The squad room was lit only by Gibbs desk lamp, he had recently closed a particularly grizzly case involving the murder of a petty officer and his family. It was the anniversary of Gibbs' last marriage, and he had to escape the confines of his house. Dianne had compiled quite a list of felonies on each of their anniversaries since they were divorced.
Originally she had just tried calling him a couple of times, then all the time, soon she began turning up at his house, begging for him to let her in, Gibbs had even begun feeling sorry for her until last year, she threw rocks through his windows, and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
So instead he sat, staring blankly at the empty computer screen. He had not moved for several hours, just thinking. Though expressionless, his mind moved quickly, trying to sort his cluttered brain into something he could understand.
An urgent ringing sound awoke Gibbs from his semi-conscious state, and he quickly turned to answer his phone.
"NCIS, Special Agent Gibbs speaking." He answered calmly.
A quiet, frantic voice was barely audible on the other end of the phone, "Agent Gibbs, I just saw the murder of a marine."
"Okay, are you safe?" Gibbs tried to remain calm, despite the pain in his gut, telling him that the girl on the phone was a child.
"Um yes, I'm not close to where he was shot." She whimpered.
"How do you know he is a marine?"
"He's my Dad!" she whispered into the phone, Gibbs body tensed immediately.
"Where are you?"
"Rock Creek Park… umm I'm not exactly sure where."
"Don't worry, I'll find you." He said reassuringly, and hung up the phone.
"Tony, wake Kate up!" Gibbs demanded over the phone, adrenaline and coffee coursing through his veins.
"She's not here… I mean I wouldn't… I've never… oh you mean, from her place, right sorry boss." Tony stumbled, his voice groggy from recently being awoken at 2:30 in the morning by his panicked boss.
He could feel Gibbs icy stare through the phone, instantly hung up, and began dialling Kate's number.
"Go away…" Kate mumbled quietly through the phone causing Tony to chuckle.
"C'mon Katie, Gibbs found us a case, in the middle of the night, that can't wait till the morning… again!" Tony teased.
"He's really skilled in that regard. Where am I meeting you?"
"Rock Creek Park." And with that, Kate hung up the phone, and stumbled out of her bedroom.
Gibbs could see the innocent, and seemingly paranoid girl sitting on a small wooden seat, staring at the body of her father. Even from where he was staring, he could tell she wasn't crying, and hadn't been, maybe she was still in shock, but she was brave as hell.
Before approaching her, he pulled out his ID, making sure she was not scared anymore than she already had been.
"Hi, I'm Special Agent Gibbs, did you call me this morning?" Immediately the girl turned around, a small smile creeping onto her face, the company of someone, anyone be greatly appreciated.
"Yes, I'm Brooke Miller, what do you need to know?" She was confident, and doing incredibly well to hide the fright and grief she was most definitely feeling.
"How old are you Brooke?"
"I'm fourteen…" she whispered, looking away from Gibbs.
"Do you have anyone who could come and pick you up?"
"Umm… my mother died last year, and all of my other relatives are either dead, or overseas… it was kind of just me and my Dad." She gulped, still managing to hold back tears.
"I'm so sorry Brooke, come with me, I'll take you to NCIS and we'll get something sorted out." He smiled a comforting smile, and put his arm around her shoulders.
"The Director needs to see you in his office Gibbs." Tony yelled at Gibbs as he walked out of the elevator.
Gibbs would think about that meeting lately, his main priority for the moment was Brooke. He took her straight to the conference room, not feeling the need to scare her with the interrogation room.
"So Brooke, I need you to tell me about the whole night, everything you remember?"
"Well I followed my Dad to the park 'cos I knew something was up…"
"How did…" Gibbs started
"Just… let me finish!"
Gibbs started to chuckle, no one interrupted him, especially not kids.
"I knew something was up cos he took his gun, and he never takes his gun with him anywhere, plus he kept telling me not to answer the phone, or the door, basically telling me to act like I didn't exist until he got home."
"And after that speech… you denied all his instructions and followed him?" Gibbs asked speculatively.
"Yeah I guess." She giggled slightly.
"I dunno whether you're brave or stupid." Gibbs chuckled.
"A little of both I think." She was still smiling, until she continued her recount.
"So I made sure to keep myself a distance from Dad, cos I knew he was scared, and he'd kill me if he knew I went after him. So I was like crouched down, behind a row of bushes, sounds like pretty lame camouflage, but it was dark. Anyway, this guy walked up behind my dad, and pushed the gun up against his neck. My dad turned around, and went to pull the trigger, but before he had the chance, the other guy shot him."
She finished her terrifying account, and stared at Gibbs nonchalantly, while he stared back wide eyed, before shaking his head, and closing his eyes.
"Why are you shaking your head, did I miss something?"
"You're so, well, you're too calm, I know it might be easier to keep yourself bottled up like this, but you can't do it forever… trust me, I know." Gibbs was particularly intrigued by this young lady, she reminded him of Kelly, whether that was a good thing or not.