The first day of court was long, and Benson Long showed loud and clear that he wasn't about to go down without a fight. The trial ended up dragging on and they ended up in court the next two days as well.

Long's team, although, unsurprisingly, trying to discredit everybody, seemed to honed in on Jethro, in particular, painting him as the volatile federal agent, absentee husband and father, with multiple divorces under his belt. Not that it was strictly untrue, which Jethro could admit, but it was definitely blown out of proportion. Jethro kept his cool throughout, however, treating it much like he would a poker game, controlling every micro-expression as best he could.

It helped that Long's own younger cousin testified against him. It was difficult to come back from that. As far as character witnesses went, that definitely did not help Long's reputation. So, given all of the evidence that they did have against Long as well as the numerous testimonies, the commander wasn't overly concerned. She just flipped the script, pointing out that Jethro only had the aforementioned failed relationships after the girls were declared dead, due to the emotional trauma, and that he had a shining agency service record dating back seventeen years, not to mention his Marine Corps service from before that.

It was 1400 on Friday afternoon when they finally broke for jury deliberations, and, in a move that surprised not just Jethro but everyone, by 1630, they were called back to court. They weren't told if it was because the jury was deadlocked or if they'd actually managed to reach a verdict. Although, all of them were hoping for the latter. They wanted this miss to be over.

"If it's a verdict, that's pretty damn fast!" his father commented, "but I'm sure it's a good thing. Long ain't the most charming man that I've had the extreme displeasure of meeting. The jury'll have seen through his crap."

Jethro gave his father a thin smile. He really appreciated his father coming down from Stillwater for a few days to support them, but he was rather stressed. "Hopefully, Dad, but you'd be surprised. People can be really blind, and it wouldn't be the first time that Long paid people off. Or worse."

"Let's not stress out," Shannon said, "and just wait and see."

Kelly gave Jethro and her grandfather a look. "Yeah, I'm with Mom on that."

"Listen to 'em, Probie!" Mike said. "There ain't no use worrying about it."

It was pretty sound logic, so he nodded, dropped the conversation, and knowing that both Joann and Mac would want an update, Jethro pulled out his phone and called his in-laws to let them know that they were expected back to the courthouse immediately.

The same as every other time, Commander Coleman walked Jethro and his family into the courtroom where they took their seats and waited for the actual legal proceedings to finally start back up.

Judge Deakin looked over at the jury. "Will the defendant please rise?"

Jethro watched as Long did so, the man looking fairly confident that things were going to go his way. That was little comfort to Jethro, who was trying to stop himself from getting up and throttling the guy. He hated having to be in the same room as that bastard.

He figured that part of it was fake bravado, but another, more traitorous, part of Jethro was telling him that the sorry excuse of a man did genuinely believe that he was going to get away with what he'd put Jethro and his family through.

"Have you reached a verdict?" the judge asked.

The jury's spokeswoman, a petite lady with long, curly, brunette hair, stood up. "Yes, Your Honour, we have." A wave of mixed anxiety and relief hit Jethro at hearing that. This was finally going to end. "On the two counts of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant, Benson Everett Long guilty."

Jethro was immediately hit with a wave of relief, and, by the sounds of things, his wife couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her breath hitched. "Did they -?"

He squeezed Shannon's hand. "They did. Guilty."

"I told you," his father said softly from behind them. "Sometimes things do go right."

More overwhelmed than he would like to admit, Jethro tried to focus on what else was being said, as the spokeswoman was still speaking. "On the two counts of attempted murder, we find the defendant guilty. On the counts of -"

Every time 'guilty' was read out, Jethro couldn't help but smirk more and more widely. It served the smug bastard right, in his opinion.

Judge Deakin gave a curt nod. "Okay. Members of the jury, you are excused. The court thanks you for your service." The judge then eyed Long, who looked an interesting mix of pissed off and afraid. A rather strange sight given the man's usual cocky disposition. Jethro was pleased to see it, though. Long deserved much worse than he was getting, in Jethro's opinion. "Benson Long, you are remanded to D.C. Central Detention Facility where you will await sentencing."

"Thank God," Joann said, visibly relieved.

"I'll second that," Mac said. "Long overdue."

Jethro eyed his father-in-law. "You'll get no argument from me there."

"Nor from me," Shannon agreed.

"Guy got off easy," Tobias said, giving Jethro a look.

"Yeah," he muttered, not about to argue the point. Jethro was glad the man was finally being put behind bars, but that didn't stop the years of pain he'd been in from burying his wife and child. And despite the girls actually being alive, they had missed so much time together. Jethro would never get those years back and get to watch his daughter grow up. Catching Long just ended the chase, it didn't undo the damage he'd done. Still, Jethro knew that they all needed to focus on the now. To focus on the time that they did have. Rule #11: When the job is done, walk away. That rule was really just as applicable here as it was on the job. Still, it was easier said than done.

Colonel Bushnell walked up. "Good job, Commander."

"Good jury," Commander Coleman commented with a small smile. "They looked past Long's image and saw him for who he really is." She turned to face Jethro, Shannon, and Kelly. "And you three held your own despite the pressure." Jethro gave the JAG lawyer a half-hearted smile, listening intently as she continued to speak. "That is half the battle right there, so well done."

Jethro just nodded and both Shannon and Kelly murmured a "Thank you."

The three of them got up, still in a state of disbelief, and more than one of them rather close to tears. Not caring that they were in an extremely crowded room, he hugged his wife and daughter.

Joann then quickly pulled her daughter and granddaughter in for a hug.

His father threw one of his arms around Jethro, eyeing him and the rest of their family. "Why don't we all get out of here and grab a bite to eat?"

"We probably should," Shannon agreed.

Kelly glanced between them. "Italian? Burgers?"

"I could do Italian," his wife readily agreed.

"Fine by me," his father commented.

"We could head to Carmine's," Shannon suggested. "It's not that far from here. Just a ten or twelve-minute drive."

"About that, yeah." Jethro glanced at his in-laws. "Would you two like to join us?"

"I can't tonight," Joann said regretfully, "but we should all have dinner soon."

"Well," Mac chimed in, "I'd love to."

Shannon quickly grinned, clearly pleased her father was coming. There was a flicker of disappointment though that her mother wasn't joining them for dinner. "Great, Dad, and we'll plan something soon, Mom."

"Perfect," Joann said, giving her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Maddie?" he said, turning to the young woman.

"I'd love to join you guys," she replied.

He talked with General Ellison for a moment and then the Gibbs-Fielding family finally made their way out of the D.C courthouse.

Hopefully, they could now finally lock this mess firmly in the past where it belonged.