Author's Note: Heads up for a discussion of past thoughts of suicide. Also... had to delete and repost due to formatting issues. Apparently this site and Microsoft Word aren't getting along, at least on my computer. Switching browsers when I post here and using Google Docs, hoping that helps.

Evening Chat

A few hours later that evening, Gibbs and Tony were in the kitchen checking take-out menus when Sammie came downstairs, closely followed by Jack, who ran past her when he saw them, jumping up on each man before trotting out of the kitchen to sniff around the entire first floor.

Sammie smiled at both men, then walked over to Gibbs and wrapped him in a hug. Gibbs sighed in relief, resting his head on top of hers and closing his eyes. Tony watched them, a soft smile on his face.

Jack came running back into the room, jumping up and hitting Sammie in the back with his front feet. She laughed as her father steadied her, then pulled away to let the dog into the yard. As she closed the door behind him, she looked from Gibbs to Tony and back. "She's a horrible person, but let's not talk about that right now. What's for dinner?"

Gibbs exchanged glances with Tony. "Kelly…"

Sammie shook her head. "Please, Dad… that whole conversation was awful." She frowned. "I really don't like being treated like a child… hated it in the hospital, back when I actually was a child." She smiled softly. "Momma and Pop figured that out quickly, and they allowed me to make my own decisions, within reason, as long as I could show I had enough facts, had thought things through, and was prepared for the consequences." She looked at the back door, toward the yard, her gaze hard and uncompromising. "I will not be treated like a thing to own, or be part of that woman's power play against you." She looked back at Gibbs, smiling ruefully. "And here I am, talking about exactly what I just said I didn't want to talk about." Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Tony grinning at her.

Tony blinked, schooled his expression into something suitably innocent, and cleared his throat. "We were thinking Indian?"

Sammie grinned at him. "The rest of your team doesn't buy into the innocent act, do they?"

Tony said "Yes" at the same time that Gibbs said "No," and Sammie laughed. "Indian sounds great."

Tony handed her the menu. "Our usual is garlic naan, chicken roganjosh, and lamb saag."

Sammie looked it over. "Add extra naan, vegetable pakora, and chicken vandaloo."

"You got it." Tony took the menu back, pulled his phone from his pocket, and walked into the living room to make the call."

Sammie leaned against the counter next to Gibbs. "You okay?"

He nodded. "I got used to her a long time ago. What about you?"

Sammie gave an exaggerated shudder. "She's creepy. How did Mom turn out so well?"

Gibbs chuckled, then sighed. "Your grandfather kept Joann in check. Got her to see outside herself. I guess once they divorced, after you were gone… nothing held her back."

Sammie growled softly. "There we go again. Come on." She took his hand and pulled him into the living room, sitting on the couch. Tony was already in the armchair. "Let's talk about something else. I am totally in favor of ignoring the elephant in the room right now," Sammie proclaimed.

"How's the vet school application going?" Tony asked.

Sammie smiled at him gratefully. "Good. Just one more letter to be submitted, then I'll probably hear back in a couple of months or so."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "Nice." He paused, then continued, "What do you think you'll do if you don't get in?"

Sammie sighed. "Good question. I won't be devastated or anything if it doesn't happen. I love my job, and not being in school would just give me more time with Dad. But…" she tilted her head as she thought about it. "If I don't get in, I can request an analysis of what was lacking in my application; I can work on that and reapply if I want to."

"That's good." Tony shot Gibbs a mischievous look. "You do realize that even if you have time, your dad's probably going to be running around catching bad guys twenty-four/seven, right?"

Gibbs scoffed at that. "Told you, DiNozzo, I'm going to start handing you more responsibility."

Tony grinned at him. "I dunno, Gibbs, can your messianic complex handle that?"

Sammie let out a startled laugh. "His what?"

Gibbs sighed heavily.

Tony's face lit up. "You mean you haven't read Tim's book?"

"He wrote a book?"

Tony jumped to his feet and started hunting through the books on the shelves. "There's got to be a copy here somewhere…"

Gibbs looked at Sammie. "McGee wrote a book about us. Called it Deep Six."

