Family Secrets

It was starting out like a typical Monday for Washington, D.C. in the middle of fall. It was cold enough to cause the breaths of the men and women hurrying about the sprawling metropolis to fog up, and a slight breeze rustled through the city streets. Leroy Jethro Gibbs stood in line in his favorite coffee shop, waiting somewhat impatiently for his usual order. He finally received his coffee with a happy sigh, jamming his free hand deep into his pocket as he walked the two blocks to the NCIS office, taking a shortcut through the evidence garage.

He took a long drink of his coffee as the elevator doors opened on the bullpen floor, striding out in the direction of his desk, grunting a vague 'hello' to his team as he passed. "DiNozzo, we got anything?"

Tony finished chewing the bite of burrito he had before speaking. "No, Boss, no cases right now. Director Shepard stopped by your desk on her way in, though."

Gibbs looked up from his computer, his eyebrows raised. "She say anything?"

"No, I asked if she needed you for anything, she said no." Tony shrugged, going back to his breakfast.

Gibbs gave a vague grunt, returning his focus to the computer in front of him. The team worked in relative silence for the next few hours, catching up on back paperwork. Gibbs finished off his second coffee of the day with a sigh, standing and grabbing his jacket. "Goin' for coffee. Call if anything comes up."

Tony, Ziva, and McGee hardly looked up as they all gave answers in the affirmative as Gibbs headed to the elevator. They did, however, look up when Director Jenny Shepard walked into the bullpen a few moments later, frowning at Gibbs' empty desk. "Coffee run, I assume, Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony quickly minimized the game he had been playing, looking up to give her a charming smile. "Yes, ma'am. He should be back in a few minutes or so."

"Hm. I'll just wait, then." The corner of Jenny's mouth twitched in an almost imperceptible smirk as she walked over and took a seat behind Gibbs' desk, crossing her legs.

All four of them looked up as the elevator doors opened with the customary 'ding', looking considerably surprised when a silver haired older man that was not Gibbs exited, followed by a rather harried looking woman. The man looked around, before walking over to Gibbs' team, who were the only people in the bullpen at the time. "Pardon me, you wouldn't happen to know where Leroy Gibbs is, would you? I'm pretty sure his office is supposed to be here." He glanced around again, looking slightly hesitant.

Jenny stood, coughing politely. "Well, sir, the only agent we know of with a last name of Gibbs goes by Jethro, not Leroy, but, this is his desk. May I ask who you might be?"

The silver haired man gave a wry smile, turning towards Jenny to focus his bright blue eyes on her. "Name's Jackson Gibbs. I'm Leroy's father. It would make sense that he wouldn't go by his own name, he always did like to be difficult."

"Difficult, Jack? You were the one who carted around a damn Winchester to keep me in line." Gibbs spoke from behind Jackson, having come up the stairs rather than the elevator.

"Yeah. Let that be a lesson in parenting. Tell a kid he can't have a rifle, and he grows up to be a sniper." Jackson Gibbs turned around to stare at his son. "Your phone not work anymore? I've been trying to get a hold of you for two days now."

"Fell in some paint stripper." Gibbs shrugged nonchalantly, walking around his father and the woman to move over to his desk, raising his eyebrow at Jenny. "What's so urgent that you drove all the way to D.C.? I was just home two weeks ago."

Jackson Gibbs winced slightly, looking apologetic. "Ah, Leroy, maybe we ought to take this some—" He was cut off by the harried looking younger woman, who stepped in front of him, walking over to Gibbs' desk, where she set her briefcase down, pulling out a sheaf of papers, which she handed over to Gibbs.

"Mr. Gibbs, you've been named the sole executor of Sarah Kelly Collins' last will and testament, including the management of her estate until her son is of age."

Jethro's face took on a look as if he had been sucker-punched as he sank down in his chair, staring down at the papers in his hands. "Sarah's…will?" He looked up at his father, utterly confused.

Jackson swallowed, a pained look crossing his face. "Sarah…she was killed in a car accident out on the turnpike three days ago."

