A/N: I can't thank you enough for reading, reviewing, alerting ... Your suggestions are welcome

As always thanks to "You know who" for her help ;-) (See I didn't say your name this time :-D)

Here's the dreaded chapter, I hope you like it

Chapter 6: Reunion

January 18th, 2011 3:30 pm

Lyon Village, Arlington, Virginia

He must have broken every traffic law on his way to Arlington. He couldn't even remember the drive; it was quite a miracle he arrived there in one piece.

His mind was elsewhere. He had been sitting in his car in the parking lot, in front of the park for ten minutes, imagining different scenarios for this encounter. Strangely, in most of them things didn't go well.

How was he supposed to do this? The last time he saw her… no, it was better not to go there. This particular memory wasn't one of his fondest.

Thoughts and questions were running fast in his head: what did he miss? How was it possible that she had been alive for more than two years without him even suspecting anything? And why the hell hadn't she contacted him at any point?

They may have not been on the best of terms before her "departure" but he cared about her, always had, always would. She knew that, right?

He sighed and got out of the car; it was time to find out.

Their bench was a good observation point, they could see anyone who went in without being seen. Jen's instinct seemed to still be as strong as ever. Spending two years in hiding had probably helped with keeping them intact, Gibbs thought as he walked by several women sitting together. They were watching him warily, one of them recognized him, having see him in the morning at Drenton's house, and started whispering to her friends.

The closer he got, the more he could see Jen and Mikhael tense up. They never turned towards him but they knew he was there, he could see it.

Their eyes were on Grace, playing in front of them, and they seemed to be arguing in a low voice. Mikhael stood up and looked daggers at him before walking away.

Gibbs sat next to Jen. She had her sunglasses on, her hair had grown back to the length it was when she had become Director: red, long, wavy. He resisted the urge to run his hands through it. He noticed that her attire differed greatly from what he remembered: ballet flats, skinny jeans and her red coat. He observed her silently for a while. He didn't know where to begin; there were so many things he wanted to know.

"Do you need something, Special Agent Gibbs?" Jen asked, her voice cracking at the end, still not looking at him.

He flinched at her tone. For a moment he was feeling like they were back at the Navy Yard, in her office, about to have one of their famous arguments.

"Is that really the way you want this to go, Jen?" he asked her. Of all the scenarios he had imagined, this one would definitely be one of the worst.

She stayed silent for a moment, her eyes not leaving Grace.

"Why are you here?" she inquired.

"You really have to ask?" He watched her in disbelief. "You really thought I wouldn't find out? Or did you believe I wouldn't care?"

"I hoped you wouldn't find out." she said, her voice so low he could barely hear her. His mouth opened in shock. She couldn't be serious!

"You hoped I… You're kidding, right?" He had to control his voice, they were already attracting enough attention. "Why would you want me, want all of us to think you're dead? I can understand you were still in danger but we could have helped. We could have done something, if you had just trusted us! Why didn't you trust us?" Gibbs was really angry now.

"You don't know everything, Jethro." It was her use of his name that calmed him.

"Then tell me." He said. He watched her closely as she sighed, took off her glasses and turned towards him. For the first time in two years he was able to look in her eyes.

"When I was at the diner, I had no intention of getting out of there alive. For me, it was over, I was done. I woke up two weeks later in a clinic in Switzerland, my left arm in a sling and unable to sit up without screaming in pain. Everything was already over here. Mikhael and Nathan were contacting Eli, I was in no condition to make any important decision, especially one that could risk or jeopardize our covers. Time passed, we were losing hope and we got used to our lives there. When we learned about the conference with the former Directors, it took us a while to decide what we would do if the traitor was found. Coming back wasn't easy, especially when I discovered my house was burned to the ground." Her eyes hardened at the end and she tilted her head.

He lowered his head and looked at the ground, absorbing and processing what she said, her first sentence was replaying in his head.

"Why were you done?" He said, knowing she would understand what he meant.

She turned away from him, her eyes locking once more on Grace. "I know you talked to Ducky, you know I'm sick."

"He said dying."

"At the time, I had no intention to get treatment. My mother had the same disease, I saw her slowly deteriorate, I didn't want to put Grace through that. Abraham disagreed, of course, but..." She paused, the words seemed to be difficult to say. "Grace was so young at the time, she would have forgotten." She took a deep breath. "I didn't tell them about William's funeral but they found out anyway. Apparently, they arrived just after Mike left and they got me out of there. After the surgery, Abraham asked my doctors to start treating the Polymyositis and when I woke up I started physiotherapy, which helped a lot, still does."

"I'm sorry, Jen." She looked at him with her wide eyes but he was as surprised as her. He didn't know why he said it, he just wanted her to know he cared and those were the first words that came to his mind.

She swallowed the easy retort of 'What happened to Rule #6 'Never Say you're sorry'?' and simply nodded instead, understanding, as always.

They fell into a comfortable silence this time, watching the children play around them.

Those moments were always bittersweet for Gibbs. He remembered going to the park with Kelly, her joy when she was on the swing and asked him to push her higher and higher.

He looked at Grace; she seemed to be an happy child even after everything she went through, he saw Jenny smile when she was watching her.

"Who is she?" He asked.

"My goddaughter. Her parents died when she was six months old. I took care of her ever since. She knows I'm not her biological mother but I'm her mom."

"What happened to them?" It had intrigued him since his conversation with Vance and Davenport.

Jenny's eyes were filled with pain and sadness. "They wanted to help me, to find out what happened to my father but Nathan went too far. Benoit's men heard about someone looking for information. Long story short, there was a firefight. Naomi, Abraham's wife, died and the others went into hiding. Seven years later, they found them - Beth and Jacob were killed."

"The Frog?" Gibbs asked, that explained some things "That's why you killed him? Because of what he did to them?"

Her eyes flashed with anger this time. She stood up and said, "I've never been a murderer, I never killed anyone in cold blood, never, and that didn't change with Benoit. How can you… Stay away from me!" she yelled when he stood up too and tried to explain, calm her down.

"Grace, Damian, we're leaving." She said, while grabbing the little girl's hand.

"Jen!" he screamed desperately after her.

A/N: I never said it was gonna be an easy journey. Please tell me what you think.