Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A.N.: My sister was a huge help in this chapter, I had an idea of what I wanted and she brainstormed with me till I got there!
Jenny kept to the well populated areas in case she was being followed, but so far she had not seen any sign of the Israeli woman, and she let out a cautious breath of relief. This was a disaster, she now had three bullets unaccounted for and none of her targets were dead. If Trent checked her weapon, or she asked for more bullets, she would have to tell him that she had fired at them and missed. He would never let her out on her own again. She groaned at the thought of being cooped up at the safe house while Trent cleaned up her mess. She increased her pace and hoped he would still be in the meeting with his friend when she got back so she could slip in unnoticed. She grinned to herself as she decided to ask Gregory to get her some more bullets, knowing that he would, just because she had asked him to. He was a really nice person and great company when Trent became suddenly cold to her. He would help her, of that she was sure. Her plans made, she continued to the safe house, unaware of the figure that kept pace with her, just out of her periphery.
--
Ziva continued to follow the shooter, staying out of the woman's line of sight, falling back on her Assassin skills, which she noted with relief were not as rusty as she expected, but used to be much sharper. She mentally kicked herself, she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed she had been followed until the woman had taken a shot at her; the US really was making her soft, dulling her senses. Perhaps that was why she had ignored her instincts back when she had been protecting Jenny. Back in Cairo, she would have simply walked away from Tony and stolen a car, if she didn't have control of his, and gone after her regardless of what she had told her, but back then, they had been partners, equals, one not able to order the other around. Here it had been much different. She had been too afraid of being sent back to Tel Aviv, so she hadn't done what she should have and Jenny had died because of it. Her fear had killed her first real friend, so now she shed her fear. This woman before her was being brought to justice, no matter what happened.
The woman wended her way through the other pedestrians easily, reminding Ziva of the way she and Jenny had operated back in Europe when they had been chasing terrorists, she had spent a while teaching her to go with the flow of the other people, rather than trying to part them like she was used to in the US, as Gibbs had taught her. In Cairo, announcing yourself before you reached your target was close to suicide, since they were more than happy to pull out a gun and mow down the crowds. The déjà vu hit her and she quickened her pace, her keen eyes now studying the woman in detail. Mossad operatives died all the time and some came back to work a few weeks later shaken, but triumphant. Her training also taught her that nothing was outside the realms of possibility, so what she was seeing could in theory be true. The way the woman walked was strikingly similar to Jenny, though the heels Ziva had become accustomed to her wearing as Director had distorted her familiar walk somewhat. The walk in front of her was pure Cairo-Jenny; even the casual flick of her head to check if she was being followed was perfectly in sync with what she knew.
Ziva sped up even more her heart pounding in anticipation. Her friend was right there in front of her, all she had to do was reach out and turn her around to face her, to see her face. She was six paces behind her and just about to call her name when a familiar face walked between them, cutting off her view of Jenny's retreating figure. The Sec-Nav extended a hand and gave her a cool smile.
"Miss David, did Gibbs send you on a coffee run?" Ziva was obliged to stop and answer his question, his status in NCIS forcing her to return the pleasantries, while her quarry slipped away.
"No Sir, I was following J-... the shooter who tried to kill Special Agent McGee." His eyes widened in surprise.
"Someone has made a threat against one of our Agents? This is serious. My car is around the corner; perhaps you would accompany me back to NCIS? I will require the full explanation from Agent Gibbs' team, including you." The request, which wasn't really a request but an order, shattered Ziva's hopes of resuming the chase after Jenny and she looked forlornly past the Sec-Nav, noting Jenny was nowhere to be seen. Her heart sank and she numbly acquiesced, falling in to step with him, walking away from the only real lead they had in the shooting at McGee.
--
Gibbs cursed as Ziva's phone once again went straight to voicemail. She had it turned off, she must have. So much for rule number three, he thought angrily. He slammed the piece of technology onto the solid surface of his desk, the plastic splitting and breaking away like a dropped glass and the screen going dark. He looked up from the bits of his phone as Vance stopped in front of him. The younger man watched him for a moment, making sure he had his attention before talking to him. He didn't want to start talking and be ignored, his position too precarious to risk such a public display of disrespect.
"I hear that there was an attempt on Special Agent McGee's life. Why was I not notified?" Gibbs glanced back down to his destroyed phone, cursing his temper. If Ziva tried to call him now, she wouldn't be able to get through to him. He turned his attention back to Vance reluctantly.
"We haven't caught the… person… yet, so unless you want to strap on a gun and come out looking for leads with us, there was nothing to tell you." Vance bristled at the careless tone, his patience with the recalcitrant Agent at an end.
