a/n - You know, I didn't think the last chapter was that much of a cliffhanger. Certainly not as much as, well, let's just say that you'll be hating me in a few days. Enjoy today.
"Abby, were you here all night?" Emily arrived early to find the lights still on and her boss slumped in front of the large plasma screen, still wearing the clothes from the day before. Abby sat up and wiped her face.
"Gibbs needs a transcript of what was said."
That wasn't the long, drawn out explanation Emily was used to, so she came around to see what had Abby so transfixed. She was running the same few seconds of footage over and over. You didn't need audio or the ability to lip read to tell that the older man was yelling as he struck the younger man across the face. Emily studied the two men closer, realizing that she had seen the younger one in the building a few times. "Isn't that McGee from cybercrimes?"
"Yes, it's Timmy."
"Timmy? So you know him?"
"I caused this."
Emily didn't know the details of what happened before she was hired, but she did know that part of her unofficial duties was to keep Abby on track. She looked at the report Abby was writing the transcript on, the page listing this clip was blank. "Have you determined what he is saying to Agent McGee?"
Abby nodded and rewound that clip. It was disconcerting to hear the words coming from Abby's mouth, matching perfectly to the lip movement of the older man on the screen, but it was even worse to think about their meaning.
You little bastard, this is all your fault... Your sister was perfect until your friend came along... Now she's defending you... You've never done anything right...
"My God..."
"Yeah." Abby wiped her eyes again. "The whole tape is like that. When we were dating, and he wouldn't introduce me to his family. I thought he was ashamed of me, but he was protecting me."
Emily shuddered, being in the lab usually meant that she didn't have to see the violence first hand, but this recording was somehow worse than first hand. She took a deep breath and picked up the papers. "Okay, you translate, I'll write. Let's get the rest of this done."
---NCIS---
"Director Vance, I was told that you wanted to see us?" Tim had been stunned by the summons that morning, even more so when it specifically included Sarah.
"Tim, Sarah, please come in." Smiling broadly, Vance ushered them into his office, silently amused by the touch of panic McGee couldn't quite hide. He knew his happiness was something that would unnerve any agent under his command. McGee tensed even more when he saw the members of his former team, all grinning at him, even Gibbs.
"Boss, guys, what's..."
"Where are my manners? Here, sit down. Would you like some coffee or maybe some tea?" Vance offered his arm to Sarah and escorted her to the sofa in his office as Tim trailed behind, staring at the back of the Director's head. Ziva perched on the arm of the small sofa and took Sarah's hand as she sat.
"I don't know about Tim, but I want to know why you're all grinning like loons."
"Sarah!"
"What? I'm not an agent, I'm the little sister, so I can get away with it." It was the first time he'd seen that saucy smile since the attack and Tim couldn't chastise her for it as he sat next to her.
Vance let him off the hook. "It's quite all right, Agent McGee." He leaned back against his desk, still smiling. "The worst part of my job is how often I am forced to break bad news, so when good news arrives, I tend to savor it."
"Good news, Sir?"
"That's right, Tim, good news." Gibbs sat, wedging McGee between himself and Sarah. Tony pulled a chair closer as Vance continued to explain.
"Agent DiNozzo did most of the leg work on this, so I'll let him bring you up to speed before I let you know what happened last night."
Tony finished adjusting his chair so he was sitting directly in front of Tim and tapped his friend's knees with a file folder before dropping it on the side table. "One of the things I regret the most," he glanced over at Sarah before continuing, "is that I never really looked past the surface when you joined the team. Over these last three months, I think I've finally gotten to know the real you. So, tell me if I'm right."
"Umm, okay..." Thoroughly baffled, Tim sat back to listen.
"You were really young when your parents sent Becky away. It must have been really scary, afraid that you'd somehow make a mistake and get thrown away too. Always having to be perfect..."
"Covering for me whenever I screwed up." It wasn't until that day in the hospital that Sarah had understood just how much her big brother had taken on. He shrugged and squeezed her hand.
