It was another week before Brynn was allowed to leave the hospital. She had gained almost all of her memory back. Her childhood was still cloudy, but the important things were there. But she still had no memory of her attack. The last thing she remembered from that entire day was having lunch with Gibbs and McGee in the break room. Her speech had improved a lot but full sentences were still difficult. All her motor functions were normal, but she still suffered severe dizziness if she stood up for too long. It seemed for every improvement, there was still a set-back. Gibbs had stayed at home with her for another four days before he decided to go back to work. Brynn had wanted to go back to work with him, but the doctors had advised her to stay out for at least another week. Gibbs had put his foot down and ordered her to follow their advice.

"I don't need nanny." She said each word carefully, making sure to get them right. She was on the couch watching Gibbs pull on his winter coat.

"Until you can walk more than five steps without nearly falling over, yes you do." He stopped and looked at her. He couldn't tell is she was pouting or glaring. It was probably both.

"Gibbs, I want to… By myself!" He hadn't let her get away with calling him Gubbs after she had slipped up in the hospital and said his name right. But saying Jethro was too difficult. It still came out 'Jet-raw.'

"Absolutely not. Now, the nurse is gonna be here in a few minutes. She's just here to help. So be nice. Don't bite her head off, like you do me."

"Gonna bite some… thing." She looked away and missed his smirk. He sat beside her on the couch and slid one arm around her.

"Okay, tell me what's really bugging you." Even with his arm around her, they were still barely touching. "Come one, let it out."

"Don't wanna be… Helpless anymore. Wanna do stuff… Myself. Can't even talk."

"Brynn, you need to let yourself heal. You've been through a traumatic thing and you're lucky you came away this well. Just give yourself time. Look at where you were a week ago. Think of how well you'll be doing a week from now." He smiled. "And you know you're doing better if I'm actually willing to leave your side."

Actually the only real reason he was willing to leave her side was to give her some kind of sense of independence. But he would not leave her completely alone. She could have her independence. But it was damn well going to be supervised independence. A home nurse had not been his idea. But it was better than having her constantly pissed at him for trying to help her with every little thing. Let someone else be her temper's target. If all went well, he'd be by to check on her by mid-day.

Of course by mid-day, Gibbs was up to his eyeballs in work. The rest of his team were all at their desks typing, taking calls, and going over crime scene photos. No one paid any mind to the elevator ding. It wasn't until Gibbs heard someone yell Brynn's name that anyone looked up. Brynn was standing just in front of the elevator, being hugged by Dorneget. What the hell! Gibbs stood and his mouth fell open. Brynn slowly made her way over to the bullpen. She was followed closely by a very young looking blond girl, who looked like a cheerleader. Brynn's angry expression was aimed right at Gibbs.

"What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked when she finally came to his desk. He pushed his chair around and sat her in it.

"Pissed." Was all she said.

"You're supposed to be with your nurse." Gibbs pushed her in the chair back behind his desk. Once he stopped, Brynn pointed at the blond cheerleader. Gibbs looked up and the young girl smiled and waved at him.

"You're a nurse?" Tony asked the girl standing right next to his desk.

"Yes." She said brightly.

"What are you, like twelve?" Tony said, glancing at Ziva. Ziva was trying not to laugh.

"I'm twenty. I just graduated from nursing school last month."

Gibbs squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. Now, the pissed off look on Brynn's face made so much sense.

"Miss, there's a break room down the hall." Gibbs pointed and did his best not to make the girl cry. "Would you mind getting Brynn a soda out of the vending machine?" He quickly handed her a dollar bill.

"Coming right up!" She chirped and walked away. Gibbs turned to face Brynn. The glare was still in full force.

"So," he began carefully. "I guess being babysat by a toddler can hardly count as good quality medical care."

"Thank you!" Brynn blurted out. "You get it now!"

Tim, Ziva, and Tony all burst out laughing.

"Okay, I'll tell you what… I'll compromise, if you will too." Gibbs folded his arms.

"Terms?" She looked up at him suspiciously.

"You can come to work with me. But you will take it easy. And you will accept a babysitter."

"Not the tod.. Tod…"

"No, not the toddler nurse." Gibbs turned his head and whistled. "Dorneget! Get over here!" Dorneget quickly ran to Gibbs' side. "What kind of duty have you been assigned this week?"

"Uh, just helping out in the evidence garage… Boss." The poor guy looked so nervous.

