A/N: To all my recent followers & favourites, welcome aboard! Glad to have you with us! To my reviewers, you all rock! I really appreciate hearing your thoughts/comments! I know I normally reply to you all, but tonight I am in desperate need of sleep & want to get this posted, so please forgive me!
To quickly answer the comments, yes the apology's were tough on Kelly, but she got through them. As for her & Tim, they'll get some time together... eventually, will something develop? Ahh.. that's the question..
To the Gust Reviewer: Kelly is 21, but I am unsure how ONE parental swat, or even Gibbs washing her mouth can be considered assault, he would never harm her. He would though discipline her & that is what he did, he made the parental decision as to what kind of discipline it would be.
Now, let's see how the visit of some of the Taylor's find the Gibbs's & what about his team? How are they doing?
Ziva had been extremely surprised at Gibbs actions in the last 30 minutes, after he'd come back into the lab with his daughter, they'd properly introduced the dog to everyone & then he'd just sat himself down in the ballistics lab, cuddling her in his lab. They were watching Nix get Buster to do tricks, like 'shake' 'roll over' 'play dead', they were even laughing a little too, she was confused. Kelly had majorly disobeyed her father, surely Gibbs was still angry with her?
Jenn had been on the phone, trying to get further leads, but she was watching Ziva intently, she was watching her watch Gibbs & Kelly. Tony & Tim were up in the bullpen with Fornell, chasing leads too, so as soon as she hung up she headed over "Ziva? Are you ok?"
"I am confused" Ziva admitted.
"About?" Jenn asked, she saw that Abby was trying to look 'busy' on her computer.
"They are laughing" Ziva stated.
Jenn smiled "they are" glad to see they were both moving past the incident.
"But she disobeyed him, she did something very wrong" Ziva replied, if she had done anything even remotely like that when she was younger, her father would not be laughing with her 30 minutes later.
"Yes she did" Jenn agreed "but Gibbs has spoken with her about it, I have no doubt that he's made her realise the error of her ways & I'm sure she had penance to pay, she apologised to myself & Agent McGee for what she did & now they're moving forward."
"but she screwed up" Ziva said, using the words Tony had used earlier.
Jenn had always wondered about the relationship between Ziva & her father, what little she knew told her it was not an ideal father/daughter relationship one little bit. "If that had been you Ziva, what would your father have done?"
"He would not be lenient with me & he would not be laughing with me so soon after the fact" Ziva replied, she had always been strictly disciplined, it was part of her Mossad training.
"I sincerely doubt Gibbs was lenient with her Ziva, but he dealt with the issues at play & now he's moving them forward" Jenn said, he really was a good dad.
Abby had been listening to the conversation & could see Ziva was still not understanding it, she thought she'd help the Director out "He's a good dad Ziva. He kinda reminds me of my dad. I remember one time I went to the park alone without his or my mum's permission, when I got home over an hour later, he was mad as hell, but he was also really relieved that I was home safe & sound, cause he'd been worried sick"
"What did he do?" Ziva asked.
"He spanked my 10 year old bottom for going somewhere without adult permission or supervision" Abby replied matter of factly "but then we went back to the park together & he bought me ice cream" she smiled.
Jenn smiled, sounded very familiar to her.
"He rewarded you for bad behaviour?" Ziva asked, she couldn't believe it.
"Did you miss the part about him spanking my bottom? It hurt like hell, I couldn't go on the swing, cause I didn't want to sit down & dad putting me on the slide, yea that hurt!" Abby replied "He disciplined me for the bad behaviour, I well & truly learnt my lesson, but he then moved on, he didn't want to let the 'bad air' hang over us, otherwise the mood in our house would have been horrible & he didn't want me to stew"
Jenn had to admit, it sounded very familiar, but she saw Tony come in, the expression was one of sadness.
Tony entered the lab, he'd heard most of the conversation between the girls & had to admit he felt some jealously. He had no relationship with his dad & seeing Gibbs interacting & in fact discipling his kids out of love, that made him yearn for years long gone.. he just didn't want to talk to them about it, so he headed straight through to Gibbs.
"I don't need my face licked" Gibbs laughed "Buster, down!"
Buster immediately stopped licking him & sat back down, resting his head on Gibbs's lap.
"He's just trying to show you he likes you dad" Nix laughed, he'd egg'd Buster on to do, it was funny!
"I'm glad pal & I like him, just not when he's licking me, especially my face" Gibbs replied, he saw Tony hovering "need something DiNozzo?"
