A/N: To all those who celebrate Christmas, I'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas! To all those celebrate Chanukah, I hope the 8 days was enlightening & joyous! To Everyone else, may you be happy as you celebrate life! It's a very precious thing!

To momsboys: I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! To hear you think it's one of the best you've read... WOW! That really made my day! Thank you so much! Here's another chapter!

To all my newest followers & favourites, welcome aboard! Glad to have you with us! To all my reviewers, thank you! I really love hearing your comments, they spur me to keep writing!

Now, let's see how those apology's go...

Nix was sitting in the ballistics lab, it was now their spot, they had a few mattresses & cushions & he was using them to make himself comfortable, Buster was lying by his side, resting his head on his lap.

Nix loved his dog, they've only had him a short time at home, but he'd spent heaps of time with him. Almost as soon as they arrived in DC they'd gone up to a ranch to pick their dog, there were a lot of different pup's to choose from, even with his sister narrowing the field to dogs that were good 'guard dogs' being, German Shepard's, Dobermans, Belgian Malinioss or Rottweilers. He looked a lot over, but when his eye's fell to Buster, he just knew this was his dog! There was no denying the connection, after that day, they went up to the ranch at least every second weekend, the trainers wanted them to help with the training, so they could bond with Buster & be able to issue the commands and have Buster listen. It meant that by the time they could bring him home, they were well acquainted, good friends & he and his sister both knew how to handle him.

Nix was nervous though, Tony had come back into the lab with Tim & Ziva already a while ago but still there was no sign of his dad & sister. He was worried about how much trouble his sister was in, he was worried about his dad's reaction to it all, both were stubborn so he guessed it wasn't going to be a pleasant chat & he was mildly intrigued as to how it was going, part of him wanted to sneak up there to spy, but the rest of him knew it wouldn't be worth getting caught trying it, he really didn't want to push his dad given everything.

Gibbs & Kelly were on their way down in the lifts when he brought the lift to his usual stop.

Kelly saw her dad flick a switch & the lift suddenly stopped, she started to get really nervous "what are you doing?"

"It's ok Kell, relax. I do this all the time" Gibbs said seeing her concern.

"You stop the lift between floors all the time, why?" Kelly asked.

"That doesn't really matter at the moment" Gibbs said, trying to dismiss that conversation path, he'd stopped the lift for a reason "you are going to apologise to the Director first, you may do it in the hallway so you don't have to do it in front of the others. As soon as you're done, it's into the lab. I'm then going to speak to McGee, while I do that you don't even think about passing the door's threshold. When I come back, you will apologise to McGee, you are to be respectful to both of them, am I understood?"

"Yes sir" Kelly nodded, while she wasn't looking forward to either of the apologises she was dreading the one with Tim, firstly she hated that she had do it in front of her dad, but she knew there was no way he would let her do it without him present. She also hated that she'd picked him because she liked him & was now nervous about having to speak to him.

Gibbs then remembered something else "You are also going to apologise to the Director for instigating Buster's little growl session on her. That is not acceptable, the Director is not a threat & you ordering him to react to her will have him view her as such. So not only will you apologise, you will also introduce them, so he can learn she is no threat. Having a dog, a guard dog, is a very big responsibility & your actions have consequences, I'm sure you realise that."

Kelly swallowed, looking back it was a very stupid thing to do "yes sir I do, I'm sorry"

Gibbs nodded, he had a feeling though where it came from, he took hold her hands & spoke gently "I know you are probably still a little off put by her, given how you first saw her & all of the stuff that came about from it, which I can understand. But let me assure you Kells, there is & has only ever been one woman I have truly loved & that's your mother" while he had greatly cared for Jenn & at the time felt like it was a kind of love, knowing his wife, his redhead beauty, his Shannon, his soul mate was alive & waiting for him, he realised that he'd not loved any other woman as much as her & while Jenn had come the closet, it was no comparison.

That made Kelly feel better, she had been defensive against the Director somewhat, feeling she had to defend her mum in her absence.

