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“Ah Jess, come and meet an old friend of mine.”
Leon turns in time to see an older teenager in almost full Bogu and with a serious expression step barefoot towards them.
“This is Special Agent Leon Vance, from the DC office. Leon, this is my daughter, Jessica.”
Smiling, Leon nods to her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jessica, your father’s told me a lot about you.”
Jess offers him a faint smile and a respectful nod but is otherwise quiet.
“Leon’s on assignment here for a few weeks and I had to invite him along to see your Shinai tournament!” he rests a proud hand on her shoulder, “now, I need to go and check that our visiting Admiral is happy, I’ll be back in a few minutes, promise.“
Leon pretends he’s not watching as Feng leans forwards and drops a kiss to the top of her head, switching to mandarin to say, “I’m proud of you, Jess.”
(Or he’s pretty sure that’s the sentiment at least, his mandarin knowledge is limited at best.)
Watching him step away, Leon internally frowns at being left with a teenager he’s just met but he’s nothing if not good at navigating awkward situations so he sits on the beach and offers her a seat beside him with a simple gesture.
He does detect a slight awkwardness to her but it’s well-concealed as she sits easily beside him, shinai placed carefully across her knees.
“So, Jessica,” Leon starts after a moment, glancing critically at the teenager sitting by his side, “have you ever thought about being an NCIS agent, like your dad?”
He’s heard potential in what her father had said about her and seen it here today in her discipline and skill, so now he’s curious.
From the few times he’s met Feng’s now ex-wife, he can’t see her being supportive (Feng had once told Leon to learn from his mistakes when it came to balancing a dangerous job with a family) but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll stop her, if it’s what she wants.
It had never compelled her father to give up his job at NCIS, after all.
Jessica eyes him cautiously for a moment before answering, “It’s what I want to do. But Dad doesn’t want me too,” she looks across to where her father is stood, talking to a small knot of people, “I think he’s worried. I know it can be dangerous though, he doesn’t do a very good job of hiding it from me.”
There’s a faint frown to her eyebrows that gives Leon the impression of maturity, perhaps a little beyond her years. He’d seen firsthand how the divorce had been on Feng but less so on the rest of the family.
He knows they had sort of fractured apart, their eldest being a few years older and already moved out, one of the twins staying with their mother in America and Jess following her father around the world for the last three or four years.
He knows Feng has promised to stay here until her graduation, at least, seeing what the constant instability was doing to his daughter.
Worrying, as Leon does constantly with his own daughter.
“Well, it’s a father’s job to worry.”
She turns back to him, eyes curious.
“You’re a dad?”
“I am,” he confirms with a warm smile, “my daughter, Kayla, she’s one.”
“And you worry about her?”
Honestly, he answers, “All the time.”
“You wouldn’t stop her though, if she really wanted to do something?”
The question seems overly innocent, almost childlike, but Leon gets the feeling that couldn’t be further from the truth so he says, “If I thought it might hurt her, I would try and get her to see my point of view.”
Jess seems to think on that for a moment, then, “What about if it was her childhood dream?”
“Childhood dreams don’t often become reality,” he points out gently.
His more realistic approach to her question doesn’t seem to bother her, she simply asks, “I take it you didn’t dream of being an NCIS agent when you were a child then?”
Chuckling softly, Leon shakes his head, “A boxer. I worked at it, right through my teens, but it never happened.”
Jess frowns, “How come?”
“I didn’t have what it took to make it my life.”
He assumes she’s taken that vague answer for what it is – as in-depth as he’s going to go about it – when she nods thoughtfully and turns away.
And, thinking that the conversation has come to its natural conclusion, he’s taken by surprise when Jess suddenly asks, “It still changed your life though, right?” she continues before he can answer, glancing around the dojo, “I mean, I’ve spend a lot of my time here, it is my life in a way. Or my way of life, at least.”
Leon doesn’t have to think about it long, it’s something he’s considered before. Growing up like that, training all the time, learning physical and mental techniques, gaining mentor figures and like-minded friends – he still lives his life by lessons he’d learnt in those years.
“Yes, it did change my life,” he answers eventually, then tilts his head to the side with a slight grin, “and, for what it’s worth, if I were in charge of NCIS, I wouldn’t hesitate to give you a job.”
He watches something deeply hidden light up in Jess’ eyes but her voice stays impressively even as she asks, “Really?”
“Really,” he agrees seriously, “I think you have what it takes to be a good agent. And,” gesturing vaguely, he adds, “if you worked at it, I think you could be one of the best.”
For the first time in their entire conversation, a hint of a true smile makes an appearance on her face.
“I think you’d make a good boss.”
Leon can’t say it isn’t something he hasn’t considered before. The Director’s seat, or at least the Assistant Director’s seat, is only a few careful moves out of his reach – politically speaking that is.
He lifts a curious eyebrow, “What do you think makes a good boss?”
Jess considers carefully in silence for a moment, staring out at the room around them, then quickly lists off, “Someone who can see the bigger picture, see the consequences of everyone’s actions. Someone who can make the tough decisions, someone who can communicate – both diplomatically and honestly as needed-“ she fixes him with an appraising look- “someone who cares.”
Slightly amused, he asks, “How do you know I’m all those things? You’ve known me less than five minutes.”
“Well,” she answers slowly, “Dad said you work in the US, but you’ve been trusted on a lone assignment over here, so you clearly have skill. You’re tactical enough to be asking for outside opinions, even from unlikely sources… and you have nothing else to gain from this conversation so, we wouldn’t be having it if you didn’t care.”
Leon doesn’t confirm or deny her observations; she seems sure enough in herself that he doesn’t think she needs that reassurance.
Instead, he comments, “You have high standards for a boss.”
“There’s only one Director of NCIS,” she points out plainly, “out of the thousands of people who work there, the right one has to be in charge.”
If he hadn’t been sure of her potential before, he certainly would be now – she truly has a good head on her shoulders.
“Very true. There are thousands of people, all over the world-“ and he can’t hope to know all of them, although he’s trying to meet as many as possible- “most of them are in America though, would you live in America?”
The training at least would be over there, even if she decided to move to a different office later on.
“I’ve lived there before,” she points out, “and I’m going to college in Washington state next year.”
“Ah, you have it all planned out-“ she does strike Leon as someone who has goals, or at least expectations of her abilities- “what do you want to major in?”
“Environmental sciences. Wildlife conservation.”
Leon raises an eyebrow, “That’s not very ‘federal agent’y.”
“They don’t exactly do a pre-fed course.”
Her voice is dry, with a hint of sarcasm, and it’s the first true look Leon gets at the quick, if slightly sassy, teenager under the polite mask.
Letting out an almost startled laugh, he agrees, “Very true,” then he shrugs lightly, “well, if you ever need a recommendation, just give me a call or mention my name-“ he leans in closer, like he’s telling a secret, “I might not be Director, but I still know people.”
“Dad says you shouldn’t rely on special favours.”
Leon considers this for a moment then counters, “It’s not a special favour, it’s networking.”
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” Jess recites.
“Exactly. Although it is good to have the skills to back it up too. And I don’t offer this to just anyone, you know, you’ve impressed me,” he tells her honestly, “I want to make sure you have what you need to get as far as you can.”
“Thank you. Future Director Vance.”
The sparkle of slight humour is back in her eye and he finds himself smiling again as he replies, “You’re very welcome, future Special Agent Knight.”