"You have a new assignment. You are to guard and assist Agent Sutter. You got that?"

"Yes, Gibbs… Boss!"

"And Dorneget." Gibbs leaned over into Dorneget's face. "Do not let her out of your sight." Gibbs pulled back.

"Baff room!" Brynn held up her arms.

"Okay," Gibbs amended. "Except there." By then the toddler nurse had come back. Gibbs took the soda she held out. "You can go home now." The nurse looked down at Brynn. Brynn just smiled and waved goodbye.

The rest of Gibbs' afternoon was relatively routine. Got a lead. Brought in the dirt bag. Questioned the dirt bag. Went down to Abby's lab for results. To his surprise, Brynn was everywhere. She had visited the cyber crimes office and chatted briefly with her coworkers. Then she was in Abby's lab for a few hours. Gibbs got a call from Ducky. On his way to autopsy, he passed Brynn again. Dorneget was right behind her.

"You're running this guy everywhere." Gibbs tilted his head at Dorneget.

"That his job, right?" She smiled.

"Well, yeah, but I thought you were gonna take it easy."

"Not dishy all day." Her speech was slurring again. That worried him.

"She's been doing really well, Agent Gibbs." Dorneget cut in. Gibbs glared at the traitor.

"You don't need to push yourself." Gibbs said, stepping closer to Brynn.

"Want put me in wheel share?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Don't tempt me." He smirked and walked away.

"Not a baby!" She yelled at his back.

"Jethro!" Ducky sounded his usual, chipper self. One look at his face and Gibbs knew better. Gibbs sent Palmer a look. Palmer just nodded and left.

"What?" Gibbs asked once they were alone.

"Brynn is doing extremely well don't you think."

"Yes. And I intend to keep it that way." His eyes said he knew where this was going.

"Coddling her is not going to help. Brynn is a fighter, just like you. Treating her like she is going to shatter at any given second is not the answer."

"Is that what she said I'm doing?"

"She didn't need to say anything. I can see it. Jethro, I know how much you love her. But you cant hide things from her and expect her to let you get away with it."

"I'm not hiding anything!"

"Why haven't you told her what happened the night of the attack?"

"She doesn't need to re-live that."

"She doesn't? Or you don't?" Ducky sighed. "She just spent the last twenty minutes trying to pry information out of me. I don't know all the details, so I told her to talk to you. Jethro, if you don't tell her, someone else will. And who do you think will crack first under her glare?"

"That's actually a toss up. McGee and DiNozzo are more scared of her than they are me." Gibbs paused when he realized what he had just said. He looked at Ducky.

"You'd better run." Gibbs turned and rushed for the elevator.

Gibbs got back to the bullpen just in time. Brynn was sitting in his office chair. She had pushed the chair to where it was just in front of Tony's desk.

"I can't tell you. Gibbs will kill me. Why can't you go glare the answer out of him?" Tony was pleading with her.

"You should learn to maintain your backbone and not break so easily under a glare, Tony." Ziva remarked from her desk.

"She has a very backbone breaking glare!" Tony defended himself. He was about to say something else but spotted Gibbs and shut his mouth.

"Ain't that the truth." Gibbs muttered as he pulled another chair around and sat at his desk. Brynn turned her chair around and faced him. Her glare turned into a pout. She stood up from the chair and pushed it away. Dorneget suddenly appeared at her side. Gibbs knew he was in trouble when Brynn left the squad room without saying another word to anyone. Dorneget cast one confused glance around the room before rushing to keep up with her.

Brynn stalked into Abby's lab where she knew Tim was. She grabbed a chair and plopped down into it. Angry tears were starting to fall down her flushed cheeks. She needed to rant. But every time she got angry, it only got harder to speak. And that only made her more frustrated. Dorneget hung back by the door. Tim just stared at her as she pulled her chair up to the computer beside him and opened the Note Pad program. Abby quickly came up behind Brynn and wrapped her arms around her.

"You need to let some steam out again?" Abby asked. Brynn had already been down here once today. She had typed, Abby had read and talked.

(He's treating me like a baby! I hate it! He thinks I can't take it, hearing about the night I was attacked. I want to know what the hell happened and I want to know now!) Brynn punched the keys as fast as she could. Then she turned her glare at Tim.

"Brynnie, if I say anything, he'll be pissed." Tim tried to explain.

(How do you think your silence makes me feel?)

