Author's Note: Dear readers, I deeply appreciate your enthusiasm in my story and can't thank you enough for deciding to read, follow, and/or review it. With that being said, after careful consideration I thought I could do better and made the decision to revise my original upload. I hope you all enjoy this version as much (if not more) than the first. Please feel free to review by the way, I enjoy the feedback whether it is positive or otherwise. I am also open to constructive criticism. All I ask is that you keep any and all comments polite. If you have any questions you are more than welcome to send me a private message. Thank you! xoxo.

Six Degrees of Separation

A Multiverse story

Part One; Chapter One

The words 'effective immediately' echoed through her mind as she packed up her desk and escaped the office. When she arrived home a short time later she filled every piece of luggage she owned with all of the belongings she would be able to take with her. Everything else she would have to arrange to go into storage but that was if she decided to put her place on the market. For now, she had more immediate concerns to be consumed with. When she was through with packing she placed her suitcases near the door in order to make a quick getaway. From there she switched her phone back on, having turned it off during the private meeting with her superiors. Ignoring the device for a moment she hastily scribbled out a note which she left behind on the coffee table alongside the phone. It was going to be a long haul and regretfully she didn't have the luxury of saying goodbye. As soon as the phone was completely awake, a series of notifications came through. Four missed calls, three voicemails, and a text message, all from the same source. All of which remained unread and unanswered and it broke her heart to do so.

"Call me back when you get this, I'm getting worried." Tony DiNozzo hung up after leaving another message on his partner's phone. When the first two calls went to voicemail he assumed she was still with Vance, when he hadn't heard back after a considerable amount of time he tried again.

"Any luck?"

Gibbs joined Tony on the deck of the sailboat just as he was slipping his phone back into his pocket, replacing it with the ring box he was holding onto.

"No, she should be here by now. Sam is never late to anything and even if she thinks she might be she calls." Tony replied worriedly.

"I know." Gibbs agreed.

"I've got a bad feeling Boss." Tony confessed.

"Follow your gut, go see if she's home. I'll call McGee and have him stop by the Navy Yard in case she still hasn't left there yet." Gibbs suggested.

"What about you?" Tony asked.

"I'll stay here in case she shows up."

"Thanks Boss." Tony leapt off the side of the boat and onto the dock despite being dressed in Armani from head to toe. It was his intention to pop the question to Samantha but when she still hadn't shown there was a sudden change of plans.

Gibbs perched on the edge of the boat that he had built by hand and named after Shannon. It was the only boat named after a former wife that he either finished or still had in his possession. On occasion he sailed out on her in times when he needed an abundance of solitude, but mostly he remained close to shore providing T.L.C. to the precious vessel.

A couple of months ago Tony had come to him with a request. It was just after Jeanne Benoit returned, giving Tony the closure he needed to take the next step in his relationship with Samantha. At that time, Tony was seeking permission from Gibbs to ask Samantha to marry him. Samantha had been Shannon's younger sister and joined NCIS because of Gibbs. Therefore, Gibbs became her mentor in addition to being her brother-in-law. In Tony's opinion it seemed most appropriate to ask Gibbs for her hand. In addition, Tony wanted to propose aboard Shannon as a way of symbolically including her. Samantha had been engaged as many times as Gibbs had been married so she had experienced her share of cliché proposals. Tony wanted to do this to ensure this time was personal for Samantha as well as unique. Gibbs had agreed to all of this but he made one condition, he wanted to be present. Samantha was the only family he had left whom he had close contact with. Additionally, she shared a piece of his history, he didn't want to miss a moment like this. In many ways she became the sister he never had through their shared misery and he knew that she thought of him as a brother. As Gibbs gazed up at the night sky he prayed to Shannon that Samantha was safe. A shooting star passing overhead a moment later gave him an indication that he was heard.

When Tony first entered the apartment where Samantha resided, he was crushed to find no immediate sign of her. To this day she still inhabited the place she once shared with Jeanne before Tony's assignment spiraled out of control. As Tony called out for Samantha and heard nothing in return he felt his heart sink. A feeling of Déjà vu washed over him as he walked through each room hoping to find her. Instead he discovered that she was gone, her closet and drawers bare much like when Jeanne left all those years ago. This didn't make any sense to him in the least. Samantha wouldn't leave without any kind of explanation. Last he checked she didn't have a reason to either. While he stood in her bedroom, perplexed he removed his phone from his breast pocket and speed-dialed her number. This time it rang instead of going directly to voicemail. There was an echo coming from the living room which brought him temporary relief but when he walked out to the living room he discovered Samantha's phone had been sitting on the coffee table all along with a note beside it.

