Madeline stepped off of the plane at the Philadelphia Airport with two little children running past her towards a crowd of people.
"Leroy! Caitlyn, you both get back here this instant." Rushing after them, she was dragging along two Disney book bags and her own personal carry on.
"There's my grandkids!" Jethro's father bent down on one knee and scooped the children up into his arms. "What have you been feeding them the past year Madeline? They grew so fast."
"They are almost three years old now it's hard to believe." She smiled as she helped him to his feet. "Where is Jethro?"
"He was at the shop in Stillwater when I left him." He shrugged.
"I'm glad the whole drug cartel issue is over. All I wanted to do was come home."
"You know Jethro wouldn't let me out of the house for four months?"
"He shipped me overseas…I would have rather been locked in the house with him then across the ocean."
"Where's daddy?" Leroy opened his arms, wanting to be picked up.
"We'll see him soon." She kissed his forehead as Caitlyn took her grandfather's hand and led him towards baggage claim.
"I missed you and so did Jethro. It killed him not to talk to you for all this time, but he knew Paloma knew nothing about you."
"Yeah, well if I were still director he wouldn't have been able to ship me away."
"Daddy!" Caitlyn screamed and ran to the baggage carousel.
"I thought you said he was at home?" She looked ahead to see Jethro pick Caitlyn up and toss her into the air before hugging her.
"He wanted to surprise you." He sighed. "I know it's not in his nature to be romantic."
"No, it's not, but he still has a way of charming a girl's heart." Putting Leroy down, she quickened her pace and ran into Jethro's open arms. Pressing her lips against his, she felt the surge of passion race through her body after being deprived of it for so long.
"Hello to you too." Jethro chuckled as he handed her a bunch of flowers.
"If you ever do that to me again I will kill you myself." She threatened as she instructed the children to look for their bags.
"I'm looking forward to tonight and if it's as good as I think it's going to be I am going to ship you off all the time." He whispered in her ear before he kissed the nape of her neck.
"How was England?" Her father in law asked.
"Gorgeous, but it tended to be rainy. The children wanted to ride the London Eye all day." She shook her head. "It was putting me to sleep just going up and down in a slow circle. How is the shop?"
"It's coming around." He answered. "Jethro is helping me to finish cleaning it up before he goes back to D.C."
"As much as I love seeing you, I cannot wait to return home. D.C. has always been a part of me and I miss the team."
"Vance has an agent position open for you." Jethro mentioned. "Abby has made a card board replica of you and has pictures of the children attached to it."
"Doesn't surprise me," After gathering the bags they walked out to the car and loaded it before driving back home to his father's home in Pennsylvania.
They stayed at his father's home for a week before returning to D.C. Since the children were not old enough for school yet, they remained in Pennsylvania with Jethro's father as an added vacation. That way they knew the children were safe and would be down to visit on most weekends. Jethro's father was just as stubborn as Jethro himself. They wanted him to move down to D.C. but he refused. He was not ready to retire quite yet.
"Welcome home." Jethro unlocked the front door to their house.
"We got locks on the door?" She looked at him confused.
"It's just a precaution."
"What happened while I was gone?" She probed.
"I missed you." Setting the keys down on the counter, he pulled her into the living room and into a warm embrace.
"You are going to tell me."
"Rule 43, you cannot bring work home." He smirked as he walked over and started a fire in the fireplace before returning to her side.
"There is no such rule. Well there is but that's not what it is." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Come here I want to tell you something." He beckoned her closer to him.
"Yes?"
"I love you." Capturing her lips with his, he waited a second before he swept her up into his arms and carried her back to their bedroom.
"You get straight to the point." She chuckled as he laid her down on the bed.
"It's been six months."
"I think you've gone longer…maybe you can go longer." She watched as he positioned himself over her.
"What?"
"I think you can wait. I'm in no rush." Trying to keep a straight face, Madeline couldn't help but notice the lust in his eyes.
"Fine, you don't want this?" Leaning down he trailed kisses from the nape of her neck down to the valley between her breasts as his hand slipped under her dress and up to her thigh.
"Nope." She whispered.
"Or this?" His hand slid her underwear down and off of her before it snaked its way back up her leg.
