Hello, everyone! This is a story my dad and I came up with it back in the summer of 2020 and I have been working on it ever since!

I'm glad to have managed to finish this entirely so I will upload a chapter a day!

I hope you all enjoy this! It's the first time I'm writing something like this!

I dedicate this story to my dad!

With this chapter I suggest listening to: Maitre Gims = Loin

Enjoy!

History Repeats Itself

Chapter 1: History and Present Secrets

History repeats itself, it's a known fact. Now, if you don't see it then you're a fool and if you do then you realize that you are trapped in a never-ending cycle.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs never managed to see his wife and daughter's caskets being open and apparently there wasn't an open casket ceremony because their bodies were beyond repair. He managed to get to the service minutes before they lowered them to the ground and he requested a moment to say goodbye himself.

Shannon and Kelly Gibbs were dead.

Dead to him and to the world.

But pictures worth a thousand words or do they?

February 25th, 1991: Mid-day: Medical Examiner's autopsy room in METRO Police Station.

Doctor Paul Malcolm Severide was finishing up some papers on a case he had closed when two bodies appeared on his medical tables. He was told of the case of a murder of a mother, daughter, and NIS agent.

With a heavy heart, he decided to start the autopsy of the young girl when he unzipped the body bag and saw the eight-year-old girl with strawberry red hair and dirty face and clothes with blood he winced and tried to wipe some bloody hair out of the girl's face when the little girl gasp!

Doctor Severide almost had a heart attack as he checked the girl's pulse, weak but there. They confused her for dead!

He didn't know what to do when the girl's eyes fluttered open and locked eyes with the medical examiner as she gasped and with horror, in her eyes, she sat up and winced as she looked around her in a panic.

The doctor gave her a water bottle and introduced himself trying to calm the young girl.

The young girl and the Doctor sat on the floor of the autopsy room as the young girl sobbed as memories of the events that took place crashed on her and the death of her mother pained her.

The doctor asked questions trying to understand what happened while checking the case report he was given along with the bodies and he knew what he had to do. He had to protect this girl, he called his wife Mandy and asked her to come to the autopsy.

Mandy and Paul watched as the girl was looking at her mum's dead body and was silently crying while saying her goodbyes before Paul started the autopsy.

"She needs to be in witness protection, Paul." Mandy scolded her husband and he nodded.

"Can you tell your brother, Jackson, to make something happen?" Paul asked in hopes of his brother-in-law to use his FBI clearance to do something that would give this girl a second chance at a normal life.

Mandy sighed and promised she would call him.

Agent Jackson Curran, older brother of Mandy Severide (nee Curran) and part of the FBI was having a relatively easy and ordinary day of paperwork when he stood up to get more coffee which resulted in him seeing his little sister at the coffee stand he usually was getting his coffee from.

Holding hot cups of coffee Mandy took her brother to her husband's work and showed him the young girl who was now exhausted sleeping curled on Paul's chair with his jacket as a blanket.

Paul and Mandy explained the situation to Jackson who looked shocked and horrified at the little girl and the other two bodies on the autopsy tables.

"I can make some things but I don't know who can be trusted to raise her, guys, if I'm not overstepping it's better you two to adopt her and hide her." Jackson whispered his idea and the married couple who were trying for a child for the past 14 years sighed and nodded.

"Alright, but we must be very careful." Jackson advised them wisely.

Once that was settled Mandy took the sleeping girl with her and to her house where the girl got some food, clean clothes, and some medical care since Mandy was a part-time nurse and much-needed sleep.

When dinner time arrived Mandy and Paul sat little Kelly down and told her their plan while telling her of her father's condition something that Jackson had searched for his would-be adoptive niece.

Kelly was horrified learning that her dad was in a hospital bed because he was hurt during his deployment and they didn't have the luxury of waiting to see if he made it or not, she had to disappear! Kelly agreed to be put into witness protection and asked her name to be changed from Kelly to Ann Kellina Severide as an homage to her original name and her paternal grandmother's name. Mandy and Paul were more than willing and agreed.

Jackson visited them for dinner during the weekend to discuss some things and Paul let them know he had pulled some string and found a body of a child around Kelly's age and a Jane Doe to replace her body in the body bag. Kelly was disturbed by it but understood why this had to happen.

And that is how Ann Severide was born. Paul quitted from being a medical examiner and he and his wife with Ann moved to Chicago where Paul reunited with his older brother Benny and they set up a new life for them as Paul became a medical examiner for the 21st Precinct of the Chicago PD.

And Ann got to experience a normal childhood with a cousin who had her name as his which was a running inside joke between Paul and Mandy and Ann, herself. Nobody knew the official story they thought that Paul and Mandy decided to adopt and chose Ann after many failed pregnancies. Mandy was working at a nurse at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center and Ann was classmates with Will, Jay, Kelly, April and Justin and Jeff, Natalie's future husband. All of them were a close knit group of friends and Ann couldn't be more thankful to Mandy and Paul that is why she tried to keep straight As in school and her room clean and tidy and not ask for extravagant things and made sure to help around the house as much as she could.

Mandy and Paul listening to Jackson's advice to sign Ann in self defense classes in case whoever had tried to kill her found her.

Paul and Mandy were told that Pedro Hernandez was murdered by an unknown sniper a few months after the deaths of Shannon Gibbs and the NIS agent and that he got that info by a friend of his in the NIS department but advised the couple not to tell Ann any of this so she wouldn't backtrack her process. Jackson and Paul kept tabs on Gibbs and made sure to find him in the yellow pages.

Ann shown brilliance and excitement whenever her Uncle Benny would visit and tell them stories of his firefighting life and she frequent his firehouse so much that Boden and many others firefighters had taken a liking and loved having over and taught her many things about fire engines and protocols.

