1: The Meeting
It was another boring day at the office. There was no case. Mcgee was out getting lunch, Ziva was at her desk doing paper work, so was Kate, Gibbs was in MTAC, and Tony was, as usual, goofing off. He had come in last night and finished most of his paper work and was using this time to throw paper at Ziva, the new girl.

“Tony, aren’t you supossed to be doing paperwork?” Ziva asked, obviously annoyed.

“That’s what I’m doing Zee-vah. I’m taking the paper and making it work.” He tossed another paper ball at her. She caught the ball and threw it back, hard. it hit tony square in the chest, but since it was paper, it didn’t do much damge. “Now that wasn’t nice Zee-vah.” he said, but she just ignored him and instead, started to talk to Kate.

“Is he always like this?” she asked her. Ziva had only know Tony for a few weeks, so she didn’t know exactly how Tony acted.

“All the time.” Kate replied, looking up from her work. Before she could return to it, a wad of paper hit her in the head. “DiNozzo!” she shouted. Tony just smilied.

“Hey Tony, there’s someone her to see you.” Mcgee said as he entered the squad room. A young girl followed. She looked to be about 8, but she was short for her age. She was carrying a purple back pack and was wearing a purple shirt and jeans. She had long blonde hair, a small smile, and light choclate brown eyes that looked like Tony’s. To tell the truth, she did look a lot like Tony, she had a lot of the same facial features. The same nose, chin, and her smile even looked a little like Tony’s.

“And how may I help you today, Miss...”

“DiNozzo.” she replied.

“Excuse me?” Tony asked, a little surpirsed.

“DiNozzo!” Mcgee, Ziva, and Kate all shouted surpirsed.

“DiNozzo.” The girl said again, “I’m your daughter. My mother’s name was Liz Young.” WHen he heard that name, Tony was sent into a dream like state.

*Flashback*

He noticed a small blonde girl across the room. She looked to be 24, but she was short, short and blonde and hot. Trying to keep his cool, he walked over to her.

“Hey, you’re way too hot to be here alone, you are alone aren’t you?” asked a younger Tony DiNozzo. It was a friday night after work. He had just put a mass murderer behind bars and was celebrating. He was 24.

“Yes, yes I am.” replied a blonde, she too was 24.

“Well, let me buy you a drink...”

“Liz, Liz Young.”

“Liz, what would you like?”

“Matini.” she answered.

He came back five minutes lator, a martini in one hand, a beer in the other. “Here you go.” he said, setting the drink down next to her.

“Thank you...”

“Tony, Tony DiNozzo.”

“Tony.” After having a few drinks, they left together. THey entered her hotel room...

*end of flashback*

“Ah Liz,” he said, and was slapped on the back of the head by Gibbs, taking him out of his dream state.

“DiNozzo, what are you doing? And who is this?” he asked, looking at the girl.

“My name is Nichole, Nikki, DiNozzo.” the girl replied smiling.

Gibbs turned to stare at Tony, “DiNozzo, you have a lot of explaining to do.” he said staring at his agent.

“Sir,” Nikki said, recoiling her hand, “He doesn’t know anything, can I please explain. Everyone went to sit down, and Nikki began to tell her story.

“Well as my mom told me, she met umm... Tony, during a weekend trip in ‘98. And, well, thing happen and that’s how you get me. Tony didn’t know about me, he just met me today. But he is my father, and my only living relative. My mom was a foster child so she had no living relatives, and she died a few months ago from a heart attack, which I found kinda wried because she was perfectly helathy. But anyway Tony is the last living relative I have.” She finshed, looking at Tony. “My mom always insisted that you were my father, and I never believed her, until now. She said I would know when I saw your eyes, because I have your eyes.” She finished.

Tony, still shocked, didn’t say anything, neither did anyone else. Silently, he stood up, walked over to Nikki, kneeled down so he was her height, and hug her closely. When he released her he said, “You can call me dad you know.” She smiled and so did he.

“Okay,” started Ziva, breaking up the touching moment. “let me gat this straight. Tony was at a bar, met Liz, did... whatever, and you were born?” she asked Nikki.

“Yep.” Nikki replied, still smiling.

“I have a daughter.” Tony said still in disbelief.

“Yep, Tony, you do.” Gibbs replied. He was lost in thought though. He was probably thinking about Kelly, but he wouldn’t say anything if he was.

“So, do I have any cousins, or aunts, or any relatives at all?” Nikki asked.

“Um, yes and no.” Tony replied. “I was an only child, and I don’t talk to my parents at all.” Tony answered, Nikki looked a little disappontied, “But, I do have my work family.” This was the first time he reffered to his team as family, but in truth, they were his family. “This is Probie.” Tony said pointing to Mcgee.

“Acually, I’m Tim or Mcgee, I’ll answere to either.” Mcgee corrected Tony as he shook Nikki’s hand.

“This is Ziva,” He said pointing at her, “and this is Kate.” Both girls gave Nikki a warm smile. “And this is my boss, Gibbs.” He pointed at Gibbs, but he didn’t look up. Nikki turned around to whisper somthig to Tony.

“He scares me.” She said simply.

“Gibbs can be scary, but don’t worry, he’ll like you.” Tony replied reassuringly.

“Hey Tony,” Kate cut in, “You should go introduce her to Abby and Ducky.” Kate suggested.

“Good idea, come on Nikki, I’ll introduce you.” Tony said leading her twards the elevator.

“She was perfectly healthy...” Gibbs said aloud.

“What was that, Boss?” Mcgee asked.

“Hum... oh nothing, just go back to work.” Gibbs replied and was answered with a chours of “On it Boss.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You’ll really like Abby.” Tony said to Nikki as he walked into her lab. “Hey Abbs!” Tony called over her music.

“Hey Tony.” She called back, not looking up from her computer. “WHat brins you to see me today?” she asked, again not looking up.

“Well for one, caf-pow dilivery,” at the sound of this abby turned around to recive her caf-pow, and she noticed Nikki. “and the second is I’d like to introduce you to someone. This is Nikki, my daughter.” Abby stared at Nikki in disbelief. She was so shocked that she dropped her caf-pow. Luckly, the cap didn’t pop off. She picked it back off and set it on one of the tables.

“This isn’t a joke right Tony. No this couldn’t be a joke, she has your eyes, which are really pretty by the way. But wow, you a father. That’s, that’s, well...” she was lost for words. She bent down and hugged Nikki. “Well, I’m Abby, forensic scientist extrodinary! Welcome to my domain!” Abby smiled at Nikki who, in truth, looked a little scared.

“Nice to meet you Abby.” she managed to say.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I, well, I am a hugger, and well, if your Tony’s daughter that means your sorta part of the family so I thought hugging you would be okay. I’m a little to forwards sometimes.” Abby finished. When she did, Nikki huged her. Abby was a little confused. “Now what was that for?” she asked the little girl.

“You said I was part of the family, I like having a family again.” Nikki replied smiling.

“Again?” Abby asked confused.

“It’s a long story Abbs, can I tell you lator, I want to introduce her to Ducky.” Tony said leading Nikki twardas the door.

“Oh, yeah sure, see you lator Nikki.” Abby replied.

“Bye Abby.” Nikki called as they wlaked out of the lab. “Abby’s really nice.” Nikki told Tony as they stepped into the elevator.

“See, I told you you’d like her.” Tony replied, “Now, on to meet Ducky, and the autopsy gremlin if he’s there.” Tony said.

“Autopsy gremlin?” Nikki asked confused.

“You’ll see.” Tony said as the elevator door opened revealing autopsy door opened. “Wait here a second.” Tony told Nikki, and she did. Tony walked in to autopsy alone. “Hey Ducky, doing and autopsy?”

“Acually, Tony, I just finished. Mr. Palmer is putting him back into his drawer. Yes the man died an extremly painful and...” Ducky trailed on.

“Um, Ducky” Tony interupted, “another time perhaps. I’d like to introduce you both to someone. Wait one sec.” He walked out and returned a few moments lator with Nikki. “Ducky, Palmer, I’d like you to meet Nikki, my daughter.” Tony said, and he watched their jaws drop.

