A/N: Thanks to my wonderful friend and beta, harmonfreak1! Also thanks to everyone who has let me know your thoughts by reviewing; those reviews are much appreciated!

Chapter Six

Walking into the hospital, a young adult plastered to each side of him, Gibbs found himself watching every face. Then he relaxed, so far from what Tobias had said and their experience today, the attackers had been obvious thugs. Another reason to put faith in DiNozzo's theory of a low level underling, there was little sophistication or finesse to be found in any of the incidents. They had the elevator to themselves on the way to the 5th floor.

When they reached their floor, DiNozzo was guarding one side of the doorway to Tim's room, Sacks had the other side. Gibbs disconnected from Rob and Sarah long enough to give each man a pat on the shoulder as he passed into the room. Inside, he found a confused Vance, an exhausted Ziva, an even more exhausted Tim and an upset Ducky. Ducky, geez! Handing the children to Ziva, who gave them each a kiss, Gibbs gave her a quick kiss, then ignoring everyone else, gently grabbed his son and held him close. He wasn't sure who was comforting whom but he was damn glad to be there. Tim pulled him down and he sat on the edge of the bed still holding Tim, Sarah and Rob soon perched on the other side. Ziva joined them and when Geordie and Damon came in, Geordie climbed right up there with them. They held on for a few brief moments and then Gibbs kissed each one. "Ok, kids, time to get this show on the road. Does anyone know if we have a private room we can get into?" Vance spoke, "Yes, Jethro, I've arranged for a room large enough for all of us." Tony brought in a wheelchair for Tim who started to protest but gave it up, knowing it would be a lot faster to ride in the chair than his slow walk. As Tony rolled him out of the room, Sacks following him, Vance leaned over to Gibbs, "Why is the FBI here?"

Gibbs had a funny look on his face as he answered, "Because it's their problem, or rather Fornell's. There was no NCIS involvement until the mob took my children hostage today."

"So this is an FBI case that somehow you're involved in? "

"Not exactly. It's a personal vendetta against Fornell and Sacks swore he'd do whatever he could to help."

"And you're helping Fornell, right, you're on his side?"

"Yeah, Leon, the man was desperate and took refuge at my house. I had no idea what was going on. They kidnapped his daughter…she's all right, we sent her away for a few weeks."

"My God man, why didn't you…."

"Couldn't Leon, it was a personal problem and I didn't want to put you or the agency in the middle. We had no jurisdiction."

"You could have told me…"

"Needed to keep you safe, Director. You and your family. Never intended to get my family this deep but it escalated and had no choice."

"That's why the three of you had personal days yesterday."

"Yeah, I didn't want to bring DiNozzo or David into it but they know me too well, got in my face and wouldn't let go. Come on, let's join the others and we'll tell you the whole story. "

Vance led Gibbs to a large room, a staff meeting room, at the other end of the 5th floor. When he arrived, he was surprised to see his buddy Joe there as well. He smiled at him, the man sketched him a small salute.

Gibbs stood at the front and looked at everyone gathered. Rick Carter and Jim O'Brien were there and he nodded to them. "All right, most of you know a lot of this, two of us know most of it and some of you don't know anything yet. This concerns a personal vendetta by a member of the FBI's management staff against Tobias Fornell. Ron, want to help me with this? "

"Yeah, sure, Gibbs. I'm Ron Sacks with the FBI. I'm here as a private citizen today though, helping Gibbs protect his family while he protects my boss, Tobias Fornell." Ron told the group what had happened, starting with Calloway's sudden illness, mentioning the personal history between Fornell and Gehob and the reason for the enmity between the two.

When he listed the incidents against Diane Sterling, Emily Fornell, Tobias' elderly father and Fornell himself, Gibbs heard his fellow agents muttering to each other. Ron paused and looked at Tim, "I've already told you this, man, but I'll do it again and I know Tobias will too, when it's safe for him to be in public. We hated what we did to you, hated every second, we never had any doubt you'd be cleared because there was no evidence, it was only a vague remark passed along by a young agent who thought it might be laugh worthy. There was only fear and anger. Tobias was terrified that the next time Emily disappeared they'd never find her –or find her body."

