Johnny Pavlek was a tiny weasel looking man. The orange jumpsuit he was wearing did nothing for his sallow complexion and greasy hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. His knee bounced nervously up and down while he sat across the table from McGee and Fornell.
"I told them everything there was to tell." Pavlek said.
"Tell me." Fornell began. "Antonelli thinks that one of the cops stole the money from the drug drop that night."
"S'what he told me. Said that one of Boston's finest was living of his money and he wanted it back."
"So he hunted them down?"
"Rumor has it that the cop who died in the house fire hated candles, so how did a candle set his house on fire? And the one in the accident, faulty brakes on a new car? I don't think so."
"And the cop in the shootout. The one where he was shot from behind."
"Just saying, dig deeper and see if Antonelli set that up."
"And James Sullivan?" Fornell pressed.
"He was shot during the raid. Antonelli figured that his share of the money, or hell all the money was hidden and Sullivan's widow knew where it was."
"So he started dating the widow."
"Yeah, sweet piece of ass she is."
McGee swore silently. If Gibbs had been here to hear that comment, Pavlek would be dead now.
"Watch it." Fornell threatened.
"Antonelli figured that tough tactics wouldn't work with her so he tried a different approach. But zebras can't change their spots and Antonelli liked to rough up women. She got smart and got the cops behind her. Then she sold her house and disappeared. Antonelli knew she didn't get full price for the house and knew she had the money. Once he set his sights on her, nothing else would stand in his way."
"It's a match Gibbs." Abby said unhappily. Knowing now that the bullet pulled out of Freckles matched the slug taken from the cop in Boston proved that Antonelli was the killer and Maggie was in a lot of trouble.
Gibbs nodded and stared at the image. Fornell had filled him in on the information from Pavlek. Antonelli thought that Maggie had his money and would go to any length to get it back. Gibbs turned to Abby and saw how tired she was. No one had left the building unless it was case related in almost 48 hours.
"Go home Abs." he kissed her on the cheek. "You look exhausted."
"And you look any better?" she told him. "I'll go home when you go home. Why don't you use my futon, you need sleep too."
"Nah, sleep is overrated." Gibbs told her as he left the lab. He took the elevator to the ground floor and stepped out into the daylight. He was surprised, he thought it was the middle of the night. He hadn't looked out a window in hours. He walked over to the coffee cart and stood in line to get his fix. Normally he would have walked down to his usual place, but he didn't want to be too far from the office. He ran his hands over his face, mildly surprised to feel the stubble on his chin and cheeks. It had been 48 hours since he'd been home and showered. 48 hours since he'd eaten a regular meal; more than that he'd realized. The last time he'd been home, Maggie had stayed over. She'd picked up pizza on her way over and he'd surprised her in the basement.
"Oh my God Gibbs! Where did you find it!" Maggie stared wide eyed at an old roll top desk sitting in the middle of Gibbs' basement.
"Driving home." Gibbs smiled as he took the pizza from Maggie and put it on the work bench next to the beers he'd already opened. He watched Maggie run her hands over the desk, opening and closing the little drawers. "You said you were looking for one."
"It's wicked." Maggie looked up, her smile wide. "It's perfect." Maggie stepped over to Gibbs and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love it."
They ate their pizza and drank the beer and discussed how they could restore the desk. Then they spent the next few hours taking the desk apart and taking all the hardware off of it so it could be cleaned. When they finished for the night, Maggie led Gibbs up the stairs to the bathroom where she began in the shower to thank Gibbs for the desk and she finished in the bedroom. As he held her while she slept, Gibbs couldn't believe how happy a woman could be for a gift she'd have to take apart and put back together.
"I need to use the bathroom." Maggie told Joe. What she really needed was for him to untie her hands. She still had her running watch on and she hoped the damned thing was still charged.
Joe approached the bed with a wicked looking knife.
"Roll over." He told her.
Maggie carefully rolled to her side and closed her eyes. Her plan had to work. She felt the cold steel of the knife slit the plastic ties and manage to knick her skin as well. Joe traced the tip of the knife down along Maggie's side, along her hip, down over her backside and down her leg. She felt the tie on her ankles snap as her feet were freed.
Moving her hands in front of her she carefully slipped the watch off and into her jacket pocket while she rubbed her hands together to get the circulation going again.
"What are you doing?" Joe demanded as he roughly grabbed her causing her to fall off the bed and on to the cement floor.
"I can't feel my feet and hands; they've been tied up too long. I'm trying to get the blood flowing."
"That's all you better be doing or I'll show you another way I can get the blood flowing." He slipped the tip of the knife under her chin and tipped her face up to look at him. "Now get up." He yelled at her. "Or do I have to carry you to the bathroom and take your pants off for you."
Maggie held the vomit down and stood up. Her feet felt like a million needles were sticking into them as she willed her body to stand on its own. Joe pushed her out the door and into the small hallway. She was in a basement of a house. The stairs to the upper floor were in front of her; Joe pushed her in another direction.
"Don't even think it. You'll be dead before the first stair." He warned her.
Maggie was pushed into a smaller room that had a toilet and a sink.
"You have two minutes." He told her.
Maggie closed the door and looked up to make sure there were no cameras in there. She pulled down her pants and hoped the sounds of nature would mask what she was doing. Taking the watch from her pocket she pressed a few buttons and saw what she feared. She didn't have much power left. Moving her finger across the flat square screen she found her text button. She typed out the letters SOS and JOE and FIND ME and sent them to Gibbs and Tony and prayed it would go through.
"Times up."
Maggie finished her business and tucked her watch back into her pocket just as Joe opened the door.
"Time for us to talk about the money." He said as he yanked her from the bathroom and dragged her back to the room.
When Gibbs came back to his desk he found a take-out container and a bottle of soda. Fornell next to the desk eating from his container.
"Eat Gibbs." Fornell told his friend as he sat down in his chair. "You haven't had anything but coffee for the past 48 hours."
"What are you my father now?" Gibbs commented as he opened up the container. Inside was a hamburger and fries. Gibbs closed the container and pushed it away. "Not hungry."
"You have to eat Gibbs." Ziva stood up from her desk and walked over to Gibbs. She opened up the container and put it in front of her boss again. "You getting run down will not help Maggie. You need your strength."
Gibbs looked from Ziva to Fornell to McGee who was eating some kind of burrito and over to Tony who was taking a bite of his own hamburger. Gibbs should be upset with his team ganging up on him, but he knew the three of them were just as worried about Maggie as he was, especially Tony. Tony hadn't left the office in 48 hours either. Senior had gone back to Tony's apartment and Jamie had been called back to base. There was nothing the young man could do now and Gibbs promised he'd call the second they had anything.