“Anthony, I didn’t know you had a daughter.” Ducky said bewildered.

“He didn’t either until about an hour ago.” Nikki said.

“Well, you are a beutiful thing aren’t you my dear.” Ducky siad. “You have beutiful hair, and your fathers eyes.” Nikki smiled at the compliments. “Yes, you also have his smile so I see.”

“So, If your Ducky, then you must be the autopsy germlin.” Nikki said turning to look at Palmer.

“Yes, I am, wait, what?” Jimmy answered her. She just smilied.

“We’d better get going, Ducky, Gibbs is probably wanting me...” Tony was interupted by Gibbs rushing into autopsy.

“Nikki, did you say your mom was perfectly healthy when she had her heart attack?” Gibbs aasked as he rushed in. Mcgee, Ziva, and Kate were right on his tail.

“Yeah, that’s why I thought her death was weird.” Nikki replied.

“Ducky, what are th odds of having a heart attack when you’re perfectly healthy?” Gibbs asked.

“Oh, well it;s not unheard of, if the person has an bad aterry then...” he trailed on.

“Do you know if your mom had a bad attery?” Gibbs asked Nikki.

“No, but then again I didn’t go to the doctors with her. I guess I could give you permission to look at her medical records, right?” She replied.

“Yes you could, thank you.” Gibbs siad begining to walk off.

“What are you getting at boss?” Tony asked.

“I don’t think that Nikki’s mom died of natural causes.” Gibbs called back before the elevator doors shut.

“You’re mother is dead?” Ducky asked, Nikki nodded. “My condolences.”

“Let’s head back up to the squad room. See you lator Ducky.” Tony said as he, Nikki, Mcgee, Ziva, and Kate turned to leave.

“Autopsy gremlin, is that what Tony calls me?” Plamer asked. Ducky didn’t say anything.

When they got back to the sduad room, Gibbs was on the phone, geting Liz Young’s medical records. Tony didn’t know what to do now. So, he pulled an extra chair up next to his desk for Nikki, but she was on the other side of the squad room, standing in front of Gibbs desk. When he got off the phone, she asked, “What do you think happened to my mom?”

“I think that... her death wasn’t natural.” Gibbs said.

“Please don’t sugar coat what you think happened. My Mom was the only person I had, until I found Dad, I think I deserve to know what you think happened exactly.” Nikki said, a little annoyed that she wasn’t being told the truth.

“I think your Mom might have been given a poisin that causes the one who injested the poisin to die by mimicing a natural death.” Gibbs said, waiting for Nikki’s reaction. She just started to ask a lot of questions.

“How could she have been poisioned?”

“I don’t know.” Gibbs replied.

“How do you know she even did get poisioned?”

“I don’t.” Gibbs answered.

“Then why do you think..” GIbbs cut her off.

“My gut.” Gibbs answered the question. Nikki looked confused. Gibbs tried to change the subject. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I;m Leroy Jethro Gibbs and if Tony is calling us his family, that would probably make me your grandfather.” Gibbs said.

“Okay, so in Tony’s eyes, you his father, Mcgee, Ziva, Kate, and Abby are his brother and sisters, Ducky would be his... Grandfather,” she looked at Gibbs, who nodded, “and autopsy gremlin would be...” she trailed off not know what he would be.

“Lets just say Plamer is the weird cousin.” Tony said, making Nikki laugh a little.

“Boss, I have Liz Young’s medical record.” Mcgee called out.

“And Mcgee?” Gibbs asked walking over to his desk.

“There were no bad ateries, no desies, nothing.” Mcgee answered.

“What does that mean?” Nikki asked, looking a little worried.

“It means that Gibbs was right and someone murdered your mother.” Kate said as kindly as she could.

“Now, what we need to do is exhume her body and have Ducky look at it, and have Abby run a few tests.” Gibbs looked over at Nikki, “That is if that’s okay with you.” He said to her.

“Yeah, I just want to know what happened to my mother.” Nikki answered.

“Okay, then. Would you mind answering a few questions then?” GIbbs asked walking over to her. She shook her head, and Gibbs lead her over to his desk. He lifted her up and sat her down on top of the desk. He sat in his chair an started to talk. “Nikki, how old are you?”

“I’m eight, I be nine in October.” she answered.

“I know this is hard, but could you think of someone who’d want to kill your Mom?” Gibbs asked, he could see tears building up in Nikki’s eyes.

“Yes. We were at the park one day. A man walked up to me, and started talking to me. He said that I looked a lot like his mother when she was young. He said the he liked my hair, that I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Do you think me might have killed my mom to get to me?” Nikki asked, her voice cracking.

“I don’t know, but he might have. And if that’s the case, then I’m going to put you under protective custody. Okay.” Nikki nodded. “Tony,” Gibbs called out, and Tony walked over to his desk. “don’t let Nikki out of your sight.” Gibbs comanded.

“Wasn’t planning on it Dad.” he joked. Gibbs smiled and lifted Nikki off the desk. He gave her a reassuring smile. But she was still sad and had tears in her eyes. Tony walked with her back to his desk. “Hey, you okay Nik?” He asked. She sook her head and began to cry. Tony held her close and said, “Don’t worry, we will find out what happened to your mom. We will catch the guy who did this.” He promised, Nikki nodded and tried to control herself. She finally did, five minutes lator. Her stomach growled quietly, and she gave it a look, begging it to shut up. “You hungary?” Tony asked her. she nodded. “Here.” He walked her over to the vending machine. “What would you like.” HE said, she looked at her options.

“Can I have a bag of chips?” she asked quietly. Tony nodded and hit the machind in just the right spot to make a bag of chips fall out.

“Here you go.” Tony said handing her the bag.

“How’d you do that?” Nikki asked in amazement.

“When you’ve been in one place of so long, you figure out how to work the vending machine.” Tony answered as they walked back to his desk.

THey sat there for a little while, Nikki ate her chips thn started to doddle on a sheet of paper. Tony contiued to do his “paperwork” mich to Kate and Ziva’s annoyence. Nikki found her Dad’s “paperwork” quite funny, and watched as he threw the paper at both of them. He decided to throw one at Mcgee, who looked to concintrated on somthing for paperwork.

“What you lookin’ at Mcgeek?” Tony asked in a childlike voice.

“I can’t seem to find where Nikki’s mom was buried.” Mcgee said continuing to focus on the computer screen.

“That’s because my Mom wasn’t buried. She was cremated.” Nikki said. She walked over to her backpack and pullet out a ziplock bag full of ashes. “This is her.” she walked back over to Tony’s desk and sat them down. Just then Gibbs returned from his coffee run.

“Hey boss, Liz wasn;t buried, she was cremated.” Tony said pointing to the ashed on his desk.

“Is it okay if Abby runs some tests on these?” Gibbs asked Nikki, who nodded. Nikki pick up the bag and walked twards the elevator to give Abby the ashes. Tony chased after her and met her at the elevator. They walked into Abby’s lad together.

“Hey Abby.” Nikki called out. Abby walked over to tham and smilied.

“And what can I do for you today?” Abby asked.

“We need you to run a tox screen or something on these ashes.” Tony said.

“Okay, whose ashes are they?” Abby asked taking the ashes.

“My Mom’s.” Nikki said.

“Oh, so that’s what you ment by binging in a family again.” Abby said, coming over to hug Nikki. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Nikki said.

“So what am I looking for?” Abby asked.

“Poision.” Tony answered, “We’re pretty sure that Nik’s Mom’s death wasn’t all antural.”

“Can I stay with Abby for a little while, Dad? I like it down here.” Nikki asked.

“Sure, but I have to go back upstairs, okay.” Tony said.

“Okay.” Nikki replied. She and Abby started to talk about something or another when the elevator doors closed taking Tony back to the squad room.

“Where’s Nikki?” Kate asked as he walked in.

