A/N: Sorry sorry for the delay. my must took a vacation without giving me any advance warning ;P Don't worry. She sent me a postcard so I could write this chap. Oh, and I'm aware most hospital rooms have their own bathrooms...for some reason, Tony doesn't. Enjoy. -pj

---

It was nearly quarter to six when they left the cemetery, seven by the time they got back to the hospital. Gibbs had suggested they stop for breakfast and, though Kelly had given him a strange look when he bought six breakfast burritos, he didn't explain.

It wasn't until they got back to Tony's room that Kelly understood. She smiled from her spot in the doorway when she spotted the entire team seated around Tony's hospital room, they'd arrived at the tick of seven, when visiting hours began.

"The gang's all here," she said, pulling burritos from the brown bag and passing them around.

Gibbs moved to settle beside Abby, who sat next to McGee, on the couch. Ziva was in a chair beside them and Ducky sat in one next to the bed.

Tony shrugged with his good shoulder, "they worry."

"Yeah, with good reason," Kelly crossed her arms and approached the bed, "from what I hear you spend an inordinate amount of time in hospitals."

"Comes with the job," Tony nodded.

"So they keep telling me," she dropped her eyes to fiddle with his sheet and Tony tilted his head to one side, sensing the seriousness beneath her teasing.

He asked somewhat hesitantly, "that okay?"

Kelly froze, and glanced at her father, "getting there."

Gibbs smiled slightly and then rolled his eyes at the love struck look on her face when she turned back to Tony. His reached for his jacket pocket as his phone began to sing.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he paused, listening to the voice on the other end, "ok, thanks Garber. I'll be there in ten."

He hung up and met the curious glances of his team, "Ziva, with me."

He stood and reached for his coat. Ziva nodded, finishing the remnants of her burrito and tossing the unfinished coffee in the trash.

"Boss?" Tony questioned, his eyes following Gibbs as he approached.

"Garber's team has a lead on the shooting. I'm going to get read in and Ziva's going to accompany the team questioning neighbors," he raised his eyebrows and dipped his chin, "you stay. Do what they tell you to so you can get back to work. I don't have time to break in a new agent."

Tony's mouth quirked slightly and he nodded. Gibbs looked at Kelly briefly and she nodded.

"I'll stay with him."

"McGee," the youngest agent looked up at the sound of his name being called, but Gibbs' eyes never left his daughter's, "you stick with her. Don't let her out of your sight."

Tim nodded and Kelly took a small step forward, looking affronted.

"But Dad-" she started.

"No buts, Kelly. You stay with McGee, you don't leave this room." His tone left no room for argument and Kelly was forced to settle for a disgruntled glare in protest. Gibbs glanced at Ducky and the elderly doctor nodded.

"I too shall stay."

"Me too." Abby chimed in.

Gibbs nodded, understanding his team's need to stay close to one another in times of crisis.

"Okay. I'll be back with an update," he said to no one specific and moved toward the door, Ziva right behind him.

Dr. Hardaway returned to check on Tony's progress a moment later and Ducky pulled her aside to talk about the patient's recovery, which was going by-the-book perfectly. Kelly slid up onto the bed beside Tony, while Abby and McGee retreated back to the couch.

"He's insufferable," Kelly grumbled, frowning.

Tony smiled, his healthy arm wrapped around her slight shoulders as she bowed into his side, the other lay across his chest, his hand twirling playfully with her fingers.

"Wouldn't be Gibbs if he wasn't."

Kelly smirked and the two fell silent, allowing Dr. Hardaway to finish her checks and leave. The silence didn't stay long though, as Abby and McGee's quiet conversation turned into a less quiet argument.

"Abby, you can't start from the end."

"But, if I don't know how it ends how will I know if I'll like the book?!"

"Abby," Tim said, exasperated, "did you do this with my book?"

"Well I-"

"Stop!"

Everyone's head swiveled in the direction of the outburst, freezing as commanded. Kelly had suddenly jumped to her feet, had her hands up in a 'I've-been-inspired-so don't move' position.

"Say that again," she said, looking at McGee.

"Well, I uh," McGee glanced at Abby, "I was just saying Abby shouldn't start from the end of a book. She said she reads the last page first and-"

"Start from the end," Kelly muttered to herself and stared off into space for a second before turning on her heel and practically running toward the door. However, she was stopped before she even made it into the hallway by McGee wedging himself between the frame.

