Special Agent Loki Laufeyson

Chapter 80

Gibbs was in the basement, sanding his boat, when Loki got back from his date with Bishop. As the Asgardian descended the stairs into the basement, the agent spoke without looking up. "Next time ask before taking the car, Loki."

Loki tilted his head in acknowledgement of the request as he stepped off the last stair onto the concrete floor. "I'm sorry."

Those two words drew him up short. I just apologized. Apologized.

And what was even more mind blowing was the fact that he truly was sorry for his actions.

Wait – I apologized once before this. When I was being interrogated for fighting with McGhee and DiNozzo.

I meant it then, too.

"What, Laufeyson?" Gibbs' voice brought him back to the present, still flabbergasted by how much he had changed his view on life since joining NCIS.

And yet, he was still himself. He was still Loki.

"I apologized," Loki remarked, furrowing his brow.

Gibbs lifted an eyebrow, giving the god a wry smile. "I noticed. Big step, for you." He went back to sanding. "But don't get carried away with it."

Loki frowned. "With what?"

"Apologizing."

"Gibbs, you will have to elaborate."

Gibbs stopped sanding and set the tool down. Taking up his mug, he took a sip before replying. "Rule 6, Laufeyson. Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness."

Loki absorbed that as Gibbs took another sip and put his cup down. "So I have been on the right track all this time," he commented, grinning slightly.

"Not quite," Gibbs told him.

As the former Marine continued to sand, Loki wandered over to Gibbs' workbench, where two pictures stood in the back corner, a light layer of dust coating them.

Both photos were old. One, tucked slightly behind the other, was of Gibbs and a wavy haired blonde woman. She was wearing an old leather jacket and had her arm over his shoulders in a friendly gesture, a cocky smile displayed for the cameras. Gibbs, on the other hand, was wearing an NCIS investigation jacket, a sniper rifle propped loosely up on the ground. But it was the picture that was propped up before it that really captured Loki's attention.

In it, Gibbs was in his backyard, arms around a young girl, most likely around the age of seven. Her light brown hair was braided in twin braids and she was smiling at the camera infectiously. Gibbs, also, had a wide smile. Behind him, head tilted at the camera, was a young woman whose features matched those of the little girl, except her hair was dark red.

"Who is this?" Loki asked slowly, knowing somehow he was treading in dangerous territory. He glanced back at Gibbs, who had stopped his sanding again as he realized what Loki was looking at. For a long moment, he was silent, sadness clouding his eyes before it cleared when he answered.

"That was my family."

Was.

"Who were they?"

"Shannon," Gibbs said, coming up behind Loki and pointing at the woman. "And Kelly."

"What happened?"

"They're dead."

Loki didn't expect the last line to hit him so hard, but it did. Turning away from the picture, he fished around for anything to say to change the subject. "Gibbs, may I ask another question?"

"No."

"Why did you let me join NCIS?"

Gibbs sighed and met Loki's gaze. "I thought it could save you."

Loki wrinkled his brow. "Save me?"

"Yes. NCIS saved my life, once. I thought it could save yours, too."

"How did NCIS save your life?" Loki asked, carefully.

Gibbs just looked back at the picture of him and Kelly before returning to the boat.

Loki looked at the picture and tried to imagine losing the most important thing in his life. To have something just blink out of existence, something so bright and young and full of life and promise. To lose everything. To lose both of the people you loved.

It was not something he ever wanted to face.

If that had happened to Gibbs...maybe that's what he meant by NCIS saving him. Giving him somewhere to go when the worst presented itself before him, tempting him.

Maybe Loki wasn't the only one who felt as if NCIS was family.