Tim nodded and signed to him, Geordie stood and translated, "I understand now, Ron. I've raised kids, and I know the horrible fear of losing one. I've lost a sister and a brother, and I know if anything could have stopped their deaths, our parents would have done it in a heartbeat. "

When Tim finished signing, Gibbs, sitting at Tim's side, took his hand and held it to his heart. Sarah, on the other side of him, curled into him and he grabbed her hand and Rob's. Ron finished what he had to say and then Gibbs rose again. He finished the story, telling of Tobias' desperate bid for sanctuary at his house and the events following, wrapping up with the hostage incident at his home. As he finished, he fished the tracker found on his truck, now in an evidence bag, and gave it to Vance.

Vance, still holding the evidence bag, stood up. "Thank you Agent Gibbs and Agent Sacks. Agent DiNozzo, Officer David, temporary agents Geordie Perry and Damon Werth, thank you for your service, you've done well. I'd like to talk later with both temporary agents about extending your service. We have a lot of civilians in this room. Mr. Murray, I understand you've played a part and plan to continue. I'll take that under advisement as this problem is now under NCIS jurisdiction. Dr. Mallard, I appreciate your presence. Agents Carter and O'Brien, you are on the task force, Rick, you have the lead. Gibbs, I know you're going to fight me on this but because your family has been targeted, I need you officially off the case. You'll be working closely with us and your family; your entire family will be under NCIS protection. I understand you've already seen to the safety of Diane Sterling and Emily Fornell. What about Victor, he's not a trained field agent, even if he is with DHS."

Sighing, Vance, not waiting for an answer about Victor, turned to Gibbs' family and Joe Murray, "I understand your need to be with your father and brother, and Mr. Murray, your willingness to help and that's commendable; however, you will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement." Joe Murray and the non-Federal Agent Gibbses nodded in acceptance.

"Very well, back to Victor Sterling."

Ron spoke up, "Fornell said nothing had happened to Mr. Sterling; his theory was that ADD Gehob stayed away from him because of his employment with DHS."

"Good to know, thank you Agent Sacks. All right, our task is to uncover who in the mob is directing these thugs and how that person or persons is connected to ADD Gehob. "

DiNozzo raised his hand and when Vance nodded to him, he stood and shared his theory, based on his work in Baltimore, of a low level underling. Vance listened carefully, "Thank you Agent DiNozzo, that's a sound theory, based on my own experiences investigating organized crime." Tony sat down feeling he had finally shown his worth to Vance. Sitting directly in front of him, Tim reached a hand back for a low high five.

"Agent McGee, do you know how soon you'll be returning to work?"

Before Tim could answer, Ducky rose. "He has at least three more weeks before he can be cleared for desk duty, Director."

"Three weeks, I see. Thank you Doctor. Agent McGee, perhaps you'll be able to recommend the best person in Cybercrimes to help us."

Tim crossed his arms and his stubborn look appeared; Sarah buried her face in her father's arm, giggling and Rob was having his own difficulties keeping a straight face.

Ducky, seeing the look, sighed. "Timothy, you cannot, you need the time to heal. Director, must this be decided now?"

"No, Doctor Mallard, Agent McGee, my apologies, we can certainly discuss this later." Watching his friend's newly acquired family, Joe Murray was amused by the familiar look on the face of the young agent. It was so much like Gunny Gibbs that Murray thought he would have known they were father and son without being told.

"All right, Agents Carter and O'Brien, protection detail starts now. You'll need protection for Agent McGee's room, both inside and guarding the door, as well as for Officer David, unless you plan to stay with the rest of the family, Ms. David?"

