Hey readers - As promised, you get the next chapter a LOT quicker than last time XD

Now I don't have an awful lot to say today, but I really just want to say thank you to the warm reception that the last chapter received. I was a bit worried that nobody would be interested in this story anymore considering how long it had been since I'd last updated, so it was really lovely to see that that wasn't the case. Thank you so much to everyone that has reviewed, favourited and followed this story. It really means a lot to me : )

Beyond that, I think we should just get straight into it, so please remember that NCIS is not owned by me.

I hope you enjoy this chapter : )

Kill Ari - Part 9

Jenny Shepard carried an air of definite frustration about her as she stepped out of her house and into the cold night air. Not five minutes ago, she had been curled up in her cosy bed, a steaming hot mug of cocoa at her side, whilst she flicked through some paperwork that she'd brought home from the office. She was not ten minutes away from turning in for the night. Now, she had been forced to change out of her warm pyjamas into a dark jumper and jeans, to go do a job which she honestly thought that she'd long since left behind her. Oh, and the fact that she'd been putting out political fires all day hadn't helped with her mood much either. It was therefore no wonder as to why she was wearing a scowl on her face as she exited her house and locked it up, before she crossed the street to where Gibbs' car was parked. And damn if the smirk on his face wasn't downright infuriating.

Sighing deeply in a show of incredible self-restraint, Jenny bit her tongue as she got in the car. As soon as she was strapped in, they were off and away. As they went, Gibbs gave her the run-down on everything that had happened so far. Jenny could scarcely believe her ears when he told her that not only had himself, along with Agents Todd and DiNozzo, been shot at on that rooftop, a fact that she had already known, but that Agent McGee would be dead if not for a very lucky escape. NCIS' top forensic scientist, Abby, had also been targeted, in her own lab at headquarters no less! Add in the fact that Ducky and his former assistant Gerald Jackson had both seemingly been taken hostage by Ari, and it became increasingly obvious that this was a direct attack on the MCRT team, and everyone associated with it.

The only bright spot in this... shit-show... was that Ducky and Gerald had been released without harm. Jenny had already known about that though. She hadn't left the office until she had been assured of that fact. She was glad that they were both alright. Now, Gibbs had just informed her that McGee and Abby had managed to locate an address which Ari could potentially be hiding out at, and so that was where they were headed to now.

"What are the chances that Ari is still at this house?" Jenny eventually asked after taking a moment to gather her thoughts. She hadn't counted on dealing with anything like this on her first day as the new NCIS director after all.

"Zero" Gibbs replied, but he still wanted to check it out anyway, just in case Ari had left a clue behind. Then, he felt the need to add more, "Ducky was a diversion so your friend Ziva could pass cash and documents to him".

Jenny immediately picked up on his harsh tone, and gave him a withering look.

"Ziva's a control officer doing her job" the red haired woman defended the Mossad operative. Then, because she couldn't help but feel that Gibbs was being hypocritical, she pointed something else out to him, "You'd do the same if the roles were reversed".

Gibbs looked distinctly annoyed by that particular remark, but held his tongue for once, mostly because he knew it was true. So instead, he decided to change the subject, albeit only slightly.

"She's using you, Jen!" the silver haired agent exclaimed.

"And I'm using her" Jenny calmly defended, acknowledging his point but not necessarily agreeing with it, "A half dozen Hamas suicide bombers will not be blowing up our boys in Iraq because of Ziva".

It didn't take long for Gibbs to put the pieces together.

"She's Metsada, isn't she?" he asked his old flame, but he didn't need her to answer him. He knew he was right already.

"The Mossad code name for that division is Komemiute" Jenny informed him, prompting Gibbs to roll his eyes. She always had been a stickler for details.

"Whatever they name it, they specialise in assassinations" he spat. After the fate that had almost befallen Kate earlier that day, the word left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Excuse me" the red haired woman scoffed, again at his hypocrisy, "Weren't you a Marine sniper?"

Gibbs huffed out an aggravated breath. He didn't like how this conversation was playing out. Not. One. Bit.

"If I have to go through your friend to get Ari, I will" the silver haired federal agent promised darkly.

