Warnings: Spoilers for "Jet Lag".
A/N: I apologize that this has taken so long. Just a little filler chapter. Originally I planned to have this as one massive fic but I'm thinking of breaking it up a bit. Just for reader ease. Please let me know what you think and enjoy! Thanks forestalling with me this long!
Kaitlin was not happy when she lost sight of her daddy.
Tony didn't blame her. After all she had been taken away from him, shuffled from bus to bus, handed to a strange couple… only to be shoved in a bag and found by another strange couple… to then be taken care of by strange doctors and nurses. But if she was going to cry every time Tony left the living room it was going to be a long three days. "Katie… I'm just going into the kitchen to get lunch," he promised her, picking her up and standing her in the hall so she could see him.
"Look!" He said, happily as he turned to wave at her, "I'm right here! I didn't go anywhere!"
As he turned his back on her to pull out some leftovers to warm up, Kaitlin wailed, breaking his heart. Tony sighed and closed his eyes. He turned back towards her to smile and found her standing closer to him in the middle of the hall way. "Did you… did you just walk there?"
Kaitlin held her hands out to him, large tears rolling down her cheeks. When he didn't budge she took three wobbly steps forward. Tony couldn't stop the bright smile that covered his face. He knelt down on the floor and opened his arms to her… sure enough she took the last few steps there and stumbled into his arms.
"You did it! You took your first steps!" Tony told her proudly. He gave her a big kiss as she nuzzled his shoulder. "I think this calls for a lunch out!"
"Izza?"
"Yes. We can get pizza!"
Kaitlin smiled at him, she cuddled against Tony as he lifted her off the kitchen floor and went to grab both their coats. He was going to take her out to get pizza, ice cream… anything to erase the horrible memories of the last few days. They both needed it and he had the time off. He knew that wasn't going to last very long. Sooner or later Gibbs was going to need him.
Tony grabbed his keys and headed out to the car. Quickly he got the baby into her car seat and with a little kiss on her each of her cheeks, cherishing the little giggles that emanated from her. It made him not want to take his eyes off of her ever again.
Gibbs wasn't planning on requesting that Tony come back to work, not after everything that had transpired while Senior had been in town—but it turned out the world had other plans.
Tony took it in stride, or at least he appeared to take it in stride, even if he had to be away from Kaitlin overnight in Paris.
Kaitlin on the other hand was not happy and she made her feelings known to Gibbs at every chance she got. He didn't blame her, after all her father had just gotten her separation anxiety under control and then she was abducted. But he needed Tony's experience on this one and he promised her it really was going to be only one night.
"Listen," he told the fussy infant as he tried to get her to sleep that night, "I'm not entirely happy about this situation either. Do you think I wanted to take Daddy away from you now? Of course I didn't. Please, just go to sleep. Daddy will be back before you know it."
"I warned you that this wasn't going to go well," Abby said, sadly. "She hates it when Tony is away."
Gibbs sighed and rubbed Kaitlin's back. Fussy babies really were not his forte, that had been Shannon. But this little fussy baby was breaking his heart because he had done this. So he paced her room trying to soothe her and get her to fall asleep, there really was nothing else he could do.
Abby stood in the door and watched him. "Maybe if you sang?"
He glared at her slightly. "I don't sing, Abs."
"Maybe if we called Tony..."
"Tony's still in the air."
Abby pouted. "What do we do? She's miserable."
Gibbs carried the baby to the rocking chair and sat down. He found one of Kaitlin's favorite books. Maybe if he read to her it would calm her down.
Kaitlin whimpered and wiped her eyes. She snuggled into Gibbs lap still not really happy that her father was MIA. "Ibs."
"Yes, I'm going to read to you."
"Da?"
"No, Daddy isn't here."
Kaitlin cried and flopped in his lap. Even as Gibbs read her the book using as much inflection as he could to distract her from her obvious discomfort. Gibbs was never so happy to hear the phone ring, knowing that it was Tony calling.
Abby shoved the phone at the baby and she froze hearing Tony's voice. A tiny smile came across her face. But it only lasted while she was on the phone with her daddy, once Tony had hung up she was back to fussing.
Gibbs rocked her and settled in for a long night.
Tony had done his best to enjoy Paris but he kept thinking about his baby back home and how miserable she had been when he had left her with Gibbs. He'd thought that the boss was going to be the best choice to care for Kaitlin this time because she did trust the former marine, however it was still too soon after her trauma to leave her. Kaitlin had sobbed when he left and he was sure she didn't stop until she fell asleep.
He had called when he landed at Charles De Gaulle airport. Despite talking to her over the phone the text message that he got from Abby afterwards suggested that it had not helped.
Erin must have felt bad for him so she let him have the bed in their hotel room. Tony wasn't going to argue. It was one night and he'd been through hell the last couple of weeks and he was going to have a very cranky baby when he got home. And to add insult to injury their witness was Little Miss Sunshine.
"You're much too happy for someone that's wanted dead," Tony told her once they had settled on the plane.
"There's plenty of negativity in the world," Norah replied with a smile. "I'm just doing my best to counter that."
"Sorry if I don't share your rosy outlook on life," Tony said as he buckled his belt.
Norah chuckled."I don't expect everyone too, Agent DiNozzo."
Erin grinned, a little wickedly. "He's just upset that he had to leave Kaitlin behind."
"Kaitlin?"
"My daughter and I'll have you know she is just as upset that I left her."
"She's a baby. She should be."
Tony threw his partner a look. Why was she teasing him like this? Was she trying to get his mind off the baby because if so it wasn't working. Erin now smiled at him sweetly and he frowned. "I almost lost her, ok? So yes, I'm a little attached to her right now."
Erin sighed and shook her head. "Tony she's safe now and with Gibbs of all people. I don't think she's going to be taken ever again. There's no way you and Gibbs would allow that."
Norah pat his knee and opened a magazine. "Not everyone is out to get you."
"Thank you. I've been saying that for the last two days. He won't listen to me."
"I can certainly protect her like everyone is."
"Tony, you can't protect her from everything," Norah said, "that's impossible."
"Maybe I'll just lock her away in a tower like Rapunzel," Tony snapped.
"Do you want your daughter to hate you for the rest of your life?"
"No! Of course not!"
Norah pat his knee again and went back to reading her magazine. Her sunny disposition was really starting to get on his nerves. Or maybe that was the lack of sleep. Either way he was looking at a long transatlantic flight with her and if he wanted to do his job at keeping Norah safe he had to put up with her personality. Besides it wasn't like anyone was going to try to kill her on the plane.
