In July, the team found themselves at Coleman Park Carousel in Arlington investigating the disappearance of Lieutenant Commander Alex Tanner. His son, Zach, had called NCIS and waited at the scene. Two men had abducted his father. McGee learned there was no next of kin. Four years ago, Zach's mother had been killed in a car accident. The six year old boy was taken back to headquarters until Social Services took him into their custody. Upon further investigation, McGee learned Tanner was the Navy's liaison with a defense contractor, Q and R software, and had been the project lead on something called "Honor." McGee suggested taking a trip to Q and R, and DiNozzo was sent with him. The two learned security was breached at the company. It was made clear someone was going after a working copy of Honor. Lieutenant Commander Tanner was the only one with the key, a code committed to memory. DiNozzo decided it was time to update the boss of the situation.

Gibbs was driving to Social Services to take Zach's iPod to him. He had left it at NCIS. He had always been curious about iPods. Katie and Lizzie had them, but they wouldn't let him near theirs. The previous iPod Katie owned he'd tried to fix, and it hadn't ended well for the iPod. The music player suffered death from a screwdriver and hammer. He turned it on, put the ear buds into his ears, and quickly pulled them out as the music blasted into his ear drums. He shook his head and answered his phone when it began ringing.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he said into the phone.

"We may have a problem, Boss."

"May have?"

"The Honor code thingy Commander Tanner was working on may have been stolen," Dinozzo told him. "I'm trying to confirm it right now."

"What's it supposed to do?"

"Break just about any encryption in use today."

"Well yeah, DiNozzo. I'd say that sounds like a problem."

"It gets worse, Boss." I'm dating Elizabeth, he thought to himself. He and Lizzie had both agreed to keep the relationship secret until they were ready to let it be known, but Tony couldn't help thinking of the hundred and one ways Leroy Jethro Gibbs would murder him.

"According to the people here, Commander Tanner's the only one who can make it work."

"All right. I'm heading your way. Just got to drop off Zach's pod thing first." He hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket. His cell phone started ringing, and he answered although he hadn't recognized the number. After all, no one should ever be unreachable.

"Agent Gibbs!" The voice belonged to Zach. He was calling from a payphone.

"Are you calling about your pod thing you left on my desk?"

"No. He's here! The man from the park."

"Let me talk to your social worker, Zach," Gibbs told him calmly.

"I'm not in her office. As soon as I saw him, I took off."

"Where are you?"

"Outside on the street."

"Zach, I'm a few blocks from you. Stay right where you are."

"I can't. He's leaving."

"Zach, listen to me! I need you to…"

Zach interrupted him. "He knows where my dad is! We can't let him get away. Hurry!" Zach dropped the phone and left to follow the man who had taken his father.

"Zach!" Gibbs shouted into the phone, stepping on the gas. He arrived at Social Services a few minutes later and briskly walked to the building. However, he caught movement in his peripheral vision. The man was rough handling Zach in an attempt to get the boy into the SUV. The agent made his presence known and took cover near a tree after shots were fired. Zach kicked his wannabe kidnapper in the groin and swiftly ran to the safety of Gibbs as he took a shot at the man, wounding him in the shoulder. The wounded man jumped into the Suburban. The passenger window and back glass was shattered from more fire from Gibbs. The older man bent down to Zach's level and could see the fear in his features. His ears were covered with his hands. "It's okay. You're safe with me," Gibbs said to him before getting him into the car. Zach wasn't safe at Social Services and seemed to only be safe in the care of agents. In the squad room, Gibbs had Zach at his desk. The special agent was showing a side of himself rarely seen, the goofy side. He blew up a rubber glove and watched the boy laugh at him. From the stairs, Gibbs' wife watched intently yet sadly. A small smile spread across her face. The facial expression faded when Ziva and Dinozzo approached her.

"New hires just keep getting younger, eh, Madame Director?" DiNozzo said to her jokingly. The use of the nickname had ceased but had come back into play somehow. She wasn't fond of it whatsoever and thought she had made it known. Of course, her hatred of the name had missed DiNozzo or Jethro had put him up to calling her that.

"Obviously, you didn't get the memo, Agent DiNozzo."

"What memo?" he asked, looking at Ziva. How could he have missed a memo? He kept up with memos and emails.

"The one where it explains the next person who calls her madame gets keel hauled…whatever that is," Ziva told him.

Tony made a pained face. He wondered what the punishment would be if she found out he was dating her daughter. "It's..."

"Unpleasant," Jen finished the explanation in a sense. She had thought better of going into too much detail. "Tell Gibbs I want him upstairs," the older woman said, leaving the agents. Jenny paced outside of MTAC while Ziva and Tony entered the squad room. Gibbs looked at them expectantly.

"What did the Director want?"

Tony furrowed his brows at the use of the title. He had noticed Gibbs referring to Jenny as Director, and she had been referring to him as Agent Gibbs. The two were professional at work, but the tone of voice was different this week. He would make a phone call to Lizzie to find out why.

"You…upstairs," Ziva told him, half amused by the request. She was sure her friend wanted her husband upstairs all the time. After receiving a Gibbs glare, the Israeli busied herself with checking sketches while DiNozzo received his orders. He had a BOLO out on a black Chevy Suburban and was informed he'd be personally checking each and every one in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. which he wasn't thrilled about. Gibbs looked at him with daggers before changing his attention to Zach. "You keep an eye on him for me. I'll be right back," he told the six-year-old who moved to watch DiNozzo like a hawk. Gibbs left the squad room and jogged up the stairs to find Jenny standing near the railing in front of her office.

"You wanted to see me?"

She gazed down at Zach at DiNozzo's desk. "I forgot how good you were with children at that age," she said softly. "He reminds me of…" she trailed off.

"Jen," he warned.