Sammie gaped at him. "Deep Six is about you?!"

Tony straightened up and turned to look at her, disappointed. "So, you have read it."

"When it first came out… oh, wow… you're Agent Tommy!" Sammie giggled. "And Ziva is Lisa, Abby is Amy… Dad, you're LJ Tibbs!" She leaned back on the couch, laughing so hard tears leaked from her eyes. "How did you guys not sue him for writing about you? Poor Jimmy…"

Tony and Gibbs watched her, smiling. It took a moment, but Sammie soon calmed down and sat up. "So, Tony… according to Tim's book, you and Ziva…"

Tony's smile faded. "I'm going to kill Tim. Slowly."

Gibbs shook his head. "You'd have done it by now."

Tony sighed. "True." He went back to the armchair and sat, looking at Sammie. "Ziva and I are friends. We flirted and fought a lot, but we never broke rule twelve… and we never will."

"Rule twelve…" Sammie considered that. "I think Abby told me that one. Never date a coworker, right?"

"Right," Gibbs said.

She turned to look at him. "So, Dad… anyone in particular prompt that rule?"

Gibbs glared pre-emptively at Tony who held his hands up, protesting his innocence. "Yes," he admitted to his daughter, "but it was a long time ago and she died a few years back."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Sammie bit her lip in consternation.

Gibbs reached out to take her hand. "She had terminal cancer. We'd more or less resolved our issues by then." He made sure not to look at Tony as he said that.

Sammie squeezed his hand, mouthing the word 'sorry' to him, then cast around for a new topic. "Water main break, huh, Tony?"

Tony glanced at Gibbs. "Yeah, my apartment complex has issues. Gibbs has let me stay over a few times." He grinned suddenly. "Hey, Boss, remember that first time?"

Gibbs stared at him, his face expressionless. "We don't speak of that, DiNozzo."

Sammie laughed. "Come on, what happened?"

Gibbs and Tony looked at each other, both smiling slightly, and shook their heads. Sammie pouted, but neither one would be swayed.

The doorbell rang, and Tony got up to get their food. Setting the bags down on the coffee table, he started unpacking them and looked at Sammie. "You must have some good animal stories."

Sammie grinned. "The people are generally stranger than the animals, but I can tell you a few good ones."

"Hold that thought," Tony said eagerly as he jogged into the kitchen to get plates, utensils, and napkins. Sammie watched him go, then saw Gibbs watching her with one eyebrow raised. Her face turned pink and she reached over to smack him lightly on the arm.

Tony came back just in time to see that. "What'd I miss?"

Gibbs and Sammie looked at each other, then at Tony, both saying "Nothing" at the same time.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Thought that was our schtick, Boss."

Gibbs snorted quietly, reached for a plate, and started dishing out food. Sammie got up to go to the fridge and grab three beers, then they all settled in to eat.

Midnight Discussion

Late that night, Tony opened his eyes as he straightened up on his seat on the couch. He'd heard footsteps. His right hand moved smoothly over the surface of the couch, reaching underneath a cushion for his gun.

There was an additional sound of a lot more, smaller footsteps, and moonlight let Tony see Jack come trotting down the stairs, looking back up at Sammie as he reached the bottom. She came down more slowly, her eyes searching the living room.

Tony took his hand away from his gun, and reached over to turn on the small lamp on the end table near him. Jack looked over at him, wiggled his rear end, and ran over to the couch, jumping up next to Tony, turning in circles, and lying down with his head on Tony's lap.

Tony blinked as he looked down at the dog, then smiled and rested his hand on the back of Jack's neck. "Better than an iguana," he mused.

"Say what?" Sammie walked into the room and sat in the armchair.

Tony looked at her; she was dressed in a pajama top with small Australian shepherds scattered on it and a pair of denim shorts. "Much better than an iguana," he said, smiling.

She looked at him thoughtfully, taking in the fact that he was still fully dressed. "Setting aside the iguana thing for the moment… you don't exactly look like you're sleeping tonight."

Tony's eyebrows rose. "Neither do you."

"Ha. At least I'm dressed for it." Her head tilted sideways. "There's no water main break. I checked."

Tony nodded slowly, rubbing Jack's neck. "True."

Sammie chewed on her lip. "So, why?"

Tony sighed. "Why did I say there was a water main break when there wasn't?"

She nodded.

"Best if you ask your dad." He looked at her seriously. "I didn't like lying to you."

She returned his gaze. "So, why did you?"

He shook his head. "Really best if you ask your dad."

Sammie pulled her legs up on the chair and wrapped her arms around them and considered him thoughtfully. "You're fully dressed, sitting up in the dark in the middle of the night. You don't seem the type to avoid responsibility, shift blame to my dad… so there's something he doesn't want me to know." She smiled slightly. "Where's your gun?"

He returned the smile, lifting the cushion to reveal his gun on the couch.

Sammie looked at it, then at him. "You're protecting us."

Tony nodded. "Not so much you as your dad."

Sammie's brow furrowed. "Something work-related?"

He shook his head.

"Then what?"

"Really think you need to ask him, Sammie," Tony said gently.

Sammie shifted in the chair, pulling her legs closer to her body. Tony petted Jack, then moved the dog's head over as he got to his feet, picked up the blanket that was sitting folded at the far end of the couch, and shook it out, draping it over Sammie before sitting back down. Jack grumbled and rested his head back on Tony's leg, sighing as Tony started petting him again.

"Thanks." Sammie pulled the blanket around her, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she looked past Tony, at the windows. Tony watched as several expressions chased across her face, settling into one of mingled curiosity and sadness. "Tony… is my dad a good man?"

Tony let out a surprised laugh, then grew quiet as he realized she was serious. "This is about what Joann said?"

She nodded, her fingers gripping the edges of the blanket.

Tony took a deep breath. "Gibbs is… intense. Focused. Driven." He smiled slightly. "I told him today, family is his kryptonite." He met Sammie's eyes. "Kids and animals love him. He's not perfect… but I haven't stuck around for ten years because he can be a bastard." Tony sat forward, getting a grumble from Jack. "Gibbs is the kind of guy that makes you want to do the job better, be a better person. He will go to the ends of the earth to right a wrong, and he takes it personally when he can't do it. He lives by his own rules, and he breaks them when he needs to… but he usually has a damn good reason when he does." He shook his head, smiling ruefully. "Damn good in his opinion, anyway."

Sammie looked at him seriously, and he thought he saw a sheen of moisture in her eyes. "Thanks, Tony." She looked at him for a long moment, then smiled. "I couldn't sleep, thinking about what she said. Part of me really does think it's a good thing that he did what he did, got justice for Mom… part of me wonders if it was the right move."

Tony nodded. "I can see that." He shrugged. "I didn't know him back then, obviously."

She nodded; her gaze shifted to the cushion hiding the gun. "You're protecting him from Joann."

Tony blinked, then smiled. "You'd make a good agent." He reached up to scratch the back of his head. "She still blames him for Shannon's death… and yours, back when that was a thing. Let's just say I have a damn good reason not to trust her, and leave it at that. As long as she's in town, Gibbs gets me on his six."

Sammie shifted in the chair so she could rest her elbow on one of the arms, and propped her chin on her hand. "If I ask you about your damn good reason, you're going to tell me to talk to Dad, aren't you?"

Tony was about to respond when they heard footsteps on the stairs. Gibbs, wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, walked into the room on bare feet. "Everything okay? I heard voices."

Sammie grinned up at him. "They have drugs for that, you know."

Gibbs reached over and ruffled her hair. "Cute." He looked over at Tony, who was watching Sammie and privately agreeing with him, but for different reasons.

"Hey, Boss."

"DiNozzo." Gibbs looked from Tony to his daughter and back, then moved to sit on the couch, on the other side of Jack. "I interrupt something?"

Tony's eyes widened, while Sammie rolled hers. "Just a conversation, Dad." She shot him a mild glare, and he grinned at her, pretending not to notice Tony checking his own pulse. "So," Sammie continued, "why does Tony think you need protection from Joann?"

Gibbs turned to stare at his second, who muttered something about shock and early graves before saying, "She figured it out all by herself, Boss. Should have her go to FLETC instead of vet school."

Gibbs sighed, shaking his head. "Tony thinks Joann might try to kill me."

Sammie sat up, staring at him. "What?! Why?"

"She's never forgiven me for what happened to Shannon, and to you."

"No," Sammie said slowly, "I already got that part. But what makes Tony think she'd go to that extreme?"

Gibbs looked at Tony, who returned his gaze and shrugged. "Because," Gibbs admitted, "she spent years tracking down anyone affiliated with the cartel, found a Naval officer in the cartel's pocket, and killed him."

Sammie stared at him. "She… murdered a man? Someone who had nothing to do with Mom's death?"

Gibbs and Tony both nodded.

Sammie jumped to her feet, tossing the blanket down on the chair, and started pacing the room. "She tried to get me to… to… to reject you because you killed the guy who killed Mom, while she killed an innocent man? That… that… bitch!"

Gibbs stood and walked quickly to his daughter, pulling her into his arms. He stood there with her, not speaking, just holding on until she relaxed. When she moved back, he led her back to the chair, putting the blanket around her before sitting back down on the couch.

"When did this happen?" Sammie asked quietly as she sat.

Gibbs sighed. "Little over a year ago."

"You didn't arrest her?"

Gibbs shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to say. Tony looked at him, then at Sammie. "Kryptonite," he said softly.

Sammie's brow furrowed. "'Cause of Mom?"

Gibbs nodded. "Partly."

She raised her eyebrows and motioned with her hand for him to continue.

Gibbs grimaced. "What she did…" He shook his head. "If I'd told her about getting Hernandez… your mom's killer…"

Sammie cut him off. "You're saying you felt responsible for what she did because you didn't tell her you got justice for Mom."

Gibbs' gaze met hers. "Still do."

Sammie thought for a moment. "When did you get this Hernandez guy?"

"Not long after I got back to the States… after I was told you were both dead."

Her brow furrowed again. "Franks told you about him."

Gibbs nodded.

"No," she said quietly. "No way you're responsible for what she did almost twenty years later."

"Kelly…"

"No, Dad. What you did… I get it. You were an active-duty Marine, right? Trained sniper, deployed in a war zone… of course you wanted to go after the guy. How else were you going to react? Franks took advantage of the fact that you were grieving, and gave you information I'm guessing you never should have gotten."

Gibbs knew his protest was lame before it came out of his mouth. "Mike didn't –"

"Oh, put a sock in it," Sammie said angrily.

Tony laughed; father and daughter both glared at him. "Um… I can go in another room…"

Sammie shook her head, while Gibbs simply leaned over and lightly smacked him on the head. Tony muttered, "Thank you, Boss," while reaching up to rub the point of impact.

Sammie sat quietly, thinking, then looked at Gibbs seriously. "You think Joann's actions are your fault… are yours my fault because I didn't remember you?"

"Of course not!"

"But if I had, you probably wouldn't have left me to go hunt that guy down, would you?"

Gibbs thought about it for a moment. "No. No, I couldn't have left you."

"Joann's a grown woman. She made a choice… probably a bunch of choices. What she did weren't the impulsive actions of a grieving man who just lost his family. What she did was worse." Sammie sat quietly for a moment, then looked at Gibbs. "Do you regret it?"

"Killing Hernandez?" Gibbs shot Tony a rueful smile. "Given everything that happened not long after our… encounter, with Joann… almost."

Sammie looked from him to Tony. Tony spoke up. "Really long story… someone who didn't like Gibbs very much clued Hernandez' kids into what Gibbs did… and they were not very nice people. Came after Gibbs, Jack, the team… things got a little hairy for a while. But one is dead, by her brother's hand, and he's in prison."

Sammie stared at him. "What you said earlier, about me potentially being a good agent?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'll stick with veterinary medicine, thanks."

Tony grinned at her.

She shook her head at him, smiling slightly, and looked at Gibbs. "Okay… other than that craziness that I may have to find out more about later, do you regret it?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No, I don't. It didn't make me feel much better, but hunting him down gave me a purpose and is probably the main reason I didn't eat my gun after you were gone." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gibbs regretted them.

Both Sammie and Tony stared at him. "Wow," she said in a shaky voice. "When you decide to share, you go all out."

They were all silent for a moment, until Tony said, "Glad you didn't do that, Boss."

Gibbs sighed. "After I got Hernandez, Franks offered me a job, gave me another purpose. Kept me going. Met Ducky, eventually Abby, Tony, built the team… second family."

Tony ducked his head, happy to be given that label.

Everyone was quiet for a while. Eventually Sammie got up, keeping the blanket wrapped around her, and crossed the room to sit next to Gibbs, laying her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her. "You okay, Kells?"

"I wish you hadn't felt like suicide was the answer," she said in a small voice. "I hate the thought of you not being here."

"I'm sorry," Gibbs said quietly.

Tony's eyes widened at that; Gibbs was setting a record for apologies since his daughter came back into his life.

"It was a long time ago," Gibbs continued, holding his daughter tighter. "Only came close once… couldn't do it because I needed to know what happened to you. I needed to do something about it."

Sammie sniffled. "If… if something happened to me tomorrow… and I died… you wouldn't do that, would you?"

Gibbs' eyes widened, and he looked over at Tony, catching him in the act of wiping moisture from his face. Their eyes met, and he saw the same question on Tony's face. He shook his head. "No… Kells, no. I promise. Team's my second family. I wouldn't be as alone as I was then."

"Okay," she whispered, and lay quietly, sniffling occasionally and wiping tears from her face. Gibbs heard Tony clear his throat, turned his head to look at his second, and reached over to lay his free hand on Tony's shoulder, squeezing it once in reassurance. Tony gave him a small smile and a nod; Gibbs nodded in return, then removed his hand and put that arm around his daughter.

All three sat there quietly, until Sammie eventually spoke up. "I wish I hadn't told Joann I'd see her in the morning."

"You don't have to."

She snuggled into his side. "Yeah, I do, actually. If I don't, she'll blame you, and Tony will have to spend every night not sleeping on the couch."

Gibbs huffed out a laugh. "Kelly, if you don't want to see her, I have no problem with that. And I'm more than capable of protecting myself."

Sammie sat up. "I'm so angry at her… but I almost feel sorry for her too, despite the fact that she's done and said horrible things. She lost everyone, didn't she?"

Gibbs nodded. "She did."

Sammie looked at Gibbs, her expression worried. "If her killing that Navy officer comes out now, you'll get in trouble, won't you?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."

Sammie looked at Tony, who waved one hand aimlessly. "Hard to say. Local detective was suspicious."

Gibbs took a deep breath, then added, "I might have done something that would make it tough to prosecute her."

Tony turned to face him. "You and M. Allison Hart?"

Gibbs cleared his throat. "Yeah."

Tony rolled his eyes, then looked at Sammie. "Don't ask."

Sammie reached up to push her hair back from her face, then covered her mouth as she yawned. "Can I ask about the iguana, then?"

Tony grinned. "I dunno, Boss, what do you think?"

Gibbs shook his head, hugged Sammie tighter, then unwrapped his arms from her and stood, reaching out to head slap Tony. "I'm thinking if you're telling that story, I'm going back to bed." He looked down at Sammie, who was wrapping the blanket around herself. "You good?"

She nodded, smiling up at him. "Yeah, I am."

"We're good?"

"Couldn't be better." The smile turned into a grin.

"Okay. Get some sleep, huh?"

Sammie nodded. She and Tony watched him go back up the stairs, then Sammie looked at Tony. "So… iguana?"

Tony grinned. "Me, your dad, and Kate… she was on the team before Ziva. You two would have gotten along really well, actually." The smile faded from his face. "She was killed by a terrorist."

Sammie reached over to take his hand, resting both their hands on Jack's back. "I'm so sorry."

Tony smiled. "Thanks." Without realizing it, he laced their fingers together. "We were in Cuba, on a case… me, Gibbs, and Kate. They put all three of us in a house on base. I woke up one morning, and there was an iguana on the bed. I freaked, jumped out of bed, pulled my gun… must have yelled something, 'cause Gibbs and Kate stormed in with their guns drawn."

Sammie laughed.

"It gets better," Tony continued. "I was sleeping naked."

Sammie laughed harder, squeezing his hand. Tony looked down at their hands and smiled, then looked back at her.

"Was it cold that night?" she asked.

"Hell, no. It was ridiculously warm out, but we had the air conditioning running."

"Were there trees around?"

Tony thought about it. "Yeah, lots of trees here and there on base. Not like a forest or anything, though."

Sammie nodded thoughtfully. "So, which one of them put it there?"

Tony frowned. "What?"

Sammie sat up a bit, moving closer to Jack, keeping Tony's hand in hers. "An iguana would have no reason to go into a house, unless it was cold out and they were looking for warmth, or it wasn't finding food. They like trees… that's where the food is, and that's their natural habitat. So… either Kate or my dad probably snuck it in while you were asleep."

Tony's jaw dropped. "Of all the…" His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. "Kate wasn't into reptiles… can't see her doing something like that. And she was pretty new to the team then… don't see her risking it, either."

"It does sound like the kind of pranks Dad used to pull when I was a kid," Sammie offered. "He probably made his escape just now because he figured I'd realize it was him."

Tony's mouth opened, but no sound came out. He tried again a moment later. "You've just shifted my whole world view."

Sammie giggled. "Hold on a sec." She squeezed his hand, then got up, removed the blanket, told Jack to stay, and ran lightly up the stairs, heading for her room.

The door to Gibbs' bedroom opened, and he stuck his head outside. "He figure it out?" he asked.

Sammie grinned at him. "With a little help from me."

Gibbs grinned at her, then went back in and shut the door.

Sammie turned on the light, and went to one of the smaller boxes sitting next to the wall; it was full of small plastic animals she had set aside for donation. She dug around inside it for a few minutes, until she found what she was looking for: a small, realistic-looking iguana. Grinning, she headed back downstairs.

She handed it to Tony as she reclaimed her seat on the couch; he laughed.

"I'm sure you can figure out something appropriate to do with this," she commented.

Tony grinned. "I already have plenty of ideas… although hiding it in his coffee is off limits."

Sammie smiled at him, then yawned.

"You should get some sleep," Tony suggested.

"So should you," Sammie returned. She looked at her sleeping dog. "Jack didn't like her. He'll alert you if he hears or smells her."

"Is he going to stay down here?"

"He might. He looks comfortable, and he likes you." She shrugged. "I'll leave my door open. He can come and go as he wants." She hesitated, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. She pulled back, looking into his eyes, to find him looking back at her.

Tony reached up, running the tips of his fingers along the side of her face, then leaned forward slightly, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Good night, Sammie," he said, his voice low and husky.

"Night, Tony." Hesitating again, she glanced in the general direction of Gibbs' room and shook her head, smiling. She straightened up and reached out to run her fingers through his hair; he leaned into the caress. "Thanks for keeping us safe," she whispered, smiling at him. Then she headed for the stairs.

Tony watched her go. Jack's head shot up; he watched Sammie go up the stairs, looked from Tony to the stairs, then jumped off the couch and ran to follow her. Tony grinned, looking down at the plastic iguana, then checked the time. It was after two a.m.; he didn't really think Joann would be creeping around the neighborhood this late. He put the iguana in his go-bag, which he'd brought inside after dropping Joann off at her hotel; it wouldn't do for Gibbs to see it in the morning. Then he took off his shoes and lay down on the couch, gun still securely under the cushion he was using as a pillow. He pulled Sammie's blanket over him, smiling as he caught her scent from it. He closed his eyes, and was soon fast asleep.