A/N: Thank you to each and every one of you that commented on this story. It really meant a lot. The story is over now. Who knows what comes next? Sheila

Chapter 6

The funeral was over-attended by people who didn't know the Martin family. The viral video of Tony's escapades on the roof of the house was getting more than its fifteen minutes. Tony stayed near the back of the church, and when too many people turned their heads to look at him, he retreated to the car.

The groupies didn't last the ride out to the cemetery. Tony was relieved. For all of his attention seeking behaviors, it was uncomfortable being admired by people who knew so little about him. He stood in the grass with Gibbs and Ellie and waited while the Martins sat in the limo.

Ellie frowned. "I haven't been to many funerals but I thought they were supposed to go and sit by the gravesite."

"Seems like they don't want to face people," Gibbs said, his eyes glued to the shaded windows of the vehicle.

Then the door opened, and the kids tumbled out. Charlie was the last one. He looked back at his parents, and only reluctantly followed his siblings. The door closed again.

"Mom and Dad are having a fight," Ellie murmured.

It was going to be a few minutes before the pastor was going to go to the car and press the issue so Gibbs nudged Tony.

"I know," he said as he trotted off after Charlie.

The kid was standing off to the side while he kept an eye on his brothers and sister. Tony came up. "Hey partner. Remember me?"

Charlie looked down. "My mom says you want to put her in jail."

Tony grabbed a folding chair and sat down. "Look at me, Charlie."

The boy looked at him with the same immensely serious, dark eyes Tony had seen on the rooftop and emotion swelled in Tony's gut. "All I care about is that you're safe and that nobody puts you in harm's way."

"You don't even know me."

Tony chuckled. "Charlie, I know a lot about you. I watched you at a moment when all a person can see as truth. You take care of these kids. I saw it then. I see it now. You keep them safe."

Charlie sighed. "That's why I was the one that should have gone after Maggie. I know…knew her. Your partner was only going to scare her. I bet she kicked and screamed when he grabbed her. She doesn't like people to touch her except me and Dad. I told Mom not to blame your partner 'cause there was no way she was going to go easy."

Tony put his hands on Charlie's shoulders. "I'm going to tell him that, but I want you to know it too. It just wasn't possible to get her out. The fire was too much. You and I know what it was like trying to breathe in there. You and I understand. You couldn't save Maggie and he couldn't either."

"What about you? Could you have saved her?"

Tony shook his head. "We couldn't see anything, Charlie. My partner, Tim, was lucky to have found her at all. We were all too late."

"Is my mom going to jail?"

Tony looked into his deep, serious eyes. He knew that you never compromised a case by revealing too much, but lying to the boy was impossible. "Honestly, Charlie, I don't know what's going to happen."

"I'm scared."

He pulled him in for a hug. "I'm sorry, Charlie. You're an amazing kid. You shouldn't have to worry so much."

"What are you doing!?"

Tony pulled away and turned his head. Paige Martin was striding toward him in a little black dress and high heels, her husband trotting along behind. "Stay away from him! Interrogating him at a funeral! What's wrong with you?!"

Charlie stiffened. "Mom! It's okay. He was just being nice."

She grabbed him by the arm roughly. "It was a trick! He doesn't care. None of them care! They won't stop until I'm behind bars. Women are always to blame when children die. Never mind how hard I had to work to keep all five of you clean and healthy. I am working from five in the morning until ten at night."

Tony stood, unable to form a response. The Sergeant couldn't contain his wife, and then Gibbs was there standing in front of her, and that meant Paige Martin was facing a pair of blue eyes every bit as powerful as hers. "Mrs. Martin, nothing is happening at this funeral other than paying respects to the life of your child."

"What is he doing?" She said pointing at Tony.

"Charlie and I were up there together, Ma'am. It was rough, and I was checking on him. He's a remarkable kid."

"I know," said Kevin Martin. "He's the best."

Paige closed her pretty eyes. "The pressure of all of this has been too much. No one understands what its like for me."

