Dead…?



Gibbs still couldn't believe it. Shannon and Kelly, his family, gone…



*Flashback*



He had woken up in the gulf after having been in a coma and the first thing he'd asked was to see his wife and daughter. The nurses had exchanged awkward glances before the senior of the two stepped forward and sat down on the visitors chair beside Gibbs' hospital bed.



An important looking man entering the room and flashing a badge spared her the task of breaking the bad news.



"NCIS Special Agent Mike Franks," the stranger said. "I need to talk to Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs alone."



*End Flashback*


It was this NCIS Special Agent who had informed Gibbs of Shannon and Kelly's deaths and told him that he would be escorting Gibbs back to America to identify their bodies.

Gibbs had just left the hospital morgue with Shannon and Kelly's personal effects and was wandering the streets aimlessly.

Shannon was a wreck…the flames had burnt her beyond recognition and they had had to identify her by a gold bracelet given to her by Gibbs the day Kelly was born.

Kelly was a wreck too…but in a completely different way. The flames had thankfully not touched her but the life was gone from her. She had always had an energy of fun but that was gone and replaced by the waxy look of a manikin. She didn't even look human anymore, but it was definitely her.

It was dark, but not very late, and there were lots of children about. A few girls about Kelly's age. Gibbs sat down on a bench and buried his face in his hands, was this how the rest of his life was going to be? Every sight of a young girl similar to Kelly would bring him back into this darkness, no matter how much he tried to move on.

A small hand touched his knee and Gibbs looked up.

"Why are you sad?" the child asked.

"Kelly…?" Gibbs whispered.

The girl looked confused and then was whisked away by her scolding mother.

"Lorraine!! What have I told you about talking to strangers! Especially men like that!" The girl's mother threw a disgusted glance back at Gibbs.

Gibbs was offended for a few seconds before he realized why Lorraine 's mother was so concerned. He considered his appearance; he was wearing the same clothes he had been for the past three days and he hadn't showered or shaved since he had come home from the gulf. Kelly used to like his stubble. She had laughed when it tickled her face as her father gave her a goodnight kiss.

"Kelly…" he whispered again.

"Daddy!!" a girl screamed.

Gibbs looked up and saw a frightened girl running straight for him, followed by an oddly suspicious looking man.

The girl was not just similar to Kelly, she was an exact replica!

Gibbs stood up to greet his daughter with open arms. She was just inches away when the man caught up with her and snatched her up in his own arms.

"Daddy!!" she screamed again, looking desperately at Gibbs who was just standing in shock.

"That man is not your father!!" the strange man shouted.

"Yes he is," she insisted. "I'm Kelly Gibbs, and that man is my daddy: Jethro Gibbs!!"

"No, he isn't," the man shouted, putting Kelly on the ground and clutching her shoulders; she winced in pain. "You are Darcy Thomson and I am your dad."

"No you are not!!" Kelly yelled, trying to push past him.

The man picked her up again and began to walk away.

"Daddy!!" Kelly pleaded one last desperate time.

Gibbs snapped out of his trance and ran after Kelly. Her kidnapper had started to run too, with Kelly weeping and screaming, half over his shoulder. They crossed a road.

The last Gibbs heard from Kelly was another desperate plea for her daddy as a truck sped passed in between them. When the truck passed Gibbs crossed the road in search of Kelly, but all he saw before him was a dark alley with a dead end.

Gibbs ran to the nearest police station. It was just two streets away so he was there in a matter of minutes.


He crashed through the doors, receiving annoyed glares from a vast assortment of people, including police officers, junkies and several other suspicious looking characters.


"My daughter-has been- kidnapped," he panted when he reached the desk.


"How can I help you sir?" asked the impersonally cheery receptionist.


"My daughter has been kidnapped!!" Gibbs shouted, getting his breath back.


"And what is your name sir?" she asked calmly in the same falsely cheery tone.


"Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs." Gibbs stated impatiently.


The receptionist entered a few pieces of information into her computer.


"Um...sir..." she said after a few more clicks of her mouse. "Your daughter is dead...in fact, it says that you identified her body just a couple of hours ago."


"I know that!!" Gibbs said angrily. "But that's not what I'm talking about! She has been kidnapped."


"Um..." the receptionist was confused, "Maybe there's another Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs?"


"No. I did identify her body, except it wasn't her!! She's been kidnapped, she's not actually dead!"


"Um...do you have another daughter?" The receptionist wasn't following a word that Gibbs was saying.


"No!!" Gibbs shouted. "She is my only daughter, she was dead but she wasn't really dead and it wasn't really her body that I identified because she has been kidnapped!!"


"But- but- sir..." The receptionist pleaded.


She didn't know what to do and she was steadily becoming more and more frightened of the angry, desperate man in front of her.


"Is there a problem here?" A police officer came to the desk, noticing the receptionist's distress.


"Um...this man identified the dead body of his daughter earlier this evening but he is insisting that she has been kidnapped." the receptionist replied, grateful of the police officer's help.


"You mean to say that you suspect that her corpse has been snatched sir?" the officer looked at Gibbs.


"How many times do I have to say this?! She is not dead! Kelly has been kidnapped!!"


The receptionist and the police officer exchanged looks that only too obviously said that they thought Gibbs was clearly in denial over losing his daughter.


"Sir, why don't you come with me? We can put you in an interrogation room to relax," the police officer offered.


"Thank you Officer Thomson." The receptionist said.


"No problem Darcy."

Thomson!? Darcy!? Why were those names familiar? Gibbs' mind was racing in confusion.


Thomson? Darcy Thomson!! The name Kelly's kidnapper had insisted was her own!!
That was it...but there was something else...


Gibbs was sure there had to be another reason that the name Darcy Thomson was so familiar to Gibbs.


Then he realized...and he knew exactly where he needed to go if he was going to get any help in finding Kelly.


Gibbs turned away from the police officer and the receptionist and headed towards the door muttering "Darcy Thomson!!