A/N: Happy Holidays, my wonderful readers! I hope it is everything you dreamed of and that you have a lovely time! This one has quite the ending, so I hope you're ready for it. Thank you so much for staying with me and enjoy the ride!


Gibbs

Gibbs was just walking up the stairs from his basement when he heard Jenny's scream shatter the quiet of the night. He gave absolutely no thought to the empty mason jar that fell from his hand as he bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time in his urgency. Carly's bedroom door opened as he reached the top landing, her hair disheveled and her eyes confused, but he didn't stop to offer her an explanation, throwing open the door to the master bedroom.

"Jen?"

She didn't answer, but even in the darkness, he could see her sitting up in the bed, her head on her knees as she fought against the tears building behind her closed eyelids. Her entire body was shaking as she took in ragged breaths and when he made his way closer, she flinched at the sound of his footsteps on the floorboards. The mattress dipped with his added weight as he sat down next to her, immediately reaching out to place his hand lightly on her back, hoping he was providing even a small measure of comfort.

"Nightmare?"

She nodded, her eyes still closed, and he wrapped his arm around her, kissing her hair softly.

"Want to talk about it?"

Her silence spoke volumes and he kissed her hair again, feeling her body trembling beneath his lips. He knew that he would probably be able to guess what her nightmare had been about, he'd had his own fair share in the past few days, but he knew that if he pushed her too far, she would never reach out to him again. The knock on the door made her jump and when Gibbs glanced up to see Carly standing in the doorway, he said nothing.

"Can I come in?" she asked softly.

He nodded, knowing that her presence would make Jenny feel better, and when she sat down on the bed, she hugged the redhead tightly, kissing her cheek as she did so.

"If you wanted to stay up all night, you could have said so. We could've had a girls night," Carly said lightly, hoping to make Jenny smile.

It worked, though her smile was weak and strained, and when she raised her head from her knees, Gibbs wasn't surprised to see unshed tears shining in her eyes. Carly laid her head on Jenny's shoulder, reaching for her shaking hand as she moved closer, and when she spoke, she kept her voice carefully quiet.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Jenny sighed, closing her eyes tightly.

"Do you remember that case that I told you about? With the video?"

Carly nodded.

"No matter what I do, I keep dreaming about it. But each time, there are little differences. Like, instead of Hannah, it's Heather. Or my mother. Or you. Or Kelly. I just...I can't get it out of my head. I know it comes with the territory, but...I..."

Jenny trailed off and Gibbs took the opportunity to slip unnoticed from the room, intent on finding her a drink that would calm her frayed nerves, and he frowned as he walked through the dark living room. He would never admit it, but he'd been having essentially the same nightmare ever since the case had come across DiNozzo's desk, and while he hated that Jenny was suffering, it was strangely comforting to know that he wasn't alone.

He quickly located the bottle of bourbon, grabbing an empty glass and making his way back up the stairs, hoping he hadn't been gone long. Carly glanced in his direction when he walked back into the bedroom but said nothing, merely watching him as he poured a generous amount of bourbon into the glass. Jenny accepted it wordlessly, drinking half of it in one go, draining it within less than a minute, and she sighed as she reached out to run her fingers through Carly's long hair.

"I didn't mean to wake you, Little One."

Carly waved her words away, smiling lightly.

"It's fine. I don't have anything planned for tomorrow except helping Evan move some of her things out of her parent's house."

Jenny frowned.

"She found an apartment?"

"Yeah," Carly said (a little sheepishly, Gibbs thought), "I was going to mention it over the weekend. She asked me if I wanted to move in with her the other day."

"Have you made up your mind yet?"

Though she shook her head, Gibbs could tell just by her quiet demeanour that she had. He knew she was only trying to spare Jenny's feelings and had she been less shaken by her nightmare, he knew Jenny would have picked up on it as well. He suspected that she knew anyway, but he had to give her credit for giving nothing away as she nodded.

"Well, if you do decide to move in with her, let me know and I can help you get ready."

Carly frowned, glancing at Gibbs as she stood up.

"You wouldn't be upset?"