Gibbs grabbed his hamburger and took a healthy bite. "Happy now?"
"I'd be happier if you didn't talk with food in your mouth." Fornell commented.
Gibbs took another bite of his hamburger and was opening his soda when he felt his phone vibrate at his side. Tony's went off at the same time.
SOS
JOE
FIND ME
Flashed across their respective screens.
"McGEE!" both men yelled at the same time.
"What are you talking about? What money?" Maggie was confused.
"The money your thieving husband stole from me." Joe yelled at her as he grabbed her by the neck and held her in a strangle hold.
"Joe never stole money from you. He never knew you." Maggie squeaked out as she tried to pry Joe's fingers from her neck.
Joe got in Maggie's face. She could smell the cigarettes and booze on his breath.
"Oh he knew He knew me well enough to believe me about the drug deal. That money was mine, but he got greedy and now you have what's mine and I'll get it one way or another." Joe took his free hand and grabbed the neck of Maggie's shirt and ripped it down exposing Maggie's running bra. Maggie tried to scream as Joe's free hand grabbed her breast and squeezed it hard. "You know me too. I'm the man who killed him."
"Got it boss. Signal is weak, but I've got it narrowed down."
Fornell was already on the phone with his team ordering them to the area that McGee narrowed down. Three hours outside of DC in a remote wooded area. There were several abandoned houses there from a development deal that went bust.
"Gibbs you have to remember let me take the lead." Fornell warned him. "If you're gonna go all cowboy on me, I'm going to cuff you to the desk."
"Try it."
"You know I will Jethro." Fornell stood up to Gibbs. "We're smart about this or Maggie is dead." He continued bluntly to Gibbs. Fornell stepped back and told the rest of the team to gear up and told McGee to make sure an ambulance is there too.
"You killed Joe."
"Yeah, him and his partners stole my money and I want it back. They thought I was their informant. Fuck that, I wanted the money. We had a deal, but when the bust went down, your scumbag husband only gave me informant pay. $100.00 fucking dollars." Joe spat out. "They had their hands on a cool million. And it went missing? Nah, I don't think so."
Joe shoved Maggie back down on the bed and tied her hands to the top. He ripped her shirt open all the way leaving her upper body exposed except for her running bra. Joe ran his hands over the front of it making Maggie gag. Joe's hand froze when he saw the small bruise just under the trim of the bra. Gibbs had been teasing her and gave her a hickey where no one would see it unless she exposed like she was now.
"Boyfriend give you that? Something to think of him by?" Joe gritted out and brought the knife up to the mark. "How about I give you one too?"
Maggie screamed as the tip of Joe's knife made a small cut in her skin.
"That's only part of what I'll do if you don't tell me where you put the money? No way you got a lot on that shithouse you had in Boston. You used the money to buy the house down here and since none of the others have it so I figured the bastard must have known where it was and since none of the others had wives, you were the last possible choice."
Maggie sat there stunned. Joe thought James had stolen money from him and Joe killed him.
"Where is the money?"
"I have no idea." Maggie told him hoping he would believe her.
Joe reached out and slapped her hard enough that she tasted blood in her mouth.
"Try again." He told her.
"Joe, I don't know what you're talking about."
Joe hit her again, this time with his fist, Maggie felt the room spin as another blow was delivered and she was knocked unconscious. Joe kicked the bed hard and slammed out of the room leaving Maggie slumped on the bed.
It was the longest three hours Gibbs had spent in a car. Fornell drove while Gibbs rode in the passenger seat while McGee was in the back working his magic on the laptop. He objected at first to not being allowed to drive, but realized that if he drove, they may have gotten in an accident and then what good would it be. Tony refused to be left behind to babysit his father and nephew, so he was in another car driven by Ziva.
"We will find her Tony."
"I know." He said quietly. "But will she be alive. That bastard has already killed 4 people and god knows what else he's done."
"All for money that does not exist." Ziva stated.
McGee had researched the evidence from that night. A rival drug dealer had gotten to the scene before the James and the other cops had gotten there and taken the money and most of the drugs. So all the murders had happened for no reason. The money had been gone all this time.
"Gibbs, just give my men a minute to check it out." Fornell told his friend. "Chances are the van is empty."
Two miles from the GPS location McGee had found, the caravan of cars racing to find Maggie came across a white panel van, similar to the one seen in the video footage.
"Just wait in the car." Fornell asked his friend.
"The hell I will." Gibbs barked as he barely waited for the car to come to a complete stop before jumping out.
"You really didn't think he was going to stay did you?" McGee asked from the back seat.
"No but I hoped."
The two other cars following Fornell's stopped behind and the other FBI agents and Ziva and Tony spread out and advanced on the van.
"Federal Agents." Fornell announced as they crept closer.
When there was no reply, Fornell motioned Ziva to get closer to the driver's side. Ziva approached cautiously along the side of the van and through the driver's side mirror, she could not see anyone in the van.
"No driver." She announced.
McGee confirmed the same as he crept down the passenger side of the van. Fornell motioned his two agents to the back of the van. Each agent put one hand on a handle, one on their guns. Gibbs and his team positioned themselves behind the van. Tony's heart slammed in his chest fearing that his sister would be in the back of the van.
Gibbs took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He nodded at Fornell who nodded at his men to open the door. Everyone tensed as the doors were pulled open, but there was no one inside the van.
"Clear." One of the agents announced.
Gibbs put his weapon away and walked over to the van. The first thing he saw was Maggie's running shoe. He reached out to pick it up but Ziva stopped him. He glared back at her until he saw she was handing him a glove to put on. Gibbs nodded.
McGee checked the front of the van while Ziva and the FBI agents checked the back where Maggie was kept.
"The only thing we can find is this tarp and the shoe." An agent informed Fornell.
"Nothing up front either. Just some water bottles." McGee had bagged them and handed them off to Fornell.
Gibbs was walking around the perimeter of the car. He bent down and noticed footsteps leading away from the van. One was a man's sized work boot, the other set of prints was of one sneaker, a right one and something smudged which would be Maggie walking with one sock on and one shoe on.
"Trail goes off this way Boss." Tony informed Gibbs. "Do we follow?"
"Hell yes we follow." Gibbs barked.
"Gibbs…" Fornell warned.
Gibbs turned and faced his friend; his eyes were hard as he stared at Fornell.
"We going to stand here and argue this or we going to follow the trail?" Gibbs fumed.
"We are going to follow the trail, but you are not going to lead." Fornell ordered and walked past Gibbs and took the lead.
