Chapter 9

Thursday November 18th, 2010
Washington DC
White House Residence
3:23 p.m. E.S.T

"Ali, Brandon would like to see you privately," Judith Kinsley said as she stepped up next to Vittoria, who was standing off to the side of the room looking out the window. Judith was about 5'2" in height with kind brown eyes and brown hair and was married to Robert's brother Justin. "He's in his study."

Vittoria nodded and quickly wiped away a tear as she stepped away from the window and made her way towards Brandon's private study. "You wanted to…" she trailed off as she stepped into the room only to find Justin inside along with Brandon and Justin's attorney.

"Thank you for coming Aliana," Brandon said from behind his desk.

"What happened to seeing me privately?" demanded Vittoria as a Secret Service agent closed the door behind her.

"This is privately," Brandon said.

"What do you want Brandon?" demanded Vittoria in irritation.

"That's a very good question Aliana," Brandon said as he sat back and steepled his fingers in front of him.

Vittoria knew this meeting was going to lead to nothing good the minute Brandon used her full name. He'd always called her Ali; almost everyone always called her Ali these days. "Spit it out already Brandon. I've just buried my husband; I don't have the patience for games."

"Alright. It's quite simple Aliana. I want you out of Blair House and out of Michelle's life immediately. Justin and Judith will be taking custody of Michelle as of this moment," Brandon said.

"Like hell they are, Brandon. Moving out of Blair House isn't an issue since I never want to set foot inside there again except to gather my things but as for Michelle, Justin and Judith can have her over my dead body," Vittoria snapped.

"That can be arranged you know, Aliana," Brandon said coldly.

"Don't you dare threaten me Brandon Carson."

"It was not a threat, Aliana, I was merely stating a fact," Brandon said rising from his desk and walking around it so he was a foot or so away from where Vittoria stood. "Justin and Judith will raise Michelle as one of their own. They are her family."

"I am her mother," Vittoria countered.

"You're a whore Ali…" Brandon's words cut off as Vittoria's hand connected with his cheek.

"And you're a bastard," Vittoria snarled as Brandon grabbed her wrist.

"We're done looking the other way when it comes to you, Aliana," Brandon said. "We know exactly how Robert met you and because of his condition we looked the other way. We wanted to make sure his last days on earth were happy and if taking up with a whore," he squeezed Vittoria's wrist painfully when he emphasized the word, "like you made him happy then we kept our opinions of you to ourselves but now that he's gone, all bets are off and we want rid of you."

"I am not a whore," Vittoria said through tears, that had been close to the surface given the days events but started falling once more the minute Brandon had squeezed her wrist. "If you want rid of me that's fine but you are not taking my daughter away from me."

"She's not your daughter, Aliana, she's Robert's daughter. The daughter of him and his first wife Teresa," Justin said, speaking for the first time.

"Michelle is my daughter you prick," Vittoria snarled at Justin. "I adopted her the day I married Robert. If you don't believe me ask Ryan Bailey, you know Robert's lawyer, who's out in the other room right now.

"You're lying," Brandon said finally releasing his hold of Vittoria's wrist.

"I'm not. Ask him yourself. He drew up the paperwork and witnessed us both signing it, as did Judge Wilson, who's also out in the other room," Vittoria said rubbing her wrist.

"Get them in here," Brandon ordered his lawyer who stood up and made his way from the room, returning a few minutes later with the two men in question.

"Ali?" Ryan Bailey asked in concern when he entered the room to find the woman in question standing off to one side, her wrist cradled to her chest as tears streamed down her face. Ryan was in his late forties and was about 6'2" in height with light blue eyes and blond hair. "What's going on? What happened?"

"They want to take Michelle away from me," Vittoria said quietly as Ryan pulled her into his arms.

"Is this true?" Ryan demanded looking at the other men in the room.

"Is what true Mr. Bailey?" asked Judge Preston Wilson, a man in his late sixties who was 5'7" in height with silvering hair and green eyes.