Ann was eighteen when she expressed a want to join the firefighting academy and with their blessings and good lucks she joined and later with Boden's string pulling he got her back in the Firehouse 51 under his command and her cousin's Kelly guidance.

In 2004, during her 20th birthday she and Kelly went out partying to the house of some rich college student in the other side of Chicago because Kelly had heard about this party from a friend who heard it from a friend of his. So, here she was partying when she decided to look for the bathroom and she was going around the mansion when she heard yelling from a room and went to check out only to see a man being pushed away by an older man.

"I let you have this party here but that is because it's your sister's birthday! We are not on good terms, boy!" The older man said in a harsh tone.

"HEY! Respect is won not given for free, if you want him and you to be on good terms you should show respect and not shove him!" Kelly yelled angrily at the man as she went up to his face after she helped the man up.

"What do you know?!"

"I know enough! Watch your tone before you regret it for a lifetime! Besides as you said, it's your daughter's birthday, be jolly and joyful!" Kelly told him with an icy tone as she stare at him down and the man lost the staring contest and left her and the other man.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to. I'm Connor that was my dad." Connor said as he picked up his books and extended his hand for a handshake.

"I'm Ann and your dad sounds like a high maintains asshole. Oh, Med school huh? I'm in the firefighting academy myself. Also, happy birthday to your sister." Ann said as she and Connor stared at each other smiling.

"Thanks and you are so right. Nice to meet you, by the way." Connor said smiling.

"So, how are you studies going?" She asked him as both of them stood there.

"Oh! They suck…so what were you doing up here? It's off limits to guests." Connor asked her with a small chuckle and then his smile fell when he realized where they were.

"I was looking for the bathroom and I heard shouting…so um do you know where can I find one?" Ann asked as she realized she had forgotten her need to pee and only realize she has been clenching her belly muscles the entire time to keep herself from peeing on herself.

Connor took her to a bathroom where she did her business and when she got out she saw Connor on the floor and she smiled, he was studying and taking notes, she sat next to him and took a small pocket book out of her cardigan and both of them sat in blissful silence and did their own thing.

It was hours later when Connor told her to wait there and he left for a few minutes before he returned with a huge tray full of food and drinks and some birthday cake. They ate as they chit chat about their hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes. They weren't the same but they felt in a weird in sync. They exchanged phone numbers and promised to go out for coffee as friends some time.

It was during the summer when they spent all those collage vacations together in Chicago, doing tourist stuff and going to coffee shops and restaurants only locals knew and watching the Chicago skyline from various points in the city. Ann felt that she could be free of her past haunting her, of the daughter that should have been dead and now was playing the role of Ann Severide, she could be herself with him yet she couldn't put a name…was she Kelly with Connor or was she Ann with him?

It was Connor's birthday when Connor had arranged to walk by the sea side while eating ice cream and then go to their favorite arcade and eat the greasy pizza they served. As Connor was dropping her off, Kelly caught them and told them they were going to a music festival and asked them if they wanted to join and somehow they found themselves in a beach festival watching the sunset with two beers in their systems and one in hand enjoying the tunes and warm breeze as they sat in silence.

Connor reached and touched her hand and she smiled at him as she kept her hand there but scooted closer to him and she rested her head on his shoulder and then Connor just hugged her and they stayed there.

That day they slept in Connor's car not feeling that it was wise to drive themselves back home. They ate breakfast with the rest of the group of friends and then they drove back home safely. They had told their families where they would be and when and if the returned and then when they decided that driving wasn't an option they texted saying they would sleep in the cars with locked doors.

When they drove home and separated April and Kelly stayed at her house for a bit and started questioning her about her and Connor's friendship and how it was going and where. She told them they were just friends and she didn't want to label anything yet.

Weeks later, Kelly, threw a BBQ party at his house for 4th of July inviting both family and friends only that at night it would be a full on party only for the young people while the parents and family members who didn't want to remain behind had decided to go camping.

Ann had slept over the previous day at Kelly's house helping prepare for the BBQ and the party and remained in the house to help contain it and protect any family heirlooms of sorts from prying hands and so on when she saw Connor and handed her a Sprite.

"No alcohol, Kelly warned me that he and you promised his mum you won't drink and be vigilant." Connor had said and Ann smiled as she and Connor clicked their cups. They danced a bit, talked and played various games and ate A LOT of food to the point she had asked her friend Ayla Hadim to take over watching the house and guests since she hadn't drank any alcohol either and she was already helping by washing some dishes and glasses in order not to remain without any of that. April was also helping Kelly, Ayla and Ann to keep the chaos by not allowing anyone upstairs but the family members.

When she was done exchanging duties she said bye to Connor and went for a nap in the guest room. Connor woke her up three hours later saying how Ayla had left because her family called her and said that her grandma from Istanbul was coming to visit and her family needed help cleaning and preparing the house for the inspection. Ayla's family weren't strict but the in-laws and grandparents, aunts and uncles were strict so they had to keep up an act when they were around.

She went back to keeping a watchful eye as Connor brought her coffee and something to eat, it was around 6 pm and the BBQ had successfully transitioned to a party and it was on full swing.

She was dancing and having fun without drinking and at the same time keeping an eye out when she found herself flirting with a random guy and she was seen by Connor who took offense in it and got jealous, they fought and Connor disappeared somewhere. Ann then feeling sad she grabbed a random drink and down it not thinking about her promise to Kelly's mum, her adoptive aunt.

One drink became seven and soon she was wasted as she started looking for Connor and found him upstairs in the hall of the upstairs rooms where there was a small library and an armchair with a side table and a lamp. He was reading a book.

Ann bluntly and drunkenly asked him if he liked her as a friend or something more. Connor just ignored her saying how they would talk when she sober up but she grew angrily and launched at him and forced his head to look at her before she kissed him.

