Nine

There were a lot of things that Jenny Shepard hated about her job but cases involving children were at the top of her list. She hung up her phone and ran her hands over her face in frustration. When Gibbs' team had received the call about their latest case they hadn't known a child was involved, but when they had arrived on the scene they had found out otherwise. Gibbs was on his way back with the child now, he hadn't said much on the phone only that a marine had shot and killed his wife and had disappeared leaving the child behind. He hadn't given her an age or name, all she knew was that it was a little boy. The only thing reeling through her mind were pictures of Jake in the back of a cop car scared out of his mind.

One of the other teams had had a case with a child the week prior and Jenny had felt it hard then as well, her mind falling back to her own kids but she strongly suspected that this one would be even worse since it would no doubt be affecting Gibbs as well. She tried to focus on paperwork until she got another call from Gibbs letting her know he was just pulling into the parking lot.

She knew he would probably appreciate some help with the boy so she closed off of everything on her computer and locked her office up before making her way down to the squad-room. She was just stepping off of the stairs when the doors to the main elevator opened. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw him carrying a small toddler. He couldn't have been more than a year and a half old with dirty, matted, blond hair and bright blue eyes. She let out a sad sigh and stepped towards Gibbs, the look on his face was neutral but she could see the pain in his eyes.

"Hey." He greeted quietly.

"Hi." She responded, "and who are you?" She asked, her voice softening even further.

The toddler cowered and leaned closer to Gibbs and away from Jenny.

"This is Caleb." Gibbs responded, "Caleb this is Jenny."

Caleb opened and closed his hand in a shy wave and Jenny smiled and waved back.

"Caleb would you like a snack?" Jenny asked.

The toddler shook his head in the negative but seemed to be more interested in Jenny now that he wasn't so afraid. His eyes were still darting around the bright room nervously.

"Why don't we go and see if we can find something for you to watch?" She suggested, "distract him until we know more." She added for Gibbs' benefit.

He nodded and lead the way over to his desk, Jenny let him sign on to his computer before taking a seat and pulling up YouTube. She found a kid friendly video and turned it on, Gibbs tried to place Caleb down but he hung on firmly and started to whimper as soon as he thought Gibbs was leaving him. Gibbs shrugged and sat down in his desk chair, settling Caleb in his lap.

"Have you called CPS?" Jenny asked quietly.

"D'Arcy's on her way in now." Gibbs replied, "I don't know what the plan is but unless we find his father I want him in protective custody."

She nodded and perched on the edge of his desk, her eyes strayed to the bulletin board behind his desk where there was an old crayon drawing Kelly had done when she was about four, there was a drawing of a house and a dog from Jake tacked up next to it and a sketch of flower Kelly had done more recently. There were no family photo's up but Gibbs had his own way of keeping his kids close to him during the day. They were still cautious about who they shared information with but at that point the kids were something of an open secret, people saw them taking turns dropping Ava off at daycare, she knew the rumour mill was running at full speed but no one had had the balls to actually ask the question outright. Jenny had put a framed photo of the kids on her desk, none of Gibbs or his team lest it look like she was playing favourites but at that point she didn't see the harm in having one picture of her kids in her office. The picture was on her desk next to the one of her father and wasn't really visible to guests anyway.

"Does that mean he's coming home with us?" Jenny asked quietly.

Gibbs took in a deep breath and seemed to be debating it, she knew he wasn't overly concerned about security, her agents were always posted outside and no one would be at any greater risk than they normally were. They had the room to some degree, with Ziva still staying with them it might be a bit chaotic but they could definitely make it work short term. She was more concerned with how Kelly and Dani might react to another person under the age of two in the house.

"How old is he?" Jenny asked suddenly.

"Twenty-two months." Gibbs replied.

"He's small for his age." She commented.

"M-O-M was small." Gibbs replied, "but I think there may have been a bit of neglect, M-O-M was beaten pretty badly and I noticed a few scrapes and bruises on him when the Ducky did a quick check… There wasn't a lot of kids stuff anywhere either, I got a few changes of clothes but most of everything was too small or worn out."

