Author's Notes: And here is the next chapter as promised. Thanks to my reviewers scottishcheeserollincabaiste, Dee, Oktober TM and merderdreamy5. Espcially Dee, love all your reviews so much and you're very motivating/helpful! I felt sorry for Claire too while I was writing her. I'm glad that everyone likes her, she is a fun character to write. Thankyou for the comments of them being in character and that some of you can familiarize with what Claire is going through. Dee, Glad you liked the Gibbs and Jimmy moments, i felt them to be appropriate. Also you said that you do not want Claire to fit in too fast and I do not plan to. NCIS is a very tight-knit family and she always has trouble fitting in, things will continuously be tough for her and if things turn good, something else will give her a hard time. It's all part of the journey. Thanks for your review, glad my writing was "excellent". :)

Here is the next chapter, and I'm starting to introduce more of the plot soon. Yes, Claire is the main plot but there are many sub-plots mixed in :). Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 4: Round two

'You're late' Gibbs said sternly as Claire rushed into the office hardly after seven the following morning.

'It won't happen again-' Claire then paused as she saw Tony's desk was empty and untouched. There was also the absence of his bag and his computer was still off. She went to her desk without saying anything but wondered why she was getting in trouble for being hardly being more than two minutes late while Tony wasn't even there at all.

Claire dumped her bag and started up her computer to check her emails, telling herself that today was a new day and things will be a lot better than yesterday. The first day is always the hardest right? Especially since she wasn't wearing high heels this time so her balance won't be as off as it was yesterday at the crime scene. She also now knew that if Gibbs wants you to follow you do so quickly and immediately. Feeling more confident with herself, Claire relaxed and breathed in some relief.

'Abby's got something!' Gibbs announced and gestured everyone to follow him, even Claire.

She got up quickly and rushed after him as they headed for the elevator. She was so relieved to have made it this time that she missed the small smirk on Gibbs's face when she'd beaten McGee and Ziva there.

'Whatcha got Abs?' Gibbs asked as he, McGee, Ziva and Claire walked into her forensics lab several minutes later.

'Well I examined the blood samples from the crime scene, and the one in the kitchen doesn't belong to either of the victims…' Abby announced as she studied the computer screen with the results and then turned around to smile at everyone but finally spotted Claire. 'Who are you?' she asked curiously.

'New girl' Ziva provided.

'Claire Renold' Claire added and held out a hand, which Abby shook with a very friendly smile, even if it was lined with slight sympathy. But nonetheless Claire was relieved in Abby's actions since the others were still rather detached towards her. But then Claire fully noticed Abby's appearance and was rather shocked.

'Ah…you're…' Claire frowned and stared at the black outfit, along with the tattoos and dark makeup.

'Goth' Abby provided without a beat and returned to her findings. 'I'm running the prints through AFIS now but the kitchen blood sample came from a third person, for sure. It's even a different blood type' Abby said to Gibbs. 'There were also traces of Methanol in the carpet near the wife's body…'

--

After Abby had told them all of her findings so far, Gibbs slowly turned to leave with the others right behind him.

'First day?' Abby guessed, bringing her attention back to Claire.

'Second' Claire corrected.

'Good luck' Abby smiled warmly at her and waved.

'Thanks' Claire replied and followed after Gibbs and the others while muttering to herself, 'I'll need it'.

--

The next stop was the morgue, and it was hardly a few seconds after the group had walked in that Ziva noticed the exchanges of smiles between Claire and Jimmy, causing her to raise an eyebrow in interest.

'Time of death would be around three and five this morning' Ducky was saying, bringing Ziva's attention back to the case. 'Carrie here has a severe blunt force trauma in this lobe' Ducky pointed to the woman's skull to indicate the area. 'And the bullet pierced the arteries in her chest, almost a direct round through the heart' Ducky then moved to the male victim. 'Here our Marine Jeremy has three pinpoint rounds through the stomach, lung and right arteries, suggesting he was the intended target'

'Any idea why, Duck?' Gibbs wondered hopefully.

'I haven't a clue' Ducky sighed.

'She has swelling and bruising on her right ankle, looks like a hairline fracture' Claire spoke up once she spotted it.

'Indeed she does' Ducky smiled at her as she continued to impress him with her basic but extensive medical knowledge. 'Are you sure you never went to medical school?' he then praised her as she blushed a little.

'I just…picked up on things from my mother' Claire shrugged.

'Then you are very observant' Ducky noted. 'And have a very thorough memory'

'Oh no, my memory isn't at its best' Claire said and decide to stop talking as Gibbs glanced in her direction, along with Ziva. She looked away and listened to the rest of Ducky's findings, not realizing that Ziva and Gibbs were more impressed than annoyed with her.

As lunchtime swung around, the workload of the case had died down a fair bit so Claire took that opportunity to duck out and bring back some coffee for everyone in hopes of lightening the mood.

'Um, I don't know what everyone likes so ah…I got it fairly basic' Claire shrugged as she placed a cup on Tony's desk and then Ziva's. She had seen Gibbs leave just before her so she didn't get him a coffee on the assumption that he'd got himself one. Claire placed a cup on McGee's desk and then sat at her own.

'Thanks, I needed it' Tony sighed and took a sip.

'It was very kind' Ziva added politely and grabbed her own cup, taking a break from the faxed file she had been reading.

'Thank you' McGee looked over at Claire and smiled.

'It was nothing, you're welcome' Claire smiled back but then noticed how they got straight back to his or her work. She hardly had a second to dwell on it though as Gibbs strode in with a cup of coffee in one hand and a file in another.

'McGee, DiNozzo…with me!' he announced and grabbed his gun and badge from a drawer in his desk. 'Ziva, put out a BOLO on our second suspect's car and contact the family members of Carrie' he added and then paused, turning to look at Claire's hopeful expression. 'Claire' he sighed while thinking for a moment and then he smiled a little. 'Pull the records on both victim's bank transactions and credit card charges'

'You think they were in it for the money?' Ziva asked.

'Claire will soon find out' Gibbs said and left.

After the elevator doors closed, Ziva looked over from her desk at Claire. She noticed how she was eagerly doing her task as if it was something urgent that she was proud to do. Ziva felt rather sympathetic towards the new agent as well, because just like McGee, Ziva knew what it was to be a new member within this team and what it took to form trust and respect from everyone. But having known that, Ziva also didn't want to warm up to Claire too quickly as she knew that the new agent was going to have to learn the hard way…just like they all had before her.

Ziva picked up her phone to put out the BOLO and contact the family while Claire struggled but eagerly did her own task of finding the requested records.

--

After twenty minutes of working quietly, Claire looked over at Ziva as she hung up and sighed.

'Ziva?' she asked, bringing Ziva's attention over to her. 'Do you hate me?' Claire wondered casually but really wanted to know, judging by the cold shoulder she'd been given.

The Mossad Officer looked over at her and smiled ever so slightly. 'No' she replied single-wordly and went back to work.

'Okay' Claire nodded and breathed in relief, which made Ziva's smile increase humorously for a brief moment.

Later that night, Claire gathered her things quickly as Gibbs finally dismissed them and made her way to the elevator.

'Goodnight, Claire' McGee's voice called over to her and she turned around in surprise, smiling broadly at him.

'Goodnight Tim' she grinned and let him walk past her. 'Goodnight Ziva' she then added and noticed how this time Ziva gave her a smile while heading out. Gibbs was busy at his desk so Claire let him be and Tony had rushed out way too fast for anyone to say goodbye to him. Claire felt a lot better though, as if she had covered some ground today. Gibbs then got up and headed out, not even looking at her as he passed but she was used to this and it was only her second day.

Claire's smile remained as she headed towards the elevator but halfway there she stopped again and turned around to look up at the balcony near MTAC, seeing Jenny standing there and leaning on the railing. Claire waved shortly and Jenny nodded at her, a small smile reached her features also.

Author's Notes: Even to me this chapter felt a little short, but I will update soon and as the story goes along the chapters will sometimes be a lot longer than usual. I know her meeting with Abby was brief but I actually had Abby being extra warm towards the "new girl" because there is something about her that will be explained later. Anyway...please review and share some thoughts on the chapter/fic with me! Any questions, feel free to ask. Next chapter will be udpated in a few days, sooner if more/longer reviews!

-Mel