I personally don't like this chapter, I feel it didn't work out the way I wanted, but what can you do? Anyway I want to thank you all for your reviews I love them all lol.

Turning off her machines and her music Abby got ready to head home for the day. It was almost lunch-time but then it was a Sunday and she'd only really come in to run a couple of DNA tests for one of the other teams. Waiting for her computer to shut down she tapped her fingernails impatiently off of the counter, patience had never been a virtue that Abby had possessed. With a few minutes to spare she let her mind drift, Gibbs had been away on honeymoon for a week now, she still struggled to believe he had actually went through with it. She had hoped that he would come to his senses and see what a massive mistake he was making, Abby was beginning to think he liked getting divorced because that was where this was headed, she honestly didn't see how this marriage was going to work.

Her computer gave one last whir as it finally shut down, Abby swung her bag over her shoulder and bounded out of her lab wondering what she could do for the rest of the day. She remembered hearing someone say Jenny was in today so she could drag her out for some lunch and shopping, after all she had barely seen her since just before the wedding and she wanted to see how she had taken it. Abby nodded to herself, that was what she would do, she would cheer up her friend.

Twirling her pen around her fingers Jenny read over some case reports, she had once again made her excuses to get out of her family lunch and had instead came into the office to do yet more paperwork. It kept her busy, kept her mind from wandering, from thinking about how much her life had veered off of her original plan. She jumped as her door swung open and an over excited Abby whirled into the room, her pigtails bouncing up and down as she jumped onto the conference table, 'Grab your things we're going shopping'

Jenny looked at her over her reading glasses for a second before taking them off and folding them neatly, placing them next to the pile of papers she had on her desk, she sighed, 'Abby I really don't have time right now, I have all this paperwork to do…'

'No', Abby interrupted, 'You don't get to use that as an excuse, you've been holed up in MTAC and meetings all week and you need at least a couple hours off, so come on get ready, that'll be waiting for you tomorrow'

As Jenny stuck her heels in and began once again to reel off a list of reasons as to why she couldn't possibly leave the office Abby couldn't help but roll her eyes. She sat fidgeting on the table, waiting for the speech to finish so she could just drag her away.

Rebecca stepped out of the elevator and smiled at the security guard who was escorting her, he waved her in the direction of the staircase and mumbled his goodbyes, although he stood at the doors to the elevator, obviously making sure she didn't get up to no good. She took a quick moment to glance around the empty bull-pen and sighed, she had known her niece didn't have an emergency at work but still the lengths she was going to too avoid a family lunch was unbelievable. It had been a month and a half since she had threatened to drag Jennifer there and she was going to make good on her word this week, she had given her niece all the chances to come off her own steam and open up to them, it was about time she forced the issue.

Rebecca began to head up the stairs, conscious that the guard was still watching her, she headed through the double doors into a spacious waiting area complete with an assistants desk which was vacant at the moment. Obviously her niece was the only person who felt it necessary to work all the hours God sent. Throwing open the door Rebecca stormed into Jenny's office, she took note of the young dark haired woman dressed all in black who was almost bouncing on the conference table in the middle of the room and putting her hand on her hip she sent a glare at her niece as she said, 'So where's the national emergency?'

Abby looked up in bemusement at the woman standing in the doorway. The woman was in her mid-seventies, her grey hair was pulled back from her face in a neat bun and her familiar green eyes sparkled in irritation. She placed a hand on her hip and tapped her foot on the floor as she demanded, 'So where's the national emergency?'

