Tony walked into the church, where the service for Gibbs and McGee would be held. This was the final step in letting his friends go. It was what he hoped would convince the Reynosa Cartel that they believed their friends were dead. It was doubtful that the Cartel would believe them dead, but it would hopefully help convince them that the rest of them didn't know anything about what really happened to them. If they thought for one second that any of them knew the truth, they'd try to use them to find Gibbs, McGee, and their family.
Tony was discretely keeping an eye on Jack and Sarah in case the Cartel did come after them, but they seemed safe for now. Hopefully, keeping them in the dark would keep them safe. It was a risk, but them knowing the truth would be more of one.
Tony found Ziva, Ducky, and Palmer seated up front and quickly went over to them. "Hey, guys."
"Hello, Anthony, how are you?" Ducky asked.
"I've had better days," Tony said. This funeral might be fake, but in certain ways, it didn't seem like it. They were really saying goodbye to Gibbs and McGee today.
"We all have," Jimmy said.
"Where's Abby? I thought you were picking her up, Palmer," Tony said.
"She wouldn't come. She's not ready to accept that they're gone," Jimmy said sadly.
Ducky looked at his assistant guiltily. The young man didn't know that their friends weren't in fact dead. It had been decided that too many already knew the truth. While Ducky thought it was a wise decision, he also felt it was a bit unfair for Mr. Palmer to be the only one of them who didn't know the truth.
Tony silently seethed. He'd been clear with Abby a few days ago. She had told him she didn't want to go to the funeral. He told her she needed to be there. People needed to believe that she believed Gibbs and McGee were dead. The Cartel was likely watching them. If they thought for one second, the team was still looking for their missing teammates, or even worse than that, that they knew where they were, they could become targets. Abby could make herself a target by refusing to play along. "I can't believe this."
"It is alright, Tony," Ziva whispered. "People will just assume that she is too grief stricken to attend the funeral."
Tony didn't respond, and instead turned to Ducky. "Ducky, where's Jack? You came with him, right?"
"Yes. The poor man needed a few moments to himself," Ducky said.
Just then, Tony noticed as Sarah walked over to them. "Hey, Sarah. How are you doing?"
"I've been better. Have you guys found anything on who did this yet?" Sarah asked. She needed to know who killed her brother. She needed the person to pay. She had to live with the knowledge that Tim was gone, but she didn't think she could live with the person who killed him getting away with it.
"Not yet. We're doing our best to find them," Tony lied.
"Sarah, we are all deeply sorry for your loss," Ducky said.
"Thanks, Doctor Mallard. I know it's a loss to you all as well," Sarah said.
"Call me Ducky, please," he said.
Sarah smiled in response.
"Sarah," a voice suddenly called, causing everyone to turn to the door and see the Admiral and his wife come in.
"Why the hell are they here?" Tony asked angrily. Those people had no right showing their faces. They didn't give a damn about McGee. Showing up to his funeral, even if he wasn't really dead, was a disgrace.
"I can't believe they showed up here. I told them I didn't want them here," Sarah said. Then again, why would that matter to her parents? Her father did whatever he wanted, regardless of anyone else, and her mother did whatever her father wanted.
"They won't be here long," Tony swore before approaching the McGees.
"Anthony, don't," Ducky said, but his plea went on deaf ears.
"What the hell are you people doing here?" Tony demanded to know.
"We're here to say goodbye to our son," Laurie McGee said.
"You said goodbye to your son when you kicked him out of your house and told him he wasn't worthy of being in your lives. This ceremony is for people who actually gave a damn about him," Tony said.
"How dare you speak to us this way?!" John asked angrily.
"Pretty easily. I have no use for abusive pieces of garbage like you," Tony retorted.
"How can you call us that? We've never harmed either of our children," Laurie said.
"No, you never hit us," Sarah said as she and the others came over. "There are other ways of harming people. You certainly harmed Tim. You killed his self-esteem. You treated him like he was dirt, like he wasn't worthy of being your son," Sarah said.
"He wasn't," John said matter-of-factly.