"Look, he thought that you were gonna die! Personally, I don't blame him for…" Tim caught himself. "I don't blame him for not talking about it."

(You're hiding something! You all are! You all think I'm brain damaged and if you tell me the truth, then I'll fall apart or something!)

"We do not think you're brain damaged." Abby stood up straight and twirled Brynn around in the chair to face her. "You're getting better every day. We just worry about you."

"Brynnie," Tim tried to reason with her. He knew when she was this angry, it clouded over everything else. "You didn't see him that night in the hospital… When he thought you might not make it." Brynn spun herself back around and typed one last thing before getting up.

(Maybe that's why he's pushing me away. He's afraid of losing me so he won't let himself love me anymore. He doesn't even touch me anymore. He won't kiss me except on the cheek or forehead. It's like he can't be intimate with me. Like he doesn't want me now. I am damaged. He looks at me like I'm a different person, someone he doesn't know. If he wanted me like he used to, why won't he show it. He never needed to say it before, cause he always showed it. Now I don't even get that. I wake up in the middle of the night, and he's moved to the couch! It's like I have a roommate who just feels sorry for me. I'm sick of it!)

By the time Tim and Abby had finished reading what she had typed, she and Dorneget were already gone. Tim angrily pulled out his cell phone and called Gibbs.

"Boss, you need to get to Abby's lab right now." He ended the call before Gibbs could reply. "Don't you dare delete this." He pointed at Brynn's angry words. Abby just nodded.

NCIS

Gibbs was getting the silent treatment. He knew he had it coming, but that didn't mean he liked it. He sighed when they hit the first red light, after leaving the Navy yard. Brynn was in the passenger seat with her head turned away from him. Half-way home, Gibbs changed direction. Brynn took a second to shoot him a curious glance, but still said nothing.

When they pulled up outside of a restaurant, Brynn let her gaze slide back to Gibbs. Her eyebrows came up. He just got out of the car and circled around to open her door. She let him help her out of the low slung car. He kept hold of her hand as they walked up to the door of the restaurant. It wasn't anything fancy, one of those mom and pop places, but it was just about all that was open this late. Brynn had never liked fancy anyways. Her idea of dressing up was putting on lipstick instead of chapstick.

She shot him another curious look when they sat down in a small booth, far from the few other patrons in the small eatery. He just smiled and handed her a menu. The waitress came and took their orders. Brynn was determined not to break the silence first. She sighed and looked at the dessert menu.

"They have really good chocolate pie here." Her eyes came up when Gibbs spoke. After a second, she dropped her gaze again. "I used to come here all the time. They make a pretty good steak too." Okay, he was making an attempt at conversation. She may as well reward him.

"You no come here now?" She kept her eyes down.

"Not since a beautiful woman started cooking for me." She rolled her eyes. It had been a while since she had cooked anything for anyone. Someone wouldn't et her in the kitchen. He sighed. "I'm trying here, Brynn." Her eyes came up. She looked slightly embarrassed. Then her eyes skittered away again.

"Tim or Abby?"

"What?"

"Who tole on me?"

"Technically neither of them. They just showed me what you typed." She put her elbow on the table and set her face on her hand. Their drinks came. "Are you gonna talk to me?"

"I want you talk. I want know things."

"You wanna know about that night."

"And more. Want know, you still love me?" Her eyes finally met his. "Even though, I different. Not same person." His eyes grew wide.

"You think you're not the same person just because you have trouble saying what you want?"

"I feel different. I feel like… People look at me different. Talk like a baby. Treat like a baby. I know what they think. I brain dam-" Gibbs reached his hand out and cut her off.

"You are NOT brain damaged." He fought not to yell. "And if anyone even hints that they think you are, you send them to me." She sat up straight, surprised at his outburst.. "And you are the same Brynn I fell in love with. I still love you, that never changed. If anything, it only got stronger." He sat back and sighed again. "Damn it, Brynn. When you woke up in the hospital and didn't know who I was… I made up my mind even then, to stick by you. Not because I felt sorry for you. Because I love you. I need you." He watched her expression soften. The anger seemed to be seeping out of her. "You know I don't say things I don't mean. You know I would never say something just to make you feel better." She nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm not now. When your memory started coming back, I can't even say how happy that made me. If you remembered me, maybe you wouldn't leave me."

"You think I leave?" That was new.

"I left when I couldn't remember who I was… Duck said today that you are a fighter, just like me. It's not the only thing we have in common. I knew that."

