They got the boxes in the house, and Gibbs headed into the kitchen to make coffee and some hot chocolate for Betsy. Tony, meanwhile, headed upstairs to check on Betsy.

He heard muffled sniffling coming from behind the door to the guest room and he knocked lightly. She acknowledged him and entered the room. Her face was a wreck from crying. Taking a cue from Gibbs he simply sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her into a hug. He rubbed her back gently and said, "Don't cry, we're gonna figure this out, okay?"

It took a while but eventually she nodded against his chest. Tony had held his fair share of girls in his life, but none like this. And he wasn't quite sure if the emotions that Betsy's clinging was eliciting were more paternal or fraternal. Either way they were protective and strong and totally unexpected. And when they hit him all at once he simply squeezed Betsy a little tighter. They sat that way for a while, until Betsy sniffed hard and pulled back.

Tony grabbed the tissue box from the nightstand and held it out for her and said, "C'mon, let's go downstairs. Gibbs is making hot chocolate. We're probably out of luck on cookies though, you saw how he is."

That got him the little grin he was looking for before Betsy quickly blew her nose and they headed downstairs.

When they reached the kitchen and saw the plate of cookies on the kitchen table Betsy giggled and turned to tease Tony with her eyes. But before she could say a word Tony held up an index finger and said, "Ah, don't even say it."

---------------

The conversation at the table was as non-embarrassing as Tony and Gibbs could make it. Yes, she had seen a doctor a couple of times and everything had been fine but then the doctor wanted to talk to her parents and she stopped going. No, she hadn't had any counseling about the sexual assault. No, she had absolutely no idea who the father was. And no, she really, really didn't want to pursue that any further.

Both Gibbs and Tony were trying to figure out how to ask her what she wanted to do about the baby when Betsy offered up, "I want to give the baby up for adoption."

Tony caught the way Gibbs swallowed hard at that statement but the rest of his face masked his emotions. When neither man said anything right away Betsy added, "I'm not ready to be a mother. And the baby needs to be with people that really want a baby. People that are ready to be parents."

Gibbs responded gently, "I guess you've been thinking about all this."

"Yeah. I haven't thought about much else for a while actually."

It was Tony that asked, "Betsy, before all this, what did you want to do after high school?"

Betsy grimace slightly but answered, "I wanted to go in the Navy and train to be a nurse. I thought it would make my dad proud of me." She couldn't stop her eyes from welling back up though at the thought of her dad.

They talked for a long while and tried to sort out where to go from here. Gibbs was a little concerned about her father making trouble for he and Tony. Two men taking in a seventeen-year old girl that they weren't related to would look a little odd from anyone looking at the situation from the outside. Betsy also needed to finish high school. She only had a few months to go and was a good student.

When the conversation lulled they decided to table any further discussion for the time being. They all had a lot to process and sort out. Gibbs took his coffee and headed for the basement while Tony took Betsy shopping. She insisted that she would make do with the clothes her mother had packed in one of the boxes but Tony wouldn't take no for an answer and they headed for the mall.

---------------

Gibbs didn't reach for a tool when he hit the basement. Instead he leaned up against the workbench and let all the events of the past twenty-four hours swirl around his brain as he sipped his coffee. He thought of Kelly and how it he would have reacted if she had found herself in Betsy's situation. He could guarantee that it sure as hell wouldn't have ended with him throwing her out into the street. His anger flared at the thought that someone raped Betsy and it burned even brighter remembering her father calling her a whore. Betsy and the baby both needed to be protected. And though he could protect them both physically and give Betsy and the child she was carrying a safe place to live, he couldn't protect them legally. As he tried to figure out exactly what to do about that, his mind kept locking onto one person that could help him. But would she?

---------------

Gibbs rolled his head on his shoulder trying to alleviate a little of the tension in his neck as he raised his hand to knock on the door in front of him. The last time he had been at the Jackson it had been for a case, this time he needed a favor and he wasn't entirely certain what his reception would be.

The door swung open and the sight of the redhead standing there in an old paint spattered oxford shirt with her hair twisted up into a haphazard bun held with an artist's paintbrush him took him back to another time and place. He couldn't help but grin. She was still beautiful as she had been the day he married her.

"Hi, Annie."

