Chapter 11

"Oh, yes. I have heard about you, Agent Gibbs," the man said. "What did you need?"

"I just..." Gibbs stopped and looked beyond the couple to the silent figure in the bed. "I wanted to know how she was doing."

Jie Wong Lee looked down at her daughter and put a hand on her head. "Michelle is alive. The doctors told us that they were nearly ready to give up, but her heart started beating again on its own. I could have told him that she would not be taken so easily."

"We thought she was dead," Gibbs said. "That's why no one was here before."

"Why?" Richard Lee asked.

"One of my team saw her in the emergency room...when her heart was not beating and he thought she was dead. He was injured himself at the time and not thinking clearly. There was so much chaos..."

"She may never wake up," Richard said softly. "She was down for a long time, but there's a chance."

"There's always a chance," Gibbs replied. "Where there's life there's hope." He shoved his hands in his pockets and hit the ring box. He'd forgotten he still had it. "I won't disturb you much longer...but I have something."

"What is it?"

"Were you aware of your daughter's relationship with Jimmy Palmer?"

Jie smiled and nodded. "Yes. They were getting very close. Michelle loved to talk about him."

"Did you know that they were planning on getting engaged?"

Jie and Richard looked at each other for a long time; then, Jie asked, "Did Jimmy die?"

"Yes. He protected her from the explosion, took the brunt of it himself." Gibbs paused and pulled the box out of his pocket. "I don't know what you want to do with it, but..." He held it out. "...we think Jimmy was in the act of proposing when the bomb went off."

Jie's eyes filled with tears as she reached out and took the box, the delicate ring nestled inside.

"We'll hold onto it for her. Michelle can decide...when she's ready."

"I understand."

"Thank you for coming, Agent Gibbs. I am glad to know she wasn't forgotten by her colleagues."

"No," Gibbs said, shaking his head firmly, "she wasn't forgotten. No one has been forgotten."

"I'm glad," Richard said.

Silently, Gibbs shook their hands, and with a last look at Michelle, he left the Lees.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The door opened quietly, but there was no need for silence. The woman lying in the bed was far beyond being awakened by noisy entrances...and the man in the room was awake. He was sitting in the corner, as far from the bed as possible, the palms of his hands over his eyes, but he was most definitely awake.

"Timothy, may I speak with you?" Ducky asked softly.

Tim shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Then, come with me."

"Where?"

"Tony is awake. I would like you to come with me to speak with him."

"Why?"

"Because you need to be there."

"What about Abby?" Tim asked, gesturing hopelessly at the bed. "I can't leave her alone."

"She's scheduled for an MRI, and the doctors have to examine her. She won't be alone." Ducky found it interesting that Tim would insist on staying when he so obviously didn't want to be there. Why that was, he wasn't sure. "Please, Timothy. Tony is awake, and we need to speak with him."

"Why?"

Ducky sighed. "Timothy, go. Just go."

It was a sign of how broken Tim was that he didn't argue or protest any further. He just stood and walked out, looking for all the world as if he had a great weight on his shoulders. Ducky watched him and then squared his own shoulders. This was untenable and he was not willing to let it proceed any further.

"We're getting them all back, Abigail. Everyone who can is going to make it. I promise you."

Abby didn't respond, but Ducky smiled at her and then walked out of the room, searching for the other survivor.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tentatively, Tim stepped into Tony's room. All was quiet. Tony was asleep. Really asleep this time, not just unconscious. Tim walked over to the bed, but, as with Abby, he only wanted to get as far away from him as possible. He didn't speak, just sat silently and wished this was all over.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Jethro!"

"Ducky!" Gibbs looked too happy...meaning that he didn't look completely depressed.

"Where have you been?"

"Agent Lee is alive!"

"What?"

"I found her. They just got her out of surgery and she's alive...although she might not wake up."

"How is that possible? I thought Timothy had seen her die."

"He did...but he didn't stay long enough to see her heart start beating again. She's in critical condition and her parents don't have much hope, but she's alive right now." Now, he sighed. "Jimmy saved her."

Ducky nodded in acceptance of that. "Good. It is nice to have some good news for once." Gibbs started to walk away...toward the exit. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"I need to check some things, Ducky." Gibbs waved a sheaf of papers with photos on them. "There are a few bodies on the list I don't recognize. I want to check them out and tell Fornell who they should be focusing on."

"No, Jethro!" Ducky said firmly.

"What? We need to find out who did this, Ducky."

"Yes, but you do not. You could just as easily call Agent Fornell and tell him who you would like him to investigate. You do not need to run all over DC to look at the bodies. There are many people involved in the investigation. You are not needed out there. You can't leave us here, Jethro."

"Ducky..."

But Ducky wasn't having it. "Jethro, you left Timothy all alone here before. You left him to wake up alone!"

