Thanks to my beta Kristen!

A/N: I know I am being more evil than usual, but this storyline appealed to me. Please trust me and don't give up after this chapter! I am very fond of my twists and turns... and this might have a few more than normaly. And I promise that Jenny's secret will be dealt with.

For my Nan, who gets copies of all my stories through the mail because she doesn't have a computer.

Shades of Darkness

Chapter 1: Prologue

Leroy Jethro Gibbs watched as the redhead entered the ballroom. Her dark blue dress swirled around her feet, a stunningly beautiful diamond necklace rested lightly on her sternum, and her hair hung loose, with a few natural kinks in it.

She was attending a charity ball, to which a large number of media goons had been invited. Gibbs was not sure how many there were, but he was extremely glad the photographers at least were outside. Being accosted for an interview every few steps was aggravating enough.

He and his team had been dragged in to protect the Director. Personally, he did not think she needed protecting. It was not because of the agents present from other agencies, nor because of the sheer improbability of someone smuggling a weapon in here, nor because he felt she could take care of herself.

It was because the Director of NCIS was at home with her children.

Lily, her big bad CIA sister, had taken over for the night, having showed up at the Navy Yard earlier in the afternoon and claiming Jenny needed the evening off. For her part, Jenny had not argued. Whatever secret she was hiding had been draining her for weeks and it was clear she needed time to relax. Lily could cover for her anyway.

Lily was also perfectly capable of dealing with anyone who came after her. She did not need his team standing guard, even though they did not realize which way round the sisters were. No one ever did.

He knew for certain that he could not simply disappear and leave her to her own devices. She had a nasty habit of tormenting him, and she would use any material he gave her. And she also had a nasty habit of causing a great deal of trouble.

Her current 'game' involved bombs and toilets. It seemed that she had spent the previous weekend rigging half the toilets in the Navy Yard to explode at strange intervals. The toilets had been chosen at random, causing interesting side effects. No one dared to use the bathrooms any more, not after several toilets had exploded while agents were sitting on them. People had resorted to leaving the Yard every few hours to use the facilities elsewhere. Gibbs had found himself making extra trips to his favorite coffee shop.

It could only be Lily. Although she had not owned up to it, she walked in every day with a huge grin on her face. That, and no one else would blow up toilets. Jenny had bought EOD in to locate the bombs, but Lily had been smart and hidden them well. Gibbs had suggested torturing Lily until she cracked, but Jenny had vetoed it.

Via Cynthia.

They still were not talking. Cynthia was being used to pass messages, as was Lily when she was around. His team were carefully staying out of the way.

He could not understand why she was not talking to him. He hoped she opened up before it was too late.

Lily appeared at his side with two glasses of bourbon. He gratefully took one.

"They're going to start rumors about us if you aren't careful," he hissed.

She shrugged her shoulder slightly. "Let them. Half the stuff they print nowadays is rubbish anyway. And I can always swear on my own life that I'm not sleeping with you." She took a sip of her drink.

"Jenny won't be happy."

She grinned. "I might have forgotten to mention that I know a few of the higher-ups in the media world. I can have any story I like completely discredited in less than an hour."

He wasn't surprised. Lily was able to do a lot of things. "How much longer are you hanging around for?"

She tugged at his arm and looked at his watch. "I'm leaving in five minutes. Tell the driver to bring the car round the front."

Tony DiNozzo glanced around at the media scrum in front of the door. The Director's car was due to arrive any minute, and then Gibbs would escort her out the door and to her car. She would be very safe.

How could anyone live their life with the media liable to poke their noses in at any and every moment? They were like vultures, circling overhead, waiting for trouble to strike. Sometimes causing the trouble themselves.

A black Lincoln Town car pulled up by the curb. Tony recognized it as the same car the Director had arrived in. He could just about make out the shape of the driver and the front passenger through the windshield.

Time to get this show on the road.

He spoke into the radio concealed at his wrist. "Car's here, boss."

"Roger that, DiNozzo," came the reply. "Bringing her out now."

The photographers had used their one collective brain cell to figure out that someone was about to leave. They swarmed in front of the door just as the Director emerged.

Tony resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. He had seen the redhead when she had entered, but she looked so… hot. The diamonds draped around her neck had to be worth a lot of money. He vaguely wondered where she had managed to get hold of them.

Gibbs stood in front of her, and pushed his way through the crowd, allowing the Director to follow him easily. She smiled at the cameras, looking completely unflustered.

Finally, they reached the car. Tony opened the back door for her and she smiled gratefully at him. He deliberately refrained from watching her butt as she entered the car, aware that Gibbs would kill him if he caught his senior field agent peeking.

He closed the door behind her, leaving him and Gibbs and the media dirtbags standing on the sidewalk. The driver gently accelerated away, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief.

No attempts on the Director's life. No problems.

He caught a glimpse of the car rounding a corner up ahead. Everything was over. He could go back to his apartment and crawl into bed. Life was good.

BOOM

He did not have to glance at Gibbs to know what had just happened. The car! They raced for the corner, the media pack slightly behind them. Tony and Gibbs rounded the corner a full second before everyone else.

For a few moments, the entire car was lit up by the flashbulbs of cameras.

The car had been almost destroyed. Fire engulfed the wreckage, and Tony instantly knew there would be no survivors. It was impossible to survive something like this.

His heart skipped a beat. "Boss?" he whispered. "Jenny or Lily?" Gibbs would understand without alerting the rest of the media.

"Lily."