Maggie felt blood inside her mouth as she started to wake up. Her eye felt swollen from the punch Joe had delivered. Joe grabbed her neck and squeezed it again. Maggie's hands were tied so she could not pry his hands away.
"Tell me where the money is you stupid fucking bitch."
Maggie struggled to get air in her lungs as Joe squeezed harder. He pulled her up and then slammed her head back down, the top of her head hitting the railing and Maggie felt the sting of a cut on her head.
"I don't know." Maggie coughed out. She knew that Joe was dangerous in his current frame of mind. He told her how he had killed the other cops and knew that he would do the same to her. She had hoped upon hope that somehow Tony or Gibbs had gotten her text. If they got it to McGee, McGee would find where it came from. Gibbs said McGee could do anything with computers and Maggie sure hoped that Tim was as good as they said.
"Still lying?" Joe fumed. "You must like the pain. Let's see how much." Joe slit the ropes at her wrist and yanked her off the bed to the floor where he kicked her hard in the hip. Maggie cried out in pain as he grabbed her and threw her against the wall. His hands squeezed around her neck. Maggie clawed at his hands trying to get him to release her. Joe was raging at her; his words not making any sense. She tried to kick at him as hard as she could. Joe released her and threw her face first on the bed.
"I'll make sure you'll never forget me." Joe menaced as he began taking his belt off. "I'll be the last man you know before you die." He seethed as he undid the button on his pants.
The team squatted down in the bushes around the small house. McGee confirmed that Maggie's signal was weak but it was coming from inside. Slowly they made their way to the house. Gibbs checked the side windows. No one was visible inside, but there were signs of someone being there. Ziva and McGee checked the other side of the house and confirmed that no one was in the house.
Tony joined them and was about to tell them that there was no back door when they heard Maggie scream.
"Scream all you want." Joe leered at her. "No one can hear…"
"Federal Agents! Come out Antonelli with your hands up."
Maggie said her silent thank you while Joe stood up and listened.
"Not gonna happen." Joe said as he grabbed his gun and threw the door open. He took off up the stairs as the sound of a window breaking and a loud popping sound came from the floor above. Joe grabbed his gun as he coughed his way through the smoke of the flash bang and smashed a window out.
"I'll kill her before you take me." He yelled out and began firing through the widow. Gibbs and the team ducked for cover behind the trees and fired back.
Maggie didn't wait to see who would be coming down the stairs next. She dragged herself up; ignoring the pain she was in; and moved the chair over to the window. Joe was busy shooting at her rescuers and not watching her in the video monitor. She stood up to reach the window. For the past few days she'd been staring at that same window. She knew she could shimmy through it. The glass was only one pane thick; so Maggie took off her sweatshirt and wrapped her fist in it and ignoring the pain, she slammed her hand through the window as hard as she could. She hit the glass until all the shards were free and she pulled herself up and through the window. Glass cut at her body in places until she had pulled herself free.
The agents continued to fire on the house. Gibbs couldn't move from his position. Joe recognized Gibbs as the man Maggie was involved with and took his frustrations out in his directions. The angrier he got, the more crazed he got. The more crazed he got, the sloppier he got. Joe walked to another window and slammed the glass out with the butt of his gun. He began shooting blindly out the window, sweeping his shots left to right.
Gibbs froze; he knew what was going to happen next. He started yelling, but Antonelli was yelling himself, right up to the moment one of his shots went stray and hit the large propane tank next to the house.
The explosion knocked Maggie down. She felt the air rush from her lungs as the flames engulfed the house behind her. Slowly, she began to pull herself back up. She moved around the house and that is when she saw him. Gibbs was standing there in shock staring at the house.
"Gibbs." She cried weakly.
She willed her feet to move.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Gibbs felt her before he actually saw her. He turned to the back of the house. Maggie was staggering towards him. Her shirt hanging off her in shreds, her feet were bare and he saw blood on her face. Voices were yelling around him, calling out Maggie's name. He ran forward and caught Maggie in his arms just as her legs finally gave out. He brushed her hair off her face gently avoiding the cuts and bruises.
"Took you long enough." Maggie croaked hoarsely.
Gibbs smiled down at Maggie. "We stopped for coffee."
"Hope you got me some." Maggie coughed. "I could use one."
Gibbs shrugged his jacket off and wrapped it around Maggie. Anger welled up in him as he saw Maggie's swollen eye and the blood on her face and neck. He moved his hand to the back of her head and she winced. Pulling his hand away, he saw the blood on it. If Antonelli wasn't dead now, Gibbs was going to kill him.
Tony gave Maggie and Gibbs a minute before he joined them.
"Hey." Maggie said to Tony as she lay on the ground, Gibbs' jacket wrapped around her. Maggie was still shivering so Tony took his jacket off too and wrapped it around her legs.
"Hey yourself." Tony took Maggie's bruised hand in his. "Ambulance is on the way."
"Can't I just go home?" Maggie looked from Tony to Gibbs. " I need a shower."
"No. Hospital first." Gibbs still cradled the hand she had used to punch the window out with. It was starting to swell and he wanted to make sure she was okay in all other ways.
"Joe?"
Tony looked back at the burning house. The fire truck sirens were heard in the distance, but Tony didn't believe Joe survived the blast.
"Don't think he survived that."
"Good." Maggie started feeling the world spin around her. "Think I'll just shut my eyes for a bit." And knowing that she was safe; Gibbs found her and was at her side, Maggie let the pain take over and she passed out.
Gibbs reluctantly let Maggie go when the medics showed up. They transferred Maggie to a stretcher and covered her with blankets. Her IV's were being started when Ducky and Palmer showed up.
"You have no idea how grateful I abs m that we are not here for Maggie." Ducky said as he joined Gibbs as he walked next to the stretcher.
"Me too Duck."
"You want to ride along? We're taking her to Bethesda." The medic asked Gibbs. "You next of kin?"
"That would be me." Tony said as he joined Gibbs and Ducky; but he knew there was no way Gibbs wasn't going to go with Maggie. "I'll follow in my car."
Gibbs gave Tony a slight nod and climbed into the ambulance after Maggie was secure.
Tony and Ducky walked over to the still burning building. The fire department was putting it out and everyone else was waiting to do their job. McGee and Palmer stood next to their equipment while Ziva walked around the back of the house with Fornell and took pictures where they saw Maggie's trail.
"Any chance that bastard lived?" Tony asked Ducky.
"A blast like that, it is highly unlikely." Ducky answered. "But I know you and Gibbs won't be happy until you have definite answers. And I can't do that until we get the body back to Abby at the lab. So go to hospital with Gibbs Tony. I'll let you know as soon as we do."