Tony was tempted to take a swing at the so-called Admiral. He was so tempted. The only thing that stopped him was that charade or not, this was a funeral, and it wasn't a charade to Sarah or Jack. They didn't deserve to have their brother's and son's funeral ruined by violence. "If that's how you feel then why the hell are you here? Don't answer that. I know why you're here. It's the same reason you made that 'touching' speech that was in the paper regarding Tim's murder. You need the world to think you loved your son, even though it's a load of crap."
"Don't think you know a thing about me, kid," John said with a glare.
"Get the hell out here! This place is for people who loved Tim and our boss, not for a waste of space like you who wants to benefit from his son's loss!" Tony said. He was practically yelling by the time he was done.
Ducky took tony by the arm and turned him towards him. "Anthony, stop. Let it go."
"Ducky, they don't belong here. They don't care about Tim," Tony said.
"I know, but we do. The best revenge we can get for Timothy is to allow these people to see just how much he was loved. Allow them to hear about the man they chose not to know and will now never know," Ducky said.
Tony sighed. Ducky had a point there. The McGees should see what they'd thrown away. He doubted it would do much good, but at least they'd here how much Tim was loved. Besides, short of creating an even worse scene, he couldn't throw them out. Hell, even with a scene he probably couldn't. Technically, they were still McGee's parents. "Fine. I'm gonna go check on Jack," he said before walking away.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
After the funeral, Ziva decided to go find Abby. She'd gone to her home first, but she wasn't there. Then she went to NCIS. She found Abby in the lab working. "Abby?"
Abby turned her head towards her. "Hey, Ziva. How was it?"
"It went well," Ziva said. Aside from the confrontation with McGee's parents, the funeral was very good. Despite the fact that Gibbs and McGee were still alive, she believed that saying goodbye might just help them all move on. "I wish you had come."
"It wasn't real. Besides, I had work to do," Abby said.
"Vance put everything not dire on hold in order to say goodbye to Gibbs and McGee. What could you…?" Ziva tailed off as she walked over and saw what Abby was doing. There was a picture of the man that Gibbs and McGee left with on the screen. "Abby, what are you doing?!"
"I finally have the identity of the man who took Gibbs and McGee. His name is Nickolas Owens," Abby said with a satisfied smile.
Ziva immediately pushed Abby aside and hit the delete Butten.
"Hey!" Abby exclaimed.
Ziva turned and glared fiercely at her friend. "What were you thinking?! We told you to delete everything and to leave it alone! Are you trying to get all four of them killed?!"
"I'm trying to save Gibbs and McGee!" Abby said with just as much anger in her voice.
"Save them? They do not need to be saved, not if you leave things be!" Ziva said.
"You don't know that. They could be being held prisoner or being shot at as we speak," Abby argued.
"And this is supposed to help? Outing their only protection? For all we know, we are being watched. Our systems might be being hacked! These people are smart. They managed to follow all of us without us knowing. They hacked McGee's computer. For all you know, you could be leading them right to Gibbs and McGee!" Ziva said. She couldn't believe this. She really thought that Abby would come around and see that the best thing for Gibbs and McGee was to stay hidden. The best thing for them and their family was to let them be. But apparently all Abby could see was what she wanted.
"Well, we just have to get there first. We can save them," Abby said.
"No, we can't! We cannot stop the entire Reynosa Cartel. Someone will always take the place of whoever has fallen, and they will go after our friends and their family on principle, just to prove that no one gets away from them. Do you honestly believe that if there was any way to bring them home that we wouldn't do it? Do you believe Gibbs would agree to run if he saw another solution?" Ziva asked.
"We have to try. We have to help them," Abby said.
"Do you not understand, Abby? They do not want our help. It has been two months. If there was anything we could do for them, they would've contacted us by now. The best thing we can do for them is to let them go. If we don't, we will get them killed! You need to get that!" Ziva said angrily before storming out of the lab.
Abby crossed her arms in front of her and glared at Ziva's retreating back. She didn't care what Ziva or any of the others said. She was going to save Gibbs and McGee, no matter what it took. She wasn't giving up.