Chapter 7

Their daughter? Could that really be her? Gibbs looked back up at Tony and saw the determination in the younger man's eyes. At least he was sure about it. He could also see a fire in Tony's eyes he only had seen a few times before. Tony had bonded with the girl, and that itself was an amazing thing. Truth be told, Gibbs hadn't expected that to happen today at all.

"Are you Jethro?"

Gibbs snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at the girl, who was now looking curiously up at him, her head slightly tilted to one side.

"Yeah", Gibbs said and crouched down so that they were in the same level. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sarah."

"Sarah. It's a pretty name. How old are you?"

"Five."

"Five?" Tony exclaimed and stared at the girl in shock. "You're only five?"

"You've got any problems with that, Tony?" Gibbs asked and looked up at his lover, an eyebrow raised in question and a teasing smile playing on his lips.

"No", Tony said with a frown. "It's just that she sounds older than five. I thought that she would be at least seven."

Gibbs looked back at the girl and let his eyes sweep over her from head to toe. Even if she sounded older than five, like Tony thought, she certainly didn't look that way. Not at a closer look, anyway. She was small and scrawny, and her long, brown hair, almost the same color as Tony's, was tousled and there was small twigs and leaves stuck in it. She was a bit dirty, but Gibbs would've been surprised if she had been absolutely clean. Children seemed to attract dirt the same way magnets attracted iron, and in his opinion, that was how it should be.

One thing that puzzled him though, was Sarah's eyes. There was a look deep in the sapphire blue depths that made his gut squirm. It was a look of deep pain, betrayal and deprivation mixed with a longing so strong that it seemed to radiate from the girl in waves. She was begging for someone to love and protect her. He wondered what caused that look when he saw the scars on Sarah's arms and legs. Gibbs clenched his jaws in anger, but forced himself to soften his features again when he saw the frightened look that had appeared on the girl's face.

"Who gave you these, Sarah?" he asked and carefully ran a finger over the scars.

"It's none of your business", Sarah snapped then and pulled away from his touch, glaring at him. The look she gave him was hard as steel and he could almost hear the walls slam up around her. He looked up at Tony, who gravely shook his head and then crouched down beside the girl. He put his arms around her and mumbled something in her ear. Gibbs watched silently and noticed how at ease the man and the girl seemed to be around each other. A small smile began to play on the older man's lips when he saw a vision of the three of them at home, as a family. Tony was right. She was theirs.

"Sarah? Good Lord, where have you been?"

Gibbs stood up and turned around just in time to see a plump, middle-aged woman walking towards them and straight over to the little girl, picking her up in her arms.

"I've been so worried", the woman continued, not heeding any of the men. "Where were you? I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I was hiding, okay?" Sarah said. "I wanted to be alone for a while."

"Why do you always want to be alone? You won't make any friends of you don't try harder."

"Maybe I don't want to make friends! You never think about that!"

"Sarah, stop it! We've had that conversation before."

"Why don't you let Sarah make her own decisions whether she wants to make friends or not", Tony said then. "Maybe she's not ready yet."

The woman stared at Tony like she hadn't noticed that he was there until then.

"I'm sorry", she said. "And you are...?"

"I'm Anthony DiNozzo, and this is my partner, Jethro Gibbs. I was..."

"Ah, yes", the woman interrupted coolly. "The gay couple. Let me ask you something, Mr. DiNozzo. Do you have any experience with children?"

"Not really", Tony said with a shrug. "But Jeth..."

"Then I don't think you're capable of knowing what Sarah is or is not ready for. Now if you excuse me, I need to give Sarah a bath."

Without another word, the woman turned her back at Tony and Gibbs and walked back to the house. Sarah glanced back at them over the woman's shoulder and rolled her eyes before waving good bye.

"You think they all are like that?" Tony asked Gibbs as they watched the woman disappear into the house with the girl.

"No. But she was probably under a lot of stress."

"Yeah, that and the fact that she didn't like us." Tony sighed heavily and looked gravely up at Gibbs. "I really want to help her, Jet. She deserves to have a loving family."

"I know, Tony. Me too. Lucky for her that we can provide just that, then."

"Jet..."

Gibbs smiled broadly at his young lover and ruffled his hair softly.

"I saw you how you interacted with Sarah. She's already found her way into your heart. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right. God, I never expected this to happen. One look into her eyes was all that it took, Jet. I've never seen eyes like that. She wants to be loved so badly that I just wanted to take her home with us immediately. Did you see her scars? I'm amazed that she isn't more traumatized than she is. Just imagine how it would be like if the people who're supposed to love and protect you harmed you instead."

"I know, Tony. But she's safe now. And soon she'll be home with us. Come on. Let's go find Mark. I want to get this whole thing started ASAP."

TBC