Disclaimer: NCIS is not mine

A/N: i think it is fair to say that i have been absent from this fandom for a little to long. Hence i am rather rusty. I would apologise for the fact this story was not published in July, however remembering the victims of the 7/7 bombings should not be something to apologise for, so i won't.

Rest in Peace to all whose lives were taken too soon.

A City Burns

05:00, 7th July, 2005, Washington DC

Jennifer Shepard was sat in her office, outside the sun was only just beginning to rising over the city. The street lights were only just starting to be turned off and the sun was not yet fully risen above the city. The sky was a greyish blue, the sort of colour that comes after the bright oranges but before the iconic daytime backdrop. The clouds were fluffy, an off white which signalled the day would be warm, dry, but not perfect. There would be a dullness to it. Jenny liked days like those, they were the most beautiful in her opinion. They were the kind which reminded her of the summer she and Jethro had spent in Europe. Those kind of days reminded her of the long early morning walks along the riverbanks of Paris or London.

It was too early to be in the office, she knew that. However Jenny had not been director more than a month or so, and she was desperate to prove her dedication to the office from where she ruled. So there she sat, dressed flawlessly in a black pencil skirt and blazer with a pale blue shirt. Her feet were incased in a pair of black, patent leather Louboutin shoes. The red sole of which matched her flaming red lockers perfectly. It was the kind of outfit that after only a month in the office she was already accustomed to. Even as deputy director she had more often than not opted clothes which would be more suitable for the , with the exception of her shoes anyway.

In the early morning there was an eeriness to the office. It was quiet, but not the peaceful kind of quietness which settled on it of an evening. There was a loneliness to it. Staying late you would find a sense of community, arriving early brought a sense of loneliness. Part of her wondered if she would ever get to the point in her life where at five in the morning she was wrapped in the arms of her husband, instead of sat in her office chair looking over the budgeting for the next quarter.

There was only one time in her life when she had ever felt like those dreams of marriage and family that she had so sternly pushed away had been a possibility. However they had been sacrificed for the office. Jenny had accepted a long time ago that when she left Paris, when she left him, she had given up the life she had always silently desired. Not that it mattered now, however. She was too old to have children, her job was too time consuming to find someone with whom to settle down with, and the only person she even remotely wanted that life with pretty much hated her guts.

Jenny pushed the thoughts away. This was why the early mornings were so lonely, because they provoked thoughts just like those to run a riot in her mind. Thoughts that were too painful to deal with. In an attempt to escape her thoughts she turned the news on and picked up her pen. No sooner had her pen touched the page was her attention captured and the brown parker pen was dropped onto her desk.

"...For anyone who is just joining us, we are talking about the bombings which have taken place in London, England. Right now we know of three bombings all of which have taken place in the city centre a little over an hour ago. The bombs all went off on Circle Line tube trains, near to the stations of Edgware Road, Kings Cross and Liverpool Street. As of yet we do not know the exact number of fatalities but it is estimated to be in excess of twenty with over a hundred injured..."

Jenny sat back in her chair, heart racing at the thought. Yet more people were dead, yet more families had been torn apart because of terrorism. As if 9/11 wasn't bad enough, now there was this. So what if it was thousands of miles away, it still shook her. Momentarily she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she looked back at the screen. Her heart breaking for the families even more.

"...News has just reached us that a fourth bomb had exploded in the city. This time on a bus near to Tavistock Square..."

Jenny pushed her hair behind her ear, before running a hand down her face. Four bombings in under an hour. It caused a cold shiver to run down her spine, and her to wonder just what was happening to the world. Back when she and Jethro had been in London their apartment had looked over Tavistock Square. She had walked through it every day. When they had arrived the station their train had pulled into was Kings Cross. Jenny remembered thinking how beautiful it was. How the architecture was breathtaking and how lucky people were to live in a place with such a vast history.

The door to her office opened, albeit more softly than usual there was still no knocking signifying that there was only one person who it could be. Gibbs strode in and placed what she assumed was his coffee in front of her. She tok a shaky breath and thanked him. "Have you seen the news?" She questioned. If it were any one else in front of her then she would have asked them just why they were in work so early. However he was the same asher, there was no one at home waiting for him. Or maybe there was that mystery red head who had appeared in the bull pen the other day?

"Yeah." He answered turning to look at the tv and sitting down. He ran a hand down his face, shaking his head.

"It's horrific." She stated, taking a sip of the coffee he had given her. Black, unsweetened, Jamaican blend hit her tastebuds, the bitter taste waking her up as if the news had not already taken that task upon its self. Despite the fact that it gave her a buzz, the hot drink also relaxed her, simply because of the number of memories it invoked. He had always drank the same coffee. The sam bitter blend that she had hated once upon a time.

"As of yet we do not have a total number of those killed as a result of the bombings or those injured. However the number is continually rising. The city of London had ground to a halt with all public transport being stopped. No official statement has yet been given, and no one has yet to claim responsibility for the bombings..."

"It's like 2001 all over again." Jenny stated. This would be one of those days where you would always remember where you were when you heard the news. "Jesus, we used to live near Tavistock Gardens as well."

"You loved that apartment." He said, turning his head to look at her. It was strange to think how it took something as terrible as this to get them in the same room, having a conversation which actually involved mentioning the fact that one upon a time the had been more than just co-workers. He was right though, she had loved that apartment. It had only been small, but it was victorian in style. She had loved the way that the floorboards would creak as they moved around.

"I did. You loved the coffee shop around the corner." She watched as he smirked at the memory. Every morning he had left the apartment as soon as he knew the shop would be open and gone in search of coffee. Jenny would usually request a cappuccino, and everyday she would receive the strongest black coffee she had ever tasted. Even the stuff he drank today was nothing in comparison to the coffee they had drunk in London.

"Only cause of the face you pulled when you drank the coffee." Gibbs replied softly. She smiled before her eyes returned to the screen. Jenny looked at his face, as the repeated footage of the burning red bus was shown. There was pain etched in his features, it was rare that she saw that kind of emotion on Gibbs. Then again looking at the tv it was no surprise. It was like something out of a horror movie.

"So many families torn apart, I mean there were kids on those trains." Jenny shook her head, both of them completely shaken to the core by the events of the morning.

"The world is gonna go into panic." Gibbs grumbled as he ran a hand down his face. His hand reached across and took his coffee back out of her hand. The silver haired marine took a healthy sip before handing it back to her.

The phone on her desk rang, and Gibbs stood up, both knowing it would be the SecNav. The day was officially about to become seriously hard, they both knew that. However the fact that he had come up to her office, given her his coffee, it gave Jenny hope that even if they would never get back to what they had once been, there was hope that they would at least regain a friendship. Sharing that moment, watching the news, bringing up what had once been, well it was something that she would never forget.

Jenny's hand was on the receiver before Gibbs was at the metal door of her office, but she paused, and looked over. "Thank you Jethro." Her voice was soft. He just nodded, in typical Gibbs-the-mute fashion before walking out. Leaving the red head to deal with the SecNav and the political playground that her day was about to become. "Shepard." She answered the phone, her eyes never leaving the screen. Jenny knew that she would never forget where she was on the 7th July 2005, just like millions of people would never forget where they were. Jennifer Shepard was with the person she cared most for in the world.

A City Burns, A World Cries