Gibbs's gaze moved back to the papers in front of him, his eyes slightly unfocused. "Crash…" He looked up, alarm flashing across his features. "J.J.?"

"He's fine, Leroy, he was spendin' the day in the store with me. He's right downstairs, with one of the other Social Services people, sleeping." Jackson moved over closer to his son's desk, grasping his shoulder in support. "Sarah insisted that you be the one to take J.J., had this will written a few months ago, said she wanted to make sure he'd be taken care of." He squeezed his shoulder lightly, lowering his voice slightly. "I'm sorry, Leroy."

The woman cleared her throat quietly, obtaining Gibbs' gaze again. "Mr. Gibbs, sir, your father is correct. Miss Collins' will names you as the legal guardian of Jacob Christopher Jethro Collins in the event of her death. Unless you choose not to take custody of the boy, and then Social Services will place him in an appropriate foster home."

"No." Gibbs voice was deadly quiet, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, sir?"

"He's not going into some damn foster home. I'll take him." Gibbs returned his gaze to the sheaf of papers, rifling through. "Where am I supposed to sign this thing?"

The woman coughed quietly, moving around his desk to help him with the papers, shifting Jackson out of her way. Jackson looked up at Gibbs' team and Jenny, who all looked shell shocked. Jenny regained her composure first, walking over closer to Jackson, lowering her voice to a murmur. "Pardon me, Mr. Gibbs, but, I…what's going on?"

Jackson managed a pained smile, taking her elbow and leading her a little farther away from his son's desk before he spoke. "I…well, I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's not really my place to explain any more than a good friend of Leroy's died earlier this week, and now he'll be taking custody of her son. I didn't catch your name, though, ma'am."

"Jenny, Jenny Shepard. I'm Le—Gibbs' boss, the Director of NCIS." She twisted her hands in front of her for a few moments, glancing over to where Gibbs sat, signing off on the large stack of legal papers.

"Jenny…ah, I see." Jackson looked at her, recognition flashing in his blue eyes. "Well, that explains a lot."

"What?"

"Ah, nothing. Who are these other people?" He quickly avoided her question, looking around at Gibbs' team with interest.

"Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Timothy McGee, also known as Tony and McGee, and Mossad Officer Ziva David, who usually goes by her first name." Jenny eyed him shrewdly. "Jethro never mentioned a father, or any friends from his hometown."

"That's because they're none of your business, Jen." Gibbs spoke from just over her shoulder. "My family, my friends. I wasn't aware I had to tell you my life story, Direc-tor."

Jackson spoke quietly, clapping a hand to his son's shoulder again. "Leroy…she was just askin' a question, there's no need to rip her head off."

Jethro shook his father's hand off, giving Jen a mild glare before turning around fully to face his father. "Where's J.J.?"

"I'll go get him, Lee. He's been sleeping downstairs, sleep's been really the only thing we can get him to do to calm down." Jackson let out a soft sigh. "He's been asking for you, he's worried himself sick about something." With that parting comment, he turned and followed the woman to the elevator, calling quietly over his shoulder. "Leroy, I'll get him and bring him back up here, alright?"

Jethro ran a hand over his face with a long sigh, leaning back against the side of his desk. "Jen…I didn't mean to snap at you like that, it was out of line." He took a deep breath, standing up and moving over to his desk drawer, pulling a few different items out and setting them on his desk. He looked up as the elevator doors opened again, watching as his father exited, carrying a small brown haired boy in his arms.

Jackson walked back over to Gibbs' desk, moving carefully so as not to wake the boy. "Leroy," He whispered, looking at his slightly taller son. "Why don't you take him, see if you can wake him up? I think him seeing you might do him a world of good."

Jethro nodded, carefully taking the sleeping boy from his father, nudging his shoulder lightly in an attempt to wake him up. "J.J….Hey, J.J., c'mon, buddy, it's time to wake up."

