A/N:Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I really appreciate it. I wasn't expecting so many reviews. You made my day! This chapter has been rewritten and rewritten and this came out. Also, the next update will take a while because I'm not quite sure what to do yet. So it'll take some time. Also, for the one who asked if there was a character death. Don't worry, there won't be one. I usually can't write a fic where one of the main characters dies. Please R&R. Also, if you maybe think things are out of character or you have a tip, I'd love to hear it.

Chapter two

Gibbs turned to McGee, giving him a stern look. "And, who is it that you are replacing?"

"Agent Todd." The younger agent answered. He was sure Gibbs knew about Kate.

"Since when?" Kate wouldn't be replaced, that would be his decision, not somebody else.

"Yesterday, I got a call that I was needed here."

Gibbs immediately stormed to director Morrow's office. "Why wasn't I informed about Agent Todd's replacement?" He asked the director.

"You were. I left you a memo yesterday on your desk. When I didn't hear anything from you, I thought you agreed." Morrow explained calmly. From the few times he had seen Agent Gibbs and Todd together, he was pretty sure there was some sort of connection there. Agent Gibbs' reaction frankly didn't surprise him.

"You should have informed me personally, asked for my opinion and asked for my permission."

"It still is my decision to make, Agent Gibbs. I don't need your permission. I only send you the memo to give you a chance to react."

"Did she say why?" He had a hard time accepting his boss' decision.

"Personal reasons, Agent Gibbs, that's all I can say."

"How long?" Surely that would be a question that would be answered.

"A month."

Without a word he walked out of the Director's office back to his desk. He called her cell phone, hoping she would at least answer it. There was no answer and he slammed his phone shut. He was surprised Kate had gone behind his back. On the other hand, she was a smart agent. She knew he'd never given her the leave of absence.

Tony, who didn't know what was going on, looked from Gibbs to McGee. Something was seriously wrong judging by the look on his boss' face. He'd seen him angry before but this was something else, something new.

"I want to know where Kate is and I wanna know now!" Gibbs demanded.

"She'll be here. She still got 10 minutes." Tony suggested.

"She won't be here. She asked Morrow for a month's leave."

"What?" Tony looked at Gibbs. Was he serious? By the look on his face, he was. "Why?"

"You're guess is as good as mine. Now find out where she is. Try to find a signal from her cell phone. Look at her personal information, a pone number, anything. I wanna know where she is or where she might be." That being said he left the agents alone and went to Abby to see if she had any information.

KATE arrived at her brother's house at the end of the morning. During her flight she'd only slept a little. The nightmare of the explosion still haunted her. She was hoping the time away would do her good. She needed to seriously rethink her abilities. She was supposed to be a trained profiler. Yet she couldn't see when someone was lying. Gibbs trusted her, trusted her profiling abilities, but she had failed him. She'd put her team in danger. She was surprised Gibbs hadn't yelled at her after the explosion. She surely deserved it. Since the explosion there was a look of disappointment in his eyes when he looked at her. Maybe he was rethinking his decision from a couple of months ago. Maybe he thought that hiring her had been a mistake. It probably had been. Gibbs would have never trusted Susan McNeill.

She'd called her brother and told him when she would arrive. She was looking forward to seeing him. He was five years older than her. The typical big brother, always trying to protect her, keeping an eye on her. Sometimes it would drive her nuts, other times she was glad she had him around. No matter what, she knew she could always turn to him. He would help her out. Excited about seeing her brother again, she rang the doorbell.

A tall man, with black hair and dark brown eyes opened the door. "Kate!" He took his little sister in his arms.

"Billy." She said before she got pulled into the hug. She breathed him in. It felt good to be near him again.

"Come on in." He released her and stepped aside to let her step inside. "Emily and the kids are looking forward to see you again.

As she walked into the living room Billy's kids ran up to her. Jason, the six year old boy, was first. He quickly hugged her also giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Aunt Katie."

Then Billy's four year old daughter, Maggy, put her arms around Kate's neck and hugged her. "Hi." She greeted her Aunt.

Kate smiled, Maggy was a shy little girl but they had a special bond. The girl seemed to really like her and so did she. "Everything all right with you, Maggy?" She put the girl back on the ground and stood up. She ran her hand through the girl's brown hair.

Maggy nodded before going back to the table, drawing pictures. Emily, Billy's wife walked in from the kitchen and greeted her sister-in-law. The two women were good friends. "It's been too long, Kate."

"I know." Her job didn't give her much time to see her family. But she cherished the moment she did see them.

"So, how's the cabin?" Billy asked as they all sat down in the living room.

Kate was staying in their parents' cabin in Linden. Back when they were younger the family had spent many vacations there. "Still looking good."

The rest of the day was spend catching up with each other's life and Kate spending time with her nephew and niece. Maggy hadn't left her side since her arrival. After dinner, Emily and Kate sat down on the porch. Emily had observed Kate the entire day and was sure there was something wrong.

"What's wrong, Kate?" Emily took a sip from her coffee.

"I.... I screwed up at work." She looked away to gather her thoughts. "I made a mistake I shouldn't have."

"What are you running away from?" Emily knew her sister-in-law well. Kate wasn't somebody to just walk away from a problem or own up to her mistake.

"I think that maybe I should quite." She hadn't said the words out loud before, but it was the truth. She was seriously considering quitting her job.

"What?" Emily exclaimed. "You love your job. You're good at your job!"

"I'm not sure that's true anymore. People got killed and injured because of me."

"Tell me everything, Kate."

And she did. She told Emily about the case, about Susan McNeill and the trust she'd given that woman. She talked about her own failures and doubts. For the first time she allowed someone to comfort her as she told her story.

Kate left her brother's place feeling a bit better. Talking with Emily had helped her. She agreed to come by tomorrow and spend some time alone with the kids.

Meanwhile at NCIS Gibbs still didn't know where Kate could be. "Anything yet?" He asked Tony and McGee.

"Yeah, I got something. I've got the address of her brother in Virginia." McGee handed Gibbs a paper with the information.

"I got the address of a cabin that's in the name of Kate's parents. Maybe she's staying there." They already knew that Kate wasn't with her parents because they were on vacation.

"Okay, you two are on your own. I'm gonna find Kate." He knew he should first call Kate's brother, but his gut told him she would be there. Looking at the address of the cabin he saw it wasn't far away from the brother's house. He would find her. He booked a flight to Virginia waiting impatiently before he could go start looking for Kate.

TBC.....