Meanwhile, Sarah was doing her best to not bottom out.
She'd always known that some degree of peril came with her particular occupation, but she had still never once expected anything like abduction to happen to her. This was new. And something told her that this was not because of her investigative writing skills.
Especially since this part had started with Julia Hildebrand coming to seek her out.
Sarah turned to the woman in question. They were in some kind of old, abandoned house, and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out where they were. At all. For now, in this house, Sarah and Julia were stuck in a bedroom. The windows were boarded up, and it was completely bereft of anything to identify the house's location or else, who the property belonged to. At least there was a bed.
It was here that Julia sat. She was extremely upset and very scared, but Sarah was very patient.
"Are you thinking about your kids?" she wanted to know.
Julia nodded and pointed to her middle. "This one feels perfectly normal, but I'm worried about how everyone else is coping. And Alyssa's birthday is two days."
"How old will she be?"
"Four." Julia's heart flipped as she continued to think about the consequences of her most recent actions. "Now the kids' father is in Heaven. As much as my husband and I fought about his 'indiscretions,' I would still have never wished anything like death on him."
"Of course not." Sarah sympathized.
"I didn't know my husband was dead until we found NCIS at our hotel room because we'd been upstate to see my parents."
"Why's that?"
"I wanted their advice on what I should do about my marriage because it was already falling apart." Julia admitted after a beat.
"What did you come up with? Divorce?"
"Yes, and that's what I was going to talk to my husband about. All I wanted was a rest first."
Sarah nodded. "Totally understandable."
"But now the rest of this," Julia gestured at their surroundings. "Is all my fault."
This proclamation surprised Sarah. Up until then, she'd been feeling responsible: just about this entire mess could be traced back to her deciding to go to bed with Ian Baranski in the first place. Hearing someone else take the blame felt… odd.
"This is not your fault." she tried.
Julia spoke wryly. "No? My other four kids are alone because I went to look for you because I wanted to see about my husband's indiscretions. Can you blame me?"
Sarah shook her head. "No. I would do the same, if I was in your shoes."
"You know, I remember you from around the mansion, and I'm truly sorry that it took being abducted to realize that I like you. I think we could be friends after this. I just have to know..."
"Did I ever go to bed with your husband?" Sarah guessed.
Julia nodded mutely.
"He came on to me a lot, but I told him no every time. I would never take up with a married person." Sarah told her. "I was also taken—kind of—by someone else at the mansion, anyway."
Julia went from relief to having her curiosity piqued. "Really? Who were you with?"
"Believe it or not, Ian Baranski."
"Wow. Did you have any inkling about this ordeal?"
"None."
"Then what about the party? The kids and I weren't there, but Clark was."
"I avoided him when I figured it out because I already had my hands full with Ian. We were in a fight."
"What about?"
Sarah found herself blushing. "That I come from a power family, and that I 'neglected' to mention that, for starters."
"Your parents are John and Ellis McGee, aren't they?" Julia said suddenly. "Clark was a longtime donor to their charity events. They mentioned once having a son and a daughter."
"I took on the name of Cartwright, since I'm a journalist now, but yeah, they're my parents."
For the sake of making conversation and because it was keeping her from breaking down, Julia said, "Why the new name?"
"I wanted to set myself apart from my parents, and I just wanted something of my own. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes. You can create your own legacy without having to worry about your parents' shadow."
"That's right." Sarah sighed as she went back to the timeline of events that she had been describing earlier. "Ian and I fought at the party because I told him that I'm pregnant. He didn't receive the news well."
Julia gave a sympathetic wince. "Dare I ask what happened?"
"He actually ran away when he saw my parents on the approach. Next thing I know, I've had a falling out with my parents, and then I'm being told that both Clark and Ian are dead."
"Wow." Julia said for the second time. "That's all so insane."
"You're telling me." Sarah deadpanned. "I'm just relieved that my brother and his fiancée have stepped up to the plate. I don't know where I'd be without either of them."
Julia did some dot-connecting. "We bumped into some NCIS-related people back at the hotel. Would your brother be Special Agent McGee?"
"That's him, and his fiancée is the team's forensic scientist—her name is Abby. I have all the faith in the world that they'll find us."
