Revenge
Chapter 2.
After she & Gibbs have been talking for a few hours, Charlie heads for bed & has just been asleep for a couple of hours or so, when she gets woken up by Rosie screaming, as she goes in the room & picks her up she sees two big eyes looking at her,
before Andrew finally says "She woke me up Mummy."
She replies "It's ok, let's go & get some milk, then you can both try to get back to sleep again."
Rosie then says "I had a bad dream that monsters had got Daddy." "It's ok, we'll all be safe & get him back soon, I promise." As they turn to go downstairs Gibbs is standing in the doorway,
he says "Is everything ok?"
Andrew replies "Rosie had a bad dream, so we're going downstairs to get some milk."
He then takes Andrews hand while she picks Rosie up & they all go downstairs, they get them the milk. When they've both had the drink they both sit on the sofa with them, Andrew lays on her lap & Gibbs has Rosie in his arms,
Charlie then says "I have a feeling that we might be in for a few nights of this, because of them being in a strange place, & in the past when Nick has been undercover, he has always found a way of being able to speak to them or say goodnight, so this is the first time that they've not heard anything from him."
He replies "I heard the scream & was just heading up to see if everything was ok, & guessed that you'd gone in when I didn't hear anything else. I do mean it though; I am here for you no matter what. In a few days if things are a little more settled & safe, we'll see if we can get you home, then you can get some more stuff for you all, & you can hopefully make yourselves all feel more at home."
She says "Thanks as I'm sure that will probably help." Once both the kids have fallen asleep they take them back to bed, before Charlie goes back to bed herself & Gibbs heads towards the basement.
The next morning when Charlie gets up she hears voices coming from downstairs, so she goes for a shower & dresses before going down to join them all. When she gets down there she finds that Gibbs has got the kids up & that they're sitting up the table eating breakfast,
he says "What would you like?" She replies "Can I have toast & coffee please?" He goes & gets it for her, then before she sits down to have it she gives both the kids a kiss, as she then sits
she says "So what is the plan for today?" He replies "Bishop will be coming to pick these two up, & will take them into the Navy Yard to look after them, as I think having them around with us all is probably the best way to keep you all protected, & then you can come in with me. Plus if he is having you all watched, then the person after you will think we're all guarding you, rather than you actually working on things, because that way you can be working on things without him realising that you are, plus we can be hunting for Nick while helping you work on things as well. So this morning as long as Abby & McGee give you the all clear to use your computer, you can bring us all up to speed with things, seeing as we don't now how much the case you're working on is connected with Nick's disappearance."
She replies "Thank you for allowing me to keep going with things, as I do want to keep busy."
He says "As long as you also make sure that you also get some rest, because all in all you haven't really had that much rest."
She replies "I promise I will do & if I don't then you have permission to tell me off, & make me get some rest."
When they get to the Navy Yard she gets the all clear to be able to use her lap top, as not only have they checked it out, McGee has also added some extra security protection to it as well, just in case the person after them tries to get into it & find out if she is working the case or not. For her going over the case with them all, Gibbs tells her that she can use his desk, she then explains to them that the case started off for them working alongside the FBI, who they then went & caught the leader of the gang together. Another member of the gang Stefan Davis was released without any charges being bought against him, because they hadn't got enough evidence against him. Stefan was an ex-marine who at one time had been a suspect on burglaries that had been going on around the various bases he'd been based on, but again no evidence could be found for this. Around the same time as those investigations were going on Nick managed to find that this Stefan had got a mystery bank account, which they hadn't found evidence for, but think that it was money he'd siphoned off from the case they'd been working on with the FBI, so when they went to re-interview Greg the gangs leader, & because it seemed & was eventually proved that he didn't know anything about the missing money, they realised that Stefan had gone & conned the gang, then from her just doing a quick check of things she can also see that there has been more movement on that account, since she last saw it. Shortly after making the account discovery, the murders then started. At first they didn't make any connection to Stefan, because of the way he managed to cover his tracks so well, but he did finally manage to slip up on the third murder, by leaving finger prints at the scene. Anyway each time they then kept discovering his hideouts, he always seemed to be a step ahead of them, & had left within a few minutes of them getting there. Now as they knew he'd moved onto Washington & seemed to have made her & the family a target, to what ends they of course hadn't worked out yet. When she's finished Gibbs takes over & tells McGee to keep a monitor on the accounts, & go through Nicks files on the case, to double check that Nick hadn't missed something, while he, Tony & Bishop will go though everything else, while Charlie goes through everything to see if she can work out a reason as to why she & the family are being targeted.