For once Abby saw something she had never thought she'd see, a speechless Jenny, her friend just sat there, her mouth slightly agape as she obviously searched for an answer. After a few seconds she regained her composure and stood up from her desk, she gestured the woman in the doorway, 'Abby this is my aunt Rebecca Mason. Becca this is our forensic specialist Abigail Scutio'

The woman gave Abby a warm smile and offered her hand, Abby however didn't do formal handshakes and jumped up to hug the surprised woman, 'Oh wow! It's nice to meet you, Jenny's never spoken about her family so this is……….Oh I can't even think of a word'

Rebecca couldn't help but laugh at the enthusiasm she had been greeted with, 'It's nice to meet you too my dear, although I have to admit I didn't expect to find anyone else here on a Sunday'

Abby waved her hand dismissively, 'I was only in for a couple of hours, I was just trying to persuade Jenny to join me for some lunch'

Rebecca's eyes almost gleamed, 'What a coincidence I was here to do the exact same thing…..well I wasn't so much going to ask as to drag her by her hair'

Not sure whether or not Rebecca was joking Abby let out a weak laugh and looked nervously at Jenny, who was actually blushing and shifting slightly uncomfortably on her feet. Rebecca stepped towards her and enveloped her in a hug before stepping back and keeping her hands on her nieces shoulder's she stepped back and eyed her critically, 'You look tired, have you been sleeping?', not even waiting for an answer she continued, 'At least you don't look quite as skinny as the last time. So…', she looked around, 'Where is this emergency?'

Jenny rolled her eyes, 'Ok so you caught me, I made it up so I could come in and get some paperwork done'

'You don't say', Rebecca stepped back and turned her attention to Abby again, 'So have you managed to convince her to unchain herself from her desk yet?'

Abby grinned, 'Not yet, although I'm determined to'

Rebecca smiled, a plan formulating in her head, 'My dear why don't you join us for lunch? Every Sunday I force my family to get together for lunch, Jennifer had missed the last three months', she shot her niece an accusing look before continuing, 'And I'm afraid I'm insisting on her presence this week but I would love for you to join us'

Clapping her hands and bouncing on the spot Abby squealed, 'Oh I'd love too'

'Good', Rebecca beamed at her, 'It's all settled then'

Feeling put out Jenny asked, 'Do I not get a say in any of this?'

Rebecca just laughed at her niece, 'Oh you had your chance Jennifer, I gave you fair warning that I would drag you by force if needs be. Your uncle and cousins haven't seen you in months and it's simply not healthy for you to work all the time, so if I were you I would move your bony ass downstairs and into the car'

Abby watched in amusement as a Jenny picked up her stuff and headed towards the door grumbling, 'I can't believe you drove for an hour just too make me come for lunch'

'Needs must my dear, needs must'

Abby smiled to herself, she was actually looking forward to this lunch, Jenny's aunt seemed interesting and maybe she would get to see what made her friend tick.

Jenny sighed and leaned her head against the cold window frame as she listened to her aunt and Abby chat away quite happily. She still couldn't believe that Becca had turned up like that, yes her aunt has threatened to do so on countless occasions but she had never followed through. Jenny bit back a groan, today was going to be a nightmare, she could just tell, her aunt had an agenda, something which didn't bode well.

Abby settled back into the comfortable back seat and let out a contented sigh, she gave a quick glance towards Jenny and saw that the red head was fast asleep. Looking over she saw that Rebecca was watching her niece out of the corner of her eye, concern etched on her face, the older woman must have noticed her watching because she looked slightly guilty and then shot her a small smile.

Feeling the need to break the silence Abby gave a small cough to get the woman's attention before asking, 'So who'll all be there today?'

Rebecca smiled, 'Oh everyone. My husband Thomas, our son's David, Mark and James, their wives Karen, Lori and Mellissa and our seven grandchildren, I won't go into names because you'll never remember them and they normally disappear after dinner to do their own thing so chances are you'll barely see them.'

'Wow I never knew Jenny had such a big family! Will her parents be there?'

The older woman's smile faltered slightly, 'Both Jennifer's parent's have passed on. As it happens Jennifer lived with us from the age of three when my sister passed, her father was away most of the time and we thought it was better for her be brought up in a stable family environment.', she glanced over at her niece and smiled softly, 'She's the youngest, my boy's are all older, James is the closest to her in age and there is still six years between them. Thomas and the boy's were always so protective of her, they still are, I always felt sorry for any boyfriends Jennifer brought to meet us, they were always…..intimidated'

Abby let out a small laugh, trying to picture someone intimidating a certain silver haired fox, 'I bet that didn't work with Gibbs'

Rebecca frowned, 'Who?'

