Gibbs looked at the new NCIS Director Leon Vance as he just reassigned and dismissed his team.
« Why are you doing this Leon? » Gibbs asked trying to control his anger.
« This agency needs to be kicked in the nest, too much secrets, too much unofficial operations, too much hacking in the CIA or FBI or any other federal organization. This has to change, I picked your team, they will start tomorrow » Vance said sitting at his desk. He pointed the chair on the opposite side and nod at Gibbs « you should take a sit Gibbs » He added.
« I can stand » Gibbs said crossing his arms on his chest leaning against the meeting table. Vance sighed. « When i said no more secrets, i was speaking for all of us. Now give me your weapon » Vance ordered. « And take …a …seat, NOW »
Gibbs sighed and handed him his gun then went to sit.
« I don't have much to do with this Jethro; it came with the Director need to know files, some secrets, some easier to keep than others. And some that are safe to be revealed, even after 16 years. » Vance said standing up.
« Go to the point Leon » Gibbs added impatiently.
« Jethro, I like to consider you as a friend in addition of the pain of the ass that you are. And as a friend, I want to say, i am really sorry about what I am about to tell you» He took the last file that remained on his desk, Top Secret Confidential was written all over it. He opened it a picture of a young brunette woman was attached to the inside.
« After your accident last year, some parts of your personal file were uncovered, Jennie was a curious woman and she was a damn good investigator »
Gibbs sighted and rubbed his face nervously.
« We just buried Jennie, I really don't have much patience now »
« She uncovered something that was kept top secret… until now » Leon said then press the intercom.
The young woman from the photo came in a few second later. She was quite tall, 5'10'' probably according to Gibbs, clear blue greenish eyes and shinny brown hair arriving at her shoulder. She couldn't be older than 25 years old.
« Jethro, in the shooting Jennie killed the last person posing a threat on this young woman's life; she has been put in the Witness Protection system for seventeen years. Her life is no longer in danger; she is now authorized to go back to you. » He said giving the woman an envelope.
« I..I don't …It can't be.. » Gibbs mumbled
« You can now keep your identity Dawn Anderson or you can go back to be Miss Kelly Gibbs. » Leon finished giving her ID back.
« Kelly » Gibbs whispered his heart almost stopping.
« Dad » Kelly said with a smile « I missed you so much » She took a few steps toward Gibbs throwing her arms around his neck. « I missed you »
Gibbs closed his arms around her and held her tight.
After a few minutes, Gibbs stepped away slightly from his daughter and put his hands on her head, brushing her dark hair, looking into her eyes, a subtle mix between his and Shannon's. She looked so much like her mother he thought. It must have been a dream; she couldn't be alive. It was not possible that people would know about her and not tell him. How could Jennie knew about it, and never told him. A million thoughts were running through his mind. He smiled genuinely and took his hands off her hair.
« Kelly honey, do you mind going downstairs, I need a minute with the Director » Gibbs said to his daughter.
« Sure» She smiled and nodded to Vance « It was nice meeting you Mr. Vance »
Once Kelly gone, Gibbs turned to Vance.
« What the hell is going on Leon? » Gibbs said his voice showing the state of anger he was in. « How long did you know my daughter is alive »
« I just found out when I took over from Jennie, the last threat to your daughter's life was dead. I got a call this morning from her contact at the Witness Protection department to tell me she was on her way»
« Who put her in the system? » Gibbs said « who is responsible for taking my only child away from me for 17 years. I thought they were dead. »
« Kelly is the only one who survived the car accident, according to the file here; she was in a coma for months. When she woke up, she didn't remembered what happened, her contact took her across the border to Mexico, that's where she was until she turn 20, then she went to University in Cambridge, Harvard, Medical. » Vance said closing her file.
« Tell me who was her contact, you sure don't want me to shoot you to find out » Gibbs said.
« Mike Franks »
Tony, Ziva and Tim were at the squad room; Tony was packing his desk when he noticed Kelly going down the stairs. She looked a little bit lost for a second.
« Can I help you with something Ma'am? » Tony said going around his desk. Kelly smiled and nodded.
« I am looking for Agent Gibbs's Desk» She added.
« I am very special agent Anthony Dinozzo, you can call me Tony» He said with a coy smile « that's how my friends call me »
« Kelly, and i don't know how my friends call me, I don't have any » Kelly said with a corner smile.
« Oh, I'm sorry »
« Don't say you're sorry… Tony, it's a sign of weakness » She added looking around.
« Rule number one » Tony whispered surprised.
« Actually it's rule number three, Rule number one is always wear clean underwear » She said finding Gibbs desk and sitting in his chair.
Tony, Ziva and McGee all gathered around Gibbs desk looking at Kelly.
« Do I have something on my face? » Kelly asked touching it.
