Summery: When Gibbs finds out he has a teenage daughter he didn't know about, he has a lot to figure out. Now they are both in danger and running out of time. Will Gibbs be able to save his own daughter? Or will she just turn around and save him.
Author's Note: This is my first NCIS fanfic so go easy on me ;) I absolutely LOVE reviews! So please, if you have anything to say at all, never hesitate =) And without further ado...enjoy :)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs pulled his car to the curb and threw it in Park. He was in the middle of the city working a case that was out of his jurisdiction. But NCIS Director Leon Vance gave him the case. He didn't know why but it was a case just like any other and so he would treat it as such. Gibb's team was already there examining the body and the crime scene. DiNozzo will be asking questions, Gibbs said to himself. He'd just have to play it close to the vest- like he almost always did. Gibbs exited the vehicle and headed towards his team and the dead body they lingered over.
"What do we got?" he asked as he approached Special Agents Ziva David and Timothy McGee as they were photographing and collecting the evidence on and by the body. Ziva was the one to respond.
"Michael Cunnings. Thirty-eight. Ducky isn't here yet but it looks like multiple stab sounds to the abdomen." she told him but a voice interrupted from behind Gibbs. They turned to see Doctor Mallard approaching.
"I'm right here, Ziva." Ducky said as he advanced, Coroners Assistant Jimmy Palmer trailing closely behind. Ducky knelt by the body and began his external examination of the victim while he told a story about a body he once had that had a gunshot wound that looked remarkably like a stabbing. "Never judge a wound by its appearance, Miss David."
"I'm sorry, Ducky." Ziva replied with a smile.
"Got a time of death for me, Doc?" Gibbs asked as he scribbled in his pocket sized notebook. Doctor Mallard leaned back from the body to look up at Gibbs.
"I'd say somewhere between eight and ten hours ago. I'll know more once I get him on my table. Fetch the gurney would you Jimmy? I'm afraid I've injured my back recently." Ducky replied.
"Are you okay, Doctor?" Jimmy asked with concern but Ducky just patted his shoulder.
"Old age, my boy, does not agree with me. Just get the gurney and we'll get our friend here back to the lab." Ducky said and Jimmy excused himself to get the stretcher.
"I got something over here boss!" Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo shouted and Gibbs turned towards the sound. Tony was crouched over by a dumpster holding a piece of paper in his gloved hand. "Looks like a business card." Tony said. "It's faded by it looks like the name Cunnings is printed on it. That's our vic."
"Get that to Abby. She'll be able to tell us what it is. And take Ziva-" Gibbs said as he headed back towards his car.
"To the vic's house. Got it boss!" Tony said over Gibbs, smiling triumphantly as he bagged the evidence. "Weird case though, huh boss? Not exactly our jurisdiction."
Gibbs just shrugged and kept walking.
~!~!~!~
"Nice diggs for a guy we found on a street in the middle of Drug Town, USA." Tony said as he and Ziva entered the victims place. It was spacious three-bedroom home with expensive looking furniture and a state-of-the-art security system. They walked through the house going through Michael Cunnings belongings.
"Expensive and impersonal." Ziva said. "I don't see any personal photos or notes or anything. Looks like he lived here alone too." Ziva was standing by the fireplace holding an oddly shaped heavy metal object. Maybe a paper weight- probably not. She didn't have any other reasonable guesses though. "Don't you think it's weird that we're working this case?" she said as they snooped.
"I'll admit it's out of our cattle drive but we've worked stranger cases. And Gibbs said Vance gave him the case so we're gonna treat it like any other." Tony said maturely but Ziva could tell his curiosity was killing him. "It is strange though. Conspiracy Theory weird. Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts-"
"Or maybe its not." Ziva cut-in, holding up the only picture frame in the house. It had been sitting on Michael Cunnings desk in his office. "I think I know why Vance gave us this case." she said, handing Tony the photo of Director Vance and the victim. "They were friends."
