New NCIS Fic: Food for Thought
Title: Food for Thought
Fandom: NCIS
Characters: Abby, Emily, Tony, Gibbs and a few OC’s.
Prompt: #59 Food
Word Count: 4,016
Rating: T
Summary: She was having enough trouble fitting in with the older kids in some of her Advance Placement courses. She wanted to just relax and enjoy the soccer team.
Warning: Angst and eating disorders. Emily’s now in high school and those of us far enough removed from those years still remember how angst-filled they seemed as we were going through them. (Actually, I think the years of 13 - Why is my face covered in spots? This sucks. - to 23 - Why don’t I get an Earned Income Credit like in College now? This sucks. - are some of the most angst filled years we go through.) Now there are even more pressures and sometimes the people that should be protecting us are the ones we need protection from. Also, this story might be a little disjointed, but it is about moments in time over a couple of months.
Author's Notes: This is an AU, inspired in part by wiccagirl24’s wonderful Kelly!verse. This is a unique story in that in my head the OC’s (completely peripheral characters, mostly needed to move the storyline along) were cast with famous people. Mostly my OC’s are just random people that I’m met in my life or seen on the street or, in the case of major OC’s, created solely out of whole cloth in my head. Coach Vangess is played by Beverly Archer (Gunny on Major Dad and I think she played a coach on Married with Children), Coach Wegman is played by Tom Arnold (who really needs to not live in my head anymore), and Lieutenant Swanson is played by Allison Janney (who, besides Pam Dawber, would be the only acceptable actress choice to end up with Gibbs, if he can’t be with Abby). Oh, and since AJ cast herself in my fic, there is a little CJ/Toby-ish shout out in there. Also, I don’t think Gibbs or Fornell canonically have tats, but now they do for this series.
Abby's knuckles brushed across the partly open door to Emily's room, "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Emily turned from the backpack she was packing to smile at her mom.
"So," Abby dragged the word out as she crossed the room to sit on the bed and picked up the teddy bear dressed in Marine blues, "you excited about tomorrow?"
Emily shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe. I'm a little scared."
"Aw, honey, there is nothing to be scared of. It is just high school. The best four years of your life, even if they feel like the worst four as you're living them."
"Annie's not in any of my classes. We've always had classes together. And she doesn't want to play soccer anymore, so she's going to try out for cheerleading. Cheerleading," Emily gave a horrified look while her eyes filled with tears.
"Come here," Abby opened her arms to let the teenager curl up next to her. "You're afraid you're going to lose your friendship with Annie, aren't you?"
Emily nodded against Abby's shoulder.
"Well, I can't promise that is won't change, but you girls are more than just best friends. You are sisters. Nothing will ever change that. You'll still be spending every other weekend with Papi and Tia Estacia and Annie and I'll bet that just like now most of the weekends that you're here, she'll be here too. People change and grow apart, but that doesn't mean they don't still love each other," Abby squeezed her a little tighter.
Emily sighed, "I just can't help thinking that Annie's to be so much more popular than me. She's so cute and little and I'm not. I play soccer like a boy and I'm a science geek and..."
"And you are also absolutely beautiful and funny and smart," Abby took Emily's face in her hands. "Look, the cheerleaders might not think you, but you probably won’t like them either. And maybe Annie will be more popular with some people, but the real Annie, the girl that write sonnets about her peas and tries to fit as many languages into a conversation as she can just to confuse people, isn't going to like the people that like her because she's 'cute.' Even if she thinks she might want to be a part of that crowd. Honey, you just need to be yourself and the people that will like you and love you will be the people you’ll like and love. Not everyone is going to like you, but you'll like you a whole lot better. Besides, you are going to make a ton of friends and be the star of the soccer team and, of course, win all the science fair trophies."
Emily smiled as she hugged her mom, maybe she’d survive being a high student after all.
***
"Coach Vangess," Emily called out as she trotted after the older woman.
The woman, wearing a blue and white track suit emblazed with the school's name, turned and stopped allowing Emily to catch up before she spoke, "Yes, Emily?"
"Coach Vangess," Emily repeated as she squashed down the nerves tickling at the base of her skull, "I want to thank you for thinking I was good enough for the varsity team."
"But," the coach prompted, knowing there was more that Emily wanted to say.
"But, I think I'd prefer the JV team. I'll get more playing time and be a starter and, yeah, it might be better," the words rushed from her mouth.
She crossed her arms, affectively hugging her clipboard to her body, "Well, I'd make sure you got plenty of field time, but you're right I couldn't make you a starter."
"Right, so for me to get field time, you'll have to bench a starter. That wouldn't be fair, especially to a Senior that might not be planning to play in College," Emily reasoned as she crossed her fingers behind her back hoping that the coach would agree. She was having enough trouble fitting in with the older kids in some of her Advance Placement courses. She wanted to just relax and enjoy the soccer team.
Finally the coach nodded, "Okay, I'll put you on the JV roster. Report to Coach Wegman for practice tomorrow."
"Thanks, Coach," Emily smiled as she ran off feeling better than she had all day.
