A new family

Father-daughter dinner

Gibbs walked into his favorite restaurant around 7:25 pm. Seeing that Rose hadn't arrived yet, he sat down at an empty table and waited. Moments later, Elaine approached.

"- Good evening Gibbs, what can I get you?

- Good evening Elaine. Nothing yet, I'm expecting someone. "

Elaine smiled and nodded before walking away.

Gibbs returned to his observation of the street. It was 7:30 p.m when he saw a car pull up and Rose got out followed by a man. Gibbs immediately noticed that he carried a gun under his suit jacket and an earpiece. Rose turned to him and said a few words to him before heading to the entrance to the restaurant as the man climbed back into the car. The young woman entered and looked around the room, looking for Gibbs. When she saw him she smiled slightly and came to sit across from him.

"- I told you that I knew where your restaurant was! Laughed Rose

- I had no doubts! Gibbs replied with a slight smile on his lips. It's your bodyguard in the car, isn't it?

- Eh ? Uh ... oh yes! Officially "Agent Martin," Rose replied, mimicking the quotation marks with her fingers.

" Justin is very nice. I have known him since I was fifteen and his role means a lot to him even if sometimes I would prefer not to have to be watched all the time but apparently even if mum has been dead for 12 years I remain a potential target so... "

Elaine approached the table again and took their order before heading back to the counter, glancing at Gibbs while carefully examining Rose. The father and daughter remained silent until Elaine returned with their plates, which took several minutes. Then, still in silence, the two began to eat. Finally, it was Rose who broke the ice.

"- One day, when I was 7 years old, mom came home to Paris for a few days. One evening, she invited her French friends to eat at the house. Throughout the meal, they kept asking me questions about the school I was going to, about my friends, about the activities I liked to do etc. And each time, I was content to answer with "oui", "non", or the shortest possible sentences and even mom sometimes answered for me. However, I understood perfectly what they were saying to me and I was totally able to answer them in French but I didn't do it. When everyone was gone I joined mum in the kitchen and expected her to upset me for my behavior. Instead, she leaned over and asked me why I had done this. I told her that I didn't like having to tell my life story to people I hardly knew and that short answers were enough. And there, she laughed, saying "You really look like your father!" ". And today when I see you sitting here eating without saying a word, I have to say she was right.

- Yet you've been rather talkative and outgoing since you joined NCIS. Gibbs replied simply.

- Oh ... that's because after mum died everyone around me seemed to take pity on me so I pretended everything was fine by being as happy and talkative as possible when I was with people. But in reality I prefer to observe silently in my corner when I arrive in a new place or when I meet new people. But when I arrived at NCIS, I felt like I had lived my whole life there thanks to everything mom wrote to me ... "

Gibbs raised his eyebrows and looked at her questioningly. Rose took a bite of the salad and when she had swallowed, she put down her cutlery and cleared her throat.

For once I don't have much to say about this chapter except that Agent Justin Martin is a character once again invented by me that I AGAIN once forgot to mention him in my introductory summary of my fanfiction. Anyway ...good reading!