Gibbs studied the teenage girl riding in the seat beside him. Beyond her curly brown hair, emerald green eyes, and that million watt smile. She was the teenage girl version of DiNozzo. She had her ear-buds in but he every once in a while she would let her guard down and start singing along. He recognized every song as Sinatra and other swing songs that DiNozzo adored.. Her backpack was old and faded but he could make out the print of a piano keyboard as the pattern and basketball stickers were sewn on in a few places. She had a sketch pad on her lap and he saw that she had drawn near perfect replicas of famous movie posters. He would be shocked as hell if this girl was not DiNozzo's daughter. At the same time he was praying that he would be proved wrong. Because in his mind that would be the cruelest twist of fate he had ever seen. For DiNozzo to mourn his child for close to two decades. Meanwhile this poor child was suffering an agonizing fate of abusive parents. Mollie's hair covered a bruise on her cheek and her eyes showed an almost crushing amount of heartache and grief. If this were Mollie, it was going to take all he had not to break into that prison and beat Tessie and Doug to death. For them do something so cruel to this beautiful girl and her amazing father. Gibbs reached over and tapped on the girl's shoulders. She pulled out and ear-bud and looked at him. No matter how many times he saw those eyes they caught his breath.
"What?" The girl asked.
"You hungry?" Gibbs asked.
"Starving, I haven't eaten in two days." The girl replied.
"Oh I wish you had spoken up sooner." Gibbs apologized.
"Don't worry about it." The girl replied.
"So what do you want?" Gibbs asked.
"I'll just have a plain salad without the dressing." The girl replied.
"I don't care what those magazines say. That is NOT an appropriate meal to eat after not eating for two days. You need calories and fats. You already look too thin." Gibbs explained.
"So what do you think?" The girl asked.
"Pizza OK?" Gibbs asked, pulling into the pizza buffet DiNozzo always made him stop at when they were coming back from Stillwater.
"I love pizza but are you sure it's OK?" The girl asked.
"Why wouldn't it be OK?" Gibbs asked.
"It's so much carbs and fats and it's greasy. It will give me gas and acne. Models cannot be fat, gassy, pizza faces." The girl explained.
"You're a model?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes but... never-mind." The girl murmured.
"But what?" Gibbs asked.
"I hate it! It's such hard work and my coach is such a jerk." The girl explained.
"Why do you do it then?" Gibbs asked.
"My dad makes me. He says I can either model or get out. He makes me stay under a hundred pounds and makes me be perfect but he beats the crap out of me if I do the slightest thing wrong or if he catches me playing basketball or the piano." The girl explained.
"What's your dad's name?" Gibbs asked.
"Doug Ernest but he makes me go by Mollie Ernesto, he says it's more ethnic and ethnic girls are in now." The girl explained.
"Gee" Gibbs gasped.
"Gibbs, if I tell you something. Can I trust you to keep a secret?" The girl asked.
"Depends what the secret is." Gibbs replied.
"My modeling coach has been raping me since I was ten years old. I told my dad and he says that's how you progress if you aren't good enough. I reported him but I didn't have proof and the hospital wouldn't run tests. A few months ago he brought friends. It lasted for almost a full day. If I cried they called me the C word and pulled my hair. When it was finally over I couldn't walk for three days. The other day I was online and I saw these emails. He put me on a fetish site. That's part of why I left." The girl sobbed.
"Honey that is something I need to tell somebody about." Gibbs explained.
"You believe me?" The girl asked.
"Yes and I need that son of a bitch's name." Gibbs replied.
"Raymond Venice Miller" The girl replied.
"First we are going to get some food inside of you. Then I am going to take you to an old friend. She will test you for diseases and run a DNA test on you. After that I want to take you to the hospital for a physical. Then we are going home and my other friend will come over and talk you. I will stay with you if you want and Tobais is a good guy. He's got a girl about your age he will do everything in his power to make you comfortable. You can stay with me as long as you need." Gibbs explained.
"Why do I need a DNA test?" The girl asked.
"To find out who you are." Gibbs replied.
"What's going to happen to me? Are you a foster parent? What if I am Mollie?" The girl asked.
"If you are Mollie then your father works for me. He is my Senior Field Agent at NCIS. Do you know what that is?" Gibbs asked.
"It's a federal agency, that handles Navy Law." The girl replied.
"Yes" Gibbs replied.
"I kind of want to be a cop and they made us research our dream job last year. I had to research different law enforcement agencies and NCIS kind of peaked my interest." The girl explained.
"That's really cool" Gibbs replied.
"The guy who works with you... the one who may be my dad." The girl started.
"Tony" Gibbs replied.
"Tony, is he a good guy?" The girl asked.
"He's got a heart of gold and is one of the best I have ever worked with." Gibbs explained.
"Great" The girl sniffed.
Hearing that her possible father was a great guy only made Lonnie/Mollie feel worse. If she were Mollie why had she been kept from him? If she weren't what had happened to Mollie. She had managed to hold it together through the ordeal of telling Gibbs about being raped by her coach and all that she had endured, but this had sent her over the edge. Violent sobs wracked her body and tears poured from her eyes like a faucet. Gibbs held back at first but eventually he couldn't help but pull he into a hug. He asked if it was OK for him to hug her and she nodded. She trusted him. That's why she had gone with him in the first place. She had always had this ability to tell if people were good or not. She could NOT trust coach Miller and never could but she trusted Gibbs right away. He was like how she had always imagined a grandfather. Gentle and loving but not afraid to put her in her place when she acted out. He smelled of sawdust and she pictured him bringing homemade toys and presents every year on Christmas and her birthday, but also making her chop wood when she acted up. She cried because she was sad, tired, hungry, and above all scared. He just held her right and stroked her hair. Which for some reason only made her feel worse.
"Hey you're OK. You're OK." Gibbs whispered.
"Will Tony want me if he is my dad?" Lonnie/Mollie asked.
"If you are Mollie, he has spent sixteen years thinking that you were murdered and it has broken him. He is really hurting right now and if you are his daughter. He will be beside himself with excitement and relief." Gibbs explained.
A/N: Gibbs takes Mollie for her tests in the next chapter. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.