Cassie, Gibbs sat on the back of the ambulance. She was in shock and scared. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Her ex-boyfriend had held her at gunpoint in her apartment. It took nearly two hours to talk him down. They eventually had to use force to end it. He'd been wounded but they thought he would need minor surgery to extract the bullet.
"Cass," said Tony running over to where she was. Tony was like a big brother to Cassie. He'd gotten the call from Gibbs and he'd been on his way home from the office.
"Tony!" she said crying as he hugged her.
"Oh baby girl, Oh god I love you," he said hugging her.
"I was so scared Tony," she sobbed
"I know," he said hugging her.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" asked the paramedic
"I'm her brother Special Agent DiNozzo,"
"We would like to take her to the hospital and get her looked at,"
"No, I want to go home T, please just take me home,"
"Hang on, let me go find Dad,"
Jethro came over and told the paramedic he would take care of things. They released her to him and left. Jethro finished talking to metro about what the next step would be and they said if Cassie was able to come in and give a statement it would help. They all agreed it could wait until the next day. All Jethro wanted was to get her home.
"Hey, you ready to go?" asked Jethro
"Yeah," said Cassie. Tony gave her a piggy back ride to the car.
"Tony would you come home please?"
"Cass, I…"
"Please," she said trying not to cry
"Yeah I'll be right behind you," he said kissing her on the cheek and leaving
They got home and Jethro helped Cassie up to her room. He joined Tony in the kitchen for a drink. Neither one wanted to say what they were thinking. They were too shocked.
"This is so wrong," said Tony after a moment
"Yeah, I know," said Jethro walking into the living room.
They were waiting for Cassie to come downstairs, but she didn't. Jethro went up to check on her and found her the floor of the hallway crying.
"Cassie, hey, baby, what?" he said scooping her up in his arms
"I love you," she sobbed in his arms. The reality of what happened was starting to sink in.
"Oh sweetie, I love you too," he said as Tony joined them.
"Let's watch a movie," said Tony hugging her too.
"K, comedy?"
"Whatever you want," he said kissing her.
The trio sat and watched a movie. Cassie sat between them both on the couch. Her head in her Dad's lap and her feet on Tony. Eventually she fell asleep. Gibbs covered her up with the blanket and closed his eyes as he looked over to Tony who had his hand wrapped around Cassie's. He loved his kids and would do whatever it took to keep them safe. Around 2 am Jethro woke up with a kink in his back. He gently removed Cassie from Tony and carried her up to bed. He watched her sleep for awhile.
By 4 though Tony had come running after hearing her screaming.
"Cassie, it's Ok, you're safe," said Jethro when she opened her eyes.
"Daddy," she said crying as he rocked her in his arms. Gibbs told Tony to go back to sleep. They knew it was going to be along time before they felt safe enough to let her be alone again.
By 8 the next morning Jethro had been talking to Ducky and seeing what he suggested. He wanted to get her help but didn't want to force her into it. Ducky said that he would stop by and see what he could do. Jethro had sent Tony over to the apartment to see what he could grab for Cassie. Cassie had half her stuff already at the house since she was there on the weekends.
"Dad?" called Cassie from the stairs.
"Downstairs baby girl," said Jethro waiting for her.
"Would you come here?" she said from the top of the stairs.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" he said at the bottom of the stairs.
"I had an accident," she said embarrassed.
"Alright we'll get it cleaned up," he said going up the stairs. Cassie had thrown up on the bed and wet it.
When Tony came back he had coffee and breakfast in hand with Cassie's bag. Jethro was putting the laundry in the dryer.
"Dad, everything OK?"
"Yeah just an accident," he said washing his hands.
"Where's Cass?"
"I think she's in the basement,"
Sure enough Cassie was in the basement working on the boat. She looked so small to Tony. He wished that he could make it all go away.
"Hey punk," he said kissing the top of her head.
"Hi," she said sadly.
"You know you can talk to me right?"
"Sure," she said not stopping what she was doing.
"Cassie what happened?"
"I got held at gunpoint in my own home by my own boyfriend!" she screamed at him.
"Hey," said Gibbs rushing down the stairs.
"It's not your fault Cassie!" said Tony
"Cassie," said Jethro getting between them. He knew Cassie was able to hit Tony if she wanted.
"Cassie, talk to me please," said Tony
"Why the hell do you care? You haven't been around lately to care! You should have been there! You're supposed to protect me! You said you'd never leave me!" she screamed at him.
"I'm sorry, I should have been there and I wasn't. I'm so sorry Cass," he said kneeling on the floor in front of her.
"No, don't," she said pushing him away.
"Cassie," he said crying
"Go away," she sobbed.
Tony got up off the floor and looked at Gibbs. Gibbs was torn to protect his daughter and console his son. He gave Tony a reassuring look as he knelt by Cass. Tony treaded upstairs and walked out the front door. Gibbs carried Cassie up the stairs to his bed. He picked up the phone and called Tony. He got no answer and called Ziva, McGee and Abby. Ducky was on his way to check on Cass. He felt torn in two for the people he loved. He knew that Cassie was angry and needed someone to take it out on, but would Tony understand what she meant wasn't directed at him?