Tony ended the call on his phone, causing the ringing to cease. Reaching for the envelope he noticed his name was written on it in Samantha's neat handwriting. As he perched on the edge of the couch Tony had the crippling sense that he was about to receive bad news. The agent carefully opened the envelope and slowly unfolded the letter within, disappointed for many reasons by the lack of words on the delicate stationary.

Tony,

I'm sorry, I can't explain. I will always love you.

Your girl,

Samantha

Stunned by this, Tony slumped to the floor and exhaled shakily as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes and onto the paper in his hands. All he could do now was sit and wonder if there was anything he had done, or perhaps didn't do, to make her leave like this. Tony had a hard time imagining that she wouldn't have reached out to him if he truly had nothing to do with this.

McGee stood in stunned silence before Samantha's desk with confusion etched into his boyish features. The agent marveled at the emptiness in front of him. Anything that once personalized the generic workspace was completely gone without a trace.

"Special Agent McGee."

Vance's diplomatic tone startled the youngest member of Gibbs's team who didn't expect to find anyone at the office, particularly Vance. The Director made an effort to get home to his children at the same time each night ever since his wife died.

"Director Vance, I didn't expect to see you here." McGee replied, turning his attention away from Sam's desk.

"What brings you back here at this hour, forget something?" Vance wondered.

"Actually no, I came looking for Sam. She was supposed to meet Tony hours ago and never showed. Have you seen her?" McGee asked.

"Special Agent Fielding was here but she left about an hour ago." Vance answered.

"Do you know where she went or why all her stuff is gone?"

"I suspect she went home to collect the rest of her belongings." Vance replied.

"Why would she do that?" McGee was getting an inkling that Vance was being intentionally coy with him.

"Special Agent Fielding has been reassigned." Vance stated regretfully.

"What, why, where?" McGee stammered in disbelief.

"That's classified." Vance replied cryptically.

"Reassigned, did he say where?"

Gibbs was McGee's first phone call after learning from Vance about Samantha.

"No, just that it was classified." McGee was seated at his desk now and Vance was long gone.

"Like hell," Gibbs growled. "where are you now?"

"Still at the office, Vance already left."

"Good, run a trace on Sam's phone and find out where she is." Gibbs ordered.

"Already on it Boss," McGee paused for a moment as he typed. "according to this, she's home."

"Give her a call and tell her to stay-put under my orders. I'm going to have a talk with Vance."

In his typical fashion, Gibbs hung up before McGee could muster up a response.

Tony hadn't moved from his spot on the floor, feeling paralyzed by the heaviness in his heart. For a while he debated going through Samantha's phone for any clues that might lead to her whereabouts. If she left it behind he concluded that it was for one of two reasons. Either there was something she wanted him to find on it; or she had been hiding something all along and left him to decide for himself if he wanted to know about it.

Tony spent what felt like an eternity arguing with himself over whether or not he should investigate. Finally, he came to a decision and reached for the device. As soon as he unlocked it with a swipe of his thumb, he regretted doing so. The background image was of him and Samantha engaging in an intimate kiss during the work day. Abby had captured it while spying on them and later teased them over it. Apparently Samantha had the Forensic Specialist send her the picture which Tony hadn't realized. As far as he could tell Samantha had appeared happy that day, they both did, but was there something he neglected to notice?

The next move he made was to check her messages, skipping his own and listening to the ones she had saved. There were a couple from her parents, Joann and Mack Fielding, but nothing sounded subliminal in those. In her text messages he saw that she hadn't opened his most recent one leaving him to wonder if she had been gone long or if he'd just missed her on his way over.

Nothing felt suspicious about what remained in her inbox but that wasn't to say she hadn't deleted anything prior to her departure. Tony made a mental note to have Abby dig further into Samantha's activity.

Recently Samantha had been in touch with Jeanne in hopes of repairing their broken friendship. Tony doubted the doctor had any knowledge of Samantha's disappearing act but he forced himself into believing no stone should be left unturned. There were answers and Tony would go to the ends of the earth to find them.

As he was about to scroll his way through her pictures an incoming call interrupted him. Tony answered it promptly, hoping that Samantha was on the other end and this was all just some big misunderstanding.

"Hello?"

"Tony, it's me, is Sam there?" McGee's voice asked.

Tony sighed sadly and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on.

"Tony?"

"No Tim, Samantha's not here and by the looks of it she won't be coming back for a while." Tony answered.

McGee fell silent on his end but Tony knew that he was still on the line.

"What's going on McGee?" Tony demanded, getting the sense that his partner knew more than he did.

"I didn't want to have to tell you this over the phone."

"Spit it out, McGee." Tony ordered.

