Chapter 33

Jardine sensed the shift in the atmosphere, and as the two of them left the little girl's room, she couldn't help but notice something changing about Gibbs. There was something about a case involving kids that was affecting him, more so than a normal person. Something was different, and she sensed that there was a story there…

"So what happens to her now?" Jardine asked as they walked down the stairs to the crime scene below.

"We find if she has any other family," Gibbs said briskly, walking into the room.

"Boss, the wife is visiting family in Boston. She's flying back and should be back early tomorrow," Kate said. Gibbs looked her way to show he heard and then knelt down next to the body.

"Cause of death, Duck?"
"At first glance, knife would that severed the trachea and carotid artery."

"Explains all the blood…" Gibbs had been working enough crime scenes to know that a slash to the neck caused major bleeding.

"We'll know more when we get him back to autopsy." Gibbs turned to the rest of her team.

"McGee, Kate, DiNozzo, finish processing the scene and ride back with Ducky."

"Gibbs."

He turned. It was Jardine. Again. This woman was really beginning to get on his nerves. Why couldn't he have got a normal shy quiet newbie who didn't talk so much?

"What about the kid?"

Gibbs thought through the possible options. They could hand the kid over to social services. But what if the killer came back to remove their key witness. Protective custody seemed like a good option. But they were NCIS, not babysitters. And there wasn't anyone on the team who would be equipped to look after a kid. It was between the guy who saw life as a party, the techie, the awkward-yet-beautiful ex-secret service. Or Gibbs. Gibbs sighed.

He whipped out his phone to make a call that was going to determine the outcome of the events, As much as Gibbs disliked the man, Vance was his superior. And if there was anyone they could unload their difficult decisions on, it was him.

Gibbs took a breath and dialled.

"Vance, we may have a problem…"

oooOOOooo

That was how Gibbs found himself in a car with Jardine and a 6 year old girl. Aware of the girl's previous breakdown Gibbs was trying to do as little as possible to startle her. And that involved travelling and a normal speed and obeying the high-way code. Which felt strange to someone who drove like him.

Vance had insisted that NCIS look after the child until the next morning. He had said that it was for protective purposes, but Gibbs was convinced it was because he did not like him. And he didn't like the paperwork that came with sending a child so social services.

They entered the bullpen and Gibbs dropped his bag off at his desk. It was only when he was behind the desk that he noticed that the kid was not following him. Turning around, he saw her looking around, with a look of pure, unadulterated awe painted on her face as she took in her new surroundings. To Gibbs, this place was his second home, the high ceiling where noises were magnified and the smells merged into one. That being, cheap food and even cheaper coffee. He forgot sometimes how the world looked to a child.

"Come on. Got somebody I want you to meet," Gibbs put out his hand and Ashley took it. No questions asked. That childhood innocence and naïve attitude, that everyone was a good person. It would be left untouched for years, until she found out the hard way that there was evil in this world.

"Errmm… boss, what about me?" Gibbs sighed, and the smile that may have made an appearance, had the sunlight not been so violently pulled out from underneath him. He turned to her and Jardine almost recoiled at the glare she received. She wasn't stupid. She could see the thoughts going through his head.

"Sit. Stay. The team will take it from there when they get back. " He motioned towards the desk next to her.

Gibbs had few options of where to take the girl. Autopsy was out of the question. Forensics would not be a good idea, goodness knows what Abby would expose her to down there. And he wasn't talking poisonous fumes. That only left one place and person. And he was not going be happy about it…

"You want me to do what!"

Palmer was not happy. He was freaking out at the prospect of spending the day with the child. He pushed his glasses further up his nose nervously. It was almost comical to watch the raging battle going through his mind, with part of him scared of the child, and the other scared of Gibbs. Questioning Gibbs was never a good move. But Jimmy looked genuinely terrified, which only made the situation even more amusing for Gibbs. Not that he would admit that to anyone ever. Jimmy was the obvious choice. He was the one who looked after the scout kid who was basically Tony DiNozzo trapped in a twelve year old's body. And he had managed to do that without messing up too badly.

Gibbs said nothing but gave him a look as if to say "you do realise who you're argueing with".

"Umm… Gibbs," Jimmy started, "I deal with dead bodies. Not living people. And definitely not small children." But he was not getting out of this one.

Without a word Gibbs shot a smile at the kid, and a glare at Jimmy. And then he was gone.

oooOOOooo

"I hate you."

Jardine's ears perked up at the sound of voices coming from the elevator. There was something about feeling like a babysat child that made her nervous. In her mind, the sooner the team got back and tasked her with something vaguely useful to do, the better. But judging by the harsh words leaving Kate's mouth, that wasn't going to be likely.
"Agent Todd," Jardine said, smiling. Agent Todd was a woman. Agent Todd knew what it was like trying to make it in a man's world. Agent Todd would take her in. Right?

