NOTE: September 29, 2015 - Chapter 2 has finally been updated! Most of the changes so far have only been minor things like spelling, grammar, punctuation, and oddly structured sentences, and weird dialog. I haven't made any real changes to the plot, yet. The first major plot change will be in the next chapter, which I should have uploaded sometime later today, if all goes according to plan.


"Haroshimoto isn't the name of a single person," Tony said as Gibbs walked into the bullpen. "It's a family name,"

"Whose in the family?" Gibbs asked, sipping his coffee.

"The father's name was Terou. The mother's name was Kiyomi." Ziva piped in.

"They had four children. The oldest, a daughter named Etsumi, a son named Ryouji, a daughter named Xana, and twins; a boy named Sousuke, and a girl named Sakura," McGee added.

Tony glared at McGee and Ziva for stealing his mojo. "Etsumi was married to a man named Nayoto Shion. They had daughter named Ayumi and a son named Genji," he said.

"Xana Haroshimoto. I still do no understand why she is so important!" Ziva exclaimed.

"Neither do I," Gibbs agreed.

"About six years ago, the Haroshimoto family got together on the 4th of July for a barbeque and fireworks. They were just firing up the grill when the house exploded," Tony said.

Gibbs looked up at the family picture on the flat screen. "Were there any survivors?" he asked.

Tony opened his mouth to answer but McGee cut in. "Ryouji, Xana, Sakura, Sousuke, and Ayumi. The first four were outside when it happened. Ayumi was inside. It was a miracle that she survived."

"What happened to them?" Gibbs asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

"With no other living family members, they went to an orphanage. Ayumi was adopted by a family from Tennessee after only six weeks," Ziva explained. "Two weeks after that, the other four disappeared. The only thing left behind was a note saying that they did not want their family to be split up anymore. The local police department lead an investigation, but the children were never found,"

"That is," McGee started. "Until two months later, when Ryouji turned up dead on the side of the road,"

"Cause of death?" Gibbs asked.

"Shot in the heart," McGee said.

"Who shot him?" Gibbs asked.

"You're not gonna like it, boss,"

"Just tell me, McGee!"

"The primary suspect was a man name… Jonathan Franks. However, all of the evidence was circumstantial so he never faced any charged," McGee said.

"And what about Xana, Sakura and Souske? What happened to them after their brother was shot?"

"I am afraid that we do not know, Gibbs," Ziva said. "The train goes cold after that,"

"Train?" Gibbs asked.

"I think she means trail, boss," McGee said.

"Wait, wait, wait! Not so fast!" DiNozzo exclaimed, suddenly jumping up from his computer. "Check this out. There was a news report about five years back about some security footage that had captured a nine-year-old Japanese being kidnapped. They never figured out the girl's identity because nobody ever filed a missing person's report," DiNozzo explained. "But I'd be willing to bet that little girl was Xana,"

"What about Ayumi? Where is she now?"

"Err, hold on, Boss." Tony said. He ran to his computer and pulled up all records of the little girl. "She was adopted by Gilbert and Madeline Beilschmidt on August 26th, 2005. The family moved to Broomfield, Colorado shortly after the adoption,"

"Are they still there?" Gibbs asked.

"No, Boss. They moved to D.C. about eight months ago." McGee cut in.

"Ziver, I want you to take that security footage down to Abby and have her run facial recognition," Gibbs ordered. "DiNozzo, McGee, I want you two to go and find out all that you can about that 4th of July six years ago, from that little girl,"

-NCIS: Xana-

Forty minutes later, McGee and DiNozzo pulling up into the driveway of the Beilschmidt home.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" Mrs. Beilschmidt asked when she opened the door.

"Mrs. Beilschmidt?" McGee asked. The woman nodded. "Sorry to bother you. NCIS," he held up his badge. "Is you daughter home?"

"Yes. Hold on. Ayumi! You have visitors!" Mrs. Beilschmidt called. "Sorry, why don't you come in. Make yourselves at home." Tony nodded and walked in. The two very special agents sat on the couch and waited for the eleven-year-old girl.

"Hiya!" The little girl said and she bounded downstairs.

"Hi, are you Ayumi?" McGee asked.

"Yep! That's me! That's me!" She said and danced around, happily.

"I'm sorry. She's just excited. She made it into the school play. She got one of the lead roles, actually." Mrs. Smith said.

Tony smiled. "That's great!"