***
As Tony walked towards the soccer field, he smiled. Even just doing drills it was pretty clear that Emily was the star of the team and the captain. She had a natural command that he was beginning to believe was a genetic trait of the Gibbs family. After demonstrating the proper way to do the drill with one of the coaches, Emily jogged back to the end of the line to wait for her turn. On her way, she caught sight of him and raised her arm in a wave as she smiled. A sense of pride filled him that she still smiled when she saw him. He watched as the drill continued for a few minutes before the coach blew his whistle and gathered the girls for a huddle. Knowing that practice was over, Tony headed for the area where the girls dumped their bags and things.
"Hey, Bella," Tony moved behind Emily and kissed the top of her head.
Turning, she wrapped her arms around him in a crushing hug that could have matched one of Abby's, "Hey, T. Whatcha doing here?"
"Well, I was a good boy and worked all night last night, so Dad sent me home early. I figured that since he and Mom are going to be stuck at work until late, you could help me finish a pizza and make fun of British Sci-fi, until I fall asleep during Blake 7."
She studied him for a moment. He knew she could see the lines of fatigue that creased his eyes and he hoped that she couldn't see how haunted his eyes really were. Finally, she smiled brightly, "How about an ‘everything’ pizza and you fall asleep during Life on Mars instead?"
"Deal," Tony held out his hand for Emily to shake.
Emily was about to take his hand, when the team head coach barked out, "Gibbs!"
The smile on Emily's face faded slightly as she turned to him, "Yes, Coach Wegman?"
"No pizza while you're in training," he glared at her.
"But..."
"No, buts," he moved closer to the girl. "No pizza during the season or you will be running laps. Clear?"
"Hey," Tony stepped between Emily and the older man. "It is just a pizza. No reason to go all dictator about it."
Emily put her hand on Tony's arm, "It is okay, T. Coach is right, I shouldn't have pizza anyhow. We'll order from Franco's and I'll get a salad."
The coach nodded happily, but Tony's eyes narrowed, "You sure, Bella? You love pizza."
"Yeah, of course, the pizza would be too heavy anyhow. We've got a game tomorrow," she smiled, but Tony noticed it didn't reach her eyes.
"Okay," Tony grabbed Emily's bag and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "then, let's go." He took the time to throw another glare at the coach.
***
"Dinner, kiddo," Gibbs poked his head into his daughter's room.
"Not hungry."
He sighed at the depressed tone in his daughter's voice, "Fine, then come watch Mom and me eat."
"Not interested."
"Emily," he walked fully into the room, "Mom and I are both home that means we will sit down at the dinner table and eat together as a family."
"Please, Daddy, I don't feel like it."
"Em," he whispered the name as a question when she turned her tear streaked face towards him.
"It's okay. I just had a bad day. Don't really want to talk about it right now; I just want to go to bed. Please?"
"Yeah," he kissed her forehead and wiped a few tears from her cheeks. "If you change your mind about talking you know where we are."
"I love you, Daddy."
His heart nearly broke at the pain in her voice, but he forced himself to leave her room, "Love you, too, baby."
Leaving Emily’s door slightly ajar, Gibbs made his way down to the kitchen. Abby was just putting the salad on the table as he walked into the room. He face must have betrayed his concern, because with one look, Abby immediately asked, “What’s wrong with Emily?”
Gibbs sighed as he slid into breakfast nook, “She won’t tell me, but she’s been crying and begged to skipped dinner.”
“And she didn’t want to talk about it,” Abby flashed a look towards the stairs as she slipped into the nook next to Gibbs.
“Nope, I didn't think pressing was a good idea, but I told her we’d be here if she wanted to talk,” he dipped into the stew just as his cell phone chirped on his belt. With a groan he pulled it out and squinted at the display, before thrusting it at Abby, “What’s the damn thing say?”
Abby sighed, “You’ve got a dead Marine. The team will meet you at the Yard.”
“Damn,” he growled and dumped the untouched food in his bowl back into the pot.
“You need me,” Abby asked, staring longingly at her own dinner.
Lifting her chin with two fingers, he nibbled at her lips tenderly, “Always, but not at the Yard. Most likely any evidence we gather can wait until morning. I’ll call you.”
“Be careful,” she whispered as she turned his pecks into a deeper kiss.
“Mmm… Love you.”
She slid out of the nook with him and followed him to the front door where she watched him drive off in his off-duty pick-up truck. Sighing, she made her way back into the kitchen and dished some of the stew back into Gibbs’s abandoned bowl. Taking both bowls, she made her way up to Emily’s door and eased it open with her bare foot, “Hey, babe, Daddy just got called in. Want to be really bad and eat dinner in bed while watching a movie?”
Emily moaned and barely lifted her head from the bed, “I can’t, Mom. I can’t eat.”
“Emily,” Abby set the bowls down on Emily’s dresser and moved to sit on the bed next to her, “are you sick?”
Her head shook slightly, “I think it’s the pills.”
“What pills?”
She weakly pointed to the nightstand where two pill bottles sat.
Abby picked them up and read the labels, anger sparking in her eyes, “Who gave these to you?”
“Coach Wegman. He said they’d help my game and make me more popular.”
“Bullshit!”
Emily’s eyes flew open at her mom’s out burst, “He said they’d help me lose my baby fat.”
“You are perfect just the way your are,” Abby held Emily’s face. “You do not have any baby fat and if I ever find out that you’ve taken pills like this again, I’ll go down your throat to get them myself. Understood?”
“Yes, Mom,” tears rolled from the corner of her eyes.
