What's Wrong With Bunny Slippers?

Thanks always to stargatesg1973, Fluffybird, NCIS fan(who I can't message back-thanks for your reviews!), and VG LittleBear, here are some word prompts that they have given me: picture frame, knife, lullaby, scientist, travel, pilot, cuddles, sleepy, danger (can't forget the C4), overwhelmed, patience, probing, nosy, fright, threat, custody, Dinozzoisms, little dude could say things like 'on your six' on short acquaintance, Vegetables, coloring, carving, shoes, to go sippycup, cheese, lollipops, Bert the Hippo, singing, angels, hugs, worms, Harry Potter, hot dogs, boats and trains. Also, I forgot to mention the words I started with in my own head: bunny slippers, backpack, baby powder, c-4, blanket, couch, cartoons, and electronic store. New words from a Guest; sugar-high, ladder, reaching for rainbows, giggles, cheek pinching, and more from VG LittleBear: multi-purpose, scam, bubblegum. I will keep attaching these to each chapter to see which will keep me going, yay! Also, remember that not all words may fit to the story, but hey, that is still the fun part, to see what does and does not fit. Any and all mistakes are mine.

Author's Excited Note: Two great ideas from reviewers in less than a day, isn't this exciting? The thanks and blame this time goes out to VG LittleBear! Yahoo! Oh yeah, this has been super fun when my muse hits me a curve ball sideways on a reviewers thought…love when that happens! Actually, I just plain love thinking sideways as much as possible ! Virtual popcorn to you all as you enjoy! T

Ch. 10 - Mini-Tony?

(Part of this chapter is part Benjamin's POV and also part Gibb's POV….enjoy!)

To Benjamin, this was the best day of his life. Waking up on the couch on top of the daddy he had forever longed to meet, cuddling and having fun as they ate breakfast together. It had been the best morning ever; even better than his birthday! A little while later he sang fun songs from the radio with daddy and a couple other agents as they went to the hospital to see mommy. Daddy had told him that the other agents were helping to keep his mommy safe. He liked Ned; he liked making funny faces, which made him laugh. Balboa was quieter, but he had been nice too.

Of course, it was not so fun when they had gotten to mommy's hospital room, and he had heard his mommy say that she had kept secrets from his daddy. He was smart enough to figure that out. He had remembered the conversation he had overheard last night when mommy and daddy had talked over the phone and how many times mommy had apologized to daddy.

He didn't understand that. Why did she do that when she loved daddy? He could tell by how she looked at daddy's picture. He would have to ask her when she was better.

He was glad that daddy and the other agents had saved mommy, and that the doctors had taken good care of her. Now he was out here in the hall with Mr. Gibbs; oops, Gibbs, as he had politely been told to just call him Gibbs. Gibbs was funny; he looked so serious, but he saw the hidden twinkle deep in those blue eyes that he tried to hide, but there was also sadness. Much like he or even daddy tried to hide their feelings, but Gibbs was just better at hiding it.

Maybe because he was older, so he had more practice. Maybe he should ask him.

"Gibbs?"

The older man looked at the small boy curiously, wondering what the boy was going to ask. He felt like he was watching Tony at a much younger age; how the boy flitted from one side of the hall to the other, yet he stayed near the door where his mommy and daddy were talking. The boy was anxious, he noted; also much like how Tony got when he was not sure what was going on. The small restless fingers tapped out a restless drum-like tap on the wall as they walked alongside each other. He felt like he was on a stakeout with a mini-Tony. That thought forced him to hide a smirk.

"Yes, Benjamin?"

"How long did it take for you to hide your sadness? Do you like to pretend to be serious all the time, or do you like to have fun sometimes too?"

What the hell, Gibbs, realized, it was like talking to Dinozzo, too! Geez, the kid could read him just like Tony could, as well as observe things that were not always noticed by others. He had to force his hand to stay steady at his side, or the kid would have had a hand tapping him on the back of the head, and damned if he was going to do it to a kid at this age! For a moment he could see a small redheaded girl walking next to Benjamin, and he had to close his eyes and fight back the pain and sadness.

"Gibbs, are you okay? I didn't mean to make you sad; did I say something wrong?"