"I…" He waited for her to find the right words. "When I wake up." She scrunched her face. "Woke up. I feel safe. Hear your voice. Made me feel warm. You touch me, I fell better. Made me want to stay wake. Even before, I remember."

"You couldn't remember, but you still had feelings." She nodded. "I've been there." He paused. "Listen to me, Brynn. Even in the hospital, when you wanted to do things for yourself. When you got mad every time I had to help you… I saw that same fiery, strong, independent woman I fell for. I wanted to celebrate every time you lost your temper, or got excited about remembering something, or just flat out demanded to be left alone. Even when you would order me out of the room because you got too frustrated, it made me happy. Because I knew that you were still my Brynn. My Brynn, who hates being waited on. And who can't stand pity, or fake promises. I could see it in your eyes that you kept expecting me to leave and not come back."

"I could see you would stay."

"Nothing could have made me leave you." He looked up when their food arrived. "That's enough for now. We both need to eat." She sighed and nodded.

When they left the restaurant, Gibbs took her hand and led her back to the car. He unlocked and opened her door. Before she bent down to get in, he pulled her close to his face. The kiss was tender. Brynn's eyes fluttered when he pulled back. She was quiet the whole way home. When he pulled up into the snowy driveway, Gibbs thought she might have fallen asleep. But when he pulled the keys out of the ignition, she was opening her door. He got out as fast as he could and was at her side just as she shut her door. He took her hand and helped her up the porch steps.

Once inside the warm house, Gibbs took her coat and hung it by the door. After doing the same with his own coat, he took her into the living room and sat her on the couch. She watched as he got a fire started, then joined her on the couch. He pulled her close to him, so they were laying across the couch. Brynn didn't realize just how much she had missed this. Flashes of several other nights on this couch, next to a crackling fire, spun through her mind.

"Mmmhhh." She moaned when he started rubbing her head. He shifted so they were facing each other, but he still had one arm curled under her head. He draped his other arm around her waist. "Miss this."

"Me too." He landed several tiny kisses on her lips. She moaned each time they touched. When her hand curled around his neck, his lips stayed on hers. Her tongue slid across his bottom lip. He shuddered and opened his mouth to her. He could taste the sweet chocolate pie they had just shared. "Brynn." He mumbled and pulled away from her. "I wanna make you feel good. I wanna make you feel how much I love you." He ran his fingers down her cheek. Her eyes widened and her lower lip quivered. She looked so innocent, so vulnerable. It shook Gibbs right down to the core of his being.

Then she was pulling his face back to hers. Her kiss was just as needy as his. He felt her grip on his neck tighten as her tongue reclaimed his. His free hand moved up and down her body. He bent his head sideways and kissed her neck. She moaned again when his hand found her butt and squeezed. The tiny noises she made when he started sucking on her neck made his hips jerk. Then her hand cupped his rock hard erection through his slacks. He bit down gently on her skin when she squeezed him. When he heard his zipper being pulled, his head came up.

"Ah, Brynn, you don't have to." It had been so long. He didn't know if he could control himself.

"Want to." She pulled his face to hers and resumed kissing him, greedily. Her hand trailed back down his body. Her hand was so warm as she wrapped it around him. His pants restricted her movements but just her touching him was driving him over the edge. She squeezed as she moved her hand up and down. It took mere minutes and Gibbs was groaning her name as he shot into her hand.

"Don't move." He said and zipped himself up. He went into the kitchen and came back out with a wet dish towel. He took the hand that had just pleased him and wiped it clean. He tossed the towel down and pulled Brynn off the couch. "Now up to bed." His grin said what he didn't.

Undressed and in bed, Gibbs stretched out above her. He leaned down and crushed her mouth to his. One hand kept him propped up. His other hand caressed her face. His fingertips burned hot paths up and down her body. His mouth moved to her neck the same time his hand squeezed and worked her left breast. She squirmed and moaned as the sensations sent her mind spinning.

"Gibbs!" His hand had slowly worked its way further down. She opened her legs without even realizing what she was doing. He slid his fingers between the folds of hot, wet flesh. "Gibbs!" Her hand gripped his hard on again. She pumped him slowly while he worked his fingers over her sweet spot. His grunts and her moans became a chorus. The slow torture he endured under her hand was making him quicken his pace with her.

"Oh, Brynn, faster." He whispered into her ear. She immediately obeyed. "Ah, yes." When they finally came together, Gibbs had sucked bruises all around Brynn's neck and chest. Catching his breath, he looked at each bruise and smirked.