“She stayed in the lab with Abby.” Tony said sitting down.

“I knew she’d like Abby.” Kate said, returning to work.

“Everyone likes Abby.” Mcgee added.

“Some of us more than others, right Probie?” Tony asked taunting him.

“Drop it Tony.” Mcgee replied, digging his nose back into his work.

“Why do you have to be so mean, Tony?” Ziva asked.

“Because that’s how I am Zee-vah.” Tony answered, throwing another wad of paper at her. He smiled and went to work. He was working on findign everything he could about Liz, where she grew up, her family, whatever he could find. After a hour or two, Abby came up to the squad room with Nikki.

“I have the results of the tox screen. I found traces of oxalic acid which causes heart and kidney faliure, that’s what killed her.” Abby said sadly.

“So, the man poisions her to get to me, not knowing that I had a dad at NCIS that I could live with.” Nikki said, “I should be okay, right?” Nikki asked, looking over at Tony.

He looked at her and said, “I don’t know Nikki. But i do know that I will protect you to the best of my abilities and even if this guy does take you, he will not kill you, I won’t let him.” Tony siad quietly. Nikki ran over to him and hugged him, and he hugged back.

“Go home everyone.” It was Gibbs coming down from MTAC, “There’s nothing more you can do tonight.” Everyone grabbed there gear and headed out.

“Wow, nice car.” Nikki said when she saw Tony’s mustang.

“Thanks.” Tony replied as he got in. Nikki sat in the back. Tony turned on the radio, “Do you want to listen to a certain station?” Tony asked.

“Any staion that plays Nickleback I’m fine with.” Nikki replied and that’s what Tony put on.

“So, since there is probably no food in the apartment, what would you like for dinner?” Tony asked.

“Whatever, I’m not a picky eater.” Nikki answered.

“Arbys okay?” Tony asked.

“Never had it.” Nikki said.

“Really! Well then that’s where we’ll go.” Tony said as he pulled into the drive through. “What do you want?”

“Um...” Nikki answered looking at the menu, “Can I get a large chicken shaker and curly fries?”

“Sure, and what to drink?”

“Vinilla milkshake, please.”

“That sounds really good, I think I’ll have the same thing.”

“Hello and welcom to Arbys.” said a voice from the speaker.

“Yeah, hi can I have two large chicken shakers, two large curly fries, a large vinilla shake and a large choclate chake.” Tony ordered.

“Okay so two large shackers, two large fries, a large vinilla and a large choclate.”

“Yep.”

“Okay please pull up to the window.”

“Do you really think we’re gonna eat all of that?” Nikki asked.

“Yep, trust me it’s not as much as you’d think.” Tony replied as he paid and recieved the food. The smell of it filled the car as she and Tony began to eat. “Hey do you want to eat at the park, it’s a nice night.” Tony asked. Nikki agreed and they went to te park. The dinner was nice, they told eachother about their lives, what they liked and didn’t like, and they talked movies. Nikki had gotten Tony’s movie scence and loved every movie she had ever seen.

“You have got to see my DVD collection.” Tony said.

“How many do you have?” Nikki asked excited.

“Over 100 I know that much, way over 100, I have never gotten around to counting them.”

“Oh, can we watch one tonight?” Nikki asked.

“Sure, whatever you’d like, within reason.” Tony replied. Once they finished eating, they drove to Tonys apartment. When Tony opened the door, Nikki headed straight for the DVDs. While she was looking she heard somthing a turned around. “Dad!” she screaned as she saw him hit over the head with somthing by a man that she vaguely remembered. “Hey!” she shouted, but a little to late. hte man clampped a hand over her mouth and whispered into her ear, “Hello beautiful.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony woke up some time lator. It was dark and he looked at his watch. His head was throbbing and he almost couldn’t remember what happened. “Nikki!” he shouted. “Nikki! On no.” He ran through the apartment scearching for her, but he knew that the man who had knocked him out had taken her. He did the only thing he could think of.

“Gibbs.”

“Boss.” Tony said.

“Tony, why the hell are you calling me at three in the morning?”

“He’s got her boss, that creep took Nikki!”

“What!”

“He broke into my apartment when I wasn’t home. When we walked in he knocked me out, and when I woke up, Nikki wasn’t here. He took her boss!”

“Tony, come into work, I’ll call the others. We will find her.” Gibbs hung up. In his frustration, Tony punched the wall, how could he be so stupid! He let him get her! He grabbed his keys and left.

He drove more reckless than Ziva and Gibbs combined and reached the NCIS building in record time. He was the first one in the squad room and he waited there, impatiently. The others came in a half an hour lator. By that time, Tony was wallowing in self pity and his own stupidity. He was sitting at his desk, head rested on his hands, staring at nothing, not saying anything. “Tony. Tony. Tony!” Gibbs chouted to get his attention.

“Yeah boss?” Tony asked not looking up.

“What are you doing?” Gibbs asked.

“Sitting here, why?” Tony asked, still not looking up.

“Because, you should be...” at that moment, Tony’s phone rang. The number was restricted. He told Mcgee to start a trace.

“Hello.” Tony answered.

“Dad!” Nikki shouted through the phone.

“Nikki, are you all right?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” replied Nikki.

“What a nice daughter you have.” said a creepy voice.

“What do you want?” Tony asked.

“Bye bye.” THe man said and hung up.

“No!” Tony shouted. All eyes truned to Mcgee, he shook his head sadly. “Damnit!” Tony shouted slaming his hand down on his desk. He looked dismayed. He knew this was his fault. “What do we do now Boss? Tony asked.

“We go to your apartment and treat it like a crime scene.” Gibbs said. He began to walk out, the agents grabbed tere gear and followed. Tony drove, again recklessly, back to his appartment. He was still fuming, and he knew that if he didn’t save Nikki he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Reaching his apartment, again in record time, he saw he had left the door open. He opened to find everthing exactly as he had left it, the cabnit door to his DVD collection was even still open. “Mcgee finger prints, Ziva bag and tag, Kate sktches and photos. Tony...” Gibbs stopped before giving Tony an order.

“Yeah boss?” Tony asked.

“Just, supervise.” Gibbs replied, which to Tony ment not to do anything. He watched the others. Mcgee found many finger prints, Kate’s camera snapped a picture every five seconds, and Ziva was going through bags like it was nobody’s bussiness. Even Gibbs was working, he was doing measurments. The scene was a mess. Apparently Nikki was a fight. the couch was ripped, papers were everywhere, lamps were knocked over, and one of the windows were broken. The only thing Tony saw in all of the wreckage was Nikki’s purple backpack, right where she had dropped it when she walked in. Tony couldn’t take it anymore, he left the room and went to go sit on his bed. He knew Gibbs would follow him but he didn’t care. Thirty seconds after he had sat down, there was a light knock on the door.

“What?” Tony asked a little coldly.

“You okay Tony.” It wasn’t Gibbs at the door, it was Kate.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My daughter was just kidnapped and I’m perfectly fine!” He shouted at her.

“Tony, it’s okay, we’ll find her.” Kate said sitting down next to him.

“How Kate, we don’t even know the guys name that took her, he’s to smart to let us get a trace on him, how are we supossed to find her!” He shouted again and lost it, breaking down into a fit of tears.

“We will Tony, I know we will.” Kate said as she hugged him. He leaned into her shoulder and cried. Kate had never seen him so weak, it scared her a little, but she stayed with him, waiting until he calmed down enough to come back into the main room. It took a while for that to happen though. Tony had sat up after a few minutes of sobbing, but still cried, silently.

“I’m scared Kate.” He admitted. “I’m afraid I’ll never see her again. And I just met her.”

“You’ll see her again Tony. I know you will.” she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “And I’m scared too, we all are.” Tony had finally stopped cryig, his eyes were red, but he had stopped.

“Thanks Kate.” He said and they walked out of the room together.

“We got blood!” They heard Ziva call out as they came down the hall.

“How much?” Gibbs asked.

“Not much, but enough to get DNA off of.” Ziva said.

