Title: A Father's Worth by Libratine

Set: Post "Bury Your Dead", though not as a tag to the episode.

Disclaimer: Don't own NCIS.. I do however own every single grammatial mistake

AN: So I decided to post another story since I got some really nice feedback the last time. This is a bit angsty at the beginning but it'll get better. It was inspired by watching Jenny interrogate Jeanne in IA. I hope it doesn't seem too out of character.. Otherwise I hope you enjoy and feel free (very free) to leave a review :D

Part 1/3

It was late on a Thursday evening; the director of NCIS was sitting in her office going through some e-mails when one caught her attention. Apparently there had been some development in Gibbs' current case and he had now brought in a suspect. She remembered the case; a 60 years old former marine now doing some paperwork, had been found dead in his home two day ago, but didn't Ducky rule it as a suicide? Her eyes quickly scanned the e-mail from McGee before she jumped out of her chair and headed downstairs. Jenny's thoughts were swirling around in her head. Gibbs had brought in the dead marine's daughter. The daughter, Mary, had apparently showed up at her father's favorite bar and shot one the regulars in cold blood.

"Agent Gibbs" Her voice rang over the bullpen as she rapidly descended the stairs. He didn't wait for her but began walking slowly towards the interrogation room, where Mary was waiting. When Jenny caught up with him, she fell into his pace. "Your suspect… Mary. I wanna talk to her." She said in a voice that clearly stated this wasn't up for debate.

Gibbs looked questioningly at her. He had been expecting some reprimand about, well, anything since there didn't seem to be anything that couldn't get her to preach about ethics anymore. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement. "You what?" He asked dumfound.

"Your suspect", she said slowly. "Mary. Who is currently sitting behind that door", Jenny pointed towards the interrogation room. "I want to talk to her." The words were dragged out and pronounced very slowly.

Gibbs looked annoyed at her. "I heard you the first time"

She smirked, "Well then why did you ask?"

Before he got a chance to respond, Ziva came out of the interrogation room. "She would not say anything", she exclaimed throwing her hands up in defeat. "How am I supposed to get anything out of her if she does not speak?"

"She didn't say anything?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing! Not one single word."

Gibbs turned to look at Jenny, who was trying to hide a smile. "Fine", he didn't need to elaborate for Jen to understand the meaning of it. She grabbed the file from Ziva's hand and went into the room.

NCISNCISNCIS

Jenny made her way over to the chair and sat down in front of the suspect. "Hello, my name is Jenny Shepard and I'm the director of NCIS". No reaction whatsoever, not even a twitching to indicate that she had heard her. Jenny examined Mary closer. Her hair was dark and fell down her shoulders in wavy curls and her forehead was covered by heavy bangs which made her red lips appear larger than they probably were. However what really captivated Jenny were her eyes. They were emerald green, and normally they might be full of life, but now they were just staring straight forward without seeing anything.

Jenny sighed. "You wanna tell me why my agents brought you in?" Still no response. She flicked through the file concerning Mary until her eye caught something.

"You lost your mother when you were three?" It wasn't a statement, more of a curios question but also with a dash of compassion. After what felt like 10 minutes, even though it was probably more like 10 seconds, the girl finally nodded, the first sign she was actually alive and functioning. She'd taken Mary for a ride to the store and on the way back they were hit by a drunken driver. The mother had died instantly whereas Mary hadn't got a scratch.

"You don't have a driver license, do you?" Jenny asked after a few seconds. For the first time the girl looked as though she actually saw Jenny, her eyes showing a certain curiosity as if she didn't understand how Jenny could possible know that.

"I lost my mom when I was four." Jenny elaborated, letting her gaze drop to the table. "She had a genetic disorder. Her last three months were spent in the hospital. My father and I used to visit her every day, always between 3 and 4 o'clock. I remember her telling me that it would be all right, that soon she would be home and everything would go back to how it was before." The unvoiced but-she-never-returned-home part was hanging in the air.

"And now you don't like hospitals" Mary deduced. Jenny looked up, her eyes zeroing in on Mary's before she nodded in agreement to what Mary had stated.

Behind the glass Ziva and Tony simultaneously turned to look at each other, the question evident in their eyes. Then how could she spend so much time in the hospital when Gibbs was in a coma? Tony broke into a goofy smile. Ziva just shook her head, knowing he was already imagining a hundred scenarios that could explain the director's behavior and they all started with the secret love-affair Tony was sure they had once had.

"Why did you shoot him?" Jenny asked. She still had that curiosity rather than accusation in her voice.

"He killed my dad." There wasn't any hesitation in Mary's answer. She said it like it was pure fact.

"You do know that one of our finest ME's ruled it a.."

"as a suicide? Yeah I know that."

"And yet you are sure t.."