Connor stopped her saying she needed to be fully aware of her actions before they took this step and gently guided her to the guest room. Both of them fell asleep and woke up the next day by Kelly's yells for Ann and where she was. Kelly found them sleeping fully clothed and he was relieved that he didn't see anything he didn't want to. Ann hanged over and Connor fully rested they helped picked up trash and clean the house and cook breakfast and later ate leftovers for lunch. When she returned home she slept all day nursing a hangover.

The next day she and Connor had a talk about their friendship and what had happened at the party, that day the two of them decided to start dating.

The summer ended and September came and Connor told her that he was living for Mexico because him and his father weren't on good terms and their relationship, if she didn't want to break up, should be a distance relationship. Ann didn't want to stamp on Connor's dreams so she hid her discomfort and waved goodbye at him as he boarded the plane.

Around Christmas she learned that she had managed to graduate from the Firefighters Academy and she was transferred to Firehouse 51 under Boden. Connor visited for Christmas and that is when she and Connor spent the first week of Christmas in New York seeing how the city comes alive during the holidays when they slept together for the first time in their relationship.

It was after Christmas when she started her first few weeks of being an actual firefighter she noticed around the 8th week that she had gained weight and her period hasn't come yet, she found out she was pregnant.

She was 20 shying away from 21 and she was pregnant! She had just started her career and now she had to put it on hold, this would destroy her own career and Connor's!

She panicked and talk to Mandy and Paul asking what to do. They advised her to go talk to Boden after she got medically checked and once she decide what to do for her own career to then tell Connor because if Connor wanted a child she would have to put at least 2 years on hold her life but in no shape or form take the final decision without talking to Connor.

She was told that she could be on desk duty in the firehouse for two years helping Connie and once she was able to get the child in a nursery school to return to field work. She agreed and then made the decision to keep the baby since she had her own apartment and salary. She called Connor and told him, he was shocked but supportive in the end and asked if she planned to abort it but Ann said if he helped she would be thankful but she wanted to keep it.

And like that Ann gave birth to a baby girl named Shannon Elizabeth Severide Rhodes nine months later. She was out with April and Kelly having lunch in the firehouse common room when her water broke and she gave birth in the firehouse on the floor of the common room and the whole firehouse was there to watched, helped her and supported her.

Connor wasn't around for much of the pregnancy being in Mexico but he instantly transferred when he learned that he had a daughter now and he returned to Chicago.

The following three years was a rollercoaster ride of parenting, working on their relationship and their careers. During Connor's 4th year of Med school Connor decided to do his residency in Riyadh and when he told her she was horrified she started yelling at him that he couldn't put himself in such dangerous situations when she and little Shannon were waiting for him and that she won't be her mum!

That shook Connor and was confused that was when Ann told him her actual story. Connor held her and she cried as little Shannon saw them and climbed up to them and held her mum.

"Shhh, mama, it be aright!" Little Shannon said as she played with Ann's hair and hugged her from behind as Connor was hugging her from the front.

Connor went to Riyadh for a year and during his time there he made the decision that he would marry Ann when he returned.

And he did, he returned and after his first shift at Chicago Med and in a year later he had the money and was ready to buy the ring when Claire, his sister, told him that their dad learned that he had a five years old granddaughter and wanted to be in her life and was inviting him, Ann and little Shannon for dinner.

Ann demanded that Connor and Cornelius work in their relationship and during that visit Connor's dad gave him his late wife's ring for Ann.

Connor proposed. Ann accepted.

They got married among family and friends the following summer. And when Ann returned to work she was feeling very optimistic.

Living life with a six years old daughter and two very demanding jobs was no walk in the park, little Shannon was spending her morning in kindergarten and grandma Mandy or grandpa Paul or grandpa Cornelius would pick her up and she would spend her noons and evenings with them.

Little Shannon loved her grand-uncle Jackson very much and she was looking forward to his visits, he would teach her how to punch and kick and take her camping.

Camping trips were her favorite because grand-uncle Jackson and her grandparents were teaching her about plants, wildlife and survival and of course about the stars and constellations and in general it was a nice experience to sleep under the stars.

Her mum and dad loved camping too but decided that summer vacations near a horse ranch and a beach were their thing. During those vacations Shannon would hear stories about her mum's real parents and her dad's mum who she also loved horses.

When Shannon became eight years old Connor and Ann sat her down and told her they were signing her up for self defense classes along with ballet and figure skating. Shannon also wanted to go violin, guitar and a piano along with painting but Ann told her she couldn't possible afford all that nor she had that much time to do all of those things but she could chose two activities to do during the summers when they couldn't go on a vacation because of work.

So, Shannon during the winter she would go to self-defense classes, figure skating, and ballet which later would become contemporary dance and during the summers she would go violin, painting and when she was with her grandma Mandy or aunt Claire they were teaching her piano for free.

The amount of time Shannon spend around her grandma Mandy and her grandpa Cornelius house caretaker she learned from a young age to cook and bake and as she grew older she used cooking and baking to deal with her stress when punching her punching bag in the basement of her home didn't help.

Shannon wasn't a popular girl in school she had two best friends and that was it, Connor refused to send her in a private school like grandpa Cornelius had suggested. But being a Rhodes in Chicago carried a huge mantel, she had many times attended high end parties with her aunt Claire and her husband Russell or with her grandpa Cornelius, making her acquainted with the rich society of Chicago and New York. She was taught social etiquette too.

Shannon would say to her parents that during those functions she felt like a parallel version of herself and that is why it made her feel uncomfortable most times but understood that if dad won't take the company from grandpa Cornelius it was either falling to Aunt Claire's already full hands or hers and she needed to learn the ins and outs of such trade.

Ann and Connor were amazed by how a fourteen years old girl thought like that but knew that it was true, Connor's dad's company was Shannon's when she becomes eighteen, Cornelius had said so when Shannon was 10 years old during their weekend dinners.

Cornelius knew that Shannon might not want to become a businesswoman when she older but learning about business was handy in today's society and he guessed that in the future it would be even more useful.

