AN - Thank you for all the follows, favourites and, especially for all the wonderful reviews! I was so touched to read how much you enjoyed the first chapter.
This second chapter is very 'case' centic but necessary to the plot.
I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 2 - Douglas
"But, I don't get it," said Abby. "Tony killed Trentwood over three months ago."
"Shhh," warned Gibbs, glancing quickly towards the children. "Let's not mention names for the time being OK?"
"Sorry Gibbs," said Abby. "But like I said, Trentwood was killed over three months ago. This man has only been missing for what?" She looked at Jenny for clarification. "Two months?"
"Well, that's what Fornell said," replied Jenny. "He apparently went missing two months ago."
"Exactly," stated Abby. "So it can't be Trentwood."
"I agree Abigail," began Ducky, "Which is why I said it would seem he had a partner."
"But," began Abby.
"Jethro," interrupted Jenny, before Abby managed to work herself into a state. "Do you remember there being anyone else there that day?"
Gibbs looked towards Tim.
"No one around the front," he said. "Tim and I approached from the front of the property and the other two went around the back. We had already entered the house when we heard the shots being fired. I must admit, from that moment on I was more concerned about getting to To- the other two," he amended quickly. "You didn't see anyone did you Tim?"
"No Boss," replied Tim. "Just those two and Trentwood."
"And the other two never said anything about there being a second person?" asked Jenny quietly.
"No," answered Gibbs. "Not even when we got back to the hospital and made out the reports."
"Well, either he wasn't there on the day," concluded Jenny, "Or, somehow, he slipped out without being seen."
She looked at Gibbs. "Whatever the case, you and I need to get to Bethesda and interview Redding. We don't know how much time we may have."
"Yeah," said Gibbs, standing up. He turned to Abby. "Abbs, can you take Tony and Ziva home please and get them settled. I don't know how long we'll be but there's a spare mattress under Ziva's bed or you can sleep on the couch."
"Sure Gibbs," replied Abby, standing to join him. "I'll stay for as long as you need me."
"Me too, Boss," replied Tim. "I'll duck home first and grab my laptop then join Abby at your place. I'll log into my old work profile and see what I can find out about Redding."
"Thanks guys," said Gibbs sincerely.
He walked over to where Tony and Ziva were sitting with Mrs Mallard. Crouching down, the others watched as he spoke to them quietly, explaining what was going to happen. Completely unaware of the drama surrounding them, both children said goodbye to Mrs Mallard and joined the circle of concerned onlookers.
"What's going on?" asked Tony, noticing the serious faces.
"Nothing Kiddo," replied Abby cheerfully, "Other than you two having a movie date with me!"
She smiled warmly at them, before putting her arm around Tony's shoulder.
"How about we stop by the DVD rentals on the way and you and Ziva can pick something out to watch?" she suggested.
"Cool," said Tony grinning widely. "Gee, this night's turned out heaps better than I thought. Mrs Mallard is so much fun to play with and now we get a movie!"
"Alright then," began Gibbs briskly, looking down at the two children. "Now, be good for Abby, and Mom and I will be home as soon as possible. If we're not home by the time the movie finishes, you need to go to bed. No fussing OK?"
"OK Dad."
"Yes Daddy."
After giving each child a hug and watching Jenny do the same, Gibbs led Jenny out the front door and the two of them made their way to the hospital.
Arriving in record time, they met Fornell in the foyer.
"Gibbs, Director," he greeted. Then, seeing their attire, added "Sorry to muck up your evening but… well…I don't know Gibbs, this just isn't making sense."
The three of them set off through the foyer and towards the children's ward.
"Yeah," replied Gibbs. "Tell me about it."
"You don't know the half of it," said Fornell as they continued through the hospital. "Now the staff are saying when he arrived he looked 'older', around nine years old apparently. At first they put it down to the state he was in and therefore, once he was cleaned up, they amended his age to six or seven. Now they're saying he's even younger, about four or five!"
