Author Notes: I've been downloading a lot of old songs and for some unknown reason the line from "Joey" by Concrete Blonde, "Joey, I'm not angry anymore" sort of stuck with me and the story started flowing. The story does *not* follow the song. As I said the line from the song just stuck with me and I started thinking about how angry people get when someone dies. They get angry at the situation, the person that died, what or whoever caused the death, and themselves. Grieving and closure are processes that sometimes a person needs a little help with.
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Big, strong arms in fatigues squeezed the breath out of her. And it was the best feeling. She grabbed his boonie and slapped it on her head as she kissed him fiercely. He was home. Safe. Sound. Whole. But he had a haunted look in his eyes that worried her. But he was home. She could fix the rest.

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"Yo, One-ten, you ready to lose?" a teasing male voice shouted across the range.

"And who's going to beat me? You, Weeble?" an equal teasing female voice responded.

The banter made Gibbs look up from his notepad. He was at the range following up on a suspect's alibi and was waiting for a particular employee to arrive. From where he was standing he couldn't see the two making the remarks.

"I might get lucky O'Reilly, you never know. Whaddya wanna bet?"

"Weeble, you haven't gotten lucky since you solicited that undercover vice cop. But if you want to bet, I'm game. I win; you mow my lawn the rest of the summer."

"And if I win?"

"I'll make all your whipped cream fantasies come true." The woman's silvery laugh rang through the range.

Gibbs had just taken a sip of his coffee and almost choked on her last remark. He had to see this woman. He walked towards them but all he saw was a tall thin woman in jeans and sweatshirt, she had on a camouflage boonie that hid her hair and her features. He could see her double checking the clip on a Sig however and that caught his attention.

The firing horn went off and the sound of rapid gunfire filled the range. After the closing horn, they collected their targets and he heard more of her warm laughter.

"So Weeble, will Saturday mornings work for the lawn?"

Gibbs moved so he could see her target, the bullet holes were in a very, very tight grouping, dead center. There were barely millimeters between them. Her friend's target wasn't so pretty. Gibbs was hoping she would look his way so he could see her face but no such luck. So he took matters into his own hands, "Nice grouping, can you do it again?"

She lifted her head at his question and he was met with a pair of smoky blue eyes. She was very fair skinned with a hint of freckles. She smiled at Gibbs and said with a hint of bravado, "All day. Which hand do you want me to use?"

She liked the look of the stranger challenging her shooting ability. He definitely had a military air about him. And she'd put money on the Marines. It was just a hunch.

Gibbs slipped off his jacket and she cast an appreciative eye over the man, and his weapon. He asked subtly, "So you like to bet?"

"If it's all in fun."

"Gonna make all my whipped cream fantasies come true if I win?" he said with a cocky little grin.

"Gonna fix my deck if you lose?" she replied with an equally cocky grin.

Without another word they squared off facing their targets, the horn again started and stopped the action.

Gibbs took one look at her target and knew that he'd been beaten. Not by much but enough for him to admit defeat. He laughed; he couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

She was doing this little happy dance and teased both men, "Two, nothing, O'Reilly. I need a third victim for a hat trick. I have gutters that need cleaning."

Her friend grumbled, "I swear it's the damn boonie." He knocked the brim of her boonie and it flew off, catching by the cord to hang down her back. He looked at Gibbs' target and teased her, "This guy looks like he should be your new shooting partner One-ten. You'd clean up at competitions."

He turned to Gibbs and extended his hand, "Ernie Castina."

Gibbs was a little distracted by the wealth of copper curls that spilled out from underneath the boonie, but he dragged his attention back and shook Ernie's hand, "Jethro Gibbs." He offered his hand to the woman and asked with a questioning grimace, "One-ten?"

She shook his hand and warned Ernie, "Not a word out of you Castina. I'm warning you." Turning her attention back to Gibbs she grinned, "Rosemary O'Reilly. And don't ask about the One-ten."

"So you competition shoot, Rosemary?" After seeing her skill he could envision her doing well in completion.

"Not anymore." She said a bit wistfully. "Now it's just for fun. Like today. I get the deck fixed and the yard mowed. Doesn't get much better."

"You don't even know if I can use a hammer." He was reaching for his coffee cup when she took his hand and turned it over.

"Calluses and splinters. Sawdust on your shoes. And you spent five minutes investigating the overlapping joints of that octagon picnic table over there. Somehow I don't think your working with wood is a problem." She let go of his hand and crossed her arms, looking smug.

