"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jamie asked, watching his wife pack a small bag.
"I'm certain I have a very bad gut feeling. I have to figure out where it's coming from. My grampy hasn't seen Jack for weeks, almost since New Year's. It's just for the weekend. Stillwater is only a couple hours from here and it's not like I'm pulling Jack out of school. We're leaving Friday after school and we'll be back Sunday night. You're giving a seminar this weekend to the K-9 unit at Baltimore P.D." Tiff answered.
"Okay, okay. I get it. I hope this turns out to be nothing."
"Me too." Tiff smiled at her husband. Once her bag was packed and as she packed her son's bag, Tiff called her father.
When Tiff was seven years old, Jethro Gibbs had shown up outside Tiff's house introducing himself. Almost a month later Gibbs and Tiff's mother, Marie, had come to an agreement that Gibbs would have joint custody of Tiff. That afternoon Tiff met her father's wife Shannon and their then almost two-year-old daughter, Kelly. After that Tiff had spent one weekend a month and three weeks every summer with them in D.C. Gibbs retired from the Marines and gone to work for N.I.S. when Tiff was 14 in 1991. Shannon hadn't been happy about his reasoning of wanting to protect his girls from everything, but she did like him being home more often.
Tiff shook the thoughts from her head as he picked up the phone. "Gibbs," he said.
"You in the middle of a case?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll make this quick. I'm taking Jack up to Stillwater to see Grampy Jack. Jamie has a training seminar with Baltimore P.D. K-9 unit. He's going to stay in a hotel Friday night so he won't have that far to travel Saturday morning. We need someone to feed Biscuit on Saturday morning. Just fill the bowl. She'll be good until Jamie gets home on Sunday."
"Will do."
"Thanks, Dad." They both hung up and Tiff sighed. She really hoped this bad feeling in her gut was just someone getting sick.
That weekend Tiff and Jack spent the whole weekend with Jackson Gibbs and he loved every minute of it. Jackson had always loved kids, especially his grandkids and great grandson. The bad feeling subsided by Sunday, but not to the extent that Tiff wasn't worried. She was a lot like her father in that respect. From time to time Tiff got gut feelings about events that were happening or going to happen but she just couldn't figure out what it was this time. Throughout the next two weeks Tiff visited Stillwater and her grandfather, convincing Kelly to join her. Her sister didn't see anything that should have bothered her sister but since Tiff felt strongly about it, Kelly knew not to argue.
After wrapping up yet another successful case in D.C., Jethro Gibbs was sitting at his desk looking over a file as his agents talked. It was just an ordinary day when his cell phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs," he answered. Though the caller I.D. told him it was his eldest daughter, he couldn't tell what she needed.
"Dad." That one word cut straight to his heart. Though she often called him dad, her tone scared him. Her voice was choked with tears and she sounded desperate. Gibbs could count on one hand the number of times she had called him crying and like those two times, he knew this wasn't going to be good. "Dad, are you there?"
"What is it, Tiff?" He asked softly. Raising two girls had rubbed off most of his rough edges, well at least when it came to them.
"I went—went out for—for—for donuts and coff—coffee, like—like—"
"Tiff, take a deep breath," Gibbs commanded. Her stuttered speech was hard to follow. She did as commanded but the breath that came out was shaky and Gibbs knew deep in his gut something bad had just happened. He stood and walked towards the back elevator out of earshot and eyesight of his team. "What's wrong?"
"I've been in Stillwater for the past five days. Every morning I go out for donuts and coffee for me and Cal, you remember Cal, right? When I came back Grampy was on the floor and Cal was giving him CPR. At the hospital I found out Grampy had a stroke." Tiff paused as she took a couple deep breaths. "He didn't make it and I don't know what to do."
"How long?"
"15 minutes, maybe longer."
Gibbs took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I'm on my way."
"Mum too?" Since Tiff got along with her biological mother Marie, it felt wrong calling Shannon "Mom" so she called her "Mum" instead.
"Yes, go back to the house. I'll be there soon."
"I can't. All I see is him."
"I know, I'll be there soon I promise." They hung up and Gibbs stared at the orange wall in shock. His father was dead. Gibbs had always known this day would come, the man was more than 80 years old and had fought in World War II, but Gibbs couldn't believe it had happened so suddenly. He took a deep breath, shaking off his shock and walked back to his desk grabbing his gun and car keys from his desk.