Tony and Gibbs exchanged glances. Then Ellie was there saying in a low voice. "At your 2 o'clock, Gibbs."

Gibbs looked and saw McGee coming toward them slowly in a white t-shirt and jeans. Tony sucked in breath. "His McTiming is way off."

Paige Martin swung her head and saw him. She cursed under her breath and started toward him. "What are you doing here?!"

McGee pulled out Maggie's photo. "You were all gone from the church. I remember Maggie. I wanted to be here."

"Is this a joke?" She threw her arms up. Members of the funeral party started to gather.

"I remember her. It was dark and impossible to breathe, but I remember her now. I held her in my arms."

Paige put a hand to her forehead. "Oh my God! Why are you here? Do you remember me? Do you remember what you said?"

McGee concentrated on her. "You're Maggie's mom. I am so sorry I didn't get her out. I want you to know that."

Her jaw tensed and she jabbed a finger at him. "You shouldn't be here. You should go!"

Gibbs didn't intervene. Something was happening for McGee and he didn't want to stop it. Tony started forward, but Gibbs put a hand on his arm. "Wait."

"I'm very sorry, Ma'am."

She became aware of your audience. "Do you remember how I had to beg you to go in? Do you remember that?"

McGee shook his head. "I don't. Did I do that? It doesn't seem like me."

"You didn't hesitate, Tim," Gibbs said firmly.

"I don't remember that." He focused on Paige. "I remember you said that it was too late for your kids. It was too late to save them. How did you know that?"

"I never said that!"

McGee blinked at the ground. "I remember the trunk and yelling at Gibbs. I remember the flashlight in the trunk…or was it a tank…a tank of foam…there was a screamer…but she wasn't the mother…" He looked up. "You disappeared…do you remember?"

"What is wrong with you? What are you doing here? It's my daughter's funeral, and you're turning it into your own personal therapy session. You selfish pig! Of course, you can't remember being afraid to go in and help my kids. Who wants to remember being a coward!?"

McGee was stunned, and Gibbs knew he'd allowed it to go too far. He went over to McGee and turned him away from her. "It's okay, Tim. Don't listen to her."

The crowd stayed frozen until Sergeant Martin took his wife by the arm and pulled her away from the scene and toward the gravesite.

Tony waited until she was gone and joined Gibbs and Bishop with McGee. Tim was struggling to settle his breathing. "Are my memories bad? Is she right? What happened? What's real?"

"It's okay, Tim." Gibbs was rubbing his back. "I believe your memories. I do."

"Then what's a foam tank? What is that?"

"You're thinking fire extinguisher," Ellie said.

He shook his head. "I'm so confused. I still get only bits and pieces."

"Hey Tim, you're really doing well. The doctors are excited. Zoe told me."

McGee grabbed his head as he took note of his attire. "What was I thinking? I'm wearing jeans. Who goes to a funeral in jeans?"

"It's okay, Tim. You just wanted to honor Maggie," Gibbs said softly.

"She's wrong about me, Tony. I always have your six. Always."

Tony could see the distress building in his partner and took his face in his hands. "I know, Tim. I know. She's wrong. You were right behind me."

"But I was too late for Maggie." His eyes filled with tears and Tony pulled him in.

"We were both too late, McGee. Both of us."

…..

Ellie was waiting for Tony when he got off the elevator. "Gibbs hated to call you in. He knows you're not ready to be back."

"Where is she? Just tell me where she is."

She put a hand on him. "Stop. Take a breath."

"Ellie." He was as mad as she ever seen him.

"This has to be played a certain way. You know that."

He took a deep breath. "Sit rep."

She relaxed. "She showed up with Charlie an hour ago. Said the boy was ready to make a confession. Kid had tears rolling down his face. Gibbs was like stone with her. Ushered the two of them into interrogation and has left them there. He knows the kid wants to blurt it out. If it's on record, and we indict her, her lawyer can always use it as reasonable doubt. He thinks the boy won't want to lie to you."

"That woman is evil."

"Yeah." She stepped back. "Help him. He is so confused right now. Just help him."

