Later that night Jenny is standing in her old bedroom settling in Leyla and Amira, Amira exhausted from the long flight to Washington is sleeping soundly in bed. "So this use to be your old bedroom?" Leyla asks with a smile on her face.
"Yes!" Jenny smiles and takes a seat on the edge of her bed. "My mother use to cuddle in bed with me reading a bedtime story to me." "I have so many memories of my mother in this room." "It was so hard to move out, but in the end Jethro was right, my parent's old Master Bedroom was bigger and down the line I'll give my old room to Jacqueline when she's old enough."
"He told Mike that soon as the two of you got married that he was going to move your bedroom downstairs." Leyla winks.
"I'm not surprised." Jenny laughs and shakes her head. "But I'll use this little nugget of info to use against him later on."
"You've completed him Jenny." "Jethro was a lost soul a few years ago when he visited Mike during the holidays." Leyla frowns.
"So was I." Jenny swallows on the memory of spending her last holidays alone at the office. "Christmas 2007 was my last Christmas I spent alone."
"Mike had a feeling that the two of you would be together by the end of the year."
"I know it cost Jethro an expensive bottle of tequila." Jenny giggles.
"Life and death struggle wakes people up."
"It did, me getting shot in the shoulder and almost dying brought Jethro and I back together, we're happily married with two beautiful twins." "Life is perfect." Jenny smiles.
While Leyla is settling in her room upstairs with Jenny, the men are downstairs in the garage playing a game of pool. "I want to go to headquarters tomorrow." Franks snarls.
"We can observe, but cannot help out with the investigation."
"Somebody tried to kill me and my family." "I want blood." Frank angrily snaps.
"I know you do Mike, Jenny and DiNozzo will get to the bottom of it." Gibbs reassures him.
"Is Probie Junior ready to handle this?"
"Trust me; DiNozzo can handle anything you throw at him."
"Kind of hard to believe that when he was doing cartoon voices a few years ago in the hospital waiting room." Franks sighs in annoyance.
"That's just DiNozzo blowing off some steam Mike; he'll get to the bottom of who sent those soldiers of fortune over to your house."
"He better, you have a siesta to finish with your wife and kids."
"Which the four of us are looking forward to." Gibbs smiles with anticipation.
The next afternoon at headquarters in the Squad Room, Tony, McGee and Borchard are sitting around Tony's desk. "That was a flight back from hell." Tony grumbles and takes a sip from his Trenda sized Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino.
"So do we let Sterne and Schneider sit and think it over in the Interrogation Room." McGee sheepishly asks.
"For a little bit." "I need to read over the background that Borchard got on our two perps last night." Tony answers.
Jenny overhearing Tony from the railing descends the stairs. "While you're recuperating from your flight I'll fill you in on Borchard's report." Jenny shouts down to Tony.
"You're just as sneaky as Gibbs." Tony grins.
"Where do you think she learned it from?" McGee laughs.
"I didn't learn everything from Gibbs; keep in mind I ran teams over in Europe all by myself." "The whole time I was team leader I never called Gibbs and asked him for help, I did everything on my own."
Tony, McGee, and Borchard watch as Jenny walks over the catwalk and down the length of the steps. Gibbs and Mike who were down in Autopsy step out of the elevator. "I see that DiNozzo and McGee finally made it back from Mexico." Gibbs impatiently growls.
"You and I should interrogate those sons of bitches; we'll get some answers from them." Franks snarls.
Jenny hearing Mike. "Your methods may have worked in Camp Pendleton, Special Agent Franks, but here in Washington with our legal system in place, our suspects would walk with in twenty-four hours."
"Shouldn't the Director be up in her office?" Franks shrugs.
"Yes, but keep in mind Mike, in our day the Director stayed up in the office and stayed out of our way."
"So glad I retired when I did." Franks snorts.
Gibbs, Jenny, and Mike both gather in front of the plasma screen next to McGee's desk. Jenny grabs the clicker from the plasma stand. "All three Marines were dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps." Jenny says as she clicks Schneider, Sterne, and Larson's photos up on the plasma screen.
"They work for former Army Colonel Merton Bell; he operates a Private Military Company." Borchard follows and gets up from his chair and walks over to where Gibbs, Jenny, and Mike are standing. "
"Colonel Bell was a Tank Commander in the Middle East, retired three years ago and started up his Private Military Company."
"You mean a bought and paid for mercenary company." Gibbs says in disgust.
Mike annoyed that Borchard had interrupted Jenny. "Do Probie's get away with interrupting a subordinate while they were reviewing a case?" Franks asks surprised that Jenny and Tony would let Borchard get away with showing them up in front of the other agents in the Squad Room.