"And my kids? Junior, Lauren, Chloe, Alyssa? What about Cyber, my dog? What's going to happen there?"
Sarah countered Julia's woes with more patience. "Remember how my partner was in my office, too?"
"Yes. Clementine, right?"
"Yep. She wouldn't let your kids, or your dog out of her sight. She'll take care of them."
Julia exhaled—the reassurances were enough. Just for now.
"Thank you, Sarah." she said. "I really needed to hear that."
"You're very welcome." Sarah arched her back in attempt to accommodate the baby. "I can't pretend to know why these people have taken us, or what else they've done, but I don't see any reason that you and I can't keep talking."
"Yes." agreed Julia. "I am choosing to believe that my kids and Cyber are safe with Clementine, so will you just talk to me?"
"Sure. What about?"
"Anything. Where's your next assignment?"
"Actually, we just submitted a travel proposal to go to New Orleans—that's where I went after the mansion. It's also how I first encountered Clementine's family."
Julia found Sarah fascinating. "Will you tell me about that?"
So Sarah told her all about what she and Clementine were going to do on their next trip to The Big Easy.
It was better than wondering what terrible things could happen to them at any moment.
Back at NCIS, Abby's own situation was causing her to pause. She had one of the agency's many multi-passenger van up and running in the main garage, complete with borrowed carseats and booster seats for each kid, borrowed from the daycare wing. Everything was in order.
Yet… Abby was having a moment.
"What's wrong?" McGee asked her.
"Aren't you supposed to be heading over to Harbinger's Field right now?" Abby countered.
McGee showed her the main MCRT-mobile, across the room, and the keys in his hand. "I'm ready to go, but then I saw you just standing here. I wanted to make sure you're okay."
"You're sweet." Abby kissed McGee's cheek and gestured to her own vehicle. "Besides the driver, this van seats exactly eleven other people. My brain started imagining things."
"Oh, yeah? Other things like what?"
"Just how many more kids we'll have in the grand scheme of things. We already have Ruby, but she's going to be three years older than River." she shuffled her feet. "I also want to try for at least one son if River turns out to be another girl. Is that insane?"
"No." McGee shook his head and touched a hand to Abby's middle as he kissed her. "I don't think that any of that is insane. We can talk about all of it tonight before bed."
Abby felt a weight lift from her shoulders. "Thank you, Tim. I love you."
He kissed her again and rubbed the small of her back. "I love you, too. How about I help you into the van? It's a little high up."
Abby accepted his help, and with a small boost, McGee had helped her into the driver seat. He couldn't to just hold her in bed that night. Slowing down sounded like the perfect idea.
Abby put the keys in the ignition before looking to McGee. "Good luck."
"Right back at you. See you later."
McGee shut the door for Abby.
She got fully situated and drove away.
That's when he remembered the MCRT truck keys in his pocket.
"Right." he began jogging in the direction of the truck. "I better go before Gibbs finds me and yells at me for standing around."
Abby had been to The Daily Trumpeter a small smattering of times now, but the ride was extra long today. It was all she could do not to speed.
Someone at HQ had told the security guard, a tall hulking man built like a nightclub bouncer, outside the office door that she was coming, because—
"Miss Sciuto, I presume?"
She showed the man her NCIS ID. "That's me."
The guard smiled at her and moved aside. "Director Shepard just called to say that you were on your way."
"Well, that was nice of her."
"She described you, too, so I know what you'd look like. And she asked me a favor."
"What was it?"
"That I stay here while you collect everyone, and then see you all to your car." the guard stood to the side. "They're in the second room there."
Abby put her ID back. "Thank you."
"My pleasure, m'am. All in a day's work."
She thanked him again and entered the office.
Everybody, even the dogs, had squeezed themselves onto the couch. They were all quiet and unmoving. Each lost in his or her own private thoughts.
Clementine saw Abby first. "You made it!"
"Yes, I did." Abby held her arms out to her sister. "Come here."
Clementine flew into her sister's arms in a heartbeat. It felt very good to have an anchor.
"You're safe now." Abby hugged her sister and then held her out at arm's length. "Are you okay?"
"I am now." Clementine pointed to her dog, standing beside her. "Scout sat in my lap while I worked through the most of my woes. She always helps me focus."
