NCIS

Thicker than water

Chapter 7

My two Dads

Brooke looked around at the equipment in the room keeping Tony stable. The steady beeping of the heart rate monitor was oddly soothing. It gave her hope that he would be alright despite what the doctor told her earlier.

She took a deep breath as she looked down at the Special Agent. He looked strangely peaceful considering the circumstances although his eyes were moving back and forth rapidly under his closed lids. Brooke wondered what was going on in that mind of his, if he was dreaming was it a nightmare?

The brunette couldn't help but think that the reality she was currently part of was the worst of her nightmares to date. She barely knew the people she was being surrounded by today but given the events that had played out she felt a strong connection to everyone. That included the two that she had yet to learn the names of, the Goth and the man that showed up with Gibbs who reminded her of Mouth.

For a moment Brooke closed her eyes and her eyebrows pulled together. The smell of blood still invaded her nose even long after being extracted from the wreckage with the 'jaws of life'. A flash of the truck hurtling toward them make Brooke open her eyes again in fear that her mind would replay everything she had just been through. She just wasn't ready for that.

"I can't help thinking you wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for me." Brooke whispered as she grabbed hold of Tony's hand. She sighed and studied every detail tracing the lines of his palm with gentle fingertips.

Without her noticing the agent opened his eyes his vision cloudy at first as the effects of sleep began to wear off. Before he could see properly the woman sitting beside him looked like someone else for a second.

"Kate?" Tony whispered.

Brooke flinched when Tony snapped her out of her reverie. She heard him mumbled a foreign name and shook her head. "No, I'm Brooke." She corrected softly. 'Was Kate his wife, girlfriend?' She thought.

Tony's vision cleared just as he was replied to and he sighed. "Sorry, for a minute there you looked like my old partner."

"It's okay…I can find out where she is if you want to see her." Brooke offered. Her hands had stilled since Tony surprised her by waking up but they remained holding onto his gently.

"Don't bother, she's dead has been for a few years now." Tony's blue green eyes wandered over Brooke to see that she was in fact okay. He frowned at the sight of the cast on her left arm and ran his thumb slowly over the back of her hand. "Are you okay?"

Brooke nodded and drew in a sharp breath. "I'm fine…" She sighed shaking her head. "I will be fine." She corrected.

"Ziva?" Tony asked and immediately he regretted doing so when he saw the tears fill her eyes threatening to spill and that they did.

The senior field agent could not help but feel a new found respect for Brooke. Here she was a young woman who less than twenty four hours ago had no idea Ziva even existed. Yet she was shedding tears for the Israeli as if they had been close friends all their lives.

Tony's own heart was feeling shattered at the realization that Ziva would never again tease him or work at his side pushing his buttons every chance she got. He felt like falling apart himself but the last thing he wanted was to make Brooke feel even more uncomfortable in this situation.

"Hey, take it easy." Tony soothed and without thinking about his actions he lifted his free hand and moved the hair from her eyes tucking it gently behind her ear.

Brooke took a shuddering breath and did her best to keep from sobbing. "If…maybe if I had woken up sooner-"

"Don't do that, you can't blame yourself for this okay?" Tony sat up with an audible groan feeling a blinding pain in his abdomen but he ignored it. Right now his main concern was to comfort Brooke.

"You did what you had to do you called for help we got out of there. Nothing more could have been done on your part, understand?" Tony spoke calmly to her giving her hand a small squeeze of affection and resting his other against her cheek.

Brooke simply nodded and Tony patted the bed beside him as he made room. Maybe it wasn't the best decision to make but he didn't know Gibbs was on the other side of the door either. He was drawn to Brooke in a way he couldn't explain and the sight of her sadness didn't sit well with him.

There was a brief moment where Brooke hesitated then she sighed and dried her eyes as she stood from the chair and perched on the edge of the bed. He placed an arm around her shoulders and that motion got her to relax more and she shifted so she lay beside him.

"Ziva would be flattered that you care so much." Tony reassured her.

"I suppose you would know that since she was your partner." Brooke replied politely.

"I like to think so." Tony replied as he drifted back to sleep from the painkillers pumping through his system.

Brooke watched him fall asleep before her own eyelids became heavy and she too closed her eyes.

OTHOTHOTHOTHOTH

Lucas sat beside Haley in the waiting area with Peyton leaning against the wall nearby and Nathan on the other side of him.

In the opposite corner of the quiet room Abby and McGee had just taken up two of the chairs. She had silent tears running down her pale cheeks and he had his nose repositioned and bandaged.

Haley nudged Lucas hard in the ribs with her elbow and in return she received a punch in the arm. "Ouch!" She grunted. "Go apologize." She whispered as she rubbed the spot where he just hit her.

Lucas rolled his eyes at his sister figure and gave an exasperated sigh. "Maybe I was trying to figure out what to say first, ever think of that?"

"Sorry I broke your face would be a nice start."

"I have to agree with her on that one." Nathan chuckled.

"Last I checked he wasn't the only one throwing punches." Peyton chimed in with a smirk.