"It wasn't a suicide" Mary stated leaving no room for argument. However a second later her hard façade crack a little. "I mean… it can't be.. it, I… it just can't be!" She exclaimed, her voice a little higher and a bit hysterical now.

"Because that would mean he left you?" Jenny spoke gently. Mary looked liked somebody had slapped her hard across the face. Her eyes were wide and her month hung open. Slowly she closed it and looked intently at Jen before she nodded. "And he wouldn't leave you", Jenny continued. "I mean, how could he, after all what you had been through? You must have spent a lot of time together after your mother's dead?" Jenny gave her a sad smile. "You probably had all sort of father and daughter rituals?"

Mary swallowed before nodding. "He used to watch me dance ballet. He would be there, no matter where the show was being held, encouraging me to do my best. Then afterwards we'd go out for ice-cream and just talk."

"Daddy's little girl" Jenny said voicing her thoughts.

"How could I not be? He was all I had. My parents were old when they got me so all my grand-parents were already dead. My dad, he…" Mary's voiced finally cracked and a sob escaped her lips.

"He was everything", Jenny finished, "the one to chase away the monsters under your bed, the one who held you when you had nightmares about your mom, the one how would always be there for you… even though you'd been a real idiot, dad was always there." Jen took a deep breath before she continued. "And if he really committed suicide then it would mean that he hated life more than he loved you and you can't accept that."

Silent tears were running down Mary's cheeks, leaving black traces of mascara. "And it would mean that I weren't enough for him, that what we had weren't enough for him to continue living…" she let out a shaky breath. "He can't have committed suicide. He just can't!"

"Maybe…" Jenny tried, but was cut off by Mary's voice.

"No, there is no maybe! He didn't do it… Hell it's even more likely that I killed him than he committed suicide!" Then a realization hit her. "Oh God… I did." Her eyes made contact with Jenny's. She hadn't been wrong when she though Mary had beautiful, expressive eyes, but now they weren't showing life instead a deep kind of despair was settled in them. A fine blend of pain, anguish and defeat were looking at her. "I did… I did kill him."

"Mary…", Jenny's heart shattered into a million pieces seeing this girl so broken and alone.

"I should've spent more time with him. I should've called him. I shou…"

"Mary" This time there was more force behind the name.

"'..ld've visited him more often. I should've been there for him, like he had always.."

"Mary!" But Jenny's word didn't seem to reach the girl.

"And my mom, it was my fault too. I was the one who wanted to go to store because I nee…"

"MARY!" She immediately stop her rambling, her eyes now a mixture of shock and fear. Jenny too looked a bit surprised by the force behind the name. However she didn't let that dazzle her instead she reached out and grasped Mary's hand. "Listen to me and listen carefully. You didn't kill them. I know it feels that way but…"

"Do you really?" She spat, "because people always say th…"

Jenny interrupted her, "I do".

A few seconds passed in complete silence before Mary finally gave up and let her head collide with her arms that where lying on the table. "It just hurts so much." Her voice was shaky and filled with tears. "So incredibly much". Jenny stroked a thumb over Mary's hand.

"I know" she mumbled softly. "I know" At the same time she was trying hard to keep the tears from falling. "You probably don't wanna talk about it, but I need to know why you shot that man Joe", Jenny said after a little while.

Mary looked up from the table, her eyes red and puffy, she was biting her lower lip looking rather uncomfortable. "My dad… ", she began, "… My dad, he had", she paused searching for the right words, "… a problem", she finally settled on saying. "He liked to gamble, he liked it a little too much. Joe lent him money."

"And you figured that this was a classic murder", Jenny finished. "You dad didn't pay him, so Joe killed him."

"It fits", Mary said in barely audible voice.

"Because then it wouldn't be a suicide", Jenny said softly. Mary nodded, trying to hold back the tears that were once again threatening to fall. "I have my best agents working on this case and believe my when I say, we are going to find out what happened to your father. I don't know if Joe did it, but we will figure this out. You have my word". For the first time a ghost of a smile was evident on Mary's face. Jenny gave her hand one last squeeze before she let go. "I'll have two agents escort you out" and with that she turned around and left.

NCISNCISNCIS

Behind the glass Gibbs and his team stood dumfound, still trying to process exactly what had transpired in the interrogation room. Jethro never knew anything about Jenny's mother just like he hadn't known anything about her father. Their relationship hadn't been like that, but now he kinda wish it had been, because no one should go through, what she'd gone through, alone.

"DiNozzo, David, escort the woman out. McGee do a background check on the guy she shot and get his alibi", Gibbs said as he stormed out the room to find Jenny.

AN2: So that's it for part 1, I'll try to upload part 2 asap.. Meanwhile please tell me what you though of it so far, both the good, the bad and the ugly, since that is the only way for me to improve my writing abilities :D