A/N Hey long time no see! only kidding. Now thanks for the reviews on the last chapter and for the following. Now apart from my 'troll' who won't believe this I will be finishing this story, I have six on the go but have vowed no more until these are finished as I hate unfinished stories as much as you guys do.

I have all my current stories on a rotating base on my desk, so they will each be updated one chapter at a time.

OK so going to post this and work on the next chapter of the next in the pile. :)

Disclaimer...Not mine...but planning on doing something about it...maybe...one day. (Oh I can dream!)

*Get's nudged by Gibbs* "Hey get back to work!"

"On it Boss!" ;)

Chapter 10

They walked into the hospital room and Eunice was sitting on the edge of her bed not looking at anything.

"Mom?" Jimmy said coming in slowly.

"Hey Jimmy, I'm sorry." Eunice said her slight smile crumbling into full on sobs. "I screwed up again son."

Jimmy ran to his mom and held her in his arms, "Its gonna be ok Mom, I found the local NA meeting we'll be going together tonight."

Eunice shakily got to her feet; she looked up and saw Gibbs a small look of fear crossed her face.

"Its ok mom, he's here to help, that's all." Jimmy said reassuringly.

She nodded and allowed Gibbs to help her to the car.

They arrived at the house and Eunice was nodding off.

Both Jimmy and Gibbs helped her into the house and up to the room that Gibbs had given to Jimmy. Both boys walked down the stairs as Jackson walked out from the kitchen.

"How is she?" He asked genuinely concerned.

"She's sleeping thanks for not being around when we got her here, I don't think she would have walked in otherwise. Right now, she is so tired all she's going to do is sleep. I'm gonna wake her up in a few hours, there's a narcotics anonymous meeting at the church on the corner tonight, we'll be going tonight." Jimmy told his father.

"Don't you think she should sleep?" Jackson said

"Nope." Jimmy said suddenly, "Ninety meetings in ninety days, if she's going to get clean again that's what she's gotta do, I'll be going with her for the first ten days, then slowly let her go so that eventually she's going alone."

"Isn't that a bit harsh, I mean we don't know if she took the drugs willingly or if she was forced them?" Jackson said.

"It doesn't matter, the urge to use is always there….even years from now if she stays clean it may hit her, but to get her to that point we need to complete the whole twelve step programme." Jimmy explained.

"You seem to know a lot about this," Jackson said interested.

"I did it with mom just before I came to live with you," Jimmy told him.

"But, you were nine!" Jackson said.

"I had no one else." Jimmy said, he hadn't meant it as a slur on his father just the truth. Nevertheless, to Jackson another reminder of how he had let the boy down really hurt.

Gibbs' phone rang and he walked out of the kitchen to take the call.

"Gibbs." He snapped.

Tony told him that they had found the killer of Petty Officer Andrew Janes.

"So you got him in interrogation?" Gibbs asked,

"Na figured you'd be busy so we've processed him, it was Bruce Palmer, and apparently he had followed his wife to D.C. and found her with the Petty Officer and shot her up with the drugs and hit him over the head."

"Crap….Ok good work DiNozzo." Gibbs said and shut the phone.

Brilliant. Now on top of everything else it was Jimmy's stepfather who had been the killer, he was now in jail awaiting trial on the murder of the Petty Officer and the attempted murder of Eunice Palmer, and he had to tell them both.

He walked into the building again and looked at Jimmy.

"Hey kid, we got the killer." Gibbs said flatly.

Jimmy grinned, "That's great. So who was it?"

"Bruce." He said hoping the penny would drop.

Jimmy looked blank. "Bruce?"

"Palmer." Gibbs said.

"Yes?" Jimmy said.

Gibbs felt the need to either headslap himself or his very dense little brother, "No Jimmy, Bruce Palmer was our killer."

Jimmy face fell. "I can't say I'm surprised he's a killer, but why did he kill the petty officer?"

Gibbs waited as Jimmy worked through the implications of what he just told them.

Jimmy looked at his big brother, "Oh, I don't worry I actually expected him to kill mom years ago, why do you think I put up with dad all those years, I'm sorry Dad, but you were actually the best choice I had."

Jackson looked at his youngest son. "I never knew, I mean child services told me she had married and that you two didn't get on but I didn't know you really didn't like him….did he….did he hurt you?" Jackson asked.

Jimmy turned and walked out to the back porch. Looking into the garden, he tried to cover the emotion that Jackson's question had caused.

Gibbs followed Jimmy outside.

"Jimmy?" he said softly standing behind him.

"I can't tell him….we've just started to repair our relationship, I don't want to hurt him."

"Can't tell him what?" Gibbs asked gently motioning for Jimmy to sit down on one of the chairs on the porch.

Jimmy looked at his hands finding them suddenly more interesting than the thoughts running through his head.

"Dad's trying really hard…I think he's even started to like me…How do I tell him…I preferred Bruce beating me…He did beat me and no I didn't like it, but it was easier to take than the way dad treated me, when the beatings were done it was over with. Dad's silent treatment and the snide remarks were all the time." Jimmy was crying unashamed now. "I'm sorry; I know I'm a bad person for thinking this way."

Jackson walked over and enveloped his son in a hug.

"You are not a bad person for thinking that way. I love you and I am sorry for everything I put you through…I didn't know he hit you. I saw you with a black eye once when you were five, I believed your mothers explanation though. Maybe I shouldn't have." Jackson said quietly.

"No you shouldn't." Gibbs growled mad that this had happened.

Jimmy looked up stricken,

"No! Don't you two fight! It's not his fault. Bruce has always been like that. I think it was why mom started doing drugs. She's tried to get clean for me when child services took me, but he would drug her food." Jimmy explained.

"I am so sorry son, If I hadn't been so blinded you wouldn't have had to go through this…If you want to….If you'll let me… I know I can't make up for what you went through but I would like to help…Please?"

Jimmy hugged his father, he knew there would still be bumps in the road along the way but this part of his life was finally on the road to being repaired.

Now the hard part…He had to wake his mother and hope that as his parents were about to meet again for the first time in years that they wouldn't kill each other.