"He was in surgery, Ducky. There was nothing I could do."

"You could have been here! I understand why you felt you had to leave, but don't you understand how devastating that was for Timothy? So far as he knew, everyone had died. No one was here to tell him that there were any survivors. He's been alone ever since. He's embraced that desolation as something he deserves."

"Ducky."

"I don't blame you for that, Jethro, but why, oh why did you feel it necessary to leave? You weren't the only one searching. Bodies would have been found without you. Survivors would have been found without you. ...and yet, you left the one person you knew had survived, someone who needed you. Why are you insisting on leaving now?"

"You left, too, Ducky."

"I left for one hour to...tell a friend good-bye, Jethro. Then, I returned. How long will this trek take you? One hour? Two? Five? Or did you plan on coming back at all?"

"Ducky, I don't understand what's the matter."

Ducky could see that Gibbs didn't get it, but he could also see that Gibbs was fleeing his grief, as he had before, and Ducky would not allow him to do that again. Not this time.

"I cannot deal with this on my own, Jethro. You ran away to Mexico before and we muddled through because we were all there to support each other. You can't run away this time. Abigail is in a coma. Tony is still in serious condition. Timothy...he needs mental support that I am trying to give, but I can't do it on my own. He needs you. He needs us all. Tony needs you here. We must deal with this together because there are too few of us to deal with it alone. We need to be together because we are the survivors. You and I are the only ones who got through unscathed and we are honor-bound to help those who are not. Tony is mourning for Ziva's death and for the deaths of all who were lost. Timothy is still stuck in his cycle of guilt and trauma."

"Psych is–"

"He needs friends, not a chat with someone who knows nothing about him. Yes, therapy will certainly be needed later on, but right now, he needs to know that he has not been left alone again. He needs to know that you have not left him alone again."

Gibbs was still. There were very few people who could lecture Gibbs and get away with it. Ducky was one of those people.

"You need to confront the fact that even finding who is responsible won't solve everything. I know you know it, but you need to admit it. You need to mourn with us. We need you to mourn with us. Please, Jethro, don't leave us here. Like it or not, we need you."

The expression on Gibbs' face was one of a man trying to deny what he knows is true. He stared at Ducky for a few seconds and finally nodded.

"You're right, Ducky. I need to call Fornell. I'll be up."

"Thank you, Jethro."

"Thank you, Ducky."

"I'm just fulfilling my role as the kindly British doctor."

"You're Scottish and you're not being very kind."

"Killing with kindness," Ducky said and smiled sadly. "We'll be in Tony's room, waiting for you."

"I'll be there. I promise."

Ducky simply nodded and walked away. Gibbs would be there. It wouldn't automatically make things right. It couldn't, but it could help...and that was what they really needed.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When Ducky returned to Tony's room, he found Tim sitting rigidly in the chair beside Tony's bed, staring steadfastly at the slumbering figure. There was a susurrant sound that he only belatedly realized was Tim's voice. He couldn't hear the words, but he saw Tim's lips moving.

"Timothy?"

"He's asleep."

"Yes, he is, thank heaven."

Tim shook his head. "There's nothing left, you know. Everything is...gone."

"No, it's not, Timothy. It might seem like it, but it's not."

"This isn't fair. None of it. Not Tony, not Abby, not Ziva, not any of it. It's not fair!" Tim said. "I don't care what..." He stopped and looked down as a hand touched his. "Hi, Tony," he said very softly.

"Hey, Probie," Tony breathed. "Long time...no see."

"Yeah." Tim looked away, giving Tony a perfect opportunity to understand what Ducky meant by unhealthy grieving.

"Hey, now...I know I'm...not much to look at...right now, but you gotta...admit that I'm going to be scoring...with the ladies."

Tim closed his eyes, two tears escaping before he could stop them. Tony watched as Tim forced himself to smile. He could tell that Tim did not feel like smiling.

"Yeah, Tony."

"Ducky told me...about Ziva," Tony added seriously, watching as Ducky patted Tim's shoulder and smiled at him. "It sucks."

"Yeah," Tim said again.

"You know what sucks even more?"

"No...cable?" Tim asked, with that same painful smile.

"No. Seeing you beating yourself...up about it. That's worse."

Tim shifted awkwardly and didn't look at Tony. "People are dead, Tony. A lot of people are dead."

"Yeah, I know."

"Why not me?" Tim asked, looking at Tony and then at Ducky...and then at Gibbs who had just stepped in the door. "Why not me?"

Gibbs had known how Tim felt before, but Tim's question meant more this time than it had the last time he'd asked. Saying that it wasn't his time wouldn't be enough...maybe nothing would be, but Ducky was right. They needed to deal with this together. He shut the door behind him and walked to the bed. Maybe some good news would help...maybe not, but at least he'd be here this time.