AN: I don't own any of the NCIS Characters or any of the show's storylines that I may refer to from time to time, but the rest of the plot is mine.

6. Uncle Gibbs!

Leaving the basement Lucy went to pick up her bag. "Thank you for dinner, ... I'd better go find somewhere to stay." Gibbs took her bag from her and put it back down.

" ... Upstairs ... don't argue Captain ... You need looking after tonight and I'm going to do it." He told her as he took her hands.

"... Jethro-" He put a finger on her lips and stopped any further protest. She closed her eyes slowly, her lips tingling under the touch of his finger.

"Lucy, stay here tonight" She looked up at him. His eyes soft but determined. She lost all resolve to argue with him. "You scared me today, thinking I had found you, then ..." He stopped unable to put into words what he felt the moment he realised she was having a hypo. "... I need you here tonight. ... to know you're ok"

He removed his finger from her lips. Lucy couldn't take her eyes away from his. Nothing had changed. It was like the night before he left 9 years ago. Could they really just pick up where they left off? He reached up and pushed her hair off her face, her skin tingled under the light touch, she flinched, Gibbs felt like a bolt of electricity had gone through his hand. He reached for her and pulled her in. He had to kiss her, he'd waited too long already, he should have done it earlier, the first time they were alone, Lucy didn't resist. She responded and melted into his arms. The moment was broken when Gibbs cell phone rang. Finally releasing her lips, breathing heavily, he held her close while he answered it.

"Yeah" he snapped at the caller.

"Boss? You ok, you don't sound good." Tony asked.

Gibbs grinned, "Dinozzo, get to the point." He tightened his hold on Lucy as she looked up.

"They found Philips, he just turned up at the ship, he's drunk boss, the MPs are gonna lock him up tonight, so there isn't anything we can do here now. He's totally incoherent" Tony informed him.

"Make sure the doc gets a look at him first. Ask them for- " He looked at Lucy helplessly.

"A full blood work up, find out if he's drugged rather than drunk, is he injured?" she whispered to him, which he then repeated to Dinozzo, who confirmed that he appeared uninjured.

"That's right, then you can go home. I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up the call and nuzzled Lucy's hair. She wrapped her arms round his neck.

"Where do I get to sleep?" She asked.

He looked at her "Spare room's up on the right" He reminded her as he let her go to pick up their bags.

"I'll just sort my meds" She told him as he moved towards the stairs.

Lucy stayed down a few minutes to sort her medication before climbing the stairs. Memories flooding back of the times she had been in the house before. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she failed to see him at the top of the stairs watching her. He could see she was distracted as he watched her, she made her way up the stairs and would have walked into him at the top had he not put his arms round her and stopped her. She gasped and looked up.

"Sorry, I was ... thinking" she told him absent mindedly.

"Go get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow." He told her. She nodded and moved towards her room. Gibbs watched her for a moment then went downstairs.

A while later he heard a phone ringing and eventually found Lucy's cell in the Kitchen. Seeing the caller display he answered it.

"Hey pumpkin, how are you" he greeted the caller, slipping easily into the nickname he had heard Lucy use all those years ago.

"... Who- Oh my god! Uncle Gibbs! No one has called me that in years, are you with Mum? She never told me she'd spoken to you!" The excited voice on the line gushed.

"Whoa, Slow down Jess!" He laughed, finding it hard to imagine the young lady he was talking to, still picturing the 8 year old he had last seen. "You're mum and I met on a case earlier. She'll tell you all about it soon."

"Where are you guys? Did she find you in DC?" Jess questioned. Excited to be talking to the man who she considered a surrogate father all those years ago.

"We were in Norfolk. I brought your Mum to DC to meet another old friend. D'you want to talk to her?"

"Where is she?" Jess asked.

"We're in Washington tonight, she's with me, but she's had a heavy couple of days, I suggest if its not urgent I get her to call you tomorrow. I think she just went to sleep" He told Jess without giving her the news of what happened in the afternoon.

"Ok, it can wait, tell her I called and ... uncle Gibbs? ... please make sure she's ok, sometimes she doesn't watch her counts like she should." Jess sighed into the phone.

"Sure pumpkin, I'll look after her. Everything will be ok" He reassured her.

"Can I come see you when I come over? Will you give me a tour of your office?" The excitement edged back into her voice.

"Of course, if your mum says its ok. ... Maybe we can arrange to go to the cabin for a few days."

"The one up by the lake with the mountains?" Jessie asked trying to remember. Gibbs grinned.

"That's the one, you remember it? I thought you would have been too young." He told her.

"Mum's got photos, its one of her favourite places." Jess told him. "I don't really remember it except that you taught me to swim there. ... I'm glad you met up again Uncle Gibbs" She said as he winced again at the title.

"Jessie, I think you're old enough to drop the uncle"

"So what should I call you?" she asked seriously.

"Whatever you want honey" He answered, then wondered how wise an offer that was to make to a 16 year old. He hoped it wouldn't be anything outlandish.

"... Are you gonna marry mum?" She asked after a moment.

"That's a big question Jess, you're mum and I haven't really had time to talk. A lot of time has passed, there's a lot we - honestly honey I don't know" He sighed, how on earth did anyone have this conversation with a teenager, especially one you had last seen almost a decade ago when she was still a child. "I'll tell your mum you called and ask her to ring you tomorrow."

"Ok. Good night, it was nice to talk to you again" She ended and he was left listening to the empty line. Slowly he cancelled the call and put the phone down as memories of his last days with Jess and Lucy flooded his mind interspersed with images of family outings when Dan, Shannon and Kelly were alive. After a few moments he sighed. Maybe there was a higher power trying to tell him something, that Lucy had been assigned here for a reason. That there would be a future for them. He slowly headed up the stairs smiling thinking of Lucy asleep in the house once again and wondering if she would agree to his request.