Abby kissed Emily’s forehead, “I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you, but this discussion is far from over. I’m going to call Maddie to come sit with you, while I go have a different discussion with your coach.”
Emily curled up into a ball and cried as Abby stormed from the room.
***
"You bastard!"
The door flew open with such force that the trophies rattled and a clipboard fell from the bookcase. A dozen pair of eyes turned towards the doorway.
"You bastard," she repeated as she stalked towards the coach of the JV Girls soccer team. Her hand darted out, stopping millimeters from his face; in her fist was a bottle of pills. "How dare you? What right do you have giving these to my daughter?"
Moving back marginally, the man glared at her, "Those things are harmless."
"Harmless," Abby screamed as she dropped the bottle and fisted her hands into his polo shirt. With strength she didn't appear capable of, she yanked him completely out of his chair. "My little girl is curled up in bed with stomach cramps and in pain. My little girl's bright and cheerful eyes are dull and dead because of the repeated blows you've made to her self-esteem. How is that harmless?"
He cast a look at his fellow coaches hoping for an assist, but they were frozen in shock. He looked back at the angry mother, "It is important for the chunkier girls..."
Suddenly he was hurtling towards the wall.
"Chunky! My daughter is 5'10" and wears a damn size 6. Her doctor says she needs to put on weight for her build and you're giving her laxatives and appetite suppressants," she drew back her arm to land a punch, but found it trapped in the grasp of one of the other coaches.
"Ma'am," the coach hissed in her ear as he forced her towards the chair she had pulled the other man from, "you are going to have to calm down. We don't want to call the cops."
Collapsing into the chair, Abby glared up at the assembled coaches, “Her father is a cop… a Navy cop, and you should all be damn glad I found out about this before him. He would have shot on sight.”
“Ma’am,” Coach Vagness, the head coach for the girls’ soccer program, sat down across from her, “are you Emily Gibbs’s mother?”
Abby nodded, suddenly unsure of her voice.
“And are saying that Coach Wegman gave Emily appetite suppressants and laxatives to make her lose weight?”
Again, Abby nodded.
Coach Vagness looked up at the other man, “Is this true?”
Turning red, he stammered, “Well, you… um… you see…”
“No, I don’t see,” Coach Vagness glared at the man. “Leon, you’re fired. And, I’ll be bringing this up with the school board to see if we need to bring criminal charges. Ed, Bo, get him out of here.”
Abby watched as the man was escorted from the room. Blinking in confusion, Abby looked back at Coach Vagness, “It was really that easy?”
“No, but for right now it is. He’ll have to actually be fired by the school board and the administrator and Emily will probably have to speak to the board to confirm what he did.”
“I don’t want her having to do all that,” Abby sighed.
“Neither do I, but it will most likely be necessary.” Coach Vagness patted Abby’s hand, “Go home and take care of your daughter. Tell her that she’s still got a spot on the JV or Varsity team if she wants it.”
Abby nodded and stood to leave the room, still feeling unsatisfied by the whole thing.
***
“So, your mom tells me that you and your parents went to the Olympics this summer. That must have been exciting?”
Emily nodded as she sunk deeper into the microfiber-suede couch and looked at the woman across from her. She was nice enough; supposedly a friend of her Uncle Ducky’s, but the Navy uniform was a lot to get passed.
“Emily, if you’d like your parents here that would be fine. I’m sure that they are still in the waiting room,” Lieutenant Swanson smiled kindly.
“No,” Emily shook her head and then sighed. “I’m not really sure why Mom is so determined that I see a therapist. I know she worried that I’m going to develop an eating disorder because of the fact that I took those pills, but I did it cause my coach told me too. I’ve been raised by a Marine, an FBI agent, and a NCIS lab tech; I do what my superiors tell me. Even if I don’t like it.”
Lieutenant Swanson nodded, “Yeah, I can understand that, but I'm not thinking that is the whole thing. I may not know your step-dad, but I do know your mom and dad. Neither of them gets perfect marks on following orders and have been known to question authority. If you didn’t think this was right, why didn’t you go to your parents or the head coach?”
“Cause, I’m 13,” Emily shrugged.
The therapist laughed, “Not an excuse that going to fly with me, young lady. Like you said, you were raised by a Marine and an FBI agent.”
Suddenly, Emily found her shoes fascinating, “He said it would make me more popular. I haven’t been real able to make friend this year.”
“Why not?”
With a sigh, she drew her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs, “I’m too smart for the jocks and the cheerleaders. I’m too jock-y for the nerds and the geeks. The girls on my soccer team look up to me, but are too busy letting me boss them around to be my friend. And, my step-sister Annie, found this great group of friends that write poetry and help her with her cheers. I mean, I hang out with them, cause Annie and I are still best friends, but I don’t have a clue what the difference is between a sonnet and a haiku, so they tend to look down on me.”
“Well, have you ever thought about being a little less smart around the jocks and cheerleaders or a little less jock-y around the nerds and geeks or learning more about poetry?”
“No,” Emily snorted. “Then I wouldn’t be me and mom says that I need to just be me and the people that will like me and love me will be the people I’ll like and love.”
Lieutenant Swanson smiled, “Anybody ever tell you, you’ve got a smart mom?”
“My dad says she’s the smartest person he knows.”
