Gibbs hadn't noticed the identity of the passenger of the vehicle until Penny had pointed it out to him, but he was surprised to see that Penny appeared to be affected by Danny's death. Considering she didn't really know him and since his last appearance had caused her nothing but trouble, he was unsure why she was upset, but then he wasn't going to even attempt to question the logic of Penny Shepard.
'Ziva take over.' Gibbs said as he moved Penny away from the vehicle and away from Danny's body.
She appeared to be in shock as he led her over to the bonnet of their own vehicle.
'Are you OK?' He asked.
'Yeah, I'm OK. I guess it's just the shock.' She replied as she continued to look towards the vehicle rather than at Gibbs.
'Are you sure that's all it is?' He asked her, suspecting that there was more to her reaction than she was making out.
She looked at him sharply and he could see that he'd touched a nerve.
'Of course that's all it is!' She replied defensively.
Over by the vehicle Tony, Ziva and Ducky looked at Penny and Gibbs as they talked.
'What's going on?' Tony asked the group.
'No idea, but here comes McGee; maybe he'll know.' Ziva said as McGee cheerily joined them.
'What's going on?' He asked with a smile, unaware of the events that had previously unfolded.
'Well we're hoping you'll be able to tell us Tim. Penny identified one of our victims as Danny Green, and then Gibbs took her away.' Tony explained to a shocked looking McGee.
'Danny Green is Penny's biological father.' He replied simply with a sigh before walking over to his girlfriend with concern.
When Danny had first made an appearance three months before, McGee had been very supportive towards Penny, and they had spent hours talking about the situation. Once she had sent him away and told him that she didn't want anything to do with him, everyone had believed that it would be the last they heard of him.
'Is everything OK Penny?' He asked as he reached her, just as Gibbs began to walk away.
'Yeah I'm alright; it's just...well you know.' She said quietly.
McGee placed a comforting hand on her arm before they both turned their attentions back to the investigation at hand.
The team collected all of the evidence that they could before they lost the light. The bodies of the victims were removed by Ducky and Jimmy, and the five agents piled the vehicle and van with the evidence they had collected.
Gibbs noticed that Penny was very quiet after her discovery and it concerned him greatly, but his gut kept telling him that there was a lot more to her silence than first believed.
Once they returned to NCIS headquarters he immediately left the team and went to speak to Jenny. In his usual fashion he swung open the doors to her office without knocking and without waiting for Cynthia to phone through his arrival.
Jenny smirked as he sauntered in as she looked at him over the brim of her glasses. It was one of his many habits that greatly annoyed her, but one that she wouldn't change for the world.
'Everything alright Jethro?' She asked with a slightly concerned tone when she saw the expression on his face.
'Not sure. Danny Green was one of the victims of the motor accident that we attended.' Gibbs replied bluntly, exhaustion clearly plaguing his voice.
A shiver ran up Jenny's spine at his words, and she was shocked by what she heard.
'Oh my God. Does his family know yet?' She asked.
'Not yet. Penny wants to be the one to tell them, but that's really what I'm here to talk to you about. Are you certain that Penny hasn't seen Danny since we last saw him three months ago?' He replied.
Jenny was shocked at what he was implying, but she could see that his question was out of concern and not out of malice.
'Well have you asked her about it?' She asked him as she walked round her desk and perched herself on the edge.
'No I haven't. I thought that was a conversation best coming from you.' He replied as he took a couple of steps towards her and placed his arms around her waist, and kissed her on the forehead.
She smiled up at him slightly before grabbing her phoned and calling Penny's cell. She didn't take her eyes from Gibbs as she spoke to her daughter.
'Penny can you come up here for a moment?' She said before placing the handset back on its turret.
After a few moments the doors to Jenny's office swung open and Penny strolled through them, looking rather subdued. Jenny instantly picked up on her daughter's change in mood, and feared that Gibbs might be right that there was more to this than first thought.
'Is this a mom or director thing?' Penny asked as she stood in front of them both, and they could both see that Penny already had her defences up.
'I guess you could call it a mom thing.' She replied with a small smile without shifting look of concern. 'We're just a little worried about you that's all. Was quite a surprise for you to find Danny like that.'
'I'm sure I'll get over it.' Penny replied coldly, although she didn't intend to sound cold toward either Jenny or Gibbs, but she knew exactly where they were going with this and she knew she was going to have to come clean.
'You know that this investigation is going to throw up lots of…well…surprises. I need to know that you're OK with that? And also if there's anything you want to tell us?' Jenny pressed despite Penny's obvious reluctance to talk about it.
Penny took a deep breath and knew that they deserved to know, but she wasn't too sure how to explain it to them, or if they'd understand.
'I've spoken to Danny a couple of times since Christmas. He sent me a text on Christmas day to wish me a Merry Christmas; then in between Christmas and New Year he sent me a few more asking if we could meet up. He said that there was something that he needed my help with, only he wouldn't tell me what it was over the phone. I agreed to meet with him about three weeks ago and we just sat and talked for a while. At first we just talked about me and he told me about himself and his family, but then he said that he needed my help, but before he could tell me why his phone rang and he had to leave. We then arranged to meet again, but he's now dead.' She explained, feeling guilty that she'd betrayed her mom.
'Penny why didn't you tell us any of this before?' Jenny asked. She wasn't angry or disappointed, but she was saddened that Penny had felt that she had to do everything in secret.
'Because of everything that he'd done to you and to us before; it made me feel like I was betraying you in a way.' Penny explained as Jenny approached her and held her tightly.
Jenny hugged her daughter close and kissed her head, and felt guilty that she'd made her feel that way, but their tender moment was interrupted by a question from Gibbs.
'Penny when were you supposed to meet him?' He asked.
'Tomorrow.' She replied simply, making them all ask the question if this meeting had anything to do with his death.