Gibbs regarded her seriously for moment. Who was she? Obviously a trained investigator of some sort, but who did she work for? She intrigued him. "You're very observant, Rosemary."

"I try, Jethro."

Ernie hadn't seen Rosemary like this in a very long time. She was actually flirting with this Jethro. It was nice to see her being playful again, that side of her hadn't made an appearance in a very long time.

"Cop?" Jethro prompted, sipping his coffee.

"Not exactly. So which one of the alphabet soup do you work for?"

Gibbs laughed, "That obvious?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Let me try my introduction again. Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS." He said more formally.

Gibbs watched the woman that he had been laughing and teasing with suddenly turn to ice in front of him at the mention of NCIS. He didn't understand.

She looked away from him and grabbed her knapsack, "Sorry, I've got to go. Ernie, I'll talk to you later."

Gibbs would swear that he heard her say, "Damn. NCIUseless" as she walked away.

He turned to Ernie and asked, "What the hell just happened here?"

Ernie looked at the retreating back of his friend as she walked towards the parking lot. He turned back to Gibbs and sighed, "That was Rosemary O'Reilly. She was my partner at Metro, homicide. Six years ago she left Metro and entered the FBI Academy but washed out when her husband was killed. He was a Marine, and his death was investigated by you guys. The case was never closed. She works at the state police academy as an instructor now."

Gibbs was thinking hard, trying to ring bells in his brain, O'Reilly, O'Reilly, O'Reilly. Then it hit him, "Oh god, Joseph O'Reilly was her husband?"

Ernie nodded and Gibbs was sick to his stomach. Joseph O'Reilly had been a forty year old, decorated Marine who served in every hot spot on the globe in the last twenty years. He had gone missing only five months after returning home from his third tour in Afghanistan. He was listed as UA until his wife started receiving his body parts in the mail. It was a case that haunted the agency. It was one of their most infamous cold case files.

Gibbs let out a huge sigh, "Now I know why she hates NCIS."

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TBC….Feedback appreciated!

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Rosemary yawned and stretched as she headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She liked being able to sleep a little late on Saturdays. Running her fingers through her curls to tame them into some semblance of order, she smiled as she as a random memory flashed before her…

She was sitting on the deck stairs in her sweats with a cup of coffee when Joey came outside wrapped in the quilt from their bed.

"Rosie it's cold out here." He complained as he sat behind her on the top step.

"Wimpy Marine." She teased, "It's nice out."

He wrapped the blanket around the both of them and pulled her back against his chest.

She chuckled, "Okay, this is nicer. Now I know why you're cold though, ever think of putting on some clothes?"

"That would just be a waste of time."

"Waste of time?"

Suddenly he moved and she had forgotten how quick he really was and she found herself scooped up in his arms. He stood up and headed for the back door, "Yeah, a waste of time since I'd just have to take them off again."

Her laughter rang through the house all the way to the bedroom.

She smiled at the memory then put it away, thinking about making love to Joey just made her think about how alone she was and how empty her life had become. She shook her head and padded off to the kitchen to make coffee.

She measured out the coffee grounds and took the pot over to the sink to fill it, and almost had a heart attack as she looked out the window above the sink. There was someone in her backyard. When she realized who it was, the panic subsided and she finished setting up the coffee pot.

She walked out the back door onto the deck and glared at the person standing there, "You remember that I have a gun and know how to use it right?"

Gibbs was standing in the grass measuring one of the rotted deck planks. He let the tape measure slide closed and finished writing down the measurement before looking up to meet her eyes, "You're not going to shoot me."

"Oh really. And you know that how?"

He bent down and lifted an evidence box up onto the deck, "Because you're going to help me find your husband's killer instead."

Her eyes were ice, "Very funny Agent Gibbs. But I happen to know that NCIS has no interest in finding my husband's killer. They've made that very clear to me."

"I'm re-activating the investigation."

"Your Director might have something to say about that."

"Actually her exact words were "Jethro, you get this son of a bitch". So my Director isn't a problem."

Her expression changed to one of skeptical disbelief, "You're serious?"

He nodded gently, "Yeah."

Still in a state of shock over this turn of events, she gestured back towards the door, "Um, coffee?"

"Thought you'd never ask." He teased picking up the box and following her into the kitchen.

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After the disaster at the shooting range Gibbs had spent the night back at the office pulling all the data on the O'Reilly case. Tony had come back to the office around midnight to catch up on some reports, and was surprised to see Gibbs still there. They didn't have any open cases.