"It appears Justin and Brandon are trying to take custody of Robert's daughter Michelle away from Ali," Ryan said.

"Is this true Mrs. Kinsley?" Judge Wilson asked Vittoria, who nodded. "Why would you do such a thing gentlemen?" he asked turning back to the other men in the room.

"It's in Michelle's best interest if she lives with Justin and Judith," Brandon said as he retook his seat.

"It's in the child's best interest to separate her from her mother after she's just lost her father?" Judge Wilson asked in disbelief.

"She is not Michelle's mother," Justin said pointing at Vittoria.

"According to the law she is," Judge Wilson said. "Mr. Kinsley ensured that Michelle would be taken care of after his passing by having her adopted by his wife Mrs. Aliana Kinsley."

"I have a copy of the adoption papers in my office as well as a copy of Robert's will stating that he left everything to his wife and daughter," Ryan said.

"WHAT?" demanded Justin in outrage as he leapt to his feet and stalked towards where Vittoria was still being held by Ryan. "My brother left everything to this slut?" he shouted as he neared Vittoria, who cringed away from Justin as he neared, causing Ryan to step between them.

"Back away Mr. Kinsley," Ryan ordered. "Now."

"Can we get back to the issue at hand here," Judge Wilson said. "It's obvious that neither side is willing to concede to the other in regards to who the child should go with so why don't we ask the child in question," he suggested. "Michelle is at an age where she herself knows who she would prefer to remain with and since this will ultimately affect her future, she should have a say in it."

"I don't want my niece involved in this," Justin countered.

"Why? Afraid that she won't pick you?" demanded Vittoria angrily.

"Of course not," snapped Justin.

"Then let her choose. Let her decide who she wants to be with," Vittoria said.

"Fine," Justin sighed.

"Before I go and retrieve Michelle I want both sides to agree that whatever Michelle decides is final," Judge Wilson instructed.

"Of course," agreed Tori.

"I don't have much choice, do I," sneered Justin.

Judge Wilson left the room once he had their agreements, only to return a few minutes later a confused Michelle in tow.

"Mom, what's going on?" asked Michelle worriedly when she looked around the room, noticing Vittoria in the corner with her father's lawyer.

"Michelle," Vittoria said as she walked over to where Michelle was standing next to Judge Wilson. "Honey, Judge Wilson is going to ask you a very important question in a minute and I want you to think about your answer before you say anything okay?" When Michelle nodded, Vittoria stood up and stepped back, allowing Judge Wilson to get Michelle's attention and turn to face her.

"Now then Michelle, as your mother said, I have a very important question to ask you," Judge Wilson said.

"Okay," Michelle replied nervously.

"Your mother and your uncle have been discussing where you will live…"

"I want to go with my mom," Michelle said interrupting.

"Michelle, it's not polite to interrupt," Justin chided.

"I don't care," Michelle snapped as she started crying, realization dawning on her about what she was being asked. "I know what you're asking me and I want to go with my mom," she cried. "Mom, you promised! You promised you wouldn't leave me!"

"I'm not going anywhere, Michelle," Vittoria said dropping to her knees in front of the distraught girl. "Michelle, Honey, look at me, please" she urged. "I am not leaving you. I am not going anywhere," she said when Michelle's scared brown eyes met hers. "I swear to you Michelle, I won't let anyone take you away from me. I won't let you go," Vittoria said pulling Michelle into her arms and holding her tightly.

"I believe this matter is settled then gentlemen. You've heard the child's choice. Michelle is to stay with Ms. Aliana," Judge Wilson said a note of finality in his voice. "And if I hear any word of either of you trying to step in and remove the child from her mother, I will see to it that you are prosecuted to the fullest extent possible, regardless of whether you are the President or not," he threatened before turning around, nodding to Ryan before stepping out of the room.

