Her smile faded when she saw the look in his eyes. His icy cerulean eyes turned into dark blue and underneath it were the sorrow, pain and agony. Her mother taught her to be observant at a very young age. She had no doubts at her observation. "Agent Gibbs…" her voice was gentle. He looked up at her. The way she said his name was the same way Jenny used to call him and show her concern during her probie days. The gentleness of her voice was somehow similar to her mother's.

His mind quickly thought to get her to the conference room after he saw Tony listening to their conversation. "Come with me," he said and the girl followed him in the elevator and then he flipped the switch. He turned to look at her again at how much she looked like Jen.

"Agent Gibbs…" He saw that the shadow of her smile hadn't left yet. "I haven't heard from mom for four years. I was studying in Paris for a while and I can't go back home until now. And I only got your name and the Navy Yard's address."

"She left you alone in Paris?" At the back of his head, he knew Jenny could do that… but to a child, her own daughter? Jenny will not do such a thing or at least that's what he thought.

"I have a guardian there but she said it would be better if nobody knew that she has a child. Someone might harm me or use me as their leverage if they knew that I'm the daughter of the Director of an armed federal agency." She clearly pointed out that her mother did nothing but to protect her even if it meant to send her to another continent.

"What about your father?" He hastily regretted that he asked that. He didn't want to know who replaced him in Jenny's life.

"She didn't have the chance to tell me before. She just told me he was her partner." His cardiac muscles contracted. He felt that his lungs forgot to provide him oxygen.

"How old are you?" He wasn't sure if she heard his voice cracked.

"I'm going thirteen this year. I was born in November 15, 1999." The next thing he knew was that he encircled his arms around her when she told him the year.

She didn't know how to react but the feeling in her stomach screams at her to accept the hug that this stranger was giving her. "She told me that you knew my father but based on your actions, I'll take it that you're my…" she hesitated. All her life she wanted to meet her father. And here he was, embracing her and taking all the time that the world stole. She took a deep breathe. "Dad?" Her voice was shaking. Her eyes were nearly full of tears but she wasn't the kind that will just outburst. But, she let a tear get away.

He hugged her tighter. He never thought that he will have a chance to be a father again. And this time, he didn't want to lose another child again. "Yeah, I'm your Dad" he replied. He kissed her on the front lobe of her left side brain.

He was kneeling when he hugged her. When he released his daughter, he was still holding her on her arms. She was staring at him and then she smiled like her mother's smile. "I'm Jamaika."

He chuckled.

She was thinking why he chuckle. "You don't like my name?" There was a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"No, I like your name" he shook his head. "That's the last word that I said to your mom –" then she cut him off.

"– when she left. I remember, she told me" she recalled the night that she asked about her name.

He flashed back to the moment when she left him in the plane.

They were sitting in the plane when the pilot said that they could go down for an hour because the tracks were being used for the next two hours.

Jenny turned to look at him. She looked very pale and a bit shaky. He was about to ask her if she was alright but she spoke first, "I'm going to go down and stretch my legs for a while."

"I'll go with you." He replied casually and was about to get up.

She was already standing. "No, I'll be fine. I'll just leave my coat here." She left it hanging on the armrest near the aisle and grabbed her purse. "Is there anything –"

"Coffee. Jamaican –"

"blend, got it." She smiled and gave him a soft quick kiss on the lips. She disappeared through the river of passengers who was eager to get down too.

His gut was telling him that something is going on but he doesn't know what it is. He thought maybe it was Jenny. Maybe she's in trouble or harm or worse. She's been gone for forty minutes. The pilot was telling them to go back to their seats. His head was poking out of the chairs, finding her.

Finally, he followed his gut. He stood up and walked to the exit. A tall blonde flight attendant stopped him. "Monsieur, please go back to your seat now. The plane is about to take off." She said it in English with her thick French accent.

"No, there's another passenger –" she cut him off.

"All of our passengers are here, monsieur." She gave him a hint but it seemed that he didn't believe her. She hated to tell this but she needed to. The redhead woman asked her help to send her message. "This is not her flight, monsieur."The other flight attendant helped her stop him. She quickly added, "She's gone. I'm sorry" she had the unfortunate luxury to see the pain in his eyes but he quickly turned away and slumped into his seat with his head in his hands. Then, he saw her coat and the letter in the pocket. He spent the long hours in the plane reading the Dear John letter all over again, hoping that it contains a clue as to where she is.

He tried to focus on his daughter in front of him instead of reminiscing the past. His mind was like a whirlpool of questions but that certain question is the most suitable to ask first. "Who's with you?"

She shook her head. "No one." She stared at him without showing any kind of emotion. "My guardian doesn't know that I'm here."

He wasn't surprised about that. Jenny could escape her security details so Jam might pick it up too but he shouldn't tolerate this, "I need to call your guardian. I'm sure she's finding you now." He saw the girl stiffened.

She shook her head. "No, she might send me back there."

"Why would she do that?"

"To keep me safe. I don't want to be safe anymore. I want to see my mommy." He felt like his lungs abandoned him. She didn't know that her mother had been dead for four years. How is he going to tell her after he just found out that she is his daughter? He held onto her tightly and stared deeply into her cerulean blue eyes. He decided to keep it simple and blunt. "She's gone, Jam. She died four years ago."

The girl tilted her head and looked at him as if he had a grown another head. "No, she's not." She shook her head in denial. She was backing away from him.

"I know it's hard to accept it but-" she cut her off again.

"No! She's not dead!" She pushed him away and yelled at him again. She went to America to see her mother and now she found out that her mother's dead for four years and nobody seemed to care to tell her. Even her guardian. She isolated herself from her father and slowly slid down in the corner of the metal cubicle. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around it. She bowed down her head and whispered to herself that her mother can't be dead. Her mother is somewhere out there fighting bad guys and kicking their ass.

Gibbs gripped the railing tightly and his knuckles are turning white. He wiped off his face with his other hand. It kills him to watch his daughter mourn for her mother. It felt like his flesh was ripping apart when he heard her soft sobs. After giving her a moment to be alone, he slowly come to her and sat beside her. He gathered her in his arms and she let him. He rubbed her back.

Words were not needed to be said. Words cannot bring her back again. Words cannot soothe the pain. Words were not enough to express the pain.

They just let silence comfort each other.


I'm going to continue this story! Thanks to Shy Chey 97 for making me remember about this story! :D

-ToI