Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.

Chapter 1

It had been about two weeks since their return from Stillwater. During that time two things had happened. Taylor had regained her freedom and Vicky had convinced her parents to let her stay for the rest of the summer vacation. It didn't stop there though, Taylor's world was about to get even better. Her mom and dad were flying off to Paris in the morning, leaving herself and Vicky in the allegedly capable hands of Tony and Abby. Vicky had just moved the last of her stuff out of the spare room. She would be bunking in with Taylor, so that her room would be free for Tony or Abby to use. They still had to fight that one out, and both seemed determined to take the larger double room. Taylor already had a good idea how that one was gonna end up. Her dad was bound to let Abby have his room, he always seemed to let Abby have her own way. Tony didn't stand a chance. It would have made more sense for her and Vicky to move into the larger bedroom, there wasn't gonna be a whole lot of space in her own single bed for the two of them, but oh no, her father and his suspicious mind had immediately ruled that one out. Why? He still didn't trust her, especially when it was possible to climb out his window and down the trellis. Just because the perfect escape route was there, did not mean she was going to use it. Bristling at the thought, Taylor paced over to the door, cracking it open in an attempt to hear what was being said. After the last time Tony stayed, her dad was taking no chances that she might find out the security code from him. That's why they were both banished to her bedroom right now. In her opinion, it was about time he started trusting her a bit more and she'd told her father exactly that. He had not agreed, just looked at her as if she had grown horns, then informed her that she was lucky they didn't just lock her up in the basement for the week.

Closing the door again when she heard nothing, Taylor checked her watch. Jared would be showing up at the skate park shortly and she was gonna be late.

Enough was enough. Grabbing her skates Taylor turned to her cousin. "You coming?"

Vicky looked glanced up from the pile of clothes she was folding. "I'll maybe catch up with you later. I want to finish this first."

That'd be right Taylor thought, the girl was a real neat-freak. Looked like she was on her own. Undeterred, she made her way downstairs.

Taylor might have managed to sneak up undetected on the group in the kitchen, but unfortunately they weren't talking about anything interesting.

She couldn't resist winding Tony up. "Get everything written down in your notebook Tony?"

He jumped and fired her a dirty look. "Don't even think about it!" Tony was determined the kid was not going to get anything over on him this time.

Sticking her tongue out at him, Taylor dismissed his reply and turned to her mom. "Can I go now? Jared's gonna be waitin' for me."

At the first sign of a nod Taylor was out through the kitchen door. If she ran, Jared wouldn't have the advantage of warming up before she got there.

A whistle stopped her dead in her tracks, before she had even reached the front fence. Sighing, Taylor retraced her steps to where her dad was waiting for her.

"Forget something?" He held up her helmet.

Crap! That was a rookie mistake. If she wasn't careful, one of these days he was gonna figure out she never wore it.

"Thanks dad." Taylor mumbled, before taking possession of the embarrassing item. Hardly any of the other skaters used helmets. Like hers, they were normally relegated to one of the benches.

"Don't look like that! You know the score. No helmet, no skating."

"I know. I just forgot, being late and all." Well it was true, she did usually take it.

"Uh huh." He wasn't sure whether to believe her or not. "Just don't be late for dinner, you know we want to talk to the pair of you. It's the last chance we'll get before we leave."

"I'll be there." With that, Taylor took off at a run again, this time actually making it away from the house.

Jared headed straight for Taylor as soon as he spotted her. Since her return to DC he had been her constant companion. He had even spent the time when she'd been away practising, just to impress her. He hoped it had worked. It wasn't really the skating he liked, it was Taylor.

Giving him a grin, Taylor stashed her helmet under the seat with the others and quickly changed into her skates. She'd been looking forward to this all day. All set, Taylor didn't waste any more time. Grabbing Jared's hand she towed him towards her favourite part of the park.

o

Tony had moved into Vicky's room by the time Taylor made it home for dinner. He was now making himself comfortable in the chair, opposite hers at the table. It could be her imagination, but Taylor was sure her godfather was under the illusion that he was already in charge.

"Did you wash your hands?" Tony sat back in his chair and folded his arms.

It wasn't her imagination. Shit! This did not bode well. "Yes Tony, and you're not the boss until tomorrow." For the second time that day DiNozzo was treated to a view of Taylor's tongue.

This time Tony returned the gesture, then flinched when Jethro's hand made contact with the back of his head.

"No fighting." Sitting down beside Tony he added, "Not until we're out of the country."

"Dad? You sure Abby can't do this on her own?" Taylor asked, not taking her eyes off Tony.

"No Abby can not do this on her own." Jethro pointed to her plate. "Now quit stirring, and eat."

When they had all finished eating Jethro launched into his 'warning' speech. "I'm gonna keep this simple. Tony and Abby are both aware of the way you're both expected to behave, so whatever they tell you to do, you do it. If they say you can't do something, then don't." When it looked as if Taylor was about to protest he held his finger up, and she closed her mouth again. "No questions asked, they're in charge!"

"What if Tony turns into an axe wielding psycho? Can I shoot him?"

"No, you can't shoot him."

Tony smiled, pleased by his boss's answer. "Don't worry squirt, I'll try to resist the urge."

"Use your baseball bat, you're less likely to hurt someone else by mistake." Jethro advised.

"Gee, thanks boss." Now he was going to have to make sure he hid that bat.

"As for you." Gibbs aimed his best intimidating look at his daughter.

Taylor guiltily slid down in her chair to try and avoid the full heat of his glare.

