Jack was sitting cross-legged on the couch in her office with a file and a notepad in her lap. A takeout box holding a hamburger and fries rested on the seat next to her. She was using one hand to eat her lunch and the other to scribble notes for a profile when Gibbs walked in unannounced. Setting down her hamburger and her pen, Jack informed him, "I'm not finished yet."

"Not here about the case, Sloane," Gibbs countered as he approached her.

"Then why are you here?"

"To find out what you're doing this weekend."

Jack glared up at Gibbs across the coffee table that separated them. "You better not be asking me to work this weekend," she warned, her voice menacingly low.

"I'm not."

"Okay, well, it's the last weekend before school starts, so I'm taking Faith to the pool and the park and maybe for a bike ride."

"You could go away with me."

Jack's mouth fell open in shock. "Excuse me?"

"I'm going to my cabin for the weekend. You and Faith could come too."

"Don't you usually go to your cabin to get away from everyone? Why do you want us to go with you this time?"

"I think Faith'd have a good time."

"That's it?"

"Well, yeah, Jack," Gibbs scoffed, rolling his eyes. "What else would there be?"

"I don't know, Gibbs. You tell me."

"Nothing to tell. I just thought you'd like to get away for the weekend."

Nodding, Jack mused, "We might, but isn't your cabin pretty rustic?"

"You afraid to rough it for a weekend?" challenged Gibbs.

There was a teasing glint in his eye that let Jack know he was well aware that a lack of modern conveniences wasn't enough to deter her from anything. She found his attempt to rile her up more amusing than anything else. Consequently, she decided to play along. Feigning offense, she protested, "Not at all. Just like to know what I'm getting into."

Her coyness had Gibbs suppressing a smile as he recalled their first meeting and her prediction that he would like having her around because he enjoyed a good fight. It was unlikely this was the type of fight she'd had in mind, but she'd been right, he was enjoying himself and he did like her. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he caught her grinning at him as if she could tell what he had been thinking. He refused to give her the satisfaction of acknowledging out loud that she'd been right, so instead he described his cabin and the surrounding area. He told her, "There's no plumbing or electricity, but there's an outhouse. You can take Faith swimming in the lake or we can go fishing. I've got a boat. There's no park or place to ride a bike, but there's a lot of room for Faith to run around and I could hang a tire swing."

"It's not the boat from your basement, is it?"

"That one's not ready yet."

"Ah," Jack exclaimed knowingly. "But you did build the boat."

"You doubting my carpentry skills?"

"Of course not," Jack reassured Gibbs. As she considered everything else Gibbs had said about his cabin, she grew quiet and began to chew her lower lip.

It was clear that something was bothering Jack and her silence irritated Gibbs. When he couldn't stand it any longer, he snapped, "Spit it out, Jack."

"I was wondering if you would really hang a tire swing just to make Faith happy."

"Seems like a good enough reason to me."

"Still, it's still a lot more effort than you'd normally put into a trip to your cabin. Are you sure you want us there?"

"I wouldn't be here, if I wasn't."

"Okay. We'll come, but only if you let me get the groceries."

"I'll bring the steaks and beer. You can get the stuff for s'mores and whatever else you want."

"Deal. Now, go away, so I can work. I need to get home early to pack."

Gibbs complied with Jack's request, but, as he walked away, he reminded her, "Don't forget the marshmallows."

NCIS NCIS NCIS

After work on Friday, Gibbs went home to retrieve a cooler full of steaks and beer. He set it in the bed of his truck next to the tire, rope, military cot, and small duffel bag that he had placed there that morning. Once he was satisfied that everything was tied down securely, he drove to Jack's house to pick up her and Faith.

When he pulled into Jack's driveway, Gibbs saw her arguing with Faith near the front door. Faith had her arms folded tightly over her chest and was scowling at her mother. As Gibbs got out of his truck, he heard Faith shout, "I don't want to go!"

Jack flung her head back in frustration and roughly thrust her fingers into her hair. "Why?" she groaned.

Gibbs swiftly crossed the yard to stand next to Jack. "Hey, Sloane, Little Doc. Everything okay?"

"No," cried Faith, stomping her foot. "I don't want to go. I have to go to school."

"On the weekend?"

"No," Jack huffed. "On Monday, but she's convinced she'll miss school if we go away for the weekend."

"I like school."

"She loves to learn, but she's a little nervous about starting at a new school."

"I see." Gibbs crouched down so that he was eye level with Faith. "Faith, I'll have you home in time for dinner on Sunday. I promise you won't miss school."

"Okay."

Throwing her hands up, Jack ranted, "Okay? I said that twenty minutes ago!"