"Ziva knows that" Jenny said understandingly. After all, everyone on Gibbs' team had come under attack in the last twenty-four hours. It was understandable that he wasn't about to take that lying down. She could respect that.

There was a rather tense pause.

"You really do like her" Gibbs realised, and Jenny nodded her head in confirmation.

"She's damn good" the new director said, praising her friend. Gibbs sensed that there was a little more to it than just Ziva's abilities as an operative though. Moments later, he was proved right, "... And I owe her. She saved my life in Cairo two years ago".

Gibbs bobbed his head in acknowledgement. That made more sense.

The duo continued on their drive in silence for a short while, but it wasn't long before Jenny was shaking her head out of exasperation. At that point, the new director resumed their conversation once more.

"I can't believe this" she frowned in dismay, unable to comprehend just how this had happened, "I've been Director less than twenty four hours, and I'm back on the street".

From his position behind the wheel, Gibbs snorted in amusement.

"It's great, isn't it?" he flashed her one of his cheekiest grins. Jenny felt her heart flutter briefly, but she pointedly ignored it, and shook her head.

"No, Jethro" she denied, though her soft smile betrayed her, "It isn't".

"Come on!" Gibbs teased her, memories of the past that he shared with this particular friend bringing out his rarely-seen playful side, "Come on! You love it".

"Truthfully? I'd rather be in bed" Jenny replied, but upon realising just how that statement must have sounded, she quickly amended, "Sleeping".

Gibbs couldn't help it when her somewhat flustered words invoked some particularly X-rated memories in him.

"Remember that stake out in Marseille?" he said with twinkling eyes, and judging by the smile that came to Jenny's lips, she did remember it, and she remembered it well, "August. Stuck in that attic with no air, photographing everyone who boarded that Lebanese trawler. That second night... that's the first time we..."

"Okay" Jenny told him, rolling her eyes in fond exasperation. She knew exactly what he was doing, but she was too tired to play his games tonight, "Shut up".

Gibbs just gave her a smile that was almost wistful, before something outside the car caught his attention.

"Hand me the binocs" he said abruptly, changing the subject so quickly that Jenny almost got mental whiplash, "They're underneath the seat".

"What?" the red haired woman blinked in confusion. Confusion that only increased when Gibbs suddenly pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"That's Ari's SUV!" Gibbs yelled.

He gestured furiously towards a car that was hurtling down the road in their direction, and Jenny saw that he was right. Just as he had described earlier when giving her his summation of the investigation, a black Chevy Suburban was coming at them at incredible speed. Suddenly it swerved so that it was blocking the whole road, and the driver's window came down. What Jenny saw next made her blood run cold...

A gun!

What she saw was a gun, and it was aimed straight at her and Gibbs!

"Shooter!" Jenny screamed in warning to her old mentor and beloved friend.

It was like déjà vu all over again for poor Gibbs. Unbeknownst to her of course, Jenny had just perfectly mirrored the warning that Kate had delivered to him not twenty-four hours previously. Right before she had taken a bullet for him. A matter of minutes before she'd almost be murdered. It was eerily reminiscent of that moment, but his team had gotten incredibly lucky earlier. It was a miracle that they had all survived. He prayed that that same luck didn't run out now.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound of gunfire roared in their ears, and an instant later both Gibbs and Jenny were caught in a deadly rain of glass as the windscreen of their car exploded. Gibbs lunged in his seat towards his old flame, and all but forced her head between her knees as he attempted to shield her from the spray of bullets being pumped into their car.

"Stay down!" the silver haired federal agent bellowed over the cacophony.

Jenny did as she was told, trusting his experience. It was a tense couple of moments as the two of them waited out their assailant. After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was just a few seconds, the sound of gunfire faded and died away, but with a lack of screeching tyres, it signalled that the gunman had simply stopped to reload, rather than retreat. This was the opening that Gibbs and Jenny had been waiting for. Neither of them hesitated to take it.

The two of them promptly returned fire.

CRASH!