“And I know where we can get a comparison to see if it’s Nikki’s.” Tony siad as he grabbed the car keys and ran otu of the partment. Kate followed. “What are you doing, Kate?” Tony asked when she caught up to him.

“Coming with you, Gibbs order.” She replied. “Where are we going?”

“To the park.” Tony answered.

Tony, still driving like a mad man, drove the car to the park. When they arrived, Tony ran over to the garbage can where he and Nikki had thrown their trash from dinner. He dug around and found what he was looking for, the over stuffed Arby’s bag that he and Nikki had set there trash in before throwing it into the can.

“Tony, what is that?” Kate asked, looking a little digusted.

“These are the remain of me and Nikki’s dinner.” He replied as he pulled out a over sized evidence bag. He bagged and tagged the trash and ran back to the car. Still driving like a mad man, he raced back to his appartment complex where he raced uo two flights of stairs and bound into his apartment.

“Tony, what was that all about?” Mcgee asked. Tony just handed him the evidence bag.

“A bag of garbage?” Ziva asked a little confused.

“That is the remains of Nikki’s last meal, there’s got to be some trace of DNA on it. We can compare it to the blood we found, to see if it’s hers or not.” Tony replied.

“Good work Tony.” Gibbs praised the younger agent. Kate had just walked into the room. “And why are you just coming in now?” Gibbs asked her.

“Well, I had to succure the car. Tony just hopped out of it the second he put it in park.” Kate replied.

“Okay then, get back to work.” Gibbs said handing her her camera.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Where am I?” Nikki wondered aloud as she stood up. Her cage was roomy, that was a plus, but she still had no idea where she was. It looked like an empty grage. There was a matteress in one corner, with a nice blanket and a pillow on top. There was a window on one of the walls, it had bars on it, so there was no escape from that way. And, she had chalk, lots and lots of chalk. “A least I won’t be board.” Nikki said as she crossed the room. She picked up a purple peice of chalk and started to draw. SHe drew a picture of a house, and on the house she wrote “NCIS”, and sighed. She had finally found her home and woosh, she was gone. She was kidnapped. She was alone, scared, and truth be told, she wanted her dad.

One silent tear rolled down her cheek and fell, distorting one of the lines of the house. She wiped it off, and walked over to the matteress. Pulling it she moved it to the center of the floor. Next to the matteress she placed a bunch of chalk, almost all of it. Then, with a purple peice of chalk, she drew a giant circle, her circle of saftey. Once she had finished drawing it, she sat layed down, next to her home, and cried silently into her arm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gibbs was driving the car back to headquaters and, truth be told, it was a gentler ride when Gibbs was driving then it was when Tony was driving. Upon reaching headquaters, Gibbs sent the evidence daown to Abby, who was eger to start working.

“I will process this evidence to the best of my abilities.” Abby promised as she took the box from Tony. “It’ll be my best work.”

“Everything is your best work, Abbs.” Tony stated.

“Well, this time it’s different. This time it’s for a family member.” Abby said as she came over to hug Tony. “This time it’s for your daughter. We will find her Tony.”

“I know Abbs, I know.” Tony replied hugging her back.

“Tony, are you scared?” Abby asked him.

“Yeah, I am Abby.” Tony replied and left the room, he needed to get back to work, he needed to find Nikki. The second he walked into the squad room, his phone rang. It was the restricted number again. They started a trace and Tony answered, “Nikki?” he asked.

“No,” answered the creepy voice, “go to your computer, open a video link.” the voice commanded, then hung up.

“Damnit.” Tony said, walking over to his computer and opening a video link. As soon as he did, there was a video stream.

“This is a live stream.” said the voice. Now, on the video, they could see that he was a man, he wore a ski mask so they couldn’t get facial recgonistion, but at least they now had a visual on him. “I will leave it open as long as you behave. Here’s your deautiful daughter.” The man finished and left the room. they could hear the door open and close. It was then that they saw Nikki. She was laying on her side close to the screen. She had a few cuts and brusies, but nothing major. She was asleep, but it wasn’t a peaceful one. Tony could see her tossing and turning.

“Nikki!” he called into the computer screen. Apparently she heard him and she woke up.

“Dad?” she asked sleepily as she woke up. She looked around and saw the computer. She stood up and grabbed it, sitting down she set it on her lap. “Dad, are you all right?” she asked, concerned.

“It should be me asking you that.” Tony replied.

“I’m fine, just some brusing from the struggle.” Nikki answered.

“Nikki, what does the room you’re in look like?” Tony asked her, wanting to get a feel fr her situation.

“I’m in what looks to be a storge unit. There’s one door, and the grage door, but they’re locked. There’s a barred window, and a lot of chalk, that’s really it.” she answered.

“How about the man, did you notie anything about him?” Tony asked.

“He’s definately the man I saw in the park.” Nikki siad.

“Can you describe him, to Kate.” Tony was hoping she would say yes.

“Yeah, in great detail too.” Nikki replied. Tony turned the screen to Kate who started to ask Nikki questions before Nikki cut her off. “The man has dark brown eyes, almost black. They’re usually cold, but when he looks at me he gets this look like he’s doing things to me in his mind. His nose is small and looks akward on his face, that is large. His mouth is forever twisted into an evil smile, one that nothing could wipe off. His hair is short, curly, and a dark, dark brown. His head is fat, put manages to end in a point.” Nikki finished.

“THat was amazing Nikki.” Kate praised her, “now does this look like him?” Kate asked show Nikki her sketch.

“Yeah, that’s him exactly.” Nikki siad.

“I’ll start to run the picture then.” Kate said standing up, but then she stopped. “Don’t worry Nikki, we’ll get you out of there soon.” Kate reassured her, then left. TOny turned the screen back to himself.

“Nikki, if he ever tries to ‘do’ anything to you, you fight him, don’t let him do it, okay?” Tony commanded.

“Yeah Dad. And Dad...” Nikki trailed off.

“Yeah Nik?” Tony asked concerned, the worst things possible began running through his head.

“Dad, I’m scared.” Nikki addmitted as a tear ran down her cheek.

“Don’t worry, Kate’s right, we will get you out of there soon. We’ll put this pedifile behind bars, and we’ll be able to be a family, okay?” Tony siad, giving her a reassuring smile.

“Okay Dad, Love you.” Nikki replied and returned his smile.

“Love you too, Nik.” Tony said. Suddenly the man returned and looked into the camera.

“Times up.” The man said.

“You said you’d leave the feed open!” Tony shouted at him.

“I lied, besides you don’t want to see this.” The man said and the feed was disconnected.

“No! Damnit!” Tony shouted, he slammed his hand down onto his desk and the buried his head in his arms and cried. He cried right there in front of everyone, Mcgee, Ziva, Gibbs, everyone. He suddenly stood up and ran from the room, straight to the elevator and Kate followed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The man advanced on Nikki, “Now, be a good girl and drop ‘em.” He told her, reffering to her pants.

“No!” Nikki shouted and ran twards him. She kicked and punched him with all of her might. She landed a few good hits, kicking him in the soft spot a few times, and punching him in the side so hard tha she heard ribs crack.The attacker fell to the ground and didn’t move. Nikki dug into his pokets and found a pair of handcuffs, fuzzy pink handcuffs no less, and cuffed him to a pipe that was running along the wall.She was smart enough to take the key from him. “Well that’s one problen sloved, now how do I get out of here?” she asked aloud.

“You don’t. All of the lockes have a 20 digit lock combination on them, you’ll never figure it out, your stuck here like I am until you starve!” The man said and than laugh a meniacal laugh a he crushed his cell phone. “And now you can’t call anyone either. I cut the wires on the the videocam too. There’s no way they’ll find you.” Nikki had quite enough of him for one time and she kicked him in the head to knock him out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kate had jumped into the elevator just before the doors had closed. SHe stopped it ans looked down at Tony who was crying in a cornor. “Tony.” she said looking down at him.

“He’s raping her Kate, right now.” Tony said through his tears.

