A/N: Just a quick one shot that came to me last night. Hope you enjoy. Belated Happy New Year everyone.

SAVING EMILY

2:30 pm—NCIS

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Hey, Jethro can you do me a favor and pick Emily up after her piano lesson today?"

"Sure, what's going on?"

"Diane is out of town and I've just been told I have a meeting at 5:00 with the Director. The lesson is over at 5:30. Em's been asking to see you and work on the boat so if you don't mind I'd really appreciate it. I should be there by 7:30 or 8:00 at the latest."

"No problem. I'll see you later."

"Thanks. Oh hey, by the way, Jimmy Napalitano's kid got out of prison last week. Just thought you'd like to know."

"Okay, thanks for the heads up. See ya tonight."

At 4:30 Gibbs told his team he would see them tomorrow and he left to pick up Emily Fornell at her piano lesson. He knew where she went for instruction because she was taking lessons from the same woman who had taught Kelly piano when she was just six years old. Kelly had been one of Laura Miller's first pupils and she was still teaching after all these years. Gibbs smiled when he thought of how excited Kelly had been to play her newly learned scales for him. When Tobias had told him Emily wanted to take piano lessons he had recommended Laura to him. Of course, Tobias told Diane someone in his office gave him Laura's name; god forbid she know Jethro Gibbs had anything to do with it. She barely put up with him knowing Emily much less being any part of her life. Gibbs wondered what she was going to do when she found out Emily was going to be with him for the evening. 'She'll just have to get over it' he thought to himself with a smirk firmly in place.

Emily was obviously happy to see her 'uncle' Jethro. She greeted him with a big smile and a hug. "I was so glad when dad called and said you were picking me up. I don't think I could stand to sit in his office another night while he was working. Can we work on the boat tonight?"

"Sure. How are you? How's school?"

"School is okay. There's a new boy in my history class I really like. His name's Paul and his dad is a Marine. Don't tell my dad, he freaks out."

Gibbs just smiled at her and promised to keep her secret. He could hardly believe Emily was twelve years old. It seemed like she should still be just a little girl. It was bittersweet for Gibbs to spend time with Emily because he had never had the chance to know his own daughter at this age. Looking over at Emily as she smiled and rattled on about school and Paul and her girlfriends all he could do was soak it all in and thank Tobias for letting him have this time with his daughter. Diane wouldn't like it he supposed but she didn't say anything anymore; she knew how much Emily liked Gibbs and she didn't interfere. For that, he was grateful.

When they got to Gibbs' house Emily changed into some sweat pants and tee shirt and they went to the basement to work on the boat. Gibbs was putting the finishing touches on the cabin having already finished the hull and sent it off to the boat yard.

"Are you ever going to tell me how you get your boats out of here?"

"Probably not. But maybe, if you're really good and graduate from college and marry a guy I approve of, then maybe, as a wedding present, I'll tell you. How's that?"

Emily laughed. "You're crazy, Uncle Jethro. That's an awful long time from now. Maybe someday I'll come up with a really good bribe and you'll tell me. You know I can keep a secret; I'd never tell anyone."

"A bribe huh. That's an interesting idea. You can always try. How about a soda?"

"That sounds good. Want me to get them?"

"No, I'll go up and get them. Anything else?"

"Got any Oreos?"

"Of course. I'll be right back."

Gibbs went up the stairs to his kitchen and got two Cokes out of fridge and a package of Oreos out of the cabinet. As he started back toward the basement door he saw two black SUVs with no lights on pull up and stop in his driveway. Two men got out of the first one and went to the other one to talk to the passenger. Gibbs immediately grabbed Emily's backpack off the table and went quickly to the basement.

"Emily, don't ask any questions." He opened the secret door under the stairs and directed her inside the room. Emily complied without question because she could tell by the look on his face that something was terribly wrong. Being the daughter of an FBI agent and the 'niece' of an NCIS agent she knew when to be quiet and follow orders.

After she was in the safe room she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe nothing but I want you to stay in here just in case. You remember the safe word?"

"Sailboat."

Gibbs could hear the men close the car doors even though they were obviously trying to be quiet. His hearing was still superb. He looked Emily in the eye and was glad so see she didn't seem to be too frightened. Just the same he felt very badly about what was happening. He spoke rapidly hoping she was taking it all in.

"Emily, do not open this door for anyone but your dad or me. No matter what you hear, do not open this door unless it's one of us and we say the safe word. Your dad will probably be here in about an hour so if I don't come back before then he'll find you. I'm sorry Em, but don't worry your dad will be here. I need to go."

