Chapter 10

Dabi was terrified. Someone was shooting at them and her newly-discovered father had popped up from behind the bench and was shooting back. She didn't know if he hit anyone and was too terrified to look up.

Then Gibbs tapped her shoulder, did a sharp gesture with his hand, probably to tell her to stay put, and he took off running.

"Azan, follow!" Dabi commanded, pointing towards Gibbs.

The growling Golden Retriever took off like a shot, easily outpacing Gibbs. Dabi, adrenaline taking over, followed at a more cautious distance, and was just in time to see her beloved dog catch up to a man with olive-colored skin wearing a Security guard uniform.

Azan went through the man's legs at full speed, effectively knocking him to the ground and causing him to lose his gun. Before he could move, Azan had done a neat one-eighty and was now back in front of the man, growling.

"Freeze! NCIS!" Gibbs barked, aiming his gun at the man, one Tyler Gabber. "You move and he bites!"

Technically that wasn't true, but Gibbs wasn't so sure Azan wouldn't bite the guy, just out of sheer doggy spite.

"Besides, that dog never listens to me," he said.

That part wasn't true; he just didn't know what command to give the dog.

The rest of his team joined him, weapons at the ready, along with Dabi.

"Azan, heel!" Dabi commanded, instantly recognizing Tyler Gabber, who was being cuffed and hauled up by Tony and Tim. "You're the jerk that beat that Navy guy to death! I'm not going to be forgetting your ugly mug anytime soon!"

"You should have minded your own business, bitch," Tyler snarled.

Dabi saw red, and Tyler suddenly found himself tumbling back, pain exploding in his face.

"Your mistake was using your fists instead of your brain!" Dabi snapped.

As Tyler was led away for questioning, Dabi turned her back to him and cradled her hand, which was starting to hurt like crazy. Gritting her teeth, she swore in what sounded like Hebrew, making Ziva grin.

"I thought I told you to stay put!" Gibbs snapped at Dabi.

"I didn't hear you! Besides, that jerk took a shot at me and my dog! Like hell I'm gonna let him get away without getting my pound of flesh from him!" Dabi shot back. She groaned. "I really gotta learn how to throw a punch."

"I will teach you how to throw a punch and make sure it counts," Ziva promised. "I have no doubt Gibbs will teach you to fight like a Marine but there are tricks that are best suited for a woman. I will make sure you learn them."

"Great. Wonderful. I look forward to it. Who do I see about a busted hand?" Dabi asked.

Gibbs chuckled, put his arm around her shoulders, and said, as they headed back to NCIS, "Let's go see Ducky. He once put some stitches in my head after my third wife took a swing at me with a baseball bat."

"You're kidding me, right?" Dabi asked, her eyes wide. "How many times have you been married?" Gibbs held up four fingers and Dabi muttered, "Geeze, and I'm still butter-tongue around guys."

At NCIS, Gibbs went after Tyler. The team figured that the only way Tyler could have known that Dabi was at NCIS is if someone had told him. They wanted to know who.

Meanwhile, Dabi saw Ducky, who x-rayed her hand, determined it wasn't broken, and gave her some ice to take the swelling down, along with some ibuprofen to ease the pain. He did confirm the baseball bat story, and admitted Gibbs had been injured many times during both the course of his Marine and NCIS career, that injuries were the hazard of the job, but it didn't make him any less careful.

Eventually, Dabi found herself back in Abby's lab with Ziva.

"Are you okay?" Abby asked, seeing her friend's iced hand.

"The guy that killed that Navy officer, he showed up and tried to take a shot at me and Dad," Dabi said. "Dad and Azan got him and I punched him. Lousy punch. Ducky said my hand isn't broken but I'm going to be sore for a while."

Abby nodded. "I did that once; took about two or three days before it stopped aching enough for me to use my keyboard without wincing."

"Ziva promised to teach me how to punch without hurting my hand," Dabi said, jerking her head towards the agent.

"Betcha Gibbs is gonna teach you how to shoot." Dabi nodded, but Abby realized there was something else going on. "Hey," she said, putting her hands on her friend's shoulders. "What's really going on?"

Fighting the tears that welled up in her eyes, Dabi struggled to speak. The first couple of words were difficult but then they started tumbling out and her hands started flying rapidly.

"I saw a guy get beaten to death and I couldn't help him, I got shot at, I've been too afraid to go home, and now I find out who my dad is and it turns out he wants me, when I've always been afraid he wouldn't want anything to do with me. And I've got a sister who died and I never knew her but I miss her and I don't understand! I don't know what Nana and Pop-Pop will think and I don't want to leave them but I want to be with Dad and Ducky said Dad's been hurt on the job and I just found him and I don't want to lose him and and I already lost my mom and I don't want to lose anyone else and, and, and..."

Dabi found herself being engulfed in a three-way hug between Ziva and Abby.

"I'm so confused," she sobbed.

It took a little bit, but eventually the tears eased off.

"When was the last time you ate?" Ziva asked, deciding food was the next important order of business.

Dabi hic-upped and took a swipe at her eyes. "Breakfast, I think, before Agent Fornell showed up at Dad's house this morning."

Abby grinned mischievously. "Did you know Gibbs and Tobias have someone in common?" When Dabi shook her head, Abby continued. "Fornell married Gibbs' second wife, Diane, and she did to him what she did to Gibbs; drained and dumped."

Dabi's eyes went wide. "That explains the causal familiarity with him at the house. I'll bet you guys have a lot of stories about Dad."

Both Ziva and Abby smiled. Girl gab time!

"Pizza?" Ziva asked.

"Pasta?" Dabi suggested.

"Even better."

Tim brought up a DNA sample from Tyler Gabber and quickly left when he heard giggling coming from Abby's office.

Three hours later, after relentless questioning and numerous threats from Fornell (who had been called in by Gibbs), Tony, and Gibbs, Tyler Gabber finally gave up the name of his source.

"Do you know a Shaun Kyle?" was the message on Dabi's cell phone from Gibbs.

"Shaun Kyle?" Dabi mumbled. "Sure," she texted back. "He's a senior-level baker at the bakery but we don't like each other very much."

"Why?"

"Rumor has it he wants to buy out or take over the bakery and resents the fact that Nana and Pop-Pop have already named me their successor. He doesn't like it when Azan is there and once took a kick at him. I tried to take a kick back and Pop-Pop told him off. He's a jerk around me. Why?"

"Do you know where he might be?"

"Probably at the bakery, bossing everyone around if Nana and Pop-Pop aren't there. Again, why? I hate it when you play Twenty Questions with me and don't give me a straight answer when I ask a question."

"He's the one who told Gabber where you were."

"Excuse me?!" Dabi yelped indignantly. "Lend me your gun! I wanna put a bullet in his kneecap!"

"Not if I get there first," was the reply.