Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. They keep this starving artist going and inspired to write more.

Life is busy as usual ...teaching...kiddos...hubby...cleaning...laundry...OH MY! But, my love for this universe always brings me back. ENJOY!

Something soft touched his cheek rousing him enough to open his eyes and as he did, Gibbs blinked several times finding it difficult to awaken. Every fibre of his being ached and he felt like he had hardly even closed his eyes. Two wide-eyed, blue sparkling eyes peered down at him eagerly leaning in and pulling his eyes open with sticky fingers.

"Mr. Gibbs, are you done sleeping yet? Yous snoring so loud that you wakes me up."

Gibbs blinked again and swallowed back his irritation. He brushed away her sticky hands and pulled the little girl into a hug. He could smell maple syrup on her as he pulled her close. It seemed that wee Janessa had been up to some mischief which was nothing unusual for the child. He took a quick glance at his side table, grimacing when he noted the time. He groaned thinking of what little sleep he had managed to get. He'd hoped for at least six hours but had barely managed two. There was no way he was going to be able to face the day on so little sleep. He was already running on empty.

"Where's Papa Jack, Ness?"

The little girl shrugged. "I dunno."

Gibbs forced himself to sit up and reach over to switch on the light. He blinked a few times forcing his eyes to focus, and he looked down at the little girl in his arms.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed sleeping?"

"I gots hungry. I missted you, daddy."

Gibbs smirked and kissed the top of her head lovingly. "I've missed you too, Nessie." Licking his lips, he caught the sweet flavour of maple syrup from her hair. "You taste like maple syrup. What have you've been up to?"

Janessa giggled and wiggled in closer. "I love waffles." She sounded very pleased with herself.

Gibbs' heart took a small leap in his chest, imagining her climbing on the counter and toasting the waffles by herself. As much as he had tried to childproof his house, Janessa always managed to show him another way he had failed in that department.

"I know you love waffles. Did Papa Jack help you?"

She shook her head.

He turned her to face him, so he could look her in the eye. "You're not supposed to use the toaster by yourself, Janessa. You know that!" His voice was sharp. It was then he got a good look at her. Her face and the whole front of her pyjamas were covered in the sticky sweet liquid. It looked like she'd gone to war with the bottle and lost the battle.

Janessa stuck out her bottom lip. "But I didn't, daddy. Honour bright."

Gibbs frowned as he forced himself to get out of bed, swinging the youngster onto his hip and carried her to the bathroom. Once there he kissed her again because he'd missed her and plopped her gently into the tub.

"You need a bath," he stated as the little girl giggled in delight. One thing Janessa loved more than getting into mischief and that was a bubble bath. He tapped her on the nose. "I can't believe how sticky you are." Gibbs pulled off Janessa's gooey nightgown and began to run the water, being careful to check the temperature. "If you didn't have waffles then why do have syrup all over you?" he dared to ask as he helped her sit down in the warm water.

"Can I have bubbles, Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs made a face and then laughed. He'd fully anticipated the question and obliged. Janessa was going to grow up spoiled rotten, and it was going to be his fault. He couldn't resist her charms. She was just too darn cute for her own good.

"You know, just because you're cute doesn't mean you can get away with everything, you little monster." Janessa squealed with delight when Gibbs ran a lid full of bubble-gum scented bubble bath under the faucet. As the tub filled, Gibbs sat on the edge and swished the water around so it would warm up evenly. Janessa squirmed around until she was on her tummy, buried in bubbles.

"Where did the syrup come from if you didn't toast your waffles?" he tried again as he pulled her up and used some of the water from the tap to moisten her long blonde hair. Janessa struggled to escape him as he tried to protect her eyes from the water with his large hand.

"Wellllll…" she began, dragging out the word, "I climbed up on the counter and puts the waffles in the toaster then I 'membered…" She paused to scratch her nose.

"That you're not supposed to use it?" he prompted, tapping her bubble covered nose.

"Yuh huh, so I gots down and got the maple syrup out of the fridge. I poured it in a cup. It's really yummy, daddy, but I think it's better on waffles. Do you think frozen waffles taste good, daddy?"

Gibbs bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing. Most times having a conversation with the little girl was more amazing than anything else. He reached for the shampoo and poured some into the palm of his hands, scrubbing it into her long locks.

"Probably not. You drank the syrup?" Gibbs' stomach churned at the thought.