"Damn it Jethro." She could feel a wave of sensation rush through her with his every touch.
Pulling him down to her, she didn't give him a chance to speak again. It had been six months since she had seen him, talked to him, felt him touch her in only ways he knew how to. There was no denying him and no denying the passion there was between them. She knew they only had tonight to enjoy because tomorrow they would be returning to work and they never knew how late cases would go.
"Good morning." Jethro stood fully dressed in the kitchen as Madeline stumbled her way out looking for her cup of coffee. Before she met him she never drank coffee, but now it was an addiction and he knew it. He had her cup filled and waiting for her every morning.
"Give me a minute." She reached for the cup and took a large gulp before putting the cup down and kissing him on the lips. "Good morning." Smiling, she shuffled her way back to the bedroom to change into a pair of khakis and a black polo shirt.
They finished their coffees before heading out to the car and to the office. As they stood in the elevator, she felt her heart flutter in anticipation. She was just as happy to see her friends as she was to be back at work. When the doors opened Gibbs exited first followed by Madeline who now had a desk next to Jethro's. Vance had been reinstated as director after he explained his role in the undercover plot against Eli David.
"Madeline!" Abby ran over to her as she was in mid stride and hugged her.
"Hey Abby." She smiled. "I missed you and I got you something!" Pulling out a small box from her bag, she handed it to Abby. It was a black t-shirt with the British flag on it.
"I love it…but not as much as I love you." She thanked her before she headed back down to her lab.
"Ziva, McGee, DiNozzo," Madeline greeted them all. "McGee, you lost weight again."
"I guess," He shrugged.
"McMounty didn't enjoy Canada." DiNozzo chuckled. "But Ziva did enjoy Florida."
"Were you stuck with Gibbs all by yourself?" She whispered as he nodded.
"I pity you." He replied.
"What was that Tony?" Gibbs asked as he sat down.
"Nothing boss, just finishing my report." Tony looked down at his computer as Madeline placed a small gift on each of their desks.
"It's nice to have you back." Ziva greeted her. "I missed you."
"I missed you all while I was gone and I'm glad to be back." Sitting down at her own desk she looked up to see Vance hovering over the railing a floor above just watching them.
"So what was it like to be director for almost a year?" Tony asked.
"What was it like to be team leader before a certain someone came out of retirement?" She joked with him. "Oh and Tony, I read your file. Pretty interesting," She smiled, winking at Ziva.
"My file?" He asked.
"It's probably the size of Dick Moby." Ziva joked.
"Moby Dick Ziva, and no it's not." Tony glared.
"Never know Tony," McGee added to Tony's paranoia.
"What was in it?" Tony stood up and walked over to Madeline's desk, leaning on it.
"It's above your pay grade." She jabbed as her phone rang. "Madeline Gibbs."
"Don't you have something to be doing Tony?" Jethro asked.
"Yes boss, finishing my report."
"Who is it? Well I want to know. I don't care if he is not going to answer. Fine, send whoever it is up." She sighed as she slammed down the phone.
Standing up, she slipped back on her heels and walked around to the front of the desk waiting for the mystery person to come up to their floor. The elevator doors opened as Madeline looked down at her watch. As her eyes left her watch she first noticed the black polished shoes and the neatly pressed blue slacks. Looking up at the man's face she could feel her stomach drop and the color drain from her face.
"What are you doing here?" Her response was harsh, cold, and calculated.
"I need to talk to you."
"You have no business here at N.C.I.S. so if you could please leave…" She tried to usher him to the elevator, but he stood firm in his position.
"It's regarding Danielle." He knew he could get her attention with that name.
"Come with me." Walking him over to the elevator, she led him down to the interrogation room. They could have privacy there. Waiting for a minute as he sat down in the room, she watched the hallway to make sure she wasn't being followed before she shut the door and locked it. "You know I have a gun and I am willing to use it."
"Maddie, I need to talk to you." His hazel eyes begged her, showing the desperation in them.
Meanwhile upstairs, the team eyed Gibbs with a questioning looked. He looked to each of them, knowing what they wanted to know.
"Get back to work!" He barked.
"That wasn't a friendly hello boss." Tony pointed out.