One weekend that Shannon was spending her weekend with her grandpa, they were sitting in his office him doing some paperwork and her researching her part on a group project when he spoke;

"Shan, I know that owning a department store isn't all that in these days but if in the future you, your dad and aunt think that closing down the department and opening something else with the funds of the store will add to the Rhodes legacy then you can do it, you can do it with my blessing. I got the department store from my father's hands and he got it from his but as you know my heart is in real estate business and I have been doing both, you can do the same thing. Just because I'm handing you my legacy doesn't mean you can't create your own, okay?" Cornelius said to his granddaughter who was looking at him with a soft smile as she stood up and hugged him.

After that tender moment, it was broken by Cornelius' phone ringing.

"Hey, Connor, what's up, son?" Cornelius asked his son and Shannon straightened her back and waited for the news.

"We are coming! I'm bringing Mandy and Paul too!" Cornelius said in a hurry with worry in his voice as he stood up.

"Shan, call your other grandparents! Your mum has been hurt during a call, we are going to med!" Cornelius said urgently and Shannon froze for a moment before she was snapped back to action when Cornelius stab his toe in the edge of the desk and cursed.

She rushed to get her phone and jacket as she run after her grandpa. They stopped by her grandparents' house and they all rode in the same car having a driver drive them because everyone was panicking.

Mandy was holding Shannon who was silently crying in her grandmother's arms while Cornelius was rubbing his face in worry and Paul was looking out of the window clutching and unclenching his hands.

Shannon was out of the car before it could even stop as she run to the entrance of the ER.

"Aunt Maggie! Is my mum dead?" Shannon asked as she slammed herself in the entrance of the hospital refusing to hear any nurse who tried to stop her in the reception area.

"Shannon!" Paul yelled after her in worry but didn't bother to stop her, he was worried about his daughter too.

"She's in the OR as we speak…" Maggie Lockwood said worried and Shannon started hyperventilating as she backed away.

"H…ha….how?" Shannon tried to ask but she fell to her knees.

Chief Boden saw her collapse and run to his goddaughter and embraced her as she started having her first panic attack.

"Breathe Shannon!" Boden instructed her using his Chief voice and Shannon nodded complying. Stella Kidd gave her a water bottle and Manning checked her pulse once she calmed down.

"How did happen?" She asked her Uncle Kelly who was holding her after she calmed down.

"We were dealing with an apartment fire, she, Herrmann and Cruz were locked in an elevator with two civilians and the elevator crushed because of the heat from the fire melted the cables holding the elevator." Kelly explained to her and her grandparents.

"Is dad with mum in the OR?" She asked afraid and everyone nodded.

"He refused to be benched." Manning said to Shannon and she breathed in a sigh of relief.

They waited for five hours until Connor shook Shannon awake who had fallen asleep in her grandma's embrace.

"Mum is fine, they put her in the ICU to keep her stable, she has a broken leg, 2nd degree burns but those weren't the serious injuries, her head trauma was though." Connor told to his daughter as he held the side of her head as she watched him with fresh tears running down her eyes.

"Is she going be okay? Her head I mean?" Shannon asked her afraid and Connor nodded and Shannon hugged her dad and she started sobbing and he let a few tears fall from his eyes too.

Shannon remained by her mum's side of the bed through all the recovering stages.

It was during Christmas when Shannon was helping her mum put on a shirt, it's been seven months since the accident and she still had the cast on her hand and leg, when Ann said;

"When I was in that elevator I was looking at your baby pictures…I thought I'd never see you or your dad or anyone. I'm glad I survived." Ann said to her 14 years old daughter who nodded as she tried to gulp but failed and hugged her tight.

"I'm glad you didn't die, mommy." She whispered in her mum's ears.

"I love you, little brownie!" Ann whispered to her daughter who chuckled at her nickname that was referring to her hair and the fact that during her 1st Halloween ever they dressed her as a brownie and Ann had dressed like the top of a birthday cake and her dad had dressed as a muffin with a cherry on top.

Shannon carried that picture in her phone's case and spent hours looking at it when she was sad.

It was during the Christmas table that Ann announced she would stop being an active firefighter since she felt that her injuries wouldn't be easy to deal with and she was planning to join the ATF, with Jackson's help of course and she was primarily going to deal with arsons and fire investigations.

Everyone congratulated her and was enjoying the fact that she won't be risking her life all the time and she will be home by 7 pm if the cases didn't drag on.

They had so much fun at the table and as Ann was resting on the couch watching some nameless Christmas movie when Jackson sat next to her.

"You know joining ATF will be very tricky considering things." Jackson said seriously and she nodded.

"I'm aware but I have everything required as Ann and I don't think they will connect me to…well me…" She said smiling as she felt her leg hurt her because of the cold outside.

Ann healed and started her training and in a year she was a member of the ATF and in the Arson Investigative Department.

Connor and she joked how it was a family business to become a federal agent.

In two years she had made a name for herself and she had bonded to her team and they had met her family on various celebratory occasions, she had worked many cases with her cousin Kelly and they were a great duo.

Shannon loved this new version of her mum, she seemed more confident and happy, she was more at home during normal hours and they started eating more frequently home-cooked meals.

The extra salary was also a breather too.

It was during a Friday after school when Shannon walked into Firehouse 51 to see her uncles and aunts and because Kidd had asked her some help with the Girls On Fire plus she was meant to help Herrmann unload a new shipment at Molly's since he had hurt his back on a call and she with Henry, Herrmann's eldest son, and Shannon's secret crush, was meant to help him.

Her time helping Kidd was a mere two minutes before she rode in Herman's car towards Molly's.

"Uncle Chris, I have this odd feeling that something bad is going to happen." Shannon told him and he looked at her for a moment.

"Like what, kid?"