Gibbs knew she wouldn't answer him back, but he did see her visibly relax, so he knew he reassured her, he hoped at least. He flicked the switch & the carriage finished it's short descent "Would you like me to ask the Director to come out?"

Kelly nodded "yes thanks"

Gibbs nodded as they left the lift, he motioned to a spot in the hallway for his daughter to wait as he headed into the lab & saw them all in there, McGee was clearly still unsettled, while the others all looked at him cautiously, he quickly peered down the way to where his son should be, glad to see him sitting there with Buster.

Gibbs turned to Jenn "Director, my daughter would like a word out in the hall"

Jenn's was quite surprised at that & followed him back out, she thought he was still mad at her, so she wasn't sure why he wanted her to speak to his daughter.

Gibbs went back into the hallway & saw that his girl was now fiddling with her fingers, clearly feeling nervous, he cleared his throat.

Kelly looked up to her dad & just saw him staring at her waiting for her to talk, she swallowed & looked at the director "I just ah... wanted to ... apologise,... I'm sorry for using you to get my car back from Portsmouth, and for... manipulating the situation to get you to allow me outside... I knew dad had said no to both things & I did it anyway..."

Gibbs cleared his throat, she was missing a particular word.

Kelly swallowed as she flashed a look at her dad, she turned back to the Director "I deliberately did it anyway, I shouldn't have even asked you. So I'm sorry ma'am"

Jenn's eyes widened in surprise, she had only realised Gibbs had declined her requests when Gibbs had started yelling at her for it all, but she had no idea that Kelly had done it on purpose. This was obviously part of her penance, it also looked liked she'd done some crying, she wasn't sure what the reason behind that was, but that was none of her business, that was for Gibbs to be concerned about.

Jenn remembered a time when she was younger when she did something, well not similar, but something that resulted in her dad making her apologise to his supervisor back then & she was nervous as anything & like Kelly had to do it in front of her dad, which just added to the nerves. She decided to put her out of her misery, and after a quiet moment spoke "Apology accepted, thank you Kelly"

Kelly took a deep breath, she had one more apology to do "I ahh... also wanted to apologise for having Buster react to you like he did. That wasn't called for, and I know you aren't a threat, so I'm sorry ma'am"

Jenn had to admit that she had been briefly concerned when the dog had started on her, so this apology was called for "thank you, I trust that wont happen again to me or any other NCIS officer?"

"No ma'am" Kelly replied.

"Then apology accepted" Jenn confirmed, she had to admit Kelly was looking very sorry for herself.

Gibbs was proud that she'd managed to do it, he could see just how nervous she was "ok, inside young lady & stay put until I call for you, you can introduce them when I'm back"

"Yes sir" Kelly answered & made a beeline into the lab.

Jenn waited until she'd gone inside "are you ok?" the look on his face, was well, she'd never really seen it before.

"Getting there" Gibbs answered "thank you Director"

"For what?" Jenn asked, what could he be thanking her for?

"For accepting her apology, it shouldn't have been necessary, she shouldn't have done it, any of it" Gibbs said.

Jenn let out a small smile "I'm sure she's learnt her lesson, but I hope you weren't too hard on her"

"I handled it" Gibbs replied, he took a breath and pressed the button for the lift, holding the button down when it arrived "McGee!" he called.

Tim came out straight away & saw Gibbs motion him into the lift, he went straight in, unsure what his fate would be.

Jenn moved closer to Gibbs "don't be too hard on him" she motioned to the petrified agent waiting in the lift.

Gibbs just eyed her, he flashed a look into the lab & saw his girl now sitting with her brother, he headed into the lift himself.

Tim just waited for it to start, Gibbs had hit the up the button & within seconds had pressed the emergency stop button, but nothing came Gibbs just stared at him.

Gibbs wondered if again he'd have to start the conversation, he looked at his agent for a few moments & was about to start when he was beaten to the punch.

Tim was slightly freaking out at baring the brunt of Gibbs's stare, but he needed to take ownership of what had happened so he took a deep breath "Boss, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let her close to her car & I shouldn't have let her off the navy yard. I accept full responsibility"

Gibbs was impressed with his young agent, but this was not entirely his fault though he wasn't going to let him know that yet & he want to try to work that nagging thing Kelly wouldn't tell him yet "Why did you?"