After having a break a bit later on & going to have it with the kids, as she's heading back to go through the files & things she all of a sudden as an idea so rushes back to the desk again. Just as she finds what she needs Gibbs goes over & asks what's up, so she explains that she had an idea of a possible connection, but she needs to see if she can get hold of some files from her old police force, because she thinks the connection could either be with the case that she & Nick worked on when they met, or that it might even be something with the last case she worked on before leaving them, but that's only if they'll let her have the files. He tells her that if she has any problems in getting what she needs, she should let him know, as he will help her if she needs it. As things go she makes the call & they agree to send her what she needs.
At lunch time she has something to eat, but also has some tablet because she's complaining of a splitting headache, as she's with Abby at the time she tells her to go & lie on the table in the other room, with using Burt as the pillow & she ends up completely crashing out. After a while Gibbs finds out where she is, as he's been looking for her, as he asks
Abby says "She was complaining of a headache & just crashed out in there."
He replies "Let her sleep, seeing as she didn't get much rest last night, because we talked into the early hours, then when she finally did get to sleep Rosie woke her up having a nightmare."
She says "She told you then?"
He replies "I knew, but she did tell me as well & we talked."
"I'm glad she did, as she's my best friend & I did want her to come here."
"She will be staying, as she knows she's got family here, & I also want to get to now both my daughter & grandchildren. Let her sleep. We'll wake her later if she's still asleep when it's time to leave."
In the end she does sleep all afternoon, but Abby does end up calling Gibbs down when she starts twitching in her sleep, when he arrives he tells Abby to leave them & when he goes into Charlie, he starts to stroke her face. When she wakes with a jump, she sits up & bursts into tears, so he helps her down & hugs her until she settles down, when she does so he gets her to sit at Abby's desk,
he then says "I think it's time you called it a day, get your stuff & I'll take you home, DiNozzo & Abby can bring the kids home later."
They head back upstairs so she can collect her stuff, as she walks past the monitors she notices Tony looking at some pics & all of a sudden stops in her tracks,
then she says to him "Tony what are they?"
He replies "We've just got these from LA, it's Nicks last known location, why?"
She says "Can you get a clearer image of those papers?" McGee steps in & gets them as clear as he can get them, & they can only just see what's on them,
Gibbs then says "What is it?"
She replies "I don't know, as I can't see them enough, & I know that I shouldn't get my hopes up too much, but Nick could be trying to tell me that he's safe or where he could possibly be, as we'd worked out a code between us if we got captured, escaped or where we were. This code we kept safe between us, so it can't be forged or copied, from what I can see it looks like it's the code for safe, but I can't see enough of it to confirm anything."
He replies "OK, you're still going home, McGee you get working on it to see if we can get it clearer, but do it for the morning. Tony you & Abby can bring the kids back later, so let's get going." "Ok, coming."
When they get back to the house they find there's a small package & letters for them both sitting on the doorstep,
she says "It's from Nick, I know his writing."