"The system you worked under before is gone; you will not be receiving preferential treatment because of, illicit activities, with a superior anymore. I am the Director, Agent Gibbs, no matter how much you wish otherwise. You report to me, no excuses. If you breach protocol again, you may find yourself as a Probationary Agent, or without a job." He would do it, no doubt about it, but he needed a good excuse. Talking back wouldn't cut it, since even the Sec-Nav knew to expect it. That was why Vance had been trying to coerce McGee into turning tattletale. I guess straight up murder won't work on me like it almost did on Jenny.
"I'm sure there was a good reason for it Leon, just as I am also sure it will be interesting to hear." The Sec-Nav appeared behind Vance, Ziva following him, throwing apologetic glances at Gibbs. "Agent Gibbs, I would like to hear your account of this, in private." Gibbs nodded and rose from his seat, gesturing to the elevator. The Sec-Nav and Ziva followed him in to it, Vance retreating to his office.
"I didn't expect to see you, sir." Gibbs said once they were in the elevator. They took it down to Abby's lab where the rest of Team Gibbs was. Ziva said nothing during the ride down, to Gibbs or the Sec-Nav, making Jethro worry about why she had been accompanying him anyway and why she had left her phone off. The doors opened and the three stepped out, filing in to Abby's lab.
"Alright Agent Gibbs, I want to know everything about this attempt on Special Agent McGee." Abby and McGee turned around in surprise at the new voice, trying to cover their screens whilst they did so. They kept silent though; almost afraid to draw attention to them in case the man saw the information on Jenny. McGee surreptitiously switched off the monitors just as the Sec-Nav turned to them.
"Well sir, we have two bullets and some fingerprints. McGee." Gibbs nodded to McGee and the young man turned one of the monitors back on and brought up the fingerprint match to Trent Kort. The Sec-Nav's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the match, before he carefully controlled his expression.
"One of the CIA's operatives, why would he shoot at your man?"
"He didn't, but this part may be a little hard to believe sir." Tony spoke up from outside the lab as he entered from the elevator. Vance had sent him down and he passed Gibbs a new phone as he approached. Gibbs pocketed the new phone and motioned to Abby to bring up the information on the hair and recording from the coffee shop.
"Erm… this is the video from the coffee shop… it erm… it shows Jenny." Abby said nervously, as the Sec-Nav turned to her, confused.
"Jenny who? If you know this person why haven't you caught her?" Gibbs walked over to stand next to Abby, putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her.
"Jennifer Shepard." The Sec-Nav froze and then shook his head vigorously.
"Impossible, she's dead."
"No sir, she isn't. Her autopsy report was falsified. We also found a hair on the rooftop where McGee confronted the shooter and the DNA came back as a 100% match. There is no doubt about it. Jenny is alive and she tried to kill McGee." Jethro said his heart constricting as he admitted to someone who wasn't part of the family that 'mommy' was trying to kill the kids. His Jenny had turned against them in an utterly unforgivable way, and yet he couldn't help but be thrilled that she was really alive. His love couldn't discriminate between the woman and the killer, no matter whose side she was on. His head however, wanted to take her down and rather ashamedly wished she had stayed dead, because dead she had at least been remembered by the team fondly.
"We think someone is in on it, too." Tony added.
"An inside job, as it were." McGee added. "We think its Vance." The Sec-Nav shook his head, looking a little dazed at what he was hearing, a small smile of disbelief on his face.
"Director Leon Vance? You think he is in on Jenny's death? Or her current activities?" he asked Gibbs cautiously, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.
"Her death, sir, though we won't rule out anything else."
"She shot at me as well; I was following her when we met, sir." Ziva finally spoke up, and everyone's attention was suddenly focussed on her. She shifted a little nervously before pushing her emotions to the back of her mind, and straightening to report. "I was looking for the second bullet. I entered a fight with a large man, and she shot him and then ran away. I believe she aimed for me and missed, but I cannot be sure."
"And I blocked your way and then brought you here, I am sorry my dear. However this is beyond the power of NCIS alone, I will enlist the aid of another Agency, one she doesn't know the Agents of so we can bring her in safely. Please forward all of the evidence to my office and I will keep you informed as updates come through." He pointed at Abby as he spoke and then moved towards the door resolutely. "I will speak to Leon, and if he is involved he will be removed. Thank you everyone." The Sec-Nav left, leaving the lab in perfect silence for a few moments while everyone absorbed what had happened.
"Gibbs? What just happened?" Abby's small voice cut through the silence like a bell and everyone turned to look at Gibbs, awaiting the answer. Gibbs swallowed hard and blinked, before letting out a harsh breath, anger slowly flooding his body.
"We just got taken off of the case."
