A/N: Starts from Jen's POV. Sorry it's taken me so long to post this next chapter. But on the good side I have the next 7 chapters ready to go.

An Unknown Child

35

I walk into the house, the door is open. The house is still dark, with no one awake yet. I walk past the living room and see a shape on the couch. I walk towards the couch. I see the lumpy shape was Abby; apparently she didn't let Quinn sleep here by herself. I was glad; Quinn had slept here alone enough over the past few weeks as it was.

In a spontaneous moment I leaned over and covered Abby up with the blankets and kissed the top of her head. I headed upstairs and into the room I shared with Jethro. I changed into a pair of sweats and a one of Jethro's button up shirts. I look at the bed in the room and the door. Debating on whether I should sleep there for the three hours I had until I needed to get Quinn up and ready for the week.

Quinn, she's been through such a hard time in her life. It's not easy knowing that you're adopted, but then learning that at least one of your parents lied to you about the adoption must be heartbreaking. Add to that she was kidnapped and not adopted and you have some very tough shit to work through.

I think her situation got a lot better when she moved in with Jethro; I know she helped improve my life within hours of officially moving in. She gave me Jethro back; she gave me a second chance. Then what do we do? We work just like we always have, when we needed to cut back and really be a family. She was right when she pointed that out to me in the hospital.

I made up my mind; I left our bedroom and went downstairs and into Quinn's room. I watched as she slept, semi-still, only her head moving. I walked over to her bed and sat down near the middle and just watched as my daughter slept. But my thoughts drifted back to Jethro as they always do.

He remembered me, somewhat. He remembered us making love in Europe. He remembered the attic in Marseille. That was the first time we made love. That gave me a little hope that he would be okay. Now I just wanted him to remember Quinn. No, not wanted I needed him to remember her.

I had him smell the stuff Quinn had grabbed. It didn't seem to really help, so I moved onto the suggestion she gave me after talking to the neuro doctor. I looked into his file and found the name of his mentor. Then while Jethro was asleep I looked up his mentor's file.

The person I needed was Mike Franks. I tracked down his retirement checks to a beach in Mexico, where he would have his mail delivered along with his food by a woman who worked at the local Cantina, a Camilla. I would call the cantina and have them also deliver a disposable cell I had sent there via the Cali office and overnight priority shipping. She was instructed to call Cynthia when she dropped off his stuff.

Cynthia would then transfer the call through to my office or my cell when he took the phone. I would then try to talk him into coming to DC to help Jethro. I had no idea if I could do that. From looking at his file I could tell he was Chauvinistic, even more so than Jethro is. I had no idea how he would react to a female calling him about Jethro or a female Director of an armed federal agency.

Quinn moved very slightly in her sleep, bringing me back to reality. I smiled as she turned away from me as she moved over in the bed. She wasn't as asleep as I thought. I slipped under the covers and kissed her head.

"Love you mom." I hear her murmur. I press another kiss to the back of her head before turning to have my back press against her back. I can see her clock alarm is on and then I fall asleep.

************************************NCIS*************************************

I woke up in my daughter's room in a similar position as how we fell asleep the night she asked to call me mom. She was curled into my side, her head over my heart. My arms, both of them, were around her, pulling her tightly to my side. I looked over to her clock and saw that her alarm would go off in a minute. I reached over and shut it off, deciding to wake my daughter myself. I pressed a few kisses to her forehead and temple. I move one of my hands to her shoulder and shake her shoulder. I move my mouth down to whisper in her ear.

"Quinn, Sweetie, it's time to wake up."

Quinn came around faster than I thought. She blinked her eyes open after a few repeats of the routine and sat up and arched her back and stretched as she peered over me to the alarm clock. She got out of bed and moved to her small closet. She pulled out a school uniform. She did this acting like a zombie.

"Sweetie, why do you wake up this early?" I asked her.

"Running." She answered around a yawn.

"Well how long until you need to be in the shower?" I asked; wondering if she was planning on going for a run while it was still dark outside.

"Well, I leave the house for school at 0630, so I need to be out of the shower by 0545 so I need to be in the shower by 0515, and its 0430 now, so 45 minutes."

"Well, are you going to run today?"

"Nope, I run in the evening during late fall and winter and early spring." I can see she is still really tired.

"Are you going to do something else instead?" I asked knowing that the school's pool would open in 30 minutes and that the past few weeks she had someone drop her off at the school around now.

"No, I am not doing anything. Too tired." She told me.

