"Thank you! Thank you!"

Gloria and John Sciuto were practically sobbing with relief. Their fingers and hands flew in an intricate dance, as they signed their gratitude for the man in front of them.

Gibbs smiled softly at the couple, bouncing their baby girl in his arms. Her bright green eyes were wide and sparkling, little pink lips pulled into a happy grin. She seemed entirely unaware of the danger she just narrowly escaped. Yes, Abby was a very happy baby indeed.

"I'm just glad that she's alright," he said, passing her back to her mother, who promptly burst into uncontrollable tears when she had her daughter back, safe in her arms. Abby continued to babble and squeal, as if she had not just been abducted right from the seat of her pale purple stroller.

Gloria and John had been enjoying their second anniversary and were waiting for the food they'd ordered from their favorite café to be delivered to the table they'd claimed outside. Abby napped peacefully in her stroller, sleeping deeply, as infants often do.

Two tables away, a blue-eyed man and his very pregnant wife were talking quietly, heads bent together. The woman's long red hair glinted and shimmered in the sun.

The Sciutos looked up and shifted their glasses and silverware so the waiter could set their meals in front of them. A man in black slacks and a dark button down shirt started to slowly walk past the little family's table.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his wife, Shannon, snapped to attention when they heard the shrieking wails if a distraught child. They were just in time to see the stranger scoop a baby girl up into his arms and start to walk away as unobtrusively as possible. The girl's parents were turned the other way, oblivious to the fact that their only daughter was being carried away from right under their noses.

Gibbs watched as the man began to sprint, before throwing his chair back and starting to run after him. Distantly, he could hear Shannon's frantic tones as she talked to the other couple, but he blocked out the noise as he gave a final burst of energy and sped up so that he was right next to the man who was carrying the now hysterically crying baby.

Reaching out and snatching the girl from her kidnapper's tired arms, Jethro thrust his right foot out into the other man's path. The unnamed man tumbled to the ground, falling into a heap of his own limbs.

Half an hour later, Gibbs was still cradling the baby girl, while the Sciutos gave their report to the police, who had arrived on scene far too late to do any actual good. The couple was talking loudly, eyes on the officers' lips, so that they could tell what he was saying without signing. Shannon was cooing over the child in her husband's arms.

"She's adorable, Jethro. I'm getting anxious for our own little girl to get here."

"You were already anxious. I know you, Shannon, now your just thinking of dozens of ways to protect her from people like that."

Shannon glared at him before making a face at the tiny girl who had Shannon's finger surrounded with her little fist. Abby giggled and squawked with delight. Finally, Shannon sighed and looked up at her husband.

"How could someone do that? How could they try to take someone else's child away from them?"

She was desperate to understand. A protective hand on her stomach and a warm smile towards Abby explained why.

Jethro grimaced and brought one of his hands up to grab the child's other hand.

"Greed. A healthy Caucasian baby girl could bring in a lot of money from potential adopters."

The couple stood in silence until the Sciutos came to collect their daughter.

Both families stayed in contact with each other, often getting together for dinner and Baby Abby spent many of her days in the Gibbs household being looked after by Shannon or Jethro. Soon, Jethro and Shannon were named as Abby's godparents and Kelly Gibbs made her way into the world.

Those happy times were short lived however, because John was offered a new job in Louisiana, with promising benefits for the family.

The next time Gibbs saw the Sciutos, it was the day of Shannon and Kelly's joint funeral. He smiled for the first time in a long while when he saw the pictures of green-eyed eight year old with jet black pigtails that they'd brought in place of their actual child.

Five years later, it was another funeral that he was attending. Gloria and John had been struck by a drunk driver while they were driving home from the celebration that John's company was holding in honor of it's success. They never made it home it home to their thirteen year old daughter.

Now, Gibbs was wandering through the crowd gathered in the funeral home, searching for someone who could be the tiny baby that he'd saved all those years ago. Finally, he gave in and asked an expensively dressed woman where he could find his goddaughter. She grimaced.

"Hopefully, she's far away from here. She was such a sweet little girl, but then just changed. Always wearing black, and that tattoo! The little delinquent lied about her age and forged her parents signatures on the permission form! I-"

"So she's not here?"

Gibbs hoped to cut her off before she went on with her winded rant.

"No one's seen her since the accident."

He stared in disbelief at the woman, who apparently had the nerve to insult a missing teenager at her parents funeral.

"Who are you?"

"Gloria's sister."

Her aunt. This woman was Abby's aunt.

As sickening as it was, it seemed the entire family felt the same way. The only person who actually seemed to care about Abby was the social worker assigned to place her in a new home.

The social worker was a short balding man, who had a seemingly kind demeanor. Gibbs quickly decided that he might be the only person in the room that he could actually tolerate.

Nicholas, that was his name, glared at the members of the Sciuto family. He'd been there long enough to realize that Abigail didn't exactly fit in with the rest of her family. He gestured for agent Gibbs to follow him.

"I suppose you've figured out that the poor girl isn't very welcome here," he said once they were out of earshot .

Gibbs nodded and shot a dark glance the small group of whispering funeral goers as they huddled together wearing matching scowls.

"She's Goth," Nick continued, "they don't approve. Then, Mr. and Mrs. Sciuto left everything to her in their will. She'll get it when she's eighteen. Despite what the rest say, her parents don't mind her new style. That put her in even more hot water, what with everyone protesting the will."

"She isn't going to live with any of them is she?"

"I don't have the foggiest idea where she's going to go. There weren't any specific accommodations for her in the will. The family only cares about the money, no one's even looking for the daughter. I would really hate to place her in one of those homes."

Gibbs looked at the other man for a long moment. Making a snap decision, he did what his gut told him to do.

"Abby will live with me."

Nicholas' head snapped up and he looked hesitantly hopeful.

"Are you related? I need some kind of connection to validate sending her with you instead of her relatives."

"I'm her godfather."

The social worker mumbled to himself.

"I can work with that. The papers can be finished by Friday if I get everyone's cooperation. Now, all I have to do is find her."

"Leave that to me."

-_-_-_-

There we go! Just to keep you guys clued in, the Palmer story is almost up and I included Abby in it to keep myself happy. I don't want to stop writing Abby and Gibbs, so I think I'll do one or two a month with those two. Sound okay? In other news, I've found out the other day that it's a little baby girl that's on her way. Just thought I'd brag about that.

Thanks for reading!