Clearly Agent Todd had other things in mind.

"Jardine," Kate said sweetly. And then her smile vanished, "I'll give you some advice. Never ask McGee for advice about how to deal with men."

Jardine was trying to work out what was scarier, the fact Kate's smile had disappeared so fast, or the look she was currently directing at McGee.

"I give good advice!" McGee said indignantly.

"You told me to buy him chocolate!" Kate retaliated.

Clearly the look of confusion on Jardine's face was picked up by the senior field agent, who decided to take pity on the newbie.
"It is Ari's birthday in a week, and Kate does not know what to get him," Tony said, flicking his mouse to activate the computer screen. Immediately both Kate and McGee stopped moving, as if someone had pressed the pause button on their lives. And now Jardine was really confused. Looking between the team members, she waited to see some kind of life.

"Wait, you're not going to make some comment about chocolate and my sex life?" Kate said.

"You're not going to say something about Abby and I?" McGee interjected. Tony looked up and shrugged.

"Do you want me to?"

"No, gosh no," Kate said, "I like you better when you talk less."

As all slid soundlessly into their stations and started their research, Jardine was yet again left standing in the middle of the squad room, and still with no purpose. She sighed dejectedly, her eyes flicking around the room to find something to do. And clearly the lost puppy look was getting her places.

"You can use the desk over there," McGee said, motioning to the lone desk behind the orate patrician. Jardine shot him a grateful look. At least now she had something to do.

The bullpen fell as silent as it ever was, the usual office buzz punctuated by the insistent tapping on computer keys. And then they all heard it.

McGee heard it first, him being the closest one to the patrician. There was a strange, constant squeaking noise, the kind that only came from the cat toys, or rubber chickens. But what was it doing behind the walls.

Slowly Kate and Tony became aware of the sound, all shooting McGee strange looks, as if accusing him of emitting those noises. Wordlessly Tony and Kate got off their chairs simultaneously, walking quietly across bullpen to close the distance between themselves and the mystery noise. It was only when all three of them had gathered in front of McGee's desk when they leaned around the side of the orange placard to see what was happening on the other side of the wall. And they were surprised, to say the least…

Jardine had somehow secreted a packet of wetwipes from somewhere on her person, and was now proceeding to wipe down every surface of the desk, from the mouthpiece of the telephone to each individual key of the keyboard.

The team exchanged glances, but before they could communicate anything, the chime of the elevator was heard, and the sound of their infamous leader beckoned.

"What have we got!" Gibbs said as soon as he had got out of the elevator in his typically perfect "yes, the elevator was waiting for me to get into it. Because even it is afraid of me" styles. Jardine's head whipped round, and her eyes filled with fear at the image of the three agents peering curiously at her. But before she could voice any of her indignation, the team had moved to lean on the front of their desks in a loose circle.

"James Davis. Father of Ashley Davis and husband of Janet Davis," McGee started.

"Came back from his tour in the Middle East, but decided to stay to be with his family," Kate continued from where McGee had left of.

"Any reason to want him dead?" Gibbs asked. This was all pointing to a hit, the men turning up at his doorstep and killing him, no questions asked, execution style.

"No strong religious views, not political. As far as guys go he is pretty much what you see is what you get. Even Kate could buy a birthday present for him" DiNozzo finished. McGee and Kate both turned to him with the same expressions on their faces. There was no way that Tony was going to not make a comment on Kate's inability to buy presents. That thought was too good to be true. Gibbs shook his head, oblivious to the team's previous comment, and not particularly wanting to know what had happened. Moving swiftly on.

"Jardine, did you find anything useful?"

"Ermm…"

Gibbs could see the thought process going through the woman's mind, as she realised that the "all of mine have already been said" excuse only worked in primary school.

"Kate, McGee, go check on his work place. Talk to his boss, colleagues. Find something that isn't on file. Jardine, DiNozzo find out everything you can about that company." And before anyone could say anything, he was gone.

"You found anything Duck?"
"Cause of death was the neck wound. That slash caused the lungs to fill with blood. He literally drowned in his own blood," Ducky began, indicating the wound.

"The edges of the wound indicate that a serrated blade was used. Maybe a hunting knife? Abby may be able to help you with that one." Gibbs was taking notes as he spoke.

"Thanks Duck," Gibbs said, turning to leave.

"I'm not done," Ducky said, and Gibbs turned back around, "A knife wound is always different to poison or a shooting. It's personal, you have to look your victim in the eye as you kill them, and watch the life drain out of their eyes."