« Hi, I'm Ziva David » Ziva said reaching to shook her hand.
« Special Agent McGee » Tim did the same.
« Oh! Hi, Kelly, Kelly Gibbs » She said with a warm smile as they all look at her like she was a ghost.
« You're not dead! » McGee suddenly said as Ziva and Tony glared at him. « I mean, obviously, you are not but I mean we thought that… »
« Shut it Probie » Tony snapped
« Sorry » Tim said as Kelly was slowly smiling.
Tony went back to his desk and slapped himself in the back of his head.
« I hope it's not because you tried to seduce my daughter Dinozzo » Gibbs said passing in front of Tony's desk.
« Of course not Boss! » Tony said trying to lie.
Gibbs walked to her daughter who stood up quickly.
« Let's go » Gibbs said taking his stuff from his drawer.
« Bye guys, it was nice meeting you » She said as Gibbs put his hand on her back and lead her to the elevator.
The whole team looked at them leaving the building.
« Did you guys see that » Tony said still numbed by the news.
« She's pretty » McGee said
« He looks happy » Ziva added.
« If he retires, do you think i will be Team Leader again? » Tony said with a wink. Both Ziva and McGee looked at him and went to slap him behind the head.
Kelly was sat at the kitchen counter in Gibbs house, He was pouring himself a glass of bourbon and went to put a glass of milk in front of his daughter. The young lady looked at it and then at his father.
«Dad » she said hesitantly « you do realize I am not seven anymore? » He looked at her and smiled.
« Sorry» He smiled
She stood up and grabbed his drink as he was going to take a sip at it. Kelly looked at his dad, he looked like a fish out of the water, he wasn't talking, or barely looking at her.
« Dad… » She said slowly trying to get him to look at her. « Are you okay? »
« Sure» Gibbs said looking up from his glass but when he saw her eyes, confused, even a little scared, he took a deep breath. « I don't know how to do this »
« I wish I could say I understand, but I don't, all this time, I knew you were alive, I saw you a couple of times, I had pictures of you. » Kelly said turning her glass in her hands.
« You saw me? When? »
« Summer 1998, I think it was in July, Mexico City, I was across the street from you » She said remembering the first time she saw her dad after 7 years without him. « I crossed the street…i was so near to you. I… » Her voice broke and tears became to roll down her cheeks « I wanted to talk to you, i wanted you to know i was here and i loved you so much, it was killing me » She was crying now « but they told me that if i ever came in contact with you, they would take me away again and i wouldn't be able to see you. »
She wiped her face with the back of her hand. « And I was at the hospital when you got blown up, I was suppose to visit Mike when they called him, he told me »
« Son of a bitch » he muttered looking up
« He didn't know Dad, nobody knew I was there »
« Oh Kelly, I wish I knew, I would have never let them take you away. I missed you every day » He said taking her hand. «You turned into such a beautiful woman, you are not my little girl anymore, and you are a doctor? » He was so proud of how she turned up, even being raised by Franks god knew how messed up she could have turned out.
« I am, I still have a semester to do and I will be finished » She looked around « would I be able to move here with you »
« I wouldn't let you go anywhere else » He said standing up « Come, I will show you to your bedroom »
« By the way, how much do you know about me? » Gibbs asked
Kelly chuckled.
« Don't worry I know about the three wives » She said, Gibbs looked at her mortified.
« Now what did Franks tell you about me exactly? And how long did you spend with him» Kelly laughed.
« Nothing that would make me want to not be your daughter, and long enough to be completely messed up. »
« Well, that's just great » Gibbs laughed.
They arrived in one of the spare bedrooms, there were boxes everywhere and you couldn't even see the furniture.
« Jeez, when was the last time you opened a window in here » Kelly said stepping into the room.
« 1991 » He said looking at the room.
« Good thing that building furniture run in the family » She said with a smile. Gibbs smiled back and they started cleaning up the room
The next day, Tony was shipped to the USS Ronald Reagan, Ziva went back to Israel and McGee moved to the cyber unit. Kelly didn't have much chance to get to know any of them. Except for Abby, they were almost the same age and Gibbs wanted a female figure into his daughter's life, he had no idea what she would need and he trusted Abby like she was his second daughter.
A couple of months passed. Kelly went back to Harvard, she had 6 months left until she graduated, she would come back frequently, visiting NCIS with her Dad, hanging with Abby, Ducky and Palmer. NCIS really started to interest her and soon she applied to be Ducky's assistant.
« DAAADDD » Kelly yelled from her room on the second floor of Gibbs's house.
Her father arrived a few second later holding his gun, in his old jean covered with paint and his NIS shirt, sweat rolling on his forehead, he was obviously working on his boat.
« wow, what's with you and the gun ? » Kelly said raising her hands in front of her.
