It was dark in the second bedroom of the cabin. Tony was lying on his side with his back up against the wall. Tim crawled in beside him, smiling. He tried laying on his side so he could face Tony, but his hurt leg wouldn't let him. He grunted and settled on his back. Tony seemed to sense his discomfort and snuggled against his shoulder.

"Does it hurt much?" Tony whispered.

"I can handle it." Tim squirmed and settled again.

"Can they give you anything for it?" Tony's arm found it's way across Tim's waist.

"I've been taking pain relievers. Nothing strong, but it helps. Brynnie has a list of more anti-biotics and pain killers the doc wanted her to grab. I wasn't the only one injured." Tony tightened his grip on him. "Hey," He smiled down at Tony. "I'm okay."

"I should've been here with you." Tony's voice was strained. "I shouldn't have let Gibbs tell me to stay… I should've." Tony felt Tim's hand on his mouth.

"Stop." Tim quietly urged him. His hand moved from Tony's mouth to his cheek. "You needed to stay with Gibbs. He needed you. I knew that, then. I know it, now. You have always been closer to Gibbs. I've always been closer to Brynnie. It made sense for you to stay with him. He needed you to have his six. I knew I'd see you again."

"We only found you cause of the bread crumbs Brynnie left." Tony said, smiling.

"But I knew you would find us. That's why when Abby and I found Brynnie's message at the gas station, we left one of our own. So, stop being mad."

Tony wanted to argue. He wanted to tell Tim how much he had missed him and how angry he was that he got hurt. He needed for Tim to hear how much he meant to him. Tony wanted to say that Tim was his world, and now that they were together again, he felt complete. He was more angry with himself than anyone else. Gibbs was just the easiest scapegoat for his frustration.

"I love you, Tim." Was all that came out.

"I love you too, Tony."

"There's something else you're not telling me." Tony let the silence go on for a few seconds. "I know you, Timmy. You can't hide anything from me."

"It's not you…"

"You're hiding something from Gibbs? You're a brave man."

"He's been through enough."

"Come on, tell me." Tony nudged Tim's shoulder. "Telllllll me."

"Gibbs may have some… Competition."

"No way." Tony almost sat up. "There is no way in hell that Brynnie would ever cheat on." Tim cut him off before he got it out.

"Not like that." Tim took a breath. "There's a guy who's been vying for her affection. She's been telling him to back off. But he's persistent."

"Who is this guy? Does he have a death wish?"

"His name's Alan Pearson. He was an Army Sergeant at Fort Carson. Brynnie told me that as soon as she got there, Pearson latched on to her and wouldn't back down. He kept trying to convince her that Gibbs had probably died and that he would want her to move on."

"She didn't buy that, did she." It wasn't a question. Tony knew better.

"Hell no. When Abby and I got here, Brynnie knew Gibbs survived the meteor shower. Pearson still didn't back down. He just changed tactics."

"How so?"

"The guilt trip. He kept on saying things like, 'if Gibbs still loves her, why did he send us instead of coming himself?' Brynnie knew better. Ziva and Damon are important to her too. She was glad Gibbs waited for them. They're family. But this guy wouldn't give up. He crossed the line when he told Chris that he would be his new dad. Brynnie took him aside and told him she'd shoot him if he pulled that again."

"Sounds like our mother bear." Tony chuckled. "No one messes with baby Gibbs."

"When she and the others went out on their search mission, he invited himself along."

"He's with her, now?"

"Yup."

"You're right. Gibbs probably doesn't need to know any of this."

"Yeah. Neither of us needs to end up a dead messenger."

NCIS

It was still dark when Brynn led the way into the crumbling hospital. Her watch told her it would be sunrise soon. She knew their best bet to get what they needed, was to hit a big city. Estes Park and Grand Lake had both been hit hard by marauders. The team went to the Boulder next, in hopes that something, anything, had been left behind. A drive that should have taken less than two hours had been considerably lengthened by all the detours they had to take.

The front entrance of the hospital had sustained the most damage in the shower. Once they got past the debris, Brynn followed the hallway signs to the ICU wing. She had learned from her many stays in hospitals, that most of the equipment they needed was always kept near the ICU patients.

