Abby squinted, straining her eyes, as she peered up into the darkness searching for the drain plug. The amount of negligent rust and dirt somehow didn't surprise her. It wasn't like Gibbs wasn't able and capable to keep up with such menial tasks. She just knew the man didn't always think to place much priority on it. Abby readjusted her safety goggles and straightened the headlight on her forehead, forcing ill thoughts from her head and focusing on the job in front of her. She refused to grumble about the job because she was choosing to do it out the kindness of her heart. She wanted to help Gibbs. She felt useful when she could be helpful, especially now that she wasn't able to do her job at NCIS. And even more so now because of how much she had let the man down and basically screwed up her entire life.

"Abbs, what the heck are you doing under there?"

Abby startled, nearly smacking her head on the metal above her. She recognised the voice from above her but chose to ignore it anyway as she used her hand to brush off the dirt above her. She didn't feel like talking with anyone at the moment.

"Abbs?" The voice persisted.

Abby used the wrench in her hand to bang around feeling triumphant when she finally found the oil drain plug. Just as she fastened the wrench to the screw, she felt strong hands latch to her ankles and pull her out from under the car. She blinked as the direct sunlight hit her eyes.

"Timmy!" Abby sat up, annoyance written all over her face. "Why'd you do that? Can't you see that I'm changing the oil on Gibbs' car."

Tim glared at her. "Of course, I can see that. My question is why? And do you know where the girls are at this exact moment?"

Abby returned the glare, lay back down and started to roll back under the car. "In the treehouse."

Tim stopped her with his foot. "Abby, where is Gibbs?"

"NCIS."

Abby rolled harder until she felt the creeper bump overtop of Tim's foot and back under the car.

Tim grimaced and cried out in pain. "Ouch! Abby, stop that!" He reached out and pulled Abby out from under the car again.

Abby sat up again and sighed. "What's your problem, Timmy?"

"First of all, the girls are not in the treehouse. I just pulled them apart and sat them on a time out. Abby, they were having a food fight in the kitchen. Second of all, how did Gibbs get to NCIS if you have his car?" Tim placed his hands on his hips, looking exasperated. "You should be keeping a better eye on those two girls, not changing oil."

Abby stood up, feeling her heart rate increase and wiping her dirty hands on the blue coveralls she'd managed to dig up in Gibbs' garage. "Oh boy, did they make a big mess?"

"If you call dumping cereal and milk all over the floor a big mess, then yes!"

Abby groaned and started to rush towards the house, but Tim stopped her by gently grabbing her arm.

"Abby, you didn't answer my question."

Abby yanked herself away roughly. "What question?"

"How did Gibbs get to work if you have his car?"

"I brought his car home."

Tim looked confused. "How? Does Gibbs know?"

Abby pulled off her goggles and headlight, feeling annoyed by Tim's questions. "He didn't need to know. The oil hasn't been changed in his car since 1983. I was doing him a favour and plan to return his car before he even realises it's gone."

Tim shook his head deciding to give up his questioning. Abby tossed him an annoyed glance and continued walking towards the house. Once inside the kitchen, Abby gasped at the mess that assaulted her. Tim came in behind her and shut the door. Tears filled Abby's eyes as she took in the jumbled disorder of what used to be Gibbs' kitchen. One thing Abby knew about herself is that being a domestic engineer was not her strength at all. As much as she tried to keep abreast of things, the more she found herself being drawn to other things more captivating to her. Taking care of the girls, cooking, cleaning and all things that went with that was making her crazy and miserable.

"How do you expect to keep an eye on Nessie and Aimee if you're under Gibbs car, Abbs?" The scolding tone was evident.

Abby shook her head, blinking back tears and not wanting Tim to see how upset she was. She needed to keep herself together for Gibbs and for the girls. They needed her. Besides, Abby knew deep down that she more than owed Gibbs for letting her stay with him. She had messed up her life and she already felt like she had let Gibbs down enough. All she wanted to do was ease his burden and help make things run smoothly. She'd lost her life. Her dream job. She'd screwed up beyond repair. People had died because of her carelessness. The weight of that guilt was becoming paralyzing to her. Stuffing it down under hundreds of chores and responsibilities was supposed to help but instead, it just seemed to make everything catapult out of her control.

Squabbling in the other room alerted Abby to the fact that Aimee and Janessa still needed to be dealt with, and the kitchen still needed to be cleaned up as well. Abby was beginning to feel like she was drowning. Emotions began to wash over her in waves until sobs erupted from her. She put her hand over her mouth and tried to choke back the tears.

"Hey, Abby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so cross with you," said Tim, immediately looking remorseful and uncomfortable. "Please don't cry."

