Author's Note: I'm tired. Two-thirty A.M., and lack of sleep for the entire week. My sister had her kid the day of her baby shower two weeks ago, by the way.

I don't own much. Ted, Caplin, La Grenouille's nephew, the goons... That's it..

--

It was rare Leroy Jethro Gibbs was left speechless. Sure, there were plenty of times when people said something that would shock any normal person and Gibbs wouldn't speak, but that was because he was a man of few words. He believed that his actions spoke much louder than his words. And his actions usually ended with a murderer getting shot. This surprise, however, truly left him speechless. Gibbs stared at his friend, mouth slightly open instead of gaping, a mix of anger, surprise and disbelief evident in his face. Ducky fidgeted, avoiding looking Gibbs in the eye. He didn't even try to hide his shame in himself.

"...Jenny is..." Gibbs started, words faltering. Ducky nodded, awaiting the explosion from Gibbs. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Jethro, Jennifer faked her death on her own accord. She wished to protect us all; She wanted to protect you most of all," Ducky started, his voice low and careful. "She believed you would be safest if she left. Both of us thought it would be easiest and safest for all involved if no one was to know," He paused. "Her disease also may have contributed to her decision. She believes, or at least did believe last time I saw her, this was the only way for her to receive medicine. She believed she was being hunted for it, Jethro."

"Then you should have put her in a mental hospital or a therapist's office, Duck!" Gibbs barked angrily. "You can come back from crazy, you can't come back from death!"

"I did not betray you, Jethro-" Ducky started, before being cut off by Gibbs.

"I never said you did!"

"-But you feel it," Ducky stated. Gibbs narrowed his eyes, unwilling to admit he did, in fact, feel betrayed. Betrayed by Jenny for this... This conspiracy, betrayed by Ducky for allowing her to carry on her scheme, and betrayed by Tony for not telling him. Hell, Gibbs felt like he betrayed himself for not realizing sooner. "I was trying to protect you, as Jenny wanted." Gibbs opened his mouth to interject, but Ducky stopped him. "I was trying to protect you from a broken heart. You loved her, and it hurt you when she died. I knew it would be much worse if you discovered she was alive, so I didn't tell you, and I told her to not come back!"

"And what did you plan for when I found out?!" Gibbs demanded from Ducky. Tony stood forgotten off to the side, feeling awkward. He didn't belong in this conversation. Slowly, he attempted to edge towards the door. "One more inch, DiNozzo, and I'll rip your arm off!" Gibbs yelled, not even bothering to look behind him,

"Got it, Boss!" Tony said weakly, wondering how Gibbs knew... Oh, wait. He's Gibbs. He knew almost everything. Ducky ignored the short exchange between the two field agents and answered Gibbs' question.

"I planned for pretty much this very conversation, minus Anthony of course, and get the body bags ready for the deadly fight that would inevitably be the result!" Ducky huffed.

"What, you think we're going to shoot each other?!" Gibbs growled.

"No-"

"Boss, Jenny is in trouble," Tony interjected. Both Gibbs and Ducky whipped around to look at Tony, waiting for him to continue. "The C.I.A. replaced La Grenouille with his nephew for Operation Lodestone, and Froggy Junior holds a grudge against her. He apparently sends a lot of expandable goons after her every few days. Kort wants her dead too, for some reason, and they know she's at my apartment. The bastard already went after her the day before she came to me, and she pretty much beat the crap out of him, and then he broke into my apartment earlier. My guess is he left for backup." Tony reported. Gibbs glared at his senior field agent.

"And you just left her alone?!" He demanded. Tony, taken aback, stuttered out a response.

"I- I gave her a gun- I was pissed off, so I sorta- She can take care of herself-"

"You're an idiot!" Gibbs said coolly, before storming out of Autopsy.

"I just can't win, can I?" Tony asked Ducky, before running after Gibbs. "On your six, Boss!" He barely reached the elevator before the doors almost closed. Gibbs slipped his hand between the closing doors, making them open. Tony grinned appreciatively at Gibbs, who just rolled his eyes. They rode the elevator up to Abby's lab. The doors opened to blaring music and Abby standing expectantly.

"Gibbs! Tony!" She yelled, grabbing each one by their wrists, and dragged them into her lab. "Tony isn't crazy! They match! The finger prints match! Jenny's-"

"-Alive." Gibbs finished, shaking her off. Feeling dejected, Abby frowned and nodded. "The genius here," He said bitterly, jabbing his thumb in Tony's direction, "Left her alone with a bunch of murderous creeps after her, knowing where she is." Tony just looked away from Abby, expecting her to be angry.

"We have to save her, don't we?" McGee asked tentatively, standing in the doorway. Ziva stood next to him, glaring at Tony. Gibbs looked at his younger field agent.

"I am, it's your choice to if you get mixed up in this mess," He stated. Tony sighed.

"I have to. It's my fault..." He couldn't help but think of L.A. If he did a better job there, she wouldn't have faked her death, and they wouldn't be here. Briefly, Jenny's empty face flickered across his mind. When she was dead. He couldn't let her die twice...!

"I'll help," Ziva said tersely, still glaring at Tony. McGee looked at his teammates.

"Count me in," He decided. Abby was about to chime in with a similar statement, before Gibbs stopped her with a glare. He wouldn't let Abby get mixed up in this.

--

Soon after Trent Kort called the cartel for backup, almost everyone in Tony's apartment building was evacuated for emergency bug spraying. A group of about six burly men knocked on each door, yelling about how there were nasty termites and everyone needed to get out as soon as possible. They purposely skipped Tony's floor, before finally walking down, knocking on doors.

"Yo, you need to get out soon, ma'am. Bring your kids and any pets, too. 'Mergency bug killing. I know you ain't got no notice, but damn, you'll die from the fuckin' fumes if you don't get the hell out now!" Echoed down the hall as they slowly progressed to the last four doors. One man knocked on the second-to-last on one side, and Ted came out.

"Ready?" He asked, looking around.

"Almost, Ted-o. Two more doors," One of the six men said, before banging on the door next to Ted's apartment, yelling at the resident to leave immediately. A scared man scurried away and out the building from the apartment. Another went and knocked on the door across from Ted.

"Yo! Get the hell out! Fumigation!" He yelled. When there was no response, he yelled louder. And louder. And louder.

"Caplin probably ain't here," Ted concluded. If he bothered to look through the peephole, he could have seen her passed out drunk on the floor, in an uneasy sleep. Finally, the seven men's eyes landed on Anthony DiNozzo's door.

"Do we kill her yet?" One asked, quietly.

"No," Kort said, emerging from the apartment. He noted that several of the men carried tanks of liquids, and he could smell the gasoline from where he stood. "We need to wait for NCIS to try and save her, so we can kill them, too. Are you going to set this building ablaze?"

"Hell yeah," One man shook a tank. "This place is going up in flames, NCIS bastards in all."

--

Author's Note: It's short. Sorry. I need to write longer chapters. This one feels off to me, but I'm 50% asleep at the moment... Oh; Jenny didn't tell Tony she killed The Frog and that's why Kort is after her, if you were wondering. Please review.