Greetings readers,

I know my updates are slow...thanks for being such great fans and reading along.

This chapter has a lot going on in it...enjoy the ride.

Thanks for all the reviews...they keep me motivated to keep writing in my chaos.

This winter better end soon...my kids need more sunshine and outdoor time. :)

"Hey, Janssen, don't overdo it, man."

Riley inhaled deeply, ignoring his friend's voice of concern. He didn't want to talk right now; he just wanted to alleviate the pain enough to think clearly. Of course, smoking weed probably wasn't the best way to do that, but it was the only way he knew to quickly take away the pain. His meds had pretty much worn off, and the throbbing pain made it excruciating to move let alone think straight. He closed his eyes and allowed the drug to work its magic. He just needed enough to take the edge off. One thing his ole man had gifted him with through the endless years of abuse was a high pain tolerance and the ability to step outside himself to survive. Riley had learned his limits a long time ago.

"Are we almost there?" Riley asked, opening his eyes to see the concern on his friend's face. "I'm fine, Brody, really." He reassured the other man, hoping to wipe the look from his face. If he could trust anyone to have his back, it would be Lane Brody. Things were tough in Marine boot camp and because Adams targeted Riley, most of the other recruits kept their distance to save their own asses but Brody was different. He kept a healthy distance but he was a loyal friend when Riley let him. Riley never forgot that. He never let anyone too close, so Brody knew very little of what happened to him at boot camp, during or after. When Riley texted the man though, Brody was quick to help, offering his friendship unconditionally.

Brody seemed to consider his words for a moment, then nodded and looked at his GPS. "Where are we heading?"

Riley took another puff and dropped the joint to the floor, crushing it under his foot. "I need a weapon, and it's the only place I know that I can get one that won't be missed."

The blonde-haired man driving furrowed a brow. "Are you sure that stuff hasn't compromised your thinking? Tell me what's going on?"

Riley puffed out his cheeks, sizing up his pain levels. He felt a little buzzed but still clear-headed enough to think. He didn't want to the high. He just needed enough to take the edge off the pain. That's it.

"Trace…"

His friend's eyes widened at the name and he held up a hand to forestall Riley," Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What does this have to do with Trace?"

Riley began to recognize his surroundings and pointed to the nearest street. "Hang a right here. The house is the third one on the left."

The black SUV pulled into Gibbs' laneway and came to a halt at the garage. Riley chewed his bottom lip, feeling anxiety building in his stomach. He knew that Gibbs wouldn't be there but he wasn't sure who he was going to run into at the house. Someone had to be taking care of Gibbs' girls and his money was on Abby. He needed to have his game in order to get past the intelligent woman.

Riley turned to his friend. "Brody, I need your help to do this. I'll tell you whatever you need to know later but first I need to get something."

The dark eyes of his friend looked at him in sympathy. A quiet moment of comradery passed between them and then the man nodded resolutely. "Okay, what do you want me to do?"

"My guardian…" Brody brow rose in confusion. Riley waved a dismissive hand. "Please, don't ask any questions now. It's too complicated to explain." The man nodded. "My guardian is an NCIS agent and he has two little girls. I'm thinking he has his forensic scientist, Abby, watching the kids." Riley couldn't miss Brody's look of bewilderment. "Don't even try to wrap your head around it. She's like his daughter or something. Like I said, it's complicated. Anyway, the point is, she's not stupid. She would see through me in a heartbeat. I need you to distract her. Knock on the door and ask about me or something…whatever you can think of to keep her distracted for as long as you can. I'm gonna sneak in the back."

Brody remained quiet for a few moments and then nodded. "Okay, distract the science chick. Got it. What will you be doing?"

"Agent Gibbs has a safe where he keeps his weapon…"

"What kind of weapon are we talking about here?"

"SIG-Sauer P228."

Brody lifted a brow.

"Got any other brilliant ideas?" asked Riley, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

"About a million and a half..."

Riley rolled his eyes. "Just trust me, Brody. I know what I'm doing."