Tony caught the elevator and headed for interrogation. Gibbs was leaning against the door to the room. Tony chuckled, "Afraid to be in with a suspect."

"Yup. I got rules about women, but she makes me want to forget them."

"I have to talk to Charlie alone. It's not going to work if America's most toxic housewife is in the room."

Gibbs nodded. "The she-beast and I will be behind the glass."

"Where's the Sergeant?"

"I had Ellie call him, and I put in a call to JAG. Do not let him confess to something he didn't do."

Tony nodded and ducked in the door. Paige Martin looked up, and he wanted to roll his eyes at her crisp, clean blouse and pretty face. "I'll need to speak to the suspect alone. Mrs. Martin, you can wait behind the glass."

"No, I stay here. My son is 11 years old. I'm going to make sure he's protected."

"Behind the glass." Tony pointed, unable to contain his contempt. "Now."

"You can't treat me like this. I didn't do anything."

Tony stared at a spot above her head. "Special Agent Gibbs is waiting for you behind the glass."

For a moment, the power struggle was a stalemate. Finally, she leaned toward Charlie. "Do the right thing, Baby. Mommy loves you more than anyone in the world."

Tony kept his eyes on the wall until the door closed behind him.

Charlie started to cry. "I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't mean to do it."

"Shhh! Stop talking. You don't talk until I tell you." Tony rounded the table and sat across from him. He grabbed his small hands. "Look at me."

The boy hiccupped and nodded.

"We were partners in there, right?"

Charlie nodded.

"Partners don't lie to each other. We have a code. We always have each other's backs."

"Yes."

"Shhh! I said, no talking, remember?"

He nodded.

"Are there times when lies are a good thing?"

Charlie stared at him and shrugged.

Tony gripped his hands. "If there are, I can tell you that now is not one of them."

The wet, dark eyes stared back at him.

"Maggie is watching and she knows the truth. Don't disappoint her, Charlie. Please don't disappoint her."

…

"What is he doing? Charlie wants to give a statement. He's blocking him. I've had enough." Paige Martin started for the door, but Gibbs slipped in front of her.

"No one interrupts an interrogation."

"I'm his mother."

"A mother who bullies her son into a confession."

"That's not what happened."

"Really? I've been in this game for a long time, and I never met anyone like you."

She smiled. "I've heard that before."

"Not if you were the last woman on earth, sister. Now, get back to the window."

…..

"I didn't mean to do it, Tony." Tears competed with sobs.

Tony gripped his hands. "Walk me through it. It has to make sense, Charlie."

"I was…mad. Mom said we had to stay in and clean our rooms again. I wanted to be out playing. I figured I'd show her…that I was mad."

"What did you do?"

The boy narrowed his eyes. "I ran outside and found the lighter fluid and the lighter on the grill, and then I ran back upstairs."

"Then what."

"I sprayed the lighter fluid on the walls and then I lit it."

"And then?"

"I sat in a bedroom with my brothers and sisters."

Tony shook his head. "It doesn't work. Your story is wrong."

Charlie squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm just mixed up. Let me think it through."

…..

He sat in the parked car and stared at the house. He remembered that it was the second story window on the left where they saw the most smoke. He remembered Tony yelling 911. He got out of the car and stood. The house was still standing, but it had holes everywhere from flame and axes.

"Hey you! What are you doing here?"

He turned and saw a large woman with her hands on her hips. "You ruined that funeral yesterday."

He focused on her. She was the screamer. After the mother had disappeared, she had been on the lawn screaming like a banshee. He remembered her clearly. He turned away and walked toward the entrance to the house.

"Get off the Martin property! I called Paige, and she coming down. She's going to have a fit!"

"Mrs. Stevens, put a sock in it already."

McGee turned at the new voice. The man was in his sixties, short and stocky. He extended a hand. "I'm Captain Hanson, Arson division."

"Special Agent McGee."

"How are the memories coming?"

"Better."

"Gibbs is on his way down. The boy is trying to confess. We're going to do a re-enactment. That should put an end to his tall tales."

