Washington Meetings

A/N: I know that DiNozzo has left the team to look after his daughter, but as I have not seen anything since then, I am having Toress as being away to give evidence on a trial on a former case before he joined Team Gibbs. (Also, I have no idea who he is or where he came from, so I'm making it up a little.) DiNozzo is visiting and helps out a little. He now trains would-be agents at FLETC. He's still going to need money and savings would only get him so far.

A/N2: Aaaaand finally, apologies for the lengthy delay in the second part of the story. For those who have stuck with me, thank you. For those who have not read the previous instalment of this (hopefully) four part story 'Stalemate', it's not essential, but it might help explain a couple of things.

This part is the last chapter of Stalemate.

"Well done, Agent Callen." Director Vance said two days later as he finished hearing the lead agent give him a verbal summery of what was in the reports that would be coming in over the next few days. "You'll be pleased to know that none of the operations or contracts McAllen was privy to military wise have been affected. Those that have, are adjusting their timetables or operations. And as for Tash's investigation, not a single person on his list escaped, and every one of them were on watch lists. Some of them are talking, some aren't, but we're getting enough information to find more people and eliminate more threats that the SSgt's unit hadn't found yet."

"Thank you, director." Callen said. "If it hadn't been for Miss Brooks, we might not have been able to do any of this."

Vance noticed something cross Callen's face at the mention of the woman, but it was gone so fast, it might not have been there at all. "Any word on how she's doing?"

"The hospital released her yesterday morning. She's going to be fine. She sent a copy of her report to Hetty, so you'll be getting one alone with the rest of ours."

Again, Vance saw a flash of something. Wondering what it was, yet knowing that Callen wouldn't tell him anyway, he nodded and said his goodbyes before cutting the connection.

He looked up from the computer at the woman in front of him. She sat with her three (almost four)-year-old son, playing on the couch, colouring in a book. Gizelle Brooks looked up as he finished and headed over to him. "He's trying not to show it, but I think he's still trying to wrap his head around it. He know about Michael?" He said to the young woman.

"It's a lot to take in, believe me I know, and no, he doesn't. One thing at a time." She said as she sat, taking a drink of the now semi-warm coffee, shaking her head as though she herself couldn't wrap her head around it any more than Callen. "To find out that the man you've been compared to your entire career is your father. It would be a lot for anybody."

Washington Meetings

Down in the bullpen, twenty minutes later, Former Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo looked up from some paperwork for his daughter that NCIS needed signing as a little person leant against the corner of his desk.

"You want a lolly?" The kid asked, holding out a packet toward him.

Tony did a little bit of a double take at the sudden arrival of the kid. He had short sandy blonde hair that might turn brown, blue eyes that seemed to change in the light, a jacket supporting the Rangers baseball team hanging off his small frame and looked to be around three or four years old. Wondering where he came from, he reached out and dug into the bag. "Thank you. You know, they're called candies." He said as he pulled a couple from the packet. Huh, candy bears. He thought as he squeezed them before popping one into his mouth.

"Lollies." The young man said, rather insistently.

Tony adopted a kind look, hoping to have the kid change his mind. "Candies."

"Lollies!"

"You know, I think I've had this conversation before." He said suddenly looking at the kid, a thoughtful look on his face.

"You have, with his mother. And I think we agreed to call them…" She didn't get to finish as Tony stood as he remembered her.

"Jelly Bear?" He could feel the shock on his face but didn't care. The last time he had seen her was when he had been a cop in Baltimore in the late nineties. She was just a kid, no more than eleven or twelve years old, and had helped him get evidence for a case and had disappeared shortly after it wrapped up. He had been unable to find her since as he didn't know her name.

"Detective DiNozzo, or should I say Agent." She held out her hand to him. "Gizelle Brooks, Interpol."

Tony didn't care at that moment what the rest of the bullpen thought of him as he suddenly hugged her. He had looked for her for weeks after she had vanished. "I thought one of the guys that escaped had killed you."

"I'm harder to kill than you think, Anthony." She said as she hugged him back. Gizelle had no idea that the agent had carried that fear around with him for so long. "I got lucky and someone took me under their wing just as that case wrapped up. They looked after me."

They pulled apart and spoke for a couple of minutes. Tony looked at the changes time had wrought on her. Her hair had darkened, her eyes aged. Lines had appeared on her face, some from laughter, others from sorrow. He spied the beginnings of a scar on her collar bone before the peach coloured, long sleeve, Armani shirt and light blue coat hid the rest; clearly her life was a hard one. He told her he was no longer an agent, of his daughter and asked about what she had done after leaving the area and what she had done with her life. She answered most of his questions, skilfully avoiding or changing the conversation if she didn't want to. She asked about his girl and he was about to ask her and her son, who's name had yet to be mentioned, over when she noticed that her son was no longer next to her.

