New NCIS Fic: A Different Point of View from Orleans Parish
Title: A Different Point of View from Orleans Parish
Fandom: NCIS
Characters: Emily, Abby, Gibbs, OMC
Prompt: #5 Outsides
Word Count: 1294
Rating: K+
Summary: There really was nothing normal about this family, Bill realized as he watched the slightly older man kiss the Goth woman and pull the girl out of her seat to let her sit on his lap.
Author's Notes: This is an AU, inspired in part by wiccagirl24’s wonderful Kelly!verse. A few notes: One, friends of mine just got back from a Habitat build in Mississippi and now I’m thinking of going to Kansas for a build. Second, I know that you have to be at least 16 to volunteer with Habitat, but if anyone could talk them into letting an eleven year old onto a build site it would be Abby. So, we’re going to pretend that they’ve been going to Gulf Coast region builds since Hurricane Katrina. Third, I don’t really like this, but I like looking at the Gibbs family from a different point of view.
Bill smiled at the barely teenaged girl walking next to him. Her chatter was punctuated by the occasional yawn that attested to the hard work she had put in that day. His head shook slightly in amazement at all she had done. When he’d found a kid on his crew, he’d been shocked and annoyed. He was sure that this perky blond wouldn’t know which end of a hammer to hold and would bulk at any hard work; he was surely mistaken. Emily Gibbs knew how to handle tools better than some of the men of his crew and her sturdy, athletic build had allowed her to do work heavier than some of the other women. Plus, her energy had helped to revive everyone during the afternoon slump.
“Oh,” Emily’s words cut off with the exclamation and she whirled towards him. “Come on, my mom’s already on the bus. I want you to meet her.”
Bill just nodded as he followed her towards one of the city buses that were being used to transport workers from the Ward. He helped her up the first step, before climbing aboard himself. Two women sat in the bus. The woman sitting in the back row had to be Emily’s mom. She was a middle age blond wearing a pink, sweetheart neck t-shirt. Sitting on the side facing front bench was a dark haired woman with multiple visible tattoos, a tight black tank top that bore faded lettering reading “I feel a sin coming on,” baggy cargo pants, and a dog collar. Bill was about to put himself between this woman and Emily, when she bounded over to the bench and flopped down next to the woman.
Wearily, the woman rolled her head to look at the girl, whose head was slumped against her shoulder. Kissing the top of the blonde head, she quickly wiped the back of her hand across her lips, “God, Em, you’re covered in dust.”
“I was putting up sheetrock, Mom. You can’t do that without getting covered in dust,” Emily yawned as she stretched and then nuzzled closer to the woman.
“You were putting up sheetrock?”
Recovering his voice from the shock of seeing this woman acting so maternal towards the sweet girl, he spoke, “Yeah, she’s a real wiz with hand tools.”
“Mom,” Emily complained as her mother shifted to move her feet and disturbed Emily’s position so that he could sit on the bench opposite them. Resettling, Emily smiled, “Bill, this is my mom, Abby. Mom, this is Bill. He’s the foreman of our group.”
Abby waved at the man, “Hi, Bill, nice to meet you. She working hard?”
“Yes, Mrs. Gibbs, she’s a real trouper and like I said, she’s a wiz with hand tools. Knows more about hammers and nails and saws than most of the adults on our team,” Bill winked at the girl.
“Please, I’m just Abby.” Bill noticed that she rolled her eyes when he called her Mrs. Gibbs. She wrapped an arm around Emily. “We’ll have to blame her dad for her carpentry skills. She’s been helping him build boats and cabinets and all sort of things in our basement since she was too little to hold a hammer.”
Emily giggled.
“And who is to blame for her good manners and sweet personality,” Bill asked with a slight chuckle.
“That would be her mom,” a man’s voice joined the conversation as he boarded the bus.
There really was nothing normal about this family, Bill realized as he watched the slightly older man kiss the Goth woman and pull the girl out of her seat to let her sit on his lap. The demeanor and the hair cut said military, but the family picture they painted didn’t look like any military family he’d known during his time in service. His thoughts were interrupted by Emily’s voice.
“Bill, this is my dad. Daddy, this is Bill, he’s the foreman for my group.”
The man gave a nod of his head, “Em been working hard for you?”
“Of course, Mr. Gibbs, she’s probably the hardest worker on our crew.”
“Just Jethro is fine and I’m glad to hear she’s being good,” he kissed his daughter’s temple. “We’re going to have to hose you down in the backyard; Gram’s not going to want that sheetrock dust in her tub.”
“Daddy!” Emily protested and turned to her mother, “Mom, you aren’t going to let Daddy hose me off, are you?”
Abby wiped a smudge from Emily’s cheek, “I think we’ll let you use the tub, but you’ll have scrub it out for Gram, okay?”
Emily nodded and stuck her tongue out at her father, which earned her a growl and light tickles to her side.