"Ali, Michelle, I think it best if we leave," Ryan said walking over to where Vittoria still held Michelle.

"Come on Honey, let's go get your Aunt Sara and Uncle Jethro and get out of here," Vittoria said pulling back slightly and wiping away Michelle's tears as the girl nodded. Without a backwards glance, Vittoria led Michelle out of Brandon's study and back out to where the guests were mingling making her way over to where Sara and Jethro were seated.

'Ali? What is it?' signed Jethro, having noticed her approach and the tears on both her and Michelle's faces and not wanting to draw too much attention to them, having seen first Vittoria leave the room followed by two men a few minutes after her, one of which came out and gathered Michelle a short while later, only to have Vittoria and Michelle return, both of them crying.

'Get us out of here,' Vittoria replied.

'Do I need to beat someone up?' Sara signed quickly.

'If only. Can we please just get out of here? I'll explain later,' Vittoria replied, as Michelle wrapped her arms around her waist.

'Come on, let's go. We can stop at the Starbucks by the house and I'll run over to Coldstone and get Chocolate Fudge Brownie Nut for you and something for Michelle...we'll even get something coffee for you Bastard,' Sara winked at Jethro.

'Ha, Ha,' Jethro signed back before bending over and picking up Michelle and leading Vittoria and Sara from the room, Sara taking up position next to her friend.

After stopping at Starbucks and Sara's side trip to Coldstone, the four of them made their way back to Jethro's house in Georgetown. "This can't be good," Jethro said as he pulled the car into his driveway and noticed Tony standing on his doorstep.

"Hey Boss," Tony said as he walked up to the driver's side of the car as Jethro rolled the window down.

"What are you doing here, DiNozzo?" Jethro demanded.

"The Director sent me. She wants to speak to you and Mrs. Kinsley about the incident with General Leery," Tony informed him.

"Now?" asked Jethro in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so," Tony said.

"Ali just buried her husband, I'm not about…"

"It's alright Jeth," Vittoria said from the backseat. "We might as well get it over with now. But I'll need someone to look after Michelle while we're there since I'm not leaving her here alone and I don't think what we have to say she really needs to hear."

"Are you sure?" Jethro asked looking at Vittoria in the rear view mirror.

"I'm sure," Vittoria said quietly.

"All right. You three wait here while I take the ice cream in," Jethro said climbing out of the car and running into the house, returning a few minutes later and climbing back into the driver's side backing out of the driveway.

Thursday November 18th, 2010
Falls Church, Virginia
Navy Yard
NCIS Headquarters
4:43 p.m. E.S.T

When they arrived at NCIS headquarters, Jethro accompanied Vittoria as she made her way up to where Jenny was waiting. Sara took Michelle down to meet Abby, knowing her fellow lab rat would be able to distract Michelle with heaven only knew what...

"Where is she, Magee?" Jethro demanded as he led Vittoria into the pen.

"She, Boss?" asked Tim standing up from his desk.

"The Director, Magee," Jethro said in annoyance.

"I'm here, Jethro," Jenny said walking down the stairs. "Shall we take this someplace more private?" she asked as she walked over to where he and Vittoria were standing.

"No," Vittoria snapped.

"I beg your pardon," asked Jenny in annoyance.

"We are not taking this someplace more private because there is nothing to discuss. What Jethro did, he did to protect me. General Leery deserved what he got," Vittoria said in irritation.

"Is that the price of your services?" asked Jenny curiously, the dig not going unnoticed by Vittoria who immediately went to go after Jenny only to have Jethro step in her way and hold her back.

'Ali don't. She's not worth it,' Jethro said, before Vittoria spun away and started to pace for a moment.

"What did the Boss just say?" asked Tony.

'He was raping me and she's saying it's my fault,' Vittoria countered.

"Never mind that, what did she just say?" asked Tony when he saw Vittoria sign something in return.

'I know…' Jethro began.

