Alone ~ NCIS

Chapter Four

"You need her right now?" Gibbs turned back to Abby.

"With what she just said, probably.. why?" She answered, glancing at me.

"Still here.." I interjected, fed up of being referred to as if I wasn't in the room.

"Ya ok, You're coming with me for a moment. Abby, you ok to hold fort while I take her?" He addressed me, starting to move toward the door. I hesitated, looking at Abby, unsure of what to do. In my experience, if someone -especially a stranger- wanted to take you somewhere , you ran in the other direction. Fast.

Abby thought for a moment and nodded, giving me a reassuring smile. I hopped down from the table and followed Gibbs quietly. It wasn't like I was in danger. I was in a Federal building after all. Abby seemed to trust this guy, and if she did so did I. We stepped into the elevator and he pressed the button for one of the upper floors. I stood in silence, unsure whether he wanted me to speak. So I kept my mouth shut and stared blankly at the floor.

"Where you from, kid?" He spoke suddenly, pulling me from my trance.

"Scotland."

"You here with Ducky then?"

"Sorta" I shrugged. "Where are we going?"

"The director." I began to panic. He wasn't going to kick me out, was he?

"Oh." I sighed, dejectedly. Before any more awkward exchanges could be made, the elevator bell rang and the doors opened. Gibbs set off and I followed him like a lost puppy, inwardly kicking myself for looking so pathetic.

The hallway opened up to a large, sunlit room painted an odd orange colour. A set of steps travelled downwards into a lower part of the large room and I could see people working at desks from the balcony on which we walked. A set of three people looked up at us as we walked, exchanging words and curious glances. I did my best to ignore them, looking at Gibbs' back as he walked confidently along the balcony.

He turned into another, smaller room of the same orange colour. A woman sat behind a desk, opening her mouth to speak as we walked in. Gibbs ignored her completely and strode right to a set of silver doors across the room, pulling them open and holding it for me. I jogged the last few paces and slipped into the room.

It was the same sickly orange as the rest of the building but more luxurious. A large TV screen displayed the news on mute, currently following a small robbery case. I tore my eyes from the screen to survey the rest of the room. There was a drinks cabinet in the far corner and I couldn't help the slight smile as I read some of the labels. Scottish whiskey. A small feeling of homesickness rose in my chest. For a brief moment I closed my eyes and let my heart long for the icy wind of the Scottish highlands.

"Gibbs." A voice greeted, pulling me abruptly from my thoughts.

"Director." Gibbs replied. I looked at the woman across the room. She had fiery red hair and was only a little taller than I was. Part of me liked her immediately, I don't know why. She seemed both unsurprised and a little irritated by Gibbs' unannounced appearance. Her gaze looked the silver haired man up and down before panning to me.

"And a child..?"

"Teenager." I muttered automatically, not able to catch the words before they escaped my mouth. A slight smile spread across the womans lips.

"To what do I owe the.. pleasure." I was sure there other words she had wanted to say, but pleasure seemed to be a second choice. I fought back my own smile, the underhanded mocking of Gibbs somewhat entertaining.

"I need a spare desk for the pit." Gibbs spoke, looking at the director emotionlessly. I began to wonder why he had brought me up here and my eyes began to drift curiously around the room again.

"Why?" The woman asked, obviously as unsure of his motivations as I was.

"For her." My head shot around to look at Gibbs in shock. His thumb was still pointed at me.

"Why does she need a desk?" I could help but agree with her. Why did I need a desk?

"So I can keep an eye on her while she works."

"Work?" I spoke, unable to keep myself from asking.

"Work?"the red-head echoed.

"Yep." Gibbs seemed so sure of his answer I couldn't help but resign myself to the idea.

"Ok.. but who is this?" She asked, looking at me again. I looked to Gibbs who just nodded.

"Isla."

"Going to need a little more than that to work with."

"Why?" I didn't see why she needed anything but my name. Even I didn't use my name, so why did she need it?

"Tell her, kid." Gibbs nodded.

"Isla Strachan. I'm.. nearly sixteen." I added begrudgingly.

"So 15?" She asked.

"Yes" No,11 genius.

"Ok. I'll get a desk. Should be here by the end of the day."

"Thanks." Gibbs smiled.

"Remember your pass from my secretary." She smiled and turned to her computer. Gibbs ushered me from the room, taking the aforementioned pass from the secretary as we left.

I wasn't quite sure what had happened in the office, but Gibbs walked with a fresh confidence that told me he was happy with the outcome. And if he was happy with the outcome, I was sure as hell gonna try to be.

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A/N ~ Its mid exam season and, after much procrastination, I have added another chapter! Thanks for reading and I hope to be updating more regularly once exams are over.