"I'll call the police on both of you!"

Hanson rolled his eyes. "We are the police, Mrs. Stevens!"

"She was the screamer."

Hanson nodded. "Tell me everything."

Tim pointed to the window on the left. "Smoke was billowing out there. My partner yelled for me to call 911. I followed him to the front door."

"Let's go in, partner." Hanson followed McGee up the steps. McGee gingerly touched the door, and the damaged door swung open. He stepped in.

"It was hazy. Hard to see. No real noise but hard to hear."

"Where was the missus?"

Tim walked to a couch in the center of the room. "Here. Lying on her stomach."

Hanson frowned. "She said she was in the chair across the room."

McGee stared at the room. "Sometimes, my memory is off."

"Okay. What next?"

"Tony said he was going for the stairs. He told me to get her out. I pulled her up, and dragged her out the door."

"Okay. Let's go back outside."

McGee went out to the porch. "I dragged her onto the grass and she fell. She looked up at me and said it was too late to help the kids."

Hanson shook his head. "Gibbs told me that yesterday. I've been to a lot of fires. I've seen mothers dragged out before. They are always screaming to get back in, no matter how useless the gesture. They don't give up on their kids. You sure about that memory?"

McGee swallowed. "Yeah. I remember."

"Okay. Where do we go now?"

McGee walked to the car. "I went for the fire…extinguisher. I called Gibbs. Told him what was happening and hung up. Boss must've hated that. He likes to control the hard moments. I just needed him to know what was going down."

"He's a good man." Hanson turned and saw two cars rolling up. "Speaking of the devil…"

Gibbs climbed out of the first car with a very tense Paige Martin in the passenger seat. "What the hell, McGee?"

"I'm having memories."

"You need rest and you have to breathe on the machine like Tony."

"I want to remember."

Tony came up with Charlie. "McGee, you're like a broken record. Take it slow. You'll get there."

He ignored him and turned back to the lawn, pointing at Mrs. Stevens. "She was screaming and Mrs. Martin was gone. I figured she ran back into the house."

Hanson looked at Paige. "Naw. She just needed to freshen up for the boys. She was over at the Stevens house doing her hair. A damsel in distress has to look the part."

She turned on them. "I will get a lawyer and you will all lose your jobs."

Tony put his hands on Charlie's shoulders. "Look at it. This is your house. Think about those stairs. If you lit the walls, you would have to run out of the house with the empty can and lighter, throw in the neighbor's trash, and get back up the stairs through the flames- all without your mother noticing. It's not possible. You didn't do it, Charlie."

Charlie looked at his mother for reassurance, but she wouldn't acknowledge him. "I told him I did it, Mom."

"Peggy, I'm going to need to stay at your house for a while. It seems my family has turned on me."

Peggy Stevens nodded.

"Before you go, Mrs. Martin, can you show us one more time where you were in the living room when McGee and DiNozzo came through the door?"

"I'm not going to help you frame me."

"Please." Hanson steered her to the door.

Tony turned to Charlie. "You stay outside."

Paige Martin walked in reluctantly. The inside of the house was ghostly- furniture covered with dust against with blackened walls. She pointed at a chair.

Hanson looked at DiNozzo. "Is that right?"

Tony closed his eyes and thought. "It was so thick in here. The moment we found her, I was focused on the stairs."

"McGee?"

McGee stared at the chair. "No, that's not right. She was lying on her stomach on the couch- like she'd been napping."

"In the middle of the morning?" Gibbs looked at Paige.

"Never. I never nap."

"I can believe it."

Hanson went over to the couch. "She was lying on her stomach, huh?"

McGee nodded.

Hanson grabbed a flashlight from his belt and shined it under the couch. He reached under and rooted around. Finally, he pulled out a shirt. Putting it to his nose, he sniffed. Then he smiled. "That lighter fluid is tricky. Doesn't always squirt straight. Must've been annoying for a pretty lady like you to have that shirt smelling like gas. What do you think happened, Gibbs?"