“Emily, if you wouldn’t change your personality or intelligence or ability, then why would you want to change your body,” Lieutenant Swanson placed her notepad in her lap and leaned forward to really look at the girl as she spoke.
Emily cocked her head and bit her lip, “I don’t think I wanted to. I think I wanted to make sure I stayed on the team and stayed as the team captain, which were things that Mr. Wegman said he could take away.”
“So, you like your body?”
Emily shrugged.
Lieutenant Swanson looked at her, “So, you don’t like your body?”
Again Emily shrugged.
“Emily…”
“I’m freakishly tall,” Emily interrupted the doctor. “I’m 13 and 5’10”. What do you call that if not freakishly tall? Hey, my dad’s only 6’ and my mother - my biological mother - what I remember of her, she was maybe 5’7”, 5’8” on the outside. Do know what it is like to be taller than all the boys in your class?”
The doctor suddenly laughed, a fully belly laugh that crinkled her eyes and caused previously unseen laugh lines to emerge around her mouth. When she stopped laughing, she stood up and smiled down at the girl, “Do you know how tall I am, Emily?”
Emily looked up the long expanse of the doctor, “An inch shorter than Amazonian?”
“About right,” Lieutenant Swanson laughed again as she sat back down. “I’m 6’, myself. My husband is 5’10” and I never leave the house without my two inch heels. Someday you’ll be comfortable in your height.”
Emily smiled, “Maybe.”
“Trust me, you’ve got too much going for you to let that bother you forever. Someday you’ll discover that your height has advantages. And so will the boys.”
Emily blushed.
Chuckling, the doctor nodded her head towards the door, “Go on, get out of here. I just want to talk to your parents for a minute, then you’re done.”
“For today or for good?”
“For good. Unless you want to enjoy my sparkling personality.”
Emily laughed out right, “No offense, Lieutenant Swanson, but I think I’ll pass.”
“None taken,” she watched the young woman leave her office and smiled at the sense of peace that the girl took with her and the bit that she left behind.
***
Abby's knuckles brushed across the partly open door to Emily's room, "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Emily turned from the backpack she was packing to smile at her mom.
"So," Abby dragged the word out as she crossed the room to sit on the bed and picked up the teddy bear dressed in Marine blues, "according to Lieutenant Swanson, I haven’t completely screwed up your life.”
Emily laughed, “Who ever said you would, Mom?”
“Well, me for one. I’ve never understood how your dad could have decided that I was the woman to help him raise his child. Hell, I used to have to child-proof my clothes when you were a little kid.”
“Remember Stephanie? Dad’s third ex?”
Abby gave her an odd look, “Yeah. What about her?”
“I don’t. Remember her, that is. Oh, sure, I’ve seen her a few times since their divorce and I even have a few nice pictures of the three of us. But the thing is, I look at those pictures and I’m looking at strangers. Strangers living the all American life, by the looks of them, but we weren’t happy,” Emily pulled her sleeves down to ball in her fists as she wiped them on the corner of her eyes. Crawling up on the bed, she laid her head on Abby’s shoulder, “Know what do remember, though?”
Abby shook her head gently against Emily’s.
“I remember the first day I met you.”
Abby laughed through the few tears trying to escape, “You couldn’t. You were too tiny, only about three years old.”
“Not even. My mother and Papi were on their honeymoon so I was still two. Daddy had to take me to work for some reason and I can remember being terrified as he carried me through NCIS. It was such a big and dark, scary place. And he took me to you with your loud music and weird clothes, but Daddy said you were safe. Papi was the only other person he ever said that about. And when Daddy left, you held me while I cried. Then you spent the whole day playing with me. You colored with me. You played dolls with me. You watched Sesame Street with me. You taught me how to sign mommy, daddy, please, thank you and I love you that day. When Daddy came and got me, I didn’t want to leave, but you promised we’d play again and as we left you signed ‘I love you’ at me. Somehow, I knew you meant it. I knew that we’d play together again and that you’d always love me. Mom, you aren’t going to screw me up, because you’re the glue that keeps me together.”
Abby sighed and wrapped her arms around Emily, “Oh, Em, sometimes I don’t get how someone like me got so lucky to get someone like you or someone like your dad to love me.”
“Well,” Emily kissed her mom’s cheek, “a very wise woman once told me that you just need to be yourself and the people that will like you and love you will be the people you’ll like and love. So, I guess you were yourself.”
“Hey, do me one favor. If I ever do start screwing your life up, you’ll tell me, okay?”
Emily laughed and squeezed Abby, “Okay, but right now can we go to Sundaes and get some cake batter ice cream? I’ve been dying for that for weeks!”
“I think we can manage that,” Abby let Emily pull her from the bed. “Bet we could even see if Papi and the girls or Tony and Maddie wanted to meet us.”
“All of them would be awesome,” Emily dragged Abby from the room, but as they started down the hall, she turned and looked at the older woman. “There is one thing that maybe you did warp me on a little.”
Abby’s green eyes got huge.
“Since I turned eleven, I’ve been saving to get a tattoo the day I turn 18. But, since Daddy and Papi both have one too, we’ll just blame them. Deal,” Emily stuck out her hand.
Shaking Emily’s hand, Abby laughed, “Deal.” She broke the handshake and pulled the girl into her arms.
Abby smiled as she hugged her daughter, maybe she’d survive having a high student after all.
