Gibbs was just about to begin drilling his team for information on the latest case when his phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs."

"Special Agent Gibbs? This is Lauren from Doctor Jameson's office."

He paused. Had Alyssa seriously skipped out on therapy? He thought he had made that point clear. "Alyssa's not there?"

"Oh, no sir. She's here, and Gracie, too." He could hear the smile in the receptionist's voice as she said Gracie's name. The little girl had a tendency to make everyone in the vicinity fall in love with her. "But Dr. Jameson was wondering if you could come in."

"Today?"

"Yes, sir. We understand if you would like to reschedule, but as you already have an appointment... And it really is crucial that parents be active participants in a child recovery." He could swear he heard Alyssa in the background, laughing at his misfortune.

"Of course. I completely understand. I'll be right there."


"Special Agent Gibbs. How are you?" Doctor Jameson smiled and stood up as he entered the room.

"Good, thanks. How about you?" He shook her out-stretched hand. Jethro knew that the doctor was a woman; he thought it would be best for the girls. But he didn't know that she would be so attractive. And a redhead, nonetheless.

"I'm doing well, thank you. Please, have a seat."

Gibbs sat down on the couch, admiring the beautiful red-haired woman across from him. "How can I help you, Miss Jameson?"

"Please, call me Zoe, Agent Gibbs."

"Then you must call me Jethro."

The woman blushed softly. "Right, Jethro. I was just wondering if I could talk to you about the girls for a few moments."

"Sure, of course."

"Why don't we start with Grace? Tell me about her."

"Gracie is... a princess. She needs constant attention..." He chuckled. "And supervision. She's curious about everything. Loves school. Her favorite things are princess coloring books, skirts that twirl, and being the center of attention. She likes to be cuddled and read to."

"And what about Alyssa?"

"Alyssa is a bit of a rebel. Without a cause, though. She needs attention, like her sister. She just goes about getting it in a less direct way. She's smart, gutsy. Got an attitude and a half."

Zoe laughed. "You sound like you have your hands full."

"Oh, I'd say so. My girls, the trouble makers."

"How would you say the girls are handling their mother's death?"

He thought for a moment. "Fairly well, I think. They've been through quite a few traumatic events, but it seems like they're both hardwired to handle the stress. Alyssa, especially. She's often more focused on her sister than herself, but it's her way of coping. Alyssa has a tendency to shut people out. She thinks no one will know if she's hurting if she won't talk about it. I think Gracie's still caught up in the new-ness of the situation. She's never had a daddy before, she wants to see what it's like. And where I work, she sees my team as extended family, family she's never really had before."

Zoe nodded. "And how are you handling things?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. It must be difficult, going from a widower and divorcee to father of two little girls."

He nodded slowly. Alyssa must have told about him. Tattletale. "Right." That was all he said. Zoe waited silently for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "What?"

"Nothing, you just-" She giggled, and the thought entered his mind that he would like to hear that sound again. "I shouldn't laugh, but... You sounded so much like Alyssa. It's uncanny."

"Oh, great. I sound like a teenage girl. That's gonna do wonders for my ego." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Jethro. I have a feeling your ego will be just fine."


Later that night

Gracie sat down and stared at Gibbs, her blue eyes wide. He waited on her to speak, but she didn't. Just sat and stared.

"Can I help you with something, Gracie?"

"Lyssa said you're leavin'."

He groaned inwardly. Gibbs knew he should have told her sooner, but he had been putting off the inevitable. He was leaving the day after tomorrow, so he hadn't planned on telling Grace quite yet. Maybe he just wasn't quite ready for what he feared would be more tears. "Yeah, I am."

"How come?" She scooted across the table and up next to him, putting her little hand on his strong one as he sanded the boat.

"I have a case to work on."

"Where are you goin'?"

"Quantico." She made a confused face, not understanding. "It's not far."

"Oh. Well, I drewed you a picture." She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him. He unfolded it to reveal a drawing of his family and his team. Front and center was a tall grey-haired man holding hands with two blonde girls. Behind them were two women, both with dark hair, standing between four men. They had all been carefully labeled in a little girl's handwriting: Gracie, Daddy, Lyssa, Tony, Ducky, Ziva, Abby, Jimmy, Tim.

"I didn't put da director in, cuz he scares me a little."