Fornell stopped and looked at Gibbs and Jenny. "Either the staff have been sucking on the alcohol swabs or something very strange is going on!"
Gibbs looked at Jenny and, acknowledging her infinitesimal nod, reached out and took Fornell's arm, leading him into an empty room.
"Gibbs! What the hell?" exclaimed Fornell, unprepared for the quick change in direction.
Closing the door, Gibbs directed Fornell to the only chair available and pushed him to sit. As he fought to stand again, Gibbs laid a hand on his shoulder saying, "Trust me Tobias, you're gonna want to sit for this."
With fear now evident on his face, Fornell slowly edged back onto the chair and stared at Gibbs and Jenny.
"I er…take it the staff haven't been sucking on the alcohol swabs," was all he could say before Gibbs launched into the whole story, beginning with the call out to take down Trentwood.
"Y-you're kidding me right?" stammered Fornell, when Gibbs had finally finished.
"No," replied Gibbs simply.
"So… DiNozzo and David? They aren't undercover?" he clarified, struggling to comprehend what he'd just heard.
"No Tobias, right now they're probably cuddled on the couch with Abby watching a Disney movie," said Gibbs. He knew it was going to take a while for Fornell to get his head around this. Geez, it had taken him long enough and he was their carer.
"Do ya have pictures?" asked Fornell, looking first at Gibbs and then at Jenny.
"No," answered Gibbs. "We don't keep them on us, security reasons," he added.
Fornell nodded slowly. He knew that rule only too well. Their jobs were risky enough without giving any potential psychopath a photo of their loved ones to use against them.
"So, you're saying that Redding could continue to, what did you call it, de-age?" asked Fornell.
"Yes," replied Jenny. "Which is why we need to talk to him A.S.A.P."
She turned to open the door. "Come on," she urged both men. "We've lost enough time as it is."
As they entered room 141, the first thing that struck Gibbs was the lack of other people. After hearing what Fornell had said about the changes in Redding, he felt sure there would have been a twenty four hour vigil on the boy. He was pleased to see this wasn't the case. Having an empty room would make interviewing him much easier.
Although the room had four beds, Douglas Redding was the only occupant. Sitting on top of the bed, he was currently reading a newspaper. While this may have surprised Fornell, Gibbs and Jenny had seen this before.
As the three of them made their way to the bed, Redding looked up and stared at them.
"Yes?" he asked matter of factly. "Can I help you?"
Remembering that this was, in fact, a 54 year old man and not a four year old boy, Gibbs took a deep breath and chose to approach the situation as one adult speaking to another.
"Mr Redding, I know you have met Agent Fornell before, but we," he indicated himself and Jenny, "are from NCIS. My name is Agent Gibbs and this is Director Jenny Shepard."
Although not entirely true, Gibbs thought it easier to resume his old role for the sake of professionalism.
Redding suddenly sat up and looked alert.
"NCIS you say?" Although his voice was high pitched an immature, Gibbs could see that he was still, very much, in his adult mind.
"So, if NCIS are here, I'm assuming you believe who I am?" he added.
"Yes," said Jenny, taking a seat on the opposite bed. "Unfortunately, we have seen this before."
Taking a seat next to Jenny, Gibbs asked, "Would you mind answering a few questions for us?"
"No, not at all," replied Redding. "I'm just relieved someone finally believes me."
"Yeah, I bet you are," said Jenny, smiling at him. "Can I get you anything before we start? Water? Something to eat?"
"I'd kill for a coffee," he said, grinning for the first time. "But I guess that probably wouldn't be good for a small system like mine."
He then turned and picked up a glass from the cupboard by the bed. "I'm fine," he said, holding up the glass. "I've got plenty of water here."
"Ok then," said Gibbs, taking out the spiral bound note book he had grabbed from the car. Thankfully he had tucked the front cover over, guessing that Mr Redding probably wouldn't see the funny side of a federal agent having a Dora the Explorer note book for interviews.