Fandom: NCIS
Characters: Abby, Emily, Tony, Gibbs and a few OC’s.
Prompt: #59 Food
Word Count: 4,016
Rating: T
Summary: She was having enough trouble fitting in with the older kids in some of her Advance Placement courses. She wanted to just relax and enjoy the soccer team.
Warning: Angst and eating disorders. Emily’s now in high school and those of us far enough removed from those years still remember how angst-filled they seemed as we were going through them. (Actually, I think the years of 13 - Why is my face covered in spots? This sucks. - to 23 - Why don’t I get an Earned Income Credit like in College now? This sucks. - are some of the most angst filled years we go through.) Now there are even more pressures and sometimes the people that should be protecting us are the ones we need protection from. Also, this story might be a little disjointed, but it is about moments in time over a couple of months.
Author's Notes: This is an AU, inspired in part by wiccagirl24’s wonderful Kelly!verse. This is a unique story in that in my head the OC’s (completely peripheral characters, mostly needed to move the storyline along) were cast with famous people. Mostly my OC’s are just random people that I’m met in my life or seen on the street or, in the case of major OC’s, created solely out of whole cloth in my head. Coach Vangess is played by Beverly Archer (Gunny on Major Dad and I think she played a coach on Married with Children), Coach Wegman is played by Tom Arnold (who really needs to not live in my head anymore), and Lieutenant Swanson is played by Allison Janney (who, besides Pam Dawber, would be the only acceptable actress choice to end up with Gibbs, if he can’t be with Abby). Oh, and since AJ cast herself in my fic, there is a little CJ/Toby-ish shout out in there. Also, I don’t think Gibbs or Fornell canonically have tats, but now they do for this series.
Abby's knuckles brushed across the partly open door to Emily's room, "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Emily turned from the backpack she was packing to smile at her mom.
"So," Abby dragged the word out as she crossed the room to sit on the bed and picked up the teddy bear dressed in Marine blues, "you excited about tomorrow?"
Emily shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe. I'm a little scared."
"Aw, honey, there is nothing to be scared of. It is just high school. The best four years of your life, even if they feel like the worst four as you're living them."
"Annie's not in any of my classes. We've always had classes together. And she doesn't want to play soccer anymore, so she's going to try out for cheerleading. Cheerleading," Emily gave a horrified look while her eyes filled with tears.
"Come here," Abby opened her arms to let the teenager curl up next to her. "You're afraid you're going to lose your friendship with Annie, aren't you?"
Emily nodded against Abby's shoulder.
"Well, I can't promise that is won't change, but you girls are more than just best friends. You are sisters. Nothing will ever change that. You'll still be spending every other weekend with Papi and Tia Estacia and Annie and I'll bet that just like now most of the weekends that you're here, she'll be here too. People change and grow apart, but that doesn't mean they don't still love each other," Abby squeezed her a little tighter.
Emily sighed, "I just can't help thinking that Annie's to be so much more popular than me. She's so cute and little and I'm not. I play soccer like a boy and I'm a science geek and..."
"And you are also absolutely beautiful and funny and smart," Abby took Emily's face in her hands. "Look, the cheerleaders might not think you, but you probably won’t like them either. And maybe Annie will be more popular with some people, but the real Annie, the girl that write sonnets about her peas and tries to fit as many languages into a conversation as she can just to confuse people, isn't going to like the people that like her because she's 'cute.' Even if she thinks she might want to be a part of that crowd. Honey, you just need to be yourself and the people that will like you and love you will be the people you’ll like and love. Not everyone is going to like you, but you'll like you a whole lot better. Besides, you are going to make a ton of friends and be the star of the soccer team and, of course, win all the science fair trophies."
Emily smiled as she hugged her mom, maybe she’d survive being a high student after all.
***
"Coach Vangess," Emily called out as she trotted after the older woman.
The woman, wearing a blue and white track suit emblazed with the school's name, turned and stopped allowing Emily to catch up before she spoke, "Yes, Emily?"
"Coach Vangess," Emily repeated as she squashed down the nerves tickling at the base of her skull, "I want to thank you for thinking I was good enough for the varsity team."
"But," the coach prompted, knowing there was more that Emily wanted to say.
"But, I think I'd prefer the JV team. I'll get more playing time and be a starter and, yeah, it might be better," the words rushed from her mouth.
She crossed her arms, affectively hugging her clipboard to her body, "Well, I'd make sure you got plenty of field time, but you're right I couldn't make you a starter."
"Right, so for me to get field time, you'll have to bench a starter. That wouldn't be fair, especially to a Senior that might not be planning to play in College," Emily reasoned as she crossed her fingers behind her back hoping that the coach would agree. She was having enough trouble fitting in with the older kids in some of her Advance Placement courses. She wanted to just relax and enjoy the soccer team.
Finally the coach nodded, "Okay, I'll put you on the JV roster. Report to Coach Wegman for practice tomorrow."
"Thanks, Coach," Emily smiled as she ran off feeling better than she had all day.