~!~!~!~
Director Leon Vance sat in his office, about to pick up the phone and call his wife over her lunch break, when Gibbs entered unannounced. Vance really hated it when he did that. But Gibbs would be Gibbs and there was nothing anyone could do about it. "Can I help you with something?" Vance asked, returning the telephone to its receiver.
"Just wondering why you failed to mention you know the victim of the right field case I'm working?" Gibbs replied easily. Vance leaned back in his chair. He knew Gibbs would figure it out eventually. Was he counting on later rather then sooner? Sure. But that didn't make a difference now that he knew. All Vance had left to do was tell Gibbs the honest truth.
"It wasn't important at the time-"
"Bull," Gibbs interjected like he always did. "You got my team chasing a case that we're not supposed to handle because it's your friend. You're using me and my team for the answers to your own questions and I don't like it."
"I couldn't very well investigate the case myself and you know how it would've been treated by the local police. Like a drug deal gone bad. He died in an unfortunate place but that doesn't mean he was tangled in anything illegal. He was a good man, Agent Gibbs. And I need you to prove that." Vance replied.
"And what if I can't? What if he really did die in a drug deal gone bad? I need to know that you're going to back my play when the board starts breathing down my neck about working a case out of my jurisdiction."
"Just find out who killed Michael and we'll talk about the rest later. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a call to make. See yourself out the way you see yourself in." Vance said, motioning to the door. Gibbs stormed out angrily, tired of being used. His team had always been a weak spot for Gibbs but recently they'd been used more times then he cared to count. And he was sick of it.
This is the end of it, he thought to himself. Never again am I letting my team do this.
Gibbs went back downstairs to the bull-pin where the team was at their desks. "What do you got for me?" he asked angrily as he rushed to enter the ring. Tony, Ziva and McGee all stood up simultaneously and went to the plasma screen where Tony pointed the remote and clicked the little button.
"Michael Cunnings; thirty eight; he had a younger sister Joanna Cunnings and he has a niece Taylor. He used to be the primary caregiver for Taylor when her mother passed away in '98. When Taylor was sixteen she filed for emancipation and was granted such on grounds of neglect." Tony said as he clicked up first the document of Taylor's emancipation then a picture or the girl. She was very pretty with wavy, shoulder length cinnamon colored hair and surprisingly blue eyes. Ziva noted the resemblance between her and Gibbs but didn't say anything- neither did any of the other's.
"Do we know where she is?" Gibbs asked. Questions were rolling through his head a million miles a second as he stared at the girl on the screen.
"Umm, she has an apartment on Jay Street. I was going to head there now, boss…" Tony said but Gibbs cut him off.
"Ziva you're with me," he said, gathering his things. "Tony find out more about the sister. McGee I want to know why he was in that alley way."
"On it boss!" McGee and Tony said at the same time then glared at each other. Ziva grabbed her things and quickly followed Gibbs to the elevator where he was impatiently waiting. They elevator ride was companionably quiet but Ziva talked the whole car ride. Gibbs didn't say much though. The names and information reeling through his head was too much. He couldn't think straight.
Finally when they arrived at Taylor Cunnings apartment complex, Ziva stopped talking. They exited the vehicle and headed towards the house. "Taylor has a black Land Rover registered under her name. I bet that's it." Ziva said as she pointed to a black Land Rover. It was an older model but in good condition. Same thing with the house. It was technically a townhouse but it was connected to another and the upstairs section was being rented out- which made it into an apartment.
They walked up to the side by side front doors and knocked. The door to the right lead to a staircase so Gibbs knocked on the left hoping that one lead to Taylor's apartment. Sounds of a scuffle sounded behind the door followed by, "Awe damn it!" then the door clumsily swung open. Taylor stood there in jeans and a blouse with what looked like tea spilt over it.
"Can I help you?" she asked, holding the sticky shirt away from his stomach.
