"No, no, no, no, no!" Kate moaned, thumping her head against the wall for good measure.

"What?" Grace asked from the floor, her nose buried in a book.

"Mrs. Klein is sick," Kate explained with a sigh.

"So?"

"So I can't leave you here alone," Kate declared. "I'll have to call someone else."

"Come on! I'm fourteen, for Pete's sake; I can take care of myself. All Mrs. Klein does is watch me read or drive me to the pool, which, I'd like to point out, is within walking distance," Grace, suddenly animated, argued.

"Grace, it's not about whether or not you can take care of yourself; it's about safety. What if you fell and broke your arm? How would you get to a hospital? I'm not leaving you here alone."

"I don't need a babysitter!" Grace grumbled.

"No, but I want someone to check up on you," Kate called over her shoulder as she dialed. "Hello, Janice? Mrs. Klein is sick today and I have to go to work in half an hour. Would you be able to check on Grace every now and then?...Oh, I see…Okay. Well, thanks anyway. Bye."

Grace was grinning impishly as Kate hung up the phone. "Oh, well. I guess there's nothing else you can do," she sang.

Kate frowned, thinking. There was one thing…but no, Gibbs would kill her. On the other hand, she really didn't have a choice. "Say, Grace, you remember Abby?"

"Sure," Grace answered, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Why?"

"Well, she did say you could come by the lab sometime…" Kate trailed, smiling meaningfully. Grace shrugged. "Great. Do you need anything?"

Grace held up her book in response. Kate nodded, grabbed her keys, and ushered Grace out the door.

"Remember, don't let Gibbs see you, don't get in Abby's way, do what she tells you, don't go off and explore on your own, don't talk to Tony –"

"Aunt Kate," Grace interrupted, "I get it. I got it the first five times. Sit in the corner and pretend I don't exist."

"That's not what I –" Kate started, cut off this time by the blast of music that welcomed them to the lab.

"Hey, nice tunes," Grace commented, bobbing her head ever-so-slightly to the rhythm.

"Abby, I need a favor," Kate hissed, glancing around for Gibbs.

"Sure, Kate," Abby grinned. "Will you owe me?"

"Big time. Listen, the lady who usually watches Grace for me is sick so I brought her in. If Gibbs finds out, he'll be…well, Gibbs. Could you let her hang out her for the day? She's pretty quiet and I'll try to come by and check on her when I can."

"Hey, no problem! Grace-ster and I'll have a blast. Here, Grace, let me show you my centrifuge…"

Kate left them happily chatting about forensics and went upstairs.

Grace got along well with Abby. Sometimes Abby would tell her what she was doing, step by step, and sometimes she just let her read quietly in the corner. It was during one of these quiet (well, relatively quiet; Abby's music was always blaring) moments that a man burst into the room, skidding ever so slightly on the tile floor. Excepting his unorthodox entrance, he appeared rather calm. Strolling nonchalantly over to where Abby was working, he tapped her on the shoulder and jumped back as she whirled around violently.

"Oh, hey, Tony," she greeted, turning the music down. "What's up?"

"Kate caught me going through her trash again," he shrugged.

Abby laughed. "Tony, you remind me of a guy I dated."

"How's that?"

"I caught him taking personal products out of my trash. He said he wanted something to remember me by."

"Hey, I'm not a creep. I'm a cop. It's instinctive," he grinned. "Anyway, can I just hang out here for a while?"

"Sure. By the way, this is Grace," Abby introduced.

"Hi, Grace. Tony DiNozzo," he said, waving slightly. "You a friend of Abby's?"

"Yeah," Grace answered, not really wanting to get into the details of her parentage. Besides, Abby was her friend.

Tony wandered aimlessly around the lab, poking occasionally at various machinery and gazing at the newest additions to Abby's décor. Grace watched him intently, curious about the people Kate worked with.

"So," she began, trying to sound casual, "this Kate get on your case often?"

Tony turned to face her, a slightly puzzled look on his face as if he couldn't figure out why she would care. "Yeah, sort of."

"Sounds like real piece of work," Grace prodded.

Tony grinned mischievously. "You bet. She's really anal when it comes to her personal property. I mean, all I did was try to take a message for her. But did she thank me? Nooo, she goes on about how I shouldn't be touching her phone. And she also has a thing –"

"Tony," Abby warned, eyes glued to a microscope.

He ignored her. "And she also has this thing about analyzing people. Like a shrink. Okay, sure, she's a profiler, but does she have to read something into everything I do? I see a pretty girl and ask for a date, it's because I've got unresolved issues with my mother? Come on!"

"Boy, Tony, you must have a lot of unresolved issues there," Abby quipped, grinning. He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't listen to him," she said to Grace. "He's just upset because Gibbs said something nice to Kate yesterday."

"Speak of the devil," Tony muttered, suddenly trying to look purposeful.

"Abby, you got the blood results yet?" barked an irritable silver-haired man, striding in to the room. Kate was right behind him, looking a bit frightened. Grace suddenly understood why Kate had been so paranoid about this man finding her in the office. He was scarily intense.

"Not quite," Abby said brightly, "but I'm getting close."

"DiNozzo distracting you?" Gibbs asked, giving Tony something akin to a death glare.

"Nah, Gibbs. You know I wouldn't let Tony distract me. You, on the other hand…" Abby winked. Gibbs ignored the comment and turned to Tony.

"What are you doing here, DiNozzo?"

"Just, ah, just came for…the blood results, boss," Tony improvised quickly. Gibbs' eyes narrowed, sensing deception but unsure if it warranted punishment. He soon found another source for questioning.

"Who's this?" he directed at Abby, staring at Grace.

Abby suddenly looked unsure. "She's, um, she's…" she stalled.

"She's what?" Gibbs growled.

"She's mine," Kate spoke up, a determined look on her face.

Gibbs' eyes shifted from Kate to Grace and he nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. What is she doing here?"

"The lady who usually watches her got sick and none of the neighbors were going to be around. I thought since we didn't have too much going on, she could just hang out here for the day. I didn't have anywhere else to take her and she's really no trouble and I couldn't leave her alone in the apartment –"

Gibbs held up his hand to stop her. "This won't be a regular arrangement."

"No, of course not," Kate answered his non-question, relieved that he didn't seem too angry.

Gibbs nodded, satisfied, and turned to leave. "Get that blood done, Abs!" he called over his shoulder.

"Right away, bossman!" she mock-saluted before turning back to her work.

"Wait, so she's – you're – she's," Tony stammered, looking from Grace to Kate. "She's the one? She's mini-Kate?"

"Yes, Tony," Kate sighed. "You doing okay, Grace?"

"I'm fine. I'd be better if everyone would stop talking about me like I wasn't here," Grace replied resentfully.

"Sorry. I guess you've met Tony. Don't listen to a word he says," Kate warned. "I gotta get back to work. You sure you're okay here?"

"I'm fine," Grace repeated, this time with a tinge of exasperation.

"Okay. See you later." Kate turned to leave, giving Grace one last word of advice. "Don't let Tony touch your stuff!"

"See what I mean?" Tony muttered once Kate was out of earshot. "Way too possessive."

"I don't think Gibbs is too happy about me being here," Grace confessed.

"Ah, don't worry. Gibbs is always a hardnose. Actually, I think he likes you," Tony admitted.

"If that's what he's like when he likes someone, I'd hate to see him mad," Grace mused.

"Yeah, you would. Trust me, if he didn't want you here, you would've been gone the minute he saw you," Tony said, his tone far more serious than anything Grace had so far heard from him.