"Our serial killer beats the husband in the family before killing him likely because he was abused by his own father. He makes the mother, who is always a naval officer, watch because he blames his own mother who spent most of his childhood on duty. In his mind, his mother let the abuse happen. He puts the child in the closet and covers their eyes and ears because he believes them innocent as he believes himself to have been…" Jack, who is in the midst of delivering her profile to the team in the bullpen, drifts off when Gibbs, who is standing directly beside her and facing her, nods. Following his gesture, Jack turns around, as well as the rest of the team because they are confused by what is happening. Looking at the woman who is leaning exhaustively against the cubicle wall of the bullpen, Jack exclaims her worry by saying, "Faith! What are you doing here?"
Faith grips her stomach and looks thoroughly unhappy. Jack crosses over to her in only a couple long strides. "I need to talk to you, Jack," Faith says the words slowly like each one takes too much of her energy.
"Of course, Faith. But you weren't supposed to leave your house until the doctor said so and you don't look like you will be able to make it up to my office. Let me take you home and we can talk there?" Jack's immediate distress for her is expressed in every word though she attempts to keep her voice down.
Jack is thankful when Gibbs says, "Update," and the team returns to their discussion.
Faith looks to the team for a moment as they return to their discussion of the case. "No… Can't." Faith takes a deep breath and continues, "He might still be there."
Jack shakes her head, confused. "He?"
Faith looks into Jack's eyes and says, "That bastard… Richard."
Jack's face suddenly turns to anger when Faith doubles over in pain reaching out for the older blonde. "Faith!" Jack's voice comes out in a startled whisper. Faith's legs give out and she falls into Jack's arms, having gone unconscious. This time, when Jack speaks, it is a loud yell. "Gibbs!"
The team turns surprised and Gibbs is by her side, rolling Bishop's chair to sit Faith in. He turns to Jack then, who runs her hand through her hair. Gibbs can tell that she is in shock. Her mind is running, so he pulls her from her thoughts by saying, "Jack."
"We need to get her to the hospital," Jack says quickly when she looks up at him. Gibbs nods and is already pushing the chair containing Faith's unconscious form.
Approaching the elevator, Gibbs yells, "Bishop, contact the hospital and tell the E.R. to be prepared for us."
Bishop runs to them as they get into the elevator and asks what she is supposed to tell the E.R. Rather than Gibbs answering, Jack speaks in a hurried and breathless tone, "Tell them that the daughter of an NCIS agent is experiencing adverse effects to an infection and that she is pregnant and appears to have gone unconscious." As the door closes, Jack leans down to brush the hair out of Faith's face as Gibbs rubs Jack's back in comfort. Ellie's face displays her shock like McGee and Torres who are staring from where they stand in front of the television.
Arriving at the E.R. doors, doctors are already prepared with a gurney and are at the car door before Gibbs has even come to a stop. The doctors get Faith on the gurney and Jack and Gibbs follow them in, running after her. They are stopped at the door that only allows medical professionals and Jack yells, "But that's my daughter!"
A nurse says, "We got her, ma'am. Let us take care of your daughter." Jack spins towards Gibbs when the nurse disappears behind the closed door, and he wraps her in his arms without a word as she cries.
When she pulls away moments later, Jack walks to the nurse's station to make sure that they will call Faith's next of kin, her fiance, because Jack does not have his phone number. Gibbs remains standing directly behind her with his hand placed on the small of her back.
When the nurse picks up the phone to call, Jack turns quickly on Gibbs with a determined look on her face. "I need you to stay here," she says to Gibbs before walking away in long and determined strides.
He jogs slowly to catch up with her. "Where are you going?" She gives him a fierce, determined look, and he knows instantly what Faith had meant when he was listening more to her than to the update. That's his name then. Richard. Gibbs commits that to his memory and nods before throwing her his car keys. "Be safe." She nods and turns all but running from the E.R.
Coming to an abrupt stop in front of Faith's house after driving much too quickly all of the way there, she sees him before she even gets out of Gibbs' truck. She steps out of the car and has her hand on the gun at her hip as she runs to where he is sitting on her stoop. Calling out as she approaches, she says with her tone rising with each and every word, "Get the hell away from Faith! Never come back to her home! Never show up at her work or anywhere near her again or I swear to God —"
Cutting her off, Richard Martel says, "Or what? She's my daughter! Because of you, I never got to know her! You can't tell me what to do!"
At that, Jack's face twists in pure anger and she yells, "Faith wants nothing to do with you, you bastard! Her words! And she is not your daughter!"
"She's not yours either!" At his words, Jack hits him with a punch that rivals in strength and devastation the one she gave him the last time she saw him, and he falls instantly to the ground with blood coming from his mouth and nose.
Her voice is calmer but still harsh as she spits at him, "You're right. I'm not her mother. I never mothered her, but I will sure as hell protect her from everyone and everything I can, especially you." He begins pushing himself up and her hand moves to her gun on her hip. Punctuating each word as he makes slow steps backward, she says, "Get away from Faith or you will get much worse than a punch to the face for your trouble." She stands strongly in front of the stairs leading up to Faith's house as she watches him on the sidewalk.