Jenny shook her head, kissing Carly's hand once before letting go.

"Of course not, Little One. You do have to move out eventually. Your dad and I would find a way to entertain ourselves, you know."

Carly laughed, shaking her head.

"I didn't need to know that, Mom."

Gibbs smirked, exchanging a look with Jenny as Carly hugged him, and when she had disappeared into her own room, he sat down next to the redhead, looking at her seriously.

"You sure you're okay with her leaving?"

Jenny nodded, laying her head on his shoulder, her fingers absentmindedly tracing patterns on his thigh.

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I'll miss her like crazy, but...it's not like she won't come visit us."

He laughed, letting his fingers slip into her hair, and when he kissed her cheek, she smiled.

"You really should get some sleep."

"I know," she said softly, "but can we just stay like this for awhile?"

He nodded, entwining their fingers together.

"Sure, Jen. Anything for you."


Shepard

Her legs were burning with each step she took, but still Jenny continued to run brushing her hair out of her face as she ran. She knew that it might not be her safest idea, but running had always cleared her head when she was plagued by a myriad of uncomfortable thoughts. She turned at the far end of the gym, so focused that she didn't even notice the door opening, and when she realised she wasn't alone in the room anymore, she frowned. Tony DiNozzo was standing in the entrance, waiting for her to stop, and when she finally reached him, she knelt down to pick up her water bottle from where it sat on the ground.

"Getting in shape for swimsuit season, Red?"

Jenny laughed, shaking her head.

"Believe it or not, toned thighs and a tight ass are not motivation enough to run for hours on end."

He frowned.

"How long have you been in here?"

"About two and a half hours," she answered, taking a long drink from her water, "What can I do for you?"

DiNozzo sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"We still don't have much of anything to help us on our case. We've been working with the local LEOs that found the bodies, but...whoever did this took a lot of precautions to not be caught."

Jenny nodded, still trying to catch her breath, and when she spoke again, she tried to keep her voice steady.

"I know you're all giving this all you have and you have no idea how much I appreciate it. But I can't stress enough how important it is that we find this bastard."

DiNozzo nodded, his eyes searching hers seriously.

"Any ideas on anything we might have missed?"

She thought for a long moment, trying to think of anything that might have slipped through the cracks, but when she came up with nothing, she sighed, her eyes meeting his sadly.

"No," she admitted, "We've covered every aspect I can think of. That's part of what pisses me off about this one so much. How could something so horrific happen in a way that leaves us no evidence? How could they just get away with it?"

"I don't know, Jenny. But we're going to figure this out. Somehow."

He placed his hand on her shoulder for a moment before walking closer to the door and just as he pulled it open, he turned, fixing her with a curious look.

"If it isn't to look good, what's your reason for running?"

"Zombie apocalypse," she quipped, giving him a small smile.


After several long hours in MTAC, Jenny finally made her way back to her office just as the sun was setting, pushing the large silver door open with slight difficulty. She hadn't so much as glanced in the direction of the squad room as she'd passed so she had no idea if Gibbs was still in the building, but she strongly suspected that he was. It wasn't like him to leave without her (unless she insisted), and when she turned on the light in her dark office, she bit back a scream when she realised that she wasn't alone.

Gibbs gave her a smirk as he leaned forward on her desk, knowing full well that he had startled her, and when she sighed, she fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," he replied simply.

"I can see that," she muttered sarcastically, "I meant why are you sitting in my chair instead of solving this case?"

"Annoying you is more fun."

Now she did roll her eyes, shaking her head as she walked around the desk, and when he stood up to allow her the chair, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes, visible even in the dim light.

"Jethro, why are you really here?"

"Needed a bit of a break," he admitted, "All the words were starting to blur and run together."

She nodded, understanding how he felt completely, and when she heard a low vibration coming from her pocket, she frowned. Pulling her phone free, she glanced at the display, hoping that when she answered, she didn't sound as exhausted as she felt.

"Hi, Little One."

"Hey, Mom. How's work?"

"Brutal. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Carly's voice was bright as Jenny put the call on speaker, "I just wanted to let you know that I wouldn't be home tonight. Evan wants me to stay with her on the first night in her new apartment. Is that okay?"

