Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, spoilers for the NCIS episode: "The Meat Puzzle"

Title: Meeting Luna

Summary: Where does Luna go when her parents are out hunting Snorkacks? Try the US of A. Completely AU, spoilers for the NCIS episode 'The Meat Puzzle'.

Chapter 4- Kate

Kate tossed her shovel to the side, barely registering the extra agent that dodged out of the way. She grabbed a flashlight and aimed its beam onto the casket as Gibbs pried it open.

She tried to hold the flashlight steady when she saw how pale Luna was.

Kate watched as Ducky handed Luna a cup of hot chocolate and settled himself onto the couch to continue reading to her. She nodded to Ducky as she made her rounds around the house, checking the perimeter and making sure Mrs. Mallard was still snoring peacefully in her room. The old lady was certainly a handful. When she got back, Ducky was snoring softly, with a blanket tucked around him. Luna was sitting at the end of the couch, reading.

Kate sat down on an armchair next to her as she whispered, "Aren't you going to bed, young lady?"

"Not yet. Miss Kate?"

"Yes, Luna?"

"What's a gigolo?"

Kate was speechless for a moment. "What?"

"Uncle Ducky wouldn't tell me," she said with a pout, "but I really want to know."

"Why do you want to know what a gigolo is?"

"Because Nana kept calling Uncle Tony the 'Italian gigolo that moves furniture'."

Kate couldn't help but laugh. Oh, Tony is not going to live this one down. She coughed as she noticed Luna still looking at her expectantly.

"Um, what did Ducky say when you asked him?"

"That I had to ask my mother."

"I think you should ask your mother as well."

"Maybe I should ask Uncle Gibbs." Luna said thoughtfully, before turning back to her book.

Kate thought that evening was going to be etched into her mind as one of the most amusing since she'd joined NCIS.

"She's not breathing!" Gibbs declared as he knelt down to pick her up carefully, moving her from the casket to the newly overturned soil.

"The medics are here Gibbs, I can see them coming." Kate said, as she watched him start rescue breathing. The emergency team placed the stretcher on the ground next to her. Gibbs moved out of the way so they could secure Luna on the stretcher. Within moments they had a bag over her face and were wheeling her towards the ambulance.

Gibbs turned back to his team. "I want pictures and sketches. Bag everything. Send the dimensions to Abby so she can approximate how long she might have been without air. I'm following her to Bethesda."

Tony and McGee were working together to take pictures of the scene while the other agents roped the area off.

"Kate, give us a hand with the lights, would you?"

"Mrs. Mallard? Mrs. Mallard, we need to get you and our dog back into the house." Kate said, her eyes scoping out the dark yard.

Mrs. Mallard turned to look at her. "That's not my dog."

"Of course it is, Mrs. Mallard."

"No it's not. I only have corgis."

Kate suddenly got a really bad feeling. She ushered Mrs. Mallard back into the house as she called out for Ducky. When she got to the parlor where she had left both of them sleeping, neither one of them was there. Only an overturned armchair and a broken mug of hot chocolate, staining the lush carpet.

"Kate?" Tony called again. "McGee, get those pictures of the casket to Abby, then get back to taking more pictures of the crime scene." He turned back to Kate, pulling her to the car. "Hey, you all right?"

"Y-yeah." She looked up, her eyes wet. "Some people are really sick."

"Yeah." He said softly, handing her a phone. "Give Ducky a call okay? It'll be good to let him know we found Luna." Kate shook herself as she watched him turn back to work on the scene. Pull yourself together, Kate. She dialed the phone.