Chapter 2

A couple hours later, Ziva arrives to work at the NCIS building. She parks her car, grabs her stuff, then she walks into the building. Ziva finally steps off the elevator on her floor, and immediately walks to her desk and sits down. A couple minutes later, McGee gets off the elevator and makes his way to his desk using a crutch due to his hurt leg a week and half ago in Nigeria. As McGee passes by Ziva's desk, she looks up in confusion as she watches McGee hobbling along.

"McGee, you do understand the concept of sick leave... Don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you here?"

McGee finally reaches his desk and sits down. He leans the crutch against the partition behind him.

"My leg may have been injured badly, but with the pain medication, I can work efficiently."

"And you think Gibbs will agree?"

"Not really." McGee said. "But when Abby was shot she came back early."

"That's different McGee. Abby is… Well… Abby."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides, haven't you noticed Gibbs has become a little soft ever since Jamie came into the picture?"

"Actually… I have noticed that." Ziva agreed. "But if the daughter you thought you lost a long time ago came back, your reaction would probably be the same."

"I still can't believe Gibbs sent them to Puerto Rico as a wedding present."

"He knows Tony always loved Puerto Rico."

"I wonder where Gibbs would send me if I ever married Jamie."

"You're joking right?"

"I don't think I've ever told Gibbs my favorite place."

"Your favorite place wouldn't matter McGee."

"So what you're saying is… Gibbs would never accept me as a son-in-law?"

"What I'm saying is this… You wouldn't be able to handle Jamie. The truth of the matter is you wouldn't last one day being with Jamie." Ziva quickly puts her head down and begins working as she realizes who is walking toward the area, passed the partition behind McGee's work space.

"What are you saying? You don't think I can satisfy Jamie? I know I can satisfy her." McGee stated.

"Is that so McGee?" Gibbs asked.

McGee's eyes widen, his jaw drops and he cramps his face as Gibbs walks over to his own desk in order to put his coffee down. He then turns to glare at McGee.

"I… I..." McGee begins to stumble with trying to find an explanation. "About what I said… I didn't mean anything by it…" McGee keeps trying to defend himself. "I'm taking pain medication and it may have impaired my thinking…"

"McGee…" Gibbs tries to get his attention as he approaches McGee's desk.

"Yes Boss?"

"You think I've gone a little soft since my daughter came back?"

"Umm… Well… Not really… It's not noticeable."

"Obviously you must think it's noticeable since you said it."

"I… Umm…" McGee looks toward Ziva. "Help me out here?"

Gibbs turns his head and glares at Ziva.

"You're on your own. Maybe next time you'll reconsider coming back early." Ziva then puts her head down and continues working.

Gibbs turns back to glare at McGee.

"You're gonna hurt me, aren't you?"

"Now what makes you think that McGee?"

"Your Sig isn't loaded, is it?"

"It could be. Why do you ask?"

"Well… Umm… I'd be a lot less nervous if your hand wasn't ready to pull it out." McGee paused as Gibbs just glares at him. "Ok… I know it was wrong of me to say what I said, so I know I deserve a major head slap."

There's a moment of silence as Gibbs just glares at McGee and McGee tries to avoid looking Gibbs in the eyes.

"Tony and Jamie will be here soon, so I'm going down to Abby's to pick-up Kid." Gibbs stated.

Gibbs leaves the area. McGee takes a deep breath.

"That went better then I thought it would." McGee said.

"You're a dead man McGee." Ziva stated. "You just don't know it yet."

McGee's head falls onto his desk.

"He didn't even mention the fact that you're not supposed to be here." Ziva said.

"I know." McGee agreed. "That's a bad thing."

Ziva stands up and walks over to McGee. Once she's close enough, she pats him on the shoulder.

"It was nice knowing you McGee." Ziva stated.

After a minute, Tony and Jamie step off the elevator. With holding each other's hand, they walk over to McGee's desk where both McGee and Ziva are.

"Good morning!" Tony exclaimed.

"Hey." Jamie also greets them.

"How was your trip?" Ziva asked as Jamie gives her a hug.

"It was amazing. Puerto Rico is a beautiful place." Jamie stated.

Ziva and Jamie walk away in order to chat for a bit. Tony and McGee are left to talk to each other. Tony places his hand on McGee's left shoulder.

"You're looking better McGee." Tony said. "But aren't you supposed to be on sick leave?"

"It was getting rather boring playing video games the whole time. And I felt I can work efficiently, so might as well come back."

"Well… It's good to see you're getting better." Tony said. "How's your leg feeling?"

"I'm taking pain medication which helps."

After a couple more minutes, Gibbs and Kid walk into the vicinity. As they're approaching, Tony's attention is drawn toward him. His view of Kid is blocked by the partition. As soon as Kid steps out into view, he sees Tony and becomes excited. Tony's face lights up as Kid runs over to him. Kid jumps into Tony's arms in order to hug him. Tony lifts him up and holds Kid in his arms. Kid places his head on Tony's shoulder while his arms are around Tony's neck.

"I missed you too buddy." Tony said.

Gibbs' phone begins to ring so he walks over to his desk to pick it up. Jamie finally walks over to where Tony and Kid are, near McGee's desk. Jamie is now standing at Tony's left side, the side where Kid is resting his head on Tony's shoulder. Jamie brings her right hand up toward Kid and gently strokes the back of his head. Kid smiles then places his hand on Jamie's right arm.

