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Have a lot of flashbacks and background about Sarah and decided to put some that are done (and I'm happy with) up so I won't be leaving you all for months at a time without a chapter. Hope you enjoy and as always I don't own NCISLA or their characters...I just own Sarah.

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Loose ends, they tangle down and then take flight
But never tie me down never tie me down

Off I go Where I fall is where I land
Off I go Where I fall is where I land

Loose ends tangle down and then take flight
But never tie us they never tie us down

Off I go Where I fall is where I land
Off I go Where I fall is where I land

"Off I Go" By Greg Laswell

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May 2011

Sarah stood at NCIS headquarters in Washington DC. The last couple of weeks had been a whirl wind of getting grades in, flying to Washington DC for her Godfather Mike Franks funeral and taking care of Gibbs. He would never admit it to her but he did need someone there.

"I'm going to miss you!" Abby hugged her.

"I'll miss you too Abbs. Take care of Gibbs" Sarah said.

"Always. Oh and make sure you take a picture of the new tattoo you got after it heals" Abby said.

"Tattoo?" Tony DiNozzo asked smiling.

"Yes."

Tony got up and walked over to her "Can I-"

"NO!" Both the women said to him and then laughed.

She hugged Tony "Be good"

"And if you can't be good" He said.

"Be careful" she replied and smiled. She hugged him again "Seriously be careful" She whispered in his ear. He told her that he had a case but couldn't give her the details.

"I will. I promise" He whispered back.

"Drive you to the airport?" He offered.

"No Gibbs is going to." She looked around for him.

"Sarah that was Gibbs he's up in Director Vance's office he needs to talk to you alone." McGee told her hanging up the phone.

"Okay. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." She said.

Sarah walked up the stairs, stopped and looked at them.

"Sar what's wrong?" DiNozzo asked not liking the look on her face.

"In the words of Han Solo...I have a bad feeling about this." and went upstairs.

She walked in and closed the door and saw Director Vance was on video conference.

"Gibbs what is wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Please sit down" Gibbs told her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"When was the last time you saw Hetty?" Vance asked her.

"Two days before Mike was killed. Why?" Sarah she asked.

"How did she seem?" Vance asked.

"Fine."

"What did you to talk about?" Gibbs asked serious.

"My parents, the summer that I spent with her after Dad died, my job, life...Why?" Sarah told them.

"What was the reasoning on why she couldn't come to Franks funeral?" Vance asked.

"She had something going on with a case and she couldn't get away. Why?" Sarah now getting frustrated.

"I'm going to tell you this because of your relationship with Hetty. I know you are very close to her. But this does not go past this room do you understand?" Vance stressed to her.

She looked at Gibbs and didn't like the vibe that she was feeling. "Gibbs?"

"Do you understand Sarah" Gibbs said knowing that she was not going to take this well.

"Yes." She said.

"Hetty went off grid two nights ago." Vance said.

"She did what? Where did she go?"

"I cannot tell you that" Vance said.

"But you can tell me that she went off grid!"

"The only reason why we are telling you that is because Gibbs thought it would be best just in case..."

"Just in case what? She gets herself killed?" Sarah asked.

Gibbs touched her hand. "Sarah"

"So what do you need?" Sarah asked pissed now.

"What makes you think I need something?" Vance asked her.

"Because not only am I Hetty's Goddaughter I'm also in charge of her estate and an agent on reserve status. I still have some connections one of them who I just saw last year for three months in Ireland."

"She did not go and see Thomas." Vance said already talking to him hours before.

"Shit!"

"You and I both know that he would try and talk her out of it." Vance said.

"There is also the part of you being in charge of her estate. I had someone go over to your house and found this." Gibbs got out a box.

"Okay." Sarah looked at the box addressed to her. No return address but she knew Hetty's handwriting right away.

"Open it." Gibbs said handing her his knife.

"You think I don't have that rule?" She said getting hers out of her back pocket. She opened the box to find pictures of her parents. Pictures of her and Hetty on their trips or just hanging out. The Celtic knot hair clip that she used and Hetty bought for her. There were keys and the deed to the cottage in Ireland. She saw a note that said 'I'm sorry' underneath the note was a large envelope that said 'In case of my death' she sat down and started crying.

"What is it Gibbs?" Vance asked.
She heard Gibbs swear under his breath. "An In Case of my Death' Packet with a note on top that says I'm sorry."

