Gibbs entered the elevator and hit the button that would take him back to the bullpen. Glancing at his watch, he groaned. Two hours had passed since he'd last spoken his angry words to Aimee. Once he'd left Autopsy he was immediately inundated with task after mundane task, each stealing his attention so completely that time got away on him. He'd never intended on leaving Aimee to stew that long. He'd finally been able to escape the motor pool garage after being summoned by Abby to show him how the bullets ricocheted off the dash and hit the petty officer. Now in the elevator, he hit the emergency stop button, allowing himself a few minutes to gather his thoughts.

So much for a successful transition back to work, he thought.

He'd started out the week congratulating himself on balancing everything and now he wasn't so sure. The whole parenting thing was turning out to be much more complicated then he remembered, not that he'd never presumed it would be easy. He was under no such illusion. He still had very vivid memories of not so grand parenting moments with Kelly. However, he'd also never tried to work and balance kids on his own. Shannon had always handled everything kid related when he was deployed all those times. Now it all fell into his lap. He'd been granted some allowances by NCIS while he figured things out. All of his team and the other agents at NCIS were being very tolerant and understanding of his quandary. And he certainly wasn't the only parent on the payroll. But to quote an idiom, it was time to poop or get off the pot. Gibbs half smirked at his own inner ramblings. He'd even started to censor the language in his head since bringing the girls into his life. Not an easy thing to do when he was a seasoned military man, but necessarily a bad thing either.

His mind turned back to Aimee and their altercation in Autopsy. He'd blown it big time and he'd been berating himself ever since. He'd lost his temper and lashed out at the kid without a second thought. She'd scared years off his life by hiding in the mortuary drawers. And the truth was Aimee just seemed to bring out the worst in him sometimes. Jenny teased him that it was because they were so much alike and that Gibbs was reacting out of dislike for the character flaws he saw in Aimee that reminded him so much of his own self. He raked a weary hand through his hair. Maybe it was true. At any rate, he needed to better keep himself in check and be proactive rather than reactive. Deciding to bite the bullet and go talk to the girl, Gibbs hit the button to start the lift once again.

The elevator arrived and Gibbs walked off to hear giggling once again. He rolled his eyes in amusement. This would be the third time today that he knew of that someone on his team had 'rescued' Janessa from daycare. It seemed that Janessa had become some kind of mascot or new treasured toy. No one could resist her charms. He came around the corner to see Tony swinging Janessa around in circles in the centre of the bullpen. He'd need to put his foot down and ask the daycare workers not to release the little girl to anyone but him. At this rate, no one would get any work done.

"Any leads, DiNozzo?" he barked as he walked in glaring at Tony.

Tony gently landed Janessa to her feet, and the little girl stumbled to keep her footing, her head still spinning as her inner ear fluid continued to rotate. Gibbs reached out to grab her arm to lessen the impact with the floor when she tumbled downward.

Janessa giggled. "I'm a space shuttle, Mr. Gibbs."

"If you're not careful, you'll be spewing rocket fuel all over the bullpen."

Tony grinned and gripped his desk, trying to regain his own balance.

"Hey, Boss, we're still processing some leads. McGee is imputing data in MTAC." Tony grabbed a bottle of water from his desk and chugged back a gulp. "Can't do much without ballistics and Ducky's report, though."

"Abby's got a good lead on the ballistics." Gibbs waved the folder in the air. "Refrigeration still out in Autopsy I presume?"

Tony nodded. "Yep. Last I heard all the fridges are out. Ducky is close to having a coronary."

Gibbs frowned. That wasn't the kind of thing they needed when they had so many active cases on the docket.

"Pretty sure I left this little monster in daycare." Gibbs gently tapped Janessa on the head with the file folder still in his head. The little girl sprawled out on the floor like a starfish, rolling her head back and forth.

"Rockets must get really dizzy," muttered Janessa, looking a little green.

Tony smirked. "You did. I was on break so I sprung her from the pokey…"

"Seen Aimee?" asked Gibbs, cutting the younger man off and surveying his desk with a grimace.

"Not since this morning."

