Disclaimer: I only own the original characters.

A.N.: Quite a short chapter this time, but I wanted to get this out before we get into the heavy stuff. Thank you to xxhiphuggersxx, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, MissJayne, black widow mistress, alix33, jstapny, JiBbS-tIvA4eVs, HesMines and Liina01 for reviewing!


Tony didn't feel too good. Waking up was a bad idea, he thought wryly flexing his hands gently. He frowned as his fingers encountered a thin tube of some sort attached to his hand, and the shock from the pain that simple action caused made him quickly relax his expression. It seems that my face hurts too, he thought, in fact my whole head hurts. Had someone punched him? He couldn't recall getting into a fight but it was the only explanation that made sense to him.

He shifted, uncomfortable with the position he was in, hissing when several points on his body exploded in agony, making him still his movements in an attempt to make the pain go away. Well whoever it was that he had fought with had done quite a number on him. He gritted his teeth and tried to calm his body, becoming more aware of his surroundings as he did so. His nose twitched as he took a deep breath, the unmistakable smell of a sterile environment and the sounds he could hear told him where he was; in a hospital. Damn but that isn't good, he thought wildly, what if they say something to Jeanne?

Jeanne! Suddenly he remembered the last few moments before blacking out. He had been taking Jeanne to dinner at that little burger stand, when a loud noise from behind them had thrown them to the floor. He saw it in his mind's eye, saw the bits of shrapnel fly past him, some of them striking his body and staying there. It was almost painful to think of it, but he knew instinctively that it had been a car bomb, and he also knew that the pieces of metal had been parts of his baby, getting torn apart and hurled around. Had he been compromised? Is that what Gibbs and Jenny had wanted to see him about?

He tried to open his eyes but it was difficult. They were sticky with sleep and unusually heavy, but after a gargantuan effort he managed to push his lids up and look around. He was in a hospital alright, the walls were white, the roof was white and the door had glass in it, just in case you had any illusions about getting some privacy. He glanced at the equipment next to him, a heart monitor and a drip and… was that a bag of blood? No wonder he felt so weak. If they were giving him blood he must have lost a lot at the scene…

He shuddered, thinking of all of his blood leaking away on that pavement and mixing in with Jeanne's, and his heart rate jumped becoming a little faster. He glared at the monitor, those lines reminded him of the red lights that appeared whenever Kit from Knight Rider spoke; it was almost like the machine was laughing at him. He shook his head and dispelled that train of thought. He needed his phone, he needed to call Gibbs and tell him what had happened. He needed to find a nurse and ask about Jeanne. He really just needed to do something.

He tried to sit up, but the various wounds on his body flared and an exclamation of pain escaped him before he could suppress it. He flopped back on the bed uselessly, panting; hoping that whatever pain medication he was on would kick in and fast. It didn't, but luckily a nurse walked through the door soon after his disastrous attempt at sitting up and gave him another dose of morphine. Tony was exhausted from pain but he managed to squeeze out a question to her.

"Jeanne. Is Jeanne ok?" he asked, his voice quivering with pain. The nurse replied, but it sounded like it was coming from a long way off. He asked again, starting to panic when his own voice came out sounding fuzzy. Fatigue settled over him like a blanket, dulling his senses and lulling him to sleep but he stubbornly tried again to ask about Jeanne. This time the nurse leaned over him, speaking softly in his ear and her voice finally got through to him. He realised who his nurse was in that moment, it was Annie.

"She's ok, Tony. You were behind her so you took most of the shrapnel. She's in a room just across the ward. Her father is with her. I'll call your friends." She promised slowly and he made a noise that she took for an affirmative. Tony's eyes closed once more and he fell into a dreamless sleep.


Rene Benoit strode down the corridors of the hospital, nodding a greeting to the nurses that recognised him, already knowing the way to his destination. He had been in and around this hospital many times during his daughters' time working here, and it was his little girl he was here to see. He had gotten a call from the reception nurse telling him Jeanne was finally out of theatre and was recovering in one of the rooms on this floor. He had come straight away, though he hadn't exactly had far to travel.

