1 This Old House

Stepping off the elevator Gibbs and Tony made their way to the bullpen where Tony's good-natured morning ramble about his latest date with Zoe came to a halt when Ellie suddenly let out with an angry curse.

Her cell phone was pressed to her ear and catching sight of the two men she flushed with irritation before picking up the papers scattered on her desk. Brushing past them she continued to argue with the person on the other end of the conversation as she made a hasty exit.

"No, no, no, no. Jake can have the apartment, he can have all the furniture, he can have everything, but he's not getting the cats! Not my cats! Enigma and Patch are mine..." Her voice trailed off as she rounded the corner and disappeared. Turning to McGee, who was trying his best to appear busy, Gibbs and Tony each shot him a questioning look.

McGee shrugged and said, "the divorce has hit a rough spot. Jake wants their cats."

"Her cats," Gibbs murmured, sitting down at his desk and turning his computer on. And Gibbs knew they were in fact her cats. The handful of times that he'd visited the Bishop-Malloy home he'd witnessed the cat's utter adoration of Bishop and their complete indifference to Jake. He also knew that Jake didn't have very strong feelings for either of the animals, one way or the other, whereas Bishop wouldn't even so much as touch another cat, worried that it might upset her own.

So, it surprised him that Jake was asking for the cats.

"Right," McGee amended. "Well I guess he's trying to argue that because of her job Ellie can't properly take care of them."

The inflection in McGee's voice when he said "because of her job" didn't escape Gibbs or Tony, and only served to further confirm for Gibbs that Ellie's job played a big part in their divorce.

Ellie had been very tight-lipped and very professional about her divorce. Until today the only other time that it had entered the bullpen was when Jake's lawyer's office had delivered the papers. But even then, Ellie had escaped to autopsy, where she sought comfort from Ducky, in private.

What they knew about her divorce came through McGee who had heard it from Delilah, but

McGee hadn't told them everything. He hadn't told them that Delilah had come home from visiting

Ellie at her shady hotel room shaking with anger. He hadn't told them that part of the reason why

Jake and Ellie's marriage had collapsed was because Ellie had expressed her desire to start a family.

According to Delilah, Jake had told Ellie that he didn't think it was such a good idea given how dangerous her line of work is. When Ellie informed him that she thought they might adopt, something Ellie had started to plan for, Jake once again shot her down citing her work. He told her he would only consider it when Ellie left NCIS, explaining that he couldn't imagine raising a child alone should anything happen to her. He didn't tell them that Jake was essentially punishing Ellie for her job at NCIS by withholding parenthood from her.

McGee could only imagine that they would feel the way he does when he thinks about it, blindingly angry. If Tony and Ziva had ever given in to their obvious feelings for one another, McGee

knew that Tony wouldn't think twice about having a child with her. And yeah, the boss might have kept Ellie from the more dangerous aspects of their job, but McGee knew that he wouldn't have seen having a child, especially adopting one, as a career ender for Bishop.

For the life of him, McGee couldn't understand why Jake couldn't accept that Ellie could be a federal agent and a parent too and could only chalk up the other man's attitude to fears of his affair being discovered.

McGee was saved from any further explanation when Bishop returned. Papers in one hand, her cell in the other she stood akimbo in front of them and asked, "Abby doesn't just like dogs right, she likes cats too?"

"Yes," Tony answered before anyone else could. "She loves all animals, big and small. Why?" "Rule six, Bishop," Gibbs said, not looking up from his screen.

"Right," Ellie replied, stopping herself from apologizing for apologizing. Reaching for the Cheetos bag sitting on her desk she looked down at the orange coloured snack in her fingertips sadly.

Enigma loves Cheetos. "He's not getting my cats," she murmured quietly to herself.

"He won't Bishop," Gibbs said, causing her to snap her head up in surprise. Seeing the sincerity in his blue eyes almost brought Ellie to tears and she would have started crying if Tony had interjected.

"And if he does, we'll catnap them," he said with a grin. "Pull it off like the heist in Ocean's Eleven."

