A/N: I'm glad you all have been so understanding with having to wait longer than usual for an update to my stories. While the ideas are in my head, it's been a bit difficult to make the transition from thinking the chapters up to typing them out in a word document.

School has been rather busy, meaning I don't have as much time for writing. Homework does get priority. I could probably get about one chapter for one story out a week (at the low end) if I made writing time fit into my schedule. Even if I am unable to do that, I will do my best to update all my stories with some type of regularity.

If it seems like I've been neglecting one particular story more than usual, please feel free to point it out in a PM. I'll do my best to make sure that story gets a new chapter as soon as possible.


Jeanne lounged back on the patio chair she was on, taking a long sip of the blackberry and mint lemonade Vivian had brought out for her. She had been thinking over what Mickey had said to her a few days previous, simultaneously having to avoid questions from Bridget. It wasn't that Jeanne didn't trust Bridget to keep quiet about her wanting to contact Tony again. It was just that if she spilled about Tony, Jeanne would inevitably spill about Mickey's request and it was crucial that she didn't do that.

"Jeanne, Patrick is nearly finished with lunch. Would you like to eat in the dining room, or out here on the patio?" Vivian interrupted Jeanne's train of thought.

"I'll come in and eat with the others." Jeanne slid off the patio chair into a fluid move to stand up. "What has Patrick made today?"

"He roasted up some chickens and made various side dishes to choose from. Even made a small batch of that cranberry jelly you like." Vivian fluttered around Jeanne, fixing the cushions on the patio chair as she answered Jeanne's question. "I hear you've decided to stay a bit longer. Don't want to go home yet?"

"I figured that I could do with an extended vacation. I was thinking about asking Bridget if she wanted to do a weekend in New York. You know, have a girl's weekend. It can be annoying having so many guys around."

"That sounds like a splendid idea! I'm sure Bridget would agree to that." Vivian smiled, leading the two of them back into the house. "As much as she adores all her older brothers, I think Bridget sometimes wishes she were an only child."

"Fredrick treats her as such." Jeanne snickered.

"True." Vivian admitted.

The two of them reached the main dining room and Vivian opened the door for Jeanne before heading off to check on things in the kitchen. Jeanne wandered in, immediately enveloped in the dull roar from the various conversations everyone was having. It was quite clear that most of the family had put in the effort to be at lunch today. A high pitched giggled grabbed Jeanne's attention, and as she turned towards the source she noticed that Mickey had managed to make it. He was between Colin and Bridget, leaning across the table to say something to Margaret, the second oldest Murphy child after Morgan. Letting out a frown, Jeanne made her way around the table to where he was sitting.

"Mickey Murphy, just what do you think you are doing here without greeting me?" She scolded him. He turned from his discussion with Margaret to give Jeanne a cheeky grin.

"I thought I was here for Sunday brunch. I guess I was mistaken. I'll leave." He began to stand up but was immediately dragged back down by Bridget tugging on his arm.

"Oh, no, you don't! You finally made time to come on a Sunday. You're staying." Bridget gave him a pout, making her siblings chuckle at her manipulation. Rolling her eyes, Jeanne hugged Mickey from behind and took the empty seat on the other side of Bridget.

"Hey, Bridget." The young woman turned her attention from Mickey to Jeanne. "I may be staying longer but I'm starting to feel crowded by all the guys. You want to do a girl's weekend somewhere? Maybe New York?"

Mickey gave Jeanne a look over Bridget's head as she made her suggestion. She pointedly ignored it, focusing on Bridget's answer.

"That's a great idea! We can check out the plays on Broadway and get some serious shopping done. When did you want to go?" Bridget nodded in enthusiasm.

"Does this coming weekend sound good? I'm not sure my patience with the boys will last longer than that, and Vivian won't appreciate having to hide bodies." Colin leaned forward to give Jeanne a pout of his own as his sisters burst into laughter.

"Hey, I resent that, Benoit."

"Then learn to behave better." Jeanne shot back.

"This weekend is perfect. I have an event for school coming up in a couple weeks. I can buy a dress for it in New York." Bridget managed to get out in between giggles. She turned to Mickey with a smile. "Expect tons of texts containing pictures. I'm gonna need a guy's opinion on my choices."

"Duly noted. I'll notify everyone else not to call or text me at all this coming weekend so my phone doesn't get overloaded." Bridget immediately smacked Mickey on the arm for his cheek, continuing the humorous atmosphere.

"Jeanne, darling." Penelope called for her attention to the far end of the table. "A package arrived for you earlier. I had Mark bring it up to your room."

"Really? Thanks. Did it say who it was from?" Jeanne wondered who could possibly know she was staying at the Murphy household, aside from a few friends and family members.

"Not that I remember, no. Just a return address that I didn't recognize."

"Ok. I'm sure I'll know once I open it." Penelope hummed in agreement.

"If it's a surprise package then it's most likely a gift. That's how I would view it, anyway." The older woman gave Jeanne a mischievous smile, making her husband roll his eyes.

"I will remember that when I open it, Penelope." Jeanne assured her with a smile. Turning to the empty plate in front of her, Jeanne began to fill it with some of the food closest to her before lifting the plate and reaching across Bridget to hand it to Mickey. "Could you please put some of the potato casserole on my plate, Mickey?"

