Author's Note: I'll be working on a movie in the upcoming weeks (we're filming Saturday for sure) so I may not have the right time to dedicate to this story. I have lines to memorize and rehearsals but I'm still going to try uploading again next Monday. Be patient with me, okay? I'll try my hardest but I may have to skip next week. Sorry!

Enjoy =)


"It's all just so confusing." Tony complained, pacing the length of Abby's lab. He and Ziva had gone down to the lab to wait with Abby as she ran the prints from the car to the three men who had shot up Lee's Little Store. Ziva was leaning against Abby's computer counter, rubbing the headache growing at her temple. Tony hadn't shut up since they got back to NCIS with Taylor. Ziva was just inches from tackling him to the floor and putting a stop to it for good.

"What is confusing, Tony?" Ziva asked exasperatedly. "Except your ability to talk for hours at a time."

"This case! Everything! I don't get what's going on!" Tony replied dramatically. "Why is a drug dealer trying to kill a teenager? And why is Gibbs spending so much time with her? And why isn't anyone else asking these questions!"

Ziva and Abby sighed at the same time. "It's actually really obvious, Tony." Abby said sympathetically. He gave her a quizzical yet offended look and she smiled benevolently at him. "For a detective, you're very unobservant."

Ziva stepped closer to him. "The eyes, Tony, it is the eyes." she said in her mysterious way and he kind of just stared at her.

"I noticed she has two of them yes…" he replied, still completely unaware of what they were trying to tell him. Ziva sighed exasperatedly, grabbing his face between her hands. He looked shocked for a minute but it wasn't because this was the first time Ziva had done such a thing. In fact, Tony thought she'd kiss him for just a second.

"Think hard, Tony. Who does she remind you of? Whose eyes does hers look like?" Ziva asked, staring at him expectantly.

It took Tony a long minute but finally he made a perfect O with his mouth as he breathed in, "Ohhhhhh!" knowingly. Ziva smiled, nodding at him. "Ohhhh!" he just said again.

"Yes, Tony." Ziva and Abby said at the same time. Ziva let go of his face but it kept the same shocked expression.

"Really!" Tony asked rhetorically. "I mean…Gibbs! Really?"

"Hey!" Abby snapped. "Gibbs is a good father." Ziva agreed, both of them slapping Tony on the back of the head at the same time. But Tony still couldn't believe his boss could have a daughter. It just didn't make sense to him. All the years he'd known Gibbs he'd never thought of him as that kind of person (though Tony didn't even know what that kind of person was). He just knew it wasn't Gibbs.

"But don't say anything okay, Tony?" Abby said quietly. "He hasn't told anyone other than me and he only told me because I ran the test for him. Which means he didn't technically even tell me since I already knew. He just told me who it was that he'd fathered. So I guess he told me something…but not everything. And he hasn't told you guys anything; so let's keep it that way. He'll tell you when he's ready." As Abby rambled, her computer started beeping. She turned to check it, clicking away on her keyboard.

"What is it, Abby?" Ziva asked, peering over Abby's shoulder as the results of the finger prints came back and Abby pulled them up on the plasma so they could all see. Just as she did so, Gibbs walked in asking if she had anything new for him. She smiled, still amazed by his mysterious ways even after all her years working with him.

"The print on the review mirror matched Aodh Tobin." she told him, still typing on her computer. "And the print from the shell casing in the backseat was a match to Breasal Tierney." She turned to face Gibbs, disappointed by the lack of Caf-Pow in his hand. "C'mon, Gibbs, you haven't forgotten about me have you!"

"Of course not, Abbs." he promised. "You'll get Caf-Pow when you give me something to work with." he compromised and she pouted. He patted her cheek with a smile then pointed to the plasma. "These two were in the car then? What about Ainbheartach Shea or Molony?" he asked, pointing to the pictures of Tobin and Tierney.

"I can only put Tobin and Tierney in the car; and since neither you or Taylor got a look into the car I can't even say if there was a third person in the car." Abby replied.

"I was preoccupied saving our lives." Gibbs retorted and Abby swiveled right around. She started apologizing profusely and demanding she hadn't meant for her words to sound so harsh but Gibbs just smiled and said, "I know, Abbs." teasingly. Then he turned to Ziva asking, "Do we know what Molony wants?"

"Not yet," she replied. "But Tony and I found their base camp. We can't get a warrant to search the place though; not until we have more evidence." They turned to look at Tony but he was just staring at Gibbs, trying desperately to picture the man with a child.

"Take a picture, DiNozzo, it'll last longer." Gibbs snapped and Tony jumped jolted back to reality.