Abby winked. "She is pretty fabulous."
"Totally."
The Scuito siblings turned to the Hildebrand siblings, only to grow amused. They had four pairs of eyes on them, each more full of incredulity than the next.
"You and Miss Abby are sisters?" Junior blurted to Clementine.
"That's right." Clementine established.
"But your hair is purple!"
This was true—wanting a change, and because Rubyjane had been curious about the process, Clementine had shown her the ropes of hair dyeing. Her locks had been bright purple for a week now.
"My hair is definitely purple because that's one of my favorite colors."
"What's the real color?"
"Blonde."
Junior Hildebrand gaped at her, and around him, Lauren, Chloe, and Alyssa were doing the same thing—all four of them were blonde. All four siblings were each so impressed with Clementine that they'd forgotten their woes.
With a lot of effort, Junior directed his next words to Abby. How he didn't meltdown as he had a 'mind blown' moment, they didn't know. But it was very endearing.
"But your hair is black!" he cried. "What's that real color?!"
Abby winked at him. "It's a secret."
At this, the Hildebrand children were officially under the spell of both Sciuto sisters.
Clementine put in a little extra effort to compartmentalize her feelings. She so wanted to find a quiet place to cry things out because she'd never experienced anything like this day before, and had no idea how to handle it. It was also doing a number on her anxiety levels.
All the same, she had to keep it together because the Hildebrand children were depending on her to keep seeing this through the rest of this confusing day. She had to be strong for them. Even if she hadn't known them twenty-four hours ago.
She put on the best kid-friendly voice she could. "Do you guys remember what I said would happen after my sister came?"
Chloe answered first, in the most serious tone she could. "You said that me and the boys are going to go to CSIN."
"You meant NCIS!" Junior hissed in correction at his little sister.
"NCIS." Chloe amended without missing a beat. "But Miss Clementine?"
"Yes?"
Chloe pointed to the carrier bag where Cyber the Yorkshire Terrier was now dozing. "He might have to go potty soon. Me, too."
Clementine sighed. "Raise your hand if you need a potty break."
Chloe, Lauren, Alyssa, and Junior all raised their hands.
After various potty breaks and possession-gathering, Abby rounded up her sister, the children, and the animals. It was quite like herding cats. They made it down to the van eventually.
In Abby's absence, books, toys, games, and fun kid-sized furniture had been brought over from the daycare wing for the Hildebrands. There were also snacks. Everything was all too make them feel comfortable. It was also to keep them near, when their mother was located. Sending them anywhere else would have just been barbaric at this point.
Jenny and Gibbs were also waiting for the unlikely posse.
Junior, Lauren, Alyssa, and Chloe stopped when they saw them, fast looking to Clementine for an explanation.
"It's okay." Clementine told them gently. "These are friends of mine and Abby's."
Junior was almost skeptical. "Really?"
"Uh-huh." Clementine indicated them in turn. "My friends are called Special Agent Gibbs, and Director Shepard. They're the best of the good guys."
This was enough to satisfy Junior, and walked right up to his elders. With his father in Heaven, and his mother 'away,' he felt incredibly responsible for the siblings under him. His mother's dog, too. Being seven was hard.
Gibbs and Jenny understood that the boy was working through a lot of emotions. Neither could fathom being in his shoes. They humored him politely when even he shook their hands before speaking.
"Me and my sisters and my mom's dog won't have to go anywhere else now, right?" the boy asked.
Jenny nodded. "That's right, big man."
Junior exhaled noisily. "Good. I don't want to go anywhere... and it's almost Lyssy's nap time."
A few steps away from him, Alyssa was leaning heavily against Chloe as she tried to say awake. Lauren was doing her best to keep her upright. It had been a long morning for everyone.
Jenny spoke to Junior again. "How old are you?"
"Seven years old, m'am."
"And your sisters?"
"Lauren turned six last month, Chloe is five, and Alyssa is almost four." Junior did some quick counting on his fingers. "I think there's two more sleeps left."
"I'm impressed that you can remember all of that. Are you tired?"
Junior shook his head. "No. I want to play, please, m'am."
Jenny lifted an eyebrow. "You like you have more questions."
"I do." Junior admitted.
Seizing an opportunity while Junior thought about his next word, Lauren quickly chimed in, "Could we please go play now?"