She smiled, "If that is all right with Agent Gibbs, then yes, that will be fine." Sarah whispered, "Good another girl in the house, girl power." Gibbs smiled and Vance seeing the look out of the corner of his eye thought that smile looked good on his usually dour lead agent.

"Agent Gibbs, there is one member of your team we haven't discussed, Doctor Palmer. Agent Sacks, with what you know and Tony, with your experiences, do you believe Jimmy is in any danger?" Tony almost leapt out of his seat when the Director used his first name. Sacks replied first, giving Tony time to regroup.

"I'm not sure, Director Vance. If he is, however, then Dr. Mallard is also in danger."

Tony had been thinking, "It's possible, Director, that when we cut off access to the Gibbses and having already cut off access to the Fornells, they may choose to target Drs. Mallard and Palmer. I would say that would have to come from Gehob though, not the mob. Whoever is spearheading this for Gehob has already spent a considerable amount of money and resources targeting Fornell and his family and now Gibbs' family. They've just incurred attorney's fees and bail money for the two arrested this morning. This underling has to account for everything he spends and this isn't a particularly powerful family. Having said all that, I'd still recommend protection to be on the safe side."

"In that case, Director, young Dr. Palmer will be staying with me for the duration."

Gibbs frowned at the mention of the Fornell family, something wasn't right there.

When he realized the problem, he shot to his feet. "Director Vance, we've got a gap. Tobias' father lives in a retirement community in Florida. As Agent Sacks reported, he's already been harassed and we haven't yet seen to his safety."

"Consider it done, Jethro and thank you for bringing that to my attention. Is Fornell's mother alive?"

Sacks and Gibbs shook their heads. "Mrs. Fornell died last year, Director Vance."

"Thank you Agent Sacks."

"Agent McGee, what about your grandmother, your uncle, aunt and cousins? And Commander McGee's mother?"

Once again, Geordie verbalized his brother's signed comment: "I don't know if they are at risk. They haven't been to my dad's house in several weeks, so might not have shown up on the radar. Penny is still traveling, she's not in the country right now, not expected back for another month. Ron, did you know we found long lost relatives?"

Ron shook his head, he hadn't been aware of that or of McGee's paternity until last week.

Tim looked over to Rob and signed, "Uncle Jim is afloat, right?" Rob answered verbally, "Yes, our Uncle is afloat, won't be back for another three weeks. So our aunt and cousins are alone in the house."

As Vance opened his mouth to ask about their grandmother, Ducky stood, "As Maisie is living in my house already, I see no problem having Claire, Callum and Ainsley joining us. There's plenty of room, yes, including young Dr. Palmer."

Rob added, "Callum and Ainsley are on break from school for the next month, if that matters."

Agent Carter answered, "It does, thank you Dr. Gibbs. Director Vance, if that covers the protection detail, permission to step out to get this rolling. I'd like to have everyone in place before these folks leave here."

Before Vance could answer, Gibbs stood up, "Hang on, Rick, I need to contact Claire and let her know to pack for the three of them."

"Go, the two of you. Gibbs I want you back here after your call. " Gibbs nodded at his boss.

Stepping into Tim's room to make his call, Gibbs found a bouquet of lilies had been delivered. Instead of calling Claire, he visually inspected the flowers and saw no card. Stepping out of the room and closing the door, he ran to the nurses' station. "Anyone see who delivered flowers to Tim's room?" One of the nurses remembered seeing the back of someone in a dark jacket and a 'big head' going into the room.

"A big head?"

"Yes, it was out of proportion with the rest of him, that's why I remembered."

"Thanks. We may have a situation on our hands, better call up your evacuation procedures and stand ready." He called Vance and explained the situation, ending with , "We need the bomb squad."

"Agreed, I'll do that and you and O'Brien handle the evacuation, better make it floors 4 through 6."

Gibbs turned back to the nurses' station, "We have a possible explosive device in Tim's room. The bomb squad is on its way, but we need to evacuate this entire floor, as well as the 4th and 6th floor."

