Gibbs sucked in a deep breath and forced it out slowly in order to keep himself calm. There was no need to panic, yet he still felt his adrenaline rise despite his inner monologue. He pulled Makayla in closer to him without thinking. The girl continued to cry not even seeming to notice the flashing lights and emergency protocols occurring around her. Gibbs' heart pounded a little harder as he assured himself that everything was still okay. The code could be mean anything, and just because Aimee was in surgery did not mean it had anything to do with her. Even as staff scurried around, rushing into the ICU like industrious ants, Gibbs forced himself to breathe in and out deeply. Makayla fidgeted under his constricting embrace, probably because he had clutched onto her so tightly. Gibbs released her.

"Hey, I'm proud of you." He whispered into her ear before pulling away entirely.

Makayla's eyes were as large as saucers. "What's happening, Agent Gibbs?" she asked, her lower lip trembling.

"I'm not sure, but your Aunt Jenn is right. You need to go home with Cynthia when she comes, okay?" Makayla looked like she wanted to protest, but Gibbs shot her a look—something between don't mess with me and please, cut me a break- and she relented. "I'm on your side, Mak. You did good!"

Jenny stalked up behind them. "Jethro!" Her voice sounded exasperated.

Gibbs turned and shot Jenny a look as well. "Not now, Jenn."

Jenny glared at him as the blue lights continued to flash ominously above them casting uncertainness into the air.

"Promise me, you won't give Cynthia any trouble," said Gibbs to Makayla, still eying her directly.

Mak sighed and nodded. She was sullen as she wandered back to a chair.

Gibbs pulled Jenn from the waiting room, a mixture of annoyance and concern lingering on his features. "That took a lot of guts for her to say that. Why are you being so harsh?"

Jenny's face flushed "I'm not."

Gibbs lifted a brow.

Jenny sighed. "Okay, I am." She threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know how to handle this, Jethro. What am I supposed to do? I'm not her parent. I don't have the authority to pull her from school."

"No, but you can listen, and maybe sympathize with her."

"Since when did you become the expert?"

Gibbs raked a hand through his salt and pepper hair. "Geez, Jenn, all I'm asking is for you to lighten up a little. You have nothing to prove here, and we could help Mak."

"We?"

"Yes, we. I care about her too, you know, and I think she should have a say in what she wants to do with her life. It is her life."

"It's not your decision." Jenny looked away from Gibbs in exasperation and then saw a tall, dark-haired female doctor coming up behind him. The woman's expression made Jenny's heart rate quicken a little. Jenn put a hand on Gibbs' forearm, nodded in the woman's direction. Gibbs frowned and turned to see Dr. Katherine Ambrose looking at him in all seriousness.

"Agent Gibbs, may I have a word with you in private?"

Gibbs' eyes widened slightly but he nodded and followed her, tossing a concerned look Jenny's way. Jenny held her breath for several moments as she watched them disappeared around the corner.

Swallowing her uneasiness, Jenn made a quick call to her secretary and good friend, Cynthia, explaining a little about the situation. Cynthia was more than willing to pick up Makayla and escort her home. She even offered to stay with the girl until Jenn returned home. Jenny was grateful and took her up on the offer. She didn't want Makayla to be alone, but she felt like she needed to stay and at least find out what the doctor had to say to Gibbs before she left.

Jenn entered the waiting room to see Makayla staring at her phone with her knees tucked up under her chin.

Jenny inhaled deeply and sat beside her niece. "I'm sorry for shouting at you, Makayla."

Makayla didn't look at her but kept staring at her phone. "S'ok."

"Did you text your mom?"

"Yah, but she didn't answer."

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Sometimes."

Jenny leaned back against the wall. "Cynthia is coming to get you. She'll stay with you until I get home. I shouldn't be too long, but I think I should stay with Agent Gibbs for a little longer. You understand, right?"

"Fine."

"My driver will take you to school in the morning if by chance I don't make it home tonight."

"Whatever."

Jenn stood to her feet once more. "I'll pick you up after school, and we'll go for ice cream or something. We can talk some more then, okay?"

Makayla looked up at her and nodded, remaining quiet.

Jenny didn't know what else to say so she turned to walk out of the room, stopping at the entrance. "Cynthia should be here in about 20 minutes. I'm going to check on Riley and see if Agent Gibbs is okay. Will you be okay on your own for a bit?"

"Yah."

"See you later, sweetie."

XxXxNCISxXxX

When Jenny exited the room, Makayla breathed a sigh of relief. Trying to express herself to her aunt took too much out of her. Her Aunt Jenny was the most formidable woman she knew outside of some of her instructors at school. It used to be that her aunt was cool but not anymore. Her sister and she used to be so excited to visit and go shopping with her. Jenny had been so fun and definitely nothing like their mother who was so uptight all the time, but something changed when her aunt became the director of NCIS. Now her aunt was all business all the time. It was like the woman had forgotten what it was like to kick back, relax and have fun. Makayla stood up and stuck her phone in her pocket. The hospital was quiet now which was a welcome relief to the eerie code blue alarm ringing. It had given Mak the shivers imagining someone dying, possibly even Aimee.

