Title: Once upon a summer time

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for the story.

A/N: Some reviews sure would be nice ;)

CHAPTER 6

Philip in danger

Abby's POV:

Outside gate 45 at the airport:

I stood there and just stared at them, wearing my red cotton dress and my hair in pigtails. I had tears in my eyes and I could almost feel my bottom lip quiver with anxiety at seeing all those new faces. Faces of people I had never met before. One, two, three, four, five people.

I had just gotten off the airplane and was standing outside the gate with my luggage. I was hugging Philip; my favorite stuffed yellow duck with his big, floppy orange feet close to me. I was never planning on letting him go. I felt a little safer hugging him. The man and the woman, Agent Gibbs and Agent Shepard had just introduced themselves and the other three kids to me. But I hadn't said anything. I was scared and felt shy and I just wanted real bad to hide behind something. The woman smiled down at me and I buried my face in the soft, yellow fur of my duck, Philip. She reached out her hand and wanted to take me by the hand to the car. I refused though. I didn't know her. I didn't know anyone here. She kept trying for a while but when I shook my head she finally took the hint.

We started walking. Agent Gibbs was carrying my suitcase and my back pack. Agent Shepard, Jenny, walked next to him and they spoke in hushed voices. The girl, Ziva and the younger boy, Tim, walked behind them and I came along, face still buried in my duck. I glanced back once and saw the oldest boy, Tony, walking quite far away from us, looking about as he strolled with his hands in his pockets. He seemed brave to do that. I would be afraid I would lose the others and get left behind at the airport. I was afraid of these people that I didn't know, but I was more afraid of getting left behind than of them, so I followed.

Being deep in thought made me walk a little slower and before I knew it the others had gotten somewhat ahead of me. I looked up and was just about to run to catch up with them when someone bumped into me, hard. It made me lose my footing and fall straight on my butt on the floor. To my horror I lost Philip who landed on the floor and quickly got kicked by someone passing by. I didn't have time to get up before a second shoe made contact with Philip and he got kicked even farther away from me. I started to panic and tears rolled down my face. I had tried so hard to keep them from falling before but now I could no longer keep them away. I looked around for Agent Gibbs or Jenny but neither was in sight. All around me I saw people passing me. The place was so crowded legs moved all around my body as I sat on the floor.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and hugged my knees and then buried my face in my hands as I cried. I wanted so badly to go home. Then I felt someone pull one of my pigtails gently and I slowly looked up. There next to me stood Tony, looking down at me from above. He crouched down and cocked his head to the side.

"Are you alright?"

I sniffed and shook my head. "I lost Philip." Tears fell again. "He's gone forever after."

He stood up and put both hands under my arms and lifted me from the ground to my feet. He then brushed my dress off and took my hand. Determinedly he pushed his way past people with casual "Excuse me's". We kept going until we spotted Philip lying on the floor. I wanted to run to him before another person kicked my poor duck and I tugged on Tony's hand. "Don't let go of my hand." He instructed me and we both started running towards Philip.

I picked him up and hugged him to me close while I rocked him back and forth, murmuring how happy I was to see him.

Tony bent down a little and looked at me, "Are you alright now?"

I nodded and wiped away a tear. "Thank you for saving him, Tony."

"We have to find Agent Gibbs and the others." He said and looked around. The place was really packed with people everywhere and it was hard to see past the person in front of us. "We came from that direction. Let's head that way."

I wasn't about to object. I had no idea where we were or even what direction we had come from. We took off in the direction Tony had pointed. I held onto his hand tightly. He walked so fast I had trouble keeping up with him. "Tony, please, not so fast."

He turned to me, "We have to hurry up and find the others before… "

"Look out!" I yelled as something large and blue appeared in front of us totally unaware of our presence. It was too late and Tony crashed right into a security guard's side and had to take a step back to regain his balance. He rubbed his forehead and nose but quickly recovered and looked up.

"Uhm…sorry." He mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

The security guard eyed us with a tired expression. He was clumsy looking and quite big. "Are you two kids lost?" he asked.

"Uhm…well, kinda." Tony answered. "We're looking for a man and a woman. They have two other kids with them. One girl and one boy. The girl is my age, kinda…and the boy is small and…"

Suddenly recognition flashed across the man's face and he held up a hand. "Wait a minute…I recognize you." He narrowed his eyes. "You're that kid who was at the runway earlier."

Tony stood up straight. "Yes, Sir."

"I thought you left."

"Uhm…well, no, Sir."

"So what are you still doing here then?"

"I'm looking for Agent Gibbs and Agent Shepard, Sir."

The man sighed deeply and rolled his eyes. "They lost you AGAIN?"

"Well, no they didn't exactly lose us. It was more us who lost them I guess. You see we went on this rescue mission and they disappeared and…"

He was halted again. "Alright, ALRIGHT. At least you're not on the runway this time, kid. I'll help you find them."

We didn't have time to start off before we heard a familiar voice behind us. "That won't be necessary, George."

The man jumped a little and spun around, almost bumping into Special Agent Gibbs who was standing right behind him with a grin. "Jeesus, Special Agent Gibbs. I didn't even see you." He took a breath, "I'm having a feeling of deja vu here." he pointed at Tony. " I take it these two belong to you?" he turned his gaze to me. "How many do you have anyway? This one wasn't with you before." he scratched his head in confusion.

Gibbs stepped over to me and Tony. He put one hand on Tony's shoulder and his other one on mine. "No, she wasn't. But she is now. They seem to have a canny way of slipping away." I glanced up at his face to see if he looked angry, hoping Tony would explain what happened that made us get left behind. But Agent Gibbs didn't look angry at all. He took Tony by the hand and this time I let him take me too and we said good bye to the security guard and headed to the car. Gibbs told us that's where the others were waiting. He also added we had scared him but to my relief he still didn't look mad when he said it. Tony explained to him what had happened and he smiled at me. "Well, I can see you take good care of your friends." He said indicating Philip tucked under my left arm. "It's good. You should never leave anyone behind."

I frowned as I walked next to him. "What do you mean?"

"Marines never leave a friend behind." He explained with a wink at me.

Tony looked up. "You were a Marine, Special Agent Gibbs?"

"Jethro is fine. And yes I was and I still am. There is no such thing as an X- Marine. "

Tony looked impressed but then frowned. "Jethro? Is that even a name? I think I like Gibbs better."

Gibbs laughed at hearing that. "That's fine too."

I sneaked another peak at the man. I was starting to feel a little more comfortable around him. He seemed nice. And Tony sure was too. He saved Philip…and me.

To be continued

A/N: Please send me a little review with some thoughts. It would make me really happy and it also makes it easier to continue the story.