"Uh, Boss?" Tony asked.
"On my cell if you need me," Gibbs answered.
Once Tiff got off the phone with her dad she finally summoned the courage to leave the hospital and took a walk through town her feet carrying her where they may. She also took that moment to call her husband who was exceedingly sympathetic and told her he'd be there as soon as their almost seven year old son was out of school for the day. Then she called Abby. She got along well with the forensic scientist and knew her father probably hadn't told anyone what had happened. Just over three hours later Gibbs and Shannon pulled to a stop outside the only general store in town. As Gibbs entered the store, Shannon walked down the street to the garage and was surprised to find Tiff staring at the old green truck upon blocks.
"Tiff?" Shannon asked softly.
"He was always going to fix this truck," Tiff answered, her voice watery. "Said it'd make the perfect wedding present for Kelly and Trent. I just can't believe he's gone." She turned to face her stepmom who instantly wrapped her in a hug.
"I know, sweetie," Shannon told her, rubbing her back.
Tiff was mostly calmed down by the time her father entered the garage. "Hi Dad," she said softly.
"Tiff. I know it's hard."
"I just—I can't believe he's gone, you know? My mom's parents died when I was a baby, my stepdad's are still alive. I don't really know anyone that's died. Jamie lost his great grandma when we were in high school but I still don't—"
"I know. The pain never really goes away; you just learn to live with it." Tiff nodded and they went to work on cleaning up the garage a little. Tiff was rearranging some boxes when there was a knock on the open door. She looked upend smiled at Cal.
"Agent Gibbs?" He asked. Tiff looked at her father to see him standing on the opposite side of the garage from her, staring at a box.
"Dad!" Tiff called, snapping him out of his trance. Gibbs put the box back and looked at the man in the doorway. "Dad, this is Cal Frasier. He worked with Grampy in the store. He was there when ..." Tiff trailed off.
"Jackson spoke highly of you," Gibbs said as he shook the young man's hand.
"Don't know about that. I mostly did lifting and stocking," Cal answered.
"No, he said you had a real head for business."
"He did?"
"Yeah. My wife Shannon and you know my daughter Tiff."
"Ma'am, Tiff. I wish there was more I could have done. I uh—"
"You did all you could and we thank you for that," Shannon told him.
Cal nodded looking nervous. Then he pulled a set of keys from his pocket and extended them towards Gibbs. "This is uh my set to the store. I came by because Tiff said to give them to you."
"I appreciate it," Gibbs answered, taking the keys.
Cal turned to go then turned back. "Jackson Gibbs saved my life. I was headed down a bad road when he hired me. He said the world was bad enough as it is. You've got no right to—"
"Make it any worse," Gibbs finished with the boy. They both smiled.
"Yeah," Cal nodded. "You know, no one ever cared enough to say stuff like that to me before."
"Jackson really liked you," Shannon said.
Cal nodded and started to walk off when Shannon elbowed her husband. "Hey," he said. Cal turned to look at him. "Are you busy?"
"Sir?" Cal asked.
"I could—we could use some help getting the store ready to sell."
"Of course." Cal smiled and Gibbs nodded.
They left the girls to clean up the garage and went back to the store. They had taken down all of Jackson's photographs and the shot gun when an old red clunker pulled to a stop out front. Gibbs watched out the window as his youngest child climbed from the passenger seat. Her fiancé Trent climbed from the driver's seat.
"Dad," Kelly said, entering the store. Gibbs hugged her then sent Trent to help Tiff and Shannon.
"I'll put this stuff in the garage," Cal said. He pushed the cart with all the boxes out the back door.
"I can't believe he's gone," Kelly said.
"I know."
"I just—I never expected it."
"I know." Gibbs answered, hugging her again. Then his phone rang. "Yeah, DiNozzo, where ya been?" he asked. "That bad?"
Kelly watched her dad talk knowing something was seriously wrong. "Dad?" she asked when he hung up.
"I have to go," Gibbs answered. He led her to the garage.
"Everything okay, Jethro?" Shannon asked.
