Thursday, 2008, Georgetown University Hospital

Gibbs watched his team go, and then turned toward the ICU doors. Where the hell was Ducky with his magic pass?

"Agent Gibbs?" His jaw set, Gibbs turned towards Tony's father and raised his eyebrows. "That Agent Fornell . . . he any good?"

"You think I'd let him handle Tony's case if he wasn't?" Gibbs asked acerbically, and Mr. DiNozzo gave him a startled look. "I take it he's been here?"

"He's with Anthony now."

Gibbs grimaced. If that was the case, they wouldn't let him in. He still couldn't be present when DiNozzo was being questioned about Harris. He found a magazine and a chair and sat down. A moment later, Mrs. DiNozzo sat in the seat beside him. "Agent Gibbs, can you tell us what happened? We still don't really have the whole story."

Gibbs shrugged. "You knew he was being stalked?" She blinked at him, and he glared up at DiNozzo senior. "You didn't tell her anything?"

"I told her to ask Anthony," Mr. DiNozzo said.

"We were going to meet next week," Mrs. DiNozzo put in.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "A man named Brody Harris manipulated Tony into a sexual relationship, and when Tony broke it off, he began stalking him. He was witnessed physically attacking Tony last Friday, and he escaped from custody today. I'm not altogether sure how he found them, but he did. I don't know the details of the confrontation, but I do know that he tried to shoot Jeanne and Tony got in the way."

"Of course he did," DiNozzo senior said gruffly. Gibbs couldn't decide whether it was pride or irritation the man was displaying, and decided not to worry about it.

An announcement over the speakers passed through Gibbs' head without really taking root. It wasn't Tony, Tony was fine. A weeping woman in the corner looked up, though, and she began to talk anxiously. "What does 'code blue' mean, Mom? I know 'stat', but what does 'code blue' mean?"

Gibbs turned his attention away from the fear-inducing explanation that was none of his business and looked back down at the magazine, starting again to look for an article worth reading.

"Tony speaks very highly of you, Agent Gibbs," Mrs. DiNozzo said.

"He has nice things to say about you, too," Gibbs replied, thinking back on the one conversation they'd had about DiNozzo's current stepmother, right after the wedding.

"That's good to hear."

The doors opened and Fornell came out. He saw Gibbs and walked over. "You know, that kid is an even bigger pain in the ass flat on his back than when he can get up and walk around."

Gibbs snorted, but DiNozzo senior scowled. "My son has been shot and you're making jokes?" he exclaimed. "How did that man get away?"

"We're still working on that," Fornell said. "He was in another agency's custody at the time."

"Weaseling your way out of responsibility," DiNozzo senior said scathingly. "Where is this Harris now?"

"ICU room 15," Fornell said. "Agent Gibbs and Officer David shot him to keep him from turning a simple shooting into a murder suicide."

"You mean he's on that hall, too?" Gibbs demanded, rising to his feet.

"And there are three agents with him at all times," Fornell said in a placatory tone. "He's not getting at DiNutso."

"Does Tony know how close he is?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know. I didn't tell him. I left him billing and cooing with the good doctor."

"I want more information on this investigation," DiNozzo senior growled, and Gibbs slipped away to go in with his DiNozzo.

His agent was in room 11, and Gibbs paused in the doorway, observing. Jeanne had leaned across Tony's bed to push his limp hair back from his forehead. Tony gazed up at her with an expression of awe and love in his eyes. Even when he was at his most playful, his most sardonic, the place to look for truth from DiNozzo was his eyes. Often they showed an emotion entirely at odds with his demeanor. Right now the cynic was missing, and only the man in love shone through. Gibbs had known that DiNozzo was in love, but he hadn't realized how wholly it had taken him over. It took Gibbs' breath away to see it so clearly, the masks absent for the moment. The vulnerability there opened the door for enormous pain, but also for enormous happiness. Gibbs had known both, and he hoped DiNozzo would know only the latter in this relationship. They'd already survived a crisis or two, so maybe they had a chance of surviving the pitfalls of normal life.

"Boss!" Tony said, his mask coming down again. Jeanne sat back and smiled up at Gibbs. "I just sent Fornell away with a flea in his ear."

"So I heard," Gibbs replied. "Your father and Joyce are here."

DiNozzo's eyes opened wide. "How'd they find out?" he asked incredulously. "There hasn't been time for it to be in the papers."

Jeanne gave him a guilty look. "I called Joyce," she said, and DiNozzo's eyes widened further. "She'd find out soon enough anyway since you're scheduled to lunch with her on Tuesday."

"I could have cancelled that," Tony muttered. "I've done it before."

"She's worried about you, Tony," Jeanne said.

"Just tell me your mother isn't out there," Tony grumped.

Jeanne stared at him. "She's going to kill me. I haven't called her yet."

"Why would you need to call her?" Tony asked.

"She knows we're back together, Tony! She'll kill me if I don't tell her. I'll be back in a minute." She was out the door before DiNozzo could make a response.

DiNozzo looked up at Gibbs, a pathetic look on his face. "If her mother shows up, that means she'll meet my father and Joyce."

Gibbs sat down and gave DiNozzo a friendly grin. "Yes, and they'll do it without you," he said. DiNozzo's expression brightened. "Think positive."

"Where's Brody?" DiNozzo asked.

"Four doors down," Gibbs replied, not sugar coating. DiNozzo's eyes widened. "With three armed guards and four bullets in him."

Tension drained from DiNozzo and he forced a grin. "I'd imagine they've taken the bullets out by now."

Gibbs shrugged. "Then he's got four plus holes in his body. Either way, he's not real mobile." DiNozzo still looked a little anxious. "And I'm not going anywhere."

"Good." He grimaced as if realizing how that could sound. "I mean –"

"I know what you mean, DiNozzo," Gibbs said soothingly.

A nurse walked in, guiding DiNozzo senior, and Tony stared at him in apparent shock. Even though Gibbs had told him, he evidently hadn't truly believed that his father was here. "Father," he said, blinking. "I didn't . . . I hope this isn't too inconvenient."

"I would imagine being shot was extremely inconvenient," DiNozzo senior said gruffly, and Tony's eyes widened. "So, I understand from your co-workers that you're moving in with that young woman."

Tony nodded. "We signed the lease yesterday," he said.

"Well, to my surprise, you seem to have good taste."

"You like her?" Tony asked incredulously. "I mean, you were extremely civil, but you do that with people you don't like."

"She's an adult," DiNozzo senior said, and Gibbs was intrigued that his reaction was more or less like his. "And she definitely cares about you. Both are points in her favor." He smiled wryly. "And she's not a gold digger."

"Not hardly," Tony replied. "Not that it matters. I don't have any gold to dig."

"Joyce and I have taken rooms at the Chalmers," Tony's father said.

"You're staying?" Tony exclaimed.

"My son is in intensive care after being shot by a man who was stalking him for weeks. Yes, I'm staying."

Gibbs saw the cynicism creep back into Tony's eyes. "Ah, damage control," he said. "I get it."

"Think what you like," DiNozzo senior said. "You always have."

"Look, I'm kind of tired," Tony replied. "I think I need some rest."

"We'll come by tomorrow, then." DiNozzo senior gave Gibbs a nod and then left.

Tony looked over at Gibbs, his expression forbidding comment. He situated himself and closed his eyes. Gibbs sat back and started reading. Family, he thought with a sigh.

Ziva walked through the halls of the hospital. She figured that Gibbs would need someone to spell him, because she knew that he was planning to stay the night. Things were quiet at this hour, and most of the rooms were dim. She kept her footsteps silent, not wanting to make it even harder for the patients to sleep.

As she passed through the ICU waiting room, she heard soft weeping and glanced around. In a corner that was hidden from the door, she saw Jeanne hunched with her head down and her hands clenched together. The other occupants of the room were sleeping or occupied with their own concerns, so she walked over and sat down next to Jeanne.

"Has something changed?" she asked anxiously.

Jeanne jumped and looked at her with wide eyes. "Ziva, what are –" She broke off, shaking her head. "Changed? Nothing – why do you ask?"

"You are crying," Ziva said. "You were not earlier."

Jeanne took a deep breath in an obvious effort to control herself. "I couldn't," she said. "Tony doesn't need to see me . . . and when a doctor cries, people worry more."

Ziva blinked. "Perhaps not when the doctor is the injured man's . . ." She pursed her lips, not liking the options she had. "Whatever you are."

Jeanne let out a weak laugh. "Maybe not, but it's hard to break training." She gazed with wet and reddened eyes at her. "I'm sure you know about that."

Ziva shrugged. "I have come to see if Gibbs needed someone to spell him."

"I haven't been back in since I called my mother," Jeanne said. "Something about talking to her made it impossible for me to maintain." She snorted. "Moms have that effect."

"I would not know," Ziva replied. "My mother died when I was young."

"I'm sorry," Jeanne said, and her sympathy was obviously sincere.

"It is nothing." Ziva rose. "I had better go look in on Gibbs."

"I'm not sure they'll let you in."

Ziva shrugged again. "I will work something out," she said.

The nurses must already have heard a great deal from Gibbs on the subject of Tony's attacker being only four rooms away from him, for they gave Ziva no trouble when she explained that she had come to give Gibbs respite. She walked to room 11 and paused, looking at the agents who stood outside room 15. She had no doubt that they, unlike the nurses, had been briefed on just who had given Harris the injuries that had brought him here. It seemed less than likely that they would let her take a look at her handiwork.

Shrugging, she turned towards Tony's room and found Gibbs leaned back in his chair, his chin on his chest, a newspaper with a partially filled in crossword puzzle on his lap. There was a pen on the floor where it appeared to have slipped from his grip.

Ziva stepped quietly into the room and gazed down at Tony. His eyes were closed and he had a tube in his nose. His face seemed a little pale, but other than that, nothing there gave her any hint as to the seriousness of his condition. The bruises from his previous encounters with Harris stood out darkly against the pallid skin. She wanted to look him over more completely, but was wary of invading his privacy. There were tubes leading under the blanket that covered his body, and there were multiple bags connected to the IV in his arm.

"Ziva?" Gibbs said, and she glanced over at him, surprised that he was awake. "I thought I ordered you home."

"I went home," she replied. "And then I returned to give you back up."

"Back up?" he asked.

"Agent Fornell gave Director Shepard an update on the situation. I learned from her how close Harris's bed was to Tony's and I knew you would want someone he felt safe with near him at all times." Director Shepard had been of the opinion that Gibbs wouldn't tell Tony the truth about that, but Ziva knew him better.

"I'm not leaving, Ziva," Gibbs said gruffly.

"But you may need to relieve yourself from time to time," Ziva said. "Or to get up and walk and breathe fresh air. I do not believe he would feel safe with McGee, and the director would make him feel anxious. However, I am reasonably confident that he will feel safe with me."

"Shhhh." Both Gibbs and Ziva looked down to find Tony's eyes slitted. "Gibbs, go do something," he said. "Ziva's here."

"I'm not leaving, DiNozzo."

"Get your . . . coffee," DiNozzo muttered, some of his words slurring into meaningless sounds. "See . . . Jeanne . . . sss." He drifted away again and Ziva looked up at Gibbs.

Their boss gave her a dry look. He bent down and got the pen off the floor. In the margin of the newspaper, he wrote, "I'll be back." Then he dropped the paper and pen in the chair and left the room. Ziva took his spot and looked at the paper. She recognized the answer to one of the clues immediately and filled it in before considering whether Gibbs would approve of her working his puzzle. Shrugging, she decided that all their puzzles were team efforts and continued.

When Gibbs got out into the ICU waiting area, he found Jeanne sitting with a well-kept woman in her fifties. Her mother. Gibbs recognized her from the photo McGee had unearthed. Jeanne looked up when the doors opened. When she saw him, she rose and hurried over. "Has anything changed?"

"No, I was just ordered to get a break," he said, glancing over at Jeanne's companion.

Jeanne looked over her shoulder and flushed. "Oh, Jethro, this is my mother, Dr. Helen Berkley. Mother, this is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, Tony's boss."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Agent Gibbs," Jeanne's mother said, putting out her hand.

Gibbs took her hand and shook it. "And you, Dr. Berkley."

"I didn't think Ziva would be able to pry you away," Jeanne said.

He shook his head. "DiNozzo woke up for a second and told me to get some coffee."

"He woke up?"

"Jeanne, you know perfectly well that his prognosis is excellent," her mother said. "You told me yourself."

Jeanne gave her an anguished look, then glanced at the door. "Why don't you go on back in," Gibbs said. "Ziva's only really there because he knows that Harris is four rooms down the hall from him."

Jeanne's eyes snapped. "He's where?"

"Under guard," Gibbs said reassuringly. "But DiNozzo knows he's there, so I just want him to feel safe."

"But . . ." She looked at her mother.

"Go, Jeanne. I'm sure Agent Gibbs will take care of me."

She didn't have to be told again. She went up to the door and got let in, leaving Gibbs alone with her mother. He turned to her. "I was going to go see what this hospital has in place of coffee."

"That sounds like an excellent notion," Dr. Berkley said. "You recognized me the moment you saw me, didn't you?"

"I did," Gibbs said, nodding.

"As I recognized you." Gibbs gave her a sidelong look as he pressed the elevator button. "I know that Jeanne had Tony investigated, but I thought I would look into things a little deeper. I had you and your team investigated as well."

Gibbs chuckled. "Glad to hear it."

"Really?" she asked.

"Hey, if my daughter was involved with a man who had lied to her as thoroughly as DiNozzo lied to Jeanne, I would do the same thing."

"Actually, I was more concerned that you would be vindictive after the accusation of murder," she said. "There was something off about Tony the night we met, and finding out the truth of his situation answered all my questions."

The elevator arrived, and they both got on. Once the doors had closed, Gibbs cleared his throat. "What was your conclusion?"

"I was uneasy about Officer David, but Jeanne has spoken of her since arriving here."

"So you thought she was safe enough?"

Dr. Berkley shrugged. "Do you think I have reason to be concerned?"

Gibbs snorted and shook his head. "Has she told you they're moving in together?"

Dr. Berkley nodded. "She called me Tuesday night and told me they'd made an offer on a place."

"Papers were signed yesterday."

"Good, that's settled then."

"So, you approve?"

"I could see that he was in love with her when I met him last year, and I know she's in love with him." Dr. Berkley shrugged. "What more can a mother ask for than a man who loves her daughter, who has a steady job that he excels at, and who is willing to throw himself in front of a bullet for her?"

"And the fact that he had a homosexual affair with a fellow law enforcement officer while on the rebound from the relationship in which he lied to your daughter for months makes no difference to you?"

The elevator doors opened at the same moment that Dr. Berkley turned to him and said, "Homosexual affair?"

Gibbs blinked at her and then sighed. He gave himself a smack on the back of the head. The elevator doors closed again but the car didn't move. They must be at its default rest location.

"Would you care to elaborate?" Dr. Berkley asked.

"What exactly did Jeanne tell you?"

"She told me that the situation was complicated, that someone had tried to shoot her, that Tony had deliberately gotten in the way, and that she would explain everything in detail later."

"Right." Gibbs pursed his lips. "I don't know what you know about your daughter's last meeting with DiNozzo before this month."

"You mean when she accused him of murdering her father? I believe she was fairly candid on that point." Gibbs found that a little startling. "She was very upset with everyone, but most of all with herself after that incident."

"I see," Gibbs said. "Well, DiNozzo apparently met up with a man named Brody Harris shortly after Jeanne returned to Africa, and he was basically manipulated into a relationship with the man. When DiNozzo wanted to end it, the man started stalking him, assaulted him on several occasions, and finally shot him."

"So, he wasn't aiming for Jeanne?"

"Oh, no, as I understand it he wanted to kill her because she was his rival, but once he'd shot Tony, he knew he couldn't get away so he decided to make it a murder suicide."

"Good heavens."

"The rest of us objected."

"Where is this man now?"

"Recovering from surgery for the four gunshot wounds he took when we objected."

"So you objected strenuously," she said.

"You could say that," he replied. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please," she said.

The coffee kiosk in the lobby was closed at this hour, as was the cafeteria. Following directions obtained from the information booth, they found the little room with snack and drink machines. Both stood staring with equal distaste at the coffee vending machine for a moment, then she sighed and started looking in her purse for change.

Coffee substitute in hand – Gibbs refused to think of this acrid, lukewarm beverage as coffee – they returned to the waiting room where Gibbs discovered a bit of very bad news. He was going to get to introduce DiNozzo's father to Jeanne's mother.

"Agent Gibbs, I thought you were with Tony," DiNozzo senior said, getting out of his chair and hurrying over. "They said he had two people with him."

"He does," Gibbs said. "Jeanne and Officer David."

DiNozzo shrugged. "Well, I suppose that if the bastard's under guard, it doesn't matter that he doesn't have a good protector in there with him."

Gibbs shook his head, but before he could answer, Dr. Berkley said, "Ziva David is a Mossad-trained anti-terrorism operative. I think he'll be safe enough."

"Who is this, Agent Gibbs?" DiNozzo senior demanded. "Does she work for NCIS?"

Gibbs took a deep breath, but before he could speak, Jeanne's mother took the matter out of his hands. "I'm Dr. Helen Berkley, you must be Anthony Leonard DiNozzo II."

"Are you one of my son's doctors?" DiNozzo asked, looking her up and down dubiously.

"No, I'm Jeanne's mother. You've met my daughter by now, I'm sure."

"Oh," DiNozzo said, blinking. "Yes, we've met a couple of times. What are you doing here? Have you met Anthony?"

"Yes, but it's been some time," she replied.

"And you approved of him for your daughter?"

"Not really," she said. "But he was undercover at the time. I much prefer his real identity to his cover."

"What was his cover?"

Dr. Berkley glanced over at Gibbs. "I'm not sure I can tell you that. It might be classified."

"His identity wasn't classified," Gibbs said. "He fronted as a film studies professor."

DiNozzo senior snorted. "That must not have been too difficult for him. He always was frivolous."

Gibbs suppressed a surge of irritation, but didn't say anything. The man would be unlikely to take criticism from him. Dr. Berkley nodded, briefly increasing Gibbs' annoyance. Then she spoke. "Yes, he's very good at playing frivolous, isn't he?" she said with a smile. "Sort of a modern day Peter Wimsey, sans eyeglass." Gibbs didn't quite get the reference, but he could tell it was a compliment from her tone. "In any case, when Jeanne called, I knew she needed her mother's support, so of course I came." She put her arm in his and guided him over to the seat he'd vacated, leaving Gibbs alone with his coffee.

There is one more chapter to this saga.