"Sorry, boss. Won't happen again." Tony replied, looking so much like a puppy that Ziva chuckled at him. He shot her a dirty look and her smile widened. He grabbed the shoulder of her shirt and dragged her behind him as he marched out of the lab angrily. Abby and Gibbs could hear Ziva laughing until the elevator doors close behind them.

Gibbs turned around and saw Abby staring at him expectantly, her hand flat out waiting for her Caf-Pow. "I gave you something good, Gibbs!" she demanded as he shrugged and walked towards the door. "Gibbs!"

"Turn around, Abbs!" Gibbs called over his shoulder as he exited. Abby tilted her head to the side and turned around. She laughed as she saw a Caf-Pow waiting pleasantly on her desk in the attached room.

"How do you do it, Gibbs?" she asked, swiveling back around and seeing him smiling, standing in the elevator. He used sign language to say you'll never know. She laughed, going to retrieve her prize.

~!~!~!~

Taylor went back to the conference room and poured herself a cup of coffee. She dumped 3 packets of sugar and an immeasurable amount of creamer before taking a sip. It still seemed bitter to her. Coffee was an acquired taste; one she feared she'd have to acquire if she was going to be spending so much time with Gibbs. She pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. Sighing, she picked up her mother's journal. The more she read, the surer she was that her mother was a saint. Joanna often mentioned in her journal how much she loved being a nurse and helping others. Gibbs was a patient she wanted to help. But it was more than that for Joanna. Taylor flipped open the book and thumbed through the pages until she found Joanna's entry describing Gibbs.

September, 1992

Gibbs. Leroy Jethro Gibbs. What a man! Intelligent, stubborn, beautiful and oh-so complicated. He could make your head spin with his eyes or his reasoning's; neither is rationally explainable. Oh his eyes. Silver and piercing. I swear he sees right through you and not just through false confidence or misleading words. He looks past you and your faults and right into your soul. And he can tell when you're lying. I'm sure that causes many problems for his personal life. I sure know I couldn't deal with it.

I only spent a short time with the man but I've since never met anyone that measures up. He has this way about him that makes me want to get lost in his smile while at the same time it makes me worry. For him; for what he's been through- whatever that may be. I know he's been through something absolutely terrible; it's hidden cleverly but its still there. In the sometimes chilly way he looks at people or the way he smiles halfheartedly. I don't know what he went through and I have no right to ask; I just wish I knew what it was and how I could help him.

Oh there I go again! I have a complex. I see someone in need and my heart breaks for them and I need to help them. I do this all the time and by God it's never gotten me anywhere. But I'm still doing it. I never learn. I hope my child is never like this. I pray he or she is kindhearted but not the kind of person who never does anything for themselves. Someone who knows when they need a change of pace or scenery and isn't afraid to take a leap of faith and do what's best for themselves despite any possible negative effects it might have on others. Gibbs is kind but I don't doubt how fearsome he can be. You don't get to be a Marine by being a push-over.

Oh yeah, did I mention he was a Marine sniper? That scares me…and thrills me at the same time. It's that bad boy thing, I think. He could snap me like a twig but that's the part of the appeal. Those strong hands and long fingers…the strength in his arms and, well, his whole body. He's a building! Surely a force to be reckoned with. I would not want to piss the man off.

Mental note: stay on Gibbs's good side-forever!

Taylor leaned back in her chair with a smile. Her mother's words couldn't have been truer. Gibbs was a force to be reckoned with! But reading her mother's entry made Taylor question what was that "absolutely terrible" thing Joanna suspected happened to Gibbs. If she asked enough she was almost certain she could get him to crack but she didn't want to push him. If it truly was as horrible as her mother suspected, then Taylor truly didn't want to put unnecessary pressure on him.

She absently flipped through the pages of the journal; trying to decide whether or not she wanted to reread some of the passages. The book was black leather, thick and sturdy even if it was pretty worn out. The magnetic clasp on the front didn't always work properly and the seems were fraying pretty horribly- as was the ribbon bookmark. Taylor opened it to the beginning blank page. In Joanna's handwriting it said, Joanna Beth Cunnings 1992 Journal. But as Taylor examined the page with a smile she noticed a bump in the lining of the cover. It was small- almost unnoticeable- and square. She picked at the glued seem with her nail in the top corner and it came undone easily- like someone had re-glued it recently. She peeled back the protective sheet and underneath was a small slip of paper.

Taylor paused just one second before pulling the slip of paper out and examining it closely. The first two rows were numbers, followed by Gate A and three more numbers. Towards the bottom were the digits to Taylor's birthday- 4/10/92. None of it was every remotely familiar but then again, neither was the handwriting. It wasn't Joanna's, she knew that much. So she shuffled through the papers on the conference desk. She compared the handwriting on one of Michael's papers to the handwriting on the note.

