Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize, I do not own unfortunately. They are all owned by Donald Bellisario. If I did, there would be no summer hiatus.

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing an NCIS fic. If it goes well, I will be posting more to this. I am doing this during any free time I may have between working a full time job and preparing to go back to school part time. Mostly any updates will be on my two days off or if I get some extra time in between.

September 11, 2001

"Ugh, mom. Do you know where my volleyball jersey is?" Makayla Stevens asked, walking into the kitchen of her Arlington, Virginia home.

"It's hanging up downstairs sweetie." Her mom, Jocelyn replied, as she finished fixing breakfast for Makayla and her nine year old sister, Kennedy.

"Good, you're going to be at my game tonight, right?" She asked, as she headed toward the basement door. "It's our first home game of the season."

"Yes sweetie, I'll be there as soon as I get off work and get your sister from the sitters." Jocelyn said, smiling at her gently.

Their little family had gone through a lot in the last ten years. The only thing missing, the one person that Makayla and Jocelyn missed, was their husband/father who had been killed in Kuwait ten years prior. Jocelyn was three months pregnant with Kennedy, when she had received the horrible news that her husband was killed in an explosion, his body to mangled and burned that she had decided to have his body cremated and the ashes buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

"Mommy, can Allie come with us to Kayla's game tonight?" Kennedy asked, as Jocelyn was taking her into school at Randolph Elementary.

"If it's okay with her parents, I don't care." Jocelyn replied. "I will call her mom when I get to work, and see if it's okay. I will pick her up on our way to the game, once I get you from Mrs. Grable's."

"Okay, see you tonight mommy, love you." Kennedy said, once Jocelyn had pulled up in front of the school to let her out.

"Bye baby love you too, have a good day." She said, before pulling away from the curb.

As Makayla was walking into her first period class, she looked up at the TV and saw the World Trade Center on fire in New York City.

"What happened Mr. Baldridge?" She asked, looking at her AP English teacher.

"I will explain once class begins." He answered somberly, as he turned off the TV, not wanting other students to see before he had a chance to explain.

"Oookay." She replied, more than a little confused, as she took her seat, waiting for her best friend Natasha to come in.

Once the class had arrived, Mr. Baldridge got everyone's attention.

"Class, today there has been a national tragedy." He started, making the class look at him questioningly. "The Twin Towers in New York City have been hit by two airliners, and they are calling it a terrorist attack on the United States."

"Holy crap." Makayla mumbled, looking over at Natasha.

"Yeah no kidding." She replied, as the teacher turned the TV back on, leaving the classroom transfixed on the images in front of them.

An hour later, the had pretty much been watching ZNN, and seeing what had to be thousands of people running down the streets of New York, when they heard a loud explosion outside their classroom window. Makayla didn't know which way to look, until one of the guys in the classroom shouted. "The Pentagon's been hit!"

"Oh my God!" Makayla screamed, as she realized that her mom was most likely at work then, and could very well been dead.

Before anyone could say anything else, the principal's voice went over the intercom informing the students and teachers that due to the attack on the Pentagon, the high school would be dismissing then and advised everyone to leave in an orderly, but timely manner.

"'Ayla, you okay?" Natasha asked, using her own nickname for Makayla. "Come on, I'll drive you over to Randolph to get Kennedy. You can come back to my house until you get a hold of your mom." She finished, as she led Makayla over to their lockers to get their things, before heading out for the student parking lot.

"What am I going to do Tasha if my mom is dead?" Makayla mumbled, as they were heading to her sisters school to get her. "Our dad is already gone, and mom hasn't spoken to her family in years. How am I supposed to take care of Kennedy on my own?"

"Makayla Marie, don't you talk like that. You do not know that your mom is gone." Natasha said sternly. "The Pentagon is a huge building, it could have been on the opposite side than her office, or she could have not even been in there yet."

"I know this, but I can't imagine losing her. She's all I have left, besides Kennedy, but she never knew dad, so she doesn't have any memories of him." She sobbed, as Natasha pulled up in front of the elementary school. "I need to calm down before I go in and get Kenny. She'll be able to tell right away that something is wrong, if she doesn't already know."

"Do you think Mrs. Cook would let me get her?" Natasha asked, trying to be helpful.

