Greetings faithful readers!

I managed a short chapter today...had to spend quite a bit of time figuring out a few details that probably won't even matter to my readers but in the name of authenticity, they mattered to me. Special thanks to 90TheGeneral09 for all his insights.

Okay, so here it is...enjoy.

A little Abby spunkiness for you since we haven't had any in a while, and she was feeling neglected. :)

Oh, and to some of you who thought my two-year-old was an exceptional speaker...her words were loosely translated by me (I speak a mean 2-year-old dialect LOL)

Gibbs started to ascend the stairs of the bullpen followed by Abby who was right at his heels. He held a lukewarm coffee in one hand and a file folder in the other.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs," she said for what Gibbs was sure the 100th time in the past half hour. Abby had followed him around the bullpen and down to the cafeteria to get coffee. He'd even treated her to a Caf-Pow in hopes of persuading her to accept his answer.

"The answer is no, Abbs." He was proud of himself for being so patient with her this early in the morning. He always admired Abby's tenacity except when he didn't.

"But,"

"No," he said reaching the halfway mark of the staircase. Was it just him or had the number of steps multiplied overnight? He felt like his knees were complaining more than usual.

"Gibbs, I don't think you understand what an opportunity this is…"

"Still no."

Abby sighed loudly but continued to sing his name until they reached the landing where he turned to face her. Abby smacked into him, a pout settling on her face.

"Gibbs…"

Gibbs pointed a finger in her face sternly. "Abby, my patience is wearing thin with you this morning, and it's not even 08:00."

Abby glared at him. "You're not being fair, Gibbs."

He sighed and kept walking with Abby on his heels. He headed towards Jenny's office for a scheduled meeting and stopped short of Cynthia's door. He turned around once more to find Abby nearly touching her nose to his. He blinked a few times and took a step back. Abby crossed her arms in defiance.

"You know, I could have just gone without telling you."

Gibbs lifted a brow in amusement. "And you could find yourself on the receiving end of the infamous Gibbs' smack."

Abby scowled. "You wouldn't."

Gibbs gave her his best "dad" glare, brewing uncertainty in her.

Abby threw up her hands in frustration and growled. "Fine, be like that." She turned on her heel and stomped away loudly in her heavy boots, mumbling under her breath.

Jenny came out into the hallway and stared at Abby's retreating form.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

Gibbs escorted Jenny back into the outer office, nodding pleasantly at Cynthia on the way by her desk.

"Abby had her mind set on a field trip."

Jenny looked confused. "What kind of field trip?"

"You know that case my team has been looking into?"

Jenny nodded and entered her office, followed by Gibbs and shutting the door. Gibbs walked across the room, tossed his now cold coffee into the bin and proceeded to pour himself another from Jenny's fresh pot. He took a long drink of the hot beverage and closed his eyes as he did. He appreciated many things about Jenny Shepard but none more than the fact she knew how to make one hell of a good cup of coffee.

"Now that's coffee."

Jenn laughed and pointed at a chair by the conference table. "Sit down, Jethro."

"Don't mind if I do," he said, groaning as he sat tossing his file on the table.

"Why would Abby think she needs to go on a field trip?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Don't know and don't care. Abby is a forensic scientist, and she belongs in her lab. Every time that girl goes off on some 'field trip', it ends up in disaster. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of surprises. I want peace and quiet for at least one day."

Jenny laughed and sat across from Gibbs, sipping on her own cup of java. "You're gonna be in her bad books all day."

"I can live with that. At least I'll know where she is and what she's doing."

"It's your funeral."

Gibbs grunted and took another drink of his coffee.

"I heard Aimee is coming home today."

Gibbs set his mug down and smiled. "You heard correctly. I brought Janessa to daycare this morning so my dad could be with Aimee while they do a few more tests. He's bringing her home after lunch, and if you and Mak aren't busy tonight, we'd love for you two to come to my house for a celebration."

Jenny's smile lit up her eyes. "I'm sure that could be arranged."

"How's Mak doing?"

"I think okay. She asked to go to school today which surprised me. After everything that transpired the last few days, I figured she'd want some downtime, but she was up bright and early this morning wanting to go to school."

Gibbs was surprised too. Makayla had spent so much time complaining about school that he thought she'd use any excuse not to go. "Did you two talk at all?"