"Ahh, Martha Taylor is here boss" Tony reported, even he had to agree with Ziva, Gibbs was now totally relaxed again, he'd never come down off an angry outburst so fast.
"What's she doing here?" Kelly asked, why was she here.
Gibbs looked down at her "Bringing dinner missy, I asked her to bring some stuff over so we wouldn't be eating take out for every meal, just like you wanted"
Kelly swallowed "didn't know that" she had no idea her dad had organised it.
"I know you didn't, because I didn't want you to be nervous" Gibbs replied.
"Why would I be nervous?" Kelly asked.
Gibbs looked to Tony "is she alone?"
"No boss" Tony confirmed.
That was good enough for Gibbs, he turned to his girl "She's brought someone with her"
"Who?" Kelly asked.
"Your partner in crime" Gibbs grinned, part of him couldn't understand how she hadn't put it together yet.
Kelly's face lit up "Harry's here?"
Gibbs nodded "would say so... so are you nervous?"
"A little" Kelly confessed.
"That's what I thought" Gibbs said, he stood up & held his kids up too before turning back to Tony "Where are they?"
"Break room boss, with McGee & Ducky" Tony answered.
Gibbs nodded, he didn't want the meeting to be too overwhelming for his kids, nor the Taylor's so.. "stay on it down here, I'll have McGee & Ducky bring food down for you guys"
Tony nodded "yes boss"
Gibbs led his kids & Buster up to the break room, he wondered how this would go. He'd always tried to keep a distance from them, but Harry especially, it had been so hard to look at him & not see the memories of him playing with Kelly, he hoped the meeting would go well.
Gibbs spotted Martha as soon as they came in, she was sitting at one of the tables with Ducky while Harry was pacing off to the side, he cleared his throat, he really didn't know what to say or how to do this.
Harry turned as soon as he heard the sound & his gaze fell to Kelly instantly, his eyes widened as he took his old friend in, while he was shocked & appalled at what had happened, he was so happy to have her back! But it was really weird to say the least. He couldn't help but give her a grin instantly "Kell!"
Kelly smiled as soon as she saw Harry, he'd grown, but that was to be expected, he'd kept his slim figure & his hair was still jet black, but it had almost a marine buzz cut to it "Harry!"
Gibbs & Martha shared a smile as the pair embraced in hug, they even gave a small laugh as Harry spun her around.
"Missed ya!" Harry said as he spun his friend around like he used to.
Kelly couldn't help but laugh "Missed ya too"
Martha saw Phoenix standing very close to his father, she approached & crouched down "You young man, have to be Phoenix, I'm sure you've heard this before, but you look a lot like your dad, except well, for that hair, I'm sure your mum was glad you got some part of her, I'm Martha, Harry's mum" while he did look like his dad, that hair was red as Shannon's!
Nix looked at this woman, she wasn't too tall & had mousy blonde hair with green eyes "Nice to meet you"
Martha smiled "nice to meet you too, but who is this?" she asked motioning to the dog sitting next to him.
Nix smiled "This is my dog Buster"
"Well Buster, it's a pleasure to meet you" Martha said looking at the dog,
"Whoof!" Buster barked back.
Martha smiled as she turned back to Nix "I hope he doesn't eat flowers, because I like our rose garden the way it is"
Nix shook his head "No, but if you've got rats, he'll happily chase them away for you"
Martha chuckled "I like that idea very much!" she hated rats!
Gibbs even smiled at that.
"Hey squirt, come 'ere" Kelly said beckoning her brother over.
"Harry this my brother, Phoenix... or as I call him squirt" Kelly grinned "Squirt, this is Harry"
Harry looked down at the kid "Nice to meet you squirt"
Nix grinned "Nice to meet you too, Mr Trashcan!"
Kelly & Harry both laughed at that comment, even Martha gave a chuckle.
Gibbs though was stunned, he turned to his son "you know about those names?"
Nix nodded "uh huh, he's Mr Trashcan & she's Lady of LAL"
Tim had been watching all this unfold, it was nice to see them reunited with some old friends, even though he seemed a little jealous of how Kelly was interacting with Harry, but those last comments just confused him, he shared a look with Ducky who was equally looking confused.
Nix beckoned Harry down to his level & when he & his sister crouched down he whispered "I know about the park too...could use a trip there, you know, relieve some pent up energy or create some" he finished with a toothy grin.
