FOUR

Gibbs looked up from his computer when he heard familiar laughter rounding the corner, he grinned when he saw Jack pushing Elena on a rolling chair towards him. He was switching back and forth between reading the teams reports for their latest case and the witness statement Ruiz had given them about La Vida Mala. He closed the file on La Vida Mala and turned to face Jack and Elena, both of whom were grinning widely.

"I won two rounds against Jack in soccer!" Elena exclaimed.

"Did you?" Gibbs asked with a raised eyebrow, "I think Jack needs to practice more."

"Speaking of practice, can Elena work on her workbook down here for a bit?" Jack asked, "I want to run down and talk to Abby about the Pearson case."

She was fascinated by Gibbs' latest case, and wanted to see if she could find out more from Abby but having a ten year old trailing after her made it a bit difficult.

"That's fine." Gibbs replied, "I should be done in about an hour."

"Alright." Jack replied, "I'll be back by then."

Jack gave Elena's shoulder a quick squeeze before heading for the back elevator, it had been four days since they had taken Elena. So far they hadn't had any major incidents, Elena had remained her usual upbeat self but Jack and Gibbs could both see that it was starting to wear on her.

Jack had had a rough night the night before, starting with a nightmare at midnight and ending with Elena waking up screaming at 0500. As soon as she had calmed down Elena had acted like nothing had happened and neither Jack or Gibbs had pushed the issue, for now they were willing to let Elena figure out how she wanted to cope on her own. As for Jack the nightmare hadn't been as bad as usual and she had woken up frozen in fear rather than screaming for help, but the night had left her exhausted none the less.

She found Abby and MI6 Agent Clayton Reeve's down in Abby's lab, she smiled as she listened to them discussing their dinner plans for that evening. It made her happy to see that everyone had something going on for their Friday night, Gibbs had invited people over for a poker night a week earlier, before everything with Elena and after debating they had agreed that they would still do it. McGee was spending the night with his family and Ellie and Nick were doing something or other, she wasn't quite sure what.

She contemplated interrupting them but decided against it, she silently backed out of the lab and went back up to her office, she shook her head when she saw the amount of disarray in her normally organized domain. There were colouring books and picture books spread all around the room, the video game console was still pulled out where she had left it and Elena's jacket and rain boots were tossed in the corner with her backpack. Gibbs' normally clutter free house wasn't very far off from the chaos in her office, between her and Elena the house definitely looked more lived in.

She had returned to her house to collect enough clothes for the week as well as some personal belongings, her laptop and a few books to keep herself entertained after Elena went to bed, mostly. It had only been four days but she had grown used to having the girl in her life, she had gotten used to going home to Elena's cheerful chatter. She had even gotten used to having Gibbs around, she liked knowing that he would either be there when she and Elena went to his house or be there shortly after she got there.

She tidied up her office and signed off on a few files before beginning to pack up hers and Elena's belongings. She gathered everything together and locked her office behind her before heading back up to the bullpen where Elena was bent over her workbook with her earphones on and a look of concentration on her face. The squad room was still relatively busy since it was only 1700 but the only member of Gibbs' team still present was Bishop who was munching on a bag of chips and reading a file on the floor behind her desk, still in view of Elena but not hovering over her.

She lightly tapped on the edge of Ellie's desk and waited for the younger woman to look up before gesturing to her earbuds.

"Where is Gibbs?" She asked quietly, trying not to disturb Elena.

"He had to go see Director Vance, he sent everyone else home."

"You can head out too if you want, I can take over." Jack offered, "It's a Friday night, go and do something fun."

"I'm just finishing this up and then I'll head out." Ellie replied, "although if you and Gibbs wanted a break tonight I can babysit so you can do something fun."

"Don't worry about us." Jack replied with a dismissive wave, "we're having a poker night tonight you go home and enjoy a night off, I'm learning that they're few and far between around here."

"They are pretty rare." Bishop agreed with a grin, "I think I'll go home, take a bath and maybe watch a movie."

"Make sure you have a glass of wine for me somewhere in there." Jack replied.

"Will do." Ellie promised, "I just have a few sentences left on this and then I'll head out."

"I'll let you get back to it."

Jack nodded and moved across the bullpen to sit at McGee's desk, she pulled out her phone and started to read over the latest psychology journal Ducky had sent her way. She paused for a moment when Ellie left to wave goodbye before going back to her reading, she was almost halfway done when Gibbs reappeared.

"Did ya get a chance to talk to Abbs?" He asked.

"No, she and Reeves were having a good time and I didn't want to interrupt, I'll pick her brain on Monday." Jack replied, "Do you have anything left to do or are you ready to go?"

"I'm ready when you two are." Gibbs responded, "We'll have to break that one out of her own little world though." He added, nodding in Elena's direction with a grin, "she hasn't moved in close to an hour."

Jack shook her head with a fond smile and stood up, it took her a minute to drag Elena's attention away from her studies but soon enough they were all packed up and ready to head out for the weekend. She was a bit concerned with how they would keep the ten year old entertained all weekend but she was sure they would manage, Gibbs would probably convince her to work on the boat with him if nothing else worked. After the insane week they had had Jack was pretty sure they were all ready for some peace and relaxation.

Hey Everybody! This chapter is much shorter than I normally do but I really wanted to separate it from the next chapter (I'm sure you all know what happens next) I hope everyone enjoyed and please remember that I own nothing :(... I do however love love love to hear from all of you!

~Katie