She nodded and disappeared under the bubbles. Gibbs attempted to grab her but missed. He looked down at his shirt and realized he was about as soaked as she was. Bathing Janessa when he was half asleep and irritated probably wasn't a good idea, but he hadn't seen a choice considering how sticky she'd been. He yawned in spite of himself. Considering it was 5 am, he was lucky to be able to process a single coherent thought after only a few hours' sleep. He was hoping the warm bath would make Janessa sleepy enough to snuggle back in bed with him for a few hours, but the chances of that were looking glaringly slim.

Janessa popped back up with a big grin on her face. "Boo!" she shouted breaking into a fit of giggles. Gibbs shook his head and chuckled. His irritation was melting away. It was hard to stay angry with her for just being her adorable self. He quickly reached out and grabbed her so he could rinse her hair. She squirmed and protested as he struggled to keep a grip on her slippery, soapy body, but he managed to be somewhat successful. He reached forward and yanked the plug so the water could drain. He ran more warm water to rinse her off and grabbed a towel to wrap her in.

"No, I'm nots done yet, daddy!" she whined loudly in protest.

Gibbs scooped her up inside the plush, warm towel despite her complains and flailing feet and hands. "You can have a longer bath another time, Nessie. It's still early and you need to go back to bed. I need more sleep or my daddy hands are gonna get slap happy and your little backside is going to be my target. You catch my drift?" He cradled her in his arms and looked at her sternly to emphasize his point.

Janessa continued to squirm and protest as Gibbs held her in his arms and carried her back to his bed. She was as naked as a jaybird, but he didn't have the energy to go to her room and find another pair of pyjamas. She wasn't sticky anymore and that was all that mattered to him at this point. He grabbed one of his t-shirts and pulled it over her head.

"It's too big," she whined, trying to pull it off her shoulders.

"You wanna cuddle with me awhile?" he asked as he ignored her protests and pulled off his own wet shirt and sleep pants, pulling on dry ones.

Janessa made a face but gave up on the shirt and jumped on the bed instead. Gibbs reached out and pulled her into his arms, counting to ten to stay calm. He was too tired to want to fight with her and desperately wanted to keep things peaceful. A part of him thought he should be more firm but the sane part of him said it could wait for another day and another fight.

"C'mere, you little stinker. Daddy needs more sleep and so do you. Let's snuggle and I'll tell you a story, okay?"

Gibbs climbed into bed and tucked the little girl under his arm, pulling up the blankets. She smelled like baby shampoo and bubble gum which was a nice change from the sugary sweet maple syrup.

"I nots tired, daddy," she mumbled through a yawn. Gibbs snuggled down deeper, praying that the yawn was a good sign. He had no idea how much syrup she'd managed to consume. He would deal with that later.

"Once upon a time, there was a pretty princess…" he began.

"No, no, daddy…tells the one about the fairies." Janessa squirmed under his arm until she was comfortable and rested her head on his chest. "The one about Thistle Rose."

Gibbs chuckled knowing she meant Briar Rose from Sleeping Beauty. Gibbs felt pretty proud of himself for knowing it seeing as he was sure that he'd just bathed her in his sleep. He remembered Aimee explaining that a briar patch was a thistle patch where bunnies liked to hide from predators. Aimee had told Janessa the story of the Briar Rabbit, and somehow, Janessa managed to mix up the two stories and continued to do so on more than one occasion. His heart ached as he hugged Janessa closer. He wished he had Aimee on his other side. He bit his bottom lip purposefully. He needed to remain positive for now. Hope was all he had and he needed to cling to that until he had a reason not to.

Gibbs settled in, grateful for Janessa's warmth and for his ability to keep things peaceful through his exhaustion. Gibbs' droning voice, the warmth of the bed and the tender moment eventually lulled them both to sleep.

XxXxNCISxXxX

Jenny opened her eyes to the bright sunshine beaming in her room. She groaned as her eyes burned from the lack of sleep. She didn't even know what time she'd finally lost consciousness. She had been so anxious about everything that her mind hadn't let her rest. Makayla refused to say much the night before, and Jenny had tucked her in reluctantly, wishing she knew how they had grown so far apart. Makayla seemed more apt to spill her guts to Jethro than to her. She wouldn't want him to know it, but it did bother her more than she let on. She always wished that she was more nurturing but that seemed like a fleeting thing, always just out of reach, that she could never quite put her finger on.

Jenny pulled on her robe and opened her door to be greeted by silence. She looked back towards her room to see that it was well past 9 am. She'd slept in which normally she would have been horrified about but somehow this time didn't mind. She'd been burning the candle at both ends, and it felt good to sleep in. She didn't even regret not setting her alarm. After the trauma of the night before, she'd had no intention of waking Makayla early or sending her to school. The young girl needed some time to think and talk about what happened to her. She had to be frightened, maybe even more than she realized.