"Can you tell us, from the beginning, what happened?" asked Gibbs, pencil poised and ready.
"Well, to be honest, I don't really remember much about how it all started. In fact, I don't really remember anything at all. My first memories were of me suddenly waking up in a room with no windows and only one door which was kept securely locked at all times. It was one of those dead locks that you need a key to open, even from the inside. I was tied up and I felt younger. There was no mirror for me to look into but my legs were thinner and my skin looked different."
"What can you tell us about the room?" encouraged Gibbs. "Was it a bedroom, a basement?"
"No, it wasn't a bedroom. It may have been a basement but it was like a laboratory. The walls were painted white, everything was stainless steel or chrome and there were scientific instruments on all the shelves and cupboards. He had made me makeshift bed in one corner."
"You're saying 'he'. Is this the man that kidnapped you?" asked Gibbs. "Can you tell me anything about him? What did he look like, age, name?"
"Was I kidnapped?" questioned Redding. "I don't remember anything about that."
"Don't worry about that, just tell us what you remember about him," said Gibbs.
"He was probably in his late fifties, receding hairline, almost bald on top but the sideburns and the hair around his ears was grey. Grey moustache and he had large eyebrows, thick and ugly. I hated the way he would stare at me."
Redding turned away for a minute and, for the first time, Gibbs saw a glimpse of the four year old boy. He hated to think what this child/man had been through.
"It's ok," said Jenny softly. 'You're doing a great job."
Gaining back his composure, Redding took a deep breath then continued.
"He was reasonably tall although, in my state, it was sometimes hard to get a clear perspective, maybe six one, six two? Medium build, and he walked with a slight limp on his left. He must have been a scientist or maybe a doctor, because he knew what he was doing with all the instruments and…and he was able to…"
The voice trailed off and Redding looked down. Gibbs saw the tears forming in his eyes. Not knowing whether to console him or not, Gibbs just reached out a hand and laid it gently on the boy's knee. "It's ok, no-one's gonna hurt you now."
This seemed to do the trick as, once again, Redding took a deep breath and continued. "He was able to see to my wounds and injuries, after he had inflicted them."
Gibbs glanced quickly at Jenny. Thank God they had been able to get to Tony and Ziva before anything like this had happened.
"Mr Redding, Douglas. May I call you Douglas?" asked Jenny softly. When the boy nodded she continued. "Douglas, we believe this man wasn't working alone. Four months ago, we began a search for someone who was using this serum as a means of murdering people. He was eventually found and was killed. His last two victims were also shot with the serum but, thankfully, they didn't die. They regressed twenty years and have been living relatively normal lives since then. When I say relatively, I mean they have remained children, but, so far, they appear to be developing in an age appropriate way and are normal for their regressed ages."
"That must be Woody," said Douglas. "He kept mumbling about a 'Woody' and how he went and got himself killed and ruined everything. He said something about this 'Woody', making a serum that would change his life forever, but he never elaborated. Just said it was a miracle cure and was going to make them famous."
"Cure for what?" asked Gibbs.
"He never said," replied Douglas, shrugging his shoulders.
Scribbling down a couple of notes, Gibbs looked up at Douglas and asked, "So, how did you get away?"
Douglas looked down and began fiddling with the cotton on the hospital blanket. Again, Gibbs could see that he was incredibly frightened. Watching him, it brought back so many memories of those earlier days with Tony and Ziva. The way they would switch between their adult mind and their child mind.
"Douglas, he can't hurt you anymore," Gibbs said, calmly but firmly. "You're safe here. We will protect you."
"I know," the boy whispered. "It's just so hard to believe that. As an adult, I could have taken him on, defended myself. But," he looked down at his body. "Like this, I'm useless."
"You're not useless Champ," said Gibbs gently.
