We're Dead, Boss

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

This story is kind of a companion piece to my other story "Fighting the Darkness" but actually you don't need to read that for this one. But for those who know that story, this one takes place about six years in the future… and yes, you can guess now whether Ziva and Gibbs were right about the baby boy… ;-)

Enjoy!

Gibbs couldn't believe what he saw. He just stood there his eyes wide and… well, scared. He couldn't move… he couldn't blink… he couldn't even swallow. It was a miracle that he didn't stop breathing in his sudden shock. In his life he had seen many things… many things that man shouldn't see. He had been a marine after all, a sniper. He saw that horrible destruction that only a war could produce. And after becoming an NCIS agent, he could see the destruction that human greed and jealousy could cause. But that was all too much for him… he just couldn't believe what he saw…

As his eyes roamed around the scene of the crime, he could hear his other two agents arrive. Although he couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene, he was sure that McGee had become white as a ghost while Tony was frowning completely aware of the indications of that total chaos that reigned in there.

And they had every right to be frightened…

The room was a mess… to say the least. It looked like a war zone after bombing. There were definite signs of struggle. In the middle of the room, the carpet was wrinkled and the coffee table was standing on it upside down with a broom sticking out of it and with a tablecloth hanging from one of its legs as a… flag?

In the fireplace, there was a blanket and there were discarded books all around it.

On the other side of the room, the armchair was somehow turned around to face the wall and it was pushed completely up against it. Books were piled up against the armchair and there were different little trifles scattered around in front of it. The couch seemed undisturbed but what was in the corner made him wince. He didn't know how or why but the area surrounded by the bookshelf, the standing lamp and the couch was interwoven by knitting wool. And he could see a half finished sweater hanging around the middle…

He closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and after opening them again, he slowly tore his eyes away from the room and looked at the perpetrators standing in front of him.

"McGee, the last one's sleeping in the armchair. She's yours." He informed his youngest agent present. McGee managed a weak nod then started to get her.

"You can't get her." One of the guilty ones made him stop in his track. "Not without the magic remote control."

McGee frowned at the girl confused.

"McGee." Gibbs' voice was warning. They couldn't get distracted, not now. McGee nodded then stepped up to the armchair and scooped up his sleeping baby girl into his arms. When he went back to Gibbs and Tony, they turned towards the delinquents with all the seriousness they could muster up. If the men themselves hadn't been in some serious trouble, they would have surely laughed out loud as they took in the appearance of the little group standing in front of them.

But they were in some serious trouble. Abby and Ziva left with Avigail in the morning with that strict instruction that after lunch they had to put the kids down to nap. And if the men were asked, they would say that they had done just that. All of them could distinctly remember putting the little ones into bed. Of course it would be a more difficult task to get them admit that after that, they went to sit on the back porch where they had spent the greater part of the afternoon drinking beer…

Yes, in retrospect it was a very bad idea… an awful idea, in fact, that left them with an eight-year-old Lora Dinozzo dressed up in Ziva's favorite satin nightgown, which would alone make Gibbs frightened for his life. That was one awfully expensive nightgown. But to make things worse there was his oldest son, Josh, wrapped up in one of his old Marine Core T-shirt together with Cassie McGee. What the hell was the two six-year-olds doing in one T-shirt… apart from fidgeting uncomfortably? Next to them was standing five-year-old DJ McGee, who was currently holding to the stick of the mop nervously with a tablecloth wrapped around his shoulder. He was shifting under Gibbs' stern gaze looking incredibly guilty. Gibbs smirked a little. He was so much like his father. Then his gaze moved and he looked at his younger son, Jake. He was a mini Ziva and he stood proudly in spite of Gibbs reproaching gaze. He wasn't one to intimidate. He shook his head then looked down at the last one of the little group. Two-year-old Rebecca Gibbs was standing there totally occupied with something in her hand. Gibbs smiled at his baby girl. Apparently she was the one who took up her residence in the fireplace because she was smoky all over. He leant down and took the little girl into his arms. She was her father's weakest point. A little Gibbs inside and out.

Tony seemed to sense his boss cracking so, as Senior Filed Agent, he took charge.

"Alright, little rascals. What the hell happened here?" He asked the whole group but he was looking at his daughter, who undoubtedly had been the source of the idea.

"We were just playing, Daddy."

"Playing what? How to get your dads killed?" McGee asked not at all amused. The fact that he had to face his wife, an excellent forensic expert nonetheless, and try to explain it to her why they had screwed up totally wasn't an endearing prospect. And add to this that his forensic expert of a wife would be paired up with a skilled assassin... now that was something that made everything all the more frightening.

"Zip it up, McChicken, let them talk."

"Look, Lilith was the princess who was locked in a tower at the top of the glass mountain and DJ was supposed to get her out." Lora began to explain in a tone that clearly indicated that the adults were totally overreacting the situation.

"DJ was the prince?" Tony asked snickering giving up playing the strict father. McGee rolled his eyes.

