Chapter 11
"McGee is going back to the lab to go over evidence with Abby, Ziva is staying with Tony," Jenny said, hanging up her phone. Even though Gibbs was driving, she was very at ease in the car. Gibbs didn't answer; he was too busy trying to dodge the traffic.
"Turn here," Jenny said, pointing. "I can't believe that in even in ten years your driving style hasn't changed a bit."
"Ha," Gibbs replied. "Alright, we're here. Let's go."
They got out of the car and headed towards the house. The rest of the street was empty.
They got to the door and saw that it was already open. Walking inside, Gibbs motioned for Jenny to take one side while he took the other. "Clear!" he called once he had checked the kitchen.
"Jethro!"
Gibbs ran towards where Jenny had called from. He found her kneeling next to the body of Phillip Remington. "He's been shot." Jenny said, looking over at Gibbs.
"They found his blood at the shed scene. One of us probably hit him," Gibbs said. Jenny froze when there was a noise from upstairs. "I'll check it out," Gibbs said. "You call Ducky." Jenny pulled out her phone as Gibbs made his way upstairs and into a bedroom.
Sophie was sitting on the bed, hands behind her back and a piece of tape over her mouth. "Oh, God," Gibbs said, rushing forwards to her. He pulled off the tape and began working on her hands.
"I'm…..," Gibbs began, but he didn't know how to introduce himself. Did she know he was her father?
"Daddy," Sophie said. Gibbs looked towards the door.
"Jenny!" he yelled.
Jenny came running up the stairs. "Sophie!" she exclaimed. She helped Gibbs untie Sophie's hands and pulled her into a hug. Gibbs sat down against the bed, watching the mother and daughter reunite.
Twenty minutes later Ducky and McGee were at the scene. Gibbs was leaning against his car, drinking the coffee that McGee had bought for him.
While Ducky began checking Sophie over, Jenny went over to Gibbs. "We found her."
"Yeah. We did," he replied. He looked at her. "Sophie knew who I was."
"She's seen photos the photos of us in Positano," Jenny explained.
"She saw me the other day when you brought her into NCIS. She didn't say anything."
"I told her not to. She does anything I tell her to," Jenny said.
"Good kid."
Jenny smiled. "She's like you. Stubborn sometimes, but really knows when to do the right thing. She-" Jenny began, but she was interrupted by Ducky, who had appeared next to Gibbs.
"Everything alright Duck?"
"Sophie needs her medication, and fast. She's having extreme difficulty with moving."
"I'll take her to the hospital," Jenny said, walking off towards Sophie.
Ziva stood facing the wall, and dialled Gibbs's number on her phone. "Gibbs? Anything new?"
"Got Sophie. Jenny's taking her to the hospital now."
"She's injured?"
"No, just needs her medication. She has a muscle disorder," Gibbs explained briefly, not wanting to get into the details at that moment.
"I'll go tell Tony," Ziva said, hanging up.
"Update?" Tony said from the bed.
"Sophie's alright. Jenny's taking care of her," Ziva replied.
"Can you pass me my water? I would do it myself, but my wound here prevents it," Tony asked, giving Ziva a begging look. Smirking, she obliged.
"Tony!" came a loud voice from the door. Abby had appeared. "Are you alright? What did the doctor say? Are you gonna be able to come back to work? Just field work or will you be stuck at your desk?"
"Abby, I'm fine," Tony said. Ziva snorted and took his water away from him. "Hey!"
"Get it yourself if you're so fine," she replied. "I'm going to go into the office for a while. You two be good."
"Bye," Abby said, putting down her bag. While Abby's attention was diverted, Tony grabbed Ziva's hand and pulled her in for a quick kiss on the cheek. Grinning, Ziva left the room.
Jenny was in the kitchen, making some coffee. She was in desperate need of caffeine after the last couple of days. Sophie was upstairs in her bedroom, having had her medication at the hospital. She kept on falling asleep in the car on the way home, so Jenny sent her straight to bed when they got home.
The doorbell rang. Taking a quick sip of her drink, Jenny went through to the foyer and answered the door. "Hi."
"How is she?"
"She's fine," Jenny replied, but she could tell he didn't believe her. "Really, Jethro, she's fine. She's upstairs sleeping. Come see for yourself."
"Jen, I-"
"Come on," Jenny said impatiently, closing the door. She grabbed his hand and led him upstairs. When they came to the door, she opened it quietly and allowed Gibbs to see what was inside.
Sophie was fast asleep under the covers, hugging her pillow. Her long hair was fanned out on her pillow and a book lay abandoned on the floor.
"She gets that from me."
"What?" Gibbs whispered back.
"Reading when she should be sleeping," Jenny replied, remembering her first night after she was made Director of NCIS; she was going over paperwork late at night when Gibbs had arrived to take her out on a mission.
"She seems like a strong kid."
Jenny closed the door and looked at Gibbs. "What do you mean?"
"After you got shot when we in the Czech Republic, and we couldn't get you to a hospital for over a day, you were still doing everything normally. I know this isn't the same thing," Gibbs said as Jenny opened her mouth to protest. "But this just reminded me of that."
"I want you to be part of her life now. I now how good you are with kids. I shouldn't have denied you that opportunity before now, but now that you know it could be a good thing."
"Jenny, I don't know-"
"Jethro, she is your daughter. I've seen the way you looked at the children that NCIS has to care for. Zach, Carson, you even treated Maddie as your own. I know she isn't a child, but you were there for her like a parent would be. Please, Sophie is your daughter," Jenny almost pleaded. Gibbs ran his hand over his face.
"I'll see what I can do."
Jenny stood up on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she said. She began making her way down the stairs, followed by Gibbs.
"Can I have my coffee now?"
Gibbs grinned. "Sure."
Eight days later…..
It was midnight. Ziva was sitting in her apartment, finishing up some paperwork.
The Remington case was closed. The software was found in the house that Sophie had been found in, Charlotte was able to come out of the Witness Protection Program altogether, and Ducky had confirmed that Remington had died from a gunshot to the arm, the bullet of which had come from Jenny's gun. "Justice," Jenny had said.
After everything was solved, Jenny had McGee and Ziva all meet in Tony's hospital room and revealed to them the secrets about Sophie, about her medical condition and Gibbs being her father. All three agents had been shocked, but grew to accept it. Jenny had spared them the intimate details about her and Gibbs's relationship in Paris, but they all got the general picture.
Ziva was just closing up a folder when there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" she called, getting up off the couch.
"It's me!"
"Who is 'me'?" she replied with curiosity. She opened the door and Tony was leaning against her doorframe. "Tony!"
"Hi," he replied, walking inside as she stepped out of the way.
Once she had closed the door, she went over to where he was sitting on the couch. "When did you get discharged?"
"This afternoon. I was with Gibbs and Jenny at her house for a while. They kicked me out after a few hours. Something about the three of them going to a movie. Quality family time," he added. "Then I went to my apartment for bit, then I came here. Surprise!" he said, throwing his arms out wide.
"So you're alright? You'll be coming back to work?" Ziva said, barely managing to conceal her enthusiasm.
"Yeah. I'm back," he said. Ziva leaned over and kissed him.
"That's fantastic," she said when they broke apart. Tony looked at her with a very serious look on his face. "What?" she asked.
"Can we go on our date now?"