"Someone wanted to watch him die."
"And death would have been painful. Someone didn't just want to kill him. They wanted him to suffer," he said, that dark tone evident in his voice. It was almost that it pained him to understand such cruelty and evil. Gibbs nodded.

"Thanks Ducky."

At that moment, Gibbs' mobile went off, and as he picked up, Ducky could hear the thrill panicked voice of Mr Palmer on the over end. He was too far away to decipher exactly what was said, but judging by the next words to come out of Gibbs' mouth, it was not good.

"You did what?!"

"I'm sorry Gibbs," Palmer stuttered out, a panicked look in his eye, as he tried to not break eye contact with Gibbs, but eye the small child that was currently running around the office of Abby's lab.

"You gave a 6 year old Red Bull!?" Make that a highly caffeinated child running around the lab.

"She wanted a drink…" Jimmy attempted to justify, but to no avail.

"So you gave her Caf-Pow?" Gibbs gestured over to the child. It was in that moment that he realised that the child was heading towards the door of the ballistics lab. The unlocked door of the ballistics lab. In a lightning-fast move that could only be mastered by Gibbs and possibly Superman (although the latter was debatable), Gibbs managed to shut, and lock the door, much to the child's displeasure.

"It was the only thing Abby had down here, an-"

"Vending machines, Palmer! They were invented for a reason!" Gibbs cut him off. Loudly.

"But… you see… I was helping Ab- Where are you going?" Jarod asked nervously as Gibbs turned her back on him and walked back into the lab.

"Tell me you've found something."

"I found something!" Abby said, her cheerful disposition not deterred in the slightest.

"The edges of the wound was caused by some sort of serrated blade. It looks like your average hunting knife, but we're trying to reconstruct the attack using the depth of the wound to guess not only the type of knife but the speed that it was travelling at, the angle of the blade…" she was babbling. Again.

"Anything useful Abby?"

"Patience," she said, shooting Gibbs a smile. That smile was the reason that Abby got away with so much. That and the fact that no-one else dare talk to Gibbs like that.

"We found a partial print on the blood trail."

"Are you running it through AFIS?"

"Nope!" she said cheerfully. There was a pause, as Gibbs tried to get annoyed, but failed. Who could stay annoyed at Abby for long?

"Not a fingerprint. A glove print." She clicked a few buttons and another image appeared on his screen.

"The unique stitching on the glove made it easy to match. It's a leather glove, designer label and very expensive. Not everyone can afford this kind of thing. But with the money, anyone can get it." So what she was saying that lots of people could have it. But not many did. Useful. She turned to leave.

"Gibbs!"

He turned to see that Abby was tilting her head towards him. Rolling his eyes good-naturedly, he pecked a kiss on her cheek. And in a (figurative) puff of smoke, he was gone.

At eight o'clock the team and Jardine sat in their designated places in silence, all frustrated at the lack of evidence. All they had was an expensive glove that could be purchased in 50 shops in that state alone.

"So the caffeine rush wore off," Tony joked. But judging my how frazzled Palmer looked as he got off the elevator, carrying the sleeping child in his arms.
"I'm heading off for the night. She's yours now." And with that he left.

The agents sat there, none of them knowing what to do. This was NCIS's finest, the team with the best marksmen who could floor bad guys without a blink of the eye or breaking into sweat. But now they all sat, looking absolutely terrified. By a small 6 year old child.

Just at that moment, Gibbs rounded the corner in his characteristic "Gibbs" fashion.

"Go home."

"But what about the child?" Kate asked, not moving. Gibbs glared at her, but she just stared right back at him. Questioning Gibbs' direct orders just wasn't something that was done. Unless, apparently, you were Kate.

"I'm taking her." McGee and DiNozzo stopped what they were doing and looked at Gibbs.

"Are you sure?" DiNozzo asked and McGee and Kate shot him a "are you insane?" look. But clearly he was.

"OK, so you take her," Gibbs said. Tony's lack of answer seemed to be all he needed.

"I'll go tell the surveillance team to set up outside your house," and with that, their fearless leader was gone.

There was a moment of shocked silence as the team took in what just happened. A shocked silence that McGee felt the need to break.

"You did ask for it," he pointed out.

"Not helping, McSmart-Ass," Tony said, picking up the phone of his desk, and hurriedly pressing the numbers in. As soon as the call was connected he launched into the conversation.

"Ziva. I need your help. How good are you with kids?"

Oooo, Tiva and a kid? that should be interesting...

Please PLEASE leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter. The faster you review, the faster I update with a chapter about Tiva and a kid... ;D