Uncle Gibbs

Jethro Gibbs sighed, unhappy. Abby wasn't back yet from her conference, and Faith wasn't back yet either, from her latest assignment. That meant, God help them all, that Caitlin McGee and JT DiNozzo would be accompanying their fathers to work. Well, at least they had Ducky and Palmer to keep them out of trouble. Fortunately, things were slow in autopsy that day, Ducky only had two bodies in his cooler, neither of which were urgent, so long as they were completed at some point that day, and the rest of their day would be taken up with paperwork.

But even Gibbs had to admit that some part of him was looking forward to seeing the kids. Katie was a good girl, if a bit spunky at times, like her mother… but for the most part she was quietly observant. You just had to be careful around her, that was all. Not much got past her sparkling green eyes and keen ears.

And JT had gone through his really precocious years already. Granted, he was a true DiNozzo and as such, was prone to mischief, but it was never meant for the sake of making trouble. He just didn't always think sometimes before he acted. Most of all though, JT was just like his father in that he was highly observant, and quick on the draw - a trait that more often than not got him out of serious trouble, if it didn't keep him out of it altogether. Not a bad quality to have, really.

…………………………………………………………………………

"Caitlin, slow down, you're gonna cause a…" Tim called frantically as his daughter dashed out of the elevator, JT on her heels.

Gibbs looked down as the dark haired girl ran smack into him, and Tim sighed heavily as he just managed to say, "… collision. Sorry, Boss," he said, stepping out of the elevator with an extra coffee in his hands.

Gibbs tried to frown at the sheepishly smiling child glued to his waist. "Hi Uncle Gibbs," she said sweetly, gazing up at him adoringly. JT had managed to skid to a halt just in time, coming to a stop right behind Caitlin. He looked up at Gibbs with the most charming DiNozzo smile he could muster. "Hey," he said simply.

"Hey yourself," he said, smiling warmly in spite of himself. "Jimmy is waiting for you downstairs," Gibbs said. The two 8 year-olds glanced at each other and promptly took off, sent on their way with a gentle whap on their backsides, courtesy of Gibbs.

"Sorry 'bout that," Tony said, grimacing. Gibbs smiled sweetly, a smile that sometimes caused chills to run down his Agents' backs, as he reached out and took the cup of coffee from Tim's offering hand. "You're early. I'm impressed," he said, sipping from the cup and walking away. Tony and Tim looked at each other and shrugged, then headed off to their respective desks to start their day's work.