The little boy stirred, a small hand coming up to rub the sleep out of his blue grey eyes, blinking as he looked around in confusion. "Huh?" He blinked again, taking stock of his surroundings, before finally focusing on Jethro's face. "Jet!" He sniffed, seeming to be about to start crying. "You okay." He gripped the lapels of Gibbs' jacket tightly, perhaps to reassure himself that Gibbs was, in fact, there. "You didn't leave me like Mummy did."

Jethro looked appropriately surprised; rubbing J.J.'s back carefully to reassure him. "Of course I'm ok, J.J., why wouldn't I be?"

"You an' Mummy promised me you'd never leave, but now Mummy's gone, an' I didn't wanna lose you too." J.J. had tears in his eyes, burying his face in the crook of Jethro's neck.

"J…I didn't…" Jethro trailed off, his voice cracking slightly. He went silent for a few minutes, merely standing there with the small boy in his arms, rubbing his back in slow circles to calm him down. He swallowed hard after a moment, looking up at Jenny, speaking in a low voice so as not to disturb J.J. "Jenny…" He trailed off for a moment, finally resuming his sentence in reasonably fluent French. "Prendre l'équipe jusqu'à votre bureau, je serai sur là dans quelques minutes pour ceci tous expliquer. Prendre mon papa, aussi."

Jenny raised her eyebrows, finally shrugging, responding in flawless French. "Bien, aucun problème."

The team watched as Gibbs walked off in the direction of the back stairs with J.J., humming a soft tune in his gruff baritone. Jenny turned to the team and Jackson, getting their attention. "If you guys would come with me, please. Agent McGee, maybe you ought to go get Abby and Ducky, I have a feeling that this explanation will need to be heard by them, also."

Tony and Ziva merely glanced at each other and shrugged, following Jenny up the stairs to her office, Tony solicitously allowing Jackson to go ahead of him. McGee appeared at her door a few moments later, leading Abby and Ducky with him. The group waited a few moments longer, until the door opened and Jethro strode in, still carrying J.J. in his arms. He walked over to the conference table, and took a few items from J.J.'s arms and set them on the table. After a murmured conversation with the boy, Jethro finally extracted himself from J.J.'s grip and sat down, allowing the boy to sit on his lap. He took a deep breath and focused on the group gathered in Jenny's office.

"I…haven't been entirely honest with you. Well…no, that's not true, either. Two of you already know about this. Dad, obviously, and Ziva knows because of the dossier she prepared for Mossad." Jethro swallowed, taking another deep breath before continuing. "As I was saying…I've been married four times, divorced three."

Jackson sighed, walking over to his son and leaning against the table next to him, offering silent support. Jenny was again, the first to finish processing through the information Gibbs had just told them. "Wait…so, you…you're not married now, which mean---oh." A pained look flashed across her face, mirroring the expressions of the rest of the group. Abby looked as if she seriously wanted to run over and envelop Gibbs in a hug, but she held back. Ducky's accented voice finally broke the silence again. "Oh, Jethro, I'm so very sorry. I had no idea..." He trailed off a moment, hesitant to continue. "When, was this?"

"Nearly fifteen years ago." He paused for a moment, reaching to shove an old leather-bound album out into the middle of the table. "I---I mean, they died fifteen years ago. We got married March 18th, 1982, three days before I shipped off for my second round of Basic. Her name was Shannon." He smiled briefly, gesturing to the photo album, which Jenny stepped forward and took after a moment, holding it where the entire group could see. Abby smiled slightly, looking up from the wedding picture to Gibbs. "Gibbs, she was beautiful." Her expression shifted solemnly. "I know your rule about apologies, but I am sorry for you, Gibbs, she looks like she was a wonderful lady."

"Yeah, she was probably the best thing to happen to me, other than Kelly." J.J. looked up at this, tilting his head back far enough to look at Gibbs. "Cousin Kelly?"

Jethro smiled slightly, absentmindedly ruffling the boy's hair. "Yeah, J, cousin Kelly."

He looked up as Jenny and Abby let out soft gasps, having moved on from the wedding pictures in the album. "Jethro?"