"You're one to talk." Haley said.

In the meantime Lucas was getting to his feet, upon seeing this Haley rose too. He threw her a quizzical look and she shrugged. "What I'm a big fan of his work, I want to introduce myself."

Lucas simply shook his head and walked over to Abby and McGee. Haley followed trying to keep from smiling too much. As excited as she was to be meeting the author of a best seller other than Lucas she was aware of the loss that had brought them to the hospital.

Nathan looked at Peyton and gave a nod in the direction of the others. She straightened and gave a half smile letting him know she understood what he was suggesting. The NBA player stood and walked over after Haley and Lucas with Peyton at his side.

"Mind if we sit over here?" Lucas asked in a small effort to make peace.

McGee and Abby had looked up the moment they heard footsteps coming their way. She wiped away her tears with the sleeves of her sweater while he gestured to the empty seats in answer to Lucas' request.

"I'm-"

"Lucas Scott, I know you, have a couple of books out." McGee replied. "I like to know who the competition is." He stretched a hand out to the kid and Lucas responded by shaking McGee's hand before taking a seat.

"We have that in common I've read your work. You've really got something there." Lucas replied.

"Thanks, you're doing pretty well yourself." McGee said.

"Thanks for taking the time to notice...uh…sorry about your nose." Lucas muttered not pleased with his earlier actions. "I acted on impulse." He added lamely.

"Don't worry about it. I've dealt with worse besides you thought you were protecting your friend, can't blame you for that." McGee gave a poor excuse of a smile but the intent was sincere.

"Mr. Gemcity-" Haley began.

"Oh…uh…Timothy McGee…is my real name Ma'am. Gemcity is just something I came up with to protect my real identity. I'm a Special Agent with NCIS and this is Abby Sciuto our forensic specialist." McGee explained making sure he was as polite as possible as he gave up his real name and introduced Abby.

"You can just call me-"

"Haley James Scott?" Abby smiled despite what the day had brought to them.

The petite blonde smiled warmly and shrugged. "Just Haley will do…I guess you know my music?"

"Know it, I LOVE it. I play it all the time in my lab. I kind of like to play music when I work helps me to concentrate." Abby replied. She was happy to be getting a distraction from the bad news about Ziva.

"I'm flattered." Haley replied with a light blush reaching her cheeks. "This is-"

"Peyton Sawyer." Abby cut her off again and in realizing so she bit her lip. "Sorry Haley, I get excited when I meet people I've heard a lot about for the first time. Speaking of which," She turned her attention to Nathan. "Tony is a huge sports fan he would find it so cool to meet you."

Nate smirked and nodded at Abby. "I'll pop in and say hello to him then as soon as it's okay."

Abby gave a satisfied smile. "Thanks." She turned back to the girls while Lucas, Nathan, and McGee had their own conversation about guy stuff.

"Red Bedroom Records totally rocks you have amazing taste in music." Abby complimented Peyton with a bright smile.

"Thanks but it's not just about the music for me. When I sign a band or a soloist I look for a lot more than just sound. It's hard to put into words but the best way I can explain it is that when an artist really puts themselves into the music it should reach the people around them." Peyton replied.

"I see that in Haley every time she performs." The taller blonde added.

Haley grinned and shrugged as she ran a hand through her hair. "It all just comes from the heart for me." She said softly.

"That's what the audience relates to if you ask me." Abby replied.

"I'm glad you see it that way…music shouldn't be about a business deal and how much money you can make off it. Haley's right, it's just got to come from the heart." Peyton spoke again.

Abby laughed and nodded in agreement. "That's why your label is so popular Peyton, you're not trying to brainwash the world into being Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus fans."

Peyton and Haley both laughed.

The happy moment was interrupted though when a man came bursting into the hospital looking like he had just traveled for hours to get here.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

"Can I help you Sir?" The nurse at the station asked as the man who could pass for Dennis Quaid approached her. He was a little grey in the temples and wore a business suit with his tie loose around his neck.

"Who is that guy?" Haley wondered noting that the man looked familiar but she couldn't seem to place where she had seen him before today.

"I've only ever seen pictures of him but I think that's Brooke's Dad, Richard Davis." Peyton answered with an expression of surprise. Next to Victoria he was the last person she expected to see here.

"Where's my daughter?" Richard asked quickly as he ran a tired hand through his hair.

"What's her name Sir? I'll see if she is in the system and where you can find her." The nurse offered ready to type in the information he gave her.

"Brooke Penelope-"

"Gibbs."

"Uh-oh." Abby whispered grabbing for McGee's hand subconsciously. The mixed group of friends that were either here for Tony or Brooke had stopped talking and started watching since Richard set foot in the building.

Gibbs stood behind the man who raised Brooke with Samantha just behind him by no more than a couple of feet.

The nurse could sense that there was going to be another problem and moved away from her computer to keep herself busy with something else. The last thing she wanted was to get in the middle of it.

Richard turned away from the desk to face the man who corrected him before he had a chance to finish saying Brooke's name.

"Wow, talk about your hot dad fantasies." Peyton murmured to Haley who got a look of shock on her face.

