Chapter 2 - Moonlight

Gibbs woke with a start; he had a feeling that something wasn't right. The sudden jump caused a dull ache in his ribs, but he ignored it and pushed the pain to the back of his mind like he had been taught in the Marines. Gibbs glanced at the alarm clock and realized that it was only 2:37am. He looked down to check on Trisha, but as the clouds passed and moonlight shone through the window, Gibbs recognized that he was instead holding Kate. 'I must have rolled over,' he thought to himself as he gently removed himself from Kate's sleeping form. However, when he turned to the other side, Gibbs found the bed unoccupied and Trisha gone.

He quietly got out of bed and began checking the house for the little girl. 'Maybe she had to use the head,' he thought as he softly knocked on the closed door. When he heard no response, he tried the door knob and opened the door slowly. Finding the bathroom empty, Gibbs moved down the hallway to check in his room. Nothing. He continued into the living room only to find it vacant as well. As he moved through his kitchen with intent to check the basement, Gibbs saw movement from the corner of his eye. He paused and looked out the window to see Trisha sitting on his front porch steps.

As the cloud cover again cleared and the moon shone bright, Gibbs had to smile a little at the sight before him. The light from the moon reflected off of Trisha's blonde hair and light gray sweatshirt in a way that made her seem angelic. When Gibbs thought about it some more, he realized that in a sense, Trisha was his very own guardian angel. He thought back to the day when she and Rochelle had saved him from the woods and remembered that the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes were Trisha's baby blues. He remembered how gentle she was and how she rubbed his back when he was laying on her in the snow. Gibbs sighed and went to the closet by the front door. He grabbed a pair of his boots and put them on with haste. He didn't bother to lace them up as he stepped into the frigid night. The cold momentarily took his breath away before he adjusted to the freezing temperature.

Gibbs made his way to Trisha and closely sat down next to her on the step. He put his arm around her shoulders and waited for her to react to his presence. He frowned when Trisha didn't respond. Gibbs was about to say something when she spoke.

"You can't see the stars here," she said quietly.

Gibbs noted the sadness in her tone of voice and moved his hand down her arm before retracing the same path back to her shoulder. He smiled as Trisha leaned her small body against him. "Yea, too much light pollution from the city," he replied cautiously, not wanting to say anything stupid. Silence fell between them again.

Gibbs brought his other hand to Trisha's face and gently stroked her cheek with his knuckle before letting his hand run through her hair. In response, Trisha moved her head closer to Gibbs' chest and placed her ear over his heart and listened to the rhythmic beat. Gibbs kissed the top of her head before letting his chin rest there.

Suddenly Gibbs had a brilliant idea. "Tell you what, let me go grab some stuff from inside. I'll be right back," he said as he disentangled himself from Trisha. "Don't go anywhere." Gibbs hurried to his basement and pulled on his old pair of jeans that he wore when he worked on his boat. He threw on his ancient NIS sweatshirt, put on his boots and laced them this time, then grabbed the extra sweatshirt that he had sitting on his work bench. On his way back up the basement stairs, Gibbs stopped and picked up a pair of sawdust covered sweatpants that Trisha had left on the steps. Once in the kitchen, Gibbs jotted down a note on a pad of paper for Kate:

Hey,

Don't worry. Took Trisha to see the stars. Don't know when we'll be back. Cell's on, but don't call unless it's an emergency.

Jethro

He let the note on the counter and grabbed his car keys from the table. He also grabbed a blanket from the living room. Once out the front door, Gibbs handed Trisha the clothes he had gotten for her. "Here, put these on. We gotta hurry if we want to make it," he threw over his shoulder as Gibbs headed for his car.

Trisha put on the sweatpants and huge sweatshirt but didn't follow him. "Gibbs?"

He turned around to see her still standing on the front porch. "Come on!" he said as he waved his arm.

"But I don't have any shoes on," Trisha replied simply.

Gibbs briskly walked to Trisha and picked her up. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, Gibbs smiled. "Don't tell Kate about this part. She'd kill me." He opened his passenger side door and placed Trisha on the front seat, then reached over and buckled her in. He walked around to the other side of his car and climbed into the driver's seat. Gibbs buckled himself before starting the engine and driving down the street.

Trisha looked out the window and watched as the houses began to get farther and farther apart. Soon there weren't any streetlamps to light the way. After about fifteen more minutes of driving, Gibbs guided the car onto an unpaved road.

Trisha wrinkled her nose as they drove on. "Hey Gibbs," she said as she turned to him, "where are we going, anyway?"

Gibbs only glanced at her and smiled. "You'll see."

After ten more minutes of driving, Gibbs guided the car to a stop. He reached into the back seat and removed the blanket he had placed there earlier. "Wait here," he told Trisha before he climbed out of the car. Gibbs walked down a path a little ways before stopping in a clearing and spreading out the blanket at the foot of a very large oak tree. He made his way back to the car and opened the passenger door. He again lifted Trisha and she once more wrapped her arms around his neck. He walked back to the oak tree where he had left the blanket and set Trisha down upon it.

Trisha tilted her head back and looked up at Gibbs. "What are we doing in the middle of the woods in the middle of winter?" She became even more confused when she watched Gibbs lay down on the blanket. "Are you off your rocker or what?"

He chuckled and patted a spot next to him. "Lay down," he instructed her.

She did as he told her and laid down on her side. Her head rested on his outstretched arm.

Gibbs looked at Trisha and gave her a warm smile. "You wanted to see the stars, right? Look up, kiddo," he whispered as he nodded towards the sky.

Trisha followed his gaze and looked upwards. As far as the eye could see stretched a blanket of white, twinkling stars. It looked as if it went on forever. In the middle of the sparkling sky perched a silvery ball of light. Trisha moved over and nestled into Gibbs' side. He instinctively put his arm around her as they both continued to watch the sky.

"Gibbs, can I ask you something?" Trisha inquired.

"Mmm hmm," Gibbs responded and waited for her to go on.

"Do you believe in angels?"

He knew what Trisha wanted to hear. "You bet I do. And I'm sure your mom and dad are watching over you right now."

Trisha propped herself up on her elbow and faced Gibbs. "You really think so?"

He nodded. "We all need someone to watch over us, Trish."

She glanced back up at the sky for a moment before bringing her eyes back to Gibbs. "Who's watching over you?"

Gibbs smiled and pulled Trisha into a hug. "You are," he whispered to her.

Trisha pulled back and searched Gibbs' blue eyes. He smiled lovingly at her before she moved her head to his chest and again placed her ear over his heart.

"Whatcha doin' kid?" Gibbs asked her.

Trisha grinned as she felt Gibbs' chest vibrate when he spoke to her. "I like listening to your heart beat," she told him.

"You do, huh?" he questioned her.

"Yup," Trisha said simply.

A comfortable quietness surrounded the NCIS agent and little girl as they continued to stare at the sky. Somewhere in the distance, an owl called.