A/n: Age has come up a few times, so I'll clarify. This is totally AU, and there's no way. Gibbs and Ducky would be WAY old. I'm not making Ziva pregnant or anything, so it's a bit irrelevant if they're old. But just humor me, ya know? I started off saying something about it being off on ages, and for plot reasons, I don't think it'll really matter. Thanks all!

This update will be confusing. Its in Eden's POV, and at this point, she's really confused. It looks into the future a little bit, and I will explain everything. But all the information I release in this update is just what she knew at the time she reacted. So yeah. It'll make sense. Eventually. And please don't hate me. Or do. You do you.

Rule #44: First things first, hide the women and children.

I was wearing nothing but one of Conner's shirts and lying next to him when the phone rang.

And I just need to know why things go from being so good to so bad in one minute, one moment.

That's all it took.

It was supposed to be a good day. It was a good day, for a while.

My second anniversary with Conner. Two years of us being us. A Friday night in mid December filled with lights and snowflakes. His parents out of town, Kelly at a community service event in Baltimore. We had his place to ourselves. He was treating me like his little princess, which often I don't like, but under the right circumstances, its perfect.

He started kissing me again when the phone rang.

I moaned, pulling away from him and reaching across the table to grab my phone. I wanted to silence it, or chuck it against the wall, something. This was my night and no one needed to be calling me and ruining it.

It was Gibbs.

That's how I knew there was one, a big problem, and two, that I most definitely needed to answer it.

Conner saw who it was on my caller ID, and he sat up instantly.
We exchanged nervous looks, and I leaned back against his headboard as I pressed the phone to my ear.

"Gibbs?"

"You okay, Eden?"

"I'm fine. What's going on?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Conner's. Gibbs, what is it?"

"Have you heard from your parents?"

"Not since Conner picked me up."

There was a long moment of silence. The only thing I could hear was his heavy breathing on the other end, and I became more and more nervous with every huff.

"Gibbs. Tell me," I said.

"Its over."

"What?"

"Your parents. Its over. "

My mind stopped. My breathing stopped. I didn't understand.

Gibbs kept talking and I heard it, but I didn't process it at all.

I couldn't breathe.

It was the beginning of November when they went out for their first coffee date. It was only December. They only had two
months. That's not how this was supposed to work.

"Eden? Eden!" Gibbs snapped.

"Yeah, gotta go Gibbs. " I said, abruptly ending the call. I pulled the sheet off of myself, and I started to get dressed again, pulling on my jeans and trading his shirt for my own.

"Eden," he said.

"Take me home." I said, pulling my hair into a ponytail and slipping my shoes on. I was halfway out the door when Conner stopped me.

"Eden," he grabbed my arm and pulled me back, his eyes locking with mine.

"I have to go."

"You have to breathe. I'll take you anywhere you need to go, but you have to promise to take care of yourself. "

Damn it I am in love with this man.

Its gotten so much easier to admit that with my parents being a thing. I guess I feel like I'm allowed to be happy if they are. And that's probably why I felt so terrible when Gibbs called.

That, and they deserved each other.

"I can't promise." I said. He pulled me to him in a tight tight hug. He slipped shoes on and grabbed his keys.

He didn't really ask what was going on. I think he just kind of knew, based on my actions and the past and his willingness to just get up and get dressed and take me where I needed to go.

I was really pissed, and I had it in mind that this was all mom's fault. Dad was too rational. Dad didn't cause wasn't Dad who kept me in Israel for 6 years.

So maybe I shouldn't have, but when I got home I chewed mom out and said things I never should have said.

There's no good way to describe it, but like the night all those years ago when I first got here. The screaming and the cursing and the anger. She's my mother. There's no way I should be able to say the things I said to her. But I was so mad and so stupid and I just can't...

I just can't.

I can't.

She was crying and I was crying and she told me how much I'd regret what I was saying to her, calling her. That I didn't understand. I was missing the whole story. Out of context and the pages all mixed up and torn and burnt. And yet I just kept yelling and screaming and trying to make her feel the pain I felt. But it wasn't even that she needed to feel my pain. Didn't I know she'd felt enough.

This wasn't my war to fight.

She's my mother. And I called her every explicit word in the book. In English, Hebrew, French, Spanish...

I was in my room at 2 am after an amazing night with Conner, crying and falling apart. I had no idea why it was over. I hadn't heard mom out, I hadn't heard dad at all. All I heard was Gibbs say "its over" and I became who my mother never wanted me to be.

I became a weapon.

Maybe not a weapon of physical means, but I caused people to hurt and scream and cry.

Tonight, my mom lost the love of her life and I told her I hated her. Tonight I lost my cool and lost my head.

And I didn't know why.

I didn't know their fight was not physical or loud or angry. I didn't know that my actions directly affected how my mom would handle the situation.
And I didn't know until the following days that it would force me to make the biggest decision of my life.

First things first; hide the women and children. Unless of course, the women and children are the culprits in the first place.

Or just the child. The immature bastard that I am.