Chapter Three: Adding to the Noise

"Grab your gear," Tony said as he strolled through the bullpen to his desk. Gibbs had tasked his team with searching Lisa Keenan's house while he went to the hospital. Tony seamlessly slipped into his role as senior field agent. It was his job to lead the team in Gibbs' absence and he took that responsibility very seriously.

"Where're we going?" Tim asked as he grabbed his bag.

"Where is Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"Gibbs is with D'Arcy," Tony answered. "He wants us to search Keenan's house."

"Is Abby watching the kids?" Tim asked.

"Yep. Ducky and Palmer are helping. It's a slow day in autopsy."

The group checked their kits, loaded up their gear, gassed the truck up then headed out. Lisa Keenan didn't live in one of the better parts of town but there were worse. The agents assumed it was all she could afford on her budget.

"How is Gibbs?" Ziva asked. Tony had spent all morning with him. She and Tim had barely seen him and both were worried about how everything was affecting him.

"He's Gibbs," Tony answered. "He's fine."

"Tony, it's just us," Tim said. "You don't have to protect him from us."

Tony stopped at the red light and looked over at his coworkers. "He's a little distracted."

"Do you think those could be his kids?" Tim asked quietly. It had been the question circulating NCIS all morning as more and more people found out about the little boy who shared Gibbs' name.

"What do you think, McGee?"

Tim looked back out the front window and didn't answer.

"It would be nice if Keenan was here and we didn't have to chase her all over the city," Tony said as he parked the MCRT truck in front of the house.

"No way is she here," Tim said. "She abandoned her kids for a reason. She's not just gonna sit around and wait to get caught."

The group put their NCIS hats and jackets on then grabbed their gear and headed for the house. After knocking and getting no answer, Tony picked the lock and they quickly entered and cleared the small house. The only one home was a large black Labrador retriever with a patch of white fur on his chest.

"Dash," Tony read from the dog's tags.

"Looks friendly enough," Tim said, obviously intimidated by the dog.

"Relax, McGoo," Tony said, rubbing the dog's head affectionately, "he's not gonna hurt you. Spread out. Let's see what clues they left us."

The group spent over an hour searching the house but didn't turn up much. The closet and dressers in the master bedroom were empty; a sure sign that the adults had no intention of returning. The second bedroom was littered with toys. There were two small mattresses on the floor, both neatly made. Unlike the bare master bedroom, the kids' room looked well lived in.

Tony bagged hairbrushes and toothbrushes in hopes of getting they mystery boyfriend's DNA so they could identify him and grabbed the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. While he was doing that, Tim and Ziva packed a couple bags for the kids and gathered the dog's things. After talking to the neighbors, they got in the truck and headed back towards the Navy Yard.

"I hate neighborhoods like this," Tim said. "The neighbors always refuse to talk to us."

"They do not trust us," Ziva said.

"I know but you'd think any decent human being would be willing to help us help those little kids," Tim said.

"Well, there probably aren't many decent human beings in this neighborhood," Tony pointed out.

After a quick stop at the store to get three toddler car seats, Gibbs and D'Arcy headed for Washington General Hospital. Gibbs vaguely remembered seeing an old car seat somewhere in storage at NCIS but he didn't have time to search for it. Besides, he needed three.

He and D'Arcy made their way to the Pediatric Wing of the hospital and after checking in they were sent to the waiting room. There wasn't much conversation between them. Gibbs was busy trying to convince himself that there was no way he had three children he'd never met and D'Arcy wasn't quite sure what to say.

They hadn't been waiting long when a woman in a white lab coat made her way over to them. "Agent Gibbs and Ms. McKinna?"

"That's us," D'Arcy said.

"I'm Dr. Maya Thomas, Sadie's doctor. How can I help you?"

"NCIS is investigating the abandonment of one of her brothers," Gibbs explained. "We'll be taking over her case too."

"I'm Child Service's liaison with NCIS so I've taken over the case from Tanya," D'Arcy explained. "How's Sadie doing?"

"Her fever is back down to normal and she's rehydrated but I'd like to keep her one more night," Dr. Thomas said. "She's no longer contagious but she's still feeling pretty yucky and will for the next few days."

"Do you know why she had such a high fever?" Gibbs asked.

"She had a severe case of the flu," Dr. Thomas explained. "As far as we can tell there hasn't been any misconduct or neglect by the parent. It's just what's going around."

"Any idea why her mother never came back?" Gibbs asked.

"I think the seizure really scared her. I tried to explain that it was common in young children and the likelihood of it happening again was slim to none but the mom was really in a panic. She was worried about Sadie dying and worried about the bill. I think she thought we wouldn't treat her daughter if she couldn't pay. I tried to calm her but she had herself pretty worked up. I had a hard time getting a read on her."