"There are exceptions Mike, besides once this case is over with Borchard will be over his Probationary Agent Status and will be joining Helen Wheeler out in London." Jenny says and smiles over at Borchard.
"Who will be replacing Borchard?" Gibbs curiously asks.
"It's not in the budget at this time, Tony, McGee, and Ziva will have to get by on their own."
"Not like it wasn't done before boss, it use to be me, you, and Kate, before Probie joined our team permanently." Tony shrugs.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs growls.
"Yeah!" Tony smiles.
"I'm not your boss anymore."
"You'll always be my boss, just like Mike will be yours." Tony affectionately answers.
Jenny gets back to the subject at hand. "We still do not know why Larson, Sterne, and Schneider were sent to Mexico." "I'm going to do the interrogation alone."
"Alone!" Tony says with surprise.
"Alone, you have a problem with that Agent DiNozzo." Jenny snippily asks.
"No ma'am!" Tony sighs in disappointment.
"By the way Mike, that was showing up a subordinate and I do not take kindly to Probie Junior here acting like a chauvinist." Jenny angrily snaps and walks off towards the direction of the Interrogation Room.
"Probie Junior?" Borchard laughs and narrows his eyes over at Tony.
"Name fits him." Franks cackles.
"And now McGee will never let it down and will throw it in my face." Tony groans.
"Would I do that?" McGee smirks.
Half an hour later, Jenny steps into Interrogation Room Number 4. "Nice, you get dishonorably discharged for stealing catalytic converters from the motor pool at Camp Lejeune." Jenny sweetly says to the two former Marines that are sitting at the table ignoring her presence. "Sterne, you were the Motor Sergeant at the base?"
"Yes I was for ten years." "I read that people were stealing catalytic converters in the paper back home and that there was a profit to be made at the scrap yard for them."
"So you risked your career in the Marine Corps for profit." Jenny says in disgust and takes a seat across the table from them.
"It was good money, more money than I made at the Corps that's for sure." Sterne answers with a grin on his face.
Inside the Observation Room. Gibbs, Tony, Mike, and Borchard are standing behind the glass looking on. "I would like to kick the tar out of him." Franks barks.
"So would I, we didn't like thieves back in my day." Gibbs growls.
"I guess you reported them." Tony sheepishly asks.
"No we beat the crap out of them and somehow whatever they stole got returned." Gibbs smirks.
"The good ole' days." Franks snorts.
Back inside the room, Jenny continues to ask questions on Sterne, Schneider, and Larson's mission in Mexico. "I told you lady it was a classified covert operation that we're not authorized to answer." Schneider defiantly answers with a smug expression on his face.
"The name isn't lady, it's Director Shepard." Jenny corrects him.
"Well the name is Sergeant Sterne, not Mr. Sterne, get that straight lady." Sterne sarcastically baits her.
"Well you're no longer a Marine, so I can't refer to you as that anymore, Mr. Sterne." "Now this is not a classified covert operation, our government does not do classified missions involving Private Military Companies." "I want to know why your boss, Colonel Bell sent you to Mexico."
Before Sterne and Schneider can answer, their lawyer sashay's into the room. "Don't answer that question." She advises them.
Jenny immediately stands up from the table and glares over at her. "Who the hell are you?" Jenny hisses at her.
"M. Allison Hart, Lance Corporal Schneider and Sergeant Sterne's lawyer." Hart announces and hands Jenny her card. "Can I have a few minutes with my clients?"
"A few, and then I'll be back." Jenny angrily warns her and walks out of the room.
Back inside the Observation Room. "She's hot, for a lawyer." Tony drools and rubs his chin. Mike head slaps Tony on the back of the head. "Owwwwwwwww!" Tony whines and rubs the back of his head. "You hit harder than Gibbs."
"And Gibbs never whined like a sissy either." "What a wimp Probie." Franks snarls.
Jenny storms into the room. "What a bitch?"
"Who the hell is M. Allison Hart?" Gibbs asks.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Jenny answers and presses the speed dial button for Cynthia's extension number on her Blackberry.
Half an hour later, Jenny is up in her office getting chewed out by her new SecNav Clayton Jarvis. "I don't care if the Secretary of Defense is good friends with Merton Bell, I'm going after him." Jenny fumes.
Secretary of the Navy's Office
"Then you're going after him on your own and your career maybe on the line." Jarvis warns her.
"Noted sir and if you will excuse me, I have a job that I have to do." Jenny flippantly answers and hangs up. "What a moron?" Jenny sighs and gets up from her chair.
Cynthia overhearing Jenny walks into the office. "That bad!"
"Oh yeah!" Jenny groans and walks over to the mini bar pouring herself a glass of vodka.
