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bertruce · 2 months ago

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"the Bermuda Triangle" | fanfic

NCIS. Hollis Mann and Alden Parker.

Note: English isn't my native language.

gif - @mcrsdin

*** Director Leon Vance met her on the second floor of NCIS headquarters, right at the top of the stairs. It felt just like the day they first met all those years ago.

The difference was that now DiNozzo wasn't boring into her back with a surprised look, and McGee wasn't jumping up the stairs two at a time to warn Jethro of her arrival.

Today there was no one to warn.

Hollis closed her eyes for a moment, allowing herself a brief moment of weakness, took a deep breath, and finally smiled at Vance after saying hello.

He was as friendly as ever, looking at her attentively and inquisitively, waiting for something.

"I'm here at your request, Leon," Hollis reminded him when the director still didn't respond with anything but the same inquisitive, studying looks.

"You know, in case... you haven't noticed the change..." Vance began, raising his eyebrows expressively and gesturing slightly toward the common room downstairs.

"Jethro's in Alaska. I know,” Hollis replied evenly, almost casually, though the corner of her lips twitched treacherously.

Vance seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, grinned at some unspoken thoughts, and gestured broadly toward his office. However, the curiosity in his dark eyes was so intense that she felt she didn’t need it, and Hollis almost regretted responding to the director's request and agreeing to help.

She wasn't ready to talk about Jethro—or, for that matter, about how four lonely years in Hawaii had turned out to be much happier for her than the last two weeks in Alaska. And yet again she was only trying to help - to someone who didn't even know how to ask for help.

Unlike Jethro, Vance was at least the very picture of kindness. He filled her in on the details of the stalled investigation at length, making no secret of his team's failures or attempting to downplay them, saying only:

" We did well enough without Gibbs, Hollis, but we did stumble somewhere along the line."

She nodded silently, reserving the right to ignore any mention of Jethro in the future. Just as Jethro had ignored her for nearly three weeks while she tried to save his ass.

But what else could you expect from a man who first calls to warn her that she might be the target of a psychopath hunting him, only to ignore her calls when that psychopath actually shows up on her doorstep?

Save yourself, Hollis. Not for nothing does your resume include twenty years of military service, a stint in the Defense Department, and deployments to "hot spots". You'll figure it out... somehow.

The wound under her shoulder blade, which had healed but still ached, responded unpleasantly. She had to close her eyes again, take a slow, deep breath, and exhale raggedly and longingly.

"Are you okay?" Vance asked, and his quiet voice sounded genuinely concerned.

"Rough flight," Hollis answered shortly, sipping her cold coffee and looking down at the papers on the table again. Well, there wasn’t much required of her today: to act as a liaison between NCIS and the DoD, provide access to classified files, and ensure there were no leaks. Even though McGee was now the only one left from the old field team, Hollis had no qualms about NCIS.

Moreover, the DoD was full of moles—and downright idiots—as Vance had learned from his experience. Deep down, Hollis was glad that, of all the DoD investigators he knew, Vance trusted her.

She took another long look at the investigation summary, finished her coffee in one gulp, and, feeling the familiar excitement rising in her soul, she summed it up:

“I’m in.”

“Of course. But...” Vance made a sly, fox-like face. “No calls to the Secretary of Defense or... who else is on speed dial?”

Hollis couldn't help but smile, even though she knew exactly what scene Vance was remembering: her first conversation with Jethro in six years. Here, in this office.

She had actually had to call the Secretary of Defense to end the jurisdictional dispute.

And honestly, Hollis still didn't understand why Jethro had let his personal side get the better of his work side that day, especially in front of witnesses. And while they had managed to talk and seemingly settle things, he had looked at her like a wild wolf again during the next mission and was unhappy with her interference, which didn't stop him from trusting her with his back when it came to a shootout.

Yes, she had always had his back, and he had left her alone with a mad killer.

Hollis shook off the sad thoughts, allowed the smile she had intended for Vance to warm a little, and then slammed the file closed as she got up from her desk.

"I'd be happy to call the Secretary if I had to. But I don't see anyone brave enough to fight me for jurisdiction."

The door swung open just as Hollis finished speaking, and a loud, righteously angry male voice filled the room.

"What the hell, Leon?! We agreed! If my team made a mistake, we'll fix it. Not some office rat from the DoD!"

Hollis frowned, showing what she thought of this type of work communication, but ultimately decided that her calm, impassive expression would be much better - she was not about to get involved in another pointless argument and fighting for the right to lead the investigation. For once, she was quite content to be an invited guest.

Besides, Hollis understood that the unknown special agent's anger was not directed at her personally, but primarily at his own impotence. The team failed, the investigation was stuck, like a cart bogged down in mud, and new body was added to the morgue this morning...

The new team leader, a burly, gray-haired man, continued to talk to Vance, but Hollis remained silent. She only noted that the special agent who had replaced Jethro seemed no different from him in his usual behavior and also had no regard for work ethic. Well, she had been there, she knew.

