Disclaimer: See Chp. 1

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, alerts, favorites etc. Hope y'all enjoy this chapter.

Terms:

DHS – Department of Homeland Security

Chp. 2

Shannon Gibbs woke up slowly, being that it was Saturday. Her job and being a mother to a seven year old took a lot out of her. But, at the same time it kept her young. She still couldn't believe how much her life had changed in the past five months. When she'd seen that Tony was sick that morning, and that he'd been abused, she'd thought the school would inform social services that would be the end of it. Of course, she'd called Jethro, but the only reason was that she needed comfort herself and she needed someone to convince her that it wasn't her fault that little Tony was it the situation that he was. Even in her wildest dreams, Shannon couldn't have foreseen that she would see her estranged son again, all because of one phone call.

Thinking about her son, Shannon decided she would call him again. She'd left a message on his answering machine three days ago and still hadn't heard from him. For all she knew, he could just be ignoring her. But she felt sure that Ziva would've told her if Jake was in town and Shannon could have confronted him. Even though they had reconciled, breaking down the wall Jake had built around his heart was proving difficult, and that wasn't even addressing the fact that, to her knowledge, Jake still hadn't spoken to his grandmother. Deciding she needed coffee first before calling Jake, Shannon went to the kitchen.

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Despite the messages on his answering machine and the weight they left on his mind, Jake had fallen into a surprisingly sound sleep. He rose at five am and went for a five mile run, then showered and dressed. After breakfast, he cleaned his weapons. Flying commercial with hardware would've been difficult, were it not for the set of fake I.D.'s that every member of Section Eight carried identifying them a private security contractors attached to DHS.

After cleaning his guns, Jake decided to do what he'd been putting off sense he'd played his messages the previous night. It was now just after nine in the morning and he figured his parents and Tony would be up. Going to his gun safe, he opened it and grabbed a worn leather belt holster for his sidearm of choice, a Wilson Combat CQB Tactical LE 1911 .45 caliber pistol. The weapon had cost a fortune when he purchased it as a young Sergeant during his time with Delta Force. After fifteen years though, Jake had learned it was one thing he'd never leave home without. After grabbing his keys, wallet and a dark brown bush jacket, Jake left the apartment and walked to his most prized possession, second only to his guns.

Working for the U.S. government as a private contractor had been very good for Jake's bank account. His personal net worth was just shy of 2.5 Million dollars, not counting $105,000 he had splurged on and purchased his dream car, a fully restored 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 painted grey with black racing stripes. Jake hadn't really been a car guy, but he'd gone to see Gone in 60 Seconds with some buddies and had fallen head over heels in love with the '67 Shelby.

Pulling the cover off, Jake stood for a moment and admired the car that he'd assumed he'd never own. Then he opened the driver's side door, tossed the cover in the backseat and climbed in. After plugging his Ipod into the dock in the stereo, he scrolled through the list of album's, selected the one he wanted, pressed play and, as Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones blasted from the speaker's, Jake felt better about his decision go to his parents, even if it was only because he got to drive Eleanor.

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Shannon was annoyed. Jake didn't answer again. But she decided not to worry. After all, her son was a grown man and he could make his own choices. Just as she was going to start breakfast, the doorbell rang. Going the answer, Shannon was surprised to see Jake standing on the porch.

"I got your message last night; just got back into town." He said, by way of explanation.

She smiled and hugged him, before stepping back and allowing him to enter. "So, has Joanne met Tony yet?"

Shannon could tell by Jake's tone that he didn't approve of his grandmother having anything to do with the little boy. "She's changed, Jake. We all have."

Jake nodded. "She…uh, she called me. Said you told her about Tony and that she wanted see me and try to patch things up. I was wondering if I could get her number. But I'm not promising anything." He said quickly at the look of surprise on his mother's face.

Shannon sighed. "You're just like your father, stubborn as a mule."

He grinned. "My last name is Gibbs." He said, as if that explained it.

She grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote down her mother's cellphone number, then hesitated before giving it to him. "Promise me you'll give her a chance."

He shrugged, as if the whole thing was entirely inconsequential to him, because it was. Although he wanted to make things right with his parents, be a part of little Tony's life and be the big brother he knew the child desperately wanted, he had no desire to be thrown under the proverbial bus by one Joanne Fielding, even if his own mother thought she had changed for the better.

Finally he took the paper and looked Shannon in the eye. "Ok, mom, I promise."

After saying goodbye to his mother, Jake left the house and went back to his car.

Pulling out his cellphone, he punched in the numbers before he had time to think about what he was doing and pressed send. As the phone rang, he wondered if his grandmother was the type of personal who ignored unfamiliar numbers. Finally, on the seventh ring, her voice answered, "Hello, this is Joanne Fielding."

Jake noted the warmth in her tone, and it surprised him. Forcing the memories of their last encounter from his mind, he forged ahead. "Hi, Grandma, this is Jake."

A full minute passed and Jake could hear his grandmother crying quietly on the other end. "Grandma, you ok?"

Gathering her composure, Joanne answered. "Of course, dear; I'm just so happy to hear your voice, is all. I didn't think you'd call after the way I treated you."

Jake sighed inwardly and felt like a fool. He should've done this year's ago. "Grandma, listen, I'll make you a deal. Let's forget the past and move on. Tony needs us, all of us, to be the family he's never had and we can't do that if we're tiptoeing around eggshells, or something to that effect." Jake said with a laugh. He didn't know where this new magnanimous attitude was coming from, but he decided to go with it.

"Of course, dear. Would…" she stopped and he waited. "Would you like to meet for a late breakfast?"

"Sure. I'll pick you up. Where are you staying?"

Joanne gave her grandson the address and Jake told her he would be there in thirty minutes.

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