"Vodka!" Cynthia says with surprise.
"I need it to deal with that barracuda down in the Interrogation Room." Jenny mutters.
Down in the Interrogation Room, Hart is sitting with her clients. "Don't worry I'll have the two of you out with in twenty-four hours, my father and I have connections." Hart smiles at them.
"Can't see why we got picked up for doing our job." Sterne shrugs.
"If anything that Iraqi woman should be behind bars for killing Larson." Schneider icily answers.
"Mexican authorities ruled it as self-defense, not much that I can do about it since it happened in their jurisdiction."
"I want justice for Larson." Schneider vents.
"Just concentrate on getting out of here first and getting the charges dropped before seeking vengeance on Leyla Shakarji." Hart advises him.
Ten minutes later, Jenny returns carrying a folder on the investigation; she takes a seat across from Hart and her clients. "Since you're here Miss-"
"Ms. Hart!" Hart sweetly corrects Jenny and bats her eyelashes at her.
"There is no need for sarcasm Ms. Hart." Jenny warns her.
"I've heard a lot about the Ice Queen of the Beltway." Hart smirks.
"It's a name I've earned Ms. Hart so do not push yourself around me."
"Noted Director Shepard!" Hart smiles.
"And while you're at it wipe that smile off of your face and act a little bit more professional."
Inside the Observation Room, Mike doubles over in laughter. "You didn't warn me that she was this good." Franks cackles.
"She's even better working side by side with her partner." Tony grins and elbows Gibbs.
"Probie get in there."
"Not allowed, you heard her." Gibbs growls.
Borchard hands Gibbs his badge. "For old time's sake."
Gibbs pins Borchard's badge on to his belt clip and walks out of the room. "This should be good." Tony laughs.
Back in the Interrogation Room, Hart continues her vicious assaults on Jenny when Gibbs walks into the room with a Cheshire grin on his face. "Aren't you retired Mr. Gibbs." Hart hisses over at him.
"Yes he is." Jenny snaps and glares over at her husband. "I could have your ass thrown in a cell downstairs for impersonating an agent."
Gibbs removing Borchard's badge from his belt, tucks it inside of his pocket. "Satisfied!"
"I would be if you would get the hell out of this room." Jenny screams at him.
Gibbs walks over to the table. "Not going to happen, when I want some answers." Gibbs snarls and then gives Sterne and Schneider the stare. "Why did you enter Mike Franks' house with your weapons drawn on a woman alone?"
"We're not answering that." Schneider answers and leans back in the chair folding his arms.
"Well until you give us some answers the two of you are not going anywhere." "Get use to your holding cell downstairs." "And another thing Ms. Hart, I've already requested for no bail for your clients, they're not going anywhere until we get to the bottom of this." Jenny answers, icily staring over at Hart. "And Ms. Hart I just did a background check." "Your daddy won't get his men out of this."
"Is that a threat Director Shepard?" Hart sweetly asks.
"I don't make threats, I make promises." Jenny smirks and gets up from the table and glares over at Gibbs. "You my office now."
Back inside of Observation. "This should be good." Tony laughs.
"I wonder if we'll hear them down in the Squad Room again." Franks snickers.
"It will be sweet music to my ears." Tony grins.
Up in Jenny's Office five minutes later, Gibbs and Jenny are at each other's throats. "I don't care; you had no right to be in that room and to top it off you had a badge clipped to your belt." "You know damn well what the rules are of impersonating an agent." Jenny screams.
"I wanted to get to the bottom of it." Gibbs snarls.
"Tony and I will handle it." "You and Mike are both retired." "From this moment on, the two of you will be barred from this building." "Am I making myself clear?"
"Crystal Madame Director." Gibbs barks and storms out of the office slamming the door behind him.
Downstairs, Tony, McGee, Mike, and Borchard jump away from Tony's desk. "DiNozzo the speakerphone button." McGee shouts over at him.
"Right!" Tony cringes and rushes over to his desk, just as he's about to press in the button, Gibbs slams the outer office door. "Double slam!" Tony laughs and presses in the button on his desk phone.
"Mike we're flagged from the building." Gibbs calls down from the balcony.
"I heard her from down here." Franks laughs.
Gibbs jogs down the stairs over the catwalk and down the length of the stairs. "Just because we're barred doesn't mean we can't still investigate it on this in." Gibbs mischievously grins.
Mike walks over to the entrance of Tony's section meeting Gibbs as he walks by. "Whaddya mean?"
"Just taking up a suggestion from my dad a few months ago." Gibbs smirks and walks off for the elevator with Mike following him from behind.
Tony, McGee, and Borchard stand and watch the two older men. "You know what movie flashback I just got in my head." Tony laughs.
