Gibbs was sitting in the living room while Shannon and Kelly got ready to go. He could hardly believe he'd agreed to this. He wouldn't have agreed twenty years ago. Hell, he wouldn't have agreed today if it were anyone else. But he knew what it felt like to lose Shannon and Kelly. It was a fate worse than death. He couldn't go through it again. Shannon had made it very clear that she was not going to go back. She wouldn't risk Kelly's life or Tim's.

Tim's relationship with Shannon still through him for a loop. The kid knew them in ways he didn't, especially Kelly. He was married to her. That pissed him off. The idea of his little girl having that kind of relationship with any man had him wanting to beat said man to a pulp. In his mind, she was still the little girl he knew twenty years ago. He would also admit that he was mildly annoyed that his agent knew his family in a way he didn't. He knew it wasn't McGee's fault, but still.

Gibbs was soon pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his cellphone. He took it out and saw that it was Tony. It wasn't unexpected. It was after nine and neither he nor Tim was in the office. Of course it would sound off alarm bells in the senior field agent.

Gibbs was torn by the call. He wanted to answer it, but he knew it was a bad idea. That was hiding 101. You don't stay in contact with those you're leaving behind. Answering a call from Tony would put his family and the team back home in danger.

"You can't answer it, Jethro."

Gibbs looked up to see his wife in the doorway. "I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it though. It's one of my agents."

Shannon walked further into the room. "Your agents."

Gibbs nodded. "After your 'death', I resigned from the marines and joined NIS, now NCIS. Been there ever since. That's how I know McGee. He's one of my agents."

"Well, isn't that ironic," Shannon said as she sat down across from her husband. "Tim has always expressed a desire to join NCIS.

"You know a lot about him," Gibbs stated. It wasn't a question.

"And that bothers you," Shannon guessed.

"No. It bothers me that he knows so much about you. I've known McGee for the better part of the last decade and the whole time he had a connection to my family that I never knew about," Gibbs said. He kept thinking about that. McGee had real knowledge of his family. The kid could've been the key to getting them back sooner if the right thing had been mentioned earlier. And again, he knew that wasn't McGee's fault, but was still irritating to realize.

"He didn't know about it either, Jethro. He didn't even know our real names. He thought Kelly's name was a nickname. We didn't want to involve him in this. Though in hindsight I realize that by bringing him into this family, we involved him," Shannon said. She would never regret Tim being a part of her family. He was her son and she loved him very much. But she did realize that the danger to Tim's life was caused by her and Kelly bringing him in. She'd foolishly believed that the danger had died down at the time and she'd convinced herself that they and Tim would be safe.

"Then why did you?" Gibbs asked curiously. In the short time that he'd been with his wife today, he'd noticed major changes in her. She was extremely overprotective and extremely cautious. It didn't seem like she would just let someone new in so easily.

"Because the danger didn't seem so bad for a while. I naïvely thought that maybe the Cartel had forgotten about us. Actually, I think I just told myself that to justify it. I wanted Kelly to have a chance at happiness and Tim did that for her. She loved him so much," Shannon said.

Gibbs cringed. The last thing he wanted to hear about was how much his daughter loved a man, any man.

Shannon noticed the look on her husband's face and chuckled. "Yes, I know how hard that is for you to hear. To you, she's still that little girl that you last saw twenty years ago. Though I'm not sure it would be much different if you did watch her grow up. You're her father and to you no one will ever be good enough. I'm sure you're just waiting to have a go at Tim. It's not gonna happen."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow in a 'oh really' kind of way.

"Don't give me that look, Jethro. I'm immune. Tim is a good man and I happen to consider him my son. I won't let you go after him because you can't accept the fact that your little girl is no longer a little girl," Shannon said firmly.

Just then, Tim and Kelly came into the room. "I'm ready, Mom."

"Okay, let's get out of here," Shannon said before standing up.

Gibbs got up as well and went to grab his phone, but Shannon stopped him at the last minute.

"No, Jethro. You can't take it with you. It has a GPS. Besides, if you take it, you'll be tempted to answer it if it rings," Shannon said before grabbing it from the table and proceeding to take the battery out. She wanted to make sure no one tracked them there with it.

Gibbs didn't stop her. He knew she was right. He couldn't have it with him and it was better that he not be tempted with phone calls.

"Give me yours, Tim," Shannon said.

Tim hesitated. He knew that this was for his protection, but his phone was the only way his sister could contact him now if she needed to, and while the people currently with him were important to him, she was too.

"Tim," Shannon pushed.

"I…I can't. If my sister needs me and I don't have this to answer her calls… I can't do that," Tim said.

"Baby, you can't help her now," Kelly said as gently as she could.

Shannon walked over to Tim. "Look at me."

Tim did as she asked.

"I know this is difficult. I know how close you are to your sister, but Kelly's right. There's nothing you can do for her. Staying in touch would just put you and her in danger," Shannon said.

"So you just want me to walk away. Let her think I've abandoned her like she was nothing. It's that easy for you?" Tim asked bitterly. He was no longer just talking about Sarah.

"Hey," Gibbs said angrily before standing up and glaring at his agent. There was no way in hell he was gonna let McGee talk to his wife like that.

Shannon put her hand up in her husband's direction to tell him to stay out of it before addressing her son. "No, it's not that easy. There is nothing easy about it. Walking away was the hardest thing I've ever done, and it will be for you too, but there is no choice, not if we wanna stay alive."

"And if these guys come after Sarah?" Tim asked. This was starting to really hit him. He'd agreed to all of this because he wanted to be with his family, but the downside was really hitting him hard.

"I don't think that's going to happen. They came after you because of your connection to us. Your sister's connection to us is only though you. I don't think they'll bother with her," Shannon said.

"But you can't promise that," Tim said.

Shannon sighed. "No, I can't, but she'll be mor in danger if you stay in contact. I'm sorry, but this just isn't a choice. You need to give me your phone now."

Tim still didn't wanna do it, but he knew Shannon was probably right. Staying in touch would probably put Sarah at more risk. So he handed his phone over, as well as all connections he had to the life he had just yesterday.