Jenny pulled her robe tighter around her waist and padded in bare feet towards Makayla's bedroom. She frowned when she saw that the door was ajar.

She pushed open the door and peeked in. "Makayla, honey, are you awake?"

She was greeted with silence. Jenny entered the room and went around the corner to see that Makayla's bed was made and looked very much like it hadn't been slept in. She frowned as her pulse picked up. It had been late when they arrived home the night before. Makayla had excused herself right away, and Jenny hadn't wanted to push the young teen to talk. It was enough that Makayla had sought her comfort at the hospital and clung to her for dear life. Jenny thought that maybe it was a start in the right direction, Makayla seeking her rather than pushing her away, but she wasn't as sure now as she stood in the empty room. She hadn't bothered to check in on the girl the night before and now she wished she'd had. Jenny was trembling as she scurried downstairs, calling Makayla's name. No answer greeted her. The girl had vanished.

XxXxNCISxXxX

Gibbs pulled his jacket on and grabbed his keys from the dish in the foyer.

"I'm heading to the hospital, Dad," Gibbs called towards the kitchen. "Nessie is playing upstairs with her dollhouse; she shouldn't be any trouble."

Jackson Gibbs came into the living room with a look of concern. "Heard anything, son?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No, but I need to see for myself that she's okay."

"Sit down, Jethro and rest awhile. You look plum worn out."

"Dad, I got plenty of sleep…"

Jackson frowned pointing towards the stairs. "With that little monkey in bed with you? You were lucky to get any sleep at all. I can't believe she drank a quarter of a bottle of maple syrup. She must have been bouncing off the walls."

Gibbs chuckled. "Yah, she was wired for sound alright, but she did eventually crash. I installed a gate at the top of the stairs so she can't come down on her own."

Jackson clucked his tongue. "A baby gate for a five-year-old? Jethro, you're too soft on her! I would have smacked her little…"

"Trust me, dad, I know what you would have done, but I didn't have it in me. I was exhausted. It was all I could do to bath her and coax her back to bed without losing my temper."

Jackson softened when he looked closer at his bone-weary son. The old man shuffled the rest of the way across the room towards Gibbs and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "You have to stop doing this to yourself, son. This is in the good Lord's hands. No amount of worrying is going to change a thing."

Gibbs' shoulders drooped as he blinked back the tears forming in his eyes. He didn't know why but having his father so close made him feel even more vulnerable. Something about having his father to lean on seemed to bring out the frightened child in him, a child who wanted nothing more than to crawl into the safety net of his father's lap.

"What…" Gibbs tripped over his words as his throat burned. "What if I lose her, Dad? I don't think I can do it again."

Jackson cupped Gibbs cheek in his rough hand. "You're not alone this time, son. I won't let you fall." He patted Gibbs cheek gently as a stray tear escaped. Gibbs closed his eyes and forced himself to gain control. His father's warm, weathered hand felt comforting on his cheek causing him to lean into it.

Jackson looked at his son, and his heart ached deep inside. He hadn't been there when Shannon and Kelly died. As much as he wanted to be, later on, it had been too little too late. Jackson had allowed hard feelings to control him. He deeply regretted that time of his life. As much as Jethro had been a pain in the ass teenager, the boy never deserved to be abandoned in his biggest time of need. He may have lost his granddaughter, but Jethro had lost his only child and his wife…virtually his entire life. It was amazing the man had managed to pull himself back from the brink and even the successful man he was now. Whatever Jackson had said about his son's stubborn pride and odd bachelor lifestyle, Jethro had managed as well as he could in spite of terrible odds.

"Give her a hug from Papa Jack," mumbled Jackson, feeling a large lump forming in his own throat.

Gibbs cleared his throat, stepping back and nodded. "I should be home later…"

"Try and eat something healthy, son." With those words, Jackson turned to hobble back into the kitchen.

Gibbs took a deep breath and headed to the front door. He found it easier to understand his father's idiosyncrasies since he'd become a father, and even more so since Aimee and Janessa came into his life. Gibbs smirked to himself and opened the door. He gasped in surprise to see Makayla sitting on his front step.

"Mak?"

She turned to look at him, her eyes red from crying. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks and her hands were shaking. "I-I tried to sleep, but I couldn't."

Gibbs sat down beside her and pulled her into a protective embrace. He didn't say anything but just held her close, resting his chin on her auburn hair. He could feel her trembling, and knowing she was trying to come to terms with what had happened to her made his heart ache for her. It had to be frightening.