"That's my daughter, Kelly. She was…eight." His voice cracked audibly, and he stared at the ground for a while, blinking rapidly. Finally, he seemed to collect himself enough to continue. "Shannon and Kelly died in '91, on the last day of operations in Desert Storm. Shannon witnessed a murder a few weeks after I shipped out, and NIS were the ones assigned to protect her and Kel until the trial. Their driver was shot and killed, and they died in the car crash. I was still over in Iraq. My squad got blown up fighting our way out of a minefield the day after the notification came. I…I was in a coma, and honorably discharged after that. I came home to D.C., and Mike Franks, from NIS, came to talk to me. I started working here a few months later."

Jenny smiled as she looked up at Gibbs, walking over to embrace him. "She looks just like you, Jethro."

Jackson let out a rumbling laugh. "Kelly was a lot like Leroy, too. She had to have been the most stubborn eight year old I'd ever met."

Jethro smiled faintly, blinking back tears. "Kelly was…the best thing that ever happened to me." He laughed quietly, nodding at the album. "She did get the best parts of Shannon, though. Caring, quiet, loving, always tried to see the best in people."

Jackson nudged his son's shoulder slightly. "You know, Leroy, J.J. kinda reminds me of Kelly, too." The young boy perked up noticeably at being mentioned, turning in Jethro's lap to look at him. "I'm like cousin Kelly, Unca Jack?"

Jethro bit back a smirk, grinning as he hugged the boy a little closer, a chuckle rumbling in his chest. "You're a lot like your cousin, J."

"Jet?" J.J. turned back to look at Jethro, his voice hesitant.

"Yeah, J?"

"Is mummy up there with Aunt Shan an' cousin Kelly?" J.J.'s blue-grey eyes filled with tears as he spoke, still staring at Jethro.

"Y—Yeah, J, your mum's up there in heaven with Shan and Kel." His voice cracked again as he answered. After a moment of quiet, he abruptly turned the chair and lifted J.J. down, glancing over at his father. "J, why don't you go with Jack for a while? I've got to take care of a few things."

J.J. shook his head vehemently, clinging tightly to Gibbs' arm. "No! If I go, you'll go away like mummy!" His eyes filled with tears again as he clung on tenaciously, his shoulders jerking with small sobs.

Gibbs paled, quickly moving to lift the boy back into his arms, murmuring softly into his ear. "J, it's alright, I'm not going anywhere, I promise. J, calm down, buddy, I'm not leaving. It's alright, shhh, J, I'm not goin' anywhere, I promise, I'm right here, it's okay." He rocked back and forth in the chair, humming again in his gruff baritone to calm the boy down.

Jackson looked at the rest of the group standing in the room, standing up to walk over to them. "Since Leroy's gonna be calming J.J. down for the next little bit, I'll go ahead and explain how he's related to all this, as best I can. J.J.'s mother, Sarah, was Shannon's younger sister, which made Leroy her brother-in-law. He never dropped that role, even after Shan and Kel's deaths, because Sarah didn't really have anyone left in the world. Her mother died before Leroy met Shannon, and her father passed away a year or so after Shannon's death. Sarah dated some guy, almost six years ago, ended up pregnant with J.J., and Leroy stepped in to help her out when the dirtbag left. He's basically the closest thing that boy's got to a father. Sarah got all…I don't know, worried, a few months ago, and had this will drawn up to make sure J.J. was taken care of."

"So…J.J. is short for what?" Abby tilted her head inquiringly. "And why are you calling Gibbs Leroy?"

Jackson raised his eyebrow, a soft chuckle rumbling in his voice. "J.J. is short for Jacob Jethro, and I call Leroy, Leroy, because he's my son and I'm allowed to call him what I want."

"You're Gibbs' dad? McGee! You didn't tell me Papa Gibbs was here!" Abby scowled, punching McGee in the shoulder sharply.

Jenny bit back a laugh, giving Abby a mild look to quiet her. "Jackson Gibbs, meet Abby Scutio, our forensic scientist. And also, our M.E., Doctor Donald Mallard, usually known as Ducky."