***
As Tony walked towards the soccer field, he smiled. Even just doing drills it was pretty clear that Emily was the star of the team and the captain. She had a natural command that he was beginning to believe was a genetic trait of the Gibbs family. After demonstrating the proper way to do the drill with one of the coaches, Emily jogged back to the end of the line to wait for her turn. On her way, she caught sight of him and raised her arm in a wave as she smiled. A sense of pride filled him that she still smiled when she saw him. He watched as the drill continued for a few minutes before the coach blew his whistle and gathered the girls for a huddle. Knowing that practice was over, Tony headed for the area where the girls dumped their bags and things.
"Hey, Bella," Tony moved behind Emily and kissed the top of her head.
Turning, she wrapped her arms around him in a crushing hug that could have matched one of Abby's, "Hey, T. Whatcha doing here?"
"Well, I was a good boy and worked all night last night, so Dad sent me home early. I figured that since he and Mom are going to be stuck at work until late, you could help me finish a pizza and make fun of British Sci-fi, until I fall asleep during Blake 7."
She studied him for a moment. He knew she could see the lines of fatigue that creased his eyes and he hoped that she couldn't see how haunted his eyes really were. Finally, she smiled brightly, "How about an ‘everything’ pizza and you fall asleep during Life on Mars instead?"
"Deal," Tony held out his hand for Emily to shake.
Emily was about to take his hand, when the team head coach barked out, "Gibbs!"
The smile on Emily's face faded slightly as she turned to him, "Yes, Coach Wegman?"
"No pizza while you're in training," he glared at her.
"But..."
"No, buts," he moved closer to the girl. "No pizza during the season or you will be running laps. Clear?"
"Hey," Tony stepped between Emily and the older man. "It is just a pizza. No reason to go all dictator about it."
Emily put her hand on Tony's arm, "It is okay, T. Coach is right, I shouldn't have pizza anyhow. We'll order from Franco's and I'll get a salad."
The coach nodded happily, but Tony's eyes narrowed, "You sure, Bella? You love pizza."
"Yeah, of course, the pizza would be too heavy anyhow. We've got a game tomorrow," she smiled, but Tony noticed it didn't reach her eyes.
"Okay," Tony grabbed Emily's bag and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "then, let's go." He took the time to throw another glare at the coach.
***
"Dinner, kiddo," Gibbs poked his head into his daughter's room.
"Not hungry."
He sighed at the depressed tone in his daughter's voice, "Fine, then come watch Mom and me eat."
"Not interested."
"Emily," he walked fully into the room, "Mom and I are both home that means we will sit down at the dinner table and eat together as a family."
"Please, Daddy, I don't feel like it."
"Em," he whispered the name as a question when she turned her tear streaked face towards him.
"It's okay. I just had a bad day. Don't really want to talk about it right now; I just want to go to bed. Please?"
"Yeah," he kissed her forehead and wiped a few tears from her cheeks. "If you change your mind about talking you know where we are."
"I love you, Daddy."
His heart nearly broke at the pain in her voice, but he forced himself to leave her room, "Love you, too, baby."
Leaving Emily’s door slightly ajar, Gibbs made his way down to the kitchen. Abby was just putting the salad on the table as he walked into the room. He face must have betrayed his concern, because with one look, Abby immediately asked, “What’s wrong with Emily?”
Gibbs sighed as he slid into breakfast nook, “She won’t tell me, but she’s been crying and begged to skipped dinner.”
“And she didn’t want to talk about it,” Abby flashed a look towards the stairs as she slipped into the nook next to Gibbs.
“Nope, I didn't think pressing was a good idea, but I told her we’d be here if she wanted to talk,” he dipped into the stew just as his cell phone chirped on his belt. With a groan he pulled it out and squinted at the display, before thrusting it at Abby, “What’s the damn thing say?”
Abby sighed, “You’ve got a dead Marine. The team will meet you at the Yard.”
“Damn,” he growled and dumped the untouched food in his bowl back into the pot.
“You need me,” Abby asked, staring longingly at her own dinner.
Lifting her chin with two fingers, he nibbled at her lips tenderly, “Always, but not at the Yard. Most likely any evidence we gather can wait until morning. I’ll call you.”
“Be careful,” she whispered as she turned his pecks into a deeper kiss.
“Mmm… Love you.”
She slid out of the nook with him and followed him to the front door where she watched him drive off in his off-duty pick-up truck. Sighing, she made her way back into the kitchen and dished some of the stew back into Gibbs’s abandoned bowl. Taking both bowls, she made her way up to Emily’s door and eased it open with her bare foot, “Hey, babe, Daddy just got called in. Want to be really bad and eat dinner in bed while watching a movie?”
Emily moaned and barely lifted her head from the bed, “I can’t, Mom. I can’t eat.”
“Emily,” Abby set the bowls down on Emily’s dresser and moved to sit on the bed next to her, “are you sick?”
Her head shook slightly, “I think it’s the pills.”
“What pills?”
She weakly pointed to the nightstand where two pill bottles sat.
Abby picked them up and read the labels, anger sparking in her eyes, “Who gave these to you?”
“Coach Wegman. He said they’d help my game and make me more popular.”
“Bullshit!”
Emily’s eyes flew open at her mom’s out burst, “He said they’d help me lose my baby fat.”
“You are perfect just the way your are,” Abby held Emily’s face. “You do not have any baby fat and if I ever find out that you’ve taken pills like this again, I’ll go down your throat to get them myself. Understood?”
“Yes, Mom,” tears rolled from the corner of her eyes.