"Sure, Jeanne." Mickey took the plate so he could scoop some of the requested casserole onto it without risking dropping globs all over the tablecloth. "So, Jeanne, now that we actually have time to talk..."

"Yes?" Jeanne thinned her eyes out at the too-innocent expression he put on his face.

"Dating anyone you haven't told us about?" He put on a pair of doe eyes as he handed her plate back to her, pointedly ignoring the others who had immediately turned their attention towards Jeanne when they heard his question.

"No. I'm not." She hissed with a glare. Jeanne wondered what the hell Mickey was doing, asking her something like that. He knew she was contemplating contacting Tony again.

"Oh." Mickey continued in an airy tone, shoving a small amount of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "Just wondering. It would only be fair for the mystery guy to get the 'Big Brother Talk' if you were dating somebody. Amy's current boyfriend, Levi, got it just the other day."

"Even if I was, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself in a relationship." Jeanne let out in an even tone. Now it was clear. Mickey was warning her of exactly what he was planning to do if she got back with Tony. Well, he'd get Colin to do it for him since he couldn't exactly let anyone know who he was and Colin would follow Mickey's instructions to the letter, but that was beside the point. Mickey intended to do to Tony what he hadn't been able to do last time.

"Just give in to it." Bridget interrupted before Mickey could reply. "I can't even bring in a male friend without the poor guy getting interrogated by everyone, from Daddy all the way down to Mark. Like the guys are going to let a boyfriend get away without being spoken to."

"We just need to judge whether or not the little twits deserve you." Colin stated as if that was a logical reason for the Murphy men to scare the crap out of any guy who walked through the front door.

"I don't care." Jeanne leaned forward to throw a stern look Colin's way. "I can handle myself."

"Jeanne, the last time you dated someone without bringing him in to meet the guys you ended up accusing him of murdering your father." Margaret spoke up. The air of the room immediately tensed as Jeanne and Mickey both froze. Colin and Morgan, who was across from Colin and next to Margaret, instantly started letting out scathing remarks on what they wished they could have done to a certain NCIS Special Agent had their father not stopped them. Bridget let out a deep frown, staring at her plate as if it held the meaning of life and would tell her if she just concentrated on it long enough.

"Both of you shut it." Mickey snapped at Colin and Morgan, stopping their tirade mid-word. Glaring at the two of them, Mickey then turned his focus across the table. "That is an unfair assumption and you damn well know it, Margaret. Agent DiNozzo didn't kill Rene Benoit. Even if Jeanne had introduced him to the rest of us, Rene still would have died and Jeanne still would have lashed out emotionally at DiNozzo."

"We could have discovered that he was using Jeanne long before she found out!" Margaret countered, defending her position.

"Yeah, because staying with Jeanne after Rene found him out was definitely part of his job description." Mickey hissed back.

"And just what are you implying?" Colin inserted before Mickey and his older sister could get into a screaming match in the middle of Sunday brunch. The rest of his family had fallen silent as their voices rose, both of his parents visibly torn over whether or not to step in and stop the argument.

"Things don't add up." Mickey curtly replied, turning to look at Colin face-to-face. "We know what happened from Jeanne's point of view. We know what happened from Rene's point of view. My contacts have told us what happened inside NCIS while it was all happening. If you pay attention to what everyone told us, the sequence of events are out of order. Rene found out who DiNozzo was before someone blew up DiNozzo's car. And the explosion, itself! Someone tried to kill DiNozzo and Jeanne, not Rene. Let's not forget NCIS' surprising leniency with Jeanne after she accused DiNozzo of killing her father, either! There is a shockingly large amount of events that focus on Jeanne, not her father, and every single time NCIS or someone in NCIS was pulling strings to keep her out of it."

Silence fell over the table as Mickey finally shared his thoughts on what happened between Jeanne and Tony DiNozzo. He had remained silent when it had happened, preferring to focus on Jeanne instead of the situation, but it was obvious to everyone that he was seeing something they weren't.

"Mickey..." Jeanne croaked, breaking the silence. "What are you getting at?"

Mickey turned to her with a sigh, his internal debate showing through his eyes. He had contacts who were able to get him loads more information than what the others were able to get. His extensive abilities with computers also helped, seeing as how he was more willing to hack into things than Colin was despite the both of them having gone to school for it.

"Not everything is what it seems to be. That's all I'm saying, Jeanne." Mickey finally said. "After hacking into NCIS' files, it became clear to me that Director Sheppard had a lot more to do with your father than Agent DiNozzo did. He was a pawn in Director Sheppard's plans. After going over his file while I still access to the NCIS mainframe, it wasn't hard for me to come to the conclusion that a man like DiNozzo doesn't say the phrase 'I love you' lightly."

Frowning, Jeanne swallowed hard as she thought over Mickey's words. It wasn't often that he admitted to hacking into something. Normally he only did it when he knew there was information to be found. And, obviously, he found it. He just wasn't sharing it. Nodding slightly, she returned to her food as silence returned to the table. Jeanne made a mental note to question Mickey later.