The two men spent a couple of hours pouring over the case and formulated a plan of attack. They went to an all night diner and got some food and Tony asked, "Boss, can I ask why we're suddenly so interested in this case? I mean, I know it's a dead Marine but why now?"

Gibbs took a big sip of his coffee, "I met his widow by accident at the range earlier."

"So she latch onto you when she found out you were NCIS?"

"The opposite actually. She left when she found out. Called us NCIUseless."

Tony snorted, he couldn't help it, "That's a new one, Boss."

"I've never seen anyone that angry before, she hates the whole agency."

"Well looking at some of the notes on the case, it doesn't look like she was taken very seriously, Boss. They treated her like Susie Homemaker instead of a trained investigator."

"Yeah. And I really want to know why some of the leads she gave them were never followed up on. It doesn't make any sense."

"Did you know the original lead agent?"

"Canning? Yeah. He and I…well let's just say we don't see eye to eye."

"Is he any good?"

"He's shortsighted. Gets a theory in his head and refuses to see anything else."

"Think that's what happened? "

"You can bet on it. Let's go home and catch a couple hours sleep. I'll talk to the Director first thing and get this transferred over to us. Plan on pulling all the evidence. "

"Got it. And, Boss?

"Yeah, DiNozzo?"

"We'll get him, Boss." Tony knew how Gibbs felt about giving families closure. Especially the families of dead Marines.

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Gibbs situated himself at her kitchen table at her insistence while she poured them coffee. He could sense a wariness in her, understandable given how she had been treated in the past.

"Agent Gibbs…" she started to say as she sat next to him but he interrupted.

"Jethro."

"Jethro. Am I still a suspect?"

Gibbs regarded her with a soft look on his face. He had spent two days sorting through evidence and old notes. Nothing pointed to her as a suspect. Except Canning's notes. He was fixated on her as the killer. It was why he had shut her out of the investigation and why he refused to follow up on anything she provided.

Canning had written a detailed report about the Rosemary's behavior, calling her cold and unfeeling, not visibly upset at the death of her husband. He seemed particularly intrigued that she had shown no emotion at the funeral. They had videotaped the funeral, hoping that the killer would have made an appearance in the crowd. Gibbs had watched it and paid close attention to Rosemary. How Canning could say that she displayed no emotion he would never know. He had watched her sitting there, ram rod straight, with her jaw clenched so tight it made his teeth ache to watch. But it was her eyes that convinced him. He saw the pain and anger in them. The same pain and anger that he had seen in the mirror after losing his wife and daughter. She did not kill her husband.

"Not in my opinion, Rosemary." He said honestly and reached over and hooked a finger under the familiar ball chain around her neck and pulled out from her t-shirt what he expected to find, her husband's dog tags and two gold bands. He had seen the chain on her neck at the range but it wasn't until he read up on the case that he put it together.

"Canning thought so." She said quietly.

"He and I have never agreed on anything before, why start now?"

He got a chuckle out of her and was glad.

"So where do you want to start, Jethro?"

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It had taken them three hours fueled by two pots of coffee to plow through the case file and now Gibbs wanted her to recreate the investigation from her point of view.

"Which one of my points of view, Jethro?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well do you want the point of view of the grieving widow or the trained investigator?"

"Are they so different?"

"Completely."

"Okay then, give me both."

She was saved by the bell, the doorbell that is. She glanced at the clock, "Oh god, I forgot about Ernie."

Gibbs chuckled, "His date with the lawnmower?"

"Yeah, sort of. It's um, complicated."

They heard Ernie use a key in the door and open it. A moment later a little flying person landed in Rosemary's lap wrapping her in a hug.

"Aunt Rosie!"

"Hi pumpkin. Where's Papa?" she asked as she squeezed the little girl in a big hug.

Ernie entered the kitchen a moment later carrying, swinging his keys around his finger. He stopped dead in his tracks seeing Gibbs. He looked between Rosemary and Gibbs, his eyes wide. He didn't sense any tension in the room that was good. And they appeared to have her husband's case file spread out on the table that was really good. Maybe this Gibbs would actually get the job done and give her some closure.

"Agent Gibbs." He said extending his hand.

"Jethro." He stressed shaking the other man's hand.

The little girl turned to face Gibbs, she looked about eight, with unruly raven curls and her father's dark hair and eyes. She was a beautiful child.

Rosemary leaned down near her and put her head on her shoulder, "Angela, this is Jethro. Can you say hi?"

She gave him a shy little wave and he smiled, "Hello Angela. That's a beautiful name."