"Samantha has been reassigned, Vance told me so himself when I came here looking for her. When I ran a trace on her phone I saw that it was at her place and I was hoping…" McGee trailed off, knowing that Tony would understand.

"What about her car?" Tony wondered.

"Never left the Navy Yard as far as I could tell, it was still in the parking lot when I got here. I assumed she took a cab when I heard the news." McGee shared.

"Well, she can't have gone far." Tony hoped.

"It's been over an hour since she left, she could be anywhere by now."

"I know I just hate to think that's the case." Tony confessed.

"Well, I'd hate to think that she doesn't want to be found." McGee said.

Tony was quiet as he read Samantha's note again even though he had it memorized.

"I'm getting the feeling that this wasn't up to her." Tony said.

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know." Tony admitted.

Gibbs didn't waste any time after learning from McGee that his Senior Agent was gone. Before he was even finished with the phone call Gibbs was leaving the marina where Shannon was docked. Once inside the vehicle his father had gifted him a few years back, he slammed his foot on the accelerator and sped off. The team leader was grateful for the light evening traffic as he made his way to Vance's home. By now he figured that's where the Director would be.

There was no telling what Vance was going to say for himself but Gibbs wanted answers and he wanted them now.

In record time Gibbs reached the Director's home and just as he was parking the car on the curb out front, Vance was getting out of his own vehicle in the driveway.

When Vance was approached by Gibbs he didn't appear at all surprised to see the older agent.

"I take it you've heard." Vance began in response to Gibbs's unsettling glare.

When Gibbs didn't speak Vance continued.

"I'm sure you're wondering why."

Again, Gibbs simply stared at him rather than responding verbally.

"Special Agent Fielding's assignment is classified but I assure you she's perfectly safe." Vance continued.

"Where did you send her?" Gibbs demanded.

"That's sensitive information for the time being."

"When will she be coming back?"

"Special Agent Fielding has been reassigned permanently. If she decides to return to visit she will be more than welcome to do so on her personal time." Vance explained.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Special Agent Fielding's skills are needed elsewhere, it's as simple as that Gibbs. Now, if you'll excuse me I'd like to spend time with my children before they go to bed." Vance intended to walk away but Gibbs blocked his path.

"This wasn't your call to make, was it?" Gibbs realized.

Vance didn't directly confirm or deny the statement. Instead he made direct eye contact and replied cryptically.

"I'm sorry Gibbs, truly I am, but my hands are tied."

Gibbs did not indicate verbally or otherwise whether or not he accepted this.

"Just tell me if any more of my agents are going to be reassigned without my knowledge."

"The rest of your team will remain intact, you have my word." Vance promised.

Gibbs maintained eye contact long enough to determine that Vance was telling the truth. A moment later he turned to leave and Vance called after him as he stormed off.

"Don't go looking into this Gibbs, you're not going to like what you find." Vance warned.

Samantha was quiet from the moment she settled into the backseat of the government vehicle. Vance had kindly arranged for her transportation, including the driver who had been on Vance's security detail for years. Once her belongings were stored in the trunk they were on the road, slightly ahead of schedule.

"If you need to make any stops along the way Ma'am, don't hesitate to let me know."

"Thank you." Samantha replied quietly.

As they drove out of the city she called home for the last twenty years, Samantha looked out the window watching it all slip away. There was a lifetime of memories here; the good, the bad, and the ugly. All of which brought tears to her eyes as images of her past flashed before her mind's eye.

It wasn't until the vehicle reached beyond the city limits that Samantha spoke up again.

"May I borrow your phone I need to make a call."

"Of course Ma'am." The driver handed over his phone from the front seat while keeping his eyes on the road.

Samantha reached for the device and dialed a number she knew by heart. Although it was late where she was headed, she knew the receiving end would answer the call. When she heard the familiar voice pick up she sighed with relief.

"Hey, it's me…no, I'm okay. Listen, I need a favor…"

*9 hours later*

Samantha was awakened by the sound of a blaring car horn. When she opened her eyes in the backseat she discovered that it was morning. The agent had no recollection of falling asleep but she considered that a blessing. As she sat up she began to stretch and while doing so she observed her surroundings. While she was sleeping Vance's driver made the full-length trip to their destination.

When she lowered the partition window he greeted her with a brief smile in the rearview.

"Good morning, Ma'am."

"Good morning," Samantha yawned. "you drove all night, you didn't have to do that." She added.

"Yes Ma'am, it was no trouble." He assured her.

"What time is it?"

"Just after eight Ma'am. We should reach the hotel in about twenty minutes."

"That won't be necessary, I've arranged to stay with a relative." Samantha told him.

"Where would you like me to bring you instead?"

"Firehouse fifty-one if you will, I need to retrieve a set of keys from my cousin."