"Hey!"

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go get something to write with, McGee."

"I really don't think that's a good idea, your dad was pretty adamant about-"

"My Dad is overprotective and a control freak." Kelly crossed her arms, doing her best to be intimidating, sure it would work on McGee. But the man had more spine than she initially gave him credit for and he stood his ground, refusing to move.

"Um…I have a notebook," Abby called out hesitantly from the other side of the room, effectively ending the stand off.

Kelly rolled her eyes and then her face softened to allow a small smile, "I see why Dad keeps you around, McGee."

Then she turned on her heel and went to Abby, retrieving the proffered notebook and pencil.

---

Gibbs sipped his coffee to calm his nerves, which were frayed and exhausted to say the least. He blinked a few times to keep his eyes focused on the crime scene photos displayed on the plasma.

"Our shooter didn't police his brass," Garber said, pretending not to notice the haggard condition of his colleague. He'd known Jethro Gibbs long enough to know when to keep his mouth shut and when to speak his mind. This was not one of those times. He lifted his hand to scroll through to photos of the ammo casings they'd found, "they rolled down the roof into the gutter."

"Looks like 7mm Remington Magnum," Gibbs commented, taking another sip.

Garber, a tall burly agent comparable to Gibbs in age but with thin dark hair, barely spared a glance. hew as used to Gibbs vast and, sometimes, unexpected knowledge. Especially when it came to weapons.

"That's right," he nodded, turning back to the plasma, scrolling through a few more photos of the rooftop and surrounding area, "it's unusual for a sniper not to police his brass so we think he probably left in a bit of a hurry."

"Well yeah," Gibbs said with a wry smile, "he probably knew he'd have three SIGs in his face in a matter of seconds after he fired his shot."

Garber dropped the remote onto Gibbs' desk and perched on the edge with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet crossed at the ankles, "I thought the same. Probably knew his target. A sniper rifle is not the typical thrill-kill weapon of choice."

Gibbs dropped his eyes, recalling the previous evening spent pouring over Kelly's data.

"Four were shot, execution style. Near DC."

"Work for hire hit men?"

"How am I supposed to sleep when you or Jenny could be next?"

"This was no random hit," Gibbs said almost to himself, raising his eyes back to the plasma.

Garber furrowed his brow at the other agent and reached up surreptitiously to loosen his already slack tie.

"Anything you want to tell me, Gibbs?"

Gibbs licked his lips and then turned to face the other man.

"Now why would you say that, Mark?" He asked, his face revealing nothing.

Garber smiled in return and rolled his eyes half-heartedly, "oh come on, I've known you long enough to know when you're gut is telling you something."

Gibbs smiled cryptically and pulled out his phone, "uh-huh."

Mark shook his head and chuckled as Gibbs hit the speed dial without looking away from him. Knowing he'd gotten all he would get from the former Marine, he pushed away from the desk and moved toward his own cubicle to follow up on a few more leads.

"You know where to find me when you're ready to read me in, Gibbs," he muttered as he passed.

Gibbs just smiled and watched him go, "Ziva, sitrep."

---

Kelly blinked hard a few times and then rubbed her eyes, she felt as if she'd been staring at lined paper for days. She yawned a little and picked up the coffee cup beside her and pouted out her bottom lip slightly when she found it empty.

She had moved from the chair beside the bed to sit on the floor beside the wall about an hour ago and was pretty sure she'd now lost all circulation in her lower extremities. Across the room she could see Tony had fallen asleep in the middle of 'An Affair to Remember' on television. Ducky had gone to pick up lunch for them and Abby and McGee were sharing a laptop on the worn couch beneath the window, decrypting the last of the data. She was almost finished with her algorithm, but the rest of the information they would provide would help her refine it even more.

Finally, she was reminded of the original reason she'd been brought out of her thoughts and got to her feet, stretching and then turning toward the door.

"Kelly, where are you going now?"

The girl turned with an amused smile, "to the bathroom, Tim. That okay with you?" Then she watched in stunned silence as McGee stood and made his way over to the door, "And where are you going?"

