a/n - Thank you. Wow, you guys really liked the last chapter. Lots more to come, but I can see the end from where I'm sitting.
"What do you mean, I can't see him? I've been waiting all day, Detective Jeffries." Abby was determined to see Roger before she lost her nerve.
Jeffries didn't know what to make of the woman seated across from him. When they first interviewed her, she was so determined to prove Roger Harris innocent, and now she wanted him to plead guilty to all counts. "I'm sorry, Miss Sciuto, his lawyer is still with him and in about an hour the evening lock down will start. He's being moved to the Central Detention Facility tomorrow. You can try to see him after he's processed."
"I want to convince him to plead guilty, that shouldn't have to wait until tomorrow." Abby crossed her arms over her chest and tried to glare at him.
"Tell me why."
"He used me to hurt those women, to hurt Sarah. How can I earn Timmy's forgiveness if she's still suffering?"
Jeffries sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Do you really think that getting a guilty plea out of Harris is going to earn you his forgiveness?"
Abby sagged as the fight left her. "It can't hurt, right? You were there at the hospital, you saw what his dad did to him. How can I make him feel better if he won't even talk to me? That's why I need to do it now, so Sarah won't have to face him in court, before his attorney makes me look even worse. I know I screwed up, but I didn't mean to, and now I want to make it right."
"You know that his lawyer isn't going to appreciate you trying to do this." Jeffries checked his watch, the meeting between accused and attorney had been going on for several hours already.
"So, we don't tell the lawyer." Abby gave him her best smile, hoping to convince him.
---NCIS---
"Hey, Boss."
"McGee, what are you doing down here?" Gibbs looked up from the file he was staring at. His attempt at looking busy might have been more convincing if the papers had been right side up. "I thought you were having dinner upstairs with your family."
He shrugged. "Not really hungry, besides, Sarah needs this time to get to know her real parents. I mean, how cool is that? She has parents now that really love her. Richard is so excited about being a father, and Becky can't let go of her. They don't need me underfoot right now."
"They're your family, too." As soon as he said it, Gibbs knew what the trouble was. "Family, but not parents. Tim..."
"No, it's okay." He gave a nervous laugh that indicated anything but humor. "I mean, it's not like I'm some kid that needs his dad's approval. I guess it's just that after seeing you get a second chance with your dad, and then Tony coming to term with his father, I thought that maybe, eventually..."
"He'd be proud of you." Gibbs saw the momentary trembling of Tim's hands before he tightened them into fists at his side.
"It was stupid, I know." Before Gibbs could tell him differently, McGee changed the subject. "Besides, that's not why I came down here. I came down to thank you again, and to make sure you were all right."
"All right? Why wouldn't I be?"
Tim hitched his hip up on the corner of Gibbs' desk. "Because you got to see a man get his dead daughter back, alive and well, after twenty years of mourning her death."
Gibbs let his eyes return to the file on his desk as he forced his voice to remain steady. "Hadn't really thought about it, McGee."
"Course not." Tim reached out and squeezed Gibbs' shoulder before he picked up the file and turned it right side up.
"There you are." Both men looked up at the sound of the feminine voice. Rebecca leaned over the railing to better see her brother. "If you don't want us to only hear Sarah's version of your dating history, you'd better get back up here."
"Go on." Gibbs laughed and slapped Tim's leg. "You better go defend yourself, and Tim..."
"Yeah, Boss?"
"You're welcome, and... thank you."
---NCIS---
"I do not understand why we did not get food when we picked up the Chinese food for McGee's family." Ziva trailed in behind Tony as he walked into the squad room with a stack of pizza boxes.
"Because, Ziva, Wednesday is the day you can get all the toppings you want for ten bucks. It's the best day for... whoa, Boss, what's up?" They watched as Gibbs slammed his phone down and pulled his service weapon out of the drawer.
"Do we have a case, Gibbs?"
"You two stay here, eat your pizza."
"Boss, where are you going?" There was no answer, Tony waited until Gibbs was almost to the elevator before he tried again. "After we screwed things up with McGee, I thought we were going to be up front with each other from now on."
Gibbs stopped, letting his head drop. "McGee's father is on his way to DC. His flight arrives in less than an hour."
"Then you need back-up, Gibbs."
"No, Ziva, what I need are no witnesses. Keep an eye on things here."
---NCIS---
"I'm sorry, the visit from the lawyer took too long. I'll make sure you can see him tomorrow after he's processed. It'll probably be in the afternoon, though."
Abby wasn't happy, but she reminded herself that it wasn't about her, it was about helping Sarah and the other women Roger hurt. "What are the rules, can I wear a wire?"
"A wire?"
"He's not cooperating, right? If I wear a wire, you could get more details about everything he's done. I mean, I'm sure I can convince him to do the right thing and plead guilty, but some more evidence will help, right?"
Jeffries sighed. He was beginning to understand the references to Hurricane Abby. "I can't promise anything, but I'll talk to the DA."
---NCIS---
Traffic was heavy as Gibbs threaded the sedan through the lanes on his way to Dulles International Airport. It had been only a few hours ago that he'd made a similar trip to pick up Rebecca and Richard from the airfield at Norfolk He'd taken the long way back to the Yard as the three of them discussed the situation.
Earlier that day:
"Agent Gibbs, are you sure that Sarah is recovering all right? When Director Vance told us what has been happening..."
"Sarah's a tough little lady, Dr. Harper. It's been rough, but Tim has been her rock ever since she was attacked. Hell, he's been her rock since the day your parents brought her into the house. " Gibbs thought for a moment before turning into a coffee shop. Bourbon would have been preferable for this conversation, but coffee would have to do. Once they were parked, he turned to look his passengers straight on. "The Director told you about what happened to Sarah to protect both her and Tim." Richard looked surprised, Rebecca didn't.
"Let me guess, my father blamed her, claimed she did something to lead that animal on."
"I'm not sure of the details, neither of them will talk about it, but he beat the hell out of Tim. The kid wouldn't lift a hand to defend himself, he only defended Sarah."
"Are you saying that bastard tried to hit my daughter?" The cold fury in Richard Harper's voice brought the man up in Gibbs estimation.
"Leave him to me. Just remember that deep down, she's expecting to be let down again. If you can't handle it, if you can't be one hundred percent supportive, then go back to Haiti right now. Nobody is hurting those kids again, not even the two of you." He held his hand up as they both started to talk. "Don't answer. Think about it while I get us coffee." Gibbs didn't give them a second look as he headed inside the store.
By the time he returned, the same stubborn look he'd seen for years on his agent's face was on his older sister's. "You do whatever you want to my father, Agent Gibbs, I don't care what happens to him. I just want to see my baby and my brother. Either you drive us to them, or I'll walk there on my own."
Gibbs bit back a smile at the ferocious mother bear he'd unleashed in his car as he turned to her husband. Richard was even less able to hide his anger. "Over twenty years of my daughter's life has been stolen from me, nobody is taking a moment more, Agent Gibbs. I'm counting on you to make sure the people who hurt my family are punished." He held his hand up to stop anything Gibbs might want to say. "And before you ask, I consider Tim as part of my family. I just wish we could have protected him from their dad, like we did Becky."
"So why didn't you? Why was it that no one stepped in and protected that boy?" Gibbs had to forcibly reign in his anger. The expression of resignation he'd seen on Tim's face in the security tape haunted his dreams.
"Have you ever lived as a civilian in a small town this is totally dependent on a military base for its survival?" Richard's eyes met Gibbs' in the rear view mirror. "It may look easy from here, but his position with the Navy gave Philip McGee a lot of power, and he used it. Even after he transferred, he had enough friends left at the base to keep tabs on Rebecca and on my family. By the time my father retired and the old man couldn't hurt us any more, Tim was already in college. We thought it would be less disruptive to stay away by then. We never had a clue about Sarah."
There was little he could say to that, it was too late to change what had happened, but Gibbs silently vowed to show Philip McGee was real power was all about.
As he pulled into Dulles, Gibbs smiled grimly. It was time.