Tim was in the kitchen making breakfast for the family. He figured he'd give Shannon a break since she usually made all the meals, with Gibbs occasionally grilling stakes for dinner. It had been a couple of months of being on the run with his wife and her parents. It was finally starting to seem normal. Well, as normal as going by a different name and being extremely cautious around everyone you met was. But he was happier then he'd been in nine years. Things weren't perfect with him and Kelly or even him and Shannon. He was still working on forgiving them for walking out on him, but he was with them, which was all he ever wanted.
Just then, Kelly came down and passed her brother. "Coffee."
Tim laughed. "You're so much like your father. It's all made in the pot."
"Thank God," Kelly groaned as she made it over to the counter.
"Why are you up so early if you don't want to be? It's Saturday," Tim said.
"Tell that to the stupid sun," Kelly grumbled as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "The sun shines right through the blinds in our room. I couldn't sleep any longer."
"It's a nice day. Would you rather it be rainy and gloomy?" Tim asked.
"Yes. Because then, I could sleep. You're making breakfast?" Kelly asked when she finally noticed the pancakes he was flipping.
"Yeah, I figured I'd give your mom a break," Tim said.
"Yeah, I tried that once. It ended really badly. Mom woke up to me screaming and the smoke detectors going off. She came in with her gun drawn, half afraid that the Cartel caught up with us," Kelly reminisced.
Tim turned to his wife with a surprised look on his face. "You mean you knew you couldn't cook when you tried to make me dinner that first time?"
Kelly looked at him sheepishly. "It had been years since my first attempt. I thought I'd try it again."
"Well, why didn't Shannon tell me?" Tim asked.
"I thought if you could survive her cooking, you'd be able to handle this family," Shannon said as she walked in. She then patted him on the shoulder. "I was right."
"Morning, Mom. Where's Dad?" Kelly asked.
"Just went outside to get the paper. You're up early for a Saturday," Shannon commented.
Kelly started muttering about the 'stupid sun' again and then took a sip of her coffee.
Shannon turned back to Tim and smiled. "Thanks for starting breakfast. You didn't have to though."
"I know, but I figured as the other person in the house that's a decent cook, I should take a turn," Tim said.
"Okay, you guys can stop making fun of my cooking now," Kelly said with a half-hearted glare.
Shannon chuckled. "It's okay, sweetie. We're making fun of your father's cooking too.
"Hey, I make a good steak," Gibbs said as he entered the room, putting the paper down on the counter and going for the coffee.
"Yeah, I'll give you that one, Jethro," Shannon said.
Kelly picked up the paper her father had discarded and headed into the dining room. She didn't really read the paper usually, as the internet was much more punctual than the daily paper, but she was a little board, so she decided what the hell. It was wasn't long before she saw it. The article about two dead NCIS agents from Washington DC. She immediately bolted back into the kitchen. "Guys!"
"What's wrong?" Shannon asked concerned.
"Are you okay?" Tim asked as he turned off the stove. He'd just finished up the pancakes.
"You guys are in the paper. Apparently NCIS has declared the two of you dead," Kelly said.
"What?" Gibbs asked before taking the paper from his daughter to read the article himself.
"Please tell me there's no picture," Shannon said. If there was a picture, they wouldn't be safe. So many people would see and read that article.
"No, Mom, surprisingly, there's no picture. Well, accept for the NCIS director," Kelly said.
"This is already happening? It's been less then three months. They couldn't have given up that easily,"
"Apparently, they have. There's a quote here from Vance that says they're doing everything they can to recover our remains and find our killer," Gibbs said.
"But it hasn't been that long," Tim argued.
"Two months is a while, Tim, especially when they knew there was a hit out on you. They know whoever was responsible wouldn't have left you alive," Shannon reasoned
Gibbs looked thoughtful. Shannon would probably be right if it was any other team and Vance was any other director, but he knew his team and he knew Vance. Something wasn't right. "No, Tim's right. They wouldn't have given up so easily, and they certainly wouldn't have leaked it to the press unless they had proof."
"Then why did they?" Kelly asked.
"Because they got their answers," Gibbs said after a second.
"You think they know?" Tim asked.
"That or they leaked this to draw out the guilty parties or something. But my gut says they know and they're dropping the case," Gibbs said. The fact that they'd willingly talked to the press was proof enough of that in his eyes. He also got the feeling Vance had something to do with keeping their faces out of the paper, something he would've done to make sure no one knowingly laid eyes on either of them.
"They're protecting us, making it go away," Kelly said.
"My God that had be hard for them. Letting us go with no assurances that we'd be safe and letting our families..." Tim trailed off as realization hit. "My sister's gonna see that article!
Shannon placed a hand on Tim's shoulder to comfort him. "They probably told her before it was leaked to the press."
"Must have. Towards the end of the article, there's a quote from your father, Tim. He promises pain to the SOBs responsible for your death," Gibbs said. If it was anyone else, that would be kind of touching and sad, but he knew enough to know this bastard didn't give a damn about Tim. Pretending that he did was just sickening.
Tim twitched slightly at that. That was just typical. His father couldn't have cared less about him before, but now that he was 'dead', he vowed to take some kind of vengeance.
"This means my dad knows too," Gibbs said. He couldn't imagine that his father took it well. No, he knew he didn't because he knew what it was like to be told your child was dead, to realize you were all alone. His father had to devastated.
"Yeah, I hate that Jack has to go through that. I'm so sorry, Jethro," Shannon said.
"Uh, I'm not hungry anymore. I'm gonna take a shower and then take a ride," Tim said before starting out of the room.
"Tim," Kelly called after him, but he just kept walking. "I really hate that he's going through this. His family's suffering and he's suffering because of it. This is why I made the decision to walk away."
Gibbs and Shannon glanced at each other, both knowing his family's suffering was not why Tim was so upset. Well, it wasn't the only reason anyway.
"He's where he wants to be sweetheart.
Kelly just sighed and went into the living room.
"She doesn't know?" Gibbs asked when Kelly left. He assumed Kelly of all people would know about Tim's family. Then again, what man wanted to tell the woman he loved that his family treated him like dirt?
"Jethro, if he had it his way, no one would know. I only know because I witnessed the damage his father caused one day and I forced the truth out of him," Shannon said.
"He should tell her. She could help him during times like this," Gibbs said.
"I don't think he wants her to know because I think a part of him still believes the things his father would say to him. I've tried to make him see that it's not true, but it's not easy to undo eighteen years of verbal abuse, and I think we set him back by walking out of his life," Shannon said sadly. She'd never forgive herself for what she did to Tim. It was the biggest mistake she ever made. As far as she was concerned, she abandoned one of her children. Yes, she'd done it to save his life and give him a more fulfilling one, but she'd still done it.
"All you do in a situation like this is to keep saying it, I guess," Gibbs said.
"And I intend to. I'll give him a little time to process what just happened and then I'll talk to him," Shannon said.
"I'll come too," Gibbs said. Shannon was better at this type of thing than he was, but he wanted to help if he could.
"I appreciate that, Jethro, but I think I should talk to him alone. It's a mother thing, and make no mistake about it, I am his mother. I'm the only one he's ever had," Shannon said. That woman that called herself his mother didn't know the meaning of the world. She allowed her husband to treat her child like dirt and never said a word to defend him. She was a disgrace.
"Oh, yeah, you certainly made that clear," Gibbs said with a slight smirk. He remembered how her motherly instincts came into play when he'd gone after the younger man. It be fair, he was an ass.
"Damn right," Shannon said before grabbing a plate from the cabinet and getting some breakfast.