Prologue
Kaye Todd flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder as she settled onto the worn sofa under the large living room window. She held a multitude of memories in that home. Scenes from the past flashed across her mind. Fun moments during movie nights and parties with a group of people that she adored joined memories of heartbreaking moments, those filled with tears for those they'd lost. She thought back to times when she'd been afraid in her home, but they were far less common than those of feeling completely safe down in the dusty basement. She could almost smell the sawdust.
Looking at the photo albums spread out on the table in front of her, Kaye smiled wistfully at the captured moments in time.
Her mother, Kate Todd, holding her on her hip while kissing her on the cheek. Six-year-old Kaye grinned into the camera blissfully.
Jenny standing behind her, holding her close as they stood in the Oval Office on Kaye's ninth birthday.
A "family" photo of everyone in the park together, the faces of Gibbs, Jenny, Tony, Abby, Tim, Ziva, Jimmy and Ducky contorted in laughter while ten-year-old Kaye stood in the middle of the frame, beaming proudly at the joke she'd just cracked.
And of course, one of her favorites. She and her dad sitting together in the backyard, deep in conversation, oblivious to the camera.
Kaye had been asked what it was like – what it was like to live the way she had lived. She had never had a normal life, and people thought she probably should have been a lot less stable than she was because of it. But truthfully, she couldn't say she would have liked it any other way.
As she set pen to paper, she began to try and make sense of it all. After all, how could she explain her life to people who had never lived that life? Sure, some of her friends vaguely understood what it was like to live in fear of losing the people closest to them. And the team understood the situations she'd experienced, as they'd been there with her through it all.
But none of them could quite understand growing up in it all. None of them knew exactly what it was like to have the unique comfort of knowing that your "family" had chosen to be her family. And while those closest to her all had some sort of odd relationship with her dad, none of them could completely comprehend what it was like to have the unconditional love of a father who seemed cold and intimidating to the rest of the world.
While she knew how she felt about it all, the challenge remained. How could she explain her life to the rest of the world, when she couldn't quite explain it all to herself?
Her eyes fell to a single photo that sat loose between the pages of the album, and her chest tightened in response. It was the last photo taken of the three of them before her mother had died, the last image of her life before the team. Roxy held Kaye's right hand, while Kate held her left as they stood in the park by her old house.
There was only one place to really start. And that was that fall day, so long ago it seemed, that Roxy said that things would have to change.
A/N-So, here it is. This story has been a part of my life since somewhere around 2010, and has finally been realized. Kaye has come to life through these chapters, and I am thrilled to share her with you. Katie's Girl is full of ups and downs, exploring seasons 3-5 of NCIS through the eyes of my invented character, Kaye, the daughter of the late Kate Todd. I hope you enjoy the ride!
Disclaimer-I don't own NCIS, or anything CBS claims is theirs. Kaye and her piece of the story is all that is mine.