"You may." Jenny replied. "Run along."
Lauren and Chloe cheered and scuttled away. Abby promptly scooped up Alyssa before she could pass out from sheer exhaustion. If anyone deserved sleep, she did.
Junior moved on from Jenny to Gibbs. "Is Miss Clementine right, sir?"
"Depends on what you're thinking of."
"The part where she said that you and the director are the best of the good guys."
Gibbs pretended to think about it but still gave a nod of confirmation. "Miss Clementine was totally on the money."
"Good. Are you going to work on finding my mom? And Miss Sarah, too?"
"We're working on it, Clark."
He sobered up at the use of his real name. "Do you promise?"
"I do." Gibbs held out a hand. "It's a promise."
They shook hands like men.
Junior then bounced slightly on the balls of his feet as he turned yet again to Jenny.
"What about Cyber? My mom loves him, and she got him as a birthday present. He's a really good boy."
The little dog was deep in Dreamland by now in his carrier. He even started running in his sleep. Cute was the word.
"Cyber is a good boy," Jenny told Junior. "But as long as he's in building, I would for him to stay in his carrier. Alright?"
"Okay. What if he needs to do his business outside?"
"Keep him on his leash, please. And clean up after him."
"Okay." Junior said again. "Who is going to look after Alyssa? I really want to play Candyland, and I saw it over by the window."
Abby stepped in, winking at him. "I'll be with your sister, over in my office."
Junior gave her the smile of an unburdened little boy and actually hugged her. He even got Clementine to agree to play with him when he asked her. Things were finally somewhat normal in his world. None of them were going to spoil that.
But Abby, Jenny, and Gibbs each stared after him.
"What a brave little boy." Abby remarked.
"So polite, too, and protective." Jenny mused. "Most kids would have totally fallen apart before now. Junior Hildebrand is apparently not in that category."
Gibbs made a sound of agreement and then regarded his favorite scientist. "Abs, we're going to go have a chat with Tim and Sarah's parents because they just got here a little bit ago."
"How is Ellis?" Abby asked of her mother-in-law-to-be. "Recovered from passing out if she's here with John, huh?"
"Yeah. They're with Ziva, in the conference room."
"Good. That's good."
"Listen, I have a favor to ask."
It wasn't too hard to guess what it was. "Be the kids' friend and see if I can discreetly pump them for information?"
Gibbs kissed her on the forehead. "Bingo."
Abby readjusted Alyssa as she slid slightly in her arms. "This munchkin is not asleep, but she's a porker."
"We've got you. Come on."
Gibbs and Jenny helped Abby to sit down in her office, at her desk. Holding a sleepy toddler was a chore. So was carrying a very wiggly gestating baby. This was turning into yet another very long day.
But as always, Gibbs and Jenny acted as her parents and helped her out. That was nice. At Abby's asking, Jenny retrieved a blanket from one of the office closets and spread it over Alyssa. The little girl was immediately more drowsy after that. That was even better.
Gibbs and Jenny departed the lab with goodbyes and kisses to Abby's forehead. She appreciated their affection.
But she would have given anything right then to be with her own parents.
"Who's this?"
Alyssa's little voice brought Abby back to reality.
"Who is who?" Abby asked her.
Alyssa yawned and the touched a hand to Abby's baby bump. "Here."
Abby covered Alyssa's hand with hers and held it down. The baby responded by pressing a heel against their hands before turning over a face a different way. Alyssa was mesmerized.
Abby gave her an extra cuddle. "That's my baby. He or she won't be here for a lot more sleeps."
Alyssa promptly let out a yawn at the mention of the 's' word. "Who's that?"
She had seen a framed picture of Rubyjane on the desk, and was pointing to it.
"That's my little girl." Abby explained. "Her name is Rubyjane."
Alyssa gave another yawn. "She's way cute."
"So are you." Abby rubbed Alyssa's back soothingly. "Relax, and I'll tell you a story."
"I like Robin Hood."
Abby sat back in the chair and continued to rub Alyssa's back. "Me, too. Close your eyes."
Alyssa obeyed. "Will you tell me the story now, please?"
"Of course."
Abby began her storytelling.
Alyssa was asleep in five minutes.
