"I wouldn't stop to grieve until I put the bastards that were responsible in the ground."

Tires screeched as their suspect drove away at speed leaving the agents shooting at his back window.

"Damn it!" Tony yelled, throwing his arms to his sides in his fury. Ziva holstered her gun and put her head in her hands and McGee leant against the alley way wall completely drained of all his energy. All of a sudden there was a thud followed by a groan.

"Gibbs?" Ziva asked sinking to her knees beside her mentor.

"I'm hit." Gibbs croaked as Ziva took his hand. "You…you can't stop looking…"

"We won't rest until we find him Boss, I promise." Tony assured him, sinking to his knees beside her. Tim joined his colleagues on the floor just as the light slipped out of their boss' eyes.

No one cried that day. The whole team worked furiously to catch their boss' killer. The man that had finally silenced Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Fate finally cut them a break, the morning of his funeral.

"I have found him." Ziva said breathlessly, barely allowing herself to believe it.

"What?" Tony looked up from the file he was reading. She met his eyes, hers watery.

"I have found him Tony. I know who killed him."

There was never any chance that he was going to be brought in to NCIS and Jenny simply told them to be safe. They all walked into their mentor's funeral feeling lighter since delivering the son of a bitch that put them in the position to Ducky.

They didn't cry at the funeral. They all spoke and nearly cracked, but held it together for each other and the rest of the gathering. They then all went back to NCIS, to have a drink in his honour.

"To Gibbs." Jenny murmured as the team lifted their glasses and suddenly the floodgates opened. Ziva was the first to go; she sprinted away to the ladies with Tony quick on her heels. He just entered the bathroom as he heard her throw up.

"Zi?" He asked gently, leaning against the doorframe beside the closed cubical door. "Are you okay?"

"No." She finally murmured, flushing the toilet and unbolting the door without leaving her position on the floor. Tony came to sit beside her. "It is not right, Tony." She whispered, finally succumbing to the tears that had threatened to fall since that night. "Why him?" Tony didn't have an answer so he simply encased her in his arms as they sobbed in each other's arms.

Abby was next. The moment Tony had left the bullpen, she had started howling. McGee tried to comfort her by just holding her close but as she collapsed in his arms he couldn't be strong anymore and sank with her, leaving her weeping in front of the man they all admired most in the world's desk while McGee rocks her gently, whispering sweet soothings in her ear in between his own sobs.

Jenny simply couldn't be the strong director anymore. Ducky slipped his arms around her as she shook from the sheer force of the screamed sobs that wracked her frame for her fallen partner, agent, lover, friend. Palmer slipped away quietly, knowing no one would miss him. He had come to realise, since his death, that he had barely known Gibbs compared to his colleagues. So he let them grieve privately, he wouldn't intrude.

That night, Gibbs watched his agents finally fall apart. They had kept to his promise to Paula and had got their fallen hero justice before succumbing to the unimaginable grief. He watched as the comforted each other. As they shared in their pain and supported each other, as he was more than sure they would for the rest of their lives. He could finally leave them, knowing that they were safe together. So he slipped away, silent as always, never having been more proud of his young agents and good friends as he had been right then.