Angela turned to whisper in Rosemary's ear, unfortunately it was loud enough for the two men to hear, "Aunt Rosie, he has pretty eyes."

Rosemary laughed and whispered back, "Yes, he does. But we won't tell him that okay?"

The little girl nodded conspiratorially and Rosemary looked at Jethro, and gave him a wink when she saw that he was blushing.

The little girl looked at all the piles of papers on the table. Gibbs had prudently closed the folder of evidence photos when Angela first entered the room. She asked Gibbs, "Are you helping Aunt Rosie find out who took Uncle Joey?"

Ernie spoke up from near the coffee pot, "Jethro is a detective for the Navy, sweetheart. It's his job to solve crimes for them. I'm sure he'll do a good job helping Rosie."

After meeting him on the range Ernie had done a little digging on one Special Agent Gibbs. He had seen the intensity in the man's eyes when he told him who Rosemary was and just knew that he wouldn't let it lie. The man's tenacious reputation was towering. He was the best the NCIS had, and if he and his team couldn't solve Joey's murder, no one could.

Wanting to distract the girl, Rosemary asked, "So where is your report card? I heard that they were sent home yesterday. Hmm?"

Angela fished in her knapsack and pulled it out triumphantly, "Here is it!"

She snuggled next to Rosemary who ooh'd and ahh'd over it, "This is a fantastic report card. I swear you get smarter every day." She stood up and reached up on top of the refrigerator and pulled down a brightly wrapped gift. "And you deserve a present."

Angela squealed when she opened the dvd she had wanted and hugged Rosemary, "Thank you, Aunt Rosie. Can I watch it now?"

"Sure pumpkin, go ahead. Yell if you need help."

Angela headed for the living room and Rosemary turned to Ernie with a smirk, "She definitely takes after her mother. "

Ernie laughed, "Don't I know it. She's got more brains in her thumb than me. She gets more and more like Frannie was the older she gets." He cracked open the refrigerator and peeked in and got a smack on the arm for his trouble.

"Get out of there, Weeble. It's for later."

"But, but…"

"No buts. After the concert."

Gibbs watched them interacting and stored it all away. Rosemary was certainly not the ice queen that Canning had made her out to be. And Ernie was interesting, he suspected that the stocky Italian was protective of Rosemary and would be a bear if antagonized.

"So Jethro, you gonna get this guy?" he asked with a nod towards the case files.

"Yeah. That's the plan."

"You need anything let me know. Alrighty then, the lawnmower is calling me." He put his mug on the counter and headed towards the backdoor, "Oh, what time are you taking Angela?"

"Appointments in an hour and a half, then you can pick us up here at five."

"Gotcha."

On that note he stepped outside.

Jethro didn't ask but she could see the question in his eyes, "Angela has a school concert tonight, she sings in the chorus. I'm taking her to the hairdresser for a special treat, sort of a girl's day out."

"How long ago did her mom die?"

"She died a few months after Angela was born. Angela never knew her."

Gibbs nodded, and lost himself briefly in a memory of Shannon and Kelly getting ready for a school play. He tucked it away quickly but not before a flash of pain crossed his face.

Rosemary caught it but didn't press. And she decided to lighten the mood.

She smiled and said lightly, "You know, I just realized that I should probably explain about something you overheard at the range."

He raised an eyebrow, "Gonna explain the One-ten?"

She chuckled, "No. Whipped cream fantasies." She went to the fridge and pulled out an enormous layer cake filled with whipped cream and strawberries. "Ernie has a sweet tooth. And I like to bake. So I make him and Angela treats all the time. But this one is his favorite."

Gibbs laughed, "So that's what I would have won?"

She put the cake back in the refrigerator and leaned her hip against the counter and challenged, "I don't know Jethro, is that your whipped cream fantasy?"

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She woke up to an empty bed in the middle of the night. She hadn't heard him slip out of bed. Pulling on a t-shirt she found him in the living room with three fingers of Irish whiskey in one hand and a photo album in the other. Their wedding album. Full of friends and family and drunk cops and Marines, the photos commemorated a fun day. A day of simple love and happiness. Whenever he came home from a deployment he would flip through the album's pages as if trying to recapture some of that happiness.