"Couldn't lose you too."
"And you couldn't look for Becky because as long as you didn't know, you could convince yourself and Sarah that she was still alive someplace where your parents couldn't reach her."
"Yeah." Tim let his head drop as he heard Tony verbalize the fear he'd carried for years.
"And you were right."
Tim's head jerked up as soon as Tony's words penetrated. "She's alive? You found her?"
"Yeah, buddy, we found her." Tony leaned even closer and rested his hand on Tim's leg. "There's more, though, that you both need to know. Your parents lied to you about what happened, and they lied to her."
"I don't understand."
"Becky didn't go through with the abortion. When your parents found her, she was sitting on the curb outside the clinic." Tony paused, letting his friend absorb what he was being told.
"She didn't have it... but... are you saying that they threw her out knowing that she was pregnant?"
Gibbs rubbed Tim's back as Tony continued. "No, they took her to Rosedale Family Services, a home for unwed mothers. She was a virtual prisoner there until she went into premature labor."
Sarah had a death grip on Ziva with one hand and on her brother with the other. "What happened?"
"There were complications and she almost bled to death during an emergency cesarean section. When she regained consciousness she was told that the baby was stillborn."
"Oh, God." One look at Tim's face and Tony knew he had made the connection. He gave Tim an encouraging nod as Tim turned to Sarah. "Rosedale Family Services is the agency that handled your adoption, Sarah. I saw the paperwork once."
"I don't understand, what are you saying?"
Ziva picked up the file that Tony had set on the table and pulled out a birth certificate. "If I remember correctly, when you turned twenty one, you started looking for your birth mother."
"Yes, I mentioned it in group a few weeks ago. Her name is Nancy Kittaman, but I haven't been able to locate her. I was going to ask Tim to help me, but then everything happened." Sarah shrugged, she had been planning on talking to her brother after she went to the club with Abby.
"I know." Ziva handed Sarah a copy of her birth certificate with the name Nancy Kittaman on it. "It is a forgery, Sarah. A very good one, but it is a forgery."
"A forgery, but why?" They watched as the emotions and realizations flashed across her face. "Becky is my real mom, isn't she? Are you sure?"
"We're sure." Now it was Vance's turn. "Metro had your DNA from the evidence collected after your assault. We had them help us get a DNA comparison done. There's an eighty-seven percent chance that Tim is biologically related to you."
"My uncle?"
Vance smiled at the joy on her face. "Besides, you look so much like your mother. Anyone who would see the two of you would know you were mother and daughter."
Gibbs still had his hand on Tim's back, so he slid it up to gently squeeze the back of his neck. "That's probably why your parents got rid of every picture with Rebecca in it. Somebody would have noticed."
"I should have."
"No, McGee." Ziva leaned across Sarah to share the hand Sarah was still holding. "You were less than eight years old when she was sent away. No one could remember under those circumstances."
"It's probably a good thing you didn't, Probie. I'd hate to think what your old man would have done to you if you had figured it out before now."
Vance's words caught up with Sarah. "Wait, you've seen her?"
"Yes, I have." Vance moved off his desk and joined the small circle, pulling in the remaining chair. "I used some satellite time and was able to speak to her last night. I wanted to make sure there were no surprises that could hurt either of you."
Sarah was staring at Vance and didn't see the silently mouthed 'thank you' her uncle gave the Director. "She wants me? My real mom wants me?"
Vance nodded with a smile. "Oh, yes, very much so."
Tim was still trying to wrap his mind around the turn of events. "Where is she? Where has she been all these years?"
"Right now she's in Haiti. Rebecca is a nurse with the relief efforts down there." Vance turned his attention to Sarah as he continued. "Both she and your father are down there."
"My father?" Vance had to strain to hear the whispered question, but it didn't surprise him. He knew it would take years for this broken family to full catch up, but he gave Sarah the basics for now.