They had almost reached the ICU waiting room, when Brynn heard something that made her stop. She held up her palm out to the five men behind her. Everyone froze. She gave the nearest guy her flashlight, then pulled out her pistol and carefully rounded the corner. There was a rag-tag looking group of around twenty scattered around the waiting area. Four battery powered lanterns set around the group, gave enough light for her to see them clearly. Brynn was moving so quietly that they hadn't noticed her. She quickly scanned the group and saw only three armed men. Then she ducked back around the corner to the men waiting for her.

"Round twenty. Three armed." Her hushed whisper was nearly drowned out by a wail of pain. Brynn and her group all jumped. Alan moved to pass Brynn, but she grabbed him. "I don't think they're hostile." She whispered urgently. "Don't go out there shooting!"

"I promised your son I'd protect you." Alan leaned close to her. She glared and dropped his arm.

"Don't do anything stupid!" Another wail made her jump. Whoever it was, they were definitely male. "One of their's is probably injured. If they feel vulnerable, they're more apt to just shoot us if you threaten them." Alan just shook his head and moved around her.

As soon as Alan and the rest of the group came around the corner there was shouting from both ends. Brynn tried to move in front of her group to calm things down, but Alan pulled her back. She jerked out of his grasp and knew it would leave a bruise.

"Stop, stop, please!" One voice with a distinct accent cut through the air causing Brynn to rush forward and block her group from the others.

"Wait!" Brynn yelled, facing her group. "I know him!" She turned and smiled. "Ducky!"

"Brynn?" Ducky sounded both relieved and astonished to see her. Brynn almost wrapped the shorter man in a hug, but stopped when she looked closer at his clothes.

"Oh, God, Ducky is that your blood?"

"Eh, No…" His face fell. "A man traveling with us was injured. I had to remove a bullet from his stomach. It was rather messy."

"Somebody mind telling me just what the hell is going on?" Alan stepped forward and grabbed Brynn, pulling her back towards him. Ducky immediately glared up at the man.

"Back off, Alan! He's a friend." Brynn twisted her already bruised arm out of his strong hand. She turned her attention back to Ducky. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a few hours. We came here from Fort Carson." He grinned at her. "I found your message."

"Is Gibbs with you?" Again, Ducky's face fell.

"No."

"Brynn." Pete Spicer's voice made her turn. "The supplies?" He reminded her of their mission. She had no idea why they had elected her as their mission leader, but responsibility was nothing new to her.

"Right. Okay. Pete, you and Sullivan go raid the pharmacy." The two men quickly left. "Ducky, do you know where we can find a respirator?"

"Oh, yes. I have Mr. Palmer taking care of our injured man." Brynn smiled at the mention of Jimmy. "I heard the shouting and came to see what was amiss."

"Can you lead these guys," she pointed behind her, "to what we need? We have some injured back at the park that need help."

"Of course, yes."

"I'm staying with you." Alan said to Brynn, firmly. Ducky narrowed his eyes, Brynn rolled hers.

"I can get some of our people to help." Ducky spoke only to Brynn.

"As soon as we get everything loaded, you are all coming back to the park with us." Brynn smiled at Ducky.

"I'm sure everyone appreciates the invitation, but I cannot risk moving my patient. He needs a day or two at least."

"Then I'll stay with you. Everyone else can go on ahead." She turned to glare at Alan. "Maybe you can start actually helping, by getting all these people packed up to leave."

"Okay. But I'm still staying with you when they leave." Alan walked away.

"Who is that man?" Ducky asked. Brynn could see a man walking towards them out of the corner of her eye.

"He wants to be Gibbs' replacement." Brynn ground her teeth. "It hasn't sunk in yet, that Gibbs cannot be replaced. Ever."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll sink in once he meets Gibbs." Brynn turned to the man walking towards her, who just spoke.

"Tobias!"

"Hi, Brynn." Ducky moved away from them to go find volunteers to help gather supplies.

"Who else made it out with you?" She saw Tobias' teenage daughter, Emily, standing just behind him.