"No." Lora quipped looking at her dad funny as if the idea of DJ being a prince would be the most absurd thing in the world. "He was the poor miserable boy…"

"Hey…" The young boy cried out. "I was to save the princess. I even got horse." He held up the mop in his hand.

"Whatever." Lora sighed exasperatedly.

"I was the evil and sca'd dy… dr… dyagon." Jake, eager to make his role clear for everybody, was pulling his father's sleeve enthusiastically. Gibbs smiled down at him. It was so hard to stay mad at the kids. Yes, someone would say that he was going mushy in his old age…

"Scared?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly and Jake nodded proudly. Gibbs laughed out and tousled his hair. "You meant 'scary'." He tried to correct him but he was met by a confused frown which mirrored his mother's. "Never mind, Buddy. And what are you two?" He turned to his other son.

"Don't say a word. I'll guess." Tony quipped in. "You are the eviler and more scared dragon with the two heads."

"Don't be silly, Uncle Tony." Cassie answered rolling her eyes. "We are the two headed giant spider who is guarding the magic remote control."

"My bad." Tony answered looking at the kids as if they were out of their minds. "The two headed giant spider, huh?"

"Of course." Josh offered. "What else would live in the huge cobweb which is hiding the magic remote control?"

"See, Dinozzo? It's quite logical." Gibbs pointed out then took a look at that corner of the room that was currently covered in knitting wool. A cobweb, great! Made from Ziva's half knitted sweater…

"Totally logical, Boss." Tony agreed sheepishly.

"And what are you, Lora?" Gibbs asked the girl smirking when he turned back to the little group. "The evil step-mother, who locked the princess into the tower because she was more beautiful than her?"

"That would be so boring." Lora answered sighing exasperatedly. Adults can be so thickheaded sometime. "I was the good fairy of the sea, who was helping the hero cross the dangerous sea."

"And who was Becca?" McGee asked, cradling the sleeping Lilith in his arms. At that Lora just lowered her head.

"Well?" Gibbs inquired at which Cassie, Josh and DJ also bowed their head. They clearly didn't want to answer. But Jake proved to be quite helpful.

"Shees the ve'y ugly cave gobbling who live unde' the…" Here he stopped looking for a word. His brows were furrowed in concentration. "… a cave!" He came up with the word happily.

Gibbs could hear Tony chuckling while he looked down at his baby girl and tried to wipe down the smudge from her face.

"Unbelievable." McGee whispered in disbelief as he ran his eyes around the room then he quickly snapped out of his daze and took charge. "Alright, we still have time until the girls get home so all we have to do is to clean up and no one will be the wiser."

"That's very right Mr MIT." Tony said sarcastically. "After all we don't have a bunch of kids who can't wait to tell their mums what they had done today."

"Then what are you suggesting we should do, Tony?" McGee asked annoyed. After all, they couldn't just stand their waiting for the worst. "Oh, wait. You're right." He continued picking up Tony's sarcastic tone. "We should join them. You could be the stupid pigheaded giant."

"That was enough." Gibbs broke up the verbal sparring before it could have got ugly. Everyone was quite tense but they really had to do something. "McGee, you take Lilith, Becca and Jake up and clean them up. Tony and I will clean up here with the others."

Quickly they re-arranged their lines. McGee started up the stairs with the little ones while Gibbs pulled his T-shirt from Josh and Cassie and Tony was occupied by observing the damage in the living room…

…but at that moment they could hear the front door open and suddenly every eye turned towards the women who had just stepped in.

There was tense silence among the man as they looked at Abby and Ziva who smiled at the little commission cheerfully. They were frantically trying to come up with something to explain the mess, which hadn't been noticed just yet. In a way, they desperately hoped that it could just go unnoticed.

They were spared from the talking, though, because at that moment Jake burst down that couple of stairs he had managed to climb and ran into his mother's arms.

"Mommy, mommy, we played faa'y land and maked big wate' and a home for a spide', a big big spide' and a big big mountain and a… a…" Again, furrowed brows and screwed up nose indicated that Jake was in deep concentration. Ziva smiled at her son while he was trying to find the word he wanted to use. "… a cave!" Jake exclaimed happily at last. "And Becca sitted in the cave and I was the evil and sca'ed dy… dyagon." He finished happily and giggled when Ziva put a kiss on his nose then she looked up at his husband with raised eyebrows to which Abby joined, too.

Tony groaned as he stood next to Gibbs and they watched helplessly as Jake wriggled out of Ziva's arms and pulling his mother's hand, he went to show a still unsuspecting Ziva what they had managed to do in the afternoon.

Gibbs closed his eyes resigned, waiting for the inevitable to happen… then it came… a gasp from Ziva… a silent "oh, oh" from Avigail and a little louder "oh, my" from Abby. He opened his eyes as he could hear McGee gulp behind him and he could see Tony shrank next to him.

"We're dead, Boss." Yes, they were… and maybe that was for the better…

THE END

Thanks for reading!