I don't actually know where this story idea came from, it just sought of came into my head. It's a bit of a look into the character of Gibbs' daughter, Kelly, in case you couldn't tell that from the title. I do know that I haven't finished my other story yet but I am so uninspired at the minute with that, I know where I want it to go but I don't know how to get there. Anyway I had to write this story or it would really annoy me, so please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

The year was 1983 and the hospital was quiet, but that wasn't surprising. It was 4am and it seemed that the only people awake were a few doctors and a husband and wife, in the woman's arms was a baby who had been born 30 minutes earlier, she seemed tiny in her mother's arms but was sleeping peacefully. The woman was also tired, but she didn't show it; after the traumatic birth they had had she was just glad her little baby was alive. The woman smiled down at the child and whispered one word, a name, "Kelly".

"I'm sorry?" her companion asked looking up at his wife, and now the mother of his child.

"Her name is Kelly." The woman said simply but proudly.

"Why Kelly?" the man asked.

"Kelly means, warrior, fighter, can't you tell? She's a fighter like her daddy!" The man smiled, his wife was right, his little girl was a fighter, and there was no denying that.

"Well Kelly Gibbs," the man sighed quietly so as not to wake the sleeping child, "welcome to the world."

The little girl grew fast, like all children do. When her daddy went away to fight a war she was just an infant, when he came back, she no longer was. His wife had done a wonderful job raising her but the man regretted not being there. However he had a growing child and a tired wife who needed the money so he had no other choice. The patriotic side in him also knew that this country; his home needed protection from those who wanted to destroy it, his wife and child needed protecting from the bad men out there and he would do anything to keep them safe.

Everyone thought Kelly was pretty, beautiful even, "like a princess" her grandma would say every time she saw her and so that was probably what started it off, the almost obsession with princesses. It was her grandma who introduced her to sleeping beauty, her favourite story. Kelly's grandma had a beautiful copy of the book with large swirly writing and stunning pictures, illustrating the magnificent tale in incredible detail. Every time she visited her grandma Kelly would beg her to read the book over and over again until she had it memorised, she was fascinated by the beauty of the princess, by the bravery of the prince and most importantly, though Kelly didn't realise it consciously, she was fascinated by how the story ended perfectly for everyone, a happily ever after.

Kelly loved her mummy; she was always there when she hurt herself, cut her shin or bruised her knee. She would smile and laugh and read her stories and was the one Kelly would turn to when she was upset. But it was her daddy who was her role model; Kelly looked up to him more than anyone else in the world. She counted down the days until he returned home from fighting on her Cinderella calendar and when he was home she followed him everywhere like a loyal dog. Her daddy let her help out with his boats and told her that one day they would go sailing together, Kelly asked if they could go find a faraway land with princesses, princess, knights and a dragon and he said yes, of course they would; but before they got the chance to go he would leave again and Kelly was back to counting down the days on her calendar, day after day after day.

For her 7th birthday her daddy made her a doll house. He had spent weeks working on it and Kelly had been forbidden from entering the basement for a long time before her birthday, Kelly was intrigued, but she had no idea until the big day. It was skilfully wrapped and Kelly loved it before she had even seen it. This was no ordinary doll house though; it had white walls, tall turrets with crimson tops, a court yard and a ball room. Inside the rooms were intricately detailed, a palace for a princess and Kelly loved it.

She played with the castle as much as she could, an endless stream of parties and princes, dresses and dinners, a perfect princess life. When Kelly wasn't playing with the palace she was staring at it, admiring the work of art, her pride and joy. The castle lived on the bookshelf opposite her bed. She would lie awake at night gazing at it, wishing and praying that she could shrink down and join the happy people inside; there she would be a real princess, she thought.

Up until she was 8 years old, Kelly had believed that there was no evil in this world that could not be fought off by a charming prince on horseback or her daddy. But when her mummy witnessed that sailor being killed by the bad man her world changed forever, though forever, it seemed, was not very long. Kelly would pretend that the men with guns that escorted her and her mother around were guards, knights in shining armour, there to protect the princess and the queen from the evil dragon. Soon her prince would come, she told herself, and they would live happily ever after away from all the evil in the world…

Then she saw the blood. The driver of their car had a wound in his head and the car was swerving dangerously. In that moment Kelly Gibbs realised something, that fairy tales were just that, fairy tales and at least for her, there would never be such thing as a happily ever after.

Now Kelly's soul sores in a kingdom in the clouds. Now she is the princess that never got a chance.