"Congratulations!" McGee grinned.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Ayumi squealed and bounced around for a moment before she finally sat down on the couch. "So, what's going on? Why do you wanna talk to me?" She asked.

"Well, we want to ask you about your family," McGee said. He was going to have to bring up the adoption, and was trying to figure out a way to let it down lightly.

"Which family. This family, or my real family?" She asked. McGee felt relieved that she already knew that she was adopted.

"Your real family," Tony said.

"Do you remember what happened on the 4th of July six years ago?" McGee asked.

Ayumi screwed up her face. "A little," she said. "But not a whole lot. When I try to remember it, it feels fuzzy like a dream," Then she pointed to the huge scar that marred her beautiful face and clawed up her arms and legs. "I know that's when I got this," she said.

"Do you remember anything out of the ordinary that happened before the expolsion?" Tony asked.

Once again, Ayumi frowned, thinking hard. She shook her head. "I don't think so…" she paused. Then, suddenly, her face light up light a lightbulb. "Hold on! I gotta go get something!" she pushed herself off of the couch and bolted up the stairs.

McGee and DiNozzo both looked at each other, sort of confused. Moments later, Ayumi ran back downstairs with an old photo album. It was a little worse for wear, off-colored from smoke damage and smeared with charcoal. She opened up the book and flipped through the pictures, touching them lovingly.

"That's my hahaue and my chichiue," she said, pointing to an old wedding photo.

DiNozzo frowned. "What?"

"My momma and daddy," Ayumi clarified. "This is right after they got married and kissed and stuff," She flipped to a new page and pointed to a picture of a little baby boy. "This is my otouto. That means 'little brother'. His name is Genji. He was in momma's tummy, which is why I think he looks kinda like a potato," she said.

At that comment, Tony snickered. McGee elbowed him in the ribs and glared. Ayumi didn't seem to notice.

"That's my ojichan and my obachan," she said. "They don't have white hair and lots of wrinkles like most grandparents, but that's OK," she said. "That's my uncle Ryouji, and my aunt Xana, and my aunt Sakura and uncle Sousuke. It's kinda funny 'cause they're not much bigger than me!" she grinned, giggling a little. She caressed the photographs again — tenderly, as though they were the most precious thing on earth. And perhaps, to her, they were.

"I don't have a lot of family any more," Ayumi whispered, staring longingly at the old photos. "I don't got any brothers or sisters and papa works for the military so lots of the times it's just me and mom. Sometimes, it gets real lonely," she said. Her head snapped up suddenly. "Do you guys have any brothers or sisters?" she asked.

DiNozzo shook his head but McGee nodded. "Yeah. I've got a younger sister. Her name is Sarah," he said.

"Well, you gotta tell her you love her all the time, or she'll forget," Ayumi said suddenly.

McGee and DiNozzo exchanged concerned glanced. "I will, I promise," McGee said.

"Listen, Ayumi, I need you to try and remember if anything out of the ordinary was going on. It's really important, so please try your hardest," DiNozzo said, gently.

Ayumi nodded. "I know. That's why I went to get this. Sometimes I look at their faces and it helps me remember stuff," she said. She stared at the pictures again and screwed up her face, deep in thought. "I remember chichiue yelling at somebody cause he wasn't doing his job. I think he was a plumber, maybe,"

"He was probably tampering with the gas lines," McGee whispered to DiNozzo. "Anything else, Ayumi?"

"Yeah! Yeah! I just remembered, there were police people at our house a couple days before," Ayumi said.

"What were they doing there?" DiNozzo asked.

"Talking to Auntie Xana, I think," she said.

"Why?" McGee asked.

"Somebody tried to kidnap her," Ayumi rubbed her eye with her fist. "Yeah… I think it was 'cause they saw her on T.V.," she said.

"Why was she on T.V.?" DiNozzo asked.

"She was on the News 'cause she was super smart. She took a test or something and got a really high score so they put her on the news," Ayumi said.

McGee and DiNozzo exchanged glances. "Thank you, Ayumi," they both said quickly.

-NCIS: Xana-

"A test?" Gibbs asked, back in the Bull Pen.

"She got a Five on both the AP BC Calculus exam and the AP Physics C exam," McGee explained.

"AP?" Ziva asked.

"Advanced Placement," Gibbs answered.