"I thought it was you," snarled Jenny, catching the attention of everyone gathered, causing Jethro to turn to look at her. "Haven't you learned your lesson yet? You're worse than a cockroach, no matter how many times you kill one they keep coming back."

"Why you…" Vittoria began as she lunged for Jenny, Jethro grabbing her around the waist just in time to prevent her from actually getting a hold of the other woman.

"Ali don't," Jethro said. "She's not worth it."

"Isn't she?" asked Vittoria as she stepped back. "She's the reason my life fell to pieces all because she couldn't hold onto you herself."

"Ali what are you talking about?" asked Jethro in confusion keeping his position between the two women.

"She's the reason I ran from you in the first place," Vittoria said as she began pacing once more.

"Ali, Brat told me it was because of what I said," Jethro said.

"That was only part of it," Vittoria admitted. "Think about that night Jethro. What happened before you asked me to marry you?"

"He what?" demanded Jenny.

"You stay out of this. You're nothing but a pariah," Vittoria snapped. "Think about it Jethro. What was I trying to do?"

"I remember trying to ask you to marry me and getting frustrated because I couldn't get the words out and then you went to the ladies room. When you returned, you…"

"I what Jethro?" asked Vittoria, still pacing to keep herself from going after Jenny.

"You said you had to leave. That you had to return to Vegas. Wait, you're saying that she…" Jethro's words trailed off as he looked into Vittoria's eyes and saw the truth of what she was saying. With a speed no one thought possible, Jethro had spun around and had gone for Jenny himself, Tony being the one to hold him back off of her.

"I think I seriously missed something," Sara spoke from behind a shocked Tim and Ziva.

"Well, the Director suggested going someplace private to talk, Mrs. Kinsley refused saying the General got what he deserved, the Director made a comment about the General paying for Mrs. Kinsley's services with his life, Mrs. Kinsley tried to attack the Director but the Boss stopped her. Then Boss signed something; Mrs. Kinsley signed something in return. The Boss started to sign something back but never finished because the Director appeared to recognize Mrs. Kinsley from somewhere and called her a cockroach that wouldn't go away which caused Mrs. Kinsley to go for the Director once more. Of course the Boss stepped in again then he and Mrs. Kinsley started talking about the time he proposed and he said something about her saying she had to leave and return to Vegas then he spun and went after the Director himself," Tim explained.

"Okay, let's see if I understand this. You recognize my best friend, you called her a cockroach, and we're talking about the night he proposed...nd both my best friend and brother are trying to kill you? There's something else I'm missing right now... Ali?" Sara turned to Vittoria, stopping the slow approach she had been making past Tim and Ziva.

"There was more to that night than what he called me," Vittoria said.

"What did he call you?" asked Tony, who had finally released his hold on Jethro only to have Jethro turn around and smack him on the head. "Right. Keeping quiet now, Boss."

"I tried to leave him earlier in the night," Vittoria continued, ignoring Tony.

"Why?" Sara asked softly, looking between Jethro, Vittoria, and Jenny.

"To protect everyone I cared about from the truth of my past," Vittoria said quietly, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Wait...she knew?" Sara frowned. "How did she know? I'm still missing something... How long did you know?" she turned on Jenny. "And you say a word about what that past is, I know for a fact Tony will not be able to hold my brother back," she warned evenly.

"I don't know how she found out but she had it all in a folder when she confronted me in the bathroom," Vittoria said.

Once inside the ladies room, Vittoria made her way over to the sinks and turned on the cold water. When she was done splashing cold water on her face, a couple of paper towels suddenly appeared in front of her. "Thank you," she said as she took the paper towels and began wiping her face only to look in the mirror and pale when she recognized the person looking back at her through the mirror.

"You're welcome Vittoria, or should I call you Aliana?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Vittoria countered evenly, praying with all she had that one of her worst fears was not about to come true.