Emily gave him a kiss and said, "Don't worry. I know what to do. Please be careful, Uncle Jethro. I love you."

Gibbs kissed her on the forehead and then backed out of the room closing the door behind him. The doorway disappeared when he closed the door; no one would ever know it was there. No one but him and Tobias. He had built the room for Shannon and Kelly because he was gone so much and he felt safer knowing they had a secure place to stay in the event of something happening. When Emily was small and visited Gibbs with her dad, she was allowed to use the room as a play area. She knew what the room was for and she was not afraid to be in there even though it was dark. Of course she had never had to stay in there for any length of time and had certainly not ever had to really hide. Emily sat very still and prayed that her favorite person outside of her mom and dad would be okay and come back for her soon.

Once he was certain Emily was safe Gibbs made his way back upstairs. He had his Sig in his hand as he came around the corner into the living room. Unfortunately, he came face to face with two well armed men and another one quickly shoved the barrel of a gun in the back of his neck. The men didn't bother to disguise themselves which wasn't usually a good sign.

"Drop the gun Gibbs and kick it away. I'd hate to have to shoot you first thing but I will."

Gibbs put the gun on the floor and kicked it away from himself. He recognized two of the men as hired muscle of the Napalitano crime family. Another not so good sign he mused.

"Where's the girl?"

"What girl?"

"Fornell's little girl. You picked her up today. Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really. Sal, see if you can help Agent Gibbs regain his memory."

At that the man behind Gibbs delivered a crushing blow to Gibbs' kidneys, dropping him to his knees. While Gibbs was gasping for breath, Sal kicked him in the gut. Then he jerked him up forcing him to stand.

"I'm going to ask once more then my guys are going to tear your house apart until we find the girl. Save yourself a big cleaning bill, Gibbs. Where is the girl?"

"Sorry, no girls here. I live alone."

The man doing the talking nodded to Sal who then punched Gibbs in the jaw, once again knocking him to his knees.

"Sal, stay here and keep our friend entertained. You two come with me."

The other three men began a methodical and destructive search of Gibbs' house. He could hear doors being opened and slammed shut, furniture being broken and general mayhem being unleashed on his home. Gibbs thought about Emily in the dark safe room and prayed she would be strong enough to stay quiet and wait. He knew she was probably terrified by what she was hearing and he was glad she was old enough that he and her dad had talked to her about some of the bad things that happen and the reason they both had safe rooms in their houses. Every now and then, Sal would get bored and kick Gibbs or punch him just to keep himself involved. Gibbs could tell his tormentor had done this kind of thing before; he knew just where and how to hit him to inflict the maximum amount of pain and damage without expending too much energy. He hoped with all he had these guys would lose interest pretty soon and get the hell out of his house.

The longer they took to search the house the more Sal seemed to enjoy hitting him and it was getting very difficult for Gibbs to focus on what was happening around him. He felt his right eye swelling shut and his ribs were killing him. The kidney shot was very painful and Sal's big foot stomping on his right hand didn't feel very good either. Gibbs was beginning to fade when the other three men came back into the living room. The ringleader bent down and jerked Gibbs' head up by his hair.

"Where is the little girl?" He was so angry Gibbs thought the guy was going to explode.

"What girl?"

The man slammed Gibbs' head to the floor in disgust and the darkness that had been hovering over him finally overwhelmed Gibbs and he fell unconscious.

Sal looked at his companion. "Joey ain't gonna like this. Whataya wanna do with this guy?"

"Put him in the car. She's not here anyway. Maybe Joey will be satisfied with having some fun with Gibbs and we can worry about the kid later. Let's go."

Two of the men drug Gibbs from the house and put him in the back of one of the SUVs. As they drove off, Gibbs had a moment of clarity when he realized Emily was safe. The same could not be said for him.

In the safe room, Emily was huddled in a corner even though she knew the men upstairs would never find her. Because the safe room was located directly below the living room, Emily heard everything that was going on upstairs. She had heard the men come down the stairs. She heard them opening the door to the storage room on the other side of the basement. When they went back up the stairs she finally took a deep breath. She heard them asking Jethro where she was and she wondered who they were and why they wanted her. Probably to hurt her dad she guessed. Emily knew they were hurting Jethro and she felt tears on her face as the listened to them tearing up the house. When she heard them leave she knew they had taken Jethro with them. Emily pushed the button on her watch that made it light up and saw that is was a little after 7:00. Her dad would be here pretty soon. She wished she had her phone but she had forgotten it at her dad's this morning. Of all the days not to have it this had to be the worst. Emily tried to relax and concentrate on saying some prayers for Jethro as she waited for her dad to come.

