I'm backkkkkkkk! Love to my readers! I know there are more of you readers out there, don't forget to review; it gives me more of an incentive to write! And remember, go back and read the chapter that was the author's note, it's really important!
Snapshot: Tony and Hunter on the porch of a suburban home in front of a partially open door.
Jamie Emerson had grown up your typical American kid, oldest of two (pesky younger brother) and the apple of her parents' eyes. She had never really given any thought to the life outside of her happy family until she was a eighteen-year-old college freshmen with a roommate who was exceeding free with her 'extracurricular' activities (which didn't take place on her bed with startling frequency) so Jamie slept at the library. She realized a few things that year, the first major fact being that she had lead a seriously sheltered life.
Of all four years in college, her freshmen year was what most people would have thought to be the most fun. She experimented with drugs (and regretted it), skipped class (and regretted it), experimented with boys (sort of regretted it), when thirty hours without sleeping (regretted it at the time, looking back it was a great story, and probably most importantly, she figured out what she wanted to be when she grew up.
While her current job at NCIS was anything but her ideal situation, she felt like she was making a difference. Filing evidence, organizing top secret documents, and slowly working her way up the office chain made for a stable life.
Stable equals boring usually, but her day had been anything but normal. First, she had been late, not that her supervisor noticed, then she had taken a two-hour lunch (which most of her colleagues did daily), which no one noticed, and then just walked out of the office four hours earlier without going back.
Balancing her NCIS issued laptop on her long, pale legs, and contemplated actually getting some work done. Gazing at the faces flying on the screen waiting to match the face of either of the girls, she wondered why the girls had been left in the house when it seemed like it had been recently cleared out.
Lost in her own world, Jamie just about wet her pants when a woman cleared her voice behind her, "What are you doing in here, Miss Emerson?"
Jumping to her feet, her laptop clattering to the floor, Jamie spun around and nearly saluted the Director, "I'mbabysittingDirectorShepardma'am. ForAbbyma'am. I'm sorry I-"
"Babysitting?" the director asked casually, glancing around at Abby's lab.
"Yesma'am."
"Dare I ask who you are babysitting?"
Swallowing hard, Jamie looked down at her scuffed shoes, "Lacey."
"Who's Lacey?"
"One of the little girls they found in that house," Jamie said to her shoes.
"Why in heaven's name is she here?"
"I-I think Abby was babbysittingforAgentGibbs."
"Why did Gibbs have her?" Jenny asked.
Jamie shrugged and the director shook her head and started towards the back of Abby's lab. Ignoring Jamie's whispered protests, she stooped over and retrieved the sleeping child from Abby's futon, blankets and all, "You can tell Miss Sciuto to tell Agent Gibbs he can retrieve his 'package' in my office."
After Agent Tatyanna Rodríguez returned to NCIS with her complaining and her flare for the dramatic, she, Hunter Allen, and Tony settled into a comfortable working silence. Well, it was silent until Tony's restless mind transferred his nervous energy into the pen he held in his left hand. Tap, tap, tap.
Tatyanna looked up from her computer and glared at Tony. Tony however, did not seem to notice. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. If anything, his rate of tapping increased. "Can you stop?"
Tony didn't look up, "Hmmm?" Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Apparently, the thirty-nine stitches had sorely worn away at her already abnormally thin patience. She stood up and in a frightenly savage calm, pushed her chair out of the way and stalked over to Tony and ripped the pen out his hand, "If you do not stop with the damn tapping, I will shove this pen so far up your ass it'll come out your nose," she leaned towards Tony menacingly. "Are we clear?"
Tony looked more than slightly taken aback, "Sorry."
With a nod, she sulked back to her desk and Tony caught the eye of her regular partner, "Is she always like this?"
"It's usually worse when she hasn't eaten," He nodded. To his partner he added, "When was the last time you ate?"
She shrugged as she made her way back to her desk. Rolling his eyes, Hunter stood up, "Come on, let's go get you something to eat before you pass out."
"When did you become my mother?" she snapped.
"The day I became your partner. Come on, you need a break anyway. Do you want to come, Tony?"
Tony shook head, "No thanks, I'm good."
Hunter pulled his jacket from the floor, "Okay, we won't be long."
"I don't wanna go," Tatyanna whined, "I don't even have a shirt that I can wear in public with out getting arrested."
"It's just missing the sleeve."
The short dark haired woman glared at her partner. Standing up she held her left arm (the one with the stitches) to reveal the seam was cut all the way down and her neon green bra, "Apparently, they felt the need to slice my entire shirt open to put stitches in my arm. Do you know how much this shirt cost me?"
"Ninety-nine dollars on sale, I know. Here," Hunter undid the top three buttons on his own white dress shirt and pulled it off, "just wear this."
Agent Rodríguez was gazing in surprise at her partner's sexy six-pack visible under the thin cotton undershirt he was wearing but she managed to control her drooling, "Oh. Thanks."
