Four-leaved clover

Chapter 3 - I'll be damned

No one was home as Gibbs approached the house. Olivia had managed to get out of the surprised trance and was now following carefully, hand on the holster as she held her breath. Gibbs signaled for her to get on the other side of the door before he kicked it in and rushed inside, gun pointing around as he searched the room. Olivia copied his moves and headed further inside, searching through the rooms but without having any luck in finding the person they were here for.

"Clear," Gibbs stated when walking through the door to the bedroom that Olivia was in.

"Clear," she confirmed and put away her gun while looking around. Something was off but she couldn't pin point it. She felt a strange feeling in her gut when investigating the room.

Stopping in her trace as she moved into the living room, her eyes focused when scanning the furniture's, pictures and whatnot.

"You got something?" Gibbs muttered from behind, noticing her shift in demeanor.

Her brows furrowed while the silence surrounded them. Closing her eyes, she let her senses take over.

And that's when she heard it.

"BOMB! THERE'S A BOMB! GET OUT NOW!" she yelled.

Gibbs and her headed for the door. Both rushed outside as fast as they could - Olivia close behind Gibbs. They almost reached the car when the bomb exploded, which send both flying through the air. He was slammed onto the grass very close to his car while Olivia crashed into the side of the vehicle.

Groaning as he slowly moved to sit up, his eyes landed on the lifeless body of his agent.

"Gray!" Gibbs called out, his breath hard due to the pain his own body was dealing with. He was lucky though, no broken bones or major injuries. He could feel a sore rib or two, and he sure felt the bruises on his shoulder from the hard landing but his concern was with his unconscious agent.

His calloused fingers ran over her face and down to her neck to feel for a pulse. It was there but it wasn't as strong as he had hoped it would be. Patting her cheek several times, he quickly flipped his phone open and called for an ambulance.

"Come on, Gray. Wake up," his voice urged. He hated when his agents got injured. Despite him hardly showing it, Jethro cared for his agents.

Only slowly did her eyelids move and a deep painful groan emitted from the female agent as she slowly regained consciousness.

"Lay still. The ambulance is on its way," Gibbs spoke quietly while moving some strands out of her face. "You took quite a hit there." His eyes shifted to the dent in the door and the broken window before they averted back to her.

He glanced at her with a questioning look but was quiet.

"What?" she painfully breathed out, hating when he did that.

"How did you know there was a bomb?"

Blinking for a moment, Olivia was going to shrug but the pain that seared through her bruised body was making her breath faster. "I had a feeling," she panted, which made him raise both brows astonished. "My gut told me something was off, and when I listened closely I heard the faint ticking noise."

Jethro watched his agent in silence while a proud smirk found its way to his lips. Jennifer sure had found him a good agent. He hated to admit that but he would surely have been dead if he had been there by himself. Well, it wasn't that he hadn't had an odd feeling too but he had not heard the bomb nor had he even suspected there to be a bomb.

When the ambulance came, Gibbs patted Olivia's hand before she was rolled off into the vehicle and driven off to the hospital.

He would have Ducky check on him properly once he got back to the headquarters. However, he wasn't worried about his minor bruises. He would be ok, and he surely hoped that agent Gray would be too.

                                                                                           ~ ~ ~

"What the hell happened, boss? Where is Gray?" DiNozzo asked taken aback when he saw his boss step off of the elevator and cross the floor with a grunt. The right side of his face was covered in light cuts and bruises, and he pressed his right arm lightly to his sore rib as to help and release some of the pain.

"There was a bomb hidden in the house."

Tony's eyes widened.

"Hey boss," McGee greeted when he returned together with Ziva. "We foun-" his words were caught in his throat when he saw his boss. Ziva scanned the area and noticed Tony's look.

"Where is Olivia?"

Gibbs sat down at his desk and gritted his teeth.

"Boss?" DiNozzo glanced at Gibbs with worried feelings. "Agent Gray. Is she...."

"In the hospital. She will live but she took most of the impact from the bomb," Gibbs explained while he started to type on his computer. "You three will find Cody Phillips and bring him in. That son of bitch nearly cost me an agent, and he sure as hell owes me a new car."

All three agents didn't dare question more about Olivia. They grabbed their gear and were out of the pen before anyone could have spelled bomb.

"How is she, Gibbs?" Sheppard's voice softly as she suddenly appeared by his desk, her eyes filled with concern.

"She will live," he retorted, eyes not leaving the screen.

Exhaling slowly, Jennifer watched him. She knew what he was doing at the moment, and she couldn't let him take the blame for this. Reaching over, she placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a small gentle squeeze. "It's not your fault, Jethro. You know that. No one could have foreseen that there would have been that bomb there."

"I should have known, Jen! I should hav-"

"You can't predict every little second. You were as prepared as you could be, Jethro."

"Not as well as I would have liked to be," he grumbled, finally looking up at his boss. "She had a feeling, Jen. I had a feeling too but I had not expected a bomb. Maybe an ambush but not a bomb," he clarified and ran his hand over his face tiredly.

Sheppard watched him for a moment in silence and then send him a small smile. "Remember to thank her. That's the least you can do," she pointed out while patting his shoulder softly before retreating from his desk and heading to the stairs. Their exchanged look said it all and her smile grew as she could see his gratitude for such a skilled agent.