"I'm needed in D.C." Jethro said.
"Dad, you can't. Please," Tiff begged.
"Tiff," Gibbs said.
"Jethro, outside," Shannon said. Jethro followed her outside and Tiff hugged her sister.
"It's going to be okay, Tiffy," Kelly said.
"I just miss him and I want my dad," Tiff answered. Kelly continued to try to console Tiff until Shannon reentered the garage. "He's leaving, isn't he?" Tiff sighed.
"Tiffy, Kelly, have a seat." Both girls sat down on boxes and looked at their mom. "Tiff, do you remember when you were 14 and you came out to Camp Pendleton right before your dad shipped out?"
"Yeah, so what?" Gibbs was shipping out overseas and Tiff had been given a week off of school to be there for that. At the end of that trip Shannon had taken the girls to lunch just before Tiff had to fly back to her mom's place in North Carolina. As they went to leave, Kelly had forgotten her doll and while retrieving it a young Marine had been gunned down out front. Two of the bullets missed the Marine and instead shattered the window, one grazing Tiff's left hand, the other tore through her right shoulder.
"The man who gunned down that Marine, and hit you as well, his name was Pedro Hernandez. He was killed in Mexico shortly after your father returned to the states. He left behind two young children who both, like their father, had ties to the Mexican Drug Cartel. One is dead; the other, Alejandro Rivera, is in prison. The case the team is working on has turned up new leads with a connection to Rivera."
"He thinks Rivera is going to come after us?"
"He could try to send someone and your father can't let that happen."
"Rule number 44," Tiff quoted smirking.
"44?" Trent asked
"First things first, hide the women and children," Tiff, Kelly, and Shannon quoted.
"My father has a set of rules he lives by. There's about 50 of them. You join the family, you learn the rules."
"I know most of them."
"If the 40's are in play something bad is going on," Kelly explained.
"So he's going to take care of this?" Tiff asked.
"He'll be back before the funeral," Shannon promised.
"Fine." By the time Gibbs got back to D.C. Jamie and Jack had reached Stillwater.
"Mommy!" Jack cheered. Tiff smiled for the first time all day.
"There's my big boy," Tiff answered, stooping to hug him.
"Hey buddy, I got a present in the car for you. Why don't you come with me?" Trent asked. He bent down and Jack hopped on his back.
Once Trent and Jack were clear of the garage, Tiff stood back up and looked at her husband. "I am so—" Jamie started.
"If that sentence ends with sorry, I will smack you. I love you but I don't need your pity right now."
"My condolences for your loss. I know that you two were close. I also know that you're hurting. I cannot imagine the pain you are going through and I want to help you any way I can."
"I just—I miss him but I need my dad."
"Sweetheart, Jethro is not Nick," Jamie said sternly. "He will not give up or walk out on you. He loves you and wants to do everything he can to protect you." Tears welled up in Tiff's eyes and Jamie instantly wrapped her in a hug. "I'm here," he said softly.
"Mommy, Mommy, look what Trent got for me," Jack said, coming back into the garage. "Isn't it cool?" He held up the RC car to show his mom.
"Very cool," Tiff answered softly.
"And I already said thank you. And thank you too, Aunt Kelly."
"You're welcome, bud." Kelly answered.
"Where's Grampy Jack? I wanna show him. He'll love it."
"Why don't you and I take a little walk? We can talk about Grampy Jack," Tiff said.
"We'll be at the house when you're done," Shannon said. Tiff took her son's hand as he handed his toy to his father then the pair headed down the street. Jack didn't believe a word his mother said when she told him what happened so he raced to find his dad. As much as it pained him Jamie confirmed his wife's words to his son and Jack went upstairs to bed in shocked disbelief.
When Gibbs returned around lunch the next day he found a very depressed grandson and felt bad. He guessed Tiff had told the boy what had happened and it appeared he wasn't taking it well. Jethro brought Jack into the garage and they worked on putting tires back on the old truck in silence. "Pappy, why did Grampy have to die?" Jack asked.
Gibbs paused for a moment. "Everybody dies, Jack."
"But he's going to miss Aunt Kelly's wedding. And my birthday." Kelly would be getting married in less than two months just before Jack's seventh birthday.