Tonight she sensed something different in him, this deployment had taken a lot out of him. And there was a spark that she identified merely as Joey that seemed to be missing from him. Curling up next to him on the couch she tried not to notice that he tensed up when she touched him. She looked at the picture he had stopped on, his Marine Corps buddies, most of which he had known since basic training. Of the dozen Marines smiling sloppily with shot glasses held high, more than half had been lost. Killed on the other side of the globe, in a place where the sun burned so hot it could bake the reason right out of a person. She had attended all the funerals, even if Joey couldn't. She had stood with the widows and watched the flags being folded. Silently praying that she would never be handed a folded flag.

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Monday morning Rosemary dressed carefully. She wanted to be polished and professional, and cool and level headed. She was going into the lion's den, into the building she swore she would never step foot into again. But things were different now. Now she had an ally, someone not on her side, or on NCIS's side, but someone who was on Joey's side. Someone deeply offended that a fellow Marine had been murdered and that wanted to see his killer brought to justice, whoever it turned out to be.

She was checking in through security when a handsome, tawny haired man walked over to her, “Rosemary O'Reilly?

She didn't recognize him but answered, “Yes, and you are?”

He smiled warmly and extended his hand, “Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Tony. I'm part of Gibbs' team. I recognized your picture from the case file.”

He let security know that he would be escorting her and the made their way to the elevator. The mystery of how he knew her solved, she was instantly drawn to the affable younger man. He was charming with a quick wit. Someone six years ago she would have enjoyed working with, enjoyed teasing back. But not now. Now the only person she teased was Ernie. Well, and Gibbs. But that was new, and... a different sort of teasing.

They made small talk in the elevator about how the building had changed since she had been there last. They kept it light, Tony could see how tense she was and didn't want to add to it.

As they exited the elevator Tony wanted to groan. The Director was walking towards them, with a purposeful stride.

They met halfway with Rosemary wondering who exactly this woman was. She had noticed the slight change in Tony's demeanor when he had realized the woman was heading for them.

“Director Sheppard.” Tony said in way of greeting.

“Agent DiNozzo.” the Director replied.

“Director, this is...” Tony started to introduce Rosemary but the director interrupted.

“Rosemary O'Reilly.” She extended her hand to Rosemary and continued, “Mrs. O'Reilly, I know you probably would like to get started immediately with Special Agent Gibbs and his team, but could I steal you away for just a couple of minutes?”

Rosemary shook Jen's hand and tried to read the other woman, but her intent was hidden. She decided to just go with the flow and see what transpired. The atmosphere here was completely different than it was six years ago and no one was being hostile towards her like Canning had been. “Certainly Director Sheppard, I know your time is valuable.”

The Director turned and headed for the staircase and Rosemary turned towards Tony who gave her a little wink before heading for his own desk.

Once ensconced behind closed doors with the Director Rosemary felt certain she was going to get the grand brush off. But what the Director actually said as she sat at the conference table next to Rosemary surprised her even more than Tony's cordial welcome.

“Mrs. O'Reilly, first I would like to tell you that I am very sorry for your loss, your husband was a fine Marine. I would also like to apologize for how you may have been treated six years ago. From what I understand it wasn't particularly civil and although I can't erase that, I can assure you that things will be handled differently now.”

Rosemary regarded the Director for a long moment, feeling the tension leaving her body. She wasn't getting a brush off, wasn't being accused of killing Joey, instead being treated with courtesy and respect. “Thank you, Director. I appreciate you saying that. All I want is to catch the person that killed Joey. It's all I've ever wanted. And I admit that I wasn't particularly civil back to Special Agent Canning.”

“Well Gibbs isn't known for his civility but he's the best there is, and if anyone can solve this case, it will be him.”

Rosemary caught the Director's little smirk and in that instant realized that there was history between she and Gibbs. Personal history.

Rosemary chuckled, “That probably explains why he just let me vent. He didn't even flinch when I threatened to shoot him when he showed up on my deck.”

Jen was tempted to throw back a wisecrack about Gibbs thinking that was foreplay, but she didn't know Rosemary well enough yet. But she liked the woman. And her service record was very impressive. Impressive enough that Jen's recruitment instincts were kicking in, Rosemary could easily be another Gibbs. Her skills were that good. But she would have to see how the situation evolved around the case. Like Gibbs, the Director didn't get the same impression about Rosemary that Canning had had. And Jen tried to put herself in Rosemary's position and realized she would have stood toe-to-toe with Canning too, screaming to be heard.

“Gibbs has a way with people. A very unique way.”

The two women chatted a bit longer and Jen walked her back to the stairs. Jen caught the little, split-second grin on Gibbs' face when he saw Rosemary and wanted to laugh. Foreplay, it was definitely foreplay.

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tbc...