Gibbs was sitting in the front seat next to Shannon as she drove. He occasionally looked in the back at McGee and Kelly who both appeared to be sleeping.

Shannon glanced at her husband. "Jethro, you should get some sleep. I'm guessing you didn't get much of that last night."

"That's not gonna happen," Gibbs said. He didn't dare to so much as close his eyes. He was terrified that if he did, he would wake up from this amazing dream he must be having.

Shannon seemed to figure out exactly what her husband was thinking. "We're not going away, Jethro. It's not a dream. And you can't afford to be overtired, not in a life like ours. It could be deadly.

"Have you ever been attacked?" Gibbs asked. It got the feeling they had and that didn't sit well with him. The idea of his wife and daughter being in peril while he was thousands of miles away unnerved him. He should've been around to protect them.

Shannon sighed. "We've had close calls. Guns and fast cars have saved our asses many time."

"Yeah, I never thought I'd see you with a gun," Gibbs said. He had been thrown for a loop when right before they left he witnessed Shannon and his daughter each strap a gun to their belts.

"Neither did I. There are a lot of things I never thought I'd do. I had to acclimate very quickly to this life. That meant being prepared to do things I wouldn't have done before. It was the only way to stay alive," Shannon said.

Gibbs shook his head. "The idea of you having to do that, any of it… It shouldn't have happened."

"But it did. That's all that matters," Shannon said.

"Do you regret it? Agreeing to testify?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes and no. Testifying was the right choice. It was the right thing to do. I knew it was risky, but not testifying because of possible danger seemed cowardly. It still seems cowardly. I don't think I would've been able to live with myself if I hadn't agreed to do it. That being said, if I knew the chain of events that doing it would cause, I doubt I would've. I wouldn't have been able to justify putting our daughter through that" Shannon said. Agreeing to testify had been the right decision in her mind, and in a lot ways she still believed it was, but it came at a very heavy price that she didn't foresee. If she had, she wouldn't have done it because it wasn't just her that had to pay it.

Things were quiet for a few minutes before Gibbs spoke again. "Pedro Hernandez didn't even live a year."

"What?" Shannon asked.

"He was shot and killed in Mexico not long after he tried to kill you. He was killed much like the NIS agent that was protecting you was. He was shot in the head while driving by a sniper," Gibbs said. He felt he had to tell her. She needed to know what he'd done to avenge them, even if she was mad as hell about it.

Shannon glanced back and forth between her husband and the road. He knew what she was saying. He'd killed that man out of revenge. "Twenty years ago I would be screaming at you right now. The idea of you killing someone for me is not something I would've wanted to even think about. But I'm not who I was then. I was someone who had never had her child put in jeopardy. I am now. In fact, it happened just recently. When Nick told me a hit had been put on Tim, I instructed him to do whatever he had to do to save his life. I knew very well what that meant. I didn't say the words, but it was very clear to both of us that I was ordering a murder. I didn't care then and I still don't. I did what I had to do to save my son, and should he have God forbid been killed, I would've done worse. So I get it."

Gibbs glanced back at Tim. "He really matters to you, doesn't he?"

Shannon nodded. "My son in everything but blood. I love him so much. It tore me apart to leave him behind and I know it did the same to him. That's something I'm going to have to answer for."

"He has no right to be angry with you. You were protecting him," Gibbs said fiercely. There was no way he was going to let McGee lash out at Shannon or Kelly. They had been through enough.

Shannon sighed. "Tell me, Jethro, is that what you thought yesterday? You didn't know who I was yesterday. All you knew was that I was Tim's mother-in-law and that his wife and I walked out of his life without a word. What did you think about us then?"

Gibbs hesitated. He didn't want to answer that question. He didn't even wanna think about it. It made him feel guilty. He hadn't thought much of her and Kelly yesterday. He thought it was wrong for them to abandon McGee the way they did and that he should file for divorce.

"Tell me, Jethro. I wanna know what you thought," Shannon said.

"I thought it was cold and cruel for you to leave him like that, I didn't know. If I had known…"

"It doesn't matter if you knew or not, Jethro. The acts are still the same. We still walked out of his life without so much as an explanation. True, we did it to protect him. I wanted him to have the life that I couldn't give Kelly. Kelly wanted that too. But I don't expect him to understand that. He had his wife and the only real parent he's ever had walk out on him," Shannon said. No part of her blamed Tim for being angry. She walked out on him after telling him how much she loved him and that she was different than his parents. He was probably more angry at her than Kelly, and rightfully so.

"What are you talking about? McGee's parents are still alive," Gibbs said confused.

Shannon laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, ask him about them some time. I can't get into it because it's not my place, but just suffice it to say that they leave a lot to be desired.

Gibbs wanted to question her further, but he knew his wife and he knew she wasn't going to go any further. He made a mental note to ask McGee about it later. After he got done killing him for marrying his daughter, that was.