"What the hell?" she mumbled under her breath. They matched perfectly. "Why would Michael write a note inside Mom's notebook?" she asked aloud, feeling the intensity of her insanity sink in her stomach. She was talking to herself out loud and finding weird letters in weird places. She was losing it.

Taylor folded the note, grabbed her mother's journal and practically ran down to Abby's lab. She burst into the lab just as Abby was tracking incoming and outgoing calls on the three dead guys' cell phones as well as Molony's. "Can you do me a favor, Abby?" Taylor asked and Abby agreed immediately. Taylor appreciated that more then she could express so she didn't try and just handed Abby the slip of paper she'd found. "I found this in my mother's journal and it's not hers."

Abby took the paper and examined it closely. "I can run the numbers and see what we get. I can even run the handwriting if you want too." Abby replied but Taylor shook her head.

"No I already know my uncle Michael wrote it- I have enough of his crap to know his handwriting well. The only reason I'm so interested is because I found it under the lining of my mother's journal." Taylor replied as Abby scanned each side of the double sided paper into her computer.

"Oh mysterious!" Abby said dramatically and Taylor smiled at her. "I wonder what it means!" Abby went on for a few more minutes until Taylor excused herself from the room with a chuckle. Taylor was about to head back upstairs to the bullpen when a sign for autopsy caught her eye. She cringed at the thought but suddenly her feet were carrying her in that very direction. She paused by the double doors before entering.

The room was murky and desolate despite each of Ducky's four autopsy tables had a body on it. Taylor walked slowly to the nearest and reached up to turn on the overhead lamp. She recoiled from the gaping hole in Cho's chest. Her eyes stung with the pending tears she didn't want to cry. Why? Why had this horrible thing happened? Taylor just needed someone to explain it to her because she didn't understand. She couldn't comprehend the immense amount of death surrounding her. Everyone around her seemed to be dropping like flies. The very idea of losing more of those she loved literally made her tremble as warm saltwater tears traveled down her cheeks.

She'd just met Gibbs four months ago, but the thought of losing him made her ache straight down to her core. Taylor stared at the lifeless body of a friend. Oh Abby. Abby was such a great person and Taylor considered her a friend. It would hurt Taylor so badly to lose Abby. Or Ziva. Or Ducky. Or Tony. Or McGee. The more Taylor thought about Team Gibbs and the new friends she'd made, she realized just how important these people had become to her. Most of them knew nothing about her relation to Gibbs but they'd become so significant to her; because they were so essential to Gibbs. Without even trying, Taylor and Gibbs had combined both of their worlds. She knew 80% of the NCIS agents in the building and Gibbs had become quite the conversation at Taylor's school when he'd come to pick her up or drop her off.

She hadn't even realized it before, but Taylor and Gibbs…they were a family. She had a family in him. Finally, after fourteen years, Taylor finally had a family again. She had people who cared about her and loved her and accepted her. She hadn't had that since her mother died; and now that she'd found it again…well it felt just plain old nice. Warm. And now it was in danger of being snatched from her as quickly as Cho's heart stopped pumping after a bullet pierced through her back and into her chest.

The doors to autopsy opened then and Taylor scrambled to wipe away the evidence of her emotions. Ducky walked in, shocked to see her standing under the single light. "Oh, Taylor. I didn't expect to see you here." Ducky exclaimed as he hung his coat and hat on the rack. Taylor turned to face him, still swiping at her eyes and plastering on a fake smile.

"Sorry, Ducky, I was just leaving." she replied in a hurry. She took a second to touch Cho's cheek lightly before rushing for the exit. But as the doors opened to her, Gibbs walked in and right into her. They bumped into each other and she stumbled backwards. He instinctively reached out and grabbed her, stabilizing her before she fell on her bum. First he questioned why she was in autopsy then saw her bloodshot eyes.

"Sorry, Gibbs, I was just leaving." she said quietly, not looking him in the eye. He could see how distressed she was but he wanted to help instead of letting her just walk away. But he stepped aside and watched her go anyway.

"She'll get through this." Ducky promised Gibbs with a hand on his shoulder.

"I just wish I could do more to help." Gibbs replied tiredly, rubbing his fist against his eyes. Ducky watched his dear friend careful and scrutinizing.

"Why does this mean so much to you, Jethro?" Ducky asked seriously and Gibbs looked up at him. Gibbs muttered "ah hell, duck." under his breath, so low that Ducky almost didn't hear him. But he just waited for an answer to his question. "Why is this girl so important to you? You've lost plenty of agents and friends. Why is this one any different?"

"Because it is, Duck, it's not like any other time. My agents, they know they are laying their life on the line. But Taylor...she didn't sign up for this! I dragged her into this and now...now I can't even protect her from it." Gibbs replied angrily. The two of them stood by the autopsy tables, just staring at each other for a long time.