Ellie laughed lightly as McGee replied, "somehow I don't think he's going to keep the cats in a vault Tony."

Tony shrugged and the two started to plan out an imaginary catnapping when Gibbs's phone started to ring. Ellie could tell from the moment he answered that they had a case and popping the Cheeto into her mouth she brushed her hands off and reached for her gear.

A case was exactly what she needed right now.

"Victims are Navy Lieutenant Commander Robin Shaw and her husband, Daniel Kedzierski. They were found by a member of Mr. Kedzierski's carpool at around four-thirty this morning," McGee said, reading from the initial report as the team walked up the path leading to the front door.

Looking up at the large old house Ellie couldn't help but think about the summer she and Jake had gone house hunting. They had looked at a couple of houses like this one, built in the 19th century with a large yard. While Ellie had fallen in love, Jake kept reminding her that old houses like this needed a lot of care, which with their jobs they couldn't do. She knew he was right, but it didn't stop her from dreaming.

Halfway up the walk they were met by a member of the local police department who introduced himself and shook hands with each of them solemnly before indicating that they should follow him.

"You should know, we're treating this as a double murder and a kidnapping," the cop informed them, leading them up the stairs of the house.

"Kidnapping?" Gibbs asked, his voice rough.

"Yeah, the victims had custody of the Lieutenant Commander's five-year-old niece, Allison," the cop explained. "My guys did a sweep of the house and they couldn't find any trace of her. We believe that the little girl's father, Gregory Collins took the girl after murdering the victims," he elaborated.

Reaching the front door Ellie and the rest of the team looked past the officer and spotted Ducky and Jimmy next to the prone body of Mr. Kedzierski on the floor of the foyer. It looked like he'd been attacked from behind, judging by his face down position. Pulling out her camera Ellie began taking pictures as the rest of the team went to work collecting any evidence they could.

"What have we got Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"It appears as though Mr. Kedzierski died as a result of blunt force trauma to the back of his head," Ducky replied. Pointing to the matted blood in the victim's hair he said, "There's a puncture wound that would suggest that whatever object our assailant used may have had a sharp object attached to

it."

"Very medieval," Jimmy inserted jokingly but catching the look on Gibbs's face he very quickly shut up.

Shaking his head at his assistant, Ducky returned his attention to the victim and emitted a very British sigh of disdain. "To attack a man from behind is one of the most cowardly acts a man can commit."

"Couldn't agree more Duck," Gibbs replied.

Turning to Ellie, he told her to head upstairs and take pictures of the little girl's room. If Allison had been kidnapped, they needed pictures of the scene before it was disturbed. Nodding, Ellie made her way up to the second floor.

Pausing at the top of the stairs, her gaze travelled to the master bedroom located to her right. Light filled the room and she could just make out the Lieutenant Commander's pale hand, stretched out, reaching for the door. Shivering, Ellie turned away and focused on finding the little girl's bedroom. All the doors were open and methodically she investigated each room, taking mental notes along the way until she reached the room at the end of the hall. Standing in the doorway she immediately understood why, despite being so far from the master suite, they would have given Allison this room.

The room, which was painted a light lilac colour, held two very large, tall and deeply set windows, that let in an immense amount of sunlight. The depth of each window allowed for two window seats and each housed an impressive stuffed animal collection. It was seeing those animals that reminded Ellie of the darker, uglier nature of her work and leaning against the door frame she sighed in resignation.

Clutching her camera, she stepped into the room and started snapping pictures, her anger building with each photo she took. When they found this guy, and they would find him, she was going to make sure that he paid.

Taking a photo of the messy bed Ellie froze when she heard a soft scratch come from the wall. Silence enveloped the room and dismissing it as a figment of her imagination she returned to her work until she heard it again. Only this time it was more than just a scratch, it sounded like something was moving inside the wall. Listening intently, she followed the noise to its source near the window seat. Padding softly across the room she carefully examined the seat and the surrounding walls.

It was at that moment that she remembered something the real estate agent had said when she and Jake were looking at an old Civil War era home. The real estate agent had mentioned that a few homes that were built before and during the war had secret hiding spots. Some were very small, only big enough to hide money or other important goods in, but others were larger.