When he is finally out of eyesight, she crumbles onto the stairs with her head in her hands as tears running down her face. Her mind runs through thoughts of what she had been through before because of him as she did the last time she was so close to him, but now that is compounded with the guilt of having the man as a threat to Faith as well and the worry that Faith is in the hospital and could lose her baby.
Jack is pulling herself together with the specific thought to return to the hospital as her focus. She wipes at the tears on her face as her eyes remain trained on the ground. The sound of someone clearing their throat startled Jack who instinctively reaches for her gun before processing the identity of the older woman standing before her. She recognizes the woman immediately. She has the same sympathetic smile she the first time they met, albeit she had smiled much brighter the last time she saw her in person. Jack pulls her blazer closed to hide the gun and wipes away all of her tears as she stands. Adopting a respectful tone, she says, "Mrs. Tolliver, I apologize for my reaction."
The woman, with a kind and worried face, says, "Jack Sloane, right?" Jack nods a yes and pushes her hair behind her ear. "Where's Faith? Who was that?"
Jack nods sharply and says in a rush, trying to ignore the worry that arises in what the woman must think of her after witnessing the scene moments before, "Faith's at the hospital. I can drive you there and explain on the way if… if you're okay with that, ma'am?" Her voice is reluctant as worry rushes over the other woman and she agrees.
Getting in the truck, she has just started the engine while the other woman buckled up when Jack's phone rings. Fearfully, she answers, "Gibbs?"
In a more caring tone that she adores, he says, "She's still in surgery. Doctor just came out to say that she's stabilized, but they are still working to stabilize the baby."
"Thank you," she says before turning to relay the information to the woman. Once Mrs. Tolliver nods in grateful understanding, Jack says to Gibbs, "We'll be there soon," and then quickly hangs up without explanation.
Driving to the hospital over the speed limit, Mrs. Tolliver says after speaking briefly to her husband, "Agent Sloane?"
Out of discomfort, Jack says hastily, "Um, yes, but, please, call me Jack… If you'd like… So Faith arrived at my office, I suppose around an hour ago. I was surprised because she had said that because of the infection she got she wasn't supposed to leave her house. She said she needed to talk to me. Just before she passed out, she said that he was at her house. She left because he was there…"
Jack looks to Mrs. Tolliver as she has to stop at a red light and watches as the woman swallows and nods. Expecting to be blamed, Jack is surprised when all the woman says is, "He?"
Jack clears her throat uncomfortably. "Yes. Richard Martel. The man who…"
"Faith's biological father?" Mrs. Tolliver offered.
Thankful for the interruption, she says, "Yes. I told him to never have any interaction with her after giving the genetic information, but a person without a conscience will never respect anyone's wishes."
"I see," Mrs. Tolliver says as Jack continues driving. "Faith told me about what you went through. She has admired you ever since for your decision… and so do I."
Jack focuses her attention on the road as her tears well within her eyes. When the lump subsided enough so she can speak, Jack says in a pained whisper, "Thank you…"
"I do even more after seeing how you interacted with him. Looks like you broke something in his face." The woman's voice is kind and more light in the last sentence. "And I heard what you both said. I had pulled up not long after you."
"I'm sorry you had to witness any of that," Jack says out of worry.
"No, don't apologize. Your love for Faith is the reason that I got to be her mother. I will be forever grateful for that, and I am even more thankful knowing that you are going to protect her." She squeezes Jack's hand which is bruised from hitting him.
Arriving silently at the hospital, Jack parks Gibbs' truck quickly and both women run into the hospital together. The first person Jack sees is Gibbs, who stands as soon she runs in, while Mrs. Tolliver calls out to Faith's fiancé who stands next to Gibbs, "Jefferson!"
Together, the two women move to the men who are standing in the waiting room. "Any news?"
Jefferson, who looks like color has only just begun to return to his cheeks, says, "Yes, they just came out of surgery. Faith and the baby are fine and the doctor said we can go see her one at a time in the next few minutes after she's transferred. They said that if she hadn't gotten here sooner…" He drifts off clearly terrified at the prospect of what could of happened. Gibbs reaches out to squeeze Jack's hand. He turns to Jack and Gibbs though he does not take his eyes off of Jack. "Thank you so much." They both only nod.
Moments later, the doctor comes to them and says that family can go visit her one at a time with the fiance going first after looking to Mrs. Tolliver and Jack for permission. The three take their seats in the waiting room and Mrs. Tolliver sits next to Jack, who has Gibbs on her other side with her hand in his. "Looks like I owe you even more, Jack."
Jack shakes her head and says, "No, I just sat with her. Gibbs is the one that drove. I was pretty… um, hysterical." Realizing she hadn't introduced them, Jack quickly adds, "Mrs. Tolliver, this is Special Agent Gibbs."
Gibbs extends his hand then across Jack, and Mrs. Tolliver accepts it as he says, "It is very nice to meet you, ma'am."