He suddenly realised that 'champ' probably wasn't an appropriate term to use, but the boy didn't seem to mind. It was almost like he had slipped into his child mind. Again, Gibbs was reminded of how difficult memories would often trigger shift in mindset for Tony and Ziva.
"You escaped Douglas," encouraged Gibbs. "You got away from him. That, in itself, is an amazing feat."
When the boy slowly nodded, Gibbs continued, "Now can you tell me how you managed it?"
Once again Douglas drew in a deep breath and spoke.
"Most afternoons, he would head out, locking the door behind him. When he returned, he was usually drunk and angry. That's when he…he would….hurt me. At first, when I was older, maybe around fourteen or fifteen, he would just keep me tied up and use me as a punching bag or throw me around a bit if he was feeling more energetic. But, well, he must have liked boys a bit younger because when he injected me enough to stay as a nine year old, he…he…stopped hitting me as much and began doing… other things to me."
Douglas looked up at Gibbs. "You understand what I mean, Agent Gibbs?"
"Yeah," said Gibbs softly, reaching out a hand and laying it comfortingly on the boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry Douglas," he all but whispered.
"Well," continued Douglas, trying to keep his mind straight. "Late last night or it could've even been early hours of this morning when he came home, he had a look in his eyes I hadn't seen before. There was such hatred and contempt in the way he looked at me and yet there was also this manic joy that was present. He came storming in and, for the first time since I'd arrived, he didn't shut the door. I guess, in the state he was in, he must have forgotten.
"He grabbed me and lifted me up, saying, 'I did it! I did it!' Then he threw me across the room. I watched as he rummaged through the room as if he were looking for something.
"When he finally found what he was looking for, a bottle of whiskey, he kept pacing up and down and drinking from the bottle, all the while shouting at me or talking to himself. At one point I heard him say, 'You son of a bitch Woody, I knew I'd beat you one day!' And then another time he said, 'You thought you were the only one who knew the secret, but I figured it out. I got the better of you, you bastard!'
"Finally, when the bottle was empty and he was staggering around, he noticed me huddled in the corner.
'Well little buddy,' he said looking straight at me. 'I ain't gonna need you no more!' He grabbed a syringe off the table. I knew what that meant. He was going to kill me. When he came towards me, he was so drunk, he could hardly stand upright. He grabbed my arm and as he shoved the needle in, I grabbed his hand and pushed with all my might, sending the needle flying. He stumbled backwards and, as he fell, I kicked his head as hard as I could and jumped on his face and then…and then….and then I ran."
By this point Douglas was almost hyperventilating.
"It's ok Champ, it's ok," said Gibbs rubbing the boy's back and trying to calm him down. "You did a great job. It's all over, you're safe now."
Knowing the boy needed comfort more than the man inside needed distance, Gibbs reached out to hug the child sitting forlornly on the bed. But, just as his hands touched the boy, Douglas suddenly doubled over and began breathing heavily.
"Oh no," he said between breaths. "It's happening again."
"What's happening Gibbs," asked Fornell from the corner of the room. He had remained silent throughout the interview, but could now see the witness was in great distress. "Should I get a doctor?"
"No!" said Gibbs curtly. "No doctors. It's OK. He's just regressing further. Tony and Ziva did the same thing. It doesn't last long, but he will be younger but the time it finishes."
"Just how much younger are we talking here?" asked Fornell, shocked by what he was witnessing. "I mean, he doesn't have that much age to be losing."
"Yeah, I know," replied Gibbs. "That's what's worrying me. Obviously this maniac managed to get some of the serum into Douglas. Let's just pray this is the last regression."
Watching carefully, Jenny, Gibbs and Fornell noticed that Douglas was beginning to settle down again. The pain was easing, and his body was relaxing slightly. Looking at him closely, Gibbs estimated that he had regressed about eighteen months. His hair had lightened and had taken on that wispiness often seen in toddlers. He face was chubbier as were his arms and hands. Small dimples had appeared where the knuckles had previously been.
