Here it is, just like I promised! and now let's hope I can keep this up ;)

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Chapter 21: Explanations

The call hadn't taken long, it had been Tanner's doctor. The Commander had gone into cardiac arrest, after appearing to be stable the entire night. They had done everything they could, had tried to revive him several times, but they were unable to get him back. He had asked her if there was any family that needed to be informed, since they'd been unable to reach his next of kin quite yet.

Stunned, she'd told him that she would take care of that, telling him that his son deserved to hear this from someone in person.

After disconnecting the call, she looked over at the grandfather clock in the corner, it was only six am. Telling Zack probably could wait for another hour, she didn't want to disturb his sleep. She spent the hour refreshing herself and checking up on Jethro by calling Abby. Between Abby's rambles about Bert loving his new spot in Gibbs' bed and the creepy janitor that had walked through the hall the entire night glancing in the room every single time, she'd understood that there was still no change in Jethro's situation.

Even though she hadn't expected there to be much change overnight, there was a little piece of her heart that broke while hearing the news.

Jenny left a note for Noemi and left the house, her driver waiting for her and they left to bring a little boy awful news. From what she remembered from her conversation with the doctor, they'd called his next of kin, an old friend names Alan Masterson, earlier that night and they had informed him of his condition. Unfortunately Alan had been in Hawaii at the time, and wasn't scheduled to fly back until this morning. Maybe that was the reason why they'd been unable to reach him earlier.

She watched as they passed by the buildings and later on, the many trees. Jenny felt guilty for not calling Zack last night, she ruined the only chance that boy had to see his father alive. Even if he was in terrible shape. Maybe it was meant to be, a boy that age shouldn't be burdened with the sight of his beaten father as a last memory. Finally after what seemed like hours, but in reality had only been twenty minutes, they reached their destination.

The door opened, her driver held the handle while she got out of the car. Jenny took a deep breath as she looked at the building in front of her. This was it, she really had to do it. It wasn't like she'd told someone this bad news before, but it had never been someone she knew on a personal level. And she'd never given this kind of news to a child before either.

She walked up the steps to the front door where she was greeted by the assistant of the principal.

--

There was a knock on the door.

"Zachary Tanner, are you there?" The two boys inside the room looked at each other, wondering why their principal was knocking at their door this early in the morning. Classes hadn't even started yet. Zack felt a strange feeling in his stomach while he walked over to the door, but he opened it anyway. On the other side stood his principal, with a sad look on his face, and a redheaded woman, Gibbs' boss.

"Jenny!"

"Hello Zack, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jenny smiled at him, a little sadly,

"Sure."

The principal motioned for his roommate Ben to wait outside with him. As Ben left the room, Jenny entered. Zack sat down on his bed, and Jenny sat down on Ben's bed.

"I hope I didn't wake you?"

"No, I've been awake for almost an hour, we always get up around seven here. Did you find something about my father?"

Jenny was surprised by the flood of words that came out of the boy's mouth. For a small version of Gibbs, he certainly seemed to talk a lot. She saw the concerned look on the boy's face, and she knew she had to tell him the bad news, even though it broke her heart. He deserved to know.

"Zack, I am really sorry. We found your dad. And he was in the hospital."

"I already knew that, Uncle Alan, Dad's friend told me."

"I know honey, but I'm afraid the bad men hurt your daddy so very badly that his heart couldn't take it anymore. The doctors tried their best to save him, but they couldn't get his heart to start again. I'm so very sorry. He.. has gone to heaven."

She watched as the realization of the news hit him. He looked down at his lap. Playing with his fingers. Then his voice sounded so very softly that it took Jenny every strength she had not to burst into tears herself.

"So.. he died? He's with mom now?"

"Yes he is." Jenny sat down next to the little boy, and pulled him into an embrace. "I'm sure of it."

After being silent for a few minutes, Zack had asked her if he could visit Gibbs. She was amazed that the small boy hadn't cried yet, and she felt herself unable to say no to him. On their way to Bethesda, she observed him as he looked out of the window. It had started to rain. How fitting.

When they took the last turn, and could see the hospital clearly, she knew she had to prepare him. Knowing that seeing Gibbs hurt was going to be difficult for Zack.

"Jethro is very tired and might not look very well, but I'm sure he'll be very glad to see you." She smiled at the boy, encouragingly. She guided the boy into the hospital. Hoping that he'd be able to open up to Gibbs.

--

They entered the hospital room, and quietly closed the door when they noticed that Gibbs was still asleep. Zack sat down in the chair next to the bed and Jenny pulled another next to it. Zack slipped his hand under Gibbs' and Jenny could see that the small boy was trying his best to stay brave.

"Do you want something to drink Zack? Maybe some hot chocolate?"

Zack smiled at her, she could tell it was not a real smile, but she nodded and left the room. With one last look through door, she hoped that this would give the boy a chance to open up.

When he heard the sound of Jenny's heels die away he finally let the tears fall from his eyes. He continues to cry until there are no tears left, softly muttering "It's not fair." He suddenly he felt a bit exhausted. And with the thought that he had to ask Jenny if he could see his father, he fell asleep with his head on the side of Gibbs' bed.

He heard the sobs first, mixed with something spoken, but he couldn't identify what exactly the voice was saying. Then he felt hair brush against the back of his hand, and a small hand under his own. Slowly, and with slight difficulty he opened his eyes. Seeing the head of his mini-me. Or whatever Abby used to call him. He raised his hand to softly stroke his hair. After a few minutes, Jenny entered. With in her hands, two cups of coffee. Well, at least one cup.

"Jetho, you're awake!"

He lifted his other hand sign her to be quiet as he motioned to the boy at the side of the bed. Jenny nodded, but the smile on her face grew. She quickly put the cups away and leaned over to kiss him. It was just a short peck, but he could feel her love warming him once again.

"I was so scared that you wouldn't wake up."

"I couldn't leave you here now, could I." She smiled at him once again, but then turned her head to the boy, and her smile disappeared .

"Commander Andrew Tanner died last night."

On the list of things he wasn't expecting to hear right now, that was pretty high. "What happened?"

Jenny glanced at Zack, making sure that he was still asleep. "They beat him, and dumped him here, he was still alive, but later that night, he had a heart attack and they couldn't revive him."

"Has Zack seen him yet?"

"No, I was going to take him down there later."

"I'm coming with you."

"Jethro, you just woke up, you should be taking it easy. "Jenny looked at him, worried, but he took her hand in his and looked into her eyes. "I have to do this."

She nodded, knowing that the boy, sleeping next to them meant the world to him. Then she voiced something she'd been worrying about the entire night.

"I wonder who is going to take care of Zack now."

"What about that friend of his father's?"

"A single man, who is still in service? Not the most brilliant position to take care of a young boy."

"His father did it." Jenny sighed, deciding to let this conversation rest for a while when she noticed that Zack was stirring awake.

"Gibbs, you woke up."

"Yeah, I did. I was sorry to hear about your dad, Zack."

Zack gave him another forced smile, "thank you". Then he remembered his earlier question and turned to Jenny. "can I go see my dad?"

"Sure. And tell you what, we'll come with you."

And this time, Jenny was sure that it was a real smile that graced the boy's face as he looked at the two of them.