Benjamin was worried now. Not all adults liked what he said, but he really couldn't help it. He just noticed things. His mommy had told him that his daddy could do that as well, and it had made him proud to be like his daddy. But now he had hurt his daddy's friend's feelings. He hadn't meant to do that.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs; mommy said that I think like daddy does, and…"

He stopped when he heard a chuckle burst out of Gibbs, and a grin light up the older man's face.

"Yeah, you sure do, Benjamin. Was just like talking like your daddy, it just surprised me, that's all."

Benjamin's eyes lit up in elation, happy that he had made the older man laugh, and that he had told him he was just like his daddy. But he quickly sobered when the older man went back to serious.

"I hide the sadness, because it still hurts too much to talk about it. I don't talk to it with anyone. Instead, I like to work on making my boat down in my basement. That is what I do for fun."

Benjamin thought this through; something that made Gibbs so sad that he didn't want to talk about it. Ok, he understood that; when he had realized that he had no grandparents like his friends, and had asked his mommy why, she had gotten very sad and said that the special ones were in heaven, but the ones that he would not be safe around did not know about him. It had been hard for mommy to talk about, so he had just decided to not bring it up again. She had later started telling him stories, though, of his grandpa who was in heaven after a while, but those stories were still very few. He mostly enjoyed stories about his daddy anyhow.

The part about the boat, though, this made Benjamin confused, and he looked up at Gibbs. "Why would you build a boat in a basement? There's no water down there." Another thought struck the boy and he had to ask one more question, "How do you get it out?"

Another chuckle found its way out of Gibbs, and he smirked this time, "That's a secret. Maybe one day you would like to help me work on it, and see if you can figure it out? Your daddy did."

Oh yeah, Benjamin was curious now. His daddy had figured out how Gibbs had gotten the boat out without being told, so why couldn't he? He nodded and grinned up at the now sparkling blue eyes, and the two of them grinned at each other as if they both knew a secret.

A hospital worker with a cart trundled by, and Gibbs eyed the person as they went down the hall. Benjamin did the same. Gibbs asked him, "What do you notice about that person?"

The small boy eyed the older woman shuffling down the hallway with the cleaning cart. Gibbs didn't know it, but this was his favorite game to play when he was bored. He took a moment, and then whispered to Gibbs, "She looks tired, as if she has worked a long time today, just like how my mommy sometimes looks when she has worked hard all day. Her feet hurt too, and her shoes look new; I hate wearing new shoes all day, cause it makes my feet hurt if I wear them for too long; like my church shoes. She has coffee on her pants, like she spilled it accidentally, and she keeps rubbing at it as if she is mad it happened. When I spilled my grape juice on my shorts at the park one time, it made me mad too, as I had to keep wearing them as I had nothing to change into."

Gibbs smirked as he too noticed these things as they continued to watch the woman continue down the hall. He was not going to tell Benjamin that he had also been assessing if the woman was actually a worker but a plant to try to get at his mommy. He would not do that to him; better if he stayed a child for as long as possible. "Good job, Benjamin. That was very perceptive of you to see those things. Just like your dad." The brilliant Dinozzo smile lit up Benjamin's face, and Gibbs felt proud that he had cheered the boy up.

Gibbs had wanted to distract him in case Tony and Marie had started shouting at each other, but as he knew Tony, it would take a lot more than what she had done to truly piss him off. In all honesty, he partly understood how Marie felt, and he knew Tony also understood when Fornell had given them the file. Gibbs had seen the hurt and pain hidden in his eyes when he had entered the hospital room. Still didn't make it right, though. It would definitely take a while for Marie to be fully trusted by Tony this time around. Tony would not hold onto the mistrust forever, though, as Gibbs could still see the affection in those green eyes as well. That much Gibbs knew for sure.

Abby….nope, not going there; Tony would make sure that Abby would not make things worse by going all 'Abby-tude' toward Marie. But of course, if for once she didn't listen to Tony, then he would have a word or two with her; that and the threat of no Caf-Pow's usually worked.