Harry did his best to keep a straight face, he shared a look with Kelly seeing full well she was trying to keep a straight face too "maybe when things settle down, we'll go, the four of us. You, your sister, me & my younger sister Stacey, she's about your age & would be more than willing to partake in that adventure"
Nix couldn't help but smile, Harry had a sister his age! After all the stories of Kelly having fun with her neighbour friend, he'd get a chance to create similar ones.
Kelly was surprised "you've got a sister?"
Harry nodded "yupp, though I refer to her as Miss Milkshake" he smirked.
Martha & Gibbs had been trying to hear what the trio were talking about but they were talking too softly, it wasn't until they stood back up did Martha speak.
"Kelly my girl, come here, you're so beautiful" Martha said with her arms open for a hug, she was so glad to have her come into her arms, she'd missed this little girl so ever much "It's so good to see you my girl"
Kelly smiled as she was enveloped in a hug with Martha, her hugs were just like she remembered, motherly warming hugs, almost as good as her mum's "good to see you too"
Martha smiled giving her a kiss on the head, she released her from the hug, but kept one arm around her "now, what were you three talking about?"
Nix grinned "Harry said he & Kells will take me & Stacey to the park!"
Gibbs did his best not to choke on the air he was breathing. Kelly & Harry both flashed each other looks, again trying to keep a straight face.
Ducky had been watching on with intrigue, this was a sight to behold, being able to see old friends reunite was so heartwarming, but after the names Nix had used for Kelly & Harry he'd gotten curious & now his friend was choking & he hadn't even consumed anything, he was a little concerned, what was so strange about going to a park? "Jethro, are you ok?"
Gibbs did his best to get his breathing back under control "fine Duck" he gaze though switched to his kids & Harry, the older 2 were doing their best to keep a straight face, his son though was just grinning.
Martha gave Gibbs a sly grin "Perhaps they will need supervision at the park, you & Ted may have to accompany them"
Tim was getting really confused, what on earth were they talking about? Why would Gibbs & Ted have to supervise a trip to the park if Kelly & Harry were taking their younger siblings?
Gibbs flashed a look at Martha "you may be right" he said, damn keeping a straight face was challenging right now "why don't we eat?" he needed to divert all of their attentions.
Martha nodded curtly "of course, it should still be fairly warm", the look on his face was priceless, if only Shannon could see, oh they were going to have so much fun again! She could already see a change in her neighbour & was truly happy about it.
As Martha went to get the food Gibbs grabbed the trio of kids & pulled them back to get a quick private word with them. He first looked at his son "you trying to give me a heart attack? or maybe you want me dead before I've even found mum?"
Kelly pressed her lips together to prevent the smile from forming, she saw she wasn't alone, Harry was doing the same thing.
Nix gave a sheepish grin to his dad "sorry"
Gibbs then looked at the older two "you two need to convey what the word secret means, unless you want me & your dad (he said looking at Harry) to end up on the receiving end of them" he said motioning to Martha, but clearly meaning both her & Shannon.
Kelly couldn't help but grin "Are you already scared of mum? That's so... "
Gibbs raised his eyebrow "soooo what, young lady?"
"cute" Kelly grinned.
Gibbs smiled.
"She looks fine Jethro, you were probably right, she was pushing the boundaries, testing you to see how far she could push" Martha said, she was at a table with Gibbs while the 'kids' were at the table on the other side of the room, he'd just caught her up on Kelly's exploits. Those two gentleman had left to deliver food downstairs somewhere.
Gibbs nodded glad for the reassurance "I don't know what I'll do if we can find her in time" he admitted, it was what concerned him the most.
"Well, you wont have to worry about that now will you?" Martha asked "because you will find her, you're not going to stop & neither is Ted. I've told Ted this, but let me tell you it as well" she waited for Gibbs to look at her "You will find her, because a, neither of you are willing to not find her, b, those two kids need their mother & c, I want my friend back! So you better find her Leroy Jethro Gibbs!"
Gibbs smiled, yea her & Shannon were so alike, no wonder they got on so well "yes ma'am"
"Good, that's settled" Martha said with a gentle, warm smile she patted his arm.
Gibbs smiled as he saw his girl approach.
Kelly went up to him "umm, can I run down to the lab quickly & grab something?" she knew better than to just go, especially as she was still under orders to not leave her dad's sight.
"What do you need?" Gibbs asked.
"I brought something from my place we could have for dessert" Kelly answered.
Gibbs considered it for a moment "ok, straight there & back"
"yes sir" Kelly answered & headed straight for the lab.
Martha watched her go "she's learnt her lesson well & truly I'd say"
"I know" Gibbs agreed "I just don't like that she's back to calling me sir... wish it would be dad again"
"Give it time, once she settles down again, and things relax a little she'll be back to you calling dad" Martha said trying to reassure him.