Tobias Fornell pulled into Gibbs' driveway at 7:25. As he approached the front door he noticed an awful lot of lights on in the house and the front door ajar. 'Shit' he thought to himself as he reached for his gun. He carefully entered the house and immediately knew something was terribly wrong. The entire place has been trashed. He cleared the living room and the rest of the downstairs before doing the same upstairs. 'Where the hell is Jethro and where is Emily' he thought. Coming back into the living room from upstairs he saw Gibbs' gun on the floor and then he saw the blood. Shaking his head and fearing the worst he started down the stairs to the basement. No one was in sight. Fornell stepped under the stairs and saying a silent prayer he called out, "Sailboat."

To his everlasting relief, the door opened and Emily flew into his arms. "Thank you God."

"Daddy, some men came and wanted to know where I was. They hurt Jethro and I think they took him away. We have to find him." Emily was crying and hugging her dad.

"Em, how long ago did they leave?"

Emily looked at her watch and said, "About 25 or 30 minutes ago. I checked my watch when I heard them go out."

Fornell kept one arm around his daughter as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He called NCIS first and told the dispatcher to get Gibbs' team to his residence ASAP. Then he called the FBI and had his team sent over as well. Now all he could do was wait. He took Emily up to the kitchen and sat at the table with her.

"Emily, tell me everything you can remember."

"Uncle Jethro went upstairs to get us some sodas and Oreos. When he came back down he had my backpack and he told me to get in the safe room. He said to stay there until you came and not to open the door no matter what I heard. It was awful, Dad, I know they were hurting him and all I could do was sit in the dark. I feel so bad. Then they started looking all over the house for me and when he wouldn't tell them where I was they kept hurting him. One of them was named Sal. I think he was the one that was hurting Uncle Jethro because I heard another one tell him to try and make Uncle Jethro remember where I was. I didn't move or make a sound especially when they came down to the basement. Finally, the one guy was really mad and he said they would just let Joey have some fun with Uncle Jethro and they would worry about me later. Are they going to kill him Dad? You have to find him."

Fornell looked at his daughter in amazement. She was probably one of the best witnesses he'd ever had in all his years in the FBI and she was only twelve. "We'll find him don't worry. I know who those men were and when Jethro's team gets here and my guys get here we will go get him back. Okay? You did just the right thing Em. I'm very proud of you. Because of you, we will be able to get Jethro back. Don't worry."

Ten minutes later the house was swarming with NCIS and FBI agents. Tony DiNozzo was the first to arrive followed closely by Tim McGee, Ziva David and four agents who worked for Fornell.

"What the hell is going on Fornell?" Tony was frantic when he saw the condition of the house and the blood on the floor.

Fornell told everyone what had happened and who he was sure had Gibbs. "Joey must have lost his mind while he was in prison for the past two years. Even his father, as much of a scumbag as he is, would never sanction the kidnapping of a child and an NCIS agent much less whatever else his idiot son has planned for Gibbs."

"Where would they have taken Gibbs?"

"I have a couple of ideas and while I was waiting for you guys I called and had teams go check out some locations I know the family likes to use. Luckily, we know this bunch very well. Do you guys think you could let Emily stay at NCIS while we wrap this thing up?"

Ziva spoke up, "Of course. Abby would be glad to stay with her I'm sure. It will give her something to focus on besides Gibbs being gone. Why don't you have your men take her there and I'll call Abby and arrange it."

Fornell sat back down with Emily and explained what was going to happen. "You can stay with Abby until we catch the guys who have Jethro. Okay?"

"Okay, but I want to see him when you get him back."

"I'll come and get you as soon as I can. You did really good Em, I'm proud of you."

Two FBI agents took Emily to NCIS. Minutes later Fornell got the call they had all been waiting for. One of his teams had found the location where Joey Napalitano was with four of his goons. They were watching the building and moments later they reported there were two black SUVs behind the building. Fornell and Gibbs' team were out the door before the call was disconnected. Barely fifteen minutes later they parked down the block from the location and approached on foot. The two agents who had called in the information met them and apprised them of the situation. There was one man at the back of the building and one at the front they reported.

Ziva stepped forward and said, "I will distract and then disable the man at the front door. Once I have done that I will do the same to the man at the back door. Give me five minutes."

The FBI agents just looked at her and shook their heads but Tony spoke up, "Go ahead. We'll be right behind you. Give us a low whistle when you're in position in the back and McGee will join you with a couple of these guys who don't believe you can do all that." Tony grinned at his partner as she turned to leave.