"Alden Parker," Vance finally said in a businesslike tone, taking advantage of the pause to turn his entire body away from his irate subordinate and toward Hollis.

Parker turned after him, slower and slower with each passing second, as if he had just noticed the presence of a third party. Hmm, not very attentive for a special agent.

And then, without waiting for Vance to introduce her, he blurted out, "Hollis Mann."

"You two know each other??" Vance was surprised.

"No, we don't" Hollis replied confidently. Of course, she knew in absentia who exactly had taken Jethro's place, but Alden Parker was not Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and that was enough.

"I saw your picture in the file McGee sent," Parker's tone was no longer angry. Already calm, if slightly surprised Parker explained and with a sweeping gesture pushed his thick blond hair off his forehead.

"In the Gibbs Bermuda Triangle?" Vance clarified, and his eyes sparkled with amused curiosity again.

Hollis snorted softly and rolled her eyes - she had nothing to lose. She knew all too well about the "ex-love" file, and the talk that was going around NCIS about her and Jethro - she had witnessed it herself more than once. "The fourth ex-wife", "Gibbs' whisperer" and other, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not so, epithets.

"The Bermuda Triangle"? - Parker asked, puzzled, and switched to a businesslike tone. - Nope. The files on Sharif and Pars.

"Why do you need the files on Sharif and Pars?" - Vance was surprised. "They're old cases. They're both dead.

"Not exactly," Parker winced and leaned his hand wearily on the edge of the table.

"Do you think they might have followers?" Hollis asked cautiously, stepping towards him.

— Maybe... After the bio-attack in Alexandria, the explosion near the Admiralty and yesterday's attempt on McGee's life, we decided to reopen old cases related to terrorism. It seems that we need to look for someone who would want to harm Gibbs or his entourage.

Hollis raised her eyebrows in surprise, looked at Vance, and asked again, raising her voice expressively:

— Yesterday's attempt on McGee? You were going to tell me about that?

— Tim is fine, — Vance waved his hand, and his tone made her hope that McGee really was fine. Which could not be said about the victims in Alexandria.

But Hollis clung much more to the word "yesterday" — the man who had stalked her and Jethro had been lying in the Anchorage morgue for three days and, of course, could not have attempted to kill McGee.

"What makes you think it's about Gibbs?" Hollis asked, turning to Parker and gesturing for him and Vance to sit down; the conversation was going to be long.

"After McGee went to the hospital, we needed more staff, and we accepted Fornell's help." Parker paused, looking at Hollis, silently asking if she knew who he was talking about, and when he received a curt nod, he finally continued, "Fornell's noticed a pattern in the attacks that have happened in Washington over the past month: each one is a copy of one or another of Gibbs's old cases. Ari, Sharif, Dearing, Parsa..."

"Mishnev," Hollis finished, and grabbed the back of her chair, standing there, staring out the window that was behind Vance.

Sergei Mishnev killed Diane (Fornell's wife and one of Jethro's ex-wives). In the end, the bastard got what he deserved, but as strange as it may sound, it was Mishneve who caused Hollis’s seemingly happy marriage to falter and crumble.

She shouldn’t have stayed in Jethro’s basement that night, shouldn’t have drunk the stale, flavorless bourbon from dusty cans, and shouldn’t have gone up to the kitchen for another bottle. And even though nothing had happened between her and Jethro for which she could ask her husband’s forgiveness — just a midnight conversation that was more silent than spoken — she knew when she left Jethro’s house that morning that if she had to choose a man to put herself in the line of fire for him, her first choice would have been Jethro, not the man who had put a ring on her finger and shared his life with her for three years. And so she was right to get a divorce.

Then Mishnev, despite Jethro’s alarm, didn't make no attempt to target her or anyone else but Diane. But years have passed, and Jethro again has another enemy: not a second, not a third, not even a tenth.

“I’d like to believe it’s one terrorist,” Parker continued. “But it’s possible that a cell or network was activated.”

“Gibbs crossed paths with many terrorists,” Vance agreed, turning to Hollis and asking, “Has anything suspicious come through the DoD channel?”

“Give me one minute. I got back from leave a day ago,” Hollis replied, pulling her tablet out of her bag to check the reports.

She knew she had to tell Vance about her trip to Alaska, about her encounter with Jethro and the body in the Anchorage morgue, and how even if the world went to hell, Jethro wasn’t going back to Washington to stop the apocalypse someone wanted for his soul.

Because he was “tired,” because he had “put the past behind him,” because “you’ll figure it out on your own.” He hadn’t even come to Ducky’s funeral. What the hell else was there to talk about?

“Okay,” Hollis gave herself a few more seconds to collect her thoughts, cleared her throat quietly, and pulled up the Anchorage photos on her tablet. “Whoever’s behind this, let’s get these bastards.”

Vance chuckled approvingly, settling back into his director’s chair. Parker stood up from the table and reached for the half-empty coffee pot.