Jackson stepped forward to shake Ducky's hand and then pressed a light kiss to the back of Abby's offered hand, his bright blue eyes, startlingly similar and yet completely different from his son's, sparkling with something like amusement. "Pleased to meet you, Abby, Ducky. I go by Jack, usually." He smiled a crooked smile that he had obviously passed on to his son, turning slightly to look over his shoulder. "Leroy?"

Gibbs looked up from his humming, his gaze focusing on his father again. "Hm?"

"Why don't you bring J.J. over here, introduce him to your friends?" Jackson gave him a pointed look, his hands moving quickly to sign something to Jethro.

Gibbs frowned slightly, and then nodded, allowing a small grin to tug at the corners of his mouth. "Hey, J, c'mon over here with me, I want you to meet a few of my friends, okay?" He waited until he felt a nod against his chin, standing up carefully and walking over to the group. "J, you've gotta pick your head up, okay, bud?"

J.J. picked his head up, sniffling as he rubbed his nose on his arm. He looked around the group, his eyes wary. Jethro mirrored his father's crooked smile, nudging J.J. lightly with his shoulder as he introduced him to Jenny. "J, this is my…boss, and a good friend of mine, Jenny."

J.J. took her offered hand after a moment's hesitation, offering a guarded smile, his eyebrows contracting together as he repeated the name. "Je---Je..n..ny. Jenny." His smile grew wider as he correctly pronounced the name, transforming into a slightly bashful grin as he turned his head back into Gibbs' shoulder, his next statement an almost inaudible murmur. "You're pretty."

Jenny laughed, giving his small hand a light squeeze. "Thank you very much, J.J., that was a lovely compliment."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, moving on from Jenny to Abby, nudging J.J. with his shoulder. "Alright, Casanova, moving on. This is Abby, or Abs."

Abby gave J.J. a bright smile as she took his hand, shaking it vigorously. "Nice to meet you, J.J.!"

J.J. grinned again, trying her name out. "Abby. Thatsa cool name."

Gibbs let out another rumbling chuckle, shifting over to Ziva. "Okay, now, J, this is Ziva."

The boy's face contorted into an almost comical frown as he sounded out the new name, stumbling over the word. "Ziv…Viz…Viza?" He winced apologetically, glancing nervously at the Israeli. "Your name's hard."

Ziva laughed softly, shaking his hand briefly. "That is quite alright, J.J. You may call me…Zee. That is much easier to say, no?"

"Zee." J.J.'s face broke into a wide grin again, nodding. Gibbs mouthed a 'thank you' to her as he stepped over to McGee. "Okay, now that you've got that one…this is Tim, or McGee."

"Mi---M--…Tim." J.J. grinned proudly, looking at McGee for assurance. McGee smiled back, clasping the little hand in his own and shaking a few times. "Nice to meet you, J.J."

Tony was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, eager to be introduced next. Gibbs rolled his eyes, turning to face Tony. "J, this is Anthony, or Tony."

J.J. grinned mischievously, taking the offered hand. "Anth---Ton----'Tonio!" He stared Tony down, as if daring him to contradict the nickname.

Tony smiled and shrugged good-naturedly, tilting his head to the side as if her were thinking about it. "Eh, 'Tonio will work just fine, little man."

Gibbs smiled and adjusted J.J.'s weight in his arms slightly before introducing him to Ducky. "Okay, now, J, last one. This is my old friend Ducky."

"Ducky…quack quack!" J.J. giggled, looking at the doctor.

Ducky's face creased in a wide smile, his accented voice hiding a hint of laughter. "That I am, my boy. Pleasure to meet you, young J.J." He shook the little boy's hand, smiling at the happy and relieved look that crossed Jethro's face.

Gibbs walked over and set J.J. down on the table, leaning against it next to him. "Alright, now, quiz time. Can you name everyone back to me?"

J.J. nodded vigorously, his small hand pointing to each person in turn. "Jenny, Abby, Zee, Tim, 'Tonio, Ducky, Unca Jack, Jet, 'an me, J.J.!" He looked around, obviously pleased with himself.