Jenny smiled.

"Of course. I appreciate you letting me know. Have a great time and tell Evan I said hello."

"I will. Love you!"

"Love you, too."

Carly hung up and as Jenny placed her phone back in her pocket, she gave Gibbs a tired smile.

"Well, looks like we have the house to ourselves tonight. What do you think we should do about that?"

Gibbs smiled, leaning down to kiss her, running his hand through her hair slowly.

"I can think of a few things."


Jenny's slightly damp hair curled around her shoulders as she returned from the shower wearing a satin pajama set comprised of shorts and a short sleeved shirt both in emerald green, a colour that she felt complimented her quite well. The bedroom lights were dim, a glass of bourbon waiting for her on the bedside table, and as she sat down on the bed, Gibbs came into the room, a smile on his face.

He took his place next to her, pulling her into his arms as he took a drink from his own glass of bourbon, and when he kissed her hair softly, she gave him a warm smile.

"What do you say, Jen? Should we just stay like this for the rest of the night?"

She nodded, laying her head on his shoulder after she had picked up her drink, taking a long swallow.

"You read my mind."

Gibbs ran his fingers through her hair, letting it slip between them, and when he kissed her, Jenny reached for his free hand, entwining their fingers together.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" she whispered.

"Hm...considering we've been together for over a year and you haven't killed me yet, I'd say I have a pretty good idea."

Jenny laughed, nodding as she moved closer.

"Fair point."

The easy silence between them lasted about ten minutes before Gibbs finally spoke, his voice quiet in her ear, and it was so unexpected that she nearly jumped.

"You know she's moving in with Evan. Don't you?"

Jenny nodded, her fingers tracing patterns across his leg slowly.

"I knew from the very first time she mentioned it as a possibility. It's going to kill me to let her go, but...I think it will be good for her. Evan's a responsible girl and she looks out for Carly. She'll be the first to let us know if things start to go downhill."

Gibbs nodded, his tone carefully light as he voiced his next question.

"Speaking of that...do you think it's possible that there might be something else there? At least on Evan's side of things?"

Frowning, Jenny thought seriously for a few minutes, trying to analyse the situation, and she shook her head slightly.

"I'm not sure. There might be, but I don't think she'd ever act on it. Carly's not interested in her romantically and I think Evan would respect that even if she did have feelings for her. It's definitely possible, though."

"Sure am gonna miss her," Gibbs said, his voice slightly rougher than usual.

"So will I."

Jenny raised her head from his shoulder, emerald eyes meeting sapphire, and she moved closer, her lips meeting his in a soft kiss.

"But, that also means we'll have more time for this."

He smiled, acknowledging her point.

"I love you, Jen."

"I love you, too."

She was silent for a moment, considering her next move, and she smiled, looking at him seriously.

"Jethro?"

"Hm?"

"Kiss me."

Considering how their day had started, Jenny didn't think it could have ended any better.


Gibbs

It took less time than he would have expected to load all of Carly's belongings into his truck and as he made sure that everything was secure, he glanced over his shoulder to the front porch where Carly was standing, feeling an almost overwhelming wave of missing Kelly. He'd always wondered how he would have reacted to her moving out and growing up, but when that experience had been so cruelly taken from him, he had pushed the thoughts to the deepest part of his mind. They were safer there, buried beneath all his long hours at work and bourbon soaked nights where they could never come back to haunt him.

Carly, through no fault of her own, had brought every one of those thoughts back to the surface, threatening to make him actually deal with the past and the pain that came along with it. He quickly pushed them aside when Jenny came out on the porch and he frowned at the paleness of her skin. She'd had a particularly rough start to the morning, the pain shooting through her body almost enough to leave her immobile, but he should have known that there was no way she would allow herself to miss dropping Carly off. He knew she would push through, no matter how serious the consequences, and though he loved her for her determination, he couldn't help but worry.

He wasted no time in helping Jenny up into the cab of the truck, and as he clicked his seat belt into place, he gave her a reassuring smile.