Abby kissed Emily’s forehead, “I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you, but this discussion is far from over. I’m going to call Maddie to come sit with you, while I go have a different discussion with your coach.”
Emily curled up into a ball and cried as Abby stormed from the room.
***
"You bastard!"
The door flew open with such force that the trophies rattled and a clipboard fell from the bookcase. A dozen pair of eyes turned towards the doorway.
"You bastard," she repeated as she stalked towards the coach of the JV Girls soccer team. Her hand darted out, stopping millimeters from his face; in her fist was a bottle of pills. "How dare you? What right do you have giving these to my daughter?"
Moving back marginally, the man glared at her, "Those things are harmless."
"Harmless," Abby screamed as she dropped the bottle and fisted her hands into his polo shirt. With strength she didn't appear capable of, she yanked him completely out of his chair. "My little girl is curled up in bed with stomach cramps and in pain. My little girl's bright and cheerful eyes are dull and dead because of the repeated blows you've made to her self-esteem. How is that harmless?"
He cast a look at his fellow coaches hoping for an assist, but they were frozen in shock. He looked back at the angry mother, "It is important for the chunkier girls..."
Suddenly he was hurtling towards the wall.
"Chunky! My daughter is 5'10" and wears a damn size 6. Her doctor says she needs to put on weight for her build and you're giving her laxatives and appetite suppressants," she drew back her arm to land a punch, but found it trapped in the grasp of one of the other coaches.
"Ma'am," the coach hissed in her ear as he forced her towards the chair she had pulled the other man from, "you are going to have to calm down. We don't want to call the cops."
Collapsing into the chair, Abby glared up at the assembled coaches, “Her father is a cop… a Navy cop, and you should all be damn glad I found out about this before him. He would have shot on sight.”
“Ma’am,” Coach Vagness, the head coach for the girls’ soccer program, sat down across from her, “are you Emily Gibbs’s mother?”
Abby nodded, suddenly unsure of her voice.
“And are saying that Coach Wegman gave Emily appetite suppressants and laxatives to make her lose weight?”
Again, Abby nodded.
Coach Vagness looked up at the other man, “Is this true?”
Turning red, he stammered, “Well, you… um… you see…”
“No, I don’t see,” Coach Vagness glared at the man. “Leon, you’re fired. And, I’ll be bringing this up with the school board to see if we need to bring criminal charges. Ed, Bo, get him out of here.”
Abby watched as the man was escorted from the room. Blinking in confusion, Abby looked back at Coach Vagness, “It was really that easy?”
“No, but for right now it is. He’ll have to actually be fired by the school board and the administrator and Emily will probably have to speak to the board to confirm what he did.”
“I don’t want her having to do all that,” Abby sighed.
“Neither do I, but it will most likely be necessary.” Coach Vagness patted Abby’s hand, “Go home and take care of your daughter. Tell her that she’s still got a spot on the JV or Varsity team if she wants it.”
Abby nodded and stood to leave the room, still feeling unsatisfied by the whole thing.
***
“So, your mom tells me that you and your parents went to the Olympics this summer. That must have been exciting?”
Emily nodded as she sunk deeper into the microfiber-suede couch and looked at the woman across from her. She was nice enough; supposedly a friend of her Uncle Ducky’s, but the Navy uniform was a lot to get passed.
“Emily, if you’d like your parents here that would be fine. I’m sure that they are still in the waiting room,” Lieutenant Swanson smiled kindly.
“No,” Emily shook her head and then sighed. “I’m not really sure why Mom is so determined that I see a therapist. I know she worried that I’m going to develop an eating disorder because of the fact that I took those pills, but I did it cause my coach told me too. I’ve been raised by a Marine, an FBI agent, and a NCIS lab tech; I do what my superiors tell me. Even if I don’t like it.”
Lieutenant Swanson nodded, “Yeah, I can understand that, but I'm not thinking that is the whole thing. I may not know your step-dad, but I do know your mom and dad. Neither of them gets perfect marks on following orders and have been known to question authority. If you didn’t think this was right, why didn’t you go to your parents or the head coach?”
“Cause, I’m 13,” Emily shrugged.
The therapist laughed, “Not an excuse that going to fly with me, young lady. Like you said, you were raised by a Marine and an FBI agent.”
Suddenly, Emily found her shoes fascinating, “He said it would make me more popular. I haven’t been real able to make friend this year.”
“Why not?”
With a sigh, she drew her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs, “I’m too smart for the jocks and the cheerleaders. I’m too jock-y for the nerds and the geeks. The girls on my soccer team look up to me, but are too busy letting me boss them around to be my friend. And, my step-sister Annie, found this great group of friends that write poetry and help her with her cheers. I mean, I hang out with them, cause Annie and I are still best friends, but I don’t have a clue what the difference is between a sonnet and a haiku, so they tend to look down on me.”
“Well, have you ever thought about being a little less smart around the jocks and cheerleaders or a little less jock-y around the nerds and geeks or learning more about poetry?”
“No,” Emily snorted. “Then I wouldn’t be me and mom says that I need to just be me and the people that will like me and love me will be the people I’ll like and love.”
Lieutenant Swanson smiled, “Anybody ever tell you, you’ve got a smart mom?”
“My dad says she’s the smartest person he knows.”
