Ellie's P.O.V.
When Laurel and I woke up the next morning, we went straight to NCIS after.
It was about 0830 when we got there, meaning everyone was already there. I sat Laurel in my chair, and turned on my computer. I entered my password, and pulled up an empty document.
"Laurel, I need you to tell me everything that happened okay?"
"Okay. So, basically... I was walking home from my friend Sofia's house because she was only 3 streets away. Then, when I was almost home, I heard a big explosion sound, and I saw my house on fire. And I knew my mum and dad were in there I know. So I ran back to Sofia's house and told her dad everything that happened. I told him what my mum and dad always said which was 'if anything ever happens to us, go and find Leah DiNozzo at NCIS.' And then he said, 'that's what your parents told me to' so then he brought me here, but then something happened to Sofia, I think she got hurt or something but they had to go to the hospital. Which meant I had to go in all by myself which I did and then you were there so I think you know what happened then."
"Okay," I said, my fingers practically flying around the keyboard with how fast Laurel was talking. "I have... everything you just said written down now."
"Okay." Laurel 'agreed'.
"And you said that you're sure that your parents were inside the house?" Laurel nodded. "Okay. The team and I are going to figure out what happened okay?"
"Okay, I trust you."
"Do you think you can stay with Abby for a few minutes?"
"I don't know Abby."
"That's okay, I can introduce you if you like." Laurel nodded. I took her down to Abby's lab, to find Abby ... organizing? I hadn't seen Abby organize many times in my life. She was like me. She thrived in semi-clean chaos.
"Hey Abby?" I called, Laurels finger nails digging into my leg.
"Yeah, what up Ellie?" She called back, looking up at me. "Oh," She said when she saw Laurel. "You must be Jack's sister." I could feel Laurel nod, as her hair brushed against my leg.
"Do you know my brother?" Laurel asked, her voice soft.
"As a matter of fact I do!" Abby agreed, walking over to the two of us. "Leah here and I have been really close since she was born. And she and Jack have been friends for as long as I can remember."
"Laurel, this is Abby. Abby, my soon-to-be-sister Laurel."
"What do you mean soon to be sister?" Laurel asked, loosening her grip. Abby and I exchanged a look of disbelief.
"Well Laurel," I said, bending down to look her in the eyes. "I guess you and Jack aren't super close. Granted, I hadn't ever heard of you till yesterday. But Jack and I..." I extended my left hand to show her the ring on my left ring finger. "Jack and I are going to get married. Which means, you and I are going to be sisters!"
Laurel's eyes light up, and she hugged my leg. "Can I be your flower girl? Please please please please please?!?!"
"Yes! Of course you can!" I agreed, hugging her back. "So do you want to get to know Abby while the team and I go search and find some things out?"
"Yea!" She agreed, walking over to Abby.
So, I made my way back up to the cubical where the rest of the team was around my computer, reading Laurels statement.
"Laurel's down with Abby." I said, joining them at my computer.
"Alright, grab your gear, let's go check out the house." Gibbs insisted.
When we got to the house, it was in fact blown up. The 5 of us ducked under the caution tape, and entered the house. Then about 20 minutes of digging around later, we found what caused the explosion.
"Guys, over here." Tim called from across the hallway. Gibbs, Ziva, dad and I joined him in the kitchen, where he was poking half of a gas stove with a stick. A few feet away from the stove, was a pipe. Of course it was a pipe. Ziva identified it as a gas line.
"So we have a cause, now what?" Dad asked, taking pictures of the pipe. "Did anyone see any bodies?"
"No,"
"No,"
"No,"
"No,"
"But Laurel said that she knew her parents were in fact in this building?" Dad asked.
"Yeah she did." I agreed.
"So then where are they?"
-Back at NCIS-
We were at a dead end. We couldn't find anything. All we had was what caused the explosion.
"Okay." Gibbs said, pointing to Ziva. "Parents rece-"
"Kertia and Shane are their names." I said, interrupting.
"Alright, Kertia and Shane's recent credit card purchases."
"Shane and Kertia Kreezy in the last month have bought many different things including 12 office chairs, 4 desks, a pair of swimming goggles, a total of 71 5-gallon water jug things, and about 200 onions."
"That is the oddest assortment of things that I have ever heard." Ziva added.
"Oh that doesn't even include the 400 light bulbs, the 12 pounds of sugar, the singular fly swatter, the live rabbit, the singular sewing needle, and the double bass." I stood up straighter at the mention of the double bass.
"A double bass?" I confirmed.
"Yeah, the big one. Not the guitar one."
"I know what a double bass is."
"How large is a double bass Leah?" Tim asked.
"Depends on the size. What size is it dad?"
"Um..." Dad looked at his screen for a second before replying. "1."
"1 what?"
"It's 1."
"1 what?"
"Size 1."
"There is no size 1. What's the number?"