So large they could hide a person.

Allison.

Pushing aside the stuffed animals and the curtains Ellie discovered a panel of wainscoting and peering closely at it she noticed that the paint didn't quite match up. Lightly running her hand across the surface, she was surprised when the panel suddenly popped open. Pushing it forward she watched as the late morning light revealed the interior of the hidden cubby.

Gasping, her jaw dropped when she spotted the little girl curled up against the back of the cubby, a stuffed unicorn held tightly in her skinny arms. Her brown eyes were almost comically wide, and she was shaking with fear. Not wanting to upset the child, Ellie backed away from the opening and gave her a small smile.

"Hi," she said, pulling out her badge from her pocket. Holding it up for the little girl to see she said, "my name is Eleanor Bishop, I'm with NCIS, that's the Navy Criminal Investigative Service. I'm kind of like a police officer," she explained.

Allison remained quiet but as soon as she heard the word Navy her shaking had stopped. Taking that as encouragement Ellie continued to talk to the little girl.

"But you can call me Ellie if you want. Your name is Allison isn't it?" The child gave a small hesitant nod but tightened her grip on the unicorn. "Does your unicorn have a name?" Ellie asked, hoping that the child would give her a verbal response and tell her, but she didn't, she only nodded once again. Not wanting to push the child into anything she wasn't ready for Ellie resorted to asking only 'yes' and 'no' questions.

"I bet it's your favourite toy, isn't it?" A nod.

"Have you had it for a long time?" This time Allison shook her head no.

"Did your aunt give it to you?" Another no.

"Your uncle?" A nod.

With each question Allison continued to relax a little more and each of her nods or shakes of her head came a little quicker. Finally, Ellie knew she had to start asking the important questions, the hard questions.

"Allison, are you hurt anywhere?" She started to shake her head not before changing her answer and nodded. Concerned Ellie did a quick visual scan but couldn't see any clear injuries and asked her where she was hurt. Ellie closed her eyes in pain when Allison lifted the stuffed unicorn from her chest and pointed to her heart as tears filled her eyes.

Opening her eyes again Ellie asked her very softly, "You know what happened to your aunt and uncle, don't you?"

Her heart broke as the little girl nodded once again, tears falling to her cheeks. Sighing, Ellie moved closer, pulling off her NCIS cap as she did. Briefly she thought about going and getting Gibbs, he was a natural with kids, but she didn't want to leave Allison alone for even a second. Looking down at her cap she got an idea.

"Your aunt, she was very brave, wasn't she?" Ellie prompted and Allison nodded her head once again in response. "You're brave too, like her. Aren't you?" This time Allison's response wasn't as sure, and tears sprang to Ellie's own eyes. Rapidly blinking them away she nodded her own head and said, "I know you are and I am too, which is why I wear this cap." Holding up her that she let her see the embroidered white letters before holding it out to her. "Only brave people, good people, wear these hats. You can wear mine until we can get you your own. If you want," Ellie amended.

She waited and watched as the little girl moved forward until she could grasp the hat Ellie was holding out to her. Once she did, she turned it over in her small hand and looked at it for a long time. Looking up at Ellie uncertainly she waited until the agent nodded encouragingly before putting the cap on her own blonde head. It was ridiculously large on her but with the cap on Allison suddenly surged forward, throwing herself into Ellie's arms.

Holding the sobbing child as close to her as possible Ellie whispered words of comfort into her ear until gradually the tears began to subside. But the five-year old's grip never once wavered, yet neither did Ellie's hold on her. Moving her into a more comfortable position, Ellie bent down and whispered into her ear, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, if I can help it, nothing will ever hurt you, ever again."

Allison's response was to tighten her grip on Ellie, which the latter didn't think was possible. They stayed that way until Ellie heard voices start to make their way up the stairs. Gibbs, Ducky, and Tony. Feeling Allison stiffen in her arms Ellie quickly worked to reassure her.

