Little Gibbs ON HOLD

Chapter 1

"Caitlin!" Leroy Jethro Gibbs yelled for his twelve year old daughter to come down the stairs. "Caitlin!" He continued to yell. "Todd! Get your..." he stopped. His daughter is not Caitlin Todd, but only named after her. 'Not Todd. Kate Todd is dead,' he thought. "Kelly!" he yelled, once again stopping. 'Kelly is dead too. Kelly is her middle name. My daughter's name is Caitlin Kelly Gibbs not Caitlin Todd and not Kelly,' he had to think for a second. "Caitlin!" he stopped again, but for a different reason. Kate had come down the stairs and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey dad," she took her bagel and sat beside him.
Director Jenny Shepherd allowed herself in through the back door. "Hello Jethro," she planted a kiss on his cheek before moving to her daughter. "Hello sweetie," she placed a kiss on her daughter's cheek as well. "Ready to go?" Caitlin nodded and left to get her book bag. "Be careful tonight," she said before leaving.
"Bye dad," Kate hugged him quickly before leaving.

"Mom? I think something is wrong with dad," Caitlin continued to look out the window.
"Why would you think that?"
"This morning, he was calling me, but he called me Todd. And then he called me Kelly. He's never done that before. Why?"
"I can only explain the Todd part," Jenny started, catching the attention of her daughter. "Caitlin Todd was a Secret Service agent before joining NCIS. She quickly became very close with Tony, Abby, Ducky and even Daddy. She worked with them for many years before she was murdered, shot in the forehead by Ziva's brother. I'm sure it's just a force of habit for him. But Kelly, I can't explain that. I don't see why he would call you by your middle name," she pulled up outside the middle school. "Oh and don't forget you are going to Lily's house. Daddy has work and I'm going to an important dinner at the White House," she kissed her daughter goodbye as she left in silence.

  *Later that night*

    "You wanna play war? You look like you're about to fall asleep," Lily laughed, standing up to get the cards. "You want me to put in a movie too?"
    "Doesn't matter. We can play whatever and watch whatever... as long as it isn't scary or rated r," the two friends laughed. Caitlin sat on a huge beanbag chair as Lily sat on the one across from it. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Lily's mom didn't wait for an answer.
   "Caitlin grab your shoes. There is no time for you to get dressed. We need to go," she said with extreme urgency. The two twelve year olds stood up.
   "What's wrong?" they both questioned.
   "Kate, your father has been in an explosion. He is on his way to the hospital and so is your mother," Caitlin's heart broke as the news was delivered.

   "Hi. I need to go into the ER. My father is there and he's never hurt. I know you have to be family to go in, but I am and I don't really know how to prove it. I mean I have my mom's red hair, but I have my dad's blue eyes and that's all the proof I have. Wait I have school ID, but that's not the point. I need to go in there," Caitlin paused as she began ranting to the nurse who sat at the desk. She had already delt with two odd ladies, but this child was no where near their kind of odd. A goth and a red head had come to see the same person. She wondered if this child was here to see Leroy Jethro Gibbs as well.
    "Sweetie," she managed to get in before Kate began to rant again. She felt sympathy towards a little girl who is currently trying to see her father. "Sweetie," she said more sternly. "Who are you here to see?"
    "Leroy Jethro Gibbs," she answered quickly.
   "The third person to see him. You can go right in, but be careful. You may see things that you never want to see," now tears were streaming down Caitlin's cheeks.
    "Third?" she managed. "Who else has been here? I get my mom is probably here, she should be the first one even though they aren't together. But I should be with her or at least second."
   "A goth girl and a red head that is overdressed," hearing that Abby and Jenny were already at the hospital did nothing to make her feel better. "Special Agent Gibbs is in room 7, right down the hall." Caitlin rushed through the doors and ran down the long hallway, dodging nurses as she went.
    "Mommy!" she screamed when she finally saw Jenny Shepherd standing in the hallway. She turned to see the twelve year old running towards her. They immediately embraced, not letting go. "Is daddy okay?" she cried out.
"I don't know sweetie. I hope so," Jenny tried not to cry.
"What happened to him?" Kate tried to pull away to see Gibbs, but Jenny wouldn't let her.
    "Let's go to the waiting room or at least somewhere else. This is not a good place for you to be," Caitlin refused.
"I wanna see daddy," she complained like a young child.
   "Kate," Abby softly butted in. She had tears forming in her eyes as well. "I don't think that's a very good idea."
   "Fine! But I'm not leaving this spot!" She was as stubborn as her mother. Caitlin leaned her head on her mother's chest and cried. The older redhead ran her fingers through her child's matching hair.

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   "He should be fine." The doctor smiled as Abby, Kate and Jenny followed him to recovery. The twelve year old refused to let go of her mother and refused to make eye contact with anyone.
"I don't wanna hear should be! I wanna hear will be!" Abby yelled, getting increasingly louder.
   "Abby," Jenny said softly.
   "Should be is not positive!"
"Enough Abbs," she said a little more sternly. Kate remained silent, in her own little world where her father was perfectly fine, not fighting for his life. The two older women shared a look before the goth moved to stand on the opposite side. They watched as the doctors got Gibbs settled. Jenny occasionally looked down, checking on her daughter.

"I'm always positive Miss Sciuto, but with a concussion, until... until he wakes, no one knows what's going on inside his brain." They stood there for a little longer before Jen realized she was still in her fancy red dress and her daughter was in her pajamas.
"Guess you didn't have much time to change, uh?" She gave a small, weak smile to Kate. She didn't respond, only stared at the floor. "I think we both need some sleep." The director said goodnight to the forensic scientist and offered her a ride home. Abby graciously accepted. After dropping off Abby, Jenny turned to her daughter who was staring out the window. "You gonna come sit up front?" She shook her head no. "Well we have to stop at Lily's first and pick up your stuff."

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After Jenny changed, she went to say goodnight to her little redhead. Caitlin was already in bed, her back to the door. "Do you think he'll be okay? Do you think he's thinking about us?" She asked weakly. It was the first thing she had said all night.
"Yeah sweetie, I know he'll be okay. Now I really think you should sleep. Good night." She placed a kiss on Kate's head and got up to leave. A hand held onto her wrist.
"Please don't leave." Jenny smiled softly then laid down beside her daughter, wrapping her arms tightly around her.