"Poor little man." Jenny whispered.

Caleb's eyes were glued to the computer screen, his fist was pressed against his lips but he looked more tense than a normal toddler would, almost as if he was waiting for something to happen. Gibbs reached up to brush his hair back but Caleb flinched away and whimpered. Jenny closed her eyes and bit her lip at the sight. When she opened her eyes Gibbs was gently running his hand up and down Caleb's arm whispering gently to the little boy. His wide blue eyes were swimming with tears but none had spilled over and he seemed to be calming down.

Gibbs looked up at her and his eyes flashed angrily, she knew what was going through his head, it was the same thought going through her mind. Why can some people have children and not appreciate them when others fight so hard to have a family. They had fought so hard to have their family, they had fought so long to have their family and then there were people who just threw it all away for nothing.

"Why don't we go up to my office for now." She suggested, "get him away from all of the noise."

"Sure."

Up in her office they settled Caleb on the floor by her couch, luckily she'd had a few stray toys in her purse from Ava for him to play with. Jenny sat on the floor with her back against the couch and Gibbs sat above her on the couch, one hand gently massaging the back of her neck.

N*C*I*S

When Leon Vance walked into Jenny's office to look for an update on Gibbs' latest case, he expected to find her at her desk reading over files not sitting on the floor, her head resting on Gibbs' knee with a child in her lap reading from a small book. Gibbs hand was resting on her back of her neck and Leon could see his thumb moving up and down absentmindedly as he listened to Jenny create a story to go with the book.

"Makes quite the picture." He stated.

Jenny's head flew off of Gibbs' knee so fast he was sure she had hurt her neck but Gibbs didn't move his hand. The child in Jenny's lap pressed back against her and folded his legs up against his body.

"You're okay." Jenny whispered, running her hand over his dirty hair, "He's a bit wary of strangers." Jenny warned him.

"I can see that." Leon replied.

He took two steps forward before squatting down.

"I'm Leon." He said, his voice as gentle and non-threatening as possible, "and you must be…" He looked up when Jenny mouthed the name to him, "Caleb." He finished, hoping he had interpreted that right.

Caleb gave him a wary glance but seemed to relax a bit, he still had a firm hold on Jenny's hand and didn't make a move to release it.

"I just go a call from security, the CPS worker is here and on her way up." He informed them just as there was a knock on the open office door.

"There's my favourite couple." D'Arcy greeted with a wide smile, "and you sir must be Caleb."

Caleb looked between Jenny and D'Arcy with wide, confused eyes. Jenny handed the toddler over to Gibbs and pulled herself off the ground, dusting off her pants as she did so.

"So what're we looking at, Gibbs?" D'Arcy asked as she took a seat at the conference table in Jenny's office.

"D-A-D is missing and M-O-M is D-E-A-D." Gibbs replied.

"D-A-D at fault?" D'Arcy asked.

"Looks like it." Gibbs replied, "His G-U-N was used and there were definite signs of abuse on M-O-M's body."

"And on him?" D'Arcy asked, nodding to Caleb.

"A few scrapes and bruises." Gibbs supplied

"I'd like him to have a full physical with a paediatrician." D'Arcy stated, "what's your game plan?"

"Protective custody, at least until D-A-D is found." Gibbs replied.

"Do you have an agent in mind?"

Gibbs looked over at Jenny, she gave him a small nod and folded her hands on the table.

"We can take him." He replied, "no one else on the team knows how to take care of a kid."

"Officer David?" D'Arcy asked.

"Is staying with us right now." Jenny replied slowly, "so she's out of the running and I trust them with my own children but I don't think DiNozzo or McGee are exactly fit for this job."

"Are you sure it won't be too much for you? You'll have two under two and two teenage girls."

"And our seven year old." Jenny added with a smirk, "We'll be fine, a little chaos is good for the soul."

"Alright… As long as you're sure it won't be too much."

"We'll be fine." Jenny replied, "it's not our first rodeo with this type of thing."

Never-mind their own children they had done enough rounds of protective custody to know the dance by heart.

