Eleven

Ducky watched as Jenny took a shuddering breath and nodded before taking a sip of her tea.

"I don't know how to talk to him about this." Jenny muttered, "we were never good at the whole talking thing and you know Jethro, he doesn't talk about emotional subjects he changes the subject and hides with his boat."

Ducky sighed and nodded, "I do not know how to help you with that dilemma my dear, Jethro is, as young Anthony says, a functional mute. I suggest talking to him at a time when no one else is around, and when you will have as few interruptions as possible."

Jenny raised an eyebrow, "We work in a building full of people twelve hours out of the day and have three kids, when do we have time for that?" She asked with a small laugh.

Ducky chuckled softly and nodded in understanding, they sat there sipping their tea until the shrill ringing of Ducky's cell phone interrupted the comfortable silence. Jenny watched as Ducky answered it will a small smile on his face, she watched the smile slowly fade as he nodded along to whatever the person on the other side of the phone was saying before hanging up with a quiet goodbye.

"Is something wrong, Ducky?" Jenny asked, her voice already laced with concern at the grim look on the older doctors face.

"That was Anthony." Ducky stated slowly, "there was an accident."

"Ducky," Jenny warned, it was not the time for drawn out stories or beating around the bush"what the hell is going on?"

"They were answering a call about a missing Naval Lieutenant when shots were fired, Jethro took a round to the shoulder, he was rushed to Bethesda by ambulance, Anthony is on his way now but he doesn't know anything yet." Ducky explained.

Jenny felt her stomach drop and all of the colour drain from her face at his words, if Gibbs was willing to go in an ambulance he was either severally injured or unconscious.

"They weren't supposed to be on call today, they were off of rotation until tomorrow so they could catch up on the paper work from their last case, the com-centre knew that." Jenny stated, "I made sure to double check when I came in this morning, it was one of the first things I did, they guaranteed that they wouldn't be called out."

"Maybe it was a mistake." Ducky replied gently.

"It couldn't have been, when I take a team out of rotation their name gets removed from the call system, the com-centre shouldn't have even had Jethro's number on the list of available teams." Jenny replied, standing up suddenly, "even if someone specifically asked for him he shouldn't have even been an option today."

"Well what are you suggesting then my dear?" Ducky asked, gently grabbing her arm as she turned to leave.

"Something's not right." Jenny muttered.

N*C*I*S

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo paced the hospital waiting room anxiously, waiting for any one of the many doctors he had seen to talk to him, Gibbs had arrived at the hospital an hour earlier and he had shown up fifteen minutes after that. His mind was racing, going over the events of the morning in his head repeatedly, trying to figure out where they had gone wrong. He was broken out of his thoughts when a small hand rested on his shoulder, he turned around to find both Jenny and Ducky standing behind him, grim looks on both of their faces.

"What happened?" She asked quietly, trying not to let her anxiety show in the waiting room full of people.

Tony's eyes flitted down to the badge hanging around her neck and the gun holstered on her hip before he looked back to her face, her determination and no nonsense attitude showing in her expression.

"Gibbs got a call from the com-centre at 1245 about a missing Lieutenant, we went to the address we were sent but the house was empty, we were doing an exterior sweep of the property when shots were fired from inside of the house." Tony explained.

"How many shots?" Jenny asked, pulling a notepad out of her back pocket.

"Three, first two missed but the third hit Gibbs in the shoulder, impact knocked him backwards and he hit his head pretty hard when he fell, he was unconscious when the EMT's got there." Tony replied, "Agent McGee stayed with him while Officer David and I looked for the shooter." He added, transforming into an agent rather than a concerned friend.

"Are they still there?" Ducky asked, removing his jacket and draping it over his arm.

"They're coordinating with base MP's to cordon off the neighbourhood and look for any sign of the shooter, as soon as I hear something about Gibbs I'll be going back." Tony replied, "I know I'm not Gibbs but my gut's telling me something's not right."