"She's gonna be fine, Jen."

Jenny nodded, though her answering smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I know. I'm just going to miss her so much."

He reached for her hand, running his thumb lightly over her skin.

"Me, too."

The drive was short, only a few miles away, and as he parked the truck next to Carly's car, he laughed quietly when he noticed that Evan was already waiting for them, hugging her best friend as soon as she was out of her car.

"Hi, Jenny. Hi, Mr. Gibbs."

He smiled at her politeness, always slightly amused that she used Jenny's first name and not his, and shook his head as he walked to the bed of his truck.

"Shouldn't take more than a few trips."

"Do you need help?"

Gibbs turned to look at Jenny, his expression serious as he answered her.

"I can handle it. You need to take it easy."

Jenny rolled her eyes as she climbed down from the truck, reaching for a box before he could stop her.

"Jethro, I'm not an invalid."

He'd known that she wouldn't accept his answer from the moment he'd given it, but he still couldn't stop the slight twinge of anger and annoyance at her stubbornness. Couldn't she understand that he was only trying to help? She passed him quickly, carefully balancing the box on her hip as she walked, and when he glanced at Carly, she merely shook her head and rolled her eyes.


As predicted, it only took four trips to move Carly's belongings into the apartment and as Gibbs wandered from room to room checking for various safety hazards, he could hear the sound of a guitar coming from Evan's room. He paused in the hallway, listening to her soft voice as she sang, smiling when he realised that he recognised the tune. Knocking lightly on the door, he waited until he heard her respond before pushing it open, and gave her a smile.

"Pretty good," he said, nodding at the guitar in her hands.

She smiled.

"Thanks. I was raised on Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. She's my favourite artist."

"Mind if I offer some advice?"

She nodded, placing the guitar next to her on the bed, and waited.

"Don't worry about being perfect. Focus on the emotions and sing songs that really mean something to you. Don't sacrifice emotion for technique."

Evan was quiet as she considered his words and she nodded, reaching for the guitar again. He waved once as he closed her door again, making his way back towards the living room where he could hear Carly and Jenny talking, and as he walked in, he smiled at them both.

"Jen, we should probably get going. Give Carly time to get settled in."

Though he knew she didn't want to leave, Jenny nodded, hugging Carly tightly before standing. She swayed slightly on her feet, steadying herself with a hand on the back of the couch, and Carly frowned, looking at her worriedly.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

Jenny nodded, though her skin was much too pale for Gibbs' liking.

"Just got a little dizzy," she said, "It happens sometimes if I stand up too fast."

Carly said nothing, but Gibbs could see that she didn't look entirely convinced, and when she stood up to hug him goodbye, he heard her voice in his ear.

"Make sure she takes it easy when you get home," she whispered.

He tightened his hold on her to show that he'd heard her, and when he kissed her cheek, he gave her a knowing look.

"If you need anything, call. We're always here when you need us."

Carly smiled.

"I will."

She hugged Jenny again and Gibbs could see the sheen of tears in her bright blue eyes and she held on to the redhead as tightly as she could.

"I'll call you every week. Probably so many times that you'll turn off your phone," she promised, making Jenny laugh.

"You'd better," she replied, kissing her hair lightly, "I love you so much, Little One."

"I love you, too. Both of you, so much more than you know."

After hugging her one last time, Jenny stepped back, giving her a warm smile.

"Call me this weekend and maybe we can go shopping and help you both get some things for the place. Anything you need. Dishes, furniture, you name it."

"Sure! Evan and I already have some ideas about how we want to decorate. It'll be great!"

Jenny smiled and Gibbs moved forward, hugging Carly again, and as he held her close, he slipped his hand into her jacket pocket, dropping the hundred dollar bill discreetly into it, giving her a smile as he let go.

"Love you, kid."

"Love you, too."

Carly waved from the doorway as they pulled away, and when he glanced at Jenny from the corner of his eye, Gibbs wasn't surprised to see her fighting back tears.

"She'll be okay, Jen."

She sighed.

"I know. I just...I never imagined being a mother, but now I can't imagine my life without her."