"Oh no," he heard the toddler groan. "Look at me!"
Eyes fixed on Gibbs, he said "Has all this been a waste of time? Am I going to die anyway?"
"Not if I can help it," replied Gibbs.
Gibbs called Fornell closer and the three of them leaned over the small boy on the bed.
"Listen carefully Douglas," began Gibbs. "You currently look around two and half years old. That last transformation has changed you considerably and you don't look like the boy you were only five minutes ago. That's going to help us a lot."
Douglas looked up at him and frowned. "How?" he asked.
"I need you to pretend you are a two year old," began Gibbs.
"Who's pretending!" remarked Douglas, sarcastically.
"I mean, don't speak. You're language gives you away. Now, in a minute, I'm going to lift you up, and carry you straight out this hospital as if you were my son and we were just visiting someone. Jen, you come with me and Fornell, you wait a few minutes before following. That should avoid any suspicions being raised on the security cameras. We'll just look like a family and you," he looked at Fornell, "Well you'll just look like a tight-sphinctered F.B.I Agent."
"Hey!" protested Fornell.
Ignoring him, Gibbs reached out for Douglas. "You ready?" he asked.
When the boy nodded, Gibbs lifted him up.
Looking at Fornell, Gibbs said, "Give me your jacket Tobias."
"What? Why?" asked Fornell looking confused.
"So I can put it around Douglas. He'll look less obvious if he's not sporting the hospital gown. Sheesh Fornell!"
"Oh yeah," replied Fornell, taking off his jacket and handing it to Gibbs.
Wrapping the jacket around the boy's shoulders and tucking it under his bottom, Gibbs turned back to Fornell saying, "Meet back at my place," before he and Jenny casually made their way through the children's ward, along a hallway and out through the entrance.
When the coolness of the night hit them, Gibbs put his arms protectively around Douglas and the three of them made their way to car park.
Opening the back door, Gibbs knew that Ziva's car seat was much too big for Douglas, but it was going to have to do. Strapping the boy in as best he good, he closed the door and walked around to the driver's side. Hopping in, he looked at Jenny and they both let out a long sigh of relief.
Turning on the engine, Gibbs put the car into drive and maneuvered his way out of the car park. As the car rounded the drive near the entrance way, Gibbs slowed to a stop before looking back at Douglas and asking, "Is this the entrance you walked into?"
Douglas stretched up and looked out of the window on Gibbs' side of the car.
"Yes," he said.
"Can you remember from which direction you came?" asked Gibbs again. He figured it would be easier for the boy to get his bearings straight if they were actually here rather than trying to imagine it from a different location.
"Over there," replied Douglas, pointing out of his window. "I came around that corner where that tree is. I must have run about three block down that street before reaching the corner."
"Can you remember anything about the building you came out of?" asked Gibbs. "Was it a house, an office?"
"See that building there? The one with the glass doors and the big pot plant out the front?" said Douglas pointing.
"Yes," said both Jenny and Gibbs together.
"Well, the building I came out of was like that," explained Douglas. "I remember because I nearly ran into the pot plant out the front. I had run up three flights of stairs before I came out on that opening. So, the room must be way underground."
"That's great Champ," said Gibbs. "You did a fantastic job. Now, let's get you to safety."
Gibbs pulled out of the hospital and onto the road while Jenny rang Fornell and told him what Douglas had just said. Hopefully they weren't too late to search the area and still apprehend this monster.
When they were only five minutes from home, Gibbs noticed Douglas was pulling a pained expression.
"Is it happening again?" asked Gibbs, turning quickly to look in the back seat.
"No," said Douglas, wincing and bouncing in the seat.
"What's wrong then?" asked Gibbs.
"I…I'm sorry Agent Gibbs, but I gotta go and I gotta go now!" replied Douglas, rushing the words to get them out.
"What?" began Gibbs then realisation dawned. "Oh, I see. Um, can you hold it for five minutes? We're nearly home."
