Chapter 7

"Mama!" Gibbs watched as his goddaughter ran to his sister, hugging her, Shelby picking her up, holding her gently, kissing her small forehead right below her dark brown hair.

He turned slightly, his hearing picking up enough of Tony's conversation to know that McGee and Ziva were bringing Davidson in for questioning. He watched as Tony kissed Bella's hair, casting a look at Shelby that only the two of them understood, before leaving.

"Nini?" The little girl looked around, pouting as she didn't see Jenny.

"Sleeping. Nap time." She watched as Bella yawned, stretching her arms. "For more than just Nini." She looked at Gibbs. "You coming?"

"Just a minute," he lied smoothly, so smoothly in fact that she didn't catch it, going inside to check on Jenny and then lay Bella down. He waited just long enough to make sure she wasn't coming back outside and then left.

He caught a lucky break when no one was with Davidson in the interrogation room, not even his lawyer. He'd retained his gun easily; after all, he was an NCIS agent. He put his coat over the video camera, watching Davidson's reaction to him just walking into the room.

"Do you remember me?" Jethro asked, sure that he did.

"No." Davidson lied easily, not batting an eyelash.

"What about Jenny Shepherd? Do you remember her?" Gibbs' hands were shaking and he struggled to hide it.

"Who?"

Gibbs pulled out his gun, pointing it squarely in the middle of Davidson's forehead, seeing the fear in his eyes, the same fear that Jenny had had all those years ago and through this week of hell. He remembered her crying herself to sleep, remembered her suicide attempt, he remembered everything.

Ziva David had been watching everything through the mirror and ran into headquarters, catching Tony's attention, pulling him to the side. "What's wrong?" He asked, sensing it was more than her being a 'crazy Isreali chick' as he frequently called her.

"Gibbs."

Tony knew with that one word what had happened and cursed under his breath, beginning to run, dialing his cell phone on the way. "Shelby."

"Tony." Shelby was sitting in on the bed with Jenny, the redhead fully awake now, both worried what Gibbs would do. "He's gone. I went to put Bella down and he's just gone…"

"He's here. In with Davidson. Wake Jenny up," he said in short bursts.

"She's up." Shelby handed the phone over to her friend.

"Tony…." Jenny began, not knowing what to say. "Let me talk to him. Please. Just let me talk to him."

Tony burst into the interrogation room, holding the phone to his boss' ear. "Jethro."

Gibbs swallowed the lump in his throat. "Jen."

"Jethro, don't do it. He's not worth it. Please. Don't. Just come home. I'll be okay…if you just come home. Please come home." He heard a pleading in her voice, almost begging, and his hand shook slightly before he lowered the gun, Tony breathing a sigh of relief. "Jethro?" Jenny asked again, not knowing what was going on.

"Okay, Jenny. Okay." He walked out, Ziva following to drive him home, Tony staying in the interrogation room with Davidson.

Gibbs stood watching for a little while as Shelby poured a mug of coffee for Jen and smiled to himself as Bella put her mug over for some coffee as well, not knowing what it was, just wanting to be like the grownups. His heart warmed as he saw Jenny smile as well, her first real smile in awhile. Shelby poured her a little milk in her sippy cup, kissing into the dark brown hair.

"T'ank you!" Bella said proudly after being prompted a little.

"You're welcome, baby." Shelby watched as the little girl ate her cookie and then turned her attention to Jen. "Are you sure you don't want something to eat? I can make you something else…"

Jenny shook her head. "I'm not hungry." She studied Shelby, knowing she'd gone to the trouble of making the food in hopes that she'd eat. "But thank you. Really. For everything."

"He'll be okay."

Jenny nodded, Bella struggling to get down from her chair. "I know. I just…I'll feel better when he's home."

The little girl toddled over to where he was standing, lifting her arms. "Bubba, up, Bubba."

He picked her up, hugging her, carrying her into the room with the women. "Jethro…" Jenny spoke first, her eyes connecting with his.

"Bella, sweetie, let's go wash our hands and face." Shelby transferred the little girl from Jethro's arms to her own, leaving the room for privacy.

"I didn't shoot him." Jethro couldn't think of what to start with, so he said whatever came to his mind.

"That's good." Jenny got up, pouring a mug of coffee, handing it to him. "What the hell were you thinking?" He started to say something and stopped. "It was going to 'help' me for you to kill him in NCIS custody? To have you in jail? How would that have helped anyone?"

"I wasn't thinking. I just…" He stopped himself. "I wasn't thinking."

"Damned right, you weren't." She crossed her arms and then uncrossed them briefly, tucking some hair behind her ear, then crossing them again. "I'm not ready to lose you, okay? Not by some death wish you seem to have, not by you going on a margarita safari, and sure as hell not because of me…"

He moved to sit, bringing her to sit beside him, holding her hand. "Haven't you learned, after all this, that it's not your fault? Honey, none of this is your fault. None of it. And I'm not ready to lose you either." He touched her cheek gently. "Whatever you think, you're still my partner."

She smiled, nodding, not moving his hand. "I know."

"If I bring you a sandwich, will you eat it?" He asked, changing the subject.

She nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." He got up and got her a grilled cheese sandwich, cutting it in half diagonally and then warming it slightly before bringing it to her. "Eat." He watched her to make sure she did.

"Shelby told me you broke up with Hollis," Jenny said, watching his eyes. "I…Would it be out of line if I couldn't say I was sorry?"

He laughed. "No. I'm not really sorry myself. As DiNozzo said, I should have done it long ago."

She smiled again, doing his heart a world of good. "He really said that?" He nodded, talking with her, relaxing slightly.

Shelby juggled groceries, pizza, and Bella at the door, not quite able to reach her keys until Tony pulled up, using his key to let her into the house, then taking his daughter, needing one of her tiny hugs to make him feel better. "How's Jen?"

"A lot better. I figured they didn't need us anymore and it's getting late…" A lot later now that she'd run by the restaurant and grocery store. She put the pizza on the counter and then put the groceries away.

Bella laid her head on her father's shoulder, fighting hard to keep her eyes open, him kissing her forehead and her giving a baby kiss to his cheek. Shelby got paper plates out and some napkins, cutting one of the pieces of pizza into small bites, putting two more pieces on each of the other plates, Tony moving the plates to the table as Shelby got cups down for sodas and apple juice, the family falling together to eat silently, questions on Shelby's mind, but nothing she wanted to discuss in front of the little girl. Bella was asleep before they finished eating so Shelby carried her to her room, changing her into a pair of pajamas and putting her to bed, knowing a bath could wait until morning.

"She's really exhausted," Tony said, looking that way himself.

"I think we all are. I've lost track of what day it is." Shelby admitted, putting the rest of the pizza in the refrigerator as Tony threw the plates away and put the cups in the dishwasher. "What happened after Jethro left?"

"Davidson confessed. Well, wet his pants and then confessed."

"Will it hold up? After Jethro…"

He nodded. "We'll say the camera malfunctioned. There's no proof that he did anything. It's the word of two NCIS agents, and Ziva, against a known rapist…I don't know how long he'll go away for, but at least he's going back inside."

"Well, thank God for that." Shelby closed her eyes briefly and then opened them again just in time to see him try to stifle a yawn. "Why don't you sleep here tonight?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Tony said, smiling.

"C'mon." She led him to her room, not bothering to shower much less undress, just remove her shoes, laying down on half the bed, him laying down on the other half, settling down together and falling asleep soon after their heads hit the pillows.