“Emily, if you wouldn’t change your personality or intelligence or ability, then why would you want to change your body,” Lieutenant Swanson placed her notepad in her lap and leaned forward to really look at the girl as she spoke.
Emily cocked her head and bit her lip, “I don’t think I wanted to. I think I wanted to make sure I stayed on the team and stayed as the team captain, which were things that Mr. Wegman said he could take away.”
“So, you like your body?”
Emily shrugged.
Lieutenant Swanson looked at her, “So, you don’t like your body?”
Again Emily shrugged.
“Emily…”
“I’m freakishly tall,” Emily interrupted the doctor. “I’m 13 and 5’10”. What do you call that if not freakishly tall? Hey, my dad’s only 6’ and my mother - my biological mother - what I remember of her, she was maybe 5’7”, 5’8” on the outside. Do know what it is like to be taller than all the boys in your class?”
The doctor suddenly laughed, a fully belly laugh that crinkled her eyes and caused previously unseen laugh lines to emerge around her mouth. When she stopped laughing, she stood up and smiled down at the girl, “Do you know how tall I am, Emily?”
Emily looked up the long expanse of the doctor, “An inch shorter than Amazonian?”
“About right,” Lieutenant Swanson laughed again as she sat back down. “I’m 6’, myself. My husband is 5’10” and I never leave the house without my two inch heels. Someday you’ll be comfortable in your height.”
Emily smiled, “Maybe.”
“Trust me, you’ve got too much going for you to let that bother you forever. Someday you’ll discover that your height has advantages. And so will the boys.”
Emily blushed.
Chuckling, the doctor nodded her head towards the door, “Go on, get out of here. I just want to talk to your parents for a minute, then you’re done.”
“For today or for good?”
“For good. Unless you want to enjoy my sparkling personality.”
Emily laughed out right, “No offense, Lieutenant Swanson, but I think I’ll pass.”
“None taken,” she watched the young woman leave her office and smiled at the sense of peace that the girl took with her and the bit that she left behind.
***
Abby's knuckles brushed across the partly open door to Emily's room, "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Emily turned from the backpack she was packing to smile at her mom.
"So," Abby dragged the word out as she crossed the room to sit on the bed and picked up the teddy bear dressed in Marine blues, "according to Lieutenant Swanson, I haven’t completely screwed up your life.”
Emily laughed, “Who ever said you would, Mom?”
“Well, me for one. I’ve never understood how your dad could have decided that I was the woman to help him raise his child. Hell, I used to have to child-proof my clothes when you were a little kid.”
“Remember Stephanie? Dad’s third ex?”
Abby gave her an odd look, “Yeah. What about her?”
“I don’t. Remember her, that is. Oh, sure, I’ve seen her a few times since their divorce and I even have a few nice pictures of the three of us. But the thing is, I look at those pictures and I’m looking at strangers. Strangers living the all American life, by the looks of them, but we weren’t happy,” Emily pulled her sleeves down to ball in her fists as she wiped them on the corner of her eyes. Crawling up on the bed, she laid her head on Abby’s shoulder, “Know what do remember, though?”
Abby shook her head gently against Emily’s.
“I remember the first day I met you.”
Abby laughed through the few tears trying to escape, “You couldn’t. You were too tiny, only about three years old.”
“Not even. My mother and Papi were on their honeymoon so I was still two. Daddy had to take me to work for some reason and I can remember being terrified as he carried me through NCIS. It was such a big and dark, scary place. And he took me to you with your loud music and weird clothes, but Daddy said you were safe. Papi was the only other person he ever said that about. And when Daddy left, you held me while I cried. Then you spent the whole day playing with me. You colored with me. You played dolls with me. You watched Sesame Street with me. You taught me how to sign mommy, daddy, please, thank you and I love you that day. When Daddy came and got me, I didn’t want to leave, but you promised we’d play again and as we left you signed ‘I love you’ at me. Somehow, I knew you meant it. I knew that we’d play together again and that you’d always love me. Mom, you aren’t going to screw me up, because you’re the glue that keeps me together.”
Abby sighed and wrapped her arms around Emily, “Oh, Em, sometimes I don’t get how someone like me got so lucky to get someone like you or someone like your dad to love me.”
“Well,” Emily kissed her mom’s cheek, “a very wise woman once told me that you just need to be yourself and the people that will like you and love you will be the people you’ll like and love. So, I guess you were yourself.”
“Hey, do me one favor. If I ever do start screwing your life up, you’ll tell me, okay?”
Emily laughed and squeezed Abby, “Okay, but right now can we go to Sundaes and get some cake batter ice cream? I’ve been dying for that for weeks!”
“I think we can manage that,” Abby let Emily pull her from the bed. “Bet we could even see if Papi and the girls or Tony and Maddie wanted to meet us.”
“All of them would be awesome,” Emily dragged Abby from the room, but as they started down the hall, she turned and looked at the older woman. “There is one thing that maybe you did warp me on a little.”
Abby’s green eyes got huge.
“Since I turned eleven, I’ve been saving to get a tattoo the day I turn 18. But, since Daddy and Papi both have one too, we’ll just blame them. Deal,” Emily stuck out her hand.
Shaking Emily’s hand, Abby laughed, “Deal.” She broke the handshake and pulled the girl into her arms.
Abby smiled as she hugged her daughter, maybe she’d survive having a high student after all.