Carter hadn't gotten far when O'Brien called him; he came running up the stairs to help with the evacuation. The staff did their best to remain calm for the sake of their patients, they had had regular drills, including one the previous week.

O'Brien , David and DiNozzo stayed with the family as they were evacuated. Once the hospital staff had their process going, Gibbs rejoined his family and the protection detail. Vance's own protection detail swooped in and carried him off, despite his protests. Before he left, he extended Geordie and Damon's 'temporary agent' status through the emergency.

Lights blazing, sirens blaring, the bomb squad arrived and inspected the lilies. They found another tracker as well as an explosive device. At Gibbs' request, all their vehicles were inspected by the squad, they found trackers and explosive devices on Gibbs' truck, DiNozzo's Mustang and Ziva's mini Coop. Ducky's Morgan, Damon's Honda and Sacks' Acura were clean. While they were still in the evacuation zone, Gibbs called Claire and told her the current situation and that she and the children would be picked up by Agent Carter and his team for delivery to their safe house, Ducky's home. He gave her Rick's badge number, however Ducky, standing close by, grabbed the phone, "Claire, I shall be with them so there will be no doubt."

Glaring at his old friend, Gibbs went over the situation in his head and found that was probably a good idea. Taking Ducky aside, he gave him his backup weapon. When Ducky resisted, Gibbs pointed to Sarah and Rob and the hospital. The older man sighed and took it, checking the safety and placed it carefully in his jacket pocket. Carter was ready to leave, so with a pat on the shoulder from Gibbs, Ducky joined Rick and they rolled off to the Hubbards.

The bomb squad gave the all clear; the staff started moving patients back to their rooms. Gibbs took over for his son, wanting to spend more time with him. "I don't like leaving you here without a family member."

Tim signed, "Tony is going to stay over tonight."

"Ok, that's good, Timson. I'm going to stay for awhile now, I still haven't got to spend any time with you."

"Your guards won't like that, not even sure Sarah and Rob will."

"Maybe we'll all stay for a couple of hours, although I really wanted some alone time with you."

"How about I promise that when I'm discharged, we spend a whole day together, just the two of us?"

"Ok, son, it's a deal."

They reached Tim's floor and found everyone waiting for them. Ducky, Damon Tony and Ron were the only ones who'd left. Damon drove to his apartment to get more of his things since his stint as a NCIS Agent was being extended; Ron declined NCIS protection against his own agency politely but with just a hint of irony in his voice. Tony went back to his place to clean up and bring back clothes for the morning, since he would be staying overnight with Tim. The family spent several calm hours with each other, just catching up and enjoying their time together. Ziva was allowed to curl up in an empty room next to Tim's and slept for a few hours. As Tim, Sarah, Rob and Gibbs were playing cards, Dr. Bwookie stepped into the room.

"Hello Gibbses, ah, we're missing one, no two."

"Ziva's next door sleeping, Dr. Bwookie and Tony went home for a little bit."

"They just can't stay away from this place, can they Sarah? Ah, well, imagine my surprise when I logged in a little while ago and found we'd had a bomb scare and evacuation earlier today. Now that didn't have anything to do with my Gibbses, did it?"

She was met with dead silence, "Oh no, I was teasing. Gibbs, really?"

Gibbs nodded and told her what little he could.

"Oh my dear Lord, you folks certainly lead exciting lives. I'm very happy you found that thing before it went off, Gibbs, I'm partial to your son here, not to mention my co-workers and other patients!"

She got a small smile from Gibbs, half smiles from Geordie and Tim, but only blank expressions from Sarah and Rob. "Mmm, Gibbs, may I buy you a cup of coffee?"

"Geordie, Tim, kids, you ok if I leave for a bit? Yes, I'll tell Eastman where I'm going. I've got my Sig." Gibbs and the doctor left the room, Gibbs stopping to tell Agent Eastman where he was going. Agent Miller normally would have been inside the room with Tim, but with Geordie still assigned as an NCIS Agent, Carter had authorized Miller to guard Ziva's temporary sleeping quarters.

