Tony took a long pull from his flask before storing it back inside his tuxedo jacket. This day certainly had all the fixings of a movie in the making: a wedding between two unlikely lovers interrupted at the most perfect moment imaginable, followed immediately by the groom running off without a single thought, or glance for that matter, at his fiancé or anyone else seated in the chapel. Shocked murmurs quickly turned into shameful gossip, and the bride and the rest of the wedding party wisely hid themselves away in various rooms throughout the church, trying to figure out what they should do next.

Tony, for his part, was ready to drink a little more before heading to the reception. Gibbs had already paid for the banquet. He figured the guests might as well enjoy themselves, even if the reason for celebrating had been canceled.

He smiled as Ziva poked her head inside and, upon seeing her boyfriend within, quickly shut the door behind her, leaning against it with a heavy sigh.

"It is a mess, Tony. A complete mess. What was Gibbs thinking?"

Tony shrugged. "He's Gibbs. I try not to get inside his head. Where is the Director?"

"Currently being hugged by Abby," she stated as she moved away from the door.

"Ah, not sure if a hug from Abby can fix this situation." Tony shook his head. "Any idea on where Gibbs ran off to?"

"None."

"Well, it's probably a good idea that you're in here with me than off comforting Director Shepard yourself," he stated. "Don't need to reinsert that rumor into the mix. Unless, of course, you'd like that," Tony said, waggling his eyes at her playfully.

"That was a long time ago. That boat has sailed," Ziva explained, and Tony held back a snort of laughter. "I no longer have feelings for Director Shepard."

"I know," Tony said, all traces of humor gone. "I know exactly where your feelings lie, Ziva."

His tone of voice must have given something away because Ziva was suddenly eying him carefully. A moment passed before she offered him a sultry smile, and he did his best to smile in return. It was what he was good at, after all. Hiding his true feelings. He wasn't lying… he knew that his girlfriend's heart was holding out for someone else. She hid it well… so well, in fact, that many months had gone by before Tony had been made aware of her feelings.

It had been Paula who had been kind enough to point out the obvious to him: Ziva was in love with McGee.

Tony had laughed it off at first. McGee? And Ziva? Please. Tim was over-the-moon in love with Abby, and he was pretty certain the two McGeeks were planning on starting a family soon. But after Paula had told him about the night Ziva had confided in her the true feelings she held for McGee, Tony couldn't help but notice the way she looked at him when they were in the bullpen together. How she often took Tim's side when Tony was lightheartedly teasing him.

Maybe he had needed Paula to plant the seed into his mind, but it was Ziva's behavior that had solidified it for him.

Ziva was in love with McGee.

Well, he thought, this was something he needed to address. Immediately. But how? Was he willing to let Ziva go, to be happy? Or was he willing to fight for her? He mulled it over silently as Ziva, clearly bored with her critical assessment of him, walked over to the door and peeked back out, watching confused wedding guests argue over the etiquette of returning wedding gifts.

Mind made up, he called to her.

"What is it, Tony?"

"I'm thinking something… and I'd like to discuss it with you."

"Right now?" she asked, shutting the door behind her again and moving toward him slowly.

"Seems like a good time. I have nowhere else to be at the moment."

"Very well," she conceded. "I actually have something I wish to discuss with you as well."

"Oh really?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrows. "Okay then. I have an idea. Why don't we say what we're both thinking together."

"Together?"

"Yeah, like at the same time."

"Why in the world would we do that?"

"Well," he said, moving in so they were standing mere inches apart. "I have a feeling we are thinking the same thing."

Ziva shrugged. Tony could tell that she was willing to go along with anything at this point to move this along. "Fine, Tony. We can say it together."

"On the count of three then," Tony said, smiling. "One… Two… Three!"

"I think we should move in together."

"I think we should see other people."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Explain it again, Tobias. Slowly."

"Glory, Gibbs, which part?" Fornell complained, gripping the passenger door handle so tightly his knuckles were turning white. He was seriously questioning his sanity after he'd agreed to let Gibbs drive after they'd made their quick escape from the church, leaving a shocked bride-to-be and scandalous whispers in their wake. Although, he didn't envy Agent McGee's job of explaining the situation to Director Shepard. No, he'd much rather risk his life with Gibbs than experience the wrath of that woman scorned.

"The part where you said Shannon is alive!" Gibbs loudly clarified.

Fornell pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "I told you… I found her completely by accident. If my suspect had been any smarter, I wouldn't have been in that hospital in the first place. I almost didn't recognize her," he added quietly.

Gibbs was silent for a moment as he dodged around two cars that had slowed down for a stop sign that he clearly had no intention of stopping at.

"Tell me more."

"Gibbs, I… I don't know much myself yet. The nurse on duty told me that she had been dropped off the day before by men who looked like 'Damn Spooks' – her words, not mine."

"CIA?"