“Are you folks local,” Bill asked, confused at the mention of a backyard and ‘Gram.’ Most of the people working the site were volunteers from around the country and were staying at a small local barracks like thing. He was actually sharing a room with twelve of the men down from his church.
Abby smiled as she answered, “Yes and no. We’re from the DC area, but I grew up about four Klicks from here and my mom lived there until Katrina. She was one of the lucky ones. She got out in time and had insurance. My brother was able to find her a place in Livingston Parish, so we stay with her when we come down here to work with Habitat.”
Bill nodded. The use of ‘klicks’ had confirmed in his mind that this was a military family. “You’ve worked with Habitat before?”
“Mom’s worked on over fifty Habitat house,” Emily answered proudly. “This is our third trip to the Gulf Coast.”
“Second,” her father corrected.
The back of Abby’s hand brushed against his cheek, “Third, Gibbs. Em and I came down that summer, too.”
Bill watched as Jethro eyes slipped closed and he simply nodded. He also noticed that Jethro tightened his arms slightly around both Abby and Emily. The gesture was a familiar one, one that he made himself whenever those months that he was separated from his family were mentioned. Bill just smiled; it was good to see people that had overcome problems to go back together.
By now the bus was full and Bill leaned back as the driver lowered the lights and pulled away from the curb. In the dim light, Bill kept watching the family across from him. He watched as Abby massaged Jethro’s shoulder. He watched Emily curled down deeper against her father and laid her legs in her mother’s lap. He listened to her parents talking about their day, about Abby working on the electrical wiring in a house and Jethro framing a roof. He listened to their gentle voices and laughter that lolled the teen to sleep.
When the bus pulled into the lot at the barracks, Bill’s own eyes were drooping heavily as well, but he noticed that Abby and Jethro were still wide awake and talking. They waited until most of the people were off the bus and then Jethro started to stand while he was still holding the sleeping girl.
Abby shook her head as she tugged on Jethro’s shirt, “Don’t be an idiot. Wake Em up, you’re going to screw up your shoulder even more trying to carrying her.”
“Yeah,” Jethro nodded and kissed Emily’s head as he shook her gently. “Baby, wake up. We’re at the car.”
Emily’s eyes blinked open as she automatically allowed Abby to take her hand and guide her from the bus.
Jethro and Bill sat there for a moment, just looking at each other. Finally, Bill spoke, “Jethro, you are a blessed man.”
“Ya think,” Jethro grinned as he followed his family from the bus.
Fandom: NCIS
Characters: Emily, Abby, Gibbs, OMC
Prompt: #5 Outsides
Word Count: 1294
Rating: K+
Summary: There really was nothing normal about this family, Bill realized as he watched the slightly older man kiss the Goth woman and pull the girl out of her seat to let her sit on his lap.
Author's Notes: This is an AU, inspired in part by wiccagirl24’s wonderful Kelly!verse. A few notes: One, friends of mine just got back from a Habitat build in Mississippi and now I’m thinking of going to Kansas for a build. Second, I know that you have to be at least 16 to volunteer with Habitat, but if anyone could talk them into letting an eleven year old onto a build site it would be Abby. So, we’re going to pretend that they’ve been going to Gulf Coast region builds since Hurricane Katrina. Third, I don’t really like this, but I like looking at the Gibbs family from a different point of view.
Bill smiled at the barely teenaged girl walking next to him. Her chatter was punctuated by the occasional yawn that attested to the hard work she had put in that day. His head shook slightly in amazement at all she had done. When he’d found a kid on his crew, he’d been shocked and annoyed. He was sure that this perky blond wouldn’t know which end of a hammer to hold and would bulk at any hard work; he was surely mistaken. Emily Gibbs knew how to handle tools better than some of the men of his crew and her sturdy, athletic build had allowed her to do work heavier than some of the other women. Plus, her energy had helped to revive everyone during the afternoon slump.
“Oh,” Emily’s words cut off with the exclamation and she whirled towards him. “Come on, my mom’s already on the bus. I want you to meet her.”
Bill just nodded as he followed her towards one of the city buses that were being used to transport workers from the Ward. He helped her up the first step, before climbing aboard himself. Two women sat in the bus. The woman sitting in the back row had to be Emily’s mom. She was a middle age blond wearing a pink, sweetheart neck t-shirt. Sitting on the side facing front bench was a dark haired woman with multiple visible tattoos, a tight black tank top that bore faded lettering reading “I feel a sin coming on,” baggy cargo pants, and a dog collar. Bill was about to put himself between this woman and Emily, when she bounded over to the bench and flopped down next to the woman.
Wearily, the woman rolled her head to look at the girl, whose head was slumped against her shoulder. Kissing the top of the blonde head, she quickly wiped the back of her hand across her lips, “God, Em, you’re covered in dust.”