"It's okay, they're my friends. They're here to help, I promise," Ellie told her. Allison looked up at her intently, seemingly gauging whether she could trust Ellie. Stroking the child's blonde head, she tried to assure her saying, "You can trust me."

Remaining silent the child allowed Ellie to carry her out of the room and just as they were exiting the door Ducky, who was the last to come up the stairs, spotted them.

"Oh my," he sighed, taking in the sight and alerting Gibbs and Tony, who turned around.

"Is that," Tony started to ask before trailing off.

Ellie nodded and turning to Allison she introduced them, one by one pointing to each as she said his name. "That is Donald Mallard, he's a doctor and he have an accent. We call him Ducky." "Hello, my dear," Ducky replied, putting a strong emphasis on his British accent.

"That's Tony, he's really funny," a remark Tony punctuated with a goofy look and a hello in a cartoonish voice. "And that is Agent Gibbs and he'll make you feel very safe." Gibbs inclined his head toward them but didn't say anything. "And they're all wearing that same hat," Ellie said, giving the cap the Allison was wearing a small, soft tap. "This means they're brave, just like you.

You can trust them too," Ellie promised.

Allison's only response was to loosen her grip on Ellie, but only very slightly, when she turned away from the three men.

Looking to Ducky and Tony, Gibbs indicated that they should go into the bedroom and get started.

Ensuring that the door was closed, Gibbs turned back to Bishop and watched as she made her way toward him. Stopping her at the top of the stairs he asked her quietly, "has she said anything."

Shaking her head, no, the two shared a look. They were both thinking the same thing, that it wasn't a good sign that Allison wasn't talking, and they had to get her to talk. She was their only witness.

"Hey boss-" McGee, like Tony, stopped short when he saw the little girl in Bishop's arms.

Turning his attention to the man standing at the bottom of the stairs Gibbs asked, "What is it

McGee?"

Shaking himself from his stupor, McGee replied, "Metro police found, well they found a car."

The response was vague but both Gibbs and Bishop knew whose car he was referring to. Nodding Gibbs said, "alright, you two take her back to NCIS and call Child Protective Services. I'll check out our car."

Once his orders were given Bishop and McGee moved into action. Ellie could only hope that now that they had found Gregory Collins' car, they could put a quick end to this case and that Allison would be spared from any more trauma.

Allie Cats

"What have we got?" Gibbs asked, striding into the bullpen, coffee in hand. Mentally noting Bishop's empty desk and the red ladybug suitcase sitting next to it he turned his attention to Tony and McGee who were ready to give him an update. Facing the plasma, he waited until pictures of their two murder victims popped up on the screen.

"Victims are 38 year old Lieutenant Commander Robin Shaw, who was due to retire from the Navy to become a stay at home mom to her niece, and her husband 45 year old Daniel Kedzierski, who was the CTO or chief technology officer at Air, which specializes in aviation and transportation technology," McGee explained. "They were the legal guardians to Shaw's five-year-old niece Allison Shaw. Allison came to live with them two years ago after her mother, Lark Shaw, also a navy officer, was killed in the line of duty. According to CPS records, the pair were petitioning to officially adopt Allison."

Tony stepped in, switching to a mugshot of a dark-haired man. "This is Gregory Collins, Allison's father. Former Army, he was dishonourably discharged four years ago, citing drug and alcohol abuse. He was also arrested on domestic violence charges shortly after Allison was born. They were never married and following that arrest he and Lark Shaw separated and Allison's mother was granted full custody. Collins fought for visitation but since he's never been able to clean up his act and the number of times he's been arrested since, visitation was never granted." "Did you find him?" McGee asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "Only the car, it's down in the garage now, Abby's taking a look at it," he replied. "Where's Bishop?"

"In the conference room with Allison and the CPS worker," Tony replied, only to amend his statement as soon as he saw his partner and the other woman approach from the stairs.

"Anne Larsen," said the young, petite black woman, holding out her hand and introducing herself to Gibbs. A petite woman, Larsen was wearing a bright red dress with a black and white striped cardigan, she had a short pixie cut that framed her face. With a grim expression she asked them for an update and once she'd heard everything, they had at that moment she asked the question that had been on her mind since meeting with Agent Bishop and the child. "How much danger is Allison in?"