"AP classes are college courses offered to high school students. There's a big exam at the end of the year and if the students get a certain grade, usually a Four or a Five, they're awarded college credits," McGee explained. "BC Calculus and Physics C are the hardest courses they offer,"

"And you said she was how old?" Gibbs asked.

"Eight, boss. She took the took the tests at the end of the Third Grade and got nearly perfect scores on both of them," McGee said. "They asked her on the news how she knew all those answers and she said, quote: 'There's a box inside my head and when I want an answer, all I have to do is open it.' Boss, this kid's a genius. More than that, she's—"

"—Superhuman?" Ducky asked, making his presence known. "I do believe, dear Jethro, that Tammy Rowe was in fact, telling us the truth,"

-NCIS: Xana-

It was Thursday night, 9:00 pm. McGee was sitting out in the park, waiting. He was awfully fidgety. He blamed it on nervous adrenaline and too much coffee.

"Scared, Probie?" Tony asked, through the earbud.

"No, Tony. Shut up," McGee snapped.

"Oh, not very nice," Tony said.

McGee rolled his eyes. "What exactly am I looking for, Boss?" He asked.

"You're not looking for anything. You're waiting," Gibbs responded.

"Waiting for what?"

"Oh, well, gee McGee, if I knew, I don't think we'd need to have you out there undercover!" Gibbs said, exasperated.

"Sorry, boss," McGee said.

After about ten minuets, a young Japanese girl sat across from him. "Jonathan Franks?" she asked. At first he didn't respond. It took him a moment to remember that he was Jonathan Franks.

"Yes?" he asked. His heart was pounding.

The girl narrowed her eyes. He was expecting some sort of code or just the letter. But the response he got totally threw him off guard. "Where are Sakura and Sousuke?" she hissed.

"What?" he asked, trying not to sound like he was panicking. Was this some sort of test?

"Where are they?" Her voice filled with anger. "Where are my brother and sister?"

"I don't know!" he exclaimed.

"Acheron took them didn't he?" she asked. She sounded like she was struggling to remain calm.

McGee's mind was racing. He had to stay in character. "Acheron is dead!"

"No he isn't! I know he isn't!" There was anger in her voice. Anger and hatred and fear.

"Yes he is!"

"Tell me where they are!" She was just on the verge of shouting, now. She revealed a gun beneath the table. McGee's eyes widened. "Sakura and Sousuke. Where. Are. They." Her voice was as cold as ice.

Suddenly, everything clicked and McGee realized just who it was he was talking to: Xana. "I told you, I don't know! I never had anything to do with that!" This time, he wasn't pretending to be Franks. He was speaking truthfully, as McGee, trying to say something that wouldn't get him shot.

"Liar!" She screamed. There was a loud noise and McGee's stomach exploded in pain. He fell out of his chair, blood pooling around him. His brain froze up. He was vaguely aware of the shouts and screams coming from the people around him.

"McGee!" It was the voice of an older man. It sounded stern, but shocked and worried, and almost horrified. Gibbs? What on earth could have happened to make Gibbs scream like that? McGee wondered, the pain making him delirious.

"Man down! Man down!" This voice belonged to a younger man. Tony. Was this some sort of prank? Were his fingers glued to the keyboard? The weird thing was, he couldn't feel his fingers at all anymore.

"Director, McGee's been shot!" Ziva. He kinda liked Ziva. Not like he liked Abby… but she was pretty…

Tim looked up. There was someone standing over him. She was smaller than everybody else. She had black hair and grey eyes and she was so very familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was. He tried to ask, but his mouth wasn't working anymore.

McGee watched, in slow motion, as her expression changed from one of hatred, to one of horror, sorrow, and shock. "You're not Franks!" she shouted suddenly. He wanted to asked who Franks was, but when he blinked, she was gone.

Tony and Gibbs knelt down beside the younger agent. McGee heard three shots ring out. He wanted to cover his ears, but he wasn't sure if he even had arms anymore. He looked up to see who was shooting, and saw Ziva running after the girl. Where are they going? he wondered.

"Just lay still, Tim. You are going to be alright," Tony said. McGee looked up at him and saw pain in his eyes. There was pain in Gibbs' eyes, too. Were they OK? He hoped they weren't hurt.

"Don't you die on us, McGee!" Gibbs shouted. "You don't have my permission to die, yet!"

McGee's head lolled to the side. As his vision faded away, the last thing on his mind was that black-haired girl and her piercing grey eyes.