AN: Thanks so much for all the fabulous feedback on the last chapter, I hope that you guys like this next instalment! If you have any ideas, please let me know, I would love to hear them! :)

Review? x

It was cold.

Freezing to be precise but there was no snow or drizzle, at least not yet.

Another body, another case, it was another day at work.

This was getting ridiculous, he had sent everybody home early yesterday which had surprised his team, and they had all given him strange looks but said nothing.

But to be completely honest, they didn't have a major case, that and he couldn't stand to be in the building any longer.

He was currently driving his car to work, he'd gotten the call a few minutes ago and was heading to NCIS, and he had called the team.

It was early; he'd give them credit for that.

But if they were late, they'd be hell to pay.

He was not in a good mood at all; it was far from good.

So many questions filled his head, he looked up this 'Kylie Shepard' character but by the time that he did, she had mysteriously disappeared from the system altogether.

And he wasn't about to ask Tim or Abby to hack into the system for him.

No, this would not be a case for anyone else but him.

It would be in-house and for his eyes only.

If only, he knew that someone else had the exact same idea.

24 HOURS AGO

"Kel," Sighed Jenny as she placed her hands in front of her, interlacing her fingers as she walked closer to her, whilst surveying the situation that lay out in front of her.

Her daughter was crouched in the foetal position on the floor, clutching a photo of her father.

Jenny shook her head slightly, full of remorse.

Things had been harder as of late and it had hit her daughter a hell of a lot more than said person would care to admit.

This made Jenny's lips twitch upwards for a brief moment.

She is so much like her father, she couldn't help but think.

Jenny's eyebrows knitted together in deep thought.

"I can feel you staring." Mumbled Kelly unhappily

Jenny knelt down next to her daughter, placing a hand upon her shoulder as she met Kelly's tear-stricken eyes.

"I know that this has been hard for you." Started Jenny but Kelly wouldn't hear a bar of it.

"No, mom. I miss him, I miss daddy." Said Kelly and it hit Jenny like a tonne of bricks, she hadn't heard her talk like that since Jethro was away as a marine.

It was showing her daughter's vulnerable side, something that she didn't let show often.

The last time that she had been like this was when Jethro was in the explosion and they both had thought the worst.

It had been a solid six months since then.

"I know you do, baby girl." Was the only thing that she said in response to her daughter's pain, she couldn't bring herself to say anything else to ease it.

"I want to tell him that I'm alive so bad." Said Kelly as a sob escaped her making Jenny feel at fault.

Hell, she knew she was.

But in her defence, it was an attempt to keep everyone safe and the threat was still out there.

"You can't, Kelly, we need to keep him safe, I need to keep you safe." Jenny explained

"You mean, keep you safe." Kelly muttered under her breath

Jenny's hand fell to her own side; Kelly looked up at her through watery eyes.

"You know what I mean, I need to keep our family safe." Said a stern Jenny

"When are you going to tell him that we're alive?" asked Kelly quietly

"One day." She promised, but it had been the same answer for fifteen years.

Kelly no longer believed her mother's words and believed that she had to take matters into her own hands now.

No matter what the cost was.

Abby was typing away at her computer when Jenny walked into the lab.

"Hey Abs." She greeted her

"Director." Said Abby as she kept typing

Walking over to one of the main benches in her lab, Jenny noticed something that she hadn't seen in years only it was a slight difference, the red lipstick.

Placing on a pair of latex gloves, "Abby," the older woman began as she picked up the photo frame, turning towards the Gothic Forensic Scientist, "How did this get here?"

The look radiating off of the red-head could have been easily mistaken as a classic trademark Gibbs glare.

"Um..." answered Abby as she turned away to look at her boss and not her computer, "I can't tell you because Gibbs swore me to secrecy when he brought that in and asked me to run it for prints."

Placing the object down and tearing off the gloves from her hands and throwing them into the closest trash can.

"Any other secrets that you can't tell me?" Jenny asked as she walked up closer to the younger woman

"No, just that one. Because, when Gibbs said that there wasn't an AFIS match and then tried to hide the results from me, he actually didn't swear me to secrecy so that is not a secret." Rambled Abby

"Who was the match?" Asked Jenny sternly

"Your sister, aka, your daughter." Abby shot back smartly

"What are you talking about, Abs? I don't have a daughter, I only have a sister." Lied Jenny, her right eye twitched, only slightly

Abby pressed a button on a nearby remote, which sent the door to her lab shut, sealing them in effectively.

"According to AFIS, Kylie Shepard is also Kelly Gibbs, which means, that she is alive and that you are Shannon." Said Abby angrily

Jenny laughed, "I think you've made a mistake, Abby."

"No," Abby persisted as she brought up a new screen on her computer, "This is a ten-point match, and these are new prints. There is no way that Kelly is dead. You're Shannon; you've been lying to us the entire time. Jenny Shepard is Shannon Gibbs; you're Gibbs' first wife." Said Abby shocked at her own realisation

"You do not breathe a word of this to anyone; delete Kylie Shepard with no evidence of her being alive. Welcome aboard operation Lodestone." Said Jenny without leaving Abby time to get a word in

"Operation Lodestone? You mean the arms-dealing bribe case?" asked a confused Abby

"No, that's just the cover. This goes way beyond the government." Explained the red-head

"Why can't you tell Gibbs that you're alive?" asked Abby

"So he isn't in danger." Said Jenny before leaving the lab without another word.

The case had been as simply as a case closed, the killer had been incredibly sloppy; it was an easy find now that they all had a mobile AFIS and the killer had gone about daily life.

The guy cracked within a few hours of interrogation and admitted everything, not that Gibbs cared for once in his life, and he had a new objective at the moment.

And he wouldn't stop until he found out the truth.

On Gibbs' way through the Squad Room he saw McGee at Ziva's desk, working away at something or a rather, he nodded to him, a small acknowledgement to his younger agent.

Tony had gone on a coffee run and Ziva went down to visit Autopsy.

Up on the plasma was a face that he hadn't seen in years.

"Who's this?" he asked McGee

"It's uh... The Director's father, Jasper Shepard." Answered McGee as Gibbs walked closer to the screen, not being able to tear his eyes away from it

Lie.

How could that be Jenny's father?

That was Shannon's father, but he died before Kelly was born.

"You don't know him?" McGee spoke

Gibbs shook his head, not knowing what to think.

"She never talked family." Replied Gibbs, the reason why was apparent to his eyes

"It's like you." McGee thought aloud

"She has his eyes." Said Gibbs, turning around, his mind was in overdrive, "Is he still alive?"

But he had to know.

McGee typed something quickly on the keyboard.

"Deceased." He finally said after a minute

Gibbs turned back and re-examined the photo, it was without a doubt whom he thought he was.

"Suicide." Added McGee as an afterthought, "Twelve years ago."

No, that wasn't possible

AN: Dun dun dun. I smell trouble brewing, so what is the 'real' Operation Lodestone? What will Jenny (Shannon) do now that she knows that her daughter is sending a message to her father? What will happen now that someone else knows the big secret? What the heck is going on with Tony? And just how far is Gibbs willing to go this time to find out the truth? Thoughts? ;) x