Tim opened his front door and found Sarah there. He'd called her to come stay with Chloe during his hearing for her temporary custody. He wasn't entirely certain it was the best idea. Sarah and Chloe were very much alike. They both had big attitude's and little filters. It might not go over well. However, it was his only choice. Well, he could've asked one of the team, but they were strangers to Chloe. Sarah was too mostly, but they were family and he'd talked about her a lot with his daughter. "Hey. Thanks for coming."

Sarah pushed her way inside. "I can't believe you didn't tell me what was going on until now."

"It's been a rough couple of days, Sarah. My daughter disappeared. I was focussed on finding her," Tim said as he closed the door.

"Where is she?" Sarah asked as she looked around.

"In my bedroom. Listen, she's not thrilled to be here and she's probably going to make that clear. Please try not to fight with her," Tim requested.

"You think I'd fight with a fifteen-year-old. I'm not that childish," Sarah said.

"You have a mouth, Sarah, so does she. She's actually more like you than anyone else in this family. I don't want you to butt heads," Tim said.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Go keep custody. Everything will be fine here."

Tim sighed. "Chloe, come out here for a second!"

Chloe came out a few seconds later looking less than thrilled. "What?"

"This is your Aunt Sarah. I have to go out. She's staying with you," Tim said.

Chloe glared at her father. "I don't need someone to stay. I"m fifteen!"

"I don't want to have to search the globe for you again," Tim said simply.

"No one asked you to the first time," Chloe shot at him.

Tim sighed. "Look, Sarah wants to spend time with you anyway. She's heard about you, but she hasn't seen you since you were little. Just let her get to know you a bit," Tim suggested.

Chloe just glared at him in response.

"I'll be back," Tim said before grabbing his keys from the table and walking out of the apartment.

"Sarah put her purse down on the table and took her jacket off and draped it over one of the dining room chairs. She then smiled at her niece. "It's good to see you again. I haven't seen you since you were five. I'm guessing you wouldn't remember that."

"Nope," was all chloe said before going into the living room and plopping down on the couch.

"Didn't think so. I remember very little from when I was five. Your dad's shown me pictures and told me stories about you," Sarah said.

"How would he have stories to tell?" Chloe asked before taking out her phone and messing around on it.

Sarah could tell that her niece was bitter about the fact that she hadn't seen her father much. It told her that her brother wasn't completely accurate when he said his daughter didn't care about seeing him. Oh, she was clearly way pissed and probably did hate his guts to a certain extent, but she missed his presence. "He may not see you much, but he talks about your visits and phone calls."

Chloe snorted. Her father rarely called of visited. She saw him maybe twice a year. This year she didn't even get the second visit. She tried not to care about that. She played it off that way to him to. She told him she hated him and didn't give a damn if he showed up. Part of that was true. She did hate him, but for some reason she didn't even understand herself, it bothered her that he hadn't come. She hated that fact.

"He loves you, Chloe," Sarah said.

"He's an asshole who hurt my mother!" Chloe growled.

"That's not true," Sarah argued. She stopped herself before saying anything else. She wanted to tell her niece about her cruel, manipulative mother, but she knew it wouldn't go over well, and it wouldn't be fair given that the young girl had just lost her mother.

"Yeah, whatever," Chloe said before getting up and heading back to the bedroom.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim sat in the courtroom next to his lawyer. The hearing had already begun. Jackson was making his case. He was of course representing himself.

"Your Honor, my granddaughter has spent nearly her entire life with me. That shouldn't change because of the untimely death of her mother. Timothy McGee barely knows her. She should be with me. Not only is it normal, but we can help each other get through this hard time.

Thomas stood up from his seat. "Your Honor, my client is the girl's father. He is entitled to custody of his daughter."

"With all due respect, another judge decided he shouldn't have custody years ago," Henry said.

"That may be true, Mr. Jackson, but that was ten years ago and when the girl's mother was alive. There is no evidence to show Agent McGee is at all unfit. His record is impeccable," the judge said.

"Be that as it may, Your Honor, I still believe it's best for Chloe to return home with me. She knows me much better than her father and would clearly prefer to be with me," Henry said.

"Does she?" Thomas asked. "Your Honor, Chloe McGee ran away from her 'loving' home with her grandfather. I'm not convinced she was all that happy."

"She was obviously worried about the prospect of being forced away from me," Henry said through gritted teeth while glaring at Thomas.

"Maybe that's obvious to you, but not anyone else. For all the court knows, she wanted away from you," Thomas said.

"Alright, enough," the judge interrupted. "This young girl has clearly gone through a lot, having just lost her mother. I do not think a custody battle is in her best interests. However, since the two of you insist, I will have to make a decision. Timothy McGee is the girl's biological father and only parent. He is entitled to custody at this time and he has it. Court's adjourned," the judge said before banging his gavel.

Tim let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried. He really didn't want to send Chloe back to Jackson. That would far from help him get through to her and have a real relationship with her. She shouldn't be with him anyway There was a reason she ran from him.

"I guess judges are a bit harder to buy here, huh, Henry?" Thomas asked as the other man came forward.

"That judge was an idiot and his stupidity won't matter. I will get my granddaughter back. And you will pay going against me, Peter," Henry promised before walking away.

"Thank you," Tim said.

"Don't. This was a small victory. This is going to get harder and a lot more vicious," Thomas warned.

"I know," Tim said before walking towards the exit.