Tim gave an internal moan, how could he answer that? He agreed with Tony that telling him that he fancied his daughter was the wrong thing to do "She can be really persuasive & she was so sure of herself I didn't think I'd be able to talk her out of it boss. I didn't want her to go alone, like she'd threatened to do if I didn't go along, so I went. I knew it was the wrong thing, but I didn't want to go without some protection, knew that would be an even worse decision"

Gibbs remembered that even as a kid she could be persuasive & she always seemed sure of herself. "I know she can be persuasive & seem sure of herself McGee but you need to realise that you are a Federal Agent & shouldn't let someone talk you into anything, you have to work on your authority & find a way to combat other peoples persuasive powers with your own"

"Yes boss" Tim agreed, it was something he knew he had to do & was also something Ziva & Tony had mentioned too.

"As for making sure she stayed protected & not letting her go alone, that was the best decision in the whole mess you made, you realised that you were faced with a bad situation & made the best bad decision you could" Gibbs said.

Tim considered that good news from Gibbs, that was almost a compliment, so what came next shocked him.

"Thank you for keeping her safe McGee" Gibbs said simply.

Tim's eye's widened in utter shock, he'd never heard his boss say thank you, especially to him before! He didn't know what to say, so he just nodded his thanks.

Gibbs didn't want to get into the nitty gritty of everything, he had a feeling it wouldn't be in anyone's interest to dig further "I'm sure DiNozzo has told you that you screwed up?" he asked, it drew a nod "well, he's right, but you're not alone, there's blame to be shared, the Director has some of it & my daughter has more than her fair share of it"

Tim knew that was true, again he just nodded but he wondered how much trouble Kelly had gotten into.

There was still something bugging Gibbs though "Was there any other reason for you letting Kelly talk you into going apart from her persuasive nature?"

Tim tried not to close his eyes as he thought about it, what on earth is he supposed to say? "Ah, well, she seemed a little down & it was something she wanted to do, I thought if we went it might help her feel a little better" it wasn't a lie, he had thought the trip may help her lift her mood.

Gibbs eyed his agent, he knew her mood hadn't been the best but there was something more to it, but he couldn't work it out. He was so frustrated with himself, nothing ever slipped past him, so how on earth was this getting him stumped? He'd have to keep a close eye on everything and everyone "Ok, I do not have to tell you that you are not to take Kelly or Phoenix anywhere unless I expressly ask you to do I?"

"No Boss" Tim replied, he wasn't going to take either of them anywhere without his ok.

"Good, cause if you do..." Gibbs said, leaving it open to his agents interpretation.

Tim swallowed "yes boss" he wasn't stupid enough to risk Gibbs's wrath.

"Ok then" Gibbs nodded "before you go back into the lab, my daughter has something to tell you" he added reengaging the lift.

Tim wondered what he was talking about, what did Kelly have to tell him?

Nix had seen his dad come in & then go back out, it was a few minutes later that he saw his sister heading straight for him.

Kelly walked straight through lab, not even meeting the eyes she knew she had on her & went right into the ballistics lab where her brother was.

Nix watched as his sister sat down next to him & he couldn't help but see a slight wince as she sat, his eyes widened, did their dad spank her? "Did dad?"

Kelly didn't know what to say, she also didn't realise that that single swat had left a remaining feeling on her bottom.

Nix took her silence as a sure sign that he had, she was looking like she had after ever time she'd gotten into trouble with their mum, horrible! Ohh boy.. "are you ok?"

Again Kelly didn't know what to say, she was still feeling pretty emotional but she didn't want her brother to be too worried "yea, ok"

Kelly smiled as Buster shifted to lean his head against her lap, she stroked his head "did you feed him?"

Nix guessed she didn't want to talk about it, he just nodded "yea, gave him a tin, he was pretty hungry, ate the whole thing"

Kelly saw the bowl not too far away, there was barely anything left in the bowl "yea, looks like it" she said as she rested her head back against the wall, she was dreading this next apology, she just waited for it.