"What aren't you telling me, Jethro?" Ducky asked apprehensively. It came out like a flood, Gibbs's words melting together as he told Ducky everything; starting in 1992 when he met Joanna Cunnings. "She's my kid, Duck." he said slowly then waited for Ducky to react.

Pause. "Oh Lord," Ducky mumbled. "Well this isn't any other time, is it?"

"No, its not. I'm responsible for her. I promised her- I swore to her- that I would keep her safe and I'll be damned if I go back on that promise now. I can't screw this one up, Duck." Gibbs replied, sounding more helpless then Ducky had heard him in a long time. Ducky went over to his desk to retrieve a bottle of alcohol and two glasses for the both of them. He sat them on the desk and poured.

"So that is what this is all really about." Ducky exclaimed and Gibbs turned with a quizzical expression and asked what he meant. "This has nothing to do with the case or even the fact that she's your child. This is about whether or not you're fit to be a father."

Gibbs just stared at him for a long minute, not comprehending whatsoever. "What are you talking about, Duck?" he asked, thoroughly bewildered.

"Sit, sit. Drink this." Ducky demanded, handing him a glass of alcohol. "You've been a father before, Gibbs, and that didn't turn out the way it should have. Now, you're scared of failing again. But Jethro, you did not fail the first time. And you will not fail again." Ducky promised him but Gibbs just sighed heavily and threw back the alcohol.

"I can't watch her all the time, Duck. How am I supposed to keep her safe without completely derailing her life and chaining her to a desk upstairs?" Gibbs asked seriously while looking up at his long time friend.

Ducky leaned in close to him. "You catch this bastard."

~!~!~!~

Gibbs found Taylor in the hallway upstairs with her face buried in her arm as she leaned against the wall. He stopped just behind her, worried about what to do next. "She was so young," Taylor mumbled almost unintelligibly into her arm. "And yet she lost her life, and for what? For something she had absolutely nothing to do with? Tell me how that's even remotely fair, Gibbs."

"Its not," Gibbs replied slowly.

"She was a good person too. She really was. She didn't deserve to die; especially not like this." Taylor finally lifted her head as tears streamed down her reddened cheeks. She looked miserable and on the verge of completely losing it. Gibbs wanted to help her in any way possible, so he laid a hand on her shoulder and pulled her chin up so she had to look him in the eye.

"We're gonna get this guy, okay?" he said sincerely. She just kind of collapsed into him after that. Her head on his chest and her arms wrapped around him, he offered her a kind of support she prayed to God she'd never lose. Maybe it was all the coffee she'd been drinking, but in that moment, Taylor didn't want to let go for her life. She wanted to just stay there hugging Gibbs; stay in the safety of this stranger's arms. Because honestly, she didn't know him. She couldn't understand him and she didn't think she ever would be able to. They'd just met; it had only been four months. And yet Taylor loved this man with her whole heart. Her father.

They pulled apart after a minute and Gibbs led her up to the bullpen with a hand on her back comfortingly. She expected him to sever all physical contact as soon as they were under the team's prying eyes. But instead, he kept a hand on her back and guided her to the center of the bullpen where he called Tony, Ziva and McGee to attention. Taylor looked up at Gibbs behind her, so confused by what he was doing.

"What's up, boss?" Tony asked, coming out from behind his desk and standing between McGee and Ziva in front of Taylor and Gibbs. The three members of Gibbs's team were confused and a tad worried as they watched Gibbs place his hands on Taylor's shoulder and smile at them.

"I want you all to formally meet Taylor." Gibbs said and they all just stared at him. His smile got larger, "My daughter."

That sure got a reaction from them. Taylor swiveled around to look up at him with what can only be described as pure bewilderment. She hadn't seen that coming whatsoever. After all, she had been the one getting the warm and fuzzy feelings about family and losing loved ones, not Gibbs. So what had caused the outburst? Taylor didn't have a clue- and she doubted she ever would- so she let it go and smiled at the three special agents in front of her.

Ziva was the first to smile and hug Taylor. Then McGee followed suit and hugged her and smiled at Gibbs. But Tony was just kind of frozen solid, staring blankly at his boss. "Well hell, DiNozzo, if you're just going to stand there…" Gibbs mumbled and the rest of them chuckled. But it worked to snap Tony out of his trance.

"Umm…" He barely mouthed the words; his voice was so soft it even cracked. He cleared his throat as Ziva smiled and touched his shoulder encouragingly. "It's nice to meet you." he finally said, holding his hand out for her to shake. She smiled up at him and smacked his hand. Tony finally cracked a smile but he was still extremely shocked.

Gibbs looked around, savoring the moment before snapping; "Now back to work!" and the team scrambled back to their desks like puppies with their tails between their legs.