Disclaimer: I don't own anything :(

Saving Melanie

Meeting the Team

Gibbs gently tucked the little girl back in bed.

"Sir, what is your name?" she sniffled, clearing up, as sleep began to wash over her.

"Just call me Gibbs, kid," he said softly, patting her head.

"G'night Gibby," she said sleepily, falling back to sleep almost instantly. He sighed, before leaving and going back to his room. Tomorrow (well, really in a few hours, it was 2:30am after all) he and his team would get to the bottom of this mess. He owed it to the little girl. For some reason, he felt a strong attachment to her already. He began dozing again, waiting for the next morning to come.

His alarm clock went off at 0500 and he groaned, stretching as he got himself up. It was then that the previous night's events all came back to him. He rolled out of bed and made way to the small girl in his daughter's old bedroom. She laid peacefully, her thumb gently placed between her lips. He smiled, before going over to her and gently shaking her awake.

"Time to get up, kiddo," he explained, as he went over to one of the drawers, pulling out a pair of dark washed denim capris and a purple butterfly t-shirt. It was old, but he figured it'd do for now. Melanie climbed out of bed and gladly accepted the clothes he handed to her. She padded to the bathroom, looking for a toothbrush.

"Gibby! I need a too-brush please!" she declared as he came in, digging under his cabinet, finding a new princess toothbrush. So many things he'd meant to give Kelly that he never got a chance. At least they might be used now instead of gathering dust. She smiled as she took it gently and began to brush her teeth. Once she was cleaned up and dressed, she exited the bathroom and climbed down the stairs going into the kitchen. She found Gibbs looking through the fridge. All he had for breakfast was oatmeal and toast, and he was pretty sure kids liked neither. Sighing, he decided he'd just get her a cookie on his daily trip to Starbucks. They packed up and headed out to the car. It was then he'd realized he didn't have a car seat. Silently cursing to himself so she wouldn't hear, he ran back inside and up into the attic. It took a lot of digging through old (and in some cases painful) items that held so many memories before he found what he was looking for. An old worn booster seat sat in a box, its pink lining torn slightly at the edges, but other than that in usable condition. He grabbed it hastily before exiting out the front door. Once it was installed, he and Melanie were off to Starbucks. He knew they were going to be late, and DiNozzo being himself, well, he was going to have a field day with that. They pulled into the Starbucks parking lot, he grabbed his daily coffee, got Melanie a chocolate dipped cookie (which she happily and very excitedly accepted) and headed off to headquarters.

Ping! The familiar elevator dinged throughout the bullpen as Senior (and VERY Special) Agent Anthony DiNozzo stepped out, his trademark cheshire cat grin plastered on his face for all to see. He sauntered over to his desk and plopped down with a hearty and overdramatic grunt while pulling a Boston Crème donut from a Dunkin Donuts bag. He greedily began to indulge into the delicious treat while clicking mindlessly through spam e-mails. The familiar ping! sounded through the bullpen again as Special Agent Caitlin Todd and Probationary Officer Timothy McGee entered, both engaged and talking animatedly about Kate's secret service days.

"Wow, being on presidential protection duty sounds like some crazy work. Staying up and going to sleep at odd hours, adjusting to all the time changes. How the hell did you do it!" Tim exclaimed.

"Hey! Language probie cakes!" teased Tony. Kate and Tim only rolled their eyes at their juvenile colleague as they made their ways to their own desks, still chatting enthusiastically about the crazy aspects of presidential protection duty.

"Why, McTardy I'm surprised at you. Of all people to be late, you and Katie-pie over here just happen to be them. What would Gibbs say!" Tony taunted.

Kate was ready to fire back a retort but stopped herself in her tracks, hoping to trick him into thinking their stealthy boss was behind him. Immediately she and McGee composed their business face and waited for DiNozzo to catch the hint.

"What?" he asked, still not catching on? Suddenly his face went ghost white.

"He's right behind me again isn't he...?" he trailed off, eyes wide.

Kate and McGee just laughed as Tony began turning around in circles, eyes darting nervously around for their leader. When he didn't see him anywhere, he glared at them before going back to work.

The familiar Ping! sounded throughout the bullpen as Gibbs and Melanie stepped out of the elevator. All three agents' heads popped up, their eyes immediately going to Melanie, who shrunk back against Gibbs' pant leg, hiding from their stare. He ignored them as he and Melanie walked the catwalk to MTAC. The team continued to stare after them before he turned around, barking an order to them.

"Get to work!" he said before continuing his path to MTAC.

The team began typing furiously on their computers as they clicked and clacked away. It was a Friday and none of the team wanted to spend their Friday night in the infamous bullpen. Once they realized he was gone, they began gossiping like teenagers.

"So who do you think the kid was? You think it was his?" asked Tony, his eyes dancing excitedly, as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Kate and McGee just rolled their eyes as they tried to figure out who she might be.

"Whoever it was, she was a cute little girl. Pretty, too," listed McGee. Kate nodded her head in agreement, before Tony cut in.

