Gibbs rounded the corner heading towards the cafeteria. In the back of his mind, despite his frustration with the morning events, he wanted to do a little something to cheer up his Goth girl. He knew she would be distraught over her mass spectrometer being on the fritz. Her lab was her home away from home and her diagnostic tools were like her babies. He didn't envy McGee dealing with her anxious, high strung panic. Gibbs didn't know if he should do something to rescue Tim or something to calm down Abby. Deciding to get Tim a latte and Abby a Caf-Pow was his solution. It wasn't much but maybe it would help ease the events of the morning. He wished he had a coffee. The coffee at the cafeteria was not coffee in his opinion. He just hadn't had time with the events of this morning. Caffeine was cathartic especially when he couldn't indulge in Bourbon.

Getting ready for work, and having the babysitter cancel at the last moment had thrown his morning into disarray. Add to that an Aimee size temper tantrum over making her bed, of all things, had just spiraled him into a grumpy mood. Then when he slipped down to the basement to quickly grab something, he returned to find both girls gone. Again. Thankfully he was able to quickly pinpoint their whereabouts by the tracker he'd attached to Janessa's backpack. The cute pink unicorn keychain created by Abby and Tim doubled as a handy little GPS, and no one was the wiser except now Gibbs could use his phone to quickly find them.

Aimee had been beyond irate when he'd pulled up beside them walking down Fairmile Street, several kilometers from home. He hadn't had the time to fully deal with the situation but merely told them to get in the car. They drove to NCIS in silence. Once to work, Gibbs had attempted to talk with Aimee privately, but it was a lesson in futility. Simply put, Gibbs was at a lost. He felt like Aimee was forcing his hand, and he didn't like to be tested. Frankly, it irritated the crap out him, on both a personal and professional level.

"Jethro?"

Gibbs blinked, realising he was standing outside the cafeteria lost in thought. He looked up to see Jenny coming out of the cafeteria carrying a bagel and coffee.

"Hi, Jenn."

Jenny sipped her coffee and sighed. "Somehow they need to invent a caffeine drip."

"Rough night?"

Jenny nodded. "I was up in MTAC until 3 am this morning."

Gibbs lifted a brow. "Big case coming in?"

Jenny snickered and shook her head. "I wish. I was talking to my sister."

Gibbs' eyes widened. "How is Julia?"

"You mean besides a pain in my ass?"

Gibbs smirked. Heather Julia Sheppard was Jenn's older sister and had been a thorn in her side since the day she was born. It seemed that Jenny had spent her whole life trying to measure up to her perfect sister, the sister who became the perfect high profile attorney, who married the perfect man and had 2.5 perfect kids. Gibbs had heard enough about Julia through the years that he felt he knew her.

"What's up with Julia?"

Jenny sighed. "She and her husband need to leave the country on important business and they want me to take Makayla."

"So, what's the big deal? Aren't Julia's kids perfect?"

Jenny gave him a dirty look. "That's not the point, Jethro. I know nothing about kids. Makayla is 14 years old. How am I supposed to parent a teenager?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Don't look at me. I can't figure out my own kids let alone yours."

Jenny scowled at him. "She's not my kid!" Gibbs' pained expression made her soften and snap out of her own sullen mood. "Hey, something wrong? You look more tired than me and that's saying something."

Gibbs sighed. "Just Aimee taking off again, dragging Ness with her."

"Oh, Jethro, you need to nip that in the bud before something happens to them."

"You think I don't know that, Jenn?" His voice sounded gruffer than he meant it too.

Out of the corner of his eye just then, he saw something red streak around the corner. His quick eye and ninja-like reflexes enabled him to snag a certain nine-year-old girl as she was attempting to sneak into the cafeteria. Jenny's mouth dropped in bewilderment when she realised that Gibbs had caught Aimee.

"How did you do that?" She asked. She hadn't even seen the child. She had been so intent on their conversation.

Gibbs cast an irritated glare at Aimee as he turned to face Jenn. "It's called being a field agent, Jenn. See why I don't want to sit behind a desk every day? I'd lose my edge."

"Lemme go!" whined Aimee, looking insulted that she'd be caught.

Gibbs released his hold on her arm and put his hands on his hips. "Thought I ordered you to stay put in the bullpen?"

"I'm not one of your dumb agents you can order around, Gibbs!" she snapped.

Gibbs grimaced at her flippant words. "Besides the fact that my agents know better, the only difference between an order given to you and one given to them is that I can't spank them."

Jenny choked back a laugh. Gibbs gave her a dirty look.

"Um, if you two will excuse me, I need to get to work, as do you, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs frowned as his arms dropped to his side. "It's solid cold cases today, Director Shepard. I'm taking a few hours off this morning if that's okay with you. I have some business to attend to at home." He narrowed his eyes at Aimee as he spoke.

