The door to the room was closed, but not locked. Tony slowly walked towards it, knowing he wouldn't like what he'd see but still, it was his duty to go in there. He had the doorknob in his hand but he couldn't move. His feet were nailed to the floor, his breathing was short and didn't bring nearly enough oxigen to his lungs. He thought he was going to suffocate and had to work up all his strengh to open the door.
„Tony, wake up!"
He opened his eyes and blinked confused. He sat in his chair at his desk. There was no door in front of him and his breath was short but his breast felt a lot less heavy. It was just a dream. Finally his eyes focused on the blue eyes over him and he sat up. He noticed that everybody else was gone.
„What time is it?"
„3 am. I send them home. There's nothing we can do tonight."
„Did anyone pick up Lish?"
Since he had arrived at the office he hadn't spend a single second to glance at his watch. He had worked without a break until he had fallen asleep over some research.
„Yeah, Ducky picked her up and took her home. We really didn't need him here."
Tony nodded and narrowed his eyes on the screen of his computer again.
„Oh, no. You're not going to work through the night."
The younger man looked at Jethro with his mouth open for a moment.
„But...the girls..."
„Yes, and there's a 4 year old girl waiting at home. C'mon, Tony. You need to eat something and then get a few hours sleep in something more comfortable than your chair."
Tony sighed and made to grap his stuff.
„We don't really have anything eatable in the house. Didn't have time to shop."
„That's alright. You go home, I'll run into the 24 supermarket and get something."
They shared a short kiss and went seperate ways. Tony drove home, his dream still vivid in his mind. Should he have told Jethro? He had told him openly about his nightmare the other night. But then, what was it about? A door he didn't dare to open? Well, surprise! He parked the car and went inside. He found Ducky snoring lightly in the guest's room and smiled slightly. As he came to the bedroom he glanced to his left. The door to Lish's room was slightly apart, as every night. It wouldn‘t hurt to look and see that she's alright, would it? But as he stood there watching his little sunshine sleep he couldn't help it. He went over to the bed and picked the girl up. Slowly she was getting too heavy to carry around but Tony didn't really care. If he had to he would carry Jethro, so a four year old wasn't a big problem. He put her down on the king sized bed in the master bedroom and then changed into the silk pyjamas Abby had given him for his last birthday. Once he was under the covers his daughter wrapped around him and he protectively put his arms around her and squeezed a little.
About twenty minutes later Jethro entered the bedroom. When he saw his family he had no thought left for food. He quickly changed himself and completed the protective circle around his daughter. He could never understand how somebody could hurt something as sweet and innocent as a child. But he knew that if anybody ever tried to take him his daughter away they would be lucky if they survived that.
„PAAAAA!!!! WAKE UP!!!!"
He was shook but by now this didn't necessarily lead to the kill-reflex anymore. His brain took in the size of the hands shaking him and gave green light. His daughter. Slowly he opened his eyes, turned and raised an eyebrow at her.
„Any reason why you're in our bed?"
„Don't know. Woke up here."
For a moment Jethro went through the events of last night, coming to the end that Tony had taken Lish to their bed. She hadn't slept with them anymore since she was two and a half. Even after the worst horror movie she could sleep without nightmares. So he concluded that Tony had felt the need to have her there, not the other way around. He could understand it, he had felt the same need just a night before.
„Ok...and what reason, young lady, do you have to wake me the way you did?"
„Daddy told me to wake you."
Jethro sat up and looked stern at her.
„And Daddy told you to jump onto the bed and shake your Pa and scream?"
„Em...yeah."
He raised his eyebrow a little higher.
„No, Daddy said I should tickle you. But you slept on your tummy."
Jethro shook his head and gave his daughter a soft headslap.
„Before you complain, Daddy will get one, too. Now, let your old Pa get out of the bed."
„You're not old, Pa."
He snorted at the pathetic reassurance and stood up. Lish was at the stairs before him and jumped down the last two steps.
„NO JUMPING!"
Jethro and Tony called at the same time. She, once more, gave them an „I'm an angel"-smile and went into the living room to watch her morning dosis TV.
„She's going to be real trouble someday."
Jethro said as he kissed Tony on the cheek.
„Why someday? Anyway, I talked to Su..."
„Who's Su?"
Tony shook his head.
„Neighbour? Two doors to the left? She's on the list to pick up Lish, Jethro!"
„Oh...you mean Susanne, Mike's wife."
„Yeah, Mike's wife. And I talked to her. She's going to pick up Lish today from kindergarten. She said I'd be no problem if she stayed a few days with her."
Jethro sat at the table and sighed. He took a sip of his coffee and then looked at Tony.
„You wanna take her up to the offer?"
„I told her, Jethro. I had to warn her. She promised me to not tell anybody but she'll sleep just as bad as we will until we catch that bastard. And if we have our mind off Lish it might help us focus on those other girls for a few days."
„You really thing we'll have our mind off Lish?"
Tony glanced into the living room.
„No. But still. I think it's a good idea."
„Well, at least we know she's far away from any playgrounds."
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.