Jenny sighed and nodded, "the entire thing was a set up, your team was off rotation for today, I'm having Abby track exactly where the call came from, Agent Balboa's team is interviewing everyone in the com-centre to see if there's any way that someone made a mistake but I seriously doubt it, rules thirty-nine and forty."

"There's no such thing as a coincidence and if it seems like someone is out to get you, they are." Tony stated ominously, "I want our team to have lead on this." He added firmly.

"I agree but unfortunately after today it's no longer up to me," Jenny replied, "I was suspended this morning, in light of recent events SecNav has agreed to let me continue as director until Leon Vance arrives this evening, he's leaving LA as we speak."

"What do you mean suspended?" Tony asked in shock, only just barely remembering to keep his voice to a whisper in the crowded room.

"SecNav found out about the kids, he needs to investigate to be sure that I haven't been giving anyone any preferential treatment and until he can prove that I haven't, I can't do my job." Jenny replied.

"Do you think that has anything to do with what happened to Gibbs?" Tony asked, his mind racing.

"I've considered it, I tried calling SecNav to ask him who his informant was but he's in classified meetings all afternoon." Jenny replied.

"The kids?" Tony asked, his stomach dropping at the idea of someone hurting Kelly or Jake.

"I sent extra security over to the school to discreetly keep an eye on them, Ava is safe in the daycare." Jenny responded, "now that I'm here I want you to go back to the scene and make sure everything is being handled properly, I'm sure Agent McGee is more than capable but I want a Senior Agent there to make sure nothing gets lost or left out."

DiNozzo hesitated for a moment before nodding, "call me as soon as you hear something."

"I'll keep you updated." Jenny promised, "you call me if you find something."

"Is there anyone we need to contact?" Tony asked, the last time Gibbs had been in the hospital Jenny had handled all of the notification calls.

Jenny wracked her brain for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts before nodding, "Call Mike Franks, he'll want to know, and Fornell."

Tony made a face at the idea of having to talk to FBI Senior Agent Tobias Fornell but nodded before disappearing from the waiting room leaving Jenny and Ducky behind, Jenny took a seat on one of the hard chairs and ran her hands over her face, silently wishing she could turn back the clock.

"Everything will be alright my dear." Ducky assured her, even though he knew it sounded weak even to his own ears, "he always pulls through these things."

"He's not my main concern right now," Jenny muttered, "I'm worried about the three kids I have to explain this to." She explained when she realized how callous her statement sounded, "I'm worried about him but I'm more worried about the sixteen year old who has already lost him once, I can't tell her she's lost him again."

Ducky sat down beside her and rested a hand on her knee, "Kelly is a strong young woman my dear, I have no doubt in my mind that she will be able to handle whatever may happen, it may not be easy but she will push through it. There is no reason to worry about the worst case scenario right now, at least not until we talk to the doctors."

"I don't want to think about all the what ifs but I have to, Ducky." Jenny whispered, "I need to make sure I have every base covered right now, I have to make sure that no matter what it looks like I'm only acting as his boss but I also need to consider other aspects."

"You are trying to be three people at once." Ducky stated with a sad smile, "His boss, his partner and the mother of his children." He added when Jenny gave him a questioning look.

Jenny sighed, leaned her head against the back of the chair, and stared at the ceiling, "how am I going to do this alone?" She whispered, "How do I tell Kelly?"

"No matter what happens, and I seriously doubt that Gibbs will give up that easily after he's finally gotten everything he's ever wanted, you will never be alone my dear. You have three beautiful children who think you hung the moon and the stars and you are surrounded by a family who is more than ready to help you with those children."

N*C*I*S

Kelly eyed Jenny's car in the driveway wearily, neither Jenny or her father were supposed to be home until after five o'clock. She followed Jake up the front step listening to his happy chattering as she unlocked the front door to let them both in. Jenny's heels were on the doormat but her fathers were nowhere to be found.