Sobs racked Abby's shoulders. So many feelings, memories, and emotions hit her all at once and she felt her legs go weak beneath her. Just as she thought she might fall, she felt Tim's strong arms wrap around her and pull her close.

"Abby, it's okay."

Abby shook her head. "N-no, it's not! It's never going to be okay ever again, Timmy."

Tim pulled her in close to his chest and held her tightly as she sobbed. As he held her, her head was flooded with so many rushing thoughts. All the poor decisions she'd made over the past few years came to the forefront of her mind, piercing her heart; everything hit her at once…every irresponsible little decision that had led her to where she was now. Starting with how she'd duped herself into trusting Fagan to be her friend. How much more stupid could she get? Then casually disregarding rules and regulations thinking she knew better. Cutting corners and breaking small procedures in the name of working at home, thinking it wouldn't matter and no one would know. Again, thinking she knew better than her superiors. All of the stupid carelessness decisions which lead up to the Percy family being murdered and endangering Janessa and Aimee's lives. Then the attempted rape: she could not even begin to deal with her emotions over that misery. And how did she cope? By pushing everyone away and making everyone think she was fine despite everything crumbling apart around and inside her.

Abby choked back a few more heart-wrenching sobs as Tim continued to hold her and try to offer some awkward comfort to her. Abby's heart clenched in her chest as the most painful thing of all registered in her mind. Gibbs. The man she loved like a father. The man she always wanted to be proud of her. As she saw his cobalt blue eyes in her mind, her heart ached so much she thought it would burst in her chest. She just knew that he didn't trust her anymore and maybe even hated her. The guilt and overwhelming despair just enveloped her like a dark curtain of fog, pulling her down so deep she didn't think she would be able to draw another breath.

"Abby, please, talk to me!"

Abby shook her head. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She just wanted to disappear and forget about life…forget about everything she'd done and hope everyone would forgive her.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Tony paced outside Jenny Shepard's office. His face was pale and his palms were sweaty. Gibbs had called him over a half hour ago to meet with him in MTAC but the man hadn't showed up. One of the other agents told him that Fornell and Gibbs were still held up in the director's office and the tensions were running past high to near murderous. It was no secret to most at NCIS that there was no love lost between the FBI agent and Gibbs. Tony raked a damp palm through his hair as he gave Cynthia, Jenny's secretary, a sympathetic glance. Most people thought Gibbs and Fornell hated each other, but Tony knew that it was a ruse. He knew Gibbs well enough to know that in actuality, Fornell and Gibbs were as close of friends as any two old coots could be. They had a lot on common, including an ex-wife. The two had a bond, albeit a very strange, oddly weird bond, but the two were friends all the same. The shouting and harsh words were very disconcerting, to say the least. Tony didn't like it one bit. Cynthia looked extremely uncomfortable and almost anxious.

"It's almost lunch. I don't think the director would mind if you took an extended lunch break, uh, I mean considering the mitigating circumstances."

Cynthia looked up at him and chewed her lip.

"I heard the director might not even make it in until later this afternoon," continued Tony, seeing the woman's growing discomfort.

Cynthia nodded still looking uncertain, but then grabbed her purse and left the room without a word.

Tony felt himself relax somewhat once the woman left the outer office area. He resumed his pacing feeling less inhibited. It had felt somewhat strange to continue worrying and pacing while he was being watched. Now he felt free to stomp his feet, grind his teeth and even groan a little without fear of someone thinking he'd lost his mind. Tony did stomp his foot and as added emphasis smacked his fist on the desk out of pure frustration.

"DiNozzo, would you cut that out and get your ass in here already!" shouted Gibbs.

Tony spun on his heel to see that Gibbs was standing at the door glaring at him. He immediately straightened up, adjusted his suit jacket and entered the room. A part of him felt like shielding his heinie as he scurried past Gibbs, but he stuffed the strange instinct down and turned to face the two men in the room. Fornell was sitting at the conference table sipping his coffee, his legs crossed looking much more relaxed than Tony imagined he'd be. Gibbs, on the other hand, looked fit to be tied. That surly expression made Tony's anxiety level jump several notches.

Fornell stood to his feet. "There isn't much else I can say, Gibbs-"

"The hell you can't, Fornell! You think you can drop a loaded bombshell like that in my lap and just waltz out of here unscathed?" Gibbs' voice was deadly low.

"It's never been up to me, Jethro. I'm sorry."