"We'll need a copy of Sadie's file when she's released," D'Arcy said.

"Of course."

"Can we see her?" Gibbs asked.

"I'll take you back."

Gibbs and D'Arcy followed Dr. Thomas down a brightly painted hallway. Gibbs could feel his heart rate increasing and his hands turning cool and clammy. Why was he so nervous? He was just going to check on another child who'd been abandoned by her mother. This had nothing to do with him.

Get a grip, he told himself. The little one back at NCIS who shared a name with him was really throwing him off his game. He let D'Arcy enter the room behind the doctor then he stepped in. He immediately noticed that the little girl had the same stunning blue eyes as her brother… and as him. He pushed the thoughts away and focused his attention on the frightened and hurting little girl.

"How are you feeling today, Sadie?" Dr. Thomas asked.

"Mommy," the little girl whined.

"Mommy's not here, sweetheart," Dr. Thomas said. "I'm sorry, but I did bring you some visitors. Agent Gibbs and Ms. D'Arcy came to see you. They're very nice people. I think you'll like them."

"Hi, baby," Gibbs said as he sat in the chair next to the bed so he'd be at her level. When he saw her lip start quivering and tears threaten, he reached out and held her hand. He couldn't imagine what was going through her mind after being left in a hospital with a bunch of strangers, needles and meds and people poking at her constantly.

"There've been a lot of tears," Dr. Thomas said, rubbing her hand over the girl's head.

"You're probably scared, huh?" Gibbs said, talking more to Sadie than the doctor. When the little girl's tears spilled out, Gibbs gently picked her up and cradled her to his chest. She looked exhausted and worn down. He was hoping to be able to provide some measure of comfort and security. "Everything's gonna be okay, sweetheart," he whispered into her hair.

"If you guys don't need anything else, I'll leave you be," Dr. Thomas said.

"I think we're okay," D'Arcy said.

"Just hit the call button if you need anything and someone will be right here," Dr. Thomas said.

"Thank you," Gibbs said.

"Poor thing," D'Arcy said.

Gibbs bit back the negative comments running through his head. He didn't want to badmouth Lisa in front her daughter but he was having a hard time understanding how she could leave the little girl scared and alone. "What do you need to write your reports, D'Arcy?" he asked.

"Tanya already wrote one on Sadie," D'Arcy said. "I should have everything I need to write one up for LJ. All I can do for Mason is get him placed in your custody. The intent is there but it'd be difficult to prove the mother had no intention of returning to pick him up from daycare. I'll contact the daycare and if Lisa never showed up to get him, I'll make a note of that in my report."

"You headed back to NCIS or are you going to your office?"

"NCIS. I'll need a copy of the report about LJ being abandoned to write mine."

"I'm gonna stay with Sadie tonight," Gibbs said. There was no way he was going to let her spend another night in the hospital alone and scared. "Will you take two of the car seats back to NCIS with you?"

"Sure. Do you need anything else?"

"No. Thank you, D'Arcy."

By the time D'Arcy left, Sadie's crying had slowed to whimpers. She was lying in Gibbs' arms with her hand fisted into his shirt, staring up at him through sad eyes and hooded eyelids. She looked like she was going to fall asleep any minute. Gibbs brushed the tears from her cheeks and ran his fingers through her hair as he looked down at her.

He wrapped his big hand around her tiny hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. "Sadie Josephine Gibbs," he whispered.

The girl looked up at him through droopy eyelids and it was like Gibbs was looking into a mirror. Abby was right. LJ did have his eyes. Sadie had them too. Very few people had eyes that blue. For the first time in the quiet room, he was ready to admit to himself that he might be holding his daughter. All the coincidences in the world didn't explain away the fact that he and Lisa Keenan had been in an intimate relationship at the same time the triplets were conceived but he still wasn't quite convinced yet. If he built himself up thinking they were his only to find out they weren't, it'd be like losing a child—three children—all over again.

He pulled out his phone and hit the first speed dial. "DiNozzo," he said softly, "D'Arcy's on her way back to NCIS with two car seats. Take Mason and LJ to my house tonight. There's a toddler bed in the attic. You might have to stop and get some food. Make yourself at home and call me if you have any problems."

"Where will you be, Boss?" Tony asked.

"At the hospital," Gibbs answered, "with Sadie."

"This feels so wrong, McGee," Tony said as he pulled the hatch that would give them access to Gibbs' attic.

"How so?" Tim asked.

"Just think about all the memories he probably keeps up here," Tony said. "Feels like we're invading his privacy."

"Since when have you ever had a problem with that?" Tim asked with a laugh.

"This is Gibbs we're talking about."

"Yeah, and Gibbs told you to go in his attic and get the toddler bed," Tim said. "It's not snooping if he sent you up there."

