chaletian | [NCIS] The Stepmother :: PG :: Gen

Title: The Stepmother
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG
Characters: Lt Col Mann, Gibbs (mentions of everyone else)
Spoilers: None, really. Vague season 4 for Mann’s existence, I suppose.
Summary: Gibbs’ latest lover comes to terms with his baggage.
Author's Notes: I fancied exploring further the concept of family that I brought up in Damage Control.

I expected Abby.

No. Wait. I’ll take that back; nobody expects Abby. But you know what I mean – it was obvious how close she was to Gibbs and how suspicious she was of anyone who might come between them. But, you know what? Abby was OK. She knows Gibbs adores her; she knows that there’s nothing I can do to stop that. More to the point, perhaps, is that she knows that I know. So, Abby’s just happy that Gibbs is happy. Of course, if I make him unhappy, she knows a dozen ways to kill me without leaving any evidence and won’t hesitate to use them blah blah blah, but I’d expect nothing less.

Abby and me, we have an understanding. Like I said, her I expected.

The others? Not so much.

I mean, I have a team. We work cases together. I’ve worked with Lt Harper for three years now; Chapman, even longer. We go out for beers on the weekend, we hang out, you know the kind of stuff. And I know they’re at least semi-interested in my latest relationship. Couple of questions, raised eyebrows, requests for more salacious details once the alcohol gets flowing – that’s normal, right? That’s what I expected Gibbs’ people would be like.

It’s unusual for me to be quite that wrong.

McGee’s the easiest. He’s reserved, and a little suspicious, but he’s not going to launch an all-out attack. He just watches the others and has whispered phone calls with Abby about exactly how Gibbs is acting, and what I said and then what Gibbs said and what Tony did afterwards. He’s like a ten-year old peering over the banisters, reporting back to his sister.

So, McGee’s OK. DiNozzo, on the other hand… I don’t know quite what he thinks. That I’m going to break Gibbs’ heart? That I’m going to make Gibbs break their hearts? That I’m going to make their entire team come crashing down? I don’t know, but that is one resistant guy.

Hell, if Gibbs told DiNozzo how much he cared, maybe he’d be less insecure. Heh. Like to see his face if I suggested the two of them talk about their feelings.

Or maybe not.

Ziva. Zee-vah. OK, what is it about Gibbs? Because I know for a fact, courtesy of Army Intelligence, that Ziva David joined NCIS a little over two years ago, and had never met any of them except the Director. And I’ve still been getting the evil eye from her. I don’t know, I’d think she had a thing for him, except I’ve seen how she acts with DiNozzo. Maybe that’s it. Maybe she just doesn’t want any of them to get hurt.

I tried to talk about this with Gibbs. He just said they were a team.

It’s not a team. I have a team. I know teams.

It’s funny, actually. Get to my age, guys tend to have baggage, families. I worried about Gibbs’ exes.

I had no idea.