Tony dotted his last 'I' and crossed his last 't' on the admitting forms for Maggie. As the only relative at the hospital, he was asked to fill out the forms. He was surprised at how much information he'd had to ask Gibbs for because he just didn't know things about Maggie. The basics were easy, birthday, height, weight – okay that one was a complete guess – but he was amazed at the fact that Gibbs knew Maggie's social security and her insurance. That was until he found out Gibbs had copied that information down during the investigation and stuck it in his wallet just in case he needed it.
"All yours now." Tony smiled at the young nurse behind the desk. He fought the urge to flirt a little with the pretty blonde when Maggie's attending doctor walked over to him.
"Mr. DiNozzo. I'm Dr. Candry." The man introduced himself as he shook Tony's hand.
"How is she?" Tony asked as they walked down the hall towards Maggie's room.
"She has a concussion, several lacerations and bruises, a cracked rib but no broken bones though." The doctor read the charts to Tony.
"What about…" Tony didn't want to ask if Joe had raped his sister, but he had to know. He saw Maggie's shirt had been ripped open when she came out of the house. There was a cut above her right breast and severe bruising too.
"Rape kit was negative. The man who kidnapped her beat her up and there was a cut on her left breast that a plastic surgeon can look at if she wants. No signs of abuse on her pelvic area or upper thighs." The doctor read from the chart.
They reached Maggie's room. Gibbs was sitting in a chair next to Maggie's bed. His hand held her free hand that wasn't bandaged. Maggie's face was covered in bruises; her eye was swollen shut and a butterfly band aid over her eyebrow. The ones on her body were covered by the hospital sheets on the bed. The hand print bruise on her breast was covered as well as the cut over it.
"When can she go home?" Tony asked while he looked at how small his sister looked in the bed.
"Sometime tomorrow or the day after, she was also severely dehydrated. I would like her more stable before I send her home."
Tony thanked the doctor and stepped quietly into the room.
"Did you call Jamie?" Gibbs spoke quietly so he wouldn't wake Maggie up.
"I did. He said he'd wait for you to say it's okay for him to come by. He didn't think he could handle seeing Maggie like this."
"She wouldn't want him to see her like this either." Gibbs agreed.
"Told him I'd have her call when she wakes up." Tony sat down in the other chair in the room. "Senior…"
"No." Gibbs cut Tony off before Tony could finish the sentence. "He cannot come and see her." Gibbs said evenly. Tony nodded. He'd thought as much and told his father he'd keep him updated.
"No. No way in hell." Gibbs added. "He's to blame for this."
Tony wanted to argue in his father's behalf. Senior was a lot of things, but not someone who would hand his daughter over to a psycho like Antonelli willingly.
Gibbs went back to looking at Maggie. His anger had only subsided some. Ducky was running tests with Abby to make sure the body in the fire was Antonelli's. Until he knew for sure the bastard was dead, he would not be happy.
"Do you need anything Boss?" Tony broke the silence. "Coffee?"
"No, I'm good." Gibbs responded and looked up at Tony.
"Oh my God."
Gibbs and Tony turned to the door where Abby was standing. Tears began to slide down her cheeks.
"Abs?" both men said at the same time.
"I thought you'd want the DNA results." She held the manila folder tight to her chest.
Tony walked over to hug Abby, seeing Maggie like this was clearly upsetting to her.
"You could have called." Gibbs wanted to go over and hug Abby himself, but was reluctant to let go of Maggie's hand.
"I wanted to see if there was anything I could do." Abby walked over to the foot of Maggie's bed and handed Gibbs the folder.
"I don't have my glasses." He informed her and handed the folder to Tony.
Tony looked at the folder and told Gibbs that the body in the fire was definitely Antonelli's and the rest of the anger inside Gibbs subsided. He focused his attention on Maggie and took her hand and kissed it gently not caring who was in the room to see him do that.
"I think I should go check on Senior." Tony replied. "Can you give me a ride home Abs?" Tony stood up and put car keys on the bed table. "You have the company car now Boss."
Abby walked over to Gibbs and gave him a kiss on the cheek before joining Tony at the door.
"Wait, Abs, there is something you can do for me." Gibbs reached into his pocket and pulled out Maggie's keys. "Can you go to her place and just throw some stuff in a bag for her. Then leave it at my place. You know what to get."
"Sure thing." Abby took the keys from him knew that Gibbs would rather she go through Maggie's personal things than have Tony do it.
She walked over to the other side of the bed and kissed Maggie on the top of the head.
The only time Gibbs left Maggie's side was when the nurse came in and gave him no choice. They needed to check her and made him leave. He got himself a cup of coffee from the vending machine and grabbed a magazine from the waiting room. Without his glasses, reading would be difficult, but at least he could look at the pictures in a magazine. When he was allowed back in the room, he took his seat again sitting in the chair next to the bed. He turned the chair so one arm rested on the bed while he held her hand. His fingers moved gingerly over the bruised skin on the back of her hand. The nurse had told him that she was resting comfortably and that they had given her a mild sedative to help her sleep. Gibbs watched the IV attached to the back of her hand drip down the tubing. She was dehydrated and the fluids would help.
Every once in a while Maggie would stir in her sleep. She murmured Gibbs name.
"I'm here Maggie. I'm right here." He would reach up and gently stroke her face until she fell back to sleep.
Eventually Gibbs tired of reading the magazine and leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Sleep over took him. He'd been awake from the moment they found out Maggie was taken. Within minutes, he was sound asleep in the chair. His dreams took him to the day he found out Shannon and Kelly had been killed. They took him to camping trips with them, to horseback riding on the beach, to reunions when he'd come home. And they finally took him to Shannon. She looked just as she had the last time he saw her standing in the driveway waving goodbye, her hair long around her shoulders, dressed in jeans and one of his Marine tee shirts.
"It's time Gibbs." Dream Shannon addressed him.
"Time for what?" he was confused.
"It's time to let me go. It's time to love again. I like Maggie. Go, be happy with her."
Gibbs didn't understand what Dream Shannon was saying. She smiled at him and reached out to stroke his cheek.
"Kelly and I are fine now. We want…no we need you to be happy. If you love Maggie, tell her. Be happy. It's all we ever wanted for you."
Gibbs felt a tug on his hand and looked down to see his daughter, forever 8 years old, smiling up at him.
"Daddy, Maggie is nice. She makes you laugh. Really laugh, like I did."
Gibbs felt Kelly let go of his hand and take her mother's as they turned and walked away from him. He could still here Dream Shannon's voice in his head telling him to let go, be happy, and be in love again.
