Gibbs wanted to run every stop sign and red light between their house and the hospital; but he knew better than that. Instead, he obeyed the speed limit and kept an eye in the rearview mirror on Maggie and Franklin.

Franklin had developed a cough now that hurt Gibbs when he heard it. Maggie had mentioned the word croup. He vaguely remembered Kelly having it when she was little, but of course he was overseas at the time and didn't know what it actually sounded like. Franklin sounded like a seal barking. When they finally got to the ER, Gibbs carried Franklin in and sat down in a chair in the waiting room while Maggie took care of the insurance information. Gibbs eyed the other people in the Emergency room. There were a couple of men who looked like they had been in a bar fight, a woman who was in some kind of withdrawal and a mother and father with their child. Maggie sat back down next to Gibbs and started to fill out the insurance papers.

"Did they say how long?" Gibbs asked; he wanted his son taken care of right away.

"Soon is all they said." Maggie answered as she filled out the forms.

By 3:45 a.m. Franklin was brought into a bed in the central ER. Basic work ups of temperature, blood pressure and checking his heart and lungs were done. Franklin's cough got worse and a nurse came in to put him on an oxygen mask.

At 4:20 a.m. a pediatrician came in and informed Maggie and Gibbs that Franklin did have the croup and that they would like to do a breathing treatment. Franklin was fussy about the treatment; he fought putting the breathing part of the machine in his mouth. Gibbs sat down on the bed and pulled Franklin into his lap and showed him what he had to do; Franklin finally put the tube in his mouth and rested his head on his father's chest and let the medicine do the work. Maggie just watched them, two of the most important people in her life. She watched as Gibbs held Franklin in his arms and kissed the top of his son's head. For the first time since Gibbs told her of his plans to step down, Maggie was really happy that he made his decision. He'd missed out on so much of Kelly's life, even moments like this, sitting with a sick child; holding him and telling him everything would be all right.

By 6:00 the doctor had said Franklin could go home and medicines were issued to help Franklin. Gibbs and Maggie had Franklin back in his bed, Bear tucked in his arms and Freckles allowed staying on the bottom of the bed by 8:00. Gibbs stood behind Maggie with his arms wrapped around her, his chin resting on the top of her head. Maggie closed her eyes and leaned back into Gibbs' embrace. She was emotionally and physically exhausted. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and get a couple of hours of sleep. Gibbs read her mind and was about to lead her back to their bedroom when a familiar buzzing was felt in his front pocket.

"Please tell me that is you and not your phone." Maggie whispered.

"If it's me, we have a problem." Gibbs took the phone out of his pocket and groaned. It was Vance.

Gibbs left the room and Maggie stayed; keeping watch over Franklin. He stirred in his sleep and Maggie lay down next to him, pulling him into her body to calm him.

"Yeah. Gibbs."

Gibbs listened to Vance on the other end of his phone as he paced in the bedroom. The bed looked really inviting; but now was not the time.

"Are you listening Gibbs?" Vance asked.

"Yeah. Let me shower and I'll be there." Gibbs clipped the phone shut and walked back into Franklin's room. He stood at the door and gave a small grin. Maggie was sound asleep next to Franklin. Gibbs grabbed the extra blanket off the top of Franklin's toy box and covered Maggie with it.

"I'm awake." Maggie started to say; but Gibbs leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Go back to sleep. I have to go into the office. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Gibbs took a quick shower, went back to check on Maggie and Franklin and then left for the office.

"Why did you not stay with Maggie and Franklin?" Ziva asked after Gibbs explained his unusual lateness.

Gibbs just looked at Ziva. Why didn't he just stay home? Well, he knew the answer. Vance told him there was a lead on the person who had been helping Misic and Gibbs wanted to put this chapter to bed so he could move on with his plans.

"Because I need him in MTAC." Vance answered from the stairs over the bullpen. "Ten minutes Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded and looked over at DiNozzo's desk. He lifted an eyebrow as he turned his attention to Ziva.

"He is down in the lab with Abby." Ziva answered. Gibbs picked up his coffee and went down to the lab.

Maggie wasn't sure how long she had been asleep. She heard the doorbell ringing and made her way downstairs. Looking through the glass on the door, she was surprised to see Senior and Madeleine standing there.

"Hello darling." Senior said when she opened the door. "Your brother called and told us about Franklin. You should have called earlier. We would have come right over."

Maggie was still sleep fogged and didn't understand what was going on.

"Tony, we should have called." Madeleine told her husband. "Now Maggie, what can I do for you? Can I get you some tea? Do you want to eat something? Your father and I brought some soup from a deli young Tony mentioned."

"Why don't you go have some tea and I'll go check on Franklin." Senior kissed Maggie on the cheek and went upstairs.

Maggie was still dumbfounded as she watched her father go up the stairs.

"Maggie, look at me." Madeleine put her hands on Maggie's shoulders. "You've been up all night haven't you?"

"We went to the Emergency room at 3. Got home around 8:30; 9:00. Then I fell asleep. What time is it now?"

"Close to noon. Now I'm not going to nag you, but we did come by to help. Why don't you go take a shower, I'll make some tea and warm up the soup." Madeleine had such a way with how she spoke, that it reminded her of her mother. The suggestion she was making sounded like a friendly suggestion, but it was an order. Not a mean do what you're told order but one someone makes when they know what you really need.

Maggie nodded, told Madeleine where to find what she needed in the kitchen and went up to take a shower. Madeleine was right; a shower made her feel much better and cleared the fog out of her head.

"Gibbs, I'm not saying you have to travel or put yourself in harm's way." Vance squared his shoulders as he looked Gibbs in the eyes. Vance saw the tiredness in his Senior Agent's eyes and remembered trips to the ER with Jackie and one of the kids. But there was a job that had to be done and Gibbs knew this too. "But I need you to do this and then you'll be done. You can take off time over the holidays and spend them with Maggie and Franklin and after the first of the year the new agent's will be starting."

Gibbs was between a rock and a hard place. The rock was Vance and the hard place Maggie. But he had no real choice. He nodded his head and walked out of MTAC.