A/N: I do not own NCIS. If I did, Jennifer Shepard would not be dead. And also would I be going to college partially on student loans if I owned anything related to NCIS?
Prologue: What's Wrong Mom?
Seven year old Alex Shepard was many things. Stupid was not one of them. She knew that her mom was sick. She just didn't know how sick because her mother wouldn't tell her anything. She'd had blood taken about two weeks ago by her friend Doctor Mallard. All he said was that she needed to have blood work done. She then put it out of her mind. While she home for the weekend, she decided to do some snooping in her mom's office while she was at work. It was Friday afternoon, and her mom would be at work for several more hours. She slipped from her room at around 16:30 when she was supposed to be doing homework. Noemi would suspect nothing. She slipped into her mom's study and went straight to her desk. She started looking through the drawers, looking for clues. Finding none, she went to the bookshelves to just look around. She found one of her favorite books on WW2. As she pulled it out, some papers came out with it. She noticed that on top of one of the papers was the name of Bethesda Naval Hospital. And a little below was her own name. It was the blood tests that Ducky done. It looked to be good. What it said across the middle puzzled her; for it made no sense to her.
"Subject does not have the genetic markers for mother's illness"
Unfortunately, while she was wrapped up in the words, her mom came home early. She came to her study. She noticed that Alex had found the papers.
"What are you doing in my office Alex, when you are supposed to be doing your homework?"
Alex decided to try and bluff her way out of the situation.
"I was just trying to get at my favorite WW2 book on flying from the shelf and when I pulled it from the shelf these papers came out with them."
Her mom gave her a look and went to her desk. She noticed that some of her things were out of place. She looked up at Alex, who blushed bright red.
"Alexandra Elizabeth Shepard, you will tell me what you were doing rifling through my desk."
Alex was silent for a time. She figured now was as good a time as any to confront her mom.
"Mom, what's wrong? You've been acting oddly, I got my blood tested for some disease that you have that I don't, and I've seen the amount of pills you're taking. Tell me if there is something wrong, Mom. You can trust me."
Her mom was silent for a few moments. She then made a decision.
"Go finish your homework Lex, I'll tell you what's happening to me when you are done with it."
"Are you dying?"
"Go do your homework, Alex."
Alex grumbled as she went upstairs. She would do her homework in record time so that she could find out what the hell her mom was keeping from her.
About 45 minutes later….
History homework: check. Science homework: done. Spelling: done. Reading: Done. Alex went over her assignment list one more time. She was all done. She could find out what was wrong with her mom. As she ran down the stairs, she saw her mom's light on in the study. She knocked on the door before barging in. She noticed that her mother smiled sadly at that.
"You act so much like your father."
Alex looked at her mom curiously, where was this going?
"You also have his blue eyes, but that's not all you got from him."
"What else did I get from him, Mom?"
"You got the way he glares at people when's he angry. Both your eyes turn navy blue when you are irritated. You also got your ability to read people like books from him. That will serve you well later in life, being able to read people."
"Could you tell me what wrong with you, mom?"
"I have muscular dystrophy Alex; do you know what that is?"
Alex shook her head. She'd heard of it, but didn't know what it was.
"It's a muscular disease that makes my muscles deteriorate. There will be a point in the short term future that I will not be able to do anything except wait to die. This disease is always terminal."
Alex paled. How was this happening to her mom? Her mom was tough as nails; one of the most stubborn people she'd met in her short life. The people that knew her mother and her and their real familial relationship said that she would be as stubborn as her mother when she was older, if not more so.
"Why did you have my blood work done?"
"To make sure that you didn't have any of the hallmarks for this disease. You got lucky. Your father kept you from getting muscular dystrophy."
Alex just ran forward and hugged her mother, knocking the wind out of her. She hugged her back. They sat like this for a long time. After almost an hour of just sitting with her mom, not talking, she asked her mom a question:
"When do I get to meet my dad?"
"Once school is out. You will have the summer to get used to each other."
