Gibbs's Daughter.

Interrogating Dr. Ryan Dylan

Tony and I sat there for awhile, just thinking. It was a pleasant silence, not those awkward ones. I looked at Tony. "Thanks, Tony, for suggesting that you all stay here and watch over me. If you didn't, I would probably be dead" I whispered. Tony looked at me. "Not a problem and don't ever think that. I will always be here to protect you from harm, so will Ziva and McGee" Tony replied. I scoffed. "I know" was all I could think to say. "Why do you hide under my desk?" Tony asked out of no where. I furrowed my eyebrows. "I don't know. I feel safe here for some reason" I replied. Tony chuckled. I opened my mouth to say something before dad appeared. "Ziva, McGee and I are going to pick up Ryan Dylan. DiNozzo, keep her in your sights" dad ordered. Tony nodded. I nodded as well. He disappeared. "I can't believe it but at the same time I can" I said. Tony sighed. "Just think. He might cooperate and tell us where Chad is" Tony said with a hopeful voice. I was interrupted again when Tony's cell rang again. "Hello Jeanne...Now?...I-I can't right now...I have to keep on eye on Jess...Chad showed up at h-her apartment...Security didn't get him...Her dad told me to keep her in my sight...I don't know. Her dad scares me...He's a trained sniper...He's also my boss...Yes...We're all good friends, Jeanne...Please don't be mad...Jeanne? Hello?" Tony said before he sighed and hung up. I looked down. "What did she want?" I asked. "She asked me on a date as a make up for last night" he replied. I groaned. "Like I said, it's not your fault" Tony said. "Yes, it is Tony! You have to watch over me when you could be on a date with Jeanne!" I exclaimed. "Which I could wait until Chad is arrested" he protested.

I groaned again. "Tony, it's my fault that you can't be with the one you love tonight" I whispered. "It's not true. Why do you have to be hard on yourself?" he asked. I stayed silent. He gasped in realization. "You think that it's your fault that Chad is coming after you" he said. "Well, if I had just stayed in bed and ignored it then this wouldn't be happening!" I exclaimed. "You can't blame that on you! You were going to find out eventually. It's not your fault!" Tony proclaimed. "You don't know that! As far as we know, I could be married to him right now! I shudder at the thought of that but I could have been!" I exclaimed. "Jess! Please understand that none of this is your fault! I hate to see you torturing yourself over this! Believe me when I say that this is not your fault!" Tony exclaimed. Tears fell down my cheeks. "I can't" I whispered. "Why can't you?!" Tony yelled, a little frustrated. "Because, back at the FBI, they always said. 'well, if you'd stayed in bed, this wouldn't have happened.' They said that over and over again, among other things too! It got to the point where I started to believe them and I still do! They looked at me with disgust in their eyes! Everyday, when I passed by, I could hear them calling me weak and pathetic and asking other people why I was an FBI agent when I couldn't protect myself in my own home and recognize a serial killer by then! That's why my boss had me do things that his secretary does! So I wouldn't get in the way of the actual professionals do it!" I yelled. I felt like a heavy load disappeared. "You don't know that" Tony whispered. "Yes I do! I heard him saying why he had me do those things to his actual secretary complained to him about not having enough work to do! Ever since that talk, his secretary glared at me and said that I was the reason she was losing her job! By then, I had no friends there. Everyone made me do their paperwork and trust me when I say, there was a lot of paperwork. I lost sleep because of it. I became delirious and clumsy, giving them a reason to fire me but I quit before they could to save me from losing the last bit of dignity I had left! I just couldn't take it and all of those accusations stuck with me" I replied. I broke down after that.