"I dunno what I did to make him think…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her hands.

"You didn't do anything, Mak."

She shook her head as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Yah, I did. I shouldn't have been such a jerk to Aunt Jenny. It's my fault."

"Does Jenn know where you are?" Gibbs felt her shake her head and he pulled away, forcing her chin up so he could look her in the eye. "How long have you been gone?"

Makayla shrugged. "I dunno." Tears continued to cascade down her cheeks.

"Why didn't you talk to her, kiddo?"

Makayla clenched her fists but remained stubbornly tight-lipped.

"Mak?" Gibbs couldn't help but growl at her feeling like he wasn't going to like where this conversation was headed.

The young girl trembled under his scrutiny. She began to sob again. "I was leaving," she managed to choke out. She stood up as Gibbs watched her and went to pull her backpack out from behind the shrubs. Gibbs sighed in disappointment and frustration. Much to his chagrin, Makayla had definitely decided to jump ship. She dropped it on the ground.

Gibbs forced himself to remain unfazed. "What stopped you?"

Makayla threw her hands up in the air. "You." She looked frustrated.

Gibbs quirked a brow. "Me?"

"Yah, you!" She clenched her fists and glared at him, tears running down her cheeks. Her glare melted away as quickly as it formed, then she blurted, "I was so scared, Agent Gibbs. I thought he was gonna…" she choked back a sob and put her hand over her mouth, shaking her other hand in the air.

"He was gonna what?" prompted Gibbs, knowing she needed to deal with it.

Makayla shook her head, sobbing harder. Her whole body trembled.

Gibbs pulled her into his arms once again. His heart couldn't handle the broken, frightened expression on her face. He wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could without smothering her and he kissed the top of her head.

"You're safe, Mak. It doesn't matter what he intended to do because Tony stopped him. He can't hurt you." He put a hand on the back of her head and massaged it. "No one is going to hurt you. You are safe." His voice was soothing and as he held the girl, her tense, trembling body began to relax in his arms. He rubbed her back with one hand as her sobbing quieted and she squirmed a little, letting him know to release her. She looked at him sheepishly.

"You mad?" she said, sucking on her bottom lip, tears still shimmering on her cheeks.

Gibbs brushed some of the tears away with his hand and shook his head. Makayla hiccupped and kept looking at him for some kind of response. He rubbed the back of his neck and scrubbed a hand across his face.

"I'm worried about you but mad? No." Gibbs saw her body relax further. "I don't like that you keep trying to run away from your problems, Mackie. The trouble with running away is that eventually, you have to stop. You can't run forever, and when you do stop, you're gonna find that your problems are still right there. You have to face your difficulties head on and deal with them. That's the only way things get resolved."

Makayla worried her bottom lip as stray tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"I didn't run away, Agent Gibbs."

"I know you didn't. I'm proud of you for that, but technically you did run away from your aunt and that isn't okay. Your Aunt Jenn needs you to talk to her and tell her what you're thinking. She's not a mind-reader…"

Makayla shook her head. "I can't talk to her! Not like I can…"

"Not like you can what?"

She shrugged.

Gibbs reached out and cupped her chin in his hands, tipping it up so she looked at him in the eyes. "Not like you can talk to me?"

"Well, yeah…"

"Why?"

Makayla shrugged again and pulled her chin out of his hand, turning her back to him. "You don't know how she is, Agent Gibbs," Gibbs smirked at her words. Makayla had no idea how wrong she was. Gibbs had every idea how Jenny was. They had a history. Gibbs was very familiar with Jenny's quirks and foibles. He knew her as well as he did himself, possibly even more than she knew herself. "She's not like us…"

"Us?" questioned Gibbs, raising a brow in amusement.

"Well, yah. I mean, you're like down to earth and just like a normal guy…like me, only I'm a girl. I mean I'm just run of the mill. Not fancy or high society. But my Aunt Jenn, well, she grew up all high society and so did my mom, and my dad, well, he is even worse than that. My parents care more about what their friends think than about me or my sister. Aunt Jenny used to care but now all she cares about is what other people think too…"

Gibbs rolled his eyes and grabbed Makayla by the arm, spinning her to face him.

"Mak, I don't know whether I should just pull you over my knee and spank the snobbery out of you or smack you upside the head like I do DiNozzo." His voice was stern but not harsh. He wasn't angry with her, just surprised and disappointed. He'd seen the arrogance before in his hometown, and he'd learned from a very young age that it wasn't a healthy attitude.