"While we have no reason to suspect that her father would've hurt her before the murders of her aunt and uncle, now it's a different story," McGee explained. "Depending on his state of mind he may hurt her and himself."

"Murder-suicide," Larsen said, filling in the blanks and McGee nodded. "We'll have to put her under protective custody."

"Definitely," Ellie said, agreeing wholeheartedly. She had made a promise and she had every intention of keeping it.

"I think..." Larsen was interrupted as Ducky, who had remained with Allison in the conference room appeared hand in hand with the little girl. Once she saw Bishop, she pulled free from Ducky's gentle grasp and made a beeline for the older blonde woman, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs. The NCIS hat Ellie had given her going askew on her head and her stuffed unicorn dangling from her small hand.

"Everything okay Duck?" Gibbs asked as he watched Bishop kneel to Allison's level.

"Yes, she simply became frightened the longer Eleanor was gone," Ducky explained. While Allison had been comfortable with him in the beginning, he could tell that the longer she was away from Eleanor the higher her anxiety rose.

A contemplative look stole over the social worker's face and she too knelt next to Agent Bishop and Allison. Lightly resting her hand on the girl's fragile shoulder, just enough to get her attention, she cocked her head to the side, smiled, and asked the little girl if she felt safe around Ellie. Allison nodded vigorously. "Would you like to stay with Agent Bishop?" Again, a nod.

Surprised, Ellie turned to the social worker and said, "is that allowed?"

"Not typically," she replied, gauging the child's reactions to her words. "But under the circumstances I think an exception can be made." Larsen stood, as did Ellie who urged Allison to go sit at her desk. Lowering her voice Larsen continued, "Allison isn't talking, I don't think she feels safe enough to talk yet, but once she does, we'll be able to get through to her. We'll be able to help her. So, making Allison feel safe should be our first priority and she feels safe with you, I think she trusts you."

Sighing Ellie glanced over at Allison. "I want to do everything that I can for her, but I have to be honest with you I'm currently going through a divorce and living a motel room with my two cats.

That's no place to bring a child. It's not safe enough," she admitted reluctantly.

"They can stay at my house," Gibbs offered before anyone else had the chance.

"Are you sure?" Ellie asked, looking at him a little sceptically. "It won't just be me and Allison, I would also have to bring my cats, too."

"I don't mind your cats Bishop, besides two NCIS agents looking after her are better than one," he replied, ignoring Ducky's intense stare.

"So, we're in agreement then? Allison stays with you until your case is settled," Larsen said. Everyone nodded and she glanced back once more at Allison, "okay, I need to make a couple calls and I'll need you to fill out some paperwork. Does Allison have everything she needs, clothes, toys?"

"Yeah," Tony said pointing to the red suitcase. "One of the cops at the scene has a little girl, he knew what to pack."

"Good. Agent Bishop, if you'd like to go to your hotel room, I can send the paperwork along with Agent Gibbs," Larsen suggested.

Ellie gave a short nod. Going to her desk she picked up her bag and asked Allison if she liked cats and for the first time that day the child's eyes lit up with life.

"Tony." Gibbs said nodding toward the two indicating that he should go with them.

"Yes boss," Tony replied, following behind the pair of blondes with the little red suitcase.

"I still can't believe you can cook." Tony's voice along with the sound of the door opening, bags rustling, wheels rolling over the wood floor, and a cat yowling all announced that Gibbs's house guests had arrived.

"What so hard to believe?" Bishop asked, coming into view.

She was the one carrying several grocery bags on her arms while Tony was loaded down with suitcases and a cat carrier, but only one cat, Patch, was inside. Allison was carrying the fluffy white cat with a flattened face, Enigma, in her arms. The three made for quite the parade.

"Hey boss," Tony said once he caught sight of Gibbs sitting on the couch. The older man nodded at him and focused his attention on Allison who was freeing Patch from the carrier. Once the cat jumped out, he made a dash for the couch and Gibbs's lap and Allison followed very quickly, taking a seat next to him and allowing the cat under her arm to go free.

