Title: The Truth in the Lie
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own "NCIS" or its characters, CBS does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The case of a missing marine leads Gibbs down into the past and questions if the truth he knows is true. Takes place during Season Six.

Warnings: Spoilers for Season Five Episode "Judgment Day".

Chapter 5 – "Answers at Taunton School"

Author's Note: ok so I'm sort of hiatus-y right now with five weeks of the actual semester left, finals week, and then commencement...so eventually I'll keep writing...

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Somewhere in England

"Are you sure we're going the right way, McGee?" Gibbs asked, irritation lacing his voice. Not only were they driving on the wrong side of the road, but they'd been doing so for hours now. He swore that Abby hadn't said it would take so long.

"Yes," McGee told him and then tapped lightly to the small monitor at his side. "The GPS says we should be there in about twenty minutes."

Abby frowned in the backseat. Gibbs had seemed increasingly irritable this morning. "Maybe we should stop for coffee," she offered.

"They don't know how to make coffee here, Abs," Gibbs informed her. "Closest thing I can get is that blasted tea and it's not what I need."

Caffeine withdrawal, Abby decided was the reason for Gibbs' foul mood. Of course she knew Gibbs a bit better and had a feeling that he wasn't telling them something. Abby was sure that the fact that she believed that Director Shepard was alive was most likely a contributing factor to his mood. At the very least, she was relieved that he was allowing them to go all the way out of the way in order to visit the private school in order to see if they could find any information out on the little girl in the picture.

Abby removed the picture from the file they'd brought with them. Staring down at the girl, she took in the red hair. It was stunning against the uniform. At least she looked happy, she thought. This was important to her. She felt like it was important for the whole team, especially Gibbs. If Jenny was out there, then they'd all want to know...even Ducky and Palmer. She'd far prefer Director Shepard to Director Vance. The only reason for this "faked death" that she could think up was that someone was after the director. Maybe someone had threatened her daughter, though not one of them had even known that she had a child. Not even Gibbs.

Gibbs turned when he noticed Abby's increasing silence in the back seat. He noticed the picture in her hands. He wasn't sure what all the thoughts running through her head, but he knew that Abby always had the best intentions.

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Taunton School

Headmaster's Office

"I'm Doctor John Newton, the headmaster here at Taunton School," the man introduced. "I was told that you're officers from the United States Military. I'm confused as to how we could help you here."

"We're looking into a missing marine," Gibbs spoke up.

Doctor Newton frowned as he leaned back in his expensive leather chair with his hands neatly folded in his lap as he stared at the odd group in front of him. "As far as I know, we have no marines visiting children on campus currently."

"We believe that his disappearance is connected to a child here," Abby spoke up. "We have her picture and her first name."

"That's not a lot to go on," the headmaster told them.

McGee tilted his head a bit. "She'd stand out we believe." He nodded towards Abby. He waited until she showed the headmaster the picture. "How many of your students have are female with red hair."

"Her name is Sophia," Abby explained. "Her last name may be Shepard."

He decided to humor them and typed in the name into the database. "No Sophia Shepard," the headmaster announced. "We do have a privacy act."

"We understand," Gibbs said.

"If you had a constable with you, then perhaps I could assist you in your investigation, but I'm afraid I don't know anything of this little girl or a marine."

Abby pulled out Captain Macklyn's picture. She held it up, upset at his announcement. "But you haven't even looked at him. "His name is Captain Macklyn. He's been missing...and Sophia, she could be missing too if she's not here at your school." Abby was desperate. If they didn't find a lead here, then they'd be back to NCIS Headquarters. "She's only six," Abby told him as she held up Sophia's picture again. "I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to her."

The headmaster frowned. "You cannot even be sure that the child is from our school."

"The emblem is from your school," McGee spoke up. "That's how we located you."

"I know she's here," Abby told him. "It's just a matter of finding her name."

"I'd like to request you to leave this campus," the headmaster said suddenly.

"You haven't even looked. Someone must know her," Abby insisted. "Can't you just type in Sophia? It's S-o-p-h-i-a. I'm sure you can search by just the first name."

Getting to his feet, the headmaster buttoned his dark blue jacket up. "I'm afraid that I'm going to send you back across the pond with no information on your marine. I hope you find him well."

"She's six," Abby told him. She felt a hand on her shoulder, but she was still pissed off. Abby found herself being guided out of the headmaster's office. She'd failed in her mission. All Abby had wanted to do was to help Jenny and to help Gibbs. Right now, she wasn't helping anyone. They were going to have to return to NCIS Headquarters...it was going to be a long flight home filled with awkward silence.

"Sophia Macklyn was picked up earlier today," the headmaster spoke up as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Gibbs stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Macklyn? Captain Macklyn doesn't have a daughter."

"He was in a uniform," the headmaster confirmed. "He was here with a woman, I assumed the girl's mother. We check I.D.s before we release our children. She was returned to her legal guardians."

"Thank you," Abby said. It wasn't a lot, but it was something to go on.

"The woman," Gibbs fished.

"I didn't get a good look at her. I remember though, she had red hair, like Sophia, as well," the headmaster told them. "I hope you find them all well. We don't want anything to happen to our students."

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Outside of Taunton School

Abby didn't say anything. She wanted to, but she stayed quiet. She wanted to know what Gibbs thought about the whole situation. Did he think that Jenny could be alive now? Sure, it wasn't like they'd shown them security tape of Sophia being picked up, but just looking at the picture could bring up the possibility of Sophia's mother being Jenny Shepard. Jenny was alive, she knew it. They were on the right path. They'd just been a little late in getting there.

"So, Captain Macklyn is working for Jenny...she has a daughter that no one knew about...and she's running from us now, why exactly?" Gibbs asked. "Did I get it close enough to the hair brain plan you've come up with?"

"Yeah," McGee said quietly and turned away. He wasn't sure if Gibbs was pissed or just...Gibbs. For all they knew, he could blow at any moment.

Abby frowned. "Maybe someone else is coming after them. They're not running from us, they're running from someone else."

"Who?" Gibbs questioned.

McGee frowned. "That's one that we don't know."

"Do you think it's Jenny or not?" Abby asked.

"I'm not sure what to think," Gibbs admitted.

"Well, I'm going to believe that it's her and that she and Captain Macklyn and Sophia need our help. They just don't know it yet. They may not even know that we're here," Abby told him.

McGee looked to Abby. "Or your phone call may have scared them into picking up Sophia and running off."

"But --" Abby started and then left her mouth open for a moment. "I didn't mean to –" She tried to form coherent sentences, but it wasn't really working well. "Well, we have to find them," she finally spoke up.

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TBC....