Author's Note: This story has become bigger than I expected when I started out and gone in unexpected directions. I know how it ends, but I'm not entirely sure how I get from here to there. I may skip a week or two of posting to get my ideas more organized and get more written before posting, as I worry about compromising the story as I try to keep to this posting schedule.

Aftermath

Gibbs held on to his daughter as she cried, sounding broken in a way he hadn't heard since they were reunited. "It's okay, Kells," he murmured, "you did a great job."

The crying eventually stopped. "Tissue?" Sammie asked, sniffling.

"In the house."

"Shirt?"

"Go ahead."

She blew her nose on his shirt, the sound making him smile as it reminded him of days long gone by. "Better?"

"Yeah." She released him and backed up a step, her eyebrows lifting as she looked at his shirt. "You might want to change," she said apologetically.

He smiled at her and went inside and up the stairs. He could hear Jack whining as he approached Sammie's room, so he opened the door and let him out; the dog glanced at him and barked once as he ran downstairs. Gibbs went into his room, stripping off his t-shirt and tossing it in the wicker laundry basket in the corner. He dug a clean shirt out of a drawer, put it on, and headed back to his daughter.

Sammie was sitting on the bench, petting Jack. "Do you have eggs?" she asked Gibbs when he came back outside.

"Eggs?"

"Yeah… those things that come out of chickens."

Gibbs nodded slowly. "I have eggs."

"Can you get them?"

Gibbs tilted his head slightly, looking at her closely. Her eyes were wet and red, and her face looked drawn. "I can."

He went back into the house and came out moments later with a carton of eggs. "Got eight left."

"Thanks."

She took the carton from him and stood with it in her hands, looking around the yard. Telling Jack to say where he was, she marched toward the trees in the far corner, where Gibbs and Tony had been working, and set the carton down on the ground. She opened it, picked up an egg, and threw it at the trunk of a tree, where it hit with a splat. Then she repeated the process seven more times, letting out an angry yell on the last throw. She stood there for a moment, arms crossed over her chest and head bowed, then she bent down, picked up the empty carton, and walked back to the picnic table, where Gibbs now sat and waited, petting Jack, who sat on the bench next to him.

Sammie shook her head at the dog, sighing. "Well, you mostly stayed." She set the carton down on the table and sat opposite her father, giving him a small smile. "I owe you some eggs."

Gibbs shook his head, reaching over to squeeze her hand before picking up the small brown bottle that still sat on the table. "What's this?"

Sammie looked up from greeting Jack, who had run over to her, and saw her father holding the bottle. "You're messing with the evidence, Dad."

He shot her a look, eyebrows raised, but set the bottle down on the table.

Sammie looked at the bottle; Gibbs could see the anger in her expression. "That's the poison she was going to use to kill you."

Gibbs stared at the bottle. "Really."

"That's what she said." Sammie sat forward, looking at it closely; it wasn't easy to see inside to gauge how much liquid was in it. "She said she didn't know what it was, only that she was told it would 'do the job'," she used air quotes, "if she put it in your drink."

Gibbs suddenly felt very tired. He'd known Joann still blamed him, but he hadn't realized the depth of her hatred. "I'll go get an evidence bag."

Sammie watched him go into the house, then looked for Jack, watching him and smiling at his antics as he tried to get at the egg drying on the tree trunk.

Gibbs returned in a few minutes, wearing latex gloves. He picked up the bottle and placed it inside the bag, then used a black Sharpie to write on the label.

"What are you writing?"

"Our names… you, me, Joann, we all touched it. If Abby knows that ahead of time, she can eliminate us from the search. Maybe she can find a print we haven't ruined that can give us a lead on where Joann got this."

Sammie was quiet as she watched Gibbs seal the bag and strip off the gloves. "Maybe it's not really poison… maybe whoever gave it to her lied."

"Maybe." Gibbs sat down and looked closely at her; her eyes were still red. "You okay?"

