A/N: I've had this idea ever since I finished ABF, and I finally got around to writing it. Hope you enjoy!

Broken glass glittered on every inch of the floor she could see, and as Jillian Gibbs made her way into the house, she frowned. Small droplets of blood were splattered throughout the area, making her instantly on high alert, and as she took a cautious step forward, she felt her body begin to shake.

"Mom?"

There was no answer, making her fear skyrocket, and she took another slow step, suddenly very afraid of what she might see. Her mother's car was in the driveway, so she had to be here somewhere, and she called for her again as she made her way closer to the kitchen.

"Mom?"

Silence.

As soon as she walked into the kitchen, the young girl fought the urge to run, the utter chaos making her want to scream, but she stayed still. If her mother was here, she had to find her. Picking her way carefully across the floor, she noticed a slight movement out of the corner of her eye and immediately tensed, whipping around quickly.
For a long moment, her eyes refused to acknowledge what they were seeing, and once she finally realized that she recognized the figure on the ground, she found her voice.

"Mom! What happened? Are you okay? Where's Dad?"

Jillian knelt down next to her mother, brushing back her long red hair in order to see her face and frowned at the blood covering it. There didn't seem to be any life-threatening injuries, and as she pulled out her phone, she wasn't surprised to feel her hands shaking. She scrolled through her contacts quickly, locating her father's number and pressing the call button as hard as she could.

It seemed to ring endlessly, making the sixteen-year-old panic, and when she finally heard that familiar click in her ear, she nearly cried in relief.

"Yeah. Gibbs."

"Dad, where are you?"

"Just stopping to get dinner. I'll be home in about twenty minutes."

"Dad, you need to come home now. Something's wrong with Mom. There's broken glass everywhere, she's bleeding, I can't get her to talk to me. Please, Daddy. I'm really scared."

He must have heard the tears in her voice, because his tone immediately shifted, becoming more serious with each word he spoke.

"Is she conscious?"

"Yeah. She's sitting on the kitchen floor. But it's like I'm not even here. She won't look at me, won't talk to me. Come home, Dad. Please."

"I'm on my way. Just try to stay calm, Jilly. I won't be long,"

As soon as she'd hung up the phone, Jillian turned back to her mother, reaching out to take her hand, and when the older woman's green eyes met hers, she was suddenly even more afraid than she'd been before, the haunted look in them frightening her to her very soul.

"It's over," she said quietly.

Jillian said nothing, still holding her hand, and moved closer, able to feel her shaking even at a distance. After sixteen years, she was used to her mother's mood swinging from one extreme to the next at any given moment, though this was by far the worst she'd ever experienced, and she didn't think she'd ever been so scared in her life.
Tears were steadily falling down her mother's face, and as she watched, they began to streak through the blood on her skin, turning pink as they dripped onto the floor.

Where was her father? God, she hoped he would hurry.

As he sped through the dark streets, Leroy Jethro Gibbs fought to keep his panic under control. Jillian had sounded dangerously close to tears when she'd called him, and she wasn't one prone to them, too much like her mother in that regard. If Jenny was as bad as she'd said, he knew something disastrous must have happened, and he blinked hard in the pouring rain. He arrived home in record time, breaking nearly every traffic law in his haste to be there, and as soon as he opened the door, he swore softly at the state of the house. Had this been what Jillian had walked in to? If so, he completely understood her worry, and as he made his way through the house, Aries lifted up his head curiously. The dog was nearly eighteen now, but he still behaved as though he were a puppy, constantly following Jillian or Jenny wherever they went, so for him to be avoiding them, the scene must have been bad.

"Jen? Jilly?"

Jillian ran into the room at the sound of his voice, her hands grabbing his arm as he walked, and the fear in her eyes was so strong that he could have almost touched it.

"Dad! She still hasn't moved."

"Okay, Jilly, just try to calm down. Let me take a look."

He walked into the kitchen, Jillian at his heels, and as he surveyed the damage, he swore again, looking at the destruction in both wonder and worry. Moving quickly now, he knelt down in front of Jenny, gently brushing her hair behind her ear, and frowned at the bloodstained skin.

"Jen? Can you hear me?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes still vacant, and he reached for her hand, standing slowly.

"Do you think you can stand for me?"

Jenny nodded again, allowing him to pull her to her feet, and when she stumbled slightly, he caught her easily, hooking his arm under her legs. Jillian watched, wide-eyed, as he carried her into the living room, and when she followed, she was surprised to find tears in her eyes. Gibbs placed her in the couch, sitting her upright, and when he took the empty space next to her, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"Jen, talk to me. What's going on?"

It took longer than he would have liked for her to respond, and when she did, it was in that same hollow tone she'd spoken to Jillian in earlier.

"It's over, Jethro."

He frowned.

"What is? What happened?"

"She's dead," Jenny answered, "She's dead."

"Who? Did something happen to Heather or Miranda? Or—"

Jenny's head shook, cutting off his words, and when she spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Morgan's dead."

The feeling of relief that washed over him was so strong that he nearly laughed, having to swallow the sound as he reached for her hand.

"Did they say how?"

Jenny nodded, her eyes still distant.

"Liver failure."

She suddenly began to shake, her hands trembling so badly that Gibbs was forced to let go, and when she stood without warning, he frowned, looking at her seriously.

"Jen—"

"It's fucking over, Jethro, but do you have any idea what that bitch put me through? She tried to kill me! She gave Heather drugs and left her for dead so many times that I lost count. She—"

"I know," he said quietly, trying to calm her down again.

"She tracked us down, tried to force us to let her be in Jillian's life, and now...now she's dead."

Jenny reached for something, anything to throw, and when her hand found the mason jar that Gibbs had been drinking bourbon from the night before, it sailed across the room, shattering on impact. Jillian jumped, startled at the sound, and Gibbs frowned.