Unfazed by her mother's annoyance, Faith simply stated, "He's driving."

"Yeah, I'm driving."

"Whatever," Jack groused, stooping to pick up her bag and Faith's backpack. She stalked off toward the truck, leaving Gibbs to deal with the cooler she had packed.

Chuckling, Gibbs grabbed the cooler and started to follow her. "Come on, Faith. We better not give her a chance to leave without us."

"She won't leave without me."

"What about me?"

"It's your truck."

"Good point. We better hurry."

NCIS NCIS NCIS

The drive to Gibbs' cabin took longer than anticipated and, when they arrived, Faith claimed to be starving. Her complaints were enough to have Jack and Gibbs agreeing that dinner had to be their first priority, so Gibbs built a campfire while Jack and Faith unloaded the truck. By the time the fire was ready, the bags and cot were in the cabin and Jack had dragged the coolers over to the fire pit near where Gibbs had knelt to stoke the flames.

Despite the fact that the original plan had been for Gibbs to cook steaks, when he stood up and went to where Jack had left the coolers, he started digging through Jack's cooler instead of his own. When his search wasn't immediately successful, Jack asked, "What are you looking for?"

"Hot dogs."

Jack gently pushed Gibbs away from the cooler. "Let me do it."

"Fine." Gibbs stepped out of her way and called out to Faith, "Hey, Little Doc, can you go inside and grab the skewers?"

"Sure," replied Faith. She dropped the stick she'd been using to draw in the dirt and skipped toward the cabin. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to Gibbs to ask, "What are skewers?"

"A kind of long metal fork with only two points. There should be some near the fireplace," advised Gibbs. He had barely finished speaking before Faith ran away to complete her task.

As Faith disappeared into the cabin, Jack handed a package of hot dogs to Gibbs. "Aren't you going to get your steak?" she asked, gesturing to Gibbs' cooler.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Hot dogs are quicker."

"So? You don't have to give up your steak just because Faith thinks she's about to starve to death. You don't need to change anything for Faith and me. We don't want to be an inconvenience."

"I thought we'd settled this. You're not an inconvenience. Either of you."

Jack didn't quite believe him. It seemed that ever since she had agreed to this trip, he had been going out of his way to accommodate her and Faith. She studied his face, searching for any indication of the truth, but his expression was unreadable. With a sigh of frustration, Jack said, "You're infuriating. I've seen the sleeping situation. You're telling me that your idea of convenience is two nights on a cot?"

"I'm not doing anything I don't want to. You need to relax. This is supposed to be a fun weekend. Why don't you take some deep breaths or something?"

Jack didn't get a chance to respond because Gibbs walked away from her. As she watched him go inside, presumably to help Faith find the skewers, she decided to take his suggestion. She took several deep breaths to relax while silently promising herself that she was going to do her best to enjoy the weekend, even if it meant taking Gibbs at his word and allowing him to change his carefully structured routine for her and Faith.

NCIS NCIS NCIS

On Saturday morning, Gibbs woke up while it was still dark outside. Normally, as soon as he was awake, he'd get out of bed to make his coffee. However, that morning, the first thing he did was glance across the cabin to the twin bed that Jack and Faith were sharing. It was obvious they were still asleep from the way Faith was curled close to Jack's side with her head resting on her mother's shoulder. Gibbs didn't want to wake them, so, as quietly as possible, he threw back his blanket, rolled off his cot, and went outside to make his coffee.

After he finished his coffee, Gibbs extinguished the campfire and went to hang the tire swing. When he was confident the swing was safe for Faith to use, he went inside to see if anybody was awake and ready for breakfast. He found Jack and Faith in the same position they'd been in when he'd left, except Faith was awake and playing with Jack's hair. Shuffling closer to the bed, he whispered, "Hey, Little Doc, want to go fishing?"

Lifting her head slightly to look at Gibbs, Faith asked, "Can we go swimming?"

"Not yet. Water's too cold."

Faith shifted away from Jack and sat up. "Can we go fishing in the boat?"

"Later. We need to wait for your mom."

"We could go without her."

"Don't you think she'd be scared if she woke up and couldn't find you?"

"Yeah. She likes to know where I am all the time."

"It's what moms do."

"We could wake her up. She won't mind."

"No. She's sleeping and we're fishing on the dock. Get your shoes," Gibbs instructed, leaving no room for further debate. To soothe any hurt feelings his gruffness may have caused, he held out a hand to help Faith slide off the bed, but she ignored it and scrambled gracelessly to the floor. When she landed with a loud thud, Gibbs grimaced and shushed her.