"Probably not anyone you know. Several are… Were FBI, but no one you've met. Doctor Mallard and his little group found us on the way out of Fort Carson. I knew Gibbs was headed there and it sounded like a good idea to me. Once we got there… Well, like he said, we found your message."

"I figured anyone who knew me, would know where Gibbs and I honeymooned. I didn't want the wrong people finding us." She sighed. "They did anyways. That's why we're here." She shook her head. "What happened to you guys?"

"A group of bikers attacked our convoy. We used to have twice this many with us. They took everything we had and just left us to die. We slowly made our way here. Reggie was the only injured man who survived the trip." Tobias pointed to the room where they had heard the wailing coming from earlier. "Who made it to you? I heard Gibbs sent Abby and McGee to find you."

"They did find me. They're safe." Brynn smiled. "When did you last see Gibbs?"

"The day I left D.C., he was still waiting for Ziva and Damon. I took a detour to get Emily. She'd been staying with Diane's parents in Vermont. We were all headed to the park when we were attacked."

"These bikers that attacked you… They didn't happen to have red skulls on their jackets did they?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"They attacked us at the park. They killed several of ours… Including my uncle and one of my cousins. My other cousin, Ty, got hurt pretty bad."

"I'm sorry. Those assholes have probably been all over the place murdering and God knows what else."

"Not anymore." Tobias cocked his head at her tone. "They've been taken care of."

"All of them?"

"Every single one." She paused for a second. "Ty needs surgery. We have one doctor with us, but we need more equipment before he tries anything. We have a good generator at the park. We only use it to power the little clinic there. Ty's holding on, but if anything were to go wrong…"

"Which is the only reason you'd dare risk your pregnancy to go out and play rescue party." Tobias' eyes went to her stomach.

"I'm already showing that much, am I?" She was wearing Gibbs' black USMC hooded sweatshirt. It was her favorite of his. She was always stealing it out of his side of the closet. She had found it in her luggage when she first arrived in Colorado. In the pocket was a note from Gibbs telling her he wanted her to have a reminder of him to keep her warm. The sweatshirt practically swallowed her, but she had run her hands across her belly enough times to tell Tobias that she was definitely pregnant.

"Does Gibbs know?"

"I didn't even know until well after the shower." She ran her hands across her belly again. "I was hoping to find an ultrasound machine on this mission. There are four other pregnant woman at the park."

"Do you know what one looks like?" Brynn nodded. "Let's go find one." Tobias smiled.

NCIS

The sun was barely poking it's way through the curtains when a strong scent found it's way to McGee's nose. It had been so long since he had smelled this familiar scent. But he knew what it was immediately. He came up out of the bed slowly. Tony groaned but didn't fully wake. McGee had gotten used to sleeping in his tent, so the stiffness didn't bother him anymore. He knew Tony would want a real bed soon enough. Danny had been talking about moving in with Abby. McGee was considering taking the office in the ranger station that Danny now occupied. Now, he had a good reason to. McGee smiled down at Tony before leaving the room.

"Morning." McGee greeted Gibbs when he stepped into the front room. Gibbs just nodded at him and went back to drinking his coffee. The lit fireplace was sending warmth throughout the small cabin. On the coffee table in front of the couch, McGee saw an old-fashioned coffee pot. It was something straight out of the old west. McGee had seen one similar in a movie once. "I guess not even the end of the world can stop you from getting your coffee."

"Nope." Gibbs smiled. "Want a cup?"

"No thanks, I'm good. Where did you even find that thing?"

"I've always had it. I use to use it when I went camping." McGee joined him on the couch. "Is there no coffee maker in this whole park?"

"I doubt it. I don't think anyone knows how to make coffee without electricity." Gibbs chuckled.

"Maybe I ought to take this thing down to that diner."

"I'm sure it'd be appreciated. I doubt anyone here has had anything even resembling coffee in quite a while." There was a beat of silence as Gibbs looked right in McGee's eyes.

"You gonna tell me?"

"What?" McGee straightened.

"What's bugging you."

"I'm worried about Brynnie. Aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"You're doing a good job of keeping it in."

"There's not too much I can do about it. With me gone, I'm sure she felt like she had to be the strong one. But she wouldn't leave Chris unless she had a damn good reason."

