro asks as he looks lovingly into the eyes of the woman who gave him a new purpose and a new desire to live and not simply exist. 

With tears welling in my eyes I smile and reply, “Yes!”  Jethro stands and kisses me again and I mumble in the kiss, “but you have to ask me again when I get out the hospital and I have on some clothes, and I look presentable, and …”.  He kisses me again and I simply moan.