Chapter 4- The ebbing

Damage control. At least Kate had the brains not to blab what Sophie had told her to DiNozzo. But still she had to face Kate and her judgment. This was the reason that he never revealed anything remotely personal to the people he worked with. There are things that are better to keep quiet. This was one of them. He had kept it private for 15 years, why did things have to change. Kate had been acting oddly around him all day, as if showing her disappointment in him. He couldn't understand what he had done; she had made the decision to live with her mother.

He pulled into his driveway, shut off the ignition and got out of the car. He walked towards the front door locked the car over his shoulder and walked up his front steps. He reached out to turn the door handle but he hesitated. She hated him now, what could him going away to work, which was the central problem anyway do to help the situation? Nothing he could say, would change her mind in the current state she was in. he decided that it would be best to let her blow off some steam. By herself.

He opened the door quietly, dumping his keys on the table on the right side of the door. All the lights in the house were off. That seemed odd to him, the television was off as well. His concern was growing, where the hell is she? He thought to himself,

"Bedroom." He finally concluded, maybe she was tried. He made his way to her room, no sign of her. His anxiety was growing out of control. He ran from the room checking every room in the house; Lounge…no…kitchen…no…his bedroom…no…bathroom…no…finally he checked the basement…no sign of her.

She was gone, she was gone, he ran to grab his keys from the table beside the door, underneath where he had dropped his keys he found a long white envelope, marked with the name Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

He grabbed the letter and plonked himself down on the nearby couch. He opened the envelope quickly with the leatherman he drew from his belt, discarding the envelope on the seat beside him. He found a folded piece of paper, the letter was written in scrawled handwriting, like the author was in a hurry to finish.

Dear Jethro,

I came here to resolve past issues with you. Those attempts failed, miserably. I regret ever bothering to make the effort. It was obviously a mistake. Don't worry, you don't have to put yourself out any longer. You can go on with you perfect life unaffected by this whole incident. Once again you can think about yourself and don't worry about the little guy. She believed that you at least had some degree of human decency in you, obviously she was wrong. By she I mean the old me, the old me that believed you had made a mistake, you had made a decision, but now you regretted your choice on that decision and maybe you were willing to make attempt to heal those old wounds. Those wounds received no healing, all they received was a brutal attack, suffered at the hands of you.

Goodbye, you will never have to see me again and I will never have to see you pathetic face ever again, that fact alone has given me so much satisfaction. Normally daughters would say, don't worry daddy it wasn't your fault it was all my fault, I'm sorry to hurt you... I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that this is not the case here. I do not consider myself your daughter, I would never call you daddy and this was all your fault, you narcissistic bastard. That and I would die for the pleasure to hurt you, I want to break your heart, into thousands of tiny little pieces, make you suffer the way that my mother and I suffered. Although that wouldn't be hard, all I would need would be a hammer to shatter you heart of ice.

Farewell, you arsehole, I hope that you rot in hell.

Sophie

Gibbs read the last sentence. The letter dropped from his hands instantly like it was a poisonous snake and he watched it fall to the floor.

He ran to grab his keys and pull his cell from his back pocket. Shoving the letter into his back pocket. He pressed the number three on his speed dial. And he dialed the one person who would understand his situation. The one person who knew that he had a daughter. The one person who could help him find Sophie. Kate.

He explained the situation the young agent, finding it difficult to relay the information. She had run away over some silly argument, he thought that she was just blowing off some capped steam. He didn't think that she really meant it. Obviously he was wrong. He analysed the letter over and over again, on his way to meet Kate halfway. Every traffic light he read the page, trying to find some link to where she was heading.

He met Kate in a car park midway between the two's houses. She gripped him in a tight hug, a hug which Gibbs did not reciprocate. She was only trying to comfort him. But his relationship with Kate was one of the main reasons for Sophie's anger. Encouraging that relationship seemed like the worst thing he could do at that moment. Even if it was a comfort hug. He showed her the letter, she read it, then she read it again.

"She makes reference to leaving…she says that you will never see her again…"she paused.

"She's going home."

"Where's home?"

"Australia, she's going back to her mother"

"She's going to the airport" that was an obvious point but Kate said it anyway. Although Gibbs obviously had made that deduction, he had already moved to his car and began to get in. He slammed the door shut and pulled away leaving screech marks as he went.

"Alright I'll follow you then" Kate said sarcastically

Kate trailed after the speeding Gibbs, he was driving erratically like a bat out of hell. He drove like that all the way to the short term parking bay at the airport. It was remarkable that he hadn't been picked up driving like that, or Kate in fact for speeding after him.

He slammed the door shut and began running towards the terminal. It was at the security bay that Kate finally caught up to him once again.

"We'll find her Gibbs don't worry."

"What if we don't Kate, what if she gets on that plane and flies away?"

"Then you being you will get one the next one and chase after her. We'll find her Gibbs, don't worry."

"Dammit Kate, I am worried, can't you see that! Don't try and placate me with your sensitive bullshit. How would you react if she was your daughter?"

Kate was obviously shocked by his outburst, but she could understand where he was coming from. She had no idea. So she decided that it would be best if she kept quiet.

They finally made it through security and into the departure lounge. Gibbs read a flight schedule on the far wall of the terminal and found that there was a QANTAS flight departing in 45 minutes, that had to be her flight. If she was here.