"That's true." McGee turned when he heard Tony shuffle into the room. Tony gave them both a sleepy smile and plopped down on the floor, just in front of McGee.

"I owe both of you." Gibbs said after looking at them for a minute.

"For what?" Tony asked. He leaned back until he felt McGee's legs on either side of him.

"I asked you to separate and you did." He set his coffee cup down. "I knew how hard it was on both of you, but you did it anyways. Thank you." Tony turned and sent McGee a surprised look. Gibbs was not a 'thank you' person.

"We'd do it again, Gibbs." McGee said, still looking at Tony. His mind circled back to the conversation they'd had last night.

"Yeah, boss, in a second." As angry as Gibbs knew Tony had been at him, he knew Tony meant that. "We're family. We gotta all watch each other's sixes."

"I miss her." Gibbs looked away. McGee reached out and put a hand on Gibbs' shoulder.

"You'll see her again, soon. Brynn's a fighter. And just as stubborn as you." Gibbs turned and gave him a grateful smile.

NCIS

"Are you absolutely certain?" Ducky stood in the ICU waiting room wearing a set of clean scrubs he had pulled from the linen room. Jimmy, similarly dressed, sat in a chair behind Ducky. Breena, who Brynn had missed seeing among the group earlier, was slumped beside him, sleeping.

"I'm not leaving you guys here with no one to protect you." Brynn held her position, firmly. "I've lost too much already. The others can get the people and supplies back to the park. I'm staying."

"So am I." Alan spoke up. Brynn rolled her eyes for about the eighth time that day.

"I can stay too. You could use an extra gun." Tobias had not left Brynn's side since he saw how this Alan guy acted around her.

"What about Emily?" Brynn's tone went from stubborn to concerned. Tobias pinched his lips together. He hated leaving Brynn alone with this new guy. He didn't trust Alan after the way he saw him man-handle Brynn. And Gibbs would want someone he trusted protecting Brynn. But Emily had been through enough. He couldn't ask her to leave with a bunch of strangers without him. Even Gibbs would understand that.

"Alright." Tobias said, defeated. "But I'm leaving some of my men here with you." He looked directly at Brynn. She nodded. Her eyes told him that she understood his concerns.

"Now, my dear." Ducky turned his full attention to Brynn. Tobias had already left to find his men. "You have a seat so I can get you checked out."

"For what?" Alan butted in.

"This young lady is a very precious friend of mine." Ducky's voice hardened. "Practically my daughter. She is carrying the child of my best friend. I need to know that she is in good health. So back off." Alan's eyes widened. Then he literally backed off.

"Go, Ducky." Brynn muttered as she made her way to the chair next to Breena. Ducky just grinned up at her.

NCIS

It had taken Gibbs, and his new rebuilding team, all morning to clear out the old souvenir shop. It was formally re-christened as the new workshop. One guy had even spray painted 'Gibbs Workshop' on the door. Gibbs had laughed when he saw it. He now had three guys all working on various projects. Chris had insisted on being given a job to do. Gibbs conceded to make Chris his official clerk. Which really only meant that it was Chris' job to go around asking what people needed built. Gibbs knew they could easily find furniture in the surrounding towns, but it might not be safe to send out any more supply parties for a while. And they had already looted everything within a two-day drive.

Tony, Ziva, and Damon had rotated themselves into the patrol duty. McGee had made it a point to give them separate duty stations. No need to let distractions take them away from their work. With three new people, they were able to put more people on the two main watch points: the front entrance at the bridge, and the western patrol that watched the highway leading to the bridge. The western patrol was their early warning system. It was also as far as the little walkie talkies they had could reach because of the mountains.

Danny had found McGee at breakfast and told him he could start moving in to the ranger station any time he wanted. Abby had happily accepted his request to be her new roomie. They had already moved Danny's things, which was just his clothes and some personal items. McGee hadn't asked questions, he just smiled and thanked Danny.

Gibbs, on finding out about Abby's new guy, had taken Danny aside and had a conversation with him. Gibbs didn't take to new people very well. But Danny, he liked. He was almost a perfect cross between McGee's compassionate personality and Tony's cocky sense of humor. It was clear, to anyone who took the time to notice, just how devoted he was to Abby. If Abby was happy, Gibbs would not get in the way.