Makayla walked out of the waiting area and looked around her. The lights were dimmed in the corridors now and most of the rooms' lights were out. Mak had no idea what time it was, and she groaned thinking about having to get up and go to school the next morning. She knew she'd be tired and grouchy; that was never a good way to start the day. It was like setting herself up for failure from the get-go. Something was bound to go wrong and then she'd end up in more trouble with her aunt. The thought of being grounded to the house was already making her feel miserable. Her life had gone from just mildly tolerable to completely unbearable. She didn't even seem to have many friends at school anymore. She just couldn't seem to relate to the other girls there. All of them had such a drive to succeed, but Makayla just didn't share the same desire. There just had to more to life than that.

"Excuse me."

Makayla jumped a little as she was dragged out of her inner musing and looked up to see a stocky, blonde haired man walking towards her. She smiled awkwardly. Something about the man made her feel uneasy. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but the guy seemed off somehow. She glanced around her only to realize that she was completely alone in the outer ICU entrance.

"Sorry, honey; I didn't mean to startle you."

Makayla shrugged. "Um…it's okay."

"I'm looking for a nurse or someone who could give me some information."

"There was a code blue a while ago and all the staff disappeared into the ICU. I'm sure if you buzz at the desk, someone will be able to help you."

The man smiled. Makayla shivered a little when he did. The smirk didn't seem sincere but more forced. He eyed her closely, looking her up and down like he was appraising her for something. She began to feel very uncomfortable in his presence.

"Thanks. Think I'll wait a bit to see if anyone comes back. You alone here?"

Red flags went off in the back of Makayla's mind. Gibbs had left and entered ICU and her aunt had gone after him. She had no inkling when or if either one of them were going to return. She didn't even know if Cynthia knew where she was located in the hospital. She didn't know if it was wise to wait where she was or head to the front entrance. She just had no clue. Suddenly she regretted her indifference towards her aunt. Perhaps if she had been willing to talk, her aunt would still be with her.

"No, um, my aunt just slipped to the washroom," she lied, "She'll be back in a few minutes."

The man nodded. "Who are you visiting?" he asked, seeming to nervously look around them.

Makayla instincts began to kick in high gear. Everything within her was telling her she needed to get away from the man as soon as possible. She swallowed slowly and took a few nonchalant steps away from him.

"My friend's in surgery. We're waiting to see if she'll be okay. What about you?"

Makayla's mind began to spin in circles and her heart thumped hard in her chest.

The man closed the distance between them, smiling again. "My grandmother had a heart attack."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," whispered Makayla, trying to appear unfazed.

The man took another step towards Makayla and as he did, she could smell the liquor on his breath. Makayla took a few more steps back and realized that she had her back to the wall now.

"Umm…I'm pretty sure my aunt will be back any minute…"

The man reached out and brushed her hair from her face. "You're a very pretty girl. What's your name?"

Makayla quickly ducked from under his arm and took a few fast steps away before turning around and glaring at him. She kept backing away from him while keeping her eyes on him carefully. She felt cornered and terrified. She desperately searched her surroundings looking for a way to escape or distract the man. Tears sprang to her eyes when she realized that she was completely alone. All she could do was run and hope she could beat him to the elevator.

"Please, leave me alone," she whimpered.

"Aw, c'mon I'm not gonna hurtcha. I bet you've kissed your share of boys before." The man leered at her treacherously.

Makayla held both of her hands up in front of her to keep him away. Her heart was racing now and she was breathing heavily, so much that she was feeling a little light headed. The man kept walking towards her with a nefarious look on his face. Makayla shivered and took off running in the opposite direction. The man immediately took off running, his enamoured expression exchanged for a look of maliciousness that could not be mistaken.

"Come back here, kid!"

"Help me!" she shouted as she bolted down the vacant hallway.

Between racing as fast as she could and turned to see where her pursuer was, she lost her footing and stumbled to the ground. As she quickly scurried to gain her footing, the man reached her and grabbed her pulling her roughly to her feet. Before she could shriek again, he spun her around and clamped a sweaty palm over her mouth.

"Shut up!" he hissed in her ear, shaking her brutally.

Makayla breathed heavily, her fearful eyes as round as saucers. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she swallowed several times, kicking her feet around.

The burly man tightened his grip on her mouth and started dragging her the rest of the way towards the elevator. Makayla whimpered in terror. The man was panting hard from the altercation.

"No need to be so unfriendly. Relax," he said, patting her face gently, "I promise we're gonna have a lot of fun."