“How do you know that?” She asked, sliding down the wall to sit next to him.

“The last thing that son of a bitch said was ‘you won’t want to see this’. What do you think that means Kate?” Tony asked her, now in compleate hystarics.

“It means that he was planning on raping her Tony, but Nikki’s strong, she wouldn’t let him. You gotta keep a positive head on this one or your going to be a wreck like this thrpughout the whole case and you’ll never get anything done.” Kate said while wrapping him in a hug. “Now cut this out and become the Tony DiNozzo I know and look up to.” Kate siad trying to boost his confidence.

“Thanks Kate.” Tony said as he calmed down. They both stood up and started the elevator. “Kate, you do know you are my best friends, right> Acually, you’re more like the sister I never had.”

“I know Tony, and thank you.” Kate replied, and the elevator doors slid open.

“Oh crap, oh crap.” Nikki said as she paced back and forth. It had been about a half an hour since the video connection and attempted rape. She needed to get in touch with her Dad soon. He was probably worried sick. “I need to get in touch with somone.” She said and then she rermembered somthing.

*Flaskback*
“Nikki, do you know what a facebook is?” Abby asked, they were in her lad while Abby was running the tox screen on her mother’s ashes.

“No, what is it?” Nikki asked, interested.

“It’s this network of people on a website you post on it what your doing, how you feel, and you can chat with friends when they’re on.” Abby answered. “Here, I’ll make you one.” And she did just that. In a matter of ten minutes, Nikki DiNozzo was on facebook. She was friends with everyone on team Gibbs who had one, and was excited to start doing things.

“Now, I’m always on, I never log off.” Abby said as she pulled up her page...

*End of Flashback*

“Of course!” Nikki shouted as she ran over to the computer. She went to facebook, “Thank god it works.” and logged in. And, as she expected, Abby was on. Nikki hit the chat box and started to type.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby was sitting glumly at her computer, sipping away at her caf-pow, and feeling useless because she didn’t know what to do. All of the sudden, there was a ding. Someone was trying to talk to her on facebook. “What is it now.” she wondered changing the screen to see her page. Nikki had sent her a message, “Abby!” it read simply. Abby began to write back.

*chat conversation*

“Nikki!”

“Yeah, what’s going on?”

“r u ok?”

“Yeah, this creep tried to rape me, but I kicked his but, I handcuffed him to a pipe.”

“lol, where’d u find the handcuffs?”

“They’re his, pink and furry, just how he likes them, lol!”

“OMG! Tony, I gotta go get him, brb.”
*chat ending*

Abby rushed out of the lab, right pass the elevator, she didn’t have time to wait for it. She raced up the steps taking them two or three at a time. She raced into the squad room out of breath. “Tony... facebook... lab... now!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him back down the stairs with her. Gibbs and the others followed closely behind. When they reached Abby’s lab she pointed at the plasma screen that now showed her Facbook page and her conversation with Nikki.

“Oh my god! Nikki!” Tony screamed with delight and took over Abby’s place at her computer and talked to his daughter.

*chat conversation*
“Nikki it’s dad r u ok?”

“Like I told Abby, I’m fine. He tried to rape me, but I took over and handcuffed him to a pipe with his own cuffs. He’s knocked out at the moment.”

“Is there any chance for you to escape?”

“No, all of the doors have 20 digit codes for the locks.”

“Is there anything u can tell me bout where u r?”

“Not anything other than what I told you b4.”

“Ok then.”

“Do u know who this guy is?”

“Not yet, but as soon as we know, u will.”

“Ok, maybe u should get back to work, I’d like to get out of this box soon.”

“Ok, but continue to talk to Abby alright?”

“Got it dad, luv u.”

“Luv u 2.”
*chat end*

“Abby, please keep talking to her, I want to know if anything changes.” Tony said to Abby, glad to know that his little girl was okay.

“You got it Tony.” Abby replied and went back to the chat box.

“We need to figure out who this guy is and fast.” Ziva said, acually sounding concered.

“She’s right.” Mcgee agreed.

“We have the picture running through the pedifile database, but it hasn’t gotten any hits yet.” Kate said.

“Abby, ask Nikki if she could guess the age of her kidnapper.” Gibbs comanded.

After some extremly fast typing and another ding, abby answered, “Nikki says he’s young and can’t be over 30.”

“Add that information to the search, we’ll find this son of a bitch if it’s the last thing we do.” Gibbs stated, looking around at the depressed team.

“Is there anyway we can track the internet connection?” Tony asked hopefully.

“Sorry Tony already tried, he’s bouncing it off of too many signals, we can’t get a hold of it.” Abby replied. Tony walked out of the room and went up to the squad room, he couldn’t stand just sitting here, doing nothing.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!’ Kate shouted just as Tony walked in.

“Gat what?” Tony asked.

“The name, I got this bastards name!” Kate shouted. Tony ran up to her, wrapped her in a hug, and, after letting go of her, spun around the room.

“Kate, you’re amazing, c’mon, we gotta tell Gibbs.” and Tony ran back to the elevator, Kate right on his heels.

“Gibbs, Gibbs we gotta name!” Kate shouted as she and Tony entered Abby’s lab. “Meet Petty Officer First Class Franklin Stewert.” She said pulling up the search.

“Whoa, this guy’s navy?” Mcgee asked surprised.

“And here I was using sick days to work this case.” Gibbs said sarcasticly. “Abbs, tell Nikki, she’s going to want to know, good work Kate.” Everyone was talking about what to do next while Abby talked to Nikki. She waited five minutes after she told Nikki the name, and there wasn’t an answer.

“Gibbs, we gotta problem!” Abby shouted.

“What is it Abbs?” Gibbs asked walking over to her.

“It’s Nikki, it’s been five minutes and she hasn’t answered.” Abby said her voice shaking with worry.

“We’ve gotta track this guy down.” Tony siad, angry. His fist were clenched tightly, his finger nails pressing into his palms.

“I say,” started Mcgee, “we go through credit records, tax returns, ect. to see if he purchased a storge unit or somthing similar.”

“We should also check to see if he has any other names.” Ziva said.

“He does,” Kate answered still looking at the search, “five of them that we know of from the search. It’s still looking.”

“Well then get all of those records and start looking.” Gibbs comanded and they all left for the squad room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Nikki woke up, she was handcuffed to a pipe, in fuzzy pink handcuffs. Her head hurt and she was dizzy. “But how?” she asked herself as she sat there. She was fully clothed and she didn’t think she had been raped, but she couldn’t really remeber anything after she talked to her dad. A voice sounded from the other side of the room.

“Rule #2, always carry a spare key.” Franklin said.

“Why am I not raped?” She asked, which was a perfectly logical question.

“You and your feet did too much damage.” He replied.

“Well gee, ain’t that a shame.” Nikki replied sarcasticly. The man walked up to her and slapped her across the face. It hurt, but she didn’t say anything.

“Being brave I see.” The man said, and he slapped her again, harder than before. Nikki held back tears and the urge to scream. The man continued to hit her, harder and harder, until finally, Nikki collapsed, unconcious.

“Yes, I need tax returns for Franklin Stwert, Frank Strob, Filippo Stark...” Mcgee went on to ask for the tax returns of the seven names that stwert had. “They’re faxing them over now.” Mcgee said as he hung up. And sure enough, they started to come as soon as Mcgee had finished speaking. Tony grabbed the first set, Kate the second, Mcgee the third, Gibbs the fourth, Ziva the fifth, Abby the sixth, and Ducky the seventh.

“Okay, we need to look for any storge unit bought by this guy.” Tony siad, and they all set off to work. They hilighted every possible purchase that could be where Nikki was being held. When they were finished they had 20 storge units to check.

“Damnit, we have to narrow it down.” Tony said extreamly annoyed.

“We could call each company, see if he still owns them.” Abby sughested, and they did just that. By the time they were done, they had 6 units left, all under the name Franklin Stwert.

“That’s still too many.” Kate said, “we can’t cover them all.