Gibbs scowled and walked to his desk, setting his file down. His desk had seen better days, evidence that Aimee had been at his desk at some point and wandered off again. He groaned, taking in her 'revenge' on him. The girl had managed to use just about every sticky note he owned, cutting letters and sticking them strategically all around his cubicle. The sticky letters spelled out several expletives that made Gibbs' hair stand on end.

Tony walked up behind Gibbs and whistled. "Whoa, Boss, pretty sure I didn't know that word until at least sixth grade." Gibbs scowled at him and Tony grinned unabashed. "What did you do to make it on her hit list, Boss?"

Gibbs started to gather up the notes. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it.

"You haven't seen her at all since you've been back?"

"Nope. Ziva and I got back around noon, grabbed some lunch from the cafeteria and we've been in MTAC all afternoon. I went for a snack with Nessie at 4 and then we came here. I thought Aimee was hanging out with you or the director.

"She was supposed to be waiting for me at my desk."

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good."

Gibbs glared and Tony dropped his gaze to the floor, reading all the messages Aimee left for Gibbs. "I'm impressed. The kid can spell better than most of the perps we bring in."

Gibbs continued to glare, but not so much at Tony this time. More inwardly cringing at the thought that Aimee was so well versed in curse words at such a young age. "She's an army brat. It's almost like a second language."

Tony whistled again and scratched his chin. "I'm not even sure I know what some of those words mean."

Janessa suddenly sat up in the middle of the floor looking a lot less green. "Aimee's probably hiding. NCIS is ginormous." She stretched out her arms wide. "You could get losted here for days and nobody'd find ya." The blue eyed girl yawned until her entire face disappeared. "I'm hungry, Mr. Gibbs."

Tony scowled at her. "I just fed you, you little monkey."

Janessa rubbed her eyes and shrugged. "My snack tummy is all fulled up but my supper tummy is empty."

Tony rolled his eyes and chuckled.

Gibbs circled his desk and gathered the little girl up into his arms, planting a kiss onto her head. It was past five and certainly a decent time to call it a day.

"Mind cleaning up the rest of Aimee's artistry for me?" he asked Tony.

Tony nodded. "Sure, Boss. When I'm done I'll scout out some of the places I've seen Aimee hanging out in. I'll get Ziva and Tim to look as well. We can't do much more on this case until Ducky finishes the autopsy anyway."

Gibbs sighed. The case set aside, he was getting worried about Aimee. Surely she wouldn't have gone far. He knew she was upset with him but she wasn't one to purposely disobey him. Or was she? They were really just starting to get to know one another's idiosyncrasies. Maybe she just went to the washroom or back up to Jenny's office. Gibbs sincerely hoped so. He did not relish another head to head confrontation with the youngster.

"I'll check in Director Shepard's office. She's probably talking Cynthia's head off."

Janessa rested her head on Gibb's shoulder quickly becoming a dead weight in his arms. Her tiny legs dangled and she became quiet. He adjusted her weight on his hip and started walking towards the staircase to the second level. Perhaps if she had a nap now it would make the evening routine less stressful. Lately, she'd turned into a grouchy bear while he tried to get supper on the table. He really missed Abby being home and making meals ahead of time. Now that she was back to work, they all were tired, hungry and grumpy when they got home.

Gibbs climbed the stairs grimacing as his knees creaked and cracked. Too many years as a marine gunny and sniper had taken its toll on his knees. He reached the top of the stairs, adjusted Janessa again and walked towards Jenny's office. He entered the front foyer and plopped Janessa down in a chair by Cynthia. The pleasant pecan haired woman smiled up at him. Janessa's eyes fluttered and she yawned again.

"Mind keeping an eye on her for a couple of minutes?"

Cynthia smiled. "Of course, Agent Gibbs. Janessa and I are old friends."

Janessa managed a sleepy smile and rested her head on her hand. Her eyes fluttered again and then closed.

Gibbs smirked. "Don't think she'll be a problem."

"I guess not." Cynthia laughed.

"You haven't by any chance seen Aimee lately, have you?"