He realized he had gotten lost in thought, when he noticed that Benjamin watched him silently, as if he was trying to figure out what Gibbs was thinking. He hid his smirk once again, as this was another look that Tony had daily. The boy must have made a decision, though, as he leaned forward almost conspiratorially at Gibbs, and the older man couldn't help it. He leaned in as well to see what Benjamin would say. He should not have been surprised at the question thrown at him.

"Are you and daddy going to shoot the bad guys if they try to shoot mommy again?"

Gibb's couldn't help it; he smirked at the boy, and said, "Yep."

Benjamin nodded seriously, "Good. 'Cause when I'm old enough, I'm going to be just like my daddy. Think he will teach me to shoot when I'm old enough?"

Oh yeah, this boy was a gem. Gibbs ruffled his hair, grinning down at the smile that dimpled back up at him. "I'm sure if you ask when you are old enough, your dad would be proud to teach you."

They made it back to the hospital room when the door opened, and Tony stood there. Benjamin immediately launched at his dad, and Tony scooped him up. Gibbs nodded to Tony, and Tony nodded back before he closed the door again and put his full attention onto the boy.

Gibbs leaned on the wall across from the doorway, and watched as Fornell strode down the hall toward him. When he reached Gibbs, Fornell sighed and leaned next to Gibbs, stating, "Balboa told me that Tony and Benjamin are here. I take it they are talking now?"

"Nope, Tony and Marie just finished their discussion. They and Benjamin are in there together right now; having a little family time before we all get to work."

Fornell nodded at that; he had known that Tony would have worked it all out quickly.

"Still wish I had gotten him in the FBI before he met you."

"He would have killed himself multiple times over with how much your boss wanted to put him in undercover OPs, you know that, Fornell. He would have burned out and you know it."

Fornell sighed at this, "True….still wishful thinking, though."

Gibbs smirked at this, and then asked, "We got all the information to go over and in a secure place to look it all over?"

"Yep, but we got to talk the doctor into letting Dr. Stirling out of here so she can help us as well as tell us more about her 'assistant,' and anything else she can remember. We don't dare move it, as it would be safer to leave it all where it is."

Gibbs nodded at that, "I will deal with the doctor. Ducky will make sure she doesn't overdo it, which will alleviate whoever wants to say otherwise."

Fornell smirked, "Figured you would say that. I will let you deal with her," and he pointed toward the red haired lady doctor headed their way. Gibbs swore quietly, and glared at Fornell as he continued to smirk.

"Aw hell…"

Still, the Gibbs charm came out of its box, and within the next hour, the group of them was cautiously transported safely to the FBI room guarded and set up for them that housed all the files and Intel. As much as Gibbs wanted the stuff sent to NCIS, the less the files would be tracked, or even destroyed.

Ducky met them there, and quickly checked Marie over.

"I dare say, my dear, are you sure you are up to this?" Ducky had noted how pale Marie was, yet she nodded, saying, "I'm fine, Dr. Mallard. I need to do this, need to figure it out."

"Just call me Ducky, my dear. Do you mind if I call you Ada Marie?"

Marie looked at the older doctor with a smile as the ME pushed her up to the large table that held all the files. "I don't mind." She smiled as she watched Benjamin sat on Tony's lap next to where she was, and a shadow of regret flitted across her face. She still felt terrible, but she was also happy that they were together. She should have known that Tony would be like this; should have done it long ago.

Tony set Benjamin up with his Tetris game next to him on his phone, and was delighted that he knew how to play. It would keep him busy as well as safe with them while they worked.

Gibbs entered the room with Kate, McGee, and Fornell; silently all of them sighed at the amount of files.

Gibbs broke the silence that was only periodically broken by the sound of the game, and stated, "Let's get to work."

AN: Oh my goodness….sixty reviews since I started this story now! I am so happy, proud, tear-filled, joyous….words just can't describe! Well, here's to all of you who have reviewed, and a sincere hug and thanks to you all yet again! Yes, three chapters out in under two days, that's a record for me, but hey, we all have those good days, and I just can't let them wait on my computer until the next week, as to me it's like waiting for the next episode and frantically wondering if the person will be alive or not, even though we all know better…well, most of the time. Anyhow, hope that you continue to give me fun thoughts to your perspectives, as it sure has my muse hopping for joy! Yahoo! Hugs again, T