Maggie blinked her eyes open and looked around the room. She was out of the room Joe had kept her that much she knew. Looking down beside her, she saw Gibbs sleeping in the chair, one of his hands holding hers. She tried to say his name, but her throat was dry so she squeezed his hand with all the strength she could manage.
Gibbs' eyes flew open and he sat up in the chair.
"Hi." He smiled softly at Maggie letting go of her hand to cup her face between his hands.
Maggie mouthed the word water and he reached over to get the cup next to the bed. He took the straw and brought it to her mouth.
"Slowly." He told her as she sipped the water. "Better?" he asked.
Maggie took another sip and handed the cup back to him. He sat down on the bed next to her and ran his fingers over her face trying to avoid the bandages and bruises which wasn't easy.
"I must look like I got hit by a truck."
"Nah." He smiled at her. "I've seen worse."
"Liar." She reached up with her free hand and touched his face. "You look like hell."
"Trouble sleeping the past few nights." He grinned at her. "Been sleeping in my chair at work."
Maggie couldn't hold the tears back. She apologized as she cried.
"Why are you apologizing?" he asked. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I brought all this into your life." Maggie told him.
Gibbs brushed a tear away with his thumb.
"I don't like crying in front of anyone." Maggie tried to calm herself.
"I'm not just anyone am I?" he asked as he tipped her chin up so she'd look at him.
Maggie shook her head 'no' and sat up to let Gibbs hold her close. She flinched a little when his hand accidentally touched one of the bruises on her back. His hate for Antonelli grew again for the pain he had inflicted on Maggie.
"Gibbs, I want to go home." She whispered in his ear.
"Tomorrow. When the doc says it's okay. We'll go home."
Maggie slept again and when Jamie came by to stay with his mother, Gibbs ran home to take a quick shower and change his clothes. Maggie was awake and talking to Ziva when he got back.
"Can't this wait?" Gibbs asked as he saw Ziva close her notebook.
"I asked her to come Gibbs." Maggie explained. "I needed to get it all out while it was fresh."
Ziva got up to leave and Gibbs stepped outside with her.
"What did she tell you." Gibbs asked.
"He did not …. abuse her if that is what you are asking." Ziva answered.
Gibbs nodded and went back into the room.
"I'm jealous." Maggie told him as he sat down.
"Why?"
"You got to shower. I'd kill for one now." Maggie smiled as he took her hand in his. "But not here. I used that bathroom earlier. I want a real shower."
"I think I can arrange that." The doctor came in. "I know you are anxious to go home and I will let you, but you'll have to follow my orders completely."
"She will." Gibbs smiled at her. "I'll make sure of that."
Gibbs put another log into the fire while he juggled the phone in his ear.
"She's fine Dad. Banged up but fine." Gibbs told his father when he called him after he brought Maggie back to his house. "As soon as she's better. Maybe we'll come down…No you don't have to drive all the way here….Okay, I'll talk to you."
Hanging up the phone, Gibbs made sure the fire was burning enough and went into the kitchen. There wasn't any food in the house, not that he'd really been big on things like that. He started making a pot of coffee when he heard his front door open.
"Gibbs?" Abby called out to him.
"Kitchen Abs."
Abby put down the small duffle bag and shopping bag she'd brought with her. Gibbs had called her early in the morning and told her they were leaving the hospital and to meet them at his house.
"Did you get what I asked for?"
Abby saluted Gibbs. "Yes Sir."
Gibbs smiled at Abby. "Wrong hand Abby."
Abby corrected herself and saluted Gibbs again.
"Maggie upstairs?" she asked him.
"In the shower."
"I'll bring this stuff up to her." Abby started back to the hallway. "Oh, and Ducky was behind me."
"And I'm right here." Ducky's voice came from the door. "A little help would be nice."
Abby went upstairs to bring Maggie her things while Gibbs relieved Ducky of his packages.
"What's this?"
"Food." Ducky explained as Ziva came in with more bags.
"We thought you would be hungry and since we were all at the office and we were hungry.." Ziva started to explain.
"We decided to bring our meal to you." Ducky finished as he took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. "Now let's set the table."
"Maggie?" Abby called as she knocked on the slightly open bathroom door.
"One second Abby." Maggie replied as she turned off the hot water. She really hoped Gibbs liked cold showers since she was pretty sure she'd used all the hot water in the house. Gibbs told her to wait to take a shower since Abby was on her way with her shampoo and other toiletries, but Maggie didn't want to wait. She just wanted to wash the past few days away. Besides the smell of Ivory soap wasn't so bad on Gibbs, she'd live with it on her.
Once the water was turned off she reached for a towel and wrapped her body in it. Using a towel to wrap her hair proved to be a little harder. She couldn't move her arms easily and the pain made her groan.
"Maggie? Are you okay?" Abby asked again.
"I think I need some help." Maggie conceded.
The door slowly opened and Abby stepped in and closed it.
"Tell me what you need." Abby knew it would be difficult for Maggie to ask for help. She was a grown woman used to doing things on her own.
"My hair is dripping wet."
"That's not a problem. Here turn around." Abby took another towel and began to gently press the length of Maggie's hair to get the excess water out. Abby told Maggie that this was how her mother used to dry her hair when she was little. Maggie was happy to let Abby talk about her mother, it took her mind off the bruises that Abby could see visible on her arms and legs.
"Okay. Let's get you dressed. Gibbs had me go to your house and pick some stuff up for you." Abby led Maggie from the bathroom to the bedroom.
Abby helped Maggie dry off and put on underwear and sweatpants. Maggie tried to put a bra on but the straps and hooks fell at places where there were bruises.
"Hmm…" Abby wondered as Maggie sat on the edge of the bed with the towel still wrapped around her upper body. "Do you really need to put one on? You could just put a tee shirt on and one of Gibbs' sweatshirts over it. It's more about comfort right now than modesty."
Maggie agreed. Once she was dressed, they tackled the problem of Maggie's hair. Since Gibbs didn't own a blow drier, Maggie let Abby towel dry her hair and then comb it out. When Abby declared it dry enough, she braided it loosely for Maggie.
"There. Done." Abby stated as she helped Maggie stand up. "Oops, wait. One more thing." From the little extra bag she had with her Abby pulled out a pair of socks with hippos on them.
"I wanted to get you Bert slippers but they made too much noise." Abby explained as she helped Maggie with her socks.
"Bert?"
"My hippo. When you squeeze him he farts. It always makes me feel better."
Maggie smiled at Abby. She completely understood why Gibbs was so fond of her. After all she'd been through in the past few days and how his team had been there for him, Maggie understood how he felt about all of them.
