Gibbs came into the Forensic lab, Abby's music blared loudly as he came towards her.
"What brings my favourite Special Agent to my lab today? I have nothing for you." Abby smiled as Gibbs held up the envelope.
"I need your help." Gibbs started. "It's not about any of the cases we're working on though, it's more of private matter."
"Anything for you Gibbs." Abby took the envelope.
"Could you run a DNA test on the two samples in this envelope?"
"Absolutely. I'll have the results by the end of the day." Abby smiled and dumped the items onto her table. "Is there anything else that I can do for you."
"Just give me the results when you get them."
"No problemo." Abby nodded, before leaving Gibbs gave Abby a light kiss on the forehead and then turned on his heal and went back upstairs. Cecilia sounded so sure that her daughter was his, only the DNA test could assure that, as he stood in the elevator he pulled the picture of the girl out of his pocket and traced it lightly with his thumb.
"Special Agent Gibbs in my office!" Director Vance barked from his catwalk outside of MTAC. Gibbs pulled himself out of his thoughts enough to give the man a nod before leaving his desk to head up the stairs.
"Well it's official then.." Timothy McGee commented as their boss left the office area.
"What's official?" Tony DiNozzo asked from his desk. Tony stretched his body out on in his chair and rested his hands behind his head.
"The Director has noticed Gibb's strange behaviour. He's been more distant and quiet this week. He looked almost white when Abby gave him her report yesterday too." Tim shared his observations with his partners.
"Gibbs is always quiet." Ziva David commented. "He does not need to speak constantly, unlike some other people I know." Ziva shared as she looked over at Tony.
"I do not talk constantly!" Tony defended himself. "Although Gibbs hasn't snuck up on me this week, it's not like him."
"You two worry too much about Gibbs, he is fine." Ziva snorted and returned back to her work, although she'd never admit it out loud she too had noticed that their boss was somewhat distracted lately.
"So are you going to tell me what's going on?" Vance asked as the two men stood in the Directors office.
"Not much to share sir, we're having no serious problems with the case. My team are continuing with the investigation and are currently pursing the most promising leads."
"I'm not talking about the current case Gibbs." Vance continued and sat down slowly. Gibbs stood looking out the window. "You've been running background checks on people that are not involved in any cases we're doing. You had Ms Scutio run some tests for you. What is it about?"
Gibbs paused for a moment before pulling out the picture of Hannah and handed it to his friend.
"Who is she?" Vance asked. "She's a little young even for you to be thinking of dating, don't you think?"
"Her name is Hannah, and she apparently is my daughter." Gibbs sighed and sat down across from Vance. Gibbs shared with him the one night stand, the letter and then the meeting a few days earlier with Cecilia.
"Are you positive that she's your daughter?" Vance asked.
"Abby came back with the DNA tests, our DNA match to a 99.9%" Gibbs shared and Vance looked a little more interested.
"Have you spoken with her yet?"
"No."
"You've done a background check on this girl?"
"Her name is Hannah Grace Jenkins and she is twenty five years old. She is married too Lieutenant Keith Douglas of the Marines. Currently they live on Quanitco. Hannah has a degree in special education, but is currently not working as she is staying home to raise their daughter who will be 18 months of Friday, Cecilia never married and raised Hannah on her own. Other than the few speeding tickets she got while she was a teenager it Hannah appears to have lived a good life till now."
"You find out not only that you have a daughter, you also have a grandchild?" Vance asked incredulously.
"A lot to take in a week."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." Gibbs returned honestly.
"I'd figure it out soon Gibbs. You aren't on you're A game right now and until you decide what to do you won't be." Vance ordered.
"Yes sir." Gibbs nodded understanding what the Director was saying and left the office. Looking over the office space Gibbs noticed that his team were all standing up and grabbing their gear.
"Boss we've got a lead." Tony told him as the team headed out the door.
"Let's go." Gibbs encouraged and followed his team out the office.
"She's near the end now." The Hospice nurse shared as Hannah came into the room. "The doctor has increased her morphine, but she's asking not to have it yet as she wants to see you."
"Thanks Karen, your help is greatly appreciated." Hannah nodded and walked into the hospital room. She put her small daughter into the play yard that she had brought up a few weeks prior for her to play in while Hannah sat with her mother. The child always made her mother smile and Hannah new it was important for her to still see her for as long as she could. The child went towards her toys without a whimper. "Hannah, you might want to tell your mom's friend too."
"Friend?" Hannah asked confused. "Mom's been living with Keith and I for the past six months. She doesn't have any friends locally."
"She's had a man coming to see her pretty consistently for the past two weeks. He comes late in the evening after you leave." Karen shared. Hannah shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe he's from her book club."
"I'll leave you with your mom, ring if you need anything." Karen then walked down the hallway towards the nursing station. Hannah bent over the play yard and kissed her daughter's head. "I'm just going to sit with Gramma."
"Okay." The child agreed and bent over to the toys.
"Momma?" Hannah asked as she moved closer to her mother's bed and took her spot in the chair.
"Oh Hannah, I've been waiting for you."
"Karen told me that the doctor wants to increase your pain meds and you didn't want to. Can you tell me why?" Hannah asked.
"I need to tell you some things before it's too late, and the medicine just makes me tired and want to sleep."
"It helps with the pain Momma, you shouldn't be in any pain now." Hannah sighed and took hold of her mother's hand.
"I've kept secrets from you." Cecilia started to share and Hannah took a breath. "Don't interrupt me, I only have enough energy to share with you once, not argue with you about things." Hannah stopped her thought and nodded. "I raised you with the understanding that your Father was a Marine who fought overseas during the Gulf War."
"He was a brave man who lost his life during the conflict." Hannah filled in the story that she had heard her entire life.
"He never died Hannah. He is very much alive." Cecilia shared. "We were young and didn't think one night would create your life. He left soon after that night and I never told him about you."
"My father is alive?" Hannah asked, she sat back and thought about what her mother had said.
"He actually works here in DC. I connected with him a few months ago and told him about you. I thought perhaps I'd scared him away with the approach I took." Cecilia looked at her daughter and then took a deep breath. "Oh Hannah, I handled this so poorly. He is interested in seeing you, meeting you."
"Karen mentioned that someone has been coming to see you. Is this man my father?" Hannah asked.
"Yes.." Cecilia coughed again and Hannah tried to give her some water. Cecilia coughed and turned the water away. "Hannah, you are my life. I never wanted to hurt you."
"Momma, please don't think that. I love you so much. You've given me everything that I need. You've been my rock. Your reasons for not telling me doesn't matter anymore." Hannah tried to hide the tears that threatened to fall.
"How could I have ever doubted my girl. I'm just so sorry that I wasn't strong enough to tell you sooner."
"Don't be sorry. I'm not. " Hannah took hold of her mother's hand and sighed as her mother closed her eyes and soon drifted into sleep the confession now complete made Cecilia feel so much lighter. Hannah rang the call bell a few minutes later and the nurse understanding the call came in with the prescribed medication.
"Once this medication gets started in her system she might slip into a coma." Karen shared.
"I know." Hannah nodded. "She's ready." Hannah stayed with her mother for the rest of the night, her husband showed up late that night and the two held vigil.
Gibbs arrived towards the early hours of the morning and watched from a respectful distance as the young couple witnessed the last breath of their parent. More than ever Gibbs new that he needed to make contact, but for the first time in almost his entire life he was unsure how to go about it.