"I don't know…the past few weeks I feel like I'm being watched…it doesn't stop not even when I'm home." She said in a concerning and uncomfortable tone. Herrmann became serious and parked the car at Molly's when he turned to look at her.

"When did it start?" Herrmann asked her and she sighed.

"After my birthday…grandpa Cornelius looked rather nervous and asked me to sign something, I asked to read it first but he pressured me and begged me not to say anything to dad. Then mum gets a case and guess what one of the buildings grandpa Cornelius has been eyeing for awhile is reduced to ashes. Mum said it was arson and she and her team closed the case. I was with her, waiting for her outside the court to have our girls' day when it started." Shannon explained afraid.

"Once we are done here at Molly's I'm taking to Voight's, you need to make a statement now! If there were more than one arsonist they might be targeting you or your mum or your grandpa. Can you recall what you signed?" Herrmann said seriously and Shannon gulped in fear as she shook her head no.

Herrmann sighed and both of them got out and went straight to work.

Once they were done Herrmann went to Voight's house and Shannon told Voight everything he told her to come by the precinct and give an actual and factual statement and he would call her mum and dad to let them know.

"I can't tomorrow, we are going to Washington DC on a historical school trip." Shannon said nervously and Voight nodded deep in thoughts.

"How long will this trip last?" Voight asked as he kept writing down a report.

"Um…three days. I can email you all the details once I get home." Shannon said nervous and Voight nodded not liking how things were going.

"Talk to your parents, kid and your grandpa too if it's something that has to do with the McCloud arson case then ATF will take point but at least I can have your report it might help." Voight said as he put a reassuring arm around the sixteen-year-old who nodded.

"Thank you, Uncle Hank." Shannon mumbled and Voight sighed and ruffled her hair.

"Herrmann, take her home, it's late and she has a big day tomorrow." Voight said with a reassuring tone and Herrmann nodded as he and his son with Shannon walked out of Hank's apartment.

Shannon nervously looked to her right where she saw a hooded shadow creeping behind a tree and in fear she clutched Henry's arm and panicked she pointed to where the shadow was a second ago.

"Shan? What is it?" Henry asked concerned for the younger girl and she couldn't speak loudly and whisper.

"I think I saw someone…"

Henry put a protective arm around her and they walked faster to the car. Shannon was on her phone texting her mum and dad because they had received Voight's call and they were worried like hell.

Henry watched her from co-driver's seat worryingly and then turned to his dad with just a glance Herrmann knew his boy was worried for his friend but he also detected something else in his son's eyes which made him smirk a little. Someone had a crush on Shannon!

Yes, Shannon was 16 and his son was 21 but as long as this crush remained a crush until Shannon was 19 before it became anything else then they're good.

"So, Shannon any cool school projects of late?" Herrmann asked her as they drove.

"Ah…yeah…Mr. Harris brought us Ancestry DNA tests and has us make family trees and to study the results…I'm waiting for the results either they have come today or they will arrive tomorrow. Mr. Harris teaches biology by the way." Shannon said excitedly and Henry smiled while Herrmann nodded.

"You know that your ma is adopted right?" Herrmann said smiling.

"Yes, I knew since I was four years old." Shannon said nodding.

She didn't want to say anything else because she wasn't aware how much Herrmann and Henry knew and if they knew about her mum being Kelly Gibbs.

They reached her home and she run inside after waving at Herrmann and Henry. Inside Ann and Connor were waiting for her and they had a lengthy conversation Ann called her team and her boss to let them know.

Her boss Mike Callow was a wonderful man and he was one of the people outside Jackson, Paul, Mandy, Connor, and Shannon knowing who she was, he had to learn in order to allow her in his team.

Mike told her that he would get an undercover agent to chaperone the trip tomorrow and Ann let Shannon known that Allen Choi, Ethan Choi's cousin, was the undercover agent and Mr. Hakim Arian, Shannon's History teacher was informed also.

In her room Shannon found a box with the DNA box with the results she sighed and decided to open them. She expected to see on her mum's DNA the name Leroy Jethro Gibbs but instead, she saw this;

"Federal Classified Files. No access granted. Property of NCIS"

Shannon sighed and decided to let it go as she threw the results in her bag she was meant to take with her to Washington DC, she wanted to ask Mr. Harris how to proceed now since she couldn't view the results of her grandpa since Mr. Harris would be one of the chaperones on the trip.

By eleven at night Shannon had just fallen asleep and yet before her eyelids closed she couldn't shake the feeling of something bad going to happen.

In The Morning:

Shannon woke up feeling as if she hadn't slept at all and checked her bag and she decided that she would try to be optimistic. Her best friends were Max and Annabelle Herrmann and Anna Charles.

They were inseparable and told everything to each other but Shannon was told to never say anything about her mum being Kelly Gibbs. Not that would matter to them being too young to remember but until her mum joined ATF she hadn't tried to figure out if Pedro Hernandez was alive only to find out that his son was in prison and that he had messed with her grandpa.

But her mum couldn't find anything about Pedro everything was erased. She didn't want to raised any flags so she stopped looking because she was warned by her boss about it.

Shannon got dressed and she was walking to the bus stop when she had headphones on and was listening to Maitre Gims – Loin trying to uplift her spirits and get hyped up for her school trip like she would normally be but couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of being in danger, her eyes were sharp and were watching everything. She climbed to her bus just as Maitre Gims – Tout Donner started playing and she sat next to an oddly familiar lady. The lady spared her one look before she jerked her leg as if to get comfortable and then walked down to the next bus stop "dropping" a piece of paper on her bag.

"You are being followed and watched. Be careful."

Panic rose in her as she read it and looked around her to see a man in a black hoodie that seemed to be napping.

She calmly saw that the bus stop that was coming up was close to her original bus stop and school she would have to go past a small alley to get to her front gate and she decided to risk it.

