Chapter Six "Resilient"

Haha thank you Celestialuna for the amazing idea (though it was really a question you asked). I couldn't resist modifying the scene once I read your review.

"Easy there champ," Jethro sighed as he wrestled with the baby onto the changing table. One minute the child was a little angel and the next he was moving about like he was on fire. Jethro wondered about that, but focused on unbuttoning the dungarees and soon peeling away the tapes from the diaper on the infant. He was right about the baby wetting his diaper at least and he was glad he'd sent Tony out shopping for the necessities.

Removing the diaper, Jethro bent down to grab the powder and lotion. He heard the baby make a noise before he felt… Jethro closed his eyes as he felt something pour on his head. Oh god. Not daring to raise his head for fear of being sprayed, Jethro waited until he no longer felt it before he stood back up. Harry was giggling at him and it only made the Lead agent grumble. His charge had just peed on him. Damn. Shaking his head, he ignored the disgusting feel on the back of his head and set to work. The infant put up quite the fight as he was wiped and powdered, though thankfully Jethro managed in the end. He honestly didn't know how Shannon had done it if Kelly was like this with her.

The baby most certainly didn't look pleased throughout his diaper change, but seemed to recover as Jethro taped a dry diaper on him. He pulled the dungarees back up the infant and finished dressing him with a satisfied smile. Glad that the child no longer writhed like a monkey, Jethro lifted him up and carried the 9-month-old boy down to Abby's lab.

Unfortunately, the lab tech had her music blowing, so he quickly reversed direction on the elevator, knowing how sensitive a child's ears were. The infant thankfully didn't scream bloody murder, but Jethro could tell he wasn't too pleased with the loud screams of music.

"McGee! What do you have?" Jethro ordered as soon as he reached Tim McGee and deposited his charge in the playpen, fishing out a stuffed toy from the bags and giving it to the infant. The baby thankfully had kept his pacifier in this whole time.

"There are a few Potter families in the United States currently, none with the initial H. except for a Hayden Potter, though he is currently deceased. Perhaps H. Potter is not a name?" McGee explained as Jethro idly touched his head, grimacing.

"Right. Watch the kid while I—change," Jethro said hurriedly as he left.

Harry watched his caretaker leave with a smug smile on his face, served Gibbs right for trying to change him of all things. Then again, Harry would rather not be stuck in a wet nappy. Nevertheless, he was still satisfied with his little instinct's work. He honestly hadn't meant to let loose when the air conditioner had hit him, but if it got him a little self-satisfaction back, then so be it.

"B-but Boss!" Tim stammered to no avail. Harry smirked at his newest babysitter, not sure what to make of the pre-5th year Neville-like man. Tim went back to typing after awhile though not without glancing at Harry every second he could. Harry yawned, feeling slightly worn from today's festivities. An idea hatched in his mind and, not having much else to do, he began to draw on his childish emotions (thinking negative thoughts –like how in the hell was his team supposed to find him when he was a baby- on purpose seemed to help) and he sniffed loudly.

Tim McGee wasn't sure what his boss wanted him to do with the baby. He'd watched his sister every now and then but he didn't have an intimidating boss out for his neck if he messed up with her. Glancing nervously at the infant, he noticed the baby yawning and just staring at him. The kid was creepy, always quiet.

When Tim had come to see the child at the hospital, he'd found it strange that a baby his age was so silent and not screaming for attention every second. It was abnormal to him and slightly freaked him out.

A sniff interrupted his train of thought and Tim shot out of his seat before realizing that it was the baby making the noise. Worried, Tim slowly crept over to the playpen and peered in. The baby gazed up at him with doleful eyes, sniffling sadly and quite pitifully, letting his pacifier drop to the floor of the playpen. Shit.

"Hey, don't cry." Tim said hurriedly as he reached in and picked the baby up without thinking. When he realized his actions, he grew nervous again and stammered, trying to calm the child down as tears formed in the little boy's eyes.

"Ah uh!" the baby squeaked as he began to tear up. Oh no. Oh no, no, no! Not the tears! Tim gulped and bounced his boss's charge around as best as he could, even finding himself pitifully singing softly in a lame attempt at a lullaby. His efforts were fruitless and suddenly the baby was snatched from his arms quickly. Tim was a sniveling mess as he noticed the kidnapper was none other than Ziva David.

"You will scare his shirt off him, Tim," she scolded him as she cradled the lightly sniffling child to her.

"Scare the pants off, Ziva," he corrected absently, relieved she was here to aide him. He watched, in awe, as she began to hum and rock the baby slowly. To the untrained eye, she looked quite content. Yet, to Tim, he could see the small awkwardness that showed she'd never rocked a baby before. She was doing an admirable job though, he mused as he noticed the baby's eyes tearless and the eyelids slowly drooping tiredly.

"Tim, his pacifier." Ziva ordered and Tim hurried to fetch the object. Handing it to her, he watched her sit down in her office chair, cradle the baby to her and insert the pacifier into the sleeping child's mouth. The pacifier bobbed up and down very slightly, a clear sign that the infant was now and truly asleep.

"Here I thought I had told McGee to watch the kid while I was gone," a voice commented dryly and Tim jumped with a yelp, earning a disapproving look from both of them. The baby didn't stir thankfully and Tim watched his boss retrieve his charge from Ziva before sitting down in his own chair.

"Did Ducky give you anything?" Gibbs asked as he turned to Tony, who Tim noticed had just walked in quite casually. He'd been off getting what he could from Abby and Ducky while Ziva had checked Clark's associates. Tim wished he had better luck on finding this H. Potter or whatever it stood for at least. Maybe it was a foreigner?

"Just that, oddly enough, the body shows absolutely no signs of death. Nothing. Not even on the inside," Tony announced, mindful of the sleeping 9-month-old in Gibbs' arms. Good thing. Tim knew either one of them could be six feet under if they woke the kid; by Ziva or Gibbs' hand, he didn't know.

"Strange," Ziva commented, "has he finished his examinations?" At Tony's nod, the team looked quite baffled by this news. The baby shifted slightly in Gibbs arms, still sleeping.

"Right," Gibbs said slowly, "our next agenda is to find out how this kid is connected to Clark Johnson –"

"There isn't a connection," Tim announced, pleased to answer finally, "I've checked all records of Johnson and he was an only child and single. His parents died when he was younger before he went into the Marines and he seems to be a perfect bachelor."

"Don't rule out everything McGee," Gibbs reprimanded, "whatever the reason, the kid could be related to Clark's killer even. It's our job to find out and get him back to his family."

"Right. I was thinking of checking records from other continents but that would require goi—"

"Just do it McGee."

Oh snaps. Will Tim discover a Harry Potter in the UK? What would be on that record anyways? If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll reply when I can! Sometimes I might get intrigued and add it into the story simply because you lot are probably brighter than I am at thinking outside the box and might bring up a brilliant question! Who knows. Hope you liked this chapter. As for the sniffling fest from Harry? He was bored. Guess he was bored to tears? Pun very intended.