They made their way slowly down the stairs to the entry way. Gibbs heard them talking and was waiting for them at the bottom.
"You feeling better?" he asked Maggie when she reached the bottom step.
Abby left them alone and joined Ziva and Ducky in the dining room. The three of them did their best to pretend they weren't trying to eavesdrop on Gibbs and Maggie. In her sock covered feet, standing on the bottom step, Maggie came just about eye to eye with Gibbs. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, resting his forehead against hers.
"You smell good." He said softly.
"I smell like you." She teased.
"Nah, you don't smell like sawdust." He said as he kissed her cheek. "Come on, you need to eat. Ducky brought just about everything he could think of."
Before Maggie stepped off the stair, a movement at Gibbs' front door caught her attention. She froze as she stared over Gibbs' shoulder. Gibbs saw where Maggie was looking and turned to the door. He closed his eyes and swore silently.
"What the hell is Senior doing here?" Maggie demanded when she saw Tony and Senior standing there.
"I really hope you know what you're doing." Gibbs said as he opened the front door and stepped out on to the porch closing the door behind him.
"Either I took him or he was coming on his own." Tony defended himself.
"Gibbs, that's my daughter in there." Senior began.
"No, that's Tony's sister in there. That's someone very important to me in there." Gibbs corrected Senior. "She doesn't consider you her father."
Tony had to admit, that was a low blow even for Gibbs. He wanted to stand up to Gibbs and defend his father, but Senior stopped him.
"Gibbs, I know you don't think very much of me and even less of my parenting skills, but Maggie is still my daughter and I want to right a terrible wrong. I think she is the only one to tell me to leave."
"And what if that is what I want?"
Gibbs stepped aside from the door that Maggie had just opened and let her look at Senior. He couldn't think but how small she looked in his sweatshirt standing there. He wanted to grab her, toss her in the truck and take her someplace where she could be safe and heal. Just the two of them alone, making everyone else stay out. But he'd kept people out for too long, it was time to change.
"Maggie, honey…" Senior began.
"Don't. Don't call me honey." Maggie warned him.
"Can we please go inside and talk. I just want to know that you are okay." Senior pleaded.
"Well Senior. I've been kidnapped, beaten up and have some wicked cuts and bruises to show for my past few days but I'm fine. You can have Tony bring you back to where ever you were." Maggie started to turn around and walk back inside.
"I want to apologize for bringing that character back into your life." Senior called out to her.
Maggie was as far as the living room when she heard that. She reached her hand out to the archway to steady herself. Abby started to go to her, but was stopped by Ducky. He shook his head letting her know that they had to stay out of this.
"I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly?" Maggie turned to face Senior who was now inside the house. "YOU are the reason Joe found me?" The anger in her body was starting to make her shake.
"I…" Senior stumbled for the words. Tony could hear the gears of his father's excuse maker turning. He hoped desperately that for once his father would come clean.
"You what?" Maggie spat out. "How in the hell did Joe Antonelli find you?"
"Maggie, please, you're shaking, please, let's sit down and talk." Senior tried to take her by the elbow over to the couch, but Maggie shook him off. Instead, she walked to the chair right next to the archway and sat down. Senior sat on the edge of the couch and looked around him. Ziva, Ducky and Abby were in the dining room watching the scene in the living room. Tony stood in the archway, his hands buried in his coat pockets. Gibbs sat on the arm of Maggie's chair, his hand resting at the base of her neck giving her his quiet support.
"Could I have a moment alone with my daughter please?" Senior asked.
Ducky cleared his throat and put his dish down. "Why don't we adjourn to the basement to see what project Gibbs is working on? I saw him start it a few months ago."
Gibbs nodded at the three in the other room, silently thanking Ducky for his tact.
"I would really like to talk to her alone." Senior said to Gibbs and Tony.
"Not happening." Gibbs told him.
"Gibbs can stay. It's his house. He can hear whatever you want to say to me. I have no secrets from him." Maggie told Senior. "And Tony's my brother. Now you need to explain this to me."
Tony leaned against the archway and listened to Senior explain the entire story to Maggie. When he was done he looked at her and waited for her to say something, anything.
"I don't know what you want from me. To say I forgive you? To say it's not your fault? Why didn't you call Tony first?" Maggie asked not expecting an answer.
"Maggie, I did a lot of things wrong when it came to you and your mother." He began.
"A lot?" she snorted. "Try everything. But this is not the time or the place to hash this out. I don't have the strength or energy to have THAT conversation."
Senior nodded. "Will you at least think about having that conversation?" Senior asked hopefully. "I'd like to get to know my daughter and my grandson."
Maggie gave Tony a questioning look.
"They met at NCIS. I tried to keep them apart."
Maggie shook her head. "I'm not mad at you Tony. Jamie's a grown man, if he wants to know Senior, I can't stop him." She turned her attention back to Senior. "As to any more conversations, I don't know right now. Add all this to our past history and it's more than I want to deal with right now."
Senior stood up and nodded. "I understand. Junior can you take me to the train station now?"
Maggie didn't look up at Senior as Gibbs stood to open the door. She was staring at the coffee table in front of the couch when she felt Senior stoop down and kiss her gently on the head. "Don't think that I never loved you Maggie."
Tony didn't hear what his father said, but judging from the expression on Maggie's face, it was surprising to her. He followed Senior out the front door and turned to Gibbs.
"I'll come back after I drop him off, if that's okay."
"I think you have to. Ducky brought enough food for an army."
They all sat at the small dining room table; Gibbs sitting on a stool brought up from the basement next to Maggie his arm draped on the back of her chair. Ducky, Ziva and Abby in the three remaining chairs while latecomer McGee and Tony sat on the couch in the dining room. No one talked about the kidnapping or Senior. Instead the conversation was based on the strangest things they'd come across in their cases. When Abby got to the part about McGee adopting the dog she'd renamed Jethro, Maggie realized she hadn't seen the dog around the house.
"Where is Freck?" she asked Gibbs. In everything that happened he'd managed to not tell her what had happened with the dog.
"He's with my brother Kyle." Abby offered. "He's taking great care of her. Jimmy did a great job getting the bullet out."
"Bullet..Did you say bullet?" Maggie was shocked.
"Gibbs, you didn't tell her?"
"I was preoccupied with her." Gibbs said in his own defense.
"Where is she?" Maggie started to stand up, but Gibbs put his hands on her shoulder to stop her.
"Maggie, she's fine. Abby's brother Kyle is taking care of her."