"Then, do you want to sit next to me and tell me about what your week will be like?" I asked her, hoping she would say yes. She doesn't say or motion a yes or a no, but she does move back over to the bed, where I have propped myself up on the headboard. She checked her phone and turned up the volume before climbing back into bed. She leaned against my shoulder; it seems to be a favorite position for her and for me as well. I lean my cheek into her head and use a hand to brush through her hair.

"So, what's the plan for you this week?" I asked her, softly.

"Umm, I have a Calc test on Tuesday; so that night I won't have any Calc homework. We are getting the next lab unit in Chem; so I'll have a pre-lab write up on Wednesday with the lab on Friday. That means no test this week. We're starting a new unit in English; it's about myths and fairy tales. So I'll be re-reading those for the next few weeks. In Theater we are doing our Shakespeare pieces; so I'll have one almost every day, because I have my piece, I'm helping Kaia with hers as well as Trevor and David. In Art I have a couple of realistic human sketches due on Tuesday and the normal Thursday sketch. Band and Choir, I have a couple scale tests and we'll continue to work on our Christmas pieces. The Show Choir is singing in one of the malls as our final; on that last weekend of term before the two week break. And as of Nationals; I am done with swim team." She told me as we sat in her bed. We sat in silence for a few minutes before I spoke again.

"Do you want me to call someone and tell them what's going on with your Father?"

"Yes, please." Was her only reply and we continued to recline in her bed in silence. We sat in silence until her phone's alarm went off; telling her to get in the shower. She rolled out of bed and grabbed her robe before heading into her bathroom. I myself trudge up the stairs and into the master bedroom. I stand before the closet and pick out a simple outfit of a black skirt and shimmery grey button up shirt with a black jacket. I grabbed a bra and a pair of underwear, than disappeared into the bathroom for my own shower. I finish quickly and step out of the shower and dry off. I return to the bedroom and slip on my bra, panties and skirt before returning to the bathroom. I blow-dry my hair, brush my teeth and apply my make-up. I return to slip on the shirt and jacket before heading downstairs.

After Quinn eats a quick breakfast, she dashes up the stairs and returns with her flute and backpack. We head for the door and slip on our shoes; a pair of flats with her uniform, for Quinn, and a pair of simple black heels for me. We get into the town car and my driver heads for Quinn's school.

It's the start of a new week.

We pull up to the school and Hector walks the both of us up to the doors. I pull Quinn to me for a final hug.

"Call me when you're out of school." I whispered in her ear. She gives me a small smile and nods her head. I kiss her cheek and watched her head into the building.

"Are you staying with her?" I asked Hector as I stalled going back to my car. For some reason I felt uneasy about leaving her here without someone to keep an eye on her.

"Agent Fornell is inside, Ma'am. He called me to ask if I could let you know that he'll be shadowing Quinn while Agent Saks shadows Kaia. He felt that the FBI, as a neutral agency to NCIS and the Marshall Service, should take care of shadowing the kids." Hector replied.

"Oh, thank God. Txt him and tell him my gut is telling me something's off." I told him as I let him lead me back to the car. He got in and Melvin started driving to the Navy Yard. We made it and Hector again escorted me to my office before heading back to the car. I started up my computer and told Cynthia what to expect as far as the case and Franks' call. She nodded and went back to her desk, telling me that she would transfer the call.

I started with writing the email to all of Quinn's teachers. I sent it before sending an email to Jordan and the Director of the FBI. As I was typing this, Tony walked in and gave me a sit rep on the case, before heading off with the rest of the team to track down a lead.

Lunch came and went. I sent Cynthia off to get lunch for herself, Abby and myself. Abby had entered my office and sat on my couch with some paperwork. I was grateful for the company. Just after Cynthia returned and we had finished the food, her phone rang.

Cynthia answered it and then transferred it to me. It was Mike Franks.

After convincing him that I was the Director of NCIS and not another secretary, he seemed wary of what I wanted, which is understandable; after all he retired and under very terse circumstances if what I heard in the rumor mill was any indication. His whole attitude seemed to change when I said Jethro's name. He was way more willing to help me out. He promised to board the next flight to D.C; he said he'd call my assistant with the flight details. I felt a huge relief when he said he would come and help out.

I didn't however mention Quinn; I thought that it might be too much information too soon, so I would wait until he arrived.

He called Cynthia a few hours later, just as I was leaving to pick up Quinn. He would board a flight this evening that would land in Miniannoplis then continue on to D.C. he would be at Dulles by the time Quinn was out of school tomorrow.

I left with my security detail to pick Quinn up from school and head home before stopping into the hospital to get an update, before heading back to Jethro's house for the remainder of the day.