The redhead cleared her throat and looked him in the eyes, needing to get her point across. "I have spent the last hour on video-conference with the Directors of the FBI, NSA, and Homeland Security," she informed him.

"Your kind of tea party," he commented with contempt. He never wanted to be Director of NCIS or any agency. No one would ever take him out of the field and put him behind a desk full time. It would be shooting the agency in the head if he was Director. Some days, he wished Jen wasn't in her position and was still his partner. Just like old times…the two of them out in the field together.

"If Project Honor's compromised, it will cripple our intelligence networks. They all want jurisdiction on this one."

"And you said..."

"I have my best agent working it. Now tell me you have something." Jen needed him to have something…anything on this case. She didn't need every agency breathing down her neck. Frankly, the Director of NCIS did not want the added stress.

"The same men who kidnapped the Commander went after his son."

"Have you considered that Commander Tanner might not have been kidnapped?" She hated to ask him that question because she knew what it meant. An innocent child would be without a father and would go into the care of strangers.

"I have."

"And?"

"I don't buy it," he told her simply.

"Your famous gut again?" If he answered yes, she wasn't sure if she could resist screaming at him. He needed proof and not that damn gut of his.

"No. His son," he said, watching Zach. As far as he was concerned, the conversation with Jenny was finished and walked away from her. He would do his job if she gave him the space. Moreover, he needed to make a visit to the lab to see what Abby had come up with. The visit to the lab didn't make things appear any better in clearing Tanner from the evidence stacking up against him. DiNozzo interviewed people from Q and R, hoping to get any useful information. He and Ziva were discussing nothing of importance to the case as usual when Gibbs appeared in the squad room. The agents could have been discussing the mating habits of baboons, and Gibbs wouldn't have noticed. His attention was more focused on the child missing from the room.

"Where's Zach?"

"Potty break, Boss," DiNozzo answered.

"You gonna speak?"

Ziva spoke since she had the latest findings. "I got an I.D. on one of our suspects. His name is Vincent Pazzo…Italian born…freelance mercenary…black ops mostly. Some wet work."

"How'd you find out about that?" Tony asked curiously. He hated to be outdone, and Ziva knew it. The Mossad liaison was dimming the senior field agent's shining star although that star hadn't been burning brightly during this case.

"I sent Zach's sketches to some people who owe me a favor."

"Well, if he's got the Honor program and the guy who knows how to make it work, then why'd they go after the kid?"

"To force him to cooperate," Gibbs answered the senior field agent's question. The pieces were slowly but surely coming together.

"Then there's a possibility that Commander Tanner set this up to make it look like kidnapping," Ziva answered in her typical no bull way.

"Keep your voice down," Gibbs reprimanded harshly. Zach did not need to hear such musings about his father. The boy had been through a lot.

"Shh!" DiNozzo reiterated.

"That's what I would do if it were my op. The authorities are looking for a kidnapper when they should be looking for a traitor," Ziva explained quietly.

"It doesn't feel right, Ziva."

"It doesn't have to feel right to be right, Gibbs."

The team leader glared at her and looked at Tony. "Keep an eye on Zach for a few minutes." He left the bullpen and was in the Director's office minutes later, watching the redhead as she looked up from her work.

"Yes, Jethro?"

"I'm going home. Taking Zach with me."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Jen, I'm taking him home," he replied in a firmer voice.

"Jethro, don't. Please, it isn't a good idea," she stopped and sighed. "Please."

He shook his head and stared at her incredulously. "Did I say I was taking him to our house, Jen? I don't think I did."

She said nothing and folded her hands into her lap, staring down at them and listening as he continued to speak. Her husband's mind was made up, and she couldn't change it.

"He's not safe anywhere else. I'll see you in the morning," he said, leaving the office. He took Zach to his house. The pair ate dinner, a delivered pepperoni pizza. He found an old NIS t-shirt for Zach to wear. The boy followed Gibbs to the basement and looked at the unfinished boat in amazement. The two talked about the boat and Zach's father until Zach changed the subject.

"Who's the lady with red hair?"

"Her name's Jenny. Why?"

"Who is she?"

Gibbs looked at him as he stood at the work bench. "My wife and the Director of NCIS."

"Why isn't she here? If you're married, she lives here too. Right?"

He sighed. "We do live together but not in this house, Zach. I keep this one to work on my boat."

"Is she coming over?"

"Probably not. We're having a few problems," Gibbs admitted but decided to change the subject. "Do you want to give me a hand?" he asked, motioning to the boat as he neared it. Both were oblivious to the one woman audience watching from the doorway.

Jenny stood quietly in the doorway. She had taken her heels off before padding through the house. Jethro wouldn't detect her perfume as he usually did. The smell of sawdust was too strong. She watched her husband with the boy and listened to their conversation.

"Don't know how," Zach replied in a small voice. He didn't want to mess up the hard work put into the boat. He liked Gibbs and could tell Gibbs liked him. If he messed up the boat, Gibbs could get upset with him.

"Come on, I'll give you a hand."

"I don't want to ruin it."

"You're not going to ruin anything," Gibbs promised. "Come here." He hoisted Zach up, so he could reach the area needing to be sanded. Gibbs moistened his thumb and cleaned off an area to reveal the wood grain. "See? You always want to go with the grain of wood. Put your hand there. Put your weight behind it. Back and forth… real even," he instructed.

From her place in the shadows, Jenny swallowed hard as she watched Zach carefully sand with Jethro's assistance. She felt tears forming in her green eyes and brushed one away that fell onto her cheek. Seeing her husband with the boy had brought a memory to the forefront, and the remembrance was too painful for her especially considering the week. By the time she reached the front door, tears were streaming down her face. She slipped into her car and whispered to no one, "I wish you were still here."