Jennifer Shepard stepped out of her car. The large dark shades protecting her eyes had no impact on her peripheral vision. Or on her gut.

She was being watched. And she'd seen this man before. Twice in two days.

The first time she hadn't singled him out, because there had been hundreds of people about; she'd only had the sensation that someone somewhere was very interested in what she was doing. So she'd changed her plans. But she was highly adept at remembering faces – and when he'd been reading the paper in the same place she was having her breakfast in the morning, her instincts had sharpened. She'd partially turned the tables and led him round in circles. She made sure to have lunch at a particularly upscale restaurant where he set the metal detector off and was turned away; and then she'd slipped out the back and followed him as he'd driven to a cheesy motel in downtown LA.

As she walked across the parking lot now she assessed her situation. There was more to this man than met the eye. She could feel it. He'd had a dozen opportunities to take her out, and yet there was a vibe to the situation that she couldn't gauge; and it wasn't necessarily a bad one.

He placed a decanter on the ice box and lifted the lid.

"Shoot first, ask questions later?" he asked sardonically as she came up behind him.

Jen didn't answer.

"What took ya so long? You'd figured it out by breakfast. We coulda gotten cozy a long time ago" Franks asked as he scooped up some ice and dumped it into a paper bag. "Nice touch at the restaurant by the way."

He looked at her for a while.

"You ever gonna say anything?" he asked. When she still didn't answer, he rolled his eyes. "Mike Franks" he said. "Friend o' Gibbs. Said you might need a hand."

Jen relaxed fractionally.

"Do you work for NCIS?"

"I packed it in after the first attack on the World Trade Center" he replied.

He surveyed the parking lot for a moment.

"I reckon we should take this inside. Shall we?"

He gestured towards the rooms of the motel.

"Feel free to ... ya know ... start talkin'. Coz there'd be a better be a damn good reason Gibbs had me jump on the first plane outta Mexico."

Jen smiled.

"You ever work with a William Decker?" she asked.

"He hired on the year I retired" Franks replied. "Why?"

"He's probably dead. And I'm next."

Mike looked at her as he opened the door to his room.

"NCIS is bustin' their balls tryin' to find you" he said, as he headed to a sideboard and started to chop up limes. "You got any intention of lettin' 'em know where you are?"

"You found me" she said simply.

"The kid found ya. I just went where I was told."

"What kid?"

"McGee."

Jen smiled.

"I knew there were brains behind those doe eyes" she said with a touch of pride.

"Gibbs put him on it", Mike continued as he brought decanter and fruit to the table and sat down opposite her. "It would seem you made quite an impression."

Jen could feel him studying her.

"I need your help."

"My help? You've got an entire agency ..."

"I need someone I can trust and you just made the shortlist."

"Good to know I have a fan" he said wryly as he settled back in his seat.

"Gibbs' shortlist. He'd trust you with his life and that's good enough for me."

The atmosphere in the room turned serious.

"Lets hear it" Mike said.

"I've just spent several months in Arizona with another agent."

"I take it you two weren't sight-seeing."

"We were – but the sights we were looking for weren't on any tourist map."

"The op?"

"Classified" she said.

"Hmph. Nice chattin' with ya ..." he said as he got up to go. "Enjoy the free cable."

"It was a joint op with the FBI" she said. "They were trying to infiltrate an arms ring. Special Agent William Decker had been working with them for over a year. Jurisdiction crossed over into our patch six months ago when a high-ranking Navy officer was suspected of being involved. I was sent down there with another agent."

"From the FBI" Franks clarified.

Jen nodded.

"Decker was our contact agent. He got us our identities, handled communications ..."

"I know the drill" Mike said as he settled back into his chair.

"The name Oshimaida was a code word we were to use in the event our cover was compromised."

"Franks looked at her for a long time – studying her expressive eyes that gave away far more than her words did.

"Gibbs ..." he said.

She nodded.

"When Agent Gibbs went into that club, our cover was blown. Decker got the message to my partner and I."

"They still alive?"

Jen took a deep breath.

"Decker got my partner out of her apartment before it blew."

She looked at her watch.

"They would have reached the safe house by now, and made contact with NCIS from there. But I don't know if that's happened or not."

"If there's a safehouse why are you here?" Franks said.

Jen looked troubled as she raised her head slowly.

"The next time I head for that door it won't be for show" he growled.

Franks saw something flicker across her face but he didn't know her well enough to decipher it.

"They've put out a hit on Gibbs" she said slowly. "But from the look on your face I take it he omitted to tell you that part."

Franks leant forward.

"Where do I sign up?"


"We're opening a port into western rental servers" McGee said into the phone.

"I'm checking all the customer records for the past forty-eight hours" contributed Abby.

"Ten Grand Marquis at the LAX office ... three rented this week ... only one in the past two days."

"It hasn't been returned" Abby said. "Joe Hill. Out of New Mexico."