"Tony, you can't eat as much as I do without knowing how to cook. It gets expensive if you don't," she explained. "I learned that the hard way in college. I still don't know how my parents fed all of us," she said, a hint of awe in her voice.

"Your brothers eat as much as you?" Gibbs asked, glancing at her.

"More." She admitted.

"Woah!" Tony said, trying to imagine that. Shaking his head, he pointed out that she admitted to him that she almost burned her house down when she made craw-chilacas.

"Hey, I can read a recipe, I never said I was a five-star chef!" Making her way to the kitchen she called out to Gibbs. "Tony said you wouldn't have anything in the house, so we stopped for a few things."

Gibbs glared at his senior agent, but Tony was focused on the orange cat, suddenly a look of realization appeared on his face.

"Now I get it, why she calls him Patch," Tony exclaimed. "It's the patch of white on his butt!" Tony looked at Gibbs and Allison, expecting them to be surprised by his discovery, instead they shared a similar look of confusion. "But you already figured that out, didn't you."? They nodded simultaneously.

Luckily Tony was saved from any further embarrassment when Ellie returned. "Are you staying for dinner?" She asked. "We're having pulled pork mac and cheese."

Tony checked his watch and shook his head. "No, Zoe's parents are in town for the night, we're supposed to meet them for drinks in about an hour. I actually better leave now if I'm going to make it in time." Heading toward the door he said goodbye to Gibbs, Ellie and Allison. "See you around Allie cat."

Allison gave him a small wave. Once he was gone Ellie turned to Gibbs and said, "Tony figured out that Allison likes to be called Allie, don't you."? The little girl nodded.

"Allie it is," Gibbs said, looking down at the little girl next to him. Turning his attention back to Bishop he inclined his head toward the dining room table. "Those are the papers Larsen needs you to sign."

"Right." He watched as she bent over the table and signed the papers, filling in the blank spaces requiring her information. Once that was done, she went into the kitchen where he could hear her going through the cupboards, pulling out pots and pans.

Allie watched as Bishop left and getting up from the couch, she made her way through the dining room and opened the other door allowing her to see Bishop working in the kitchen as much as possible. Once she was satisfied, Allie returned to her seat next to Gibbs but this time she sat as close to him as possible without touching him. Watching Bishop, she picked up the stuffed unicorn and held it tightly, a worried look on her face.

Concerned Gibbs reached down to the stack of newspapers on the floor next to him and rifled through it until he found what he was looking for. "Do you like the comics?" He asked and once she nodded, he unfolded the page and together they started reading. Once she was sufficiently distracted Gibbs watched her, she mouthed the words written and pointed to ones she didn't know or understand, but not once did she speak, smile or laugh. Then, as if sensing his gaze, she lifted her head and stared at him expectantly. Settling his hand on her head he smoothed it down the back of her hair until it came to rest on her shoulders.

Pulling her in for a light side hug he said, "you're going to be okay."

A high pitched, shrill scream woke Gibbs up from a deep sleep. Suddenly awake he was reaching for his gun and bounding up the stairs to the room Bishop and Allie were sleeping in. Bursting through the door he caught sight of Bishop consoling Allie who was sobbing uncontrollably in her arms.

"It's okay," she repeated and again, rocking the girl back and forth in her arms. "You're okay, no one is going to hurt you here. You're safe, I've got you."

Gibbs listened to her repeat the mantra repeatedly until finally Allie's sobs subsided into whimpers and eventually to little hiccupping noises. Only when Allie was completely calm and when Bishop gave him the signal that she had everything under control did Gibbs leave, pulling the door closed behind him. Leaning against the wall next to the door he heard Bishop continue to talk to Allie in low soothing murmurs. The light in the room stayed on but soon it became quiet and Gibbs returned to the couch.

Repeatedly throughout the night he and Bishop repeated the same scene, him coming through the door with gun raised, her consoling the terrified child. Not once did he ignore Allie's screams, each time it happened he raced up the stairs prepared for anything. But he didn't mourn the loss of sleep or regret racing up the stairs no matter how much his knees protested the next morning.