"Just come in with me." Makayla replied, wiping the tears from her eyes and pulling her sunglasses down. Both girls had attended Randolph Elementary together, when Makayla moved from Arizona in '91. So of course the secretary and most of the staff were still the same from back then. Walking into the building, they walked past the main office window and could see the secretary, Mrs. Cook on the phone, no doubt trying to reassure frightened parents that their children were okay.

"Do you know what you're going to tell Kennedy?" Natasha asked, as they were waiting for Mrs. Cook to hang up the phone.

"Just tell her that something has happened near by, and that they are letting schools out, so we're here to get her, and then we're hanging out at your house." Makayla replied, walking up to the desk once Mrs. Cook looked up at them. "I need to get Kennedy Stevens please."

"Right away dear." Mrs. Cook replied, sending her a gentle smile. "Have you been able to get a hold of your mother yet?"

"No, I haven't even tried. I'm afraid I will start panicking if she doesn't answer her phone." She mumbled, knowing in the back of her mind she needed to find out. "I'll try and call her when we get to Natasha's."

A few minutes later, Kennedy came into the office with her things. "Kayla, why are you picking me up?" She asked inquisitively, making Makayla cringe a bit.

"Come on Jelly Bean, we need to get over to Natasha's. School is getting out early today, so I figured I would get you instead of making you ride the bus home." She replied, not wanting to freak her little sister out in the main office of her school. "We'll order some pizza for lunch and watch movies and stuff."

"Can we watch Shrek?" She asked innocently, as that was her newest favorite movie.

"Yeah sure." Natasha said, once she saw that Makayla wasn't able to respond. "We'll even let you watch Titanic with us."

"Cool." Kennedy replied, not being any the wiser to her sisters mood.

By four that afternoon, Makayla still hadn't heard from Jocelyn or had the guts to try and call her. So when Natasha's home phone started ringing, she didn't seem to acknowledge it.

"Hello." Natasha's mom said, answering on the second ring. "Yes, we have her daughters here….Okay, we'll bring them down there." She said, hanging up the phone and looking over at the girls. "Your mom is at Bethesda Naval Hospital. She's okay, just has some cuts and a broken wrist. We need to get you girls down there."

"Okay." Kennedy replied softly, as she had been pretty quiet since Natasha's mom explained to her what had happened, as Kayla seemed to be pretty out of it once they had gotten to the house.

"I just don't understand why someone would fly planes into buildings like that. I mean, they weren't even Americans, so why attack our country?" Kayla finally asked, as she slipped her shoes back on, and grabbed her things.

"I don't know sweetheart, it's hard telling why people do the things they do." Natasha's mom tried to explain, knowing that any answer she may have wouldn't be enough for the young woman.

By the time they had gotten to the hospital, both girls were anxious to see their mom, and make sure with their own eyes that she was really okay. It was easy for some doctor to say over the phone that their mom was alright, just a few cuts and a broken bone, but it wasn't enough to calm their individual fears. Getting out of Mrs. Reynolds car, Makayla grabbed Kennedy's hand, giving her strict orders not to let go, seeing as a lot of Pentagon workers had been brought to Bethesda, and she didn't need to lose her sister in a sea of people. Going up to the nurses station, Makayla waited for a nurse to come over.

"Can I help you?" A kind, older nurse asked.

"Yes, our mom, Jocelyn Stevens was brought in here. She was injured in the Pentagon." Makayla replied, waiting as the nurse typed in her name.

"Of course, she's in cubical 7. Go straight back through these doors all the way to the end, and turn and it will be the first room on your left." The nurse informed them, as she pushed on a buzzer to open the security doors.

"Thank you." Makayla said, walking through the doors at a hurried pace, as she practically dragged Kennedy in behind her.

"Sissy, you're walking too fast." Kennedy grumbled, as she was having difficulty keeping up.

"Sorry Bean." She said, slowing down her walk. "Now remember, we can't go in and jump on mom. She may not be really hurt, but she will be sore." She said, wanting to make sure her little sister knew the severity of the situation.

"I know, Mrs. Reynolds already told me." She said, remembering what the woman had told her as she drove them to the hospital.

"Okay, here's her room." Makayla said, as she knocked lightly on the outside of the curtain, before opening it and getting the shock of her young life.

"Daddy?" She asked, before everything around her went black.