Gibbs was glad when it had only been 4 minutes & he saw his daughter return.
"So, what yummies are in there Lady LAL?" Harry asked as soon as she'd sat back down.
Kelly grinned & opened the container "cookie?" he offered him.
Harry's eyes glazed over the cookies, just like he remembered, he took one & went to bite "hmm, reckon I could actually fit this into mouth in one go now"
"I know I can" Nix grinned as he put a whole cookie in his mouth.
Harry stared at him "geez squirt, you've got a big mouth!" he could never have fitted it in at his age!
"m re or tw" Nix mumbled through the cookie.
"Huh?" Harry asked.
"he said, his record is two, as in two cookies in his mouth at the one time" Kelly clarified.
"and has he ever choked on a cookie?" Gibbs asked, now standing at their table with Martha, he was looking his son squarely in the eye.
Nix shook his head.
"Let's keep it that way, so take that out of your mouth & eat it properly please" Gibbs said "do that again & you'll be barred from cookies for a week"
Nix instantly took the cookie out of his mouth, a week without any cookies? He didn't like the sound of that.
"And as for you mister" Martha said looking at her son "don't give him any ideas, behave like the mature 21 year old probationary police officer that you are"
Kelly looked at him surprised "you joined the force?"
"Got the badge to prove it" Harry grinned.
"Hmm" Kelly huffed "guess cops & robbers wasn't just a game for you" she realised that why he had the haircut he had.
"yea it was" Harry retorted "now I get to play it every day!"
Martha rolled eyes "what is it with the men in my family"
Gibbs just smiled, Harry was 4th generation cop, he turned his attention to his daughter "were you going to offer any cookies to Martha & I? Or were you three planning on hogging them?"
Kelly held the container up to her dad "we were merely grabbing some before you ate them all, cookie?"
Gibbs eyed his daughter, but took hold of a handful of the cookies for himself "I'm bigger, so my stomach is bigger, therefore I get more cookies"
Nix looked at his dad confused "I thought we could only have 3 cookies in one sitting, no matter how old we were, at least that's what mum always said" he finished with a cheeky grin, his dad had taken about 5 cookies.
Kelly watched her dad round her to get to her brother, she saw that Harry & Martha were both watching on eagerly as well.
"That mouth of yours needs to be filled before you get yourself into even more trouble mister" Gibbs smirked.
"Why would I be in trouble for pointing a rule out, mum also said that if we point out a rule we can't be in trouble" Nix said riling his dad up, this was fun!
Gibbs looked around "do you see mum here at the moment? Cause I don't. Soooooo... I think I need to introduce you to the consequences of being a cheeky little boy, mister"
Nix stared at his dad wondering what he was going to do, when all of sudden he yelped from fright.
Kelly laughed at the fright her brother got, her dad had yanked him off his seat & quite quickly & effectively turned him upside down, putting his legs over his shoulders & securing him with one arm while the other was used to tickle him to death.
Nix was in a fit of laughter, he'd never been tickled like this before, he was quite literally dangling from his dad's shoulders & being tickled to death, he didn't think he could breath "ddaaaadd, stopppppp"
Gibbs was loving hearing his boy in hysterical laughter, he'd never get sick of it "are you going to stop being so cheeky?"
"Noooooo" Nix laughed.
Kelly & Harry laughed at his response.
Martha could see the utter joy on Jethro's face, he'd shut himself away from the world for so long, to be able to see a smile & hear his laugh again was just beautiful, she just had one issue "Not that I'm not loving this, but Jethro, your son just ate, do you really want to risk him... shall I say, requiring the use of the bathroom at this moment?" these actions could definitely bring Nix to vomit his dinner back up.
Gibbs's eyes widened, he'd totally not even thought about that & she was right, he gently manoeuvred his son onto the ground, so he was lying on his back, he was glad to see he was still laughing, he grinned at him "what have we learnt?"
Nix was still laughing, even though he was on the ground, his dad was still tickling him gently "that being cheeky can result in loss of breath" he grinned.
Kelly burst into laughter again, it only too two seconds, but Harry joined her. He looked up to see his mum trying, not very successfully to keep a straight face.
Gibbs laughed, oh they were going to have some fun times ahead! "uh huh"
Ziva had been watching on for a good few minutes still in shock, Gibbs was being so fun! She'd never realised he could be this way, especially after what had transpired.