This time it was the glass within the windows of the SUV that exploded, and for a brief moment, nothing happened. Jenny was hopeful that one of their shots had hit their attacker, and that he was now in no condition to fire back at them. Gibbs didn't look quite so optimistic however, and he was quickly proved right. For at that exact moment, without any kind of warning whatsoever, the engine of the SUV suddenly blared into life again, and the large black vehicle took off tearing down the street.

"Oh hell no!" Gibbs growled under his breath, his icy blue eyes beyond furious.

Not again. There was no way that he was going to let Ari give him the slip again. Not after everything that... bastard had put everyone he cared about through in the last few months. Slamming his foot down on the accelerator pedal so hard it instantly went down to the floor, Gibbs drove pretty much like a maniac as he gave pursuit to Ari's SUV. The federal agent's target tried to speed up, but with a tricky little manoeuvre that required a great amount of skill to successfully pull off without crashing, Gibbs managed to get the dishevelled car in front of the target vehicle. The driver began firing upon them once again, but much to Gibbs' relief, this time Jenny was ready, and had her weapon trained on the driver's window of the SUV in record-breaking time.

BANG!

The new director of NCIS fired off a single shot that got the job done. The bullet shattered the driver's window, and even through the darkness, Gibbs and Jenny could see that there was a flash of ominous red. Moments later, the door to the SUV swung open, and a figure toppled out and landed sprawled out on the ground. They couldn't see the person clearly, but well enough to determine that it was a man. He made no attempt to get to his feet.

Realising what that probably meant, Gibbs and Jenny hesitantly got out of the car, both of them keeping their guns trained firmly upon the prone figure on the ground at their feet, just in case it was a trick. But no. It was no trick. A pool of crimson was oozing out from beneath the man. Gibbs, feeling a tiny surge of momentary triumph, holstered his gun, before he turfed the man on the ground over with his foot.

His heart plummeted.

"I expected Haswari to be older" Jenny remarked casually from his side, her gun still pointed at the body on the pavement. The sound of her voice was enough to drag Gibbs out of his stunned horror, and he turned to the red haired woman with a heavy scowl marring his face.

"He is!" the silver haired federal agent spat, his tone like acid, as his frustrations let themselves be known. And the reason for such frustrations was really rather simple.

The man lying dead at their feet... was not Ari Haswari.

The following morning unfortunately did not see a change in the team's recent run of terrible luck.

After what could quite possibly be called the longest night of his career as a federal agent, Gibbs had hesitantly brought in the team to process the scene of the previous night's gunfight. He had only done it once he was cautiously sure that there were no further snipers in the area, but he hadn't liked having his team out in the open and exposed at such a perilous time. He'd liked it even less when Kate had outright insisted on coming to the scene as well, firmly stating that she was a federal agent and a trained investigator, and that facing such dangers was simply another part of her job. She had also made a point of telling him that in no uncertain terms would she ever, ever be driven to hide away from Ari like some timid little mouse. Gibbs could respect that, and so he had begrudgingly given in, but his mood was soured even further when Jenny had also refused to go back to the safety of the headquarters building, insisting that she stay despite all of Gibbs' pleas. This had the potential to spiral into an international incident after all. Jenny wanted to be present so that she was on top of everything should things take a political turn for the worse.

Thankfully however, the remainder of the night passed without any further attacks.

Now, Gibbs was currently standing in the Autopsy Suite back at NCIS headquarters, listening as Ducky gave his report on the man that he and Jenny had justifiably shot dead last night. The silver haired federal agent was only vaguely aware of his surroundings however, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts...

"... Gun shot wound number three is located under the right clavicle. Appears to be a distant wound from the absence of sooting and stippling" the medical examiner's face was grim as he informed his friend of all the discoveries that he had made throughout the night, "Gun shot wound number four is located six centimetres to the left. Appears to be a distant wound from the absence of sooting and stippling..."

Gibbs eventually tuned Ducky out as a veil of darkness threatened to descend across his mind.

Some time later, the silver haired federal agent found himself standing in the NCIS evidence garage. He was stood before an anxious McGee, who had spent the last few hours of the night combing over Ari's SUV for evidence. Now, the junior agent was practically rambling at him, having just finished making his own report on the recovered evidence.