Fornell glanced at Tony and then back to Gibbs. Tony furrowed his brow trying to read the expression on the man's face, but he couldn't quite put it into words. The older man was calm yet his eyes looked disheartened. Almost like he'd given up hope, which is Tony's mind was next to impossible. Gibbs wasn't a quitter and in all the years Tony had known and worked for the man, Gibbs had never given up hope in anything or anyone.

Gibbs heaved a loud sigh and walked up to Fornell. Tony gasped in spite of himself, almost expecting Gibbs to hand the guy his teeth but instead, Gibbs held out his hand.

"I'm sorry too. Tell Emily that I haven't forgotten my promise to take her out for bubble gum ice cream."

Fornell shook Gibbs' outstretched hand with a small, strained smile. He nodded silently and left the room shutting the door quietly behind him.

Tony turned away and stared at the wall for a minute, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was at a loss for words in the moment. He'd spent the better part of a half hour pacing and listening to the two men angrily banter back and forth with one another. He hadn't expected the altercation to turn out amicably.

"How-" began Tony.

"Sit down, DiNozzo."

Tony sat. He watched Gibbs pace to the farthest part of the room, stop, place his hands on his hips and bend partially forward at the hips. Tony inhaled deeply not evening daring to know what was going on inside his boss's head.

"Boss?"

Gibbs shook his head.

Tony was silent.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs forced himself to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth, slowly calming his heart rate down. He was thankful that hypertension did not run in his family because he was pretty confident that he would have had a coronary by now. He'd had the carpet pulled out from underneath him more times than he could count in his life and he felt certain this wouldn't be the last, however, this time, he'd allowed himself to get too personally involved.

"Damn it," he muttered.

"Boss?"

Gibbs closed his eyes and shook his head, hoping Tony would allow him a few more minutes to process his thoughts. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Tony was extremely on edge and feeling his uneasiness in his spirit as well. Finally, after almost biting clean through his bottom lip, Gibbs turned to face Tony with a grim expression on his face.

"What do you know about David Brody?"

Tony frowned. "FBI Brody?"

Gibbs nodded.

"Not too much to be honest. He's the director of the Bureau. He calls the shots in most cases. His reputation precedes him or so I've heard."

Gibbs walked slowly towards Tony with a pained expression on his face.

"I've only met the guy once in all my years at NCIS and that was before he made director. It wasn't a good experience."

Tony lifted a brow in interest but remained silent.

"He pulled rank on a case that was clearly NCIS and the director at the time bowed to it. Pissed me off to no end. After that, I refused to give the time of day to the bastard. If we have to work with the FBI, they send me Fornell. Him, I can stomach."

Tony bit back a smirk. "So what's Brody got to do with anything?"

"He's Aimee's father." There was no point in mincing words at this point. Gibbs cut straight to the chase.

Tony's brows disappeared into his hairline. "What?"

Gibbs walked to the end of the conference table and leaned on it with his hands facing Tony, his steel blue eyes shimmering in the light.

"Fornell's hands were tied; he had no jurisdiction to say anything. As much as I'd like to place the blame on him, I can't. He was away on vacation with his kid when everything blew up and he had no idea we had Aimee in our custody."

"Whoa, wait, Boss. I'm still stuck on Aimee being Brody's daughter? If he's FBI and in charge of this whole operation, then why the hell didn't he get his kid out a long time ago?"

"The million dollar question," muttered Gibbs, pounding his fists on the table.

Tony jumped in spite of himself.

"According to Fornell, Brody has been spearheading the trafficking ring for years even before he was appointed director. He's been the eyes and ears of the whole damned MS-13 situation for eons."

"That doesn't explain why he let his own kid be a target."

Gibbs felt the anger grow in his chest. "Son of a bitch has no attachment to Aimee. He left her mother before she was even born."

"He knew about her?

"He denies he did, but Fornell says he's full of it."

"That makes no sense. Aimee talks about her father like she knows him personally. She was freaking out wanting to be with Andrew because he promised to take her to her father."

"Andrew worked for Adderley and was getting his Intel from him."

"Adderley? Are we talking about the same guy here, Boss?"

Gibbs nodded. "One and the same. Frank Adderley. He's has been working undercover as the captain of the DCPD."

Tony's jaw dropped, muttering out loud more to himself than to Gibbs. "We've worked alongside that guy for years."

Gibbs huffed. "I know." Gibbs cursed under his breath. "Aimee was just a pawn. Brody wanted answers to bringing down the Cartel and the trafficking ring. Andrew was only given minute details regarding Aimee's father. He had no clue it was Brody. Fornell said the guy was already in over his head in other corruptions. It's been like some kind of crazy hierarchy thing where no one knew who was calling the shots or who the guy was above him"

"Let me guess: dirty cop blackmailing dirty cop blackmailing dirty cop?"