Gibbs had set himself to work building a small baby crib. It would be a while before Brynn would give birth. But there was another woman who was only a few weeks away from her due date. And in Gibbs' mind, every baby deserved their own crib. This particular woman, Delia, had lost her husband in the meteor shower. Delia reminded Gibbs of Brynn when he first met her. She had that same stronger on the outside, than the inside, thing. Delia was young, but stubborn. She was one of the women who looked after the children in the schoolhouse.

There were twenty-seven children under fifteen in the park. Eight of them had been orphaned in the meteor shower. Another two, other than Ty, had lost their parents in the fire-fight with the bikers. Abby and Delia, along with Beth (a grandmother), the other women who ran the schoolhouse, had adopted responsibility for these children and gave round-the-clock supervision.

Gibbs was measuring out a length of wood when he felt a tug on his jeans. He looked down to see Chris smiling at him.

"Are we going for lunch, Dad?" Gibbs dropped his measuring tape on the work table in front of him.

"Yeah. Let's go see what they got today." He bent down and wrapped his arms around Chris. Then he pulled Chris up and hugged him tightly before leaving his new workshop.

"They killed a deer. It was a big one." Gibbs knew it was actually an elk they had shot down earlier that day. But he didn't have the heart to correct his son just then. "They said they were gonna make jerky with it. I liked it when you made jerky."

"Maybe I can show 'em how I did it."

"Will you show me some day?"

"Yeah, of course. Just like my dad showed me." Chris smiled and hugged Gibbs' neck.

"I missed you lots. Mom did too." They had almost made it to the diner. There was a group already lined up to get food. Gibbs could see Tony, but no McGee. "I'm glad you're here. I didn't want a new daddy." Gibbs stopped in his tracks.

"New daddy?"

"Yeah. Alan said he'd be my new daddy. But I didn't want a new daddy. I wanted you."

"Who's Alan?"

"The other man who likes Mommy." Gibbs' eyes bulged.

"Does Mommy like him?"

"She yells at him a lot."

Gibbs took a second to regain his composure. Brynn yelled at everyone, including Gibbs!

"Does she say she likes him?" Gibbs tried to smile. He knew Chris might sense his frustration.

"No. But he's around all the time. I don't think he's nice to her."

"What makes you think that?" Gibbs tried not to growl.

"He grabs her a lot. I don't think she likes it."

"Does she push him away?"

"Sometimes. But he just does it again." Gibbs then made an executive decision to set his son down. Leave it to Brynn to become the object of obsession to the first psycho she meets. He shook his head at the thought. "Are you okay, Daddy?"

"I'm fine." Gibbs knelt down and put his hands on Chris' shoulders. "I'm just worried about your momma. I miss her." He stood up and took Chris' hand. "Lets go get some food."

It was barely an hour later when Gibbs finally saw McGee come back from a patrol with Danny. He had left Chris at the schoolhouse with Delia and Beth. Gibbs watched from the workshop as they both headed into the diner. He waited around for fifteen minutes, giving them time to eat something. Then he headed for the diner.

When he stepped inside, he found the diner nearly empty. Danny and Abby were seated across from McGee. Gibbs hadn't seen Abby come in. Her smiling face made him almost turn and leave. He didn't want to let Abby see him lose his temper. But she might have information that McGee didn't. After all, Abby had always been Brynn's 'girl talk' person. Gibbs took a few deep breaths and joined the little group at their table.

"Hey, Gibbs." Abby greeted him first.

"Hey, Abbs."

"Something wrong?" McGee asked. He knew that look.

"I think you've been hiding something from me." The blush that quickly covered McGee's face confirmed it.

"Uh, like what?" He asked a little too quickly.

"Who is Alan, and where can I find him?" Abby sucked in a breath. Gibbs turned his stare to her.

"Alan?" Danny spoke up. "Alan Pearson?"

"Yeah." McGee caved. "He was stationed at Fort Carson. Uh…"

"Chris said this guy wanted to be his new daddy." Gibbs balled his hands into fists. He worked to keep his voice steady. "And that he grabbed Brynn… More than once."

