Thanks for all the reviews.

Sorry for being MIA for so long. I promise I haven't forgotten this story. Summer has been terribly busy for me, and we had a death in the family as well. I'm slowly starting to get back into a routine with school and such. Hopefully, I will be able to carry on with this story.

Sorry, this is so short but I wanted to post a little something for you :)

Gibbs scrubbed a shaky hand over his shadowed face. His heart rate had finally slowed down and his pulse was slowly following suit. It was over. Brody was in custody once more and his legion of minions arrested and in custody as well. Even the damned doctor he'd trusted with Aimee's care was getting his ass thrown under the bus. Brody sprung a leak and hadn't stopped yammering or so Fornell had told him. The entire story would eventually come out in the following days ahead but Gibbs didn't care. All he cared about was if Aimee was safe. The impact of all that had happened in the last several days was hitting him hard. It was all he could do not to fall apart in the waiting room.

"Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs looked up to see a surgeon dressed in scrubs walk into the room. Her face was friendly and that gave Gibbs hope. He rose to his feet but the younger woman ushered him to stay sitting. She sat across from him, looking weary.

"My name is Dr. Katherine Ambrose." She offered her hand to him but he made no move to take it, instead, he raised an eyebrow in concern, trying to keep his heart from racing out of his chest. "How's my daughter?" Seeing the surgeon dressed in scrubs for surgery wasn't something he'd expected.

She smiled warmly. "Your daughter is just fine at the moment, Agent Gibbs. She sustained a concussion but the bleeding was superficial. She's awake and coherent. I'm not sure how much you have been told up to this point…"

"Very little," offered Gibbs, sucking in a breath and preparing himself for the worst.

The woman nodded solemnly and offered him a friendly smile.

"As I'm sure you've been aware, the specialist in charge of Aimee's care hid the truth from you, Agent Gibbs. Looking at Aimee's file is daunting, to say the least. The microchip was originally placed in a spot that was easily accessible. It is quite probable that it was meant to be there short-term, either that or the surgeon was out of his mind to think that it would stay put and not move as her brain grew and developed." The woman licked her lips and furrowed her brow as if in pain. "I have to be honest here. That chip has to come out. If it doesn't, Aimee is a ticking time bomb. She could basically have an aneurysm at any time."

Gibbs' felt a thickness in his throat that he hadn't felt since he found out his first wife and daughter were killed. Fatigue washed over him in torrents. He shrunk back in his chair as tears blurred his vision. He fiercely blinked them back and pinched his nose to gain his composure.

"Are you alright, Agent Gibbs?" asked the surgeon, concern in her voice.

Gibbs nodded, trying to find his voice. "When can you take it out?"

The woman face darkened considerably. "I don't know if I can."

Gibbs' face paled. Aimee was going to die. He was going to lose her and there was nothing he could do to change it. The expression on the doctor's face spoke volumes. Gibbs felt like he was drowning.

The doctor wrung her hands before looking up at him. "We are at a crossroad, Agent Gibbs. If you want me to operate to try and take out the chip, I will; but if you want to take the risk and let her live as much of a normal life as she can, I will honour that request as well. There is no easy answer. Aimee could live for 50 years and be perfectly normal…"

"Or she could die tomorrow."

Dr. Ambrose nodded solemnly. "Correct."

Gibbs stood to his feet, running a shaky hand through his hair. Either way, Aimee could die. She could die on the operating table. Or he could let her just live her life without risking anything. She could live a long, happy life and the chip could never cause any trouble at all. Gibbs groaned. How could he just let her live with a bomb in her head? Getting the chip out was her only fighting chance. Wasn't it?

Gibbs looked at the doctor, his face was pallor. "I don't know what to do." For once, he really didn't.

"I understand." She rose to her feet once again. "Aimee is in recovery room 312B. Oh, and the young man who came in with her refuses to leave her side. One of your agents is with him but I asked them to keep the altercations on the downgrade for now."

Gibbs nodded. He was never a man to waste words. The doctor looked at him expectantly but Gibbs said nothing further. He had no answers and frankly, he wished it wasn't his decision to make. But at the same time, he wasn't one to shirk his responsibilities. He was used to making the tough decisions under pressure. And he was used to loss. He had lost his whole life once already and it seemed like that was supposed to be his destiny. For some reason, whoever was in charge of the grand scheme of life thought he should be punished just for being alive. Gibbs had grown used to it.

"Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs looked at the doctor as he brushed a hand across his five o'clock shadowed face. Tears burned the back of his eyes as he struggled with what to say to her.

"I don't know what to do," he admitted in a tight whisper.

Katherine Ambrose placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. Go see your daughter, Agent Gibbs. Go hug her and let her know she is safe."

Gibbs nodded with tears clouding his vision. He rose to his feet and walked slowly away but stopped after only a few steps. Turning to the doctor, he spoke softly.

"What would you do?"

Katherine wrung her hands thoughtfully. "Professionally, I would not want to risk the procedure. Too many things could go wrong," she said with firmness resonating in her voice, and then her expression and voice softened; Gibbs saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. "But, personally, as a parent, I would beg the doctor to do it anyway and do everything to save my daughter's life."

Gibbs sighed and reflected on her words for several long moments then his cleared his throat softly. He felt like he was giving his permission for his daughter to be executed. The thought was agonizing and made him feel sick to his very core. Aimee was going to die today, and it might as well be at his own hand.

"Will you save her?" he all but whispered.

A hint of a smile crept to the surgeon's face. "I will do my damnedest, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded and walked away.