"She's three miles away from us," he reminded her with a laugh, "You can see her whenever you want."

Jenny nodded but said nothing, and it wasn't until she lightly smacked his arm that he looked at her again, raising his eyebrow in question.

"What the hell, Jen?"

"Don't think I didn't notice you giving her money, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I saw that bill in your hand."

He didn't answer and she shook her head.

"How much?"

Knowing that lying was useless, he shook his head, reaching for her hand.

"A hundred."

She laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek lightly.

"You're such a softie."

"Only with my girls," he answered with a smile, "Everyone else can go to Hell."

Jenny laughed again, rolling her eyes as they pulled into their driveway.

"Whatever you say, Jethro. Whatever you say."

As much as he hated to admit it, she was absolutely right.


The day after Carly moved out began normally enough, but by the time it had ended, Gibbs would come to regard it as one of the worst days of his life. His team had been called out on a lead concerning their case and while DiNozzo's team continued to work with the local LEOs, Team Gibbs had made their way out to the woods where their victims had been so brutally murdered. The anonymous tip had come late in the afternoon and in spite of the pouring rain, they had grabbed their gear, hoping that just maybe, they would catch some sort of break.

Kate Todd quickly began surveying the area, checking for any indication of the evidence that had supposedly been found, and as Gibbs knelt down on the wet grass, he blinked to keep the rain from his eyes.

"I'm not finding anything here, Gibbs," came Kate's voice from his right, "Lucas, do you see anything?"

"That would be a huge negative," was his reply, "I think the rain would have washed away whatever it is that we're looking for."

Gibbs sighed as he tried to find something, anything, that would give them some kind of explanation of why they were here, and when he heard Nicholas Garrett's voice from behind him, he frowned.

"Hey, am I going crazy, or is someone standing over there?"

Gibbs glanced up in the direction that Garrett was looking at, the rain making it difficult to see anything in its haze, and when he noticed the outline of someone standing among the trees, he immediately tensed.

Something was definitely wrong here.

The gunshots echoed before he truly had any idea of what had happened, and he instinctively moved to pull Garrett to the ground, his military training taking over.

"Get down!" he yelled, his voice hard to be heard in the noise.

Lucas Harrington's strangled yell broke through the sound of gunfire, and when he hit the ground, Gibbs could see the deep trail of blood that was already beginning to stain his khaki pants. He couldn't find Kate in the chaos and when he shoved Garrett towards the edge of the woods, his voice was urgent.

"Get back to the car and call an ambulance. As fast as you can, we're gonna need them."

Garrett nodded, bolting from where he stood, and as he ran, Gibbs would have sworn that he felt a bullet pass his shoulder. When he felt the steady drip of blood running down his arm, he frowned, unaware that he'd actually been hit, and as the last of the gunfire stopped, he blinked hard, hoping that it would help his eyes focus in the rain. They were alone now, no sign of the figure Garrett had seen, and Gibbs slowly pulled himself to his feet. He made his way over to Harrington, but when he noticed that the younger man wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention, he frowned.

"Harrington, you okay?"

Silence.

"Lucas, focus!"

"Gibbs..."

His voice was a strained whisper and when he followed his shaking finger, Gibbs frowned, his eyes refusing to understand what they'd seen. As it finally registered, he moved closer, kneeling down on the ground, completely forgetting the wound in his own shoulder.

"Kate?"

Her eyes were open, her breathing shallow, and when he noticed the bullet wounds in her chest, he swore, pressing his hands to them in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Hold on, Kate. Garrett's calling for help. It won't be long."

That much, at least, was true. He could already hear the approaching sirens, but even as he tried to offer her words of comfort, he knew that it was too late. Her skin was paler than fresh snow as the blood spilled through his fingers and as he applied as much pressure as he dared, he felt her breathing stop. Where were the damn paramedics?

He was so preoccupied with trying to help Kate that at first he didn't notice that Nicholas Garrett had returned, and when he felt his hand on his shoulder, he jumped slightly.

"Gibbs, the paramedics are here."