"What?" Borchard shrugs.
"Grumpy Old Men!" Tony smirks and is about to walk away from his desk when his phone begins to ring. "DiNozzo!" He answers.
Cynthia's Reception Desk
"The Director would like to see you and your team up in her office ASAP."
"We'll be right up." Tony answers and hangs up. "The Director wants to see us up in her office."
"I wonder if it's about the blow up with Gibbs." McGee grumbles.
"We'll soon find out." Tony grins.
Up in Jenny's Office a few minutes later, Jenny, Tony, Abby, McGee, Ducky, Palmer, and Borchard are sitting around the conference table. "From this moment the Shakarji Investigation is to be run by your team only." "Gibbs and Mike Franks are not to be told about the investigation." "I know in the past that your team, when you filled in for Gibbs, back in 2006 had gone behind my back and disobeyed orders when Ziva got into trouble." "This will not happen again."
"But it was for-"
Before Abby can finish Jenny quickly interrupts her. "This is not up for discussion or a debate Miss. Sciuto and I making myself clear." Jenny angrily warns her.
"Yes ma'am!" Abby frowns.
"This is a direct order from your Director; I will not tolerate anybody disobeying my orders this time around." "Dismissed!"
Tony, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, and Borchard get up from the table and slowly walk out of the room; they walk past Cynthia's desk and step outside on to the balcony. Ducky closes the door behind them. "Autopsy!" Ducky nods over at each at them.
Down in Autopsy, Team DiNozzo, minus Ziva along with Abby, Ducky, and Palmer are standing around a table. "We did it once before." Abby defiantly says to her co-conspirators.
"But last time it was different Abs, we were trying to save Ziva's life and we were also up against the FBI." "And I hated Slacks." Tony grumbles.
"So what do we do?" McGee sheepishly asks.
"Follow orders this time around, the Director doesn't sound like she's playing around this time around." Tony answers.
"And it's possible that she can have the cyber division monitor our incoming and outgoing desk, cellphone calls and e-mails." McGee answers knowing that Jenny will know their every move.
"Not to mention home phones." Tony finishes.
"I think the wise decision is to follow orders this time around." "Bad enough that Jethro is facing the wrath of Madame Director at this time." Ducky snorts.
On 'The Shepard', Gibbs and Mike are five miles down the river. "So where do we begin Probie?"
"Basic's, I have some friends on the inside still who owe me favors."
"Your team will get into trouble." Franks says in between sips from his bottle of Corona.
"I won't involve DiNozzo, Ziva, McGee, Borchard, Ducky, and Palmer, besides Jen's probably reamed them out on the consequences of breaking her direct order." "I don't' want to see their careers on the line."
"Hell I keep forgetting how sexy Madame Director can be." Franks drools.
"Yeah and I won't be getting anything out of it in the near future, more than likely she'll crash on the loveseat in the twins nursery."
"You two are sick individuals." Franks cackles.
"Not sick, just get off on screwing our brains out when we're pissed off at one another." "Still nothing will beat out Madame Director's howls of pleasure when I sexually had my way with her on top of the desk in her study the first time Agent Gibbs and Director Shepard had sex."
"She said that she was drunk." Franks laughs.
"Drunk my ass, her legs was wrapped around my waist pretty fast." Gibbs growls.
"Maybe the both of ya need to reenact it." Franks winks.
"Nah, Jenny hasn't been drinking too much since she had the twins." "She might have an occasional glass of bourbon or a bottle of beer and that's about it."
"Jethro I watched her with the twins on the beach." "She's a damn good mom." Franks smiles.
"I know I'm so pissed off that these clowns ruined our vacation." "Jenny was able to be herself, which she hasn't been able to do since she came back to work after having the twins." "The two of us were enjoying ourselves down in Mexico with the twins, and then Bell sent his goons in."
"We'll get to the bottom of it." Franks answers with a hint of determination in his voice.
"Us before NCIS." Gibbs nods and turns on the engine to the boat. "We need to go further out." "Bass are a few miles downriver."
That night, Gibbs walks into an empty bedroom, as he suspected, Jenny has decided to sleep in the nursery with the twins. "I hope this investigation isn't long and drawn out." Gibbs groans and turns off the light. "I usually sleep better on my couch downstairs anyway when I sleep alone."
Down in the study, Jenny sits and reads one of her books. Ziva walks in. "So how long are you going to give your husband the cold shoulder?"
"He disobeyed my orders Ziva." "And do me a favor butt out."
"Ok!" Ziva answers throwing her hands up. "Good night Jenny!"
"Night Ziva!" Jenny answers back, not leaving her eyes from her book.