"Don't play dumb Vittoria, I know all about your deep dark secret," Jenny Shepard said. "The question now is just how far will you go to keep it a secret?"

"You're bluffing," Vittoria wagered.

"Am I? Are you really willing to bet your life on it?" Jenny asked as she handed Vittoria a folder.

When Vittoria got a look at the documents inside the folder, her knees got weak and she had to lean on the sink for support in order to stay on her feet. "How?"

"How isn't important Vittoria," Jenny said stepping up behind her. "The question you should be asking me is what."

"What?" asked Vittoria in confusion, still reeling from the knowledge that Jenny Shepard of all people, knew of her past.

"Yes, what. Or more precisely, what is the price of my silence."

"What do you want?" asked Vittoria quietly in resignation.

"I want Jethro."

"How…"

"Which means I want you gone. Gone from Washington and gone from his life permanently or else the information in that file becomes public knowledge. You are to never set foot in Washington again. Do we understand each other?" asked Jenny.

"Yes," Vittoria replied, her heart breaking.

"Good. Now go tell Jethro it's over and you're leaving Washington," Jenny instructed.

Vittoria nodded silently before turning and making her way out of the ladies room.

"It's part of the reason I married Nick so quickly," Vittoria admitted.

"I see," Sara nodded, for all appearances her normal rational self, "Do me a favor Ali, tell Gil that the paperwork in my desk is all set, and remember to sign and date it for yesterday." Before Vittoria could ask what the hell she was talking about, Sara spun on her heels and slugged Jenny hard enough to send her stumbling to the ground, and draw blood.

Everyone was still for a moment before all hell broke loose in the pen area. Jethro rushed over to where Vittoria had backed away from the chaos as security rushed in and helped pull Sara away from Jenny, one of the guards helping Jenny to her feet since not a single member of Jethro's team had stepped in to help her.

"Arrest her," Jenny ordered once she was back on her feet.

"NO! You can't do that," countered Vittoria angrily.

"Oh no? Watch me," snarled Jenny. "The minute your husband died, all your power died with him."

"Ali don't," Jethro said as he walked over to where Vittoria was stalking towards Jenny, stopping her before she could make matters worse. Taking her head in his hands, "Think about Michelle," he said before pulling Vittoria into his arms as they watched Sara stand there with her wrists out as the security guard placed her in cuffs before leading her from the room. "I think we're done here," he said once Sara had left with security.

"We are far from done Jethro," Jenny said.

"We are done Director. If you have any further questions I'll answer them in the morning but right now I'm taking Mrs. Kinsley and her daughter home so they can grieve in peace," Jethro said with finality before turning and leading Vittoria from the room, stopping off in the lab to pick up Michelle before taking both back to his place.

Thursday November 18th, 2010
Georgetown, Washington DC
Gibbs' Residence
8:13 p.m. E.S.T

Jethro had insisted on taking Vittoria and Michelle out to dinner and did his best to explain to Michelle where her Aunt Sara had disappeared to without going into too much detail. Now that they were back at Jethro's house, Vittoria found herself with the task of having to call her best friend's husband and telling him she had gotten herself arrested. Jethro had offered to make the call but Vittoria refused to let him. This was something she felt she had to do herself. Picking up the phone, she dialed the long familiar number, not sure if she wanted to talk to him or to their voice mail, not getting much of choice when she heard the receiver pick up after the second ring.

"Grissom?" was mumbled over the line.

"Oh God," Vittoria groaned. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Ali?" Gil asked after a moment. "No, it's okay. You probably just beat Aiden for my morning wake-up call..."

"How is Aiden doing?" asked Vittoria trying to delay the inevitable as long as possible.

"Good, he's discovered how to walk backwards and is determined to remove Greg's hair, he thinks it's a cat or something...we're not quite sure."

"Well maybe Aiden will finally be the one to teach Greg about a comb," Vittoria laughed, hoping it didn't sound as hollow to Gil as it did to her own ears.