“And they’re all over the country, ones in Texas, another New York, one in Michigan, Two in Virgina, and one in Alaska.” Ziva pointed out.

“How lond did he have to get her to the unit?” Gibbs asked.

“Since the video came in at 08:00 this morning, he had about 11 hours, He knocked me out at 21:00 last night when I got home.” Tony replied. “He could be at anyone of these units.”

“No he can’t be.” Mcgee said. “Texas and Alaska are over a 11 hour drive away, and I think he drove because how is he supossed to get a struggling or unconsious girl onto a plane or anyother form of public transportation without attracking attention?”

“That’s good Tim.” Gibss said, “So that leaves us with either the ones in Virgina, Michigan, or New York. I think he’d be in New York or Michigan because if it were in Virginia, he would have called earlier.” Gibbs finished his reasoning and said. “We need a satlite hook up in MTAC to look at the two units.”

“On it Boss.” Mcgee replied, and started to work.

“No need to work Mcgee, my boy Arty can get that for us.” Abby said as she walked away to call him. Fifteen minuets lator they were all sitting in MTAC waiting for the satilite.

“It’ll be up riiight now!” Artey said and the two images came up on the screen.

“Your the man Arty!” Abby praised as she looked at the two images. The one in New York looked reativily normal. But the one in Michigan had a black SUV parked next to it. Tony was lost in thought for a moment and shouted.

“Boss! She’s in Michigan! I remember that SUV, it was behind us in the drive threw at Arby’s!” Tony started to run out of MTAC, and the other followed.

“THe drive threw at Arby’s? Abbs, what kind of a case is this?” Arty asked.

“I’ll explain lator Arty.” Abby said as she cut the connection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Nikki woke up, she felt terrible. She tasted dried blood on her lips, and her face stung. She knew he had hit her, continuously, until she was knocked out. He was crul, evil, and dangerous. SHe hoped that her Dad and the rest of her family would come soon, to save her and kill this guy.

“I see you’re awake. You know it’s rude to fall asleep in the prsence of company.” Franklin said walking over to her.

“I didn’t see you as comapny, I see you and a creep who is trying to kill me.” Nikki said. She had been kidnapped for almost 24 hours, she was hungry, thirsty, and tired. She need to get out of her, she wanted to go home.

“How dare you speak like that, I thought you had all ready learned you lesson.” he said, smacking her across the face. “Now, the next time you dibehave, I won’t slap you, I’ll shoot you.” he said pulling out a gun. “No I won’t kill you. I’ll just shoot you in the leg, or arm, or some other part of you that won’t kill you.” He laughed, evily. Nikki wasn’t afraid of him, or being shoot. She didnt care about the conciquences, she would talk in whatever way she liked.

“You can’t scare me. My Dad will be here soon and if you hurt me anymore he’ll kill you.” Nikki stated bravely.

“Oh really.” Franklin said and he shot her in the thigh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gibbs was driving again. Ziva sitting in the passerger seat. TOny was in the back behind Gibbs, shaking uncontroably. Kate was trying to settle him down, while Mcgee stared out the window lost in thought.

“But what if...” Tony was saying.

“Tony, she’s going to be fine.” Kate reassured him for the hunderth time.

“But...” Tony started.

“Tony, trust me, if she has even a scratch on her, I will kill him.” Gibbs said.

“Oh no you won’t.” Tony retoerted.

“And why not, don’t you want this guy dead?” Gibbs asked.

“Yes, but if anyone’s going to kill him, it’s gonna be me.” Tony stated and stared out the window. He couldn’t get images of waht could have happened to Nikki out of his head. He saw her beaten up, raped, and worse, dead. He tried to shake the images away, but he couldn’t. they stck in his head and weren’t going away until he knew for sure what had happened.

“Are we almost there?” Tony asked they had been driving for four hours.

“We’re almost in Michigan, but we still need to drive the the storge units in Monroe, which at our speed should only take us fifteen minutes to get to instead of half an hour.” Kate replied for Gibbs.

“Good.” Tony said simply. And he waited, impaitently. They reached to storge unit in fiteen minuets, like Kate said, they drove straight threw the barrier into the area. They all hopped out of the car and Tony ran twards the back before anyone could stop him. He knew exactly which unit he was looking for. He found it in a few minutes and the SUV was still parked out front. He shoot at the lock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From inside of the storge unit, Franklin heard a gun shot. Quickly he ran over to Nikki and pointed the gun at Nikki’s head. “Be quiet or I’ll blow your head off.” He said. Nikki tried to stay as quiet as possible, but she continued to whimper because of the pain in her thigh.

“Federal Agent!” Tony shouted as he rushed into the room. He looked at Nikki, she had blood all over her face and he could see the bullet wound in her leg. “What did you do to her!” Tony demanded.

“Drop your gun or I’ll blow out her brains.” Franklin threatened. Tony did so, not wanting to put Nikki in more danger. “Now kick it out the door.” Franklin continued, and Tony did just that.

“Let Nikki go.” Tony demanded. “Take me instead.”

“Fine.” he unhandcuffed Nikki and pulled her off of the ground.

“Nikki, go find Gibbs.” Tony said, she just looked at him, scared. “Please go!” Tony shouted, and she did, as best as she could. “Now, what do you want?” Tony asked Franklin.

“You don’t remember me?” Franklin asked. Tony shook his head. “You killed my girlfriend! Katie Holland! I loved her, and you took her away from me! Now, you’re gonna pay!”

“Franklin she was a murderer. She killed your parents!” Tony said, as he began to remember the case. They startd to circle eachother until Tony’s back was against the wall.

“I didn’t care!” Franklin continued to shout. “I hated my parents, I loved her. And now your gonna pay.” He raised his gun, but before he had a chance to shoot Tony, he feel to the floor. A bullet had penetrated his skull.

“Don’t you dare kill my Dad!’ Nikki shouted, the gun still raised. Tony stood up and nodded at her, telling her that Franklin was dead. She dropped the gun and ran over to Tony, collapsing into his awating arms. When she reached him, she fell unconcious, she was losing too much blood from the bullet wound in her thigh.

“Nikki!” Tony shouted. The rest of the team had just reached the storge unit. They saw Tony kneeling over Nikki’s body, his hands outting pressure on her thigh. Kate ran over to Tony and Nikki to help in some way, Ziva and Mcee followed while Gibbs called for an ambulence. Nikki continued to lose blood, but she still had a pulse. The ambulince arrinved within ten minutes to take Nikki to the hospital.

“Come on Nikki. Your gonna make, c’mon.” Tony said, but even as he said it, he wasn’t so sure that that was true.

“Beep....beep.” Was the only sound in the little hospital room. Nikki had survived surgury and was going to be okay. Tony entered the romm and saw her asleep in the bed. She was pale and looked dead, but the beeping heart monitor told Tony that she was alive.

“Hey Nik,” Tony siad as he sat down next to her and took her hand. “The doctors said you’re gonna be okay. I was so worried.” He took a deep breath, “I’m soory I didn’t get to you sooner, if I had...” He was interupted by a knock on the door.

“Hey Tony, Kate said quitely as she entered the room, “How’s Nikki?”

“She’s fine.” Tony replied, “She’ll wake up.” THey sat together in silince. It wasn’t one of those akward silences, but it was a comforting one. That is, until Tony decided to break it.

“Kate,” He took a deep breath and continued, “thank you. You were there for me when I needed someone the most. No one could ever ask for, or ever find, a better friend.”

“Thanks Tony.” was the only thing Kate could say. “Who knew that Tony could say something so sweet?” she thought. “WHen should she wake up?” she asked trying to change the topic and trying to make herself feel a little less uncofortable.

“”Today, tomarrow, the next day.” Tony answered, never taking his eyes off of Nikki. He was afraid that she would never wake up. The doctors said she would but still...

“Hey,” Kate said resting a hand on Tony’s shoulder comfortingly. And as if she knew what he was thinking she said, “She gonna be fine Tony, she will wake up. And you two will spend a long and happy life together.” Then she hugged him reassuringly and he hugged her back say. “Abby is starting to rub off on you, Kate.” and they both pulled back smiling.

