The all knowing, always in control Gibbs was speechless, even if just for a moment. Terrible memories from many years ago came crashing back but he used all his mental energy to push them away for reopening in the safety of his basement with bourbon to burn and a boat to attack. For now, he turned to the little girl sitting quietly at the table, his goddaughter.
"Hi Gibbsy" It sounded nothing like his happy, playful goddaughter.
"When did you last eat?" At times like this, practicalities were the easiest to handle.
As if on cue, her stomach grumbled. "McGee!" the kid flinched and Gibbs lowered his voice, "Take the kid, get her some food. And then find her a place to nap inside headquarters. Don't let her out of your sight."
"Yes boss." McGee reached out for Amira's hand but her other hand held on tightly to Gibbs' jumper.
"Amira, you go with Time. He'll take care of you for now. I'll see you soon."
Amira didn't respond but didn't let go of the jumper either.
"Trust me, he'ss let you eat a lot more sugar and junk food than I ever will. Go on." Gibbs tried to smile but the child looked up at him with so much sadness that he had to look away.
Tony came along and said, "Boss, you should be with Amira, she needs you. We got this."
"Dinozzo, I cannot rest till I have found the people who did this, to Mike and to Leyla, who destroyed my family!" Amira quivered at the volume.
Tony moved toward her and started massaging her shoulders, "Boss, I understand. And all of us want the same thing. We got this. We'll catch the killers and keep you updated. But even Mike and Leyla would have wanted you to be with Amira right now."
Gibbs looked between Tony and Amira and sighed relenting, picked up Amira and walked to his car.
He called in an order for Amira's favorite meal of pizza and even the rare treat of a coke and drove to NCIS. He couldn't find the right words to say and the car ride was silent but Amira still held on to a part of his jumper. She ate a few slices, drank some coke and lied down for a nap without any fuss. Gibbs wasn't sure what to do with himself and after getting an update from Tony that all was under control, he walked to Jenny's office.
She hugged him and for once, he really appreciated it.
"So what happens to the girl now, Jen?"
"Unless she has new relatives I don't know of, she goes back to her mother's family back in Iran."
"Absolutely not."
"But Jethro, that's the law."
"I'm her Godfather."
"I'm not sure if that will be enough."
"I have documents from her mother and grandfather saying that they would want me to have custody." Jethro said, rubbing his hand on his face.
"Okay?" Jenny was confused.
"Mike was always prepared for the worst. Gave me a hard head slap when I refused to sign the document." Jethro chuckled.
"And you're sure you're up to caring for a 12 year old full time?"
"No. But I know that I'll do my best and that's the best she's got."
"Okay Jethro, I believe you, I'll make this happen."
"Thanks Jen." Gibbs walked back to the bullpen wondering if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.
He found Amira sitting on his chair. She got up when she saw him. He sat down and she settled on his lap like nothing had changed.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Nightmare." Gibbs's hand moved of its own accord to rub her back.
"Would you like to talk about what happens next?"
She nodded.
"As your godfather, I'd like to take up guardianship, if you'd have me. You could go back to Iran but I don't like that idea. Or we could find you a good family to live with."
"I want to be with you, Gibbsy. You're the only one left." Gibbs suddenly realized the monumental responsibility of that statement and hugged the child.
The elevator doors opened and the team walked in. Tony reported, "Case closed, Boss. We'll finish the paperwork before leaving for the day."
He nodded, realizing that his second-in-command didn't want to divulge too many details in front of the child.
"You can go on home, Boss. It will give both of you some time to settle down."
Gibbs was about to argue but then nodded, said, "Good work guys," packed his things, held Amira's hand and walked to the elevator.
The car ride was silent again. Gibbs showed her to the guest room which luckily had some of her things from when she stayed over. He asked her to take a warm shower and that he would start on dinner. He wanted to feed her something warm and nutritious and was regretting never learning a single such dish when he heard Abby announce, "Gibbs, I'm here and Jimmy too." They had walked in through his always open door. His first thought was that now he would have to start locking it as Amira was in the house.
He was always delighted to see his teammates who had become like his children but seeing them carry multiple home cooked meals made his heart stop beating at the anxious pace it had been all morning for a few moments. He hugged both of them tight. "Thank you."
"That should cover you for about a week. And then we'll work from there."
He nodded and let them move closer to the fridge to laid up the dishes and one went into the oven. He smelled mac and cheese. Abby smiled, "it has lots of veggies and greens and meat too. Balanced, nutritious meal. Ducky approved." Gibbs smiled back.
"Anything else you need Bossman?"
"No Abbs, I'm good. But, what about work?"
"Both of us finished our part for the Franks' case, Gibbs. And the rest we'll get back to first thing tomorrow morning."
Gibbs nodded and said, "so all it takes is intense crises for all of you to start acting like the adults you are?"
Abby and Jimmy grinned sheepishly but the warm hand on their shoulders reassured them of his love. He saw them out, took out the mac and cheese and went to check on his goddaughter.
He found her just sitting on her bed, staring into nothingness.
"Come on Amira, let's get some food into you." She nodded and got up. His arm effortlessly slid around her and both of them soaked up the comfort.
After dinner, they sat on the couch, still holding each other close.
Gibbs started, "Amira, I know today has been intense. I'm so proud of how you have handled yourself but also remember that you don't have to. You can talk about it and cry and just let me know what you need okay? But having said that, now that I'm your guardian, things will change a little. So far I was the fun Gibbsy because your mom was responsible for parenting you and your grandfather too. But now that it is my responsibility, you'll find some changes in my demeanour. But as long as you follow the rules, we shouldn't have any problems. The rules will be the same as before. Can you tell me what they are?"
"Don't be disrespectful, dishonest or disobedient. Take care of my health, eat all meals. Be generally responsible. Best behavior and grades in school."
"Sounds about right. To start with, I won't assign you any chores, let's both just settle in, but eventually you'll have some chores around the house too, okay?"
"Okay."
They were both silent for a while when Amira said softly, "but you'll always be my Gibbsy."