And they did protest.

Rubbing a hand wearily over his face Gibbs took in Bishop and Allie sitting at the dining room table through bleary eyes. Bishop, wearing an old t-shirt and sweats sat with her back to the kitchen and a mug of coffee between her hands. Allie was sitting to her right in a pair of pink pyjamas with bright flowers printed on them, furiously colouring in a book. Both were pale and drawn under the ceiling light. Glancing out the window he realized it was still dark out.

Seeing Allie's red rimmed eyes, he stood up, groaning slightly at the action and shuffled into the dining room where he ruffled Allie's hair lightly. "Bad night, huh." She nodded regretfully, dropping her head. "Hey, it's alright. Tonight, will be better." And then he repeated the words he said to her the evening before, "you're going to be okay."

Ellie watched him pass by the table and into the kitchen, getting up from her seat she followed him and waited until he'd poured a cup of coffee before asking if they'd woken him. He shook his head and Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. They were already invading his home; she didn't want to put him out any more than they already had.

Coffee in hand Gibbs leaned back against the counter and critically assessed Bishop. "You get any sleep last night?" He asked.

"About as much as you," she replied, but Gibbs was doubtful. With dark circles under her eyes and the strained looked on her face Bishop didn't look like she'd slept a wink. He imagined she probably spent most of her night trying to soothe Allie before a nightmare got too bad and she woke up screaming. Sensing his scepticism Bishop shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm fine.

Really."

"Well, try and get a nap in today," Gibbs said bringing the mug tfo his lips and taking a tentative sip.

"What?" Ellie replied, looking at him questioningly.

"You're going to be staying here with her today. Can't bring her into the office and I wouldn't suggest leaving her at the NCIS day-care either," Gibbs said, leaving no room for argument.

Once her sleep deprived brain caught up, she realized that he was right. Allie wasn't in any shape mentally to be with other children or in a day-care right now, and they couldn't take the risk that the little girl's father might show up, so Gibbs's house was the best place for her.

"Doesn't mean I can't do some work from here," Ellie told him.

He was about to tell her good luck trying to get any work done around a five-year-old child just as said child made an appearance, followed by Patches, who sauntered into the room, and Enigma. The white cat stumbled and stomped into the room looking grumpier than usual, right up until he noticed Ellie. The two cats wound themselves around Ellie's legs, purring and looking up at her letting her know that they were hungry and wanted her undivided attention. Meanwhile, Allie made her way quietly over to Gibbs and leaned up against him tiredly.

Setting his mug down on the counter Gibbs bent down and picked the little girl up. Nodding at Bishop, he silently let his agent know that he would take care of Allie if she wanted to see to her cats, and as she went for a can of cat food, he turned his attention to Allie.

"Are you hungry, or do you want to go back to sleep," he asked her, nodding toward the couch.

Allie looked at him, then back at the couch before finally pointing to a box of cereal Ellie had bought the previous day. "Hungry then." Allie nodded in response. Settling her back on her own two legs Gibbs opened one of the cabinet doors and pulling out a bowl he told her to go sit at the table. Fixing the little girl breakfast, he could feel Bishop's intense stare as she watched him move around the kitchen and all of his interactions with Allie.

Returning to the kitchen he gazed at her expectantly. "What?"

"Just watching. Learning," she replied, biting her lower lip. "I love kids, but I don't have much experience around them," she admitted. "You're a natural."

"I've had experience," Gibbs replied gruffly, his mind flashing to an image of Kelly at Allie's age.

Bishop flinched at the reminder and was about to apologize but held back, quickly realizing that that was a bad idea. Instead she wracked her brain trying to come up with something to say, some way to express her worries and doubts about spending the entire day with Allie. Alone, without any help.

But Gibbs, seemingly reading her mind, put her fears to rest. "You'll be fine, you're just tired that's all."

"I hope you're right," Bishop replied before adding, jokingly, because it would look really bad if something were to happen to her under protective custody."