She tapped away at her keyboard as McGee continued to relay their findings to Tony.

"No listing at the DMV. Must have used a fake id."

"That's him. Can you a get a photo?" Tony asked.

"Well it's not on the server but I should be able to get it from..."

"Do it, McGee. Oooooh... what have we here?"

The line dropped.

Tony DiNozzo grinned at Ziva. This day had had its ups and downs but this was definitely the biggest up of all.

"Would you just look at it...it's like sex in car form."

Tony ran a hand lovingly over the bonnet of the bright red Mustang in the rental parking lot.

"I really do not think that we should care what car we have."

Ziva crossed her arms in front of her. Tony pouted slightly and pulled at her arm, freeing her hand and placing it on top of the car.

"Feel it."

Ziva rolled her eyes.

"Fine. It feels lovely. Can we go now?" she said, pulling her hand away.

Tony tossed the keys up and snatched them out of the air with his other hand.

"What are the chances that this is the only car they had left? It's like... destiny or something."

Ziva rolled her eyes again and got into the car. She was itching to get started. She wanted to find Jennifer Shepard and put and end to all this. The horrible feeling she'd had when Morrow had given them carte blanche and told them he didn't want to know what they were doing as long as they sorted it out was back.

"Tony, start the engine" she said as he slipped into the driver's seat next to her. The top was down and Ziva pulled her sunglasses off her head.

"Where to, Miss?" Tony asked, turning the key and grinning as the engine purred.

"Call the Los Angeles Police Department. Tell them you are conducting a local investigation, and ask them to track down the GPS co-ordinates of Franks' rental car." she said as they pulled out of the lot.

Tony glanced at her.

"Wouldn't it be easier just to call Probie Wan?"


"My kinda place" Franks said as they pulled up in front of a decrepit diner. "Still waiting for you to tell me what we're doin' here."

"This is the safehouse" Jen said, as she stepped out of the car and placed a key in his hand.

He watched as she drew her gun from its holster - and instinctively did the same.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here" he said, picking up on the same thing she was.

"Something's wrong" she said.

"Door's locked" he said.

"Back door" Jen said, circling the building and looking in through the dirty glass.

"Nobody's been here for months" Franks said as he checked the ground for tire tracks.

"And that can only mean one thing. They got to Decker and Krieger."

Jen looked at the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the distance as she took in their arid, bleak surroundings. She tried to push away the fear that clawed at her as she followed Mike into the diner.


Ziva sighed as she snatched the phone from Tony's hand and hit speed dial two.

"Would you not hang up on me again please Tony? You aren't Gibbs. " McGee said

"McGee…"

"Oh - sorry Ziva. What d'you need?"

"Coordinates. Franks' rental."

"On it" she heard Abby say in the background.

The familiar tapping of goth's fingers on her keyboard did nothing to soothe the bad feelings that were still sitting heavily in her stomach. She glanced at Tony who was checking out a vacuous looking blonde at the traffic lights.

"Got it…" McGee said triumphantly into the phone making Ziva snap back to the task in hand.

"Just off State Road 14. About 15 miles into the Mojave desert"

"That is 50 miles from here, McGee. Have you got an exact location?"

"Workin' on it" McGee promised before he hung up.


"Stop staring at my ass" Jen said, as she rummaged through boxes.

"Not much else to look at" Mike said as he walked around the diner. "It might help if you told me what I was looking for."

"Decker owned this place" Jen explained. "The stuff from the op has to be somewhere around here. There'd be documents, operational blueprints, photos ..."

"You got plenty of those ..." Mike said, waving his hands around the room.

Jenny walked up to the walls and started pulling frames off the walls.

She placed them on a table and started to take them apart.

"It's all here" she said as the backs came off.

"You need to get these out of here" she said when she'd perused the contents of the frames.

"That why you need my help?"

"Why else would I need it?" she asked, a bit of cockiness in her tone.

"If Krieger or Decker talked we have to assume whoever got to her knows about this place, knows about you."

Jenny looked at him and walked a little closer.

"Guess he's gonna be on his way. If we leave now ..."

"You can go. I'm staying. This ... ends here."

Franks looked at her for a moment before lifting his leg onto the chair and lifting his trouser leg. He handed her a weapon.

"You're gonna need a clean one" he said.

Jenny reached out to take it – and smiled gently when Mike straddled a seat.


Tony pulled into a gas station, perfectly cognizant of the fact that Ziva was beyond pissed with his continuous movie references and idle banter.

"We could have made it" she said, as she pushed her sunglasses onto her head.

"The needle is below E. E stands for empty. We have less that empty and we don't even know where it is."

"We could have made it ..." Ziva insisted. "What?"

"Try and make yourself useful" Tony hissed as he started to gas up the car.

"What?"

"I said why don't you make yourself useful."

Ziva spun round in her seat.

"What do you want me to do? Hold your nozzle?"

"Get us a map."