"So fellow colleagues, what art thou doing on this lovely Friday night?" joked Tony, as he lazily slouched back in his chair, his hands resting behind his head.

"I have a date tonight with one of my old friends from MIT. Her name's Claire. We used to be study buddies," declared McGee proudly. Tony all but fell out of his chair at McGee's good news.

"Ha! Our little probie? On a date? Like, a legit date? Too funny. Good one, McGee," he chuckled.

"DiNozzo!" warned Kate.

"Hey now Katie-pie! No need to get your panties in a wad. Oh wait, they probably are. You did say she was a thong girl, right McGee?" he taunted, while narrowly missing the paper ball that Kate had chucked at his head. Tony just shrugged, chuckling internally, before returning to work.

Study buddies? Ha! What a load of bull. He thought to himself, smirking as he began typing again. The three began to fall back into their monotonous pace, trying to finish the seemingly never ending reports.

Gibbs returned with Melanie from MTAC and both stalked into the bullpen, although Melanie more or less stumbled in, since she was nervous being in front of so many people.

"Todd! McGee! DiNozzo! Campfire!" he instructed, as the three wheeled themselves over, forming a triangle around Gibbs and Melanie. Melanie looked at the three agents with confusion written all over her small features. She tugged on Gibbs' pant leg as he crouched down to her level, before whispering to him.

"Why did you say three boy names? There's a girl here too."

Gibbs chuckled before whispering back.

"Todd is Kate's last name. That's DiNozzo and that's McGee," he pointed to the corresponding agents. Melanie nodded her head in understanding.

"Listen up. This is Melanie. There's a very good possibility that…" he paused, trying to find a way to explain the situation without upsetting the little girl again. Tony caught his drift and nodded his head in understanding. He mouthed it to the other two, who quickly caught on as well.

"Melanie, I want you to meet my team," announced Gibbs, a slight edge to his voice that Tony managed to catch; pride. Tony wheeled his chair over to the little girl, smiling as he went to shake her hand.

"Ello there my dear, around these parts they call me Anthony, but you can call me Tony," he smiled his infamous Cheshire cat grin, earning an adorable grin back.

"I'm the very special, and believe me, I do mean VERY SPECIAL senior field agent on Gibbs' team. I am a huge fan of movies of all kind. Well, any movie that doesn't have to do with vampires that is. I have a huge movie collection," he finished his mini autobiography with a dramatic sigh as he rolled back to his place in the "campfire". Melanie stared at him for a few minutes as if giving an assessment.

"Tony….ou look weally pretty," she giggled, causing the others to laugh so loud that their coworkers were peeking over their cubicles trying to figure out what was going on. Tony just blushed bright crimson, before waiting for the next member of the team to go.

"Hello, Melanie. My name is Kate. I like to bake and shop. I have a dog named Tony. I'm sure she'd love to meet you," she smiled warmly again at the little girl, who smiled back slightly braver than before. Melanie darted her tiny hazel eyes back and forth between Tony and Kate as if trying to make some comparison.

"Tony….don't take tis perfonally, but Kay is a lot pwettier den you," she stated confidently, causing the team, even Gibbs, to laugh loudly again and Tony to grumble to himself.

"Melanie, my name is Tim. I like computers and I'm working to be a part-time writer. I already have two books published. I have a younger sister named Sarah who also graduated from MIT like me. It's nice to meet you," he finished. Melanie just stared at him, before giggling madly. The four team members just looked at each other in confusion. Finally calming down, she spoke again.

"Tim… I sorry, but Kay and Toby are way pwettier den you. You look like…a bubby! Can you hop?" she asked, her face showing that she was extremely serious. Tim sulked in his chair while Tony gave Melanie a high five. Once everyone was settled again, Gibbs became serious.

"So Melanie, why don't you tell us about you?" asked McGee. She smiled, placing her tiny hands in her lap before beginning.

"My name's Melanie Ross. Last night, my mommy was hurted weal bad so I ran away from the mean man in our house and I ran to Gibby's house. He letted me stay in a pink room with butterflies and got me a cookie this morning!" she said, her eyes shining excitedly.

"I like aminals, coloring, and I like to bake cookies like Kay," she smiled in Kate's direction as she said the last part. Tony couldn't help but form a strange look at the sound of hearing "pink room with butterflies" and "Gibbs' house" in the same sentence.

"Alright, now that we know each other, it's time to get down to business. Kate, find out any information you can on the Ross family, DiNozzo you too, I'm sure there's a lot of information to sort through. McGee, whatever they find, do that techy junk and get me an address, as well as any recent activity. Now!" he said as he took Melanie's hand, leading her to the elevator.

"Where are we going, Gibby?" she asked.

"To meet one of my favorite members of our team; you'll love her," he said smiling, as the elevator doors groaned closed.

Next up, Melanie meets Abby. That should be fun (: Oh hey by the way, there's a reference to See No Evil in here. Lemme know if you found it in your review, but don't say what it is. Let the others find it too (:

~gummibearzX3