« Don't ever scream like that » Gibbs said catching his breath.
« I was just calling you, you know, no se oye muy bien »
« I am not death, Kelly » He said looking around at the bedroom.
It was hard to believe that just a few months ago, this room was half the size and full of junk that Gibbs kept for all these years. When Kelly moved in, he decided to give her some space, since the house was big, they decided to get some work done and changed the two second floor bedrooms in a suite for the young lady. They had a delightful time picking up furniture at flee markets, mixing them with some very new ones. The result was gorgeous.
« What's going on? » He asked.
« Do I look okay for my first day? » She asked turning around. She was wearing a black dress the top looking like a button up shirt and black pumps. Her hair was naturally slightly wavy.
« Do I look like I know something in Fashion? » Gibbs asked but when she gave him the look her mother use to give him, putting her hands on her hips, the look that were saying him that she wanted his opinion anyway.
« Vance doesn't need to be impressed by those » He said pointing her cleavage. She redid a button. « Better » He added turning around to leave « Don't stress, you'll be fine » and he was gone.
« What do you think Abs? » She asked looking at her Mac computer screen.
« Can I borrow that dress when you're done » Abby said from her lab.
« Sure »
« I am so excited; I can't wait for you to work with us »
« Me too, I'm a little nervous though» Kelly said fixing her lipstick
« Come on I saw you doing that autopsy report, it was impressive » Abby laughed.
« Doctor Mallard was so sweet to agree to get another assistant. I think that dad made him too, but I need to be with NCIS for six months before applying for field agent»
« Got to go babes, see ya » Abby said before turning off his computer.
Kelly put her cell and wallet in her handbag that was resting on the coffee table and turned off the TV, when suddenly her laptop made a little sound indicating an incoming AIM.
Kingofcool32 : hi there pretty lady
Kelly smiled and sat in front of her computer.
KellyG : hi there
Kingofcool32 : how is the new job ?
KellyG : great, you should visit.
Kingofcool32 : love to, but i might have to get out in a body bag
KellyG : come on, it's not that bad
Kingofcool32: How is Gibbs?
KellyG: fine, working on his boat. When are you coming back?
Kingofcool32: you miss me?
KellyG: Abby does
Kingofcool32: Not for a while unfortunately
KellyG: bye Tony
Kingofcool32: bye kiddo.
Kelly sighted and closed the AIM window.
Her relationship with Gibbs had moved on like they never separated to begin with. Even if she was sure that he loved her and he was happy to be with her again. She didn't want him to be somebody else; she would love him even if he was the biggest pain in the ass in the world. Since that day, Gibbs went back to be Gibbs. They had some stupid fights about stupid things, like choosing the color of the walls, or her, joining NCIS.
She spent a long time with Mike Franks, he taught her everything he knew to be a good NCIS agent, she now knew almost as much as her father. Without the approval of Gibbs, she passed with success the theatrical exams but before becoming a field agent, she had to work at a desk for at least 6 months. She was excellent in Biology, Anatomy and Biochemistry, so she was assigned to Doctor Mallard and Abby as their assistant in that particular field.
Abby was the only one close to her age, so they spent a lot of time together. And since Abby was spending some time with McGee, they all became good friend quickly. She laughed so much at the story that McGee told her about past cases, hoping to come across some similar when she will work on the field.
But secretly, there was somebody that she couldn't wait to see. Secretly because even if by any chance he would notice her, and treat her as a woman and not as Gibbs daughter, she knew her father would probably give her hell for that. But secretly she couldn't help it. She liked Kingofcool32.
It was safe to fancy Tony right now, as long as she was here, and he was there, far away from her. She wouldn't have to hide her laughs every time he was saying something stupid, she wouldn't have to pretend she was cool to just hang out when all she wanted was to be with him.
"Good Morning Doctor Mallard" Kelly said entering Autopsy. "Good Morning Jimmy"
"Good Morning Kelly" The doctor said when he was about to cut open a petty officer's skull. "How are you my dear?"
"Great, got finger printed, photographed, I now have a parking space but no car, but the best thing, I am ready to rock, so what can I do?" Kelly said while she put on a white coat.
"I need those blood samples to be brought to Abby, as well as the clothes and personal effects," Duckie said.
"Right away Doctor" She took the sample and left for Abby's lab.
« Abby! » Kelly yelled entering the lab, the music loud enough so her voice was not heard by Abby. « ABBY »
« Kelly! What do you have for me? » Abby said appearing from behind her computers and turning the music off.
« I have blood, clothes. Shoes, wallet, tags » Kelly said dropping the evidence bags on the steel table.
« Great, I will be done processing them in about 3 hours » Abby said taking the bags. « How is your first day? »
« Good, I didn't do much yet. Had to go through the HR service first »
« Did you meet Glenn » Abby asked a crooked smile appearing on his face.