She gave him a small smile. "Not really," she said, reaching up to push her hair back from her face. "That was… I don't even know what to call it." She forced a small laugh. "I've never interrogated anyone before."

"Did a damn good job if you got her to admit to that," Gibbs gestured toward the bottle, "and to agree to get help."

Sammie shrugged. "You said the fact that I look like Mom would make her easier to deal with… that, and that business of pretending to choose her over you, when you came over to talk to me."

Gibbs nodded. "Well-known technique… get the suspect to think they put one over on you, then pull the rug out from under."

"Oh, I pulled," Sammie said, frowning slightly. "Dad…"

"Yeah?"

"Do I really look that much like Mom?" Sammie didn't meet his eyes, and she rubbed her hands together as she spoke. "I mean… does it hurt you to look at me and see her?"

"Kelly." Gibbs leaned forward, covering both her hands with one of his own. When he spoke, his voice was soft and reassuring. "Yes, you look like your mom. No, you don't look so much like her that I see her and not you." He gently squeezed her hands until she looked up at him. "You have the best parts of us." He took a deep breath, looking past her into the yard, but not really seeing it. "Shannon… she had this quality, this sense of balance… everything just felt right, when I was with her. Like I was home." He smiled softly. "I used to say she was the calm in the eye of the storm… and she said I was the storm."

Gibbs looked his daughter in the eye. "Shannon wasn't just what she looked like. She was who she was." He shook his head. "I don't see her when I look at you. I see parts of her, parts of me… and the unique parts of you. You don't look like Shannon to me because you're a different person." He looked down at her hands in his. "You know who you are and what you want in a way I never did. You come at the world head on, and you aren't afraid to let it know who you are. You're sure as hell smarter than me, and maybe smarter than Shannon too. You're brave, thoughtful, forgiving, and I admire the hell out of who you've become."

He looked back up to see his daughter gazing at him, tears running down her face. "Thanks," she whispered. "I guess I needed to hear that." Sammie removed her hands from his and wiped at the tears on her face, but they kept coming. Gibbs got up from the table, coming around to her side of it and sitting next to her.

"I shouldn't have put you in that position with Joann," he said. "I'm sorry, Kells."

She shook her head. "Someone had to do it… and I don't think there was anyone else she would have talked to." She looked at him, smiling slightly while tears continued to slowly track down her face. "I will get between her and you… every time."

He reached up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, then used his thumb to wipe tears away. "Talk to me. This isn't just Joann, is it?"

Sammie turned away, sniffling while she watched Jack running around the yard. "I think… I thought after you came to my place last week, this was going to be easy. Just my life getting bigger, you know? Maybe it's really just Joann, but suddenly it's all overwhelming. I guess that's not surprising… it's not often you find out you were someone else, that you have family you didn't know you had…" Her voice trailed off.

Gibbs stayed quiet, afraid to say the wrong thing.

"Maybe it seemed kind of easy at first because of the dreams I'd had about you and Mom… I knew even though I didn't know, you know?" She glanced at him, one corner of her lips quirking upward as she caught his expression. "I'm breaking your brain, aren't I?"

Gibbs shook his head, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Maybe cracking it just a little."

She leaned into him. "I think I need time." Taking a deep breath, she let the air out slowly. "Actually, I think I'm going to get it no matter what." She sat up, turning to face her father, who let his arm drop. Sammie took his hand. "Because I switched weekends, I'm on for the next two… and then the two weekends after that, I've got plans with friends. One's an overnight hike with some friends and their dogs, and one's a three-day trip to New York City." She bit her lip. "I won't get back here for another month at least. Are you okay with that?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yes, because you have your own life. No, because I only just got you back and I'll miss you." He smiled at her, hoping to take any sting out of his words.

She returned the smile and moved forward to hug him. "Will you come for dinner again? Maybe once a week? I would come back here… but I have a lot of stuff at home to catch up on… and if I come back here, I won't want to leave."

