A/N - well, as promised this is the new Jibbs AU. This idea sort of popped into my head as I was thinking about a darker Jen. So, er - consider yourselves warned.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know - I don't own them.

Dusk and Shadows

Part 1 - Ab initio

You didn't have to be a genius to work out that nothing good ever came out of a summons to the Director's office first thing on a Monday morning. As his team trailed along behind him Gibbs tried to work out if one of them could have got into trouble over the weekend and been foolish enough not to inform him. But he could see nothing in their faces or body language to indicate that they were feeling guilty. Even DiNozzo, a magnet for trouble if ever there was one, was looking perplexed rather than shifty. Leading him to conclude that whatever this was about – it wasn't something that his team had done, which made a change.

"He's expecting you," the Director's assistant said, waving them past. Gibbs pushed open the office door and then came to an abrupt halt when he realised just who was sitting behind the desk.

Tobias Fornell was grinning broadly, as he longed in the Director's chair. "This has to be your worst nightmare, Jethro." He said, chuckling.

"Morrow wouldn't shoot the agency in the head like that," Gibbs replied as he stepped fully into the office, his team filing in behind him. "Where is he anyway?"

"In MTAC. I started to read him in, but he decided it was 'need to know' and that he didn't." Gibbs regarded the man who, at times, he thought of as a friend. He knew Fornell wouldn't be here without a damn good reason but he wasn't a patient man at the best of times and the best of times didn't come around all that often. "What do you want Tobias?"

"Morrow said I could talk to you about re-opening an old case."

"The Bureau needs our help with a case?" He knew it couldn't be that simple, it never was.

"No, this one's Army CID. I heard you have connections there."

"Not these days," Tony chipped in before retreating in the face of Gibbs' glare, "sorry boss."

Gibbs didn't like the fact that his team, not to mention Fornell, knew anything about his personal life. If he was honest he was more bothered by that, than by the reference to Hollis. But then he hadn't exactly spent a lot of time mourning her departure for Hawaii.

"So, the FBI is asking NCIS to re-open a case belonging to Army CID?" He asked, ignoring anything else – to concentrate on something that sounded very unlikely. "What's going on Tobias?"

"You might want to sit down for this," Gibbs ignored the suggestion and kept on staring at Fornell, who shrugged. "Or not." He paused for a moment and then said, "CIA's got a new Director,"

"I heard,"

"He's looking at some of their operations, needs some help."

Gibbs thought about asking which operations, but wasn't sure he wanted to know. Fornell's stint with Homeland Security had taken him into the shadows and Gibbs had been careful not to inquire too closely into what he had been doing. "He come to you for this help?"

"He can't exactly go in-house." Gibbs took a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee, reluctantly putting the pieces together.

"What does a CIA black op have to do with an old Army CID case?" Fornell didn't bother to deny that he was talking about a black op. Black ops were unsanctioned, off the books and morally dubious – it was no wonder Morrow had retreated to the relative safety of MTAC. The Director of NCIS was an astute enough politician to know that if this blew up in their faces his best bet was to put some distance between himself and whatever 'this' turned out to be. Plausible deniability was all the rage.

"If I answer that question Jethro it means you're in – all the way. I can't afford too many people knowing about this. I can't risk the CIA finding out."

"You think they haven't heard already?"

"So far three people know. I don't want to increase the numbers too much." His own rule about keeping secrets was pretty much blown to pieces already, but Gibbs could tell that wouldn't be a welcome interjection at this point. His gut was acting up, but no one had ever accused him of quitting. Well, no one other than his three ex-wives and that was totally different.

He didn't need to look at his team who he was sure were despite to find out the big secret. Instead he met Fornell's gaze and nodded once. "We're in," he said levelly.

If the answer surprised him Fornell gave no sign of it. Instead he pressed a button and a photograph of a man in uniform appeared on the screen on the opposite wall. Gibbs studied the face carefully – putting the man in his fifties; noting the intelligence and the slight tiredness in his eyes. "Colonel Jasper Shepard," Fornell said, "he died 13 years ago from a single gun shot wound to the head." Gibbs looked back over at him, not fooled for a moment by the phrasing. "It was ruled a suicide, there was no note but he'd been suspended from duty pending an investigation. The bullet came from his own gun."

"Sounds open and shut." Gibbs said, not at all certain what he was being asked to investigate here.

"His daughter is adamant he was killed."

"And is there anything to support that belief?" When Fornell didn't reply he said, "since when did we ignore the evidence in favour of what the grieving relatives say?"

"Thirteen years ago Army CID didn't look too closely – they just wanted the whole business over and done with. There might just be a reason to take a second look," Gibbs knew his expression communicated his scepticism far better than words could, "and I need his daughter's help. Her condition for giving that help is having someone else investigate her father's death. Congratulations, you're the someone."

They'd looked into cold cases before – even re-investigated cases that had been closed. But this one didn't seem all that promising. Looking over at his team he could see they looked as uninspired as he was; all except for one. "McGee," he asked, "got something you want to share?"

"I'm not sure," McGee frowned, looking at the photograph again as though that could answer the question. "I think I've heard this story before. He was working at the Pentagon, right? In arms control? And he was under investigation for accepting a bribe when he died?"

"The bribe was supposedly from an arms dealer called La Grenouile and the investigation was shelved with Shepard's death." Fornell confirmed, a flicker of grim amusement in his expression as he looked over at Gibbs. "I think Agent McGee has been reading conspiracy theory books in his spare time."

"Big surprise," Tony muttered.

"Of course," McGee breathed, his eyes lighting up as the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place. "Boss, it's from a series of books about the CIA – there is a lot of information in them about unsanctioned operations. Of course the CIA don't comment on the accusations but they aren't conspiracy theories; the research is impeccable. The books are written by someone who used to be a CIA agent, the author's name isn't given but the books are called The Shepard Report."

The repetition of that name wasn't lost on Gibbs and after all he didn't believe in coincidences. He looked over at Fornell and asked the question that begged to be asked. "Don't tell me, Jasper Shepard's daughter?"

TBC