A/N - thanks for the reviews - and thanks to Elflordsmistress for help with the Tony?Gibbs scene.

Part 10

errare humanum est – to err is human

"You look sad," Abby said as Gibbs stepped into her lab. She tilted her head, scrutinising him in the way she would a specimen under one of her fancy microscopes. "You need a hug," she diagnosed.

"I'm fine," he told her, hoping to ward her off by offering a caff pow but she wasn't to be dissuaded.

As she wound herself around him, she said, "I don't like it when you're sad."

"I'm not," he kissed her on the top of her head because he wasn't sad exactly – just tired and monumentally stupid. He'd been over half way home last night before he'd thought about Jen's injuries, realised that she couldn't just get up off the couch where he'd left her and go to bed. He should have picked her up and carried her to bed – even if he hadn't been planning to stay.

He still didn't know why he hadn't gone back when his brain had finally kicked into gear – perhaps because he wasn't ready to explain why he had left in the first place.

He didn't regret what had happened – it wasn't a mistake; he couldn't even say that he hadn't expected it to be that intense between them because somehow he'd known that it would be. But he'd needed to clear his head and he couldn't do that with her there.

In other circumstances he thought she'd probably understand – maybe even have done the same thing if their positions had been reversed. But in these circumstances it was a horrible thing to have done and he wasn't sure he had any right to be forgiven. The thought that he might have lost her, just when he'd found her, was almost as terrifying as the sudden realisation that he was thinking about her in those terms. Somehow they fit together as though the jagged lines of each others lives, the scars and wounds and baggage were pieces of a jigsaw puzzle slotting neatly into place.

"Do you have anything for me?" He asked Abby, pushing her gently away; knowing he didn't deserve too much comfort.

"Nothing good," she replied as she moved towards the computers. "I'm sorry Gibbs, I tried everything – really I did, I even made a computer reconstruction." She pressed some buttons and a figure seated behind a desk appeared on the computer screen. As they watched the figure picked up a gun – held it against the side of his head and pulled the trigger.

The screen went blank and then reset itself – this time with a second figure standing beside the chair behind the desk. This time around it was the second figure who placed the gun in the hand of the figure representing Shepard, lifted the hand to his head and held the gun in place as the trigger was pulled.

"Both these scenarios could have happened, but there's just no way to tell which one actually happened," she told him as they gazed at the blank screen. "I examined the gun and there were no other prints on it, just a lot of smudges. Ducky hasn't found any evidence that Colonel Shepard was incapacitated but they didn't run a tox screen at the time and now it's too late. There was a bottle of scotch on the desk, but no one seems to have tested the contents of that either. The gunshot residue on his hands shows he must have been holding the gun, but without seeing the distribution for myself I don't know if its consistent with his being the only one holding the gun. "

He could tell the she was frustrated, he didn't blame her. "I know back then they didn't have access to all the equipment we have now – but this was pretty sloppy investigating Gibbs."

"I know," and since everyone involved in that investigation was dead he couldn't see how he was going to find out if it was deliberate or not. "It's not your fault."

He was on his way out of the door when she said quietly, "Ziva says she's dangerous" and that was enough to make him turn back.

"Says who is dangerous?"

"Jenny Shepard. I don't like this Gibbs; you're sad, Tony's gone all quiet and Ziva's cross, I know Ziva is cross a lot, but not like this. I wanted to like her, but now everything's really hinky and it all seems to come from her and I don't know what's going to happen. So I think I need to know, is she dangerous?"

"Hell of a question Abs." She looked straight at him, refusing to budge and he sighed, unable to deny her the answer - even if he wasn't sure exactly what it was.

"She believes in finding the truth and that makes her enemies – I suppose you could call her dangerous."

"It was her idea to send Tony undercover."

"He can handle it,"

"What if he can't?"

"Abby," he touched her cheek, not wanting to tell her that this was part of the job – but she saw it in his eyes anyway.

"This isn't how we catch criminals."

"Sometimes it is."

"I want to meet her," she pleaded, "please Gibbs – I need to see for myself."

"I'll see what I can do," he told her – not sure how he was going to accomplish that if Jen wasn't talking to him anymore.

He'd sent the rest of the team home for the night and was using the peace and quiet to ponder what he should do about Jen when he looked up to find Morrow standing in front of his desk.

"I'm supposed to reel you in," the Director said, "tell you to stay out of things that don't concern you."

"That message come from anyone in particular?"

"They don't give their names Jethro, they just get their point across." He'd known that they couldn't hope to keep their investigation secret indefinitely but he'd hoped for a little more time. "This have something to do with the body you exhumed last night?"

"You said you didn't want to know," he reminded Morrow.

"You're making it hard for me to ignore."

"I'm not doing this for my own entertainment sir."