"It's beautiful, Gracie. Thank you."

"Welcome."

He kissed her softly on the forehead, carefully re-folded the paper and stuck it in his back jeans pocket. "I'll even take it with me when I go so I can remember what everbody looks like."

She didn't say anything for a long still moment. "But...You're gonna come back, right?"

He froze, sandpaper halfway up the rib of the boat. She had asked him so brokenly, as if she expected him to say no. He hadn't thought about the how the effects of his leaving would affect Grace in that particular way. She thought he was leaving them, for good.

Jethro set the paper down, cradled her small face carefully between his calussed hands."Listen to me, Gracie. Listen close, alright?" She nodded, eyes teary. "I am not going to leave you. Ever. I'm going away for a few days, but I am coming right back home to you."

"But when Daddy went away, he didn't come back. And Momma didn't neither."

"I know. But I am coming back here as soon as I can."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Pinky promise?" Her tiny hand seperated from his, pinky finger extended.

He was gathering that there was a ritual here as he wrapped his finger around hers and squeezed. "Pinky promise."

"Okay, then." A pinky promise was an unbreakable vow in Grace's world. If he pinky-promised that he would come back, then he would. "I'ma get Lyssa to read me a bedtime story, then you come tuck me in, okay?"

"Absolutely." She was so sweet, if maybe a bit bossy. Gibbs chuckled as she ran up the stairs. Imagine him being bossed around by a seven year old. He picked up the sandpaper again and went back to work, patiently waiting to be called upon.

"DADDEEEEEEE!" A voice came up from upstairs, sounding horrified.

Dropping the tool in his hand, Gibbs sprinted up the stairs to Grace's room. His gun was drawn by his side when he entered. He scanned the room quickly and saw no obvious threat. "Gracie, what's wrong?"

She looked at him, eyes wide with terror. "There's a spider."

Silence. Then he responded, calm, albeit confused."What?"

"There's a spider. It's on the wall." She pointed a single finger to her pink-painted walls and took a step back.

"Right. A spider." He tucked the gun back into his waistband, walked over and smacked the tiny dot of an insect. "No spider now."

"But... You killed it!" Grace's mouth fell open in shock.

"What did you want me to do to it?"

"Well, don't kill it! It's just a poor baby spider!"

"But-"

"You can't kill all the spiders, Daddy. Cuz they eat the little bitty bugs, and get eated by big bugs and frogs and stuff. If you kill them, it messes up the eco- umm, eco-somethin'. So you have to take them outside where they can live!" She explained, looking disappointed in him for not having already known this.

He sighed and rubbed a hand down the side of his face. "Next time, I will take the spider outside. I promise."

"Good. Cuz you don't wanna mess up the eco-..."

"System, sweetie. Ecosystem."

"Right. Goodnight, Daddy." Grace climbed into her bed and waited patiently for him to tuck her in tightly.

"Night, Gracie. Love you."

"I love you morer!"


"DADDDEEEEE!" Jethro sprung from his bed, feeling a slight sense of deja vu.

He was in Grace's room in an instant. "What, Grace? Another spider?"

"No!" She sniffled loudly, clutching her teddy bear to her chest in a death grip. Crocodile tears rolled down her cheeks. "I had a bad dream."

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie." He climbed onto the tiny bed beside her, limbs falling over. "What did you dream about?"

"That scary man was here again, and he was gonna hurt me."

"Oh, baby." Gibbs wrapped his arms around her small and trembling body. "It's okay. That man," he ground out, wanting to use another word for the scum, "is in jail. You're safe. Go back to sleep. I'll be right here, okay? You're safe, promise."

She squirmed around in the bed, trying to get comfortable. "Will you tell me a story?"

"I don't really know any good stories, princess."

"Well, make one up."

"Oh. Okay. Well, once upon a time... There was a princess." He paused, unsure how to continue.

Grace sighed exasperatedly. "What was the princesses' name?"

"Princess Gracie, of course. She was a very pretty princess. Beautiful, in fact."

"And?"

"And..." He gulped. "Uhm." He dug desperately through the recesses of his mind. There had to be a fairytale in there somewhere. He should have paid better attention to Ducky's stories.

She stared up at him silently. Gibbs was beginning to think she had learned his intimidating, disappointed interrogation-room glare when she scrambled out of the bed and came back with a storybook. "Your stories kinda suck. Can you just read me one of these?"

