AU: Thanks for the reviews, glad your all enjoying this. To answer some of the comments. Kelly's name - will be explained later on. Gibbs is definitely interested in the why I promise you, some of the why will be answered shortly, but for now he has more important matters to deal with than the bigger WHY. Enjoy next chapter:
Gibbs was furious, he couldn't believe the man he'd been trying to solve the death of, had been responsible for causing his family so much pain. He looked down at his girl, who was now silent, she wasn't even crying, but he knew she wanted to. She was trying to be strong & it pained him that she had to be THAT strong.
He then shot a look over at Nix, to see how he was coping, he had taken a seat, looking obviously shocked by what his sister had just said. Gibbs moved over to him & put his hand on his son's shoulders to support him.
"It'll be ok, we'll sort this out Nix" Gibbs said gently & then remembering something Tony had said, moved back over to Kelly.
"Ahh, Kel, sweetheart. Did you hit him because of that?" Gibbs asked, he wasn't mad he just wanted to know.
"I was angry very angry, but no, I didn't hit him because of that. I did say a few choice words, probably enough to fill the swear jar up, but no, I didn't hit him for that."
Gibbs gave an internal chuckle at the memory of the swear jar, Shannon had introduced it when Kelly was 2, more for him than her, so that he would keep his language in check around her. He was also proud that she didn't do anything rash, he probably would have knocked him out.
"He said that he had had enough of the lies & when he saw me the previous week at the centre & recognised me that enough was enough & he wanted to put things straight & clear his conscious. He said, that when it started all those years ago he was just trying to clear a debt he had with Mac, but one thing lead to another & as he got further into it he just couldn't get out. He said he was the one who organised the bodies that took our places and that he knew you were still alive" Kelly said, not taking her eyes off her father.
"M…..Mac, that bastard, son of a bitch!" Gibbs barked, taking Kelly a little by surprise..
"Who's Mac?" McGee asked carefully.
"Our grandfather McGee" Nix answered with a very harsh tone, clearly there was no love lost in that relationship.
"The note Rooney left said something about being sorry for not saying yes last night?" Ziva asked gently.
That startled Kelly, he was now sorry for saying no? A bit late she thought!
She was still leaning against Ziva's desk, with her father rubbing her back. She knew she couldn't go through the next part that close to him, so she stood up and put a few steps between them.
Gibbs wasn't oblivious to this & wondered why she was doing that, clearly he thought, there was more pain to come and she was trying to distance herself from him for some reason.
"After he told me… well, what he said. I put a few pieces together that didn't make sense earlier." Kelly said, she was now looking at her brother. "Nix, I'm sorry, I'm soo sorry, but I didn't have a choice back then."
Nix was confused, trying to understand what his sister meant, then he realised.
"Mum…. Mum isn't dead?" Nix said half in shock, half in anger.
Kelly shook her head, not being able to say anything. Everyone was stunned, again.
Kelly was looking between her brother and father, both looked utterly shocked & confused.
"When I turned 21, mum made a deal with Mac, I didn't understand it at first. But she said that it was what was needed & that I couldn't argue. She said that I had to take you & go live our lives free of him & that she would stay with him. I tried to argue, said I couldn't raise a 13 year old boy and she had to come with us, but she wouldn't hear it, she even invoked rule F1." Kelly said, she wasn't crying but just about. She was leaning against the wall with her hands over her face.
Gibbs walked slowly over to her & took her by the shoulders "Kelly sweetheart, if mum used F1, she had her reasons, you did what she asked, like you were supposed to" Gibbs now brought her into a embrace & was cradling her.
Nix had again taken a seat unsure what exactly was going on. Ducky was being a "grandfather" and was rubbing his back.
"F1, what you reckon that is?" Tony said quietly to Ziva.
"Family Rule 1: mum or dad have the power to evoke veto over any situation without opposition, if its an emergency situation." Nix said quietly.
Everyone looked at each other. Tony thought, Geez Gibbs has rules for everything!
AU: New set of rules revealed or ones never spoken about? Shannon is alive, but where is she?