Maybe," he agreed. "How are you though? I'm sorry about Robert; he was a good man...and something tells me this call is about more than wondering how my son is..."

"Thank you," Vittoria said. "Gil…it's Sara."

"What happened?"

"She told me to tell you to get the paperwork out of her desk and to remember to sign and date it for yesterday," Vittoria said, hoping she remembered that right.

"The paperwork..." he trailed off before she heard a loud smack. "What did my wife do, Ali? And why am I filling out her resignation for yesterday?" he asked after a few moments.

"She punched the Director of NCIS," Vittoria said hesitantly.

"Why?" he drew out slowly.

"She found out something she didn't like?" Vittoria tried but sighed after a moment, knowing Gil would know there was more to it than that. "She found out that the Director, Jenny Shepard, had a role in my sudden disappearance from Washington after Jethro was hurt and my rather hasty marriage to Nick."

"Okay…" She heard after another few moments of silence. "Tell her that it's taken care of, and I'll be there as soon as I can arrange a flight, I have a feeling Lindsey might be coming, she's on break..."

"Alright," Vittoria said. "We're staying with Jethro at the moment. We'll see you as soon as you get here."

"See you soon," he agreed. "And Ali, no blaming yourself...we both know Sara does things that only she understands, and once she sets her mind to something there's no persuading her otherwise..."

"I know," Vittoria replied quietly. "Goodbye."

"Bye Ali."

Friday November 19th, 2010
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County Jail
9:35 a.m. E.S.T

It had been a rough night for Vittoria. Not only had she lost her husband but she had very nearly lost her daughter as well and her best friend was currently sitting in the county jail for attacking Jenny Shepard for something Jenny had done to Vittoria and Sara only knew part of what Jenny had done to her. Vittoria feared what Sara might do if she learned the rest of the story…

When she had left that morning, Gil and Lindsay still had not yet arrived so Jethro offered to stay home and look after Michelle until either Gil and Lindsay arrived or Vittoria returned with Sara so it was up to Vittoria to bail her friend out of jail. She'd had to borrow Jethro's car to get to Arlington since she had spent the last two years being chauffeured around town by the Secret Service and Brandon in all his bigoted arrogance had stripped her of her Secret Service detail the previous afternoon.

"I'm here to pay the bail on Sara Sidle," Vittoria told the officer in charge of bail duty.

"This way, Ma'am," the officer said leading Vittoria through the station and into a different section where he led her up to a window. Knocking on the window, the officer got the attention of the officer behind the glass. "She's here to pay the bail for a Ms. Sidle."

"Cash or bond Ma'am?" asked the officer behind the glass.

"Cash," Vittoria said handing the envelope over to the officer behind the glass.

"Thank you," the second officer said before the first officer led Vittoria to a waiting room before going to collect Sara, who returned with the officer a few minutes later.

"Tell me you did not just pay my bail," Sara sighed when she spotted Vittoria.

"I'm not about to let you sit in jail, Sara. Not when I'm the reason you're in here in the first place," Vittoria countered.

"You're not the reason I'm in here," Sara countered with an eye roll. "Jethro's annoying ex is. And stop blaming yourself, I'll deny you chocolate."

"And maybe if I'd trusted our friendship enough to tell you the truth years ago, we wouldn't be standing here," Vittoria argued.

"And maybe we should just agree to disagree and get some chocolate on the way home so I can face my brother and no doubt my husband who is on his way here?" Sara suggested with a smile.

"If he's not at Jethro's already, he will be soon" Vittoria said handing Sara her things.

"Joy..." Sara sighed. "I'm so a dead woman," she just shook her head as they made their way out of the jail.

"Just hope that Jethro can work his magic with Jenny and convince her to drop the charges," commented Vittoria as they neared the car.

"Que sera," she shrugged, "I knew what might happen when I did it. And I've got an excellent record, I won't get more than three years and can be out in six months if it comes to that."

