Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of the associated characters. But seriously, how awesome would that be?

Chapter Two

"Excuse me?" Tony asked, his eyes wide, searching Jessica's face for some sort of DiNozzo trait. Not the hair or eye color. Her skin was paler than most of his family members, so what was it?

"Here, I'll show you," she told him, and forced a smile. There it was, that Anthony DiNozzo charming grin, "My mother used to say that my smile reminded me of you." The closer Tony gazed at Jessica's face, the more she looked like him. The shape of her eyes and her lips were just like his.

"How old are you?" Tony asked.

"I just turned fourteen."

"So you were born in late '95, right?" Tony said out loud, "So that means…" he started thinking fourteen years earlier, when his girlfriend had broken up with him, a beautiful young woman with black hair and light blue eyes.

"Mariana Andrews," Tony whispered, once the love of his life. Jessica nodded, tears brimming in her gorgeous eyes, "How is she?" He asked, "Is she alright? Is she happy?"

"She's gone, Tony," Jessica answered slowly, clutching onto the warm fuzzy blanket, "She abandoned me when I was six."

"The Mariana I knew would never, ever do something like that," Tony cried, staring at his daughter right in the eyes.

"I never heard from her again," Jessie whimpered, "So I've been living…around."

"Around?"

"I ran away from my Aunt Lydia and her boyfriend's house six months ago and went to live with other runaways. It was sort of fun, you know? Living on your own, taking care of yourself, it was awesome. The oldest guy was nineteen, and he was kind of in charge." Tony looked at his daughter like she was crazy.

"Then why did you decide to come find me now?" He demanded, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"I went to Aunt Lydia's to grab some extra clothes; I usually snuck back in once a month, sometimes taking food for the other kids, there were seven of us, it was hard to stay full. But that time was different. It was too quiet in the house, yet all of the lights were turned on. I usually got into the house through my old bedroom window, and the master bedroom was across the hall. I got curious and peeked in and…" she paused.

"What, and what, Jessica?" Tony asked, getting anxious.

"I saw Adam Lee, Lydia's boyfriend, stabbing this man to death. I let out a little scream and Adam saw me," she continued, "So he grabbed me and started punching me and barely stabbed me in the shoulder, but I managed to escape from his grasp and climb back out of the house through my room's open window." Jessica pointed to the wound on her shoulder, "I accidentally cut it back open this afternoon when I tripped on the sidewalk."

"Oh my God," Tony muttered, "How long ago was this?"

"Two weeks ago – I was too scared to tell anyone, until now," she informed her father, biting her bottom lip. Tony stroked his daughter's hair gently before pulling her cold body into a tight hug.

"Thank God you're alive," was all Tony could manage, "Did this man hurt you while you lived with him?"

"It started with him slapping me when I "sassed" him, but soon it escalated into nightly beatings, so I left that Hell hole," she whispered against his chest. Tony got up and went to his bedroom, pulling out the biggest t-shirt he could find, and brought it back to Jessica.

"Put this on and get out of those wet clothes, or you'll get sick. You can sleep in my bed; I'll sleep on the couch." She nodded and disappeared into his room. Anthony whipped out his cell phone and quickly called Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Yeah, DiNozzo?"

"Boss, I've just received information on a murder."

"From who?"

"I'll bring her into work tomorrow."

TBC…Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! New chapter up tomorrow afternoon or night! Is Jessica in danger? Will Tony be able to protect her? What happened to Mariana? Please keep reading and reviewing!