"NO!" howled Douglas. "It's coming!"
"Oh crap!" cursed Gibbs, pulling into the emergency stopping lane and slamming on the brakes.
"No, it's just wee," said a little voice from the back.
When the car came to a stop, Gibbs flung off his seat belt and jumped out of the car. Sprinting around to Douglas' side, he pulled open the door and was relieved to see the young boy had managed to undo his belt. Lifting him quickly out of the car, Gibbs stood him by the grassy verge using the car as a temporary means of privacy.
"Sorry Champ," he said, as he lifted the jacket and hospital gown in one swoop. "This is the best I can do."
"S'OK," replied Douglas as he finally relaxed and allowed his bladder to empty. "It's better than the cardboard box the man gave me."
As Douglas finished, Gibbs turned to Jenny and, knowing she always kept a packet in her purse, asked, "Can you pass me a couple of wet wipes?"
After cleaning Douglas up, making sure to wipe down his legs, he lowered the gown and popped him back into the car, re-buckling him in. Closing the car door, he was just about to head back to his side, when he noticed Jenny open her door and step out.
"What, do you need to go too?" he asked, when she shut the door behind her.
Rolling her eyes, she chose to ignore the comment.
"Jethro, Douglas is two," she said quietly. "We may need to get some supplies before taking him home?"
"Really Jen? We'd have it covered wouldn't we?" he began, before Jenny lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder.
"Think back," she began. "When Kelly was two, what was the first thing you made sure you always had?"
As realisation hit him, Gibbs groaned, "Diapers."
Patting his shoulder and smiling knowingly, Jenny opened the car door and reached into her purse. Taking out her cell, she dialed Abby's number.
When line clicked, indicating Abby had answered, Jenny quickly said, "Don't acknowledge who this is," before Abby could speak.
"Ahh, yeah, right," she head Abby say. "Um, hang on a minute."
Guessing Abby was moving to a more private location, Jenny waited.
"Ok," she finally heard Abby say, "What's happening?"
"Are the children still up?" asked Jenny.
"Yeah, there's still about twenty minutes left of the movie. We kind of started a bit late 'cause we were making popcorn and stuff," explained Abby.
Not wishing to elaborate on what 'and stuff' comprised of, Jenny continued, "Once the movie finishes, I want them both in bed. OK Abby?"
"Yeah sure," replied Abby. "What's up?"
"We've got Douglas with us. He's continued to regress and is now about two years old. We are going to have to stop off and buy him some supplies as he's going to need diapers and clothes. We'll probably be home in about forty-five minutes and I'd rather the children didn't see him just yet."
"Oh wow!" exclaimed Abby joyfully. "A baby giblette! I'm so excited."
"Abby!" reprimanded Jenny. "Stop it!"
She stepped further away from the car and lowered her voice.
"We can't keep him. We'll have to find out who is family is and whether or not there may be someone able to look after him. In fact," she lowered her voice even further before continuing, "We don't even know if he's stopped regressing as yet. This may not have a happy ending. Now do you see why I don't want Tony and Ziva to witness this?"
"Yes, of course," replied Abby subduedly. "I'm sorry, I didn't think."
"We'll be home as soon as we can," said Jenny. "And Abby?"
"Yes?" said Abby, still upset with herself for getting over excited.
"Thank you," replied Jenny. She knew Abby would start berating herself for her exuberance and Jenny didn't want her to feel that way. "We really appreciate you being able to look after them. We couldn't do without you Abbs."
"Thanks Jenny," said Abby and Jenny could tell she was smiling once again.
Hanging up, Jenny made her way back to the car.
"OK, we've got about forty five minutes to kill," she said, opening the car door. "Let's find a late night store and get this little fellow set up."
Remembering that one of the malls was open until 10pm, Gibbs headed in that direction. Once the car was parked, he looked into the back seat and saw that Douglas had fallen asleep.