Jenny waved a dismissive hand as she walked away. "Play nice, Agent Gibbs."

"I always play nice with others," he quipped sardonically. "And, Jenn, I look forward to meeting Makayla."

Gibbs saw Jenny pause her step before standing up straighter and continuing to walk away. He knew the only reason he didn't feel her wrath on him was that Aimee was standing there, which made him smirk just a little. If he was going to be miserable figuring out parenthood, Jenn might as well join him. After all, misery loved company, didn't it?

Aimee stomped her foot in annoyance as she glowered at Gibbs, not looking the least bit concerned about being caught. Gibbs gave her the best steely look he could muster.

"What?" she snapped.

"What is going on with you, Aimee? Why are you being so difficult?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are. This morning I asked you to make your bed and you acted like I asked to cut the lawn with scissors. What's up?"

Aimee took a few steps back, and Gibbs realised he was raising his voice much louder than he intended. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He reached down and firmly took her by the hand.

"C'mon, we're going home so we can discuss this further."

Aimee yanked her hand away. "NO!"

Gibbs went to reach for her hand again and she backed up more, just out of his reach.

"Aimee." His voice held a clear warning in it.

"No, I'm not going with you? Why would I? You already said you're going to hit me. Why would I be so stupid to go with you willingly? Screw you!" Aimee turned on her heel and took off running.

Gibbs sighed and shook his head, calling after her. "Aimee, come back right now!"

"No! Go to hell!" she screamed as she kept running.

"Damn it," muttered Gibbs.

XxX—NCIS—XxX

Over the past six months or so, Aimee had spent many hours bouncing around the halls of NCIS. She had gotten to know the building really well. While Janessa could go to the daycare program, Aimee was too old so that usually meant that she was passed from Agent to agent throughout the day. Most days, she was able to find things to keep herself busy. NCIS was a pretty happening place most days with so many Navy criminal cases being investigated by all the various teams. A criminal investigation was a pretty fascinating thing when it didn't directly involve your life personally. Aimee had been through so much though. Her whole life had been tossed upside down. Her mother was murdered. She'd found out her biological father was some huge bigwig with the FBI but was really just a scum ball and had used her for his own agenda. And Aimee had a few secrets of her own. Secrets involving her stepfather who always loved Janessa but never her. Aimee had plenty of mystery in her past and none of it she cared to share with anyone. Aimee was content to take care of Janessa and herself. She had been doing it for as long as she remembered. And she would continue to it. Despite Gibbs.

Aimee found a quiet spot to sit and hide, between a stairwell and a wall. Even a roaming security camera would be hard-pressed to find her where she sat. She pulled her knees up to her chin and blinked back tears. Gibbs was confusing and that made him dangerous. He said he wanted to adopt them and be their dad. Aimee knew that it was all a trick. It had to be. Why would a man like Special Agent Gibbs want kids? He was old. He was used to living alone. Aimee just couldn't allow herself to believe anything he said. Her stepfather had tricked her mother, hooked them both into believing he was a good man who would love and protect them. It had been a lie. Jonathan hadn't wanted her. Not ever. And Aimee was convinced it would be the same with Gibbs. If she was bad enough, he would stop being nice, just like her stepfather had. It was only a matter of time. The longer they stayed with him, the more Janessa got close to him and the more hurt they both would be.

Tears escaped down her cheeks and she angrily wiped them away. She needed to take Janessa and run away for good. No messing around. Just go as far away as they could get. Aimee sat up and poked her hand in her pocket. She pulled out some money that she had shoved in there earlier. She had been pilfering cash whenever she could…some from Tony's desk where he put it, from Ziva's purse when she wasn't looking, from Gibbs dresser, from Abby's office drawer…she'd been doing it for so long that she stopped feeling guilty about it. It was a necessity if they were to survive. Together with what she had hidden under her floorboard at home, she must have collected over $200 dollars. That would be plenty to live on for a while, she thought.

"Aimee!" She heard a voice call her.

She recognised it as Gibbs' voice so she made herself even smaller to keep him from seeing her.

"Come out now! Enough is enough!" His voice sounded angry and impatient.

She gulped.

Gibbs sighed. "Kid, you are really trying my patience."

Tears continued to fall down her cheeks. She held her breath as she saw him walk past where she was hiding. She sighed in relief when he continued by and out of the area where she was sitting. She scooted her bottom sideways and when she figured the coast was clear, she took off running in the opposite direction.

XxX—NCIS—XxX

Gibbs returned to the bullpen to find it vacant save McGee. Tim sat at his desk looking painfully somber.

