Chapter 2: Angel with a shotgun

A/N: 'Angel with a shotgun' by the Cab

In the weeks to follow you could cut the tension in the bullpen with a knife. Gibbs outright refused to even acknowledge his new partner slash probie and in return Jenny Shepard slowly but steadily lost her patience with her boss. Their daily routine consisted off him ignoring the things she did or suggested and her trying her best to impress him even more.

Jenny Shepard just couldn't understand what her boss's problem was. She did good crime scene work, was a good fighter and an even better shot. Sure, she also was a women but somehow she didn't believe that that was the problem. Gibbs could be a chauvinistic bastard but he didn't judge people based on boobs or no boobs unlike most guys at the Navy Yard did. And exactly that was the point. Jenny didn't have a clue why he disliked her that much and it bugged her to no end.

Saying Gibbs was annoyed was an understatement. With every passing day there were less reason to not like Jenny Shepard. She proved herself to be very capable of the job, smart and had a good sense of humor. But he just couldn't figure her out. She was so different from every women he had ever met, he didn't know how to deal with her.

She didn't want to talk all the time. She could run unbelievable fast on high heels. She had no problem to literally rummage through mountains of garbage at a crime scene, but she got furious when she broke a nail. On the shooting range she would always hit the target right in the heart, but she refused to put a bullet in between the eyes. She did't feel the need to explain herself when she came up with a solution for a case and just expected everyone to trust her on it. She handled Burley's and Decker's chauvinistic jokes and actions just fine, but got totally protective if they insulted another women in front of her. To Gibbs she was strange. And as long as he couldn't figure her out he wouldn't trust her.

Little did they know that the next few hours were about to change everything.

It had been an uneventful day at the office. The team had been swamped by paperwork from their previous case and the mood was just generally down. Right now really everything sounded more interesting than paperwork. Around noon everyone was bored out of their minds and so when Jenny Shepard's phone started to ring the three males looked up in interest.

"Jenny Shepard here." To Jenny's surprise a very young female voice answered her. "Hey, you must be dads's new partner." Jenny knitted her brows together in confusion. "Who is this?" The girl on the other end sighed. "Sorry, I had no idea he didn't even mention me. I'm Kelly Gibbs, Jethro's daughter. And before you ask, I didn't want to call by dad, I called you on purpose." Jenny threw a quick glance at Gibbs who seemed to pay not much attention and slightly turned in her chair. "And why is that?"

Kelly took a deep breath. She knew as soon as her dad would know about her situation, everything would implode so she needed someone to keep a cool head. "I'm going to tell you why I called but you have to promise me that you won't freak out 'cause that's what my dad is gonna do when you tell him about what I just told you and I need someone who can keep his cool. I read your NCIS file and I trust you so don't mess this up." Now Jenny was curious as to what the young girl wants. „Okay, shoot." Again Kelly took a deep breath and forced her voice not to shake. "I'm at my school right now. I'm in a classroom at the west wing, room 118. Me and six other kids are trapped in this room together with a teacher who has an explosive belt around his waist. He seems pretty determined to blow the whole school up. The only thing that is keeping him from that right now am I with a Glock 19 in my hands. I need you to tell my dad what is happening right now and I need you to calm him down and help him to focus on the point, which is that this weapon is not loaded and sooner or later Mr. Gorden is gonna figure that out even if he stands 15 meters away from me. Can you do that for me?"

All there is on the other end is silence and for a moment Kelly is afraid that she actually judged Jenny Shepard wrong but than she hears her clear her throat at the other end of the line and knows she called the right person. "You want Gibbs to kill me?" Jenny finally asked and Kelly could hear how heavy her voice was so she appreciated that Jenny tried to lighten the mood. "I trust you to handle him." Jenny nodded even if she knows that Kelly can't see her. "Hang in there kiddo. I gotcha." And with that the line went dead."

Jenny turned around slowly looking Gibbs straight in the eye. Immediately the air around them changed. "What is it?" His voice was steady but she could see a hint of fear creep into his eyes and she instantly felt sorry for him.

"That was your daughter on the phone. There is a hostage situation at the high school. She and six other kids are still trapped inside together with a suicidal teacher with an explosive belt. She is keeping him from pulling the cord with an unloaded Glock. She needs us to get their before the teacher notices that the weapon is not loaded."

While saying this she had already holstered her gun and swung her bag pack over her shoulder. She grabbed the car keys and stalked over to the elevator leaving the feeling of shock behind her. There was no room for feelings now. Seconds later Gibbs was by her side and tried to grab the keys out of her hand but she pushed him back and grabbed his arm before he could try again. She really couldn't blame him. His eyes were full of emotions and she couldn't stop wondering if there was a story to all the hurt she could see in his eyes. He was the most guarded person she knew besides herself and seeing him this uncontrolled sightly threw her off balance. But she had promised Kelly to take the lead and that was exactly what she was going to do. She didn't know the girl but she was Gibbs daughter and that was enough information for her to know there was no way they were gonna lose her today.

They stepped into the elevator and as soon as it began to move Jenny flipped the switch. "What the heck are you doing? We need to get to the school now." She had expected that he would jump right into her face so she just stood her ground and glared at him until he stopped. "What Kelly needs right now are agents who can keep their cool in there and won't freak out or do something stupid so tell me, Agent Gibbs, can you keep your cool today?" The question hang in the air like a thundercloud and to her surprise Gibbs took a deep breath before he looked at her again. This time with a steel like expression on his face. He got himself under control again. "Yes." After flipping the switch again Jenny nodded with the same expression on her face. "Let's get her out of there."

Later Gibbs would realize that this was the first time Jenny Shepard stood up to him - and he let her.