"With you," McGee said calmly, motioning for her to leave first.

Kelly stared at him, "you're not coming to the bathroom with me, McGee."

"Yes, I am."

"No. You're not. I'm a big girl Tim I can go to the bathroom all by myself," she protested, but seeing that McGee showed no signs of bending to her will she frowned deeper, no longer amused, "McGee this is ridiculous I-"

"Just let her go, Probie," Tony said groggily, not opening his eyes.

"But Tony-"

Kelly smiled triumphantly and turned on her heel, double-timing it to the restroom across the hall.

McGee looked to be a cross between appalled and angry, "Tony, Boss said-"

"McGee," Tony said with forced patience, finally opening his eyes to give the other agent a stern look, "you tell her she can go, wait a few seconds, then go in, make a quick check to be sure there's no threat and wait outside the door. She never knows you're there and you've done your job. Everybody's happy."

"I can't go in there if she's in there," McGee said, sounding horrified at the very idea.

Tony closed his eyes and dropped his head again, "either that or you gamble on the chance that the bathroom is really as safe as you think it is."

McGee considered this a moment and then slumped his shoulders, conceding to Tony's plan.

"Okay, but if she finds out I went in there, I'm dead."

"Trust me Probie, you're probably dead either way."

---

Kelly left the bathroom stall and glanced around, her ears attuned to any noise and her eyes watching for any movement. After a few minutes she was satisfied she was alone and made her way to the sink, though she could have sworn there was someone else in the bathroom with her a moment ago.

As she was washing her hands she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket but had to wait until she'd dried them to fish it out.

She frowned down at the object. It was picture mail she'd been sent, a candid shot of Tony and he looked to be at a crime scene, judging by his backwards NCIS hat. There was no message with the photo, and the number it had been sent from was blocked.

An uncomfortable twinge in her stomach made her bite her lip as she stared at the photo, but she shook it off, intending to say something to McGee when she got back to the room. Before she could take two steps, her phone vibrated again. Another picture message, this one of her father taking out the trash at their home. Though the number was still blocked, there was a message with the second picture and the uncomfortable twinge was replaced with full blown nausea and her stomach dropped to her shoes.

What would you be willing to do to keep them safe?

She swallowed hard but found her mouth to be too dry to help. With shaking hands, she slid her keyboard out to type a response but before she could even begin a cheerful tune announced the arrival of an incoming call.

The number was blocked.

"Who is this?" Kelly demanded, as soon as she'd opened the line.

"What would you do?" a low, unfamiliar male voice asked.

Kelly ignored the question, "what do you want?"

She bit her lip as she waited for an answer, shifting from one foot to the other, unsure of whether or not she wanted to leave and find McGee or Tony just yet. Her stomach, her gut her father would say, was telling her not to. That the best thing for everyone was for her to stay right where she was until she knew what was going on.

"I want you to answer my question."

Kelly remained silent, knowing full well which question the voice was referring to.

There was some background noise coming from the other end of the line, and Kelly guessed whoever she was on the phone with was sitting in a crowded room of some sort.

"My my, your father certainly does drink a lot of coffee, doesn't he? Not healthy in a man his age, you know."

Kelly wasn't looking at her reflection, but if she had been she would have seen herself go white.

"You can see my father?" She asked quietly, not really intending to say it out loud.

"See him, smell him…could kill him if I wanted. Right now. A well timed bump in a busy coffee shop, no one would have any idea what had happened," the man's voice had a slight lilt that suggested he was European, probably British, but Kelly didn't register it.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice trembling, trying hard not to imagine her father as a corpse at a crime scene. She leaned against the sink and closed her eyes, feeling light headed.

Anything. I would do anything to keep them safe.

"Nothing too extraordinary, i assure you. Merely excuse yourself from Mr. DiNozzo's hospitol room, I have it on good authority that he will be right as rain in a few days," he sounded almost friendly as he rattled off instructions for her to meet two men in a black car out in front of the hospital.

"Are you crazy? Somebody tried to shoot me last night and my Dad practically has me under house arrest. How do you expect me to get out of here?"

The voice tsked her pessimism, "you're a smart girl Kelly. You'll figure something out." With that, the line when dead.

Kelly hung up, pushed her phone back into her pocket, and cursed.

TBC