"... It is a miracle, Boss. He was shooting to kill her, not you. Just like he tried to do with Kate and Abby. It's funny how he always went after women" the younger man then heard how that sounded, and quickly amended his words, "Not that I'm implying he should have shot at you rather than..."

Gibbs just sighed, and unwilling to listen to anymore of his junior agent's flustered babbling, he turned and filed out of the room without so much as a single word.

It wasn't long before Gibbs found that things were going from bad to worse. He was now stood in Abby's lab, and the woman in question had a concerned expression on her usually quite cheerful face.

"...You're not going to like this Gibbs" the gothic forensic scientist said apprehensively, but when he didn't reply, she quietly continued, "All the three-oh-eight full metal jacket rounds recovered from the shooting that almost killed Kate, came from this Bravo Fifty-One rifle dropped by the sniper you and the new director engaged fire with last night".

Utter despair threatened to completely overwhelm Gibbs at this point. He knew in his guts that it was Ari behind all of this, but damn he was good. Every single piece of evidence was pointing away from him. It certainly made it harder for others to believe that Gibbs' campaign to bring the bastard down was fully justified.

Shaking his head, Gibbs just turned and left the lab. He prayed that his more senior agents would find something, anything, that would throw suspicion at the bastard who deserved it.

His prayers went unanswered.

In the squad room, Gibbs listened intently as Tony informed him of everything he'd been able to dig up on the shooter from last night. His name was apparently Mohamed Esfiri, though Gibbs was still convinced that he wasn't the one who had almost murdered Kate. Nevertheless, he listened to what Tony had to say.

"...Two years ago, Mohamed Esfiri was a homegrown terrorist. Born in Cleveland" Tony took a deep breath, gathering himself before he continued, "He was an ardent follower of radical Imam who promised martyrdom to all who died in the Jihad..."

Gibbs couldn't believe how plausible all of this sounded, which troubled him deeply. It was astonishing how well Ari had covered his tracks. Now the silver haired federal agent was starting to fear the worst.

He feared that the bastard was going to get away with everything.

The silver haired federal agent couldn't stand to be in the office much longer, and so he marched out of the bullpen in the direction of the elevator. He intended to get himself a cup of coffee, along with some fresh air. Perhaps that would help him make sense of everything. The elevator doors slid open, and Gibbs was surprised to see that Kate was standing behind them, almost like she'd been waiting for him. Her arms were crossed tightly, her expression hard.

"Please tell me you're not buying into all this crap, Gibbs" the young woman said sharply, without any kind of preamble whatsoever.

And just like that, Gibbs felt his hope being restored.

Finally, at long last, somebody on his team was taking his views on this investigation seriously. It was enough to give him a little faith that maybe they could turn this around, and make sure that the man responsible for all this was held to account. He also couldn't help but feel a swell of pride and affection for Kate. The loyalty she had shown him throughout this whole affair was unparalleled.

"We both know that Ari is behind all of this" the female federal agent stated in a voice that brooked no argument, "But all the bigwigs care about is playing politics, and damn the rest of us!"

Gibbs just smirked, but didn't reply. Her own indignation over this was actually making him feel a little better.

"And the worst part is, I haven't been able to find anything that would prompt reasonable doubt" she stormed, her dark eyes flashing with anger, "The only angle we might possibly be able to exploit is the fact that Mohamed Esfiri was a fairly weak-willed man. At least, that's what the profilers at both the CIA and FBI said in their respective psychological profiles of him. Since I haven't had the chance to start compiling my own yet, it's all I've got to go on right now. But the point is that if Ari told this Esfiri man to shoot at you to throw suspicion off himself, from what the profilers suggest, Esfiri would do it".

Gibbs' smile only widened. He leaned over and pressed the button, and the doors slowly slid shut.

Unfortunately, Kate seemed to be the only person at NCIS who was able, or even willing, to offer any alternative theories.

After they had gone down to the coffee stand and procured Gibbs his coffee, as well as a nice cup of tea for Kate, the silver haired federal agent had escorted his female agent back up to the squad room. In that brief time they had been out of the office, Jenny had been updated on everything, and unfortunately, it seemed she had come to the same conclusion as everyone else.