Brody cast him an uncertain look for several moments before seeming to relent. "You know the combination?"

Riley shook his head. "Not by a long shot. Gibbs is too smart for that."

"Then I guess I'm not following you."

Riley grimaced as he yanked on the door handle to open the door. "Breaking into it won't be hard."

xXxNCISXxX

Gibbs stood in the hallway leaning against the wall with his eyes closed counting backwards from 100. His level of frustration with Makayla had far surpassed counting to 10. When he'd reached 100, he found he was still fuming so he began to count backwards hoping that might work. He'd walked from the room to keep from doing something he'd regret later. Makayla kept skirting around his questions and insisting she didn't know why Riley had gone after Trace on his own. Gibbs knew she was lying, and it infuriated him. There were a lot of things that made him crazy but dishonesty topped them all.

"Boss, you okay?

Gibbs looked up to see Tony approaching him with a look of concern flooding his face.

"Any luck?"

Tony shook his head. "Nothing. Local LEOS are coming up empty-handed as well. No sign of Michael Trace anywhere. His local haunts have turned up nothing either. No one has seen the guy in over 24 hours."

Gibbs scrubbed a hand over his face in consternation. The longer Trace was missing, the more concerned he became. D.C. had an underground lair infested with fleas and vermin. Unfortunately, those vermin were well connected with the above-ground rats and some were more than just a little wealthy. The right amount of money and connections could get you pretty far in the anti-establishment.

"Makayla give you more details?"

Gibbs shook his head, still remaining quiet. He was too angry to speak civilly to anyone about Makayla.

"Want me to talk to her?"

Gibbs considered the request for a moment. He'd been cooling his heels in the hallway for twenty minutes at least, hoping to simmer down enough to talk to Makayla again. The fact that he'd smacked her earlier while angry was bothering him. He'd promised himself he'd never raise a hand to a child when he was heated and he'd blown that out the damned window. Gibbs reached back and massaged the back of his neck. He was also irritated with himself for some of the words that he'd said. He prided himself on being a man of his word, and he didn't relish following through on his threats. He'd been trying so hard to stay level headed when it came to Riley, but the kid had pushed the envelope too far this time. He wasn't sure he wasn't going to be able to stay friendly with the teenager. He needed to find a way to get through to the kid and flipping him over his knee wasn't an option. Not with Riley's past. It would only damage the kid further. Riley's trust of authority figures sucked enough already and as much as Gibbs wished it could be easy, it just wasn't going to happen that way.

"I'm going to let her stew a while," Gibbs finally said. "Got time for a cup of coffee?"

Tony looked at his watch and nodded. "No big cases pending so I've got time."

As they walked, Gibbs was grateful to catch up on NCIS news including Jenn's current business trip to Israel to meet with Ziva's father. It was nice to see the friendship and trust between Jenny and Ziva. It warmed Gibbs' heart to see Ziva coming out of her shell more. If Jenn was visiting Eli David, it either had to do with Mossad and NCIS or it dealt directly with Ziva's stay in the US. Whatever the reason, it didn't look like Jenn would be home for Christmas after all. He'd refrained from contacting her with the latest news on Makayla or Melissa. Makayla was his responsibility, and Jenny seemed more than relieved to be absolved of her. He figured Melissa could contact her aunt if she needed her, but from what he'd seen, the teen girl was very independent and probably wouldn't reach out to anyone. It seemed that the teenager didn't look to authority figures for support, but relied more on her peer group. Not that uncommon for boarding school kids. Another reason why Gibbs disliked prep schools. It segregated families. Kids should come home to their parents at night and share evening meals with a family. Childhood was short enough as it was.

The two men rounded the corner to the coffee shop, ordered their hot beverages and took seats by a window. The sun was high in the sky reminding Gibbs that he should probably bring some food back to Makayla. He couldn't recall the last time she'd eaten anything; he was definitely not battling a 1000 in the good guardian department. Nope, instead of feeding her, he'd just wrestled her for a broken phone and smacked her for belligerence. He groaned at his stupidity.