“How about something to eat first? How about Hawaiian manapua with sweet potato? I have a whole box downstairs.” He added, slightly sheepishly, but with a bright smile, “It don’t seem to be very popular with the team. They like desserts more.”

“Hollis had lived in Hawaii” Vance said.

“And there, manapua with sweet potatoes is not popular with anyone. Except perhaps with tourists.”

“You just haven’t had the real thing. I know a restaurant in Alexandria. We’ll close the case, and then we can have dinner there.”

“I’m all for it,” Vance interjected, laying out the paperwork he and Hollis had recently been reviewing on the table.

“Don’t be cheeky, Leon. I didn’t ask you out,” Parker chuckled.

“A date?” Vance played along.

"Shut up, Leon," Hollis said back. Suddenly, she felt a smile forming at the corners of her lips."

gif - @weatherlysexual

#hollis mann #susanna thompson #ncis #alden parker #leon vance #ncis fanfiction #mibbs #leroy jethro gibbs #gibbs #gary cole

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scotianostra · 8 months ago

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On 27th March 1625, King James VI died.

James Charles Stuart has many facts, myths and urban legends surrounding him, this is just one of them.

Rumours have abounded for centuries that James was a homosexual, I'm not saying he wasn't but at very least you might call him bisexual, he did after all father seven children to his wife, only three of whom survived. Known for writing poetry, there is little doubt he loved his wife, Anne, and wrote many poems and love letters to her throughout their marriage. Most of the rumors of James’ sexual orientation came from Sir Anthony Weldon, who was a bitter enemy of the king, whose writings were published long after James was dead.

One of the most amusing quotes from King James regarding marriage and women was when, at the Hampton Court Conference, the Puritan leaders complained of a line in English wedding vows where the groom says to bride “with my body, I thee worship.” James’ response was “If you had a good wife yourself, you would think all worship and honour you could do her, were well bestowed upon her.”

James supposed lover was George Villiers was a courtier who became a favourite of King James I. The King became infatuated with him and made him Viscount in 1616, Earl in 1617, Marquis in 1618 and Duke of Buckingham in 1623. Outmanoeuvring his rivals the Howards, Villiers was appointed Lord High Admiral in 1619. He manipulated the lovestruck King James to gain unprecedented control over royal patronage, rewarding himself and his family generously. He married his relations into the most important families in England. His own marriage was to Lady Catherine Manners, only daughter of the wealthy Earl of Rutland. Was their friendship more than platonic? To coin a Scottish phrase, "

Mibbes aye mibbes naw."

James had a deep and terrible fear of witchcraft and personally oversaw many witch trials while ruling in Scotland. He saw witchcraft as a branch of theology and even wrote a famous treatise titled Daemonologie, in which he dealt with sorcery, magic, and even vampires and werewolves!

James had a relatively peaceful reign, except for the infamous Gunpowder Plot, and kept taxes low. He was known as both the British Solomon and was called “the wisest fool in Christendom” by the King of France. James was both a brute and a gentleman, a sloth and a scholar, a boor and a poet, paranoid and cunning.

Perhaps we should look at his mother's French Emissary Monsieur de Fontenay who had the following to say regarding the young James’ character and traits:

“I have been well received by the king, who has treated me better in reality than in appearance. He give me much credit, but does not show me much kindness. Since the day of my arrival he has ordered me to live in his house along with the earls and lords, and that I shall have access to him in his cabinet just as the others have… .

To tell you truly what I think of him – I consider him the first prince in the world for his age. … . He apprehends and conceives quickly, he judges ripely and with reason, and he retains much and for a long time. In questioning he is quick and piercing, and solid in his answers. … He is learned in many languages, sciences, and affairs of state. more so than probably anyone in his realm. In a word he has a miraculous wit, and moreover is full of noble glory and a good opinion of himself.

Having been brought up in the midst of constant fears, he is timid and will not venture to contradict the great lords; yet he wishes to be thought brave.

He hates dancing and music in general and especially all the mincing affectations of the court … .

From want of proper instruction his manners are boorish and very rough, as well in his way of speaking, eating. dress, amusements and conversation, even in the company of women.

He is never at rest in one place but takes a singular pleasure in walking; but his gait is very ungainly and his step is wandering and unsteady, even in a room. His voice is thick and very deep as he speaks. … He is weak of body … But to sum up, he is an old young man. …

He misunderstands the real extent of his poverty and weakness; he boasts too much of himself and he despises other princes. In the second place, he disregards the wishes of his subjects; and lastly, he is too idle and careless in business and too much addicted to his own pleasures, chiefly hunting. … He told me that he really gave greater attention to business than he seemed to do for he could get through more work in one hour than others could in a day. …"

James ruled Scotland as James VI from 24th July 1567 and, as you might recall from my post a few days ago, ruled in England, Wales and Ireland as James 1st from 24th March, 1603. He died 27th March, 1625 at Theobalds House, and his remains lie in the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

The third pic shows James's body next to Henry VII and his queen in the vault

#scotland #scottish #history #royalty #the stuarts

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