'Um….', Abby tried to think of a way to backtrack, 'He and Jenny were partner's and I just thought that you might have met him'

'What kind of partner's?'

'Depends on who you talk to, you never get a straight answer from either one of them but there's a couple of pools running just no definite answers'

'He's still on the scene then?'

Abby shifted nervously, 'Kind of, he got married last week though, to his fourth wife'

Rebecca didn't reply she just raised an eyebrow and tutted slightly, Abby slunk down in her seat, Jenny was going to kill her when she woke up.

Ten minutes later they pulled into a large driveway and Jenny jolted awake, without saying a word she stepped out of the car and moved towards the house, Abby followed feeling slightly nervous. She quickly realised she didn't need to though, when she stepped into the warm, inviting hallway she felt instantly at home in the noisy and chaotic environment. A tall dark haired man walked into the room and picked Jenny up from her feet, enveloping her in a massive bear hug,

'How have you been stranger?', he placed a now smiling Jenny on her feet before continuing, 'You've lost weight, I didn't hurt my back like usual when I lifted you'

She slapped his arm, 'Oh very funny James, I would have hoped Mellissa would have had you better trained by now'

'Can't teach an old dog new tricks'

Jenny's reply was cut off by an older man walking into the room, he was tall and bald with slight tufts of gray hair, he held out his arms, 'There's my girl'

Jenny ran into his arms, 'Uncle Thomas, it's good to see you again'

He hugged her before holding her at arms length to take a proper look, 'You look tired, have you been taking care of yourself?'

Even Abby could tell that Jenny's smile was false, 'Of course I have'

He gave her a skeptical look before turning his attention to Abby, the Goth had been standing out of the way in the corner, 'Who's this?'

Abby felt Rebecca push her into the middle of the large group, 'This is Abby, she works with Jenny'

She gave a smile and a strange half wave, she needn't have been nervous though because next thing she knew she was surrounded by a swirl of people all talking away to her quite happily as they led her through to the dinner table.

It was nice Abby concluded, it was nice to see Jenny relax slightly and her family was determined to drag her out of her shell and into the conversation. After dinner they all sat down in the living room and Abby wasn't too surprised to see that Jenny had once again drifted off to sleep. Rebecca covered her with the throw and everyone lowered their voices slightly so they didn't wake her up. She hadn't been asleep very long when her she started to frown, then her hand tightened around the throw and she began muttering slightly. Abby frowned, she looked almost in pain, that was when she started screaming, Abby jumped in fright as Becca ran over to her niece.

She ran up to the front door while simultaneously raking in her bag for the door keys. She had meant to get here an hour earlier but she had gotten stuck in the downtown traffic. It still seemed unreal, how the hell could they accuse her dad of being a traitor to his country! After all he had done for them.

She wondered how he was doing, she had phoned him last night and he had seemed quite upbeat that he would be cleared.

After a while she managed to find the keys and unlocking the door she stepped into the silent hallway. It was quiet, something which was unusual in itself, her dad always played music, normally jazz, while he was in the house. The lights were all off as well, so the hallway was dark and eerie, that was when she saw the light eking out from under the study doorway. She moved forward calling out,

'Dad you in there?', she knocked on the door, it was usually open, frowning when she got no reply she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

For a moment she just stood there, her feet rooted to the floor in shock. Her dad lay in the middle of the room on his back, his eyes wide opened and staring, a gun in his left hand, his head lay in a pool of blood and there was splatters of blood and flesh covering the walls. That was when she realised she was screaming…….'