Martha saw a black haired lady standing just off to her side "Hello"
Gibbs looked at who Martha talking to "Ziva David, Martha Taylor, the young fella over there is her son Harry"
"Hello" Ziva said.
Harry smiled "Hi"
"I umm... have Lt Taylor on the phone, nothing new, but he wanted to check in" Ziva said.
"I'll take it for a minute" Martha said to Ziva before turning to Gibbs "you get yours & your son's breathing under control"
Gibbs & Nix both grinned at her.
"Martha! What's wrong!" Ted yelled through the phone, all he heard was 'get breathing under control'.
Martha had to smile as she heard her husband's yell "Nothing is wrong Ted, your good friend was merely trying to cause his son to loose his ability to breath, through what you both used to refer to as 'the tickle monster'"
Ted breathed a sigh of relief & then smiled "then that's ok"
Martha kept her gaze on Gibbs as she spoke again "Oh, Phoenix has asked Harry & Kelly to take him & Stacey to the park, I suggest you & Jethro go along, they may need supervision"
Gibbs kept his gaze on Martha as he tried to keep a straight face, though his hand went to cover his son's mouth as he let out a small laugh. Kelly & Harry shared a look & diverted their gaze's from Martha.
"Ted? Are you there?" Martha asked, oh, this was too much fun, she looked to Gibbs "perhaps you can get the man to talk?"
"I can try" Gibbs said, as he stood up & took the phone, he moved down the corridor though, wanting to get out of ear shot from Martha.
"Ted" Gibbs said when the coast was clear.
"Thank heavens it's you" Ted admitted "I nearly had a heart attack!"
"Try having to keep the straight face in front of her!" Gibbs retorted.
"That boy should have known better" Ted said, what was his son thinking!
"Oh, it wasn't your boy that let the cat out of the bag, it was mine. I've reminded Harry & Kelly about conveying what the word secret means!" Gibbs replied.
"Good idea" Ted agreed, he'd be a deadman if that one ever got fully out of the bag.
"Harry, do want to stay or come home?" Martha asked, they'd been at NCIS for well over 2 hours, she had to get home.
Harry flashed a look to Gibbs.
"If ya wanna stay, feel free. I'm sure Kelly would appreciate it" Gibbs said, truth be told, having someone to keep Kelly company & occupied was probably a good idea, especially someone that knew her.
Kelly nodded "yea, I would" she was loving being able to catch up with her friend.
"Then I'll stay" Harry decided, he was equally loving spending time with his friend.
Martha smiled, she turned to Gibbs "Call me if you need anything else"
Gibbs nodded "I'll walk you to your car, Buster could use a bathroom run I'm sure" he replied "Buster!" he called.
Martha was impressed by how quickly the dog had jumped to his command & was by his side "looks like he even knows who's boss already."
Gibbs grinned "yeap" he turned to his daughter who handed him the leash "thanks, why don't you guys go back into the ballistics lab. It's getting late, you should try to get some rest, so no video games for you, but especially you Phoenix" he added looking towards his son, he was sure he didn't need to remind her to not go anywhere.
Nix pouted a little, but wasn't going to disobey his dad "ok"
Kelly nodded "ok" she definitely wasn't going to disobey her dad, she looked up at Martha "bye".
Martha smiled "oh come here my dearest Lady of LAL" she said with a chuckle, again taking her into a hug.
Kelly had to admit it felt really comforting to be in a hug with Martha, it was just liked she remembered when she was a kid,
Gibbs couldn't help but smile as he watched his girl be enveloped into Martha's embrace, he knew that just as he & Shannon had really cared for Harry, Martha & Ted had been the same with Kelly.
"Everything will ok Kelly, your dad & Ted will get your mum, I'm certain of it" Martha whispered reassuringly "call me if you need anything, anything at all my girl, ok?"
Kelly just nodded into her before pulling back & heading into the far end of the lab with Harry & her brother, she was feeling a lot better now, she felt like her dad was maybe trusting her a little, he hadn't reminded her to stay put & it had been really comforting to see Martha, and to have Harry stay, that was really good too.
A/N: That was a bit of fun wasn't it?
A request: For those that have read More than he dreamed of, you will know all about the visits to 'the park' & the nicknames, but I ask that you not spoil it for those readers that haven't by positing comments about it in the reviews. It's a family secret that will have to be discovered in due course... and yes, we'll have fun doing it!
But I think it's time to get back to the search for Shannon, can they finally get a break & work out where she could be going? But how & who will finally crack it & where exactly is she heading for?
More up soon! You know I like hearing your thoughts/comments, so review away!