"I'm Agent David and this is Agent Gibbs. We'd like to talk to you about your uncle Michael Cunnings; do you have a minute?" Ziva asked when Gibbs didn't say anything. Taylor looked surprised for a minute but nodded and let them in.
The place was small- as to be expected- but well decorated. There was a window seat covered in soft looking blankets and large pillows, as were the chairs and couches. The coffee table was covered in what looked like homework and the television was on a Christmas music station. Taylor rushed to turn off the TV and clear a spot for each of them to sit. "Sorry, I like to celebrate early." she said with a smile as she turned the music off. Ziva smiled, agreeing.
"Can I get you something to drink? Tea, coffee, water." Taylor asked, holding her own spilt cup of tea in her hands. Ziva asked for a cup of tea but Gibbs didn't want anything. "If you don't mind I'd like to change my shirt quickly?"
Taylor walked towards the kitchen, set up Ziva's tea then continued down the long narrow hallway like house. She entered a room- seemingly her bedroom- then returned a second latter with a different, clean shirt. She shut the door tightly behind her. "Here you go," she said as she handed Ziva her drink. "So what's this about again?" she asked, taking a seat on the couch across from them.
"I'm sorry to inform you but your uncle Michael is dead." Ziva said but Taylor barely reacted at all. "He was stabbed to death late last night in the inner-city." That got a reaction from Taylor. She ran her hand down her face and mumbled, "Oh man" under her breath. "Do you know anything about why he was there?"
Taylor looked up. "Of course. He was dealing." she said smoothly. "He was all kinds of wrapped up in the drug game. Using, dealing, making. You name it and he was involved. And I mean heavily involved. When I was younger I used to think he was some kind of drug king- like a mob boss for drugs. I knew one day it would kill him."
"Can you tell us when he started using and dealing?" Gibbs asked, standing up. He was just a bundle of nerves for some reason and he couldn't sit still. He moseyed around, looking at Taylor's pictures and books on the shelf behind him.
"Oh before I was even born. I couldn't tell you exactly when but his bud Martin could. They've been like brothers forever. Closer to each other then he ever was with me or my mom." Taylor said. She opened the end table draw and shuffled around for a bit then produced a little piece of paper. "That's Martin's name and number. I think its still good- it's at least worth a shot."
Gibbs was looking through her books when he stumbled across the framed picture on the shelf. It was a woman and her daughter- both with beautiful wavy cinnamon hair and ivory skin. The mother had eyes the color of emeralds while her child's eyes were metallic blue. The resemblance was uncanny and the recognition on Gibbs's face was undeniable. He just stared at the photo, counting backwards in his head.
"That's my mother," Taylor said, bringing Gibbs back to the present. "She died when I was really young. But she certainly was beautiful." she said as she approached Gibbs. His eyes darted back and forth between Taylor and the portrait of her and her mother.
Eighteen…fifteen…twelve…nine…six…three…Gibbs counted in his head. All the way from eighteen down to one, he counted then counted again. 2007...2004...2001...1998...1995...1992...
"Are you okay?" Taylor asked, noting the odd color Gibbs's face was turning.
"Umm, yeah," he replied shakily, taking a step back. He was losing it! "I need some air." he said anxiously and rushed to exit. Once he was outside it was easier to breath. He took in big gulps of air through the mouth as he braced his hands against his knees. He was reeling.
He counted again in his head. 2007, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995, 1992...The numbers kept coming up the same no matter how many times Gibbs counted. It can't be! He just kept telling himself. It's not possible!
But it really was. 1992 was the year Gibbs met Joanna Cunnings. That was also the year he'd slept with her. That was also the year she had a daughter. A daughter who looked remarkably like him and…
Gibbs nearly fainted. It could be a coincidence! He told himself, leaning heavily against the wall. There are plenty of people out there who look like me. Any one of them could be Taylor Cunnings' father. Not me. Definitely not me. Probably not me. He leaned his head against the brick. "Oh Lord…" he whispered slowly.