Gibbs put down the lug wrench and turned to his grandson. "I know, bud. It's going to be hard, but—" The garage door opened and Gibbs looked up. "Cal, is that you?" That was the only person Gibbs was expecting. The door shut without an answer. Then out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a reflection. He turned to look and suddenly got a really bad feeling in his gut. Gibbs placed a finger to his lips shushing his grandson. Gibbs ushered Jack behind a tall cabinet in the corner as the man crept towards them. Jack covered his eyes, heard a scream, then something clatter to the floor. After a bit of a struggle, Jack heard a loud crash and peaked through his fingers. Seconds later Gibbs knelt in front of him. Jack threw his arms around his grandfather who picked him up and took him out of the garage. "It's okay." Gibbs said.
"Who was it?" Jack asked.
"A very bad man, but he's not going to hurt anyone ever again," Gibbs answered. "We better go get ready."
"For the funeral?"
"Yeah."
At the funeral, Jack clung to his father's side as Jackson was buried with full military honors. Tiff was very grateful for the show of support from her father's team. Tony DiNozzo, Ellie Bishop, Tim McGee, Jimmy Palmer, and Abby Sciuto showed up. Even Ducky and the Director of N.C.I.S. were there. There was a small service afterward: some food, small talk, and hugs to go around.
That night both Kelly and Tiff and their families decided to stay at their dad's place just to be together. After she put Jack to bed, Tiff found her father in the basement sipping his whiskey as he drew something on a large sheet of paper. Tiff sat down on an empty chair and toyed with her fingers not looking at him. After 15 very long, very quiet minutes, a hand extended a glass of whiskey to her. She took it but didn't drink from it. "I don't like that you left but I get why you did it," she said softly.
"I never meant for you to take that as me abandoning you. I promised you I would never abandon you like Nick did," Gibbs said.
"You didn't, you were trying to protect me." Ever since Gibbs had come into her life, Tiff's step-father, the man who had raised her for nearly eight years, Nicholas Rickards had disappeared to be a congressman. Tiff rarely ever saw him and Jack didn't even know him.
"I still shouldn't have left. Losing a grandparent is tough."
"Losing a parent is even tougher." Tiff set the glass on the workbench and stood up hugging her dad. "I don't know what I'd do if I lever lost you."
"I'm here," Gibbs answered. "Now if you're not going to drink that ..."
"I might be pregnant," Tiff admitted softly. "It's not official or anything but I have a doctor's appointment on Monday."
"I didn't know you were trying. Jack's seven."
"Yeah, we weren't. I mean we weren't not trying but we weren't actively trying either. Jamie and I are both—well ... he's an only child and I spent more of my childhood being raised an only child than having a sister around. It's tough. Kelly and I are six years apart."
"If you can handle it."
"Thanks, Dad."
Four months later after a very busy summer and one negative pregnancy test, as confirmed by a doctor, Jack was starting the third grade. It was getting late one night in September after Jack was in bed that Tiff received a phone call from Shannon. The woman didn't want to worry her stepdaughter but she knew the girl would want an update. They both knew Gibbs had been sent to Russia on assignment but they figured he'd be back before long. When Shannon got the call that Gibbs had gone missing her heart had caught in her throat but had calmed down knowing he was Gibbs and he'd be okay. When Shannon had told Tiff, the girl's first response was to head to D.C. from her home in Quantico to be there for any updates and while Shannon wasn't sure that was a good idea, she knew it wouldn't be easy to change Tiff's mind.
Since Tiff worked at N.C.I.S. headquarters, it was easier for her to get through security and once that was done she made her way to the bullpen and had a seat at her father's desk. For a while she sat in silence then spun to look at the wall behind the desk. Some of the photos on the wall were familiar: her small family, Kelly and Trent, Jamie and a couple of his Marine buddies; but most of the people she didn't recognize. She figured they were people her father had helped.
Suddenly the screens behind her began to flicker and an error message popped up. "What in the ...?" Tiff said. She shared a look with Bishop who had nodded a hello to her, then Tony entered the Squad Room. "What's going on?" Tiff asked looking at him.
"Computer virus," Tony said. He explained that Abby had plugged a micro SD card into a laptop to find out what was on it and it had triggered a virus that seemed to be making its way through the network.