He nodded, moving out of the way to allow them room to work, and as they lifted Kate carefully from the ground, he glanced at the blood staining his shirt with a quiet curiosity.

"Gibbs, they want you and Lucas to go to the hospital, too. You both need medical attention."

Though he nodded his head, Gibbs hardly understood the words, his every thought focused on trying to think of anything that could help them figure out who had done this and why.

As it turned out, he had more questions than answers.


Shepard

Jenny was just opening her emails when Tony DiNozzo threw her door open without so much as a warning, and she jumped, raising confused green eyes to the younger agent.

"Agent DiNozzo, is there a reason for you barging into my office?"

One look at his face told her that something was wrong and she immediately felt her heart drop as she waited for him to speak.

"Gibbs and his team were out in the woods following up on an anonymous lead that they received. It was a set-up and they were ambushed. They're all at Portsmouth now."

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"Gunfire. Gibbs and Harrington were hit, both pretty minor from what Garrett told me."

She knew that he wasn't finished yet and as he spoke again, she noticed for the first time that his eyes were filled with tears.

"Kate's dead," he said, his voice breaking.

Jenny swore softly, wasting no time in standing, and when she stopped in front of him, she met his eyes slowly.

"You're sure?"

He nodded, blinking once, and as soon as his tears began to fall, he pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him just as tightly as he'd done for her in the past, and as she struggled to comprehend what had just happened, she felt her own tears begin to fall.


She was sitting at Gibbs' desk when he returned to the squad room, his eyes downcast, and it wasn't until he stopped directly next to her that he even seemed to notice her presence. She rose from the chair slowly, silently nodding her head toward the elevator, and as the silver doors slid closed behind them, she reached out to hit the emergency stop button. The blueish glow of the lights highlighted the remnants of tears on his face and when she let her fingers brush lightly over his skin, she could feel just how cold he was.

"Jethro..." she whispered, "I...I don't know how to help. What do you need?"

"Answers," he replied roughly, "I need to know who this bastard is, why we were lured out there, and how to make this right."

"You'll get them," Jenny said softly, her eyes landing on the bandage covering his shoulder, "Are you okay physically?"

Gibbs nodded, meeting her eyes for the first time, and she moved closer, her free hand moving to run a course through his damp hair.

"It wasn't your fault," she reminded him gently, "There was no way you could have known."

"It's my job to protect my team," he said, his voice angry now, "I'm the team leader, I should have been able to keep them safe! I couldn't do that and now Kate—"

"You did keep them safe. I spoke to Nicholas. He told me you were the one who got him out of harm's way. You got him out of there long enough to call for help and save Lucas. There's always a risk when you're out in the field. Every agent in the building knows that and you did everything you could for her. No one blames you for what happened. Kate certainly wouldn't, so don't blame yourself."

Jenny knew he didn't believe her, knew that he would spend countless hours examining every move he did or didn't make, agonise over every possible outcome, and she took a deep breath, trying to keep her tears in check.

"Please, Jethro," she whispered, "Don't do this to yourself. Not again."

"She was thirty years old," he said quietly, as though she hadn't spoken, "Did you know that?"

Jenny nodded, letting him work through his emotions.

"I did."

"She could have gotten married, had a family, hell, she could have just had a cat if she wanted..."

Jenny reached for his hand, looking at him seriously, and shook her head firmly.

"Jethro, stop. Torturing yourself won't bring her back. Isn't that what you told me when my mother died? Maybe you should take your own advice."

Gibbs was silent for a long moment before nodding and when he reached out to flip the emergency stop switch, Jenny wasn't surprised to see his hand shaking.


Hours after making a stop to the hospital to see Lucas Harrington, Jenny finally stepped out of the shower, wringing water from her long red hair and sighed as she realised that Gibbs was still in the basement. She'd used the shower as her way of being able to cry without him discovering her, but she would have been lying if she'd said it had helped. The weight of what had happened out in those woods still hung over her and she couldn't help but feel partially responsible herself. She was the one in charge of everything, after all. True, she hadn't fired the shots, had no way of knowing what would happen, but she still felt there was more she could have done.