"1,"
"That's not a size!" I said again, completely exasperated. "What's the number? The fraction?"
"1!"
"1 is not a fraction!! What is the fraction?!"
"4 over 4! 1!"
"Okay! Thank you! It's a full bass then. And full basses are 6 foot, Tim."
"Well then that's plenty of room to hide a potential body in. "
"Yeah but not really. I mean, in the body of it sure. Because the body of the cello case is a lot bigger than the neck, which is only about 3 or 4 inches wide." I countered.
Abby's P.O.V.
"What are you doing Abby?" Laurel asked, stepping up to her tip toes to look at my counter thing.
"We're going to process the debris from the exploded part of your house."
"What are you looking for?"
HOW ON EARTH AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL A CHILD I'M LOOKING FOR BITS OF HER PARENTS BODIES??????
"Well Laurel, I am looking for any physical evidence of either a male or female Homo sapient." Laurel looked up at me confused. "Don't worry about it."
"Okay," She replied. I guess 7 year olds are easily convinced. So I went back to sifting through the remains of the now destroyed house.
Back to Leah's P.O.V.
24 hours later, we were at a complete dead end. And I'm not one to exaggerate. We couldn't find anything. But Shane Kreezy was in the Navy so technically we were permitted to work this case.
I rubbed my eyes in complete exhaustion and exasperation. Laurel was with Abby again today, but I couldn't sleep last night. I don't know why but I just couldn't.
I was staring at pictures when Jack walked in. It was spring break for everyone at his school so he didn't have to go into work. Apparently dad had called him to bring lunch to people. Jack gave people food, and Tim asked him to take a look at some pictures, wanting a fresh pair of eyes.
"Hey Leah?" Laurel called, running up to me from the stairs.
"Whos this Anna?" Jack asked, watching Laurel hop up onto my lap.
"Frick." I whispered under my breath. "Well, I guess introductions are in order."
"Leah, you sure this is a good idea?" Gibbs asked, rubbing his brow.
"I mean, there's no avoiding it now." I replied. "Jack this is Laurel. Laurel, this is Jack."
"Wait, Jack Jack?" Laurel asked.
"She knows me? You know me? How does she know me?" Jack asked, looking at Laurel.
"Yes, this is Jack, Jack." I comfirmed. This statement made Laurel hop out of my lap and hug Jack.
"Who's this?" Jack asked, putting a hand on Laurels back.
"Do you not know about me?" She asked, and I just braced myself for disaster.
"Who are you?" Jack asked again.
"I'm your sister."
"What? No, I don't have a sister." Jack countered.
"Did mum and dad never tell you about me?"
"Hate to break it to you kid, but my mum and dad died when I was 11."
"No they didn't."
"What do you mean, yes they did."
"No they-"
"Jack," I said, breaking the two of them up. "I need to explain somethign to you."
"How long have you known?" He asked, not looking at me.
"3 days." I replied honestly.
"And you didn't tell me."
"Of course not."
"Why."
"Because I'm not good at that kind of thing, and I knew your parents were a touchy su-"
"A touchy subject? Yeah they are. After all they did die when I was 11, then proceed to somehow magically come back to life and have another kid that you knew about."
"I just met her 3 days ago."
"That gives you 3 days to tell me about it."
"Jack how am I supposed to tell you that your parents were alive, and that they even had another kid?" Laurel walked over to where Gibbs was, and he pulled her onto his lap.
"Any way at all."
"Jack, you want to know the full story?" I asked, standing up. But this made hardly a difference, Jack had quite a height on me.
"Most defiantly."
"Laurel came in 3 days ago in hysterics was told to find me if anything went wrong so she did. She came here to me. Then she told me that he parents were blown up. And we went to go see but we can't find any bodies. Oh and plot twist she knew about you, and told me that the way she knows me is because her parents told her that I was a good friend of yours. So yeah, how am I supposed to tell you something like that? That your parents weren't dead but they most likely are now blown to bits so small we can't find them. Tell me how I'm supposed to say that."
"I- You can't." Jack swallowed and looked down at Laurel. "There's no good way to."
Jack kissed the top of my head quickly once, before squatting down and locking eyes with Laurel. "Hi Laurel,"
Laurel giggled, and wrapped her arms around Jacks neck.
"Hi Jack!" She replied.
I smiled, and saw Abby, standing just outside the elevator, holding her camera. I smiled, looking down at my soon-to-be-little-sister, and my soon-to-be-husband.
I wasn't quite sure how I loved Laurel. If it was like a little sister, or as a daughter. Maybe it was both.
It was both.
So I smiled at our little 'family' as we sat/stood on the cubical floor.
And then the phone rang.
: )
Hope you liked it! Part 3 coming soon.
I'm really sorry that this took so long I was in a dialogue rut.
Anyhoo, yeah! Hope you liked it!
-Eliza