"Something the matter, Boss?" asked Tony, sinking his teeth into a chocolate donut.

Gibbs sighed. "Nothing and everything, DiNozzo."

Tony didn't badger him further but continued to eat his blueberry muffin quietly. Gibbs wrapped his hands around the paper cup feeling the heat in his fingers. He hadn't noticed how cold his hands were until he felt the delicious heat envelope his hands. The hospital kept the corridors quite cool which was probably good for ventilation. His temper had also begun to cool down as well.

"How are the other kids from Makayla's school doing?"

"They'll live. Bumps and bruises mostly except one boy who busted up his ankle pretty good."

"What happened?"

"Don't know much other than they were hit by another vehicle that ran a red light. Faulty brakes or something. They never saw it coming."

"Ah, geez. Poor kids! Does Makayla know?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No, but I probably should tell her. I saw her sister earlier so they're bound to run into each other. Neither knows the other is here." Gibbs glanced at his watch and took a long drink of his dark roasted coffee. "No point in hanging around here anymore, so I think I'll take Makayla to see Melissa and then head home. Abbs is with the girls, and I'm sure Janessa is driving her crazy asking when I'm coming home. Promised to take them to cut a Christmas tree."

Tony smiled. "Looking forward to your first Christmas with them?"

A warm smile spread across Gibbs' face as he stood to his feet. He was elated to have a second chance to celebrate all the special holidays with his little girls, and children just had a way of bringing magic to Christmas.

"Yah, I really am. Wish this crap with Riley was over, though. Damned kid!" growled Gibbs. "We could all be decorating a tree and sipping egg nog but no, I have to be searching every nook and cranny for him."

"You sip egg nog, Boss? You didn't strike me as the egg nog type."

Gibbs reached out and smacked the back of Tony's head playfully. "Like it with bourbon, DiNozzo."

Tony laughed.

xXxNCISxXx

Makayla opened the door slowly expecting to hear Gibbs' voice bellowing at her to close it again. There was no doubt in her mind that Gibbs was pissed. He'd kept peppering her with questions about Riley and she'd given him the runaround until he finally snapped. For a moment, she'd thought he was going to smack her silly. Thankfully, he hadn't, but instead told her to stay put while he cooled off for bit. She hadn't seen him this angry with her since she'd tried to run away to New York. A huge part of her felt relieved when she found the hallway empty. The longer Gibbs had left her alone in Riley's room, the more her mind played tricks on her. She thought Gibbs was coming back in to skin her alive. His absence allowed her heartrate to return to normal.

Makayla leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. She'd kept Riley's plan to herself, what little of it she knew. The guy had not exactly been forthcoming but had given her enough to know he did have a plan. Makayla still didn't understand why Riley felt like he needed to handle Trace on his own. Her conscience was needling her to tell Gibbs about Trace wanting Intel on him and NCIS classified information. But she was worried. Riley had been genuinely frightened that he'd given out Gibbs' address. That would put Aimee and Janessa in danger. But didn't that make it even more important that Gibbs know? If anything happened to the girls, it would kill Gibbs.

"Kayley?"

Makayla furrowed a brow. She spun on her heel only to drop her jaw in complete surprise to be face to face with her sister, Melissa.

"Melissa? What are you doing here?" asked Makayla in stunned bewilderment. Would Gibbs have called her?

At the same time, Melissa said, "How did you find out about the accident? Is your friend okay?"

Makayla frowned. "Accident? What accident?"

Melissa and Makayla closed the distance between them and stood awkwardly staring at one another. Both of them confused to see the other. It had been weeks since they'd seen one another face to face. Makayla felt tears prick the back of her eyes. A small part of her wanted to throw her arms around Melissa and sob. A closer look at her sister revealed the worry lines and fatigue on her face.

"Missy, are you okay?"

Melissa worried her lip and nodded. "Yah, I'm okay. It's been a rough night. Josh's twin brother, Chris, and his sister, Cassie, were in a car accident."