Jenny was woken by Becca shaking her shoulder, her face lined with concern as she told her, 'You had a bad dream, you're ok'

For a moment Jenny just stared at her, then she noticed that everyone else in the room including Abby was also looking at her, worry shining in their eyes. Feeling flustered she pushed herself up from the sofa muttering, 'I need some air' before heading towards the back garden, irritated to find that Becca was following her.

After a few minutes Abby's concern got the better of her and she went to see how Jenny was, she walked into the kitchen and headed to the back door, she paused when she realised that both Jenny and her aunt were standing just out of sight, deep in discussion. Feeling slightly guilty but desperate to know what was wrong with her friend Abby stood and listened in,

'What was your nightmare about?'

'Nothing it was just a bad dream'

'It was about your dad, wasn't it?'

'No'

'Jennifer for pity's sake stop lying to yourself, you're not doing yourself any favours'

'I am fine'

'No you're not, I bet that wasn't the first nightmare you've had recently either'

'Oh what does it matter!'

'We're all worried about you Jenny'

'You don't need to be!'

'It's not just your dad though, is it?'

'What do you mean?'

'Who's Gibbs?'

'He works for me'

Abby winced slightly at Rebecca's next words, 'Abby made it sound like he was more than that'

'We worked together years ago and you know how people like to gossip'

'I can see from your face that you're lying, he's married Jenny I hope you have more sense than that!'

Jenny sounded close to tears when she answered, 'Will you please just drop it'

'No I won't, please Jennifer whatever is bothering you would you please just tell us!'

'This is exactly why I kept cancelling, you never listen! I have told you countless times that I am fine! Why do you refuse to listen to me! I am perfectly capable of looking after myself and I don't need you or anyone else giving me their opinion on my weight, or how tired I look, how much I work or what I'm drinking! I am so fed up of people pretending to give a crap!'

'Jennifer!'

'No don't! I don't want to hear it! I'm going home'

Abby swiftly ran into the hallway, she just made it before she heard Jenny storm out of the kitchen and began gathering her things. The red head was back in complete control when she swept past Abby, she stopped and gave her a polite smile, 'Are you ready to go?'

'Um yeah, I'll just grab my bag…..How are we getting home?'

Rebecca stepped into the hallway, 'I'm taking you, I'll drop Jenny off first and then you, is that ok'

Nodding Abby replied, 'Yeah that's fine'

The car ride home was silent, Abby hated the obvious tension between the two women and for once she was unsure of how to proceed, she knew that her usual rambling wouldn't help. The only time Jenny spoke was when she they pulled up outside her house and she said goodbye and jumped out of the car. Abby moved into the front seat once Jenny was inside the house but Rebecca stayed silent until they pulled up outside Abby's apartment building, it was only when the Goth moved to open the door that the older woman reached out and grabbed hold of her hand.

When she turned to face her she saw that Rebecca's looked close to tears, her lips were thin and tightly pursed, her voice low as she spoke, 'Jennifer is like a daughter to Thomas and I, she is like a sister to my boy's and their wives and an aunt to my grandchildren', she took a shaky breath, 'She means the world to us and it hurts us to see her like this but she refuses to talk to us….', Rebecca looked up her eyes watering as she searched Abby's face, 'Has she said anything to you?'

'No, I've tried but she's a private person, she used to talk to Gibbs but things have been pretty bad between them for a while now'

Rebecca nodded before speaking again, 'Abby thank you'

The young Goth was confused, 'What for?'

'For trying, I know how difficult Jennifer can be when she clams up, I just hope she'll open up soon, I can't force her too as much as I might want to'

'I could keep trying if you want?'

'No', Rebecca shook her head, 'It will just make her withdraw even more, just please keep doing what you're doing, don't push her, at least I know she has someone looking out for her', she sighed, 'She wasn't always like this but after…….', she trailed off, shaking herself slightly she gave Abby a smile, 'I should let you go, I'm sure you have things to do'

Abby squeezed the older woman's hand and gave her a small smile before climbing out of the car, watching as she drove away. She wrapped her arms around herself, she wasn't sure if she knew how to handle this any more.

xxxxx