"He is really grabby with her." Abby leaned onto Danny. "But I don't think he's ever really hurt her."

"Look, Gibbs…" Danny started. Abby tried to pinch him as a warning to stay silent. But he went on. "I've seen him with her. He's like a stalker. Ian was pretty good about protecting her before McGee and Abby got here. But when more and more people started pouring in, Ian got elected head of security. And he had his hands full. As time went on, Alan got more persistent. He went out of his way to constantly be around her. She brushed him off every time."

"He tried to convince her that you were dead." McGee jumped in when he saw Gibbs turning red. "She never gave up on you though. Not for a second. Then he set his sights on Chris." Gibbs moved in his chair but didn't get up.

"What do you mean?" Gibbs demanded.

"He tried to be Mr. Nice Guy with Chris." Abby was the only one who dared answer him. "He would play catch with him, take him for rides on the ATV when Brynnie was on patrol duty, take him fishing. He even offered to show Chris how to use a bow-and-arrow. Brynnie put her foot down and said no."

"Then when he started that 'new daddy' B.S." McGee shook his head as he spoke. "Brynnie flat out threatened to shoot him."

"So where is this guy now?" The other three just looked at each other. "Where?"

"With the team on the supply run." Danny finally answered.

"With Brynn?" Danny only nodded. Gibbs got up and left.

NCIS

"I really don't like leaving that guy here with Brynn." Tobias said to Ducky. The two of them were outside of the hospital watching the last of the supplies being loaded up.

"Yes, I got the impression that he thinks he can win her over by force. Apparently, he doesn't know our Brynn at all." Ducky replied. "Who are these men you are leaving with us?"

"All three are former FBI. Ellis knew Gibbs. Allston and Brewer were both field agents. They're good men. I've told them all to make sure that guy isn't ever left alone with Brynn. They'll keep you all safe."

"Did you see the way he grabbed her? When I examined her, she had bruising on her arm!"

"I'd shoot him, but I don't know how the others would react."

"They seem to follow Brynn's lead more than his."

"Let's hope so. But I did hint to my guys that if they need to shoot him, he probably won't be missed." Ducky and Tobias both smiled.

Pete Spicer led a group down to the basement and liberated the kitchen of all the canned and dry goods they could find. It would go a long way to feeding the new population at the park. They had managed to find several undamaged machines including a respirator, five IV pumps, and an ultrasound machine. Brynn had also suggested they shove as many mattresses as they could onto the trucks. She said it as an afterthought, but as soon as she did, another group went to the linen room and grabbed a load of blankets. Brynn knew they could come back later, but no one seemed to ever want to see this place again.

After some deliberation, and an argument, Jimmy and Breena decided not to go on to the park with the bigger group. Ducky tried to convince him he would be more help to the people there, than to the one patient here. But Jimmy refused to leave Ducky. Breena refused to leave Jimmy. When Tobias and the convoy were gone, they left one panel van and a pick up for Ducky and the others.

Back inside the ICU waiting room, Brynn felt the room spin. She stretched out across two chairs and was almost asleep. She hadn't eaten all day and hadn't slept in nearly 48 hours. Ducky had guessed this during his exam. She had been ordered to eat but all she had on her were three fruit bars. They hadn't helped much. Ducky's group had already scoured the hospital for vending machines. They brought back enough food to feed their group just before Brynn had showed up. The food that was left behind was mostly stale but still edible. Brynn didn't want to have to deal with anything they had to heat up. She had been happy to find a whole box of peanut butter packets. They would at least give some flavor to the crackers they had.

"Brynn." Ducky's voice brought her head up. The room began to spin again. She bristled when the spinning stopped and she saw Alan right next to her. Ducky simply pushed him out of the way and helped Brynn to stand. "You need to lay down on a bed, my dear." He led her into one of the rooms down the hall. "Get as much rest as you need. We won't be going out for a while yet. If you need something, just give a shout. I'll keep the door open." Alan followed close behind. Brynn didn't say a word. She just set her flashlight and gun on the table beside the bed. Her head hit the pillow and she was out.