Gibbs drove the vehicle in silence as Penny rested her forehead against the cool glass of the window. She had stopped crying, but her face now conveyed her exhaustion and distress. As a sign of affection and comfort he reached over and squeezed her hand resting on her knee. He was relieved to feel her squeeze back, although she did not look at him.
A few miles down the road Gibbs pulled into a gas station and began to fill the car with gas. A few seconds later another car sped into the other side of the pumps, and out climbed an older man, unshaven, with long scraggily hair and a gruff voice.
'You're late.' Gibbs said without looking at the man.
'Least of my problems.' Mike replied, with a subtle nod of his head to Gibbs, as he slammed his car door.
'Well I've got another one for you; Vance knows that there was someone else at the diner.' Gibbs explained.
'My tyre tracks?' He said in realisation, before turning his attentions back to the problem at hand. 'I'm not the only one with a problem. Jenny died protecting someone.' He added, and Gibbs gave a knowing nod in response.
Once both their vehicles were filled with gas, both men disappeared into the gas station to pay, leaving Penny sat in the car. She was desperate to find out exactly what Mike had meant by his last comment, hoping she might get some answers as to why her mom was now dead. A few moments later Gibbs got back into the car, turned on the ignition and began to pull out of the gas station and back onto the main road, all done in silence.
The twenty minute drive into town was done in silence as they both contemplated their problems. Penny knew that Gibbs was keeping something from her, she just wasn't sure what. Whatever it was though, she hoped she was about to get some answers at least, as Gibbs turned the vehicle left into a busy diner parking lot, and parked towards the back.
'Come on, you need to get something to eat.' He said to her without looking at her as he got out of the vehicle, clearly indicating that this was not an option, discussion or debate.
She did as she was told, for once, and followed him into the diner. Once he'd opened the doors and took a few steps in, he glanced around before his eyes fell on Mike. They walked over to him and he pulled out a chair for Penny next to him, with Gibbs sitting on her other side.
'Everything.' Gibbs said to him, making sure that he understood that Penny deserved to know.
Mike didn't look at either of them; instead he stared at his cup of coffee in front of him, carefully stirring its contents.
'She called me, two days ago; said she needed some help from outside the agency.' He explained.
Penny gave a small laugh of disbelief before slowly shaking her head.
'Another one of her ops?' She asked.
'One of yours.' Mike replied as he glanced fleetingly at Gibbs before turning back to his coffee. 'Europe.' He added.
Gibbs shifted in his chair uncomfortably, knowing exactly which op he was referring to, but pretended to know otherwise.
'Well I spent a lot of time in Europe, Mike.' He said as he finally looked at him.
'She wasn't specific.' He replied irritably before he drew his attention to Gibbs.
Penny smiled weakly, realising exactly which European op it was that was being referred to, the one that had spelt so much trouble for Jenny and Gibbs previously, but had now caused something that she could never have predicted.
'Paris.' She whispered quietly, almost barely audible. Gibbs gave a small smile in response, a laugh almost escaping him.
Mike looked furtively over his shoulders, lowering his voice even quieter than before and looked directly at Gibbs.
'What did I tell you about leaving those loose ends?' He said gruffly, annoyance in his voice.
'Not to.' Gibbs replied, remembering all the lessons Mike had taught him when he was his partner. 'We didn't.' He added firmly.
'Well you screwed the pooch somewhere. Decker's cover was blown; they found him, made it look like a heart attack.' Mike replied.
'They?' Penny asked, unsure as to what Mike meant.
'Decker's funeral, there was a guy named Vigo, came looking for a man, Oshimida.' Mike said which resulted in a sort of gasp from Gibbs, and a look of surprise and confusion from Penny.
'Oshimida? How did he know about that? And why did he use it?' She asked, resulting in more confusion for Gibbs.
'How do you know about that?' He asked her in hushed tones.
'Mom always told me that if anything happened to her, I was to go to you and tell you oshimida. Apparently you're supposed to know what it means, but I thought it was just some code word she made up.' Penny explained as she realised the significance.
'Oshimida does mean something Penny.' Gibbs replied as he glanced at Mike, unsure of what to say.
'Relax probie, classified went out the window two days ago.' Mike said as Gibbs exhaled deeply, and Penny just sat in silent confusion and frustration. 'I know oshimida was the code you used if your cover was compromised.' Gibbs winced at Mike's latter phrase, he still felt so confused about what was going on exactly.
'In Paris, nine years ago.' He replied shirtily.
'Yeah well Decker resurrected it.' Mike said and Gibbs shook his head in annoyance. 'When they found him, instead of giving you up, he sent you a warning, bought you guys some time.'