“Here, I’ll run to your apartment and grab you a few things, anything you want in particular?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, could you grab; my portable DVD player and all of it’s cords, it should all be in the drawer underneth the DVD cabinet; a couple of DVD that you’ll think Nik will like; and her back pack?” Kate nodded as she turned to leave. “And Kate!” Tony called out stopping her in her tracks, “Thanks, and I realli ment everything I said earlier.” Kate smiled and turned to leave again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been over 24 hours since Nikki had been taken out of surgurey and she still wasn’t awake. Tony and the others were all sitting in the hospital room, and they had each gotten her a get well soon presant. Abby had given her black roses, which were beautiful in a goth sort of way. Ducky, Mcgee, and Ziva (all not being creative what so ever) gave Nikki a balloon bouquet that brightened up the room. Kate got her a cookie basket that had three giant flower shaped sugar cookies in it. And Gibbs gave Nikki what turned out to be her favorite. He had gotten her a teddy bear that had a NCIS jacket and hat, it’s own gun and badge, and it was the cutest thing any of them had ever seen.

“WHat?” GIbbs asked after he had recieved some hinky looks from the team, “Grandfathers have a soft side.” he joked (he apparently like the grandfather metaphor because he would never be a grandfather for his beloved daughter, Kelly).

THey had been talking for awhile, but now they just sat in silence waiting for Nikki to wake up while Wicked was playing in the background. “Well at least Probie can’t tell me he doesn’t know what Wicked is anymore.” Tony said with a slight smilie on his face as th movie finished.

“What’s WIcked?” a voice asked.

“Probie, you just saw the movie.” Tony said exsaperated.

“Tony, I didn’t say anything.” Mcgee told him. They all looked at Nikki and sure enough, she was awake.

“Oh Nikki, Thank God!” TOny sighed with relief as he wrapped Nikki in a hug and kissed her forehead.

“What happened?” Nikki asked, and when Tony didn’t answer, Gibbs did.

“The bullet wound in your thigh was infected, and you lost a lot of blood. You’ve been out for almost two days. How you feelin’ kid?”

“Tired.” Nikki answered, “I’d really just like to sleep.” Everyone turned to go and only Tony and Nikki were left in the room. “Oh Dad, there’s a letter for you from Mum. It’s in the front pocket of my bag.” Nikki said and as soon as she finished, she was fast asleep, nothing would wake her.

Tony grabbed Nikki’s bag and when he opened the from pocket, he saw the letter. Hands shaking, he opened it quickly and be gan to read...

Dear Tony,
Yes, Nikki is your daughter. I’m
sorry I didn’t tell you about her, I
thought you wouldn’t want her. If
you’re reading this, I am dead. You’re
the only family she has left. Please
please take care of her. I know she’ll
love you, and I hope you’ll love her.
Love,
Liz

Tony could feel tear running down his face as he read the letter over and over and over again. He didn’t realize that Kate was watching him until she laid a hand on his shoulder. “Hay, you alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine Kate.” Tony replied quietly. “What’cha still doing here?”

“I forgot my purse.” Kate answered as she went to go retrieve it. “Goodnight Tony.”

“Night Kate.” Tony replied as he made himself as comfortable in the chair as possible and went to sleep, still clutching the letter ing his hand.

“Two weeks!” Nikki shouted as she entered Tony’s apartment. “Two weeks I’ve been awake, and now they let me out of there!”

“Well, Nikki,” Tony started, “that’s what hospitals do, they keep you in there longer than nessacary to suck as mush money out of your insurance company as possible.”

“Well that’s stupid!” Nikki stated, rther loudly.

“Yes, yes it is.” Tony agreed. “Now cone here, I have a surprise for you.”

Like Nikki had stated, it had been two weeks since she woke up in the hospital. During that two weeks, Tony had his “family” do him a favor. He asked them to redo Nikki’s room. first it was dark blue, with dark blud bedding, and a wood side table. Now it was lavender and pruple straiped, with a purple canopy bed. The side table was purple metal with a purple lamp, there was also a purple wooden dressar (which Gibbs had made) and a purple desk. The “family” was sitting in the room to welcome nikki home.

“Is this for me?” Nikki asked, astounished.

“Yep. Created by your ‘family’” Tony started putting ‘family’ in air quotes, “for you.”

“Why’d you put family in air quotes?” Nikki asked confused.

“Because we’re not your true family Nikki.” Kate said trying to explain.

“Yes you are.” Nikki insisted. “True I might not be related to you, but you did this for me, you visited me in the hospital, you care about me, and my Dad. In my book, that make you true family.” Nikki said. “To me, we’re all family.”

“She’s right Jethro.” Ducky said. “We aren’t biological, but we are family.”

“Yeah.” Gibbs said with a sigh, “I guess she is Duck.” and for the first time since anyone could remember, Gibbs similed, truely smiled. Nikki went around the romm thanking everyone, and giving them a hug. Everyone hugged their new family member back, even Ziva.

“I love the room, It’s so big! When I lived with my mom, we had to share a room.” Niki stated as she began to wonder around her room.

“Really?” Tony asked suprised.

“Yeah, we didn’t have the best life.” Nikki said, “Mom worked all the time, I couldn’t go to school because Mom needed me at home, if you could call it home. We lived in an old warehouse.” Nikki said.

“Aww.” Abby said running up to Nikki to hug her again. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, I loved my life.” Nikki continued. “Mom and I were really close, we told each other everything. She taught me as much as she could, which was a lot. The only reason we lived like we did is because her parents disowned her when she became pregnat for me.”

“Wait, disowned her. Nikki, what is yor mom’s last name.” Kate asked.

“Hodgins, why?” Nikki answered confused.

“Because she told me it was Young. Your mom was a daughter of the people who owned the Cantileiver Group?” Tony said in disbelief.

“Yes, but I don’t understand what that means.” Nikki answered.

“Nikki, it means you’re rich, if we’re able to prove to the head of the group that you’re Liz’s daughter.” Gibbs said.

“Well who’s the head of the group?” Nikki asked, excited now.

“I can go back the the office and look it up Boss.” Mcgee offered.

“Go and do it Mcgee.” Gibbs ordered.

“What should the rest of us do?” Tony asked.

“Well... I don’t know DiNozzo.” Gibbs answered as he followed Mcgee out of the room.

“Hey, Tony,” Kate started, “Do you mind if Abby and I take Nikki shopping for new clothes. She doesn’t have may.”

“Can they Dad?” Nikki begged.

“All right, just don’t let Abby pick out any of the clothes.” Tony said.

“And why not?” Abby asked, a little offended.

“Because Abby, all though you look amazing in those clothes, I don’t think teachers will really like her wearing them to school.” Tony answered.

“You mean I’m gonna go to school?” Nikki asked, excited.

“Yep, as soon as it starts.” Tony answer.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go to school!” Nikki danced around the room shouting.

“Who knew a child could be so excited about going to school?” Ducky said as he watched Nikki dance around.

“C’mon Nikki.” Kate called and soon after, Abby, Kate, and Nikki left for the store, leaving Ducky, Ziva, and Tony in Nikki’s room.

“I really apperciate what all of you did. For me, for Nikki, everything.” Tony said tahnking them.

“Well, Anthony, what else is family for.” Ducky answered.

“And this room, it’s amazing!” Tony said in admiring it.

“Well, Ziva picked out most of it, the color, the furnature, and the light fixture.” Ducky admitted

“Really?” Tony asked, turning to look at Ziva.

“Hey, I’m not as cold as everyone thinks. I do have feelings, and I do care. Plus I noticed that Nikki loved purple, and just put that into the room.” Ziva admitted.

“Well, thank you sis!” Tony said. Ziva just smilied at the comment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I like this shirt!” Nikki said as she pulled a purple shirt off the rack that had stars all over it. They had gotten all of the basis, shirts, socks, underwear, and pants. All that was left was for Nikki to try them on. As she was trying on, she talked to Kate and Abby.