"Is anyone home?" She called out, she kicked off her shoes and put them neatly on the mat before she made her way into the living room where she had heard Jenny's muffled 'in here'.

Jenny looked up from the laundry she was folding when she heard Jake come bounding into the living room, followed by a much more subdued Kelly.

"How was your first day at school?" Jenny asked, plastering what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face.

"It was so great! Ms. Thomson is really cool and I made a new friend, and my gym teacher said I was really good at soccer and that maybe I could try out for the team!" Jake exclaimed, as he tossed his backpack on the couch and flopped down beside it, almost knocking over the pile of folded laundry Jenny had made.

"That's great!" Jenny replied, quickly moving the pile of laundry out of the way, "I want to hear all about it but first why don't you go have a snack, I put a special treat out on the counter for you."

She had stopped at her favourite bakery on the way home to buy cookies, hoping they would distract Jake long enough for her to talk to Kelly.

"Awesome! Can I eat them in my room?" Jake asked, jumping up from the couch and grabbing his bag.

"Put them on a plate and don't make a mess." Jenny replied, "just don't be too loud, the baby is napping." She added.

She waited until he had grabbed his cookies and disappeared upstairs before turning to Kelly, the teen had taken a seat on the edge of the couch, her face void of emotion but her eyes were wary.

"How was you first day at school?" Jenny asked, trying her best to keep her voice sounding normal.

"Something happened, didn't it?" Kelly questioned, completely ignoring Jenny's question.

"What makes you say that?"

"There were agents at the school today, they were discreet but I recognized them, you're here and Dad's not and you're avoiding my question." Kelly stated, folding her hands in her lap, "plus I've had a bad feeling all day."

"You're just like your father." Jenny stated with a sigh, still amazed at how perceptive Kelly was, even to the smallest of details. "Something did happen today, your dad's team responded to call and things went badly, your dad took a shot to the shoulder, it was a through and through and missed any major organs, arteries and it missed his actual shoulder joint."

"But?" Kelly pushed.

"The force of the bullet knocked him down and he hit his head pretty hard." Jenny added, taking a deep breath as she tried to figure out how much more to tell the teen.

"Please don't sugar coat it to protect me, it'll just make things worse." Kelly whispered, suspecting exactly what Jenny was trying to do.

"There was some swelling in your Dad's brain from the fall, the doctors decided to put him in a medically induced coma so that his body can heal properly, he's stable but with this type of injury they can't know how bad the damage is until after he wakes up." Jenny explained.

Kelly took a deep breath and swallowed heavily before nodding, "what are his chances of a full recovery?"

"The doctors are fairly confident there isn't going to be any long term damage but they want us to be prepared that that may not be the case." Jenny replied honestly.

"Who's up there with him now?" Kelly asked, "he shouldn't be alone."

"He's not," Jenny assured her, "right now Ducky is up there probably talking his ear off, I'm going to need to go back up there tonight to talk to the doctors, Tony and Abby are going to come over to stay with Jake and Ava, you're more than welcome to join me but you don't have to."

Jenny didn't want Kelly to feel like she had to go up to the hospital, she would completely understand if Kelly wasn't comfortable with it. Jenny was a grown woman who had seen Gibbs in this condition before but it had still made her stomach drop and taken her breath away in all the wrong ways, she didn't want Kelly to go through that if she wasn't comfortable with it.

"I'll go with you if that's okay, I want to see him."

"That's more than okay but-"

"I know." Kelly cut her off quietly, she knew exactly what to expect, "I'll survive."

Well guys, eleventh chapter done, please remember I own nothing it all belongs to DPB! I really love to hear from you guys and reviews are always appreciated! Sorry for such a long wait, work and real life knocked me on my ass… Thank you guys so much for your patience! (Also I'm looking for a beta if anyone is interested?)

Thanks again!

~Katie