"Here, let me call Kyle." Abby took out her smart phone and dialed Kyle's number. Kyle said Freckles was fine, still favoring her leg, but there was no real damage done. Kyle turned the phone to show Maggie a sleeping Freckles curled up on a dog bed with Kyle's dog next to her.
"See." Abby smiled. "She's in good hands. As soon as you feel better, I'll bring her here. Don't worry."
"I'm not worried, I trust you Abby."
When Gibbs could see Maggie starting to tire, he told everyone to go home and made Maggie lie down on the couch. When she fell asleep he busied himself in the basement sweeping the floor and finding things to occupy his mind. The reality of how close he came to loosing Maggie sank in now that she was back and safe. He sat down heavily on a stool and looked around the basement. How much time had he spent in this basement keeping his mind busy before he met Maggie? Gibbs had no idea, but he knew the amount would be measured in weeks and months. Gibbs looked up at the landing and expected to see Freckles there, but knew the dog was still with Abby's brother. He made a mental note to call Kyle and make arrangements to bring the dog home. Standing up he stretched out his neck and went up the stairs to go check on Maggie.
Maggie woke up on the couch and was momentarily confused as to where Gibbs was. The sounds coming from the basement told her Gibbs must be down there doing something. She understood his need to keep busy when something was on his mind; she could only imagine what he'd been going through the past few days.
She sat up on the couch and turned to look out the window. It had started raining while she was sleeping and it looked like it was coming down hard now. Maggie curled up at the corner of the couch, pulled the blanket over her lap and watched the rain falling against the window.
Gibbs was quiet as he closed the cellar door so he wouldn't disturb Maggie. He walked through the kitchen and looked over to see Maggie awake.
"Hey, you're supposed to be sleeping." He said quietly as he moved over to the couch.
"I just woke up." Maggie let Gibbs move he legs gingerly under the blanket as he sat down next to her and repositioned her legs across his lap. One arm rested across her legs while the other stretched out along the back of the couch, his fingers touching her face.
"You should have come and got me." Gibbs told her.
Maggie watched his face as he looked at the bruises on hers. "Gibbs, talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking." She said as she leaned her face into his hand.
Gibbs moved his thumb back and forth across her cheekbone as his other hand found hers.
"I was scared that we weren't going to find you in time." He admitted.
Maggie turned her face and kissed his palm. "I knew you would. I never doubted it."
"McGee found you."
"You were there Jethro. You found me. You never gave up."
Gibbs shook his head. "No I wouldn't give up. I wasn't going to lose someone else I love. Not again."
Maggie's heart skipped a beat. Had she just heard Gibbs correctly? As if he could read what Maggie was thinking, Gibbs went on.
"I'm not good with words all the time, especially with the important things…" Gibbs started to tell her but Maggie stopped him by leaning in and kissing him.
"I love you too." She told him "And I'm not going anywhere."
Gibbs wrapped his arms around Maggie and pulled her in close, trying not to hold her too tight. He kissed the top of her head and held her for a few minutes before letting her go.
"Time for bed." He said as he moved out from under her and helped her stand up.
"I'm not tired." Maggie tried to complain, but Gibbs was having none of it.
"It's been a long day and you need to rest." Gibbs led her to the stairs. "And believe it or not, I haven't slept much lately."
"Really?" Maggie teased as she stepped up on the first stair. "Miss me that much you couldn't sleep without me?"
Gibbs stopped and turned her around to face him. With Maggie standing on the bottom step, she was just about eye to eye with him.
"I love you." He simply said.
Maggie wrapped her arms around his neck. "I know that, you just told me that on the couch."
"No. I told you I didn't want to lose someone I loved again."
"But I knew what you meant." Maggie gave him a soft kiss. "But I like hearing you say it to me."
"And you will hear it." Gibbs kissed her and turned her back around to head back up the stairs.
Six months later
"I think the house is perfect." Jimmy stood in the living room of his and Bri's new home.
"I do too. Just some paint and personal touches and it's the perfect place for our new family." Bri rested her hands on her burgeoning belly. "I just can't believe the deal Gibbs gave us on the place."
Jimmy was shocked too. One afternoon a few weeks ago, Gibbs had come down to autopsy to see him. He'd heard that Jimmy and Bri were looking for a home now that they were starting a family. Their apartment was too small. Gibbs had offered to sell him his house. He said it was the perfect size for a young family and since he wasn't living there anymore; there was no reason to hold on to it. It was time for a new family to make new memories.
When Gibbs and Maggie decided to move in together at her house, Gibbs didn't have all that much to bring with him. Besides his books and clothes, all he had were his tools. Maggie happily gave up much of the garage to him which turned out to be bigger than his basement. He built a floor to ceiling bookcase for the living room to keep all the books he had and there was a special compartment to keep his gun box in so that Amira couldn't find it when she came to visit.
In the loft area above the garage Maggie and Gibbs put their memories. Pictures drawn and taken. Mementos of their past loves were put away with great care. Maggie suggested that Gibbs take his medals that Tony still kept in his desk drawer, but Gibbs didn't want them. She offered to make a case for them, but still he declined. He'd let Tony hold on to them.
Gibbs and Jamie grew close. Their shared love of the Marines and the experiences brought them together as well as their love for Maggie. One summer night in the dog days of August, Maggie found Gibbs sitting on the patio sipping a beer. She walked over to him and moved his arm so she could sit on his lap.
"Get your own." He teased her when she stole his beer and took a sip of it.
"Jamie just left."
"Armed with enough food to feed his friends?" Gibbs knew the answer to that.
"Not sure if it's friends or girlfriend. I got the feeling there is one."
Gibbs sipped his beer and tipped his head to the side.
"You know." Maggie smiled. "There is someone isn't there."
"Marines don't tell each other's secrets." Gibbs told her.
"Fine be that way." She started to get up from his lap, but he pulled her back down.
"We did talk about a girl though." Gibbs confessed.
"Really? And who would that be?"
"You." Gibbs smiled at her.
"Me? Why me?"
"Your son wants to know my intentions."
"Your what?" Maggie sputtered.
"He wants to know if I'm going to make an honest woman out of you or if we're going to keep living in sin."
"Oh my God, he did not. I swear I'm going to ring his neck."
"No. No you're not." Gibbs told her.
"Oh really and what am I going to do?" Maggie looked at him quizzically.
"Well you are going to decide."
"Decide what?"
Gibbs put his beer bottle down on the patio and wrapped his arms around her.
"Decide if you want to be an honest woman or a sinner."
Maggie was shocked. "Gibbs, are you asking me to marry you?"
Gibbs' response was to smile at her.