“I really wish you picked out other colors. All you have is purple!” Kate was saying.

“Yeah, you should have grabbed some black!” Abby added.

“But I like purple.” Nikki replied as she came out wearing a simple pair of jeans and the purple star shirt. “I really like this shirt.”

“I do too.” Kate agreed.

“Can we talk about the family a bit?” Nikki asked nervously.

“Sure, what do you want to know?” Kate asked.

“Well, do any of you have family?” Nikki asked.

“Um, Gibbs doesn’t. Ducky has his mother. Ziva has a father, but he lives in Isreal, where she’s from. Mcgee has a younger sister, Sarah. Abby has a brother, Chris. I have no one.” Kate answered while numbering people off on her finger.

“Okay, so can I get something straight, about family positions?” Nikki asked. “Ducky is y great grandfather, Gibbs my grandfather, Mcgee my uncle, Abby and Ziva my aunts, and you, Kate, are my mother?” Nikki asked.

“Up until the Kate being your mother part, you got it right.” Abby answered.

“You think of me as your mother?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, I mean, I know you didn’t marry Dad or anything, but it just feels right.” Nikki said. “You remind me a lot of my Mom.”

“Okay then.” Kate answered, “If you want to consider me as your mother, I will be.” Kate said as Nikki came out wearing her clothes. “Come on, let’s go check out.”

While in the chrck out line, Kate’s phone rang. “Todd.” she answered. “Okay... Be right there.” She hung up. “They found the head, and only living member, of the cantiliver group.” Kate said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, who is he, or she?” Nikki asked as she ran into the squadroom.

“It’s a he.” Gibbs answered, “His name is Jack Hodgins, he’s a doctor at the Jeffersoinain institute in DC.”

“So we can go see him then.”Nikki said.

“Yep. c’mon kid.” Tony siad, “Let’s go talk to your biological uncle.”

“Aren’t you coing too?” Nikki asked the rest of her family.

“No, you and Tony go.” Gibbs answered, “we’ll be here when you get back.” And with that, Tony and Nikki stepped into the elevator and were on there wayu to talk to Dr. Jack Hodgins.

“Hey, Dad?” Nikki asked from the backseat of the car, “What do you think Dr. Hodgins is like?”

“I don’t know Nik.” Tony answered, “He’s a doctor who deals with bugs and slime so I think he’s not going to be the most normal person.”

“Ok.” Nikki said, and then continued to look out the window. The Jeffersonian was on the other side of town, so they had about another fifteen, twenty minute drive before the got there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hodgie,” Angela Montenagro said as she walked up behind Dr. Jack Hodgins, “It’s six o’clock already, you said you’d be done in a minute.”

“And I will be.” Hodgins answered.

“Jack you said that an hour ago.” Angela said, as she sat down on his lap.

“Hmm, really. I didn’t realize so much time had passed.” Hodgins replied.

“Well, you can try to make it up to me.” Angela said.

“I guess I’ll try.” Hodgins agreed as he leaned in and kissed her passionately.

“Jezze, do I have to throw cold water on the two of you?” Dr. Camille Saroyan asked as she passed Hodgins work station. Hodgins and Angela seperated immediately. As they did, a sucurity guard walked up to Hodgins.

“Excuse me, Dr. Hodgins, there are two people wanting to see you in the Lobby.”

“Really?” Hodgins asked surprised. No one ever came to the building to see him, he was worried that it was an ex girlfriend. He stood up quickly and went to the Lobby, Angela following close behind. WHen the reached the lobby, they saw a man standing next to a little girl, who looked to be about eight, but was short. The girl reminded him a little of his sister Lz, who he hadn’t seen in years.

“Dr. Hodgins?” The man asked as Hodgins walked over to him.

“Yes, and you are?” Hodgins asked, still a little confused.

“I am Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Tony to most people, and this is my daughter Nikki.” Tony answered.

“Okay, and how can I help you two?” Hodgins asked again.

“I’m your niece, my mother was your sister, Elizabeth Hodgins.” Nikki said before Tony could say anything.

“What!?!” Hodgins and Angela both shouted in disbelief.

“I said...” Nikki started.

“We heard what you said, Sweetie.” Angela said kindly, “We just don’t really...”

“I just don’t believe it!” Hodgins said in awe.

“Well, it’s true.” Nikki insisted. “My mom died a few weeks ago, I came here to live with my father, and now I find out I’m related to the heir of the Cantover...”

“Cantiliver, Nik.” Tony corrected.

“Right, Cantiliver Group. Now I just want to know if my mom owned anything from it that I would get.” Nikki finished.

“Okay, it’s not that I don’t believe you Nikki,” Hodgins started, “but could you please take a DNA test for me. Just so that I’m a hundered percent sure that what youy say is true.”

“Sure.” Nikki agreed. After she agreed, Hodgins led her and Tony into the lab. Hodgins had Zack take the samples and run them through a mechine to test them. Sure enough, after about two hours of waiting, it prove that Nikki was related to hodgins as his neice.

“That’s amazing.” Hodgins said, “I mean I knew that Liz was peragnat, but I never thought that I would met her child.”

“Well, now you have.” Nikki said. “So, Dr. Hodgins, could you please answer my question. Am I going to inherit anything from this group or not?”

“I’m sorry Nikki,” Hodgins started, “Your mom was diowned, which means that you won’t get anything from her.” Nikki began to look diappointed, “But, since I have never wanted to own this fortune, I am going to make you the vice president of the group, and when I pass on, you’ll own it.”

“Really!” Nikki squealed with delight.

“Really.” Hodgins said. Nikki gave him a giant hug and thanked him about a hundred times. “Now, you really don’t have to do much, we have workers that run the place. All you have to do is stop by every once in a while with me when I make my visits. Plus, you have billions of dollars that is now yours.” Nikki thanked him again and again.

“I will still see you, right?” Nikki asked.

“Yep, you will kid. I am your uncle, of course you’ll see me, and Angela.” Hodgins answered.

“Who’s Angela?” Nikki asked.

“I am, sweetie, I guess I’m your aunt.” Angela said.

“Cool!” Nikki said as she hugged Angela too. “Dad, can we go home now, I want to tell the others.”

“Sure Nik.” Tony said, he stuck out his hand to Hodgins. “I guess I’ll see you around then?” he asked.

“Most definately.” Hodgins agreed as he and Tony shook hands.

“See you lator then, and thank you.” Tony said as he and Nikki turned to leave.

“Hey, Hodgins, who were they?” Cam asked as she cwalked up to him, followed by Booth, Brennan, and Zack.

“Well...” Hodgins started as he began to explain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They elevator doors opened and Nikki raced out of them and into the squadroom.

“I’m rich!” she shouted to the others.

“What!?” The others shouted.

“Nikki that’s great.” Kate said.

“Wait, what happened?” Gobbs asked.

“Well...” Nikki began to explain. She told them about hodgins and the Dna test, “and after the test he said that I was going to be the new Vice President and that I didn’t have to really do anything but go and visit the headquaters everyonce and awhile and then he said that I owned billions of dollars!” Nikki finished compleately out of breath. Everyone congradulated her, but soon after, she fell asleep in Kate’s lap. This had been the longest day she had in weeks. As she and Tony drove home, she had a wonderful dream, a dream of her family at an amazing party.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Turns out her dream came true. A week after seeing Dr. Hogins, Nikki found herself at a welcome home party for her. Her NCIS family was there, plus her uncle hodgins had come with angela, and some of his co-workers who he considered family, Cam, Booth, Brennan, and Zack. The party was amazing, she recived many beautiful gifts, which she didn’t understand why she got gifts if it was a welcome home party. It wasn’t until they brought out the cake that she realized what day it was. “OMJ! It’s my birthday!” Nikki shouted, “How could I forget my own birthday!” Everyone laughed with Nikki, which was a beautiful sound to her ears. She now knew she was home, and she never wanted to leave.