"Right, sure." He took the storybook from her and she climbed back in bed. "Did you say my stories suck?" She nodded innocently. "You gotta stop listening to your sister."


The next morning, Gibbs fixed breakfast for the two girls, bacon and eggs, and coffee for him. He pressed a fist into his back, attempting to pop it. Sleeping in a child's bed was not exactly what he would call a good night's sleep. Grace had slept fine after the first nightmare, but everytime he went to get up, she wiggled in closer, her tiny fists wrapped in his tee-shirt. He just couldn't bare to leave her.

Now Grace was taking a shower, and he was looking forward to getting some work done at the office before heading out tomorrow.

"Morning, Gibbs." Alyssa walked in, looking fully rested. She stretched and reached for a bowl of cereal. Of course he would go through all the trouble of fixing breakfast for her to choose a do-it-yourself meal of cereal and milk.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Like a baby." She sat down at the kitchen counter and chomped into something Gibbs was sure was pure sugar.

"You didn't hear Grace screaming?"

Her eyes widened and she dropped her spoon into the bowl, causing colored milk to splash out. "What?"

"She had a nightmare."

"Ohmygod. I didn't- I didn't hear her!"

"It's alright, I took care of it."

"You took care of it?" She said mockingly.

"Yes." he replied, sitting down across from her and nursing a cup of coffee.

"Did you tell her a story?" Alyssa's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"A bad one, apparently. And then I read her Cinderella."

"She prefers Peter Pan after a bad dream." Alyssa looked angry. She must have like she wasn't needed. "And did you fix her hot chocolate?"

"She didn't say anything about hot chocolate."

"It helps her go to sleep."

"I don't think I have any..." He stood to look for some, possibly add it to the grocery list.

"Yeah, you do. It's in the cupboard beside the fridge. Bottom shelf. I'm going to get dressed." Alyssa dumped her cereal in the sink and stormed out.

He opened the door. Yep, instant hot cocoa. Huh.

Grace skipped into the kitchen then, fully dressed but her hair was still dripping wet. Gibbs grabbed a clean towel from under the sink and began to dry her long blonde hair. She giggled as he rubbed the towel in her face. "Is that breakfast? I love bacon!" She pulled herself up into a chair and watched as he fixed her a plate. Gibbs wondered briefly if she knew what bacon was. Probably not. After last night's incident with the spider, he figured she'd be a vegetarian if she did, claiming she couldn't eat a cute baby pig. Cute little tree hugger. It'd be hard for anyone to disagree with her as an activist.

"Are you all ready for school? Your homework done and all packed up?"

"Yep!"

Alyssa returned, wearing a knee-length dress and black lace tights. She glared at Gibbs as he surveyed her outfit. "Is it appropriate enough for you?" He nodded. She was in a sassy mood today, best not to bother her. "I borrowed the tights from Abby."

"Very nice. Gracie, you ready to go?"

"Do I hafta?"

"Yes, you most definitely 'hafta' go to school." Grace rolled her eyes. "Woah, wait a second here. Did you just roll your eyes at me?"

"Yeah."

"Don't do that."

"Whatever."

" 'Whatever'? You just...But... Alright, listen up. From now on, 'whatever' is considered a curse word in this family, and will not be tolerated."

"What? That's crazy!" Alyssa screeched from her seat. He didn't respond. "What if I have to use it in a sentence or something? Like, 'whatever she wants'. Hmm? What then?"

"Don't be smart."

"I thought being smart was a good thing."

"Alyssa..." he warned.

"Gibbs..." she mocked.

He relented, before she dug in her heels deeper. "Grace, get your stuff. Lyssa, go start the car." He tossed her a set of keys and she followed Grace out of the room. Once alone, Gibbs took a deep breath and sipped his coffee. Maybe getting out of town wouldn't be so bad.


I can't BELIEVE I forgot to mention it, but who loved Spider and the Fly last week? (I'm so glad Paloma died. I did not like that chick. AT ALL.) I'm so excited about this season. And just because I love to get reader feedback, how about a poll? What do you want to happen more: Tiva or McAbby? Or another pairing? Lmk, cuz I'm curious.

Reviews make me SO VERY HAPPY! So PLEASEEE make a girl happy, huh?

~Rye