Ziva slammed the car door just as Tony's cell phone went off.

"You better have my co-ordinates" Tony snapped at McGee, his eyes fixing Ziva in place.

"Better still, I have an address. Just sent it your PDA."

"You deserve a probie-snack. Get yourself one – but not from my desk. Use the vending machine. Zee-vah – lets roll."


"I never said thanks" Jen said as she walked over to one of the booths and sat on it.

"Thank me later" replied Franks, taking a long draw on his cigarette.

"This is my fault" she continued.

Franks turned his head to look at her.

"I made some choices I'm not particularly proud of."

"We all have" he said.

Jen shook her head sadly.

"If I hadn't interfered in his investigation he would never have needed to track me down. There wouldn't be a hit on him right now."

Franks looked straight at her.

"You're still young. You got plenty o' time to make right."

Jenny looked away – her heart in her throat.

"It's not that simple" she said.

"Figures. Gibbs always did like a woman who was complicated."

He stood from his seat.

"Gibbs know?" he asked.

Jen looked at him with a curious expression.

"When I ask you if Gibbs knows, I don't mean about your ... feelings for him. I'm askin' if he knows you're sick. Gonna lie to me now?"

"What makes you think I'm sick?"

"A person gets that look in their eye when time's runnin' out."

"You're not that good" Jen said with half a smile.

Franks chuckled.

"I'm not sick" she said.

"You tryin' to tell me that you'd risk your life for a man you met once."

"Twice" Jen corrected.

"Why?" Franks wanted to know.

Jen looked out of the window and teared up for a moment. When she found her voice again she looked straight at him.

"Have you ever met someone and known you'd met your match?" she asked slowly.

Franks considered what she was saying for a moment.

"Might be hard to believe but I was in love once. Her name was Maggie. She had it all. Quick as a fox ... great curves. Trusted her with my life."

"What happened?"

"Traded her for a Harley when the transmission blew."

Jen laughed.

"Boy's been through the wringer' Franks said, suddenly serious again. "This in't gonna help."

Jen bowed her head.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt him" she said with conviction.

"That's not my point" Franks said, looking away from her.


Tony slammed on the brakes and killed the engine. He bounded out of the car and walked to the side of the road.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh" he screamed into the Mojave Desert.

When he got back into the car Ziva regarded him with interest.

"What?"

"Turn ... at the giant cactus. Right?"

"That is what he said' she replied placidly – a tone designed to needle.

Tony turned the key and revved the engine. He stepped on the gas pedal and the mustang shot off - leaving a whirl of dust in its wake.


"Found some tea" Jenny called from behind the counter.

"What kind?"

"Does it matter?"

"Only drink lemon grass."

"You just don't strike me as a tea-drinking kind of guy" Jen said with a smirk.

"And people say I don't open up .." Franks said with a smile of his own.

"Well .. no water" Jenny said as she tossed the box onto a nearby table "So much for the tea."

"I spotted a water tank out back."

"I'll go" said Jen.

Franks held up his hand.

"Let me. I've got to hit the head again anyway. You're up .." he said as he turned and left – confident that she'd be much safer inside than a moving target on the outside.

Jenny turned and looked out the window – the sense of unease that she had thus far quelled rising to grab her by the throat again. She thought of Gibbs and wished that she could have spoken to him one last time. Wished that Franks had left as she'd asked. She had a hard time accepting that she might be signing his death warrant – as well as her own.

She heard the sound of wheels on the dirt road before she saw the vehicle.


"There it is" Ziva said a few minutes later as Tony pulled off the road in front of the diner.

She looked at Tony.

"I have seen that SUV before" she said, as she spotted the dark vehicle a few feet away.

"Gas station" Tony said as they exited the Mustang.

The sight of broken glass was all they needed to see to realize that something had gone down in this place. They crouched before the front door together – weapons at the ready.

"You're in" Tony said as he saw a prone figure just feet from his position.

Ziva entered, and he followed.

"Clear" he shouted as looked behind the bar and in a back room.

Ziva made her way through the carnage, and stopped short halfway through her sweep.

"Tony ..." she called.

Tony's steps slowed as he drew closer to her. His breathing grew labored. Together they looked down at the motionless form of Jennifer Shepard lying in a pool of her own blood.

As he reached out to touch her a phone rang. Hers.

Tony picked it up and looked at the number closely.

202-555-0035.

"Gibbs ..." he said to Ziva, his voice cracking.

"Jenny. Jenny? You there?" Gibbs' voice came through on speaker as Tony accepted the call.

"Boss .. I'm sorry" he said – not knowing what else to say.

There was silence at the other end of the line.

"Tony ..." said Ziva suddenly. "I have a pulse."


A/N...We have taken serious liberties with the content and the dialogue of Judgment Day BUT we felt that it had to be redressed. The outcome of that episode was...well...wrong. This, hopefully, makes up for it...a little bit!

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