He shrugged. "It was unexpected. I figure she grabbed another top but forgot to leave the soiled one behind when she came downstairs. The fire is lit. She can't go back upstairs. Then these two clodhoppers start pounding on her door, ruining her opportunity to be the beautiful young mother who lost all of her children and gained a Marine Captain. She wasn't napping on the couch. She was stuffing the shirt underneath it."

Paige shook her head. "You're framing me."

Gibbs produced a pair of cuffs and tossed them to McGee. "No, sister, we're arresting you."

McGee locked the cuffs quickly before she got too squirrelly. Then he pushed her outside. Tony shook his head. "Two days ago, McGee couldn't remember anything, and now he can position her on the couch?"

Gibbs sighed. "When you remember everything, you work to forget. When you forget, you work to remember. You know McGee. Finding memories was just another problem to solve. He couldn't let go until they were in place."

…..

"Why are we going to lunch in a mall?" McGee asked suspiciously.

"Zoe's idea," Tony said darkly.

"You bozos need a little workshop on pleasing your girlfriends." Zoe said as she steered the car deftly in and out of traffic.

McGee looked at Tony sharply. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her about the last conversation we had before the Martin fire."

McGee closed his eyes. "Delilah was mad and Ellie told me to apologize, right?"

"I had the other idea. You know, the one where you buy something a little silky and sexy."

McGee sat up straight. "No! We are not!"

"Actually, McGee, you agreed that we were going to."

He shook his head. "Never in a million years would I have agreed to do that with you. You created a memory that never existed."

"Seriously! You suggested it! We passed a Victoria Secret and you said we should stop in on our way back."

"It's an unkind thing to play with an amnesiac's condition."

"You are not an amnesiac."

"I was…sort of."

Zoe looked back. "Both of you need to shut up. We are almost there."

McGee glared at Tony. "Why is your girlfriend coming? I thought you were the master at acquiring lingerie."

"Maybe, if his girlfriend is a cocktail waitress on an oil rig," Zoe muttered.

McGee's eyes widened. "I thought Tony was a smooth operator."

She sighed. "He tends toward the trashy. The last slingshot he bought lasted all of twenty minutes. A girl wants to look sexy, not feel like she's a high wire act. This lesson is for both of you."

McGee glared at Tony. "You are supposed to be good at these things! If I had let you take me that afternoon, I would have gotten some kind of stripper attire, and Delilah probably would've sent me packing."

"Zoe is picky."

"I am not," she said pulling into the parking lot. "Rule one. It has to feel good on a woman. If it pulls, stretches, or bunches on the female anatomy, it is not sexy for the wearer."

"I knew that."

She threw him a look. "Then explain the red and black corset that dug into my ribs."

"It looked nice," he smiled.

"Rule two. Men don't understand subtle. We are not whores working the corner. Garish colors are not sexy. Refer back to my comments on the black and red corset."

"That's not garish," Tony said trotting along side her.

She gave him a look. "Same color scheme the Gestapo used. Enough said."

"Wait!" McGee yelled as he fumbled for a pen. "I'm trying to write this all down."

"Rule three. Edible underwear works in theory only."

"You said you liked strawberries."

"That was a strawberry in only the loosest of all definitions. It was like eating candy flavored plastic."

"What about pasties? Tony once told me that pasties are fun."

She flipped her hair back. "Glue a tassel to your penis and tell me how it feels."

McGee stopped cold. "This is going to be impossible, isn't it?"

"Hey Zoe, look. We scared him." Tony turned around. "Come on, McSexy. You can do it."

Zoe hooked arms with McGee and leaned in. "Nobody knows her better than you. Go in there and ask yourself what says, I love you. That's what she'll like."

"Really?"

"I am here for backup…and to put some ideas in my boyfriend's head."

Tony grinned. "I like that."

McGee head slapped Tony. "That's for not knowing what you were talking about."

Tony smiled. "Welcome back, Tim."

McGee leaned in, bumped his shoulder, and the three of them walked into Victoria Secret.

…

The End