I cried into Tony's chest as he tried to calm me down. "Don't tell anyone about what I just said. Not even dad knows about it" I said. Tony sighed. "I won't" he answered. The bell dinged as the doors opened. Tony stood up from behind his desk and looked towards the elevator. I knew that they arrived back with Ryan Dylan. "Hey! What's this about? I didn't do anything!" Ryan exclaimed. I stayed silent, underneath Tony's desk. "Is Jess dead?" Ryan whispered. "I bet you wish she was" Tony snapped. "DiNozzo!" dad yelled. Tony didn't reply. I waited and there was silence. "Jess, do you feel like coming out?" Tony gently asked. I thought about it but was scared that Ryan would be there or worse, Chad. I shook my head. "Okay. You know you're safe, right?" he asked. I hesitated but nodded. I heard Tony sigh. I heard footsteps coming closer. "Where's Jess?" McGee asked. "Under my desk. She doesn't want to come out" Tony replied. "Jess? Come on out, honey" dad said. I took in a deep breath in and exhaled. "No. I'm safe here" I responded. "You're safe out here too" Ziva commented. "But more safer here" I replied. "Jess, will you ever come out of there?" McGee asked. "Don't know yet" I answered. "Would you like to watch the interrogation?" Tony asked. I stayed silent, thinking about it. "O-okay" I finally said before I slowly crawled out from under the desk and stood up. I looked at everyone. "When is it starting?" I asked ."Now" dad replied. I walked over to him and he put his arm around my shoulders. I put my arm around his waist and put my head on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Jess?" he asked. "I don't think I am" I replied, honestly.

"It'll be over soon, I promise" he said. "I hope so" I said. We walked all the way to Interrogation Room One. I went into the observers room with Tony, Ziva and McGee. Tony stood on my right side while Ziva stood on my left. McGee was next to Ziva. I hugged myself, trying to stay warm. "Cold?" Tony asked. I looked at him. "Is it that obvious?" I asked back. He chuckled. I looked back at Ryan. I felt something on my shoulders and saw that it was Tony's suit jacket. I smiled at him and slipped my arms into the sleeves. It was warm so I hugged myself. "Thanks Tony" I whispered. "No problem" he replied. I smiled. I heard Ziva chuckling so I looked at her. "What?" I asked. "Oh nothing. It's just I have never seen Tony act like a gentleman before" she responded. I looked at Tony and pretended to be shocked. "Really, Tony? I'm so shocked" I said, sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and I laughed. Dad suddenly burst in and the room went silent. "Where were you last night?" dad asked. "Performing surgery on a patient" Ryan answered. "What is this about?" Ryan added. Dad ignored him. "Where's your cell phone, Ryan?" dad asked. "I don't know. I set it down somewhere and lost it" he replied. Dad took out a plastic bag with the phone in it. "Is this your phone?" dad asked. Ryan looked shocked. "How did you get it?" he asked. "I found it here. Your brother used it to call Jess this morning. She did a trace and he was in the building when he made the call. In fact, he was standing right over her while she was sleeping! Did you interact with your brother at all?!" dad yelled at him. "No! I swear! I set my phone in my locker and when I went back for it, it wasn't there! Someone had broken into my locker and took it!" Ryan protested. Dad scoffed. "Why didn't you report it?" dad asked. "I don't know! I usually leave my locker door open on accident. Is Jess back there? Jess, I'm so sorry! Believe me when I tell you that I have nothing to do with it. I swear!" Ryan protested. "Don't ever talk to her and go near her again! Do you hear me?!" dad yelled. Ryan looked at him and nodded.

By now, I've had enough. I walked out of the interrogation room and back into the squad room. I went back to my spot underneath Tony's desk. It was comfortable down there. I heard footsteps and soon McGee came into my view. "Jess, you alright?" he asked. I shrugged. He sighed and sat down facing me. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I hope this ends soon" he said. I smiled. "Thanks. Me too" I replied. I started thinking. "McGee?" I said. "Yea?" he replied. "What if he went back to our old house? Or at Ryan's house? Or at his parent's house?" I asked him. He stayed silent. "What if he did?" McGee asked to himself. I stayed silent. He immediately got up and went to his desk. I heard him typing, furiously. "McGee, what are you doing?" dad asked. "Jess thought of something that might actually be of use" he said. "Where is she?" dad asked. McGee didn't reply. I guess he pointed at my spot. "Right" dad said. McGee started telling dad the questions that I had asked him. "It's possible that he went back to one of those places but there still could be other places that she might not know about but it's a start" McGee finished. There was silence for a while. "Good. DiNozzo, McGee, you're with me. Ziva stay with Jess" dad ordered and they left. "See you in a bit, Jess" Tony said as he grabbed his gear. "See you!" I yelled as he ran to the elevators. Ziva sat down, facing me. I smiled weakly at her. "You know, Ziva, it's very comfortable under here" I said. She laughed. I gasped. "Did the assassin just laugh?" I said, teasingly. She rolled her eyes. I laughed. I was glad to be working here and working with these people. I felt blessed.