"It's going to look a little strange if we enter with a toddler wrapped in an adult's jacket and then start buying baby clothes," began Gibbs looking at Jenny. "How about you stay here with him and I'll duck in and grab what I can. Then we can get him dressed and, if we still need to kill time, we can have a coffee somewhere."
"Why do I have to stay here?" asked Jenny.
Gibbs gave her a pointed look before saying, "When was the last time you bought diapers Jen?"
"Yeah, true," she said begrudgingly.
"I mean, it's been a while for me too, but at least I've had some experience," replied Gibbs, before opening the car door and taking off into the darkness.
Twenty minutes later when Gibbs still hadn't returned, Jenny was beginning to get worried. Taking out her cell, she hit the speed dial and waited.
He answered on the second ring.
"Where are you?" she asked, the worry evident in her tone.
"Right here Jen," he replied opening the back seat door and sliding in.
Jumping an inch off the seat, Jenny turned around and growled, "I hate when you do that! You scared the hell outta me!"
Laughing, Gibbs reached over and stroked her head.
"Sorry, hun," he apologised. "Old habits die hard."
Shaking her head at him, she waited for her heartbeat to settle before asking, "What took you so long anyway?"
"Choices!" he exclaimed.
"What?" she asked, her face contorted into a confused frown.
"Choices," he repeated. "When Kelly was little, diapers just came in age ranges. Now? Sheesh Jen, I never knew there were so many varieties!"
Laughing, she looked at the supplies.
"So which ones did you get?" she asked.
"These," he said, holding up a packet that advertised 'Super absorbent boy's diapers for the active 2-3 year old. Maximum weight 35lbs'.
"From carting him around earlier, I'd say he's around 25 pounds so these should be OK," said Gibbs, as he pulled open the packet and took one out.
"What's in that bag?" asked Jenny, noticing another bag that didn't look like it had clothes in it.
Gibbs silently reached in and held up another packet of diapers. These, however, were for babies between six and twelve months.
"We've got to be prepared Jen," said Gibbs quietly. "We don't know what the future holds for this little guy."
"Yeah, I know," acknowledged Jenny quietly.
She watched as Gibbs carefully lifted the sleeping Douglas and laid him on the back seat before quickly applying the diaper.
"Wow!" she admired. "You haven't lost your touch."
"It's like riding a bike Jen, you never forget," he quipped, as he reached into one of the bags and pulled out a pair of toddler's pyjamas.
"Here," he said, passing them to her. "Can you take those out of the packet for me?"
He carefully removed Fornell's jacket and the hospital gown before deftly re-dressing Douglas in a pair of cotton pyjamas. Checking his watch, he noticed that it was forty minutes since Jenny had called Abby.
"Well, I reckon we can probably just head home," he said, carefully placing Douglas back in Ziva's car seat. Once he was buckled in, Gibbs took out a flannel blanket he had purchased and wrapped it around the toddler before climbing out of the back seat and returning to the front.
"It'll take us fifteen to drive home," he stated, continuing the conversation he had started in the backseat.
When Jenny just continued to stare at him, he asked, "What?"
Shaking her head in amazement, she said, "You just managed to fit a diaper, undress and re-dress a two year old, buckle him in a car seat and wrap him up in a blanket without him even stirring! How'd you do that?"
"What can I say, Jen? I'm a natural!" Gibbs replied, smirking at her.
"Yep," she said, drawing her fingers through his hair. "I think you are."
Kissing him tenderly, she then sat back while Gibbs started the engine.
"Let's go home," he said quietly. "I don't think we've seen the end of this day just yet, and I need a coffee!"
Backing out of the car park, Gibbs gave the sleeping Douglas a quick glance.
"I wonder what's in store for you, little man," he thought to himself before facing the front again.
Putting the car into drive, Gibbs accelerated and began the journey home, having no idea of what this night would bring but, hoping against hope, that Douglas would still be with them when the morning came.