"I don't think so," Tobias shuffled in his seat to pull a white business card out of his back pocket. He flipped it in his hands a moment before waving it toward Gibbs, who spared half a glance his way. "The 'Spook' the nurse spoke of left her his card, told her to call him immediately if anyone came asking about her. I managed to convince her not to call him on my account, but not sure if I'll get away with it when I show up with you."

"What the hell is she mixed up in?" Gibbs fumed loudly as he risked tossing a glare at Tobias.

"Hey, watch it Gibbs!" Tobias shouted, pointing at a delivery truck that had unwisely assumed Gibbs was going to obey traffic laws. "I already told you I didn't get the full details from the staff before I left. I got a few medical highlights, but once I found out who she was, I came right to you. I knew I had to tell you before you said 'I do.'"

"Dammit, Tobias, I need more information!" Gibbs demanded, snatching the business card from Tobias' hand and tossing it back at him almost as quickly. "I don't recognize the logo on that card. Who are they? Is that where she's been this whole time? Why didn't she tell me she was alive? And what about Kelly?"

Tobias closed his eyes in annoyance. "Oh, gee, Gibbs, those questions didn't even cross my mind," he said sarcastically. "I thought you'd like to know that your wife is alive before I started interrogating her on where she's been and what she's been up to!"

"Alright, alright, enough," Gibbs sighed. "Is she…" Gibbs swallowed hard, trying to find his voice again. "What else did the nurse tell you? Is Shannon going to be okay?"

"Well, yeah, physically she's fine, but…"

"Nevermind. We're here," Gibbs interrupted, only barely bothering to put the car into park before leaping out of it and sprinting towards the hospital entrance. Tobias thanked his lucky stars that they'd arrived in one piece before stepping out of the car himself.

"Wait! There's something you should know first," Tobias tried yelling toward Gibbs, but he was either too far behind to be heard, or else he was being ignored. Either way, Fornell increased his pace, only to finally catch up to Gibbs as he was being ushered by a harried nurse.

"She is only awake for short periods of time," she was explaining.

"Has she asked for me?" Gibbs asked, and Tobias felt a pang in his chest. Damn Gibbs and his ability to get to the heart of the matter before he was ready.

The nurse was spared the awkwardness of answering when they arrived at Shannon's room. For a long moment, Gibbs stared through the glass windows into her room where his not-dead wife lay sleeping. Tobias placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in silent support before Gibbs slipped inside the room, Tobias quietly on his heels.

"Gibbs, there's something I need to tell you," Tobias urged as Gibbs dragged a chair close to Shannon's bed and fell into it, scooping up her hand and grasping it in both of his.

"I don't understand," Gibbs was saying more to himself than to Fornell. "She looks… she looks the same as the last time I saw her. How? How is she alive?"

Tobias remained silent, unable to venture any guesses on any of it, but Gibbs was right. Shannon looked as though she hadn't aged a day over the past 16 years. But Fornell had more pressing matters than to uncover that mystery.

"Please, Gibbs, before she wakes…"

But luck was no longer on Fornell's side as Shannon's eyes fluttered open. Her glazed eyes blinked up at the ceiling and shifted around the room before finally landing on Gibbs. She smiled a little, and Fornell held his breath. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…

"Hello," she whispered.

"Shannon," Gibbs said brokenly.

"Do I know you?"

Fornell's stomach dropped as quickly as Gibbs had released her hand. Yet Gibbs recovered quickly, retaking her hand in his and giving it a small squeeze.

"It's me, Shannon. Jethro."

"I'm sorry," Shannon said, and Tobias was surprised to see how much she meant it. Her eyes soaked in the heartbroken face of the man before her, and she patted Gibbs' hand in a reassuring manner. "I was told that I have some missing memories," she explained softly. "You must be one of them."

Her simple explanation brought a pained smile to Gibbs' face, but he nodded in acceptance.

"Of course," he said sadly. "I'm… well, I'm… just glad you're okay," he finished.

Shannon smiled politely, but seemed a little bit confused by the enigma that was Gibbs. She curiously looked around the room once before her eyes landed back on the mystery man currently clinging to her hand. "Where's my daughter?" she asked, and Gibbs' eyes widened.

"You remember Kelly?"

Shannon nodded. "Of course I do. It's hard to forget a 23-year-old force of nature," she said wistfully. Then, misinterpreting Gibbs' alarmed look, she quickly explained, "You'd understand if you'd met her. Where is she?"

Gibbs swallowed and snuck a glance at Tobias. He minutely shook his head in response, not sure what advice he could possibly give to the other man now. Explaining to your amnesiac wife that her daughter was dead… that was a whole new level of uncharted territory for Fornell.

"Shannon, I…," Gibbs began, unsure of what to say. His inability to speak sparked something in Shannon, however, and she began to panic.

"I was just with her!" she shouted, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What did you do to her? She was with me, and then… and then, she wasn't. And I woke up here! Who are you? Where is she? Where is my daughter? Kelly?! KELLY!"

"Wait, Kelly is alive?" Fornell asked over her growing hysterics. Gibbs' eyes only widened in response to this additional piece of news, but he was too busy trying to calm Shannon down to do much of anything else. Alarms began to blare and medical staff quickly filled the room, shoving Gibbs and Fornell aside as they set to work sedating their panic-stricken patient.

Only once she was asleep did Gibbs rise from her side and join Fornell at the foot of her bed.

"Tobias," he began, but Fornell cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I'll take care of it, Gibbs," he assured him, grabbing his jacket and slipping it on. Patting Gibbs on the back, he strolled purposefully out of the room and toward the exit. He had young woman to find.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

To say that finding out that your fiancé's dead wife is actually alive was a shock would have been the understatement of the decade. Director Jennifer Shepard had seen much in her lifetime – death, destruction, the consequences of betrayal, and the allure of forbidden love – but never, never, had she seen a women come back from the dead.

After hounding the full story out of Special Agent McGee, Jenny had fumed silently for a few moments, but eventually the anger and confusion was too much and she stormed out of the church, but not before snagging her car keys on the way out. Slamming the door behind her, she rested her head on the steering wheel to calm herself before driving…

Where? She only just realized that she had no idea where Gibbs had gone to. His basement was his usual place of solace, it was rather unlikely that he'd be anywhere else than by Shannon's side. The FBI wouldn't storm in and ruin her wedding just to take Gibbs off to work on another one of his bloody boats.

She felt her blood pressure rising to epic heights and she willed herself to slow her breathing and think logically. She would just call Gibbs. With her cell phone. That she had left in the chapel. Sighing audibly, Jenny was just about to exit her car when she heard the rear door open, someone shuffle into the backseat, and quietly shut the door. She was halfway turned to see who it was when a cold, heavily-accented voice stopped her.

"Hello Jennifer."

Jenny's eyes snapped to the rear-view mirror to see a pair of brown eyes staring into hers, and for a moment she couldn't breathe.

"You look beautiful," the man said, and the compliment sickened her.

"You look like shit," Jenny spat back. She took in his haggard appearance… the stubble on his chin, the bags under his eyes, the rumpled shirt he tried to hide under his designer suit jacket. In all the years she had spent pursing this one individual, she had never once seen him look so disheveled.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

He smiled. "I wouldn't have missed today for the world."

Jenny's eyes flickered away from his momentarily toward her glove compartment, calculating how much time it would take to unlock it and retrieve the pistol she kept for times such as these. She had no way of knowing if her surprise passenger was carrying, yet she knew it would be foolish to test him when she was so vulnerable. Maneuverability, thanks to her tight-fitting wedding gown, was not on her side.

"What do you want, Rene?" she asked through clenched teeth, re-locking her gaze with his smug face.

"A great many things, I'm afraid, and only a few of them which you can give me."

"Oh really?" Jenny asked with raised eyebrows. "Well, you'll forgive me if I don't indulge a murderer's wish list."

Benoit shook his head, and Jenny thought there was a moment of sadness that flickered in his eyes. She couldn't contemplate it for long, though, before the moment was gone and the unruffled neutrality had returned.

"My reasoning for being here is two-fold, I admit," he began, and Jenny hated how comfortable he looked. "First, the business portion of my appearance: I know of your plan," he said quietly, and Jenny noted that although he appeared composed, his voice carried a deadly weight to it that made the small hairs on her neck stand up. "You will leave Jeanne out of your little vendetta against me."

"Get out of my car," she demanded suddenly, her voice dripping with the full authority of the Director of NCIS. She had no idea how he could have possibly known about her undercover plan. She hadn't even told DiNozzo about it yet. Her circle of trusted colleagues just got smaller, she realized, but it was a problem she'd have to confront at a later time. "Get out NOW."

"Or what?" Benoit coolly inquired. "You'll shoot me with the Ruger LCP you have in your locked glove compartment? Or maybe shout for the help of one of your wedding guests? That old man may look harmless, but perhaps your relative is a trained assassin in disguise, yes?"

Benoit chucked as Jenny looked back toward the church. Her uncle Harold was leaning heavily against his cane as he lit up a cigarette, gazing out across the church's lawn at who-knows-what. Her gut twisted at La Grenouille's insights into her life, but she reigned in her nerves and returned her cold glare back to the rear of her car.

"What is your second reason?" she growled.

Benoit lifted a single eyebrow in confusion, before nodding and smiling. "Ah yes, the second reason I have come is actually much more personal," he said with a smile as he leaned slightly forward in his seat. Jenny could feel his breath on her neck as he spoke, his smile widening.

"I told you that I wouldn't miss today for the world. It's not every day that a father's eldest daughter gets married, now is it?"

To be continued.