« Yes, Yummy» Kelly smiled checking out the pictures of the team hanging on the wall.
Abby looked at Gibbs's Daughter. If you met Kelly for the first time you would have thought that she was a regular 25 years old girl, who liked to have fun, to dress casually even smarter sometimes, her make-up was always there, she had a pin-up make up most of the time, winged eye liner with a bright lipstick, and she would eventually put red lipstick on to look fancier, Gibbs use to think that Franks probably taught her about life on his old playboy from the 60s. She was always perfect, not a piece of hair was wrong, or the wrong piece of clothing. Some would say it was revealing a need to keep control, but in reality, she was just keeping up from leaving in Mexico for years, in the dust, wearing old jeans and tank tops, the weather too hot to wear anything more.
« How was it? Growing up with Mike Franks? » Abby asked out of the blue.
« It was okay! » Kelly said turning toward her « It's like growing up with an old bear, I learned a lot with him »
« Really! Like what? »
« Never turn you back to a cactus » Kelly said looking at the computer screen that was running fingerprints through AFIS.
« Kelly »
« Seriously, you don't want to do that » She said quickly. « I have to go back to Autopsy, Call me if you need Me. »
Gibbs was working on his boat since the morning. It was his day off today; crime was quite low right now at NCIS. He was working on the inside of it when he heard someone going down the steps.
« You're back early » He said thinking it was his daughter.
« Hi Probie » a deep voice nowhere near Kelly's responded.
Gibbs stopped and sighted.
«Give me one good reason for not shooting you Mike » Gibbs said coming out of the boat.
« Well, first, how in hell would you take my body out by yourself, I gained a few pounds, since I stopped running after that dropper drawers of yours » Mike said but seeing that Gibbs wasn't impressed by his answer he sighted « Because you know it was the right thing to do, what was I suppose to do? Let her die? »
« You saw that I was going through hell after the accident happened and you knew Mike, you knew that Kelly was alive. » Gibbs said.
« I didn't have the choice, once she was in the Witness protection program, you know how it works. »
« It's different » Gibbs said throwing a tool on the table.
« How is it different? It's no difference to any other case »
« You were my friend, I trusted you, with my life, now I lost so many years with her, i would have stayed away from her. I even would have agreed on not knowing where she was, or who she was, as long as I knew she was alive »
« Oh really, you would have left your only baby girl live with me in a dusty house away from everything » Mike said trying to keep up with the argument, but when Gibbs didn't say anything back, he knew he found the truth « No, you couldn't have »
« I would have give you money, so she could at least live normally, get a good education »
« Does she look like she's been living in a dumpster, she's a smart ass, and you should have seen her room. Full of books about medical stuff that I couldn't even pronounce. Every Thursday she was going in town to visit Uncle Lopez, the local coroner. God helped me when I tried to forbid her to go. Hell has no furry like Kelly, when she wants something »
A slight smile appeared on Gibbs face, she sounded just like him.
« I knew what I was doing to you, she knew as well, but like you say it's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission" Mike said before giving Gibbs a metal cookie box.
"What is that?" Gibbs asked opening it.
"What you missed" Mike said.
The box was full of pictures of Kelly, most of them alone, some with Mike, some with other people that Gibbs didn't know. He grabbed a stool and sat on it putting the box on the table. He took one where she was eleven according to the date on the back, she was wearing military pants and a t-shirt too big for her, her hair were tied in loose ponytails, she was holding a riffle in her arms and was smiling. On another one she was hanging from a tree upside down, her hair going over her head as she was laughing. On another one, she was on a bed in her pajamas, her skin tanned by being too much under the Mexican sun, an old bunny under her arm and books everywhere around her. She was 14. A few others were showing her different birthdays.
Gibbs smiled and turned to see Mike, but he was long gone.
"Thanks Mike" He said quietly.
A little later that day, Gibbs entered Autopsy and found her daughter alone, doing suture on a body. She was wearing green medical uniform, her hair tied in a high ponytail, a few pieces falling down.
"Where's Duckie?" He asked coming next to her.
"Gone" Kelly said without looking up
"You're alone here? Did you piss him off?" Gibbs said holding a piece of string before Kelly cut it, finishing a part of the suture.
"No, I am an assistant, so I assist, like…probies"
"Where's your dress?" Her father asked.
"It's evidence" She said with a irritated sigh. "I've been baptized, with stomach content" Gibbs smiled but stopped when Kelly looked up to give him a death glare.
"What's so funny Gibbs" She said.
"It's Dad, for you, probie" He said before walking away.
"Don't you dare calling me a …" Kelly said but the Autopsy door was already closing behind her Father, "I AM NOT A PROBIE" she yelled then looked at the man on the table. "I am not"