Makayla's hands flew to her mouth in horror. "Oh, no! Are they…"

Melissa shook her head. "God, no! They're okay; Chris messed up his ankle pretty bad. He's gonna need some kind of surgery or something I think. Cassie and Josh are both pretty shaken up about it; can't say as I blame them. I'm still shaking. Their parents are with them now, so I thought it was best to leave them alone. I don't really know them all that well."

"You and Josh have done a good job of hiding your relationship from everyone." Makayla couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice but instantly regretted it when she saw hurt wash across her sister's face, only to be shrouded in anger.

"We aren't hiding anything. It's not as if mom and dad are ever around to talk anyway, and for your information, I'd planned to introduce them to Josh at Christmas." The anger seemed to melt away just as fast as it came and Melissa hugged her arms around herself as tears filled her eyes. "He's really a great guy, Kayla."

Makayla sighed. "I'm sorry, Missy. I'm glad they're all okay. Josh is a cool guy. He's been really nice to me at school."

"How's Riley?" asked Melissa, relaxing her shoulders a little.

Tears filled Makayla's eyes when Melissa mentioned Riley's name. She stared at her sister for a moment debating on what she should say but soon found herself telling Melissa everything, right down to them kissing and him going after Trace on his own. Melissa stood dumbfounded as Makayla dissolved into heart-wrenching sobs and she drew her little sister into a hug.

"Oh, Kayley, why haven't you told this to Agent Gibbs?"

Makayla sniffled and pulled away. "He already busted my butt for lying to him, and I promised Riley I would stall Agent Gibbs. He said he needs to handle this on his own."

"Kayla, this sounds really serious. Are you sure Riley is even thinking straight? You and I both know the connections Aunt Jenny has…even more than Dad and mom. Heck, Aunt Jenny talks about the POTUS like they are besties. I'm positive Agent Gibbs can handle some rogue Marine. It's his job."

"I promised Riley, Missy."

Melissa considered her sister for several long moments before speaking again. "Well, well, it looks like my baby sister is growing up. You really like him, don't you?"

Makayla felt her face heat up. She hadn't wanted to admit it to anyone but, yes, she did like Riley a lot. Her feelings were frightening if she dwelled on them for too long. The kiss they'd shared hadn't helped; it had only served to muddy the waters considerably. Why couldn't she live a normal life? Tears swam in her eyes as she nodded. "I've never felt this way before."

Melissa hugged her again. "Okay, let's think this through. Riley doesn't want Gibbs involved but he hasn't really given you much insight into why. Kayley, I think you should tell Gibbs everything you've told me. My money is on Agent Gibbs and NCIS being able to handle anything thrown at them." Makayla pulled away and wiped tears from her red blotchy cheeks. "Riley might be mad at you later but at least he'll be alive to yell at you."

Makayla chewed on her lip, torn about doing what she knew was right and what her confused heart was telling her. "Missy, Riley said he planned to get Gibbs' gun…"

Melissa's face paled. "What? What's he plan to do with it? Kill the other guy?"

Makayla shook her head. "No! Riley wouldn't do that. He just wants to scare him, so he'll back off."

"Makayla! He's gonna get himself killed, for Pete's sake."

"Riley is a Marine, Miss. He knows how to take care of himself!"

Melissa shook her head. "There's no way he's thinking straight; he's hurt, Kayley. You need to tell Gibbs right now or I will."

Makayla felt her back go up. "No, you won't! I confided in you, Melissa. We don't share secrets. You promised. You can't tell! It's my decision, not yours."

"Makayla, this isn't kid stuff. This is serious…"

"You don't think I don't know that? I'm not an idiot. You always treat me like I'm too stupid to figure things out on my own." Makayla shot her sister with a piercing glance. "Go back to your friends, Melissa. I can handle things on my own." Makayla turned on heel and walked away.

Melissa grabbed Makayla by the arm, spinning her around to face her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To help Riley."

