They faced danger everyday, but none of them were expecting to be held hostage in their own building. But it had happened. They hadn't even known it was happening at first, not until Ducky had called demanding the evidence back, when Abby hadn't been able to force herself to take it down she'd gone looking for help. When he and Gibbs had arrived back in the bullpen, they found Abby pacing in front of the top ten photos arguing with herself and that Kate was missing. That had been when they realised that something wasn't right.

The day had started off as usual, he and Kate had been searching the room of a dead suspected terrorist, not that they'd found anything to back up the claims. But somewhere along the way he and Kate had ended up talking about nightmares. He still didn't know where that had come from, he usually didn't talk about his childhood or family, but for some reason he'd found himself sharing this information with her. When he'd thought about it later he'd been shocked to realise that he had felt comfortable enough, safe enough, to share this information with anyone, especially someone he knew would probably take this information and use it to tease him.

What made it even more amazing was the fact that he'd been with NCIS for two years now, and instead of looking for an out, looking for new place to run to he found for the first time he was actually happy where he was. These people he worked with everyday had somehow worked their way around his defences, made themselves important to him, had become family to him. It was what he'd been unconsciously been looking for all his life, somewhere he belonged, somewhere he fit. It had been then that he'd realised that he trusted these people, had been trusting them not to hurt him for some time if he was being honest with himself.

It had been frustrating and gut wrenching, every lead they had turned into dead ends, trying to find out anything about the hijacker who was holding their friends, their family had been the hardest. All of their contacts, all of their sources hadn't given them anything. It was as if the man with the gun down in autopsy didn't even exist. The less information that they'd been able to uncover the more nervous he became. He had a bad feeling about this, and nothing that they were able to find out had helped lessen his sense of foreboding.

When Gibbs had outlined his plan he'd like it even less. Part of him couldn't help but be please that Gibbs was trusting him to take point from the other direction. But he would have preferred to have been at Gibbs' back, he knew that part of the reason that Gibbs had sent him to lead the other attack was because by the time they had secured the way in the action inside would have been over, he knew that in his own way Gibbs was trying to keep him safe, protecting what he saw as one of his own, and that realisation had made him feel humble. It was not something that he was used to, hell his own father hadn't even felt the need to protect him, had actually kicked him out without a backwards glance. To know that he meant enough to someone that they wanted to protect him was a strange feeling, something that he didn't know how to take.

But he was nervous, very nervous, and his nervousness had come out as verbal diarrhea, but once the elevator door had closed so had his mouth. He had taken a moment to draw some comfort and strength from Abby before he'd left to follow his orders.

Everything had happened quickly once he'd been in position, he'd gotten the go ahead from Gibbs they'd moved quickly. He'd found the murdered agents on his way in and had even had to take out one of the conspirators before he'd made it to autopsy.

He'd been right when he'd thought that the situation would have been resolved by the time he got there, he knew that Gibbs had planned for it to go that way, but it still made him angry that he hadn't been there on his six, hadn't been there to stop Gibbs from getting shot. All he could be grateful for was that Gibbs was alive, in pain and unconscious when he'd arrived, but alive. It hadn't taken Gibbs long to come back to them, but it had been long enough for him to say a few prayers for Gibbs. He'd knew that how painful getting shot was, and he'd tried to stop Gibbs from moving, knowing that moving would cause him more pain, and possibly more damage, but he also knew that Gibbs needed to so he'd supported him. He'd also taken a moment to reassure himself that Gibbs was alive, and he knew that Gibbs understood that he needed to hold him because he'd also taken a moment hold Tony and reassure him that he was all right.

After everything had been cleared up, and all the paper work had been done he'd found himself driving to Bethesda. His mind was chaotic, tumbling from one thought to the next and back again fast enough to make him feel a little sick. It had been an exhausting day both emotionally and physically, but he knew that if he had gone home there would have been no way he would have slept. He would have paced, tidied his apartment, maybe watched a movie or two and then probably ended up heading back in to the office to work on some paper work or look through more cold cases, anything to keep his mind busy.

But instead he found himself in a hospital room, looking at his boss who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He stood there for a while, just watching and thinking. His mind eventually settled onto one topic, the revelations that he'd had that day. The revelation that he'd been here for longer than he'd been anywhere since he was a child. The revelation that for the first time ever he wasn't looking for an escape, an out. The revelation that without even realising that he'd even been looking, he'd found his family. The realisation that he cared deeply for his family, and that his family cared just as much about him. The revelation that he'd do anything for Gibbs, follow him where he lead, and he'd do it willingly.

So he sat there, in the uncomfortable plastic chair, and watched Gibbs sleep, and tried to sort out some of the emotions that he was feeling. And eventually, some time before the sun came up he fell into a peaceful sleep, with a faint smile on his face.