"Should…" Brynn was just as breathless. "Kept towel." Gibbs chuckled.

"I'll get another one." He kissed her lips before he got up.

The next morning… A very distinct smell singed the inside of Gibbs' nose. He jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. The offending smell grew stronger as he got closer to the kitchen. He could hear sobbing. He made the final turn into the small kitchen and saw Brynn standing in front of the stove. She looked up at him with a tear-streaked face.

"I try… I try… So sorry." She backed away from the stove. Gibbs took one look at the cremated bacon and scorched eggs and fought not to laugh. "So stupid." Brynn muttered. She threw the spatula she had been holding into the sink. "Only thing right… Coffee! Stupid!" Gibbs wrapped her arms around her and pulled her back against his chest.

"It's a good thing I like coffee then." He said lightly. She turned in his arms.

"I try…"

"I know, baby." He kissed her nose.

"I not burn toast…" She managed a half-smile. Gibbs finally let the chuckle out.

"You go sit down. I'll clean this up." He kissed her lips. She frowned and her eyes looked down. "Hey." Her eyes came up. "How bout I make us some pancakes to go with your toast and coffee?"

"Kay." She sighed and slid out of his arms.

NCIS

It wasn't until later that day that Brynn realized Gibbs had completely wormed his way out of telling her about her attack. Gibbs and Tony were off chasing a lead. Tim was down in Abby's lab. Ziva was at her desk updating something. Brynn was sitting at Gibbs' desk playing solitaire on his computer.

"Agent Sutter." Brynn looked up to see Vance grinning at her. "I heard Gibbs finally loosened up and let you go out in public."

"You tink I give him shoice in matter?" Brynn smirked. In the back of her mind she hated not being able to speak normally in front of the director.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you." He looked around. "I heard he had Dorneget watching you."

"As long as I shtay witfh someone I okay." She pointed at Ziva. "I either up here or wifth Abby. And he calls erry hour." He didn't even blink at her slurry mess-ups. That made her feel less like an idiot.

"Well, you just make sure you let yourself heal. I don't want to lose anymore good people. And when you get a doctors release to come back to work, you still take it easy."

"Should be okay by nesh week." She paused. "Dishyness going away. Only problems are wifth talking."

"Well, that'll get better with time." She grinned and nodded. "You just be sure and take the time." He nodded at Ziva before heading upstairs.

"What is it?" Ziva asked when she saw Brynn rolling her eyes.

"Everyone keeps saying 'time.' In time, take time, give it time. I starting hate dat word."

"You are just as impatient as Gibbs."

"You are prolly wight." Brynn shook her head. "Just wish time hurry up!" Ziva laughed. Brynn's phone rang.

"At least now you know an hour has passed." Ziva said as Brynn put the phone to her ear.

"Shudder." Brynn said into the phone. She still slipped when she tried to say her last name.

"Hey, how you doin?" She could tell he was driving.

"Playin sol-tare."

"Still?"

"Not mush else to do. Vance came to see me."

"How'd that go?"

"Not bad. He say when I come back to work, I sposed take it easy."

"Well, good. Listen, I'm bringing lunch for everyone. We'll be there soon."

"Yeah, cause you driving." She laughed.

"Yeah." He chuckled. "I'll see you soon." CLICK

"He suck at saying bye." Brynn looked up at Ziva. Ziva just nodded and laughed. "He bring lunch though." Brynn went back to her game. It took her all of ten seconds to get bored. "You with Gibbs at hospital?"

"What?" Ziva looked up from her computer.

"When I was there firsht night. You with Gibbs?"

"Yes, we all were." Ziva's eyes scanned the squad room. Talking about Gibbs usually made him appear.

"What he like? When you find me?"

"I have never seen Gibbs that heartbroken and angry at the same time."

Brynn let the subject drop. She started absentmindedly spinning her phone on the desk. She didn't stop when she heard the elevator ding. It was only when she heard Tony's voice that she finally looked up.

"You are bored." The distraction made her lose control of the spinning phone. It flew off the desk and thumped against the carpeted floor. Tony laughed before handing the phone back to her. "We got you Lo Mein and that orange chicken you like." He set a bag in front of her. "And your sweet tea." The cup was the size of Abby's usual Caf-Pow. Tony went to his own desk. Gibbs pulled up a chair and sat across from Brynn.

