Aria arrived back at NCIS at 7 PM still wearing her mum's jacket, and headed for the break room, in an attempt to both avoid her dad and cure the pang of hunger in the pit of her stomach.

She drew some loose change from the pocket of her jeans and inserted it into the vending machine, selecting the candy bar that she wanted and waiting for it to vend. Just as the bar was about drop into the collection area, the machine stopped, leaving it hanging over the edge of the metal vendor.

"Oh come on," she groaned, attempting to get at the candy bar by shaking the machine violently. Thankfully, she was the only one in the room- otherwise she would've got some peculiar stares from other people. Or, at least, she thought she was the only one in the room.

A large hand came down in front of her and slammed into the glass on the front of the machine. Aria jumped as the candy bar fell into the collection bay and whipped around to see who'd slammed the machine into action. As she did so, she was met by the face of her dad, who grinned down at her.

"Having a bit of trouble there?"

"No," she replied shortly, turning away from him.

"Aria," Tony muttered, catching her by the arm before she could leave, "We need to talk; please?"

Reluctantly, Aria nodded and sat down at one of the break room tables, twiddling her thumbs as Tony took a seat opposite her. There was an awkward moment of silence before he spoke quietly.

"Is that your mum's jacket?"

"Yeah," she murmured, "Why?"

"I was just thinking how much you looked like her in it." He answered, staring at her, his heart aching as he realised how much she looked like Kate.

Aria sighed, peering up at her dad. "What was she like? At work I mean?"

Tony chuckled, "Annoying," he laughed, "always determined that she was right," he paused, noticing his daughter's confused expression, "but those were the things that made me like her so much. Although she was annoying, she always kept me on my toes and because she was always so sure that she was right, it made me even more impressed when she was.

"She more was dedicated to her job than she was to any man and her work ethic was twice as strong as mine. She was fearless, and never showed her feelings unless she was required to." He shuddered as he remembered the times that Ari kidnapped her and took her hostage. "Even when that monster manhandled her, she didn't show fear once, just plain determination to get rid of him." Even without dropping a name, Aria could tell that he was talking about her mum's 'killer'.

"But she was caring as well. She cared so deeply for those around her, no matter how awful they were to her at times," Aria couldn't help but wonder if he meant himself, "She would protect them at all costs- give her life for them if she needed to."

Tony remembered when she'd been retrieved from Ari's farmhouse. She'd been left there alone after Ari and his men fled, and was sat outside by herself. The first thing that she'd done when the federal car had pulled up and he had stepped out was ask whether he was alright and throw her arms around him. At the time, he'd just thought that she was relieved to be rescued, but later on he'd found out that she'd been forced to call in sick otherwise Ari would have him killed by his Swedish assistant, Marta. He remembered being shocked that she'd completely signed herself over to Ari for that day in exchange for his life.

"When she 'died', it made me realise that I couldn't take the people that I loved for granted- that they could be knocked out of my life quicker than they'd become part of it. People didn't quite realise how much her death affected me, but in a way it made me a better person, and made me more protective over the things I cared for."

"Is that why you were so protective over me earlier?" Aria asked, "Because you care about me?"

Tony looked directly into her eyes before replying. "I never thought that I would have kids- I didn't think that I would ever have the time or energy to look after them. I used to think that any kids of mine would hate me for not being able to talk to them or love them like a normal parent would. There would always be the risk of them being used against me, and I didn't want to put that weight on their shoulders. I got it into my head that no kid of mine would ever be able to trust me, no matter what I did."

"When I discovered that I did have a kid, I found out that all of those thoughts had been pointless. You came to me and you trusted me instantly, because your mum trusted me, and that's how a parent-child relationship should be. And, though you may not feel the same towards me, I feel like I've known you for your whole life, and I am so thankful to have you."

Aria could feel tears pooling up in her eyes, and wiped them fiercely. "You know that I didn't mean what I said earlier, don't you? I was just annoyed that I don't get to do anything in the plan."

"Yeah, I know," he smiled, "I would be too." He checked his watch, and noticing the time, said, "I'd better go- got last minute preparations to make."

He pushed his chair out and stood up, straightening his jacket as he did so. Aria stood up alongside him, and surprised him by running around the table and hugging him tightly. She was shorter than him, but not ridiculously so, he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. Then, almost silently, she whispered something; something that brought tears to his eyes: "I love you dad."

"I love you too."

Around 3 hours later, Aria woke up.

After the encounter with Tony, she'd gone back into the squad room, sat down at his desk and gone straight to sleep. However, now it was 10:15 PM and she was wide awake, and planning to do something that was extremely daring and perhaps stupid.

The bullpen was empty: everybody from Team Gibbs was down at the lab, going over the layout of the warehouse and how they would go enter it, so nobody noticed as Aria stood up and walked over to Ellie's desk.

On the desk was a white shirt, with buttons running up the front that were identical to the camera button, a pair of black trousers, black work boots, a bullet proof vest and Ellie's NCIS gear. Without a second thought, she grabbed the clothes (excluding the gear) and bullet proof vest and ran into the bathroom swiftly to avoid any interaction with other agents.

After she emerged from the ladies room (wearing the kit), she took the camera and secured it onto the shirt, where it sat like an ordinary button. She grabbed her mum's old NCIS jacket and put it on, not bothering to zip it up, along with the replica of Ellie's badge. She didn't bother taking Ellie's ID- she looked nothing like her and would be found out instantly if she did so. This way, she could pose as any old NCIS agent. Then, she picked the lock of Ellie's gun safe and took her sig, stuffing it into the top of her boot (where it would stay hidden from her 'captors').

Finally, she grabbed a post-it and a pen and quickly scribbled a note to the team: nothing long, just a simple instruction.

She took one final look around the NCIS squad room, and, after checking that she had everything, headed for the elevator.

"I'm sorry dad," she whispered, before heading off on another agent's mission.

A/N: Aria has gone on her first ever mission! Come back tomorrow to find out how the team react and how it goes!

Louise :)