"So what do we do now?" Sarah asked Gibbs.

"You? Nothing." Vance said to her knowing that she was not going to accept that as an answer.

"Are you insane?" Sarah stood up and glared at him.

"You are no longer an agent Miss Burgess" Vance replied.

She took out her badge out of her purse and tossed it on his desk. "Activate me."

Gibbs looked at her shocked. For all the years that she said that she was never coming back she actually took her badge with her on this trip.

"Miss Burgess I don't have time for this." Vance was now getting frustrated.

She looked at Gibbs "Activate my status." She was serious.

"I can't and even if I could you really think I would do that? I'm having enough problems with her team having problem with her replacement" Vance said already regretting telling her.

"Her replacement?"

"Hetty's choice!"

"Activate me I can take DiNozzo." Sarah said to Gibbs

"Agent Dinozzo is busy with another case"

"Then I'll take McGee or Ziva" Sarah said to Vance.

"They are busy" Vance stressed again.

She looked at Gibbs "Then you'll go with me."

"We are not going to activate you to agent status. you are going to stay there with Gibbs."Vance said.

She laughed "You can't stop me."

Vance sighed in frustration "I have to deal with her lead agent who is even more stubborn than you!"

"I'll go with him."

"You don't know him" Gibbs said.

"If he's that stubborn and cares about Hetty like she cares for him I'll go with him."

"You are staying here and that is final." Vance hung up.

They sat there in silence. He could tell she was trying to figure out what to do. 'She may look like her mom but she's just as stubborn as her Dad!'

"I can call Thomas see if she contacted anyone else." Sarah finally said.

"Sarah" Gibbs he was exhausted.

"Jethro. We just lost Franks...I can't lose her!" Sarah she tried to hold back tears but knew that it wasn't going to work.

"I Know." He got up and poured some coffee.

"It's not fair."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "I know Red. Drink some coffee"

She got up took the coffee and started pacing back in forth "I should have known. We talked about things that I had not thought of in years."

"Really?" he said watching her.

"Yeah." She stopped started to feel her head spinning. "I remember the day she told me I was an Agent. She was bursting at the seams with pride." The room was still spinning while she was walking.

"I remember that. She called me." He said.

"She's a great teacher." She said looking at him. He could tell that she knew what was going on and what he did. She kept on pacing "The best." she said. She felt like she was walking in slow motion.

"Sarah?" Gibbs voice now sounding like it was under blankets.

'Must keep moving. Can't stop have to keep...moving' she thought as her legs felt like there were weights on them.

Gibbs stood up and watched her slowing down. "Sarah?" He said again.

"Gibbs?" She said trying to fight her eyes to stay open and dropped the coffee.

"Yeah?" Walking to her and grabbed her before she fell to the floor. She leaned up against him and then looked him straight in those blue eyes of his "I'll never forgive you for this." and passed out in his arms.

"I know Red...I know." Gibbs said knowing that would be the last thing she would hear.

He heard a knock on the door. "For the love of- What?" he said.

The door opened and Tony peeked his head in "Boss just wanted to let you know" He saw her in Gibbs arms "What happened?" DiNozzo came in.

"Close the door and help me."

"What's going on?" Tony asked.

"She's fine." He handed her to Tony. "Just hold her okay."

"She's passed out!"

"Long story" Gibbs said knowing now that he would have to tell him what was going on.

His phone rang and he got it "Yeah. Gibbs"

"How are things?" Vance asked.

"Just dandy Vance how about you?" He said looking at DiNozzo holding her.

"She still there?" Vance asked.

"Yeah. Had to use the coffee." Gibbs said walking away from Tony.

"She's going to be pissed when she wakes up" Vance said not envying him when she did wake up.

"Yeah I know."

"I would rather be there with her pissed than have to deal with Callen." Vance said.

Gibbs thought about it out of the two she would be easier. "True."

"I'll keep you updated Gibbs. Hopefully this will be resolved and we'll have no problems at all."

Gibbs laughed "We are talking about Callen."

"Yeah I know." Vance said just about to walk into the LA office. "Oh and Gibbs remember to dump the coffee out of the pot before you accidentally drink it."

"Done." Gibbs said and hung up.

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Thanks for reading! Please review. I'm working on Chapter 5 as fast as I can. ;)