"After you were born, your grandparents would have nothing to do with your mother. They couldn't and still keep you a secret from her. They gave her some money and left her there, hundreds of miles from home. She and your father had been high school sweethearts, and your mother called his family for help. They took her in, helped her finish high school and get into college. Your parents got married the day after your mother turned eighteen, so all of her adult records are with her married name."
"Which is?"
"Harper." They all watched as Tim processed the name Vance had given him.
He may have been young, but some memories never faded completely. "Richard Harper, he saved me from some bullies when I was little. He bought me a new shirt so Dad wouldn't find out I got beat up."
"Sounds like he was a good kid." Gibbs kept his voice even, refusing to let himself dwell on the tidbit Tim had let slip. As a child, he was more afraid of his father than a group of bullies.
He smiled, lost in the memories for a second. He hadn't thought of Rebecca's boyfriend for years. "Yeah, he was. They took me to the movies with them and then out for ice cream afterward. He... he wanted to be a doctor and travel all over the world helping people." Tim sat up straight as he remembered the rest. "Becky wanted to be a nurse and go with him."
"And that is exactly what they've done. Your mother was never able to have more children, so they've been taking care of the children of the world. They were part of the first medical teams to arrive." Vance returned his attention to Sarah. "Your mother and father would very much like to talk to you. Would you like me to set it up? I can get you a few minutes of satellite time later tonight."
"Yes, oh, yes."
---NCIS---
"This is the last scene." Abby gave a sad smile at the image paused on the screen. Tim was in profile to the camera. Zooming in hadn't helped with that, of course, but it did show the rapidly darkening marks on his face and the intense look in his eyes as he held his father's fist only inches away from Sarah's own battered face.
When Emily nodded her readiness, pen in hand, Abby started the recording again. Normally it would be difficult to read lips at this angle, but she knew that mouth better than she knew her own.
Nobody else is going to hurt my baby sister... Not even you, old man... Do what you want to me... I deserve it... Sarah is innocent...
---NCIS---
It was an emotional group that left Vance's office. Tim and Sarah were almost to the elevator when Hurricane Abby came up the stairs, not noticing them as she rushed straight to Gibbs who was still in the doorway to Vance's office. "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, I screwed up and I have to make it right. I'm going to go to the jail and make Roger confess so Sarah won't have to face him again. I know Timmy can never forgive me, but I still have to make it right for him. Nobody protected him, Gibbs. That awful man and nobody protected Timmy from him and I'm not going to let anybody else hurt him, even me." Not waiting for an answer and still not seeing the object of her concern standing at the elevator, Abby rushed back down the stairs on her mission.
Gibbs watched her go. The rant was classic Abby, but this time the emotions behind it were different. For the first time his gut told him she had really turned a corner in her attitude, not just reciting the perfectly practiced phrases she'd learned from the therapy sessions she'd been ordered to attend. He turned to see a strange look on McGee's face as he watched his former best friend charge down the stairs and out of sight.
Anything Gibbs may have wanted to say to the younger man was stopped by the ringing of McGee's phone. Listening to his end of the conversation it was apparent that the geeks in cybercrimes needed their boss in a hurry. Sarah heard it too.
"Go on, I'm fine. Agent Gibbs will walk me out."
They were almost to the parking lot before it was just the two of them and Sarah turned to him. "I need a favor, Agent Gibbs." She didn't give him a chance to agree or disagree. "No matter what happens with the trial and the man that hurt me, no matter what happens with our family, Tim can't move on until he and Abby settle things between them. Tim won't do that unless I can find a way to forgive Abby. After I talk to my... my parents this afternoon, I want you to help me set it up. I need to talk to Abby."
Gibbs watched her stumble over the word parents before he reached out and tilted her face up towards him, tapping her chin with his thumb. "On one condition," like Sarah did for him, he didn't give her a chance to agree or disagree. "I get to make sure your real parents know just how lucky they are to have you as their daughter." He kissed her forehead before opening the car door. "Now go to your doctor's appointment and we'll see you back here this afternoon."