"Kelly" Gibbs called from the hallway.

Nix flashed a look at his sister, she jumped up straight away & headed to where their dad was waiting in the hall, what was going on?

Gibbs had seen his girl sitting down & her jump to as soon as he called her, he suppressed that smile & waited for her to come out into the hallway, once she was with them he spoke "Kelly, something to say to McGee?"

Kelly did her best to quell her nerves, she took a deep breath trying to do so, she wished she could do this in private without her dad, but knew not to even request that "I just ah,... wanted apologise for what happened... asking you to go outside with me was wrong... I knew that dad had... denied me the same thing... and I deliberately manipulated the situation to go when he wasn't here" she said quietly, using the words she knew her dad wanted to hear.

Tim had to admit he was surprised to hear her apologising but he kinda figured she'd decided to do this before heading outside, so that wasn't a surprise to him.

"Even though dad had denied my request go to my place I made a deliberate decision to go & I knew you weren't comfortable with leaving the navy yard, and I pushed you into the situation...so... I'm sorry for forcing you into a situation you weren't comfortable with & for demanding your cell phone to prevent you from phoning my dad... you kept telling me it was the wrong thing to do & I kept ignoring your advice, so I'm sorry Agent McGee...and I know you didn't have to come with me, so thank you for coming to keep me safe." Kelly finished, she had managed to finally look at Tim at the last sentence, she tried to show just how much she was sorry & thankful. She also knew that she had to come clean about commandeering his cell phone.

Tim was impressed, she had taken total ownership of the whole thing, that takes guts! He could see she was sorry for it & that she was also glad that he'd gone with her, knowing a reply was required he found his voice "Apology accepted, I'm just glad we got back safe & sound"

Gibbs motioned his agent back into the lab. He'd been expecting the apology to go a different way than how it went, he again got a funny feeling, but there was one thing that he had to deal with first. He looked at his girl who was standing a mere foot from him, she was head down again fiddling with her fingers "Kelly" he said, as she looked up he spoke again "you demanded & took his cell phone?" no wonder Tony couldn't get a hold of him!

"Yes sir" Kelly swallowed.

"Do you still have it?" Gibbs asked.

"No sir, I returned it when we got back into the parking lot" Kelly answered.

That's something Gibbs thought "Do I have to tell you that you are never to do something like that again?"

Kelly shook her head "no sir"

Gibbs nodded "Is there anything else you need to tell me?" could he get it out of her.

Kelly thought about it "don't think so sir"

"Ok" Gibbs conceded that it wouldn't be forthcoming at the moment, he closed the gap between them & again using his finger he raised her chin so he look at her "thank you for apologising, you took responsibility for your actions & that takes great courage. I'm proud of you." he finished wrapping his arms around her, yea she'd screwed up, but they'd dealt with it & now it was time to move forward. He was also getting sick of hearing the word 'sir' come out of her mouth & considered changing it to 'dad', but maybe it was too soon, maybe he needed to keep the strict nature that came with it for a little bit longer.

Kelly let herself get wrapped up in her dad's embrace & love, she was glad those apologies were over, the one with Tim hadn't been as bad she thought it would be. She just wondered how long it would take for her dad to trust her again, she wondered how long she'd be on the short leash he was going to have her on.

Gibbs felt his girl grip him tightly, it only served to make him grip her more tightly "It's over my baby Kell bear, everything'll be ok, I love you & that will never change"

"Love you too" Kelly whispered.

Gibbs had barely heard the whisper, she'd said it into his chest, but it brought a smile to his face "come on angel, I think I need a proper introduction with Buster" he said, trying to coax her back into the lab.

Kelly raised her head & smiled, she just nodded allowing her dad to walk them back into the lab

A/N: At least they're over with! Maybe now they can move forward..

But I think we've had enough serious stuff for now, it's dinner time, so what will happen when Martha Taylor brings some dinner over & possibly her son too? How will those reintroductions go?

More up soon, you know I love hearing your thoughts, so review away!