Gibbs grimaced, not wanting to get into too much detail. His temper was already bordering on murderous.

"Andrew wanted to get Aimee out but threats were made and he couldn't. He never lied to us. I was wrong about him. Aimee's instincts were right about him. He never wanted to see her hurt. Something tells me all her ideas about her birth father were created in her own head, more and likely a figment of her imagination based on Andrew's kindness."

"So anytime she talked about her father, it was more likely it was Andrew she was really talking about."

Gibbs nodded. "He was kind to her and spent a lot of time talking with her when things in her life were scary and out of control. Only when she came face to face with Andrew, it hit her square in the face that he was a stranger and she couldn't let herself trust him enough to go with him."

Tony sucked in a deep breath. "What kind of man uses his own kid as bait?"

Gibbs turned his back on Tony, clenching his fists so tightly they dug into his hands. He'd already asked himself that question a hundred times. What kind of man would use a child as bait? What kind of man would put a child's life in danger to bring down a crime ring of any kind? A man so steeped in evil and tyranny. So corrupt that he ceased being human. That was the type of man David Brody was. The very worst kind of man, devoid of all that is good and decent. Gibbs wanted to get his hands on the man and tear him to pieces.

"A deranged psychopath. He doesn't even see Aimee as his kid. He has no attachments to her at all, so that probably made it easier for him. It was all just money in his pocket in the end."

Tony remained quiet, taking in all the information.

"Andrew was killed because he threatened the status quo. He was unpredictable."

Tony furrowed his brow. "How do you know that?"

Gibbs turned to face Tony once again. "David Brody has ties to Stratton. Fornell has been working with people above Brody. They've been trying to bring him down for years. Brody and Stratton are MS-13's two biggest operators on the inside. Brody set up his ex-wife to meet Percy and has been orchestrating the whole deal from the get-go. He's been pulling the strings and manipulating everything piece by piece. What he didn't count on was Percy turning on him and keeping accurate records against him."

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm not sure I knew there was anyone above Brody in the FBI." Then Tony's face paled as the knowledge sunk in. The director of the FBI was appointed by the President of the United States. The buck stopped there. Tony puffed out his cheeks as the realization hit him square in the gut.

Gibbs remained quiet as he watched Tony process what he was telling him. Gibbs was still reeling himself. When the whole case was dropped into his lap, he was barely aware that MS-13 existed beyond that of an irritating teenage gang. Now, he was aware of how insidious the group was and how deeply entrenched it was, even in HIS day to day life. He'd brushed shoulders with members for years without any knowledge-right under his nose. Gibbs growled, feeling like he wanted to put his fist through the nearest wall.

"There is always someone above you, DiNozzo. Always someone else calling the shots," Gibbs muttered. "And just so you know, your instincts about Sawyer were correct. He was a good guy! He was the low man on the totem pole and being manipulated yet he still chose to help Aimee. His own kid was kidnapped and trafficked. They were holding her over his head. Sawyer's orders were to bring Aimee to Stratton. Stripping that tattoo from her saved her life and took her out of the equation. He saved her life in more ways than one."

Tony was silent for several moments as Gibbs' head continued spinning. Tony stood to his feet and began his own pacing, stopping at the window across the room. He stared out into the distance.

"We have the tattoo, right?"

Gibbs leaned on the conference table. "Tim found it in Sawyer's pocket."

"Can it still be read?" Tony turned to face Gibbs.

Gibbs shook his head. "Ducky says the skin has shriveled up too much."

"Damn. So much pain and anguish to that poor kid for no good reason whatsoever." Tony licked his lips. "What about Fagan? Where does he fit in? Why'd he go after Abby?"

Gibbs felt his blood pressure rise further. "Fornell doesn't know."

Tony strode across the room and stopped in front of Gibbs.

"So, what now?"

Gibbs dropped his hands to his sides and shrugged. "That's up to you, DiNozzo." Gibbs stood to his feet and walked towards the door. His heart was beating hard against his chest. There was no doubt he was angry. There was no doubt his head was screaming at him to stay and help Tony figure the rest of the case out. But he couldn't. He had to do right by Aimee and Janessa first. The girls needed him, as did Abby. And Abby's connection to everything was still vague.

"Boss?"

Gibbs stopped and faced Tony as he reached for the door handle.

"A little help here."

Gibbs stared at him. "You know where I live, DiNozzo and my door is always open. I'm happy to chew on this with you over bourbon in my basement anytime, but this case is yours. I'm needed elsewhere right now and I can't think of a better man for the job."

Gibbs managed an encouraging smile and left the room.