She believed that Ari Haswari was innocent.

Now, she had all of the team assembled as she addressed them, whilst Gibbs looked on in horror, scarcely able to believe his ears.

"... And since Miss Sciuto has confirmed that the sniper rifle that we recovered last night was the weapon used in the, thankfully, botched attempted assassination of Special Agent Todd, and with no evidence to the contrary, it appears that Mohamed Esfiri was the sniper" the red haired woman announced, destroying any hope that Gibbs might have had about getting her on-side, "I believe it's safe for your team to go home, Gibbs. All of you should go home and get some rest. You all deserve it after the harrowing experiences you've all faced over the last few days".

And with that, they were all dismissed.

Gibbs watched as a seething Kate marched over to her desk and sank down into her chair, putting her head in her hands in despair. It was obvious that she was trying very hard to rein in her brewing temper. Before the silver haired federal agent had a chance to speak to her however, Jenny approached his agent's desk. Kate looked up at the other woman, a mask of forced calm on her face.

"Special Agent Todd... I..." Jenny trailed off for a moment, unsure of what to say considering that she barely knew Kate, having only just met her the day before, "I know that this must be difficult to accept, considering the... tense history you've had to endure with Ari Haswari"

Kate couldn't help but scoff derisively.

"That's a very diplomatic way of putting it, ma'am" the female federal agent was very careful to keep her tone respectful. It was rather obvious however that she was not happy with this situation. Not. One. Bit, "I imagine your friend Ziva must be very happy right about now".

Jenny narrowed her eyes, but kept calm.

"Ziva is simply doing her job in protecting someone she works with, the same thing everyone here at NCIS does on a daily basis" the new director pointed out, "All the evidence is saying that Ari is innocent".

"Evidence can be faked" was Kate's simple response, still with forced politeness.

Jenny let out a deep sigh. Loathed though she was to admit it, she knew that the other woman had a valid point about that.

"True enough, but sadly there are no indications that that's what happened in this case" the red haired woman retorted, "And we cannot justify going after Ari Haswari, despite his actions towards you in the past. There's simply no proof that he tried to kill you".

"And because of that, it suddenly makes perfect sense that Mohamed Esfiri, someone none of us have ever met, would try and take us all out" Kate's tone, though still polite, showed the first signs of sarcasm creeping into it, "Ma'am, I mean no disrespect, and I hope you don't think I'm just blatantly ignoring your authority because I assure you I'm not, but surely that must strike you as... strange?"

Jenny couldn't help but allow a deep sigh to escape her lips. The other woman was right. Something was very strange about all of this.

"Strange though it may be, we can't risk sparking an international incident based on a hunch" Jenny replied firmly, but not unkindly, "Without concrete proof, Ari is innocent in the eyes of those that matter. He has... powerful friends".

The smile that Kate gave her was highly unpleasant.

"Well I sincerely hope that those people don't learn the hard way that their friendship is misplaced, Ma'am" the female federal agent said coolly, still valiantly attempting to be respectful, "Because even if Ari wasn't the sniper that tried to murder me, which I take the liberty of doubting, he is still a very dangerous man".

Now that, Jenny could agree with. She wasn't about to voice such an opinion however. Not when everyone was on the warpath like this.

"Perhaps, but the point I was originally trying to make is that I am not ignorant of the fact that you've endured far more than you should have be forced to in relation to this case" the new director of NCIS eventually responded, and whilst her words were the true, she was no doubt also using them as a means to change the subject, "So if there is anything I can do to help you put this ordeal behind you, anything at all, my office door is always open".

Kate was honestly taken aback by the offer. Whilst the more cynical part of her thought that the red haired woman might just be trying to win over her new employees, the profiler in her could tell that that wasn't the case at all. Jenny genuinely meant it, and so it was for that reason that Kate bit back any sarcastic response she might have had about hunting for Ari. Instead, she did something rather unexpected.

She smiled.