"I'm not going to let you go to jail for this Sara. I've called Ryan and he's agreed to take on your case," Vittoria told her as she unlocked the car and climbed in.

"Ali, if I go to jail I go to jail. It will be okay...but hopefully we'll be able to work something out instead. And thanks for the lawyer," she smiled.

"You're welcome. I got you into this mess, I'm not about to sit by and let you get some legal aid lawyer. At least Ryan hasn't turned me out like everyone else has," Vittoria commented quietly. "I should have known the woman would never leave me alone until she'd totally destroyed me," she said shaking her head as she pulled out of the parking lot and started the journey home.

"You know, technically I could probably bury any evidence and put her out of all of our misery..." Sara suggested.

"Why do you think I only told you half of what that woman's done to me?" countered Vittoria, making sure she kept her eyes on the road so as not to look at her friend and see what she feared most on her friend's face.

"She did more?" Sara asked slowly as she thought back to that time. "Wait a minute, she had all the information about your past...I can't imagine a Navy JAG lawyer handing over that information if she wasn't involved in the case so there's very little other way of getting that information..."

"Apparently forcing me to leave Jethro wasn't enough for her. From what she told me that day in court, Jethro still thought of me, which I find hard to believe but that's beside the point, and she couldn't stand that so she decided to destroy me in his eyes and she did that by giving Bud the information to use against me in court," Vittoria said

Sara sighed before shaking her head; "Well, at least I already got to hit her once. I'll just have to savor that instead of doing it again."

"I would prefer not to have to bail my friend out of jail for a second time in as many days," Vittoria countered. "Looks like they're here," she said as she pulled into Jethro's driveway, noticing the car parked in the street.

"Don't worry, no more going to jail for me, no more assaulting people I promise," Sara smiled. "And since it's getting close to lunchtime, how about you, Jethro, Michelle, and Aiden go out to lunch on me and Gil? That way my husband can get everything out of his system without freaking out everyone who's not used to him raising his voice...just in case, you know?"

"Might not be a bad idea, that way Jethro can at least have something to eat before going in to work. I'm just afraid of what this is going to do to him work wise. Jenny is his boss after all," Vittoria sighed as she turned the engine off.

"Don't worry, Jethro always bounces back. And he's kinda been wanting out of the business for a while, at least since he got his memory back. I think he's still a bit upset after all this time that no one listened to his old mentor about Bin Ladin and 9/11 happened...and it does get to you after a while, the cases and such..."

"Guess you can't put this off any longer," Vittoria said as she went to climb out of the car. "Better let Gil get it out of his system, especially since it sounded like he crashed into something when I told him last night."

"Actually he probably hit the table...my habit of doing things without thinking irks him beyond belief...you should have seen him when I volunteered to be bait for the FBI years ago..." Sara shook her head as she grabbed her bag, making her way towards the house with Vittoria.

"I can only imagine," Vittoria replied as she opened the door. "We're back," she said as they entered the living room to find Jethro, Gil, Michelle and Lindsay, who was holding Aiden in her arms. "We're going out to lunch on Aunt Sara girls so she and Uncle Gil can talk. You're welcome to join us Jeth if you want."

"I'll grab my coat," Jethro said as he rose. "Michelle, why don't you go get yours and we'll meet your Mom at the car while she helps Lindsay with Aiden."

Michelle nodded before getting up and heading up to her room.

Sara walked over and sat down next to Gil, leaning into him when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, both just watching as everyone made their way through and out of the house, a quiet see you later echoing from Vittoria as she shut the door.

"You attacked the Director of NCIS..." he began with a sigh after they heard the car leave.

"Yup," she agreed as he stood up to pace. "At least I didn't kill her like I want to now," she offered with a small smile. He looked at her quickly before sighing in exasperation. Leaning back she got comfortable, he had a lot to say and she wasn't about to interrupt his no doubt pre-thought out speech.