Harry and Kelly: Fortius Quo Fidelius

Leroy Jethro Gibbs Comes Home

Leroy Jethro Gibbs woke up to a pounding head and a dry mouth. Confused about what happened he tried to think back to the last thing he remembered. He was deployed in 1991 to Kuwait with the 1st battalion, 1st Marines during Operation Desert Storm. He remembered his Lieutenant David Cameron saving his life only to lose his own during a battle. He remembered an explosion and then nothing. He lay there for a while ordering his thoughts and determining the pain levels.

He heard a rustling sound and looked over to see his commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel William Ryan entering the medical tent. He saw him walking with one of the corpsmen working in the field tent.

"Ah Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs it's good to see you awake. We will be transferring you to Bethesda in the morning. While you are there we will debrief and then you are going to be going back home for a bit. There has been an accident back home and your little girl needs you now more than ever." Ryan said.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked, trying to sit up. The corpsmen helped him and got him some water.

"I will tell you when we get back to the states and you are checked in to the hospital. I cannot have you go running off before we can verify it is safe to do so. You have been in a coma for a week and the accident happened 2 days ago. Things are going to move fast when we get to the states, so I need you to be ready and healthy enough to do them." Lieutenant Colonel Ryan said.

That next morning at 04:00 the flight took off with Jethro, Lieutenant Colonel Ryan, and others sick, injured, or due leave. They flew all day where they landed and half of them were immediately brought to Bethesda including Jethro. He was taken in for an MRI and CT scan where they said that the concussion was indeed healing and to take it easy in the next week. He slept in the hospital overnight. He was extremely antsy to find out what accident occurred that sent him home early.

"Good morning, Gunny. First things first I have the doctors report and we are going to take things slow. I am going to handle all that I can so you can focus on your recovery and your family. At the end of this month, you are going to be attending a ceremony for your act in the battle awarded you with a Purple Heart. Later today we are going to be traveling to the Navy Yard NIS building. There you will get more information." Lieutenant Colonel Ryan said. Normally he wouldn't wait that long to give him the award but everything else seemed more pressing.

After a quick breakfast of a sausage and egg sandwich on a bagel Gibb was given one of his uniforms as they were the only clothing he had with him, besides sleep pants which would not be appropriate for the public. His pack only had what was necessary for a war zone which is just uniforms for the most part. He put on his desert camo uniform and grabbed the coffee that was handed to him. The drive to the Navy Yard did not take very long and was filled with Jethro questioning what happened to his family and Ryan saying he would find out at NIS.

They got to the security desk and went through the process of being checked, scanned and everything. They got visitor badges and were told to wait for an Agent Dwayne Pride who would lead them to the conference room his team is in. They saw a well-built tall man with a distinct New Orleans accent come from the elevator. He pointed out important places on the way to the conference room, including the bullpen, bathrooms, break rooms, and especially the director's office.

"Boss, this is Lieutenant Colonel William Ryan and Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Husband of Shannon and father to Kelly. Gentlemen this is my team; my boss Special Agent in Charge Mike Franks, Special Agent Dan McLane, Special Agent Felix Betts and I am Special Agent Dwayne Cassius Pride. Why don't you two take a seat?" Pride said. They sat around a table where the agents sat on one side and Gibbs and his commanding officer sat on the other.

"Good morning gentlemen, I am the lead agent on the case involving your wife and her accident. Now are you aware of the circumstances leading to Shannon and Kelly being held in protective custody?" Mike said. When he got a nod from the gunny he continues. "Shannon was witness to a murder from a known drug lord resulting in her being held in protective custody with Agent Kurt Mitchell and an array of others who swapped in. Three days ago, Agent Mitchell was driving Shannon and Kelly away from the motel they were staying in when he was shot, leading the car to crash. Now what we have is most of the full story but part of it we cannot obtain without your and other permission. A young boy watched the car crash and when he felt it was safe to do so went to try and help everyone. Agent Mitchell was already deceased with a gsw to the head. We found Shannon in a position in the front seat suggesting she tried to turn towards Kelly. She was also deceased on the scene. When we got to the scene that is all we found, Kelly along with some of the backpacks and the agent's wallet and identification was missing. We later found out that Kelly had survived, and the young boy got her out of the car, taking the backpacks for supplies, the wallet for money and got away from the area. Yesterday our director told us that they snuck onto buses until they reached your father Jackson Gibbs in Stillwater Pennsylvania. He called for help from your home base and got the kids the medical help they needed. They are both upstairs at the moment and safe. Kelly had a broken arm, a cut on his head but no concussion. We do need to keep them in protective custody until the case is solved as well." Mike said.

"I need to see her" Jethro said, moving to get up.

William pushed his shoulder down, so he was still in his seat. "We will go in a minute but listen to them first okay."

"Thank you, Dwayne will escort you up in two minutes. We just want to let you know that you can either go back to base or join Kelly, your father, the marines and the little boy who saved Kelly. Also, we do need you to go down to identify your wife before you leave. Do you want to do that now or after you see Kelly?" Mike asked. Ducky had finished the autopsy and so they could release the body for a funeral.

"I need to see Kelly. I need to know she is okay. I will see Shan later." Gibbs said. This time they let him get up to lead him upstairs. Dwayne led them up towards the director's office and let Cynthia know who they were. She asked Director Morrow if they could enter and was given permission.

When Gibbs entered the room the first thing, he did was scan the room for any danger, and any and all exits. The next thing he saw was an older gentleman sitting behind a desk filled with some paperwork and a computer. The third thing he saw was a blur of his eight-year-old daughter running into his torso.