Makayla's eyes widened and she tried to pull away. Gibbs held her forearm tightly.

"You're the one who is putting on airs, not your Aunt Jenn. You need to get off your high horse and start treating your Aunt with respect. She loves you! She's trying very hard to be on your side. You need to give her a chance and talk to her."

Makayla's bottom lip trembled.

"Let's go inside and call her. She's probably worried sick about you."

Makayla shook her head and her eyes pleaded with him. She looked every inch the frightened, confused girl she was and Gibbs' heart ached for her. Her parents were overseas and she was on an emotional rollercoaster just being a teenager. Toss in a bossy but well-meaning aunt she didn't know very well, and a cranky old marine gunny that she felt an unexplainable bond with and life had to feel disconcerting.

Gibbs softened and dropped his grip on her. "You're not crazy, Mak. I feel the same connection to you…" Makayla blinked at his words. "Trust me, okay? I think you already do or you wouldn't have sought me out, would you?"

Makayla looked into his warm steel grey-blue eyes and nodded. He couldn't explain it any more than she could but somehow they were drawn to each other.

Gibbs gestured towards the front entrance and waited as the girl contemplated going inside with him. As he took a step towards the door, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, looking at his call display. He held the phone out to Makayla.

"It's Jenn…"

Makayla balked and dropped her chin to her chest.

Gibbs sighed and answered the call. "I've got her, Jenn," he said quickly before she could get a word in. Gibbs heard her strangled sob and felt his heart clench in his chest. It physically hurt him when Jenny hurt. "She's safe." Jenny didn't say anything but he could still hear her sniffling. It wasn't like the opinionated redhead to be so quiet. Jennifer Shepard was strong-willed and pig-headed so to hear her silence was disturbing to him. "Jenn? I will take care of it."

"Just tell her I love her, okay?"

His heart hammered in his chest. She was being so uncharacteristic. "I will." Gibbs eyed Makayla whose face was white.

Jenn choked back another sob. "I can do it anymore, Jethro. I'm calling her parents."

"Jenn, wait, listen to me a second," Gibbs said, knowing that phone call would only make matters worse for Makayla. He covered the mouthpiece and looked at Makayla firmly. "Go inside and get something to eat. My dad's in the kitchen. I'll be in a few minutes." Mak scowled at him, and Gibbs returned the expression, nodding towards the front door. Makayla sighed and relented, walking past him sullenly. Once she entered the house and closed the door behind her, Gibbs resumed the conversation. "Jenn, how is that going to help matters?"

"They're her parents, Jethro. I'm not and neither are you. She could have been assaulted, or possibly even killed by that maniac. Gawd, I would have never forgiven myself had that happened…"

"Not your fault…"

"That's not the point. If she'd been at school or home, it would've never happened."

"Or she could be attacked and raped going to the mall or to school."

"Jethro!" said Jenn, exasperation in her voice.

"Jenny, give me a few days with her, okay? If things don't change then call your sister."

"Don't you have enough on your plate with Aimee and Janessa?" snapped Jenn.

Gibbs winced at her words. "Yah, I do," he muttered, not being able to keep the pain out of his voice. "I can't explain it, Jenn." He couldn't but he felt such a strong connection to the teen girl that he had to try. Every time she ran off or had a problem, she sought him out. That had to mean something and it was better than the first time when she had just blatantly taken off. She'd admitted that it was something about him that stopped her this time. He felt certain it wasn't only because she was afraid of him punishing her. There was more to it than that. Oy he'd like to think so and besides, he'd want someone to try if it was his daughter, if it was Kelly. Maybe he had the power to make a difference in Makayla's young life. Maybe he could get through to her. She was worth it. His gut told him sending her back to her parents to deal with would only exacerbate the problem and possibly create an ongoing or possibly a lifetime one of running away.

Gibbs heard Jenny sigh loudly. "Okay," she relented.

"I'm heading to the hospital to check on Aimee. Mak can tag along with me today."

"Is she okay, Jethro?" Jenny's choice was soft and maternal.

"She's shaken up and angry, but I think she's okay. I'll do my best to get her to open up to you but I can't make any promises. Like aunt like niece. What is it about the women in your family and talking?"

Jenny snorted and laughed loudly. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

Gibbs smirked. He liked hearing her laugh.

"I'm heading to NCIS, but Jethro, Riley gets brought in today. That's an order. "

Gibbs winced. While he hadn't completely forgotten about the young man, he had pushed him far back into his mind. It was official. He had bitten off more than he could possibly chew.