Jenny crossed her legs. "Some, but not much as I would have liked. I know she's still upset but she won't confide in me at all."

"Damn, I was hoping she'd cave a little. I really did my best to talk to her, Jenn. Are you going to call your sister?"

Jenny picked up the pencil on the table and tapped it a few times. "I don't know what else to do. I scared, Jethro. What if she takes off again?"

Gibbs reached out and placed his hand on Jenn's to still it. "She's hurting, Jenn. You have to ask yourself if her parents will help her or just make things worse."

Jenn seemed to ponder that for a few moments. "If she was your daughter, Jethro, would you want to know?"

Gibbs pondered that. It was a good question. If it was Aimee or Janessa or even Kelly than yah, he'd want to know. Hell, he'd want to know if it was Abby or Ziva or even Tim or Tony for that matter. He probably wasn't the best one to ask the question. As much as he wouldn't want to make things worse, he probably would.

"I guess I would," he admitted. "But, if you decide to stick it out, I just want you to know that I'm here to help. I've grown to care for Mak a lot."

Jenn pulled her hand away and patted his in return. "I know you have and believe me the feelings are mutual. The one thing she does talk about freely is you."

Gibbs smirked. "Sorry."

Jenny rolled her eyes at him and shook her head in an admission of defeat.

Gibbs laughed in return. Despite the tension still growing behind his temples thinking about Riley's case, he was glad to share a moment of levity with a friend.

Jenn stood to her feet and walked across the room to her desk, grabbing a folder and returning to sit down again. She rubbed the back of her neck as a pained expression came over her face. She pushed the thick folder towards Gibbs. Gibbs noticed it was marked confidential.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." A smile played on his lips.

This time she scowled at him which just made him laugh again.

"This is serious, Jethro."

He groaned. "I know it is." He looked at her with a sheepish expression. "Last night was the first night I've slept 8 hours in I don't know how long. I just might be a little delirious."

Jenny smiled at him sympathetically.

Gibbs straightened up, forcing himself to get back to business. He opened the file and wasn't surprised to see Gunnery Sergeant James Adam's face staring back at him. He flipped through the file noting all the commendations and glowing reports about the man. Gibbs shut it and shrugged.

"So, what? Have you seen mine, Jenn?"

Jenn scowled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Adams has been a military man for the better part of his life. Of course, his service record is going to be glowing. I want to see what's not written in here. I want to see what the recruits said about him after the most recent Crucible and every Crucible before that. I want to see what those young men have said about him, not his peers. My service record is exemplary too, but you know firsthand what a son of a bitch I can be. Pretty sure you don't document everything."

Jenn's scowl deepened. "Maybe I should."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "No skin off my nose."

Jenn sighed. "There isn't some kind of conspiracy to make Adams look good, Jethro. He is good. Your friend, Brigadier General Marshall, sent that to me by the way. He's not exactly pleasant to deal with either when he's pissed. Riley Janssen has managed to stir up quite an uproar at Parris Island."

"Good. I want Adams pulled off those recruits. He's a time bomb in the making."

"Jethro, do you understand that this has the attention of SecNav? The last time I spoke with him, I had to hold the phone away from my ear."

Gibbs shrugged. "Well, you'll be glad to read this then."Gibbs shoved his file folder towards her. "McGee dug up everything on Riley's background. It's all there in black and white, and it's not pretty. It's interesting to note that Roy Janssen was in the Marines until Riley was 10…go ahead, read it for yourself."

Jenny pinched the bridge of her nose and took the file. Sighing, she went to sit at her desk, put on her glasses and opened the file. Gibbs rose and refilled his coffee. It was going to take a while for her to digest it all.

XxXxNCISxXxX

"Wake up, Jethro."

Gibbs groaned when he felt Jenn poke him with her boney fingers.

"I thought you said you got 8 hours last night."

Gibbs opened his eyes and blinked a few times before sitting up. He was surprised to realize he'd fallen asleep on the sofa waiting for her to read Riley's file. Jenn sat in the chair adjacent to him and offered the file back.

"You could have at least extended me the same courtesy and read Adam's file."

Gibbs shrugged. "I didn't need to, Jenn." He yawned and stretched to wake himself up.

Jenn scowled.

"Riley isn't the first recruit that's come across my desk associated with Adam's heavy-handedness."

Jenny leaned forward on her knees. "How the hell could this have happened, Jethro? How did a 15-year-old manage to enlist in the first place?"