She climbed down from the front entrance and saw the hoodie guy doing the same, she prepared herself by shutting her music but not removing her headphones not showing she knew she was being tailed and started walking in a fast pace. As she crossed the street and entered the alley she could feel him behind her, she looked around her for anything that could be used as a weapon and found a broken chair and a beer bottle laying around, she mentally prepared herself to turn around but before she could finish her plan of attack she was being pinned to the wall.

"LET ME GO!" She yelled as she kicked him and sucker-punched him and started running but he caught her by her bag and threw her down. She yelped as he was on top of her choking her.

"Your grandpa will have to pay for what he did, little girl! And so will your whore mommy!" He seethed as he choked her and she squirmed she saw the beer bottle and grabbed it while smashing it on his head.

She pushed him off her and grabbed the leg from the chair and started hitting him repeatedly and kicking him yelling to leave her family alone. She made sure he was unconscious while snapping a picture of him for evidence before she limped to her school gate not carrying to hide her messy hair, clothes and the choke mark and bruised ribs she felt she had.

In the entrance, she saw Agent Allen Choi with her history and biology teachers, Mr. Arian and Mr. Harris and she rushed to them as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I was attacked by this man, here's his DNA." She said while shaking as she gave her phone, broken bottle, and chair leg to a shocked Agent Choi as she collapsed against Mr. Harris's car who was quick to open the back seats for her to sit more comfortable and went on to check her injuries while Mr. Arian rushed to bring the principal.

"I don't think I should go on the school trip…I'm a danger magnet and the other kids don't deserve to be hurt because I was with them." Shannon said as she started to cry and looked at her shaking hands.

"Miss Rhodes, you shouldn't let them stop you from learning and experiencing things you are meant to experience as a child, we are here and we will protect you. Your mum and Agent Choi along with his partner Agent Elaine Simmons have your back, she was the woman who let you know you were followed and you did a great job at protecting yourself. You are stronger than you know and the flight or fight response kicked in just in time. You are safe now." Mr. Harris told her softly as she started sobbing and Mr. Harris handed her some tissues.

"Am I? Because I don't feel like it.." Shannon said as she sobbed and then she saw her principal Miss Campbell rushing and she stood up and fixed herself quickly but before she could say anything to apologize for her disheveled look she was being hugged by her. Miss Campbell and her aunt Claire were Sorority Sisters in college and knew her since she was six years old.

"You are okay!" Miss Campbell shushed her as Shannon allowed to be hugged.

"You are coming to the trip because it's for your grades and Agent Choi and Agent Simmons will be with us at all times. You focus on your friends, your surroundings, and in learning alright?" Miss Campbell told her seriously and she nodded before Miss Campbell started fixing Shannon's clothes and took a scarf out of her bag and handed it to her.

"Wrap this around your neck to hide the marks because I don't have makeup right now to cover them, use Harris' car mirrors to fix your hair and join your friends on the bus, alright? You're safe! Agent Choi let your mum know what happened and sent your photo and what you gave him with Agent Simmons back at their HQ and she would join us on the road." Miss Campbell told Shannon with a soft instructive tone and Shannon nodded as she tried to stop herself from shaking and crying.

Ten minutes later she was sitting with her besties Anna and Annabelle and Max gossiping about the latest episodes of This Is Us and MacGyver as she tried to look and act normal. She did refuse to join any TikToks or Instagram stories out of fear for the people who hunted her might see them and track her down but she used the excuse of not having slept well and needed to catch up on sleep.

She moved to the back of the bus and laid down as she tried to sleep while having the calming ambiance of forest sounds and camping fire playing she drifted off to sleep.

Dream/Memory:

Shannon was with her grandpa Paul and granduncle Jackson, grandma Mandy and Aunt Claire, and Uncle Russell on their annual summer camping. Claire and Russell had gone for hiking and decided to stay to stargaze over a cliff that overlooked their camping site and the sea.

As Jackson cooked the fishes he and Paul caught Mandy and Shannon were pealing some potatoes to boil later and smash to go with the fishes when Paul caught Shannon looking at the sea deep in thoughts and not pealing.

"Cochilo?" Paul asked her concerned and Shannon looked at him confused as to why he called her by her childhood nickname, the Italian word for puppy. It was given to her because she used to pretend she was a puppy when she was younger to an extent her mum used to declare that Shannon in her past life must have been a puppy.

Paul's mum came from Sicily making half Italian and ½ Irish and ½ Norwegian from his dad's side of the family.

"Yeah?" Shannon asked her grandpa as she tried to seem fine.

"Walk with me." Paul said as he stood up and Shannon looked at her grandma questioning if she could go or not and Mandy just nodded.

As Shannon and Paul walked in silence as the sun had well set by now Paul hugged Shannon's shoulders.

"What has you down, sweetheart?"

"The whole thing with mum…she almost died and when I asked if she wanted me to contact her bio-dad she yelled at me not to get myself involved. I know she's in pain and feels as if she will never be autonomous again but she's been up my ass…I mean butt…sorry…Why doesn't she want her actual dad to know she's alive and that I exist?" Shannon rambled concerned and sad. Paul watched her and sighed as he hugged his granddaughter.

"People don't always take it in kind when someone's fakes their death. And if what Jackson has said about the rumors that concern Gibbs, he's a tortured man and had so much death in his life disturbing him and re-opening a wound that was the prime cause of his current persona might not sit well with him and might even do some damage, like a heart attack or something. He's old now as I and your grandma we can't handle surprises." Paul explained softly to her and then fished out his wallet and then a card out of it.

"That is your grandpas business card, the number is still being used, I have been checking it every year, if anything happens. Anything that Paul or Mandy hell even Jackson or your other grandparents can't handle you call him and you tell him the truth no matter if you have your mum's consent or not. But only in life or death situations, cochilo, understood?" Paul said in a stern tone and Shannon nodded as she took the card and put it in her wallet.

Paul then told her a story about the time he had broken his leg as a young man and drove Mandy insane while he recovered and that Shannon should be patient with her mother's recovery. Then they head back and finished preparing for dinner.

Shannon was happily watching her family eat and talk about tomorrow's hike and how her parents would join them for a swim before her dad having to go back on shift and her mum returned for her physiotherapy appointment.

She looked over at the cliff and waved to her aunt and uncle who waved back and she kept eating her fish.

"I love you guys!" She told them and everyone smiled as they kept eating.

End of Dream/Memory:

Shannon was shaken awake by the bus halting and she jumped up scared-looking around her disoriented when she saw Anna rushing to her.

"First bus stop! Come on! I have to pee and change my tampon!" Anna rushed her and Shannon followed her stumbling on her feet.

Once they peed and bought some snacks they were back on the bus.

"What movie should we watch, girls?" Max and his best friend Gregory asked as they sat down where Shannon had been sleeping. She was eating a chicken sandwich and drinking some orange juice.

"I say Ocean's 8?" Shannon said as she was chewing and everyone nodded.

"Thank God you didn't say The Notebook!" Gregory Caprice said thanking any higher spirit.

"Why would I watch this trash?" She asked confused.

"Are you girls heartless?" Max asked confused and concerned.

"Nope! I just have a taste!" Shannon said smirking and kept eating while Max's sister went through her iPad.

They had 10 more hours to go and after the movie ended they had ate way too much and they were sleeping while Shannon decided to ask Mr. Harris about the DNA test and how she should proceed, he was sitting next to Agent Choi and they were talking when she approached.

"Sorry, to interrupt, I reached a blockage with the biology paper." Shannon said whispering as she pull out the box with the DNA test results and she sat opposite their seats.

Mr. Harris and Agent Choi checked the results and Choi sighed.

"The only way to grand access is to go to NCIS and request from resources and then maybe later you are given the file if you are legit. But since we know that Mr. Gibbs is related to you and you can go and ask him straight for his okay or another DNA test with you and him and then we got this project of your done." Agent Choi said in a low voice and she nodded understanding how that could work but Shannon shook her head.

"I'm not disturbing him. Can I somehow not touch my mum's biological bloodline?" She asked Mr. Harris in hopes to let it slide while keeping her voice low.

"Well considering the circumstances I can allow it but you can at least try since we will be in town, Agent Choi can come with you." Mr. Harris said in a low voice.

Agent Choi nodded and agreed with that shake of his head.

"Alright…um…we can take it all the way or are we stopping for the night?" Shannon asked as she started to pack up again in order to go back to her seat.

"You saw the guy next to the driver? That is the second driver there will be a change of shift." Mr. Harris said with a small smile and Shannon nodded and went back to her seat.

It was an hour later when Mr. Harris let the all know they were stopping for two hours for some leg moving break and some food that wasn't consistent of chips or Doritos.

They entered the restaurant/rest stop and instantly she, Anna, Annabelle, Max and Gregory ordered their food and sat at a table and almost inhaled their first plate of actual food and went for a second. Then they restocked on snacks and drinks and went to the bathroom before walking around exploring the area they were in and browsing the built-in stores in the facility.

It was on the two hours mark that Shannon and everyone else went one last time at the bathroom and boarded the bus again. Having fed and talked with her parents she was silently checking the DNA results as everyone else was sleeping. It was around midnight when she decided to sleep too since their next stop wouldn't be the last before four hours of uninterrupted driving before entering Washington DC.

She woke up at 10 am being told that in an hour they will do their last stop so she better get ready. She chatted with her friends and some classmates discussing how they slept when they arrived at the last stop where almost everyone rushed to the bathrooms and for breakfast.

The following four hours were so quick to pass that Shannon didn't even register it passed until she heard the announcement of Mr. Arian letting them know that they will spent five hours resting before they had to go to the museum for their scheduled visit. Shannon was sharing a room with Anna and Annabelle while Max and Gregory shared a room with another classmate named Kyson.

Agent Choi and Simmons checked the girls room before allowing either of them to get inside and the Charles and Herrmann girls looked confused at Shannon.

"Safety reasons, I guess." Shannon chuckled awkwardly as she shrugged and let her suitcase near her bed.

"It's not like we are the President's kids though…" Anna mused confused and Shannon's shoulders tensed a bit and looked at the wall before her. She had to let them know! She could trust them, right?

"Annabelle, bring your brother and his friend and come in here, I have to tell you something important." Shannon said seriously and tensed which earned a confused glare from Anna and a worried one from Annabelle who instantly rushed to get her brother and his friend.

In two minutes Shannon was staring at their expecting faces and she started telling them her mum's story and what happened to her before they left Chicago. An hour later Shannon sat exhausted on her bed and watched them look at her like she told them she was a Jedi.

"So, you're under Witness Protection too?" Gregory asked confused.

"Yes, after I was attacked." Shannon said and Anna and Annabelle hugged her tight as they started to cry.

Max then joined the group hug and Gregory just stood awkwardly before deciding to join.

"Thank you for telling us!"

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier!" Shannon sobbed and they just reassured her it was alright.

Then they separated to get some rest and unpack. Shannon was talking with her mum letting them know she told her friends and made them swear to secrecy which didn't excite Kelly but forgave her daughter.

She decided to have a shower for half an hour before leaving for the museum.

In the Smithsonian museum she was in a constant state of awe as she saw and heard their tour guide speak about the evolution and she watched the dinosaur bones and of the Homo erectus species.

She failed to see a man with a beard following her around almost all the time until Choi appeared next to her.

"Is that so cool!" Choi was amazed at the sight of some ancient elephant bones.

"You are being followed, your teachers know, follow me." Choi whispered almost audible to her ears in the loud soundscape of the museum.

She didn't nod too afraid to show any other emotion she just let Choi move first before she followed him but made the mistake to look around her and seeing that the hooded man saw her and was running after her.

"He's coming!" Shannon yelled terrified as Choi and she grasped hands and run out of the museum, as they turned around they saw Agent Simmons appearing with her car only for Shannon to yelp as a bullet crazed her, Choi and her cursed as they looked over some buildings and more shots were fired keeping them from arriving at the car.

"They have a sniper?!" Shannon yelled in pain and disbelief as her shoulder bled and tried to apply pressure, her dress shirt was at first white, was now pinkish red from the blood.

"Yes, we have to go around!" Choi said in a calculative tone as Shannon agreed and she followed him only to be met by the hooded guy.

Choi and the guy exchanged gunshots and Shannon cower in fear as she yelped every time a gunshot was heard. Simmons appeared next to her and assured her to the car before exchanging a few more shots and at the same time grabbed her co-worker and dragged him to the car too.

"How do they know?! How the hell did they find me?!" Shannon yelled in horror as she tied her scarf to her wound and then applied pressure on Choi's wounds before she ravage through her bag for anything that could help not being careful enough and blood staining the DNA box with hers and Choi's blood as she pushed it aside.

Choi was growing in pain and trying to call their boss while Simmons drove them somewhere.

Shannon found her small carry-on first aid and went to work applying to action everything her dad and grandma taught her about first aid.

"We are going to NCIS, I know you don't want to but they are the only ones who can help." Simmons said and Shannon looked terrified at her for a second before she went back to patching Choi.

"Let me do this." Choi said as he tried to patch her wound in return once she was done.

"I don't want to…what if he doesn't believe me? It's not about the Navy the ATF has jurisdiction. And you guys have HQ here, we can go there and contact mum and use the lab and have the investigation going, no need for NCIS! Please, Simmons!" Shannon begged in fear as tears started welling up.

"Well, Shannon, life lesson, you don't always get to do what you want, you do what you need and we need NCIS resources because as much as I'd like to think that the ATF has far-reaching resources, NCIS is better at that or at least your grandpa's team is better." Simmons scolded her and Shannon nodded understanding the meaning of this, her grand-uncle Jackson used to say that whenever they would fail to catch a fish or when he would lose an agent.

"Fine!" Shannon let a loud yelp as Choi pressed her wounded arm as he was trying to wrap the gauze.

Just as Agent Simmons recognized they were nearing NCIS HQ block she let a silver of hope appear in her mind when suddenly they were under fire again once they stopped at a red light and the car next to them opened fire.

How the fuck did they find them?

"Get out!" Simmons commanded as Choi grabbed her and positioned her where he was and placed himself where Shannon was and got shot one more time with a bullet intended for Shannon.

Shannon opened the door, grabbed her bag, and run obeying orders and pushing the thought that she left Choi and Simmons back and they were the adults and the ones knowing the area! She run and run as she mounted her bag over her shoulders and bypassed any bystanders and she kept running when she decided to look around her. She then stopped a random person and asked them where are the NCIS offices and he just pointed the building across the street and she thanked him before running across the street with a couple of cars honking protesting at her for not crossing with caution and with a green light for the car instead of walkers.

She was standing before the building staring at it trying to gather her thoughts, bravado, and her breath. She rested her hands against her knees and started breathing hard when she saw a shadow from her left.

"Are you alright, miss?" A Hispanic voice made her look up and meet the concerned eyes of Special Agent Nick Torres.

"Are you working for NCIS?" Shannon ignored his question for her wellbeing and asked with urgency.

"Yes, I do but you didn't answer my..."

"Do you know Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs? I need to speak with him!" Shannon interrupted him and looked concerned around her.

"Hey, lady, how do you know Agent Gibbs?" Agent Torres asked protectively and Shannon sighed.

"It's a personal matter! Agh!" Shannon exclaimed and just then shots fired from three by-passers who wore hoodies and a sniper and people in the navy yard started to scatter Shannon was shot from her other shoulder and she yelled out in pain.

The whatever number shot fired got Agent Torres in his shoulder which made him go into agent mode and cover Shannon and get them inside the HQ.

"Are these people shooting at you?!" Agent Torres asked Shannon who was crying as she held her arm.

"Yes, they followed me and my school from Chicago, we were on a school trip and they opened fire, didn't you get the news?" Shannon asked as she bit her lips from letting a sob out and instead she had a painful and sarcastic tone.

"No, I just got here from running a lead!" Nick exclaimed and then she saw him bleed.

"I'm sorry I caused you this and brought them here…I really am. If it wasn't for those assholes I wouldn't be here." Shannon apologized truthfully.

Nick just nodded and then took her to his office where Shannon studied her surroundings.

"You guys have the same color as the accent wall in my home's living room, it doesn't hurt my retina back home but here…ough!" Shannon mumbled as she studied her surroundings.

"Yeah well, it's a running joke in here that the wall paint is awful." Another voice said and she turned to meet the questioning eyes of Agent Timothy McGee.

"Whose' the kid, Torres and why are you both shot? Does this have to do with the shooters in the Navy yard?" McGee asked confused and suspicious.

"Yes, they were following me. Do you know where I can find Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" Shannon asked as she tried to sound sure of herself. She was never one for walking into public buildings if she didn't have someone telling her where to sit, who to talk to, and how to talk to them. If her grandpa Cornelius wasn't with her during the high-end parties and whispering in her ear she wouldn't have survived any of those parties without messing up.

She wished Choi or Simmons were with her to give creditability to her story against those federal agents. She feared she was going to get shooed away because she was a kid.

"Right behind you, miss." The voice of Leroy Jethro Gibbs made her jump and turn to face him. She had never seen pictures of the man she was surprised to see identical eyes like hers and her mum's staring back at her. They were analyzing her and she was frozen.

Fuck! Now what?

How did you like the first chapter? How will Gibbs react to the news?

Can't wait to hear your thoughts in the comments!