Chapter 3: Confident
A/N: I'm sorry for the long delay. I had my last A-level exam yesterday and had to study 24/7 during the last week. I promise to update more often from now on. The song is 'Confident' by Demi Lovato.
After flipping the switch again Jenny nodded with the same expression on her face. "Let's get her out of there."
Thanks to Jenny's driving they made it to the school in under 5 minutes, which was pretty impressive. Hadn't Gibbs been purely focused on saving his daughter he might have commented with a joke or two. But joking was out of question for both of them right now.
Jenny hit the breaks directly in front of the school entrance and before the car could come to a complete stop both front doors flew open. After they duck under the security tape they fell into step beside each other, creating a force of determination. But before they could reach the door that would lead them inside, one of the local police officers stopped them.
He put his hand on Jenny's shoulder and pushed her back a little. "I'm sorry ma'am. You can't go in there." What came next surprised not only the officer but Gibbs as well. "The hell I can't. We are NCIS. I'm going to walk inside this school and I'm going to secure the situation because you are clearly not able to do so. So I suggest you get your sorry ass out of my way and let my partner and I pass before I have to shoot you."
When the officer said nothing but didn't step out of the way either, Jenny took a step closer and attempted to stare him down. He held her gaze for 5 seconds then he gave in. "At least talk to my boss first, please." She groaned and turned on her heel. "Fine." Gibbs trailed slightly behind her and smiled like an idiot, forgetting the seriousness of the situation for a moment. "Partner?" Jenny rolled her eyes. "Just shut up."
"I take it you are the boss then?" Officer O'Neal turned around and found himself face to face with a beautiful young redhead. "Depends on who is asking sugar." Jenny scoffed and fired right back. "Someone who isn't married." She raised her eyebrows and nodded towards his left hand. The officer cleared his throat and had the good grace to look at least a little bit embarrassed at being caught but Jenny didn't give him time to adjust to the situation. "We are here to take over. One of the girls in this building is the daughter of my boss so this is NCIS jurisdiction. We also have information that might be helpful. So were do we stand?" Without batting an eyelid she used rule seven flawlessly.
A few minutes later Jenny and Gibbs studied a map that showed the outline of the high school. "Is he using a dead men's switch?" Officer O'Neal just shrugged with his shoulders. "We don't know. We couldn't get a good view inside the room. All blinds are down and the window in the classroom door is too small to get an overview." Putting her sidearm out of it's holster and checking it over Jenny nodded. "We have to go inside and take him out before he blows everything up." "That's too dangerous. I won't allow it." The officer tried to put on a brave face but failed miserably. "Then it is a good thing I don't have to ask for your permission."
"So what's the plan?" Gibbs looked momentarily confused. "You don't have a plan?" Jenny smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "My plan is to walk in, get a picture of the situation and then talk this guy out of blowing up the school. Just thought I'd ask if you had a better one?" Before he had a chance to answer the SWAT team who escorted them to the classroom came to an abrupt stop in front of the door in question. All of a sudden Jenny's expression changed and she was fully in agent mode. They took their places on the left and right side of the door. "Kelly, it's Jenny. I'm in front of the door. Please open the door if you are able to." Her voice was just loud enough to hear it on the other side of the door so she wouldn't scare the suicidal teacher into any sudden moves. They heard footsteps on the other side and pulled out their sidearms. Just before the door opened Gibbs turned to Jenny. "I'll have your six." She couldn't ask for anything more.
When the door to the classroom opened slowly Agent Jennifer Shepard kept her cool. Jenny on the other hand was astonished how much Kelly Gibbs looked like her dad. Her eyes were even more intense then her fathers and the blue depth offered a variation of different emotions. The red hair was what got to Jenny the most. Somehow she hadn't believed Stan and Will when they had bickered about her being Gibbs type because of her hair color. Now she wasn't so sure anymore.
The girl couldn't be older than fifteen but she was standing her ground. Her stance stable and her eyes and gun directed at the men on the other side of the classroom. Without missing a beat or looking away she started to talk slowly and in the calmest voice Jenny had ever heard. "Hey, I'm Kelly. Nice to meet you Agent Shepard. I'm glad you got my message. Why did you bring the old men through?" She really tried to lighten the mood but there was no doubt she was afraid and tired. Kelly was obviously glad they showed up. "May I introduce, this is Mr. Gorden. I promised him I would let him blow everything up after I had a last talk with my dad. I know you could make it happen Jenny. He's very determined to pull this off right. As soon as I have talked to my dad I'm going to put my weapon down and then Mr. Gorden can do what he has to." Her words might not have made sense for anyone else but Gibbs and Jenny could read between the lines.
The teacher was obviously nervous as hell. His thumb hovered over the dead men's switch and he was pacing through the room like a caged animal. Jenny knew what Kelly meant. There was no way to talk the teacher out of this, he had nothing left to lose. Shooting him was the only option and it had to happen fast. Otherwise they would all end up scattered across the floor. Jenny offered the young scared children who were sitting by the window a short reassuring glance. Then she looked at Kelly and nodded.
Gibbs watched the wordless encounter in horror. He had to stay near Kelly and pretend to talk to her and comfort her while Jenny made her way slowly backwards and tried to get a better angel at the teacher who was now watching Kelly and him talk. Jenny and him had hid their sidearms before they had entered the room after Kelly had given Gibbs the sign for 'no violence' behind her back. The weapons would only tip the teacher off. So he tried to be as calm as possible and hoped to god Jenny would get an angel where she could aim at his heart because she never ever targeted the head before.
And then suddenly everything went wrong. Jenny had nearly reached the perfect shooting point when they could hear loud sirens coming towards the building. The teachers breathing got to the point were he hyperventilated and started to shout incoherent words. Gibbs pushed Kelly behind him in a silly attempt to shield her from the explosion that was about to come. But as the teacher turned around with his thumb on the switch Gibbs and Jenny locked eyes for a brief second. "Jen." The uncertainty in his voice was the thing that pushed her over the edge. She raised her gun and fired. Taking the chance without so much as a second thought. The limb body of Kelly's teacher fell to the ground. Leaving Gibbs and his daughter stunned.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Expect Jenny. She was pissed. After checking if the other kids in the room were fine and letting the guys from the bomb-unit inside she made her way over to Gibbs. "Never, ever doubt my ability to pull of a shot like that again. Just because I prefer to aim for anything but the head doesn't mean I can't. It's bad enough that you can't seem to accept me, it's even worse that you don't trust me." And with that she left, leaving a pissed Gibbs behind. But before he could go after her and give her a piece of his mind he received a very hard head slap. Gibbs turned around to find Kelly looking nearly as angry as Jenny. "You are a bastard. Fix it."
He could stop her right before she got in the cab she called. He felt even worse when he realized they had drove his car here and she wasn't even comfortable enough to ride home with him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. He waited until she finally looked up and then locked this gaze with hers. „I'm sorry." Jenny sucked in a breath. He had just broken rule six. "And thank you." It was all she would get - considering it was Gibbs - that was a lot. She took his outstretched hand and shook it. Maybe he wasn't such a bastard after all.
"Come on, let's grab a milkshake. Agent Shepard, you in?" Kelly Gibbs looked tired and exhausted but she needed some distraction to keep the demons at bay as long as possible. Before Jenny had the chance to answer, Gibbs did. "She is coming." Jenny tried very hard to hold her grin back until he had turned his back on her while she followed him to the car. Kelly walked beside her and slightly bumped her shoulder against Jenny's. "If you can make my dad sit in the backseat I might tell you were the Glock came from." Jenny's smile grew wider at the thought of Gibbs in the backseat. Maybe the key to him was his daughter after all.