Thanks to my beta Kristen! The final chapter of answers, before the stalker returns. Hopefully, this should set a few things straight.

Chapter 7: Answers Part 3

Lily withheld a smirk as she took in the faces of everyone in the room. With the exception of Jasper, who was busy fussing Dammit, they had all frozen in place.

Did they honestly think she had died? Jenny should have known better; she should have thought about it more. They knew when the other was in trouble, but she had not picked up on a car bomb? Lily resisted the urge to shake her head in frustration.

Briefly, she wondered what was going through LJ's head. Had he been pleased about her 'death'? Had he believed he was finally shot of her? She made a mental note to harass him until he gave her the full details, and banished it to the back of her mind.

Abby's mouth was hanging open. It made Lily feel on top of the world. She'd been stuck in this house for the better part of a week, unable even to stick her head out of a window in case someone realized she was still alive, and it had clearly paid off. She had managed to convince one of the best forensic scientists she had ever run into of her untimely demise. It made everything worth it.

Ducky was staring at her as though she had come to life on his autopsy table. She recognized the look, having terrified a few new medical examiners in the CIA. It was surprisingly good fun to pop out of a body bag or a latched morgue drawer, even if she needed a little help to get there in the first place. The only reason she had never done it to Ducky was that she was quite fond of him.

McGee was impersonating a goldfish. He had an utterly hilarious expression on his face. She was tempted to walk up to him and pinch his nose to prove she was really present. He looked so sweet and innocent.

Ziva was visibly thinking fast, trying to make all the pieces slot together. Lily had always admired the Israeli's sharp mind, and her extensive experience of difficult situations. She had decided that Ziva was the one most likely to figure out what had really happened, after Jenny. But Jenny had not been thinking straight for the past month, making it easier for her to hide her intentions.

Tony's mouth was starting to form into a grin. He was definitely pleased to see her in one piece, although he also appeared curious about what had happened. She half expected him to pull her into a bear hug, and she knew she would not stop him. She had missed human contact while she was 'dead', and was slowly starting to feel as though she belonged again.

In her mind, it was a toss-up as to whether Tony would hug her before Abby. It was going to come down to whoever recovered first.

To her surprise, Jenny pulled herself out of the trance before the others. She took three quick strides across the room and slapped her straight across the face.

"What were you thinking?!" she screamed.


Jenny had not been as furious as this in a long time. She had been slowly adjusting to the painful thought of Lily being dead, and now her irrepressible sister was lounging casually on a couch and grinning as if she had just heard the world's best joke.

Or blown up another toilet.

For the last five days, her heart had felt as though it had been torn out. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had seen her sister's face, pleading for help. She had felt like a complete failure for allowing her sister to die. And she hadn't even felt the moment her sister had been taken from her side forever! Considering neither of them could get a paper cut without the other knowing about it, it had compounded her grief.

All this time, Lily had been crashing at Great Aunt April's place. Probably eating a large amount of wonderful home cooking, having long lie-ins, barely stirring from her position on the couch, watching television all day long, being waited on hand and foot…

A slap was the very least of what she deserved. If she had a shotgun to hand, Lily would dead for real.

How could she have done this? A single phone call would have made her feel better. A phone call, a letter, an email, any form of contact would have been appreciated. Something to tell her that everything had been a lie.

In one swift move, she pulled Lily out from under her blanket and slammed her against the nearest wall. The shock in Lily's eyes spurred her on.

"You had better give me one extremely good explanation or we're going to be holding another funeral for you," she hissed.

"LJ," Lily called. "Get her off me."

"Not a chance," Gibbs replied. "You deserve anything you get."

"I guess you two have kissed and made up then," Lily quipped, a smirk crossing her face. "Unfortunately, I've got two bruised ribs and numerous cuts and bruises. This position is not helping the healing process."

Jenny quirked an eyebrow.

"You put me down and I'll talk?" Lily suggested.

Jenny tightened her grip for a moment before releasing her sister. Lily stumbled slightly, but recovered her balance. Everyone scrambled for a chair, while Lily settled herself back into her little bed on the couch.

Great Aunt April appeared in the room with a large tray of drinks and proceeded to hand out mugs of coffee to everyone. Gibbs took his with a grateful smile, while the others all muttered a quick "Thanks". Jenny did not shift her gaze from her errant sister.

"Talk," she ordered.

"I didn't know about the bomb," Lily answered. "I hadn't heard any intelligence suggesting there would be an attack."

"They know about the letters," Jenny added.

Lily smiled. "Good for you, JL. Anyway, I went to the charity ball as a favor for you, nothing more. If Agent DiNozzo hadn't been too busy trying not to stare at my butt, he would have noticed four people in the car before I climbed into it."

"Four?" Tony spluttered. "One driver, two bodyguards. Who was the fourth?"

"Another bodyguard," Lily admitted. "Something felt off all evening. The bodyguards felt it too and called someone else out to help them. Agent Kline was in the area and wanted some overtime."

"Agent Kline was buried as you," Ducky muttered.

"I'll get back to that," Lily promised. "I got in the car, it drove off. That lovely diamond necklace had a dodgy clasp; I was struggling to keep it around my neck all evening. It slipped off the moment I sat down. I reached down to pick it up and had a gut feeling that I needed to get out of the car immediately."

"You followed that feeling?" Gibbs inquired.

"You follow yours, I follow mine," she retorted. "As the car rounded the corner, I opened the door and jumped out. Scraped my knees and elbows nicely." She rubbed them softly. "Before I could even draw a breath, the car blew. The shockwave carried me a short distance from the car."

"You should have waited for help," Gibbs growled.

"Someone just tried to kill me and I was standing in the open? I was injured! First thing I did was get out of there. I didn't slow down until I got here; I figured no one would look for me here. The Great Aunt took me in, gave me as much first aid as was possible, and let me watch the news. Loved the coverage, by the way."

Jenny glared at her; Lily tried to recover her train of thought.

"Letter guy thought I was dead. He thought his path was clear. If I stay out of sight for a little while, he might make a move. It could lead us right to him!"

"Funeral," Jenny snapped.

"I wasn't going to stop it," Lily grinned. "Wish I had been able to watch it. That would have been fun. I asked the Great Aunt to bring me my beautiful son afterwards, because I didn't want him to be upset."

On the floor, Jasper looked up from stroking Dammit and gave an impish grin. "Mom rocks," he announced.

"Does the word 'irresponsible' mean anything to you?" Jenny groaned.

"It gave me the perfect opportunity!" Lily argued. "I want this guy's head on a platter, and he gave me a way to flush him out!"

Jenny felt herself falling for her sister's point of view. It was a very normal occurrence. It was simply impossible for them to stay mad at each other for long.

"I ran the DNA," Abby piped up. "It was yours."

"I got someone to switch mine and Agent Kline's records," Lily winced. "If you'd ran it against Jenny's DNA, you wouldn't have got a match, but I couldn't change the other file while you had access to Jenny."

Silence filled the room for a while as everyone digested the new information.

Finally, Jenny got up and walked over to the couch. Lily stood up with a slightly nervous expression.

"Next time," Jenny warned. "I get a phone call."

"Deal," Lily agreed.

Jenny pulled her sister into a hug. "Please don't do that again," she whispered in her ear.

"I can't promise anything," her sister whispered back. "But I'm sorry."

After a few minutes, they pulled apart.

"What now?" McGee asked.

"We're all going back to the Navy Yard," Jenny decided. "And that includes Lil."