"I really appreciate that Ma'am, thank you" she said gratefully. After everything that had happened to her thanks to that bastard, it wasn't exactly surprising that she was a little burnt out mentally. It was nice to know that senior management weren't just ignoring that, and was offering her help, despite the low chances of her actually reaching out and taking it. If nothing else, it was comforting to know that the option was there.

Jenny nodded at her kindly, before she decided to leave things there for now. The whole conversation had been rather tense, so she wanted to leave it on somewhat of a good note. So instead, the red haired woman turned her attention to Gibbs, who she noted, had observed her entire conversation with Special Agent Todd. He had a look of pride in his eyes as he regarded his agent, and Jenny shook her head. It didn't take a genius to work out where Kate got her attitude towards Ari Haswari from. Still, if there were two things that Jenny had gleaned from her conversation with the other woman, the first was that she was first and foremost a consummate professional, and that secondly, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind to her superiors. Both were defining traits that Jenny could respect. As she approached Gibbs' desk however, she kept any thoughts on her initial impression of Kate to herself. Now was hardly the time for such things after all.

"What about you, Jethro?" the new director asked her old friend kindly.

"It wasn't Mohamed that almost killed Kate" he whispered, practically willing her to believe him, but it was clear that she didn't, "He didn't shoot at Abby".

Jenny sighed deeply. This man was like a dog with a bone, and she was starting to grow worried for his state of mind. She was just grateful that Esfiri hadn't actually managed to kill anyone, or else Gibbs would be a hundred times worse.

"You are not infallible, Jethro, no matter what your gut is telling you" she told him with all the patience she could muster, concern heavy in her expression, "Ari isn't trying to kill you, but this obsession might!"

"Hey, Jen?" his gaze was hard with frustration.

"What?" she sighed again, in a way that showed that the feeling was mutual.

"Why did he only shoot at your side of the car last night?" he questioned, and for one brief moment, Gibbs thought he caught a hint of doubt in her eyes. Sadly, it was quickly extinguished.

"I suppose you were right on that aspect at least" she said in an obvious attempt to appease him, "He was trying to kill women who work with you".

"How did he know you were in the car? I called you at the spur of the moment" Gibbs pointed out to her, and Jenny could see the logic of what he was saying. Something, she wasn't sure what, but something wasn't quite adding up, "I parked in the dark. He couldn't see through our windshield even with a scope. That guy was sent to die Jen, not to kill".

"No" Jenny immediately shook her head, not wanting to believe it, but unable to hide her doubts now, "No one's going to do that".

"Come on, Jen!" he exclaimed, unable to believe that she could be so naive at a time like this, "Hamas suicide bombers blow themselves up all the time. It doesn't matter how a martyr dies as long as it's for the Jihad. Mohamed last night - he died for rivers of honey and seventy-two virgins".

Jenny bit her lip uncertainly, still very conflicted on whether to believe him or not. Despite this however, she couldn't deny that he'd made a very good point.

"I'm not saying you're right..." the red haired woman eventually replied in a cautious, slow voice, "But if you are, how do we prove it?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her, almost looking amused.

"We?" the silver haired federal agent repeated incredulously, "Did you just join my side?"

The new director of NCIS just gave him a look that was somewhere between fond and exasperated.

"Jethro, I've always been on your side" Jenny assured him in a tone full of such genuine sincerity that even Gibbs couldn't argue with it, "What do we do?"

Gibbs didn't even have to pause for a moment to think about his response. He already had one.

"Kill Ari... before he kills me".

And there's another one done : )

Phew! A lot happened in this chapter. When I first started writing it I was a little worried that Kate wasn't going to be in this chapter as much as I wanted, but then the idea of the minor confrontation between her and Jenny came to me, and inspiration struck : ) Hopefully you guys enjoyed that scene, because I really enjoyed writing it. It's fun seeing how Kate might have interacted with characters that she never got the opportunity to meet in the canon version of the show. Plus, I really wanted to give her a scene on her own with Gibbs that was similar to those he had with each character in this part of the canon episode, so hopefully that part came off nicely : )

Anyway, thank you so much for reading my story, I hope you're enjoying it so far, and please consider leaving a review on your way out because I'd love to hear your thoughts and any feedback you might have to give : )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )