Roll to Me
Chapter 10: Dust to Settle

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it! This chapter is much less Jibbsy and more case orientated...yes, it is a plot you see, shocker, I know! More Jibbs to come though!

Jenny Shepard spent most of the morning lost in her own thoughts. The coldness of Gibbs' behaviour towards her had surprised her and she wondered how he was really feeling about the previous night. As the memories came back to her, a faint blush crept over her cheeks. The behaviour was so unlike her now, she had not acted so frivolously in years, at least not since she was last with Jethro. She wondered how long the frosty atmosphere between them would last and whether he actually regretted what had happened. Jenny knew that it was wrong but she couldn't feel guilty about the previous night, it had felt right to her. There had been other men since Jethro of course but she had never loved or felt right with anyone else. Jenny was finally roused from her own world by McGee putting the phone down and looking gravely across at her and Tony.

"Carl Hurst's body has been found."

Jenny looked up, feeling wide awake now. "We've got to tell Gibbs." She said, ignoring Tony's look and heading towards the bank of elevators. She pressed the button and over her shoulder she called. "Get the van ready and I'll go and look for Gibbs." She stepped into the elevator as the doors opened, her mind firmly on the case now and not the fact that Jethro chose this moment to step out of the elevator.

"Shepard?" He questioned, and Jenny felt her own eyes burn from the intensity of his ice blue stare.

"I was just looking for you, Gibbs." She paused, forcing the flush from her cheeks. She could almost feel Tony watching them from his desk, so much for getting the van ready. "McGee's just heard that Carl Hurst's body has been found."

Gibbs nodded curtly. "What are you waiting for?"

Jenny narrowed her green eyes, a little smirk turning up the corners of her mouth. "You," She replied, knowing the expression that would be plastered on DiNozzo's face even though her back was towards him.

Gibbs pushed passed her and Jenny was almost overwhelmed by his scent of sawdust, coffee and last night's bourbon but she forced the thoughts that came with it away.

McGee and Tony joined them and the four of them left the squad room together.

"Jenny, can you go to the Hurst house to talk to Cathy please." Jethro said it was an order and not a request.

She nodded, slightly surprised that Gibbs didn't want to go too but then again she supposed he wouldn't want to be alone with her. This thought hurt Jenny more than she had expected it to.

Jenny walked the short distance to where her own car was park, aware of Gibbs' eyes following her the whole time. Before last night it would have made her feel flirtatious and sexy but now his gaze was cold on her back and she hurried towards her car. She pulled out of the parking lot and turned right towards the Hurst home while the other three agents took the left turning towards where the body had been discovered.

Jenny drove along with music playing faintly in the background; it was a French singer she had liked since she was in Paris. Somehow it didn't seem appropriate right now though. She was grateful when she arrived at the Hurst home because at 

least it would give her something to focus on and the Hurst's suffering was so much greater than her own.

She parked in the street and walked up to the front door, knocking lightly on the pale brown wood.

"Hello, I'm Agent Shepard from NCIS; I talked to your wife the other day." Jenny introduced herself to the man who answered the door. Jenny didn't know what it was about him but he instantly looked like a marine to her. He also looked like the shell of the man he once was, the news of his son's death having come as a harsh blow. It must also be difficult for him being in the same house as the mother of his child who he no longer loved.

"Hello," Paul Hurst replied. "Come in, my wife is in the sitting room." Jenny followed him along the corridor to where Cathy Hurst was sitting on the couch. Cathy's red hair was pulled back from her face, her eyes were red and a tissue was balled in her fists. Jenny took a seat beside the grief-stricken woman.

"Mrs Hurst, I'm so sorry for your loss," Jenny began in a gentle voice while Paul stood uncomfortably in the doorway. "My team and I are doing everything we can to find out what and who killed your son."

"Thank you," Cathy mumbled, dabbing at her eyes again.

"I'll get you a glass of water," Jenny offered and she motioned to Paul to follow her to the kitchen. "This must make things even more difficult for you," She said as Paul handed her a glass and she filled it with water. "Being back here," She clarified.

"It is," He agreed. "I know Cathy and I should try to help each other through this but things have been such a mess in the past that I don't even really know her anymore. Carl was the only thing keeping us together."

Jenny heard Paul's voice begin to shake and placed a comforting hand on his forearm. "We'll find out who did this," She assured him before heading back to the sitting room with Cathy's water.

When Gibbs, Tony and McGee arrived at the crime scene Ducky and Jimmy Palmer were already there. Ducky waved Gibbs over to the shell of a burned out car.

"Hello Jethro," The pathologist greeted warmly despite the grimness of the task in hand.

"What have you got for me, Duck?" Gibbs asked, skipping pleasantries as usual and diving straight into the case.

"Local PD called this in because they found Carl Hurst's ID on his body, but the fire hasn't been kind to the young gentleman." Ducky observed sadly, looking up as Jimmy appeared with the gurney. "Thank you, Mr Palmer." He said distractedly.

"Let me know as soon as you find out what happened." Gibbs told him, watching as McGee photographed the scene and Tony took care of perimeter. He would liked to have had Jen here with him to bounce ideas off, she had always had a unique point of view that had helped to solve case after case, but he knew that was impossible at least today. They needed time for the dust to settle first.

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