Maybe she should have insisted that both teams go out together, made sure that they were always wearing bullet proof vests, there had to have been something...No matter how many times she told Gibbs not to blame himself, she knew it was not only useless but also hypocritical. Who was she to tell anyone how to deal with their grief? Her own coping mechanisms left much to be desired and she was certainly in no position to give advice on the subject.

The low ringing of her phone shattered her potentially destructive thoughts and she sighed as she made her way into the bedroom, still trying to sort through her own emotions.

"Shepard."

"Director Shepard, this is Nicholas Garrett. I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I really needed to talk to you. I—I can't do this. I'm not cut out to be a field agent."

"Agent Garrett, you've done fine work as a member of Agent Gibbs' team and—"

"Director, with all due respect, I have to disagree. I'm going to put in a transfer request to be moved to another department."

"Nicholas..." she paused, hoping that using his first name would soften him slightly, "what happened today was a tragic accident. It was no one's fault except the shooter's, and I don't want you to make a rash decision that you'll regret. Why don't you sleep on it tonight and make your decision when you're more emotionally equipped to do so?"

For a moment, she was sure her phone had dropped its connection, but when Garrett finally spoke again, his voice was soft, his tone heavier than she had anticipated.

"I'll think it over. Again, I'm sorry to have disturbed you at home. Have a good night."

He hung up before Jenny had a chance to even truly process what had happened, and she sighed as she placed her phone back on the bedside table.

"Who was on the phone?"

Jenny jumped, having not even noticed that Gibbs had entered the room and she sat down on the bed, patting the space next to her.

"Nicholas Garrett. He wants to transfer to another department. He's pretty shaken up over what happened."

Gibbs nodded.

"Maybe he should. He'd be safe then."

"That would leave just you and Harrington. And he's going to be out for a long time while he recovers. I can't let you do your job alone."

"Not your choice, Jen. If he wants to transfer, let him. If you don't, he'll either quit or get himself killed."

She hadn't considered that and when she nodded, he gave her a tight smile, reaching out to place his hand on her knee.

"I think we need to try to get some sleep."

"Are you actually going to?" she asked skeptically.

"Probably not," he admitted, "but it seemed like the right thing to say."

As he turned out the lamp on the bedside table, Jenny ran her fingers through her still-damp hair, pretending she didn't notice the way her hand was shaking.

How had this night taken such a drastic turn?


Gibbs

He woke up nearly thirty minutes before his alarm was due to sound, not even aware that he had actually fallen asleep. Jenny was still curled into his side, her head resting on his arm and he frowned as he realised he couldn't move it without waking her. Their conversation from the previous evening was still spinning around in his head and though he knew she made sense, knew there was no way he could have stopped Kate from being killed, he still found himself trying to think of some way he could have changed the outcome.

What if he'd ordered his team back to the car as soon as Garrett had noticed they weren't alone? What if he'd ignored the anonymous tip until the weather had cleared? What if—wait! A thought had just occurred to him and before he could stop himself, he reached out to gently shake Jenny, giving little thought to the early hour.

"Jenny, wake up."

"Hm? Jethro, what—"

"How did the shooter know we would follow up on the lead? How did they just happen to be there at the exact same time we were?"

Jenny merely stared at him, her tired mind struggling to follow his thought process.

"They had to be watching us, Jen. Whoever did this must know we were close to finding something and they were watching us. They gave us that tip to throw us off, to lure us out there and ambush us. They might come after DiNozzo's team next. Tell them not to follow up on any leads that don't come from the LEOs."

Jenny's eyes widened as she realised what he was saying and she sat up, bright green irises meeting his in the darkness.

"Jethro, what if someone inside the building is working with them? They would know our every move."

Shit. He hadn't even thought of that, but it made perfect sense. He pulled her closer and ran his hand over her hair lightly.

"If that's the case, we're fucked," she whispered.

Though he knew she was worried, Gibbs swore, no matter how long it took him, he was going to track down the person who was behind this, and he would make them sorry that they had ever decided to fuck with his team.

Or he would die trying.


A/N: Let me know what you liked/what you disliked! Reviews are love!