"She was here about a half hour ago. Told me that you told her she had to sit at your desk." Cynthia bit back a smirk. "She also told me, and I quote, 'Agent Gibbs is a dummy head.'"

Gibbs chuckled with a pained expression on his face. "Yah. She's not very happy with me, I'm afraid."

Just then Jenny's door opened and she walked towards him carrying her jacket and briefcase.

"Oh, Jethro, just the man I wanted to see," began Jenny. "I'm beat and was wondering if you and the girls wanted to eat out with me tonight. My treat?" Jenny looked hopeful as she smiled at Gibbs. Seeing Janessa falling asleep in the chair made her smile grow larger. "Aww, bless her heart. She looks exhausted."

Gibbs returned the smile. "It's no wonder. I signed her into the daycare at 8 this morning, and I've seen her all over the building. Abby had her in the lab, Tim had her in the storage room, Ducky took her to the duck pond, and I took her to the cafeteria for lunch…"

Jenny's face coloured. "I took her with me to visit Phillip Davenport this morning too."

Gibbs ran a gentle hand over the little girl's hair. "How's the SecNav today?" Sarcasm dripped from the words.

Jenny scowled at him. "Be nice, Jethro."

"I was being nice." He commented with a twinkle in his eye. "Well, that explains why the kid is so tired; she's put a full day's work. Remind me again why I'm paying daycare fees?"

Jenny laughed. Gibbs gathered Janessa up into his arms and began to walk with Jenny out of her office, both of them bidding Cynthia a pleasant evening.

"I take it Aimee isn't with you?"

Jenny shook her head. "She was with me this morning working on the math work you gave her and then I lost track of time. She must have wondered off sometime before I left to see Phillip. He's absolutely smitten by Janessa."

"Who isn't?" Gibbs commented thoughtfully, his mind still on Aimee's whereabouts.

"Have you checked with Ducky? Aimee loves hanging out with Jimmy."

Gibb's face clouded as they walked towards the top of the staircase. "I don't want the girls down in Autopsy anymore." His voice was gruff enough that Janessa stirred in her sleep. Gibbs rubbed her back gently as he and Jenny descended the roundabout staircase.

Jenny's brow furrowed. "Why not? Ducky is always careful to make sure they don't see anything inappropriate."

Gibbs began to explain the incident in Autopsy including him losing his temper. Jenny remained quiet as he recounted how frightened he'd been seeing Aimee looking up at him from the drawer. She didn't say anything as they walked slowly down the stairs to the landing. Gibbs' stomach continued churning as he relived the experience. Once on the ground floor and out of sight of the bullpen, Jenny pulled him into her arms for a comforting hug.

"You're human, Jethro. Cut yourself some slack. Any parent would have freaked out at that."

Gibbs clenched his jaw in response and nodded. He wanted to believe her so it would be easier to forgive himself.

"C'mon, let's start searching." Jenny lifted Janessa's arm and dropped it. "Why don't you leave her with one of the other agents; it's obvious she's down for the count for now."

Gibbs nodded walking over to one of the female agents who was still diligently working. "Mind keeping an eye on her for me, Agent Logan?"

The dirty blonde haired woman looked up with a warm smile. "Sure, Gibbs."

Jenny set her coat and purse on the desk as well. "Have you seen Aimee?"

Kiersten Logan took Janessa from Gibbs and held her close while rocking the child back and forth in her arms. "Not recently, Ma'am." She turned to face Gibbs again. "I'm catching up on some work so I'll be here another few hours. Take your time, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded his appreciation and turned to Jenny once again. "Any ideas?"

Jenny shrugged. "Let's start with security and rule out if she tried to leave the building."

Gibbs felt his heart jump into his throat. It hadn't occurred to him that Aimee would run away. He felt the colour drain from his face. Would she be angry enough to actually leave the building on her own?

Jenny took his hand gently. "Don't borrow trouble, Jethro." The pallor of Gibbs face told Jenny she had planted worse thoughts in his mind. "Security would have never let her leave on her own, but they might have seen her," she assured him.

Gibbs nodded and followed her to the elevator.