"There better not be a repeat of last time. I'll be checking in with Tony and Abby every night, so don't think you'll get away with anything. This is not an opportunity to run wild for a week, the pair of you are well aware of the rules. They haven't changed just because your mom and me aren't here. We might not be able to get back here in a hurry, but remember, we'll be home eventually. Understand?"

Both girls nodded.

"Good. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Taylor innocently smiled across at her godfather. " Is Abby more in charge than Tony? Seeing as she got the biggest bedroom and all."

"No. Abby is not 'more in charge'. Now stop trying to wind Tony up. Don't forget, from tomorrow he'll be calling the shots."

He did have a point there. "He knows I'm not serious dad." Taylor aimed a kick at Tony under the table in an attempt to remove the smug grin from his face, but he didn't react.

"Come here." Jethro crooked his finger at her and waited for Taylor to move round to his side of the table.

Too busy trying to stare Tony out, Taylor didn't realise what she'd been summoned for until her father's hand collided sharply with her butt.

"OW! What was that ….. oh!" Now it clicked.

"What have I told you about kicking people?"

"Don't do it." Taylor mumbled. "I just wanted to get Tony's attention."

"Well you got MY attention instead." He pulled her onto his lap. "You gonna miss us?"

Taylor shifted uncomfortably. That had stung. "Might miss mom."

Patricia smiled at her from the head of the table, but couldn't help wonder if leaving the kids with Jackie and Leon might have been a better choice, after all they had offered. Still, time would tell, and as long as everyone remained in one piece while they were gone she'd be happy, and if the house was still standing on their return, that would be an added bonus.

o

"TO…..NY!" Taylor stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her godfather to drag himself out of bed.

She gave him a minute to respond before advancing up the stairs. "TO…..NY!" Pounding on his door Taylor made sure he would hear her this time.

He did, and opened the door, mid pound, looking confused and half asleep. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"We're outta milk." Taylor informed him seriously.

"What?" Rubbing his eyes, Tony looked back at the digital clock beside the bed. "Taylor it's just gone five thirty!"

"I'm hungry!"

"Well make toast or something!" His head was still swimming, he'd been up earlier when Jethro and Patricia left.

"I always have Rice Krispies Tony." Folding her arms Taylor made it perfectly clear she wasn't going to back down.

Tony took a deep, calming breath. "Alright, give me a minute."

Leaning against the wall Taylor waited patiently for him to reappear. She didn't have to wait long, and was soon following a very dishevelled DiNozzo downstairs.

When he lifted his car keys and headed out the front door, closing it behind him, Taylor sat down on the bottom stair and counted. Yep. There it was, right on time. The alarm rang out, breaking the Sunday morning silence. The neighbours were gonna be SO pissed.

Tony was visible now, through the glass in the door, fumbling through his pockets for the house key. From the look on his face he hadn't bothered to put it on his keyring yet. When he realised the key wasn't there he began to get even more flustered. Taylor almost felt sorry for him. There was no trace of the smug expression from last night, then she quickly pushed the guilt aside. After all he'd been responsible for the first swat she'd received in weeks. In the midst of his panic Tony spotted her and actually looked relieved. Taylor immediately rushed to the door and let him in.

The noise and adrenalin must have woken him up a good bit, because he had the presence of mind to cover her eyes with his hand as he punched in the code. The ringing stopped abruptly and Tony relaxed.

"What happened?" She managed to sound concerned.

"Forgot about the alarm, and my key." His face was flushed by the traumatic experience.

Taylor lifted the key from the shelf by the door. "This it?"

"Yeah, thanks." Feeding the key onto the ring with his others, Tony peeked cautiously out through one of the glass panes to make sure none of the neighbours were there, waiting to complain. "Milk, right?"

"Uh huh." Taylor was trying really hard not to grin.

"Okay." Opening the door, he double checked it was safe to leave, before sprinting to his car.

She watched the car roar off down the street, before closing the door. Tony had forgotten to reset the alarm, and technically she could leave if she wanted, but that was not going to happen. Taylor climbed the stairs, passing Vicky at the top. There was only one place she was going right now. Back to bed. It was way to early to be up on a Sunday morning.

Vicky crawled into bed beside her cousin. "Whatever you just did to him, I don't want to know."

"Aw, where's your sense of humour?" Taylor giggled. "You should have seen the look on his face when the alarm was blaring away and he couldn't get in to switch it off!"

Vicky propped herself up on her elbows. "Aren't you worried he's gonna tell your dad?"

"You think he's gonna admit to screwing up, just a couple of hours after they left? No way Tony is ever gonna do that. Now quit worrying and go to sleep."

Rolling over, and pulling the cover over her head, Taylor quickly drifted off.

When Tony eventually made it back, after a trip that not only involved going to the store, but also visits to three separate ATMs in the search for cash, Taylor was nowhere to be seen. Hoping she had gone back to bed so he could do the same, he slotted the all important carton of milk into the refrigerator door, right beside another unopened one. It took a few seconds for it to register that he'd been played, but when it did it was like a Gibbs' slap to the back of the head.

"Shit!" Swearing to an empty kitchen, Tony headed back upstairs to make sure Taylor was still in the house, resetting the alarm on the way.

From her doorway Tony couldn't actually see her, but was able to identify three arms. Resisting the urge to throttle the brat he quietly closed the door. He was going back to bed and wasn't getting up until Abby appeared to give him a bit of support. The kid had learnt from the master, and it was coming back to bite him in the ass.