His meeting with Kort outside this building had been quite fruitful. He smiled; the CIA Agent always had a plan, no matter how sudden his change of circumstances was, which was why Rene had managed to stay out of the reach of his enemies for so long. Kort seemed to thrive on the challenge too, which made him an even greater asset, though a small part of Benoit wondered what would happen if the challenge disappeared. What would the man do if Benoit's life became boring day-in day-out work? Request reassignment perhaps?

Benoit casually glanced through the glass in the doors of the recovery rooms he passed, looking for both Jeanne and her 'boyfriend'. Jeanne hadn't had much luck with her love life so far, and the only real gem in her life had been a cop that had gotten drunk and slept with her best friend, if you could call her that. Rene had happily advised his daughter to sever all connections with both that man and her so-called friend. He had not been there for his family when Jeanne was young, and that neglect had caused the irreparable rift between him and her mother, but he was getting old now and the importance of family had finally sunk in. The importance of protecting it had made an even bigger impression.

This new boyfriend of Jeanne's had seemed innocent enough; he was a player who was reaching the point where meaningless flings left him empty and he was curious about settling down. A strange notion to most young people to be sure, but everyone craves lasting companionship and Jeanne had been over the moon that 'Tony DiNardo' had wanted that with her. Of course Jeanne didn't know the truth, but Rene did. Benoit angrily ground his teeth together. He had decided to do a little digging into DiNardo's past, knowing that his children would be a target for anyone with a grudge against him, and he hadn't been surprised to find out that that was the case here.

'Tony DiNardo' was actually 'Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Junior', the latest pawn in Jennifer Shepard's decade long campaign to bring him down. He sighed; her relentless pursuit of him was draining, of both his energy and his resources. He had had to call in, and promise, a lot of favours over the years to throw her off his trail or suspend her investigations, but she always found another opportunity to chase after him. He had never been foolish enough to underestimate her once she had begun this vendetta; he was careful to a fault in his deals and never showed himself in person to any drop off points or meetings without heavy protection, knowing she could very well be waiting for him.

Of all the people he expected to get so close to catching him, he had never expected it to be Jasper Shepard's little girl. He had been friends with her father; he made a point of being friends with those in the highest positions. Jasper Shepard had been incredibly proud of, and totally devoted to, his only child. He had told Rene many stories of his Jenny and her grades, how very intelligent she was and how naturally she handled a firearm. Being an Army man he had wanted his daughter to follow him into service, but Jenny had been more interested in glamour and politics. She hadn't been a threat to Benoit at all, so ending Jasper's life when he grew a conscience hadn't struck him as a mistake, and in many ways it hadn't been.

He had made the real mistake when he had taken Jenny's daughter's life.

Rene felt the congenial smile slip off his lips for a moment and hastily put another in its place, though no one would think anything of his slip. He was here to see his recently injured daughter after all, but he needed the façade, he couldn't let the intensity of his anger show through. He knew what Jenny was doing now. Benoit had three children but only one was a daughter, only one wasn't involved in anything even slightly dubious: Jeanne. She was his youngest and the one he tried to protect the most.

His sons could take better care of themselves but they were also much easier to get to, the law even had a legitimate reason to go after them. He knew for a fact that Jenny knew where they were, but she had targeted Jeanne. It shook him to the core, which was exactly what she wanted.

Rene finally came to a stop outside Jeanne's room and looked in through the door. His baby girl was lying prone on the hospital bed, cuts and bruises marring her pale skin. There were a multitude of wires and tubes attached to her and Benoit's heavy heart constricted. This was his fault. If he hadn't made the mistake of giving Jenny the same choice as her father, if he had only dug a little deeper and seen that she wasn't so easily swayed by money… but he hadn't. She had refused to play his game and he had told his men to carry out the threat. She would hunt him down and kill him for taking her daughter's life, no matter what she lost along the way. Now though, he would make sure she lost it all.

Benoit turned the handle and entered the silence of Jeanne's room. He had promised to meet her boyfriend today, and later he would keep that promise.