"Where's DiNozzo and David?" Gibbs groused.

McGee's face paled. "I don't know, Boss. They weren't here when I came in."

Gibbs stalked to his desk and sat down.

"Get me security footage of every exit!" he barked at McGee.

"Boss?" questioned Tim, wondering what was going on.

"Aimee's taken off again. I alerted security to keep an eye out but she's as slippery as an eel. I don't want to her to slip past anyone."

Tim brought up the security cameras on the big screen. The monitor flipped through several screens every few minutes.

"She won't go far without Janessa," assured Tim, trying to calm his boss's nerves.

Gibbs did find comfort in that. Janessa was safely signed into Daycare and no one but an adult could sign her out. This time of day, he felt fairly confident no one would do that until lunchtime. He knew both Jimmy and Ducky had a habit of absconding with the little girl at dinner time, both loving the little girl's company. In fact, more times than not, when he went to get her for lunch, the little blond-haired charmer was signed out by one of his team. He'd given up trying to stop them and figured as long as she was eating well, he'd let her be enjoyed by all around her. He always found out about her escapades in great detail in the evening before bed. It was usually an enjoyable part of his day.

Gibbs searched the screens silently hoping to find a hint of Aimee's red UnderArmour sweatshirt, his head beginning to ache from tension. He wasn't sure he was going to survive until the New Year when he could put the girls in school. It was already late October and his patience was wearing thin.

"Did you manage to nurse the Major back to health?" asked Gibbs, looking up to see Tim looking as equally morose as him.

Tim shook his head. "No, Boss."

Gibbs' nodded with compassion. "Bullpen a safer spot for you, McGee?"

Tim licked his lips. "Abby is freaking out. She's on the phone with technical support, and she is literally screaming at the guy. Talk about shooting the messenger. Abby should never have kids, Boss. She is way too scary when her machinery is malfunctioning. I can't imagine what she'd be like if she had a sick kid."

Gibbs half-smirked, keeping his eye on the monitor. He lived with Abby, and he'd seen her freak out when one of the girls had injured herself. Not a fun time.

Just then Tony and Ziva wandered back into the bullpen. Tony approached Gibbs sheepishly. He opened his mouth to explain but Gibbs held up a hand.

"Save it, DiNozzo. I'm not blaming you for Aimee taking off."

The man looked relieved. "Ziva and I searched all over, Boss. We couldn't find her."

Ziva sat at her desk. "Something is bothering her, Gibbs. Please tread carefully with her."

Gibbs looked at Ziva quietly, her dark eyes shimmering in concern. One thing he appreciated about Ziva was her ability to sense things. Call it a sixth sense. Many times she couldn't express what she has felt but the uncanny ability she had to sense it was worth listening to. Gibbs scratched the back of his head feeling defeated. Lately, he just felt like a complete failure at the whole parenting thing. Not that he was having any second thoughts about keeping the girls; not at all. He was committed. He loved them and his heart was so already far gone that he'd never be able to find himself again apart from them. The trouble was he was certain he just sucked at parenting and that didn't bode well for any of them. Kids should come with detailed instructions.

"Hey, there she is!" Tony walked towards the monitor just as Gibbs phone rang. Gibbs followed Tony's line of sight as he picked up his line. Aimee was in Interrogation Room one.

"Yeah, Gibbs." As distracted as he felt, he assumed a completely professional pose.

He tried to focus on what the person on the other end of the line was communicating to him while he was trying to think of how he was going to deal with his pint-sized daughter. His eyes jumped from the monitor to Tony's face as he listened. Another Petty Officer had been found murdered. Several college kids had been kayaking on Lake Anna and found the body.

Gibbs hung up the phone with a gruff, "Got it."

His eye contact never left Tony's, and he could tell his SFA understood. Tony would need to take the lead in this case. The dynamics in Gibbs life had changed and his first priority had to be to his daughter.

"What's up, Boss?"

"Murder of a Petty Officer at Lake Anna."

Tony nodded and turned to Ziva and Tim. "You heard the man; grab your gear."

Tim sprang into action and headed to the evaluator right on Tony's heals. Ziva kept herself deliberately behind. Gibbs noticed and met her in the centre of the bullpen.

"Do not overreact, Gibbs," she said. "Listen to what she is not saying."

Gibbs nodded and planted a kiss on the side of her head. "Thanks, Ziver.

She nodded and hurried to catch up with the team.

Gibbs raked a hand through his silver hair and his eyes returned to the monitor. Aimee still sat in the Interrogation room. How fitting, thought Gibbs. Room one was soundproof and the perfect spot, in his opinion, to upload some wisdom to a very rebellious nine-year-old.

Sighing loudly, Gibbs swept from the room on his way to room one.