"Peyton!" She couldn't help but giggle though and shook her head as she returned her attention to the situation that was playing out.

Richard cocked an eyebrow at Gibbs as he crossed his arms over his chest. Gibbs looked back at him with one of his eyes slowly turning black and blue from the earlier fight.

Samantha shifted her weight from one foot to the other showing clear discomfort at the sight of Richard Davis who had been the other man while Gibbs was still married to Victoria.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here." Gibbs growled taking a step closer to Richard. The bad blood between them was bound to get worse.

"Watch your step Jethro." Samantha warned as she too stepped forward although, her motives were not to intimidate Richard. She was more concerned with what Gibbs was going to do to the man.

"Brooke is my daughter Gibbs. I have every right to be here to make sure she's safe." Richard replied. It was obvious that Victoria failed to mention to him that his words were untrue. Either that or the man was in denial.

"From what I understand you haven't been around much her entire life, you suddenly decide that now she's important to you?" Gibbs challenged.

Richard uncrossed his arms letting them fall to his sides and took a step closer in return ending up with just barely a foot of space between him and Gibbs. "You listen to me Gunny my lack of time with her is none of your damn business. It was never easy to be away from my girls but I did what I had to. You should know a little something about that."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him and his jaw tightened with the verbal blow. "You are nothing like me, for one thing I never abandoned my family for personal gain and I knew how to keep my hands off another man's wife."

Richard chuckled darkly. "Yeah, well you shouldn't blame me for that. Victoria is a woman who knows what she wants, maybe if you knew how to satisfy her we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

Gibbs was about to react by popping Richard in the mouth until Samantha slipped between them and pushed the two men away from each other by placing her hands on their chests.

"Stop it." She turned to Gibbs. "One fight a day is more than enough." She looked at Richard keeping her arms outstretched to distance both men.

"You're looking good Sam." Richard smirked.

"Thanks, but you were never my type Richard." Samantha laughed at the mere thought as she lowered her arms but remained between him and Gibbs.

"Right, forgot that you prefer your sister's leftovers." Richard replied with a glint in his eye.

Samantha's hands curled into fists but she didn't want to sink to his level by reacting negatively. She was standing close enough to Gibbs to feel his body stiffen.

They both hated Richard with a burning passion. However with Brooke in the picture now and knowing what they now knew about her there was a chance that this would not be the last they saw of him.

"How did you know to come down here?" Samantha asked through clenched teeth. "Brooke is not a minor."

"She's still my daughter, got a call from the source that I should come down here. I was in the area anyway on business." Richard answered.

"Brooke called you?" Gibbs questioned in disbelief.

"That's what I said, along with her friends over there." Richard nodded toward the group recognizing Peyton. He'd seen her once or twice with his daughter over the years although they never shared a conversation before.

Gibbs looked over his shoulder and sighed. He turned back and shook his head. "There is something you really need to hear about Brooke."

"What could you possibly know about her that I don't Gunny?" Richard wondered raising his eyebrow again.

"You mean other than everything?" Samantha scoffed.

"I know plenty about my daughter." Richard answered.

"Not nearly as much as you think you do." Gibbs spoke firmly.

"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You should ask her Rich." Samantha answered before Gibbs had the chance. She nodded as her eyes moved to look over his shoulder.

Richard turned once he saw where her eyes were going and found Brookes standing in front of the ICU doors with a look of overwhelming surprise on her young face.

"I didn't think you'd show," She bit her lip and hesitated on her next word. "Dad." Brooke moved toward the three who stood in the middle of the waiting room.

Gibbs couldn't help but feel his heart sink and his stomach turn at the sound of Brooke referring to Richard as her father. In a sense he was but then there was the fact that he neglected her most of her life.

"You called Brooke." Richard replied with a simple shrug as if that would suffice.

Brooke let out a long breath that she appeared to have been holding for some time. "Is that why you're here or is it more to do with the fact that you were in DC anyway?" She asked harshly.

Gibbs had to bite his tongue to keep from smirking. He wondered if she was going to tell Richard the truth.

"Brooke-"

"Save it, I'm just glad you're here so I can tell you to your face that you're not my Dad…not that you ever tried to be." Brooke said angrily as her arms crossed. "Mom left me a little something this morning at my house. Turn around and take a look at my real father."

Richard looked confused at first until Brooke gave him the order to look around. When he did and realized what she meant when he looked at Gibbs his eyes turned cold. He said nothing and pushed past the agent on his way out of the hospital.

Brooke watched as he left then ran a hand through her dark hair. Tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill over but she refused to let them. Richard was never much of a father to her but it still hurt to see him walk away like that considering the fact that he was the only father she had until today.

Gibbs had stood there watching it all go down and felt his heart break at the sight of his child under this sort of stress. He simply walked toward her and placed a hand gently on her shoulder using the other to lift her chin up making her look at him.

"Don't waste your tears on him." He advised.

Brooke swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. She took a second to catch her breath and dried her eyes. "Tony's asking for you." She whispered.