'Yeah well not enough, was it?' Penny said as she got up from her chair and excused herself from their company, heading to the restroom.
She couldn't get her head round anything that had happened within the last couple of days, and right at this moment in time she just wanted to be alone, to be able to wallow in self-pity and loathing of everything. She closed her eyes as she desperately tried to see her mom's face and hear the last conversation they had. The last conversation they had together was by phone the previous day, maybe hours or even minutes before her death. Penny had made the call to her, missing her mom and just wishing to speak to her, even if was only briefly. In hindsight Jenny had sounded under a lot of pressure, but with almost a melancholy tone to her voice. Penny smiled slightly as she remembered that her last words to her were, "I love you". It was a bittersweet moment.
After a while she unclicked the lock to her toilet cubical, washed her hands and left the restroom, finding Gibbs still sat where she'd left him, the only difference being that he was now alone.
'Where's Mike?' She asked him quietly and tonelessly.
'Gone. We'll be heading home shortly.' He replied simply as he drained the last of his coffee and nudged a sandwich in her direction.
'Thanks, but I'm…' Penny began to say before catching sight of Gibbs's glare at her.
'You need to eat something. Even if it's just a couple of mouthfuls.' He said persistently.
She smiled weakly at him as she did as she was instructed. She really didn't feel like eating anything, but she knew better than to try and argue with Gibbs. She picked up the sandwich and smiled when she realised it was her favourite filling. Tuna, red onion, salad and French mustard salad dressing. She sank her teeth into the soft bread, but found that it was tasteless as nothing was registering within her other than grief.
Gibbs indicated to the woman behind the counter for a container, and she passed him a plastic box in which he placed the rest of Penny's sandwich, which she had pushed away from her after taking a couple of bites.
'For later.' He said to her as he tapped her shoulder and led her back outside to the car.
As she got in beside him she tried to pluck up the courage to ask him one of the questions burning in her mind. She had so many questions running through her mind, and although she did want answers, she was too afraid to ask them, afraid of the answer she may receive.
'If you have a question, Penny, you can ask it you know.' Gibbs said as he turned the car left onto the main road.
'I don't understand how your Paris op links to Mom's…to her…to all this.' She said, unable to bring herself to be able to admit that Jenny was dead.
'Our op was to carry out three assassinations, a target each. Mike seems to think Jen was unable to go through with hers.' He explained, mentally posing a question to himself. 'Listen, can you phone McGee and give him this reference number? As him to try a trace it and work out what it is.'
Penny took the napkin with a series of numbers marked on it in Mike's handwriting. She knew better than to question Gibbs if he wasn't being forthcoming with the information. She took her phone from her pocket and dialled McGee's number.
'Penny? How are…' McGee began to say as he answered his phone before Penny cut him off.
'Have you got a pen McGee?' She asked quickly.
'Penny…' He attempted to say before Penny cut him off again, only more forcefully this time.
'Have you got a pen McGee?' She said.
'Nope, but I've got a keyboard.' He replied as he pulled his keyboard towards him.
Penny read out the numbers written on the napkin, and she heard his fingers tapping away on the keys as he wrote them down.
'And what is it?' He asked once he'd finished.
'No idea McGee.' She replied with a much softer tone than before.
'But you want me to find out?'
'Yeah.' She said.
'When are you guys due back?' He asked.
'We're on our way.' She replied before hanging up.
Gibbs drove them to the airport, returned his rental vehicle and arranged their flight back whilst Penny sat in the small coffee shop across from the departure lounge. She was tired and ached, emotionally and physically. After a period of about twenty minutes Gibbs returned to her and she pushed a cup of coffee towards him. He looked at her with gratitude without verbalising it, but also looked at her with concern.
He was worried that she wasn't talking about how she was feeling or about her mother's death. Having been there himself, he knew that it wasn't good for her to bottle up her feelings. They both remained silent as they sat staring into their drinks until their flight was called.
'Come on, that's us.' He said as he got up from the table, picking up her bag and jacket before helping her up and leading her to their departure gate.
She remained silent for the whole flight, including when they landed. He led her to his vehicle and she still didn't say anything.
'Let's get you home.' He said softly.
'No.' She said sharply, and Gibbs gave her a questioning look. 'I can't face going back their on my own.' She added as tears sprang to her eyes.
Gibbs nodded as he turned on the ignition, thankful of the opportunity to be able to keep a close eye on her. Once again they were on the road, only this time they were heading to his house. It marked the end of a very long and emotional day for them both, which in reality only marked the beginning.