"You and I still need to talk." She said quietly after he sat down. He just nodded and opened his lunch. McGee came up and stopped at Tony's desk to whisper something before going to his own desk. Gibbs stayed quiet while he ate. Tony and Tim chatted back and forth about the case. Brynn paid just enough attention to know that somebody had smuggled something. Her mind kept circling around what Ziva had just told her. She had wanted to know more, but knew Ziva would wait for Gibbs to tell her.

"You look worried about something." Gibbs' remark brought her eyes up.

"Just kinda im-pay-tent."

"Impatient?" She nodded. "Oh, something so new for you." His sarcasm made her smile.

"Can I cook for us dinner?" He raised his brow.

"Would you be offended if I supervised?" He asked, remembering the breakfast fiasco. She shook her head and grinned.

"I can bake chicken. Use a timer."

"Good idea." He thought for a second. "We may need to do some shopping though."

"Need to anyway." She paused when he looked at her. "What?"

"It's just been a while since we had a conversation so…"

"Trivial?"

"I was gonna say civil, but yeah, that too."

"We should do more often."

"Boss!" McGee called out. Gibbs turned around in his chair and yelled.

"What!" McGee froze at the glare Gibbs was throwing at him. Brynn reached out and slapped Gibbs' arm. "What, McGee?" His voice softened.

"Um, I got a hit on the BOLO." McGee stuttered. Gibbs grumbled and got up. Finally, a nice conversation with Brynn and McGee had to go and ruin it.

NCIS

Brynn had managed to not burn anything. Gibbs wasn't really a chicken guy, he preferred steak. But he had to admit, his woman could make anything taste good. The night had gone smoothly until they retreated to the couch. Gibbs got a fire going and they stretched out.

"Tell me what you remember. I'll fill in the blanks." Was all he said when he pulled her close. She had her back to him. Somehow she knew this would be easier if they weren't facing each other.

"I remember lunch. All foggy after that."

"Okay… "

FLASHBACK

Gibbs smiled when Brynn came up to the bullpen. It was nearly 2200 and everyone was still busy. She circled around his desk and stood next to him. Her swollen belly made her heavy coat stick out.

"I'm headed home." She said quietly. "Should I wait up?"

"No. You go get some sleep. One of us should."

"Kay." She leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "Call me when you're on your way. I like to know when you're coming home. Love you."

"Love you too." On her way out she stopped and said goodnight to the rest of the team.

It was another hour before Gibbs was able to call Brynn. She didn't answer. As weird as that was, Gibbs just chalked it up to her dead to the word pregnancy sleep. When he got home… Brynn's car wasn't in the driveway.

"Brynn!" He called out once he got in the door. "Baby, you home?" He went up to their room. "Brynn?" Nothing. He went into the nursery. Empty. Back downstairs… Nothing. "Brynn!" He opened the basement door. She never went down there but it was the only place he hadn't checked. "You there?" Silence. This was wrong. Gibbs pulled out his cell. Just like before, the phone rang until he heard Brynn's voicemail. Okay, now he was worried. He dialed McGee's number.

"McGee." The sleepy voice said.

"Have you seen Brynn?"

"Not since she went home." He suddenly became alert. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah! I'm at home and she's not here! She's not answering her phone either."

"Is it on?"

"Yes, it rings until it goes to voicemail."

"Okay, I'm on my way back to the office. I can trace her phone from there. We should also check the parking security cameras. Does she usually park in our lot?"

"Yeah." Gibbs was already in his car, speeding back towards the Navy yard.

"Okay. You want me to call Tony?"

"Yeah, I'll call Ziva."

"Got it."

"Tim…"

"Yeah, boss?"

"Thanks."

"No problem."

After finding Brynn's phone tossed in some bushes in the parking lot, Gibbs called Abby in to run prints. They had cycled through the security footage and finally found the moment when Brynn came into view. Gibbs recognized her pregnant waddle-walk. They slowed the camera and McGee did his best to clean the picture.

She made it to her car with no problems. He could see her open the passenger door and set her bag down. She circled around to the driver's side and almost had the door opened when something distracted her. She jumped in surprise and whirled around. Then she took a step forward and it looked like she was yelling at someone. A man in a hoodie cam into view. Something silver glinted in his hand. Gibbs could only guess it was a gun. The next second, Brynn wrapped her arms protectively over her stomach and stepped back to the car. She turned to open the door and the man suddenly jumped at her. Gibbs cringed when he saw the silver object connect with Brynn's head… One, two, three, four times.