Jethro laughed quietly again, mussing up J.J.'s hair. "You did a good job, bud." He jerked his head in a small nod to Jackson, who walked over to stand on the boy's other side, as Jethro bent down to murmur softly in J.J.'s ear. "J, I've gotta talk to Jenny for just a minute. I'll be right over there, by the window, okay? Uncle Jack will be right here, and you can still see me, promise." He waited for the small nod of agreement, standing to walk over to the window on the other side of the office, giving Jenny a slight nod of his head to indicate she should follow. After ensuring that he was still well within J.J.'s line of sight, he turned to Jenny, taking a breath to speak, but she beat him to the punch, her amused voice sounding quietly.

"Jet? Never would have thought you to be one for nicknames, Jethro." Her green eyes flashed with amusement, the brow over her right eye raised.

"You'd call me Jet, too, if you were five years old and couldn't work out a name with that many confusing syllables. Closest he's ever got is Jefrow." Gibbs rolled his eyes, glancing over at J.J., who sat next to an excited Abby, listening to her ramblings with a faint grin on his face. He returned his gaze to Jenny's face, looking somewhat apologetic again. "I know my usual rule for apologies, but I think I owe you one. Hell, I probably owe the whole team an apology, but you most of all. You know me better than most, and you're my boss. I hid the file on their deaths ages ago when I joined NCIS, but, still, that's something at least you should have known."

She shook her head vehemently. "There's no need for apologies, Jethro. You understandably wanted to keep that part of your past private." She glanced over at the little boy sitting on the conference table in her office, a soft smile gracing her features. "He obviously looks up to you, Jethro." She laughed quietly as J.J. directed a small smirk at Tony, who had presumably just said something. "Look, he even smirks like you."

Gibbs smiled, his eyes focused on the young boy. "Yeah. J.J.'s a great kid." He ducked his head, letting out an embarrassed laugh at the small compliment she paid him. "Not really sure why he looks up to me, though. I'm not the greatest role model." He shook his head quickly, re-ordering his thoughts. "But that's not why I'm over here. I'm going to need to take the next few days off." He trailed off for a moment, clearing his throat. "Sarah's funeral is in two days, and I need to get J.J. settled in at my place." Jethro was blinking a good deal more rapidly than he usually did, his bright blue eyes focused on the ground. "I'm not really sure when I can come back to work…J.J.'s having difficulty…well, separation anxiety might be a better description for it, but you saw for yourself, he won't let me leave the room."

Jenny gave him a supportive smile, setting her small hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "You take all the time you need, Jethro." She hesitated for just a moment, plowing on with her sentence after a breath. "And if you need any help, at all, you know we're all here for you, right?"

Gibbs nodded, finally managing to reign in his emotions, offering Jenny a soft smile. "I---thanks, Jenny." He rubbed the back of his head with a sigh, walking with her back over to J.J.

"Hey, J, buddy, we're gonna go now, you're staying with me, okay?" The boy looked up from his conversation with Ducky, a wide smile creasing his face as he latched onto Gibbs again.

-A/n: Okay, so...I'm getting really bad at updating Astronomical Odds, I know, I've just hit a MAJOR wall in the planning. I know how I want it to end, but I can't figure out how to get there from where I'm at now.

I DO, however, have a few oneshots planned, sometime soon.

Anyways, moving on. This little piece came to me after watching Gibbs around Zach in Honor Code, and, well, since I didn't want Zach to lose his dad, I figured I'd give Gibbs a nephew instead. I'm not entirely sure how long it's gonna be, but, eventually, this will turn into a JIBBS story. (Possibility for a Gibblet? I dunno.) There might be potential for a series involving Gibbs, Jenny, & J.J.

Oh, and for those not enamored with French, a translation. (I apologize if I'm a bit off, French is a little rusty.) :

Prendre l'équipe jusqu'à votre bureau, je serai sur là dans quelques minutes pour ceci tous expliquer. Prendre mon papa, aussi.-- Take the team to your office, I'll be on there in a few minutes to explain all this. Take my dad, too.

Bien, aucun problème.-- Okay, no problem.

Right, so, there you go! Review, please, tell me what you think.

-Meg