“I was putting up sheetrock, Mom. You can’t do that without getting covered in dust,” Emily yawned as she stretched and then nuzzled closer to the woman.
“You were putting up sheetrock?”
Recovering his voice from the shock of seeing this woman acting so maternal towards the sweet girl, he spoke, “Yeah, she’s a real wiz with hand tools.”
“Mom,” Emily complained as her mother shifted to move her feet and disturbed Emily’s position so that he could sit on the bench opposite them. Resettling, Emily smiled, “Bill, this is my mom, Abby. Mom, this is Bill. He’s the foreman of our group.”
Abby waved at the man, “Hi, Bill, nice to meet you. She working hard?”
“Yes, Mrs. Gibbs, she’s a real trouper and like I said, she’s a wiz with hand tools. Knows more about hammers and nails and saws than most of the adults on our team,” Bill winked at the girl.
“Please, I’m just Abby.” Bill noticed that she rolled her eyes when he called her Mrs. Gibbs. She wrapped an arm around Emily. “We’ll have to blame her dad for her carpentry skills. She’s been helping him build boats and cabinets and all sort of things in our basement since she was too little to hold a hammer.”
Emily giggled.
“And who is to blame for her good manners and sweet personality,” Bill asked with a slight chuckle.
“That would be her mom,” a man’s voice joined the conversation as he boarded the bus.
There really was nothing normal about this family, Bill realized as he watched the slightly older man kiss the Goth woman and pull the girl out of her seat to let her sit on his lap. The demeanor and the hair cut said military, but the family picture they painted didn’t look like any military family he’d known during his time in service. His thoughts were interrupted by Emily’s voice.
“Bill, this is my dad. Daddy, this is Bill, he’s the foreman for my group.”
The man gave a nod of his head, “Em been working hard for you?”
“Of course, Mr. Gibbs, she’s probably the hardest worker on our crew.”
“Just Jethro is fine and I’m glad to hear she’s being good,” he kissed his daughter’s temple. “We’re going to have to hose you down in the backyard; Gram’s not going to want that sheetrock dust in her tub.”
“Daddy!” Emily protested and turned to her mother, “Mom, you aren’t going to let Daddy hose me off, are you?”
Abby wiped a smudge from Emily’s cheek, “I think we’ll let you use the tub, but you’ll have scrub it out for Gram, okay?”
Emily nodded and stuck her tongue out at her father, which earned her a growl and light tickles to her side.
“Are you folks local,” Bill asked, confused at the mention of a backyard and ‘Gram.’ Most of the people working the site were volunteers from around the country and were staying at a small local barracks like thing. He was actually sharing a room with twelve of the men down from his church.
Abby smiled as she answered, “Yes and no. We’re from the DC area, but I grew up about four Klicks from here and my mom lived there until Katrina. She was one of the lucky ones. She got out in time and had insurance. My brother was able to find her a place in Livingston Parish, so we stay with her when we come down here to work with Habitat.”
Bill nodded. The use of ‘klicks’ had confirmed in his mind that this was a military family. “You’ve worked with Habitat before?”
“Mom’s worked on over fifty Habitat house,” Emily answered proudly. “This is our third trip to the Gulf Coast.”
“Second,” her father corrected.
The back of Abby’s hand brushed against his cheek, “Third, Gibbs. Em and I came down that summer, too.”
Bill watched as Jethro eyes slipped closed and he simply nodded. He also noticed that Jethro tightened his arms slightly around both Abby and Emily. The gesture was a familiar one, one that he made himself whenever those months that he was separated from his family were mentioned. Bill just smiled; it was good to see people that had overcome problems to go back together.
By now the bus was full and Bill leaned back as the driver lowered the lights and pulled away from the curb. In the dim light, Bill kept watching the family across from him. He watched as Abby massaged Jethro’s shoulder. He watched Emily curled down deeper against her father and laid her legs in her mother’s lap. He listened to her parents talking about their day, about Abby working on the electrical wiring in a house and Jethro framing a roof. He listened to their gentle voices and laughter that lolled the teen to sleep.
When the bus pulled into the lot at the barracks, Bill’s own eyes were drooping heavily as well, but he noticed that Abby and Jethro were still wide awake and talking. They waited until most of the people were off the bus and then Jethro started to stand while he was still holding the sleeping girl.
Abby shook her head as she tugged on Jethro’s shirt, “Don’t be an idiot. Wake Em up, you’re going to screw up your shoulder even more trying to carrying her.”
“Yeah,” Jethro nodded and kissed Emily’s head as he shook her gently. “Baby, wake up. We’re at the car.”
Emily’s eyes blinked open as she automatically allowed Abby to take her hand and guide her from the bus.
Jethro and Bill sat there for a moment, just looking at each other. Finally, Bill spoke, “Jethro, you are a blessed man.”
“Ya think,” Jethro grinned as he followed his family from the bus.