The man quickly drug her unconscious body to the back of the car. He popped open the trunk and set her in. Gibbs could see that she wasn't moving at all. The man then tore through Brynn's bag and tossed her phone out. Then he got in her car and sped away.

NCIS

Brynn had listened quietly to the whole story. Her first instinct had been to grab her belly. Yeah, that sounded right. But it also sounded like she knew her attacker.

"How did you find me?" She asked when Gibbs finally paused.

"We put a BOLO out on you and your car. We couldn't do much because we had nothing to really go on."

"Musht have been hard."

"You have no idea…"

FLASHBACK

"How can you not have anything?" Gibbs yelled at his team. They were all gathered in Abby's lab.

"Gibbs, he had to have been wearing gloves. All the prints on her phone are hers." Abby half his behind Ziva while she spoke. "There's nothing else there. I ran every test I know!" Gibbs was literally pulling at his hair. It had been hours… Hours! Who knows what could have happened to her by now. She could be… No.

"Anything on the BOLO yet?" He turned desperately to McGee.

"I just updated it, no." Gibbs' eyes went wild. "I'll update it again." He was typing before he got the whole sentence out.

When they finally got a hit on the BOLO Gibbs didn't bother yelling, 'gear up.' He ran for the parking lot and jumped in his car. The headlights following him closely was Ziva trying desperately to keep up with him. Knowing she drove just as crazily as Gibbs, Tony and Tim had let her drive. They pulled into the abandoned gas station where the BOLO had been called in. A single Metro car sat beside Brynn's Grand Am. The police officer was circling the car with a flashlight.

"Pop the trunk!" Gibbs yelled while running over to him.

"Do you have a warrant?" The cop shone the light in Gibbs' face. Gibbs replied by shoving the cop out of the way and pulling out his knife. He wrenched the trunk open and stopped dead.

She was facing up. Her arms were sprawled out and her eyes were closed. Her skin was even paler than usual. The thing that scared Gibbs the most was the dangerous shade of blue covering her lips and cheeks. He carefully checked her pulse on her neck. She was ice cold. But he could feel the faintest little thump against his fingers. His team was behind him now. Gibbs reached in and grabbed her by the shoulders. Tony hoisted her legs and the two of them got her into the backseat of Gibbs' car. Tony silently nodded at Tim before backing away from the car. Tim got in the passenger seat. He knew Tim would want to be with his friend.

"Get her car back to the Navy yard." Gibbs shouted out the window before peeling out.

It was another half hour before Tony and Ziva chanced a trip to the hospital. Abby had lifted a hair from the driver's seat and was running DNA on it. When Ziva and Tony spotted Tim in the waiting area they pressed for answers. Gibbs was sitting off to the side. His face was completely blank.

"We don't know anything yet." Tim said quietly. He didn't know Gibbs could hear him. "They're doing X-Rays right now. She's lost a lot of blood though. They did a transfusion."

"Well, when will we know something?" Tony demanded. Gibbs suddenly stood up. The doctor he had spoken to earlier came out into the hall.

"Doc, is she…" The doctor held up his hand at Gibbs.

"Right now, it doesn't look good." Gibbs crumbled back into the chair. "We've done everything we can. It's up to her now. The baby is still healthy but… The blows to her head caused massive swelling. Right now she's in a coma. She'll be lucky if she comes out of this without severe brain damage. Or if she comes out of it at all." By now there were actual tears running down Gibbs' face. Seeing their boss cry, shocked everyone into silence. "She could go tonight…"

"Can I see her?" Gibbs choked out.

"Only for a minute." Gibbs jumped up and followed the doctor. Just as he left the hall, he heard a cell phone ring.

When Gibbs got back to his team, his face had gone blank again. Tony had just snapped his phone shut.

"Boss, we found him." Gibbs led the way out of the hospital.

NCIS

"I guess you know the rest." Gibbs said after a few minutes of silence. "We found him… And then I went straight to the hospital and never left your side."

"There still more." She called him out. "You won't tell me rest will you?"

"Please not tonight. I'm too beat." Another lame excuse. But she took pity and let it drop. "I love you, Brynn." His tone suddenly scared her. She turned until she could see his eyes. He was dangerously close to tears.

"Love you, Gibbs." She didn't have the heart to press him for more. She just settled back against him and closed her eyes.