"Too late," groaned Jack. "I'm awake."

"Sorry, Mom."

"Go back to sleep, Sloane. I've got Faith."

"Mkay, thanks" Jack murmured sleepily before rolling over and burying her face in the pillow.

NCIS NCIS NCIS

While Jack slept, Gibbs and Faith sat on the end of the dock. Gibbs baited Faith's hook, then taught her how to cast and reel. It took Faith several tries to properly cast her line and, once she did, she refused to leave her line in the water for more than a few minutes at a time. The constant disruption of the water was guaranteed to scare the fish away, so Gibbs didn't bother casting his own line.

For over an hour, Gibbs watched Faith practice her version of fishing and listened to her endless chatter. When he heard Jack's footsteps on the dock, he nudged Faith's arm. "Your mom's up."

"Finally!" cheered Faith. "She was asleep forever."

"I was not!" Jack retorted. She was standing directly behind Faith and bent down to kiss the top of her head. At the same time, she reached out to squeeze Gibbs' shoulder in a silent gesture of gratitude. "How's it going? Are you two having fun?"

Brimming with excitement, Faith blurted, "This is the best morning ever! I'm outside in my jammies and I learned to fish. I'm really good at fishing, aren't I, Gibbs?"

"A natural."

"Catch anything?"

"Not yet. I think the fish slept late. Like you."

Laughing, Jack ruffled Faith's hair. "Maybe they'll be awake after breakfast. Let's go eat."

Faith began rapidly reeling in her line. Gibbs could see her line getting tangled and rested his hand over hers. "Slow down. Do it properly."

"Take your time," encouraged Jack, pressing another kiss to Faith's hair. As she stood up, she told Gibbs, "I'll go start breakfast."

NCIS NCIS NCIS

Throughout the course of the day, Faith had so much fun that her best morning ever became her best day ever. After breakfast, Gibbs took Jack and Faith for a walk in the woods where he taught Faith how to avoid poison ivy and poison oak. Next, he took them out to the middle of the lake in his boat. Faith demonstrated her fishing skills for Jack and Gibbs fished off the opposite side of the boat. They had a good time even though neither of them caught a single fish. Then, in the afternoon, Jack took Faith swimming while Gibbs watched from the dock as the self-appointed lifeguard. Finally, just before dinner, Faith tried out the tire swing, laughing hysterically as Jack and Gibbs pushed her back and forth between them.

At dinnertime, they all crowded around the campfire. Gibbs cooked steaks for himself and Jack. He offered to make one for Faith, but she wanted to roast her own hot dog. Her intention was to get through dinner as fast as possible, so she could go back to the tire swing. She was gone before Gibbs finished cooking the steaks.

When the steaks were ready, Gibbs passed one to Jack. She took a bite and let out a moan of appreciation. "If you keep cooking me steak like this, I'll get used to it."

"Would that be so bad?"

"You'll never get rid of me."

"Not lookin' to."

At that moment, Faith returned. Stifling a yawn, she climbed onto Jack's lap. "Can we have s'mores?"

"When Gibbs and I are done with our dinner."

"Okay, Mama," Faith mumbled. She was exhausted and snuggled into Jack to wait. It was a struggle for her to stay awake long enough to make her s'more and she ended up falling asleep halfway through eating it. Eventually, Gibbs carried her to bed.

NCIS NCIS NCIS

Early Sunday morning, Gibbs took Faith fishing on the dock again. This time, she cast her line only once and left it in the water. As Gibbs cast his own line, she casually mentioned, "I think you should date my mom."

Her comment caught Gibbs off guard and he was glad that years of military and law enforcement training allowed him to keep his surprise from registering on his face. He took the time to choose his words wisely, then responded, "Your mom and I are just friends."

"Why can't you be her boyfriend too?"

"Rule twelve. Never date a coworker."

Faith frowned. "That's a silly rule. NCIS should change it."

"It's not an NCIS rule, it's my rule."

"Then you can change it."

"Maybe," Gibbs grunted noncommittally. "Why do you think your mom needs a boyfriend?"

"She doesn't need one. I just think it'd be nice if she had one and it'd be nicer if it was you."

"Why me?"

"Because I don't think she's ever had a boyfriend and I like you. She likes you too. And she trusts you. She says that's the most important thing."

"I like you too, Faith, and I don't have to date your mom to be your friend. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I know." Faith leaned against Gibbs's side. "I still think it'd be nice if you did date. Can you think about it?"

Gibbs shifted his fishing pole to one hand and wrapped his free arm around Faith. "Let's just enjoy the rest of our trip."

"Okay. Will you still take me home before dinner?"

"You bet."