It had been a really long couple of days for one Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Easter had just come and gone and he was so done with the holidays by this point. He'd talked to his father, that relationship now well on the mend, but the holidays just simply were not the same without his girls. They never would be.

Jethro really wasn't trying to be difficult and he did appreciate Abby's many attempts to cheer him up, but he just couldn't shake the way he'd been feeling no matter how hard he tried to.

He missed them, he always did, but holidays and anniversaries were particularly hard, no matter how much time had passed. It never seemed to get any easier, and a hard case they'd just wrapped up had brought those messy emotions to the forefront.

On top of that, Abby had found herself in a rather dangerous situation that week, just adding to the stress he was already feeling.

With the situation being what it was, it really wasn't much of a surprise to him that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night prior, spending most of the night just tossing and turning on the couch.

Feeling mentally and physically exhausted, a wave of irritation hit him when his phone rang. Jethro picked up the cell, however, and quickly noted that it was his friend Tobias Fornell who was apparently calling. It's just after 0700 on a Saturday morning. What's so damn important, Tobias?

With a sigh, he answered the phone. "This better be good, Tobias."

"Believe me," Tobias said, "it is."

Jethro rubbed his face with his hands tiredly. "Well?"

"This isn't the kind of thing you discuss over the phone," Tobias stated, "but I need you to meet me for lunch."

He sighed again. "Where?"

"Shake Shack," Tobias informed him. "The one on M Street. Noon."

That was definitely an odd request for Tobias, so Jethro found himself feeling slightly concerned that his friend had gotten himself in trouble. "What'd you do, Tobias?"

"Hey!" Tobias immediately shot back, feigning offence. "Honestly, Jethro. Why do you automatically assume that I've done something?"

"Because I know you," he retorted, curiosity piqued when he could hear what sounded like a woman snickering at his comment. "So, what is it, Tobias?"

"Nothing bad," the other man tried to reassure him, "but we need to talk. Something came up while I was working this RICO case here in Philly." There was a short pause. "I'll be on my way back to D.C shortly."

"Alright," he said, not all that reassured. "I'll meet you at noon, I guess."

"See you then." His friend then immediately ended the call.

With the call ended, he closed his flip phone, placed it on the coffee table, and forced himself off the couch. I need some coffee.

Forcing himself to actually eat something, he grabbed the Washington Post and sat down with a hot cup of coffee and some toast.

He then just sat and read the paper for a while, before finally deciding to shower, get dressed and get some stuff done around the house that he hadn't had much time to do lately given everything.

He stopped by the hardware store to grab some things and headed back home to make most of the free time that he had before needing to meet up with Tobias.

There were a few maintenance items that needed to be checked off so to speak, and the old house could honestly use a fresh coat of paint, although that definitely wasn't getting done any time soon. He simply didn't have the time and didn't care enough to use the little free time he did have doing it.

He threw some laundry on and set to work on doing some maintenance around the house. He hadn't been able to get all that much done, however, before Ducky showed up with a couple of bags of groceries in hand.

Jethro gestured to the bags in his friend's hands. "What are those for?"

Ducky gave a little shrug. "All I know is that Fornell texted me and told me to grab you a few things and that you may want to make sure the house is in order. Apparently, he figured you could use a hand."

"Fornell wants to make sure the house is squared away?" Jethro inquired with a raised eyebrow. This situation was getting weirder and weirder by the minute.

"Apparently," Ducky said. "He wouldn't say why though, but I rather think we should err on the side of caution and do as the man asked."

"What is going on with him?" he grumbled. None of the current situation was making any sense and Jethro was now being left with even more questions than answers; something that he seriously hated.

The house was basically clean though, so that wasn't an issue. Jethro was rather organized by nature. Still, it almost seemed like he was being told to expect guests.

He pushed aside the confusion and frustration at the lack of answers though and decided to go along with whatever Tobias was playing at.

He rummaged through the fridge, throwing the milk away that was two days past its expiration date along with a couple of other things and replacing them with the new groceries that Ducky had just bought.

He then pulled out some cash and paid his friend back. He then sat down and had coffee and just listened to Ducky as the man shared a couple of stories, commenting every now and then until it was time for Jethro to leave, a statement made years ago running through his mind.

"Succinctly put," Ducky had said. "You're a man of few words, aren't you?"

"Well," Jethro had said, "you do all the talking."

It was rather funny how an off-hand remark from twenty-eight years prior could still ring so true. Ducky was still the talker of the two and Jethro was still not.

Saying goodbye to his friend, he hopped into the front of his pickup truck and drove to the restaurant where he was supposed to meet Tobias.

Hopefully, he'd get some answers soon. He was extremely confused, and Jethro hated not knowing what was going on. Especially when it had to do with his life.

Pulling into the restaurant parking lot, he wasted no time in jumping out of the truck and heading into the restaurant. He'd just gotten to the glass doors when Tobias got his attention, stopping him in his tracks.

"Glad you made it," his friend commented, looking much too happy and as though he really wanted to spill the beans.

"Try not to look so chipper," he deadpanned. He then eyed his friend more seriously. "What is it, Tobias? First, you call me, acting weird, then you text Ducky and use him as your errand-boy?"

"Trust me," Tobias said, "you'll be glad I did what I did. Just let me explain."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Well," Tobias started to explain, "apparently the DOJ has been keeping a couple of secrets and I inadvertently walked in on one during my op." He opened his mouth to speak but Tobias gestured for him to just listen. "Eighteen years ago the USMS took a young woman and her eight-year-old daughter into WITSEC," the man continued. "The green U.S Marshal assigned to their case apparently passed away and there was a paper SNAFU as well. Long story short, they thought the husband and father dead and the U.S Marshals connected to the case are all long gone."

His eyes widened as what he was being told started to sink in. Is he being serious? It can't be true. But Tobias wouldn't lie about something like this... "Tobias, that is not a paper SNAFU. That's not even a goat rope. That's a God damned FUBAR! And it's the worst one I've ever seen! You're telling me that -" Jethro was so mad. He'd lost years with his family and went through the excruciating pain of burying them simply because of some idiot Marshall?

His voice was rising and Tobias cut him off. "I know, Jethro, I know, okay, but do you really want to make a scene right now or do you want to see them?"

Realizing that he was drawing quite a fair amount of attention to himself, Jethro took a deep breath. "They're here? I want to see them, Tobias." His voice broke as he spoke the next word. "Please."

"Go on in," Tobias said with a small nod. "They're both inside, waiting for you."

He gave Tobias a small, grateful, smile. Then, steeling himself as he didn't know what to expect after all these years, Jethro took another deep breath and, despite how very anxious he was feeling, he started walking towards the doors of the restaurant.

Once inside, Jethro glanced around the place. It took a minute before he spotted them, any doubt that he'd had immediately fading away.

In a window booth in the back of the room sat two beautiful women with blue eyes that were every bit as recognizable to Jethro as the last day he'd seen them before shipping out to the Gulf all those years ago. The older redhead, Shannon, was stunning as ever, and the much younger one with Shannon's hair and Jethro's eyes... Kelly... God, his Kelly... she'd grown so much.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he walked towards the pair. Kelly spotted him first, giving him a warm smile before quietly saying something to her mother. Shannon gave a curt nod and then immediately got up from her seat and walked towards him.

She was teary-eyed and Jethro could feel his eyes getting a bit misty as well, but he was quite determined not to cry.

She threw her arms around him. "Jethro."

He squeezed his wife tightly back, needing the contact, swallowing yet another lump in his throat as he tried to speak. "Shannon."