"And what exactly are you going to do? Hold his arm up while he points the gun? Makayla, stop and think this through. Riley might know about guns from his training in the Marines but you sure don't. It's bad enough he's got a death wish, interfering could get you all killed."

Makayla pulled her arm away and walked away. "Mind your own business."

Melissa called after her but Makayla never looked back.

XxXxNCISxXxX

Riley stared at the safe and sighed. Who locks their sidearm in a safe in their own house, he thought. His father never did. Roy Janssen kept his gun sitting on the mantel, unloaded and locked but still out in plain view. Riley and his brother had secretly held the weapon more than once when their father hadn't been home. Both of them knew they would have been skinned alive had their father found out, but he never did. The gun was always locked but they had no idea where their father had hidden the ammo. It was just fun to hold the forbidden weapon and imagine being in epic battles, killing the bad guys and saving the world. After a moment, Riley decided perhaps Gibbs wasn't as stupid as he thought. Kids and firearms did not mix well.

Riley ran his hand across the top, spinning the box around and flipping it upside down. Colour faded from his cheeks as his first idea shattered into the wind. He'd hoped that Gibbs would keep a key taped underneath. He knew that the safe had a key backup. He'd never be able to break into the safe without it, short of using a blowtorch to cut it open. He wasn't exactly trained to that sort of thing and Gibbs didn't own tools that actually plugged in, at least not in the house. He certainly wouldn't have acetylene sitting around his house.

"Riley!"

Riley felt his heart jump into his throat when he heard his name. He turned around just in time to catch 5-year-old Janessa in his arms. He winced but hugged her, pressing a kiss on her cheek, willing his heart rate to slow down. Thankfully his earlier weed hit had sustained him enough to take the worst of the pain away. He'd need another soon.

"Nessa, where did you come from? Aren't you playing with Abby?"

Janessa's face turned cross. "Abby is mean."

Riley couldn't help but smirk at her grumpy demeanour. It wasn't often the little girl got herself into mischief. That was usually Aimee's MO. "Why?"

"She won't lets me have ice cream."

Riley chuckled and set Janessa's feet to the floor. "I see. Want to play a game with me?" Maybe Janessa would be able to help him find the keys. The little girl was perceptive and often noticed things no one else did. Gibbs tended to underestimate how much she paid attention too. He might have even locked the safe with the key with Janessa in the room, without even giving it much thought.

Janessa smiled a gleeful smile. "Where's daddy? Abby said you got hurt…"

"Yah, but I'm fine now. Do I look hurt?" He smiled and winked at her.

"You gots cuts on you."

"Nothing that won't heal with some kisses. Know anyone who can kiss them better?"

"I can!"

Riley carefully squatted and let the little girl cover him with kisses. He smirked. "Wow! I'm gonna get better real fast now."

Janessa beamed.

"Ness, do you know where your daddy hides the key for his safe."

Her little brow furrowed for a moment then she shrugged. "No, but daddy's gots keys hanging up real high in his closet."

Riley chewed his lip. He could hear the voices in the front foyer. Brody's voice rang out with familiarity. He was a charming guy, and Riley could hear the amazing job he was doing keeping Abby distracted at the front door. The trouble was the only way to the bedrooms was up the stairs which happened to off the front entrance.

"Nessie, can you reach the keys and bring them to me? I'm playing a game of hide and seek with

Abby and she can't see me. If I can get the keys and open the safe, I win. Will you help me?"

"What's in the safe?" Janessa asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

"It's a surprise. Will you help me?"

The little girl nodded.

"Where's Aimee?"

The little girl shrugged.

"Don't tell Aimee either, okay? Let's just keep it our secret."

"Okay." Janessa put her fingers on her lips and giggled, running off around the corner towards the stairs.

Riley held his breath when he heard Abby call out to Janessa as she rushed by. He didn't hear the little girl respond so he assumed that Abby had made Janessa upset about denying her ice cream. After a second he heard Brody's voice once again and then Abby's voice. Brody could charm a rattlesnake. He was that good.