Falling For Her // Gibbs

On Trial

Gibbs was preparing himself for a long day, mentally and physically. He wore a suit jacket, a button down shirt and a tie, which always made him uncomfortable.

He had court today and he absolutely hated attending and partaking in court. But it was necessary, this case had taken up so much time. It should have been an open and shut case but Petty Officer Liam Miller was surprisingly deceptive and resourceful. He had been stalking his ex girlfriend for over six months before NCIS picked up the case.

It only took his team another month to finally charge him with a litany of crimes, including stalking, intimidating and attempted abduction. The final nail in his coffin was when he was discovered inside his ex girlfriends house. He had been waiting for her to return home, his plan was to abudct her, and take her across the border. Thankfully his team arrived in time to stop that from happening. In the petty officers vehicle they had found zip ties, drugs, cash and a gun. Had Gibbs' team not got there in time the case would have ended very differently and this trial would have been much more difficult.

Since the arrest was made another six months had gone by while they awaited the trial. Gibbs was happy that in the next few days this case would be finished. He and Tony had been called in to testify. The petty officers family had paid for an expensive lawyer to represent him. It wouldn’t help him much in terms of his guilt, the evidence was overwhelming, but it could help with his sentencing. At the worst he was looking at 25 years, but if he was lucky, it could be 5-10. 

Gibbs entered the courtroom with Tony, the trial had already begun, and this was its third day. With any luck, Gibbs and Tony would only be needed today and tomorrow, and then his sentencing would take place. They took their seats quietly, and did their best to pay attention.

Petty Officer Millers attorney called Tony to the stand, they had only been staring at the back of her head, long blonde golden locks. When Tony came to the front of the court room and made eye contact with her, he almost stumbled getting onto the witness stand. Gibbs rolled his eyes, dammit Dinozzo.

Once Gibbs caught a glimpse of her and noticed how beautiful she was he understood a little, but now was not the time to be distracted. He shook his head as he regained his focus.

‘Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ was then called upon to testify. He approached the attorney and quickly found himself distracted, Dammit, so much for trying to focus. She was very young and absolutely stunning. Long golden hair framed her face beautifully. She wore glasses, but they did nothing to hide her sparkling blue eyes. It took him a moment to really hear anything she said. 

Finally, after almost an hour in the witness stand, the judge adjourned court for the day. Gibbs hoped it would only be one more day of testifying.

As they exited, Gibbs watched Tony trail after the young attorney. He was making a fool of himself, as usual, he made a joke as Gibbs came up behind him he heard her quickly laugh him off.

“I didn’t catch your first name?” Tony asked
“Mia, Mia Stroll.” she said, offering her hand, Tony shook it immediately. She then turned and offered her hand to Gibbs.

“It was uhm, agent Gibbs? Right?” she said
“Uh yes, nice to meet you.” he said, shaking her hand, her bright blue eyes caught him off guard as his calloused hand meet her soft small hand. They stared at each other for a brief moment before she said, “Anyways, Im sorry. This is probably innaporpriate, as the trial is still ongoing. I have to go back to the office. I’ll see you both tomorrow.” They nodded as she left. Tony stared longingly after her, Gibbs caught himself admiring her as well. 

The next day in court was uneventful. He and Tony were both called on again to testify. Mainly to the chain of evidence, the judge deliberated over lunch and quickly returned with a guilty verdict. Sentencing would take place tomorrow, but Gibbs and Tony were not needed for that, thankfully.

As he was leaving the courtroom, he could hear Tony asking Mia out for drinks. She thanked him but declined. Tomorrow was when she needed to be at her best for the sentencing, she explained to Dinozzo.

Just as Gibbs was about to walk over, he got a phone call. They had a new case. He could overhear Mia saying how excited she was for this case to be over, Petty officer Miller gave her the creeps, apparently. Gibbs offered her a kind smile as he pulled Tony away, explaining their new assignment.

A few days went by and Gibbs got a phone call, Petty officer Miller had escaped police custody. He was in the process of being transferred to his new prison when the transport bus got a flat. Miller overpowered the guards and escaped on foot with a gun. Gibbs was pissed he was having to reopen this case. 

He informed the team of what had happened, quickly assigning people to their respective tasks. Everyone had to talk to the people Miller had been in contact with in the last 48 hours, essentially since his sentencing. Tony and Ziva were to go to his parents' house. Mcgee, to see the ex-girlfriend, and Gibbs had to pay a visit to see Mia Stroll, the petty officers attorney. 

Gibbs hoped the lawyer might have some insights, as she was actually the last person to speak with him prior to his transfer.

Gibbs was shown to her office by a secretary, he entered and looked around the room. It had a nice view of the capitol building, and a large desk that was covered in stacks of paperwork. In the corner of the room, opened books covered a separate smaller table.

Mia came in, and she took his breath away, Gibbs realized that was just how she always looked, beautiful, breathtaking. She was wearing a pencil skirt, high heels, and a white blouse. Her hair was pulled back into a pony. She came in flustered with another stack of paperwork. 

“Hi agent Gibbs, I’m really sorry, I got out of that meeting as quickly as possible. I understand time is of the essence." She said taking off her glasses and looking for room on her already crowded desk to set her armful of paperwork down.

Gibbs was flustered for a moment as she placed her paperwork on her desk. She offered him a seat at the less cluttered table. ‘Get it together Gunny’ he thought to himself. She sat across from him, crossing her ankles leaving her legs on display. Gibbs quickly peeled his eyes away as she explained that she had already been made aware of the petty officers escape. Gibbs just needed to ascertain if she new anything else.

“Thats alright Ms. Stroll, thank you for rushing. Thinking back to your conversations with Petty Officer Miller, is there anything that stands out? Anything about him wanting to visit a place, one last time, somewhere of significance, a person he spoke of often, plans of an escape maybe?” he chuckled to himself, wishful thinking.

Mia went on to explain that Miller was always making her feel uncomfortable, making advances, asking her on dates, where she lived, if she had a boyfriend and giving her inappropriate compliments. She said she only took on the case because her boss asked her too, it was a favor he owed to the family. Otherwise, she would have dropped the case after his first innaporpriate comment, the day she met him. He never spoke of a specific place, he just wanted to take her somewhere 'nice'. He knew of a few nice restaurants he'd say, but never actually named anywhere. None of that was really helpful. It spoke more to Millers character than anything else. And everyone was fully aware that he was a creepy, scummy, SOB.

“I have to ask," Gibbs said, clearing his throat and shifting in his seat "do you have a boyfriend?”
"Me? Oh, uhm no?" She said blushing slightly.

He felt unexplainable relief in his gut when she said no. He went on to explain to her that a boyfriend at home might have provided a little protection, acted as a deterrent to the Petty Officer. Gibbs was starting to make her nervous, which he apologized for. He assured her that he hadn't been spotted anywhere in the area and was likely hiding in the woods near the freeway still. He told her not to worry and suggested staying with family or at the very least having friends over.

He gave her his card and insisted she call, if she needed anything, ever. She thanked him. He felt apprehensive leaving, which he knew in his logical mind was ridiculous, but his gut felt otherwise.