"Imagine my surprise. This something that needs to be done?" Before he answered that Gibbs thought about the sloppy investigation, about an operation that no one seemed willing to acknowledge and where the boundary of what needed to be done lay. If it came to it he knew Fornell could probably get Morrow to back off – but he didn't want to use that particular get out of jail card unless he had to.

"It does."

Morrow nodded, taking him at his word. "All right. I'll do what I can – but if they don't get what they want from me they'll find some other way to get their message across."

"You telling me to watch my back?"

"I'm telling you these people only go through official channels once." Gibbs knew he was right, if the warning had come it meant that someone had noticed that he was looking into Shepard's death and didn't like it. It was anyone's guess what they would do next to make sure he got the message.

Gibbs was pretty sure he'd had better days. Abby's tests were inconclusive and likely to remain so, Ducky would never had considered an exhumation if he thought he had any other options and then there was the warning that had come via Morrow. He supposed it was only to be expected – given that he'd started the day by screwing things up with a woman who he was finding it very difficult to stop thinking about. A whole other meaning to getting out of bed on the wrong side.

The plan she'd set in motion was working; there was no doubt that she knew her enemy. But the investigation that she had bargained for had nowhere left to go. He didn't want to have to be the one to tell her – but realistically he knew there was no one else.

After last night he wasn't sure if he could face her. In his personal life at least he didn't particularly like confrontations, which was why he was avoiding this one. He knew that he should have been explaining to her why he'd left, but instead he was spending time with the boat and a glass of bourbon and accusing himself of cowardice with every stroke of the sander across the wood.

But tonight he wasn't going to be allowed to brood alone. "You gonna come in DiNozzo, or lurk in the shadows all night?"

"I'm getting pretty good with the shadows," the shape on the stairs replied and Gibbs didn't particularly like the edge of bitterness he heard in his voice. "Wasn't sure you'd want company."

"Haven't decided yet." The company he most wanted was probably going to slam a door in his face later and DiNozzo wouldn't be here now if he didn't want or need something. He'd promised there would be back up and this was what that promise meant. "You want a drink?"

"Thanks – but I'll pass on the bourbon."

"There's beer in the fridge in the kitchen." He carried on sanding the boat, listening to his guest retreat and then return with a beer. DiNozzo wasn't hard to read, not compared to some people – but he was being forced to really grow up and Gibbs wasn't surprised that it was hurting. For all the times he had wished for a little more maturity from his senior field office, this wasn't the way he would have chosen for it to happen. "Either help sand or talk," he said at last.

DiNozzo took a sip of his beer and chose the latter option. "I need some relationship advice."

"And you came to me?" Someone who had been divorced three times was not a person who should be offering any advice on relationships.

"I hear you boss, but I didn't have a lot of choice."

"Go on then," the last thing he wanted to do was listen to Tony talk about Jeanne when he had woman troubles of his own.

"I've been thinking about moving things on to the next level, but because of the importance of this person; I need to get it right."

"You'll know when it's right. Trust your instincts."

"And then what happens?"

"You talking about the job, or the girl?"

"I don't know - is there a difference?" It was the answer he expected – but he didn't much like the way DiNozzo wasn't meeting his eyes.

"Do the job you were assigned to do and don't get in over your head." He told him, watching to see how that instruction was received. He knew that DiNozzo had heard the words, but whether he had really listened was anyone's guess.

"She was right," Tony said at last, "Shepard I mean."

"Yeah," part of him wished that she hadn't been – the same part that wished she'd never suggested this operation and that he hadn't agreed to it. But this wasn't about individual comfort – the stakes were far higher. It was his job to make sure they didn't forget that, but at the same time it was also his job to ensure his team emerged relatively unscathed – including DiNozzo. "You getting cold feet?"

"I thought it would be harder to get her to like me." Gibbs knew he couldn't help him, knew that DiNozzo had to grapple with his own demons. He even thought that the honesty might do him good in the long run. But, that didn't change the fact that this was another failure on his part and he was tired of feeling burdened by the things he had done wrong, by the things he couldn't control.

"If you want out all you have to do is say the word." He offered, meaning it. At least that drew DiNozzo's attention away from his drink.

The younger man seemed to be weighing his words carefully as he replied; "I don't want out, but thanks for the offer boss." He nodded, trusting the other agents instincts and went back to sanding.

He wasn't Tony; whatever was going on with Jen wasn't a fiction he was concocting for the greater good. It was real and complicated and so totally unexpected that it wasn't a surprise that he'd needed to work out how much he was prepared to put into it before he went back.

But now listening to DiNozzo talk he realised that he and Jen had somehow claimed each other - flaws, wounds, secrets and all. It made him feel fortunate in some strange way – and just a little grateful that someone had pitched up on his door to make sure he did see it.

Wordlessly he held out the sander, watching Tony's eyes widen with surprise at being allowed to touch the boat. "Sand with the grain," he instructed.

TBC