More than anything Jimmy missed stability. He had his safety nets but since he lost his family. His life lacked stability. He constantly felt as if he was off balance and falling. Strangely enough in this ordeal when he looked for support. He found himself turning to Gibbs rather than Ducky. In fact he had barely even spoken to Ducky since the accident. Jimmy never saw himself as being close to Gibbs but now they were bonded by tragedy. Another bizarre change was the fact that Gibbs needed him. Gibbs had always been a lone wolf, the strong one. Gibbs was the father and Jimmy was the geeky cousin who was somewhat afraid of his uncle. At least that's how it used to be. Gibbs was still the father and Jimmy was still the geeky cousin but now Jimmy was not afraid of his uncle. He was afraid for him. He noticed that the older man had stopped eating since Tony's backslide. Dark bags had formed under his eyes and he just looked unwell. Jimmy had spent the night at the hospital the night before and he heard Gibbs crying in his sleep. Throughout the night. He repeated the phrases "Don't go Tony" and "Please don't take my boy." Jimmy had moved closer to Gibbs and placed his hand on the older man's shoulder. Gibbs was actually crying now and Jimmy had no idea what to do. Morning came, Gibbs woke up and went for coffee and Jimmy did his best to forget the previous night's events. It seemed like he was doing that a lot lately, forgetting things or at least trying to.

"Here ya go kid." Gibbs said shoving a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Uh thanks" Jimmy replied.

"Here do your own cream and sugar. I don't know how diabetes works and I don't want to accidentally kill you." Gibbs replied.

"Thanks but I eat sugar as long as I monitor my numbers. Do have to be careful with creamers though cause of my food allergies." Jimmy replied.

"Crap! None of this stuff can kill ya right? I heard that some allergies you just have to be around the stuff." Gibbs replied.

"It's fine" Jimmy assured.

"Sorry I was such a jackass to you in the past." Gibbs said out of the blue.

"It's OK, sorry I was so nervous and awkward." Jimmy replied.

"You don't have to apologize for that kid but I need to apologize to you. I know it seems like I didn't like you but that's not the case. Truth is Ducky never liked any of his assistants before. Gerald was good and there were a few others he liked pretty well but you were the first he felt would be a worthy successor. Him having a successor meant that he would be retiring one day and that worried me. He is my best friend and I didn't want to lose him." Gibbs explained.

"You won't lose Ducky when he retires. You just won't be working with him anymore." Jimmy assured.

"I know that now but I can be an idiot sometimes." Gibbs replied.

"You aren't an idiot. You have just been through a lot." Jimmy replied.

"Still not an excuse." Gibbs replied.

"The reason I was so intimidated by you. Is because my dad died when I was fifteen and he had been really sick for a long time. He could never really be a normal father. At least not to me. So when I met you. I wasn't used to that mentality." Jimmy explained.

"Your mom must have been amazing then because you are a great kid." Gibbs replied.

"Thanks Gibbs." Jimmy replied.

"No problem, kid." Gibbs replied.

Abby studied herself in the grimy mirror that hung in her cell. Her blond roots were beginning to show through. About a year ago she had started using an all natural hair-dye from a holistic grocery store in Baltimore. It lacked the toxic chemicals that regular dyes used but it also needed to be touched up a lot more frequently. Her last touch up was six weeks ago and she needed to touch up once a month. She was supposed to do it after work the night of her arrest but instead she washed her hair in a sink because she refused to use the group shower. After a few days of barely getting clean and itching all over. She swallowed her pride and started using the shower hall. The issued shampoo smelled terrible, stung her eyes, and was making her hair lose it's color even faster. Before she knew it, she would be completely gone and her hair would be back to it's natural blonde. People always associated being blonde with being dumb and she certainly wasn't dumb. Tony was the dumb one and when she got out. She was going to make that bastard pay for a salon dye job and not just that. She was going to get a manicure, a pedicure, and every other expensive treatment the salon offered and she would take Breena with her. Abby's heart broke for that poor woman. Being vilified just because her husband had been stupid enough to all for Tony's crocodile tears. Tony was such a bastard. He was probably drunk the night of Tori's death. Hell he probably just used picking up Melisa as an excuse to drag poor Tori out. So that he could party and stuff his face. Hell. Melisa probably wasn't even really his friends sixteen year old daughter. She was probably some baby faced whore he picked up and was going to take to the Palmer's house to go at it like rabbits. Poor Zoe, she deserved so much better then that baby killing monster. She would be invited to the spa day too.

McGee studied the work release pamphlet that he had grabbed from the resource room. Before the arrest he had been on track to become director of NCIS. Now he when he got out/if he got out. He would be lucky to get a job doing security at a dodgy truck stop. Abby, Bishop, and him were all looking at hefty sentences for attacking Tony in the bullpen but his was bound to be a lot longer. Because the IA agent investigating the attack. Had found out about Ziva and him shutting off the radio. That was years ago and Tony hadn't even gotten hurt but he was probably still going to have to pay the price for it. It wasn't fair. How many terrible things had Tony done to him and gotten away with Scot-free? All because he was Gibbs's little buddy. He used to have an ally in director Vance but then Tony had gotten his claws in the director too and now McGee was back to being on his own. He set down the pamphlet and picked up his pad and pen. He was going to petition everybody from SecNav Porter to President Obama to have Vance and Gibbs fired from NCIS and stripped of any honors they had received during their tenure. If Obama didn't take him seriously he would beg every presidential candidate for twenty sixteen to be on his side. While he was at it, he was going to insist that Tony be tried for kidnapping and murder. May as well get sweet baby Victoria a little justice while he was at it.

Bishop put her left arm behind her back and did one armed push-ups on her cell floor. She had found that being built like a tooth-pick was not ideal in prison. Even a woman's prison. So she was working hard to bulk herself up. She didn't want to die in prison. Just because Tony was favored and weak. He was pretty weak for an experienced cop. Then again he was such a spoiled little suck up. Nothing more than a spoiled rich kid. There was nothing Ellie Bishop hated more than spoiled rich kids. They had made her life hell all through school. Now Tony was making her adult life hell and he was going to have to pay.

"Tony DiNozzo you better enjoy your life now. Because they day I get out of here. You are a dead man!" Bishop vowed.

The conversation between Jimmy and Gibbs was powerful and enlightening. Not only did it open up both men's eyes to the each others inner feelings but it also took their minds off of Tony. Something that was easier said than done the past few days. Both men came out of the conversation feeling relaxed and bonded. Unfortunately in these men's current life. The feeling of relaxation was short lived. Gibbs was reading the paper and Jimmy sat beside him checking Facebook on his tablet.

"Hey kid?" Gibbs asked, turning his attention away from the paper.

"What is it?" Jimmy asked looking up from his tablet.

"Why didn't you go to Breena's funeral?" Gibbs asked.

"Excuse me?" Jimmy questioned.

"Breena's funeral was yesterday. Why didn't you go?" Gibbs clarified.

"I...I didn't know that the service was yesterday." Jimmy stuttered.

A/N: Just an FYI Abby's plans to take Breena to the spa were not a continuity error. As of now the team has not learned of Breena's death yet. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.