"Thank you, Special Agent Gibbs, and no offense to you, but I doubt that you, Jack, were hysterical, especially after how I saw you handle yourself earlier." Gibbs nods and gives his grunt of agreement. He lifts her hand to look at the bruising and breaking of skin on her knuckles and raises his eyebrow to Jack.
Gibbs sits with Jack as she waits for her turn with Faith after Jefferson, and then Mrs. Tolliver, and Mr. Tolliver see her. When Mr. Tolliver — who is equally as a kind to Jack as his wife — walk out, he says in a laughing tone from speaking to his daughter, "Faith is insisting to see you next, Jack."
Jack thanks him for letting her know and runs her hands down her lap before turning to Gibbs. "I'll be here," he says with a simple nod. With a grateful smile to him, she heads down the hall to Faith's room, feeling jittery with nerves.
Arriving to her room, she sees Faith through the window of the door and knocks before going in. "Faith?"
The younger blonde looks up from where she lays in the hospital bed to Jack with a smile that warms Jack's heart. As Jack walks closer, Faith gestures that she sit next to her and says immediately and filled with enthusiasm, "Thank you so much, Jack! The doctors say that if you hadn't gotten me here sooner I could have died or lost the baby, and Mom said that you scared him away. I can't imagine how hard that was for you to see him again. I'm so sorry! Thank you!"
Jack smiles graciously and grasps her bruised hard with the other so that Faith will not see it. With a soft voice, Jack says, "I'm fine. That was not nearly as hard as seeing you collapse." She swallows before continuing, "I am so damn glad to see you awake and to hear that you and your baby are okay."
Faith attempts to hold back a yawn, but fails before saying, "Yes, and I want to talk to you about my baby." Jack nods patiently, letting her psychologist instincts kick in, and waits for her to continue. Faith's words come slowly as she says, "I want you to be in child's life, and Jefferson and my parents agree. You see, we don't think that every child should have all of the love in the world, and I know by how much baby clothes you have bought us that you already love this child. If you would like to, we want you to be a grandmother to our baby. What do you think?"
The tears are running from Jack's eyes before Faith had even finished speaking. She nods quickly and wipes at the tears on her face and blinking to clear her vision just in time to see, Faith's arms outstretched for a hug. Jack stands and gives Faith a tight hug. When they pull apart, Jack says, "Yes, oh yes. I would love that more than anything else. If you're sure you're okay with it?"
Faith smiles and says, "I would not have asked if I wasn't okay with it. Truly, Jack, I want you in my child's life and in mine." Faith's smile breaks into a yawn then.
"Thank you so much." Jack places so much emphasis in those four words to express what it means to her. Recognizing the sleepiness in Faith's eyes, she says, "Now, you need to rest. I will be outside waiting if you need anything."
Faith smiles at Jack's statement but shakes her head. "No, you should go home. I told my mom and dad to go home, too. Jefferson is going to spend the night in here with me on a cot the nurses will bring in and tomorrow morning they're going to let me go home. Please, for me, go home. If I need anything, I swear to call." Jack nods begrudgingly and stands. At the door, Jack turns back to Faith whose eyes have begun to droop. "Jack, thank you."
Her face and her words are full of emotion when she says, "Thank you for being healthy."
Faith smiles peacefully, and then looks to Jack with a smirk beginning to form on her face. "Oh, and tell Gibbs thank you and that I ask him to take good care of you, though I know you can take good care of yourself. Make sure to ice that hand." Jack laughs lightly with a bright smile to her daughter who is becoming her friend, and it makes her happier than she could ever express.
"I will," She says lightly before becoming more serious. "Sleep well. Goodnight, Faith."
Faith's eyes are already closed when she quietly says, "Goodnight, Grandma Jack."
With tears in her bright eyes, she returns to the waiting room with a smile on her face. Gibbs stands when he sees her and she walks to where he is not far from Jefferson, though both Mr. and Mrs. Tolliver appear to have adhered to Faith's request and gone home. Jefferson stands and wishes them both goodbyes before leaving them standing alone. Gibbs steps close to Jack so that their faces are only a matter of inches apart. With a crooked grin and a soft voice, Gibbs says, "I just heard from McGee. They caught our killer and got him to confess."
"So no work tonight?" She says with a smile.
"No. What ya thinking? Wanna help with my boat?" Gibbs says with a smirk.
"Mmm. Tempting, but I'm thinking more like bourbon, fireplace, and the Princess Bride," she smiles at how his face lights at the notion.
He wraps his arm around her shoulders as they walk out of the hospital and towards his truck. "Mhm." He hums his okay and says, "And ice." She raises an eyebrow and smiles at the proud look on his face. "Wish I could've seen it."
She shakes her head with a grin. "No, I am not very pretty when I'm punching someone."
They reach the truck, standing together at the passenger door. He leans towards her and takes her lips in a light, though lingering, kiss. When he pulls away, he says, "Oh, Jack, you got that wrong. You were protecting your family. Nothing more pretty than that."
THE END