When she opens hers, he explains that he found out about Stefan setting him up, & that he got out right at the last minute, even though he never checked, he thinks that he could've ended up unconscious or dead somewhere, as he's not seen him, because he's managed to stay on the outskirts of the gang. He's sent them the package, which contain phones for both her & Gibbs, which every few days he will replace with new ones, in case they get found out about or bugged. He'll be using them for being able to talk to the kids & her. Plus if he finds anything out case wise he will contact her or Gibbs on them. For now he also hoped that I'd got the last case she worked on in the police, because he's found out that Stefan's surname is not Davis, he used that to get the forged documents to be able to get to America, but as yet he's managed to not discover what his old surname was. In Gibbs's letter he says the same sort of thing, but also adds that now they know the truth of their relationship he knows that Gibbs will look after her well & keep her safe. They also don't have to worry about his parents as he's been in touch with the team, & they're keeping them safe.
After that even though she still worries a bit about Nick's safety, she does feel a little bit easier, & is looking forward to hearing his voice later on. When the kids get back, she gets them all something to eat, then baths them & gets them settled, ready for bed. While she's getting them settled down her phone rings, which of course is Nick. They speak quickly, and then she hands the phone over to the kids. After that they talk for a while properly, she assures him that she & her dad are getting on really well, but they both know that there's a long way to go. He apologises that the two of them had to end up meeting in the circumstances as they are, but hopes that it will bring the two of them closer together. He then promises that he will try & phone every night, but if he can't, then he will certainly text. He then apologises that he won't be around for their anniversary, but that he will certainly make sure that he can get something to her for it.
Once they finish on the phone, she gets the kids settled properly, then goes for a soak in the bath. When she gets out of the bath & dressed, she goes on a hunt for Gibbs, & eventually finds him in the basement working on the boat, as soon as he sees her
he says "Hi, you OK?"
She replies "I'm fine, & glad we've had a chance of talking, even if it was just short. The kids also seem a bit happier, but whether it will be enough to stop any nightmares, I don't know."
He says "If it happens it happens, as I will be up as well. I am always going to be here for you now, even after all this is over & you all end up going home, as I hope that you will be back for breaks & things?"
"I promise I will be, as now that I've found my dad there's no way that I want to loose touch now, so we will come back & visit. Not only that I really love Abby & she's become my best friend, & I'm making friends with the others as well, so I don't really want to loose touch with any of you.
" Because of the way she's sitting on the stairs he goes over & joins her, they hug &
he says "I'm glad about that." They then all of a sudden get disturbed by Rosie screaming again, & Andrew also shouting, when they get up to the bedroom
Andrew says "We heard noises outside, as we looked we could see someone out there, Daddy then appeared & we think he shot him, because we heard a bang, then they went running off."
Gibbs then gets on his phone & says "DiNozzo, get Bishop & McGee over here now, as there's been a prowler here. All of you go to Charlie's room, I'll go out & have a check round & lock you in, then stay there until we say it's safe."
She replies "We will, & be careful." "I will be." He leaves & she gets the kids together, & they go to her room.
Once they've all checked round they go into the house & Gibbs yells up the stairs to say that it's safe, so they all go down. Once she gets the kids settled on the sofa she joins them in the kitchen,
Gibbs says "We think that Nick has scared whoever it was off, as there's no sign of any of them out there, but we know that the person was hurt when he shot them, we just don't know how badly. We got the blood sample back to Abby, & she's done a quick test, so we know already that it's the other person & not Nick that got hurt. Bishop & McGee are doing a sweep of the hospitals just in case they've gone there. DiNozzo & they are then going to be taking it in turns to be extra guards down here." As he finishes saying it the phone which Nick gave him starts ringing, they talk for a while & after finishing the call
he says "He's safe & he did shoot Dean, the person who was here, he did follow him, but ended up loosing him, so he doesn't know if Dean went onto a hospital or not. He's going to text me the known address he has for him, & we'll go & check it out in the morning. Dean was the one who showed him the ropes when he first joined the gang undercover. So for now I think all we should do is get some rest."
While they've been talking the kids have fallen asleep on the sofa, so Gibbs pick Rosie up, & as she goes to pick Andrew up, Tony says he'll do it, she thanks him & they all then get settled as best they can for the night.