"Jen—"

"She's fucking dead and I never got a chance to make her regret everything she's done! She fucking got away with it! There was no goddamned justice, Jethro! It isn't fair! It's just not fucking fair!"

Gibbs stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her even as she began hitting his chest with her fists, and Jillian stood in the corner of the room, her eyes wide.

"Dad, who's—"

"Jilly, go upstairs. I've got this. Everything's okay."

Jillian nodded, making her way up the stairs, but rather than going into her bedroom, she lingered in the hallway, listening intently as she heard her father's voice again.

"Jen, shh...it's okay. She's gone now. She can't hurt you or anyone else ever again."

"She got away with it, Jethro," Jenny said, her voice breaking as she sobbed, "She doesn't deserve that. She deserved to pay for what she did. She was my mother, she was supposed to take care of us, not try to kill me, or give Heather cocaine."

"I know, Jen," Gibbs said softly, kissing her hair as she cried into his chest, "I know."

He held her closer as she sobbed, smoothing her hair with his hand, and as he kissed her cheek softly, her legs gave beneath her. He supported her in his arms, slowly lowering her to the floor, and as he knelt down, he pulled her as close to him as he could.

"She d-didn't even come to the hospital when I was t-there, and I nearly d-died! She wasn't even there when J-Jillian was born."

"Shh...easy, Jen. Just breathe."

Her tears dampened his shirt, and as she finally stopped trying to speak, she clung to the fabric like a lifeline, her entire body shaking as the tears fell faster. Gibbs pulled her into his arms, standing carefully, and as he made his way to the stairs, Jillian bolted from her hiding place, making it to her room just as his foot his the bottom step. He whistled for Aries, jerking his head towards the upper landing, and as he walked, he could hear the click of the dog's nails on the floor.

Jenny was still crying silently in his arms, her fingers still curled around his shirt, and as they entered the bedroom, he kicked the door shut slowly. He placed her on the bed, gently prying her hands free, and when he leaned down to kiss her forehead, she gave him a frantic look.

"Jethro, I—"

"Shh...I'm just going to get you a Valium, Ducky left some here the last time you had a really bad panic attack."

She didn't protest for once, and after he had given her the small pill, he sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling her head into his lap. He gently ran his fingers through her hair, feeling her begin to relax as the medication took hold, and when he glanced down at her, he wasn't surprised to find her eyes closed. He kissed her softly, brushing away the remnants of her tears, and when he finally stood carefully, she didn't wake.

He made his way into the hallway, pausing at his daughter's room, and when he knocked lightly, he heard her voice from within, still sounding slightly worried.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure, Dad. How's Mom?"

Gibbs sighed, walking over to her bed and sitting down, patting the place beside him.

"I know you were listening, Jillian. But I'm not mad about that. You deserve to know what's going on."

Jillian could hardly believe that she wasn't going to be reprimanded for eavesdropping, and so she merely nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Your mother doesn't have the best relationship with your grandmother. I know you know that. But what I want you to understand is why."

"I remember the day she came to try and forced Mom to let her see me. I've never seen Mom that angry. She scared me that day."

Gibbs nodded, putting his arm around her, kissing her hair gently.

"When your mother was ten years old, your grandmother shoved her into a stained glass window. She would hit your mother and Aunt Heather any time they did anything even remotely wrong, even something as minor as spilling a glass of water, and even when she was an adult, she still showed up to cause trouble."

"She gave Aunt Heather drugs?"

Gibbs nodded, taking his daughter's hand, holding it in his own gently.

"She did, and she hit your mother quite a few times as an adult as well. The last time she did, your mother pulled her gun on her and told her if she ever came back, she would kill her. Obviously, your mom didn't do it, but the threat was enough to keep her away until you were about ten. That's when you saw her. Even then, she wanted to cause problems, but your mom stood her ground."

"No wonder Mom was so upset."

He nodded again, sighing heavily.

"Yeah. I'd say she's more than earned the right to be. Why don't we go clean up downstairs, and then maybe we can think of something to cheer her up a bit?"

Jillian nodded, hugging Gibbs tightly, her eyes filled with tears.

"I love you, Dad."

"Love you too, Jilly."

As they swept up the broken glass, Gibbs could feel his daughter watching him, and when she finally opened her mouth to speak, her voice was slightly hesitant.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"I was so scared today. Does that make me a bad person?"

He crossed the room after throwing away the shards of glass in the trash bin, shaking his head, and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"No, honey. It doesn't. I'll let you in on a little secret: I was scared too. Nothing in the world means as much to me as you and your mother, and the thought of anything happening to you terrifies me."

Jillian frowned.

"Really?"

He nodded, kissing her hair.

"Of course. Especially after losing your brother. Your mother and I love you so much."

She was silent for a long moment, and when Gibbs realised she was still struggling with something in her mind, he frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Dad, why did Mom react that way? I know she was upset, but with everything that grandma did to her, I wouldn't have thought she'd be sad about it."

Gibbs shook his head, thinking.

"She wasn't sad. She was relieved and angry."

He paused, kissing her hair again and sighed.

"Jilly, you know your mother is sick, right? But she would never hurt you, especially not the way Morgan hurt her. She loves you more than anything in the world."

Jillian nodded, looking at her father seriously.

"I know. But her being sick isn't a normal illness. And she does her best to keep in under control. That's all we can expect, and she does an amazing job."

Gibbs smiled, feeling more proud of her than he ever hand.

"You're so mature sometimes I forget you're only sixteen. I'm so proud of you, Jillian."

All in all, those were the best words she'd heard in her entire life.

A/N: Let me know what you liked/hated!