"Ever heard of the Veterans of Underage Military Service?"

"That's different and you know it. Those men joined during wartime, and it was a whole other era. It wasn't uncommon for people to lie about their age. My father said he lied about his age to get his driver's licence at 14 instead 16. It was just easier in those days."

Gibbs sighed. "I know. I was just making a point that it happens. Riley signed a contract with the Marines but he was underage when he did it. If he was an adult and it was discovered, he would probably be kicked out of the military for falsifying his enlistment and forfeit any opportunity to ever enlist again. This is complicated for sure, but thankfully for Riley's sake, it's redeemable. Minors can't be held accountable for anything they sign. The contract is null and void. For all intents and purposes, a 16-year-old kid completed the Crucible, defended himself against the man who was abusing him and ran away. Case closed."

Jenn just shook her head in complete bewilderment. "How on earth could his mother have let this happen?"

Gibbs looked for his mug on the coffee table and took a drink from it grimacing as he did. His coffee was cold. Just how long had he slept for?

"From what I can tell, after Riley's brother died, the whole family structure crumbled, and Roy was eventually given an Other-than-Honourable discharge."

"He was charged with domestic abuse; no doubt that helped lead to that discharge."

Gibbs shrugged. "Probably. Any conviction by a civilian court with a sentence including prison time would do it."

Jenny was quiet for several moments. "So, where does that leave us?"

"It leaves us with a messed up 16-year-old boy, an abusive DI and probably a pissed off Brigadier at Parris Island." Gibbs fingered the mug in his hands and chuckled a little. He didn't imagine Marshall was going to very pleased at all, especially considering how much Gibbs had stirred things up talking to Riley's platoon. A few inopportune visits from Tony and himself had brought out the whole riveting tale. The newly named Marines had been more than willing to oust Adams, especially after Gibbs had promised them whistleblower protection. Marshall probably was going to bust his chops about that too.

"I'll forward Riley's file to the SecNav; it should set his mind at ease and get him off my case about Riley being UA. Marshall can handle Adams who isn't our problem, thank God. We have to call Riley's mother and Child services. He'll need an adult representative with him in order for us to question him further. Can he do it, Jethro?"

Gibbs scrubbed a hand over his face. "I dunno. He's barely holding together as it is. Adams did a number on him and before that, his father did. He's not in a good place emotionally. I don't know how much more he's gonna take before he completely shuts down."

"Think Marshall will help?"

"When he sees that file, I know he will. The thing is that before he goes to bat for Riley, he's gonna want to meet the kid and talk to him himself. I don't know if Riley can take that kind of pressure. As you said, Adams is a good SDI with an exemplary record. There's no way Parris Island is going to risk losing a man like Adams without one helluva good reason. Marshall is a good guy but he doesn't pull any punches."

"Think you can prepare him for that kind of questioning?"

Gibbs groaned. He knew he could. He just didn't want to push the kid to the brink. Riley was barely holding together as it was and if Gibbs got tough, Riley might topple over it. It was more important to keep the kid's trust then it was to break him. The kid needed adults he could trust not more adults to hurt him.

"It can't be me, Jenn. Riley needs to trust someone. He needs to know that he can count on someone to have his back. I want to be that person."

"Why?" Jenn scrutinized him sharply. "Why do you care so much about this kid? You don't need to feel compelled to save him."

Gibbs furrowed his brow and returned Jenn's glare. Why was he so damned determined to save Riley? He'd felt drawn to the kid since the first day he set eyes on him, same with Makayla and he couldn't explain why. It just was what it was.

Gibbs phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, holding it up so Jenn could see. She sighed and nodded her head, indicating that he should take the call.

He glanced at the number to see it was McGee. "Yah, Gibbs."

"Boss, have you seen Abby today?"

"Yep, she should be in her lab, McGee."

"She's not. No one has seen her this morning, and when I went her lab, she posted a note saying she's out of the office today."

Gibbs clenched his jaw and mumbled more to himself than to McGee. "I'm going to throttle her."

"Boss?" said McGee, his voice sounded confused.

"McGee, can you track Abby's cell?"

"Sure, but why?"

Gibbs stood to his feet and headed toward the door. "Just do it, McGee." He closed his phone and turned to look at Jenny but she waved his words away.

"Go deal with Abby. I've got this for now."