"You know, I don't believe in divorce. I say yes and you're stuck with me for life. There's no going back." She told him.
"So is that a yes?"
She looked into his blue eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, it's yes." Maggie kissed him soundly.
"But I don't want to do big and all that. Been there done that."
"Me too." Gibbs said as he kissed her again. "I've got an idea. Let me make the arrangements."
"You want me to let you take care of things."
"Yup."
"I take it you've been thinking about this." Maggie raised an eyebrow as she asked.
"Maybe." Gibbs replied.
"I must be crazy, but okay."
All Maggie knew was they were getting married the next weekend; besides the Navy Chaplain Gibbs had called in a favor from, the only other person who would be present was Jamie. No one else knew. That was how they both wanted it for now. Apparently Abby was really into bachelor parties and had things left over from Jimmy's party she wanted to use. Gibbs managed to sneak out of the office on a Thursday afternoon to meet Maggie at City Hall to get their marriage license.
"Something is up with him." Tony commented when Gibbs left with a big smile on his face.
"Going out for a nooner?" Ziva teased him.
Tony shuddered. "I know it's just Gibbs to you, but his nooners would involve my sister and I'd rather not think about that. About them doing that."
"Tony, they live together. Do you not think they have sex? They sleep in the same bed." Ziva stated to Tony.
"I'd rather not think about their sex life. Let's think of McGee-I'm-Not-Getting-Any's sex life." Tony looked over to McGee at his desk.
"I'd rather you didn't think of mine either." McGee piped up.
The phone on Gibbs' desk rang. The three of them looked at the phone daring the other to answer it. Ziva finally got up and answered.
"Special Agent Gibbs' desk, Agent David speaking. No Chaplain, he has stepped out. Yes I will." Ziva hung up. "That was odd. Why would a Chaplain be calling Gibbs?"
"Don't know." McGee answered from his desk. "Maybe a case."
"We don't have any cases right now Probie." Tony reminded his teammate.
"So why would he need a Chaplain?" Ziva asked again. Then her eyes lit up. "You do not think…"
"Think what?" Tony wanted to know.
"You know, maybe you are going to get a brother in law?"
Tony made a face. No, Maggie wouldn't be getting married without telling him. Would she?
No one dared ask Gibbs any questions when he came back. Ziva gave him the message about the Chaplain calling. Gibbs thanked her and spent the rest of the day in MTAC.
"You don't believe in tradition do you?" Gibbs asked Maggie from the hallway through their closed bedroom door.
"No, but I would like to at least surprise you." Came her answer through the door.
"The Chaplain will be here in 15 minutes." He told her.
"And I'll be down in 14 minutes. Now let me finish getting ready."
Gibbs finished buttoning his white shirt he'd picked up from the cleaners earlier in the morning along with his dark grey suit. The ceremony was going to be simple and then he'd planned a romantic dinner for them after.
Maggie found a pale grey lace dress with a violet belt. It was fancy enough to be a wedding dress without being an actual wedding dress. She wore Tony's mother's pearl necklace and bracelet and her own mother's diamond studs. She heard the doorbell ring and assumed it was Jamie. He'd agreed to give Maggie away, be Gibbs' best man and the witness. He was bringing a date too he'd told them when he'd called the night before.
"Maggie, I think you want to come down and meet Jamie's date." Gibbs called from downstairs. She couldn't believe he actually yelled that.
"Gibbs." She said as she started down the stairs and stopped.
"Wow, you look amazing." Jackson Gibbs was standing between Jamie and Gibbs. "Though I would have preferred meeting my future daughter in law earlier than the actual wedding day."
"Dad." Gibbs rolled his eyes at his father. Other than his wedding to Shannon, Jackson hadn't been present at his other weddings. He should have thought of this on his own.
"Amazing is one word. You look hot Mom." Jamie told her.
"Hey, she's going to be my wife you know." Gibbs gave Jamie a gentler head slap than he would give to Tony.
"Yeah, well I'm going to be your step-son." Jamie countered.
"And I'm going to be your grandfather so stop sassing your Mom." Jackson told Jamie. "Go and get me water."
"How?" Maggie asked as Jackson gave her a hug.
"Jamie called me and told me what was going on." Jackson began to explain. "Now son, don't think I strong armed him. I've missed enough of your weddings, I'd be damned if I'd miss this one."
Gibbs smiled at his father and Maggie; this was going to be the last wedding that was for sure.
"We are going to be one big happy family." Maggie wrapped her arm around Gibbs waist. "What's one more witness?"
"Make that five more witnesses."
Tony appeared from the kitchen. "You can't keep a secret from your little brother."
"We managed all week." Gibbs told him.
"How did you find out?" Maggie wanted to know.
"I have my ways." Tony came over to Maggie and kissed her on her cheek.
"You mean McGee has his ways." Gibbs corrected.
"Boss, he pulled the seniority card and made me do it." McGee offered in his own defense.
"Besides, you need flowers." Abby walked into the room carrying a small bouquet of Maggie's favorite flowers. "And bridesmaids."
Ziva took out a boutonniere from a plastic box that matched Maggie's flowers and pinned it on Gibbs' lapel. "And the groom needs his too."
"The Chaplain is here." Ducky informed the party standing in the living room. "Shall we get the show on the road?"
Two hours later Maggie stood on the back porch looking down at the people in the patio. Several boxes of pizza were on the table in the middle of the patio. The wedding party drank wine and beer and shared stories with each other. Maggie felt Gibbs' arms slide around her waist from behind. His lips grazed the side of her neck.
"What do you think of your big happy family now?" he asked her. "Bit of a surprise isn't it?"
"I like surprises." She told him. "Like the kind I find in the bathroom aisle at Lowe's."
"I think it's time we let the newlyweds have some privacy." Ducky said as he looked up and saw Maggie and Gibbs on the top stair.
Goodnights were said as everyone left. Gibbs let Freckles out for her nightly bathroom break while Maggie rinsed out the wine glasses in the sink. Gibbs came back in, gave Freckles a treat and told her to go to bed.
"You were talking to me or the dog?" Maggie asked flirtatiously from the sink.
Gibbs walked over to his wife and pulled her into him. He kissed her slowly, taking his time going from her top to her bottom lip before moving to run his tongue down her neck.
"Watch it buddy, kiss me like that and you better be prepared to take your clothes off." She warned him.
"Oh I plan on taking mine off." He nipped at one side of her neck. "But yours are coming off first." He nipped the other side of her neck and stopped.
Maggie was just about panting waiting for him to say what he was going to do next.
"And then?" she finally asked.
"Then we are going to make use of that shower I helped you fix."