"You plugged an unknown SD card into a laptop on a federal agency's network?" Tiff asked as she tapped keys on the keyboard in front of her trying to stop the virus or at least try to figure out what it was after.
"It wasn't connected to our network."
"Ever seen Wreck-It, Ralph? If it's plugged in, it can jump from one computer to another through the power cord. I can't stop this which means one thing."
"Damn things won't let me shut them down," Tony said.
"It's even messing with our phones," Bishop added.
"I've got every available I.T. helping Abby and not a single one of them knows what it is," Vance said as he too entered the Squad Room and came to a stop between Tony and Bishop's desks. He glanced at the plasma to see the layout of the building showing the affected computers and saw it affected every single one.
"We know one I.T. who does," Bishop said, "or did," she corrected.
Then Tony's phone rang with a call from McGee. The update from him was quick and cut off by a gunshot. At first Tiff was relieved to hear he and Gibbs were okay but the gunshot caused more panic and worry to set in.
"Whatever phone they were on is dead and ours aren't much better," Bishop said.
"It doesn't matter." Tiff answered her, approaching Tony's desk as the others had gathered around it when the call had come in. "You have the coordinates of where they were when they went down. If I know my dad, he wouldn't have stayed there. He'd be headed for Finland. Especially if someone was after them."
"Jet's fueled and ready, DiNozzo. Get on it," Vance ordered.
"Tony, if you don't bring him home, you will regret your next encounter with me," Tiff growled. "I lost my grandfather four months ago; I don't want to lose my dad."
"He's Gibbs," Tony answered, knowing how scary it would be to cross Gibbs's redheaded daughter. He took off and the director turned to her.
"What are you doing here, Mrs. Hammond?" Vance asked.
"If you think I can be at home when my father is lost somewhere in Russia, you're dead wrong."
"What did you mean?" Bishop asked.
"What?" Tiff asked.
"When you said there was only one thing to do."
"Oh, the computer. Unplug it. It may corrupt the hard drive but at least if there's no power running to it, the virus can't attack it. Desktop computer towers, most of them, don't have a backup battery like laptops do. The virus will still be on it but it can't do anything. Hacking 101." Both Bishop and Vance stared at her. "My mum Shannon made me apply to college before I joined the Army as a bomb tech. MIT, Georgetown, and a few others accepted me to their computer courses but I liked blowing things up better." Bishop smiled. Tiff spent the rest of the night and well into the morning with her head resting on her crossed arms fading in and out of consciousness.
When Tiff woke she had a sudden urge and pulled Gibbs's trash can towards her, getting sick. She vaguely heard the elevator ding as she rested her arm against the edge of the desk then rested her temple against her arm. She took a couple deep breaths then got sick one more time and felt a hand on her back. Tiff looked up and saw her father. His cobalt blue eyes were narrowed, but not in his patented heated glare, instead in concern. She knew he wasn't seeing the 30-something-year-old woman she was but rather his eight year old daughter with the skinned up knees, the 12 year old girl whose step-father had missed another birthday, or the 16 year old asking to come live with him after suffering a broken heart from her boyfriend breaking up with her when he had been stationed in Lakeland.
"You got some water?" Tiff asked. He handed her a bottle and she rinsed her mouth out. "Four months ago I told you it wasn't official. The doc did a test and it was negative. Three days ago it came back positive. About five weeks."
"Jamie?"
"He knows. I'm glad you're back." Tiff stood up and wrapped her dad in a hug. He stood stiff for a few moments but hugged her back.
"I told you, I'm here," Gibbs said in her ear.
"Thank you." Tiff pulled back and smiled. "Let's go home."
"Sure," Gibbs answered.
Tiff walked over to Tony. "Sometimes, you drive me crazier than anyone I have ever known, but sometimes ..." Tiff shook her head. "You're like the older brother I may not have wanted but was always grateful to have. Thank you."
Tony smirked and Tiff hugged him. "You're welcome," he answered softly.
Soon Gibbs was back in his basement working on a full size version of the scale model boat he had helped his dad make as a child, The Chickadee, named after his mother. Tiff on the other hand was upstairs with Shannon helping put together dinner. She was glad the bad feeling she had four months ago had finally faded.
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