"Michael?" She called out. "Michael Oliver Renko Jr! Get your butt back here!"

Everybody in the bullpen froze and silence filled the open area as her voice whipped around the room as only an angry mother's can. A moment later, Michael was held aloft by someone in the room.

"Here I am Mommy!" The boy cried out happily, waving his arms merrily as the man brought him over on his shoulders.

NCIS:NICS:NICS

Gibbs had been on his way back from the head when something small had crashed into him at knee height. Managing to keep on his feet, he looked down and saw a three-year-old boy sitting where he had landed, candies from the bag he had been holding scattered around. Crouching down, he was prepared to stem the flow of tears when the little guy looked up. He jumped to his feet and had his hands balled up into little fists in a flash. As Gibbs reached out to see if he was ok, a little fist darted out and hit him on the nose. He fell on his ass in shock and once his eyes cleared from the sudden tears, he saw the kid still there, fists ready.

"Whoa there kid, I'm one of the good guys." He said as he reached for his badge, thinking that the kid may not know where he was. "Here, see?" He handed the kid his ID, shiny badge showing. He was surprised when the boy flipped it to show his information.

" S" the boy said the letters then sounded them out. "Gibbs. Gibbs!" The boy's face lit up in recognition, yet Gibbs was sure that he had never met the lad. "My mummy said I can trust you. So did Mr Vance." He handed the ID back as he spoke.

"And where is your Mommy?" He asked as he regained his crouch.

At that, the little tyke looked around and realising that he couldn't see her because of the height of the dividers, started to tear up. Until a shout reverberated around the room.

"Michael Oliver Renko Jr! Get your butt back here!"

"There she is!" He said happily.

Gibbs held out his hands and the boy, Michael, held his arms up to allow him the grab him under the arms, the candies forgotten. "Here I am Mummy!" He yelled, waving his arms madly, "And look who I found." He nodded to a nearby agent to get the sweets cleared up.

Gibbs placed the kid on his shoulders as he headed over, wondering who she was, and what she was doing that the kid knew the Director. She looked to be in her early thirties, Caucasian with chocolate coloured hair that was pulled into a ponytail. It flowed past her shoulders in natural waves that many women would spend hundreds of dollars to replicate. As she turned, he noticed that her naturally tanned face framed eyes that were a piercing blue.

"Hello, Agent Gibbs, Gizelle Brooks, Interpol."

"Mike Renko?" He asked as he handed the kid back to his mother. He noted the Australian accent.

A shadow crossed her face. "Yeah, I didn't know until weeks after his … When I found out I was having a boy, it fitted."

While looking at her son, she missed the look passed between the two men. "The team in LA know?" Gibbs asked, knowing how upset they were when both he and Hunter had been killed.

"No." The voice indicated that no one was to tell them. "I plan to head back in a month or so, so maybe then."

At that moment, the elevator dinged. No one took any notice, until the door opened and voices floated out.

"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything. What am I supposed to have done?" A male voice floated out, upset, confused and angry. He looked to be around 35, had light brown hair in a crew cut, with jeans and a camo jacket. As he turned to look from one to the other of the two agents holding him, a pale red button down could be seen.

"We told you at the house, you're under arrest for …" Agent Timothy McGee never finished his sentence as the man noticed the woman talking to Gibbs.

"Brooks?! What's going on? Tell them I didn't do anything."

"Lt Sanders?"

The room was suddenly full of people yelling as Brooks headed over to the trio, demanding to know what was going on. McGee and Ellie Bishop shouting at Sanders and Brooks, trying to get her to identify herself.

Brooks had handed Michael to DiNozzo before she went over and now the kid was starting to get scared at all the yelling, if him covering his ears was anything to go by. Gibbs saw everything was about to go fubar, so he did something about it.

A whistle split the air, causing everyone to fall silent.

Looking pointedly at Brooks, he turned to the rest of his team. "Take him to interrogation. Ah," he held a hand up to Brooks as she was about to speak, "While they're doing that, you're going to tell me how you know him."

"Only if you tell me why he's been arrested." Brooks took Michael back from DiNozzo and held him on her hip, brushing a couple of tears away while calming him down by rubbing his back.

"He's being charged with murdering his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Both Sanders and Brooks asked, shocked.

AN: I'm basing Michael's age from the show dates. The month before Renko died is when I'm basing he was conceived. So therefore, he was born early the following year. I loved this character and the actor so this is my way of keeping him alive. For more info on the kid, you'll just have to wait until the forth part.