Dr. Bwookie was quiet as they walked to the staff lounge. Once they had their coffees in hand, she gestured to a comfortable looking couch. When Gibbs was seated, she sat at the other end and said, "Need to tell you I think your two youngest are having problems with what happened today."

Gibbs sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah and to make it worse they were both physically threatened earlier today…by the same people that planted that bomb."

"Gibbs, I've learned some things about your family - and you, Tim, Ziva, Tony and Geordie, you're trained for this, your two youngest are not."

"I know, Doc and they were having problems before this…escalated."

"Will it be over soon?"

"Better be."

"I'm not a psychiatrist, but in my opinion, they should have professional help and I think family counseling would be a good idea too."

"Ok, Doc, whatever it takes. I can retire but for the others, this is what we do. And Tim… he's determined to get back in the field, we haven't talked about that lately."

"He's making good progress but we really won't know until he's through his physical therapy and been evaluated. Do you have doubts?"

"About Tim? No, never, not since the day I met him at Norfolk. He was a 6'2" round faced kid – geez, he looked like he was 15, was only in his early 20s - wearing an ugly suit at least a size too big. We had a really bad case and here he was, wearing a mask, you know, like a surgical mask, over his mouth and nose. And gloves, but we all wear gloves at a crime scene. I said something snotty about the mask but he never budged, it was a hazmat situation and he was following protocol no matter what the sarcastic guy from DC said. When I later said I wanted to talk to a specific officer, he warned me about him, said he chewed nails, I called him out for that remark and he stood right up to me. I watched him for a year after that, he was and is an electronic wizard, so I'd get him TAD'd up from Norfolk for a case. He and #7, Abby, the one you haven't met, were dating so she was very happy when I'd bring him up to work with us. I finally got approval to add him to the team and promoted him to our probationary field agent. God, we were awful to him, not Abby, that came later, but DiNozzo, Kate and I. Especially me and Tony, Kate would sometimes be nice to him. And he just took everything, soaked it up like a sponge. Unfortunately, that pattern continued until this past couple of years; even when Ziva replaced Kate, she fell right in with us, although obviously things changed there. Anyway, things have changed but he's one of the best damn field agents I've ever seen and he is the best one I've ever trained."

"So you'd prefer to have him out in the field with you?"

"Yes and no and I'm beginning to understand why Vance keeps nudging him to transfer off my team. Regs are not clear but they're mostly against having close relatives on the same team and especially as Team Lead and subordinate. Vance let him stay because we four were already family, I couldn't see that it would much difference as far as work. I was wrong about that. But…yes because he's so good at what he does, he's worked hard to get there and yes because I want him where I can watch his six and he mine. No because I'm his father and I can't stand to see him hurt; that fall, Doc, for a few minutes I didn't know if he was alive or dead and it nearly broke me, that's why I say I was wrong about us working together not being any different. It is." He paused, "And no because I see what it's doing to Sarah and Rob. They went from worrying about one brother at NCIS and one in Special Forces to adding a father, sister and another brother in the same dangerous line of work."

"Quite a dilemma you got there, Gibbs."

"Yeah, that's for sure." He paused, "Doc, not to change the subject or anything, but when this is over and Tim's not your patient any more, would you have dinner with me?"

"I'd like that Gibbs, is that with your tribe or without?"

"Without!"

"Not that I'm not fond of them all, but that works for me."

"Great, Doc."

"Since we're going on a date at some point in the future, I think you can call me by my first name, Gibbs. It's Barbara."

"Barbara Bwookie? And I thought my parents were crazy - I'm Leroy Jethro, but I mostly use Jethro."

"Jethro it is then and yes, I have that name discussion with people all the time. Almost as bad as 'John Johnson', harder to say though." They talked for a few more minutes before Jethro expressed a need to get back to his kids. He checked in with Miller on the way back, Ziva was still snoring peacefully. Eastman reported no problems and yes, he was keeping his eyes open, Agent Gibbs.