Fornell smiled at his men. "Don't worry. She'll handle it. Watch and learn."

Four minutes later a low whistle came from behind the building and the men split up. Tony spoke into his mike, "On my mark. Remember the Boss is in there. I don't care about those bastards who have him but let's be sure we don't kill him while we're rescuing him. Let's go in quiet. On three, one, two three, go, go."

While Emily was telling her dad what happened at the house and he was calling for help, Gibbs was having one of the worst nights of his life. He and Fornell had been responsible for putting Joey Napalitano in prison two years ago and obviously the boy held a grudge. When his men showed up at the bar with Gibbs instead of Emily, Joey was pissed at first but he soon decided it might be better after all. He spent the next half hour demonstrating to Gibbs his extreme dislike for him and for his time spent in prison. Joey wasn't much of a tough guy himself which is why he had tough guys around to do his dirty work. Tonight he had four of his guys to help him beat the living daylights out of Gibbs. Of course, since Gibbs was already practically unconscious when he got there, Joey didn't have any trouble having his way with him.

As his team and the FBI were assembling down the block, Gibbs was hanging onto consciousness by a very thin thread. He had been kicked and punched and hit with a baseball bat so many times he had lost count a long time ago. 'About the only thing these punks haven't done is stab me or shoot me,' he thought. Even in his very pain addled mind he knew the shooting part was probably just around the corner. They couldn't afford to leave him alive; he knew who they were. From the moment he had seen them in his living room, Gibbs had known he was most likely going to die tonight. He was very glad they hadn't killed him at home; he didn't want Emily to have that as a memory. The only way this was going to turn out well for him was if Fornell had been on time to get Emily. If he was, he would know what had happened and who had him and with luck he would find him. With what little willpower he had left, Gibbs prayed Fornell and his team were on the way.

The men who had spent the last thirty minutes beating Gibbs half to death were sitting at a table having a drink as he lay on the floor in the other room. They were discussing where to dump his body when the front and back doors of the bar flew open and Federal Agents descended on them weapons at the ready. Two of the men attempted to draw their guns and were dispatched to their just reward rather quickly. Sal and Joey, the two who really should have been shot, just sat there and didn't move, much to Tony and Ziva's disappointment.

Fornell told his men to get the medics inside as he watched the two dirtbags being cuffed and led away. Tony, Ziva and McGee were in the other room with Gibbs. Tony reached out and put his hand on Gibbs' shoulder then felt for a pulse relieved to find one even if it was pretty faint.

"Hey, Boss, we're here and we'll get you to the hospital. You're gonna be okay."

"Emily?" Gibbs could barely breathe and it took all his strength to get out that one word.

Fornell knelt down next to his friend. "Emily is fine Jethro. Thanks to you. She told me just what happened. Thank you my friend." Fornell had tears in his eyes and they weren't just for his daughter. Jethro was his closest friend and seeing him so horribly beaten made him sick and scared at the same time.

Gibbs was soon in the ER at Bethesda where he was poked and prodded, x-rayed and scanned for the next hour. He had a punctured lung as the result of one broken and several cracked ribs, a broken nose, severely bruised kidneys, several loose teeth and a broken hand. In addition, he was bruised and bloodied and generally felt like he had been hit by a very large, very fast moving truck. Or maybe a train. It was a testament to how badly he was hurt that he didn't complain at all about having to stay in the hospital. Of course the massive amounts of pain meds coursing through his system had a lot to do with that. Everyone involved knew his compliance was drug induced and wouldn't last much past tomorrow afternoon. They were just grateful he was going to be okay; tomorrow they would deal with him wanting to go home.

Fornell had called Emily and told her what was happening. He promised her Gibbs would be fine and that she could see him tomorrow right after school. She wasn't happy to wait that long but Fornell convinced her it would be better to visit when he was awake.

The next day Fornell took Emily home before taking her to see Gibbs. To her dad's surprise, Emily had insisted she needed to go home first; there was something important she needed to get for Jethro. Emily's mother, Diane, was there to meet them. Fornell had called her when they got home the previous night to let her know what had happened. Of course she was very upset and blamed him and Jethro for everything. That was nothing new though, she made it a practice to blame one or both of them for everything from the economy to global warming to weeds in her lawn. Sometimes, when they were drunk, the two men would laugh themselves sober over the fact they had both married the witch. Emily was the only good thing either of them could say about their ex-wife.

When Emily ran in the house to get whatever it was she needed, Diane came out on the porch to talk to Fornell.

"Now do you see why I don't want Emily around that bastard?"