After a couple more seconds, Kid leans back in Tony's arms and begins making hands movements. Tony is confused as he knows Kid is signing something, but doesn't know sign language.

"I'm sorry buddy… I don't know what you're trying to say." Tony said. "I'm guessing Gibbs taught you a little sign language, right?"

Kid nods and keeps making hand movements.

"I don't know sign language." Tony stated. "But I'm also gonna learn so the two of us can communicate better, ok?"

Kid nods and smiles. He then looks to Jamie and begins making the same hand movements. Tony turns his head to look at Jamie.

"What's he saying?" Tony asked.

"He's not signing any particular word. He's signing letters." Jamie stated. "I think he's trying to sign his real name for you."

Kid nods.

"Well… What's his name?" Tony asked quickly because he really wants to know.

"Can you start at the very first letter?" Jamie asked as she looks at Kid.

Kid then starts signing the letters of his real name, from the beginning. After the last letter, he stops making hand movements. Jamie smiles as she now knows Kid's name.

"What's his name?" Tony asked again.

"His name is the Nigerian name that means; God's gift." Jamie stated. "His real name is Chioke."

Chioke smiles as he looks back toward Tony. Tony can't help his happiness at knowing his adopted son's real name.

"Chioke…" Tony's so happy he can hardly think of what else to say. "It's good to finally know your name buddy." He smiles.

Chioke leans forward and puts his arms back around Tony's neck. Jamie walks to the side in order to greet McGee. Gibbs finally puts the phone down.

"McGee…" Gibbs tries to get his attention.

"Yes Boss?"

"A photo and fingerprints are being emailed to me… Get them up on the plasma"

"On it Boss."

"What do we got Boss?" Tony asked.

The photo and fingerprints now appear on the plasma. Gibbs then adds another photo and set of fingerprints to the screen. Gibbs and everybody else walk to the plasma, except for McGee who just rolls his chair over.

"Seven years ago Lieutenant Edward Collins…" Gibbs points to the photo on the left of the screen. "And his friend Brian Phillips…" Gibbs now points to the photo on the right side of the screen. "Vanished without a trace… The case went cold until now."

"Their bodies have been found?" Ziva asked.

"Earlier this morning a man was found. He's in the hospital. His fingerprints were taken…"

"Which one of them was found?" Tony asked.

"Can I finish?" Gibbs asked as he quickly glares at Tony. "As I was saying… The man that was found, his photo matches that of the friend, Brian Phillips. The only problem is… The fingerprints match those of Lieutenant Edward Collins."

"Huh... Interesting." Tony said.

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"Do you mean to say the skin of their fingers was swapped?" Jamie asked.

"It wasn't just the skin." Gibbs stated.

"You mean the entire fingers were swapped?" Jamie asked.

"Yes… Brian Phillips is now the owner of the fingers that used to belong to Lieutenant Edward Collins. The fingers are attached to be his own." Gibbs stated. "But that's not our big problem." He added. "Our big problem is the fact that Brian Phillips doesn't remember what happened to him in the last seven years. So it's our job to find out and to locate Lieutenant Edward Collins." He then hands a piece of paper, with a location, to Ziva. "You and Tony go to where Brian Phillips was found."

Ziva walks to her desk to grab her gear. Tony sets Chioke on the floor. Chioke places his hand into Jamie's hand while Tony goes to his desk to grab his gear. Tony walks back over to them. Tony kisses Jamie then kneels down to say bye to Chioke.

"I'll see you later Chioke." Tony smiled.

Chioke nods. Tony then stands up in order to leave. As Ziva and Tony are walking away, Tony looks back. Both Jamie and Chioke are smiling back at him. Tony now walks behind the partition on the way toward the elevator. He's now out of Chioke's view because he's too short to see over the partition. Chioke pulls his hand out of Jamie's hand and runs over to the elevator in order to hug Tony one more time before he leaves. Jamie begins walking in the direction of the elevator.

Gibbs, who went back to his desk, now grabs his car keys. He turns to see McGee is getting ready to leave. He walks over to McGee's desk.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gibbs asked.

"Umm… Since you didn't give me any assignment, I'm figuring you want me to leave." McGee said.

"Cuz of your sick leave?"

"Uh… Yeah."

"I never gave you permission to leave." Gibbs said in a strong voice. "Pull up the case file. Find out anything and everything you can about those two. I want full background checks. I wanna know everything about both of them, from birth to the day they disappeared. I want everything on my desk by the time I get back." He now glares at McGee. "You wanted to come back early, so now you gotta deal with it. Besides… With what you said… I'm not thru with you yet."

Gibbs walks away as McGee takes a deep breath, sighs and wonders what Gibbs is going do to him in regards to what he said. Gibbs walks to over to the windows where Jamie and Chioke are standing.

"How was your trip?" Gibbs asked.

"It was fun. Puerto Rico is a beautiful place." Jamie stated. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you two had fun." Gibbs said. "I…"

"Need to go…. I know."

"Love you." Gibbs leans forward and kisses Jamie on the forehead.

"Love you too Dad."

Gibbs leans back and looks down at Chioke. Gibbs now kneels down.

"Me, Jamie and Abby all know sign language. We'll help you learn more. And we'll also teach Tony." Gibbs stated. "In time, you and Tony will be able to communicate with each other. You have my word."

Chioke smiles as he gives Gibbs a quick hug. After a couple seconds, Chioke steps back and places his hand into Jamie's hand. Gibbs stands up and walks to the elevator.