"I'm going to go use the ladies room." Ziva got up and headed back towards the elevator, but instead of going up she went down to the interrogation room and into the viewing room to see Madeline pacing the room and the man sitting in the chair across the table. Before Madeline began to speak the door to the observation room opened and Tony and McGee slipped in.
"Where's Gibbs?" Ziva asked.
"Vance called him up." Tony answered. "What's going on?"
"Don't know, she won't speak." Ziva shook her head.
"Does she have her gun with her?" McGee looked at the weapon on the table. "That's not good."
"What the hell are you doing here? How did you find me?" Madeline sat down finally.
"Madeline, you're my daughter I have a right to see you." He hanged his head in his hands.
"You raped my mother when she was sixteen and you think that gives you right to see me?"
"Listen, I know you don't want me in your life but do it for your mother and for half sister."
"I have no problems with Danielle; I spoke to her a month ago." She growled. "Now if there is nothing else you need I want you to leave."
"Kate was…" Tony couldn't finish the sentence.
"She never told us she had a daughter either." McGee pointed out. "I miss Kate."
"Who is Danielle?" Ziva asked.
"Better question is what his name is." Tony snapped a picture of the guy with his cell phone and uploaded it to Abby requesting facial recognition.
"She has a step sister." Ziva sighed, she knew what it was like to have step siblings and half siblings.
"Maddie," He reached out and put his hands over her hand. "Please, I told you I was sorry for what happened."
"That doesn't justify your actions."
"I'm not here seeking forgiveness because I know that will never come and that I will never see my grandchildren."
"How do you know about them?"
"What's important is that you look at these." He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her.
"What is it?" She toyed with the envelope.
"Danielle is missing." He started to cry. "I talked to her right after you did and she usually calls me every week. When I didn't hear from her after a week I filed a missing person's report and they told me she was listed as being out of the country."
"Why would Danielle be out of the country?"
"She was doing that piece on Human Trafficking Mad," He handed her a file containing all of the data Danielle had been gathering. "Just look at the pictures."
Opening the envelope, she pulled out a hand full of Polaroid pictures. Mentally she was envisioning her half sister standing in front of her smiling as she always did. Her long brown hair curled around her shoulders and the same hazel eyes their father had beaming at her. Danielle was truly a kind spirit, but her journalism often put her in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Laying out the pictures on the table, she glanced down at the first one quickly but then looked down staring at the picture. It was a picture of Danielle; she was wearing nothing but a bra and underwear. In the next few pictures she was lying on the ground, her jaw was swollen, her eye swollen shut and black and blue, bruises all over her arms, and there was a gash on her forehead. Flipping through the photos again, she could believe her eyes.
"Where did you get these?" She put them all together and shoved them in the envelope.
"From this site." He opened the file and showed her a piece of paper. "It's a place where they sell goods Maddie,"
"What goods?"
"Danielle decoded it and realized that they were selling women." He started to cry again. "I think she's in danger Maddie. I had to do a lot of digging to get these."
"Where did she go?"
"She was still in Los Angeles with Graycin last time I spoke with her."
"Her boyfriend?" She didn't like him. "He's a marine with an attitude. I told her to get rid of him."
"That's what I thought she was going to do, but he had this trip planned for them to go over to France. She was going to go with him and then break it up when they came back."
"Why when they came back?"
"Because, she said something was happening in Paris. She wouldn't go into details. Please help her." He pushed the file closer to her. "I'm not asking for you to speak to me ever again but bring my daughter back. If I can't have both my daughters at least let me have one."
"Fine, I'll look into it, but you are only to call me if it's pertaining to Danielle."
"Thank you." He kissed the top of her hand. "Thank you."
"I'm doing this for her not for you." Gathering all the material, she tucked it under her arm and led him out into the hallway and to the elevator. As the doors closed, McGee, Tony, and Ziva snuck out of the observation room.
"Should we tell Gibbs?" McGee asked,
"No," Tony shook his head.
"Yes we should." Ziva disagreed.
"It's her business." Tony stated.
"She is just as bad as her husband and you know that." Ziva replied. "You think it was bad when Gibbs went AWOL to Mexico, well she'll do the same thing."
"She's going to need help." McGee pointed out.
"Abby," They all replied before heading for the elevator to go to Abby's lab.