Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or the characters. I only own whatever is original...
Summary: A terrible accident forces him to chose where his loyalties lie, with his daughter, or with his wife.
Author's Note: This little endevor is supposed to be a "sequel" fic to a story that came to me in a dream, although I haven't gotten that one all written out yet. Maybe this'll just be it's own thing and have a backstory added later...Also, this story is quite out of character for the one's I've used. Please bear with me, I needed to make the central characters out of character so it would fit my story...Oh and you may need tissues handy...Enjoy!
Loyalties
They heard the sirens before they saw the flashing lights of an ambulance carreening down their quiet street. Rushing out of the house, they were greeted by a distraught neighbor who confirmed what he had already felt, something was seriously wrong with both his children. They had taken off at a breakneck pace down the block towards the scene, she got there before him and had to be restrained by a young officer who was trying to control the scene of the accident. He thanked the officer when he arrived and took her aside, all the while his eyes were fixated on the horrible scene in front of him. The black Jeep Cherokee was nearly severed in half, a heavy branch from the tree above flattened the roof making survival for the passengers in the back seat very difficult. As his eyes swept over the scene, they came to rest on the car seat that was strewn haphazardly in the middle of the closed off road. Immediatly he recognized it at his youngest child's. His heart beat faster as he tried to imagine what could have happened to his young child. He steered his wife away, bound and determined not to let her see what he had seen. In his mind, however, he knew that she knew their son's fate. A mother always knows when her child is hurting. He had seen his team pull up to the accident. They would handle the investigation from here on out seeing as it involved the family of two of their own. He caught the eye of the Medical Examiner, knowing full well that when he was on the scene, death had already been there. It was then that the reality of the situation had begun to sink in. He felt her body heave with sobs, and as he held her there on the road, tears filled his own eyes.
"Sir?" he heard someone question. He looked over at the E.M.T. who had addressed him. "Sir, we're ready to go, do you want to accompany us to the hospital or meet us there?"
He didn't respond right away, he had to think quick. Was he to go to the hospital with his child or stay with his wife as she grieved for the loss of the other? He thought about it for a few seconds more and turned his wife over to his lead investigator. He couldn't abandon his other child. He knew his wife was in good hands and didn't look back as he hopped into the back of the waiting ambulance. He wasn't really prepared for what he saw when he looked down at his daughter. Her eyes were closed, her red-gold hair matted with blood from the head injury she had sustained after a shard of debris struck her in the forehead. A white gauze bandage was covering the gash so he couldn't see the severity of it, but he knew it was deep, the medic working on his daughter told him as much. He touched her hand, but she didn't respond. In his heart he prayed, prayed that his daughter wouldn't suffer the same fate as her half brother.