Gibbs looked around the NCIS building. Other than him only one person was in the building that he could see, Director Leon Vance. "Okay, empty building. What did you want to tell me Leon?"

"I actually think it's best someone else tell you. They should be here any minute."

"Leon, I am tired of you dodging this. What is going on?"

Vance was saved from answering by the ringing of his phone. "Yes," he answered it, "Send her up." He shut his phone. "You'll know in less than a minute," he told Gibbs.

"Who's coming up?"

"I just said you will know in less than a minute."

The elevator doors slid open and the former Director of NCIS walked out. Gibbs opened his mouth, but he couldn't think of anything to say. What did you say when something like this happened? She was standing right in front of him and he could still barely believe it. He liked to think he'd had his suspicions for a while, but it was almost impossible to separate them from his longing for things to have been different.

"Jen?" his voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes Jethro, who else would I be?"

Gibbs did not reply. Instead he turned to Vance. He was leaning against a wall, arms crossed, a small smile on his face. Vance was not the least bit surprised.

"What the hell has been going on?" Gibbs screamed.

"I'll explain it." Jenny Shepard said gently pulling him towards the elevator.

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Gibbs turned off the power to the elevator. "What the hell has been going on?" he repeated.

"Once Tony and Ziva found me I was rushed to the hospital..."

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Jenny Shepard turned her head from the window toward the man sitting in her recovery room. "How are the others?" she asked.

"Alive," Vance replied, "You're the best I've ever seen. One of the guys had three slugs in him and is currently stable."

"Well, that's good."

"What do you want me to tell them, Tony and Ziva?"

"Tell them I'm dead."

"I will, but I'd like to know something first."

"You deserve to know. Ask."

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I'm sure you've heard by now that we have ourselves a mole. My people have narrowed it down to three people, and you've spent enough time around Agent Gibbs that I shouldn't have to tell you that he's the best one we've got to figure it out. So I figure split up his current team and replace it with those three people, but if I do it he'll ask too many questions, and SecNav says no one knows. However, if you split them up Gibbs won't ask any questions and soon he'll come to you saying something isn't right about one of them, and I can almost guarantee you that is our guy. Gibbs' gut is never wrong. Plus there's the matter of our past catching up to us, and this'll tip Gibbs off to it. So really it's two birds with one stone."

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"That's what's been going on Jethro." Jenny finished.

"Why weren't you back months ago then, if that's why you did it?" Gibbs asked.

"Fornell asked for my help on an under cover case."

"Fornell? Fornell knew!"

"Yes, he being the only person I knew who had faked his own death. He helped me out, and I helped him out."

"Why did he want you?"

"Because I had no cover to be blown. I'm dead. Don't try to blame this on me Jethro. Had your gut been working I would've been back a long time ago because I wouldn't have helped him out. Since when does it take you more than a month to figure out something is off about someone you work with everyday!"

"Maybe since you died, Jen! Maybe if I hadn't been so busy trying to deal with what had just happened, trying to figure out how I could've changed it, and wondering if...forget it. It doesn't even matter." He turned the elevator power back on.

Jenny reached in front of him and turned it back off. "Wondering if what, Jethro?"

In answer he kissed her. "Wondering if I had done that, just once more, how things would've been different."

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A/N: there you have it. Did anyone think she was actually dead?