It had been a long day. Getting kidnapped was not Jenny Shepard's favourite way to spend an afternoon. She'd been glad to get home, and was now curled up on the couch in her study with a drink. Jenny groaned on the inside when she heard a knock at the door and slowly made her way towards the entry as the noise intensified. She flung the door open, gun in hand, not in the mood for company.
"What?" she snapped, then raised one eyebrow when she saw who it was. "Jethro."
He looked her over seriously. "Jen." After a couple moments of silence he mimicked her expression. "Gonna invite me in?"
Rolling her eyes, Jenny stepped back to let him enter. She followed Gibbs to her study where he poured a drink to match hers.
"Help yourself," she said dryly.
Gibbs sat in the middle of the couch and Jenny resumed her earlier position at one end after watching him briefly. They sipped their drinks in silence while minutes ticked by on the clock. When he didn't say anything, Jenny turned to him.
"Did you come for something besides the bourbon Jethro?"
His eyes stayed fixed on the flames in the fireplace. "Can't a guy just drop by and visit his old partner?"
"Old partner?" Jenny smiled knowingly. "You must really think I'm not okay."
"Are you?"
She patted his knee. "I'm fine Jethro. The afternoon had it's...tense moments. But the bad guys are dead and the good guys got home safe and sound." Jenny studied her glass. "I never did say thank you."
Gibbs sighed and his gaze finally settled on her. "Today brought up some old memories."
Jenny winced. "I apologize for that. It was the only thing I could think of to give you a hint."
A moment of happiness glimmered in Gibbs' eyes. "You loved that coat."
Her expression softened, pain etched in the green orbs that watched him as she let his words take her back, back to Paris in '99. "It was such an unexpected surprise. I thought of you every time I put it on."
"You left it on the plane," he reminded her and Jenny could hear the hurt that action had caused him.
"I didn't know how to say goodbye," she whispered, the day clearly impressed on her memory. It was one of the many choices she wished she could take back, maybe the most important one.
"Don't," Gibbs said, then caught himself. "You could've said it to my face."
"No," Jenny shook her head and could feel the tears coming. "If I'd looked into your eyes again I never would've been strong enough to leave."
Gibbs' arm came to rest on the back of the couch. "We could've had another chance. Your first day..." his gaze hardened. "You know feelings aren't easy for me, but you just shut me down."
Sadness filled her entire being and she closed her eye. "I needed to prove I could do my job without you."
His voice was gruff. "Have you?"
Jenny couldn't look at him. "Why are you here Jethro?" It was starting to hurt too much, to be this close to him and feel so far away. Some old wounds needed to be left unopened.
"Ducky came in too soon today. I never got to tell you," Gibbs said once the quiet had invaded again.
It took a lot for Jenny to lift her eyes to his. "Tell me what?" She noticed that he'd shifted closer, that his arm was nearly around her shoulders now, but she had no desire to move away.
"That I'm glad you're okay." His voice was husky. "I was worried about you Jen."
She smiled. "Leroy Jethro Gibbs admitting a weakness?"
Gibbs' thumb traced her lips and Jenny's eyes fluttered closed. "I've always had one Jen," he whispered in her ear.
Jenny needed to know where this was going. "I won't be a fling Jethro."
He leaned back and searched her eyes. "What about your rule Director?"
It took everything Jenny had not to throw herself into his arms. "I would welcome something off the job Agent Gibbs."
"Good. Because I don't take no for an answer." His warm breath caressed her face and Jenny loved that he was so close. "I want something real with you. I've missed you Jen."
A grin spread over her face. "I missed you too Jethro." Tentatively she brought her hand to his face. "What now?"
Gibbs barely had to move to position his lips over hers. "Now I get to kiss you."
Their lips met and Jenny closed her eyes, savouring the feel of his mouth on hers, basking in the familiarity of the man she'd never stopped loving. Six hours ago Jenny wasn't sure she'd live to see this night. This morning she'd never imagined a chance to be back in Gibbs' arms. But now she was so glad for the unexpected, because this was the perfect ending to her nearly disastrous day. And Jenny knew she wouldn't change a thing.