Abby and Ziva were at the grocery store with LJ and Mason while Tony and Tim were at Gibbs' house with Dash trying to do a little baby proofing. It might've been easier if they knew anything about baby proofing but they were do the best they could. The first order of business was getting the bed out of the attic. The boys were small enough they could share and considering they only found two mattresses at their house, the kids were obviously used to sharing.

Tony climbed the ladder and poked his head in the attic. It was neat and organized and definitely the cleanest attic he'd ever seen. He climbed the rest of the way up and looked around. The first thing he laid eyes on was Shannon's wedding gown wrapped in a clear plastic case to protect it. He'd seen pictures of the woman and could only imagine how beautiful she looked in the gorgeous gown.

There was a dresser that had obviously belonged to Kelly. It was clear that Gibbs had made it. There were butterflies engraved in the top drawers and flowers in the bottom drawers and it was painted bright, happy colors. The headboard of the bed had matching butterflies and flowers. It was well built and beautiful; perfect for a little girl.

As he explored further he found boxes of clothes, toys and books, all stacked and labeled. He spotted the baby stuff in the back corner of the attic.

"Do you see it?" Tim called from the second floor of the house.

"Yeah," Tony answered. "Aren't you coming up?"

"I figured you could just pass it down to me."

"That'll work."

Getting everything out of the attic was only half the battle. Tim leaned all the parts of the toddler bed up against the stair railing as Tony passed them down then Tony climbed the ladder back to the second floor. Both agents and the dog stood in the hallway, staring at the only closed door in the house. As far as they knew nobody had been in that room since Kelly had died in 1991.

"Are you sure Gibbs said to put the bed in this room?" Tim asked.

"Yeah," Tony answered. "There's already a bed and a bunch of boxes in the master bedroom and he uses the other room for storage. There's a ton of stuff in there."

"Stuff?"

Tony took Tim across the hall with Dash following close behind. The room looked like an overloaded furniture store. There were bookcases, end tables and nightstands, a gorgeous roll-top desk, a rocking chair, a dining room table and chairs, a beautifully engraved coffee table that opened up for extra storage, a bed frame and dresser with matching engravings along with several odds and ends.

"Did Gibbs make all this stuff?" Tim asked.

"McGee, you're looking at the culmination of years of stressful cases, sleepless nights and dealing with us," Tony said.

"Why doesn't he sell it?"

" I dunno. My guess would be because he doesn't care about the money."

"He's gonna have to do something with some of it soon," Tim said. "He can't fit much more in here."

"That'll have to wait till later," Tony said. "We need to get the other room set up before Abby and Ziva get back with the boys."

The two walked back across the hallway and once again paused in front of the closed door. Tony reached out and rested his hand on the doorknob then looked at Tim.

"I'm going in," he said. He turned the knob and pushed the door open and both him and Tim were surprised at what they saw. The walls were bare and white and the room was completely empty.

"This wasn't what I was expecting," Tim said.

"Me neither," Tony said. "I don't know what I was expecting but this isn't it."

"I have an idea," Tim said. "We could move three of the bookcases from the other room in here and stack their clothes and toys in them. That's what we did sometimes after we moved, while we were waiting for our stuff to arrive. The Navy never could seem to get our furniture there on time."

"That's not a bad idea, McGee," Tony said, "and even better, if Gibbs gets pissed at us for it, I can just tell him it was all your idea. What do you think, Dash?"

The dog barked, earning himself a pat on the head.

Tony and Tim spent the next half hour arranging furniture and organizing the things they'd packed at the kids' house. With the exception of not having enough beds, the room turned out pretty nice. They hoped that the kids having some of their belongings would help make the transition easier and that Gibbs wouldn't flip out too much when he found out what they'd done.

After a less than appetizing dinner from the hospital cafeteria, Gibbs settled into the bed with Sadie cuddled up on his chest and read her a story. Sadie was slowly opening herself up to the care and affection from Gibbs and Gibbs' usual hard exterior had disappeared in the presence of the little one, just like it always did when kids were around. He watched her eyelids start to droop as he continued reading and by the end of the story she was sound asleep.

He brushed his thumb across her cheek and ran his fingers through her hair. She was a cute kid and not just because that's what you said about little ones. As Gibbs studied her, he quickly realized that with the exception of her hair color, she looked nothing like her mother. She actually looked a lot like Kelly had at that age. He made the connection without even thinking and when he realized it, his stomach dropped. Everybody had always said how much Kelly looked like him. If Sadie looked like Kelly that meant she looked like him.

He decided he needed to know for sure. The denying it and the not knowing were driving him crazy. It was time to put an end to all the questions. Well, some of the questions at least. First thing in the morning he'd have Abby compare they kids' DNA with his.