Gibbs entered his son's room to find his two youngest curled up around their brother, sound asleep. Tim was reading his Kindle and Geordie was playing solitaire. Both reported having heard positive reports from Tony, Damon and Ducky. Tim signed that Tony was on his way back over to stay the night with him.

Gibbs nodded, it was time to wake Rob and Sarah and get everyone home. They waited until Tony arrived, woke Ziva and piled in the truck and Ziva's Mini. Geordie insisted on riding with Ziva, much to everyone else's amusement. Both the truck and Mini were checked again and nothing was found. The ride home was uneventful for Gibbs, Rob and Sarah; they were happy to see the agents walking the perimeter and to find Damon inside.

Geordie looked a little green, however, and when Damon saw him, he started laughing and asked if he'd ridden with Ziva. Geordie nodded as his brother handed him a glass of ginger ale. "Been all over the world on missions, some that will never come off the classified list, never got more than a scratch and here I am, brought down by an NCIS mad driver."

His father laughed, "Can't blame that on NCIS, she was already driving like that when she came to us."

"Ah, funny, I've ridden with other Israelis and their driving has been nothing like hers. Ziva, who taught you to drive?"

"My parents, mostly my father. Rumor has it that he was promoted to his current position so that he would always have a driver and never again be allowed to get behind the wheel." She was pleased that her little story made her family laugh so hard, although puzzled as she did not think it was all that amusing.

Damon asked to cook dinner, permission was happily, even gleefully given, and so the family feasted again that evening. None of them lasted long past cleaning up the dishes, they were all exhausted from the crises of the day. The boys brought up a twin bed from storage in the basement and installed it in Sarah's room for Ziva. Damon took the couch and was asleep before the rest of them were all the way up the stairs. Gibbs kissed them all good night, hoping to himself that none of them had nightmares. He too was asleep before his body full settled onto the bed. He woke once during the night when he heard Sarah cry out, but as he stood outside the girls' door, he heard Ziva comforting her. He waited until they were quiet again and then went back to bed and to sleep.

They were all up fairly early Sunday morning and enjoyed more of Damon's pancakes. Tony reported in from the hospital that the night had been quiet; he was having brunch at Ducky's and then taking the day to relax. Both Gibbs and Ducky had offered him shelter, but he'd declined, preferring to stay in his own place. He had an excellent security system and privately he didn't think he was at risk, he'd kept a pretty low profile since Fornell and his problems had landed on Gibbs' doorstep.

Gibbs and Damon made a trip to the hospital to see Tim who dozed off and on all day, also exhausted from the events and emotional strain of the previous days. They stayed with him most of the afternoon, only leaving after Ziva came in with Rob. Sarah wasn't feeling well, so had stayed home. When Gibbs looked alarmed, Ziva pulled him aside and told him that Sarah had bad cramps and didn't feel like leaving the house and Geordie had stayed with her. Tim had already figured it out and smiled at his dad thinking that the man had two, no, three daughters now and with two of them currently living with him he'd have to get used to some changes.

Gibbs wanted to stay all night with Tim and after a brief 'discussion' with Ziva, got his way. When the dinner cart came clattering down the corridor, Ziva handed her keys over to Gibbs and she, Rob and Damon left for home. They'd figured it would be easier for 6' Gibbs to fit in the Mini than for 6'4" Rob to cram in. He'd joked with Ziva about putting in a sunroof so he'd have enough space and they all laughed at the mental image of his dark curly head, neck and shoulders popping out of the roof of the car.

A/N: I'll be posting as much as I can of the rest of this story over the weekend. I'm getting ready to move;the move itself starts Sunday and goes through Tuesday. Additionally I'm having problems with my laptop, the power button of all things and unfortunately it will have to be powered off during the move. If I don't get it all posted before the move or my laptop won't start up, never fear, my awesome beta harmonfreak1 has all the chapters and I'll work with her to get them posted.