Hunter nodded, "It's what partner's do. Come on, let's go, I'm for one, starving."
Watching the two agents, Tatyanna complaining peevishly about her lack of a proper shirt and then Hunter giving up his, Tony smiled. He would have his own partner back soon.
The rather dramatic episode that had unfolded in Abby's lab had had some pretty dramatic repercussions. Abby was planning to install a 'Director Detector' and never leave her lab in the hands of office Probies, Jamie Emerson was slightly terrified for her life and was seriously considering taking a job at the FBI and Gibbs found himself strolling towards the director's office without his usually swagger.
However, Gibbs marched through the director's door without bothering to knock, par usual, but he didn't throw the door back like he normally would have after being summoned to the director's office like a naughty child being called to the principal's office.
"Come right in Jethro," Jenny said sarcastically.
Glancing around the room, Gibbs located Lacey bundled up in blankets on Jenny couch, still fast asleep. Jenny caught sight of where he was looking and smiled dolefully, "So, are you going to inform me of the reason that she is here and not in Child Services?"
Gibbs shrugged, "I might have told a small lie to the Child Service lady."
Jen looked unimpressed, "What in the world would make you do that?"
"I didn't like the Child Services lady."
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jenny groaned, "The sad thing is I believe you. Any other reasons besides that?"
"Her parents are out there somewhere, and they're looking for her. Wouldn't you like to find them so they can watch her grow up, not just look at the age enhanced pictures of her on the missing posters because she's been missing since she was four or five?"
She hated it when he said things like that. It made it harder to believe that he didn't actually have a heart, "That could have been done while she was in a foster home."
"True, but I didn't like the Child Services lady," Gibbs replied, cracking into one of his infrequent but heart-melting grins.
Just then, there was a noise from beneath the blankets and a sleep-tousled head appeared. Gibbs continued to smile, "Good morning, Lacey."
She waved back shyly, obviously unsure how she had come to be on the cool leather couch. Gibbs got up, "Lacey, this is my friend Jen. Jen, this is Lacey."
Jenny smiled, "Hello Lacey, did you sleep well?"
Lacey's response was to burrow back under the covers. Gibbs laughed softly, "Are you hungry Lacey?"
The blankets nodded. As the Director and Gibbs laughed, Jenny's desk phone rang, "Shepard," she barked.
Pausing for a moment, she listened to the person on the other end of the line, "Alright I'll tell him."
"What is it?" Gibbs asked as Jen placed the phone back in the holder.
"Do you want the good news or the bad news?
Gibbs turned around at the sound Jen's voice, "Both."
"The good new is Abby got a match on the older girl. Her name is Megan McLaughlin; she lives in Fairfax with her sister and parents, sophomore at the local high school, and been missing for six months. The bad news is that Megan's taken a turn for the worse. They don't know if she'll make it through the night."
"Then we'd better get someone out there," Gibbs said, reaching for his phone.
About half an hour later, Tony and Hunter Allen pulled up in front of a cookie-cutter house in a fairly new looking development. There weren't any cars in sight, but the two agents sauntered up to the door anyway.
"Can I knock?" Hunter asked.
Tony shook his head, thinking he had misheard, "What?"
"Can I knock? Tatyanna never lets me."
"Knock yourself out," Tony laughed, showing that he was getting back to his old self.
Hunter laughed as he knocked on the pine door. There was the sound of a dog barking but no one appeared at the door. Hunter shrugged and was turning to leave when Tony caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye, "Somebody's home, I saw the curtain move."
"NCIS, federal agents," Hunter called.
Almost immediately the door opened a crack and blue eye looked out, "Yes?"
"We're looking for Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin?"
"Um, well I'm Julia McLaughlin…but my parents can't really come out now."
The two agents exchanged a glance, "Are they home?"
A long pause, "No."
"Julia, we're here about your sister, Megan."
The door flew open, "You found her? Is she okay? Is she with you? Can I see her? My parents just flew to New York to see a girl they think might be her, they'll be back tonight."
The tall, blue eyed, red head looked like a much healthier version of the girl in the hospital, a twin most likely. Tony swallowed, "Your sister is at the Naval hospital in D.C. She's in pretty rough condition and we need you to come with us and identify her."
"Is she still alive?" Julia asked faintly.
Hunter nodded, "She is. Grab anything you're gonna need and call your parents and let them know what's going on."
"Oh, okay," She closed the door partially and the agents could hear her running down the hall.
"I hope her sister makes it," Hunter said quietly.
"I hope the people that hurt her don't make it," Tony growled, "they're all going to burn in hell and I would love to help them get there faster."
Snapshot: Tony and Hunter on the porch of a suburban home in front of a partially open door.
So, do you guys like my OCs Tatyanna and Hunter? I'm growing rather fond of them. Tatyanna is actually based on two of my friends (one looks like her and has the same name and the other one acts like her) and the whole pen thing actually happened. Welcome to Striker's everyday life.
Love, Striker