Fornell was so furious with her it took everything he had not to slap her. Instead he took a deep breath and responded with as much anger as she had ever seen.

"What I see is our daughter is alive and well thanks to that bastard as you call him. What I see is that bastard was beaten nearly to death because he was protecting our daughter. Think about that Diane, you hate him so much and yet, he loves your child enough to sacrifice his life for her. You need to get over yourself and understand that Emily loves Jethro. And he loves her. I will thank God every day from now on that she was with him last night because if she had been here or with the babysitter, she'd have been taken by those animals that nearly killed Jethro. He protected her, Diane, and it almost cost him his life. I don't ever want to hear you say another negative or hateful thing about Jethro anywhere around our daughter. Now, I'm taking her to see him. She'll be back in time for supper."

With that Fornell turned and stormed back to his car. He was so angry with Diane he could have strangled her right there on the front porch. Luckily he had a lot of restraint when it came to her. And, for all her faults she was a good mother. He had to remind himself of that fact regularly. Five minutes later Emily was back in the car, a small gift bag in her hands.

"What's that?"

"It's a surprise for Uncle Jethro." Emily just looked out the window and smiled.

Before they went into Gibbs' room Fornell pulled Emily aside and said, "Jethro looks kinda bad, honey. I don't want you to be scared. He's all bruised up and his eye is swollen shut and his nose is broken. There might still be some machines hooked up to him too."

"It's okay dad, I know it won't be very pretty. I just really want to see him and tell him thank you."

Fornell opened the door and he and Emily walked in. Ducky was sitting by the bed reading. Gibbs was asleep.

"Hello, Emily. I'm happy to see you. Jethro is sleeping but I imagine he will wake up pretty soon. Do you want to sit down here?"

"Yes, thank you Ducky." Emily took the ME's place in the chair beside the bed. She studied her Uncle Jethro and frowned. "It looks pretty bad doesn't it? Do you think he hurts?"

Ducky explained that Gibbs had some pain medication in his IV. He explained how Jethro could get more medicine when he was in pain so it was really not as bad as it looked. While they were talking quietly Gibbs opened his eyes and saw Emily.

"Hey, how's my favorite girl?" His voice was hoarse but still strong.

Emily stood up so she could see him better. She smiled down at him and said, "I'm fine thanks to you. Thank you, Uncle Jethro, for hiding me and not telling those men I was there. I love you."

Jethro reached out and took Emily's hand. "You are welcome. I would never let anyone hurt you Em. I love you too. Your dad said you were a big help to him so he could find me. Thank you."

Emily felt a lot better than she had when she came in the room. She smiled her biggest smile when Jethro said he loved her.

"I brought you something." Emily held up the gift bag. She had a mischievous grin on her face that her father and Jethro both recognized.

"Well, that was awfully nice of you. You didn't have to bring me a present. Just having you visit is enough for me."

Emily inched closer but she still couldn't get as close to Jethro as she wanted. She wanted to whisper something in his ear and she couldn't standing next to the bed.

"Would it be okay if I sat on the bed with you?"

"Sure." Jethro moved over just a little bit and made room for Emily. The slightest movement was agony at this point but he couldn't say no to her.

She scooted as close as she could and said in a very soft voice, "This is not just a present. It's a bribe too." She grinned at him when she saw he remembered their conversation the night before. "You remember don't you? Mostly I just wanted you to have this. I know it means a lot to you and you mean a lot to me, Uncle Jethro." Emily leaned down very carefully and gave Jethro a soft kiss on the cheek. Then like the typical kid she was, she said, "Now, open it."

Jethro had to swallow the lump in his throat and blink back some tears that were threatening to flood his eyes. He took the bag from Emily's outstretched hand. Slowly he removed the tissue paper and reached in to find what she had brought him.

When he pulled out his hand there was no holding back the tears. In his hand was his grandfather's railroad watch. The one thing Diane had taken from him that he truly wanted back. He wondered how Emily knew.

With tears in his eyes and his voice thick with emotion Gibbs said, "Oh Emily, thank you. Does your mom know about this?"

"Yes she does but I was going to give it to you anyway. It's yours and I know you should have it. She asked me what I had in the bag when I was leaving to come here and I had to tell her. Before she could say anything I told her just what happened last night and that if you hadn't hidden me something terrible would have happened to me. She said it was okay and I was right to give it to you. She said to tell you thank you."

Jethro looked over at Fornell who just shrugged and shook his head in wonder. Then he looked back at Emily.

"Thank you Em. This is the nicest thing anyone ever did for me."

"You're welcome. Thanks for saving me."

END