It only took a moment for her to register who was standing at her door and she rolled her eyes, "I knew I shouldn't have let that restraining order lapse."

"Oh, come on now, you were the one with the Louisville slugger. And besides, I brought cheesecake."

She squinted at him almost, but not quite, playfully and asked, "The good cheesecake?"

He held up a paper bag from her favorite bakery. "With that fancy raspberry stuff that you like."

"What do you want, Jethro? And you can save your "can't a guy just visit his ex" crap for one of your other ex-wives. How many are you up to now by the way?"

He sighed and shook his head sheepishly. "Still just three. And I'm here because I need a favor."

She rolled her eyes again and said, "Why am I not surprised? Well I guess you better come in then. I'll make coffee."

---------------

Tony was starting to see red. He and Betsy had gone into one of the popular maternity shops in the mall and started browsing for things she liked. He had been making little jokes here and there, trying to get Betsy to smile and lighten her mood just a little. It had been working too, until the saleswoman had come over to them. She took one look at Tony and Betsy and instantly got the wrong idea about them, and her distaste was evident in her every expression and laced into every word.

Tony saw Betsy looking down at her shoes looking completely forlorn and he had had enough. He nudged Betsy with his elbow and said, "C'mon let's go check out Macy's."

Betsy's chin came back up and she nodded. Tony gave the saleswoman an evil little grin on the way out and said icily, "I hope you don't work on commission."

Macy's turned out to be a much better choice. The friendly black woman with a touch of gray at her temples that was working in the maternity section took in the quality of Tony's coat and clothing as well the badge and gun she could see under his open coat. The protectiveness rolling off of him in waves made her simply take things at face value without judgment. That being that there was a sad, pregnant young woman that needed "everything" according to the man and that she had thankfully had someone looking out for her. She pulled out a measuring tape and very matter-of-factly told Tony to come back in an hour.

And when he did he found the two of them giggling over a huge pile of items near the register. Betsy tried one more time to argue that she really didn't want him to pay for all that and that she would make do with what she had. He just flashed a cheesy smile at her as he handed the saleswoman his credit card.

When everything was rung up and bagged, except for the new wool overcoat that Tony insisted Betsy wear out of the store, the saleswoman handed Tony the last of the bags and gave Betsy a quick hug and said, "Now you have my phone number, if you need somebody to talk to you call me you hear?"

Betsy smiled and nodded.

As they were walking out Betsy told Tony, "I told her a little about things. Miriam is really nice. She's got two daughters and three granddaughters and she said to call her if I have any questions about anything."

"That's really nice of her. And look at you just making friends everywhere you go."

Their walk out of the mall took them past the first store they tried and the rude saleswoman. She was near the store entrance and Tony couldn't help but hold up the multitude of bags and say, "To quote the lovely Julia Roberts, "Big mistake. Big. Huge.""

Betsy snorted back a laugh beside him but completely burst out laughing when Tony said, "Sucks to be her," once they passed the store.

---------------

Annie listened intently to Jethro over coffee and cheesecake as he told her about Betsy. And she got nearly as angry as he did. It was one of the reasons she had gone into family law all those years ago.

She could see Jethro's hands fisted tightly as he told her about the confrontation with Betsy's father and without thinking she reached over and placed her hands gently on his and said what he needed to hear. "She's safe, Jethro. And that's what matters. You did the right thing."

Slowly his fists uncurled and he turned his hands over to hold hers. He paused a moment before speaking, "There is something else you need to know. About me and... Tony."

Her eyebrow raised and she asked gently, "That there is there a you and Tony?"

"Yeah."

She nodded but didn't say anything and he couldn't read her expression. Finally he blurted out, "You don't seem surprised."

She chuckled, "I lived with you for a long time, Jethro. I remember you talking about the interesting people you'd met on the job. Men, women, it didn't matter. And I could always tell when you were talking specifically about someone you were attracted to, even if you didn't know it. So, no, I'm not entirely surprised."

"Does that have any bearing on Betsy's situation."

"No. Let me think this through for a minute though." She got up and grabbed the coffeepot and refilled both their mugs while she was thinking.

Sitting back down her brow was furrowed and she said, "This is going to require a little underhandedness, Jethro. I don't have a problem with it personally, but you might."

"I'm listening."

---------------
tbc...