Hey folks, here's the next story in my series. Hope you enjoy it.
Jenny and Gibbs sat in the waiting area of the hospital and waited for their names to be called. Jenny tentively clutched her bottle of water, occasionally taking a sip. Gibbs held her other hand, but sat in silent contemplation.
He had missed Shannon's ultrasound since he had been in the marine core at the time. Although he had loved his late wife and daughter, and had been exceptionally close to both, he had always felt that he'd missed out on so much whilst they were alive. With hindsight he realised that having a child and being a marine wasn't the appropriate setting for a child; it was for this reason that he was glad to be doing things differently this time round.
The ultrasound nurse arrived to take them through to carry out their twelve week scan. They were about to see their baby for the first time, and they could barely contain their excitement or their nerves.
'OK Jenny if you wouldn't mind lifting your top and undoing the button of your jeans please.' The nurse said as Jenny lifted herself onto the examination table.
She glanced over at Gibbs as she nervously conformed with the nurses instructions.
'This is going to be cold.' The nurse said as she squeezed some of the cool gel onto Jenny's exposed stomach.
Jenny winced as the cold gel hit her, but she smiled slightly once the shock wore off. She felt the ultrasound paddle dig into her stomach, and she gritted her teeth slightly with discomfort as she felt it press against her full bladder.
Silence descended around the room as Jenny and Gibbs held their breaths in bated anticipation. They were very nervous, but after a few moments they heard the rapid, scooshing, thudding sound of the baby's heart. They both breathed a sigh of relief, and Jenny smiled wildly, just as there was a knock at the door.
The second nurse that was in the room, who Jenny hadn't previously noticed, went to the door and opened it slightly.
'Yes can I help you?' They heard the blonde haired woman say.
'I'm looking for Director Jenny Shepard and Special Agent Gibbs.' Both Jenny and Gibbs heard the voice say from the other side of the door, and they both smiled.
'It's OK you can let her in, it's my daughter Penny.' Jenny said to the nurse on seeing that she was about to turn her daughter away.
The nurse stepped aside and allowed the young red head in.
'Hey guys.' She said as she entered the room quietly. 'Oh wow! Is that my little brother or sister?' She asked when she heard the rhythmic thumping.
'It sure is.' Jenny replied as Penny joined her at her side.
'You'll be able to see it in a few moments as well.' The ultrasound nurse said as she resumed her examination.
After a few manoeuvres of the ultrasound paddle, the fuzzy image on the screen became a little bit clearer, and all three could see the outline of the unborn baby. Jenny was taken aback by the sight, and couldn't believe that the image before her was her baby, happily growing inside her. She glanced at Gibbs who smiled broadly back at her, and for a few moments both were speechless.
'This is your baby.' The nurse said as she looked at the couple.
'Aw herrow flump.' Penny said which resulted in a laugh from both Jenny and Gibbs, but in a confused look from the nurse.
'Don't ask.' Jenny said to her, to save Penny launching into any kind of explanation.
Once the examination was over the nurse handed Jenny some tissue whilst she wrote some notes in her file, and she ended up deep in conversation with Gibbs and Penny.
'So what was it you needed us for?' Gibbs asked quietly and with concern.
'We've had a call come through about a car accident near Rock Creek Park; one dead marine, one passenger and a third missing person who is currently unidentified. Tony, Ziva and McGee are already there, and Ducky and Palmer were on their way when I left the navy yard.' She explained in hushed tones.
'Was that really the only reason you came all this way?' Jenny asked with a raised eyebrow.
'No of course not, I wanted to see the scan and stuff and make sure everything was OK.' Penny replied with a smile.
The nurse handed Jenny their next appointment card and their copy of the scan, and all the way back to the navy yard she couldn't stop staring at it. Once they arrived Jenny left her daughter and husband in the yard as she headed into NCIS HQ. She was hoping for a quiet day, but the presence of the SecNav as soon as she walked into her office told her otherwise.
Elsewhere Gibbs and Penny arrived at the crime scene, and saw a grey car precariously teetering on the edge of a ravine. It was too unsafe for anyone to go near, as the only thing keeping it from toppling into the valley bellow was a small sapling wedged underneath. From the road the only thing of the vehicle that could be seen and photographed was the tailgate.