"And that's why you're my favourite team to do this with." D'Arcy informed her, "however you've always been at least four and up, you've never worked with a child this age, barring your own children of course."

"What do we need to do?" Jenny asked.

"I want a physical with a paediatrician in the next twenty-four hours, we'll need to do an inventory of clothes and belongings to insure that he has everything he needs."

"He barely has any clothes, most of it was too small or worn out." Gibbs interjected, "only a few toys and those were pretty ratty too."

"Maybe you can do a bit of shopping?" D'Arcy asked, looking at Jenny hopefully, "or I can go after this and pick up a few things."

"I can do it." Jenny replied, "as long as Leon is okay filling in for me for a few hours."

"I can do that." Vance stated.

"If Gibbs can come with me to the paediatrician we can get that done while you grab whatever he may need." D'Arcy suggested.

"DiNozzo can handle things here." Gibbs replied, shifting Caleb in his lap.

Jenny looked over at Caleb and let out a sad sigh at the sight of the dirty toddler.

"I don't know how you do this everyday." She muttered.

"I hate days like today." D'Arcy replied, "I hate seeing people throw away families when other people try so hard just to have one." She looked between Jenny and Gibbs who shared a glance. "But then there are days when I get to go to families like yours, people who fought like hell for years just to be able to have kids and it makes it all worth it. Watching court cases go in favour of the families who deserve children, the look on your faces when I put Ava in your arms for the first time, that's why I do this."

Jenny looked over at Gibbs when she felt his free hand come to rest on her thigh, she gave him a small smile and he gently squeezed her thigh.

"It's also nice to see the families rally together." D'Arcy added, "your boy stopped me when I walked in the door and asked me to check in with you two."

"Which one?" Gibbs asked in surprise.

"Tony, he was worried about how you would both handle this case, it's just another reason why I love working with your family, no matter how old they are your kids always seem to band together and put family first."

Jenny saw the small but proud smirk on Gibbs' face as D'Arcy spoke about the man she knew he thought of as a son.

"We're proud of all of our kids." She stated.

"You have a lot to be proud of." D'Arcy replied, "and I want to see pictures and hear all about how they're doing but first I want to get this little man to the doctors."

N*C*I*S

Jenny dropped the last bag on the ground in the living room, she had done a major shopping run for Ava right before they had brought her home but she had honestly forgotten how much stuff babies and toddlers needed. The ten or so plastic bags filled with sippy cups, toys and clothes surrounding her were a testament to that, not to mention the play pen she had deposited in the corner. She would move it up to their bedroom and have Gibbs set it up as soon as he got home.

He had called her twenty minutes prior to let her know he was on his way from the doctors office and that although there were small signs of physical abuse there was nothing overly serious physically wrong with the toddler. She began to unbox everything she had bought, she hadn't bought any books because they had more than enough kids books laying around but she had bought a few toys and toddler specific craft supplies on top of clothes, diapers and other necessary items that they didn't already have.

She glanced at her watch and saw that it was already 1430, the kids would be home from school in an hour. She heard the front door open and shut. She poked her head out of the living-room to find Gibbs kneeling in the foyer undoing Caleb's shoes.

"How did the doctors visit go?" She asked.

"Good, he listened really well."

"Were you a good boy?" Jenny asked, offering Caleb a proud smile.

"Good!" Caleb exclaimed, holding up his hand where a gold star was prominently displayed.

Jenny offered him her hand and led him into the living room, she watched his eyes widen as he took in the toys and the large room.

"His house was a disaster." Gibbs whispered in her ear, "you could barely walk in a straight line."

No wonder the large, bright, clean space would be shocking for the toddler. Things were a bit disorganized with all of the shopping bags but otherwise clean.

"I got him so toys for the tub, I thought I'd give him a bath and then see if maybe I could get him to take a nap if you can set up the playpen in our room."

"No problem." Gibbs replied, "once he's settled I'm gonna run in and check on the team and pick up Ava at the daycare."

"You can head out as soon as you set up that thing if you want." Jenny offered, "we'll be fine here."

I hope everyone enjoyed this, I own nothing but I love to hear from you guys!

~Katie