Gibbs tightened his hold on her. "Yes, I'll come for dinner. Can we be flexible about when? I don't have a life outside of work when we have a case."

"That's fine." She sat back. "You did say you were going to let Tony take on more responsibility, though."

"True." His brow furrowed as he thought about it. "That will depend on what kind of case it is… won't leave him without backup."

"Of course not!"

He grinned at her reaction. "Did I interrupt something last night?"

Her eyes widened. "No! We were just talking." She turned slightly red. "We did have… a moment, I guess you'd call it. And I need to talk to him about that… especially since I won't be back for a while." Sammie sighed. "My shift doesn't start until after lunch tomorrow, so I thought I would stay for dinner tonight, then go home. I'm almost done with sorting everything upstairs… wanna come help?"

Gibbs nodded; they both got up, leaving Jack in the yard since he was focused on a squirrel taunting him from high up in a tree.

Sammie had already packed her things to bring back to Rosedale; her bag sat on the bed. "I'll take care of the sheets and towels before I go," she commented.

"Sounds good." Gibbs surveyed the room. Boxes were labeled for donation to various charities; he recognized Abby's handwriting on most of them.

Sammie opened the closet. "All the drawers are emptied of everything except clothes," she said, gesturing toward the dresser. "I figured we would box all that up… Abby already labeled a box for it. Then there's just whatever's left on these shelves. I put everything I want to keep in the boxes here in the closet."

She started pulling clothes out of drawers and folding them as she placed them in a box, while Gibbs did the same with the clothes in the closet. "What do you want to do about the room? You should have new furniture."

Sammie looked up, smiling. "I could definitely use a bigger bed." She hesitated, then asked, "You're going to make stuff for me eventually, right?"

"Of course."

She shrugged. "Then it doesn't really matter what I have temporarily. A queen size bed would fit in here, right?"

"Easily."

"So… do you mind getting rid of this stuff and getting temporary replacements?"

Gibbs looked at her, consternation clear on his face. "You need to give me something to go on."

Sammie grinned. "I'll send you an email with the type of mattress. I don't need a headboard or anything until you can make me a real bed frame. And I can send you pictures of the style of desk and dresser I'd want… but again, if you're eventually going to make me nice things, keep it inexpensive and simple."

Gibbs nodded, looking around the room. "You're just bringing the one chair?"

"Yeah."

He pulled an armful of clothes on hangers out of the closet and set them on the bed, pushing the box over with his foot. Sitting down, he began taking the clothes off hangers and folding them. "You know I was always going to build furniture for you… it just made sense to wait until you were a little older and wouldn't outgrow it."

"I know, Dad. It's fine. This furniture can all be donated."

"Want me to paint the walls?"

"Sure… a more neutral color?"

"You got it."

Sammie finished one drawer, and moved to the next. "You know… maybe I could move back here the weekend after my trip to New York. I'm pretty sure the guy I'm renting from would be happy to get the house on the market sooner, and wouldn't make me pay for that last month or so."

Gibbs smiled. "I'll talk to Vance about making sure we're off that weekend."

Sammie grinned at him. "I'll text my landlord right now. He won't respond until later, given that it's the middle of the night where he is."

It took them about an hour to finish packing up the room, after which they went to the diner for lunch; Sammie showed Gibbs pictures of furniture she liked on her cell phone while they ate.

About a Moment

Tony was at the house when they got back from lunch, sitting on the couch with Jack curled up next to him. "Hey, Boss. Hi, Sammie."

Gibbs nodded to him and sat on the arm chair while Sammie smiled at Tony and took a seat next to Jack. "Joann headed back home?"

"Yep. I insisted on giving her a ride to the train station." Tony rubbed the fur on Jack's neck. "She didn't say a word the whole time, except to try to dismiss me once we got to the hotel… said she'd take a cab to the station. I turned on the charm, told her I would be happy to escort her to the station. Waited with her until the train came, helped her with her suitcase, got her settled, stayed to make sure she was still on the train when it left."

"Thanks." Gibbs sighed. "Do I remember right that Abby said she was going to work today?"

Tony nodded. "She's taking a personal day Wednesday, so she wanted to get stuff done today."

Sammie tilted her head. "You have to make up personal days? Really?"

Tony laughed. "No, that's just what Abby does. She loves her lab."

Gibbs looked at Sammie. "Stayin' for dinner, right?" When she nodded, he went to the kitchen and came back out with the evidence bag containing the brown bottle. "Gonna take this in, have her identify it."

Tony's brow furrowed. "What's that, Boss?"

Gibbs met his eyes. "According to Joann, the poison she was going to use to get rid of me."

Tony's eyes widened. "Wow."

"Yeah." Gibbs looked down at the bag in his hands, shaking his head. "I'll be back soon."

"I'm going to take Jack for a walk!" Sammie called after him. She looked at Tony. "Want to come with us?"

He looked at her seriously before answering. "Yeah."

She got up to get Jack, glancing back at Tony to see a troubled expression on his face.

A few minutes later, the three of them were walking down the street toward a local park. Tony kept his hands in his pockets; Sammie was occupied with Jack's leash. They were both silent for a few minutes, until Sammie laughed softly. When Tony looked at her, she was already looking at him. "We weren't this awkward last night… what changed?" Sammie bit her lip. "Do you wish that moment we had didn't happen?"

"No! Definitely not." Tony still looked uncomfortable.

"Okay… so, rethinking the merits of the iguana?"

Tony laughed. "That's another no." He shook his head. "Still can't believe Gibbs did that."

Sammie smiled. "You're changing the subject."

"Yeah, I know." Tony reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Sammie… I like you. A lot. You're only the second woman I've been seriously interested in since a really bad breakup close to four years ago."

Sammie reached out to gently touch Tony's arm. "I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Thanks."

They walked on in silence until they got to the park. There was a fenced area for off-leash dogs on the opposite side of the park, so they headed in that direction. Once they got there, Sammie let Jack go and they both sat on a bench.

"Between work and plans with friends, I'm not going to make it back here for about a month," Sammie said. She reached up to tuck some hair behind her ear, watching Jack, feeling Tony's eyes on her. "I should tell you… I don't do casual well. And I'd like a family someday… and of course vet school may be looming." She cleared her throat, feeling her face heat up. "I like you, Tony… a lot. But if it's better to just be friends, I'm okay with that."

"I want to be more than just friends," Tony admitted. "I'm not in the habit of thinking much about the future… four years ago I was in an impossible situation… one that couldn't have ended well, no matter how much I tried to figure out a way that it could. While it lasted, though, I was getting ideas about family, and kids, although I have to tell you I'm terrible with kids."

Sammie smiled. "I'm thinking you can learn."

Tony grinned. "Yeah, maybe." He shifted on the bench. "I really want to get to know you better. And I'd like more moments like the one we had last night."

Sammie glanced at him from the corners of her eyes. "I'm hearing a 'but' in there."

Tony sighed, but didn't say anything.

"I'm too young?" Sammie guessed.

"No, that's definitely not it."

"Gone for too long?"

Tony chuckled. "Nope. Gibbs will be back at work tomorrow, we'll probably have a case before he finishes his first cup of coffee, and maybe I'll get a night off in a week."

Sammie laughed at that. "Dad's a tough boss, huh?"

"He can be."

"Betting that's the understatement of the year." Sammie checked on Jack, then turned to face Tony. "So, I like you, you like me, we both think this could be something… but…" She waved a hand at him, silently asking for an explanation.

Tony looked her in the eyes for just long enough for them to both feel the connection between them, then looked away. "Your dad warned me off this morning."

Sammie gaped at him. 'What?"

"While you were talking with Joann… he said something that made it pretty obvious that he wants more for you than me." The hurt showed through on his face for a moment, until he schooled his features into a more neutral expression.

Sammie stared at him. "That's not possible."

Tony gave her one of his fake smiles. "Hey, I know he values me as an agent, and I hope a friend, but believe me, given my track record, I can understand why he's not a fan of… well, of you and me together."

Sammie checked for Jack again, then sat back on the bench, arms crossed over her chest, looking at Tony. "Tony… Dad's been teasing me about you since I accidentally let it slip that I find you very attractive."

Tony's smile morphed into a real one. "You do?"

Sammie's expression turned slightly exasperated. "I thought I made that kind of obvious last night." She sighed. "What exactly did he say to you?"

Tony drummed his fingers on the bench, next to his legs. "Well, I said something about what a great person you are, and he agreed with me… and then he said something about how much time he missed with you, and how he wants to give you everything you could want, but that he doubts you would let him… and then he looked at me seriously and said 'she deserves the best' – in that loaded-with-meaning way he communicates way more than he actually says, being a functional mute and all."

A startled laugh escaped Sammie's mouth. "Functional mute?" She shook her head. "Tony… how do you get him warning you off out of that?"

Tony gave her a slightly incredulous look. "When a dad says to a guy his daughter deserves the best, usually 'and that's not you' follows it."

Sammie stared at him. "How did a guy like you become so insecure?"

Tony blinked, then gave her a weak grin. "Stick around, you might get to meet my father someday. He seems to show up about once a year." The grin faded. "You have another interpretation?"

"Yes." Sammie looked at Tony seriously. "The one that says you are the best, and he would be happy to see us together."

Tony opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He closed it, then opened it again, but did no more than exhale.

Sammie reached out to take his hand. "Tony… like I already said, if you just want to be friends, that's okay. If you want something more, like I do, we can give it a shot after I move in with Dad." She squeezed his hand. "He's already said if I were with you, he wouldn't worry about me."

"He said that?"

"Yes, he said that. And then he started teasing me, pretending to call you to tell you to ask me out."

"Gibbs did that? Jethro Gibbs? Guy's a little shorter than me, older, bad haircut…"

Sammie grinned. "Yes, that Gibbs. My dad. He did that. And I'm working on him about the haircut."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "When did that start? Because Tim and I have a bet going…"

Sammie laughed again. "So, you believe me?"

Tony squeezed her hand, then let go. "I believe our interpretations are at odds, so one of us must be wrong."

"I can talk to Dad, ask him to clear it up."

Tony shook his head. "Let's not rock the boat… you're going to be away for a month. You might meet Mr. Right."

Sammie wrinkled her nose. "You might meet Ms. Right."

Tony looked at her and shook his head, but didn't say anything.

Sammie smiled. "Friends, then? At least for the next month?"

"Friends." Tony returned the smile.

They sat watching Jack chase around with a few other dogs. "I'm heading home after dinner tonight," Sammie said. "Want to join us?"

Tony thought about it, then shook his head. "I think Gibbs would like some time with you alone."

Sammie smiled. "You're probably right. I'll take the opportunity to ask him to tell me more about Mom."

Tony returned the smile. "So… okay if I get in touch over the next month?"

"I'd like that." Sammie sat forward, watching as Jack and another dog got into a bit of a spat, but it ended almost as soon as it had begun, and the two dogs were playing again. "I want to keep in touch with the rest of the team too." She looked at him. "Dad's going to paint my room and replace the furniture… would you help him if he asks?"

"Of course. That'll get me cowboy steaks for sure."

"Thanks." Sammie pulled her phone from her pocket. "I'm going to text Abby and Ziva, let them know about my schedule… Abby said she would make sure all the boxes get to where they're supposed to go for donations."

They sat in companionable silence after Sammie put the phone back in her pocket. Tony sat back, stretching his arms along the back of the bench. Sammie scooted closer to him, then rested her head on his shoulder. "Friends can do this, right?" she asked quietly.

"Absolutely," Tony replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.