'What you got DiNozzo?' Gibbs asked the senior field agent as they approached him.
'Well boss we can't get to the vehicle yet it's too dangerous. I've got a fire crew on its way through so that they can secure it and hopefully remove it without compromising the evidence.' Tony explained, just as fire crew and tow-truck arrived.
The team all stepped back and watched, from a safe distance, as the fire crew worked out the best way to deal with the situation. They were well aware of the importance of pulling the car out without compromising any evidence; they were also well aware of the importance of getting the vehicle out and not letting it fall, but none of that was going to come before the crew's safety.
The crew were able to get the hoist around the back of the vehicle, just behind the rear wheels. It had taken a lot of manoeuvring and a lot of patience from team Gibbs, something that Gibbs was not particularly famed for. After a couple of hours the car was ready to be hoisted back to the road.
The noise from the vehicle was loud, and everyone cringed as they heard the scratching of the metal, like nails on a chalkboard. The rocks, rubble and debris from underneath the wheels loosened and crumbled to the ravine bellow.
It took the crew almost another hour to get the car up and out onto the road again, and team Gibbs had to work quickly as they were fast losing daylight.
Penny started photographing the immediate location around the vehicle, and began documenting the evidence in her notes. Gibbs could tell that she was mulling the evidence over in her mind, and that she was already beginning to formulate a theory in her mind.
'What've you got Penny?' He asked her as he approached her as she looked at the back of the vehicle.
'Gibbs I'm confused. The 911 report said that there was the body of one marine officer, a civilian and one missing passenger, but from the road to where the vehicle crashed there is no way the caller could have seen that.' She explained as she voiced her thoughts out loud.
'So what you saying? The caller already knew who was in the vehicle?' Tony said as he stopped photographing briefly to look at his colleagues.
'Or maybe he was our shooter.' Ducky said as he drew their attention to the through and through gunshot wound to the head sustained by the driver. 'Time of death is approximately eight hours ago Jethro.'
They all noted both Penny's and Ducky's observations and began searching for evidence of such. Tony began photographing and documenting the driver whilst the others began searching for evidence on the road.
'Penny can you photograph and sketch the passenger?' He asked.
'Yeah sure.' She replied as she walked round to the other side of the vehicle.
She began taking photographs from the side first of all, noting that the passenger window was shattered.
'Gibbs?' She asked as she called him over, to which he replied in his usual impatient sounding grunt. 'Could the window have been shattered like this from the crash?'
Gibbs looked at the vehicle and immediately knew that most of the damage had occurred when the driver and passenger was shot, but the question reminded him that Penny was still a probie, and he wasn't the only one who forgot this.
'It's funny Penny, you've fitted in so well into the bosom of our family that I forget that you are really probie the second.' Tony said with a reminiscent look.
'Well hopefully not for much longer; I completed my first year with you guys last month so I will be sitting my final exams very soon and then will officially have completed my probation.' She replied with a very happy smile.
Everyone then turned their attentions back to the task in hand, with Tony photographing the driver and attending to the evidence on that side if the vehicle, whilst Penny looked at Gibbs for the answer to her previous question.
'No this hasn't been caused by the crash Penny. If you look closely you can see that the glass has been shattered with the force of the bullet, but it's remained intact apart from the hole…'
'Meaning that the bullet was travelling at a slower pace by the time it exited.' She finished off for him.
Gibbs nodded and walked off with a smile, feeling like a proud father after realising that Penny had really come into her own as an agent.
Penny turned her attentions to the rest of the vehicle and to the body of the passenger. He was a man in his late thirties/early forties, with dark, although slightly greying, hair and slight olivey skin. He was slumped slightly towards the passenger door of the vehicle, being held upright by his seatbelt. Penny carefully opened the car door and began photographing the evidence on the inside, but froze on the spot when she looked at the body.
'Gibbs?' She said with a raised voice, but tried again when she didn't receive a reply. 'GIBBS!' She said more urgently.
'What?' He said as he ran over to her, concerned by the tone of her voice, as were all the team.
They all stopped what they were doing to look at Penny and Gibbs with concern. Gibbs joined Penny by the body and took a deep breath when he identified the body. Penny glanced up at him and he could see that she had tears pricking at her eyes.
'Gibbs, it's Danny Green.' She explained simply as she confirmed the identity of her biological father.