Hunting Season

HUNTING SEASON Chapter 4

"Yes, she did." Ducky shook his head. "His daughter?" He couldn't believe he didn't know.

"Oh, that's not good!" Abby shook her head. "Yes Ducky, she is. But that's not all. Her two older children are G. Callen's kids. This explains their close friendship. They kept them a secret to keep them safe. I understand why after losing Shannon and Kelly, but from us as well? Oh, and her youngest are twins, a boy and a girl. The girl is named Kelly, and she looks like Gibbs's daughter Kelly too. She's about the same age when she died. So you can imagine how freaked out Gibbs is right now. Apparently it's an enemy of Callen's whose found them. Some French arms dealer, who burned Callen's partner, Sam to a Russian named Sidorov."

"Calm down, Abby," Ducky pleaded. "Agent Callen is here?

"Sorry!" The information on their current case had sent Abby into a frenzy. She worried over their boss. Tony had tried to calm her down, but when Tom and Bronte couldn't find Ava anywhere, she had got caught up in the moment of the drama again. She took a deep breath, before she continued. "This Janvier promised to destroy everyone close to Callen. Sidorov's men have been seen close to the Days' house. We think they are working together to kill them all. They were also seen at the son's college."

Abby had passed on so much information, it made Ducky and Palmer's heads spin.

"Mr Palmer, we need to focus on this case. Anything we find that can help Gibbs find his killer, then we need to find it." Ducky tried to attain his assistant's attention. All that Abby had told them had him worried. Over his old friend and his family. He needed to finish this autopsy and see if his friend was okay.

"Let me know when you have something for me, Ducky." Abby turned to leave.

"We have these bullets for you, Abs." Palmer walked over and handed the container holding three bullets inside.

"Thanks, Jimmy." Abby left them to complete the autopsy on Gibbs' son-in-law. That fact of who this man was, made the procedure more daunting for the men. It suddenly became personal again. And when things got personal for one member of their team, it affected them all. They were close and had become a family.

Mid floors

Gibbs pressed the stop button on the elevator. "Av, sweetheart. Look at me."

Ava was still in shock from seeing her husband's body on the table. "They cut his chest open." She trembled from the memory that she could not shake from her mind.

"Ava!" Gibbs turned his daughter around to face him.

She looked up at her father with tears in her eyes.

"Why did you go down there? We've been worried about you." He wiped a fallen tear off her cheek.

"I was looking for you. I couldn't see you anywhere."

Gibbs pulled his daughter in closer to comfort her. He kissed her on the top of her head as she nestled into his shoulder. "I was outside with Callen. He's feeling the guilt over what's happened, Av. You should go easier on him."

Ava moved back from her father. "You two were always like father and son. No one would have thought it was me who was your daughter, all those years ago. You're still thick as thieves." She shook her father's hands from her arms. "Leave me alone. Please." She shrunk back into the corner of the elevator and refused to allow Gibbs to come closer.

Gibbs watched his daughter build walls around her. He shook his head, as he thought over his daughter's words. "That's not fair, and you know it, Av. He never had any family and you're going to push those good days we had together back in his face and say he shouldn't have had them?"